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“Meekness or Anger?”

Meekness or anger

These two words are the opposite of each other.  You cannot be meek and angry at the same time.  As Christians is there ever a time for anger?  This seems to always be the question.  And there are reasons, or I should say excuses, that we always come up with.  Someone may say, “Well, there is righteous indignation!”  And that is true but I believe our natural nature has a hard time portraying a righteous anger.  We tend to have a violent anger or a silent anger that is jabbing.

What about Jesus?

There are many people who look at the story of Jesus cleansing the temple of money changers and say, “Now there is righteous anger.”  And yes I can agree.  But how Christians tend to portray the story of the cleansing of the temple is a violent anger.  I don’t believe that Christ did it in a violent way.  I believe He did it with tears in His eyes and voice.  He was sorrowing over Jerusalem. (See Luke 19:41-48)

No one feels comfortable and safe with a violent angry person, especially children.  And the children were not afraid.  Jesus was meek.

Matthew 21:12-16

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”

Anger

When I looked up anger in the Strong’s Concordance, it said anger is a natural disposition, temper, and character.  It is movement or agitation of the soul, impulse desire, any violent emotion but especially anger.  In the regular dictionary, one thing it said was, feeling or showing anger or strong resentment.

When I think of anger I tend to think about characteristics, like yelling, destruction, thinking of one’s self and not others.  The atmosphere is anything but relaxed.  There is tension and everyone feels uncomfortable.  “A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.”  Proverbs. 15:18

The “rewards” that come from anger reminds me of the story of Moses.  God had told him to speak to the rock, for water to come forth for the people and in his anger, he struck the rock.  God did not allow him to go into the Promised Land. (See Numbers 20:7-12) Our anger will keep us out of the Promised Land, Heaven.

Meekness

When I was looking up meekness in the Strong’s Concordance there were many things that I could glean but this is the one I chose.  “Mildness of disposition, a gentleness of spirit.  Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good and therefore without disputing or resisting.”

If we totally trust and accept His dealings we never have a reason to get angry.  But it is not easy and we can’t do it without His help.  When I think of meekness I think of someone who is not swayed in any way to the things that happen to them.  They are on an even keel.  This is what is pleasing to God.  “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” 1Peter 3:4.

The rewards for meekness are worth it all.  “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” Matthew 5:5.  “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” Psalms 37:11.  I want to have meekness instead of anger.  How about you?

In what ways can I show meekness?

When I think of meekness I think of how I answer anything with the knowledge that I have, whether it be spiritual knowledge or any other knowledge.  Do I do it in a humble way, in a “know it all” way, or even in anger?  “But sanctify the Lord in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing than for evil doing” 1Peter 3:15-17.

Dear Father,

Help us to do things with meekness.  Having anger and a know it all spirit is natural to our human nature but we want You to come in and change us.  Thank you for Your Grace that has the power to change us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today so that He can fill you with the spirit of meekness.

Love you all.

What are your thoughts?  Have you had an experience where God has given you a meek spirit?  I would love to hear your story about how God has worked in your life.

 

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“Designated Driver”

Designated Driver

When you hear this term your mind probably immediately goes to someone drinking or doing drugs and their mind does not think clearly or even fast enough to drive.  But in this blog, I am going to be talking about this term in a different way.

One thing that I struggle with personally is falling asleep while driving.  This is not a very good thing to have happen.  I have tried different things to help me but alas they don’t work, I only have one answer.  Yes, it is true that I could drink caffeine but the damage it does to my body is not worth it to me.  I had to find other answers.  There are many little tricks that I can do but the one that works the most is communication.

Communication

One of the things that have helped me when I am driving to stay awake is communication.  My mom will often come with me and we will communicate back and forth and it keeps me alert. Now it has to be a two-way conversation because if my mom were doing all the talking I would still have trouble staying awake.  There have been times in the past where I am having such difficulty that I will stop and let her take over the driving.  As I sit in the passenger’s seat I no longer feel the pressure to stay awake.  I can be in full conversation and even be talking myself and I fall asleep in mid-sentence.

Woke up by a semi

I have never had this happen but imagine yourself driving down the road having a struggle falling asleep at the wheel.  Your mind does not even think about the realization of your situation.  All you can think about is just relaxing and sleeping.  But suddenly you hear a horn blow and you look up and see a semi-truck coming at you.  You are no longer thinking of sleeping.  You are suddenly fully awake and swerve just in time to miss the semi-truck.  The adrenalin is running now and you are fully awake.  But as you drive on it start to not seem so worrisome to you anymore.  The drowsiness starts in again and you don’t feel the urgency to even worry about it.

You need a designated driver

It makes me think of the Christian road.  We “drive” along the road of life and things seem to get monotonous.  At that point, we start to get drowsy.  We keep on going along having conversations with God but tending to talk more than we listen.  As we keep talking the activeness of our minds become inebriated with ourselves.  And eventually, we start falling asleep to the reality around us.  All we care about is us.  We find ourselves drifting and a “semi-truck” is heading right for us and unless we veer back onto the right path we will be destroyed with selfishness.

The time has come, we need to “pullover” and allow the Lord be the “driver” in our lives.  We need to surrender all to Him.  He knows “road” very well, with all its potholes, curves, and supposed detours.  And as long as we allow Him to do the “driving”, He will navigate through all these things without a problem.

As He becomes our “designated” driver, He will change our lives so that we will no longer be inebriated with self.  But He does not force Himself in, we have to give Him the wheel.  And as soon as we don’t like the direction our lives are going and we grab that wheel back, He will give it to us.

Right decisions

There is a difference between my driving and allowing my mom to drive and Jesus being a spiritual driver.  He always needs to be in the driver’s seat and we better not relax and fall asleep.  We need to stay in active communication with Jesus and keep our minds active with making the right decisions.

If a “detour” comes up Jesus is not going to choose the right direction for us, we have to consent for Him to continue, “driving” or He will give us back the “wheel”.  We have to make the decision; He will not make it for us.  It is so easy to take the wheel of our lives back in any given situation.  “I want to get angry, He had no right to do that to me.”  I just took the wheel back.  Jesus will not force me to follow His ways.  But if I say, Lord, I am struggling with being angry I need you to continue, “driving” and I am going to choose to not be angry with Your power.”  He will give you the strength and He will stay in the driver’s seat.

“It’s too good to be true”

It sounds easy on paper but letting go of self and letting Jesus have full control is not easy.  This will take great effort.  We will have a battle with self.  It may take crying out to God on your knees, wrestling with self.  But the great news is, as long as we keep hanging on to Jesus, allowing Him full access to our lives, we can have the victory.  Hang on to the promises of God.

Hebrews 13:5,  “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:  for he hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’  So that we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

God says we don’t have to have fear because He will help us.

Dear Father,

I want You to be the “driver” of my life, through the indwelling of Your Spirit.  Thank You for Your love for me.  And even if I fail and take back the wheel, You are just a call away.  Thank You for Your willingness to forgive.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to Jesus today and let Him be the “driver” in your life.

Love you all.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Is there an area that you have struggled with?  How did God give you the victory?

 

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“Follow Me!”

We are followers

It seems in the world in which we live it is hard to know whom to follow.  Our natural tendency is to follow someone or at least try to mimic the life of someone we admire.  Many people look up to celebrities, whether they are actors, singers, pastors, elders, parents, etc.  Even when they fail in some way they will either defend them with all they have or they will get angry and discouraged that this person disappointed them.  The sad news is humans will always disappoint.  They will fail.  We fail at times too.

So whom should we follow?

I am coming from a Christian perspective so what comes to my mind is something Jesus said when He was on earth.

Matthew 4:19,  “And He said unto them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’”

As a Christian, we should be following Jesus and as we follow Him, He will make us a witness for Him.  As I daily allow Christ to abide with me, He will give me the ability to attract others so that I can share the truth of God’s love.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Have you ever known someone who is so obsessed with someone or something it seems that is all they ever talk about?  Or they may even do things just like the person as much as possible.  What would it be like if we would become more “obsessed” with Jesus more than the things of this world?

Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Matthew 16:24, “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

In following Jesus we need to pursue Him and give up the things of this world, the things that will distract us from following Him.

As Christians, we have been given a commission and unless we are following Christ we cannot fulfill the commission that He has given us.  We have been commissioned to bring others to the truth as it is in Jesus.  To share His love and what He has done for us.  Jesus wants to make us “fishers of men.”

So how does fishing have anything to do with winning souls to Christ?

I did a little research to see what methods were used in Bible times for fishing.  They would do their fishing mostly at night, so the question would be why at night.  They would throw out their nets and the light from their torches would attract the fish.

How do we apply this analogy to “fishing” for people?

I love the night analogy.  As we allow the “torch” of God’s love to shine through us we will attract more people to us and then we can share the truth as it is in Jesus.  If we are trying to attract with a “lure” and “hook” it will not be as effective.  If we are shining, people will be drawn to us. They will be asking us why we have so much peace through the turmoil and why we are calm during the storms of life.  Then we have the opportunity to point them to the One that we are able to trust through every situation.

Matthew 5:16,  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.”

What is our light?

Our light is the bright presence of Jesus in our lives.  It is not from us but from Him.  And we can only have this light as we allow Him full access to our lives so that He can live in us through the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6, 7  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

Dear Father,

Thank You that it is all about You, not us.  Prompt our hearts, with every decision that we make, to do right.  I know that as we spend time with You, You will show us the path to life.  Thank You for Your love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Give all to Jesus today and let Him shine through you.

Love you all.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please share any thoughts below.

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“Pride or Humility?

Pride or humility

This is a question that we need to ask ourselves.  I have been giving pride and humility some thought lately and it is very eye-opening.  We hear these words passed around but what do they really mean.  So I decided to look them up in the dictionary as well as the Strong’s Concordance and do a little study.  What I found has given me much to think and pray about.

Pride

A high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in hearing, conduct, etc.”  In the Strong’s Concordance, it gave me a little more to think on.  “Haughtiness, arrogance.   The character of one whom, with a swollen estimate of his own powers or merits, looks down on others and even treats them with insolence and contempt.

Mark 7:20-23,  “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Proverbs 16:18,  “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Pride is having an inward thinking.  If we allow pride to rule our lives, every decision we make will be based on “what is in it for me”.

What “reward” do we get for pride?

Proverbs 29:23,  “A man’s pride shall bring him low:….”

Proverbs 16:18,  “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Pride will destroy a person’s life.  The true joy of life you cannot have when your heart is full of pride.  We cannot have meaningful relationships.  A true meaningful relationship is giving to others when there is nothing in it for us.  Pride brings misery and eventually destruction.

Humility

The meaning of humility, on the other hand, is the opposite of pride.  The dictionary meaning said, “The quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.”  In the Strong’s Concordance, it said, “1) having a humble opinion of one’s self.  2) A deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness.  3). Modesty, humility, lowliness of mind.”

1 Peter 5:5-9

“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

The only way that we can have humility of heart is to allow the Lord access to our hearts so that He can come in and change us.  Humility is to have an outward mindset.  When we look at the life of Jesus we can see that His life was a life of thinking of others.

Philippians 2:3,  “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.”  This is what Jesus did and He is our example.

What is the reward for humility?

Proverbs 29:23,  “…. but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

Matthew 18:4,  “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

It is only as we come to God in humility, with a child-like faith and wanting to know truth can He teach us.  God wants to teach us His ways.  He wants us to spend time with Him and learn of Him.

John 4:24,  “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

I have wondered many times what this really means.  I am not theologian but I have studied this verse for myself.  And I am going to share what I believe it means. It has been such a blessing to me.

I started out by looking up the word spirit and truth in the Strong’s Concordance.  Spirit can refer to different things but for this study, I am only going to focus on a few.

spirit= seat of emotions, as seat or organ of mental acts (rarely of the will) as seat especially of moral character.

Psalms 143:4,  “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.”

Proverbs 15:13,  “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Proverbs 16:19,  “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”

There are so many verses I could use but these are the ones that I am using to show spirit as being emotions as well as character.  And our emotions have a real effect on our character but this is a subject for another time.

truth=of divine instruction

Proverbs 3:3,  “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:  bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”

This verse is so amazing to me that I looked up some of the words in the Strong’s Concordance to discover the meanings.  Write = record, Table = tablet, heart = inner man, mind, will.  God wants to write truth upon the tablet of our heart and mind.  This is so exciting to me.

Hebrews 10:16,  “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.”

2 Corinthians 3:2,  “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

Did you know that our heart is our second mind and that our heart has a memory?  There are stories of people that have had heart transplants that have started having nightmares, memories of things they had never done in their lives, or cravings they had never had.   This is very enlightening to me.  As we meditate day and night upon God’s word (Psalms 1:2), we are creating pathways in our brains and our hearts.  God is writing truth upon our hearts and minds.

Dear Father,

Thank You that as we immerse ourselves in You, spending time with You, that You will write Your truth upon our hearts and minds.  Thank You for Your mercy and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I want God’s truth to be so written in my heart and mind. So that my thoughts, emotions, and character change to fully reflect Him.  How about you?

Love you all.

I would love to hear from you.  What has God shown you and how is He leading in your life?

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“Repent??!!”

Repent

Repenting can be a very hard thing; I think we can all attest to that.  But why is it so hard?  I would suggest that it is because pride is in the way.  In order to repent, we have to humble ourselves.

Relief

I can attest to the fact that when a person finally humbles him or herself and repents it brings such a relief to the soul.  I remember as a young adult going against my parents.  They had said no and I ignored that no and did what I wanted anyway.  For years I always defended my position and felt my parents were wrong, even though the choices I made were making my life miserable.  I did not want to admit that my parents were right and I was wrong.  My parents never brought up the fact that I had gone against their wishes they just loved me and tried to help me in any way they could.

Years later

Several years went by.  I had gone to some workshop and what I heard really hit home.  The realization came to me that even though I could not change the choices I had made I could humble myself and repent.  I went to my parents and asked them to forgive me for my disobedience.  Of course, they forgave me, they already had.  It was me that had a wall between us that made me feel uncomfortable.  Even though my circumstances did not change there was a relief that came to my life.  Remember repenting is not for the other person it is for us.  When we hold something inside it does not affect the other person it only affects us.  I also made things right with God as well, what a blessing.

Our day begins in the evening

I believe that is why God made our day to start in the evening.  We always think of it as the end of the day but it is really the beginning.  If we do not make the right moves in the evening it affects our sleep and the next day.

Before going to sleep at night going through your day and evaluating how your day went, what you learned, maybe how you could have done things better and setting goals for the following day is a good thing to do.

The most important thing is to go to the Lord in prayer and repentance for anything that you have done during the day that has been displeasing to Him.  If you have a forgetful mind like I do I need a little help and God can help us remember.

Psalms 139: 23, 24

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

God knows everything about us.  Our “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

As your allowing God to search your heart He will show you those that you need to go to and ask forgiveness.  As far as possible it is good to do it before you go to bed, which if it is a family member you can.  But if it is someone not in your home you may need to wait until the next day but make sure to make things right as soon as possible.  It is so relieving in the evening to make things right as far as possible and it starts your day right at night.

What does true repentance look like

You can go through the motions of asking someone or God for forgiveness but how can you know if it is genuine or you are just going through the motions.  The motive is very important.  I know that the Lord can help you see your motive.  There are a couple of stories in the Bible that make me think about the difference.  One is the story of Esau and the other is David.

Esau

Esau came from the field after a big hunt and he was hungry.  He felt he could not make it home and live.  His brother was cooking some food and he begs him for some.  His brother wanted the birthright that Esau had as the first-born so he said, “sell me your birthright and I will give you some food”.  So Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of food.  Later Esau repented but for what reason.  Was it because he was really sorry he had sold the birthright or was it because he realized the consequences?  The latter was really the case for Esau.  He could care less that he disobeyed he was just sorry for the consequences.  Esau did not have true repentance.

Hebrews 12: 15-17

“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled: Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for on morsel of meat sold his birthright.  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was reject: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

True repentance means change, not just words.  Esau was not living the life that he was supposed to live in order to receive the birthright.  And when he realized that he was not getting it he “repented” but it was for the wrong reason and was not true repentance.  He wanted to blessing without having to do the responsibilities that went along with it.

David

David is the second one I want to look at.  When you read the story in 2 Samuel 11:1-27 it is mind-blowing.  Here he committed adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers and when he found out she was pregnant, he eventually put him on the front lines so he was killed.  So he committed both adultery and murder.  This seems way worse than selling your birthright.

God sees things way different what we do.  To God sin is a sin.  There is no category.  Sin separates us from Him no matter what the size.  Sin also separates us from others.  True repentance brings down the barriers and is so freeing.

David had true repentance but he still suffered some consequences.  True repentance does not always take away the result of our sin.  David’s true repentance is found in Psalms 51.  Read it and make it a part of your life.  The first verse really tells us what kind of God we serve.  “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”  God says in Acts 13:22, “….I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill My will.”  David wasn’t perfect but he was humbled when God showed him his error.  He was truly repentant and that is what makes the difference with God.

Dear Father,

I want to have a repentant heart.  I know that even repentance is a gift from You.  Convict my heart of sin and give me a repentant heart.  Thank You for Your forgiveness and love.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Remember no matter how much wrong you have done God loves you and is just waiting for you to come to Him.  He is full of love and forgiveness.  Ask Him to forgive you and surrender your whole life to Him today.

Love you all.

Do you have a testimony of God’s forgiveness?  I would love to hear it.  Share below.

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“You Have Been Commissioned For Duty!!”

Commissioned

We all, at least if we are 18 or older, have received a commission of some sort.  Maybe you have been commissioned for jury duty.  You might have even been commissioned into the Military, drafted.  Even sometimes people are commissioned for a particular job at where they work.

We have all been commissioned

It made me think about that as Christians we are all commissioned for duty.  It may be different for each person, depending on age, time of life, position, personality, etc.  But we are all commissioned.

When I was driving to work one day recently the car in front of me started losing control due to slick roads.  I had to pull to the left of him into what could have been oncoming traffic in order to avoid crashing into him.  It was in town turning at a light so traffic was slow and there wasn’t any oncoming traffic and they could have avoided me because there were two lanes.  Right behind me was a one-trailer semi and this gave him a little room to adjust and not hit me.  I am thankful to the Lord that all turned out well.  When you are in a situation like that you don’t always think about what to do you just react to the situation.  Everyone would respond differently depending on his or her experience in driving.

It made me think

When I was thinking my almost accident it made me think about our commission as Christians.  We want to reach out to those that may know Jesus but are discouraged and we want to reach out to those that do not know the Lord.  But how do we safely go about doing this?  How do we avoid having an “accident” (shipwreck our Christian experience by following them)?  What can we do to help those that are slipping off the path without joining in their folly?  How do we come alongside them and reach them for the Lord without losing our own way?  These are questions we all have to ask ourselves.

Different commissions

This is why I believe that all of us have different commissions.  We may have a struggle in a certain area, which makes it a risk for us to reach out to certain individuals.  We may have small impressionable children and we may need to avoid certain things as well.  And the main thing is that we have to be prepared for whatever commission God calls us to.  We need to be equipped.  And maybe He will call us to a place we thought we would never choose to go.  As we equip ourselves God can use us in a broader way.  We cannot do the duty of our commission unless we are equipped.  So the work begins with us.  We cannot share what we do not have.

Jesus has already commissioned us

We have been commanded to make disciples of all nations.

Matthew 28:18-20

“Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto

Me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach (disciple)

all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the

Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things

whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway,

even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

God’s Commands are like beacons of light that will guide us throughout the course of our lives.  When we violate God’s commands it will bring conflict and unhappiness.

God has promised great rewards for those who keep His commandments before their eyes.  John 14:21,

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

(Hath)  to have, i.e. to hold, to hold fast.  When we hold fast to Christ commands Christ will manifest Himself to us.  That is an amazing thing.

There are rewards for holding fast to Christ commands

We have already learned that:

  • God will reveal Himself to us.

John 15:10

“If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept my Father’s Commandments, and abide in His love.”

John 14:21

“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Reward

  • We will abide in God’s love

1John 3:22

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Reward

  • Our prayers will be answered

1John 2:3

“And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

John 14:15

“If ye love Me, keep My commandments.”

Reward

  • We have assurance of our love for God

1 John 5:2, 2

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His Commandments.”

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous”

Reward

  • Our love for the Body of Christ.

We may not think of all of these as rewards but they are.  They make life, a life of joy.

Navigators chart a course over the waters by observing.  The word that Jesus used when He said to “keep” the commandments has the same meaning “to observe or attend to.”  So just like a ship navigator gets his ability to navigate from the stars so we can get our ability to navigate life through studying and understanding Christ Commands.

How often should we be meditating on the Word?

Psalms 1:1,2

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

What might mediating day and night look like?

Pick a verse that you would like to start memorizing.  There may be something you’re struggling with, like anger, depression, unforgiveness, etc.  Pick a verse and go over it several times a day.  Make that the last thing you think about before you go to bed and the first thing you think about when you get up in the morning.  Even if you are up in the night think about the verse.  Keep it ever before you.  This is a habit that will have to be created in ourselves because most of us do not naturally have our minds going to scripture.

God created the day to start in the evening, why?

Genesis 1:5  “…And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

  • The evening is the most important part of our day because it affects the quality of our sleep and sets our mental attitude for the rest of the day.  So, in reality, we don’t “get up on the wrong side of the bed”; It is the attitude that we have when we go to bed the affects how we get up.
  • The evening is the best time to evaluate our day and to set new goals for the next day.  Making sure that everything is right between us and those around us as well as making things right with God by repenting.
  • As we go to sleep meditating on the Scripture and setting our goals before the Lord, it will make a difference in our lives.

Psalm 16:7

“I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.”

I looked up these words in the Strong concordance so I could understand a little more about this verse.

(Counsel means to advise, consult, give counsel, purpose, devise, plan) (Reins mean seat of emotions and affections)(Instruct means to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish)(Seasons means night as opposed to-day). To me, this means as we keep God’s Word (commands) before our eyes that God will give us insights from His Word and clear direction.  This will dramatically impact the success of our lives.

Dear Father,

I want to immerse myself in Your Word.  I want Your love to shine through me.  Prompt me each time my mind is idle to think upon Your Word.  I am nothing without You and I need You desperately.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I challenge you to keep the Word of God ever before you.

Love you all.

Some of you may have this habit already in your life.  What method have you used to help keep God’s Word ever before you?

 

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“Creating a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear!”

Have you ever…

Have you ever felt like you were trying to “create a silk purse out of a sow’s purse”?  It could be in any area in your life personally or something materially that is connected with your life.

I feel like we have been trying to do that all our married life with our “60’s” mobile home.  I think the first time we ever really did something in it was back in December 1995, just 3 months before one of our babies was to be born.  We totally ripped out the mobile home kitchen and put in a new one.  We did all the work ourselves because my husband is a cabinetmaker.  I don’t know of anyone with such a nice kitchen in an old mobile home.  We have had to do wiring changes over time, replaced all the plumbing, and furred out walls in bedrooms to add more insulation.

I am not sure what they were thinking way back but this mobile home really lacked in insulation.  We qualified one year for our electric company to come out and do some extra insulating.  They blew insulation into the belly of the mobile home and they also replaced all of our windows.  Wow! What a difference that made.

Recent changes

The most recent changes have been the living room floor.  We have changed the carpet probably twice since we have owned it but last week we did a drastic change.  I decided if I ever did flooring again it would not be carpet.  When you have those that will not take off their shoes and dogs that can’t take off their paws it becomes rather messy.

So last week we ripped up the carpet and put down laminate flooring.  We did almost the cheapest we could find so who knows how long it will hold up but for the time being, it sure looks nice.  And it will be easier to keep clean.  I have to say that it shows up things more but that is a good thing.  The carpet hid a lot of dirt.

It made me think

This project made me think of our spiritual lives.  It seems that for whatever reason we want to hang on to the old things in life.  And a lot of the old things are not things that are good.  They are destroying our lives spiritually.  We want to look good to other Christians so we try to dress up the outside and make ourselves look pretty good to those around us.  Here is a little secret though, our families know the real us.

We may do the “right things” as far as what people can see but inside we are full of sin.   Are we doing things for the right reasons?  We are trying to create a spiritual silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  And the reality is we are totally ugly.  We may even be doing a lot of external changes that look good but we are full of anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, etc.

There is hope

I am so grateful that there is hope.  There is no hope in us but there is hope in Jesus.  Jesus can create something beautiful out of our lives if we surrender to Him.  He does the work and our job is to cooperate with Him.  He doesn’t just come in a pretty up the outside He changes things from the inside out.  If the inside is created new the outside will show it.  But if we are just trying to clean up the outside, it doesn’t clean up the inside.  What we need is a totally new heart.  If we allow Jesus to give us a new heart our desires will be different.

Good, I am glad Jesus does all the work

Wait!  We do have a part to play.  He does not force.  We have to make a choice and whatever choice we make He accepts.  If we make the choice to sin He steps back.  He does not go against our will.  In James 4:17 it reads, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth if not, to him it is sin.”  If we know what God would have us to do and we do not do it then it is sin.  But if we step forward and make the choice He will give us the power.  I am grateful that God did not make robots out of us.  He gave us a free will to choose.

Dear Father,

“Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me; cast me not away from Thy Presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.”

 

In Jesus Name,

Amen

 

Surrender all to Him today and cooperate with His leading.

Love you all.

How has God helped you to grow in Him?

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“He Was Healed?!!”

How often have you seen a miracle?

Sometimes I think there are many miracles that happen around us but we don’t seem to pay attention.  It needs to be something big to draw our attention away from the things that we think is “important”.  When a big miracle happens we forget the blessings of the Lord.  It is like it is just expected that He should do it.

I remember when my son was in India.  He had gotten very sick.  The people that were with him felt he may die.  My son was even ready to give up the fight.  But then a local pastor came by and he was asked to have an anointing of healing as state in James 5:14 & 15.  Many prayed that night and there was a miraculous healing.  The tenancy is to forget these things.  Yes, we know that it happened but as time passes we forget.

The Bible

I have been reading through the Bible and it amazes me what miracles God did for different people and how easily they forgot.  There are a two that stand out to me.  One was the Children of Israel.  The Lord did mighty miracles for them and they were happy when the miracles came but they quickly forgot them.  Secondly, I have been reading about the life of Christ.  Jesus had crowds that followed Him.  When He performed a miracle the people were so amazed.  It is like they were so amazed every time as if He had not already performed a miracle before.

What about us?

It makes me think of myself.  How do I do at remembering the miracles that God has done for me?  He does little miracles for me every day but I tend to shrug it off as if that is just the normal expected thing.  I mean it is His job right?  And then when there is a big one, like my son being healed, it amazes me and I tend to share it more often.  But there again as time passes I forget.  And then when things seem to be going wrong I get into a frenzy forgetting what God is capable of if I just allow Him and trust His ways. And I tend to share the big miracles but don’t consider the little ones worth sharing. But the reality is they are all a blessing.

How much faith do I need?

Matthew 17:20 says, “…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  Wow, I don’t have much faith.  It doesn’t take much faith to accomplish mighty things.

We are told, “But without faith, it is impossible to please God…”Hebrews 11:6. So I can’t even please God unless I have faith?  I think there are two aspects to think about.  One is unless our obedience to God is due to our faith in Him, trusting that He knows what is best for us, we can’t really please God with our obedience.  Secondly, as we are living in obedience to God through faith diligently seeking Him, His power will be made manifest through us.  We will have a testimony to share of how God has been faithful.  And not only that He has been faithful but that He has been faithful in the little things in life as well as the big things.

How can I strengthen my faith?

I believe a key way to strengthen our faith is to pay close attention to how God is working in our lives and be willing to acknowledge it no matter how small.  As we see the Lord working each day in our lives and we take it to heart our faith will grow by leaps and bounds.  And journaling how God has been faithful can help us during those times of forgetfulness.  The more we seek God and allow Him to work within our lives we will grow in faith.

Dear Father,

Increase our faith.  We can all struggle with not having the faith and trust in You that we should have.  Continue to draw our hearts to Your love and strength.  Help us all to move forward in faith without fear.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

In faith, take God at His Word.  He is more powerful to save than any other, so trust Him today.

Love you all.

What has happened in your life that has helped your faith to grow?

 

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“Who Are Your True Friends?”

Have you ever really wondered who your true friends are?

Maybe you even question whether you have a true friend?  True friends seem to be hard to come by these days.  Then the question would be, what is a true friend?

I remember, as a kid having what I thought was a true friend.  Then one day someone came to visit our home.  And then we went to the home of my best friend and her family.  After this person visiting had said something to my best friend, which to this day I don’t know what was said, our friendship was over.  It was like it never existed.  I am sure each of us has gone through similar situations.

I was reminded this past weekend how important friendships are.  Our family spent Thanksgiving with some great friends.  Friendships are a blessing and we don’t want to lose them.

A Friend

Friendships are either like a two-way street or they can be like a one-way.  I think friendships can start out as a two-way street.  Your both going opposite directions, one is following Christ and the other the world.  We have these friends all around us.  They may not be our best friends but we still call them our friends.

Two-way street

The question is, what brought the two of you together as friends?  I mean your goals are obviously not the same.  Hopefully, they see something in you that they are attracted to, Jesus. And hopefully, you have a love for people and want them to know about the love of Jesus.  I would caution you here to be careful.  We need to build a friendship with people to reach them for Christ but we need to be careful that we don’t let their friendship drag us in the opposite direction that we want to be going.  We need to love them where they are at and join them in activities that are not displeasing to God.  But we need to stay away from the things that we know will get us on a one-way street going the wrong direction.

One-way street

One thing about one-way streets is that there is more than one lane.  And the other thing about one-way streets is that you can be going in the wrong direction.  Spiritually speaking one way goes toward God and His ways and the other way goes against God and His ways.  The best kind of friend to have is one that is traveling the same direction you are, toward God.  Now there is still more than one lane.  We are all on a different journey.  The Lord is working with each one of us differently so we are not all going to be in the same lane (growth level) but our goals are the same, to reach heaven.

When we have a best friend going in the same direction we need to accept them where they are and love them and we always hope they do the same for us.  This doesn’t mean at times out of love we don’t go to them and share something that we see in them that may need improvement.  But when we do we need to make sure our motives are right and God is leading us.  I would hope that my best friends would do the same for me.  We need to pray for one another as well.  We can be so close as best friends when our goals are the same.

The Best Friend

There is One Friend that is the best.  He will always love us no matter what we do.  He longs for that mutual love.  No matter what direction we go He will always be there prompting us to a better way of life but He does not force.  He wants to spend time with us but He will not join in anything contrary to His Father’s will, He will not join us in our sin.  But he is still there waiting when we come back.  He is a friend that will always lead us in the right direction.  But we have to choose it.

Our earthly friends may disappoint us but Jesus will never disappoint us.  We may be disappointed in the direction that He leads us. At this point, we need to examine our hearts.  Do we really love and trust Him?  Trust is a part of friendship and our earthly friends may not always be trustworthy but Jesus always is.  He knows everything about us. And He knows us so well he knows what is best for us.

Dear Father,

Thank You for giving Your Son.  Thank You that He is the best friend that we can have. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  Continue to prompt our hearts to be on the one-way street toward You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make a commitment to be on that one-way road toward heaven.  The way is narrow but there is room for everyone that wants to go there.  Praise God!

Love you all.

Do you have a best friend?  What makes them so special to you?

 

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“Do I Have to be Thankful?!”

Thanksgiving

This is the week that most people focus on thankfulness.  There is so much planning that goes into that one “special” day that we “try” to focus on being thankful.  I think that mostly it has become a commercialized, have fun day.  A lot of work goes into fixing a big meal, most people overeat and go away feeling less than thankful.

What does the word Thanksgiving really mean?

1) The act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favor, especially to God.  2) An expression of thanks, especially to God.  3) A public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.  4) A day set apart for giving thanks to God.

I wonder how many of us really think about what this day is all about.

Looking back.

When the pilgrims set out from England they wanted to live somewhere they would be free to worship how they wanted.  They landed on the shores of America where they worked on building homes and finding food.  But then winter came and it was very hard.  There were many people who died.  Much more would have died but one particular Indian stepped in and helped them.  They were shown how to plant corn and other plants.  He also showed them how to identify plants that they could eat and also use as medicine.  At the end of that summer, they had enough food to make it through the winter.  They decided to celebrate.  A day of prayer and Thanksgiving was declared.  They invited their Indian friends and they feasted, played games, and celebrated.  The hardships were difficult but the blessings of God were abounding.

What about us?

When you think about your everyday life how thankful are you?  When I was thinking about the coming Thanksgiving I wonder if our focus is where it should be.  We spend a lot of time making a nice meal.  Some people spend time watching sports, others are spending time doing things with their families and/or friends, and still, others may be alone.  But where are our thoughts?  Is it just another holiday?  What can we do to make it different for us this year?  Let’s try to really make it a day of Thankfulness.

Thankfulness

I know having a thankful/grateful journal would be a good start for all of us because we need to be thankful every day, not just Thanksgiving.  Here are some things that we can be thankful for.

  1. We can be thankful to God and His Son. When I think about what They were willing to do for me it gives me a sense of thankfulness.  I like how one author puts it; “It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ…especially the closing ones.”  If we could just really realize what Jesus did for us how can we not be thankful.
  2. Be thankful for the trials. This can be very difficult.  What I have found is that I need to realize everything that comes to me passes through the hands of Jesus.  He has a plan for each one of us.  He knows what areas of our lives that need refining.  It is through trials that our lives are refined for heaven.  As we grow through those trials it gives us the opportunity to uplift others when they go through things that are similar to what we have already experienced.
  3. Be thankful that you woke up today. We often take for granite that we can get out of bed in the morning.  If it were not for God keeping our heart beating we would not be here.  He continues to keep us alive.
  4. Be thankful for your safety. We are often protected each day and don’t even give recognition to God for it.  I am looking forward to heaven so that I can see all the times the Lord has protected me and I was unaware.
  5. Be thankful for family. A lot of times we take for granite our family as well.  We just expect them to always be there and that they will do certain things to make our lives a little easier.  We expect it but often don’t thank them.  We need to be more thankful for the things our families do for us and that the Lord has given them to us.

These are just a few things that we should consider; there are many more things that could be added as well.  We need to go through life with more thankfulness.  Seeing the good in every situation will help us stay focused on thankfulness and in the end, we will feel way happier.

Dear Father,

As we focus this week on being thankful, help us to see You and what You have done for us.  Thank You for Your everlasting love.  I am so grateful for Your forgiveness.  You have given me life for which I am also grateful.  Thank You for my family and the work that You are doing within my family.  Keep me focused on You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Start a thanksgiving list today to share it on Thanksgiving.  Let’s not forget the meaning of Thanksgiving.  And remember it throughout the year.

Love you all.

What are you especially thankful for this year?