Don’t miss out on the joy in the Journey

 Don’t miss out on the joy in the Journey

 

God wants us to walk in joy every step of the way.  Sadly, for many of us, we allow our joy to be stolen from us through improper vision/focus.  For some it is seeing what is out there and because we don’t have all of it right now, we are miserable.  We miss out on the joy and victories of what is happening right now because we don’t have, fully, what has been promised.  Like the child who can’t wait to grow up who misses out on the joy of childhood because the want to have and do what adults have and do. Then there are those who never progress into what has been promised because they don’t want to leave the familiar.  They don’t go for the joy that was set before them. They have gotten so used to being a child that they never want to grow into the joy of adulthood.  

We need to have a clear vision/focus and to walk in the joy of the right now as we are progressing into possessing what God has given to us already that we have yet to possess. 

Already Done

 Already Done

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

I would like to point out 2 words from this verse. 

Has Blessed. 

Past tense. Already done.  You don’t have to wait for God to bless you because He already has. The blessing is waiting for you to come get. 

Look at this 

Deuteronomy 2:24

“ ‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle.

I have given. Before the battle the Lord told Israel that He had already given them Sihon and his land. It was their’s before the first battle.  

This doesn’t mean that we’re to do nothing because there is action required on our part.  We need to go possess and engage. 

Victory is your’s go possess and engage. Revival never stopped since it started when Christ came go possess and engage it. Healing, finances, favor, blessing, success, wisdom, love, etc is your’s go possess and engage. 

There’s a so much more that can be said on this topic but I will end with these words; GO POSSESS AND ENGAGE.

Oh Be careful little mouth what you say

 Oh Be careful little mouth what you say.

Why is it that we say that someone will never get it, or will never learn or will never change and then still be mad when the person doesn’t get it, doesn’t learn or doesn’t change?

After we have said of ourselves over and over that we are dumb, stupid or ignorant should we be surprised that we continue to do dumb, stupid or ignorant stuff?

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Words have power. Your words have power, especially over yourself. So be careful how you use

Plant the seed, reap the harvest

 I have never saw seed left on the shelf produce a crop. I have never seen a crop harvest itself and bring itself into the store house.

So why do Christians think that they are going to have a harvest when they don’t plant seed? Why do Christians keep hanging around the church waiting for the lost souls to just come in?

Biblically speaking we are to be sowing the seed of the Gospel out into the world and we are to be GOING OUT into the world to be witnesses for Jesus and to make disciples.

It would be more effective, and Biblical, if we stopped inviting people to church and instead invited them to Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. You do that and the lost get found and they will have a desire to be where the rest of the body of Christ is.

Took me years to understand what I had been taught in church for most of my life about church growth was wrong. Jesus grows the church through us leading people to salvation. Not through the worship band, cute preaching,or give aways. Just the power of the gospel.

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

YOU CAN ONLY LIVE IN THE RIGHT NOW!

 Remember this: YOU CAN ONLY LIVE IN THE RIGHT NOW!

You only exist in the right now and both your past and future will be determined by what you do in the right now. For today was yesterday’s future and tomorrow’s past.

To change the story of your past AND future depends upon your right now.

Isaiah 1:19

 Isaiah 1:19

If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;

Proverbs 11:30

 Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

And he who wins souls is wise.

The Blessing is greater than the curse

 I have heard people use Exodus 20:5

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

To back their belief in generational curses. What puzzles me the most is how verse 6 is missed or ignored.

Exodus 20:6

but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Why is it that for people to believe the cursing part but not the blessing part?

I am not saying that verse 6 cancels verse 5 but that people will focus and build a doctrine around verse 5 but virtually ignore verse 6.

Also, through Jesus we have been delivered from the curse of the law. So yes verse 5 is serious but through Christ we can be changed and delivered and also be positioned to live in the promise of verse 6.

Let us fully know and live our true identity in Christ. We have been adopted by God the Father into the family. We are in the will, joint heirs with Christ. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ.

Search the scriptures, find out how loved by God you are and how nothing you did ir could ever do could earn that love. So stop striving, competing to earn the Father’s love that is already yours. Stop living for God and start living from God.

Temporary vs Eternal

Temporary vs Eternal

2 Corinthians 4:18

while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

I have to confess that I have spent too much of my time looking at the temporary and not near enough time on the eternal. Sadly it is a easy thing to trick ourselves into thinking that we are focused upon eternal things when actually we’re not.

I have been teaching on the gifts of the Spirit from 1 Cor. 12 since the start of June. They are each wonderful things and yet so often they are only temporary things. Let me explain. Take the gifts of healings for an example. If someone is healed through this gift and they are not saved and the person who the gift was used through doesn’t use the opportunity afforded them via the healing to share the gospel what was the eternal impact? If someone is healed and still goes to hell the healing was a temporary thing.

Acts 1:8 tells us that the empowering of the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of being Jesus witnesses everywhere. It doesn’t matter what we do, what anointing we have, gifts that we possess if we’re not being witnesses for Jesus with the intention of making disciples it is all temporary things that are futile.

Examine the following.

1 Cor 13:1-3

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love, Biblical love, is eternal. If we love the Lord with our all we are going to love our neighbor and we are going to obey what the Lord tells us to do which is to be His witnesses and go make disciples of all nations. If I love others I am not going to sit back and just let them live in sin and separation from God with out doing something to warn them.

We have a choice in everything we do, in every relationship we have and in every encounter to choose if it will be temporary or eternal.

This post may lead you to some conviction and repentance, it did for me.

Unity and Division

 Unity and Division

Biblically speaking, unity isn’t always good and division isn’t always bad.

God’s command: Genesis 9:1

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Man’s response to this is one of the greatest examples of human unity: Genesis 11:1-4 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

God’s response: Genesis 11:5-9 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

New Testament example

Jesus command: Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Again man’s disobedience. Acts 2-7 we see that though people are being saved and miracles happening the disciples had not been obedient to the command of Jesus as in they hadn’t moved outside Jerusalem.

So what happens? Acts 8:1-5 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

It wasn’t till intense persecution came to the church that they actually went and did what they were supposed to do.

Unity is only good if we are first unified with the Holy Spirit and that’s kind of impossible if we’re not walking in obedience.

Eph 4:1-6

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Division:

From the examples above we see that for there to be Kingdom growth dividing is apart of God’s math.

Now let’s look at a couple accounts of Jesus concerning division.

Luke 12:51-53 is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Matt. 10:34-39

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

What I take away from all this is that the most important thing about unity and division is that above all else I need to be unified with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If I do that the proper unity with those I need to be in unity with will happen, and because my focus is upon God first I won’t fall in the trap of disobedient unity.

Humbling ourselves

 Humbling ourselves

In reading the Bible it important to pay attention to punctuation more than the verse markers. Sometimes a sentence is enclosed in two or more verses and we can lose part or the meaning if we don’t notice.

1 Peter 5:6-7

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Verses 6-7 here are actually 1 sentence and if we read it as such we get a fuller meaning than if we break it apart.

By following the punctuation throughout we see that

We are to humble ourselves by casting all our cares upon Him and as we do this He exalts us in due time for He cares for us.

If we were to break this sentence by verse instead of seeing it as the one sentence there is a subtle change. Nothing that drastically changes the meaning but it can cause the reader to miss that humbling one’s-self involves the casting of ALL one’s cares upon the Lord. That means the “little” ones too.

Sadly I have heard countless people say that they are not going to bother God with something because it is “too small to bother God with”. What is missed is that this is a prideful attitude because it ALL is small compared to God.

Healing a runny nose is no bigger a problem for God than pancreatic cancer. To provide you with a dollar is no harder for God than to provide you with a billion dollars. There’s are no big problems for God.

The real problem is on our side of the equation starting with our pride which is a hindrance to our faith which is the conduit for grace to flow into and through our lives. Humility has a direct connection to our faith/trust in God. The more faith/trust we have the more humility we have the more grace that can flow.

Flip side the less faith/trust we have the more pride we have the less grace can flow plus also pride invites God’s resistance. Verse 5.

Romans 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Grow your faith/trust, grow your humility and grow in grace.

Keeping the main thing the main thing.

 Keeping the main thing the main thing.

In my few years on this earth I have found that the church and myself, especially Pentecostal/Charismatic ones and myself, tend to get to focused on secondary things.

This leads us to forget the great commission and what the power of the Holy Spirit is really for.

Ask yourself this, if you lay hands on a thousand people and they are all healed, you feed and clothe another thousand, you are able to drawl a crowd of a thousand people any time you want to speak, and you perform a thousand miracles BUT not one of those thousands ever became born again what’s the point?

One last question, if all you did was proclaim the gospel but never drew a crowd, never saw anyone healed, and never performed a miracle BUT one person was born again and became a disciple of Jesus would it have been worth it?

The Spirit’s power is for us to make disciples. Every supernatural move of God in our lives is to enable us to be His witnesses to the world. Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Mark 16:14-20

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Where are our eyes?

 Where are our eyes?

Having taught my children and now helping to teach my grandchildren how to ride bikes the number one obstacle that I noticed is where their eyes are. I tell them to pick a point way out ahead of them and to focus on that as they peddle. This will help them with balance and keep them from turning to sharply and falling.

I find myself telling them repeatedly to stop looking down and to look out ahead because when they look down that’s when they are falling.

Today this reminded me of Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus. When we look down at what is going on around us that is when we fall. It isn’t that we ignore what is going on around us or immediately in front of us. Just as when riding a bike when we look out way ahead of us we still see what is also right in front of us and to the sides. In both cases by looking at what we are supposed to be looking at, focus wise, it puts things into proper perspective and allows us to stay balanced.

So if it seems that you are out of balance and/or falling down try adjusting how far out you are looking and if you are fully looking/focused on Jesus.

Something also to consider. Something right in front of you can seem huge until you look at it as you are looking at something else in the distance then it doesn’t look as big. What was the difference? Perspective based upon what you were looking at and focused on.

Blessings

The part they didn’t tell you

 The part they didn’t tell you.

If you have attended church for any length of time you probably heard the first part of

Romans 8:17a. and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,

Sadly for most you didn’t hear the whole verse which shows that the first part is conditional based upon the second part.

Romans 8:17b if indeed we SUFFER with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

I put the word suffer in capitals so it wouldn’t be missed because that’s the primary reason you didn’t hear it. We don’t like to hear about suffering or about how the Christian life involves suffering.

No we want to hear the 5 steps to prosperity, the 3 keys to freedom and how great life is after we give our life to Christ. Guess what that’s true as well. The Lord wants you to prosper, to live in freedom from sin and it is a truly great life in Christ but also involves suffering.

Now don’t get it twisted. The suffering is with Christ so this isn’t talking about any suffering that comes upon you because of sin, sickness or poor choices. The Lord gets no glory from that kind of suffering nor did He suffer because of any of those things. The suffering of the Christian is to be inline with the Suffering that Jesus endured.

Look at what it says in 1 Peter 3:13-18 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

And 1 Peter 4:1-5 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

These are not all the verses in the New Testament that speak on this subject. I encourage you to look into for yourself. Your flesh will hate it but if we don’t get a understanding of what God says concerning this subject we will miss out on something very, very important. Again our inheritance is connected to our understanding and action on this matter.

Joy

 Joy

Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Notice here that it is the joy of the LORD not the joy of what is happening.

If you don’t have joy right now there is nothing nor no one else that can give it to you except the Lord. Too often we chase after things or people believing that if we just had them we would have joy. Theses things may give you happiness but happiness is short lived and is based upon what is happening. Joy on the other hand is not based upon what is happening but upon the Lord. So joy is always present in the Lord.

There’s so much more to know about joy than what I have time to write here. Let me encourage you to go to the Bible and read more about it. It will change your life for the better if you do.

What if the church really read and understood these two verses?

 What if the church really read and understood these two verses?

What if the those called to be these gifts lived these two verses?

I wonder when this changed in the church from equipping the saints to entertaining the saints?

Why did it take me so long to really understand this and understand that our traditions of church has replaced what the church is to be. The body of Christ in action not just lip service.

Ephesians 4:11-12

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ

Equipping is more than just giving information, it is putting those equipped into action.

Prep time

 1 Cor 3:6-8

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

There’s a whole lot of work done to prepare the field for planting and then there’s more work that happens after planting before you see the first sprouts and then there’s more work to bring the plants to harvest time.

Sometimes our focus is so much on the end result/harvest time because honestly no harvest and all the rest of the effort was for nothing. YET without all the effort before hand there is no harvest so the whole process is important. If it is important then each part of the process needs to not only be taken seriously it needs to be celebrated. So keep the end result in mind but be focused on the tasks at hand and celebrate each task as you progress

Reconciliation

 Reconciliation

Borrowed from my friend Isaac Ball.

2 Cor 5:15-21

15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:fn The old has gone, the new is here!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sinfn for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is one of my favorite passages, (especially verse 21.)

As I read it it this time,I was marveling at reconciliation. When forgiveness is complete, 2 parties are affected and reconciliation results.

One party can forgive another but unless party number two reciprocates the power of reconciliation is not fully demonstrated.

When two people here on earth experience legitimate reconciliation the powerful result cannot be denied.

Even though our earthly examples of reconciliations between ourselves are powerful and valuable they pale in comparison to the reconciliation we can have with God because of Christ’s sacrifice

The earthly examples of reconciliation between human relationships are a beautiful reflection of God’s design pointing to the ultimate reconciliation of the relationship he desires between man and Himself.

Knowing these things helps us better understand our role to be effective ambassadors for Christ!

Isaac Ball 6/19/23

I would add to Isaac’s thoughts from verses 18 and 19. We, as believers, have been given the ministry of reconciliation and the message of reconciliation had been committed to us.

Every born again believer at salvation was called and commissioned, ordained if you will, into this ministry.

How much do you KNow?

 How much do you know? How much do you understand? Do you know what is going to happen a minute from now, exactly, let alone a month or a year from now?

Why would you ever put your faith/trust into yourself or another person more than you would God?

We are limited He is not. None of us no for sure what the future holds but He already does. You see we are linear and bound by time. God is not. For Him our future has already happened, evey choice and every possibility He knows. He is I Am, not I was nor I will be.

So why would you willingly choose to rely upon limited human knowledge and understanding instead of the Eternal unlimited creator God?

Provebs 3:5-7

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the LORD and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh,

And strength to your bones.

Isaiah 55:8-9

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Imitator

 Ephesians 5:1

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

IM'ITATOR, noun One that follows in manners or deportment.

1. One that copies, or attempts to make the resemblance of any thing.

James 1:19

 James 1:19

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

We could save ourselves sooo much trouble and stress if we followed this instead of being swift to speak and wrath and slow to hear.

Availability

 A friend of mine brought up the subject of availability in our lives. By asking the following

How do we make ourselves available? With…

-God

-Family

-Friends

Relationship with Jesus?

Praying for others?

He then went on to say that balance could run parallel with this.

Making ourselves available, but also balancing the different pieces.

Finding that balance of availability is having to say no to something and have an even out the sea saw.

This got me to thinking and this is what the Lord showed:

Availability comes from priority. Our priorities are actually what we wind up balancing out and being available for. What ever is the higher priority is what we will make ourselves available for and what is less of a priority we will be less available for.

We need to make sure that we first set our priorities properly, then our availability will follow which is the only way the sea saw can be balanced. Wrong order of priorities equals uneven sea saw which causes conflict and stress.

I have heard someone make the point that saying you don’t have enough time is nothing but an excuse because you have all the time in the world. Meaning that each of us, regardless of income or ethnicity, every day has all the time there is in that day, 24 hours, the real problem is that we don’t prioritize that time properly.

For me this subject of availability comes back to Matt 6:33. Seek First the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things are added.

As I prioritize God first my availability to Him and then everything else opens up. When we prioritize anything else first our availability to God and everything else gets hectic and stressful. The reason is that what we prioritize first is what we worship, worship is about what we offer sacrifice to and for, hence making it the ultimate authority for our life. The ultimate authority in our life then is responsible for having power over our life and in our life. God isn’t going to over rule our choice. He is more than willing to let the ultimate authority that we have chosen instead of Him to be the power that gets us through the day which is terrifying because nothing but God has the power to get us through everything that can pop up in our day.

We reveal our priorities through what we make ourselves available for.

Reaching ahead

 Reaching ahead

Philippians 3:13

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

Hebrews 12:2

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We decide to either look back or look ahead.

I learned that when plowing especially, the first furrow, to make a straight furrow you have to stay focused straight ahead. If you look back or off to the side your furrow will be crooked. In an engineering class I learned that to draw straight lines with out a straight edge you have to focus on the end point.

When things get off kilter examine where your eyes:focus has been. Looking back really doesn’t help us because it is static and dead. Life and power are ahead of us. Change is only found in front of us.

Helping others

 Helping others

Matthew 18:15

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Most issues with people could be dealt with and resolved with this first step. Sadly most of us don’t do this. We either talk about the issue with everyone else, gossip, or we just hold it up inside, hold offense/ bitterness.

These are harmful things to us but even more to the other person.

When we do what this verse says to do, with the right attitude, we are showing them love. Love in that we want to have a good relationship with them but also love in that we are confronting them with something in their life that isn’t good for them.

This may shock some of you but I am not perfect and I mess up sometimes. I know, I know you may not believe it but it is true.

Today I had a friend reach out to me about something that I could of handled better. It was something that I didn’t realize I had messed up until it was pointed out. By my friend coming and confronting me it kept our relationship in good standing, it also showed me that I had messed up, allowed for the Holy Spirit to educate me in this area, and allowed me to ask for forgiveness.

All and all it was a very positive experience and I have gained from it.

Now if my friend had of stayed silent there would have been no instruction, I wouldn’t have known that I needed to ask for forgiveness and our friendship would have suffered. If my friend had talked about my mess up with others that would have damaged my reputation with them, I still wouldn’t have received instruction to do better and I wouldn’t have asked for forgiveness because either I still wouldn’t know or would be upset at being gossiped about and our friendship would have been damaged or ended.

Doing things God’s way is always best for everyone involved.

Obedience

 Obedience

1 Samuel 15:22

So Samuel said:

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

Due, in large part, to the abuse of different authority figures in the Church over the years we don’t hear a lot about obedience. Also we our flesh doesn’t like to hear about obedience. Yet obeying God is of the upmost importance. In this verse we see that obeying God’s voice is more important than any sacrifices we make or any worship we offer up. (Offering sacrifices in the context of the Old Testament was worship).

Why obey?

Here’s a question that isn’t asked enough. Why should we obey God? out of fear of the consequences? Because it is right thing to do? Because God blesses our obedience?

Answer yes, yes and yes. Yet there’s an even greater reason and the one that should trump all other reasons, because we love and trust Him.

The more love and trust we have for the Lord the easier it gets to obey Him and actually the more we desire to obey. Quick example. I started tithing out of fear. I then started giving offerings because it was the right thing to do and then because God promised to bless me. Now I obey in tithe and offerings and generosity because that is my heart. As I grew in relationship with the Lord His heart transformed my heart in the area of finances. My obedience in the area of the financial is now a lifestyle. A lifestyle not of fear or of selfish desire for what I can get but one that has taken on the characteristics of the one I am in relationship with. The closer the relationship the greater the trust ie faith.

Spirit FRUIT

 Spirit FRUIT

Pay close attention. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control are the FRUIT of THE SPIRIT, NOT the fruit of _________(insert your name). When we treat this fruit as simply human character traits we lead our selves into to failure and self condemnation.

They ARE NOT fruits separate from each other but collectively the Fruit that is produced by the Spirit.

The only way for the full fruit to be in our lives without a slice(s) missing is to stop trying to artificially produce it through our will power and instead be filled with the Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit the Fruit naturally is produced in our lives because the Spirit is always producing the Fruit.

If we see that any part of the fruit is not evident in our life instead of condemning ourselves for our lack of willpower we should be looking for an blockage in our spirit that is stopping the Spirit from filling us.

Hence why Galatians 5:16 says

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

If we’re walking in the Spirit we are going to be filled with the Spirit and also led by the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit just bursts forth in our lives because that is what the Spirit has been producing for eternity. The Spirit is never present without His fruit.

We need to stop trying to do what we cannot in our own strength do.

This brings us back to Matt 6:33. If we are seeking first The Kingdom of God and His righteousness the ALL is added. In this cases fullness of the Spirit which produces the fruit of the Spirit.

If we stop stressing ourselves out being a Martha and instead focused on the One Thing like Mary we would find so much freedom.

The Oak and the Acorn

 The Oak and the Acorn

So many times we see that God has something big for us but miss how He wants to bring it into our lives.

We are expecting the Oak tree but God gives us the acorn. So we chuck out or ignore the acorn because it doesn’t fit what we expected. This leads to our missing out on what God intended for us.

Be faithful with the small and the big will come.

Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Doing

 Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Many people suffer today from anxiety and it would be insulting to them to just quote them the first part of the verse. We have to go through the whole verse and really the next 2 verses as well.

Philippians 4:7

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

The Lord doesn’t just tell us something not to do without giving us something to do. It is In doing what we should do that helps us, really, to stop doing the negative thing. You will also find that what the Lord wants us to stop and start are all for our good.

These verses are not about doing things that please God for His sake. It is for our sake.

These verses are another demonstration of His love and grace for us. To get is out of and keep us from anxiety which does nothing but harm and hinder us.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

 Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Such a simple instruction from the savior but so often ignored.

I have found that so much stress, anxiety and depression comes from our seeking the all these things.

Honestly we just need to follow the instruction. For if we seek first, first means first before anything or anyone else, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness we really don’t have to seek after anything else second. The Lord doesn’t continue on any where else with seek this second or seek this third. The Bible does speak in other places of seeking. Yet every other thing that we are to seek is found in the Kingdom and righteousness of God. Wisdom, the face of God, the presence of God etc will be found if we seek first what Jesus said seek.

He really makes things simple. No 12 steps, 7 ways nor 5 keys nor 3 points, nope just a first.

We do the first and the all is added. There’s peace in that. You don’t have to worry about what is automatically added. Also if you really seek the Kingdom the all stops mattering as much. For as you seek you will find and what you find is the Kingdom and in the Kingdom is His presence. In His presence is fullness of joy Psalm 16:11.

When you seek after the all we find troubles. I know people who are seeking after spouses, friends, money, careers, family time, etc and I have noticed that they are all stressed out. I looked at my own life and found that every time I sought after something else, including what I just listed that others are seeking, I was stressed and disaster’s followed.

Yet when I am just obeying the instructions and just seeking first The Kingdom and His righteousness I don’t have the stress and I don’t run into the disasters. Yes there are trials but because my focus is right I still have joy and I come through them easier and all the things I wasn’t seeking are added in the proper time in the proper place.

The choice is yours. Follow the simple instruction of the Savior or keep doing it your way.

Perspective and Perception

 Recently I have had conversations with two different people about perspective and perception that people have about different things. As I have pondered on these I see that we all have our own perspectives and perceptions. They come from out of our experiences, learning and knowledge. Therefore they are all limited because we are limited. Why Proverbs 3:5-8 is so important.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the LORD and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh,

And strength to your bones

And also

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Our perspectives and perceptions are limited because we as humans are limited. Why it is so important to not rely on them but to instead be led by the Spirit, live in the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit. Keeps us from being deceived by our own perceptions and perspectives.

Proverbs 21:2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

But the LORD weighs the hearts.

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way that seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

It is easy for all of us as people to think that we are right in our perspectives and our perceptions but sadly they can be very incorrect. We struggle and work to gain perspective and endeavor to learn a better and more complete perspective of all that is around us.

God’s perspective is already perfect and is not limited as ours are. So we must go to the Lord and get His, the only 100 percent true, perspective which is always perfect.