The other day I wrote a comment in support of a friend of mine on Facebook. I tend to not jump into other people's conversations on there because I know that some people are just looking for an argument and God has taught me that you do not have to attend every argument that you invited to. It is a choice! However, I knew what my friend was saying was in complete alignment with what I believe and some of the attacks he was getting were frustrating to say the least.
The topic of the conversation was about there being 1 true God and Christians being the children of God. The argument being presented was that we need to be respectful to other religions and realize that they too consider themselves "children of god"....their god. And below is the post I wrote about how I feel about that, but more importantly, how I feel God wants me to feel about it:
"when we accept the Bible as THE truth, and God as THE God, then I'm not sure how I am to "respect" a believe in other "gods" or other "truths". It is like asking me to believe that we can breath something other than oxygen and continue live the same life we do today. That would just be a lie. Just like believing in other gods is a lie. So I will NOT show disrespect to other "religions", but I won't respect them. (which there is a difference) That is asking me to go against my own beliefs in THE God of all of creation. Like I have said many many times before....those who don't believe in my God will meet Him someday. And then you can tell Him yourself how much He doesn't exist and you don't believe in Him. You will fully have that right. I love all, I pray for all to see the light and the truth. But I will continue to speak truth in love to all of those who are lost and deceived. It is what we are called to do as servants of THE true God!"
After making this statement I thanked God because I did not get pushback from others. I made a bold and truthful statement not in defense of God, because He is God and does not need me defending Him...but I made the statement as a statement of TRUTH. However, God has not allowed me to let go of this yet, and even though I have spoken to people about it since I posted that comment, it is like God has been saying to me "don't stop speaking the truth. Being quiet will not help anyone see the light." I do NOT believe in beating the truth into people with hate words or condemning them to the point of feeling worthless so they will finally turn to God. I believe in boldly speaking the truth in love and letting the gospel do what it is supposed to do...penetrate the heart of those who hear it and plant seeds in those people, and begin to take root and grow in them. When the Holy Spirit has something to work with like a seed that is planted by us sharing God's word, then He CAN do the rest because we have done our part. But when we sit back and allow lies and deceit to be spoken, and allow the enemy to desensitize and confuse people by not know what to believe as they hear about all these "other" religions and "other" gods, then we are leaving the door wide open for satan, and I refuse to do that!
This is a very practical example of what it means to accept that God is not THE God and THE final authority: Almost everyone has a police department in their city or at least a sheriff in their county. They are the authority in the area they serve. The law is upheld by them and anyone who chooses to break it must answer to them. Well let's say another group of people decide they want to create their own policing type of group. They want to be recognized as having authority and be equal or above the real police. Would this be allowed, or would the police say "no, we are THE authority here and this will not be tolerated!"....This is what happens when someone wants to say there can be "other" religions and "other" gods.....NO, their cannot be. He is the God. Jesus is the only Jesus who died and rose again....and God, the creator of all we see, has the final authority. And as I will once again state, anyone who does not believe this will stand face to face with Him some day and will be allowed to explain this to Him.
So no, I again say I will not respect a believe that goes against the bible. I will not give the enemy room to spread his lies. I will not just "accept" what others want to believe and watch my rights to openly speak about and show praise and worship to God get taken away or "made equal" to other religions. This is not about fairness, equality or laws......He is God!!! And He deserves to be above any and all things, not made equal to other false religions or false gods.
God, thank You that You are the One True & Living God!! I believe this with all that is within me and I honor You today for WHO YOU ARE! I pray that the eyes of this country will be opened to see the deceit and desensitization that is going on around them. Holy Spirit move across this great nation and revive the leaders, and the people, so the TRUTH is once again recognized. In Jesus name, Amen
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Capturing All Of God's Blessings
Are you praying for God to take you to a new place? By that I don't necessarily mean physically, even though that could be the case. But maybe you are praying for God to take you into a new place in ministry, or a new place in your walk with Him, or maybe in your influence on the lives of others....but you just can't figure out why it's not happening as fast as you would like it to? Well today I hope to just shed a little bit knowledge on this topic based on how God has moved in my own life and through things He has taught me based on His word.
I would like to start by assuring you that God wants to use you to your fullest potential....and only He really knows what your fullest potential is. Psalms 20:4 says "May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose". I see verses like this get misused all the time to say that God will give you whatever you pray for, but this just isn't true. God will give you want you pray for the is completely in alignment with His will for you. And the best way to achieve this is the pray for God's will to be done in your life, not your own, and then accept thing changes that come due to that prayer. When you are living according to God's will then He knows that the desires of your heart will be to have the things that He desires for you. And as He molds you and changes you He will release things to you that He knows you are ready for. Never in our timing, but in His own. Sometimes this can be so hard for us to understand, but that is where our trust in Him is really put to the test. Proverbs 16:2-3 states that "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established". So, not only does God want the best for us, and know what's best for us, but He also can look deep into our heart and see when we really are committing ourselves to Him, or to our own advancement. And even when we can't be 100% honest with ourself, He can still tell the difference. So once again, He will only give you what you are prepared to handle even in the depths of your heart.
Another thing that I have found will prevent you from receiving more from God is a lack of appreciation for what He has already done or provided. Or maybe you feel like you appreciate it, but in His eyes it doesn't look like you have taken very good care of what He has blessed you with. Cherishing the things He has placed into your possession is one of the biggest ways you can show Him your appreciation. Whatever it is, it may not be the best or exactly what you had in mind, but you can't allow the enemy to let you stop seeing it as a blessing. Whether it is a physical blessing like a place to live or a car, or whether it is the start to even the smallest ministry, you have to keep thanking Him for it and treating it like He just gave you His best. Ephesians 5:20 tells us "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". And I do believe this is one of those verses that you don't have to find the deep meaning behind it...."thanks always for all things" means simply that, be thankful for ALL things. No matter how big, or how small. When God sees the attitude of the heart is joy and thankfulness even when He passes you a small blessing, the He knows how much more you will boast about Him and His goodness when He pours a bigger blessing on you.
When you are praying and asking God for what He has for you next, please ask Him to search your heart and show you any selfishness or ungratefulness that may be within you. Honestly ask Him to help you deal with it appropriately, and then ask Him to bless you with the blessing He has for you in His perfect timing. As it was quoted in our service on Sunday, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". (James 5:16) So ask God to do what needs done in you to make your prayers effective, fervent...keeping you righteous in Christ, so the results of your prayers are always the things that line your heart up with God's heart.
God, thank You that you have a bank of blessings waiting for us. Please help us to keep ourselves at a place that is pleasing to you with an attitude of gratefulness so You can bless us. Allow our blessing to always be used to advance Your kingdom, even if it is just by us talking about and showing others how much of a good good Father You are. In Jesus name, Amen
I would like to start by assuring you that God wants to use you to your fullest potential....and only He really knows what your fullest potential is. Psalms 20:4 says "May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose". I see verses like this get misused all the time to say that God will give you whatever you pray for, but this just isn't true. God will give you want you pray for the is completely in alignment with His will for you. And the best way to achieve this is the pray for God's will to be done in your life, not your own, and then accept thing changes that come due to that prayer. When you are living according to God's will then He knows that the desires of your heart will be to have the things that He desires for you. And as He molds you and changes you He will release things to you that He knows you are ready for. Never in our timing, but in His own. Sometimes this can be so hard for us to understand, but that is where our trust in Him is really put to the test. Proverbs 16:2-3 states that "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established". So, not only does God want the best for us, and know what's best for us, but He also can look deep into our heart and see when we really are committing ourselves to Him, or to our own advancement. And even when we can't be 100% honest with ourself, He can still tell the difference. So once again, He will only give you what you are prepared to handle even in the depths of your heart.
Another thing that I have found will prevent you from receiving more from God is a lack of appreciation for what He has already done or provided. Or maybe you feel like you appreciate it, but in His eyes it doesn't look like you have taken very good care of what He has blessed you with. Cherishing the things He has placed into your possession is one of the biggest ways you can show Him your appreciation. Whatever it is, it may not be the best or exactly what you had in mind, but you can't allow the enemy to let you stop seeing it as a blessing. Whether it is a physical blessing like a place to live or a car, or whether it is the start to even the smallest ministry, you have to keep thanking Him for it and treating it like He just gave you His best. Ephesians 5:20 tells us "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". And I do believe this is one of those verses that you don't have to find the deep meaning behind it...."thanks always for all things" means simply that, be thankful for ALL things. No matter how big, or how small. When God sees the attitude of the heart is joy and thankfulness even when He passes you a small blessing, the He knows how much more you will boast about Him and His goodness when He pours a bigger blessing on you.
When you are praying and asking God for what He has for you next, please ask Him to search your heart and show you any selfishness or ungratefulness that may be within you. Honestly ask Him to help you deal with it appropriately, and then ask Him to bless you with the blessing He has for you in His perfect timing. As it was quoted in our service on Sunday, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much". (James 5:16) So ask God to do what needs done in you to make your prayers effective, fervent...keeping you righteous in Christ, so the results of your prayers are always the things that line your heart up with God's heart.
God, thank You that you have a bank of blessings waiting for us. Please help us to keep ourselves at a place that is pleasing to you with an attitude of gratefulness so You can bless us. Allow our blessing to always be used to advance Your kingdom, even if it is just by us talking about and showing others how much of a good good Father You are. In Jesus name, Amen
Friday, September 25, 2015
Don't Settle For The Rough Roads
I've stated this before in my blogs, but sometimes God speaks to me in such simple ways and brings an idea or lesson to me by the things around me. Well today wasn't any different as I drove to work. Like so many of us do on our way to our jobs, I hit traffic because of road construction. And as I got slowed down and pushed into one lane I begin to think "what was wrong with this road to begin with? Did it really need replaced?"...and then I came up to the part that got done yesterday. Wow, what a difference! The road was smooth like water on a calm lake in the early morning. It looked like a sheet of black ice and the ride was so quiet and peaceful. Not only did I not realize now nice the ride would be on this new road, but I also had become completely desensitized to how rough the ride on the old road was. And it was in that exact moment that God began to speak to me about the roads we travel down in life.
So many of us have to try to do things our own way, only consulting with God when we need something, not really asking him to direct our every foot step. But that kind of thinking is what leads to us traveling down rough roads in life. And as long as nothing is falling apart on that road, we can grow very content with it. And I don't mean content in a good way, like just appreciating the things God has given you. I mean content as in "well, this is life so I just need to deal with it" kind of thinking. And because I do NOT believe in coincidences, I believe in God moments, the song that happened to be playing as I thinking about all of this was "No Longer Slaves" by Bethel Music. This song was just introduced to me by my girlfriend this week and it has such powerful lyrics. Lyrics that talk about freedom through Christ because of being a child of God. About how we no longer need to be slaves to fear. And about how God surrounds us with a song of deliverance from our enemies. Truly amazing words....but again, not a coincidence that as God is speaking to me about rough roads and smooth roads this song about being set free is playing.
We don't need to settle for anything in life that is not bringing us God's peace, God's joy, or the fullness of God's love. And the only reason we do settle for these other roads in life is because just like hitting traffic and not being happy about it, to get on the smooth road God has for you, it may require some change. And sometimes those changes may seem a little overwhelming, or seem like they are going to take you into the unknown, or even feel a little uncomfortable while your in the transition. Just like a lot of people get tense when traffic gets backed up and tight because it is not what they are used to driving in, we can get tense when God starts to show us a different road He has for us that is going to take us out of our comfort zone. But don't panic....He is God and He only wants better for you. Psalms 3:6 says "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight". When I see a verse like that, I see it as a promise, not just a verse. IF you are willing to acknowledge HIM in ALL the areas of your life, the path (or road) that He will lead you down will be straight. In other words, you will find peace by doing things His way. If you have ever driven down a very curvy road, then you know it is hard to find peace with all the twists and turns, speed up and slow downs and all the times you don't have clue what could be around the next corner. But if you have driven down a long straight road then you know the peace that can bring. You can see down the road, you can stay at a steady speed and you can breath a little easier.
God wants to make your paths smooth...as smooth as a brand new road. In fact, once you give your life to Him and begin to surrender all the things to Him that come between you and Him, He literally will put you on a brand new road. And when you get on that road, you will really realize how rough the old road used to be.
God, thank You for the promise to set our paths straight. Thank You that you care about the daily things we go through and You desire to smooth things out for us when we acknowledge You in all of our life. As you smooth our roads, let other see You at work in our life and desire to see their own roads become more smooth by surrendering to You. In Jesus name, Amen
So many of us have to try to do things our own way, only consulting with God when we need something, not really asking him to direct our every foot step. But that kind of thinking is what leads to us traveling down rough roads in life. And as long as nothing is falling apart on that road, we can grow very content with it. And I don't mean content in a good way, like just appreciating the things God has given you. I mean content as in "well, this is life so I just need to deal with it" kind of thinking. And because I do NOT believe in coincidences, I believe in God moments, the song that happened to be playing as I thinking about all of this was "No Longer Slaves" by Bethel Music. This song was just introduced to me by my girlfriend this week and it has such powerful lyrics. Lyrics that talk about freedom through Christ because of being a child of God. About how we no longer need to be slaves to fear. And about how God surrounds us with a song of deliverance from our enemies. Truly amazing words....but again, not a coincidence that as God is speaking to me about rough roads and smooth roads this song about being set free is playing.
We don't need to settle for anything in life that is not bringing us God's peace, God's joy, or the fullness of God's love. And the only reason we do settle for these other roads in life is because just like hitting traffic and not being happy about it, to get on the smooth road God has for you, it may require some change. And sometimes those changes may seem a little overwhelming, or seem like they are going to take you into the unknown, or even feel a little uncomfortable while your in the transition. Just like a lot of people get tense when traffic gets backed up and tight because it is not what they are used to driving in, we can get tense when God starts to show us a different road He has for us that is going to take us out of our comfort zone. But don't panic....He is God and He only wants better for you. Psalms 3:6 says "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight". When I see a verse like that, I see it as a promise, not just a verse. IF you are willing to acknowledge HIM in ALL the areas of your life, the path (or road) that He will lead you down will be straight. In other words, you will find peace by doing things His way. If you have ever driven down a very curvy road, then you know it is hard to find peace with all the twists and turns, speed up and slow downs and all the times you don't have clue what could be around the next corner. But if you have driven down a long straight road then you know the peace that can bring. You can see down the road, you can stay at a steady speed and you can breath a little easier.
God wants to make your paths smooth...as smooth as a brand new road. In fact, once you give your life to Him and begin to surrender all the things to Him that come between you and Him, He literally will put you on a brand new road. And when you get on that road, you will really realize how rough the old road used to be.
God, thank You for the promise to set our paths straight. Thank You that you care about the daily things we go through and You desire to smooth things out for us when we acknowledge You in all of our life. As you smooth our roads, let other see You at work in our life and desire to see their own roads become more smooth by surrendering to You. In Jesus name, Amen
Thursday, September 24, 2015
The Seriousness Of Our Salvation
This morning I spent time with God in prayer asking Him to pour a word into me that I could pour out to others. And of all the topics He has put on my heart over the past days, weeks and months...today I felt Him say, nothing is as important as our salvation. And even some of those who have experienced Him still don't get the seriousness of it. I know, because I didn't for many years. Then He pointed me to 3 separate scriptures, Deuteronomy 13:4, Matthew 7:21 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 (I will quote these later in this blog). As He gave me today's word, He also made it very clear to me that this was not just for the lost, it was not just for the saved too...it was for everyone. It is a message of truth, in love....and not one to make some feel guilty or unworthy. It is a message of hope, but also one of boldness. I'm not hoping people will read this and agree....I am hoping they will read it be woke up! The enemy is delivering a lie into the lives of the lost, and into the lives of those who claim to follow Jesus. And I hope after this short read you will stare deep into your own life and ask yourself these very important questions..."Where will I spend eternity? And what will Jesus have to say to me when He sees me face to face?".
We have been fed a watered down message of salvation for years and years now. It is not one that I see in the bible and it is not one that I see the people in the bible lived out. When Jesus came, He came with a new message of salvation. One that could not be earned, one that was given freely through grace and mercy...but also one to not be looked upon lightly. The man (Jesus) came down from heaven, did NOTHING half heartedly as He walked out God's plan, died an excruciating death, defeated sin once and for all, rose again to show that He was who He said He was, and then left us with the Holy Spirit as a guide, and then He went back to heaven to intercede with The Father on our behalf for all of eternity. And if some of that was a little to deep, then let me say it like this.....He came and lived a perfect life as an example to us, He left us with the hope of grace for the times we did mess up, but He also left us with the Holy Spirit to help us, and then He went back to heaven to always make a way for us to speak to God. Something that we could not directly do before Jesus. All because God loves us......all done out of love....done personally for you out of nothing but LOVE. It is not a situation where God is saying "I did this for you, now you do this for Me!" He did this for you to give you a choice that otherwise you and I would not even have. A choice of heaven over hell. Peace and joy over bondage and torment. To trade in a feeling of being used by this world for a feeling of being loved and accepted by your Heavenly Father.
So why am I saying all of this? Because the message of salvation needs to be taken very very serious...and I don't feel like it is. The church, and we the people of the church, have let the message get watered down for far to long, and it is time we realize what serving God really means. It means you are not going to hell. That alone should wake you up! It means you have the chance to make sure others don't go to hell. It means that a love this powerful should not just steer you in a different direction, but it should radically change you! Receiving a love like this should make you sick to your stomach when you think of sin, when you think of the power sin once had over you, and the power it has over others. It shouldn't seem like a "second chance" when you meet Jesus, but instead is should feel like a full blown rescue! You have been rescued, or you have the chance to be rescued from HELL....forever. Each and every one of us is going to spend "forever" somewhere. And if you think this world has become corrupt and bad....it is nothing compared to the reality of hell. So again, God made a way. A way to not just go to heaven, but to win as many other people as we possibly to Him so they can too. He gave us the message...and we are not just to tell it, we are to live it! Which brings me back to my 3 scriptures...2 Corinthians 5:10 says "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him". This is not a light, feel good verse...this is a command. This is a message telling us we NEED to take serving God serious! As serious as He took sending Jesus to die for us. That serious! Why should we take it so serious? Because God knows our hearts...He looks into our hearts...He sees the intention of our hearts with EVERY action we do, and to show this Matthew 7:21 says "“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven". Meaning not everyone who "claimed" they knew Him, really knew Him. And HE and only HE will determine some day who truly served Him and who simply said they did. Those who turned from their ways and chased after Him will receive His reward, and those who made a mockery of the death of His son by claiming it's meaning, but not letting it affect them, will be judged by Him. Again, something we should take very serious. His love was sent to change us...to impact us...and to allow our lives to impact others.
Each and every one of us WILL stand before God one day and give an account for what we did with our lives, what we did with the message of salvation that was given to us. And each one of us will see either the rewards of the life we lived for Him.....or the results of the rejection we showed Him. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad". Please, please think about that day for a second. Not only is it a day you will be judged with the final judgement, but it is also a day you will stand face to face with the one who died for you. And you look into His eyes knowing this is the man that took the beating you deserved and the death you deserved....He is also the one that is willing to say "I know everything there is to know about you...everything, and because of how much you loved me, lived for me and let me live in you, I say well done my good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21)....or He will be the one that says "You knew what I did for you, and I gave you so many chances to change your life for me, but you never wanted to. And no matter how badly I wanted you to, you rejected all my words.....". I know which one I want to hear, and I know which one I want every friend and loved one of mine to hear. So yes, I take my gift of salvation very very serious.
As I stated in the beginning of this message, this is not a message of guilt or shame, but one of love and hopefully awakening. The choice always has been, and always will be up to you. I look down on nobody who rejects God's gift, but instead my heart breaks for them. But it almost breaks more for those who claim it, but continue to live the same sinful life as before they met Him. Do you have any idea how many lives may be negatively impacted by watching you serve yourself when you say you serve Him? I'm afraid that if you don't stop and turn your wicked ways, then some day you will get to see the faces of those that watched you, and rejected Him because of what they saw in your life. Please know I say that in love as a wake up call....
God, thank You for Your gift of salvation. Please let it open the eyes of the lost, and stir the heart of the deceived, and change the lives of every ear if falls on. In Jesus name, Amen
We have been fed a watered down message of salvation for years and years now. It is not one that I see in the bible and it is not one that I see the people in the bible lived out. When Jesus came, He came with a new message of salvation. One that could not be earned, one that was given freely through grace and mercy...but also one to not be looked upon lightly. The man (Jesus) came down from heaven, did NOTHING half heartedly as He walked out God's plan, died an excruciating death, defeated sin once and for all, rose again to show that He was who He said He was, and then left us with the Holy Spirit as a guide, and then He went back to heaven to intercede with The Father on our behalf for all of eternity. And if some of that was a little to deep, then let me say it like this.....He came and lived a perfect life as an example to us, He left us with the hope of grace for the times we did mess up, but He also left us with the Holy Spirit to help us, and then He went back to heaven to always make a way for us to speak to God. Something that we could not directly do before Jesus. All because God loves us......all done out of love....done personally for you out of nothing but LOVE. It is not a situation where God is saying "I did this for you, now you do this for Me!" He did this for you to give you a choice that otherwise you and I would not even have. A choice of heaven over hell. Peace and joy over bondage and torment. To trade in a feeling of being used by this world for a feeling of being loved and accepted by your Heavenly Father.
So why am I saying all of this? Because the message of salvation needs to be taken very very serious...and I don't feel like it is. The church, and we the people of the church, have let the message get watered down for far to long, and it is time we realize what serving God really means. It means you are not going to hell. That alone should wake you up! It means you have the chance to make sure others don't go to hell. It means that a love this powerful should not just steer you in a different direction, but it should radically change you! Receiving a love like this should make you sick to your stomach when you think of sin, when you think of the power sin once had over you, and the power it has over others. It shouldn't seem like a "second chance" when you meet Jesus, but instead is should feel like a full blown rescue! You have been rescued, or you have the chance to be rescued from HELL....forever. Each and every one of us is going to spend "forever" somewhere. And if you think this world has become corrupt and bad....it is nothing compared to the reality of hell. So again, God made a way. A way to not just go to heaven, but to win as many other people as we possibly to Him so they can too. He gave us the message...and we are not just to tell it, we are to live it! Which brings me back to my 3 scriptures...2 Corinthians 5:10 says "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him". This is not a light, feel good verse...this is a command. This is a message telling us we NEED to take serving God serious! As serious as He took sending Jesus to die for us. That serious! Why should we take it so serious? Because God knows our hearts...He looks into our hearts...He sees the intention of our hearts with EVERY action we do, and to show this Matthew 7:21 says "“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven". Meaning not everyone who "claimed" they knew Him, really knew Him. And HE and only HE will determine some day who truly served Him and who simply said they did. Those who turned from their ways and chased after Him will receive His reward, and those who made a mockery of the death of His son by claiming it's meaning, but not letting it affect them, will be judged by Him. Again, something we should take very serious. His love was sent to change us...to impact us...and to allow our lives to impact others.
Each and every one of us WILL stand before God one day and give an account for what we did with our lives, what we did with the message of salvation that was given to us. And each one of us will see either the rewards of the life we lived for Him.....or the results of the rejection we showed Him. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad". Please, please think about that day for a second. Not only is it a day you will be judged with the final judgement, but it is also a day you will stand face to face with the one who died for you. And you look into His eyes knowing this is the man that took the beating you deserved and the death you deserved....He is also the one that is willing to say "I know everything there is to know about you...everything, and because of how much you loved me, lived for me and let me live in you, I say well done my good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21)....or He will be the one that says "You knew what I did for you, and I gave you so many chances to change your life for me, but you never wanted to. And no matter how badly I wanted you to, you rejected all my words.....". I know which one I want to hear, and I know which one I want every friend and loved one of mine to hear. So yes, I take my gift of salvation very very serious.
As I stated in the beginning of this message, this is not a message of guilt or shame, but one of love and hopefully awakening. The choice always has been, and always will be up to you. I look down on nobody who rejects God's gift, but instead my heart breaks for them. But it almost breaks more for those who claim it, but continue to live the same sinful life as before they met Him. Do you have any idea how many lives may be negatively impacted by watching you serve yourself when you say you serve Him? I'm afraid that if you don't stop and turn your wicked ways, then some day you will get to see the faces of those that watched you, and rejected Him because of what they saw in your life. Please know I say that in love as a wake up call....
God, thank You for Your gift of salvation. Please let it open the eyes of the lost, and stir the heart of the deceived, and change the lives of every ear if falls on. In Jesus name, Amen
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
What Cripples You?
As I walk through life meeting other people I find it very interesting to see the things that some people struggle with as opposed to others....and as opposed to me. It seems like the things we have faced in life, and the things we have come through, can greatly determine the things that "can be" a struggle for us. Even the way you were raised (good or bad) can determine the things you will battle as an adult. But today God was pressing it on me to not only discuss the things that we battle, but also the things that can flat out cripple us.
There are very natural things for each of us that can create a fear. Some people are afraid of heights, some are afraid of going fast, some are afraid of performing in front of people and some fear talking in front of people. These are very common and normal fears that again probably stem from something in our life, maybe even something in our childhood. And most of the time nobody will argue that fact with you. But what about the fears we don't like to talk about. Fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of disappointing others, fear of showing your feelings, fear of trusting someone....and the list goes on and on. These are not fears we like to admit or talk about. Sometimes we even spend the better part of our life pretending like they don't exist and trying to convince ourselves we don't have a problem in that area. Why do you think that is? Perhaps because the very thing that brought this fear on you, wants to keep it on you, and admitting it and dealing with it might actually make it go away. Yes I believe the enemy will bring things on us through situations in our life. He is always trying to work something for evil just as much as God is trying to work something for good. If John 10:10 tells us that the enemy comes to "kill, steal and destroy" then why wouldn't we think that he is constantly looking for a way or an opportunity to do this. HE IS!!! And the faster you can come to grips with that reality the faster you can begin to see that God did not make you this way or put this in you. He does not want you to carry around the things from your past. He does not want the baggage we pick up through the years of our life impacting the relationships in our future. He does not want you hiding a fear that is deep down inside of you and He certainly doesn't want to enemy convincing you that you can't bring it to the surface and get help with it. Psalms 147:3 states "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds". If you saw a person with an open wound telling you things like "it's fine, nothing is wrong", when you can clearly see that they are hurt, wouldn't you insist they seek help? Well then why do we walk around with emotional and spiritual wounds and insist that we are ok? God is THE great healer, and healing our emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds is His specialty. Walking around with things in us that are crippling us in those areas is exactly what the enemy would love. That is how he oppresses us the most, by getting us to believe "this is just how things are... this is just how I am". NO! No, it's not. You can defeat each and every thing that holds you down and you can walk in victory! 1 Peter 2:9 says "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light". This is who you are....this is who you were created to be and this is who God wants you to be despite anything in your past.
If you can be honest with yourself and with God about the thing(s) that cripple you emotionally, psychologically and spiritually then that is the first step to the healing that God has waiting for you. God is a God of wholeness, healing and restoration. Seek His face and He can and will help you overcome!
God, thank You that we can lay even the most crippling thing as Your feet and trust You for healing and restoration. Please help those who are walking around wounded to see that YOU are the answer they are looking for. Holy Spirit once again defeat the enemy by giving those in need the wisdom and courage to face the very things he does not want them to and live a victorious life in YOU. In Jesus name, Amen
There are very natural things for each of us that can create a fear. Some people are afraid of heights, some are afraid of going fast, some are afraid of performing in front of people and some fear talking in front of people. These are very common and normal fears that again probably stem from something in our life, maybe even something in our childhood. And most of the time nobody will argue that fact with you. But what about the fears we don't like to talk about. Fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of disappointing others, fear of showing your feelings, fear of trusting someone....and the list goes on and on. These are not fears we like to admit or talk about. Sometimes we even spend the better part of our life pretending like they don't exist and trying to convince ourselves we don't have a problem in that area. Why do you think that is? Perhaps because the very thing that brought this fear on you, wants to keep it on you, and admitting it and dealing with it might actually make it go away. Yes I believe the enemy will bring things on us through situations in our life. He is always trying to work something for evil just as much as God is trying to work something for good. If John 10:10 tells us that the enemy comes to "kill, steal and destroy" then why wouldn't we think that he is constantly looking for a way or an opportunity to do this. HE IS!!! And the faster you can come to grips with that reality the faster you can begin to see that God did not make you this way or put this in you. He does not want you to carry around the things from your past. He does not want the baggage we pick up through the years of our life impacting the relationships in our future. He does not want you hiding a fear that is deep down inside of you and He certainly doesn't want to enemy convincing you that you can't bring it to the surface and get help with it. Psalms 147:3 states "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds". If you saw a person with an open wound telling you things like "it's fine, nothing is wrong", when you can clearly see that they are hurt, wouldn't you insist they seek help? Well then why do we walk around with emotional and spiritual wounds and insist that we are ok? God is THE great healer, and healing our emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds is His specialty. Walking around with things in us that are crippling us in those areas is exactly what the enemy would love. That is how he oppresses us the most, by getting us to believe "this is just how things are... this is just how I am". NO! No, it's not. You can defeat each and every thing that holds you down and you can walk in victory! 1 Peter 2:9 says "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light". This is who you are....this is who you were created to be and this is who God wants you to be despite anything in your past.
If you can be honest with yourself and with God about the thing(s) that cripple you emotionally, psychologically and spiritually then that is the first step to the healing that God has waiting for you. God is a God of wholeness, healing and restoration. Seek His face and He can and will help you overcome!
God, thank You that we can lay even the most crippling thing as Your feet and trust You for healing and restoration. Please help those who are walking around wounded to see that YOU are the answer they are looking for. Holy Spirit once again defeat the enemy by giving those in need the wisdom and courage to face the very things he does not want them to and live a victorious life in YOU. In Jesus name, Amen
Monday, September 21, 2015
Pushing Through
There is a place that each of us will be at at one point or another in our walk with God. It's a place that isn't fun, but it's a place where you can really grow if you handle it the right way...the way that honors God. The place I'm talking about is praising God and pushing through even when you feel the enemy throwing everything at you at once...even though you feel like cursing the world or your situations. So how do you do this? And what can God teach you as you do?
The number one verse that I think represents a time like this in our life is James 1:12. It says "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him". (ESV) The New King James version states it as "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried...". I like how both versions state this because the truth is you are under trial and you will be tempted to just give up or blow it when the enemy is pushing you to your limit. And I don't say that as a statement of weakness on your part, I say it because the goal of the enemy is to find what "works" on us and then to wear us down the best he can. I know because I have felt pressure from the enemy just like this and there have been moments I have handled it well and moments I haven't, and the biggest difference between the two was whether I was relying on myself, or relying on God. The absolute best thing we can do when life gets hard is hand it over to God. I know that sounds easier said than done, but it's really true and it's very possible. The thing you have to do is see the plans of the enemy. You have to recognize that whether the object of your anger is another person, a set of circumstances, a job, or whatever....what it really is is the enemy using what he can to get to you. And the moment you step back and look at the situation in this way it is so much easier to say, "I'm not battling flesh and blood here, I'm battling the enemy. And I can't battle him in my own strength so I'm taking this to God". (see Ephesians 6:12) And as you take this to God and ask for help, you also need to see that the other goal of the enemy (besides making you mad) is to cause distance between you and God. He knows if he can get you to physically blow your top, then out of shame you will distance yourself from God. And if he can only get your blood to boil, then you won't feel like praising God. So as soon as you realize this is the plan of the enemy you cut him off and you go straight to God. You praise Him for anything and everything good in your life that you can think of. Because even in the worst of any situation there is still something in your life that you can recognize as good and give God the glory for it. You then ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance in how you deal with everything that is coming at you. And then you ask God to go to fight for you. To take the things that you can not handle and allow you to prioritize what is really worth worrying about. I have personally done this and it really does help God will show you what is worth your time, and what is not. And be prepared to be stretched by God. Sometimes what He will show you to do is not going to be easy. But His goal is to take a situation that looks bad and make something good of it. For example, you may be in a tense situation with someone and even though you know they are not 100% right, God will nudge you to go make peace with them. And part of that may be apologizing to them before they apologize to you. And in this God will teach you the real meaning of meekness and being humble. Not for their sake, not for your sake, but for His honor. And when He sees that you can humble yourself and react in a way that honors Him then you have just opened the door to receive His blessings. As well as reflected His image to those around you.
God sees what we do not...always! So we have to trust Him even when it doesn't make sense. We have to praise Him when it goes against what our flesh wants. And we have to defeat the enemy by not allowing him to dictate our reaction when something goes wrong. What the enemy doesn't want us to realize is that our light can shine more in there type of situations than it can when everything is going right.
God, thank You that You are ALWAYS there for us to lean on. Help us to also recognize the plans of the enemy and not give him room to move in our lives. Holy Spirit please give us the wisdom to not try things our way first, and then run to God, but instead to lay everything down at God's feet first and allow Him to teach us. Giving honor and glory to Him as we walk out His path. In Jesus name, Amen
The number one verse that I think represents a time like this in our life is James 1:12. It says "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him". (ESV) The New King James version states it as "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried...". I like how both versions state this because the truth is you are under trial and you will be tempted to just give up or blow it when the enemy is pushing you to your limit. And I don't say that as a statement of weakness on your part, I say it because the goal of the enemy is to find what "works" on us and then to wear us down the best he can. I know because I have felt pressure from the enemy just like this and there have been moments I have handled it well and moments I haven't, and the biggest difference between the two was whether I was relying on myself, or relying on God. The absolute best thing we can do when life gets hard is hand it over to God. I know that sounds easier said than done, but it's really true and it's very possible. The thing you have to do is see the plans of the enemy. You have to recognize that whether the object of your anger is another person, a set of circumstances, a job, or whatever....what it really is is the enemy using what he can to get to you. And the moment you step back and look at the situation in this way it is so much easier to say, "I'm not battling flesh and blood here, I'm battling the enemy. And I can't battle him in my own strength so I'm taking this to God". (see Ephesians 6:12) And as you take this to God and ask for help, you also need to see that the other goal of the enemy (besides making you mad) is to cause distance between you and God. He knows if he can get you to physically blow your top, then out of shame you will distance yourself from God. And if he can only get your blood to boil, then you won't feel like praising God. So as soon as you realize this is the plan of the enemy you cut him off and you go straight to God. You praise Him for anything and everything good in your life that you can think of. Because even in the worst of any situation there is still something in your life that you can recognize as good and give God the glory for it. You then ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance in how you deal with everything that is coming at you. And then you ask God to go to fight for you. To take the things that you can not handle and allow you to prioritize what is really worth worrying about. I have personally done this and it really does help God will show you what is worth your time, and what is not. And be prepared to be stretched by God. Sometimes what He will show you to do is not going to be easy. But His goal is to take a situation that looks bad and make something good of it. For example, you may be in a tense situation with someone and even though you know they are not 100% right, God will nudge you to go make peace with them. And part of that may be apologizing to them before they apologize to you. And in this God will teach you the real meaning of meekness and being humble. Not for their sake, not for your sake, but for His honor. And when He sees that you can humble yourself and react in a way that honors Him then you have just opened the door to receive His blessings. As well as reflected His image to those around you.
God sees what we do not...always! So we have to trust Him even when it doesn't make sense. We have to praise Him when it goes against what our flesh wants. And we have to defeat the enemy by not allowing him to dictate our reaction when something goes wrong. What the enemy doesn't want us to realize is that our light can shine more in there type of situations than it can when everything is going right.
God, thank You that You are ALWAYS there for us to lean on. Help us to also recognize the plans of the enemy and not give him room to move in our lives. Holy Spirit please give us the wisdom to not try things our way first, and then run to God, but instead to lay everything down at God's feet first and allow Him to teach us. Giving honor and glory to Him as we walk out His path. In Jesus name, Amen
Friday, September 18, 2015
Jesus LOVES you...So Let That Love Change You.
"Jesus LOVES you!" Please let those words sink in for a moment. Please let the power of those words sink in for a moment. The God of everything you see around you....the creator of anything and everything that has ever and will ever exist sent His son down to our messed up, corrupted world to do something never done before. To live a perfect life, die an undeserving death and defeat satan by taking the power of death away from him by rising again. In doing this He also defeated the power of sin with love and gave us the ability to defeat sin in our own lives...and to walk in a new found freedom by simply believing He is who He says He is, asking Him to cleanse you of the sin you have allowed in your life, and changing your ways to live for Him. God made a way that without Jesus could not be made...simply because He loved us that much. That is the gospel. It is to simply not to share and to deep to even try to wrap your head around. He did what He did out of love. He had nothing to gain from it except to create a way to spend eternity with the very people He created and loves.
When I think about this....when I really sit and think about this, it wrecks me every time. And then I ask myself how I could go so many years living such a self centered and selfish life. I ask myself how many people did I have the chance to share this simple truth with over the years, but I was to wrapped up in my own stuff to do it? And then I ask myself "could I forgive someone like me and love and accept them?" Thank God I don't have to comprehend His love, I just have to accept and let it change me. And since the day I surrendered to Him He has changed me so much that I don't even recognize the person I used to be. I don't say that as a way to pump myself up or toot my own horn, I say that as a PRAISE to Him for never giving up on me when I had given Him every reason to. I say that as an HONOR to Him for His ability to cleanse someone like me, get me to see my own sin and turn from it...and put a burning desire in me to see others set free and set on fire for Him.
In John 8:12 Jesus said "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life". This means that what Jesus brought into this earth when He walked on it is something we can walk in daily. We can carry that same light that He carried. Not because we are anything special, but because we give Him the freedom to shine in us and in our life. And when you let Jesus really live in you then the words in Matthew 5:14 can't help but be true..."You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
Don't let anything...not your circumstances, not anything, hide the light that Jesus has placed in you. The moment the enemy learns he can control how much you let Jesus' light shine based on your circumstances, then he will just continue to try to mess with your circumstances to keep you "quiet". But when you show him that you will praise God OUT LOUD simply because of what He did for you, and not because of how good or bad things look, THEN you are truly stamping out the darkness with the light.
If what I said in the beginning of this blog has not really sank in with you before....just how much God loves you and desires closeness with you....then please let that sink in right now. And no matter where you are right in this moment, reach out to Him and open your heart up in a way that you never have before. Surrender to Him the very thing that He desires the most....your heart. Then allow Him to show you a peace, a joy, a love, a forgiveness, and a value in yourself that you have never felt before.
Dying for me is the most He could do for me...Living for Him is the least I could do. And by that I mean truly living a life that honors Him.
God, I may never be able to comprehend the love that You have for us, but I fully accept it and ask that You help me show that love to others. God I pray that You radically change my life more and more every day as I surrender more and more of myself to You. Thank You for never giving up on me...and now I ask that You please never stop growing me in You. Let Your light shine so bright in me that people see more of You than they do me. And give me the courage to tell others about why my life is so different so I can serve one of my many purposes here on earth...to win others to You! In Jesus name, Amen
When I think about this....when I really sit and think about this, it wrecks me every time. And then I ask myself how I could go so many years living such a self centered and selfish life. I ask myself how many people did I have the chance to share this simple truth with over the years, but I was to wrapped up in my own stuff to do it? And then I ask myself "could I forgive someone like me and love and accept them?" Thank God I don't have to comprehend His love, I just have to accept and let it change me. And since the day I surrendered to Him He has changed me so much that I don't even recognize the person I used to be. I don't say that as a way to pump myself up or toot my own horn, I say that as a PRAISE to Him for never giving up on me when I had given Him every reason to. I say that as an HONOR to Him for His ability to cleanse someone like me, get me to see my own sin and turn from it...and put a burning desire in me to see others set free and set on fire for Him.
In John 8:12 Jesus said "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life". This means that what Jesus brought into this earth when He walked on it is something we can walk in daily. We can carry that same light that He carried. Not because we are anything special, but because we give Him the freedom to shine in us and in our life. And when you let Jesus really live in you then the words in Matthew 5:14 can't help but be true..."You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."
Don't let anything...not your circumstances, not anything, hide the light that Jesus has placed in you. The moment the enemy learns he can control how much you let Jesus' light shine based on your circumstances, then he will just continue to try to mess with your circumstances to keep you "quiet". But when you show him that you will praise God OUT LOUD simply because of what He did for you, and not because of how good or bad things look, THEN you are truly stamping out the darkness with the light.
If what I said in the beginning of this blog has not really sank in with you before....just how much God loves you and desires closeness with you....then please let that sink in right now. And no matter where you are right in this moment, reach out to Him and open your heart up in a way that you never have before. Surrender to Him the very thing that He desires the most....your heart. Then allow Him to show you a peace, a joy, a love, a forgiveness, and a value in yourself that you have never felt before.
Dying for me is the most He could do for me...Living for Him is the least I could do. And by that I mean truly living a life that honors Him.
God, I may never be able to comprehend the love that You have for us, but I fully accept it and ask that You help me show that love to others. God I pray that You radically change my life more and more every day as I surrender more and more of myself to You. Thank You for never giving up on me...and now I ask that You please never stop growing me in You. Let Your light shine so bright in me that people see more of You than they do me. And give me the courage to tell others about why my life is so different so I can serve one of my many purposes here on earth...to win others to You! In Jesus name, Amen
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Like The Little Children...
If there is anything I could say about our walk with God that pertains to every single person, it's that no matter who you are or what you have been through, He desires for you to just trust and rely on Him to meet your needs. And if I could say there is anything that we tend to forget the longer we walk with God, it's that He cares about our every need and wants us to rely on Him for everything. We should never grow out of that! 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you", and in Matthew 18:3 Jesus said "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven". Why do I put these 2 verses together....because today God was talking to me about what it really means to "humble ourselves before Him" and to have a "childlike faith". And they go hand in hand.
Think about your own children, or your friends kids or even kids you have seen when you're out in public. What do we tend to say makes one child better behaved than another child? Their respect for and ability to listen to their parents, other adults and authority figures in their life. And how would we describe a child that behaves badly? By how much they talk back or how much they refuse to listen the authority figure talking to them. We have all seen the child that "no" is their favorite word or the parent who has to explain "why" to everything they "ask" their child to do...or even worse, the child that will just pitch a fit about anything that is asked of them, no matter where they are. And today God was saying to me, "I have to deal with so many Christians that act just like this. I can't get them to respect me, trust me, listen to me or follow my will for them because I can't get them to humble themselves enough to actually think I know more about their life then they do. And without getting them to humble themselves before me I will never get them to have childlike faith toward me".
Ultimately we have to humble ourselves before God if we want to give Him authority over our lives. It's our acknowledgement that His ways are far better than ours and we NEED Him in our life...not just as a part of it, but for our life to be consumed by Him. But humbling ourselves is only the first part, the second is the faith that He desires us to have in Him. Several places in the bible Jesus talked about how we should have faith like a child, but today God really began to show me exactly what that should look like. Taking me back to even my own childhood and saying, "what did you worry about as a child? Did you sit around as a child and wonder if your parents were going to make this months house payment? Did you worry about if there would be money for groceries? Did you worry about IF there would be meals fed to you today? Or if you turn the faucet would water come out because the bill got paid?" And to all of these things I said "no, I just knew they were being taken care of for me", and God said "Exactly! This is a childlike faith". As a child I did the things I knew I was supposed to (having to be told some times of course..haha), but I did the things needed of me and I did not worry about if my father (and mother) were going to take care of me, I just trusted they would. This is the place we need to be at with our heavenly father. We need to do what is required of us and know that He is taking care of us. But like the misbehaving child, we can't refuse and expect. It just doesn't work that way. This is where the humbleness and the childlike faith come together. We have to say to God that we humbly submit to His ways and then we trust Him to take care of our needs.
As a child you we were taught to submit to, obey and rely on our parents. This was by God's design because as adults He desires that same relationship with us. Our parents loved us and took care of us, and that doesn't even compare to the love that God has for us and the way He wants to take care of us. So ask yourself today, have I submitted to Him the way HE would like me to, and do I fully trust Him as much as HE would like me to?
God, thank You that You are trustworthy and faithful. Holy Spirit soften any hardness that may be in our hearts that prevent us for submitting to and fully trusting God. Help us to be like little children looking up to our big strong daddy to take care of us. In Jesus name, Amen
Think about your own children, or your friends kids or even kids you have seen when you're out in public. What do we tend to say makes one child better behaved than another child? Their respect for and ability to listen to their parents, other adults and authority figures in their life. And how would we describe a child that behaves badly? By how much they talk back or how much they refuse to listen the authority figure talking to them. We have all seen the child that "no" is their favorite word or the parent who has to explain "why" to everything they "ask" their child to do...or even worse, the child that will just pitch a fit about anything that is asked of them, no matter where they are. And today God was saying to me, "I have to deal with so many Christians that act just like this. I can't get them to respect me, trust me, listen to me or follow my will for them because I can't get them to humble themselves enough to actually think I know more about their life then they do. And without getting them to humble themselves before me I will never get them to have childlike faith toward me".
Ultimately we have to humble ourselves before God if we want to give Him authority over our lives. It's our acknowledgement that His ways are far better than ours and we NEED Him in our life...not just as a part of it, but for our life to be consumed by Him. But humbling ourselves is only the first part, the second is the faith that He desires us to have in Him. Several places in the bible Jesus talked about how we should have faith like a child, but today God really began to show me exactly what that should look like. Taking me back to even my own childhood and saying, "what did you worry about as a child? Did you sit around as a child and wonder if your parents were going to make this months house payment? Did you worry about if there would be money for groceries? Did you worry about IF there would be meals fed to you today? Or if you turn the faucet would water come out because the bill got paid?" And to all of these things I said "no, I just knew they were being taken care of for me", and God said "Exactly! This is a childlike faith". As a child I did the things I knew I was supposed to (having to be told some times of course..haha), but I did the things needed of me and I did not worry about if my father (and mother) were going to take care of me, I just trusted they would. This is the place we need to be at with our heavenly father. We need to do what is required of us and know that He is taking care of us. But like the misbehaving child, we can't refuse and expect. It just doesn't work that way. This is where the humbleness and the childlike faith come together. We have to say to God that we humbly submit to His ways and then we trust Him to take care of our needs.
As a child you we were taught to submit to, obey and rely on our parents. This was by God's design because as adults He desires that same relationship with us. Our parents loved us and took care of us, and that doesn't even compare to the love that God has for us and the way He wants to take care of us. So ask yourself today, have I submitted to Him the way HE would like me to, and do I fully trust Him as much as HE would like me to?
God, thank You that You are trustworthy and faithful. Holy Spirit soften any hardness that may be in our hearts that prevent us for submitting to and fully trusting God. Help us to be like little children looking up to our big strong daddy to take care of us. In Jesus name, Amen
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Blind Eyes Opened!
Sometimes it can be so easy for us to see the ways that God is moving in someone else's life, but so difficult for us to see Him in our own life. Have you ever wondered about that? Why is this? Have you ever sat through someone's story or testimony and asked yourself "why doesn't that stuff happen to me"? I'll be honest, before my walk was where it is now, I did. I can remember hearing about people being financially blessed or God providing an answer they had been seeking or watching God lay out amazing plans for someone where they land a great job or get into an awesome ministry. And I can remember not feeling jealous about, but definitely envious and wondering why this stuff didn't happen to me? However a few years back a shift took place in my life that totally changed the way I looked at things...and allowed me to see things I just wasn't seeing. And the thing I learned is that it wasn't God that wasn't doing His part in my life, it was me that wasn't giving Him enough recognition for what He was doing in my life. The problem was that I was taking too much credit for the "good things" that happened in my life and only questioning Him when bad things would come along. I wasn't seeing Him and His hand in all the good things that took place in my daily life. In other words, I was only looking for more from Him, but I wasn't at all content with what He was already providing for me. Hebrews 13:5 says "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'". And I was coveting other people's blessings without being content with the blessing He was providing for me daily. I was looking for something big to happen in my life when I wasn't even thanking Him for the dozens and dozens of small things He was doing for me and my family. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". And to be honest, what do so many of us do.....we rejoice when He does something great, we pray when we need something and we give thanks IF He comes through the way we thought He should. And then we wonder why we are not living a life showered with blessing like someone else seems to be.
In my own personal life let me fast forward a few years to today and tell you that God is working blessings and miracles in my life daily. He is THE reason that good things are taking place in my life and my family and I do give Him all the credit now. I learned that as my walk with Him began to change so did my view of how much credit I was taking...and how much I was giving Him. I've learned that I am very capable of making a mess out of anything and He is capable of turning anything into a blessing. The more I took my hands off of things and simply prayed about them the more I would see His work being done and it was undeniable that every good thing that was happening to me was because of Him. But here is the really cool part, the more I recognized Him in the small things, the more He began to do big and unexplainable things. The more I had stories to share with others about How awesome He was and the amazing things that were taking place in my life. And the more I realized that I was now one of those people who always had a story to tell about how He is blessing me. What a shift in things....It took me seeing Him daily, thanking Him for even the smallest things so He could open up the doors of heaven and being to shower me with big things. And my view on that is simply this.....His ultimate goal is to always bring glory to His name for others to see, so if I wasn't capable of telling others of His greatness in the small stuff, then I was limiting His ability to give me more. He wanted to give me more so I would tell others about Him more....and that is exactly what has happened.
If you would love to feel more blessings from God then begin to see Him and tell others about Him for just what you have now...even if it's just a roof over your head and food on your table. Then watch how much more you will start to see. And as the blessing flow more from Him, let the praises flow more from you.
God, I simply say THANK YOU today! Your goodness is incomparable and I am so sorry for the years I wasted not seeing you in EVERYTHING! I praise you for what I had, what I have and what you still have waiting for me...and I pray others will do the same. I honor YOU in my praise. In Jesus name, Amen
In my own personal life let me fast forward a few years to today and tell you that God is working blessings and miracles in my life daily. He is THE reason that good things are taking place in my life and my family and I do give Him all the credit now. I learned that as my walk with Him began to change so did my view of how much credit I was taking...and how much I was giving Him. I've learned that I am very capable of making a mess out of anything and He is capable of turning anything into a blessing. The more I took my hands off of things and simply prayed about them the more I would see His work being done and it was undeniable that every good thing that was happening to me was because of Him. But here is the really cool part, the more I recognized Him in the small things, the more He began to do big and unexplainable things. The more I had stories to share with others about How awesome He was and the amazing things that were taking place in my life. And the more I realized that I was now one of those people who always had a story to tell about how He is blessing me. What a shift in things....It took me seeing Him daily, thanking Him for even the smallest things so He could open up the doors of heaven and being to shower me with big things. And my view on that is simply this.....His ultimate goal is to always bring glory to His name for others to see, so if I wasn't capable of telling others of His greatness in the small stuff, then I was limiting His ability to give me more. He wanted to give me more so I would tell others about Him more....and that is exactly what has happened.
If you would love to feel more blessings from God then begin to see Him and tell others about Him for just what you have now...even if it's just a roof over your head and food on your table. Then watch how much more you will start to see. And as the blessing flow more from Him, let the praises flow more from you.
God, I simply say THANK YOU today! Your goodness is incomparable and I am so sorry for the years I wasted not seeing you in EVERYTHING! I praise you for what I had, what I have and what you still have waiting for me...and I pray others will do the same. I honor YOU in my praise. In Jesus name, Amen
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Testing The Word You're Hearing...
Growing up we have seen cartoons where the a character will have a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other shoulder. And always there will be a struggle between right and wrong and which one the character should listen to. Oh, but if it were only so easy, right! One of the things I hear people say they struggle with a lot, and something I used to struggle with myself, is how to know when a word, an idea, or a plan is coming from God? Especially when it's something you really want. People have asked me "how do I know if this is just me, if this is God, or if this is satan?" And as much as I would like to say that's easy, sometimes it's not. So you have to be willing to be honest with yourself and you have to be willing to removed your own wants and desires from the situation as you "test" the word to see if it's God. The reason I say this because our desires are probably the number one that they the enemy will use to make something bad look like something good...or something that is not God's will look like something that is God's will.
As much as I would love to point you to one magical verse and say if what you are hearing does not pass through this verse then its' not God, I personally don't know of any one verse like that. Instead, I would say you need to pass what you are hearing against God's entire Word. Since the beginning of time God has bee leading people. And when He has, He has also been using circumstances to advance His kingdom, get the attention of those who did not believe in who He was, and creating miracles out of situations that seems impossible. All the while in a way that brought glory and honor to His name, not the name of the person whose life He was moving in. Are there a few simple "rules" to go by if you want to know if a word is coming from God, sure I think so. First, I would ask how will this bring honor to God? How will this glorify and magnify His name? Will this be a testimony I will be able to tell others so they will be able to see the power of God and increase their faith? Second, I would ask is this thing I am feeling like I should do going to hurt anyone, bring any kind of shame or guilt, or cause a stumbling block for nonbelievers who are looking at my life? If the answer to any of those could be yes, then I would say there is a good chance that enemy is trying to deceive you into believing something you want is blessed by God. And for more on that I would turn to God's word because Jesus came to promote love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, forgiveness, grace and mercy... and to get us to walk out of the power of sin in our life. Not to fall into traps the enemy sets that moves us away from any of those things. Third, I would ask you how much time you have spent actually talking to God about the thing you are considering? If you have not talked to Him about it, then how can you expect Him to be talking to you about it. Sometimes when we want something really bad we give it a "Godly stamp of approval", but we avoid actually asking Him to reveal the truth to us because we may actually find out we don't have His blessing. So always spend time praying about it and get others involved in praying about it. I can think of a time when I was seeking God on something and I just wasn't sure, but it wasn't until I involved 2 other people who I knew had great prayer lives that I got my answer from God. And the answer was clear and concise and not the one I expected....why was is so clear, because when I wasn't sure I didn't react, I sought Him out more. He always wants us to seek Him our more!
God has a plan and will for each of our lives. He wants things for you that do benefit your life, but He also wants to make sure that others see HIM in the decisions that you make for your life. If you make God a promise to never make a move until you are sure something is from Him, I promise you that He will faithfully always make things clear for you. I know I can make that promise because I have experienced it in my own life. He loves us, He wants the best for us, but we have to remember that He also knows what is best for us far more than we do. And when you are willing to submit all of your own plans to Him, and let Him have complete authority over your life and your plans, His word will become much more clear to you. And when you do move with His blessings you will bring glory and honor to Him so that others can see how powerful He is in your life.
God, I thank You for this word today, and I pray it reaches those that need it. I pray as we draw closer to You will become so in tune with the sound of Your voice that we will always know it's You. Holy Spirit work on us and in us so the desires of our hearts match the desires of Your heart. And always let our choices glorify You so others can see your power and your majesty! In Jesus name, Amen
As much as I would love to point you to one magical verse and say if what you are hearing does not pass through this verse then its' not God, I personally don't know of any one verse like that. Instead, I would say you need to pass what you are hearing against God's entire Word. Since the beginning of time God has bee leading people. And when He has, He has also been using circumstances to advance His kingdom, get the attention of those who did not believe in who He was, and creating miracles out of situations that seems impossible. All the while in a way that brought glory and honor to His name, not the name of the person whose life He was moving in. Are there a few simple "rules" to go by if you want to know if a word is coming from God, sure I think so. First, I would ask how will this bring honor to God? How will this glorify and magnify His name? Will this be a testimony I will be able to tell others so they will be able to see the power of God and increase their faith? Second, I would ask is this thing I am feeling like I should do going to hurt anyone, bring any kind of shame or guilt, or cause a stumbling block for nonbelievers who are looking at my life? If the answer to any of those could be yes, then I would say there is a good chance that enemy is trying to deceive you into believing something you want is blessed by God. And for more on that I would turn to God's word because Jesus came to promote love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, forgiveness, grace and mercy... and to get us to walk out of the power of sin in our life. Not to fall into traps the enemy sets that moves us away from any of those things. Third, I would ask you how much time you have spent actually talking to God about the thing you are considering? If you have not talked to Him about it, then how can you expect Him to be talking to you about it. Sometimes when we want something really bad we give it a "Godly stamp of approval", but we avoid actually asking Him to reveal the truth to us because we may actually find out we don't have His blessing. So always spend time praying about it and get others involved in praying about it. I can think of a time when I was seeking God on something and I just wasn't sure, but it wasn't until I involved 2 other people who I knew had great prayer lives that I got my answer from God. And the answer was clear and concise and not the one I expected....why was is so clear, because when I wasn't sure I didn't react, I sought Him out more. He always wants us to seek Him our more!
God has a plan and will for each of our lives. He wants things for you that do benefit your life, but He also wants to make sure that others see HIM in the decisions that you make for your life. If you make God a promise to never make a move until you are sure something is from Him, I promise you that He will faithfully always make things clear for you. I know I can make that promise because I have experienced it in my own life. He loves us, He wants the best for us, but we have to remember that He also knows what is best for us far more than we do. And when you are willing to submit all of your own plans to Him, and let Him have complete authority over your life and your plans, His word will become much more clear to you. And when you do move with His blessings you will bring glory and honor to Him so that others can see how powerful He is in your life.
God, I thank You for this word today, and I pray it reaches those that need it. I pray as we draw closer to You will become so in tune with the sound of Your voice that we will always know it's You. Holy Spirit work on us and in us so the desires of our hearts match the desires of Your heart. And always let our choices glorify You so others can see your power and your majesty! In Jesus name, Amen
Monday, September 14, 2015
Why Are You Doing That?
I believe one of the wisest things you can do as you walk with Jesus is to do a self examination of the heart from time to time. And one of the best ways to do this is to actually ask for help. Ask the Holy Spirit help you examine your heart and point out the things that in your own site you may not want to see or may to blind to see. These could be things that have creeped their way into your life and hindered your walk with God, or they may be things that you used to do for all the right intentions that have become things done merely out of religion. I've had many people ask me over the years the question 'what does it matter, as long as I'm still doing them?". And the answer to that question is simply "desire". God sees the desires of our heart and it pleases Him when we desire to do His will, but it pleases Him so much more when those desires actually bring joy to us. Why is that so important? Because when other see joy in what you do it makes a difference. When someone sees something different in you and they know that what you have is clearly missing out of their life, then they will want to seek out what you have. And when someone sees you stepping through the motions of "doing things for God" and there is no joy in it, it will show. And that is when you hear non-believers say things like "why would I want what they have, they look miserable". And I have met Christians who look miserable while serving God. What once was seen as serving Him has and would bring joy to their heart has become nothing more than a chore or an obligation. And because it is being looked at like that the enemy has robbed all the joy from it.
So what do we do if we examine our hearts and we find that things have become routine, obligations or religious rituals to us? Well the first thing we should do is pray. The first thing the enemy would tell us to do is stop doing them. But before you stop anything you really need to take it to God and ask Him if that is the best thing for you. All of us can go through a "dry season" in our lives. A season where things don't have the same impact on us as they once did. I use the word impact because I think we begin to walk in a dangerous area if we use the word "feelings". If we say " this thing doesn't feel like it used to" then we are letting the enemy drive us through emotions, and that is never a good thing. I am pretty sure when I read about the life of Jesus that there had to have been days when He may not have "felt like" walking out God's plan, but that did not stop Him. Instead He would go and pray and make sure that He was connected to the Father, that He was still following the purpose and plan that God had laid out before Him, and that it was still being done out of love. I would imagine after seeing the way Jesus was treated He had to make sure He asked God to keep His "love tank" full so He could continue to do God's will despite the way He was being treated. And I think it would be wise of us to do the same thing. If you feel your love tank is running low then maybe you could pick up a devotional that will help you in that area. If you feel your motivation to carry out God's plan has become less over the years then you could ask yourself if you have allowed things into your life that are distracting you. If you just aren't finding joy in the ministry you are still involved in then maybe you need to ask God if He is nudging you to get involved in something brand new? Or maybe He needs to stretch you and grow you and He needs to see if you really can push through a dry spell and find your joy in Him again.
I don't know the answer for you, but I do know that God holds that answer and seeking His face is the number one way to either regain the joy you once had, know when it's time to move into and out of a ministry, or make sure you are not just stepping through the motions for mere religious purposes. In Psalm 51 we see that David prayed to the Lord concerning three kinds of spirit: a steadfast spirit, a willing spirit, and a broken spirit. We need the Lord to renew a steadfast spirit within us (v. 10), we need Him to sustain us with a willing spirit (v. 12), and we need to have a broken and repentant spirit (v. 17). Self examination, and staying humble enough to ask God for correction, will help in all of these areas. And then ultimately help you make sure you are serving for the right reasons in your heart.
God, thank You for Your help. Thank You that You would rather help us be on and stay on the right path, for the right reasons, then to see us serving with a corrupted heart. Holy Spirit please help us examine our hearts so that the work we are doing is not only for the purpose of serving other, but also drawing us closer to God. And help us hear from You and allow room for correction and direction in our lives, so those we are serving will see the joy of The Lord at work in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen
So what do we do if we examine our hearts and we find that things have become routine, obligations or religious rituals to us? Well the first thing we should do is pray. The first thing the enemy would tell us to do is stop doing them. But before you stop anything you really need to take it to God and ask Him if that is the best thing for you. All of us can go through a "dry season" in our lives. A season where things don't have the same impact on us as they once did. I use the word impact because I think we begin to walk in a dangerous area if we use the word "feelings". If we say " this thing doesn't feel like it used to" then we are letting the enemy drive us through emotions, and that is never a good thing. I am pretty sure when I read about the life of Jesus that there had to have been days when He may not have "felt like" walking out God's plan, but that did not stop Him. Instead He would go and pray and make sure that He was connected to the Father, that He was still following the purpose and plan that God had laid out before Him, and that it was still being done out of love. I would imagine after seeing the way Jesus was treated He had to make sure He asked God to keep His "love tank" full so He could continue to do God's will despite the way He was being treated. And I think it would be wise of us to do the same thing. If you feel your love tank is running low then maybe you could pick up a devotional that will help you in that area. If you feel your motivation to carry out God's plan has become less over the years then you could ask yourself if you have allowed things into your life that are distracting you. If you just aren't finding joy in the ministry you are still involved in then maybe you need to ask God if He is nudging you to get involved in something brand new? Or maybe He needs to stretch you and grow you and He needs to see if you really can push through a dry spell and find your joy in Him again.
I don't know the answer for you, but I do know that God holds that answer and seeking His face is the number one way to either regain the joy you once had, know when it's time to move into and out of a ministry, or make sure you are not just stepping through the motions for mere religious purposes. In Psalm 51 we see that David prayed to the Lord concerning three kinds of spirit: a steadfast spirit, a willing spirit, and a broken spirit. We need the Lord to renew a steadfast spirit within us (v. 10), we need Him to sustain us with a willing spirit (v. 12), and we need to have a broken and repentant spirit (v. 17). Self examination, and staying humble enough to ask God for correction, will help in all of these areas. And then ultimately help you make sure you are serving for the right reasons in your heart.
God, thank You for Your help. Thank You that You would rather help us be on and stay on the right path, for the right reasons, then to see us serving with a corrupted heart. Holy Spirit please help us examine our hearts so that the work we are doing is not only for the purpose of serving other, but also drawing us closer to God. And help us hear from You and allow room for correction and direction in our lives, so those we are serving will see the joy of The Lord at work in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen
Friday, September 11, 2015
The Humbleness of Jesus
When I look back on the life of Jesus there is a word that just jumps out at me as I think about who He was. Yes, we all think of His grace and mercy and love and gentleness.....but there was and never will be one as humble as Jesus was. He is literally the definition of the word humble. If anyone had a reason to carry pride, to feel entitled, to feel right in every wrong situation..it was Jesus. I mean, just think about what Jesus "the man" knew as He walked the face of this earth. He knew was the son of the God. He knew He had been sent down from Heaven and He knew that at any given time He could have said "I don't want to carry out this plan" and His Father would have sent a thousand angels to come down to get Him. He knew He had never committed one single sin. He knew He was totally without blame. So as I stated, I don't know any other person who has ever, or will ever, walk the face of this earth who will have more of a right to not be humble as He did....BUT....HE WAS. And He demonstrated a humbleness that we can only hope to attempt to mimic in our own lives.
Remaining humble is a steady theme throughout the bible. It is not only something that Jesus modeled in His own life, but it is the very thing that allowed God to teach someone, to change someone and to use someone all throughout history. Psalms 25:9 says "The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way". James 4:10 says "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up". And James 4:6 says "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'". It's a clear message that tells us our humbleness pleases God and allows Him to do what He desires to do in our lives....which is ultimately to draw us closer to Him so we can be used more by Him.
So what does it look like to be humble? Webster defines it as "not proud : not thinking of yourself as better than other people". And again, if anyone had the right to feel this way, it was Jesus. But what made Him so different and why is it so important for us to learn from His humbleness? The main thing that made Him different was that He knew The Father and He took on the attitude of The Father. He had a servant's heart and He knew the best way to reach people was not always to show them how wrong they are (even if they flat out are), but instead to show them how loved they are. Not because they even deserve the love they are being shown, but because God's love is unconditional. And when we can demonstrate the unconditional love in those tough moments and humble ourselves, we are not just taking on the attitude of Christ, but we are taking on the heart of God. And that is when we will be the most effective for God.
Recently I was in a situation, and I could tell the enemy was trying to draw me into an argument with someone. I knew that I had some ground to stand on where I could "make my points" and "prove I was right" and "had the right to be upset" with them. You know, all the things the enemy loves to pump into our heads to puff up our pride. But instead I heard God whisper something in my ear that immediately humbled me....He said "what is more important here, that you look right, or that you look like Me?" And in a moment that broke me. It brought me directly to the point that I needed to be in order to let God work through me. And instead of responding to the person "in the moment" I asked God to humble me more and give me the right words. And to be honest, here is when you will know that you let God do His work...because no matter how the other person responds back to you, you will have peace. And you will know in that very moment, you heard from Him, you responded to Him, and He taught you something. And what the enemy meant for bad, God turned into something God. All because you humbled yourself before The Lord.
Trust me when I say I am still a work in progress. I wish I could say I get it right every time, but in my humbleness let me say I don't. But He continues to work on me with His beautiful grace...humbling me and drawing me closer to Him. The place I find peace and rest.
God, thank You for your patience with us. So many times we blow it and we worry about looking right instead of looking like you..please forgive us for those moments. Holy Spirit burn inside of us the importance to remain humble and how pleasing this is to God. Let our lives reflect you more and more and let other see You love, grace, mercy and humbleness in us, so we can draw other to You. In Jesus name, Amen
Remaining humble is a steady theme throughout the bible. It is not only something that Jesus modeled in His own life, but it is the very thing that allowed God to teach someone, to change someone and to use someone all throughout history. Psalms 25:9 says "The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way". James 4:10 says "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up". And James 4:6 says "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'". It's a clear message that tells us our humbleness pleases God and allows Him to do what He desires to do in our lives....which is ultimately to draw us closer to Him so we can be used more by Him.
So what does it look like to be humble? Webster defines it as "not proud : not thinking of yourself as better than other people". And again, if anyone had the right to feel this way, it was Jesus. But what made Him so different and why is it so important for us to learn from His humbleness? The main thing that made Him different was that He knew The Father and He took on the attitude of The Father. He had a servant's heart and He knew the best way to reach people was not always to show them how wrong they are (even if they flat out are), but instead to show them how loved they are. Not because they even deserve the love they are being shown, but because God's love is unconditional. And when we can demonstrate the unconditional love in those tough moments and humble ourselves, we are not just taking on the attitude of Christ, but we are taking on the heart of God. And that is when we will be the most effective for God.
Recently I was in a situation, and I could tell the enemy was trying to draw me into an argument with someone. I knew that I had some ground to stand on where I could "make my points" and "prove I was right" and "had the right to be upset" with them. You know, all the things the enemy loves to pump into our heads to puff up our pride. But instead I heard God whisper something in my ear that immediately humbled me....He said "what is more important here, that you look right, or that you look like Me?" And in a moment that broke me. It brought me directly to the point that I needed to be in order to let God work through me. And instead of responding to the person "in the moment" I asked God to humble me more and give me the right words. And to be honest, here is when you will know that you let God do His work...because no matter how the other person responds back to you, you will have peace. And you will know in that very moment, you heard from Him, you responded to Him, and He taught you something. And what the enemy meant for bad, God turned into something God. All because you humbled yourself before The Lord.
Trust me when I say I am still a work in progress. I wish I could say I get it right every time, but in my humbleness let me say I don't. But He continues to work on me with His beautiful grace...humbling me and drawing me closer to Him. The place I find peace and rest.
God, thank You for your patience with us. So many times we blow it and we worry about looking right instead of looking like you..please forgive us for those moments. Holy Spirit burn inside of us the importance to remain humble and how pleasing this is to God. Let our lives reflect you more and more and let other see You love, grace, mercy and humbleness in us, so we can draw other to You. In Jesus name, Amen
Thursday, September 10, 2015
An Encouraging Word
Today I want to encourage you to look for God IN your life. Psalms 28:7 says "The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him." I love this verse because it doesn't matter if you are at a really good place in your life, or if you are going through a rough season, it is good for them both. God is where we need to place our trust when things are tough......and when He has us at a good place we must remember to thank and praise Him.
Today, I want to encourage you to look for God in ALL of your situations because He IS there. If life is good for you right now, then look for Gods blessings. Thank Him, tell others about how He is blessing you, give honor where honor it is due. And if you are going through a rough season right now, then I also want to encourage you to look for God. Look for His hand in your life. Look for how He is sustaining you. How He may be the only reason they are not worse. How He is guiding you through whatever it is you are going through. Recognize His voice in the midst of your trouble and thank Him for being there. Look for even the slightest light in the darkness and be drawn to it.
When things are good we can tend to forget to give honor to Him with our praise for how good they are...and when things are bad we can tend to forget to honor Him with our trust despite the way circumstances are making things look. Let's defeat the enemy today by looking for and seeing God everywhere. He is our strength and He is our shield. Trust Him, praise Him, honor Him and love Him. Do this in ALL situations and you just might be amazed at how much more you really see Him in your life.
God, Thank You that You are ALWAYS at work in our life. Your light never stops shining on us and our praise should never stop toward You. Holy Spirit encourage those who are having a hard time seeing Your light in the midst of bad circumstances today, and remind those who are be blessed right now that You are where their blessings come from. And may we worship You in the midst of ALL of our situations. Giving honor where honor is due. I honor you with my love, my faith, my trust and my praise today...In Jesus name, Amen
Today, I want to encourage you to look for God in ALL of your situations because He IS there. If life is good for you right now, then look for Gods blessings. Thank Him, tell others about how He is blessing you, give honor where honor it is due. And if you are going through a rough season right now, then I also want to encourage you to look for God. Look for His hand in your life. Look for how He is sustaining you. How He may be the only reason they are not worse. How He is guiding you through whatever it is you are going through. Recognize His voice in the midst of your trouble and thank Him for being there. Look for even the slightest light in the darkness and be drawn to it.
When things are good we can tend to forget to give honor to Him with our praise for how good they are...and when things are bad we can tend to forget to honor Him with our trust despite the way circumstances are making things look. Let's defeat the enemy today by looking for and seeing God everywhere. He is our strength and He is our shield. Trust Him, praise Him, honor Him and love Him. Do this in ALL situations and you just might be amazed at how much more you really see Him in your life.
God, Thank You that You are ALWAYS at work in our life. Your light never stops shining on us and our praise should never stop toward You. Holy Spirit encourage those who are having a hard time seeing Your light in the midst of bad circumstances today, and remind those who are be blessed right now that You are where their blessings come from. And may we worship You in the midst of ALL of our situations. Giving honor where honor is due. I honor you with my love, my faith, my trust and my praise today...In Jesus name, Amen
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Who Do You Say He Is?
In Mark 8:27-29 Jesus has an interesting conversation with His disciples. He asks them 2 questions...one being, who do the people say I am?...and the other being, but who do you say I am? And when I think about the way Peter answered Jesus, I instantly think about how it wouldn't be long after that that Peter would answer the people around him very differently when they ask him if He was with Jesus. Peter, someone who walked with Jesus, did things hand in hand with Jesus, saw miracles performed right before his eyes, proclaimed in front of Jesus that he knew He was the Messiah, but then proclaimed something very different when "trouble" came. Denying that he even knew who Jesus was. (John 18:15-27) And then I thought to myself, how many times have we been just like Peter in today's world?
I think this topic is on my mind right now because we are at a crucial time where you just never know the conversation you are going to be involved in at school, or work or just in your neighborhood. Conversations that are either going make you look like you know Jesus as your Messiah, or that you are ashamed to even admit that you know who He is. This might sound a little radical and ridiculous to some, but it's very true. I know personally I have had some conversations lately that would have been much easier if I just slid in under the radar and gave the "soft", easy answer that a lot of people are giving. One like, "oh as long as that doesn't affect me or my family", or "hey, whatever makes people happy", or even "who am I to judge what someone else wants?". Each of these answers, to me, don't differ to much from Peter saying "I am not one of His disciples". We can deny Christ before others in many more ways that flat out saying the words. We can deny Him by not standing up for Him. By not speaking out His truth. By not being proud of the life we live for Him. And there is a way to make that happen without sounding like a judgemental and loveless person. In fact, when you try to explain why you are set apart in your lifestyle, the number one thing that should set you apart should be LOVE. Love for The Father and love for His ways. And a love for placing His ways above your desire for sin. (nor perfection, but a desire to live for Him) Love should be what drives your choices to please Him, and it should be what drives your heart to reach others. Not a desire to "change them" or "show them how wrong they are". That is not our place. Our place is stand firm on His truth and through love demonstrate who He is to others. And what they see in us as Christ followers should draw them to Him. I don't care what even the hardest person says to you, everyone desires the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness Christ has to offer when it is presented to them correctly. (The Gospel)
So then that brings us back to the question "who do we say Jesus is?". We have to be very careful to not have 2 answers to that question. Whoever Christ is to you in your secret place is EXACTLY who Christ should be to you in your public life. If He is not, and you can be honest with yourself about that, then I would ask yourself who you are trying harder to please, God or man? I don't want to try so hard to impress people that I let God down in the process. Sometimes (most of the time anymore) the Godly answer is not the answer that is going to make you popular. But I would rather look right before The Lord than popular before people. And I even in this blog I would rather end it with a word that will challenge you then an a verse that will make you feel all good inside. So let me end with the words of Jesus from Matthew 10:33 where He says "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven". Very blunt and very serious words that should make us think about how we represent Him in every conversation we are ever involved in. If you represent Him through love, He will always find a way to help you find the right words that need to be said in any conversation so that in the end He and His ways are glorified.
God, thank You for teaching us in Your Word that it is SO important to not live by the worlds standards. And thank You for showing us that we need to represent You to this lost and dying world we live in. Holy Spirit help us to find the love and the boldness to always represent Jesus and His ways when we are confronted by the world and its ways. In Jesus name, Amen
I think this topic is on my mind right now because we are at a crucial time where you just never know the conversation you are going to be involved in at school, or work or just in your neighborhood. Conversations that are either going make you look like you know Jesus as your Messiah, or that you are ashamed to even admit that you know who He is. This might sound a little radical and ridiculous to some, but it's very true. I know personally I have had some conversations lately that would have been much easier if I just slid in under the radar and gave the "soft", easy answer that a lot of people are giving. One like, "oh as long as that doesn't affect me or my family", or "hey, whatever makes people happy", or even "who am I to judge what someone else wants?". Each of these answers, to me, don't differ to much from Peter saying "I am not one of His disciples". We can deny Christ before others in many more ways that flat out saying the words. We can deny Him by not standing up for Him. By not speaking out His truth. By not being proud of the life we live for Him. And there is a way to make that happen without sounding like a judgemental and loveless person. In fact, when you try to explain why you are set apart in your lifestyle, the number one thing that should set you apart should be LOVE. Love for The Father and love for His ways. And a love for placing His ways above your desire for sin. (nor perfection, but a desire to live for Him) Love should be what drives your choices to please Him, and it should be what drives your heart to reach others. Not a desire to "change them" or "show them how wrong they are". That is not our place. Our place is stand firm on His truth and through love demonstrate who He is to others. And what they see in us as Christ followers should draw them to Him. I don't care what even the hardest person says to you, everyone desires the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness Christ has to offer when it is presented to them correctly. (The Gospel)
So then that brings us back to the question "who do we say Jesus is?". We have to be very careful to not have 2 answers to that question. Whoever Christ is to you in your secret place is EXACTLY who Christ should be to you in your public life. If He is not, and you can be honest with yourself about that, then I would ask yourself who you are trying harder to please, God or man? I don't want to try so hard to impress people that I let God down in the process. Sometimes (most of the time anymore) the Godly answer is not the answer that is going to make you popular. But I would rather look right before The Lord than popular before people. And I even in this blog I would rather end it with a word that will challenge you then an a verse that will make you feel all good inside. So let me end with the words of Jesus from Matthew 10:33 where He says "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven". Very blunt and very serious words that should make us think about how we represent Him in every conversation we are ever involved in. If you represent Him through love, He will always find a way to help you find the right words that need to be said in any conversation so that in the end He and His ways are glorified.
God, thank You for teaching us in Your Word that it is SO important to not live by the worlds standards. And thank You for showing us that we need to represent You to this lost and dying world we live in. Holy Spirit help us to find the love and the boldness to always represent Jesus and His ways when we are confronted by the world and its ways. In Jesus name, Amen
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Truly Surrendered...Truly Blessed...
As I have walked out the past few years of my life I have learned more from God than I have in the other 38 years prior. And I firmly believe that the main reason for this is that I have put myself into position to allow Him to teach me. For me it was truly living out 2 Corinthians 12:10 (Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.) and seeing those words come to life. It was never a matter of IF God's word was true, but more like IF I was going to allow it to be true in my life. Letting yourself be completely and fully trusting in Him to take care of EVERYTHING doesn't have to be a scary thing. It means you praise Him in the good times and you praise Him in the bad. It means you pray in the good times and you pray in the bad. It means you don't ask yourself "why is this happening to me", but instead you say "what are you trying to teach me as this happens to me". Suffering is not always a horrible thing, because even if it is inflicted by the enemy, we can defeat Him by seeing God in it...and then thank God that it will NOT last forever and seeing that what God brings out of it can be a beautiful thing. I have shared in the past that as I walked through my storm I heard God speak this to me..."If you honor me through this, if you obey me, if you walk the path I have for you, then I will make things better than they ever have been. Better than you can even imagine." And instead of saying "how is that even possible", which is something I wanted to say some days, I just kept saying "Ok God, I trust you". And now almost 2 years later I am seeing God's promises come true!
It is an amazing to see the God of the universe do something personal in our lives. To see that maker and creator of all things put a personal touch in our lives. I still remember something my sister said when I was in a really hard part of my storm and in great need from God, she said "isn't it amazing how God can make you feel like you are the only one He is paying attention to in your time of need, even though He is doing it for millions of people at the same time". And man that is so true, but not just in our times of need, He also wants to make us feel like we are the only ones when He is blessing us too. In fact, He wants "personal" with us ALL the time. And I guess that is really the entire point of today's blog....to say that God can do the most in us when we make everything personal with Him. We give Him our best day and we give Him our worst. We ask Him to teach us in them both and then we stay in constant communication with Him as we would with anyone else we are close to. We can't treat God like a distant friend and expect closeness. We need to spend so much time with Him that we instantly recognize His voice, and we look for Him in everything. I hear so often that God is a "part" of someone's life. But I want to challenge you to say "God IS my life"....and everything else is a part of it!
So as I stated, I am seeing God's promise from 2 years ago unfold in my life. I am seeing the direction He is taking it in and I am excited. But along with the promise that came from Him, there was also a promise from me to Him. And that was that I wouldn't allow anything to come between Him and I again. I would seek Him first. I would serve Him first. I would listen to Him first. I would give to Him first. I will do for Him first. And I will continue to allow Him to teach me every step of the way. And just like I am doing today, I will do my best to tell others about this relationship and encourage others to do what it takes to give God room to be all He wants to be to them.
If I could go back 20 or 30 years and know what I know now, how much more could I have done for Him? But what can I do with the years that are still left? I can serve Him with all that is in me...and so can you! Galatians 1:10 says it all, but the choice is up to you...."Do you think I am trying to get the favor of men, or of God? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant owned by Christ."
God, I praise You today for always trying to teach us. And I am so sorry for the years of my past that I refused to be taught. Thank You that still showed up when I needed You the most and turned my life completely around. Thank You for what you taught me in the hard times, and thank You for how you have blessed my life. I pray others will truly surrender and truly experience You in their lives. In Jesus name, Amen
It is an amazing to see the God of the universe do something personal in our lives. To see that maker and creator of all things put a personal touch in our lives. I still remember something my sister said when I was in a really hard part of my storm and in great need from God, she said "isn't it amazing how God can make you feel like you are the only one He is paying attention to in your time of need, even though He is doing it for millions of people at the same time". And man that is so true, but not just in our times of need, He also wants to make us feel like we are the only ones when He is blessing us too. In fact, He wants "personal" with us ALL the time. And I guess that is really the entire point of today's blog....to say that God can do the most in us when we make everything personal with Him. We give Him our best day and we give Him our worst. We ask Him to teach us in them both and then we stay in constant communication with Him as we would with anyone else we are close to. We can't treat God like a distant friend and expect closeness. We need to spend so much time with Him that we instantly recognize His voice, and we look for Him in everything. I hear so often that God is a "part" of someone's life. But I want to challenge you to say "God IS my life"....and everything else is a part of it!
So as I stated, I am seeing God's promise from 2 years ago unfold in my life. I am seeing the direction He is taking it in and I am excited. But along with the promise that came from Him, there was also a promise from me to Him. And that was that I wouldn't allow anything to come between Him and I again. I would seek Him first. I would serve Him first. I would listen to Him first. I would give to Him first. I will do for Him first. And I will continue to allow Him to teach me every step of the way. And just like I am doing today, I will do my best to tell others about this relationship and encourage others to do what it takes to give God room to be all He wants to be to them.
If I could go back 20 or 30 years and know what I know now, how much more could I have done for Him? But what can I do with the years that are still left? I can serve Him with all that is in me...and so can you! Galatians 1:10 says it all, but the choice is up to you...."Do you think I am trying to get the favor of men, or of God? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant owned by Christ."
God, I praise You today for always trying to teach us. And I am so sorry for the years of my past that I refused to be taught. Thank You that still showed up when I needed You the most and turned my life completely around. Thank You for what you taught me in the hard times, and thank You for how you have blessed my life. I pray others will truly surrender and truly experience You in their lives. In Jesus name, Amen
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Love Song
There's a song that's in my heart
A song I love to sing
The lyrics aren't the important part
Cause they're not just words to me
It's a song I sing to God
Who's worthy of my praise
He's worth far more than any words
That I could surely say
He's to be honored
He's to be praised
He's to be glorified
He's the reason
My life has meaning
I'm the reason that He died
To Him it's owed
My everything
All I have to give
He came to earth
Lived a perfect life
Then died and rose again
He died a death
To much for words
A death so undeserved
To excuse the sins
I would commit
Knowing that I would
So with His love
He forgives
Showing grace and mercy too
To all of those
Who will receive
What He offers up to you
And so I praise Him
For His love
And His matchless grace
And I'll offer up
This love song
Till I see Him face to face
A song I love to sing
The lyrics aren't the important part
Cause they're not just words to me
It's a song I sing to God
Who's worthy of my praise
He's worth far more than any words
That I could surely say
He's to be honored
He's to be praised
He's to be glorified
He's the reason
My life has meaning
I'm the reason that He died
To Him it's owed
My everything
All I have to give
He came to earth
Lived a perfect life
Then died and rose again
He died a death
To much for words
A death so undeserved
To excuse the sins
I would commit
Knowing that I would
So with His love
He forgives
Showing grace and mercy too
To all of those
Who will receive
What He offers up to you
And so I praise Him
For His love
And His matchless grace
And I'll offer up
This love song
Till I see Him face to face
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Contamination Of The Mind
Our minds are the battle ground in which many fights are won and lost. Not fights with others, but internal fights that we have when it comes to wrong and right. It is the one place the enemy can be attacking you and nobody around you can know a thing about it. A person can be struggling with a temptation or secret sins and be left dealing with it only in their mind. The enemy can convince us out of fear not to say a word to anyone about our struggles or rejection and condemnation could soon follow. So we just deal with it the best we can, and most of the time that means on our own. Exactly how the enemy would love for us to. But this is not God's plan or God's design. So how can we avoid this internal battle before it even begins...by protecting our minds and filtering all the things we allow to enter into it.
As I was processing this blog today God showed me a glass of water. And in this vision I could see how crystal clear it was. It didn't even appear to be tap water, but more like water poured fresh from a bottle. Crystal clear with no impurities to the naked eye. And then I saw this fresh glass of water get placed on a table outside. And God said "would you drink this?".My answer was, "sure, why wouldn't I? There's nothing wrong with it". Then I could see the glass again after it had sat outside for a couple of hours. The heat had gotten to it, the things floating in the air had started to land in it, and it has started to lose that "crystal clear" look. The vision then fast forwarded about 24 hours and now the glass of water had a lot of things floating in it, including some bugs that had made their way to it. It had a dingy look to it now and definitely did not seem like the same glass of water....but it was. And I heard God say again, "would you drink it now?". To which I answered, "no, it's very contaminated". But what God was showing me was that this indeed was the same glass of water. However the things it had been exposed to changed it. It was no longer considered pure. It was no longer the way it was created to be. It was no longer able to do what it was intended to do, be drank. And then God said this is exactly what you do to your minds when you expose them to things they should not be exposed to. You would be very foolish to think your mind is not affected by the things you allow to come into it, because it is!
We must be careful to the things we expose ourselves too. They can muddy up the mind and contaminate it with thoughts and images that rob it of the pureness that God wants it to have. And just like the glass of water, when we allow these things to begin to exist in there, our minds will not be used the way they were intended. The enemy knows this too. It is the very reason that he has slowly desensitized society the way he has. He is polluting our minds with anything and everything he can. It used to be somewhat avoidable by not going out to watch certain movies, or choosing to not listen to certain music. But anymore it's the commercials we see, the billboards we pass, the magazines we pick up. And it's not just a choice to not watch or read certain things, because through advertising alone we are still exposed. Anything and everything is being sold to use through the use of sex and lust and desire. We are simply bombarded with things that can contaminate our minds.
Sounds like nothing but bad news, I know, but it doesn't have to be. We just need to be safe and wise. We have to filter what we expose ourselves and our kids to. And we have to ask God to help us clear out the things we have been exposed to without choice. An on top of that, we have to fill our minds with things that will keep it pure. The most important thing being God's word!
At the end of the vision God showed me something beautiful about that glass of water. He showed me that by using the right processes the water could be refiltered and be made like new again. That it's purpose was not destroyed by the impurities, because they could be removed and the water could be made pure again. And this is the same process He has for each one of us. No matter your past, no matter what you have been a part of or exposed to, He can make you pure again. The blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross in the filter in which God uses to purify us. There is no other way and there is nothing more powerful. Don't let the enemy convince you that you are unusable! Those are lies that he wants you to believe. God can make you like new and you can use Godly wisdom to filter the things out of your life that will prevent future contamination of the mind.
God, thank You that You have an amazing recycle program. You can make all things new and You can restore anyone! Thank You for the gift of Jesus Christ that You gave to us so that we don't have to live in guilt and condemnation, but instead we can repent, turn from our ways, take on His righteousness and walk with You down a new path that You have laid out for us. Today I pray that light would pierce the darkness and that the lies people have bought into would be destroyed! Holy Spirit purify the contaminated minds and help us to use Your wisdom to filter and protect them. In Jesus name, Amen.
As I was processing this blog today God showed me a glass of water. And in this vision I could see how crystal clear it was. It didn't even appear to be tap water, but more like water poured fresh from a bottle. Crystal clear with no impurities to the naked eye. And then I saw this fresh glass of water get placed on a table outside. And God said "would you drink this?".My answer was, "sure, why wouldn't I? There's nothing wrong with it". Then I could see the glass again after it had sat outside for a couple of hours. The heat had gotten to it, the things floating in the air had started to land in it, and it has started to lose that "crystal clear" look. The vision then fast forwarded about 24 hours and now the glass of water had a lot of things floating in it, including some bugs that had made their way to it. It had a dingy look to it now and definitely did not seem like the same glass of water....but it was. And I heard God say again, "would you drink it now?". To which I answered, "no, it's very contaminated". But what God was showing me was that this indeed was the same glass of water. However the things it had been exposed to changed it. It was no longer considered pure. It was no longer the way it was created to be. It was no longer able to do what it was intended to do, be drank. And then God said this is exactly what you do to your minds when you expose them to things they should not be exposed to. You would be very foolish to think your mind is not affected by the things you allow to come into it, because it is!
We must be careful to the things we expose ourselves too. They can muddy up the mind and contaminate it with thoughts and images that rob it of the pureness that God wants it to have. And just like the glass of water, when we allow these things to begin to exist in there, our minds will not be used the way they were intended. The enemy knows this too. It is the very reason that he has slowly desensitized society the way he has. He is polluting our minds with anything and everything he can. It used to be somewhat avoidable by not going out to watch certain movies, or choosing to not listen to certain music. But anymore it's the commercials we see, the billboards we pass, the magazines we pick up. And it's not just a choice to not watch or read certain things, because through advertising alone we are still exposed. Anything and everything is being sold to use through the use of sex and lust and desire. We are simply bombarded with things that can contaminate our minds.
Sounds like nothing but bad news, I know, but it doesn't have to be. We just need to be safe and wise. We have to filter what we expose ourselves and our kids to. And we have to ask God to help us clear out the things we have been exposed to without choice. An on top of that, we have to fill our minds with things that will keep it pure. The most important thing being God's word!
At the end of the vision God showed me something beautiful about that glass of water. He showed me that by using the right processes the water could be refiltered and be made like new again. That it's purpose was not destroyed by the impurities, because they could be removed and the water could be made pure again. And this is the same process He has for each one of us. No matter your past, no matter what you have been a part of or exposed to, He can make you pure again. The blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross in the filter in which God uses to purify us. There is no other way and there is nothing more powerful. Don't let the enemy convince you that you are unusable! Those are lies that he wants you to believe. God can make you like new and you can use Godly wisdom to filter the things out of your life that will prevent future contamination of the mind.
God, thank You that You have an amazing recycle program. You can make all things new and You can restore anyone! Thank You for the gift of Jesus Christ that You gave to us so that we don't have to live in guilt and condemnation, but instead we can repent, turn from our ways, take on His righteousness and walk with You down a new path that You have laid out for us. Today I pray that light would pierce the darkness and that the lies people have bought into would be destroyed! Holy Spirit purify the contaminated minds and help us to use Your wisdom to filter and protect them. In Jesus name, Amen.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Taking The Long Way To Get There
If you have been reading my blogs for a while then you know that I have compared God to a GPS a time or two. Talking about how He directs us to the place He wants us to be at despite the wrong turns that we often take. It truly is amazing how He will guide us and direct us even when we make it so difficult for Him at times. But what about when we have to go the long way around to get to the place that God desires for us to be? Almost everyone has experienced this at one time or another in their life.
Taking the long way to get to where God wants us to be can come about in two different ways. One being that we choose to take the long way because we are either to stubborn, or because we just keep having to do things our own way(the hard way). And two is because God takes us there the long way because He has things in us that He wants to do so we can fully appreciate, receive and be prepared for what He has waiting for us.
If anyone can understand God taking them around the long way to get to something, it would be Moses. God allowed an entire population of people to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because their hearts were not ready to see what God had for them. God never took back His promise to them, but He also was not about to deliver them into something that they were not ready for. (Numbers 32) So He took them the very long way to get there. God will do the same to us today. He will do what He knows is best for us before He takes us to a place that we are not ready for. That is love! In the moment in may be hard to understand because we as humans always want to take the fast track to everything. But we serve a God who loves us enough to say "I won't deliver you into something that you are not ready for...because I KNOW what is best for you".
As I stated in the beginning there is another reason we take the long way to get somewhere with God. And that is called free will. Just like the comparison I have used before, a GPS is going to suggest all the right roads to get you to your destination, but it is completely up to you to take them. When you look up how to get somewhere on Google maps it will show you a fast way and a long way. It will let you choose which one you want to take. And even after making the choice, if you wonder off the correct path because something catches your attention on your journey, their will still be a way to get where your going, it just may take you longer.
So which path are you on today? And with that question I'm asking you take a honest and humble look at your life. Do you know you are right where God wants you today? Are you on the path He has laid out for you? Or is He still taking you the long way around because He's still working on something inside of you that requires correction so you can truly appreciate what He has waiting for you? Or are you taking the long way yourself because you just can't seem to break free from the "free will" way of thinking? Is surrendering to Him the one thing that you know would get you back on the right path to the destination He has for you, but you just keep making the twists and turns that you want to because you can't get over that idea that your way is better? Trust me when I say that for far to long I let the enemy convince me that my way was "better". That I would find more out of life if I did things my way. That surrendering to God really meant missing out on stuff. All lies....all lies that I bought into. The path God has me on right now is not my path....but His. The steps I get up and take each day are steps that I ask him to carve out for me so I will know I am walking in His will. And when I feel the urge to do something my way I quickly try to repent that to Him and ask Him to humble me so I can submit to His ways and not miss out on the greatness that He has for me. And that greatness will involve bringing others along on this amazing journey. How do I know that? Because this journey was never suppose to be just about me....God's plans always involve advancing His kingdom through truth, love, forgiveness, grace and mercy.
If you know your taking the long way, then today would be a great day to say "I want this to be YOUR journey and I want You to bring me along on it. I'm done doing things "my way" and I repent that idea now. Correct and direct me so I can be where you desire for me to be...in exactly the time that You want me to be there. Your will, Your way God!"
God, I simply say THANK YOU today that You LOVE us enough to correct us and direct us. And that You care enough about us to not let us ruin ourselves, but instead You will lovingly take us to the place You have for us in Your perfect timing. As we follow You please help us to also lead others to You so they too can find all that You have waiting for them. In Jesus name, Amen
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