inspirational words to start your day
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
—1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
REAL TALK from KB: Lord have mercy!!!! I just heard T.D.
Jakes say - too many of us are seeking recognition and don't meet the requirements!
Whoa - that right there is a powerful statement....not to
run any inventories outside of my own but how many times have you witnessed
blatant hypocrisy because Pastor so -n-so or Evangelist whatchamacallit's walk and talk looked like 12:30 on a watch?
I'm not saying you have to be perfect - none of us
are....I'm saying that people need to see you struggle and wrestle with your
demons...there needs to be a level of person connection and identity (think of
why God (Christ) in flesh)
People need to know and see their teacher, preachers and
evangelists are making earnest efforts....don't be so saved, sanctified and
pious that you become "NO EARTHLY GOOD!"
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Christ has come, died for our sins, and has risen
from the grave. He has opened the way for us to be reconciled to God and has
proclaimed for us the day of salvation.
I read this passage this morning and I had to ask myself if
I was "all in" ? Have I made it past the doors? Am I
"souled" out?
Keeping it real...some of us never really make it 10 feet
from where we first received Christ. We're content to rest in the knowledge of
Christ but never fully committed to doing the work it takes to renew our minds.
Ephesians 4:22 - 24
…22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the
old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,23 and
that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new
self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and
holiness of the truth.…
What shows a "new self" in your life? When people
see you do they see or hear God? Do you quote scripture and your life reflects
something contrary?
I just want you to be mindful of your state and position -
Satan was once an archangel and Judas was with the disciples........
You cannot serve two masters - there is no room for dichotomy
in Christ Jesus - are you all in?
Ezekiel 11:19 And
I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:
Jeremiah 24:7 I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am
the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will
return to Me with their whole heart.
2 Corinthians 7:10 For
the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without
regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Have you allowed the world to harden your heart? Have you
normalized and excused the pain? Have you actually taken the time to count how
many times that you've said “That’s OK, I’m fine or never mind?”
STOP EXCUSING the hurt…..take the slights, the hurts and the
pain to God…only He can truly soothe the pain. The offending party may
apologize but our flesh has become so accustomed to the situation that we file
and store the pain; a form of spiritual sabotage, as well as mental and
relational flagellation. ßyup
I used a nice $2 word
Allow God to remove the cataracts from your eyes so you can
see what you’re allowing to continually hurt you.
Allow God to remove the callous from your heart so you can
allow Him to heal you in order to properly forgive the offender.
2 Corinthians 7:7 - 9
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing
greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;…
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.
2 Corinthians 6:4
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great
endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
Between a rock and a hard place, we've all been
there...isn't nice to know that it's in the pressing that character is revealed.
Life shows up...we could be riding the excitement of a
blessing one minute and crying the next....but we do not have to give into our
circumstances....there is no woe is me in Christ.
It's in the crush that we release our fragrance ....is it
pleasing to God?
2 Corinthians 5: 16 -18
…16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh;
even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in
this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.18 Now all
these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave
us the ministry of reconciliation,…
Isaiah 43:18
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am
making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 65:17
"See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will
not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
We have coined the phrase “acting brand new” which has
negative connotations…it means you’re either playing dumb or you really don’t
know anything. It’s funny how when you use the term in a spiritual context it
means something positive. It means that you’ve forgotten your selfish and your self-serving
ways and you begin to look to and trust God…
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: 5:16-21 The
renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new
company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a
new heart is given him. He is the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works. Though the same as a man, he is changed in his character and
conduct. These words must and do mean more than an outward reformation. The man
who formerly saw no beauty in the Savior that he should desire him, now loves
him above all things
Is your change thorough or is it a surface sweep to look
good? What is your character and conduct announcing? Are you a dressed up mess trying to fake it
until you make it? From me to you – God knows…he
knows your heart, he knows your thoughts, He knows your moves before you make
them….you can’t hide or lie to Him
Once again God shows up and shows out in my life….so I was
sitting here thinking about writing a series of posts on prayer. In the midst
of my praying about it, among praying about other things, I stop to read a
devotional.
Here’s what it quoted: 1 John 4:1-2 Dear friends, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because
many false prophets have gone out into the world.2 This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God,
The commentary goes on to state that the Holy Spirit is not
the only spirit at work in this world and that we should pray to be able to
recognize the Holy Spirit.
James 5:15 – 16 …15
and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord
will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that
you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
Can you recall just how many times you've read or seen these
words in your faith walk? Do you know what they mean? Do you know just how you,
personally engage in this act?
So, once again Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest
has done it again....taken me to a place of deep thought and reflection about
what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit. I've become keenly aware of some of
the behaviors that prevent me from experiencing God in all His glory and
fullness.
Ephesians 4:30 And
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.
Genesis 6:6 The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart
was deeply troubled.
Psalm 78:40 How often they rebelled
against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!
Isaiah 63:10 Yet they rebelled and
grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself
fought against them.
John 3:33 Whoever has accepted it has
certified that God is truthful.
Ephesians 1:13 And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit,
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the
Spirit.
Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely
do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God
underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that
sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
The aforementioned are passages of scriptural examples of
how we grieve the Spirit and what the outcome of our actions may look like
Romans 8:37 -39 …37 But in all these things we
overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 10: 27 - 29 …27
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and
I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch
them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is
greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.…
Yes, God promises to love us in spite of all our faults... No,
we cannot taken out of his hand but we CAN operate in self-will and decide to
leave? No we don't have to worry that we can't make it...our only requirements
for heavenly promise are to love and obey God; He knows we are imperfect and
He knows ..that all fall short. But what
God won't do is drag us to heaven against our will...
The book of Hosea describes the undying love of God toward a
people whose hearts have wandered far from His ways.The book
expresses a deep, inner longing and desire to woo them and win them back by His
love. "I will heal their waywardness," He promises; "I will love
them freely..." (Hos 14:4)
The word "backslide" literally means
"turn back" or "turn away" (from God, 1 Ki 11:9; from our
first love, Rev 2:4; or from the gospel, Gal 1:6, 7; 3:1-5; to Satan, 1 Tim
5:15; to evil, Psa 125:5; or to the world, 2 Tim 4:10).The Bible
describes the backslidden state as: serving two masters, forsaking the Lord,
going our own way, leaving our first love, forgetting God, falling away,
turning aside ("like a deceitful bow," Jer 14:7), growing
cold, departing from the faith, putting a hand to the plow and looking back (Lk
9:62), "salt that has lost its savour" (Mat 5:13), "a dog
returning to his vomit" (Prov 26:11), a dead branch (Jn 15:6; Heb 6:8).
Keep in mind that this is not an overnight phenomenon; it's
a gradual process; a cancer that slowly metastasizes. It usually starts with a
subtle "spiritual indifference" meaning you start justifying and
rationalizing to make God's word fit your situation; failing to focus on
spiritual things. We let our prayer lives erode. We stop seeking counsel or we
go to people that we know will agree with our wrong position.
Some of us get so far away from God that we get discouraged
and tend to think that we cannot come back ....
The repair is simple - the only thing that God requires of
us is that we confess and repent. Are you ready to separate yourself from the
things that prevent you from seeing God in His fullness?
Praise God that I am NOT the dressed up mess I was a month
ago!!! He, God that is, took a life situation and turned it around to show me
my reflection….I didn't like what I saw and I know He wasn't pleased or He
wouldn't have revealed it to me, he would have let me sit in my mess….
But when I came to myself: Luke 15: 16 – 18 The Parable of the Prodigal Son
…16 "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the
swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 "But
when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have
more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 'I will get up
and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and in your sight;…
Psalm 119:59 I have
considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.
Hosea 2:7 She will chase after her
lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she
will say, 'I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off
than now.'
Luke 15:16 He longed to fill his
stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:18 I will set out and go back
to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you.
Acts 12:11 Then Peter came to himself
and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and
rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were
hoping would happen."
Romans 7:14 -16 …14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.…
Romans 6: 15 – 16 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?…
What behavior have you attached yourself to?
Romans 7:14 -16 …14
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to
sin.15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I
would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.16 But if I do the very
thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is
good.…
Romans 6: 15 – 16 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are
not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that
when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves
of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience
resulting in righteousness?…
Have you ever wondered why we keep repeating the same
mistakes over and over again? The answer is simple…we have never addressed the
lusts in our lives. We have a tendency to compartmentalize lust as simply a
sexual desire. Now, don’t get me wrong the essence of lust is pleasure but it
is not always sexual; two of the definitions for lust are:
- a passionate or overmastering desire or craving (usually followed by
for): a lust for power.
- to have a yearning or desire; have a strong or excessive craving.
We all struggle with desires of the flesh. We all have
lusted after something at one point or another. We all have “pimped” ourselves out to something that
does not bring life.
The GOOD NEWS - God is not blind to our nature there is a
remedy: Galatians 5:16-17
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will
not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in
opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
(read 16 – 25)
I’m getting a late start this morning. I had to stop and buy
a cup of liquid energy – coffee!!! I did absolutely the bare minimum all
weekend and I am still exhausted. I had 2 hours of sleep on Saturday night…I’m
not complaining…I was doing what has been placed on my heart to do and I love
it! I’m just writing a big lead in to my point…what to do when your energy
wanes?
Philippians 3: 13-15
…13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but
one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies
ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have
this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will
reveal that also to you;…
When I read this passage my mind flashes back to an Olympics
marathon race many years ago where a runner was far behind the pack…the lights
had gone out, the majority of the crowd had gone home but the brothers heart
would NOT let him quit.
The Pulpit commentary describes this passage as thus: Verse 14. - I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; rather, with the
best manuscripts, unto the prize. The first preposition,
"towards," expresses the aim; the second, "unto," the end
of the race. The high calling; the upward, heavenward calling. God is
calling us all upward, heavenward, by the voice of the Lord Jesus, who is the
Word of God. Comp. Hebrews 2:1, "Partakers of the heavenly
calling." The words, "in Christ Jesus," are to be taken with
"the high calling." It is God who calls: he calls us in the person of
Christ, by the voice of Christ, "Come unto me." "It was his will
that thou shouldst run the race below; he gives the crown above. Seest thou not
that even here they crown the most honored of the athletes, not on the
racecourse below, but the king calls them up, and crowns them there"
(Chrysostom).
What are you running toward? Is it you high calling or is it
your demise? Are you trying to make your will God’s?
A friend put me up on Bishop Carlton Pearson some many years back.
He was still doing the revivals at Azusa when I got hooked; I remember watching
one of his videos where he's talking about one of the old church mothers
checking on his salvation. He said she would ask "are you still yet
holding on son?" The question lifted my spirits because I've known many a
church mother in my lifetime. I hated being on their bad side but MY GOD!!!!
what a joy their correction has come to mean today.
As a result of my own spiritual awakening; I'm asking myself
the question on a regular basis.
I felt it was time for a quick check in.....it's almost the
end of January....how many of you are still full throttle in your resolutions?
What's slowing you down or stopping you? Are you being true to God, yourself and
others?
Now it's one thing to have an intellectual understanding of
things and it's quite another to live them out....
For the most part we all understand the concept of physical
development; we understand that babies go through an amazing transformation
physically and mentally and we expect and
look for them to reach certain milestones of development. If they don't, we
know that there is a problem.
What does it take to grow up and become spiritually mature?
What stunts the growth of some believers; why do they not grow as they should?
Growth , change, acknowledgement, acceptance or improvement are
all steps taken toward a goal called "maturity". When a person is
"born again" as a child of God, he/she lacks knowledge, wisdom and
discernment and should be considered spiritually immature. As a person learns
of and seeks God he/she should develop the qualities that the Bible
lists that characterize the mature.
Many Scriptures describe the need to grow and mature
spiritually:
Ephesians 4:14,15 - Be no longer children, but grow up in
Christ.
2 Peter 3:18 - but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 - The Thessalonians grew exceedingly in
faith.
Philippians 1:9 - Paul prayed for their love to abound more
and more.
People develop many problems in their faith experience when
they allow things to stunt their development process: some go back to the
world, others cause strife because they want to hold on to what worked in the past,
some become stumbling blocks to others with irresponsible talk, people try to
straddle the line of worldliness and spirituality, while others give in to
indifference because their "self" work has become overwhelming
There are certain things required for spiritual maturity;
1) A desire to grow - a yearning for change
2) Nourishment -feeding
3) Exercise and practice - behavior requires repetitions in
order for it to become memory
4) Patience - know it won't happen overnight
5) Persistence - don't be afraid of setbacks and correction
Just remember this story of a little boy who fell out of
bed. When he was asked what happened, he said, "I guess I just stayed too
close to the gettin'-in place." This is why so many people fall away from
God - they stay too close to the "gettin'-in" place and do not grow.
The newness and the zeal have been starved ...why? another level of immaturity
has appeared..that being some people can only make changes as long as the
change feels good or is beneficial to them is a way they can relate to
(hedonism and the inability to see the BIG picture)
What's stunting your growth? Everyone can grow...the seed of
willingness needs to be present.
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were
willing to do just about anything to get it? Have you had "that
thing" within your reach only to have it disappear just as quickly as it appeared,
leaving you feeling stupid, dejected and questioning all the "work"
it took to get "that thing"? I often teach that what we actively
pursue will be the very thing that will cause our demise...and demise I mean
what we will allow to interfere with our relationship with Christ.
Let me start by saying this...I try to read and reflect on at least two daily devotional;
my personal favorite is by Oswald Chambers. I read My Utmost for His Highest on
a regular basis: I've actually read it several times and each time I read it
more is revealed. Today's reading was about making room for God.
He paraphrases Galatians 1: 15 by over simplifying the
passage a bit by shortening " When
it pleased God…" but you'll get the gist as you read further.
Oswald's introduction to his piece totally relates to my
questions:
As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him— to
give God “elbow room.” We plan and figure and predict that this or that will
happen, but we forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses. Would we
be surprised if God came into our meeting or into our preaching in a way we had
never expected Him to come? Do not look for God to come in a particular way,
but do look for Him. The way to make room for Him is to expect Him to
come, but not in a certain way. No matter how well we may know God, the great
lesson to learn is that He may break in at any minute. We tend to overlook this
element of surprise, yet God never works in any other way. Suddenly—God meets
our life “…when it pleased God….”
We all want what we want when we want it...now and not later.
When things don't happen the way we have mapped out and scripted in our minds,
we tend to ask, "When, God, when?" Like we can really rush God! We
need to grow in the area of trusting God instead of focusing on the "how
and when?" If joy and peace are missing from your life you're not trusting God: plain and simple. If
you're mentally overtaxed and you're beat up by stress and worry, you're not
trusting God.
Our tendency to play God, wanting to be in His business can
be detrimental to your Christian walk. Sometimes knowing too many details can
be detrimental. I continue to struggle with impatience frustration and
disappointment because I was like Sergeant Joe Friday , wanting the facts . God
had to teach me to leave things alone and quit feeling that I needed to know
everything. I had to learn to trust God, who knows all things and accept that some questions
may never be answered; I still struggle with this from time to time but I've
come to know that we our relationship with God and His revelation to us comes
alive when we refuse to worry.
REAL TALK - This push me-pull you relationship, tension,
dynamic (whatever you want to call it) only serves to demonstrate the true
power of Christ. We have free will and free reign to make decisions but when we
develop a genuine relationship with Christ ...we can ask, wait and then look at
the situation and say "Nobody or Nothing but God could have made this
happen!"
Ezekiel 37: 1 - 3, 12 -14
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the
spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full
of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and,
behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones
live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to
come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I
have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,
and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have
spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.
When is the last time you sought God before you took any
action? If you're like most of us your prayer life began in your Wylie Coyote
moments, usually after your actions backfire and blow up. When is the last time
you asked God to breathe life into your vision? You know the ones you let fall
by the wayside because you allowed your fears to overshadow your God or because
you got so busy in your day to day worldly grind that you forgot God's ability
to deliver.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't guilty of both forms of
neglecting God at one point or another in my life..
Why did I use this particular passage of scripture? Because
it's about restoration, rejuvenation and regeneration. It's about revival. It's
about resuscitation. It's about rebirth. It's about trust God to breathe life
into the things forgotten and left for dead.
God took Ezekiel to a place of perceived hopelessness and
revealed His Majesty and might...He directed Ezekiel to speak life into the dry
bones to illustrate how He works through us and how we can speak life into the things
forgotten and cast aside.
The thing to be mindful of is knowing when your dream is in
alignment with God.
Here is how to
determine :
1. It is bigger than you.
2. You can't let it go.
3. You would be willing to give everything for it.
4. It will last forever.
5. It meets a need nobody else has met.
6. It brings glory to God.
Just a little food for thought- when were kids we dream
without limitations "movie star, professional athletes, lead dancer,
etc... As we grow older we take on life messages that tell us that we have to
limit our dreams. This is just the opposite of what God would have us to do.....all
things are possible with God
Revelation 2:5: [Jesus said] “Look how far you have fallen
from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.”
Has your prayer life ceased or become scripted and rote? Has
it lost the boldness and power it once had? If we have endured a long season of
discouragement, it's never ever too late to pray for the impossible and be
revitalized by observing God's work.
When my grandchildren were young, my son took them to see
the stage production of The Lion King. As the young lion, Simba, stood
over his father, King Mufasa, who had been killed by his evil uncle, little
Simba, afraid and alone, cried out, “Help, Help, Help!” At that moment, my
3-year-old grandson stood on his chair in the hushed theater and shouted, “Why
doesn't somebody help him?!”
The Old Testament contains many accounts of God’s people
crying out for help. Although their trouble was often self-imposed due to their
waywardness, God was still eager to come to their aid.
The prophet Isaiah had to deliver a lot of bad news, but in
the midst of it he assured the people that “the Lord longs to be
gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you
compassion. . . . How gracious he will be when you cry for
help!” (Isa. 30:18-19 niv). Yet God often looked to His own people to be
the answer to that cry for help (see Isa. 58:10).
Today, people all around us are in need of someone to take
action to help them. It is a high privilege to become the hands of God as we
respond on His behalf to cries for help.
Lord, remind me that You desire to show
compassion to those in need and that You often call
on us to be the instruments of that compassion. Give
me an opportunity today to show Your love to at least one person in need.
Romans 5:2-5 Through him we have also obtained access
by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces
hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you
meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We will all face giants at some point in our lives. By giants, I'm talking
about problems and issues that we allow to imprison our minds and hopes; so
much so that we can't see anything but the problem. We try to forget or kill these
giants, but often they seem to only grow stronger with the attempts to forget
and with the passing of time.
What have you allowed to become a giant in your life; what
seems to overshadow God?
It might be a giant of fear. Or it might be a giant of some
type of poor judgment or behavior that you fall into again and again. It might
be the giant of pride or envy or gluttony or lust or something else. Only you
and God knows your giant.
Giants don't always start out as giants...they're little
things that we feed and nurture. Giants are the little things that nag and gnaw
at us that we ignore until the nagging and gnawing causes pain
So how do we deal with giants? The answer can be found in
the Old Testament account of David and Goliath.
Giant killing is a three step process
1) Recognize that giants are common to all of our lives 1 Corinthians 10:13
2) Acknowledge that the fight is God's 1 Samuel 17:37
3) Don't wait for your giant to approach - attack it 1 Samuel
17: 47-48
Whatever your giant , call it out into the light of day.
Stop rationalizing it. Stop excusing it. Stop tip-toeing around it. Realize you can't
defeat it in your own strength.
Call down the power of
God in prayer, and then attack your giant. Cleanse yourself by drawing
lines of accountability first to God and then to others. Stay away from people
or situations that would prevent you from facing your giant in accordance to
God's instruction; don't let that giant back into your life again.
REAL TALK from KB: Don’t let what you want prevent you from truly seeing what you need!
God provides everything you need when you’re listening to Him and receiving His wisdom, protection, and provision. However, if you’re missing out on God’s blessings, identify why that is so you can do something about it.
Psalm 81:10–12 sheds light on what may be blocking your reception of God’s resources for you. “I, the LORD, am your God, . . . open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices.”
How's your walk with God? Are you living in opposition to Him? Either you're going to obey and walk and talk like you know God or you're not! You’ll either trust and obey Him, or you’re going to ignore Him and rely on your own resources. Many believers miss out on God’s best because they’re unwilling to have faith in Him
You'll pray and praise in one part of your life and then you limit the power of the praise....DO YOU TRUST GOD?
I’d like to take a few minutes of your time today to say a
few words of thanks to Barbara Tucker….thanks for the words of encouragement…yesterday.
I love the fact that the word is once again “living” in my life. I am grateful
for the living water. I am grateful that MY purpose and calling have been
revealed and most of all I am grateful for friends who know me…my faults and
frailties and who love me in spite of all my character defects because you look
past all that and know my heart
2 Chronicles 6:29-31
whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people
Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his
hands toward this house, then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and
forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for
You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, that they may fear You, to walk
in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our
fathers.
I believe T.D. Jakes said it best when he wrote - "We
as Christians reach fulfillment when we come to the point where we bring to the
Lord all that we have and worship Him on the other side of accomplishment. This
need to return an answer to the Sender is as instinctive as answering a ringing
telephone. There is a ringing in the heart of a believer that requires an
answer. Why do we answer a phone? We do so because of our insatiable curiosity to know who is calling He is calling us.."
Creation is designed in such a way that anything that receives gives back to God. Crops bloom after a rain. Bees take from the flowers and give honey...minerals give life to vegetables, vegetables give to animals...everything is cyclical, having a point of return...
What are you returning to God? Is it your first fruits? Are you using up precious resources (living
water) on something that will not bring life?
I'm posting this from my other site because it needs to be shared...y'all mind if I preach a little bit today....I'm just so full
People who know me, know that I like routine and structure:
what can I say, I’m a creature of habit. This morning I did something a little
different on my way in to work; instead of listening to my familiar songs on my
radio I threw on some songs of gospel praise….and guess what? I started
thinking about God’s love and How He demonstrates it to and for us and I began
to just quietly cry at the magnitude and the spans of it all.
After I got my thoughts together I began to reflect on some
ways that love was demonstrated and spoken of in my daily life. I once had
someone tell me, in anger “Sometimes love is not enough!” I've had people say
they “don’t understand it….” I've seen
domestic violence, comforted people who have been crushed by infidelity, spoken
to people who were content with being in a position that compromises them and
their integrity….I could go on but I believe you get the gist.
Now, let me first get into this by saying…I am by NO MEANS a
saint, nor have I been without fault, flaw and shame on this subject of love. I
used to pride myself in the fact that I NEVER cheated on anyone that I was
involved with….I recently discovered that this is THE BIGGEST LIE I ever told
myself. I cheated on my greatest love GOD! I allowed anything and everything to
take me away from my redeemer and my sustainer. I was happy to give those
titles to whomever and whatever had my heart. I now fully understand the
Scripture Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.
What I really want to talk about is: What if God treated
love as cheaply and nonchalantly as we treat it? What if He subscribed to “love
is not enough”? What if He was subject to serve based on how He felt? What if
He had to know everything before He acted? – Jesus’ most human moment for me is
when He is in the Garden of Gethsemane Matthew 26 …38 Then He said to them,
"My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep
watch with Me."39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face
and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from
Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." 40 And He came to the
disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could
not keep watch with Me for one hour?
Two things happened in these three verses –
First: Jesus showed
His humanity. In His human moment He
spoke fear and lack of understanding…yet He resolved to operate in faith (the
ultimate demonstration)
Second: The disciples demonstrated how we walk and yield to
the flesh on a regular basis. How can you and why do we sleep when we know that
we’re on the cusp of something epic? Why do we allow things to distract us?
If you’re unsure of what love is, and believe me we are so
far off the path that we are recreating Sodom and Gomorrah, read 1 Corinthian
13
If I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as
to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give
away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have
not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient
and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices
with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things.
8 Love never
ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and
we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial
will pass away.11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like
a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now
we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then
I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith,
hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
It’s a selfish act to tell someone how, when and why to love
you………just be open to it, say thank you, reap the blessing and watch how your
love will grow as a result.
Have you ever felt that God couldn't use you to
serve Him because you were just too ordinary?
Gospel singer Danniebelle Hall sang :
Just ordinary people
God uses ordinary people
He chooses people just like me and you
Who are willing to do as He commands
God uses people that will give Him all
No matter how small your all may seem to you
Because little becomes much as you place it in the Master's hand
Just like that little lad
Who gave Jesus all he had
How the multitude was fed
With the fish and the loaves of bread
What you have may not seem much
But when you yield it to the touch
Of the Master's loving hand, yes,
Then you'll understand How your life could never be the same
When I was in seminary, I studied with a group of truly
powerful, gifted, dynamic, successful pastors, ministers, singers and leaders. I told myself, “I’ll never be where
they’re at, because I’m not that gifted or inspired” I listened to my negative
self-talk and walked away before I could even find my own voice and stride in
ministry. I felt I was becoming a carbon copy, cookie cutter version of my
elders who had been in ministry for years. Here it is almost 20 years later and
I am now finding my voice, my footing, my passion and my purpose in Christ.
I've also discovered that God loves to
use the ordinary.
The story of Isaac is in the Bible to show
how God can use an ordinary person; the everyday man. Seriously, if
Isaac was a man of today...we'd walk past him and never give him a second thought. Isaac was a basic, ordinary son of a famous
father, and the basic, ordinary father of a famous son.
Genesis 26 was mainly written to show Israel how God
was faithfully honoring His covenant. Isaac was slow to follow God as opposed
to his son Jacob who tended to run ahead
of God. In spite of Isaac’s slow response and even in his sin, God blessed Isaac
because of His promise to Abraham. Abraham’s descendants would be blessed
because of their relationship to him; but, like Isaac, they had to grow in
faith and obedience.
God’s blesses people, so they can become a blessing to
others.
All I can say is wow!!! How can two verses be so intimate
full of hope and promise?
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary - 10:22-30 All who have anything to say to
Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make
ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words
into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy
state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his
faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father
were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which
proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father.
My sheep hear my voice, He knows them; imagine being a shepherd
and knowing each sheep by name. Imagine the sight of the flock following a verbal command.
The voice of Christ is in His Gospel, having both an
external and internal response. He calls to the heart and we respond by
physically following. He calls us by name and He promises security.
Now, as long as your imagination has been activated just
imagine the shepherd knowing the name of each sheep. Imagine a random number of
sheep straying into harm's way on a regular basis; this shepherd is so good
that he knows which sheep are going to stray, when they are going to stray and
what they are going to do....a point which leads me the 23rd Psalm "thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me"....just what do I mean? The rod and the
staff are tools of correction so the
sheep don't continue to stray (abuse grace)
Who or what are you allowing to call you? Does that thing have your heart to the point
where you override your knowledge of God? If so you can expect of life of
strife and conflict....because God promises that you cannot be taken from Him.
He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor
forsake you." —Hebrews 13:5
“I will never leave you…”— not for any reason; not my
ignorance, selfishness, stubbornness, disobedience or my tendency to think that
I know better than God. Have I really let God speak into my spirit that He will
never leave me? If I have misheard, misquoted or made a misstep on this
assurance of God, then please let me open my heart and ears to truly listen.
Do you fully understand what it means to be a
"believer" and to not find comfort in your faith? Can you understand
the crisis of not being able to draw on ‘the peace that passes all understanding’? Do
you feel that you can't find comfort in prayer or anything in life? Can't find
relief or encouragement or find solace?
I know it’s not about
all feelings…but it seems to me that there has t be a certain amount of
frustration that comes with seeing others who are enjoying the word and are
finding comforting words in their quiet time with God; but do you feel immune
to them? Am I talking directly to you?
Here are some simple questions to ask yourself that can help
to get you back on track:
1.“Am I spending time in God’s Word?
2.Am I spending time alone in quiet?
3.Have I prayed specifically that He will reach me
in ways specific to me and my understanding?
4.Have I harbored bitterness?
5.Is there someone I haven’t forgiven?
6.Am I near burnout?
7.Am I spending time with people who love Jesus?
8.Have I given more of my attention to bullies who
undermine my worth than the still, small voice of God?
9.Have I asked others to pray for my feeling numb
or distant from God?
10.Have I truly internalized the truth that God’s
love for me is not dependent on me or my performance, but on Jesus and His
performance? Sometimes we feel small and unworthy, but the truth is His
affection for us is based on Jesus, not on us. Thank God for that!
My transformation began with question #10...I had to tap
into my love and knowledge of Christ. I had to then go to #4 because I came to
realize that the enemy was skewing my hearing. I was hearing indictments and I
began projecting blame. I then had to work 1 and 2 simultaneously.....I can
tell you that something beautiful was born from my commitment to Christ and to
my routine. Let's just say you wouldn't be reading this if I hadn't taken time
to examine why things were not connecting.
Roman culture did not hold the quality of showing mercy in
high regard. Historically, the Roman culture
was guided by law and justice and they tended to believe that showing mercy was
weakness, not a virtue. They did not care for mercy at all. In fact, one Roman
philosopher of the day said that mercy was a disease of the soul.
When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount in a Roman-occupied territory,
He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7
NIV). The Sermon on the Mount showed what Jesus thought of mankind and
humanity; it should be a reflection of our worldview.
Seriously, If justice were served, none of us would be here.
Mercy is important because it shows the connection between our humanity and the
love of God. It also provides "teaching moments" for our faith
development/walk.
Mark 12: 28-31 28 One of the teachers of the law came
and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he
asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is
this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
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