Month: April 2012

I love when God does it in his time and his way.  He always does it better than we could ever dream or imagine.  Probably there is no better picture of this than creation itself.  Let there be Light! It seems simple enough, but the most dramatic command that could be imagined.  In a dark and void expanse, within an instant—Light.  I can only imagine how beautiful the light from God showing for the 1^st time must have been. 

In our lives, when we start that personal relationship with God, he declares again—“Let there be light!” We are illuminated to the wonder of the spiritual life and eternal perspective he provides.  In 2 Corinthians 5 :17, we are reminded as Christians we are new creations, the old is gone the new has come.  It is awesome to realize, that we are as dramatic of a picture as that initial “Let there be light”.  Never underestimate your value to our Lord!

God Bless You

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³ Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.

This is the plaguing question of our generation, “Why wait?” Everything in our culture demands instant gratification.  What we eat, entertainment, how we communicate–all say, Right NOW!!!  That has never been God’s way.  God’s way has always involved patience and submission.  He says, “Wait on me and trust me.” God’s way, always allows for peace, for restoration and for completeness. He knows that as in nature, those things that take time to create or develop always last longer.

God is not nearly concerned with placating our need for instant gratification as he is with conforming us into his image.  When we finally grasp the idea that he is worth the wait and his plan is always the best for us–then, we will find new energy, stamina and drive to continue.  The world will fade around us but we will be able to drive forward and endure.  Please Lord, give me the ability to wait on you and your plan for my Life.

God Bless You

Have you never heard?     Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God,     the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary.     No one can measure the depths of his understanding. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak     and strength to the powerless. ³⁰ Even youths will become weak and tired,     and young men will fall in exhaustion. ³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.     They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.     They will walk and not faint.

I have heard it said that prayer is not the preparation for the greater work—It is the greater work.  Our attitude about Prayer is a true reflection of our faith.  If we are hurting, we need to seek the Lord to come along side.  If we are being blessed in amazing ways, We need to be full of adoration and thanksgiving.  If we are sick, we need to allow the elders and pastors seek God on our behalf.  If we have pulled away from God, we need to apologize and make things right.

Prayer is a great weapon, it helps us to remember how little control we have.  It also helps us to humbly seek the one who is in control and has a plan for our lives.  We need not shy away from him, we need to humbly seek him every day. He loves it when his chosen lean in to him.  He never pulls away.  He is always working to perfect and restore us.  Even in the dark periods, he stands with us and gives us the strength and courage to carry on. Help me, Lord to cling to the power of prayer.

God Bless You

 

¹³ Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

That is easy for him to say.  Being Patient is one of the hardest disciplines in the Journey we are on.  Each day’s problems, trials and temptations converge upon us and drive us to the brink.  But, the Lord walks with us and gives us the endurance to continue forward.  I loved Star Trek as a kid.  I so often want to call to God that famous line from the show—“Beam me up, Scotty!” It will be great to be home with the Lord. It will be wonderful to leave behind these bodies, these circumstances and this world at war. But, until then, like Job, we must endure and do so with faith! God Loves us and remains with us until his return. Do not lose heart and do not give up.  Isaiah 40:31—Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  They will mount up with wings like eagles.  They will run and not be weary; they will walk and not faint.  Wait, Our Lord is Coming~!!!

God Bless You

 

⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.⁹ Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰ For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

God is Clear—We have to Choose a God.  It Can Be Him, It can Be Pleasure, It can Be Wealth and It can Be about any other thing you may imagine.  The truth is, however, that only God will serve you well as a God.  All other things are temporal and fade and break down quickly.  When we rely on things other than God, we become quickly disappointed and ultimately dissolutioned.  Matthew 6:33 says it best—Seek first his kingdom and righteousness and all other things will be added.  It will never work any other way.  It is very tempting to chase other Gods.  Help me Lord To follow you and you alone.

 

God Bless you

 

5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. ² Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. ³ Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. ⁴ For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

 

The pride of presumption…we have all faced it and fallen into it.  As I rewind the tape of my own life over the last several years, I have presumed a great deal.  If it is God’s will, then…should have been the start of each phrase.  But, in our need to be independent, we make plans and choices after praying and assume that God will bless it.  God Loves his chosen.  He has a plan for our lives.  We MUST be patient and wait upon his lead.  The harder we try to manipulate the plan, the more pain and unrest we cause for ourselves.  He reminds us to seek him and his righteousness and he will add the rest.  Do not presume you know God’s plan and wait upon him to reveal it in his time.  Thanks, Lord for loving us and planning for our lives.

God Bless You

¹³ Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” ¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

God is a God of Paradox. Our nature causes us to pull away from God and control our destiny in our mad search for peace and freedom.  His word requires just the opposite. If we want to experience peace and freedom, we need to draw close to him and sureender our control to his leadership.  As we do, we become steadily less independent…but more free.  We snuggke in and relax in the care of a God who loves us unconditionally and completely.  So simple, but so difficult.  Help me Lord to walk humbly and rest in you.

God Bless You

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹ Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

¹¹ Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. ¹² God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

It is inevitable—our myopic view of life compels us to want anyone elses life.  We know what is not working in our own lives and without fail; we think a simple change in circumstance will alleviate all struggle.  Common sense dictates that if we all feel that way, then the chance of of it being true is very slim.  We cannot dwell on what we do not have, or what we cannot change.  Instead, we must learn to be content with what we have and rejoice and mourn appropriately with those on the family.

 

The journey is difficult.  The source of obstacles vary from health, to finance, to sin in our lives.  Biut, we have to be sure that he who has begun a good work in us will carry it to completion until Christ’s return.  Do not try to figure iut God’s plan, simply submit to it and seek his face.  Help me Lord to submit to your plan and follow you.

 

God Bless you

 

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

Wisdom leads to living honorably.  Wise folks do not waste their time with bitterness, jealousy or deception.  Instead, they seek God with their hearts.  As they seek him he reveals himself in amazing ways and times.  He is rarely early but his plan always seems to be correct and the right direction for our lives. 

It is our choice to face the journey with wisdom and patience; or to face it with anger and bitterness.  The latter always ends badly; while the former always glorifies the Lord.  God loves it when we honor him and lifts us when we choose to honor him.  Help me Lord, to be wise not bitter.  Help me to seek you at all points of the Journey.

God Bless You

¹³ If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. ¹⁵ For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. ¹⁸ And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

It is pretty amazing on how much trouble can be caused by what we say.  God has gifted us with a great mind and opportunities to learn.  We are taught manners—we know how to use discretion when we speak—BUT, still the majority of pain we cause is done with our mouth.  Lines we recite like, “I did not mean to hurt your feelings!” simply reinforce how powerful our tongue can be.  Scripture reminds us that we are to take captive each thought.  We are also to be aware that what we say to others is a reflection of what we have in our hearts.  If we fill our hearts with his word and praise, that is what will come out of our mouths at the most unscripted discussions.  If we fill our hearts with trash, bitterness and anger—it is practically guaranteed that is what will be the center of conversation when life is difficult.  We cannot choose our circumstance, but we can choose our responses to the circumstance.  What we think and say will speak volumes to where we are in our walk.  Help my speech and thoughts to honor you, oh Lord.

God Bless You

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.³ We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. ⁴ And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. ⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. ⁶ And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.