Why Me?

Many times I have heard this question and even asked it once or twice myself and the answer is very simple.
2 Cor. 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Many times we go through very huge problems and what seems like insurmountable trials but God promises that none of our pains will ever be wasted. ( This statement from Rick Warren ) Our problems are always used for Glory so long as we can admit we are weak in these areas and need His help in getting over them and then being able to tell others we went through it. People are encouraged by our over coming weakness not by our strengths. Your weakness is your humanity and today we need to start sharing our humanity with others.

True Worship

John 4:23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
I have always thought of worshipping in Spirit as just that spiritual worship but there is a verse in the Bible that tells us there is more to it than that. Romans 12.
Roman 12:1-2Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.
When we truly offer ourselves as sacrifices to God then we are truly worshiping God in spirit.
Truthful worship is just that. You have to be open and honest with God in order to worship Him and honor Him. People wonder why their prayer lives are not what they should be. 9 times out of 10 this is the reason. They are closed off so they do not get hurt any more thus they are not being honest with God. When we decide to open our hearts and allow God to SHARE our pain and not just tell Him about it then we begin to worship in truth.
How are you worshiping today?? Do you fulfill these two verses of scripture with your worship of God?

The Trap

It has occurred to me that one of Satan’s biggest traps for Gods people is how others see us. I was seen as nothing but a drunk and drug addict for the majority of my life and in some circles to this day people still see me that way, they do not see what God has made me into. What about the flip side of this. People seeing us as great and special while in our hearts we know we aren’t or think we aren’t. I am certain there are many people out there that can relate to one or both of these. The question is are we strong enough to break free from how the world sees us or do we go on through life believing we are the useless person that others say that we are. Jesus calls us out of the world, which in part, means we are not to go by what the world says we are. That includes Christians who do not see what God sees. God sees us as His children and worthy of His Son dying on a cross for us. Satan does not have the power to undo that in reality, so he tries to undo it in our minds and in our self-esteem. Don’t allow Satan to undo the gift that has been given to me and you.

Principles

I have been pondering a question these last days that has truly troubled me. The question is "What does it mean to utterly devote yourself to a moral set of Christian principles?" This question has some very deep implications and even more over tones to it.
The first thing you have to decide is what are Christian Principles. Understand I am talking bible principles not doctrinal principles. The simplest way I know to explain Christian principles is to quote 5 verses of scripture. Matthew 22: 36 - 40 states 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." This states basically, Love God first, Everyone else second and yourself last. and notice what verse 40 states. Everything in bible from cover to cover hangs on these 2 things. That is a very powerful statement but it also says here are your Christian principals.
So what does it mean to devote yourself completely to these things? Devotion to God is be willing to do anything He tells you no matter what it makes you look like in other peoples eyes and no matter how much hurt you have to go through to achieve it.
Devotion to others?? Going out of your way to help those who need help even to the point of putting yourself out or doing without so someone else can have enough. This is a statement many will disagree with but if you read your bible especially Matthew 6: 26`Look at the birds that fly in the air. They do not plant or cut or keep any food. Yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds? 28And why are you troubled about clothes? See how the flowers grow in the fields. They do not work or make cloth. This tells us we are not to worry about our own well being as "Father" will take care of us.
Do we live our lives this way?? Most don't. I know I have at times and have not at times. Mostly it depends on the situation and who is involved. Devote yourself to God and His principles today and live the life God called you to live. All the promises of the bible come true at this point in our walks with Christ.

Perfection

One of the greatest fallacies of man today is not believing God can use them right where they are. God created man imperfectly on purpose, thus He knows we will fail at times. Our problem is we don't think God can use us unless we are perfect. God can and will use us right where and how we are if we let Him. He longs for us to trust Him and know that He knows we are not perfect in all we do. His heart is not for our perfection of actions, but perfection of love in Him. This perfection comes when we admit we are human and He is God.

Love: The One Way Street

I have heard it said many times that love is a 2 way street. I am here to differ with this statement. My Bible tells me love is patient; love is kind, love believes all things, endures all things, ECT… of course this is paraphrased from 1st Corinthians 13. I can not find anywhere in there that love has to be returned. This says that love will last through anything no matter what.
Jesus came and died for you and I on a cross before we where capable of true love. He loved me before I loved Him. Is this the 2 way street of love?? Or is it the one-way street known to those of us who KNOW who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross. Is your love a one way or two way street??

Men and Women

Our society today has lost God’s view of people. Women today are raised with the mentality that men are the enemy and are taught how to manipulate men with their feminine ways. Men are raised with no respect for women what so ever. They view women as objects of desire who are here for the man’s enjoyment only. I was raised by a man who, to my best recollection, never said one positive thing about women in general. When I was 8 or 9 I found his stash of playboys and was lead off into many years of pornography. Through this I developed the above mentioned attitude towards women and kept women around me in my life who would permit me to keep this attitude by their actions. Sadly it has taken me almost 40 years to realize the realities of what we are doing to our society through this kind of mentality. We have become a self-destructive society because we are constantly fighting each other through our selfish outlooks and lack of understanding of why God created us in the first place. God created man, in general, to rule over God’s creation. This means men and women both. When God created Adam and Eve He created them differently so they would complement each other. They were never meant to do or achieve the same things. It is time we as a society begin to relearn why God created us and why He created us the way He did. Did God create man to use women for sex and sexual desires?? I don’t think so, but He did create man with a strong desire for sex that the human race would not die out. Did God create women to manipulate men through this desire?? I seriously doubt it. He did create them to make up for the areas of life where a man is weak, areas such as nurturing and caring for those who are hurt and dying. It is not that men are not capable of this, but we are not capable of it on the level women are. A man and a woman truly working together show the realities of the image of God. No man nor woman alone and show this image completely because God did not put His entire image in either sex. It is time we return to the realization that we are not whole without each other and that God created us to be like Him together.

True Marriage is of God

How much hurt are you willing to take in order for "Father" to teach your spouse something?

How many Christian marriages end because one or both partners are unwilling to suffer so the other can learn some valuable life lesson? I know in looking at my current marriage and my past marriages I am very guilty of this. This question was asked of me recently and it really hit home. How much hurt am I willing to endure so Lori can learn something "Father" is trying to teach her? Before a few days ago my honest answer had to be none because of my selfish self-centered nature, but now I can honestly say she is worth what ever suffering I must go through. The reason for the change is I have been a very selfish person in my marriages until a few days ago. Now I know the realities of what I was and have to make those changes in order to have a happy marriage and a Godly marriage. The same is true for Lori and all spouses. We as the spouse must be willing to endure pain so our spouse may learn from "Father" and the Holy Spirit.

Lonely

There are many times that I miss my wife or other loved ones throughout the course of each week of my life. I find myself getting very depressed and longing to be with them and to be able to hold my wife in my arms and love on her. It occurred to me this morning that “Father” goes through much the same thing waiting on us to come and spend time with Him in prayer and in His word. He misses us and gets lonely for the company of His child. It is time we stop neglecting “Father” and start blessing Him with our presence and love instead of only running to Him with requests of a selfish nature. The Bible clearly states God has feelings and thus He can very easily get lonely for your company. Go to Him today and just spend time loving Him. Ask Him today what you can do to love on Him or what you can do for Him today instead of what he can do for you. Is “Father” lonely for you today or have you been there to let Him know you love Him?

Laying Down Your Life

John 15: 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command.
What exactly does it mean to lay your life down for someone? We all know the literal meaning of dying for a friend, but I think this goes a lot deeper than just the literal meaning. We lay our lives down by being willing to accept punishment for something that we did not do in order to show our love for our brothers and sisters. We lay our lives down by giving beyond our means to those who need help and not concerning ourselves with the fact that they may be using the help for selfish reasons.
True love shows up when the person knows we know they are not doing what is being said and we help anyway in love and not in judgment.
This is how Jesus has helped all of us. He met me where I was when I was at my worst. He met all of us at this place in our lives that we may grow in Him. He did not withhold His blessings from us because we abused or misused them, he blessed us anyway knowing we would not do what was suppose to be done.
My prayer is that “Father” would teach me to give of myself as He gave of Himself to me.

Life or Death

Proverbs 18: 21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
It occurred to me today on my way home from church that God the "Father" showed us this at creation. Gen. chapter 1 talks about the Creation of the earth and the plants and animals, but notice in the there all it says is "And God said" then it happened. Whatever God said it happened. God said let there be light and the sun came up. God said let us make man in our image and Adam came forth out of the dust. God said Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky and these things to happened. Here is life in the tongue. God spoke and life came into being.
You say where is death then?? Gen. chapter 3 shows us death in the tongue. Again this is all God said. God said let the serpent crawl on his belly and he does to this day. God said the woman would bring forth children in pain and I think they will all agree that this happens. God said the ground will bear thorns and thistles and Adam will have to work for his food from then on. Walk into any long standing woods and see all the briars and thorns everywhere.
Now a little closer to home again. When we talk down to people it kills their spirits but when we talk to people like we would to Christ it uplifts and encourages them. I am quite certain no one would tell Jesus he was a wimp cause he cried over Jerusalem. I am just as certain no one would tell Jesus his faith was lacking when He asked "Father" to remove this cup from me or better yet when He asked "Father" why have you forsaken me. It is time we begin to talk to each other as we would to Christ himself and learn to give each other the benefit of the doubt and give love and encouragement instead of kicking people when they are down.
Are you an encourager or a kicker?

Illusion of Control

The illusion of control is one of the biggest hindrances to our ministries today. We spend our time seeking numbers to tell us what group of people to go after or to let us know exactly when we should do this or teach that.
It is the hope of all men to be in control of their destinies, but God says tomorrow is not promised to us. It is the desire of all men to be in control of their lives on a day-to-day basis, but God says to submit and He will bless you with the desires of your heart. The reality is control is but an illusion for mankind as there is but one who has control and His name is Yaweh.
The Sadducees and Pharisees suffered from this same delusion. They spent their lives trying to prove the teachings of Jesus wrong because it meant they had to let go of control and the things they had been teaching and accept the fact that there was no control. They held onto control so hard that it cost Jesus His life.
It has occurred to me that this is why people fear change so much. It is not that they never want anything to change, it is simply they do not want to let go of their illusion of control. In order to let go of control they have to admit the reality of their lives and face the fact that they are sinners. This scares people so bad that they are willing to put the Son of God on a cross and spit on Him so they will not have to admit what they already know deep in their hearts, they are not in control.
Control is nothing more than a defense we have set in place in order to stop people from seeing the pain we are in, because if we allow them to see our pain we may become vulnerable and in order to do that we must take a chance on getting hurt one more time. This is a chance most people are not willing to take because they are so focused on self that no one else truly matters. Thus they continue in the illusion that they have some power and control over their lives and over the people around them and in so doing continue to hurt themselves and everyone around them.
Control is but a wall for people to hide behind so they do not have to show the world just how scared they are and just how bad they truly feel about themselves. In achieving this they also hide these things from themselves. This allows them to begin to lie to themselves which in turns allows them to start to lie to God. This gets them into a state of turning from God and seeking relief in other ways such as work or drugs, or T.V. ect…
Control is but an illusion that allows a person to fool themselves and others into thinking they are more powerful than they actually are.

How Far is to Far

I have been contemplating this for some time now and I wonder how far is too far to go to show Jesus to someone? Do we stop at a word? Or maybe at a ride to work? Or maybe we stop at going to their house once a week to give them a bible lesson and a meal. How far is too far?
I ask this because I wonder sometimes do we go far enough? Jesus left heaven for us and, that in and of it self, is a LONG way to go. Then he stayed with us for a little over 33 years and he taught those around him of the things of heaven and hell moving about the country depending solely on his heavenly father to provide for him and guide him in all he did and said. Then he took that one step that no one else would or could. He stepped onto a cross for us. So my question is, “If Jesus can go that far, how far is to far for us?”
Are we willing to put ourselves in harms way for the cause of furthering the message of Christ? What about giving up a child as Father did so we would know? How far are we willing to go and how far is to far?
The answer to this question will be different for everyone, but it is well worth asking in this time of year when we are celebrating the day he left heaven and took that long step for us. The day our salvation truly began. The birth of Jesus in a little manger many miles from where I sit at this moment writing this he began asking, “How far is too far?”

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:30 - 32
30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you..

I have had many people ask what is grieving the Holy Spirit. Verse 31 tells us exactly what it is. If we ware full of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander and performing all sorts of malice then we are grieving the Holy Spirit.
Verse 32 shows us how to please the Holy Spirit. Be kind and compassionate to others and forgive them no matter what they do just as Christ forgave us when we was yet sinners. This is probably the single most hindering thing in the church today. Lack of forgiveness. This applies to our marriages and every part of our life. Once we learn to Forgive those who hurt us then we can stand in a right relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Greed

Greed can come in many forms. The obvious ones are centered around money or material things. We have all heard sermons on these and how they affect our lives, but what about those other things we think we can not live without? Things such as computers and internet access? Many today spend hours and hours online playing video games or surfing the internet. I am guilty of this right now in my life. Try taking the internet and video games away from them. You can bet there would be a fight over it because these things have become like idols to that person. Do we not grab onto things we are greedy for and hold with everything we have? Become selfish and non tolerant of things that threaten to take these things away? Let's get it a little closer. What about people? What about a spouse who is so over bearing that he or she is jealous of anything the other person does other than spend every free moment with him/her? Who wants to control every move the other person makes because they are so afraid of losing what they have and even have suspicions of infidelity and other imagined things because of the jealousy? And in the end push their spouse or loved one away? Are these not forms of greed as well? Is it not the same spirit that causes us to look to money or material things with lust in our eyes that causes us to become so jealous of our loved ones that we try to trap them behind a wall and keep them there? I know for me this has been true for to many years. Is this true for you today?

Freedom II

Luke 7:37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

David writes of his love of God yet he still sinned by committing adultery and then murder. Paul wrote 3/5's of the New Testament and talks about love of God and each other, yet he had a thorn in the flesh in the form of a messenger of Satan. True freedom comes from the knowledge of your humanity and faults while knowing Jesus loves you anyway and says you are worthy. Become free today by allowing Jesus to show you your humanity.

Freedom

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
In stating this I am saying when we get to the point that we can look in ourselves at those things that we fear the most, such as past abuse or bad relationships and realize what we did wrong in them, then God gives us the ability to be free. Many people say well I am honest, but the truth is very few people are willing to be totally honest with them-selves and because of this they can not be honest with God. A for instance, a woman who has been raped that has never forgiven the rapist is in bondage to the rape and will never be free until she gets honest with herself about how bad it hurt her and then honest with God with her emotions and how she has responded to the rape. Once this happens she can then forgive the rapist and gain her freedom from the rape. Once the freedom is gained then you can know true happiness. Satan keeps people in bondage because we are so afraid to allow others to see who we really are and how much we hurt as well as how afraid we truly are. If you want your freedom from anything, the key is honesty with yourself and with God. Once you get honest freedom is right around the corner.
As per my story on this site I was raised in an abusive household and have lived a life full of pain and intolerance. One of the main reason for this kind of life is I cared so much about worldly things such as someone calling me a name or crossing lines that the world says should never be crossed by getting to close to me physically or asking to personal a question. I have recently learned that once we gain the knowledge and understanding that worldly things are meaningless, and yes this includes instances of personal attacks or abuse, then we can obtain true freedom and truly become the holy people God has called us to be.
It is not the ones who hurt us that holds us back but it is ourselves who live in bondage to the past hurts and fear of future hurts that prevent us from being holy today.
Allow God to open your eyes today and show you where your freedom lies.

Encouragement

When we have someone who encourages us there is nothing we can not do.
When we have someone who tears us down there is nothing we can do.

Dreams

How many of us have dreams that “Father” has given us or desires to serve God in certain ways?? I would be willing to bet most of us if not all. This being the case how many times do we settle for less than what God has shown us He wants. We see something that doesn’t look quite right but it is a way to get to where we are suppose to go so we do that instead of waiting on God. Abraham did it and got Ishmael instead of Isaac. I was thinking of how we settle for things in our lives that is not exactly what God wanted for us. Some of us, and yes I use us cause I am guilty here, settle for a spouse we think we want, but deep down we know it is not what God wants. Some of us settle for a little house in the forest when we should be in an apartment in the city telling people about Jesus. Others settle for jobs making hundred’s of thousands of dollars a year instead of getting into the pulpit where God called them too. I have decided I will not settle for less on my dreams any more. I will follow the visions the Lord has for my life and seek His face in all I do. Will you come and follow Jesus’ dreams for you

Children as Examples

We all look for people to follow and look up to in our lives. In fact we spend so much time looking up that we miss one of the greatest examples of how we are to come to God. This example is our children. Matthew 18:2-3 says (2) then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, (3) and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells us to become as small children to enter heaven, so let's look at the example children give.
First the obvious, they come when called and follow the leading of their parents not knowing where the parents are going. These are sermons that I have heard taught many times. Is this all our children are and do?? I think not. Do they not have personalities? Don’t they wonder about things and get excited about things? When you tell your child your taking them to McDonalds do they say, “ho hum?” It’s a safe bet they do not. So why do we as adults say ho hum over the greatest thing that ever happened? Jesus is what I am talking about. Why do adults go ho hum when Jesus shows up? You say I do not do this!! I ask are you sure?? When there is work to be done do you show up enthusiastic or do you say ho hum? When there is a church board meeting do you show up excited or do you say ho hum? My bible tells me where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name I will be there. Jesus shows up and you say Ho hum.
Children do not ALWAYS follow when told, nor come when called. So what does this tell us about ourselves in relation to God? Do we always follow His lead?? Do we always come when He calls?? I can’t speak for anyone but me and I know my answer to these is NO. Our children show us how we ourselves respond to God, and our reactions show us how our disobedience hurts God just like the disobedience of our children hurt us.
There is one major difference between adults and children... that difference is children are teachable and most adults are not. We as adults do not like to be wrong or show that we do not know it all because we may have to show a chink in our armor to those around us and even become vulnerable to them. Children do not care if they do not know they simply ask and search out the answers no matter what it takes or where they have to look. Can we be like children and become teachable again? Jesus said if we do not then we will not make it to heaven. Are you as a small child? Are you teachable?

Character or Comfort

This is a choice we have to make each and every day of our lives. Do we chose to be comfortable in our lives and walk through each day as we are or do we chose to build our character by owning our weakness and working to become more Christ like in our everyday walks? If we chose comfort we will be mediocre Christians and never fulfill what God has planned for our lives. If we chose character then we will endure whatever is required for us to build our character into a Christ like character. Understanding endurance is what we do when we face the fact that in every problem in our lives there is one common denominator..... and of each of us that is me. You are the one thing that is always involved in every problem that has ever befallen your life. Does this mean no one else does anything wrong?? No, but it does mean there are things you could have done better or different and admitting this and facing this reality and being willing to see the truth of yourself is the beginning to building a Christ like character.

Eph. 4:13 This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. (CEV)

Walking To Calvary

I wonder how we would have handled walking down the road to Calvary carrying a cross after we had been beaten so severely we no longer looked human. I know I have a tendency to want to complain when I hurt and have people, women, baby me when I am hurting. Jesus was alone on that road. Today, I hurt from ailments I have from medical conditions, but my little pain is nothing compared to the pain I caused Him the day He made that walk for me. We all know Jesus suffered severely. I wonder how much of that suffering I caused. I know He had to reach a long way to get me to His cross and on my knees and I know I have been the recipient of more forgiveness than any one person deserves. I, also, know I could never walk the walk He did, but He walked the walk I am walking now. His love is so strong that He endured all my sin that I have committed to this point in my life as well as all the sins I will commit till the day I die on Himself the day He died. For this I will be eternally grateful. Never forget the suffering Christ did for you on the cross so long ago that you may know peace and love beyond anything imaginable to those who have never experienced it

Bondservant

In the movie Lord of the Rings: the Twin Towers, the character, Gollum, longs to have his precious ring back. He loves that ring so much that he enslaves himself to Frodo Baggins in order to be close to it.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.

James calls himself a servant here. The literal translation is a slave or bondservant.
Strong’s Greek and Hebrew Dictionary says it this way:

G1401
δοῦλος
doulos
doo'-los
a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.

I wonder how many of us have ever loved anything that much. Does our love for our lord, Jesus, allow us to be bondservants to Him or does our pride prevent us from submitting to His will in all things? Today God calls us into a relationship with Him that surpasses all that is known from the past. It is through this relationship and our willingness to be bondservants that we are empowered by God to fulfill the great commandment and the Great commission at the same time. It is time that we begin to love God more than ourselves that we may learn to be bondservants to Him and honor Him in all we do and say. Learn to depend on Him as a servant depends on his master for everything to survive.

All in All

I
You took me from the depths of despair
You showed me love beyond compare.
You guided me through the anger and pain
You gave me grace and mercy with no disdain
You knew me when I was to weak to stand
You gave me strength and a helping hand
You know everything I have ever done
You forgave each and every one
You told me to walk in your ways
I said yes Lord because,
You are my all in all
II
You guide my every step
You comforted me as I wept
You come descending as a dove
You come looking for all my love
You freely give all you are
I said thank you Lord because,
You are my all in all!