Some days it is hard to find something to write about. Nothing sticks to me and I must read again. Days like this are so hard to find something to write about because the scripture is replete with richness!
Matt 8 is such a wonderful chapter of the healing MISSION of Jesus the Christ. He heals hundreds of people and Spirit tells us why:
Matthew 8:17 (NIV)
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
Some people were thrilled and propelled to faith and even to great faith! Others:
Matthew 8:34 (NIV)
34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Some people just don’t want THAT Jesus.
Then there is the account of Saul disobeying the Lord and blaming it on religious service, or another way to put it is making what was disobedience righteous!
1 Samuel 15:22–23 (NIV)
22 But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
One more golden nugget of great weight:
1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
David wasn’t ready to be King – he was just a boy or maybe even a young man. But God was looking at His heart and not what he looked like or looked ready for.
The Word is full of life lessons from the Spirit of God – search them out – find them – write them down and treasure them! This Word will change you!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
May 30
1 Samuel 14:6 (NIV)
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:21–22 (NIV)
21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit.
Jonathan had no fear and completely trusted in the Lord. His armor-bearer was with him all the way. There was no shrinking back and no hesitation. The armor-bearer put his own life on the line along with Jonathan, so they battled together. There were others though that were turn-coats. A term used for people who switched sides. In this case it was whoever was going to win that had their allegiance. One more group was mentioned in verse 22. These were the fearful ones who were hiding until they heard that they were assured of victory and then they too joined the fight.
God is looking for Jonathans and armor-bearers. To be sure that those other groups, along with the army that stayed with Saul were to be used, but it was the faith of Jonathan and his armor-bearer that God shared his glory with. There are people in the church (body of Christ) today that are fair weather believers. The two groups here are in the church today. The first group is characterized by people who grumble and complain and who speak negatively toward God’s end and God’s leaders. There is always something wrong with what is going on, or something that the leaders are doing wrong. Not only are they not with the leaders like Jonathan, but they are positionally against them with the words of their mouth and in some cases their very actions. The second group are those who are afraid and it has paralyzed them. They hide among the world until a sure thing comes up and then they participate in that. Commitment is lacking and therefore they withdraw to comfortability. They wait for an opportune time when they are assured of personal satisfaction before they join the group.
You and I are the Jonathans and the armor-bearers of the church. We are meant for great exploits and believing for great things while we are taking great risk (for those without the spiritual eyes to see our victory that is secured by God). We are people who move forward even when others don’t for a variety of reasons. If there is any of those “other” groups within you today, any of their mentality, kill it – you were born for greater things than that. Step into your destiny as Jonathans and armor-bearers.
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:21–22 (NIV)
21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit.
Jonathan had no fear and completely trusted in the Lord. His armor-bearer was with him all the way. There was no shrinking back and no hesitation. The armor-bearer put his own life on the line along with Jonathan, so they battled together. There were others though that were turn-coats. A term used for people who switched sides. In this case it was whoever was going to win that had their allegiance. One more group was mentioned in verse 22. These were the fearful ones who were hiding until they heard that they were assured of victory and then they too joined the fight.
God is looking for Jonathans and armor-bearers. To be sure that those other groups, along with the army that stayed with Saul were to be used, but it was the faith of Jonathan and his armor-bearer that God shared his glory with. There are people in the church (body of Christ) today that are fair weather believers. The two groups here are in the church today. The first group is characterized by people who grumble and complain and who speak negatively toward God’s end and God’s leaders. There is always something wrong with what is going on, or something that the leaders are doing wrong. Not only are they not with the leaders like Jonathan, but they are positionally against them with the words of their mouth and in some cases their very actions. The second group are those who are afraid and it has paralyzed them. They hide among the world until a sure thing comes up and then they participate in that. Commitment is lacking and therefore they withdraw to comfortability. They wait for an opportune time when they are assured of personal satisfaction before they join the group.
You and I are the Jonathans and the armor-bearers of the church. We are meant for great exploits and believing for great things while we are taking great risk (for those without the spiritual eyes to see our victory that is secured by God). We are people who move forward even when others don’t for a variety of reasons. If there is any of those “other” groups within you today, any of their mentality, kill it – you were born for greater things than that. Step into your destiny as Jonathans and armor-bearers.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
May 29
Matt. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This statement struck me today. What do we care about most? Not only that but where do our resources go? Where do we invest our lives? If money were no object what would you do with your time? Stop reading and
answer that question.....
You should have revealed some treasure! I think often we don't resource our treasure. What I mean is that the things that matter most to us in our heart, when we slow down and think, we spend very little resource on. Why? We are caught in the wheel of life and can't get off! Verse 20 tells us to do what we think is important and then our heart will be about heavenly or kingdom things. I refuse the thought that what Jesus said was too difficult. It isn't! It just takes thought. The reason we can't or don't get off the hamster wheel is because we think we are trapped or don't know how to get off. Stop investing in the things of this life and invest in the things that will last forever. When we work- do it for God and not any other reason. When you ride a roller coaster, do it with heaven in mind and the joy that God has given you. Enjoy God! Be intentional about the way you live and live for heaven! Your heart will change!
This statement struck me today. What do we care about most? Not only that but where do our resources go? Where do we invest our lives? If money were no object what would you do with your time? Stop reading and
answer that question.....
You should have revealed some treasure! I think often we don't resource our treasure. What I mean is that the things that matter most to us in our heart, when we slow down and think, we spend very little resource on. Why? We are caught in the wheel of life and can't get off! Verse 20 tells us to do what we think is important and then our heart will be about heavenly or kingdom things. I refuse the thought that what Jesus said was too difficult. It isn't! It just takes thought. The reason we can't or don't get off the hamster wheel is because we think we are trapped or don't know how to get off. Stop investing in the things of this life and invest in the things that will last forever. When we work- do it for God and not any other reason. When you ride a roller coaster, do it with heaven in mind and the joy that God has given you. Enjoy God! Be intentional about the way you live and live for heaven! Your heart will change!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
May 28
1 Samuel 8:7 (NIV)
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
The people wanted a king “like the nations around us”, and God was going to give them one. Samuel did warn them that kings would rule over them and would oppress them, but they didn’t care. They wanted a MAN to govern them and not God. Get this… they were more comfortable with a man leading and ruling than God AND they were more comfortable with what a man may decree than what God had already decreed through the law. They were o.k. with oppression – they just wanted what they wanted. They wanted what everyone else had.
Whatever the convoluted thought process was, God’s heart was hurt. You can hear it in this verse. God’s heart was crushed because His people, His treasured possession were rejecting Him. He goes on to tell Samuel;
1 Samuel 8:8 (NIV)
8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
God choose them, loved them, delivered them, blessed them, provided for them, and His daily delight wants a man to rule over them and govern them and LEAD them. God’s heart is broken. God feels, He emotes, and when He is rejected, He feels it.
Would you say with me today - I don’t want a man to rule over me Lord, nor a set of laws, I want to be ruled by you. I want you to be my leader, my judge, my everything and not any man INCLUDING ME! You are the one that I need. You are my sustainer and provider of all – to you alone I bow – where else does my salvation come from.
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
The people wanted a king “like the nations around us”, and God was going to give them one. Samuel did warn them that kings would rule over them and would oppress them, but they didn’t care. They wanted a MAN to govern them and not God. Get this… they were more comfortable with a man leading and ruling than God AND they were more comfortable with what a man may decree than what God had already decreed through the law. They were o.k. with oppression – they just wanted what they wanted. They wanted what everyone else had.
Whatever the convoluted thought process was, God’s heart was hurt. You can hear it in this verse. God’s heart was crushed because His people, His treasured possession were rejecting Him. He goes on to tell Samuel;
1 Samuel 8:8 (NIV)
8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
God choose them, loved them, delivered them, blessed them, provided for them, and His daily delight wants a man to rule over them and govern them and LEAD them. God’s heart is broken. God feels, He emotes, and when He is rejected, He feels it.
Would you say with me today - I don’t want a man to rule over me Lord, nor a set of laws, I want to be ruled by you. I want you to be my leader, my judge, my everything and not any man INCLUDING ME! You are the one that I need. You are my sustainer and provider of all – to you alone I bow – where else does my salvation come from.
Friday, May 27, 2011
May 27
Matthew 4:23 (NIV)
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
I was talking to someone the other day and we were talking about Jesus Culture (a band). We told him that they came out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. He recognized the name and asked if that was Bill Johnson’s ministry. He asked if I like Bill Johnson and then commented, “he’s really into that healing stuff”. I actually corrected him and said that Bethel is really into the supernatural stuff, but of course healing is included. It was the way he said “healing stuff” that made me think that this guy wasn’t in agreement with healing. I could be wrong about him, but I am not wrong about Jesus. Jesus is definitely into that “healing stuff”. The way Jesus went around healing people one might think that it was part of his mission! Hmmm…..
To take healing out of our personal ministry, and I am talking about supernatural healing, is to deny that part of Jesus’ mission. To think or to believe anything but the reality of Jesus’ mission on this earth was to destroy the work of the devil (1 John 3:8) which included slavery to sin, captivation to oppression AND a submission to sickness, is to negate scripture. Jesus came to bring us salvation and redemption, to release us from every bondage and to heal every disease, both mental/emotional and physical! Here in this passage He does what He came for – Teaching, Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and DOING the Good News – healing!
Some would say; “Well, that is Jesus, He is God, I am not.” It was Jesus, He is God and you are not, however the same Spirit that raise Christ from the dead dwells in YOU! If not, then your mortal body will not be raised! The same Spirit that just came on Jesus in Matt. 3, will come on you (or has), through the baptism of (or with) the Holy Spirit. John talked about it, Jesus talked about it, the disciples waited for it (Acts 1-2) and then they got it just like Jesus did and just like you and I can. Yes I am saying that you can operate (heal) just like Jesus did because you have the same “ability” (power) that Jesus did, the Holy Spirit. It is time to start believing who we really are and what we can really do through the Spirit of God! Jesus was able and so are we. Jesus was commissioned and so are we. Jesus DID it and so will we!
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
I was talking to someone the other day and we were talking about Jesus Culture (a band). We told him that they came out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA. He recognized the name and asked if that was Bill Johnson’s ministry. He asked if I like Bill Johnson and then commented, “he’s really into that healing stuff”. I actually corrected him and said that Bethel is really into the supernatural stuff, but of course healing is included. It was the way he said “healing stuff” that made me think that this guy wasn’t in agreement with healing. I could be wrong about him, but I am not wrong about Jesus. Jesus is definitely into that “healing stuff”. The way Jesus went around healing people one might think that it was part of his mission! Hmmm…..
To take healing out of our personal ministry, and I am talking about supernatural healing, is to deny that part of Jesus’ mission. To think or to believe anything but the reality of Jesus’ mission on this earth was to destroy the work of the devil (1 John 3:8) which included slavery to sin, captivation to oppression AND a submission to sickness, is to negate scripture. Jesus came to bring us salvation and redemption, to release us from every bondage and to heal every disease, both mental/emotional and physical! Here in this passage He does what He came for – Teaching, Preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and DOING the Good News – healing!
Some would say; “Well, that is Jesus, He is God, I am not.” It was Jesus, He is God and you are not, however the same Spirit that raise Christ from the dead dwells in YOU! If not, then your mortal body will not be raised! The same Spirit that just came on Jesus in Matt. 3, will come on you (or has), through the baptism of (or with) the Holy Spirit. John talked about it, Jesus talked about it, the disciples waited for it (Acts 1-2) and then they got it just like Jesus did and just like you and I can. Yes I am saying that you can operate (heal) just like Jesus did because you have the same “ability” (power) that Jesus did, the Holy Spirit. It is time to start believing who we really are and what we can really do through the Spirit of God! Jesus was able and so are we. Jesus was commissioned and so are we. Jesus DID it and so will we!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
May 26
1 Samuel 1:17–18 (NIV)
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” 18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
This part of the story came on the heals of Eli insulting Hannah and accusing her of being drunk when she was crying out to the Lord! Did you get that? She was in emotional agony and the priest – Eli – incorrectly judged her. He scolded her in her moment of need! What was Hannah’s reply to this scolding that was completely out of line? Humility.
1 Samuel 1:16 (NIV)
16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
She just explained herself and didn’t attack, talk back to, insult, condemn, criticize, grumble against or have any disdain in her heart for Eli. What a response! What a woman of God!
She was blessed by the priest and she soon conceived one of the greatest priest to serve in Israel. She was able to receive the blessing because she didn’t receive the offense. Did you get that? If she would have taken the rebuke of Eli (wrong as it was) to heart, she wouldn’t have received the blessing. When Eli blessed her, she got what she sought after, a child. Her response to Eli is such a wonderful portrayal of humility; “may your servant find favor in your eyes”. Are you applying this to your life?
Humility opens doors – it brings blessing – it is a key to gain the Kingdom. Pray with me today; Oh God, release a humility in me that crushes offenses.
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” 18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
This part of the story came on the heals of Eli insulting Hannah and accusing her of being drunk when she was crying out to the Lord! Did you get that? She was in emotional agony and the priest – Eli – incorrectly judged her. He scolded her in her moment of need! What was Hannah’s reply to this scolding that was completely out of line? Humility.
1 Samuel 1:16 (NIV)
16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
She just explained herself and didn’t attack, talk back to, insult, condemn, criticize, grumble against or have any disdain in her heart for Eli. What a response! What a woman of God!
She was blessed by the priest and she soon conceived one of the greatest priest to serve in Israel. She was able to receive the blessing because she didn’t receive the offense. Did you get that? If she would have taken the rebuke of Eli (wrong as it was) to heart, she wouldn’t have received the blessing. When Eli blessed her, she got what she sought after, a child. Her response to Eli is such a wonderful portrayal of humility; “may your servant find favor in your eyes”. Are you applying this to your life?
Humility opens doors – it brings blessing – it is a key to gain the Kingdom. Pray with me today; Oh God, release a humility in me that crushes offenses.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
May 25
Ruth 2:12 (NIV)
12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
I LOVE this story! Naomi came back saying that God had dealt bitterly with her and she had NO faith and NO hope. Within weeks God had revealed a plan to restore her!
Ruth had decided correctly;
Ruth 1:16 (NIV)
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
Now Ruth was in God’s viewfinder and the picture that would last thousands of years would be taken. This foreigner would choose God and God would not only honor that, but would bring her more than she could have ever imagined. I suppose that one of the reasons she chose God was because of Naomi. There is a lesson in that. But rest assured, the Almighty was calling her and would use her to bring about a Kingly line and the lineage of the Messiah. Greatness awaited her!
Boaz pronounced quite a blessing on her and it turned out to be true! Imagine that! How powerful is the blessing of God! How powerful is the blessing of a godly man (or woman)! Ruth had taken refuge under God’s wings and she would be repaid hundreds fold! When it looks bad for you, when you are all but counted out, take refuge in His wings and watch God move on your behalf. He rewards those who seek Him – that is His nature! He loves to do it! It reveals His character and He loves His character revealed! He wants to use you to reveal Himself to those around you! He wants to use you as a magnet! May you be richly rewarded for giving up your life and following the Lord. May God’s blessing be on you today and may that blessing come quickly!
12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
I LOVE this story! Naomi came back saying that God had dealt bitterly with her and she had NO faith and NO hope. Within weeks God had revealed a plan to restore her!
Ruth had decided correctly;
Ruth 1:16 (NIV)
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
Now Ruth was in God’s viewfinder and the picture that would last thousands of years would be taken. This foreigner would choose God and God would not only honor that, but would bring her more than she could have ever imagined. I suppose that one of the reasons she chose God was because of Naomi. There is a lesson in that. But rest assured, the Almighty was calling her and would use her to bring about a Kingly line and the lineage of the Messiah. Greatness awaited her!
Boaz pronounced quite a blessing on her and it turned out to be true! Imagine that! How powerful is the blessing of God! How powerful is the blessing of a godly man (or woman)! Ruth had taken refuge under God’s wings and she would be repaid hundreds fold! When it looks bad for you, when you are all but counted out, take refuge in His wings and watch God move on your behalf. He rewards those who seek Him – that is His nature! He loves to do it! It reveals His character and He loves His character revealed! He wants to use you to reveal Himself to those around you! He wants to use you as a magnet! May you be richly rewarded for giving up your life and following the Lord. May God’s blessing be on you today and may that blessing come quickly!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
May 24
Matthew 1:16 (NIV)
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
It is totally amazing to look at the genealogy of Joseph, (and Mary) because of the people God would use. You would think that if someone made up the gospels and Jesus himself, they would lie a little better about the genealogy! God doesn’t need to lie or hide the truth, He is glorified in it.
If I may just point to a few unbelievably included people; Judah and Tamar, (she dressed as a prostitute and tricked Judah and conceived), Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabite (enemy of Israel) are included, and of course we have Solomon who was conceived after David had Bathsheba’s husband essentially killed, not to mention all the wicked Kings in this linage who rebelled against the Lord to varying degrees. All of this says something very loud to me. God is able! He is able to bring about what He wants and He is not limited by mankind’s sinfulness! God is a redeemer! He is the one who takes a crumbled person and raises them up to do great things! He is more than my helper, my redeemer, my shield, my buckler, He is my all in all! He is able to make me mount up on eagles wings and soar to the heights of my (His) capabilities and accomplish amazing things IN SPITE OF MY SINFULLNESS! It doesn’t matter what your parents were like - He is able to overcome all of your shortcomings and make you more than a conqueror! He is able! He loves you! Give Him your all today and watch the amazing places He will take you and the grand things He will do with you and through you!
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
It is totally amazing to look at the genealogy of Joseph, (and Mary) because of the people God would use. You would think that if someone made up the gospels and Jesus himself, they would lie a little better about the genealogy! God doesn’t need to lie or hide the truth, He is glorified in it.
If I may just point to a few unbelievably included people; Judah and Tamar, (she dressed as a prostitute and tricked Judah and conceived), Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabite (enemy of Israel) are included, and of course we have Solomon who was conceived after David had Bathsheba’s husband essentially killed, not to mention all the wicked Kings in this linage who rebelled against the Lord to varying degrees. All of this says something very loud to me. God is able! He is able to bring about what He wants and He is not limited by mankind’s sinfulness! God is a redeemer! He is the one who takes a crumbled person and raises them up to do great things! He is more than my helper, my redeemer, my shield, my buckler, He is my all in all! He is able to make me mount up on eagles wings and soar to the heights of my (His) capabilities and accomplish amazing things IN SPITE OF MY SINFULLNESS! It doesn’t matter what your parents were like - He is able to overcome all of your shortcomings and make you more than a conqueror! He is able! He loves you! Give Him your all today and watch the amazing places He will take you and the grand things He will do with you and through you!
Monday, May 23, 2011
May 23
2 Thessalonians 3:6 (NIV)
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
Twice in this chapter Paul talks about not associating with people who are not walking according to the teaching that he has given. He says to “not associate with them”, to “keep ones distance” from them. He puts it in the context of warning them as brothers and not making them your enemies, but the passage clearly talks about not “hanging out” with people.
This is a bit of a foreign concept to us because we think that Jesus is somehow standardless – He is not. These people that Paul is talking about are not having sex outside of marriage, nor getting drunk, they are (at least the first group) people who are not willing to work! You might be saying, isn’t that a little harsh? Can’t we work with people? Of course we are to work with people and judge nobody according to the flesh, however there is a principle of pollution, a principle of leaven here that we need to see. Before I state it clearly, may I say that we are not suppose to go around and judge everybody’s lives every week and kick people out of the church or out of our lives. Yet there is a time, when the Spirit of God will show us, to warn a person because they are in danger, and the church is in danger as well! Rest assured, I, and the leadership, will not be judging anybody in regards to their life, it is the Lord who judges and rescues from idleness or not adhering to any of the teachings of Christ.
The principle of leaven is this – a little leaven infects the whole batch. If there are a few, or even one person who is rebellious to the Lord and continues in that rebellion – meaning he or she makes it a habit or way of life, then they WILL infect others. (By the way, that is what kind of person this passage is talking about – one who is doing wrong and bent on continuing in it). It will grow and spread, so it must be dealt with.
Caution: Deal with your own leaven before you even look at anyone else’s.
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
Twice in this chapter Paul talks about not associating with people who are not walking according to the teaching that he has given. He says to “not associate with them”, to “keep ones distance” from them. He puts it in the context of warning them as brothers and not making them your enemies, but the passage clearly talks about not “hanging out” with people.
This is a bit of a foreign concept to us because we think that Jesus is somehow standardless – He is not. These people that Paul is talking about are not having sex outside of marriage, nor getting drunk, they are (at least the first group) people who are not willing to work! You might be saying, isn’t that a little harsh? Can’t we work with people? Of course we are to work with people and judge nobody according to the flesh, however there is a principle of pollution, a principle of leaven here that we need to see. Before I state it clearly, may I say that we are not suppose to go around and judge everybody’s lives every week and kick people out of the church or out of our lives. Yet there is a time, when the Spirit of God will show us, to warn a person because they are in danger, and the church is in danger as well! Rest assured, I, and the leadership, will not be judging anybody in regards to their life, it is the Lord who judges and rescues from idleness or not adhering to any of the teachings of Christ.
The principle of leaven is this – a little leaven infects the whole batch. If there are a few, or even one person who is rebellious to the Lord and continues in that rebellion – meaning he or she makes it a habit or way of life, then they WILL infect others. (By the way, that is what kind of person this passage is talking about – one who is doing wrong and bent on continuing in it). It will grow and spread, so it must be dealt with.
Caution: Deal with your own leaven before you even look at anyone else’s.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
May 22
2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NIV)
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
The way the NIV interprets this Greek wording is interesting and sparks my interest. The literal translation is …, that might fill every good thought of goodness and work of trust in power”. I really like this thought that he may bring to fruition our every desire for goodness and our every deed prompted by faith. There are two rockin’ principles right there!
First I notice here that I (we) have a desire towards goodness (moral goodness). That is so true! We have, within us, a great desire to do what is right because we have Him who is “right” living in us. We can’t help but want to do what is right. That is who we are!
Second, we want to do something with our faith. Faith (trust) is not to be shelved or internally considered, it prompts action. In deed how can you have trust if you don’t do something that exhibits your trust? This is where James talks about “faith without works is dead”! It is impossible for us as God followers not to “do” something because of
what God has instilled and installed in us. It is just natural. I don’t “do” because I “have to”, I do because that is what comes naturally. The calling (a responsibility to a certain task) is proven in all of us because we are people of action. We are not those who wait for someone else to do the something that we are called to do. We do it.
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
The way the NIV interprets this Greek wording is interesting and sparks my interest. The literal translation is …, that might fill every good thought of goodness and work of trust in power”. I really like this thought that he may bring to fruition our every desire for goodness and our every deed prompted by faith. There are two rockin’ principles right there!
First I notice here that I (we) have a desire towards goodness (moral goodness). That is so true! We have, within us, a great desire to do what is right because we have Him who is “right” living in us. We can’t help but want to do what is right. That is who we are!
Second, we want to do something with our faith. Faith (trust) is not to be shelved or internally considered, it prompts action. In deed how can you have trust if you don’t do something that exhibits your trust? This is where James talks about “faith without works is dead”! It is impossible for us as God followers not to “do” something because of
what God has instilled and installed in us. It is just natural. I don’t “do” because I “have to”, I do because that is what comes naturally. The calling (a responsibility to a certain task) is proven in all of us because we are people of action. We are not those who wait for someone else to do the something that we are called to do. We do it.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
May 21
1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NIV)
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
Another way this verse is put is “don’t put out the Spirit’s fire”. Obvious right? NOT! We do it all the time and the church is a pro at it! To “quench” is to cause a fervent activity to cease. The picture is that the Spirit of God has a passionate activity going and we through a blanket over it.
When a Pentecostal like myself thinks about this verse, he thinks about the Spirit of God moving in a church setting or small group and someone “poo-pooing” that activity by any number of means. (Not the least of which is that it is somehow “out of order” – whose order?) That should not be dismissed too quickly. It is easy to not understand or to not experience it yourself and then criticize it and therefore spread doubt which will extinguish the fire of God. Yet, this goes far beyond the church setting into our personal lives. God is doing a great work in us and then we quench it by going back to the pig pen or by counteracting it some way, thus we quench the fire. It is easy to do – all we have to do is walk in the flesh and we will not walk in the way of the Spirit. When God is doing something, let it go – in fact – fan it, agree with it, get in the fire!
Sometimes I think if Jesus came himself and started a fire that included things that we don’t “normally” do, we would ask Him to leave. It is time that we are open to the Spirit’s leading and to break out of our “normal” living, churching, and any other “ing”. When we see just a spark, let’s fan it into flame. We will certainly use discernment, but let’s not use that as an excuse to question everything. It would be a tragedy to kill a move of God in our lives or corporately under the guise of discernment which really equates to uncomfortability. Say with me today – come with your fire Holy Spirit! Catch me on fire so the world can watch me burn for you!
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
Another way this verse is put is “don’t put out the Spirit’s fire”. Obvious right? NOT! We do it all the time and the church is a pro at it! To “quench” is to cause a fervent activity to cease. The picture is that the Spirit of God has a passionate activity going and we through a blanket over it.
When a Pentecostal like myself thinks about this verse, he thinks about the Spirit of God moving in a church setting or small group and someone “poo-pooing” that activity by any number of means. (Not the least of which is that it is somehow “out of order” – whose order?) That should not be dismissed too quickly. It is easy to not understand or to not experience it yourself and then criticize it and therefore spread doubt which will extinguish the fire of God. Yet, this goes far beyond the church setting into our personal lives. God is doing a great work in us and then we quench it by going back to the pig pen or by counteracting it some way, thus we quench the fire. It is easy to do – all we have to do is walk in the flesh and we will not walk in the way of the Spirit. When God is doing something, let it go – in fact – fan it, agree with it, get in the fire!
Sometimes I think if Jesus came himself and started a fire that included things that we don’t “normally” do, we would ask Him to leave. It is time that we are open to the Spirit’s leading and to break out of our “normal” living, churching, and any other “ing”. When we see just a spark, let’s fan it into flame. We will certainly use discernment, but let’s not use that as an excuse to question everything. It would be a tragedy to kill a move of God in our lives or corporately under the guise of discernment which really equates to uncomfortability. Say with me today – come with your fire Holy Spirit! Catch me on fire so the world can watch me burn for you!
Friday, May 20, 2011
May 20
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NIV)
12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
The two different words used for increase and overflow have subtle differences. They both mean to have abundance or to increase. It is like the Spirit of God is saying have an ample overflowing supply and then increase upon that! What a picture! It is like your cup is running over and then more is added to that. Please notice who it is suppose to be directed toward, each other and everyone else. Again, these two words represent an over the top description of EVERYONE. There is no picking and choosing who to love or be kind to unconditionally (agape love) with the Kingdom mindset. Yes even those people who we don’t necessarily “like” we will love if we let the love giver take over or heart. Imagine having God give you a vegetable plant for you to tend and after tending it for a while, you decide that you don’t like it so you stop tending it. You thought it wasn’t producing enough fruit and it wouldn’t be worth your effort. However, if you would have just given it more care – for a little while longer – it would have produced a good crop that would have fed many – including yourself! The Lord will certainly make our love increase and overflow if we let Him. It is only when we have decided NOT to honor our new man, our new spirit, us as the new creation to love someone, that we don’t. The Spirit of God is calling us, purposing us to be such extravagant lovers of men and women that there is no chance they won’t feel it and be drawn by it. This is who you are, let it flow – in fact, let it overflow!
12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
The two different words used for increase and overflow have subtle differences. They both mean to have abundance or to increase. It is like the Spirit of God is saying have an ample overflowing supply and then increase upon that! What a picture! It is like your cup is running over and then more is added to that. Please notice who it is suppose to be directed toward, each other and everyone else. Again, these two words represent an over the top description of EVERYONE. There is no picking and choosing who to love or be kind to unconditionally (agape love) with the Kingdom mindset. Yes even those people who we don’t necessarily “like” we will love if we let the love giver take over or heart. Imagine having God give you a vegetable plant for you to tend and after tending it for a while, you decide that you don’t like it so you stop tending it. You thought it wasn’t producing enough fruit and it wouldn’t be worth your effort. However, if you would have just given it more care – for a little while longer – it would have produced a good crop that would have fed many – including yourself! The Lord will certainly make our love increase and overflow if we let Him. It is only when we have decided NOT to honor our new man, our new spirit, us as the new creation to love someone, that we don’t. The Spirit of God is calling us, purposing us to be such extravagant lovers of men and women that there is no chance they won’t feel it and be drawn by it. This is who you are, let it flow – in fact, let it overflow!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May 19
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV)
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
Let us be like the Thessalonians! They heard the Word, received the Word, accepted the Word (believed) and now the Word is: (energao) “to be engaged in some activity or function, with possible focus upon the energy or force involved”, within them. The same is available to us. The Word of God, when received (accepted with friendliness) and accepted (believed upon like it is God – the Creator and all powerful Ruler of the universe who can perform any function) is able to perform mighty functions within us! The Word is ready to be carried out if we would only believe. Jesus said that “all things are possible for him who believes”, and we should take Him at His Word. Are you seeing this? The Word of God is powerful! It WORKS! So it would seem to me that we should all the more get the Word in us so it can perform mighty functions. It is that powerful – but we must believe. It isn’t simply reading, but receiving and accepting.
That is the rub isn’t it? It is applying the Word of God to our lives and standing on it like our lives depend on it. Ceasing from our own works and trusting in God who has already proclaimed through His Word that certain things will come to pass. What promise do you need to cling to today? What do you need to become an overcoming disciple? It is found in His Word.
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
Let us be like the Thessalonians! They heard the Word, received the Word, accepted the Word (believed) and now the Word is: (energao) “to be engaged in some activity or function, with possible focus upon the energy or force involved”, within them. The same is available to us. The Word of God, when received (accepted with friendliness) and accepted (believed upon like it is God – the Creator and all powerful Ruler of the universe who can perform any function) is able to perform mighty functions within us! The Word is ready to be carried out if we would only believe. Jesus said that “all things are possible for him who believes”, and we should take Him at His Word. Are you seeing this? The Word of God is powerful! It WORKS! So it would seem to me that we should all the more get the Word in us so it can perform mighty functions. It is that powerful – but we must believe. It isn’t simply reading, but receiving and accepting.
That is the rub isn’t it? It is applying the Word of God to our lives and standing on it like our lives depend on it. Ceasing from our own works and trusting in God who has already proclaimed through His Word that certain things will come to pass. What promise do you need to cling to today? What do you need to become an overcoming disciple? It is found in His Word.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
May 18
Colossians 4:5 (NIV)
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Two things come to mind here. First, properly interpreting the context of this verse is that God will put us together with unbelievers – outsiders. We need to be wise in the way we act towards them so we can be effective ministers of the gospel to them. We are supposed to make the most of every opportunity and it is hard to do that if we act like fools or to put it another way, we are fools and we miss the opportunity to bring them to Christ or at least testify to them about Christ.
The second thing that smacks me in the face is that I am supposed to make the most of every opportunity. This is something that God has long been working on me about and I am up to the next level. I have a new saying; I am not going to be run (controlled) by the tyranny of the urgent. We (I) am controlled by the urgent like I am it’s victim, but I am nobody’s victim! Join with me and make the most out of every opportunity, both on the spur of the moment, and more appropriately in my life, by planning the opportunity well in advance. Intentionality comes to mind…
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Two things come to mind here. First, properly interpreting the context of this verse is that God will put us together with unbelievers – outsiders. We need to be wise in the way we act towards them so we can be effective ministers of the gospel to them. We are supposed to make the most of every opportunity and it is hard to do that if we act like fools or to put it another way, we are fools and we miss the opportunity to bring them to Christ or at least testify to them about Christ.
The second thing that smacks me in the face is that I am supposed to make the most of every opportunity. This is something that God has long been working on me about and I am up to the next level. I have a new saying; I am not going to be run (controlled) by the tyranny of the urgent. We (I) am controlled by the urgent like I am it’s victim, but I am nobody’s victim! Join with me and make the most out of every opportunity, both on the spur of the moment, and more appropriately in my life, by planning the opportunity well in advance. Intentionality comes to mind…
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May 17
Colossians 3:1-2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
The whole chapter is summed up in these verses. We lose the battle when we set our minds are the “earthly” or “fleshly” things. First of all the word for “set our hearts” is to seek. To seek is “to desire to have or experience something, with the probable implication of making an attempt to realize one’s desire”. To set your minds is “to keep on giving serious consideration to something—‘to ponder, to let one’s mind dwell on, to keep thinking about, to fix one’s attention on.’” When we set ourselves, our focus, our desire on the things of Christ and the things of heaven, then we will realize them in our lives. This isn’t some kind of Jedi mind trick, it is the power of God working within us. We have the ability to choose focus and therefore choose behavior. Let me give you an example.
If you are in church, after a couple of hours of worship, the presence of God is thick and you are experiencing His touch. You have danced to Him with a sacrifice of praise and you have felt His touch of refining fire and wept before Him. You have experienced His embrace of love and have received faith through the realization of the Word of God which He ministered to you. What would happen if someone offered you, right then, drugs, sex or money they stole from the church? Too easy to say no? What if someone started to complain about the pastor or worship team or started to share some juicy gossip? It wouldn’t touch you would it? It would fall off you like water off a raincoat.
Focus on God, heaven and His Kingdom all day long. Put everything in the context of the cause of Christ and watch what happens! Get filled in the morning, and stay full all day. Don’t let your attention be stolen! Back to the song, “I put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh!” It is the putting on of Christ that will in turn make no provision for the flesh but will make provision for heaven to flow through you!
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
The whole chapter is summed up in these verses. We lose the battle when we set our minds are the “earthly” or “fleshly” things. First of all the word for “set our hearts” is to seek. To seek is “to desire to have or experience something, with the probable implication of making an attempt to realize one’s desire”. To set your minds is “to keep on giving serious consideration to something—‘to ponder, to let one’s mind dwell on, to keep thinking about, to fix one’s attention on.’” When we set ourselves, our focus, our desire on the things of Christ and the things of heaven, then we will realize them in our lives. This isn’t some kind of Jedi mind trick, it is the power of God working within us. We have the ability to choose focus and therefore choose behavior. Let me give you an example.
If you are in church, after a couple of hours of worship, the presence of God is thick and you are experiencing His touch. You have danced to Him with a sacrifice of praise and you have felt His touch of refining fire and wept before Him. You have experienced His embrace of love and have received faith through the realization of the Word of God which He ministered to you. What would happen if someone offered you, right then, drugs, sex or money they stole from the church? Too easy to say no? What if someone started to complain about the pastor or worship team or started to share some juicy gossip? It wouldn’t touch you would it? It would fall off you like water off a raincoat.
Focus on God, heaven and His Kingdom all day long. Put everything in the context of the cause of Christ and watch what happens! Get filled in the morning, and stay full all day. Don’t let your attention be stolen! Back to the song, “I put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh!” It is the putting on of Christ that will in turn make no provision for the flesh but will make provision for heaven to flow through you!
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 16
Colossians 2:6 (NIV)
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
Colossians 2:10 (NIV)
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness…
Colossians 2:13 (NIV)
…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Colossians 2:20 (NIV)
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
This is powerful isn’t it? Look at it and just soak it in. It is the Word of God revealing a mystery – in Christ! Everything is “in Christ”. We received and He lives in us and we have been brought to fullness and we are alive with Christ because we died with Christ. We not only died to our own flesh, but there is more!
There is a song that says, “I put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh…” That is right out of scripture and as true as could be, yet here Paul is talking about living life according to the “rules”. Of course in his time he primarily meant “the law”. I would like to argue that we Christians have plenty of “laws”, that have come from well meaning people and from “The Law” itself. We live in Christ and don’t need the rules or laws to make us live right! In fact, they are counterproductive and can never save us from our flesh or Christ wouldn’t have had to come and die and expect us to “die with Christ”. Verse 23 sums it up well; “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
It is Christ and Him alone that makes us to soar above every principality and even our flesh. In Him we can resist temptation and live as freemen. We live in fullness – In Christ!
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
Colossians 2:10 (NIV)
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness…
Colossians 2:13 (NIV)
…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Colossians 2:20 (NIV)
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
This is powerful isn’t it? Look at it and just soak it in. It is the Word of God revealing a mystery – in Christ! Everything is “in Christ”. We received and He lives in us and we have been brought to fullness and we are alive with Christ because we died with Christ. We not only died to our own flesh, but there is more!
There is a song that says, “I put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh…” That is right out of scripture and as true as could be, yet here Paul is talking about living life according to the “rules”. Of course in his time he primarily meant “the law”. I would like to argue that we Christians have plenty of “laws”, that have come from well meaning people and from “The Law” itself. We live in Christ and don’t need the rules or laws to make us live right! In fact, they are counterproductive and can never save us from our flesh or Christ wouldn’t have had to come and die and expect us to “die with Christ”. Verse 23 sums it up well; “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
It is Christ and Him alone that makes us to soar above every principality and even our flesh. In Him we can resist temptation and live as freemen. We live in fullness – In Christ!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
May 15
Colossians 1:29 (NIV)
29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
There is no way to get away from hard work. My son was telling me about a friend and that friend wanted to take a “break” from seeking God. His question was, “when do you just get to chill?” In our walk with God we are either paddling upstream or floating downstream, there are no lakes in our walk with Christ. But here Paul is talking about something way beyond that, He is talking about ministry. Some might say that this verse doesn’t apply to them because they are not in the ministry – oh contraire. We are all in the ministry. Our lives are on display for all to see and we are either having positive effect or negative effect or no effect.
The question is did Jesus give us His Spirit so we could “chill” or “coast” or be good people, or live “our” lives to the fullest, or just make it through life – God forbid! We are all to example Paul who is laboring – with great effort – with the energy that Christ has given him – that makes him able because it is the energy within him! To do what? Minister! His life is about the Kingdom of God, winning others to Christ, discipling others and then finally his own life. You have what it takes! God is in you to work in you and through you to make you a powerful, able and effective minister! Don’t settle for anything less!
29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
There is no way to get away from hard work. My son was telling me about a friend and that friend wanted to take a “break” from seeking God. His question was, “when do you just get to chill?” In our walk with God we are either paddling upstream or floating downstream, there are no lakes in our walk with Christ. But here Paul is talking about something way beyond that, He is talking about ministry. Some might say that this verse doesn’t apply to them because they are not in the ministry – oh contraire. We are all in the ministry. Our lives are on display for all to see and we are either having positive effect or negative effect or no effect.
The question is did Jesus give us His Spirit so we could “chill” or “coast” or be good people, or live “our” lives to the fullest, or just make it through life – God forbid! We are all to example Paul who is laboring – with great effort – with the energy that Christ has given him – that makes him able because it is the energy within him! To do what? Minister! His life is about the Kingdom of God, winning others to Christ, discipling others and then finally his own life. You have what it takes! God is in you to work in you and through you to make you a powerful, able and effective minister! Don’t settle for anything less!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
May 14
Philippians 4:5 (NIV)
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Of all the things to put in the Bible! How about us tough guys? How about the “buffalo” male who can withstand a 40 mph wind like nothing? I mean, where is the machismo in this verse? Then I looked in the ASV, it is translated reasonableness. Those translators knew what they were doing – or were macho. This word ἐπιεικής (epieikais) is most translated gentle – as in being gentle to people, not quarreling, being yielding, being gracious. There is no way around it, we are to be gentle to people.
The kicker is the last phrase; The Lord is near. Whether that is a reference to the second coming or His Presence, it doesn’t matter. It is our encouragement to live and act towards others like Jesus is right beside us. Wouldn’t it be hard to be nitpicky, brash, merciless and argumentative when Jesus is right next to you? Better than that, He is not only next to you, but lives in you. You are gentle – you are!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Of all the things to put in the Bible! How about us tough guys? How about the “buffalo” male who can withstand a 40 mph wind like nothing? I mean, where is the machismo in this verse? Then I looked in the ASV, it is translated reasonableness. Those translators knew what they were doing – or were macho. This word ἐπιεικής (epieikais) is most translated gentle – as in being gentle to people, not quarreling, being yielding, being gracious. There is no way around it, we are to be gentle to people.
The kicker is the last phrase; The Lord is near. Whether that is a reference to the second coming or His Presence, it doesn’t matter. It is our encouragement to live and act towards others like Jesus is right beside us. Wouldn’t it be hard to be nitpicky, brash, merciless and argumentative when Jesus is right next to you? Better than that, He is not only next to you, but lives in you. You are gentle – you are!
Friday, May 13, 2011
May 13
Philippians 3:16 (NIV)
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Have you ever been in a class in school and after the quarter was over you had an “A” in the class. The last thing you want to do after that is have a horrible second quarter and bring your “A” down to a “C”. Why? Because you would be wasting all of that time and effort of attaining the “A”.
Paul could be talking about two different things here, and they both warrant thinking about. We have certainly attained all things in Christ, because the Word of God says that we have been given all things. Living up to our inheritance, our ability to live with great power and blessing is something that God would encouraged us to do – right?
I can’t help but thinking about the other thought as we look at this passage. It is Paul who said that he hadn’t attained it all, but he presses on… The point here is that he has attained a certain level of living, a certain level of commitment. Paul has died to himself and his desires and really is living for Christ. He is even writing this letter from a jail cell – or rather a jail dungeon! How many times do we obtain a certain level of commitment with God and then go back to the pig pen? How many times do we get deeper in our experience with God, grow deeper in our understanding of Him, gain deeper revelations of life and His Kingdom, and then go back to live a “normal” Christian life? Let it be for you and I that we live to what we have attained, never again going back to the “old” life, which doesn’t represent a life of sin for all of us. For some it represents iving a normal Christian life, which has been surpassed by the work of Christ in us. May it be with us, that we, with the power of God, walk in relation to what God has worked in us, never again going back, but pressing on to the greater things.
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Have you ever been in a class in school and after the quarter was over you had an “A” in the class. The last thing you want to do after that is have a horrible second quarter and bring your “A” down to a “C”. Why? Because you would be wasting all of that time and effort of attaining the “A”.
Paul could be talking about two different things here, and they both warrant thinking about. We have certainly attained all things in Christ, because the Word of God says that we have been given all things. Living up to our inheritance, our ability to live with great power and blessing is something that God would encouraged us to do – right?
I can’t help but thinking about the other thought as we look at this passage. It is Paul who said that he hadn’t attained it all, but he presses on… The point here is that he has attained a certain level of living, a certain level of commitment. Paul has died to himself and his desires and really is living for Christ. He is even writing this letter from a jail cell – or rather a jail dungeon! How many times do we obtain a certain level of commitment with God and then go back to the pig pen? How many times do we get deeper in our experience with God, grow deeper in our understanding of Him, gain deeper revelations of life and His Kingdom, and then go back to live a “normal” Christian life? Let it be for you and I that we live to what we have attained, never again going back to the “old” life, which doesn’t represent a life of sin for all of us. For some it represents iving a normal Christian life, which has been surpassed by the work of Christ in us. May it be with us, that we, with the power of God, walk in relation to what God has worked in us, never again going back, but pressing on to the greater things.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
May 12
Philippians 2:20–21 (NIV)
20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Timothy evidently was quite a young man! Paul, the great apostle said that he had no one else like him! Everyone here could stand for a couple of people or a group of people or it could stand for people in general. Paul is not saying that everyone else in the world looks after their own interests, but I believe he is saying that people generally, in the humanity of their flesh look out for their own interest. We as born-again, Spirit filled believers don’t HAVE to be like that, but I hear in this verse the Holy Spirit’s reproof of those who are and His encouragement to live a greater life. The mark of someone who is mature in Christ, who has taken dominion is they look out for other’s interest before their own and (verse 4) and show a genuine concern for others.
In our busy and hectic lifestyle where busyness is the marker of importance, it is all too easy to slip into watching out for our own affairs and leaving the affairs of the church (as a group of people, not some religious organization), to others. In church language we call those people the twenty percenters, because twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work in the church. I think a change is in order! Let us be a people who care less for ourselves and more for others. We do not have to neglect ourselves, but putting ourselves in proper alignment we will have it said of us, I have no one else like him!
20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Timothy evidently was quite a young man! Paul, the great apostle said that he had no one else like him! Everyone here could stand for a couple of people or a group of people or it could stand for people in general. Paul is not saying that everyone else in the world looks after their own interests, but I believe he is saying that people generally, in the humanity of their flesh look out for their own interest. We as born-again, Spirit filled believers don’t HAVE to be like that, but I hear in this verse the Holy Spirit’s reproof of those who are and His encouragement to live a greater life. The mark of someone who is mature in Christ, who has taken dominion is they look out for other’s interest before their own and (verse 4) and show a genuine concern for others.
In our busy and hectic lifestyle where busyness is the marker of importance, it is all too easy to slip into watching out for our own affairs and leaving the affairs of the church (as a group of people, not some religious organization), to others. In church language we call those people the twenty percenters, because twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work in the church. I think a change is in order! Let us be a people who care less for ourselves and more for others. We do not have to neglect ourselves, but putting ourselves in proper alignment we will have it said of us, I have no one else like him!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
May 11
Philippians 1:4–5 (NIV)
4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
I stopped and pondered this and it made such sense. It is easy to pray with joy for people who are partnered with you. Since my life is about advancing the gospel, I am always looking for partners – people who would put their hand to the plow next to me and plow the same field together. It is easy to pray for them AND when you think about them, you smile. How beautiful that is.
Philippians 1:15–18 (NIV)
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
Paul has a very different view than many people in our society today. In fact, entire ministries that I am sure number in the hundreds (just search on the internet for a controversial minister and see all the junk) are dedicated to expose people who minister out of false motives, (or at least they are judged from someone who doesn’t know them at all to be doing that). I can hear the excuses flying right now by those who love or are interested in the deriding of ministers who are not heretical, but say things or do things or have things that others have deemed inappropriate. We shoot our wounded and we shoot our people who are just trying to do their best, and we shoot those who preach out of selfish ambition. What did Paul say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? “What does it matter…Christ is preached?” Isn’t that kind of dangerous?
4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
I stopped and pondered this and it made such sense. It is easy to pray with joy for people who are partnered with you. Since my life is about advancing the gospel, I am always looking for partners – people who would put their hand to the plow next to me and plow the same field together. It is easy to pray for them AND when you think about them, you smile. How beautiful that is.
Philippians 1:15–18 (NIV)
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
Paul has a very different view than many people in our society today. In fact, entire ministries that I am sure number in the hundreds (just search on the internet for a controversial minister and see all the junk) are dedicated to expose people who minister out of false motives, (or at least they are judged from someone who doesn’t know them at all to be doing that). I can hear the excuses flying right now by those who love or are interested in the deriding of ministers who are not heretical, but say things or do things or have things that others have deemed inappropriate. We shoot our wounded and we shoot our people who are just trying to do their best, and we shoot those who preach out of selfish ambition. What did Paul say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? “What does it matter…Christ is preached?” Isn’t that kind of dangerous?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
May 4
Galatians 6:7-9 (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
What a great promise! We can live in the promise if we trust the Promise Keeper to keep His promise. Will He? Will God keep His promises?
The concept of whatever you put in the ground will sprout up shouldn’t be, even though we are not an agrarian society (farmers), foreign to us. God has set this principle up and it will continue through the end of time! It is a fantastic opportunity for us to be a part of God’s plan for us, which is a good harvest! I just was listening to a great teaching and learned this, (as if it wasn’t obvious), when you plant a seed, it takes a while before it yields fruit! Some seeds bear shade trees and they take years to produce the shade you are wanting. An Early Girl tomato plant takes a minimum of 45 days before yielding any fruit. Are you seeing the point? Verse 9 says don’t get weary of PLANTING and WAITING because the seeds take time to become what you want them to be! There are no microwave germinators! Keep doing good, keep loving, keep giving, keep sowing from your spirit and from The Spirit and in the right season your crop will come in! Don’t give up on God beloved – He is faithful to His promise!
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
What a great promise! We can live in the promise if we trust the Promise Keeper to keep His promise. Will He? Will God keep His promises?
The concept of whatever you put in the ground will sprout up shouldn’t be, even though we are not an agrarian society (farmers), foreign to us. God has set this principle up and it will continue through the end of time! It is a fantastic opportunity for us to be a part of God’s plan for us, which is a good harvest! I just was listening to a great teaching and learned this, (as if it wasn’t obvious), when you plant a seed, it takes a while before it yields fruit! Some seeds bear shade trees and they take years to produce the shade you are wanting. An Early Girl tomato plant takes a minimum of 45 days before yielding any fruit. Are you seeing the point? Verse 9 says don’t get weary of PLANTING and WAITING because the seeds take time to become what you want them to be! There are no microwave germinators! Keep doing good, keep loving, keep giving, keep sowing from your spirit and from The Spirit and in the right season your crop will come in! Don’t give up on God beloved – He is faithful to His promise!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May 3
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 4:7 (NIV)
7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
I love the book of Galatians! The life that is delivered by the breath of the Holy Spirit is so wonderful! If we (I) could get the depth of it we would never be the same. Sometimes I think that God only gives us certain levels of understanding at certain times. Then as you reread what you have previously taken to heart and there is yet another level of revelation that goes deeper into your soul, into your personality’s makeup – and you are changed a little more – until the next time. This is one of those revelations!
We understand the concept of freedom and sonship, but we need a deeper understanding. Paul is talking about people who are putting the requirements of the law on the believers in Galatia. He seems a little mad at times in his letter, and I think that reflects the heart of God. We have been given a freedom from the law because you can’t try to keep the law AND walk in the Spirit – they are mutually exclusive. God’s key for our lives is walking IN the Spirit and not UNDER the law (rule and regulation keeping). It is imperative that we do not fall under the curse again because Christ died to set us free from the curse, but there is MORE!
Christ’s death and resurrection brought us into the most fantastic relationship ever – we are again in a Father – son relationship with God! Some of us don’t understand what that means because we had a “jacked up” father – son (daughter) relationship. In our lives, this concept is everything! Why? Because it gives us access to everything! Get the revelation – we are God’s sons and daughters! Who do you know that was God’s son? Was there ever anything lacking in the life of Jesus? Can you get this? You have no lack! You have everything! You are a co-heir with Christ who has all things! That is why the Word says that God HAS GIVEN us all things pertaining to life and godliness. It is a done deal and if we can think about ourselves as God’s sons and daughters to the best Father in the universe, we will never lack again.
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 4:7 (NIV)
7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
I love the book of Galatians! The life that is delivered by the breath of the Holy Spirit is so wonderful! If we (I) could get the depth of it we would never be the same. Sometimes I think that God only gives us certain levels of understanding at certain times. Then as you reread what you have previously taken to heart and there is yet another level of revelation that goes deeper into your soul, into your personality’s makeup – and you are changed a little more – until the next time. This is one of those revelations!
We understand the concept of freedom and sonship, but we need a deeper understanding. Paul is talking about people who are putting the requirements of the law on the believers in Galatia. He seems a little mad at times in his letter, and I think that reflects the heart of God. We have been given a freedom from the law because you can’t try to keep the law AND walk in the Spirit – they are mutually exclusive. God’s key for our lives is walking IN the Spirit and not UNDER the law (rule and regulation keeping). It is imperative that we do not fall under the curse again because Christ died to set us free from the curse, but there is MORE!
Christ’s death and resurrection brought us into the most fantastic relationship ever – we are again in a Father – son relationship with God! Some of us don’t understand what that means because we had a “jacked up” father – son (daughter) relationship. In our lives, this concept is everything! Why? Because it gives us access to everything! Get the revelation – we are God’s sons and daughters! Who do you know that was God’s son? Was there ever anything lacking in the life of Jesus? Can you get this? You have no lack! You have everything! You are a co-heir with Christ who has all things! That is why the Word says that God HAS GIVEN us all things pertaining to life and godliness. It is a done deal and if we can think about ourselves as God’s sons and daughters to the best Father in the universe, we will never lack again.
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2
Deuteronomy 28:2 (NIV)
2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
Galatians 3:10-11 (NIV)
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.
Did you read the blessings of the Old Covenant – not the “better” covenant founded on better promises, but the Old Covenant? Yahoo! We see in Deut. 28 the plan of God for our lives! Nine different “blessings”, two promises of victory, twelve promises prosperity, (how can anybody say it is not God’s will to prosper us?) with more and more revelation about what God wants to do with us. How awesome is God’s plan for us!
The awesome thing is that we inherit all of it IN Christ BY faith. Some would say, “if it is God’s will then why don’t we have it?” There are a few reasons for this, but the first one is that we don’t believe! (Does Jesus want your unsaved friend to get saved? Of course! Why isn’t he? He doesn’t believe.) Will anyone join with me and stop believing the lie that our lot in life is relegated to “just getting by” and begin to believe in our hearts and therefore confess with our mouths that it is God’s will to prosper us in all things?!
Thank you God for my abundant provision! Thank you for all my material goods, houses, cars, food and the like. Thank you so much for my family, my wife, my children and my friends! Thank you for the abundant love and mercy I have to give them. Thank you for the abundant joy I have to show the world your glory and your strength! I have abundance!
2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
Galatians 3:10-11 (NIV)
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.
Did you read the blessings of the Old Covenant – not the “better” covenant founded on better promises, but the Old Covenant? Yahoo! We see in Deut. 28 the plan of God for our lives! Nine different “blessings”, two promises of victory, twelve promises prosperity, (how can anybody say it is not God’s will to prosper us?) with more and more revelation about what God wants to do with us. How awesome is God’s plan for us!
The awesome thing is that we inherit all of it IN Christ BY faith. Some would say, “if it is God’s will then why don’t we have it?” There are a few reasons for this, but the first one is that we don’t believe! (Does Jesus want your unsaved friend to get saved? Of course! Why isn’t he? He doesn’t believe.) Will anyone join with me and stop believing the lie that our lot in life is relegated to “just getting by” and begin to believe in our hearts and therefore confess with our mouths that it is God’s will to prosper us in all things?!
Thank you God for my abundant provision! Thank you for all my material goods, houses, cars, food and the like. Thank you so much for my family, my wife, my children and my friends! Thank you for the abundant love and mercy I have to give them. Thank you for the abundant joy I have to show the world your glory and your strength! I have abundance!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
May 1
Galatians 2:19 (NIV)
19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
I died to the law! In order to be IN Christ, we all died to the law. Christ died and fulfilled the law so to be joined with Christ is to die to the law. Is this making sense? He also died to the flesh (the carnal desires of mankind), so we die to our flesh so we can live with Christ. Is it clearer? Unless a grain of wheat dies and falls into the ground, another stalk will never be produced. We have to die to the law in order to live for Christ. If we live for the law – striving to keep it and doing what it says, we can’t live for Christ. You might say, “is the law evil?”, no it is not! However we don’t attain ANYTHING by the law! We attain EVERYTHING through faith, even living morally good!
We are all convinced, because we are Gentiles in the New Covenant, that we don’t have to keep the law of Moses, yet we have come up with some stifling New Testament laws to follow. Is it wrong to have standards? NO! However, you will never change anybody, even yourself, by laying “laws” or standards on them. They will be the same people. You can clean up a pig all you want, but it will go back to the mud pen because that is it’s nature. Christ came to change us from the inside out, which will change our actions! If we lay all kinds of “standards” on people we hinder the work of Christ in their life. That doesn’t mean we don’t have standards for leadership or living under the Miller roof, but we allow people to make the choice thereby allowing Christ to strengthen them to rise to the bar.
If you aren’t a dog, you don’t naturally bark, but if you are a dog, nobody has to teach you to bark, you do it naturally. If you will excuse the analogy, the New Testament is saying, “hey, you are not a pig anymore, you don’t need to go back to the muddy pig pen, you are a dog – go ahead and bark, it’s natural!”
19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.
I died to the law! In order to be IN Christ, we all died to the law. Christ died and fulfilled the law so to be joined with Christ is to die to the law. Is this making sense? He also died to the flesh (the carnal desires of mankind), so we die to our flesh so we can live with Christ. Is it clearer? Unless a grain of wheat dies and falls into the ground, another stalk will never be produced. We have to die to the law in order to live for Christ. If we live for the law – striving to keep it and doing what it says, we can’t live for Christ. You might say, “is the law evil?”, no it is not! However we don’t attain ANYTHING by the law! We attain EVERYTHING through faith, even living morally good!
We are all convinced, because we are Gentiles in the New Covenant, that we don’t have to keep the law of Moses, yet we have come up with some stifling New Testament laws to follow. Is it wrong to have standards? NO! However, you will never change anybody, even yourself, by laying “laws” or standards on them. They will be the same people. You can clean up a pig all you want, but it will go back to the mud pen because that is it’s nature. Christ came to change us from the inside out, which will change our actions! If we lay all kinds of “standards” on people we hinder the work of Christ in their life. That doesn’t mean we don’t have standards for leadership or living under the Miller roof, but we allow people to make the choice thereby allowing Christ to strengthen them to rise to the bar.
If you aren’t a dog, you don’t naturally bark, but if you are a dog, nobody has to teach you to bark, you do it naturally. If you will excuse the analogy, the New Testament is saying, “hey, you are not a pig anymore, you don’t need to go back to the muddy pig pen, you are a dog – go ahead and bark, it’s natural!”
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