Month: August 2013

August 31, 2013

We Must Die to Our Flesh and Remain Faithful to God

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


1 Tim 2:11-13 (Voice)
11 Here’s a statement you can trust:
If we died with Him, we will live with Him.
12 If we remain with Him, we will reign alongside Him.
If we deny Him, we will be denied by Him.
13 If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful,
For He is not able to deny Himself.

We must determine each morning to put away our carnal, fleshly desires and live for Jesus. As Jesus said to Cain in Genesis 4:7 If you do what is right, you will still be accepted, but if you do not choose to do right, sin is at the door, it desires to have you. The phrase, “sin is at the door” indicates that if we refuse to repent and do what is right, we will continue down the wrong path and sin will eventually control our minds and our lives. If we wish to have eternal life and reign with Jesus, we have to remain faithful to Him. Faithfulness requires a working knowledge of God’s Word. If we hide God’s Word in our hearts, we will follow after goodness and righteousness.
Posted for Aug 31

August 29, 2013

Don’t Worry About Tomorrow

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

Matthew 6:28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV)
God gave us time in 24 hour blocks so that our finite minds could comprehend it. He isn’t bound by those restraints. It is always the PRESENT (NOW) to Him. He sees time as an eternity having no beginning and no end. He has forgotten all about your PAST sins (they are cast as far away as the East is from the West) and only He knows whether we have an earthly tomorrow (FUTURE) or not. God comes to us right where we are right now. So, wherever you are and whatever situation you have found yourself in, just look up and you will see the hand of Jesus reaching down to pull you up out of the pit and set your feet on the Solid Rock. Trust Jesus to be your Savior, your Provider, and your Fortress. He is absolutely all we need.
Posted for Aug 30

August 29, 2013

You Can Always Come Home

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring[b] out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Your heavenly Father is calling, now is the time to answer His call. No matter how long you have been gone or where you have been, He is waiting with open arms. He is longing to hear you say, “Yes, Lord, I will come home.” This is true for everyone including you.

For some of you, this may be true of your earthly families as well. Make the first move, give them a call.

August 28, 2013

Friends

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does
not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
What an honor to be called friends by God, the Creator of the universe. What a great privilege to be chosen to join Him in His work to expand His Kingdom here on earth. If we accept Him and His call, we will spend an eternity with Him and each other. As friends of God, we are to learn from Him and bear fruit worthy of that friendship. As Jesus said, we must do what the Father does. We are to believe in Him as our Savior and love each other.
Posted for Aug 28

August 27, 2013

Sowing and Reaping

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (NIV)
The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good. He was our example of how to live our lives. We have many, many opportunities to do good everyday. It is up to us to take advantage of the opportunities that Jesus puts in our paths. If we sow goodness and the other fruits of the Holy Spirit then that is what we will reap in our lives. We all have the same excuses, “I can’t talk to people. I don’t have time” and the list goes on. God has given each of us a talent to use for His glory. Ask Him to show you how to develop that gift that He has given you. And when you ask, don’t forget to wait for His answer. He really and truly loves each of us and wants to bless us. He loves the fellowship and the communication with His children. And God has also given each of us 24 hours a day and it is up to us to take the time to talk with (not to) Him. He is waiting on you. Speak to Him now and listen for His voice.
For Aug 27th

August 25, 2013 Aside

How Much Do We Love Our Neighbor?

How Much Do We Love Our Neighbor?

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


Even though, the Biblical concept of neighbor is worldwide and not just locally, a better question to start with, would be, do you know your neighbor? In today’s high tech, fast paced world, we just don’t seem to make the time to see our neighbors, much less get to know them. If your are reading this blog, I am sure that this is not news to you. We have been commanded to “love our neighbors”. How do we do that?
Let’s consider this fact: If you are a Christian, you have a free gift that your neighbor needs. If you love your neighbor, why don’t you talk to them and offer them that gift. After all, as an anonymous person once said: “The Gospel has come to you because it is on its way to someone else.” Since that is true, we need to keep it going until it circles the globe. This thought is also given to us in the Bible when Paul says to Timothy:

 

2 Timothy 4:1-3–The Voice (VOICE)

4 And now I bring you this charge before God and Jesus the Anointed, the one destined to judge the living and the dead, at His glorious appearance and His kingdom: 2 go out and preach the word! Go whether it’s an opportune time or not! Reprove, warn, and encourage; but do so with all the patience and instruction needed to fulfill your calling 3 because a time will come when some will no longer tolerate sound teaching. Instead, they will live by their own desires; they’ll scratch their itching ears by surrounding themselves with teachers who approve of their lifestyles and tell them what they want to hear. 

Since it is free to you and to them, this should be an easy task. The reason it is sometimes so awkward is that our neighbors don’t know that we care about them. And as it has been said, many times, “They don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” So, let them know you care and share a free gift with them. The Good News of Jesus Christ and His love for them. And, as Paul told Timothy: “go, whether, it is an opportune time or not”. In simpler terms, make time to care and the returns on your time will be worth much more than the anything else you could have done.
Published for Aug 26th

August 25, 2013

Prayer is a Conversation

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


Matthew 6:5 Likewise, when you pray, do not be as hypocrites who love to pray loudly at synagogue or on street corners—their concern is to be seen by men. They have already earned their reward. 6 When you pray, go into a private room, close the door, and pray unseen to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not go on and on, excessively and strangely like the outsiders; they think their verbosity will let them be heard by their deities. 8 Do not be like them. Your prayers need not be labored or lengthy or grandiose—for your Father knows what you need before you ever ask Him.(Voice)

Lots of us often have trouble putting into words what we want to say to God in our prayer times. It helps me to think of it as a conversation that a small child would have with their parents. I can tell Him anything that is on my heart in any respectful words that I choose and He will listen patiently. He desires that time of fellowship with us. He already knows what we want to ask and He already knows His answer. The purpose of the prayer is to let us know what He already knows. How does He do that, if I just put my list of “wants/needs” before Him and go my way. It has been said that the 15 minutes after a prayer time with God is the most important time there is. Remember this is a conversation and God has something to say to you. He doesn’t need to think about it over night, He already has the answer. Live God’s Holy Spirit time and He will teach you and lead you to the answer God has for you. Treat God with deep respect and always remember that whatever His answer, it is the best for you, even though at the time, it may not seem that way. God is always faithful and has never broken a promise. In Romans 8, we are told that even when we don’t know the right words, Gods’ Spirit will pray for us with groanings that we don’t understand. But because God’s Spirit and God are One, He understands it perfectly. Lean on Jesus and know that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

August 23, 2013

A Free Gift—The First of Many

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


Ephasians 2: 4 But God, with the unfathomable richness of His love and mercy focused on us, 5 united us with the Anointed One and infused our lifeless souls with life—even though we were buried under mountains of sin—and saved us by His grace. 6 He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly realms with our beloved Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King. 7 He did this for a reason: so that for all eternity we will stand as a living testimony to the incredible riches of His grace and kindness that He freely gives to us by uniting us with Jesus the Anointed. 8-9 For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing. 10 For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago. (The Voice)

We, as Christians should always remain humble realizing that we did not do anything to earn our salvation. It is impossible to earn or pay for a free gift. God loved us so much that He became as a man and died for us paying our sin debt in full. And that is just the beginning of the story. If we follow His teachings and become a disciple, there is much more that we can enjoy here on earth. God is all about the present and the eternity. We are told in John 10:10, that Jesus came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. And we can do nothing to earn those gifts, either. He gives them to us of His own free will. We receive peace, security, and joy from the same benevolence that borught us salvation. This was mentioned as far back as Isaiah in Chapter 12, Verse 2: Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” And He freely gives us all things that pertain to life:
2 Peter 1:2-4 (NKJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
So, salvation is not just for the future, it has benefits right now and right here.

Psalm 34:7-9 (NKJV)
7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.

August 22, 2013

Do Not Fear or Worry

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

2 Chronicles 20:16-18 The Voice (VOICE)

16 Tomorrow, they will travel through the ascent of Ziz. Meet them at the end of valley before the wilderness of Jeruel. There, I will be watching. 17 Stand and watch, but do not fight the battle. There, you will watch the Eternal save you, Judah and Jerusalem.”

Do not fear or worry. Tomorrow, face the army and trust that the Eternal is with you.

    18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head low, and all the assembly fell prostrate before the Eternal and worshiped Him with reverence. They trusted the Lord completely.

    In one form or another, God admonishes us not to fear 365 times. That is one for each day. Fear, worry, doubt are all signs of disbelief. God has also said that He would never leave us or forsake us. He has never broken one promise that He has made. He is an amazing God who is able to deliver His children from any difficulty. Yes, it is true that He allows us to go through hard times, but that testing is not for His benefit, it is for our benefit. He already knows what we will do, but He wants us to know as well. If we truly believe that God is always with us, whom should we fear? Since God gave us His only Son, doesn’t it seem reasonable and believable that He would give us anything else that we needed?

August 21, 2013

Looking for Love? Real Love

John 3:16 The Voice (VOICE) 16 For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.

John 10:11 (VOICE) 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep in His care.

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.


The more I study the Scriptures, the more I am reminded of the great old hymn, “I Love to Tell the Story”. The passages of Scripture are unique and different, but they tell us more about the same story, the story of Jesus. It is an complete story of HIs complete love. It seems incomplete to us in the beginning, but the more we study, the more we realize it is all there, we just haven’t understood it yet.

I have “loved” Jesus a long time, but it is only in the last year that I have come to realize that what I really wanted was to be “in love” with Jesus. I used to know about Him, but now I just want to know Him. The only way to really fall in love with someone is to get to know them and the only way to do that is to spend time with them, whether that be physically with them or Spiritually.

God’s Holy Spirit searches our hearts and knows the heart of God (since He is God) and He communicates between those hearts because He indwells us. What a wonderful plan! Because of God’s Holy Spirit, we can spend time with Him all the time. You probably thought the wireless internet was something new, didn’t you? As Solomon said “there is nothing new under the sun”.

Does God really love us? Consider this: What other motivation would He have for creating a creature knowing that He would have to give His Life for their redemption. Oh, how He loves you, Oh, how He loves me, Oh how He loves you and me. It is exciting to know. And the more you know about Jesus, the more exciting it is!