CrossWord Bible Ministries, Inc.

Not By Bread Alone

2008-08-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."
--- Heb 4:15

The Word of God is full of comparisons and contrasts. One of my favorites is Genesis 3 vs. Matthew 4. In Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament we are given an example of what happens when we have no knowledge of the Word of God. In Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, we are given an example of what happens when we do have knowledge of the Word of God. God puts these comparisons and contrasts in His Word as real world examples for us to see the difference in the right and wrong way to approach situations.

Throughout human history, God has always revealed Himself to us in some form. In Genesis they obviously did not have the written Word as we have it today, but God literally spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden. Different form of revelation, but the same principle. The Word of God is always the same. Back in chapter 2 of Genesis, God gave Adam specific instructions, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you do eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17 NKJ). Though Adam did not have this command from God in written form, it was still just as valid as the commands we have today in the complete canon of scripture. Now Eve was not created until after God gave Adam this command, but there is no question that she was taught it.

We all know the story. When Satan comes to tempt Eve in chapter 3, he asks Eve if God really said they could not eat from any of the trees in the garden. In verse 2-3, Eve answers with "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'you shall not eat it, nor touch it, lest you die." Go back and read what God said. See the difference? At this point Eve is in serious trouble. Satan knows he has her because he can see that Eve does not take the Word of God seriously. Though she has not yet eaten of the fruit, the battle is already over. Any good lawyer knows how to examine a witness for weaknesses, and if that weakness is uncovered the witness is finished. From then on it's just a matter of time and torture for the witness. If the witness has no weaknesses, there is nothing the lawyer can do about it. Once Satan found Eve's weakness (ie. her lack of knowledge of God's Word), she was finished. Satan had her on cross-exam and the jury was snickering at her. Genesis 3 is Exhibit A of "how to fail in the Christian Way of Life."

Now look at Matthew 4. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. When Satan comes, he tempts Jesus 3 times. Each time Jesus responds by quoting scripture from the book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Eve, Jesus is on top of His game. He is ready for the toughest cross-exam the world has ever seen. Satan comes at him with all he's got, but Jesus never breaks a sweat and calmly rebuts everything Satan throws at Him. There is nothing Satan can do because Jesus has the Word of God mastered. Jesus never allows Satan any room to work with because He is prepared. Jesus knows the only way He can resist Satan is by clinging to the Word of God that He had memorized. Matthew 4 is Exhibit A of "how to succeed in the Christian Way of Life."

When Jesus made the choice to leave heaven and "tabernacle" among us, He also chose to abide by the limitations of the human realm. Jesus had to study and learn scripture just as we do. He spent 30 years of his life preparing for 3 years of ministry. What was He doing all this time? Luke 1:52 tell us that He "increased in wisdom." He was studying God's Word. Why do we think we can withstand the assaults from Satan without having adequate knowledge of God's Word? The bottom line is we can't and we won't. Jesus has 1934 verses of statements attributed to Him in the New Testament. Of these 1934, 159 of them are direct quotes from the Old Testament. That's a little over 8%. Now that may not sound like a lot, but think about how many times during the day you quote scripture. Think about all communication you have at home, at work, at the grocery store, etc. Now how much of that is scripture? I don't mean how many times do you bring up a doctrinal point or a principle relating to the Word of God. I mean how many times do you actually quote, verbatim, a verse of scripture? Could you defend your faith by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy? How about Leviticus or Hosea? Jesus could and did. He lived by it. There is no substitute for an extensive knowledge of God's Word. Just as a witness must spend days preparing for an hour of testimony in a court of law, we must spend time studying the Word to prepare for our testimony in this spiritual conflict.

Reaching Potential

2008-08-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." --- Matt. 9:37

I am proudly from South Georgia. My father's family is from Lee County and my mother's family is from Mitchell County, both of which are historically rural farming counties. If you have ever been to South Georgia you know that agriculture is and always has been the lifeline of the economy.

"Back in the good ole days," (or so my grandfathers told me) when harvest time came, everything else in the family's life was put on hold. Kids did not go to school during the harvest because their labor was of such importance to the family's survival. For some families, like my grandfather's on my mother's side, it was a very tough time to live. Survival literally depended upon what they were able to provide for themselves. Whether the crop was sold or actually consumed by the family, everything hinged on the outcome of the harvest. The importance of the harvest was understood by everyone in the family, and sacrifices were made accordingly.

How much more important is the spiritual harvest we are called to work in? I know in theory everyone reading this will agree that it is very important, but in practice only a "FEW" of us (out of all Christians) truly believe it is so important. Or we might believe it is that important, but we are not disciplined enough to actually go and do the work it takes to make a difference in the harvest. Don't get mad at me, I'm just repeating what Jesus said over 2000 years ago.

"Workers" here is ergates, which refers to a "hired worker" or "a labourer." Someone who is paid to actually get down and "get a little dirt on their hands" (bonus points to anyone who can tell me who sings this song) and get the job done. Jesus means there is only a small number of believers who are going to "present their bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is (their) spiritual service of worship." (Rom. 12:1). The number of Christians who are going to press on is very minute. Only a small percentage will take this invisible warfare seriously. Only a "few" of us will accept and run with the responsibility of honorably representing Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. We are called to make a difference for Jesus Christ, but most of us will never answer the call.

The Christian Way of Life is similiar to a basketball team. As believers, we are all like lottery picks (very high 1st round draft picks for those of you who don't watch sports). God has invested a lot in us. Being an ambassador for Jesus Christ means we inherit a lot of responsibility. Lottery picks are drafted for one reason...to make a difference on the court in games. They are not intended to serve as dummies in practice. Nothing is more dissapointing and damaging to a team than to waste a lottery pick on a player that does not make a difference for the team in the games.

So far in his young career, Kwame Brown is an example of a wasted lottery pick. This guy is a 7 footer who can handle the ball, rebound, and play defense. He has all the physical tools, he has the ability to do it all. He was drafted #1 overall straight out of high school by the Washington Wizards, and unfortunately he has never lived up to his potential. This year he was so useless to his team that he did not even travel to Chicago for a crucial deciding playoff game. There is no doubt that he has the potential, he is simply not willing to put forth the effort to effectively participate in the Wizards system of basketball. Eddie Jordan (the Wizards coach) has no power over Kwame's willingness to apply all the tools he has. Kwame still gets a paycheck, but he is in no way helping the franchise.

In the same way, we all have potential to effectively participate in the spiritual harvest. We already have all the tools we need. Philippians 4:19 tells us "God will supply (us) with all (our)needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." The only question is will we put forth the effort to make a difference? If you read on to Matthew chapter 10, you will see that after Jesus declares there are only a "few" workers, he sends out 12 who are willilng to be part of the "few." With these 12 the world was changed forever. God will use those of us who will choose to make ourselves available to Him, but it's a choice we have to make. Do you want to participate in the harvest or do you want to sit on the bench? The choice is yours!

Mind Bending

2008-08-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Psychological Operations is defined as influencing or an intent to influence the mind or emotions. The most dangerous course of action that Satan can implement is the influence of your mind. Because according to Proverbs 23:7, “As a man thinks within his heart, so is he.” Satan understands this and has developed a system of thought that we have been buying into since the Garden. Satan uses this system of thought (worldly thinking) to influence our mind, because as the mind goes, so goes the person. Satan employs this system of thought through (to the naked eye) accepted, organized, popular thinking such as religion, science, politics, philosophy, psychiatry, media, education, etc., etc.

“ Government, morals, education, art, commercialism, vast enterprises, organizations, and religious activity are included in Satan’s plan to deceive the human race.” L.S. Chafer

The battle is won or lost in your mind. If you are not committed to a daily renewing of your mind in the word of God, then your thoughts will be taken captive to worldly thinking. Romans 12:2 “ And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Everyday we choose to think thoughts that are influenced by Satan’s system of thought, which is in opposition to the Word of God. In order to combat this, we must become disciplined to diligently study the Word on a daily basis. It is an either or!! We are either studying the Word of God and being continually renewed in our minds or we are not studying the Word of God and becoming continually conformed to the world. There is no middle ground.

Matt 18:7a “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come;”

The stumbling block of this world is religion. The stumbling block of this world is success. The stumbling block of this world is happiness. The stumbling block of this world is philosophy. The stumbling block of this world is science. But you are probably saying, “All of those things are good!” That is the psychological warfare of the angelic conflict: Getting you to believe that the “good things” of this world are more important than the plan that God has for you.

We need to realize that Satan is vying for control over every thought that we choose to think. Our attitude should be that of Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” We can either take every though captive to the obedience of Christ or be taken captive to Satan’s system of thought. The choice is up to you; be renewed in the Word or conformed to the World.

"It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head!" Sally Kempton

The Place of Trust

2008-08-20T06:15:00.002-07:00

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." --- Psalms 118:8

In the Bible, there are 594 chapters before Psalms 118 and 594 after Psalms 118. Psalms 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, and Psalms 119 is the longest. 594 plus 594 equals 1188. The exact middle point in the Bible is today's subject verse, Psalms 118:8. Of the ten essences of God, "Coincidentiality" is NOT one of them (I doubt that's even a word, but you get my point). However, "Sovereignty," "Veracity," and "Omnipotence" are. In the complete canon of scripture there are no coincidences. The character of God demanded that every "jot" and "tittle"of His Word be Divinely revealed to us, and in 96 AD this revelation was complete.

I worked for an architect my first year in college (we built a Jewish temple of all things!!!!). I can tell you from experience that no part of that building, down to the smallest detail, was constructed unless it got the approval of the architect. God is the master architect and His Word is His greatest Work. It should come as no suprise that the middle verse, the exact middle point in the Bible is a crucial concept that we must remember. It's a reminder put there by God for us so that we cannot miss it. It reads "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man."

There is nothing more dangerous than to place all your faith in a human being. I have to remind myself of this all the time. I have met some absolutely amazing people in my 13 years as a Christian. Men and women whom God uses to mentor and pray for me to become the man God wants me to be. I communicate with these people on a daily basis. Thankfully, they understand this verse and have taught it to me so that I would know it is not them that I should place my faith in. I understand the truth of God's Word is not dependent upon the lives of fallen people.

Anytime free will is placed in the arena of spiritual warfare, the possiblity of disaster is always present. The reason God put this verse in the middle of His Word is because He knows we have a tendency to place "impressive" and influential people on a high pedestal. We hold them to a higher standard than other people because they are such an integral part of our lives. They are the last people we expect to take a hard fall. When these people don't live up to the standard that we set for them, our natural reaction is to view their shortcomings as evidence of the ineffectiveness of God's Word. This is completely wrong and very dangerous, and it happens everyday. I don't expect any of my mentors to fall and I don't expect to fall, but if they do or if I do it is only because we are not living what we are teaching. It will be a result of our lack of application of God's Word, not the ineffectiveness of God's Word.

Each of us has our own race to run. The only one worthy of our complete faith is Jesus Christ, and He is perfect so we do not have to worry about being let down by Him. We can use others to help us along the way, but we cannot allow them to trip us up and cause us to fall short of the finish line. As long as we keep our focus on Christ and Christ alone, we will finish. The reason why blinders are put on horses is because it forces them to focus on their individual route. In the same way, we need to put on our blinders everyday and not allow anyone to keep us from getting where we need to be.

The All-Sufficiency of Grace

2008-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

2Corinthians 12:9 a “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

Is the Grace of God sufficient for you? Are you content with the provision that God extends to you in your life? Do you trust God and His innerrant Word? Do you try to fill your life with the things that your eyes desire? Why is it that we look for contentment and provision from the things of this world when God’s marvelous Grace is sufficient? One of the “schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) is to deceive man into believing that God’s grace is not sufficient. Therefore, man abandons the perfect grace provision of God in order to seek contentment for his desires from an imperfect world. This is not a new concept. In fact, we can trace it all the way back to the Garden of Eden with the first man and woman that God created, Adam and Eve. Just like the cliché, “History repeats itself”, we have repeatedly abandoned the Grace provision of God in the same way as Adam and Eve. We need to learn from history and not repeat it.

Dr. W.H. Griffith makes this statement regarding Genesis Chapter 3: “It is hardly too much to say that this chapter is the pivot of the Bible, for if we take it away, the rest of Scripture becomes meaningless. With the exception of the fact of Creation, we have the record of the most important and far-reaching event in the world’s history – the entrance of sin.”

In Genesis Chapter 3, man sins against God and falls from the Age of Innocence. God had placed man in the garden and gave him the freedom to eat from any tree, except one. God’s Grace Provision for man in the garden was sufficient. There was not one need for man that God did not provide in the Garden. Everywhere that Adam and Eve looked, they saw the perfect, sufficient Grace of God. Yet their eyes were drawn to the only thing that God had said they didn’t need. Why? (Learning Point: You may be completely dependent on the Grace provision of God, but never underestimate the “schemes of the devil”. He is diligently working to draw your focus away from God to the desire of things in life that you don’t need.) What we have to do is learn from history and not repeat it. Satan will tempt us into questioning God in the exact same manner that he deceived Eve into questioning God. We must learn from Eve’s mistakes or we too will be deceived by the “schemes of the devil.”

Satan deceived Eve by getting her to question God in three distinct areas: (1) Is God’s Grace sufficient? (2) Is God’s word true? (3)Is God the sovereign ruler of my life, or am I?

(1) Is God’s Grace sufficient?
In Genesis 3:1-3, Satan cast doubt on the sufficiency of the Grace of God by asking “Did God really say…?” By placing Eve’s focus on the prohibition, Satan was able to make the her forget about all the blessings, privilege, and provision that she enjoyed in the Garden. What distractions in your life are causing you to forget all of the blessing, privilege, and provision that God has for you? Don’t focus on what you don’t have, focus on what God has and will always provide for you by his all-sufficient Grace.

(2) Is God’s word true?
In Genesis 3:4, Satan called God a liar by saying “You surely will not die!" Being completely opposed to God, Satan is determined to keep man from obeying God's word. He does this by casting doubt on TRUTH. Satan has always and will always call God a liar, believing that he is right and God is wrong. Do you completely trust the Word of God as inerrant, infallible truth? Don’t let the world’s standards and norms allow you to question the reliability and absolute truth of God’s Word. In order to defend the Truth, you must know the Truth. Knowing God’s Word will allow you to expose the lies and “schemes of the devil”.

(3)Is God the sovereign ruler of my life, or am I?
In Genesis 3:5, Satan now calls into question the absolute controlling sovereignty of Almighty God. He tries to convince Eve that the reason God forbids her to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that “you shall be like God”. The ruse is that Eve will have just as much control of her life as God does. Who is in control of your life? Do you live in complete submission to the sovereignty of God, or do you think that you are the ruler of your life? God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, and you are man. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that this life is all about you. This life has always been and always will be about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the One who controls history, not Eve, and definitely not you.

These “schemes” have been perpetuated throughout history. Today, Satan is no different in his methods and motives than he was in the Garden. He tries to take our focus of the Grace of God and place our focus on the “wants” of man. Study the Word, become wise to his schemes, and learn from the mistakes of our forefathers (and mothers) in history; Don’t repeat them!

A Gift to Give

2008-08-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

In most churches there is only a hand full of people that perform all the ministries. Why is that? I mean with the millions of copies of “Purpose Driven Life” sold around the country in Christian bookstores, it would seem like every person in the body of Christ would see their calling for ministry.

People go to church in order to get something, not to give something. We go to church for the lesson, for the fellowship, for the entertainment, for the food, for the kids, for self-help, for counseling, etc. There is ususally an agenda attached to our attendance. We should go to church not for what we can get, but for what we can give. Your church needs you! Your church needs your Spiritual gift!

You have to understand that God the Holy Spirit gave you a Spiritual gift at the moment of salvation. That gift is for three distinct purposes: Glorifying Christ, Unifying the church, and Edifying other believers. The gift inside of you calls out for ministry; Its sole purpose is ministry. If you are one of those who has always gone to church to get something, try going this week to give something. Find out about the ministries in your church and see where they can use you. Even if you are not sure about your Spiritual gift, get involved. God will use you to fulfill the ministry that He designed for you in His soveriegn plan. All you have to do is make yourself available and He will do the rest. Get involved by giving yourself to ministry. Stop going to church to get something and start going to give something and you too can “fulfill your ministry.”

Mind Field

2008-08-17T18:30:00.001-07:00

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

Gettysburg is by far the most recognized battleground in the United States. Although the battle of Gettysburg did not end the Civil War, it remains the greatest battle in the war between the North and the South. During the three-day battle at Gettysburg, more men fought and died than any other battle fought on American soil. On the third day alone, July 3, 1863, during the infamous Pickett’s charge, 10,000 Confederate soldiers became casualties of war in the span of 50 minutes. The actual numbers are staggering for both the Union and the Confederacy. The Union had 3,155 dead, 14,529 wounded, 5,365 missing, with total losses amounting to 23, 049 men. The Confederacy had 3,903 dead, 18,735 wounded, 5,425 missing, and 28,063 in total losses. Those numbers sound as if they came from a ten-year war between nations, rather than a three-day battle between brothers. It is no wonder that the battleground at Gettysburg is studied, talked about, and remembered more than any other battleground in the great history of The United States of America.

Gettysburg was a battleground fought upon in a physical war. Where is the battleground upon which Spiritual warfare is fought? In 2 Corinthians 10:3, we learn that we are combatants in warfare. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” And from Ephesians 6:12, we learn that we war against a highly-organized enemy force. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” But where is the battleground in which this unseen warfare takes place? The battleground for Spiritual warfare is in the mind. Rom 7:23 “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Satan and his forces, through his system of evil and sin, are desperately trying to re-claim control of the strategic piece of land that was once their stronghold, your mind. Before you became a believer, Satan had control of your mind through his organized system of thought. (worldly belief system) 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whose case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Now that we are believers, Jesus Christ has enlightened our minds, but the battle still continues for supremacy and control of every thought. Our minds need to be guarded and fortified in order to counter any and every enemy attack. Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Sally Kempton writes “It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” Satan has outposts or fortresses (2 Cor 10:3-4) already built inside our minds. Those fortresses are fortified with the desires of our Old Man. (The sin nature) The only way to thwart the assault on the battleground of the mind is to “destroy all speculation and every lofty thing (fortresses) raised up against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5) How do we go about taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ? In order to make the Spiritual battlefield of the mind a stronghold for Jesus Christ, we must analyze, memorize, and exercise truth from the word of God.

(1) Analyze Truth
It is imperative for Christians to study the word of God on a daily basis. We have no problem putting fiction, news, sitcoms, and conversational rumors in our head, so why is it such a struggle to study the Word every day? Because the war is over your mind and the Word is the only thing that can win the daily battles in the struggle for superiority over your thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 “For as a man thinks within himself, so is he.” The more we analyze Scripture, the more we “think” from the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:16)

(2) Memorize Truth
There will be times (probably more than less) when you will be without your Bible. Memorization of Scripture is important because it helps us to meditate on the Word throughout our day. (Psalms 119:15) When we have commands, principles, and promises memorized, we stand ready to defend against a small skirmish or a great battle. The enemy is poised and always ready. Prepare yourself for battle daily by memorizing and meditating on Truth from the Word of God.

(3) Exercise Truth
Exercising in the Truth is to apply Scripture to experience. To be ignorant to Truth is to go into war without a weapon, but to know Truth and not apply it is to have a weapon with no bullets. Applied truth is your loaded gun in Spiritual warfare. Every time we apply truth to experience, we press the attack on the enemy. Stand your ground (Ephesians 6:11) and take the enemy’s ground by exercising in the Word daily. Proverbs 22:17-19 “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge. For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, that they may be ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD,”

There are more casualties in Spiritual Warfare every minute of the day than there were in 3 days on the battlefield of Gettysburg. Form a perimeter around the battlefield your mind with the Word of God, and be victorious in the daily battle for superiority of your thoughts. “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Don’t surrender one thought to the enemy. One thought can turn into an outpost. One outpost can turn into a stronghold. “Guard your mind in Christ Jesus” and become continually victorious on the battlefield of the mind. (Philippains 4:7)

"You may be physically exhausted; you may be completely defeated, as far as the odds are concerned; you may be deprived of your liberty; but no one can stop you from THINKING those things which eventually will overcome the pressures and adversity of your situation." R.B. Thieme Jr.(Mental Attitude Dynamics)

Day Planner

2008-08-16T07:04:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah 29:11 “’For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

We spend our whole life making plans. We plan for college, plan for careers, plan for weddings, plan for families, and plan for retirement. We not only plan our lives, but we also plan our years, months, weeks, and days down to the minute. We buy calendars, day planners, and palm pilots to keep track of all the plans that we have. But how many of us are willing to accept the plans that the Lord has for us? Do the plans that we establish for our lives correspond with the plans that the Lord has for our lives? We can either be a positive part of the fulfillment of His plan (Saul of Tarsus) or a negative part of the fulfillment of His plan (King Saul of Israel), but we will be a part of His plan, and His plan will come to pass. Isaiah 46:10 “"…My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';” Isaiah 46:11 “…I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

How is it that we determine if our plans are the same as the Lord’s plans for our lives? The answer to that question lies within the Word of God. Romans 12:1-2 tells us that if we continually offer our lives to God as a living sacrifice and renew our minds with the mind of Christ, then we will “PROVE WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS, THAT WHICH IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT.” God's will is in His Word, the mind of Christ. If we line-up our plans for life in accordance with His Word, then we will live in His will according to His purpose.

Do you consult with the Word before making life’s plans? Are the plans for your life made only after careful and prayerful consideration? Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.”

We tend to trudge through a life filled with circumstances that define who we are and dictate what we do. We can view these circumstances as coincidental or we can see them as intricate parts of God’s plan to mold us into the men and women that He desires us to become. From who’s eyes are you viewing life? To look at life from God’s eyes is to realize that God is in control, His plan is perfect, and He makes no mistakes. Therefore, every event in our short lives is meant to bring us closer to God in order to fulfill His plan and glorify His name. Isaiah 25:1 “O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.”

Sometimes the Lord uses the circumstances of life to peel our eyes off of the temporal and fix them on the eternal, or in other words, shift our focus from the world to Word. Sometimes we pay attention and other times we don’t, but God will always fulfill His plan whether we are willing or unwilling participants.

What is God doing in your life to fulfill His plan? Seek the plan of God for your life and He will reveal it to you. Make your plans God’s plans and He will complete His plan in, through, and by you. You are being molded for a mission from God.

Emmaus...Walk the Talk

2008-08-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Luke 24:25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”

Luke 24:13-35 is the account of the post-resurrection appearance of our Lord to two disciples as they walked from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. This event takes place on resurrection Sunday, after the women had gone to the tomb and found it empty. These two disciples were talking with each other about the things that had happened over the past three days. The arrest, scourging, crucifixion, death, and burial of the man they called Messiah. To these disciples on the road to Emmaus, this was a very sad day (Luke 24:17b “…and they stood still looking sad.”)

While these two disciples were walking, talking, and mourning over the events of the past three days, Jesus Christ approached them and started walking with them, but they didn’t recognize Him (Luke 24:15-16). Jesus gives these two disciples an opportunity to proclaim the "good news" to a stranger. He swings the door wide open for them to share with someone the HOPE that they have in Christ when He asks them in verse 17 “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” but they miss the opportunity. They miss the opportunity because they leave out the resurrection, and without the resurrection there is no HOPE and there is no joy, because there is only death…no life. These disciples, who know that the tomb is empty, don’t believe that He has risen (Luke 24:21). This is why they mourn instead of rejoicing.

Jesus sees and corrects the problem in verses 25-27. Their problem is that they don’t know the Scriptures (specifically the Scriptures that deal with Messiah). Their problem is with faith, and faith only comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So Jesus gives them joy by teaching them TRUTH. The TRUTH is that Christ has risen from the dead, and it is HE that is going to redeem Israel, and that Christ is Jesus of Nazareth. When they finally get the whole truth, they rush back to Jerusalem and share the "good news" with the rest of the disciples (Luke 24:33-25).

As believers, we can learn a lot from the experiences of these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, because we make the same mistakes when God swings the door wide open for us to share the HOPE that we have in Christ. For some reason we too leave out the resurrection, but make no mistake, without the resurrection, there is no HOPE.

What can we learn from the Emmaus walk of these two disciples:

1. God opens the door for us to share the gospel when we least expect it. We must be prepared at all times. Are you prepared to share the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ at this very moment? Proper preparation will give you complete confidence in what you are saying. If we are timid when it comes to giving the Gospel, it is probably because we are ill prepared. We must be ready! 2 Timothy 4:8 “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season.”

2. The gospel without the resurrection is not GOOD NEWS. We must be clear when we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must never leave out the fact that Christ not only conquered sin at the Cross, but also conquered death when He walked out of the grave. Our HOPE is in HIS life. 1 Corinthians 15:17 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” We must never proclaim the gospel without the resurrection! The good news of Christ, the power of the gospel, is that Christ died for sin that He was buried, and rose from the grave three days later (1 Cor 15:1-4). This is the message of power that leads to salvation (Romans 1:16). The resurrection is important!

3. Faith is from the Word of God, not the words of men. Only when we search the Scriptures is our faith strengthened. Cleopas and the other unnamed disciple believed logic, not Scripture. They believed that the body was not in the tomb, but not resurrected. They believed that someone took Jesus’ body, not that God raised Him from the dead. They believed the women and not the Word. Jesus dealt with their unbelief by teaching them the Scriptures. He will deal with your doubt in the same way. It is the Word that is powerful (Hebrews 4:12), not the opinions of man. The Word of God can transform your foolishness into faith, your doubt into confidence, and your questions into answers. How well do you know the WORD? Search the Scriptures and gain confidence with your presentation of the GOOD NEWS of CHRIST.

God could give you an opportunity to share your faith today. Are you ready? Are you confident? Learn from the experience of theses disciples on the road to Emmaus and gain the confidence you need to proclaim our “so great salvation” in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is our hope! That is our joy! That is our confidence! That is our Life!

Not An Island

2008-08-14T02:03:00.001-07:00

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron; so one man sharpens another.”

After joining the Army, I quickly learned the meaning of the term “battle buddy”. A “battle buddy” is someone who is always with you. Wherever you go and whatever you do, your “battle buddy” is right beside you. If you need to go and relieve yourself, then your “battle buddy” goes with you. When digging a foxhole, you dig for two. Two men share one foxhole, so that one “buddy” is always watching the other “buddy’s” back. As a soldier I am accountable for the safety and well being of my “battle buddy”, as he is also accountable for mine. If he becomes wounded, I am there to give “first aid”. If he can’t walk on his own, I am there to carry him. If he becomes fearful, I am there to encourage him. Battle buddies keep each other accountable, awake, alert, and alive in the heat of battle.

It’s hard to believe, but a lot of Christians have a negative viewpoint of the word accountability. Why is that? In the secular world, the word accountability seems to have a positive connotation. Everyone should agree that to be a person who is accountable is to be a person who is responsible. In fact, accountability and responsibility are synonymous. So why is it that most Christians misunderstand and even cringe when hearing the term “accountability partner”? It is because most Christians think that accountability is synonymous with criticism and in no way relate it to responsibility. They think that an accountability partner is going to probe into their life with legalistic zeal, pointing fingers and spreading gossip. This is not the Biblical M.O. of an accountability partner. An accountability partner watches my back in Spiritual warfare. An accountability partner renders “first aid”, when I am wounded. An accountability partner picks me up, when my walk turns into a crawl. An accountability partner adjusts my line of sight, when my vision is clouded with emotion and circumstance. An accountability partner is a trusted friend who earnestly cares for my best interests and offers wise, Christ centered, Bible based counseling, encouragement, and advice.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron; so one man sharpens another.”
Just as a dull blade is useless for cutting and in need of sharpening, so we too become dull and useless within our Spiritual walk when we refuse to be honed. This verse says one man sharpens another or in other words, “accountability partners keep one another mentally sharp, focused, and alert in Spiritual warfare.” Do not forget that the war is fought in your mind and accountability partners help to keep one sharp for battle.
1 Sam 13:20-21 “So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened.” In this verse, Israel is preparing for battle with the Philistines raiders who were carrying out punitive expeditions against them. All of Israel went together to sharpen their weapons in order to prepare for battle. A dull weapon is of no use in combat. Without accountability partners, we walk into the combat zone alone, unprepared, and dull because, “Iron sharpens iron; so one man sharpens another.”

Eccl 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Here we have several Biblical analogies for accountability partners. We cannot survive in the devil’s world in isolation. We need someone to come along beside and pick us up when we fall down, or let us know when we are walking on unstable ground. We need someone to keep us warm when the Spiritual fire starts flickering during the blizzards of life. We need someone who will stand firm with us in battle as to not become overpowered. (Ephesians 6:11-12) And just as a rope with only one strand is weak and a rope with many strands is strong, we need to be interwoven with other believers in order to multiply strength. (Strength in numbers!)

Biblical examples of failure due to lack of accountability:

God placed Abraham and Lot together and Lot was accountable to Abraham. When Abraham and Lot separated (Genesis 13), Lot was no longer accountable and was lured in by the lifestyle of Sodom and Gomorrah. The lack of accountability cost Lot dearly, in which he lost credibility with his own family (Genesis 19:14), lost his wife (Genesis 19:26), and perverted the morals of his daughters (Genesis 19:31-38).

Aaron was accountable to Moses during the Hebrews exodus from Egypt. But when Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain Aaron became swayed by public opinion and made an idol cast in the form of a calf. (Exodus 32:1-6)
When we become independent of accountability it is more likely that we will lose our focus of the person of Christ and the plan of God, resulting in a major fall.

Jesus Christ understood the importance of accountability when sending out the disciples in pairs. Mark 6:7 “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;”
The Holy Spirit understood the importance of accountability when He chose Paul and Barnabas to go on the first missionary journey. Acts 13:2 “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Hebrews 10 and Proverbs 27 makes a clear case for an accountability partner!

Heb 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Proverbs 27:9 “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.”
We need someone to spur us toward love and good deeds while keeping an eye out for stumbling blocks. We need someone who will offer wise counsel when we seem to be making all the wrong decisions.

I will close with a quote from Chuck Swindoll on accountability. “Today, we too, need others to hold us accountable. Sometimes an objective opinion will reveal a blind spot. Sometimes a straight-from-the-shoulder piece of advice will preserve a friend from a fall. Other times a strong reproof will get the wayward back on track. On another occasion, we may simply need a sounding board to help keep us on target. Are you accountable to someone outside your family? Someone who can ask you straight questions, hard questions, and make honest observations? Do you spend time with this person on a regular basis, looking at each other’s life? Are you committed to mutual encouragement? Do you think together? Pray together? Play together? I hope so.”
Don’t try to go it alone, isolated and independent. Choose an accountability partner that you can trust, and I promise you that it will pay dividends, resulting in the endurance that leads to Spiritual growth maturity. James 1:4 “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Victory!

2008-08-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

John 20:15 “Jesus said to her, “Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

The Battle of Waterloo was fought between the French, under the command of Napoleon and the British, under the command of Wellington. In the month of June in the year 1815, news of the Battle was relayed across land to the English Channel. When the ships in the English Channel received word of the outcome, they in turn relayed the news to England. On that day a heavy fog was rolling in and hindering communications. The message went out, “Wellington defeated…” but the fog closed in and the rest of the message was not received . The news quickly spread all over England, “Wellington defeated!!!” Needless to say despair fell on the people , thinking that Napoleon and the French had taken Waterloo. There were probably thoughts of hopelessness, fear, sadness, worry, and panic as the news spread like wildfire throughout the land. The next morning when the fog lifted, the rest of the message was received, “Wellington defeated the enemy!!!” Hopelessness, fear, sadness, worry, and panic turned into joy, jubilance, satisfaction, elation, and rejoicing as the British celebrated victory.

Just like the British, the disciples also felt the uncertainty and hopelessness in the days following the Crucifixion. When Jesus Christ died it seemed to spell defeat for a few short days. John 20:9 “For as of yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” They thought their Savior was dead. They lost hope!! Mary is weeping in this verse because she not only believes that Jesus is dead, but that some one had also taken His body from the tomb. Jesus speaks to her in verse 15, but she assumes that He's the gardener and has carried the body of Jesus away. When Jesus calls her name, “Mary”, she becomes elated and spreads the word of His resurrection. The news of the resurrection burst on the scene and rejoicing, jubilation, and joy followed.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures us that our hope for eternal life is not in vain, but an absolute reality . Therefore, we no longer fear death because there is life through the victory of the resurrection. As Christ now lives in the presence of the Father, so shall we. This is our confidence, our hope, and our faith!! While Paul was awaiting execution, he wrote these words to Timothy, “but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (2 Tim 1:10) Faith in the person of Jesus Christ will bring, to all who believe, life and immortality. Have you placed your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you fear the sting of death? Do you want to experience the joy and jubilance of victory? The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a solid reason to believe that death is not the end, but actually a new beginning. By looking to His resurrection, we can find reason to hope that just as Jesus died but lived again, so can all who believe in Him. Eternal life is a reality for all who believe in the indisputable fact that Christ died for sin, was buried, and resurrected three days later. (1 Cor 15:3-4) Do you believe? Place your faith in person and work of Jesus Christ and taste the victory of the Resurrection!!!!

The Object of Faith

2008-08-12T07:39:00.001-07:00

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world---our faith.”

This promise ("For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.") exudes confidence. Why is it then that so many Christians are being overcome by the world instead of overcoming? The key to becoming victorious over the world system is faith. Have you ever heard someone say that they have lost their faith? Do you understand where faith comes from? Romans 10:17 says that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” From this passage of Scripture it is clear that faith comes by HEARING the Word. Hearing is definitely the first step to faith, but in my opinion the writer is conveying much more. I know a lot of Christians who are attending church on a weekly basis and HEARING the Word of God, but being overcome by the world system. Hearing is an action word in the same way that faith is an action word. Take for example this verse from the Psalms: “Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication (Psalms 28:6).” When the psalmist writes that God HEARD his voice, he is saying that God not only heard his prayer, but also answered it. For God to HEAR the prayer of one of his children means that He took action. In the same way, for us to HEAR the Word of God is not enough; we must take action! “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;” (Proverbs 22:17) In order to have the faith that overcomes the world we have to hear the word and apply our minds to that knowledge. Every Christian, without exception, whether spiritual or carnal, mature or immature can have the faith it takes to gain victory if they take action. “…but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” (Daniel 11:32)

Faith is simply taking God at His Word. Faith in an adequate object will always produce a good outcome. (Romans 8:28) Before I made my first jump from an airplane I didn't have faith that the parachute on my back would work. I hoped that it would work, but the fear of falling to my immanent death was stronger than the faith I had in my equipment. I didn’t believe that my equipment was adequate. However, now that I have jumped over thirty times, I have complete confidence (faith Hebrews 11:1) in my parachute. What used to be fear has become faith. Without the experience of jumping I would never had attained faith in the adequacy of my equipment. You will never understand the adequacy of God’s Word until you apply it by faith over and over again. (Hearing and hearing Romans 10:17) We gain victory over the world by placing faith in God’s Word. Victory does not come by placing faith in ourselves. The adequate object of our faith is the promises of God. When we put God’s principles to practice by faith every day, we press on to victory. Are you victorious over the world? Take action and apply God’s Word by faith.

Endure

2008-08-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

2Timothy 4:5 "But you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

The second command of Paul in this verse dealing with "The Charge to a Christian Soldier" is ENDURE HARDSHIP. American Christians, for the most part, don't truly understand what it's like to endure hardship as a soldier for Christ. (Don't go crazy over that statement if you have suffered for Christ and start sending me emails telling me to where I can put this devotion.) Hardship to the average American is the cable going out, the battery on the remote control dying, gas prices going up, getting passed up for a raise or promotion, or just struggling to pay bills we can't afford as a result of our desires to have what we don't need. We will beg, borrrow, and steal to avoid hardship instead of actually enduring it. There is also what some call "The Prosperity Gospel" being preached today and people are buying into it. The whole idea that God doesn't want you to be sick, poor, hurt, or uncomfortable is "tickeling the ears" of the mulititude. They, in turn, try to barter with God in order to avoid suffering. The whole concept of giving in order to receive has spread like wild-fire because of the greed mentality of our society today.

Paul commands us to "endure hardship" not "avoid hardship." Not only is this a command to endure, but it is also a promise that you will, without a doubt, as a Christian experience hardship in your lifetime. Hardship is inevitable, so when you experience it, ENDURE! The only way to endure hardship is to consistenly, completely, and faithfully rely on the promises of God. There is no way to endure hardship apart from the truth of God's word. Just like diamonds are formed in extreme pressure and gold is refined by passing through fire; Spiritual maturity comes through suffering! Spiritual maturity is refined by enduring hardship! Enduring hardship is God's refining furnace for Spiritual growth. This is why James tells us to consider the trials of life a joy. Persevering through trails produces endurance and the perfect result of endurance is Spiritual maturity. The path to Spiritual maturity passes through many levels of hardship and the only way to "endure" through the process is to rest in the promises of God. God in His marvelous grace has supplied you with everything that you need to endure hardship in your lifetime, all you have to do is trust. Can you trust God? If the answer is yes, then stop trying to avoid hardship and endure it. God is trying to refine you. Let Him!!!!

First Love

2008-08-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

Rev 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

I know all of you have heard the saying “distance makes the heart grow fonder. Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan understand it completely. Whether you are a soldier in a foreign land, a businessman on an extended business trip, or a father of three on a two-week vacation; at some point during the trip, vacation, or deployment, you begin to anticipate, look forward to, and long for HOME. How many of us have said, “I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed!” “I can’t wait to get home!” When we leave the place that we call “home” it is exciting, new, and adventurous at first, but after a while, when the unknown becomes known, we long for the familiar, we long from HOME. As Christians, our Home is in Jesus Christ, our first “true love”. So why is it that Christians leave that “first love” and venture off into the world looking for something new, exciting, and adventurous? It is because they have forgotten what it was like to be at home in the love of Christ. There are many terms for leaving the love of Christ. Backsliding, falling away, fallen from grace, prodigal, etc., but they all carry the same meaning. All of them mean that the place of importance that Christ once had in our lives has been replaced by something apart from Christ. Revelation 2:5 "Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first;” Jesus Christ tells us how to come back to our “first love” in this verse. We must remember, repent, and resume.

The first thing that we have to do is remember what it was like when we lived a life for Him. We must remember the inner peace, the joy, and the hope that we had when we submitted our life to Christ. Comparing that with the chaos, hopelessness, and disappointment that we have received from the world, it becomes easier to apply the next step.

Next we must repent. A lot of people are confused on what it means to repent. Some falsely associated repentance with regret or penance and don’t truly understand how to repent. The word “repent” is translated from the Greek word “metanoeo” with literally means to change your mind. We must change our mind with regard to what we truly love. Our thinking must turn 180 degrees from the belief that happiness is gained from the things of this world, which are apart from Christ; to the belief that true joy; peace, contentment, and hope can only be found by diligently seeking Christ.

The last thing Jesus tells us in this verse is that we must resume the deeds that we did at first. This has to do with obedience to the word. When we truly love Christ, we search the scriptures and obey them. This is the “walk” of a Christian who is absolutely loves the Lord. We must apply truth to experience in order to understand the love that Christ has for us. When we understand His love, then our love for Him grows and His love is perfected in us. If you have left your first love for Christ, apply the principles that he explains to us in this passage. Remember, repent, and resume. Come back home!

Contender

2008-08-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

Jude 3 "Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt I had to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all entrusted to the saints."

While studying this passage of Scripture this morning two main ideas jumped off of the page. The first thing that really stood out to me was 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and the Doctrine of Inspiration. 2 Tim 3:16-17 “(16) All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. You, on the other hand, may not see this principle at work here, so allow me to explain. Jude is writing this letter to believers (possibly to the church at Ephesus) with one primary thought in mind: “our common (shared) salvation”. The fact that he uses the words, “I was making every effort to write”, shows that he had thought long and hard about this letter and had come to the conclusion that he was going to write about the salvation which they all shared. God, however, had a different letter in mind. The message that God wanted to get to church at Ephesus was not a “shared salvation”, but an appeal to fight for their faith. God knows exactly what people need to hear and when they need to hear it. God knew that the believers in Ephesus would struggle with the false teaching that had crept into the church. Under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, Jude’s message changed from encouraging words of affirmation into a battle cry to take a stand and fight for the faith, to contend for the truth.

What is the application for us? What can we learn from Jude 3 on the Doctrine of Inspiration?

1. The word of man may be uplifting and encouraging, but the Word of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in order to equip you for battle (2 Tim 3:16-17). Psalm 144:1-2a“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. (2) My loving kindness and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. My shield and He in whom I take refuge,”

2. When we are walking by the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit, God will lead us in exactly what to say and when to say it. God will use us, if we are available and Spirit led. God intimately knows His people. He knows what they need to hear.

3. Man may have penned the Word of God, but God authored it. These men of faith who wrote the book that we call the Bible were open to God’s leading; are we?

The second thing that jumped off of the page this morning was that the life of faith is a struggle. Jude writes an appeal to “contend earnestly” for FAITH. The Greek word translated- contend- is a boxing term. To contend means to fight. Our entire life is a fight for faith. Some “rounds” in this “faith fight” are won and some “rounds” are lost, but we are to never stop fighting. In the boxing world a contender is someone who is moving up the rankings toward a championship fight. During his rise, he has lost rounds, been knocked down, and perhaps suffered injury, but a contender never gives up. A contender trains with one purpose in mind…to win. Paul says in 1 Cor 9:26b-27, “I box in such a way, as not beating the air; (27) but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Paul was a contender. Paul was disciplined in training. Paul understood that he was in the fight of his life and trained for victory. Jude sounds the battle cry to “fight for Faith”. Are you prepared to fight? Have you become disciplined in your training to contend for victory? Are you a contender or a pretender?

What is the application for us as contenders in the arena of faith?

1. Contenders may get knocked down, but always get back up.
2. Contenders may lose rounds, but always win the fight.
3. Contenders train for victory.
4. Contenders are disciplined.

God’s Word is inspired to train contenders for victory. Every word is profitable to equip you for this fight. Jude’s charge to the church at Ephesus, God’s charge to me, and my charge to you is to become a contender for faith. You are already standing in the arena, you better be ready to fight! BE A CONTENDER! TAKE A STAND AND FIGHT FOR YOUR FAITH! BECOME VICTORIOUS!

Home Coming

2008-08-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

John 14:33 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Has there ever been something you have been waiting for, that felt like an eternity to finally receive? Maybe you saved up for a particular item and those last few weeks, days, or hours felt like they crawled by. Maybe it was not even something that you were going to buy. I remember in the last day of school before summer, it was game on! That last day of the school year seemed to be the longest day of the year.

Whatever it is that we are waiting for, we know it is coming so we take the necessary steps of preparation to be ready for the anticipated event. My younger brother is a Cavalry Scout in the US Army. He has been in Iraq for the past twelve months, but it has felt like years since he left. Time seemed to crawl while waiting for his return. The last few days have been days full of preparation. My sister-in-law got an apartment, moved stuff out of storage, and decorated the house. The day of his arrival was approaching and I thought the preparations were done. Nope! We made signs, bought flowers, bought an outfit for his 9-month-old son that he had only seen once. There was a lot of preparing to do; even down to the request he made about Taco Bell being the first thing he would eat when landing on US soil. We prepare ourselves when there is something in store we look forward to. What if I wasn’t sure when my brother was to come home? What if I didn’t have time to “cram” for his arrival? It would make it a lot harder to be completely prepared.

John 14:3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

How are we to be prepared for Christ’s return for us, His church, and His bride? We will not get a five-minute, one hour, or twelve-month notice as to when the Lord shall return for us. So how do we prepare for the arrival? There are two different answers here. For the non-Christian, the only way to prepare for the return of Jesus Christ when He comes for His bride is to become the bride. The only way to become the bride is by grace through faith in person and work of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16, 1 Cor 15:1-4). To become the bride you have to believe that Jesus Christ is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, that He paid the debt of sin for you with His life on Roman Cross when He died for sin, that God the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead three days after His burial, and that He has ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the father. If you believe this, then you are prepared; you are ready for His arrival.

What about the believer, how is the believer to be prepared for the return of our Lord? The believer is prepared if he/she is saved, period! No believer will miss the Lord’s return through lack of preparation. However, do you really want to meet someone that you don’t know much about? We seem to know more about Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt than we do about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. Don’t you want to know Jesus; I mean really know Him, before you meet Him face to face? 1 John 2:25 “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” If you are a believer then you always have the promise of eternal life, but how well do you (the bride), know your groom (Jesus Christ)? 1 John 2:28 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:28 is a promise of the believer seeing Jesus Christ at his coming for the church, but notice the two attitudes of the believer: confidence or shame. The believer who “abides” in Him (the Living WORD) has confidence at His coming. That is preparation! The believer that does not “abide” in Him (the Living WORD) is shamed. Why? Because although he is saved, he has failed to know Jesus Christ intimately through a consistent study of the Word.

An unbeliever is prepared for the return of our Lord simply by faith in Him and His work. The believer is prepared for His return because he has believed in Him, and has grown in the grace and KNOWLEDGE of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Christ is coming for His church. Are you prepared?

Unrecognizable

2008-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:17 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind"

In this passage of Scripture, Paul explains the dangers and consequences of living like unbelievers as a believer. As Christians, we have been set apart from the rest of the world, but for some reason we don’t always live as new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Even though the inner man has been regenerated, the outward man is still conforming to system and standards of the world. In this devotion, we will take a closer look at Ephesians 4:17 and let the Word of God speak to our hearts and allow us to ask ourselves these questions; Are we being conformed to the world? Or are we being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 4:17“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind,”

The “you” that Paul is speaking about in verse 17 are Christians. If you are a Christian then Paul is speaking to “You”. When Paul says, “you walk no longer” he is actually saying, STOP WALKING”! If we are told to stop doing something, then we are obviously already doing it and need to cease. Paul is affirming together with the Lord that Christians need to stop walking a walk of conformity. But what are they (or we) conforming to? We are conforming to the walk (lifestyle) of the Gentiles. When Paul uses the word Gentiles he is talking about the unbelieving Gentile nations, people without God. Paul is telling Christians to stop living life as the unbelievers live. As Christians, our lifestyle should not be the same as the lifestyle of someone without Christ. Yet sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the two.

An unbeliever lives a life of unbelief. They are enslaved to the sin nature and choose to be conformed to this world by living to satisfy the desires of the flesh. If the world says success leads to happiness, then I need to be successful in order to be happy. If the world says that prosperity is having the best house, cars, and clothes, then I need have to have those things, because I want to be prosperous. The question is, do we believe what the world tells us and begin to “walk” as world “walks”? If we do then we are walking a walk of conformity and Paul says, “STOP”!! Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So why does the Gentile (unbeliever) walk like this, and why do we follow along? Paul says that it is because of the “futility of their mind”. Translated literally “futility” means an empty mind. What should be in there, the mind of Christ, is not. An empty mind is like a vacuum. What does a vacuum do? It sucks up dirt or filth. So the mind of the unbeliever sucks up everything false. False ideology, philosophy, and perspectives appear to be right to them. They live in the darkness of falsehood and not in the light of truth.

A believer that does not have his mind full of the truth of God’s Word will also suck up the lies from the world and in turn walk in the same way as unbelievers. As believers we have to be transformed by the (continual) renewing of our mind or else we too will conform to the false standards of the world. Are you walking as the unbelieving world walks? Do you blend in with world through conformity? Or are you walking like someone who “IS” set apart? If your mind is “empty” then it will suck up the lies of the world, but if your mind is full of the truth of God’s Word then you can be transformed rather than conformed. Hopefully we can heed the warnings of Paul and STOP “walking just as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds”. We are Christians! We are different! We need to walk (live) like it! Renew your mind and become transformed into the likeness of Christ.

A Wise Investment

2008-08-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 2:22 “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, ENTRUST these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

We all know the importance of saving money. In fact, just about everyone in the United States has a checking or savings account with some form of bank or financial institution. It is also wise to begin investing towards retirement, whether through IRA’s, 401k’s, annuity shelters, or mutual funds. We “deposit” money into bank accounts or investment plans in order to see a return on our investment. If there were no opportunity for our money to grow, then there would be no reason to “deposit” or “invest”.

The verse above is from the second letter of Paul written to Timothy. Paul recruited Timothy on his second missionary journey. From the things that Paul had seen and heard about Timothy (Acts 16:2-3), Paul decided to take Timothy under his wing and make a Spiritual "investment" in him. During his journeys with Paul and Silas, Timothy learned sound doctrine from, in my opinion, the best teacher of the word of God since the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Paul is now telling Timothy to make the same “investment” in other men, because he understands the eternal return on Spiritual investment. Paul uses the Greek word paratithemi, which is translated in this passage of Scripture, “entrust”. It means to place a “deposit” for safekeeping, a "deposit" that returns a profit. Paul uses the same word in 2 Timothy 1:12 to explain that he had placed his soul in safekeeping with the Lord. He used it again in 2 Timothy 1:14 when he told Timothy to “guard, through the Holy Spirit, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” Paul “deposited” the treasure of the Word into Timothy not only for safekeeping, but also for profit. The profit gained off of Paul’s Spiritual investment was Spiritual growth and maturity in the life of Timothy. Now, Paul is making it clear that Timothy is to make the same investment in other men.

The question for you and me is, “How do we, as believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, apply this passage of Scripture to our Spiritual walk?” The only way to keep truth safe for future generations is to deposit or make an investment of “sound doctrine” in the lives of others. A serious student of the word of God will progress into Spiritual maturity and should become a teacher. (Hebrews 5:12) It is our responsibility to teach other students to become teachers in order for them to teach others to also become teachers. The reason that you and I are able to study the word of God today is because faithful believers made Spiritual investments in the lives of others. It is our responsibility to keep this cycle going for another 2000 years. Paul and Timothy stepped up to the plate and accepted the challenge. Can you? We need to take our Spiritual walk seriously, so that we can deposit “sound doctrine” into the lives of others. Spiritual investments of the word of God into the lives of others will always return a profit. The investments that we make into our banks and retirement plans only have a temporal return, but the investments that we make in people with the word of God have eternal returns in this life and the next. "Study to show yourself approved", and then make a Spiritual investment by teaching others what you have learned . The return is Spiritual growth maturity for you and the ones in which you invest.

Conflict Resolution

2008-08-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

James 1:19b-20 “... But everyone must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger; (20) for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

In a controversy, the instant we feel anger; we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. -- Thomas Carlyle.

James tells us in verse 19 that “everyone” should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. James gives us the best advice in the world for conflict; “Be quick to listen”. Often times in personal conflict, when people are saying things that we would rather not hear, we refuse to listen and begin to think of what to say in rebuttal. That is the very beginning of an argument that leads to anger. When we are conteplating a rebuttal then we're NOT LISTENING, just justifying an argument.

Next James tells us to be "slow to speak". Arguments usually come to a point where both parties are talking at the same time. In order for our voices to be heard we begin to raise them. When we raise our voice, they raise theirs and anger starts to multiply. Why is it that what we have to say seems to be more important that what they are saying? Is it because we believe that we are more important than they are? When two parties are SLOW to hear and QUICK to speak this almost always leads to anger. If the first two are ignored the last will result.

James goes on to say in verse 20 that “the anger of a man does not achieve the righteousness of God”. What does that mean? The word translated achieve in the English is actually “ergazomai” in the Greek. Ergazomai means to “work out”, “exercise”, or “perform”. When we allow anger to be expressed through emotions, words, attitudes, and expressions, then we are not “exercising” the character of Christ.

When you find yourself in a situation that could become an argument and lead to anger, STOP, THINK, and APPLY TRUTH. Be quick to LISTEN; Be SLOW to speak; and you will be SLOW to anger. By doing this, you will be “performing” the righteousness of God which is the attitude of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,.”

Soul Hole

2008-08-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." Ecc. 12:13

The Book of Ecclesiastes is essentially an autobiography of the third king of Israel, King Solomon. In the second verse of Chapter one, Solomon sets forth his theme for the entire book, which is also the theme for his entire life. " 'Vanity of vanities,' says the Preacher, 'Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.' "

I was brought up in the "Bobby Joiner School of South Georgia Theology." The way Coach Joiner would explain this proclamation by Solomon is that we are all born with a hole in our soul. This hole is a vacuum that causes a void in our life. We will try anything we can to fill that hole. The only problem is that hole is in the shape of a cross, and the only thing that will adequately fill it is Jesus Christ. Some things will temporarily plug the hole, but anyone who has taken Economics 101 is familiar with the "Law of Diminishing Return." For example, your first ice cream cone is great. Your second one is not bad, however your tenth one is terrible. The more you get of it the less satisfying it becomes, and what once was fulfilling is no longer, and you move on to something else. If it were possible to fill that hole outside of Jesus Christ, Solomon would have found the secret. Literally, anything that Solomon desired, he had at his disposal. Let's examine only a few things that Solomon tried to fill that hole with:

1) He had wealth like no other in the history of the world (1 Kings 10:23) He controlled all trade and commerce of the entire land, and kings and rulers from all over the world sent him tribute. He had the largest construction company the world has ever seen. (Not to mention he built the temple) He had a massive ship building business. He made Donald Trump look like Fred Sanford.

2) He had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). STOP...go back and read that last sentence again. It's hard to even fathom this. I have a difficult time finding a date and this guy had 1000 women at his beck and call!!! Surely if this void could be filled with physical pleasures, 1000 women would have been sufficient.

3) Could it be wisdom? Early in Solomon's reign as king he prayed that God would give him wisdom to effectively govern God's people (1 Kings 3:9). God answered his prayer and Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. He spoke 3000 proverbs and wrote over 1000 songs.

4) How about popularity? Kings from all nations who heard about Solomon sent men to listen to him. "The whole world saught audience" with him (1 Kings 10:24). People heard stories about him that were so unbelievable, they had to go see for themselves. Everyone knew of Solomon.

The Bible only records a portion of Solomon's "accomplishments." So why in the world did he claim all this was vanity? The answer is Solomon tried to fill the void in his soul with the wrong things. His father, King David, gave Solomon one final command just before his death. He told Solomon to "observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his law and requirements..." (1 Kings 2:3). This is why Solomon calls all his lifes work "vanity." He was not focused on the right things. He still would have had all the riches and wisdom, God promised him that when He answered his prayer, but Solomon, through lack of faith in the Plan of God, made his wisdom and riches his lifes focus. God took a backseat to them. It was not until his last years of life that he realized he had been focusing on the wrong things for the last 40 years, which is why he wrote Ecclesiastes.

In order to avoid coming to the same conclusion about your life as Solomon, it is necessary that you apply the "South Georgia Doctrine of Deudis & Deudat." This simply means, if God says to "do this" then do this, if God says to "do that" then do that. Let's stay focused on the Plan of God for our lives.

If you have never come to a point in your life where you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ's complete work on the cross for your eternal salvation, then you won't understand what Solomon is trying to tell us in the conclusion of Ecclesiastes. Don't go another minute without making a decision about what you will do with Jesus Christ.

Foundations

2008-08-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Matt. 7:24-25 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. "

What is your house being built on? It should be like the above description. The importance of bible study in every day life is and should be a necessity. Christ is saying, in these two verses, if you study and APPLY the word, then you will withstand all that the world throws at you. The rain represents all of the trials and turmoil that arises day to day, the floods represent the opposition towards you and your family, and the wind is the unexpected things that hit you by surprise. Building your life on the foundation of the word and applying it will allow you to endure these things. The key to a successful and abundant Christian life is application. God would rather you memorize a few verses and apply them daily, than memorize the entire bible and apply nothing.

God's Gym

2008-07-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

1 Tim 4:7-8 “On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

America, through fast food and fast living, has become the “fattest” country in the world. As a result, numerous diets have gained the attention and application of millions of Americans because they claim fast weight loss. I also, in the past 5 months, have lost almost 50 pounds through changing my diet, and staying disciplined in the area of food and exercise. It works, but it takes discipline and consistency!!

Also, from the time that we learned how to read, our parents and teachers have told us that in order to be successful in life we must get an education. We start out in kindergarten and our goal is to make it through college. But in order to make it all the way through college we must discipline ourselves with good study habits. If you have poor discipline in the area study, then it is unlikely that you will make it through college.

From an early age, we are taught to take care of the mind and body in order to be successful, but few seem to care about the Spirit. In the same way that discipline in exercise and nutrition is beneficial to the body and education is beneficial to the mind; the word of God is beneficial to the Spirit. Paul tells us that “bodily discipline has some value, but godliness is valuable for all things.” The Greek word that Paul uses for discipline is gumnasia. This is where we get the English word gymnasium. We have to “work out” in the gymnasium of God everyday in order to profit Spiritually. Consistency is the key. You can’t be inconsistent on a diet and expect to see results. You can’t be inconsistent in a weight-training program and expect to gain muscle. And you can’t be inconsistent in the daily study of God’s word and expect to reach Spiritual maturity. It takes discipline. It takes consistency. Become disciplined in your study and application of God’s word and I promise that you will see results. Step into God’s gym, (His word) and work out (live God’s word) every day. The word of God is “profitable for all things” and can transform your Spiritual weakness in to Spiritual power through Spiritual discipline. Discipline, training, and consistency are the only way to profit from exercise, diet, or education, and they are the only way to profit from the word of God. Start a “work out” regimen in the Word today, stay disciplined, train consistently, and watch God increase your Spiritual strength.

The Hate Debate

2008-07-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."

In this verse Christ makes a pretty interesting statement about the attitude we should have in order to follow Him. This verse is often misunderstood and many times interpreted incorrectly. How can the same Lord that commands us to love others, tell us we must hate our families to be His disciples? The answer is in the order of devotion. When I say devotion, I don't mean a devotion that you read like this one, but I mean a devoted lifestyle. Many Christians today are what I call "Sunday Worshipers". This is a believer who shows up to church every Sunday to give their testamony, and re-dedicate their life to Christ, but the other six days they are totally worshiping money, or some other material thing. They would rather spend their time making the love ones around them happy, no matter what it takes. Is that what Christ expects out of you? Does He want to be second to the other people or things in your life? Does He put you second? The answer to all of these questions is No! Maybe what Christians should do every morning before they decide what or who to devote their day to, is watch "The Passion Of Jesus Christ". That movie, though graphic, should be a constant reminder of what Christ did for us. He did not put us second, but put us first above everything else in this world. All He wants in return is the same attitude towards Him. He is not telling us to hate our love ones literally, but to put all things behind Him. Christ is speaking of our order of devotion. We should always put our Lord and Savior first in everything we do. Sometimes this may cause those we love to hate us, but if it is because of our devotion to Christ then it should be considered a blessing. Remember, it is not you that they hate, but Christ.

Ultimate Sacrifice

2008-07-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins." --- Isaiah 43:25

In my own spiritual walk I often come across people who are militant towards God. Their line of argument is they are blinded to God's love by the evil that is so prevalent in our world. If you are openly seeking the Lord in your life, you probably have crossed paths with these type of people also. We know that "the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing," so it should come as no surprise to us when we encounter them, but at the same time it troubles me when I do. After you hear all of their arguments, at the end of the day, when you get all the way down to the real issue, the b.l.t. (bottom line theology) is these people simply DO NOT WANT to submit to the authority of a sovereign God. In their way of thinking (their world view), the "risk versus reward" of submitting their lives to God is not worth losing their love of self. The "evil in the world" is only a result of the rejection of God and the insistence on loving self.

Today's scripture reference is a very special verse to me. This verse not only declares that God wipes out our transgressions as a result of Christ's work on the cross, but it also tells us that He did it FOR HIS OWN SAKE. Because of God's love for us, he made the decision to make the ultimate sacrifice in order that we would have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him. He did not do it based on anything we are, in fact He could not have done it based on who we are. The only way for God's plan of salvation for man to be perfect was for Him to base it solely on who He is. God deals with the salvation of man in absolute terms, entirely dependent upon His grace, and we can do one of two things with it; accept it or reject it.

Now I am more of a "Spaceballs" guy than I am "Star Wars," but I went to see the new "Star Wars" movie last night with some friends from CrossWord and I told them I would work the movie into today's devotion. I don't know if George Lucas intended to write it this way, but there are hundreds of spiritual comparisons that can be drawn from the movie. Young Anakin is a great example of what we are talking about today. He is the chosen one and the prophecy gives him guaranteed victory in life. Yet because of his love of self, his attachment to worldy things that feed his self gratification, his fear of not being able to control all circumstances relating to self, he blinds himself to the truth and makes the decision to join "the dark side" of the force. The only problem is after joining the dark side, things don't work out the way he thought they would have, and he grows increasingly bitter. The exact same thing that happens to those who subscribe to the "evil in the world" theory. They do everything they can to satisfy self, and it is never actually as satisfying as they thought it would be. Then they blame God and follow that line of reasoning all the way until they get to the point of an "unloving God" who "allows evil to exist." Its a vicious cycle.

Really the only thing we can do when we encounter these type of people is to represent Christ to them pray for them. Chances are you will not be able to debate them because they are so caught up in the cycle. They can't understand that only a loving God would present an avenue for us to be saved, and that he does it BECAUSE HE IS LOVE (1 Jn. 4:8). Because God is love, He had to present us with a way of salvation. Evil is only a product of the rejection of God's love.

Daily Bread

2008-07-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Matt 22:29 “But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

God dedicated the longest chapter in the Bible to the importance of the Word, Psalms 119. There are 176 verses of Scripture in Psalms 119. Of the 176 verses, 169 of them are dedicated to expressing the absolute necessity of the Word of God in the life of a believer. The psalmist uses at least one, and sometimes more than one, synonym for the Word in all but 7 verses. When you read the words law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word, ordinances, or righteousness, the psalmist is speaking of the Word of God. The psalmist drives home the fact that the Word of God blesses, purifies, restrains the sin nature, teaches, encourages, counsels, revives, strengthens, comforts, directs, establishes, produces reverence for God, grants salvation, builds faith, gives freedom, produces love, protects, enlightens, promotes compassion, humbles, shelters, is the source of wisdom, sustains, redeems, and is absolute truth.

If some pharmaceutical company developed a pill that guaranteed all of those things to anyone who took it, everyone on the planet would take it everyday. Why then is it such a struggle to make a daily commitment to make the Word of God a priority for your life? In Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word the proceeds from the mouth of God!” This means that the Word of God is as important to sustaining life as food. How many times a day do you eat? How many times a day do you read, meditate, and talk about the Word of God? How many days have you gone without food? How many days have you gone without reading the Word? Do you ever crave your favorite food? Do you ever crave the Word of God? The Bible is a key that opens the door to eternal life in Heaven and Spiritual life on earth. Psalms 119 is devoted to the instruction, benefit, reliability, and absolute dependence on God’s Word.

MTV Cribs

2008-07-28T01:32:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain”

Unless you have lived under rock for your entire life, then there is a good chance that you have heard or said at least one of these statements: “My job is my life”, “I live for the weekends”, “My kids are my life”, or “My life would be complete if I won the lottery”. We even watch television shows like “MTV Cribs” to catch a glimpse of the so-called “abundant life” and wonder what it would be like if we lived in such abundance. For some reason our society believes that the “abundant life” is attained through high paying jobs, vacations, nice homes, nice cars, 2.5 kids and a pet. We can either buy into society’s false view of the abundant life, never truly attaining it, or we can listen to words of Paul in Philippians, apply them to our life, and live in the abundance of Christ.

What does the statement “For me to live is Christ” mean to you? It is a very easy verse to remember and quote, but how easy is it to live? The word “live” is translated from the Greek word “zao”. Zao means to abundantly live life. The same word is used in John 10:10 were Christ says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” The only way to live an abundant life is to live a life for Jesus Christ. Abundance of life is not measured by how much you HAVE in your life, but by how much of your life that you GIVE to Christ. If we are to apply this verse to our lives then we must allow Christ access and rule over every aspect of our lives without restriction or hesitation. “For me to live is Christ” means placing Christ on the throne of your life, which is exactly were He belongs. But Christ can’t sit on the throne of your life if you are already sitting in that place of authority. We need to get out of His seat, let Him be the ruler, and take our rightful place as servants. An easy way to determine if you are living a life for Christ or living a life for self, is to honestly answer these questions: Is my life productive for Jesus Christ? How effective have I been in, not only proclaiming, but also living the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Am I living the purpose that God has for my life? Is my life producing fruit for Christ? Am I satisfied with my service to Christ? Can I honestly say, “For me to live is Christ”? For Paul, loving Christ and living for Christ were the only reasons worth living. What gives worth to your life? Is it Jesus Christ? We can live an “abundant life” if we live a life that serves Christ and not self. Allow Christ to take his rightful place on the throne of your life and experience the only true “abundant life”. The “abundant life” of a servant of Christ is clearly expressed by the words of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21. This is the life in which you and I are to aspire.

Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

Abundance is not gained through the authority, power, riches, or glory that we seek in this world. Abundance is only gained through the bowed knees of a humble servant by faith in the riches of His glory, the power of His Spirit, the limitlessness boundaries of His love, and the sufficiency of His grace. Live the "abundant life"; Submit your life Christ, living to serve Him.

Focus

2008-07-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

1 John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. "

Trying to keep our focus on Christ is becoming harder every day. There are so many things in this evil world Satan is using to lure us away from our daily Christian walk. Sex, money, work, and music are just a few popular examples. What we need to realize is that the devil is not wasting his time enticing unbelievers, he feels (in his arrogance) that he has already won their souls. Instead he is more concerned with trying to keep believers from growing and leading the lost to salvation. One way he accomplishes this is by causing us to "fall in Love" with the world. Many are so caught up in work and other things, that they refuse to make time for God's word. This becomes a life of idolatry. We begin to put worldly things above God, and continue to slide backwards in our Christian life. Do not let this happen to you, do not become defeated by the evil world. Keep your focus on the word of God, and all that He has prepared for you. Remember all of the worldly possessions that you have came from the Lord, so let them cause you to fall more in love with Him. Be sure to make time in your busy schedule to take in the Word. The only way we can overcome the devil is by application of the Truth. You do not have to live a defeated life, but instead you can live the life of a champion in Christ not allowing yourself to fall in love with the things that are passing away.

Straddling the Fence

2008-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:17 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind" Vs. 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; Vs. 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

Have you heard the terms “straddling the fence” or “walking a thin line”? For the most part this term is used for describing someone that is “border line”, i.e., not on one side or the other… or having a little of both!

In these verses, Paul lays out the dangers of “straddling the fence” to the church in Ephesus. Possibly to a mass of converted believers (Gentiles) from paganism, who might be straddling the fence or walking a thin line between their old and new ways of life. A line that on one side is intimacy with the peace and grace of God that brings joy, and the other side which is an empty, darkened, and decremented life of separation and misery. Paul knows the vulnerability and temptation for a believer to blend in with the world of unbelievers and warns them “that you walk no longer” (stop walking) in the “futility of their mind”. (In other words, with empty minds.) The picture of being empty minded can be better understood as sucking up all the immoral views of worldly thinking with the vacuum of the mind.

As believers, they are doing a balancing act or “straddling the fence”. On this fence, you are able to see both sides. Just a little lean to one side and over you go. By sucking up dirt and filth like a vacuum, they become heavy on one side “being darkened in their understanding”. Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Even though Romans 1:21 is speaking of the unbeliever, it can be applied to the believer who falls off the fence. The believer knows what God has to offer in the light of Jesus Christ for their life, but when they choose to turn away from the light, their understanding becomes darkened.

Paul continues to expound on what happens to the believer who is living life on the other side of the fence. Because of the willful “ignorance that is in them”, they sit in darkness and come to love the darkness more than the light. This “excluded (Alienated) them from the life of God”. They alienate themselves from the purpose and plan that God has for their life (“life of God”). This is a personal and volitional choice. The choice, however, to continue to suppress the truth that is evident to them, is selfish. James 3:14-16 “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. (15) This wisdom is not that which comes from above, but is earthly, natural, and demonic. (16) For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing”. When the choice is made to suppress the TRUTH, the understanding is darkened, and the believer excludes himself from the plan of God. This eventually develops into the condition of “hardness of their heart” which results in becoming “callus” (meaning cease to feel pain). Summed up this is Spiritual Leprosy... a Spiritual hardening of the heart that results in the feeling of no pain. Pain urges the sick to seek a remedy, where there is no pain, little is thought of seeking. At this point the Word of God no longer makes even the smallest of pinpricks to their conscience. The conviction is not there and the Spirit of God can no longer give the convicting feelings needed for Spiritual life.

Sadly, they “have given themselves over” (meaning give up or deliver up to treachery). The word “given” also used in the same manner for the betrayal Jesus Christ. God gave them up to the desires of their heart by withdrawing His preventing grace; their sin thus was made their punishment. Romans 1:24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They gave themselves up on their own to “sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness”. They had no sense of the misery and dangers of the sins they where commonly practicing. When believer reaches this place there are no boundaries for what they will do to gratify the desires of their flesh.

If you are a believer who is "straddling the fence" by having one foot in world and one foot in the Word, then Paul’s warning is for you. Eventually you will be drawn into the system of the world and suck up all of its filth. This is not a good place to be. This place leads to darkness, futility, separation, and hardness of the heart. In this is a place there is no peace, only misery. Therefore, follow the truth that you have in God’s Word instead of the lies of the world. The truth leads to light, the fullness of Christ, the plan of God, and heart that longs for truth. This is where true peace can be found. This warning from Paul is real! Don’t take it for granted! The WORD of GOD is the only stable ground on which to stand. Get off of the fence and jump into the WORD.

Bad Company

2008-07-25T02:16:00.000-07:00

1 Cor. 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."

2 Cor 6:14,15 " Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?"

This verse should be one that is kept near by all parents, especially those with teenagers. Is it OK , as a Christian, to have an unbeliever as a companion? I believe this verse plainly states the dangers of such a friendship. As a teenager, I can remember many times my parents would prevent me from hanging out with certain individuals. At the time I didn't understand, and was furious at them for trying to run my life. The older I get, the more I see why this is so important. Christians should have one purpose for associating with unbelievers, to present the Gospel. If you continue to hang with evil, they will eventually cause your character (or morals) to slowly become ruined. Even if you don't fall in to their ways right away, you will definitely become one who is like them in others eyes. This could cause those around you to be misled about Christianity. This also includes hanging with those who are saved but have no desire to walk by the means of the Spirit. We should only fellowship with people who are like-minded, and have the same desire to reflect Jesus Christ in all that we do. This does not mean that you should totally avoid conversation with those who are in darkness, but rather use the time spent to try to lead them to Christ or back to the Christian Way of Life.

Need and Greed

2008-07-24T03:49:00.000-07:00

Matt. 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

I have heard many stories of people getting divorced, or taking their own lives because of financial difficulties. They believe that it is up to them to put food on the table. This has caused many people to become married to their jobs, and to forget all that really matters in life. Ask yourself this question....is there really a such thing as "financial difficulties" as a child of God? I believe this verse and the surrounding context (vv 25-34) teach us that there is no such thing.

If I had to define "financial difficulties", I would say it means any difficulty that is attached to money or other materialistic items. What Christians need to understand is that all things are given to us by God. Even if the unimaginable happened, and you were left broke, God would provide. Unfortunately, the problem lies in what we expect from Him. Most Christians believe God provides, but they are wanting Him to follow their advice when it comes to what their idea of providing is. For example: If I needed a car to get to work and it was God's will, He would give me a car. I would be happy and grateful, unless it was a Pinto or Yugo. I would soon find myself yelling,"But God, I wanted a BMW!!!" The problem is associating my "needs" with my "wants" God gave me exactly what I needed, but He did not satisfy my worldly desire.

God does not promise us worldly riches, but He does promise us Heavenly riches. However, He looks after the needs of His children, while we are on earth. I have found myself stressing out on many occasions over financial difficulties; wondering how I will be able to put food on the table for my family. That was my old way of thinking, now I just look at the animals all around me and realize that God feeds them and takes care of their needs, so I can rest assure that He will go above and beyond looking after me and my family. Stop worrying about the details of life, let God handle them. Our focus should be 100% on the Lord, and how better to serve Him. Continue to live a Christ-filled life, and you will begin to notice the details that caused you havoc will disappear.

Packrat

2008-07-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

Romams 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

My wife and daughter used to watch this television show called “Clean Sweep”. The premise of the show is that a “packrat” calls in “experts” to clean out, organize, and rearrange one of the rooms in her house. The “experts” drag everything out into the yard for the purpose of a yard sale, and everthing not sold is given to a charitable organization. But, on every episode the same thing happens. While everything is tagged and ready to be sold, the owner walks around, pulls stuff out of the sale, and puts it back in the house because she just can’t stand to part with it. Isn’t that funny? The person who asked for help to “clean out” her house is now refusing to part with the things that caused the clutter.

Are we so different? When we receive by faith that Christ died for sin, was buried, and resurrected three days later; we become children of God. From the moment of Salvation, God starts a cleaning process in our lives and we welcome it with open arms. That is until He tries to rid us of something that we aren’t ready to "give up". We ask God to clean out, rearrange, and organize our lives, but then we start dragging back the very things that caused the clutter.

In this verse Paul is begging us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Paul is making it clear that we are to offer "all of ourselves" to God. When we become children of God, we no longer “own” ourselves, but every part of our being belongs to God. The struggle then becomes a struggle over will. Is it my will or God’s will to be done? We must surrender all of ourselves (our entire being, our entire mind, our entire person) to God for His purpose and His plan. We must release all rights and all claim that we have on our lives and turn it over to God, but just like the show clean sweep, we have a hard time parting with “our stuff”.

Let God clean out, organize, and rearrange your life. Live a life for His will and not your own. When God wants to get rid of something, don’t fight Him for it, just let go and trust that He knows what He is doing. Our goal as Christians is to finally, honestly, and humbly be able to say with conviction, “Not my will, but Thy will be done!!!!” We have already called in the "EXPERT" to remove the cluttter. All we have to do now is get out of the way, and let HIM do HIS job.

Did God Really Say?

2008-07-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

My irresponsibility started at a very young age. I can remember, while in 3rd grade, I left my math book at school and was unable to do my homework. When my mother picked me up from daycare that evening, I asked her if we could drive by the school and try to get my book. She told me that there was probably no one there, but that we would stop by and see. It was about 6:00 pm and my teacher Mrs. Underwood was still in the classroom. When I walked into the classroom I saw something that I didn’t quite understand. Mrs. Underwood was teaching a grown man how to read. After teaching kids all day, instead of going home, she stayed late to tutor an illiterate father.

Now that I am an adult and father of three, I see a different kind of illiteracy plaguing our nation. The greatest area of illiteracy in our nation today is Biblical illiteracy. The same way that Eve was deceived in the garden is the same way people are deceived today; People don’t know and don’t care “what God says”!! People watch television everyday, read the newspapers or books everyday, but for some reason people have no desire to read the word of God everyday. In this verse, Paul says that he is afraid that we will be led astray in the same way as Eve. He had good reason to be afraid because we ARE being led astray in the EXACT same way; WE DON'T KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID!

Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Eve failed in the garden the same way we fail in our Spiritual lives. She wasn’t clear on what “God had really said”, and the majority of Christians in the world today aren’t either. Eve made the mistake of assuming what God said instead of absolutely knowing what God said. She failed and Satan succeeded because of her ignorance to the word of God. The omnipotence of God lies within every word of the book we call the Bible. When we place our faith in God’s word, that power is transferred into our life. The same power that resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead is available to anyone who places their faith in the word of God, but to place your faith in something that God did not say is powerless and foolish. That is why it is of the utmost importance to “know the Scriptures.”

Please understand that we are engaged in a Spiritual battle against the demonic forces of Satan everyday that we breathe air on this earth. To go into battle without a weapon is certain death, yet as Biblically illiterate Christians, we do it daily. The word of God (which is the sword of the Spirit) is our only weapon in this unseen warfare, and to not “know It” is to be defenseless. If we don’t take this battle serious by studying and applying God’s word, then we, like Eve, will be deceived and fall.

We need to be less like the Sadducees in Matthew 22:29, where Jesus tells them; “You are deceived because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God”, and become more like the Bereans in Acts 17:11; “But the people of Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” The only way to know what “God has really said” is to search the Scriptures and find out. We need to cease being Biblically illiterate, ignorant, and ineffective, and become Christians who absolutely, without a doubt, “KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID”. Is Paul talking to you in this passage? Are you being led astray like Eve? Do you know “WHAT GOD HAS SAID”? Don’t be deceived like Eve!! Make it a point to know and understand the inerrant, infallible word of God. You never know when someone might ask you, “DID GOD REALLY SAY?”

Without Faith

2008-07-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." — Heb. 11:6 (NAS)

We apply faith in our everyday lives without thinking about it. We want to get from point A to point B (this is not always literally a physical point A & B), and the only way to get there is to place our faith in something. I drive from my apartment to work every morning in faith that my vehicle will get me there. I have faith that when I finish typing this lesson, www.blogger.com will allow me to upload it from my laptop to the CrossWord blog. There are too many situations which require the application of faith throughout our day to list in this lesson. The entire CWL (Christian Way of Life) is no different in the actual application of faith. We are at point A and want to get to point B, and the only way to get there is through faith. The difference is when we place our faith in the promises made to us in the Word of God, it is a done deal. There have been instances when I attempted to post a message on www.blogger.com, only to find that blogger was not cooperating, and the message remained on my laptop. It is the object that receives the action of our faith where the difference is found. This verse shows us how to approach the CWL in faith:

1. We must believe that God exists. This is step one. If we do not believe that God is who He says he is, we cannot even begin. Step number two is completely dependent upon step number one . And;

2. We must also believe that "He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." What does it mean to seek Him? What does He reward us with if we do seek him? Let’s break this part of the verse down a little more.

The Greek word the writer of Hebrews uses here for "seek" is ekzeteo, which means to "investigate, to crave, to demand." The New King James Translation more accurately reads "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." The only way to "diligently" seek Him is to spend time everyday investigating the method God has chosen to reveal himself to us...His Word. This is not the same type of "seeking" like when I was a teenager and my mother had me doing yardwork and I sought for and "couldn't find any string for the weadeater". No, this is more like when I am getting ready for work in the morning and realize there are no more clean dress socks in my drawer. I start overturning furniture. I have "diligently investigated" (from the Greek) some unlikely places in the mornings in hopes of finding a pair of clean socks.

What is the reward? This verse does not mean if you spend 21 straight mornings reading one chapter of the Gospel of John, God will "reward" you with material items. He rewards those who diligently seek Him with victory in the CWL. If your intentions for seeking God are anything other than wanting to truly know who He is, and how His Word can be applied to your life resulting in victory in the CWL, then you are wasting your time. You would be better suited to go to work an hour early, get home at 4 o'clock instead of 5, and watch Dr. Phil. We have positional victory at the moment we place our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only when we truly learn to rest in who God is and allow His promises to invade every aspect of our life will we be able to claim experiential victory in the CWL. The entire 11th Chapter of Hebrews is a reflection of how the "Heroes of the Faith" faithfully heeded God's promises to achieve victory in their individual walk. Which of God’s promises are you failing to heed?

Circumstances

2008-07-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1:12 “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel”

I don’t know about other families, but my family absolutely loves to eat breakfast for dinner. Tonight, while driving home from a softball game, my son asked if we could cook breakfast when we got home. Cooking breakfast at my house is a family affair; everyone plays a part. Haley cooks the eggs, Shelby makes the waffles, Drew sets the table, I cook the sausage, and Heather controls the madness. Tonight, while in the process of cooking, stirring, buttering, and flipping, a deterring circumstance reared its ugly head. The range hood (fan/light) came crashing down on the stove, which sent sausage, grease, eggs, pots, pans, and utensils flying all over the kitchen. It was a huge mess. Because of this unforeseen circumstance, our goal of cooking breakfast seemed to be in jeopardy. We could have called it quits and settled for sandwiches, but instead we cleaned up, stayed focused on the goal, resumed cooking, and had breakfast for dinner. We did not let circumstances deter us from our goal.

The letter written to the Philippians is one of Paul’s prison epistles. It was written around 61 AD from a Roman prison, where Paul was literally chained at the wrist to a Praetorian guard during his entire imprisonment. When we think of spending time in prison, nothing positive comes to mind. To the normal person, prison is thought of as a horrible place to spend any portion of life, whether one day or four years. Prison life is regarded as a helpless and hopeless circumstance that most people would rather avoid. NOT PAUL!!! Paul was proud to be a prisoner and turned what we would call a horrible circumstance into a reason for joy. HOW? He never took his eyes off of the goal, which was the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He turned circumstance into opportunity by not allowing his situation to deter him from his purpose. The issue is never circumstance!! The issue has always been and will always be Jesus Christ. By placing Christ in every circumstance, we develop confidence and contentment with our condition, no matter how small (cooking breakfast) or large (imprisonment) the problem. Paul says, “My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel”. Paul stayed focused on the mission; Paul stayed focused on Christ. Every believer in Jesus Christ will either be “all controlled by circumstances”, or “controlled by the word of God in all circumstances”. If we allow the word of God to dictate our response to circumstance, then we can share the same attitude of joy that Paul had while in prison. But if we allow ourselves to be controlled by circumstances, then we live a life of disappointment, disillusionment, and discouragement. In this verse, “My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel”, Paul uses the Greek word, “prokope”, which is translated “progress” in the English. “Prokope” actually means to cut ahead. To better understand this word, think of a “guide” who leads others through a densely thick jungle by cutting a path with a machete. (A trailblazer or path clearer.) Paul is saying that his imprisonment is not to be looked at in a negative way, but as blazing a trail for the furtherance of the gospel. When we appropriate the word of God to any circumstance that others see as bleak, we blaze a trail for them to follow, a trail that leads to Jesus Christ. When a friend of mine, Pete Sanders, was in need of a liver, I saw it as a bleak circumstance. One day Pete came to church and the whites of his eyes were yellow. His rapidly deteriorating liver had caused him to develop jaundice. Even though I prayed for Pete to be called in for a transplant, I honestly thought that he was going to die. Time was ticking and there seemed to be no transplant in sight. Pete, on the other hand, had the same attitude as Paul. He stayed firm in his faith and kept his focus on the Word. I focused on the problem and the circumstance and Pete focused on Christ. By resting in God’s word and ignoring the circumstance, Pete blazed a trail of faith for me to follow. When I think of modern day heroes of faith in my life, I think of Pete Sanders, a true trailblazer. The same principle that Pete taught me, Paul is trying to teach to the Philippians, and I am trying to teach you. We must trust the Lord in every circumstance, because Jesus Christ is always the issue. We only have one hope in every circumstance, and that hope is Jesus Christ. The source of Paul’s joy in “dire straits” was Christ. The source of Pete’s joy in “dire straits” was Christ. The source of our joy in every circumstance should always be Jesus Christ. Circumstances always change, but Jesus Christ stays the same. He was the same yesterday as he is today, and will be forever. Just remember, as a Christian, you are never a bond-servant (slave) of circumstance, if you are always a bond-servant (slave) of Jesus Christ. When times get tough, don’t focus on the tough, or the time, focus on Christ and His purpose for the times of toughness. This is where true joy is found in bad circumstance.

Lion Hunt

2008-07-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

“Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” 1 Pet. 5:8 b

One of my lifelong dreams has been to go on an African Safari. There is something about lions that fascinates me, and every time I’m flipping through the channels and see something on the Discovery Channel about lions I cannot help but stop and watch. These magnificent animals are without a doubt the most dominating, ferocious mammals in the world. They have the ability to take down their prey in the blink of an eye. The moniker “King of the Jungle” is appropriate only for the lion. In this verse, Peter directly compares our adversary, the devil, to a lion…and not only that, but this lion is hungry and prowling around “seeking someone to devour.” As we are going through our daily walk, exactly as if we were on a lion safari, we have to know how to react in the event of a confrontation with a lion. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to know how to react if you were confronted by a lion on the Serengeti in Tanzania? Well, the same applies to your everyday life. Satan will come for you, and when he does you better know how to react, or you will be devoured. Thankfully, Peter gives us the blueprint for success in the next verse.

“But resist him, firm in your faith..."1 Pet. 5:9

Peter tells us we must resist, standing firm in faith. The Greek word for “resist” is anthistēmi which simply means to withstand. We must withstand him by being "firm in our faith." The Greek word for “firm” is stereos , which means to be solid or immovable. We are to stand firm, not able to be moved, in our faith in our Shepherd to deliver us. A sheep is either the weakest animal in the world, or the strongest...it all depends on whether or not he uses his shepherd. We as sheep MUST depend on our shepherd. There is no such thing as a sheep away from the shepherd, there are only dead sheep away from the shepherd. We cannot defeat Satan alone; we must rely fully on God’s grace to sustain us. James gives us the same instructions in Chapter 4, verse 7, when he says "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." It is exactly this necessity of total unwavering faith in our Shepherd that draws us closer to Him. James tells us to "consider it all joy" when we encounter trials because "testing of your faith produces endurance." (Read James Ch. 1) We have the option of CERTAIN victory in every confrontation we have with Satan (1 Cor. 10:13), the only question is will you submit completely to God's grace? God will not waiver during your trials, will you? Just as a young shepherd named David was able to protect his sheep from the attacking lion, how much more able is our Shepherd to protect us?

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Buck's daily posts will continue tomorrow morning.

Combat Life Saver

2008-07-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

Gal 6:1-2 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

Soldiers in the military are in constant training to go to war, and all have some formal training in lifesaving. It is necessary in any branch of military service for soldiers to receive training in combat life saving techniques. When soldiers become wounded and injured on the battlefield, it becomes the responsibility of other soldiers to assess the wound, treat it as best as they can, and get the soldier to safety until professional help can be accessed. The training in first aid techniques can make the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

I see a different agenda on the Spiritual battlefield. When a Christian soldier becomes wounded or injured in the heat of battle we tend to write them off as dead. A Christian soldier becomes wounded in battle by some trespass or sin. Some sin in their life has taken them off of the battlefield and has made them an ineffective soldier. But instead of assessing, treating, moving to safety, and calling for help, we gossip, malign, point fingers, and ostracize. We tend to kill our own wounded soldiers instead of treating, healing, and loving them to get back in the fight.

When a Christian soldier goes down on the Spiritual battlefield, we are to restore them with a Spirit of gentleness, according to Paul. Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit. When a fellow Christian has fallen in some sin, is your attitude toward them from the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Or is your attitude toward a fellow believer who has fallen in some sin produced from the flesh? Gal 5:19-20 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions”

As Christians we need to train to be “Combat Life Savers”, and not “Combat Life Enders”. When a fellow Christian is wounded on the battlefield, we need to “restore them with the fruit of the Spirit” and not kill them with the “works of the flesh”. There is a story that I once read about a well-known Christian leader whom had been found passed out drunk at a certain place in town. One of his “Christian brethren” received a phone call from someone in the Church who was gossiping and maligning the well known, drunk, passed out Christian. Immediately the “brethren” sent a chauffeured limousine to pick up the drunken man, while his wife prepared the best guest room. Their son watched as his mother prepared the four poster bed with monogrammed sheets. The son said to his mother, “What are you doing mom, he is drunk and might get sick.” His mother said, “ I know, but this man has slipped and fallen. When he sobers up, he will be so ashamed. He will need all the loving encouragement that we can give him.”

This story reflects the attitude of “restoring with gentleness”. When a fellow Christian slips and falls in some sin, it is our responsibility to restore him with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Leave the strife, envy, jealousy, gossip, outbursts of anger, and disputes to the enemy. Restore fallen comrades by patching them up and getting them back in the battle. We take enough fire from the enemy. We don’t need to fire on our own.

Dog Fight

2008-07-03T03:50:00.000-07:00

Gal 5:17 "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."

"An Eskimo fisherman came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One dog was white and the other dog was black. The fisherman had taught the dogs how to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square, the people would gather to watch the two dogs fight and the fisherman would take bets. One Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win-but the fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, "I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger." (paraphrased from the book, "The Holy Spirit" by Billy Graham)

When we place our faith in the person of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death on the cross for sin, and His resurrection after three days in the grave, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in our body. (1 John 4:13) This causes conflict within us because from the time that we were conceived, we also have a sin nature. (Psalm 51:5) The two natures that dwell within us are in a constant battle for supremacy over all aspects of our lives. Just like the story of the two dogs, every day that we live, there is a struggle within us between the Holy Spirit and the sin nature to dominate and control our thoughts, actions, and attitudes. One of the two will always win! The question then becomes, "How do I win the daily battle over the sin nature?" The answer to that question is determined by the one in which you "feed" and the one in which you "starve". In Galatians 5:17 Paul tells us, "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another,". Here we have a picture of a Spiritual tug-of-war. The sinful nature tries to pull you away from the control of the Spirit and the Spirit tries to pull you away from control of the flesh. One of them will always win!!! During every moment of your life, you are under the direct control of one of these two natures that dwell inside of you. If we continually yield to the power of the flesh and feed it by sinning, then the flesh will be the predominant power in our lives. But if we continually yield to the Holy Spirit and feed it by a daily renewal in the word of God, then the Spirit will be the predominant power in our lives. Psalms 119:103-104 says, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts;therefore I hate every wrong path." Feeding the Spirit from the Word of God will keep you from following the sin nature down "every wrong path". Daily study and application of the Word of God has to be made a priority in the life of a believer in order to win the daily tug-of-war between the Spirit and the flesh. Which nature is winning the battle for supremacy in your life? Which one are you feeding? Galatians 5:16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." Make it a priority to "feed" the Spirit daily by yielding control of your life to the Spirit and applying the truth from God's powerful Word, and you will be victorious in the "dogfight" over your life. "Feed the Spirit!!!!" "Starve the flesh!!!!" Be victorious!!!

Are You Ready?

2008-06-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

2 Tim. 4:2 "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."

Although this verse is taken from a "Pastoral Epistle", written by Paul to Timothy, I believe it to carry strong meaning for each and every believer. As Christians, we all are to spread the Word of Jesus Christ. Often we only do it when it is convenient, or in times that make us look... "Spiritual". I know many believers that will jump at the chance to get up and speak at a youth camp, but when it comes to speaking at a gas station their tongue falls out. Many Christians, for the most part, are posers. They tend to pose as Jesus Christ only when everyone is noticing. Unfortunately, this is a very dangerous lifestyle to live. We need to change or attitudes about the duties we are expected to carry out.

It amazes me how many stories I have read in "Voice of the Martyrs" of believers all around the world going in to dangerous situations and Preaching Jesus Christ. They don't worry about what people think of them, they only care about glorifying the Lord with every word that procedes from their mouth. We can learn a lot from their stories. Fortunately, we are not under the intense persecution that they are. I believe this has caused us to become lazy, and we take it for granted. We should be ready at all times! We should spread the Word in every imaginable scenario. Whether it is youth camps or the gas stations, God has a reason for you to be there.

Don't let your so-called busy schedule or your personal reservations prevent you from serving the Lord. Constantly pray and ask the Lord to open doors up wherever you may be. Always be prepared to deliver a message of hope to all that you come in contact with regardless of what the reaction is. Remember it's not you they reject, but Christ. Put on a humble mind, and approach every situation as a servant of the Lord, and take your six feet for Christ wherever you may be.

Crowd Surfer

2008-06-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

Matthew 21:9-10 “The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?"

Many Christians in today’s modern church are no different than these citizens of Jerusalem. Wherever the “crowd” is gathering, the people will be drawn. Whatever the “crowd” is doing, the people will do. Whatever the “crowd” is saying, the people will say. In essence, people are like cattle, they will follow the herd. These citizens of Jerusalem gathered, not for Jesus, but for the “crowd”. They even shouted the same words as the “crowd”, not for any other reason than, “Well everyone else was doing it, so I might as well.” They were all excited, shouting and dancing, but they didn’t even know who Jesus was. Does that sound like some Christian friends that you have? Does that sound like you? Do you attend church, Bible study, or prayer groups to get to know Jesus Christ? Or do you attend just to be part of the “crowd”?

It is wonderful to have Christian fellowship, but not as important as having fellowship with Jesus Christ. The book of 1st John is about fellowship; first, with Christ, then with people. In 1st John 2:3 it says this “By this we have come to know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” Do you know Jesus Christ? Not just know “of Him”, but truly know Him?

The word that John writes (translated "keep") is actually a word for obedience. We only truly know Jesus Christ when we become obedient to His word. Knowing Jesus Christ doesn’t come from hanging with the "crowd", waving palm branches, and shouting. Knowing Jesus Christ comes from obedience. Everyday, many Christians falsely refer to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Although they have been saved by faith in the Gospel and know Him as Savior, they have never come to “know” Him as the Lord of their life through obedience to His Word. If He is truly the Lord of your life then you will apply the Word of God to the experiences of life. The Church has a Savior, what we are in dire need of now is a Lord. Make a commitment today to get to "know" Jesus by becomimg obedient to the Word, and a stop following the “crowd”.

You Can Be My Hero!

2008-06-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”

Have you ever read any of the citations for the Medal of Honor winners from the United States Military? As a soldier, I read through the many “super human” feats of selflessness, bravery, gallantry, and fearless determination, and doubt that I could ever do such things. We, as Americans, look at our heroes with such awe and fascination that we catch ourselves thinking, “If I were put in the same situations could I, or even would I, react in the same manner?” To most of us the answer is “no”, but we still ponder the “what ifs”.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is the who’s who of faith. It’s like the Medal of Honor book for Old Testament champions of faith. These men and women listed between Hebrews 11:4 and 11:40 are truly heroes of faith. When we read of these men and women, we are to imitate their faith, learn from their experience, and follow their example in our daily walk. But just like reading the book of Medal of Honor winners, we don’t see ourselves measuring up. Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. I never see myself doing something that great for God, do you? David slew Goliath with a single stone and went from Shepherd to King, from musician to warrior. We can’t relate to enormous feats of faith performed by most of these “heroes”, yet we are to imitate their faith. One person that we can imitate is Abraham. Abraham led no armies, wrestled no lions, parted no seas, or conquered kingdoms by his faith. Abraham did what we all can do, “Abraham believed God!!” Romans chapter 4 verse 3 says, “For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."

All we have to do in order to become a hero of faith is “believe God”. If you find it hard measuring up to the likes of Moses, David, or Joshua just remember that we can all follow the example of Abraham and trust Almighty God by faith. Abraham believed, trusted, and relied on a promise! Claim a promise from the word of God, trust it by faith, and you can become a daily hero who sets the example of faith for others to follow.

What Do You See in Me?

2008-06-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1:20 "...Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die"

How many people do you come into contact with each day? We tend to develop personal relationships with the people that we see on a daily basis, whether at home, work, the store, or some establishment that we frequent on a regular basis. People need other people. Have you ever stopped to think, "What do people get out of a relationship with me?". The simple answer is, people get what you give them. If you give them you, then they will get you, but if you give them Christ, then they will definately get Christ. As ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we represent Him by our attitudes, words, and actions whether good, bad, worthy, or unworthy.

We need to ask ourselves this question when encountering people throughout our daily grind; "When people leave an encounter with me, did they see Christ through me and the value of the cross, or did I do something or say something that separated them from Him?"

God makes no mistakes and nothing is an accident or coincidental. Every person that crosses your path needs to see Jesus Christ and the grace of God through you. He becomes evident in the words that you say, the things that you do, and the attitude in which you have. If you just talk a big game for the cross of Jesus Christ and don't live "the CROSS", then Christ is no more real to others than He is to you. In order to talk the talk, we must walk the walk. All we have to offer people of real value is our hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not our words that witness nearly as much as it is our lives.

"Exault Christ in your body", treat people the way that He would treat them, say the words that He would say to them, and keep the attitude that He would keep with them. By doing this you become a living, breathing, walking, talking witness for Jesus Christ, and then, it is no longer you that they seek for a relationship, but because of Christ in you, they seek HIM.

Honor Our Parents

2008-06-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

Eph 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

This is probably one of the most neglected commandments in the Bible. I say that, because I believe that we don't fully understand the meaning behind "Honor". Growing up under our parents' authority makes it simple to comprehend the command to "obey our parents". That doesn't mean that we always did, but we have an understanding of the authorities that have been placed in our life.

Now what does it mean to Honor them? How do I honor them? These are questions that I have been asked for years, while teaching teen bible studies. Honoring you parents is done by a lifestyle. We have the choice of how we want to live our lives. Even if our parents were unreasonable according to the Word of God, we are to choose the right way to live to bring honor to them. The way to do that is live according to the will of God, making every decision based on the Bible.

Even if your parents are unbelievers, or have no interest in God's plan for their life, we will still bring honor to them by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit that resides in us. This is a constant learning process that takes every day dedication to studying and applying the Word. The more we take in, the more we should apply, resulting in honor to our parents and to God Almighty.

Mission Accomplished

2008-06-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

2Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

I think that you will agree with me when I say that everyone who teaches the word of God has their own style of teaching. Even though all pastors share the same gift, the Holy Spirit designs it specifically for the individual. Most pastors use their personality, perceptions, and personal life experience to help the hearers gain a better understanding of the message that God intends for them to hear. When the Word of God becomes personal, the people listening profit because they can relate to the principles that are being taught by the pastor.

I tend to use a great deal of military analogies because I can relate my personal military experience to Scripture and gain a better understanding, not only for my self, but also for those who are listening.

The Apostle Paul also used a great deal of military analogies in his writings due to his experiences with the Roman military. During Paul’s house arrest, he was chained to a different soldier every eight hours. This experience gave him the ability to relate the Christian way of life to soldiering in the military.

New soldiers arriving at basic training are humbled, disciplined by consistent training, and taught to submit to the authority of their superiors. In this verse alone, there are four military style commands. When receiving a command from a ranking officer, the subordinate must obey the order. Paul, called to be an Apostle, writing under the influence and inspiration of the Holy Spirit is absolutely speaking with God given authority. Paul commands us to be sober (be sound in judgment), endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill our ministry.

To be sound in judgment is to have a mind that is transformed by the word of God. Hearing the word is the first step of transformation.

To endure hardship, you must trust in the promises of God. To trust is to believe that the word of God is absolute truth, infalliable, and one hundred percent trustworthy.

To “do the work of an evangelist” is to obey the Great commission by applying the command of Jesus Christ,"MakeDisciples".

“fulfill your ministry.” Fulfilling is synonymous with completing. As a Christian soldier, you are are expected to complete the mission that God has given you. If you hear the word of God, believe what you hear, and apply what you believe, then God will complete His plan for your life by fulfilling the ministry that He appointed you before the creation of the world.

Hearing, believing, applying, and completing are the keys to a life of faith. When you see your Savior, in all His glory, don't you want Him to say, "Well done fatihful and loyal servant. Mission Complete!!"? Take the time to study the Word and get to know Jesus Christ, believe Him to be absolute truth, and live His life by applying His mind to all situations in life. God will complete His Word in you by conforming you into HIS image, and that is truly MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!

Armor Up!

2008-06-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Eph 6:13 "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

Can you imagine one of our soldiers, fighting for freedom in Iraq, waking up in the morning and forgetting to put their armor on; Or putting their armor on, but forgetting their weapon. They would have to spend the entire day indoors or hiding from the enemy.

Now imagine you, as a Christian, leaving your house in the morning without being properly equipped to fight the spiritual battle that surrounds you each day. Pretty scary thought! We are in a spiritual war, and we are expected to participate each and every day. As believers we are targeted by the evil world that we live in. I strongly believe that we are more likely to be attacked than any unbeliever alive. This is because we pose more of a threat to Satan's plan than the unbeliever.

So how do we prepare for this battle? It's interesting to note that every item, except for one, that makes up the armor of God is strictly for defensive purposes. The belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, and helmet are all used to stand firm against the fiery darts that Satan's demonic forces throw our way. By putting on these items every day we are less likely to stumble, and more likely to disrupt Satan's plan. The sword is our only offensive weapon, but it is the most effective, The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The more we intake the Word, the more we are able to attack the enemy. The saying, "Shoot or be shot!", is very important in the Christian life. If we study God's word, and store it in our soul, we are able to impact the evil world in a way that God desires.

Something Old Something New

2008-06-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

2 Tim 4:10 "for Demus, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica."

Every Sunday around the world Christians assemble together in the local church to fellowship, worship, pray, learn, and grow together. The next time that you go to church, look around, scan the faces. Is there someone who used to come on a regular basis that you don't see anymore? Has one of your Christian friends given up on God and the Christian Way of Life? Maybe you haven't been spending as much time with the Lord as you did in the past. Maybe you feel yourself losing the desire that you once had. Why do some Christians walk away from God and the Christian way of life?

We have wonderful examples of "steadfastness" in the Bible. John was the longest living apostle. Paul persevered through beatings, hatred, shipwreck, and imprisonment. Then we have people like Demus. Demus was a faithful, fellow worker of Paul, but became tired of it all and set it aside. To Demus, the Christian life became old. Some of us know someone like Demus and then again, some of us are quickly becoming like Demus.

Today, pastors are consistantly trying to come up with some new sermon, new program, or new way to inspire the congregation with hopes of an increase in attendence. For some reason people flock to something new. Our generation has become so "new and improved" oriented that once the newness wears off, we become indifferent and look for something else. You have to understand that God is the same today as He was yesterday. He does not change. As Christians we need to stop looking for something "new and improved" from the word of God and start "applying" the the truths that have become old through lack of application.

In Leviticus 19:18 we are told to "love our neighbors". Fifteen hundred years later Jesus was saying the same thing. After the ressurection and ascention of Jesus Christ, Paul and John taught the same thing. The only reason truth gets old is because we fail to become consistently obedient. Someone once told me that if it is "new" then it probably isn't "true". What is old in teaching constantly becomes new through "experience". If you want the Christian life to become new for you, stop trying to learn some new mystery or some new viewpoint. Start trying to apply the old ones that you already know and every day will become a new day for the Lord.

No Matter What

2008-06-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Dan. 3:17-18 "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

We have all been taught the lesson of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-nego growing up in Sunday school. Most everyone would agree that the main theme would be "Faith". It is always taught in a way that shows how God WILL deliver you in your times of trouble if you continue to have faith. That is a very powerful lesson that we should always remember, but lets take a look at 4 key words that have changed my spiritual life forever (in a better way). Those words....."if He does not". What these three warriors for God have taught us is that they knew that their Omnipotent (All Powerful) God has the capabilities to deliver them from the furnace, but they also point out that it may not be in His perfect will. No matter what God chooses to do in this situation, they understand that He is rescuing them.

What can we take from these 4 words in this wonderful Bible lesson? Simple.... Continue to have faith no matter how God decides to deliver you. Always remember that His plan may differ from yours, but His is always perfect! God does work in a interesting way sometimes, and we are not asked to understand but only to trust. Continue to worship Him throughout your time here on earth and He will continue to show you His awesome power and gracious love and mercy.

Stress Test

2008-06-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

1 Pet 5:7 "casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you"

What a wonderful and comforting verse! If you are anything like most people, you experience some type of stress on a daily basis. Whether at work, school or home, stress is there, and you cant hide from it. Because of this, it is very important to know how to handle it. It is disturbing to see authors making millions of dollars selling their "self-help" books, claiming they have all the answers you need to overcome your obstacles for just $39.99.

Many doctors I have talked to in the past have said that they believe stress is the cause for many ailments and even many deaths. Believe it or not, the things that we let stress us out are tiny compared to the stress that Jesus Christ was faced with during his life on earth. We worry about how to pay the bills, and God has promised He would provide. We worry about who to date, and God has someone perfect waiting for us. We worry about our future, and God wants us to shine today. Everything we come across that causes us to panic, God has a fix on standby.

So, what does God want us to do? How do we deal with the reality of "stress"? Easy, keep our focus on the promises of God, and let Him take care of all the unwanted drama in our life. He dealt with Satan, face to face, on many occasions, I definitely think He can handle our problems. So cast everything that may cause you to stumble in your daily walk with the Lord on Him, and concentrate on how to be effective in a way that glorifies God Almighty!!

Pencil Him In

2008-06-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

Ps 76:11 “Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them;”

We have become a society of appointments. Everyone carries a day planner, calendar, palm pilot, or appointment book in order to keep track of the many engagements that clutter the waking moments of the day. In the typical day of the average person there is a time to wake up, a time to go to work, time for lunch, time for meetings, time for phone calls, time for kids, time for dinner, time for television, and time for bed. The only “time” our schedule gets broken is when we develop a physical ailment. If we are sick, we schedule an appointment with the doctor. If we have a toothache, we schedule an appointment with the dentist. If we have problems, we schedule an appointment with a counselor. We are a society on a schedule. We don’t miss an appointment that can “fix” the sickness, the pain, or the problem.

When do we schedule an appointment with God? How often do we keep it? You must understand that everyday we wake up with a Spiritual ailment. This ailment can only be remedied by a daily commitment to the Lord. We must set aside some of the worthless appointments that fill up our day, make an appointment with God, and keep it. One day a week is not sufficient to transform your Spiritual ailment into Spiritual blessing. Commit a portion of your day, everyday to the Lord. Pray for wisdom, study the scriptures, and apply the principles and promises of God’s precious word to your life. If this appointment becomes a priority then you will be continually transformed from Spiritually sick and contagious to Spiritually well and contagious. Your Spiritual well being will spread to all those whom you come into contact with during your busy, appointment-filled day.

Attacked by Distraction

2008-05-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 32:2-3 “Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, (3) he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

United States Military Doctrine during both wars with Iraq has shown us that if you want the enemy to give up, surrender, quit, lay down his weapon and be of no use, then cut off his supply lines. If the enemy can’t eat, drink, or possess ammunition and weapons, he will stop fighting.

Satan knows this and employs it in his strategy and tactics in spiritual warfare. Our food, weapons, defenses, water and morale lie within the Word of God. If we are cut off from it by distraction, then we will soon give up and stop fighting, no longer becoming a formidable combatant in this conflict.

1. Food- Jeremiah 15:16 “ Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became a joy to me and a delight to my heart, for I have been called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.”

2. Water- John 14:4 “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

3. Weapon- Ephesians 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the SWORD of the SPIRIT, which is the WORD OF GOD.”

4. Defenses- Ephesians 6:16 “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

5. Morale- Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Every supply that we need for this war has been given to us in the Word of God. If we become distracted and stop the daily hearing and application of the Word, then we will be cut off from all of our supply.

When we push God out of our life through either a lack of hearing or lack of application of the Word, then there is no way we can fight effectively and quite possibly may be fighting for the enemy (without even knowing it), by our influence on others.

The warning signs to your supply lines being cut off is your reaction to the circumstances of life whether discouragement, boredom, self-pity, loneliness, frustration, instability, or complete prosperity. These things can make us very vulnerable to distraction for the Word.

Satan's "system" is set up to keep the believer from the Word of God. This "system" encourages Christians to ignore the Word and accept false teaching so that they will revert to their former manner of life. 1 Tim 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Satan distracts by trying to keep believers from worship. (Heb. 10:25) His world system tempts the believer with a false emphasis on details of life such as money, success, social life, pleasure, loved ones, health, sex, or material things. Even though the Word tells us that happiness is not derived from these things, we somehow still get caught up in and distracted by them.

What is distracting you from daily devotion to God’s Word?
What is cutting off your supply lines?
What are you going to do about it?

The Bible exposes the “schemes of the devil”, that is why Satan does everything that he can to distract you from it. Be Alert!! (1 Peter 5:8)

Problem Solver

2008-05-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 3: 5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

We all have problems or dilemmas that come our way in our daily lives. Sure there might be good days and bad days. There are days where the oppositions are minimal and then days where the trials seem to never end. The fact still remains that the conflicts will always be there!

I have recently come into a dilemma that is big on my heart. It is one that has really got me thinking. Have you experienced a problem so great that it is always on your mind? The moment you get your mind off anything in particular you drift right back to thinking about this problem. Well, I dont know about you but for myself I know that when this situation occurs in my life I not only think about the problem but I am inclined to try to fix the problem. Who am I? Superman? I always think I can save the day!

As I face this particular problem in my life I cant help but mull over the ways to correct it. I came to a point where I said, What am I doing?. I cant fix this. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

When I recalled this scripture is when I caught myself trying to save the day. The Word had news for me! I cant do it! I was doing exactly what proverbs 3:5 says not to do: do not lean on your own understanding I thought my understanding was so important. I mean I thought about this problem for a long time, surely I had the best answer. Its the best idea not according to the Word.

What do we do then? If we realize we should not lean on our own understanding where do we go? Well in trying to apply this proverb to my life I dove deep in the Word. (In all your ways acknowledge Him) I had been recently in a study of Job so I jumped back in where I had left off. Job goes through so many trials in his life. He goes from being rich to poor, from a healthy man to a sick man, from a family man to losing his family. Job has these friends that approach him giving him all the answers as to why he has all these problems. To me this sounds a lot like my situation of trying to figure out my own problems.

As I studied these passages in Job, the Lord was loud and clear in my heart. I am not going to fix everything, I cant, I shouldnt want to, and it will only stir up more confusion, anguish, and troubles in my life. Job didnt know the answers as to why the testing he was being subject to was there. We dont know. The only answer is to turn to Him. He wants to care for us in these areas. (And He will make your paths straight)

When these seemingly immense problems come our way and we dont take them straight to Christ they only serve as interference to our relationship with Him. This problem will be an ongoing and re occurring obstacle in my life, however whenever it surfaces if we take these problems to the Father he will deal with them accordingly. Dont try to be the superman of your life! God gave us His Son for that!

SPEC It Out

2008-05-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ps 119:169 “Let my cry come before You, O LORD; Give me understanding according to Your word.”

Across this great nation I have the opportunity to "share life" with teenagers. I try to inspire them to commit a portion of time everyday for personal Bible study, but just like most adults I know, they just don’t have the time. What I have found is that the issue is not really a lack of time; it is, however, a lack of understanding. Some of them have opened up a little and told me that when it comes to studying the Bible, they just don’t “get it”. My daughter Haley agrees. She says, “I always hear people saying that they asked God for an answer and they opened up the Bible to the verse that answered their question. When I open up the Bible, it is always talking about someone whose name I can’t pronounce and some story that I don’t understand.”

You see, it’s not that people don’t have enough time, but that a lack of understanding after studying the Bible seems like a waste of time. People won’t spend time in any study if they don’t understand what they are studying. I don’t study the NASDAC, because I have no idea what all of those numbers represent. I don’t study rocket science because I feel that it is way out of my league intellectually. I don’t study the space-time continuum, because I would have no idea where to start. It’s not that I don’t have time to study these things, but that I have a genuine lack of interest in things that I believe I can’t understand. Ignorance is bliss, right? Not when it comes to the Bible.

Allow me to give you a simple formula for studying the Bible

STEP 1- Ask God through prayer for understanding. Ps 119:169 “Let my cry (prayer) come before You, O LORD; Give me understanding according to (when I study) Your word.” Rely on the promise of God in James 1:5. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Here is the kicker; WE ALL LACK WISDOM!!! But all we have to do is ask and He will give it to us.

STEP 2 – Use the S.P.E.C. technique every time you read a passage of Scripture. Ask yourselves these 4 questions:

Are there any Sins for me to avoid?
Are there any Promises for me to keep?
Are there any Examples for me to follow?
Are there any Commands for me to obey?

STEP 3 – Personalize Scripture!!! Put yourself in the passage as if God were talking directly to you. “For God so loved (Buck) that He gave His only begotten Son, that if (Buck) believes in Him, (Buck) will never perish, but (Buck) will have eternal life.”

STEP 4 – Close in prayer thanking God for His Word, understanding, and asking for situations, in which to apply what you have learned which will strengthen your faith.

If you are someone who has trouble studying the Bible because you just don’t understand, then I challenge you to try this. Give it a week and see what you learn. . 2 Tim 2:15 “Study to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

The Choice is Yours

2008-05-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

Psalms 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

From your first conscious thought of the morning to the last conscious thought before you drift back off to sleep at night, where is your focus for the day. Is it your job, kids, spouse, money, golf, or television…or a combination of many, many, different things? For each of us it is different as each of us has different responsibilities and interest that command our attention.

Every waking moment we should on some level be aware of our ministry for our Heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ not necessarily to the exclusion of our other responsibilities…but thru them. People, we have allowed Christianity to become a spectator sport, something we “do” on Sunday or maybe Wednesday night.

I submit to you that our ministry is not something we “do” but who we are all day and night, every day. Listen, the pastor of your church…if you have a church home, is no more responsible to God for how he spends his time than you and I are. His job description may be different from yours but his responsibility to encourage and minister to those around him is no different than yours and mine this day.

I have a pastor friend who constantly pushes me and others who communicate about God not to just tell people “what to do” but instead…tell them “how to do it” so here goes.

How do you keep your focus on your ministry throughout the day? By consciously choosing to do so! Our brains are capable of processing multiple lines of thought at one time and we can handle many, many thoughts from many, many directions one after another. I have found for me I have to really pay attention to what I am thinking about moment by moment and what I am focusing on and when I find myself not thinking on Godly subjects… guess what, I stop, ask forgiveness for wasting the time God has given me and change my focus to something that I know pleases Him. Some days are harder than others and this is like a battle of tug of war in my head…two steps forward, one step back…oh but at that rate of two steps forward, I am still moving forward toward my Heavenly Father. People this is a learned skill…it takes practice.

Every contact and conversation we have with people during the day is a ministry opportunity that we must choose to use. Does the name Jesus Christ come out of my mouth in every one…no, but when the opportunity does come along, I take it, I am always looking for that ever so slight crack in the door and when I see it, I walk thru it and hopefully over time I have earned the right to minister to the person I am talking to. Listen, real effective ministry to those around you each day, is not from your mouth but from your actions and life. Most of the real “preaching and ministry” in the world is in action not words and this is where we Christians have gotten confused and off track. When I started taking my eyes and focus off me and what I wanted and put it on the hurting people all around me, boy the world started to look different.

Over the years of working on this and I do mean working on it because it doesn’t come naturally to me or most of us to be focused on the needs of others, I have continued to earn the right to minister to those around me. People begin to see a consistency in your life and that you are not blown around by every circumstance…you begin to level off your highs and lows and you embark on a steady trek toward Christlikeness. That is the goal and that is the mark of the high calling to which we have been called when we placed our faith in the one true Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Friends, this is not a theory but something I have seen change my life and to those of you who have known me for years, I pray you have seen the change that is possible and it proves that if I, Jimmy Morton, who by nature is the most arrogant, self- centered person on the planet can change…all things are possible for you. God is not going to do it for you…this is not a passive thing that he does, but something He will help you do if you “Seek Him with your whole heart”. There is no magic verse, song or pill that will do this… only you believing it is your calling and then choosing, thought by thought and moment by moment to do so.

Make this a blessed day by choosing to do so.

Who Do You Represent? IV

2008-05-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

John 19:9 “and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.”

The Word of God allows us to get a glimpse into the civil trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate (John 18:28-38). Pilate wraps up the proceeding by asking the question, “What is Truth?”. It is not the question that puzzels me, but Pilate’s action after asking the question, "What is Truth?”. John 18:38b “And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.” Pilate asks the right question, “What is Truth?”, but then turns his back on the answer. Pilate then makes the statement, “I find no guilt in Him”, and sends him to Herod. Pilate didn’t have the courage of his conviction that Jesus Christ was innocent and he sent Him to Herod to make a descision (Luke 23:6-12).

Pilate passes the “buck” like so many of us do. We find no guilt in Him, we know that He is the Truth, we know that he is the Christ; yet we rely on everyone else to “do something with Him”. In this case Pilate is relying on Herod to do something with Jesus, because Pilate is a coward and doesn’t have the courage of his conviction “NOT GUILTY!”

Herod sends Jesus right back to Pilate with the same verdict, “NOT GUILTY!”. We pick up the 3rd Civil Trial of Jesus in which He is back before Pilate (John 18:39-19:6). In this section, Pilate offers a substitue (Barabbas), has Jesus scourged, presumes Him innocent a second time, listens to the shouts of the Jews, “Crucify Him!”, and buckeled under the pressure. This series of events leads us to verse John 19:9, “and he entered into the Praetorium a second time and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.”

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth.”

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Pilate asks this question from human viewpoint. Jesus knows the attitude of the heart, Jesus knows the motivation behind the question, and fullfills prophesy by keeping silent. In the same way Nathanael said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”, Pilate asks the question here, “WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” Jesus had already told Pilate in John 18:36 that His Kingdom was not of this world, and he goes on to say that His kingdom was not of this realm. Pilate already had the answer, and so do we.

Do we understand that Jesus Christ is from the Father? Do we understand that because of God’s love, He sent Jesus Christ to die for us? Do we understand that He (Jesus Christ) came to earth in human form, died as an innocent man on a Roman cross, rose from the grave three days later, conquered sin and death, ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God? What are we doing with the answer? What are we doing with Jesus?

John 6:33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

Are we like Pilate buckeling under the pressure of what to do with Jesus? Are the shouts that come from the “world” affecting our descision? Who do we represent? Pilate? Or Jesus Christ?

What Do I Seek?

2008-05-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:33 "BUT seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."

This question is easy to answer, but hard to live. Jesus told us what priority should come first in Matthew 6:33 " But seek (zeteo) first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." The word seek in the greek language is Zeteo (dzay-teh'-o) It is a present active imperative (continuous, volitional, command). The word literally means to strive, to search, or to desire strongly. The command is continuous so could be read, "But (your name here) strive continuously,every second of the day, to seek Jesus Christ." Our top priority, our number one goal is to seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness to the end in which every thing we do should be based off of this goal. That includes work, time spent, chosen friends, money spent, the person I want to marry, the words I choose to say, the attitudes I choose to express, and every choice that I choose. Every decision that I make should help accomplish the goal of seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. This requires living life in the very presence of God.

"But (you) seek first"

The word "BUT" almost always precedes a Priority. Think about it! Try to use the word "BUT" in a sentence without establishing a priority. "But" always points ahead to the main priority and back to what is not the priority. So, from the previous verses we can easily figure out exactly what is not our priority!

Matthew 6:32" For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things.(33) But you..."

These things is written twice in verse 32 and once in verse 33. What are "These Things"? Are "These Things" still our #1 priority? We can find "these things" is the previous verses. In verse 16, "these things" are the approval of man. In verses 18-21, "these things" are material things, possessions. In verse 24, "these things" are riches, wealth, money. In verse 25, "these things" are food, water, clothing. We are told in verse 32 that the Gentiles(unbelievers) SEEK (zeteo) all these things first, and Jesus starts out verse 33 with the word "BUT". That means here comes the real priority or what should be the first priority. "SEEK FIRST the kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." If Christ is going to be first in our lives it must be according to the standard of His righteousness (Col 1:15-18).

We see alot of "Buts" in Luke 14:15-24. They are not writen but the idea is definitely there. In this case the "but" is used to establish the wrong priority. I will paraphrase the passage for you, but you should read alongin your Bible so that you will understand.

Basicly there is a Spiritual meal prepared in the passage (one that satisfies you) and the invitation is given to come and eat. Verse 18 (paraphrased) I would come, But I just bought this sweet piece of land and I have a lot of things to build in order to make it livable." Verse 19 (paraphrased) I would come to the meal, But I have work to do. Verse 20 (paraphrased) I would , But I have to please my wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend.

The question that we have to ask ourselves is, "Will we come and eat; the meal is free and paid for.?" "Or will you have other things to do? "

Once some one was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, "so and so tells me that he was one of your students." The teacher answered, "He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students."

There is a world of differences between attending lectures, and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the church that in the church there are so many distant followers of Jesus Christ and so few disciples." William Barclay

What is your "BUT"? What is your priority? What are you seeking?

A Day to Love

2008-05-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 5:1-2 (1) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; (2) and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

On Valentine’s Day, I read a section from a newsletter that explained the purpose for Valentine's Day. It went something like this: It is a day for love and a day to tell someone you love him or her. That’s great and wonderful, but why just a day and not everyday?

In this verse, Paul is not exhorting us to be imitators of God for a day, or walk in love for a day, or that Christ gave Himself up for us for a day. The world would like us (Christians) to do just that… love for one day a year. As for the majority, (as well as myself), a day is just too long. Try a few minutes and work your way up to a whole day. Learning to Love as Christ loved is part of growth and growth is not instantaneous; it is gradual.

The reason why Paul begins with the word “therefore” is because he is trying to tell us to look back to the context of the last few verses of chapter 4. Paul describes the differences between the old man and the new man in chapter 4 verses 25-32. We (believers) can’t live in the old man 364 days a year and expect to put on the new man and love on Valentine’s Day. There has to be a gradual putting off the old, renewing of the mind, and putting on the new. This is a life long process! If we are to “walk” (live) in love, just as Christ loved us, then we must be involved in a consistent process of mind “RENEWAL”. This isn’t a “one-day” change! This is a moment-by-moment change. Christ-likeness is the goal (Romans 8:29), but it is the moment-by-moment walk that gets us there. I guess the point that I am trying to make is that Valentine’s Day, the day of love, isn’t just one day out of the year; it should be everyday by seizing every moment to renew ourselves in the love of Christ.

Who Do You Represent III

2008-05-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

John 18:37-38 “Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. (38) Pilate said to Him, “WHAT IS TRUTH?”

As John writes to us in verses 18:28-38 of his gospel, he allows us to enter the courtroom of Pontius Pilate. The setting is a Roman civil trial. The defendant is none other than Jesus Christ. The prosecution is the Sanhedrin represented by Annas and Caiaphas (Chief Priests). The judge in this case is Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea. The trumped-up charge against Jesus: political insurrection. The evidence: assuming the royal title, perverting the nation, and forbidding the payment of tribute to Rome. The verdict: not guilty. The sentence for being innocent: Execution by crucifixion.

After studying these passages, I too have entered a courtroom. The setting for this courtroom is my soul. The defendant is none other than Jesus Christ. The judge in this case is me. The prosecution in this case is “the world” (Romans 12:2) represented by relationships, a false emphasis on the details of life, materialism, pseudo-happiness, success, fear, a false perception of reality, money, time, and doubt. The trumped-up charge against Jesus is “WHAT IS TRUTH?” The evidence in the case are things seen, heard, and touched (material) vs. things unseen (Spiritual). The verdict and sentence from the judge…

In John 18:37 Pilate asks a question…”So you are a King?” Jesus affirms that Pilate is correct in saying that he is a King, but is misguided in his interpretation of the Kingship of Jesus. Jesus responds to Pilate’s correct, but misguided observation, “For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world; to testify to (on the behalf of, in defense of) the TRUTH. Everyone who is of the TRUTH (believes by faith) hears (understands and applies) My voice (the Word of God)." Italics mine.

Pilate, not understanding what Jesus had said, repsonds with “What is TRUTH?”, turns his back on the ANSWER, turns his back on the TRUTH, and walks out of the “courtroom”.

For an unbeliver to turn their back on the evidence of TRUTH and die results in eternal condemnation. Romans 1:18-19 “For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who SUPRESS THE TRUTH in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

Pilate turned his back on the TRUTH, therefore, he will spend eternity in the lake of fire, and that’s a shame, but what happens when a Christian turns their back on the TRUTH? The truth of the matter is that we become futile in our thinking, darkened in our understanding, separated from the plan of God for our life, resulting in a hardened heart (Ephesians 4:17-19). Is there any wonder that there are so many unhappy Christians? How does this happen? Too much time spent focused on others, things, and self instead of Christ! We take our eyes of off the TRUTH.

What is TRUTH? All truth points, leads, guides, and directs to Jesus Christ. If it does not point to Christ then it is not truth. John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to Father, but through ME.” If Jesus Christ is the WAY (and He is!), then which WAY are you going? If Jesus Christ is the TRUTH (and He is!), then what TRUTH do you believe and apply? If Jesus Christ is LIFE (and He is!), then whom are you LIVING for?

What is TRUTH? John 17:17 “ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.“ Sanctify means to set apart. We (believers) are set apart from “the world” by TRUTH! What is TRUTH? HIS WORD is TRUTH!

Are you set apart or blending in? Have you like Pilate turned your back on the TRUTH? What is the verdict in the courtroom of your soul? What is your sentence? What are you going to do with TRUTH? What are you going to do with Jesus Christ? Are you going to stare the TRUTH in the face and walk out of the coutroom or are you going to FOLLOW THE WAY, WALK IN TRUTH, and LIVE A LIFE AS AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST?

The question has now been placed upon the docket in your courtroom...WHAT IS TRUTH?
The verdict and sentence from the judge................IT'S UP TO YOU!

Who Do You Represent? II

2008-05-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

John18: 35 “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?”

After examining some of the questions, statements, and actions of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate during the three civil trials of our Lord Jesus Christ; Pilate seemingly asks all the right questions, presumes that he has all the right answers, comes face to face with the Lamb of God, but turns his back on the Unique Man of the Universe, Jesus Christ. We, as Christians, seemingly ask all the right questions, HAVE all the right answers, become enlightened by the true LIGHT that enlightens every man, and then spend the majority of this life blending in with the world. Paul describes this type of believer in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 17-32.

Eph 4:17-18 “So I say this an affirm together with the Lord, that you (Born Again Believers) walk no longer (stop walking) as the Gentiles (Unbelievers or in this case Pilate. He was a Gentile) also walk, in the futility of their mind (void of truth), (18) being darkened (after once being enlightened) in their understanding, excluded from a life of God (missing out on the plan of God) because of the ignorance (suppression of the truth) that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

Paul goes on to say in verse 20 of Ephesians 4 “you did not learn Christ in this way”. You see, as believers we have the LIGHT, we know the TRUTH, but what are we doing with it? Are we too, like Pilate, finding no fault in Jesus Christ yet turning our back on Him and washing our hands of responsibility? Who do we represent? Christ? Or Pilate?

We pick up the story of Jesus standing before Pilate during the first of three civil trials held by the Romans (Civil Trial #1 Pilate, Civil Trial #2 Herod, Civil Trial #3 Pilate). In John 18:34 Jesus starts His defense by asking Pilate a question. I find this interesting that the One standing trial and being questioned is now interrogating the judge (Pilate). Jesus asked Pilate, “Are you saying this on your own initiative or did others tell you about Me?”

Charles Ryrie explains the questioning of Jesus this way; “Jesus asked whether Pilate’s question (Are you the king of the Jews?) was from his own (gentile) viewpoint or from a Jewish viewpoint.” Pilate responds with verse 35, “I am not a Jew am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me; WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Pilate asks the right question, but from the wrong viewpoint! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? Well then let me ask you the same question. WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR YOU? You see Pilate didn’t spend enough time with Jesus to “really" find out what He had done. In fact, if he would have truly been seeking to know what Jesus had done, then Jesus would have not only told him what He had done, but also what He would do in the future.

Where we fall short is that we absolutely know what He has done and what He will do in the future, but we don’t spend enough time with Him to find out what He has done and will do for us. Do you know what HE (Jesus) has done? Do you know what He will do? Romans 4:21 tells us that “what God had promised, He was also able to perform”. We will never know what He has promised and never experience His performance if we cut Him off, turn our back, and wash our hands of Him like Pilate did. We, like Pilate, don’t spend enough time with our Savior. Remember that an ambassador has a responsibility to deliver a message, a responsibility to fulfill a duty. This is the message that you are to deliver: WHAT HAS HE DONE? WHAT IS HE DOING? WHAT WILL HE DO? If you know the answer to these questions, but wash your hands of responsibility, then you are a representative of Pilate, but if you know the answers to these questions, spend time with Jesus and deliver the mail, then you are an ambassador of Christ. Are you spending enough time with Jesus to know WHAT HAS HE DONE? WHAT IS HE DOING? WHAT WILL HE DO?

Who Do You Represent? 1

2008-05-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mark 15:1 “Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.”

What is an ambassador? According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary an ambassador is a diplomatic representative appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. Another definition can be more simply stated; an ambassador is an authorized representative or messenger. As Christians, it is our responsibility to be ambassadors for Christ. What exactly does that entail? Well, to apply Webster’s definition to the phrase “Ambassadors for Christ” would imply that we are authorized to represent Him in order to carry out a diplomatic assignment as a messenger.

Knowing that we have been authorized to represent Christ… do we? Knowing that we have been trusted with completing an assignment…are we? Knowing that we carry the message of truth…do we deliver it? Of course, only we know the truth in regards to ourselves, but it seems to me that our lives, which are supposed to represent Jesus Christ, are more representative of Pontius Pilate. How can a Christian be representative of Pilate, being that Pilate was an unbeliever?

In Mark 15:1 (John 18:28-38) we begin the first of three civil trials of Jesus Christ before the Romans. He had already been tried before Annas and Caiaphas in the Religious court of the Jews, and has now been brought before the Roman courts in order to gain approval for His execution. It is at this Roman trial that we are introduced to the governor Pontius Pilate.

Let's look at some of the questions, statements, and actions of Pontius Pilate in regards to the unique Person of the universe, Jesus Christ.

In John 18:33 Pilate asks the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Well, is He? Is He (Jesus Christ) the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Most Christians will answer a resounding “YES” to this question, but allow me to ask you this: Is He the King of YOU? Are you an ambassador of the KING? Have you assumed your responsibility to fulfill your assignment of representing the KING? We never have a problem representing ourselves before man. Why do we have a problem representing the true KING before man? Maybe the question that we should ask ourselves should be: Am I the King or is HE? Pilate was a representative of Caesar and took great honor in his commission to represent Rome. Who do you represent? Where does your honor lie? Pilate answered his own question and was right, but failed to do anything with the answer. What will you do with the ANSWER? “What is an ambassador?” “Are you an ambassador for Christ?”

Be Seen In Me

2008-05-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

"Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD." --- Psalms 40:3b

If people are not seeing Jesus Christ in my life then I am not fulfilling my duty and desire as a Christian. In verse 3 of today's subject passages, David proclaims that "many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord." This should be our ultimate goal in life. When we read verses like this, we should automatically go back and read the preceeding verses to find out how this result can be achieved. So let's look at the first 2 verses.

Verse 1 says, "I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry." This is always the first step. If we are ever to be victorious in the Christian Way of Life (CWL), we must first learn to be patient. This does not come naturally for us. According to Gal. 5:22, patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Therefore we must be "walking in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16) in order to truly be patient. When we are forced to be patient and wait on God, we grow closer to Him because we realize the situation is entirely out of our control. We are forced to rely on God's promises.

Not only was David waiting patiently for the Lord, he also was crying out to Him. David was doing the only thing he could do...he was praying. The Lord heard David's prayer and "inclined" to him. In the Hebrew this word translated here in the NAS as "incline" is natah, which means "to stretch out", "to extend." God heard David's cry and "stretched out" to rescue him. This means there is nothing that David could do, he had to be totally reliant upon God to reach out to Him and answer his cry. David waited patiently for God to deliver him, and as always God was faithful.

Moving on to verse 2, "He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm." Once God answers David's cry, He then places David back firmly on the rock of Jesus Christ. God takes David out of the "miry clay" he was bogged down in and places him back on the only true stable foundation there is. David understands the only way he can have any stability in life is if he is firmly planted on the rock of Christ.

After David is rescued by God and placed back on the foundation of Jesus Christ, He proclaims in verse 3a, "He (God) put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God." David has seen God's faithfulness and Jesus Christ will be glorified through David's life because he now has his focus back on Him. God puts a "new" song in David's mouth because David has seen God's faithfulness in action. There is no time in my life where God is more real to me than when He faithfully answers my prayers. Anytime I see God's faithfulness in action and get my focus off myself and back on Jesus Christ, He is always glorified. It never fails. I can't help but sing a "new" song of praise to the Lord, it is a natural result. This is where David is in this verse, which is why he can boldly declare, "Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD."

The same applies in your life. If you wait patiently for the Lord, He will "reach out" to you and place you firmly on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Once you see God's faithfulness in action in your life, there will be a "new" song in your mouth and Jesus Christ will be glorified. The key is to have patience and wait on God.

Grace = Peace

2008-05-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

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,

In the introduction for this verse, you read about some of the tests, trials and afflictions people throughout the world have to endure. Do things go wrong in our lives? At some point we are tested, get aches and pains or something may happen outside what we think the norm in our life is. How should we respond? How do we respond?

God gave Paul direct warnings not to go to Jerusalem. Paul’s response was packing his bags and catching the next boat out. He thought he could make a difference; he did make a difference in prison. He decided himself to do this. You see God has to reveal to us who we are before we can see who and what He is. For all the things Paul did for Christ, he, like us, was still a sinful man. Now in prison for not heading the warnings he was ready to receive revelation from God.

GRACE=PEACE
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians this greeting from God.
Eph. 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is all the blessings and benefits God gives because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Grace brings peace. When we respond to Gods grace it brings with it peace. It is not peace with God, which we already have, but he is offering to the Ephesians and us by application, a renewal of the peace of God by responding to Grace. Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whatever trial, difficulty, affliction, or distractions we deal with; if we respond to Gods grace, we will have peace. Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Eph. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Paul is making a factual statement in that God is the source of all blessings. God is blessed and is the supplier of all true blessings. He not only is making a statement of fact but is also urging the Ephesians and us to bless God. When we bless God, we do nothing but give Him thanks. David was all over blessing God in Psalms 103. Paul in a prison, shackled to a guard is rejoicing in the blessings that cannot be changed because of human failures and realizes that the benefits all believers have are assured by spiritual blessings in the heavenly places and in Christ. With Jesus Christ, you already have everything you need. Grace = Peace. Think for a minute about our prayer life, they tend to be more on the selfish side. That may be why they aren't answered. We may pray for help with this, provide for that, to do something for, or to change something but the fact is that we don’t need any other blessings. Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord long s to be gracious to you, And therefore He wait s on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. God is tapping His foot in expectation, waiting for us to call to Him for our blessings.

“with every spiritual blessing”
Every, meaning that each individual, single, or all spiritual blessings in Christ. We receive all spiritual blessings from God. When we accept Jesus Christ by Grace and have eternal life. Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. We all have the same resources from God as believers and receive the same blessings. No more and no less. What about the Apostle Paul? Apostleship was a spiritual gift, we all have different spiritual gifts but it doesn’t change our resources. That person seems to have more than this person does. The difference is that one may be claiming his resources and the other may not be. Every believer has equal assets and opportunities to utilize the resources; it is up to you to access them. The times of opportunity for us to use the blessings God gives are when we go through trials, temptation, or need of direction.

“in the heavenly places”
All our blessings are in a storehouse, if you will, in heaven. They can’t be taken, touched or changed in or at any time. Satan or as he is called in Eph. 2:2 “the prince of the power of the air” or 2 Cor. 4:4 “the god of this world” is always in the shadows waiting. He can’t take any of your blessings but he can keep you from using them by distracting you from them. When we ache, or have pains, or hurt physically does this give reason not to call on God for spiritual strengthening. If our souls are healthy, he can make the body healthy if he wants it healthy but if he does not it for reason, so that his greatness will be shown through our weakness. Paul learned this in 2 Cor 12:9-10 (paraphrased) “I am content in my weaknesses, insults, distress, persecution, and difficulties". God told him, “My Grace is sufficient for you”. Paul’s response “for when I am weak, then I am strong”. Do you now see how it works? I saw this with my own eyes in Dave Whisenant who throughout his life suffered certain physicality’s and Chuck Farmer, once told he would not last a month by doctors, both would until their last breaths continue to call to the heavenly places for their blessings from God and be great warriors for Christ. They took up the full armor of God (Eph. 6:13) and didn’t let Satan distract them from using their resources in the heavenly places.

“ in Christ”
Once we accept, without a shadow of doubt, the work that Jesus Christ did for us on the cross over 2000 years ago, that he was buried, and raised from the dead, and ascended to be by God our Father in heaven then we are in union with Him. In Christ, all our transgressions have been take care of. Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,. We are children of God, brethren, beloved, saints, righteous, and more. These are just a few of many things we obtain when we are in Christ. In Him we have peace and our blessings are secured as well as our eternal salvation. GRACE=PEACE

Paul, as much as he did for Christ’s sake he was just like us. At times we are shown right and wrong, we take it upon ourselves to answer some of these things that happen in our lives instead of going to where the answer can be found. He learned the lesson with Devine discipline as we learn now through the letter of Paul to the Ephesians. Now, I hope and as Paul wrote for us to apply to our lives, the need in giving thanks to God for blessing us with every individual spiritual blessing and to call up to heaven to access those blessings for every individual need for the peace God wants for us in our lives.

A Faith That Stands Up Under Trial

2008-05-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

Acts 22 – Paul is in an actual trial, where his faith was on trial – literally.

The United States Supreme Court has criteria for testing someone’s faith. It was a landmark decision in 1972, Wisconsin v. Yoder. The Court was forced to come up with some kind of criteria to test a person’s faith to determine whether or not religious beliefs could stand up in court. Let’s apply these criteria to Paul’s faith during his trial and let us apply these criteria to our own faith. (The following points are actual criteria for testing of faith from the Supreme Court Justice case Wisconsin v. Yoder)

A belief system must be beyond simple preferences. There must be a plan to believe a certain way. What if you overheard your friend say, “I prefer to not to get drunk” or “I prefer not to drive recklessly and endanger myself”. There should be no PREFERENCE, but a PLAN to be vigilant and not do these – in other words, a determination and plan to strive for the actions they “prefer”. Acts 22:3-4; Romans 9:3-5; It is MORE THAN A PREFERENCE.

Paul was consumed by Jesus Christ! He lost friends and family when he believed in Christ. It was a conviction, not a preference! He could not have gone through the dramatic change in life that he did over simple preferences! It was definitely a determination and conviction – he went from legalism, hatred of Christians, and persecutor of Christians to lover of Christ and all others!
Do we prefer to believe what the Bible says or does it burn in soul, wanting to be fulfilled in our life?

A belief must be beyond personal philosophy. There must be a basis for what is believed. It is not what we know as “universalism” – there is a god for everyone. This is personal philosophy. The court looks beyond philosophy to something that has real live basis. Acts 24:13-16 – A spiritual basis for belief. Acts 26:7– The apostle is not coming up with a new way of thinking or philosophy – Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets!

Do we know what we believe? Could we say, in concrete terms, before a court of law, what we believe? Do we have a philosophy that has been handed down through our family or do we have beliefs that we know from our own study, based on own resources, that this is what we believe? (Romans 10:2 – zealous but not based on knowledge – that is not the criteria – it is dangerous.)

A belief system must stand the test of conviction, rather than preferences or philosophies. (Remember, this is a Supreme Court Case!) “not merely a matter of personal preference, but one of deep religious convictions” (exact quote from the Wis. V. Yoder).

True convictions are intimately related to daily living – “their belief pervades and determines their entire way of life” (exact quote from Wis. V. Yoder) – there is affected in everyway by their belief. The apostle was totally convicted by his belief – it was like an umbrella over all that he did. If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

True convictions have history – Acts 26:19-23; Romans 10:17; 14:1 This does not mean that information was learned and passed on – it means that there is a history of belief, using that belief and seeing the belief work in a person’s life. The history you have with God (all the times He was faithful, all the trials, tests, etc. that have had and God has seen you through) is what the Court is talking about having “a history”. Are you certain of your “history” with God to share it someone else? Do you have enough history to be confident in telling others about Him – or are you shaky in this area? Have you gone the faith route with God and had rich moments of “history” or have you panicked and gone the flesh route? Growth comes from hearing the Word and applying it. “Don’t fear tomorrow because there is bunch of yesterdays with God – the faithful One.”

True convictions are personal – 2 Timothy 4:16-17 Convictions are what we can hold onto even while living with unbelievers or carnal believers. Convictions are what we cannot compromise even when we are alone and no one cares.

True convictions are preserved against the pressure to conform. Romans 12:1-2; 14:2-3 – Paul’s passion is revealed urging the congregation at Rome to not conform to the world. He talks about the mercy that sees us getting into messes and begs us to sacrifice ourselves and commit to God to be transformed. We know God’s Will by renewing our mind – learning God’s Word. We are not bound up because we do not conform to the world, but we are freed by God’s Word and His bountiful blessings.

True convictions are unchanging regardless of circumstances. Acts 24:27 The same story over and over – never backing off from what we believe. You can judge what a person would live for by what that person would die for. Many have died for the sake of Christ. They never wavered because of their convictions.

God is asking us to live for Him, full of conviction, unstoppable, growing in faith. Convicted believers, that is a faith that stands up in court!

Sober Living

2008-05-08T07:50:00.001-07:00

2 Timothy 2:5 "But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

"be sober in all things." To "be sober" means to use sound judgment in every word, thought, deed, decision, attitude, or situation. Paul used the word "sober", which actually means to abstain from wine. Drunkeness hinders judgement, impairs the senses, and slows reaction time. To be "drunk" in warfare is to have a death wish. As a Christian soldier in the heat of battle everyday, you cannot afford to be hindered, impaired, or slowed in your thinking. You must remain sober, alert, and ready to encounter confrontation everyday at anytime. Sound judgment only comes by way of hearing the Word of God. Your judgment will be continually impaired if you fail to make the Word a priority everyday.

Soldiers in military service must go through the rigors of daily training so that reaction becomes automatic. When the bullets are flying there is no time to think, only to react and rely on training. As a soldier for Christ, your field manual is the Bible. You must train in the Word everyday so that your reaction time and judgment becomes automatic. A soldier would never go to war without proper training, yet Christians do it everyday and fail. Use sound judgment, study the word daily, prepare for battle, take this unseen war serious, and complete your mission. It is of the utmost importance that you train like a soldier, because whether you believe it or not, you are.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man (soldier) of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

The Great Divide

2008-05-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

Luke 12:51"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.

One thing that I can tell you for sure, is Christ causes divisions. I have met many people that are not open about their faith in Christ. Usually they are afraid of what others will think about them. Society has caused the majority to think that Christianity is not cool. Well, guess what? They are right. Based on the worldly standards that unbelievers have set, being a child of God is not the normal way of life.

Unfortunately we spend most of our lives trying to blend in with the world. We wear clothes that are popular, we listen to popular music, and we even date the popular people. How many times have we used the excuse, "Everybody is doing it!"? This attitude of acceptance is one major problem with the lack of growth among the Body of Christ. We worry to much about our reputation, that it causes us not to stand up for the things that we believe in. We just want to fit in.

As Christians, we should stand out in society. In Philippians 3:20, Paul tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. This being the case, why should we worry that people look at us as foreigners? We are foreigners. Christ tells us in our chosen passage, that when we choose to follow Him people will stand against us.

We are going to suffer rejection while on earth. The same type of rejection that Jesus experienced during His ministry on earth. We should consider it an honor to be looked down upon because of our faithful life. Never allow yourself to blend in with the world, instead shine like a light in a dark room. We are told in 1 Thes 5:5 that we are children of light, and not to walk in darkness. Stand up for Christ, and smile when people frown upon you! Remember, it is because of Christ that they hate you.

In God We Trust!

2008-05-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

"Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain." --- Psalms 127:1

Psalm 127 was written by Solomon. As you will remember from Sunday school, Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. 1 Kings 4:32 says Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs. As Solomon grew older, he became wiser because he had failed miserably in other areas of his life and he learned from those experiences. Psalms 127 was written late in his life, and verse 1 lays out wisdom regarding the foundation upon which civilization is built. He declares that a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the "cornerstone" that civilization rests on. From the nation all the way down to the individual family, Jesus Christ holds it all together.

"Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." --- 1a

The first thing we should notice about this verse is the word that is used for God. The Jews had several names for God, but the most personal word is the four Hebrew consonants YHWH. We pronounce this word in the English language "Jehovah." This is the covenental name of God to the Jewish nation, and it literally means "the existing One." In fact, this name was so sacred to the Jews they would not even pronounce it verbally, instead they would say "Adonai." Essentially what Solomon is saying is that which is infinite, the Creator, must be supreme over that which is finite, or created.

"Builds the house" does not mean to actually build a physical house with a hammer and nails. The Hebrew word translated "builds" is banah, which means "to establish; to cause to continue." It means not only to build something, but also to be the reason why it remains standing.

The word for "house" is bayith, which can also be translated "household" or "family". Solomon is warning us that if Jesus Christ is not the builder of a family, then the building of the family is done in vain. This is a simple fact that can be verified through empiricism, meaning you can look at the the world around you and see concrete examples of this everywhere. This is something that I learned at a relatively young age because I lived it in the middle of my own family. I dearly love both of my parents, but bottom line is Jesus Christ was not the banah (builder, causer to continue) of the household, and it was built in vain. I'm sure some of you can tell me similar stories, the fact is families are falling apart everywhere.

Some of you are saying, "I know a lot of people in church that have terrible family lives." That's not what Solomon is saying here. He is not talking about a family that goes to church, he is talking about a family where both the husband and wife are completely devoted and obedient to Jesus Christ. This is something that is done on a daily, 24-7 basis. As a result, they raise up their kids the truths of God's Word. Family is the basis for a "blessed" nation. The reason for a "blessed" nation can be traced all the way down to the grass roots level, where you will find strong families that are sold out for Jesus Christ. Strong families generate strong leadership on a local, state and national level. Strong leadership generates strong education, strong economies, strong militaries, etc., and it's all based on the foundation and operates on the relationship with Jesus Christ. But don't take my word for it...

"Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain." --- 1b

The word translated here "guards" is the Hebrew word shamar. It means to "continually keep." This word has more meaning than our English word "guards." It is intended to paint a picture of a hedge with thorns. If a nation does not have the "blessing" of the Lord, if it is not wrapped in a "hedge with thorns" by God, that nation is doomed. This is the reason great nations eventually fall. If the faith of the founders is not passed on and accepted by later generations, then that nation is doomed. This is exactly what happened to Israel after Joshua died.

Judges 2:10 --- "All that generation also were gathered to their fathers (Joshua's generation died); and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."

So what happened to this generation "who did not know the Lord?"

Judges 2:14 --- "The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies."

Though we could point out many other examples of this, let's pick on Adolph Hitler for just a moment. The Nazi movement is commonly referred to today as the "Third Reich," which means "third empire." The Nazis used this name because they considered themselves to be the third chronological great empire of the world (1st was the Roman which ended in 476 AD, 2nd was the German which ended in 1919, and they considered themselves to be the 3rd.) Another name that is not often used today, one that Hitler himself gave to the movement, was the "1000 Year Reich." He truly believed the Nazis would rule the world for 1000 years. We all know how brutal and evil the Nazis were. They were a Godless, satanic group of evil people, about as far from a Christ centered nation as you can get. How long do you think they lasted? The most liberal length of time the Nazis lasted is 12 years (1933-1945), and their leader died a cowardly death while holed up in a bunker.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." --- Prov. 1:7

Single Mind

2008-05-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Lk 2:49 "And He (Jesus) said to them (Mary and Joseph) 'Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be about My Father's business?'"

Jesus throughout His entire life demonstrated a "singleminded" devotion to the plan of God for His life: At birth; (Heb 10:5-7), at the age of twelve; (Lk 2:49), during His earthly ministry; (Jn 4:34, 6:38), the garden of Gethsemane; (Matt 26:36-46), and death on a cross; (Phil 2:6-8).
"Singleminded" means a one way of thinking. It's a mind totally consumed by one purpose, one focus, and one direction in life. It's the opposite of being "doubleminded" as in James 1:8 and 4:8, which refer to people whose interests in life are divided. This person is literally, "a man of two minds", and is unstable in every aspect of life.

What about us? Are our interests and loyalties divided? Is the Person of Jesus Christ, His character, and His example the number one priority of our life? Or are we setting our minds on man's interests and not God's? (Mk 8:31-33) Are we trusting in people and not the Lord for everything in life? (Jer 17:7,9) Do our thoughts and ways line up with the Lord's, or are they different? (Isa 55:8,9)

The only way to be singleminded in life is to have the Lord Jesus Christ be the number one priority in life and to read, study, and apply the Word of God (the Bible) daily! The way to be His disciple, which is a lifestyle of singlemindedness, is to follow Him (Matt 4:19) and hear what the Lord says and do it (Matt 7:24; Lk 6:46-49) above whatever other people are doing and saying.

Faith Overcomes Fear

2008-05-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

Matt 14:29-30 "So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

It amazes me how many people I know that live their life full of fear. Fear controls their every decision. As Christians, we shouldn't live a fearful life, but instead a Faithful life.

In this passage, we find Peter becoming afraid. His lack of trust in the Word of the Lord causes him to sink when the going gets tough. Jesus made Peter, along with the other disciples, a promise that they should have clung to. In Matt 14:22, we are able to see that Christ was going to meet them on the other side. Regardless of what happens on their way over, they were going to meet Jesus. Even though this promise had been made, when the weather got bad they let fear take control of their actions.

I see this all the time. It is very easy to be faithful to the words of the Lord when things are going great, but the real challenge is to remain faithful when all is going bad. People are quick to cry out to God when they are on the verge of death, but never mention His name otherwise. This should not be the way Christians live. We should cling to the Word every second we are living. If we put our complete faith in the Lord, then regardless of the circumstances we are able to conquer fear. 2 Cor. 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." When we come to understand this verse, we are able to win in life. Walking by sight causes fear, because we are able to see the darkness around us. When we use our faith in the Word of God to guide us though the world, it lights up our path and doesn't allow us to fall into the pits of fear.
So where does faith come from? "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom 10:17

Dedicate your life to Faith. Christ should be your everything, and every decision should be made through Him by faith. This is a faithful life that is able to conquer the fear that is within us.

There Ain't No High Like the Most High

2008-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have a weakness like I do, you are not alone. What weakness am I speaking of? The stronghold of fear. I'm not afraid of death, or the dark or any usual things like that, but fear is sin no matter what form it comes in.

In Genesis 15:1 God spoke to Abram saying "Do not be AFRAID, Abram I am your Shield, your very great Reward."

Many times in scripture we see God saying "DO NOT FEAR" or "DO NOT BE AFRAID" (Gen. 26:24; 46:3; Luke1: 13,30). It seems to me that every time God calls someone in the Bible, He makes sure to mention the fact that they need NOT fear.

"God doesn’t bother telling people who are not afraid to 'not be afraid'...God doesn't waste words. Those God uses greatly seem to greatly battle fear. Therefore, we may battle fear, but must NOT let it win." Beth Moore

Did you get all that?? That is so huge! One of my greatest personal battles, when it comes to this walk with the Lord, is my fear. Fear that He will not use me. Oh, I know He CAN, but WILL HE? Why would He bother using me? I’m just Carrie, I don't have enough faith! I also struggle with the fear that He wants to use me, but that I am just not capable. It's a lie from the devil himself, but I know many believers who battle the same fears too.

There is a common acronym for Fear. FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL, or in reverse REAL EVIDENCE APPEARING FALSE. What does that mean? Exactly what is says. Satan can take what God does in and around your life that is REAL and make it seem false. God does HUGE things for us; we can't afford to forget those things. Our faith depends on us remembering that God is God and that He can do the things He says He can do. Not only that, but God has been God forever and DID all those wonderful things that He said He did. He is not only a God who can use us (even those of us with fear?), but He will use us despite our fear. Remember God's power is perfected in our weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9).

All of the great men and women of faith that God called and used for His own glory might have been afraid at times, though they did not let fear win. We tend to think that the people whom God uses are never afraid, or that the "capable" people are fearless. That is not true. They do fear, but they fear God more than they fear their fear. Beloved, we have to fear God more than we fear the task. We have to know that in the end the glory we bring to Him is worth the cost. My battle with fear has been long, but I am not afraid to say it, I am not afraid to battle it all the more, and I am willing to do what it takes to get through and believe that GOD is GOD and there is none like HIM. The only way to battle is to do what we are called to do and know that God is going to be faithful. This is what God spoke to me tonight, and if you battle these things too, take hope! There are many, who battle it too, but God says "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' That is why we say with confidence, 'the Lord is my helper; I will NOT be afraid. What can man do to me?'" Hebrews 13:5-6

When we believe God like Abraham did we get credit too? "...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why it was 'credited to him as righteousness'. The words 'it was credited to him' WERE NOT WRITTEN FOR HIM ALONE, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in Him...." Romans 4:21-24 Beloved, that's a promise; God blesses us for believing Him and not giving way to our fears.

Know Your Enemy!

2008-04-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

Before any war is started or any battle is fought, military minds come together and develop a strategy for victory. Military strategists develop the best possible plan and soldiers execute the plan. The plan on paper is called the strategy. The plan executed on the ground is called tactics. The soldiers execute the General’s plan and the General gets all of the credit.

Jesus Christ has already won the strategic battle in the angelic conflict. He won it at the Cross, proclaimed victory in Sheol, and is seated of the right hand of God. (EPH 4:9-10; COL 2:14-15) As believers enlisted by Jesus Christ we must fight the tactical battles everyday. In order to win the tactical battles, we must know and counter our enemy’s tactics. One of the Satan's tactics, according to Scripture, is Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

“Information is a negotiator's greatest weapon.” Victor Kiam

What is an Surveillance and Reconnaissance?

Surveillance is defined as the close observation of a person or group, especially one under suspicion; the act of observing or the condition of being observed; the collection, collation, analysis, and dissemination of data. A type of observational study that involves continuous monitoring of occurrences within a population.

Reconnaissance is an examination of a territory, or of an enemy's position, for the purpose of obtaining information necessary for directing military operations; a preparatory expedition. "Reconnaissance in force" is a demonstration or attack by a large force of troops for the purpose of discovering the position and strength of an enemy.

Satan is closely observing Christians with his army of fallen angles. These fallen angels are collecting information on our strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies and disseminating the compiled data back to Satan to devise a plan for attack. This is a continuous monitoring; you are being watched for the purpose of military operations. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Job 1:9-10 “Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”

Satan knew about all of Job’s blessings. Satan knew about Job’s faith. Satan knew about Job’s family. Satan knew about Job’s family’s faith. Satan knew that God had a hedge of protection around Job. Satan knew Job!! He is also compiling information on you. He knows the strength your faith. He knows your tendencies. He knows your weaknesses. He knows you. There is a dossier on YOU! Be prepared! Use sound judgment! Be On the Alert!

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire; it wafts across the electrified borders.” Ronald Regan

Prepared for Battle

2008-04-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (6:12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

This passage tells us that as Christians we are at war. This passage tells us exactly who it is we are not at war with (not against flesh and blood), and who we are at war with (see the word against; 5 times) and that they have a strategy.

“Stand Firm”
Stete is a Greek term for standing your ground, or holding your position. Roman military doctrine trained the Roman soldiers to occupy a piece of ground, stand firm and fight in that position, and win that piece of ground before advancing to capture another piece of ground.

“Schemes of the Devil”
Methodeias is where we get our word method or methodology. Satan has a method, a plan, a strategy and trains demons to carry it out as his foot soldiers. Satan is a brilliant and administrative genius, but his wisdom is evil and corrupt. (Ezekiel 28:12, 28:17) Satan has an organized rank structure of demonic soldiers as we will see in Ephesians 6:12.

“For our struggle”
Pale is a combat sports word from the Greek Games. It means to wrestle, or grapple in hand to hand combat. This is not an artillery battle, but an up close, in your face, hands on fight.
In military training you are taught hand-to-hand combat, but it should never be necessary. If at some point in the battle, you have to resort to hand-to-hand then something has gone drastically wrong. Hand to hand combat only becomes necessary if you are being overrun and have run out of ammo, now in order to save your life, you fight hand-to-hand with the enemy. Paul says that this is not the case here! This is to be expected! This is the Satanic Military Doctrine on fighting. Be prepared!

“Against”
Pros is used in the Greek meaning face to face. Like I just said, this is an up close, in your face fight. This is not a sniper battle. It’s a wrestling match.

Now we get into the rank and file of the satanic army of demons. They are organized not unlike the structure of authority in the church as well as the structure of authority in The United States Military.

“Rulers”
Archon is a word in Greek for one of the highest rulers. In the days of Athenian Democracy in Athens, archon was a title used for the president or preeminent decision maker. It can also be translated “thrones” which carries the idea of a position of authority. I see this as a position held by a number of demons that are empowered to implement the satanic doctrine of evil and oversee the execution of the satanic strategy and plan, in other words, a general.

“Powers”
Exousia implies a power of authority and of right that has great influence and privilege. Exousia is a power possessed by those whose will and commands must be obeyed by others. I see this as a commissioned officer that commands a battalion of demonic soldiers, in other words a commander.

“The world forces of this darkness”
Kosmocrator can be translated ruler or prince. As the prince is second in command to the King, so the NCO(Non Commissioned Officer) is second in command to the commissioned officer. The NCO is considered the backbone of the Army. He is responsible for training, instilling discipline, and hands on completion of the mission. I see the Kosmocrator as the backbone of the satanic army.

In Daniel 10:13, the term "prince of Persia" refers to a fallen angel, a demon, who was busy attacking the ruler of Persia. Gabriel was delayed in bringing a message to Daniel because he was in conflict with this kosmokrator demon. The archangel Michael came to help and released Gabriel to come to Daniel.In Dan. 10:20, the "prince of Grecia" is mentioned, referring to the demon in charge of mounting attacks against the ruler of Greece who was Alexander the Great at that time. Alexander was the son of King Phillip of Macedonia, founder of Philippi.

“Darkness”
Skotos from the Greek can be more clearly defined as a metaphor meaning the disrespect of divine things. Darkness is synonymous with Evil. Evil is the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) of the kosmocrator demon.

.
“Spiritual Forces of Wickedness”
Pneumatikos literally means spiritual hosts. There is no title of authority given to these demons. I see these as the foot soldiers or privates, so to speak. This is the enlisted core of demons. They are the lowest ranking of all demons.

From the Scripture interpreted from Ephesians 6:11-12 we can chart a structure of authority of the demon ranks in the army of Satan.
1. Satan (commander and chief)
2. The Doctrine of Evil
3. Archon (Rulers or Generals)
4. Exousia (powers or Commanders)
5. Kosmocrator (NCOs)
6. Pneumatikos (privates, foot soldiers, lower enlisted)

The most powerful enemy is one that is perceived not to exist. Satan is brilliant in his military strategy. He has perpetuated the perception that he is not real; therefore spiritual warfare is not real. Don’t buy into this propaganda of deception. The Word of God tells us that Satan is real, he has a strategy, he has an organized army, and they are ready to fight. Hopefully this devotion will help you realize that and get you back in the fight. Spiritual warfare is real!! I pray that you belive that, take it seriously, and train as a soldier trains for battle. Your Spiritual life on earth depends on it.

Out With the Old - In With the New

2008-04-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Before we become Christians, the only way we know to live is by our old man. Our "old man" is simply our old manner of life. It consists of all that is worldly and corrupt. Even if a non-believer is a good person, they are considered dead to Christ and belong to the world. The good that they do is considered bad on God's standards because of the motives behind it. God is good, and anything that is done to glorify self or others is considered worthless to Him. This is because you are not a new creature or being. Unbelievers have no comprehension of what is right or wrong in the eyes of the Lord. The only right decision they can make is to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The moment we made that decision, we became BORN AGAIN (Jn 3:3; Jn 3:7; 1Pet 1:3; 1Pet 1:23). Our life is transformed to the image of Christ and the worldly mold is broken that holds us captive. We become God the Father's newborn babies. The only problem that still exist is our volition( choices). We have the choice as believers to live as if we were still old creatures. The dangers of remaining a baby are many. Just like a baby on earth we have to feed to grow.(Heb 5:13; 1Pet 2:2) I have learned a lot about the Christian Way of Life through watching my two young daughters grow. They began their growth with only milk, and eventually moved on to solid foods. The solid food is what makes them grow faster, and at the same time become strong and healthy. This is just like a Christian. We begin our Christian life with milk, this is the basic bible teaching that we build our foundation on. The more we come to understand the basics, the sooner we move on to meat or solid foods. The meat is the more indepth bible doctrine that spreads throughout our soul and is applied in our daily walk.

By daily intake of the Word of God we are able, as new creatures, to move from baby status to teen and eventually on to adult. The more we practice this lifestyle we are able to put off our old manner of life (Eph 4:22) and move on to the life that God has given us in His Royal Family.
Remember, once we became Christians our past is in the past. We are given a new life that has a clean record, and are expected to utilize it to glorify the Lord. Study and live by His word, and as new creatures we will grow without looking back or needing milk again.(Heb 5:12) Besides, who doesn't like steak better than milk anyway.

Captivating Thought

2008-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

On my computer is a filter that intercepts my mail and supposedly catches spam and trash email before I open them up and waste time or subject myself to a virus.

Gods Word…Our brain filter. In our brain, we are responsible to be filtering our thoughts…before we act on them. This is the main place the battle to live the Christian way of life is won or lost. Winning this thought battle is a skill that can be learned and perfected, but you must first realize your potential in this area. I believe for the most part we have not been taught how it’s done and shown how to make practical application in our moment by moment life.

Thoughts precede actions. If you desire to get control over areas of sin in your life and body, you must first get control of your mind in these areas learning how to think like God would have you to think about them, then choosing to make your body follow your mind.

In my own personal mental battles, it is often back and forth for awhile, with me taking control then before I realize it …the battle is back on with the thoughts coming fast and furious. I take control again …then here they come again, and so on. Some people would say I need ridlin or prozac or something to settle my mind…but I believe just the opposite. These battles are valuable in that they continue to point out to me the weakness in my thinking that has not yet been perfected. That’s right, I said not yet and meant to as I take Philippians 2:5 seriously when it says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”.

Knowing your area. I firmly believe that our thoughts can be impacted negatively in a number of ways. We are all very, very different beings. What may be a challenge or battle for me may to you be a “no brainer” or not a challenge or temptation in the least. Knowing your area of weakness and then being willing to do something to take action about that weakness or battle is critical in learning how to “bring every thought into captivity". One of the keys is to be paying attention to what is going on around you and in your head at all times.

The Perfect Standard. Several years ago WWJD was the “in” thing and a lot of Christians had it on bracelets, shirts and bumper stickers but what was in their mind and on their tongue when that driver cut them off or someone at work mistreated them? The absolute perfect standard for our function today…is to be like Christ in His humanity. People tend to mystify Jesus Christ but I believe his life needs to be studied, understood and emulated to a lost and dying world around us who desperately need to see Him in living color through us, and it all starts with our minds and thoughts then to our actions. If Jesus Christ worked at your job, how would your company be different today? How much time would Jesus spend “surfing the net” versus casting the net? How much time would He spend fretting about someone else’s job performance versus working to please His Father regardless of what else was going on around Him?

People, this is how real we need to get to know Jesus Christ…to be able to know his character and know how he would act and react in every situation and then we need to be doing the same. Jesus said it best as to our responsibility to be doing this when he said to his disciples in John 20:21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

If I am truly His disciple, and I am, this is the standard by which I will be judged for all eternity…not based on my sin which has been settled on the cross by Him on my behalf but on my service and function to represent Him and His Heavenly Father moment by moment and thought by thought…not just Sunday morning from 9:30 to 11:37. Thanks for your time and your focus as I love you dearly and want the best for you in every way.

Of Which I Am Chief

2008-04-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

1 Tim 1:15-16 " It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life."

How many times have you heard someone say, "I can't believe what they did, they must not be a Christian." If I had a nickel for every time I heard something like that, I would be a wealthy man. Unfortunately, false teachings have brain-washed people into thinking this way. The same people that are judging other's "salvation status", are the ones doing the same things behind closed doors.

Lets take a minute to look at some of Paul's word choices. He opens up by saying, "It is a trustworthy statement..." The Greek word for "trustworthy" is pistos. It actually means "faithful", which means it is 100% true. He then says it deserves full acceptance, using the Greek words, pas apodoche. This means that we should accept wholly in our minds what he is about to tell us. Accept what? That Christ came to save sinners!

We are all sinners. Some worse than others according to the world's viewpoint. All that doesn't matter to Christ. Here we have Paul, that in verse 13 he describes himself as a blasphemer, persecutor, and a violent aggressor; but all this through the Lord's mercy has been erased. How many of us can actually claim to have done the things that Paul did? He claims to be the "foremost" The word in the Greek is protos, which puts him as the "Chief Sinner". Even as the chief sinner he was shown mercy, and received eternal life.

We need to take back Christianity, and teach people the truth. So many teenagers I have met are so afraid that what they have done in the past will keep them out of the Kingdom of God. We need to teach them that the same Lord that is stern is also our compassionate and loving Father. He has "perfect patience", so should we.

If you read Gal 5:22, you will see that perfect patience comes through the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's right, we can portray the character of Christ in our lives. By allowing the Holy Spirit to live for us, we are able to be patient with others regardless of what they do or have done. Lets show people what the Christian Way of Life is all about, if Christ offers salvation to us as sinners, then why must we judge others for the mistakes they have done? Eternal life is for all who believe.

Serve it Up

2008-04-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Luke 10:38-41 "Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

What a powerful lesson in such few verses. Martha was doing what Martha does best, serving. The only problem was the attitude. As Christians, we are to be in total submission to the word of God, and live our lives as servants. Many of us think we are doing this already. Well, I have to tell you that if you are serving like Martha did in this passage, then your service is worthless. Where Martha goes wrong is in her attitude. We become so caught up in service for self that we forget the real reason we are doing it. For example: if I helped someone move furniture but constantly complained or expected something in return, then my service goes unrewarded. Both Martha and Mary were serving in this passage, and only one will be allowed to reap the benefits in eternity. What Christ meant when He told Martha that Mary has chosen a good part, which won't be taken away, was that both women were participating in a service to Christ, one good and one bad. Martha's, which was bad, was being performed for all the wrong reasons. While Mary was totally serving the Word, which was good. This is one of the keys to the Christian way of life. We are to totally abide in the Word, in all service. When we truly put on the mind of Christ, we become servants to His Word. By doing this we serve only Him in everything we do, and are reminded that if we do it for self we will gain nothing.

First Grace

2008-04-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Eph 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

From the time that we are born into this world, we are taught that hard work pays off. As toddlers, we work at walking until we finally can walk on our own. This brings praise from our parents and we like praise. When we get a little older, we put a lot of time, energy, and practice into different activities to get the praise of people. Hard work also pays off in education, employment, marriage, and family, but hard work means absolutely nothing in Salvation.

It is hard for most people to understand the concept of grace because we have had to work for everything that we ever wanted in life, even the adoration and acceptance of our parents. When we transfer this way of thinking over into salvation and spirituality, we then try to work for salvation, adoration, and acceptance from God and reject the free gift of grace.

We don’t deserve grace, we can’t earn grace, we can’t lose grace, and we can’t buy grace; it is a gift from a loving God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. Grace always comes first!! We are saved through faith, because of Grace. Grace always precedes salvation! God freely gives us grace, we receive grace by faith, and then we are saved. There is no work involved! Paul goes on to say that we are not saved as a result works, but that it is only God’s grace that saves us.

Why is it that so many people try to work for the acceptance of God? Notice in verse 10, Paul says that we are created for “good works”. Good works only come after salvation by grace through faith, never before. The word of God is inerrant, therefore, not even one word is out of place!! The Holy Spirit carefully directed Paul in the placement and order of his words so that there would be no confusion. It is always grace first, then faith, then salvation, and lastly good works. To change the order of God’s word, because we think that we have to somehow earn the love of God, is to completely and totally reject grace.

Gal 1:3 "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"

Paul greets his hearers with the Greek and Jewish greetings of the day, grace and peace. It is no mistake that Paul uses "GRACE" first, followed by peace. What we have to understand, living in the church age, is that apart from grace there is no peace. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit that can only be produced in the life of a beliver who has been saved by grace through faith in the the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can work the rest of your life in order to find, produce, and sustain peace, but until you receive grace, it is futile. Grace comes first!!

2 Peter 3:18 "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

Have you ever wondered why unbelievers don't understand the simplicity of God's word? It is because they don't understand and won't accept grace. It is impossible to gain knowledge of the WORD without the free gift of grace.

We have to ditch our false, work oriented perception that "God helps those who help themselves" and understand that God helps those who accept, understand, and appropriate GRACE!! It is never about what we have done, can do, or will do in order to gain the acceptance of God. It is always about what Christ did on the cross, and what God did by raising Him from the dead. Salvation is by grace through faith plus NOTHING!! Accept "grace by faith" and then you can "grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ", have "peace", and live the life for which you were created, a life of "good works." GRACE ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!!!!

Placing Value

2008-04-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

John is not speaking of the physical world, nor is he speaking about the inhabitants of the world. The “world” spoken of by John in this passage is the highly organized, seductive system that lures Christian’s away from the plan and purpose of God. "This world"then comes to mean a system of values that are in direct opposition to the values of God.

What truly has value in your life? That which you honestly value will become evident in where spend your time, energy, and money. Do we truly “value” the provision, security, stability, and relationship that God has to offer? Or do we seek the provision, stability, security, and relationship from the “things of this world”.

“If only I had more money, I could be happy.” “If only I had a job with a 401k, I could have security.” “If only I could win the lottery, I could provide for all of my family and friends.” If only I had a boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, then I could feel loved.” Do these statements sound familiar?

We live in a generation of self-indulgence. Material things are believed to give us worth, social status, happiness, security, stability, pleasure, etc. We love the world system because we believe that it will satisfy our souls. To love the world in this way is to rebel against the values and priorities of God. When we adopt the values of this world, we begin to consider ourselves more important than God. Our lives become all about self-satisfaction, self-glorification, self-recognition, and self-serving selfishness. This is the reason that John says, “the love of the Father is not in you”. The love of the Father is not in us because the love of self is in us and takes precedent. Depositing into and withdrawing out of the world system keeps us from amounting into anything for God and leaves us in Spiritual bankruptcy. On the other hand, depositing into and withdrawing out of the love of God gives us a never-ending abundance of Spiritual prosperity. It is paramount that we seek the love of God and break away from our love affair with "this world".

Wonderfully Abundant

2008-04-12T00:46:00.000-07:00

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Is "it" a wonderful life? Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Last night was the night!!! My wife and I spent the evening at home in front of the fire watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” and yes, once again, at the end it got me. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I watch that movie at the end there will be a lump in my throat and moisture on my face.

I told her again last night, that the first time I ever saw "It's a Wonderful Life" was about 12 or so years ago in Memphis. Late on Christmas Eve, everyone else in the house had gone to bed and I was sitting in front of the fire watching tv when it came on. I think the reason it affected me so much the first time is because I watched it when I was in the pit of pressure financially with my business. We have gone through some tough times over the years, but that year was one of the worst.

Every year I get something different from watching it. I guess as I change and grow I can relate to that story on a different level, and this year was no different. If you watch it from a theological perspective, you will get to see most of the world’s view of God (a talking vapor of stars up in Heaven) , but that's not my view of my Heavenly Father. I also noticed this year for the first time there is absolutely not one reference to Jesus Christ anywhere in the film. This surprised me a little bit, as I had always thought of it as a “Christian movie”. After seeing it again yesterday, I believe that now I would classify it as a spiritual movie, but not a Christian movie.

I guess the big thing that struck me this year, in "living black and white”, was the realization that living life “abundantly” began for me in the same it began for Jimmy Stewart in the movie. When I realized that life was not about me, but about my impact on those around me through my ministry for Jesus Christ, I finally understood what Jesus meant by; "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly". I don't think Jimmy Stewart made it quite that far in the movie, but maybe next year I will once again see something differently when it comes on.

Jimmy Stewart in the movie was not a bad guy. He woke up and tried to do the “good” and "right" thing, but the driving force in his life was himself, what he wanted to do, and when he wanted to do it. Just like me for most of my life!! As the movie ends though, he finally sees that life isn't about him, but about his impact in the lives of others and his life changed.

What kind of impact do you and I want to have on others? Will your life be one that draws people to the cross of Jesus Christ and a desire for “abundant life”, or will we be one of the thousands of “Christian distractions” that are blocking people's view of the real living Jesus Christ? Will it be said of us today, “If that is Christianity , then I want no part” or will it be said, “Please help me to have the abundant life of Christ that I see in you”?

You and I with our choices and attitudes will make that decision moment by moment of everyday, and just like most things, this is a skill that you have to learn to use and then choose to use every moment of every day.

Study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and then choose to live each moment in a way that reflects the joy and power available to you, because of your adoption into His family by your faith in Him and His work on the Cross on your behalf.

He, Jesus Christ, is not going to do it for you, but He will do it with you if you so choose.
Are you living the "abundant life"?

Mighty Warriors

2008-04-11T23:14:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 10:3 “ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh”

My children love to annoy one another quite often. The other day my daughter felt like it was necessary to persistently annoy my son. He, on the other hand, was not a willing participant and quickly lost control of his emotions. His bad attitude resulted in his loss of certain privileges for the rest of the day. He, of course, proceeded to get extremely upset, and by that I mean he was ANGRY; really ANGRY! After his fit of anger, I spent about an hour talking to him (much to his dismay).

I explained to him that the reason I must discipline him is to train him. I went on to tell him that everyday we are in the battle of our lives, and the battle is lost or won with every step that we take. I do mean that literally. Every time we inhale or exhale, every word that proceeds from our mouth, every decision that we make, every thought that we think, every moment that we live on this earth, we have a choice. We can either speak, decide, think, choose, and walk in His (Jesus Christ's) way, or we can speak, decide, think, choose, and walk in our own way.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares 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.”

I told my son that it is my job as a parent to train him for WARFARE, SPIRITUAL WARFARE. Because whether we believe it or not, we are “smack dab” in the middle of one. We, in every choice, choose to be on one side or the other. It comes down to choosing the Spirit or the Flesh (Galatians 5:16-26). Gal 5:17 “ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition (at war) to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” So often we, as Christians, end up fighting for the other side by being selfish. All choices made against God’s will always boil down to selfishness. I explained to him that we have to “loose” ourselves and let go of everything that we think that we have to be, do, and have, and replace that with what He would have us be, do, or have. All we have to do is give it all to him (Romans 12:1). It is so simple, but then again, so hard. (The hardest part is letting go of our self.)

Anyway, I wrapped up our talk, after several analogies, with this… God has called us to be Mighty Warriors! That is why we are here. He has given us a mission, to glorify Jesus Christ in all of the short days of our life while in this war zone called Earth. But, because of selfishness in the heat of the battle, we pull off His incorruptible armor (Ephesians 6:11) and put on our own old corruptible garb (the flesh). Without question, when we fight this battle in the energy of the flesh, we find ourselves either fighting for the wrong side,we become a POW (prisoner of war), or we become a casualty of war. In all three instances we become ineffective in our mission and lose that particular battle.

We need to put on the full armor of God and train effectively in order to "stand firm" and win every battle that takes place in this invisible war. We need to assist our fellow soldiers (Christians) when they themselves fall down and have become wounded. We need to rescue those who are POW's or are confused and fighting on the wrong side. My point is this… we are in a moment-by-moment, continuous battle. KNOW IT, TRAIN FOR IT, STRAP ON HIS ARMOR, STAND FIRM and FIGHT. If you fall, get wounded, confused, or captured I will be there for you because we are not only fellow Christians, we are fellow soldiers. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “ We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”

The Epitome of Humility

2008-04-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (4) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (5) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (8) Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

A story is told of a missionary team that served in the jungles of South America. After many years the team came back to their home church in the United States in order to give a mission report and introduce the “Tribal Chief” whom they had trained to become the pastor for the tribe. During their visit, while doing some sightseeing, the missionaries took the Chief into a grocery store. As they walked through the store the Chief broke down and began crying. One of the missionaries was alarmed and asked him why he was crying. The Chief responded, “Only now am I realizing how much you gave up in order to bring the message of Christ to my tribe.”

This story reminds me of the documentary, “Beyond the Gates of Splendor”. It is the story of five missionary families who left the creature comforts of the United States, friends, and families to take the “Good News of Christ” to a people that did not know Him. In the process they paid an even greater price. Five of the men were killed after making contact with one of the most violent tribes in Ecuador. These men gave their lives so that someone else might know their Savior.

Even though both of these stories are touching, and we see the sacrifices that these missionaries made for Christ, neither can compare to the sacrifice that Christ made, in humble submission to the Father’s plan, when He left His abode in Heaven, and stooped to Earth in human form, to redeem mankind from the separation and bondage of sin. Jesus made Himself of “no reputation” in order to make atonement for our sins by His death on a cross. Jesus set the standard that these missionaries followed. There was nothing but selfless service in His attitude. He did it all for us to fulfill the plan of the Father.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul encouraged believers to be unified and serve each other in humility by following the example set forth by Jesus Christ. In order to understand Jesus Christ, we must first understand true, unreserved, selfless humility. Jesus Christ is the forerunner and epitome of humility. Before His incarnation, He was with God, was God, and was the creator of everything that was created (John 1:1-3). He then became a man in order to serve and save mankind (John 1:14). That is true humility. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “The Son of God became man in order for men to become sons of God.”

There is very little information in the Bible on Heaven, so it is impossible for our finite minds to comprehend an infinite God leaving Heaven, to become man in order to redeem man. The creator became the created. He left the eternal light of Heaven and came to the ever-increasing darkness of the earth to be the “true light that enlightens all men” (John 1:9). He left a perfect environment where He was worshiped and praised by angels, to live as man in a world infested with sin and death, only to be despised and killed by sinful man. Why? Because the Father’s plan was worth the sacrifice; you were worth the sacrifice.

Paul calls us to this same attitude of humility. Is the Father’s plan worth your sacrifice? Are you willing to submit to service so that Christ can be glorified?

Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. (38) "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Are you moved with compassion to seed the fields of men with Gospel of Christ? Can you make yourself “of no reputation” so that the eternity of others becomes more important than your “here and now”? It takes an attitude of humility.

I will close this with a quote from the book Descending into Greatness: “Simply stated, the message of Philippians is this: If you want to be truly great then the direction you must go is down. You must descend into greatness. At the heart of this paradox is still another paradox: Greatness is not a measure of self-will, but rather self-abandonment. The more you lose the more you gain.”

Paul would never ask you to do something that he did not do himself. Paul had the attitude that was in Christ Jesus. An attitude of humility.

Philippians 3:7-10 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, (9) and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”

With All Boldness

2008-04-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Mark 1:27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."

We all follow rules everyday. In almost everything we do in life there are rules and regulations. There are rules while driving. There are rules at work. There are national laws, state laws, and city laws. There are so many laws we are accountable for, that we don’t even know about. When I think about this it can sometimes become overwhelming.

I am not one that likes to break the rules or disobey the regulations that are expected of me. But even more than not wanting to break the rules, as a soldier I do not want to disobey a command. I don’t think I truly understood the severity of a command until I joined the Army. I have learned that when a command is given, it must be followed. Yeah sure, I might be concerned, scared, challenged or torn about the given command, but without hesitation, I follow the order.

The other day I went to a food court in the mall to have lunch. I sat down at a table to eat alone. There was a girl who appeared to be about 10 years old sitting at the table adjacent to me. Her mother was still in line ordering their food. Out of no where the girl turns to me and says “Hi”. I respond accordingly, being friendly. She turns around again and starts probing me for information. The girl wasn’t hesitant at all to turn and talk to a stranger. She wasn’t worried about the response that she would get when she sputtered those first few words. She just threw them out there. She wasn’t concerned at what the people at the surrounding tables thought about her naive questions. I walked away from that lunch challenged by a 10 year old girl, who had something to say and she was going to say it, no matter the result.

Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

Why am I still scared, worried, ashamed, weak when it comes to sharing the Word with a stranger in public, at work, or out of my ministry “comfort zone”? I don’t let those feelings overcome my duty in the military to fulfill an order given to me. And yet in my heart I feel that I desire to pour my whole self into seeing others saved than I care about my employment responsibilities. That 10-year-old girl overcame the fears and doubts she must have had to talk to a stranger, and she was after useless information. I, on the other hand, walk around the streets with a burden that I need to share with people the Truth, that they might not know Jesus Christ. I look to Romans 1:16 where Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” What a testament of faith! I know there will be ups and downs in my spiritual walk, but there is nothing more in the desire of my heart than to serve Him and attest to His Truth. I need to overcome my superficial feelings that ultimately lead to a hindrance in spreading the Gospel. Hopefully this can be an encouragement to you for sharing Christ with others!!!

Run to Win

2008-04-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

As a young boy I can remember seeing a movie at my grandparent’s church. In the movie a man had died and stood before a tribunal in Heaven. The man was asked several questions about the way that he lived his life. During the interrogation a huge movie screen lowered in front of him and all the bad things that he had ever done were shown back to him revealing his sinful past. This movie not only confused me, but also scared me to death. About two months ago I read a gospel tract that pretty much described the same thing. It seems that people are confused when it comes to the Judgment Seat of Christ, especially if they read the tracts or watch the movie that I watched.

What we have to understand first of all is that the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment are two separate events. The Judgment Seat of Christ is solely for believers and the Great White Throne is solely for unbelievers. The Judgment Seat of Christ takes place after the rapture of the Church and the Great White Throne will take place at the end of the Millennium.

In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul states that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” The “we” that Paul is referring is everyone who has believed in the Person and work of Jesus Christ for salvation. (John 3:36) All believers must stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but according to John 3:18 if we believe in Jesus Christ then we will not be judged. John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” So why would we appear before the judgment seat if not for judgment? In order to answer this question we must examine the meaning of the phrase “judgment seat” in the Greek.

The word translated “judgment seat” in the English is the word BEMA in the Greek. In the world of the New Testament, the bema was a raised platform, usually mounted by steps, and used to make public pronouncements and to award prizes. In the Grecian games, the umpire or referee sat on a bema seat and from that seat he would watch a race between competitors. At the completion of the race, the first, second, and third place contestants would stand before the “bema seat” in order to be rewarded for running well. The reward for winning the race was a crown of woven olive branches called a stephanos. (1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.) The seat usually was not a judicial bench. In other words, this was not a seat where the losers of the race were chastised and criticized for their lackluster performance. The bema seat was a place from which rewards were gained or withheld; gained for running well or withheld for running poorly. Because so many people attach negativity to the phrase Judgment Seat, I prefer to call it the Reward Seat of Christ.

So now we understand that all believers must appear before the reward seat of Christ and will either gain or lose reward “according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Again, this statement can be confusing unless we look to the original language in which it was written. Remember that reward is gained or lost because of our performance. Our performance is either good (agathos) or bad (faulon). Agathos means ultimate good. The only time that our performance in the Christian Way of Life can be classified as agathos (ultimate good) is when it is done iby God. Agathos deeds are considered valuable, profitable, and worthwhile.

The antithesis of the agathos deed is any deed that is classified as faulon (bad). I don’t really like the translation “bad” here, because faulon actually means worthless. Faulon can mean any deed (whether classified good or bad by human standards) that is performed without God involved. Faulon deeds will not be rewarded at Bema (Reward) Seat of Christ because they are utterly worthless.

It seems to be pretty cut and dry. Rewards are received if God is working in and through you and lost if you are doing all the work. I leave you with a challenge from Paul: (1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.) Are you running to receive or lose reward at the Bema? Run to Win!! Run with God!!

Your Ministry

2008-04-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

1 Tim 1:12 "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,"

Someone once told me that they felt left out because everyone around them were given ministries by their pastor. I immediately saw 2 things wrong with this statement.

The first problem is in saying that they have no ministry. All believers should treat everyday as a ministry. That is what we are here for. Society has caused many to believe that a ministry is an organized , church-sponsored bible study. This is not true, ministry should be a lifestyle of all Christians. You should minister to all that you come in contact with, whether by words or actions. You can impact eternity for Christ just as much by evangelizing the local gas station clerk. Treat the 6ft around you as your place of ministry. Anyone that comes within your 6ft, attack them with the Word of God.

The next problem with this statement is who they feel is responsible for assigning ministries. Pastors are not in charge of appointing ministries to people, but they are responsible for equipping believers for the ministries received from God. (Eph 4:11,12) Once you put your faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you are now expected to grow spiritually by daily intake of the Word of God. The more you grow spiritually, the more you are prepared to minister to a hurting world. This world includes your family and neighborhood, not just Australia and other interesting places. Remember, take care of the 6ft around you and patiently wait for the Lord to expand your area.

The Inspiration of Scripture

2008-04-02T07:22:00.003-07:00

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Most Christians take for granted that the Bible that sits on their bookshelf, in their car, in the closet, or in the attic is the very breath of Almighty God. Do you believe that? The word theopneustos,written by Paul in the Greek language is translated "inspired" here, but actually means "God breathed". Even though the Bible was penned by 40 different authors, every one of them was guided under the inspiration and influence of God the Holy Spirit. Since God is absolute truth and cannot lie, that makes every jot and every tittle written in the Bible inerrant, infallible, and 100% reliable as truth from the very "breath of God". Why is it of the utmost importance that you understand this? Because the word of God is the supreme authority of life and faith and if one word is untrustworthy then the whole book is untrustworthy. As Christians we must have complete confidence in the Scriptures in order to live a life of faith by the word of God. If we believe in the death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus Christ then we also must believe that Jonah was swallowed by a big fish, or that Noah really did build an ark as the Scripture tells us. For us to question one word in Scripture is arrogance and will cause us to eventually question all Scripture. The word of God is "alive and active" but you must "live it" in order to "activate it". You cannot truly live by the word of God if you question it and therefore you will never unlock its power. Believe the Bible to be 100% truth, infalliable, inerrant, and inspired by God. Then, and only then, will it become profitable to equip you for the purpose and plan that God has for your life. Go get your Bible from the closet, car, bookshelf, or attic and realize that what you hold in your hand is the very "breath of God".

Importance

2008-04-02T06:05:00.001-07:00

Matt. 18:12-14 "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish"

While watching the news one day, I rejoiced with the parents of an 11 year old boy in Utah. After 4 days lost in the wilderness, he was found safe and in good health. It seems he had wandered off and lost track of where he was, but his parents never lost hope and continued to put all aside and concentrate on finding him. This wonderful story reminded me of this parable, The Lost Sheep.

How important is each and every person in God's eyes? There are many out there that feel as if they are not important to anyone, lost in a big world with absolutely no hope of being found by someone who loves them. This passage shows us that God reacts to lost ones the same way that most earthly parents would react. God is the Great Shepherd, and we are His little sheep, constantly exploring the dangers of the world that pull us away from His comforting watch. Being a perfect shepherd, He leaves His flock, and never gives up hope in finding us, bringing us back safe and sound.

You are very important to God, and when He carries you back in His powerful arms, He rejoices like any father would over the return of their lost child. When you are feeling lost and alone, remember that there is always a Heavenly Father searching the deepest forest to find you and revive you by carrying you the rest of your life.

Unequally Yoked

2008-03-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

2 Cor 6:14 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"

In the past, I believed this verse meant that I should not have unbelievers for friends. Many people teach this verse based on the same misinterpretation. Now, that I have come to understand what Paul means, I have changed my view on this subject. What does Paul mean by "unequally yoked together"? The Greek word used here is "eterozugeo", which means to come under a different yoke. He is not telling us not to associate with non-Christians, but not to allow ourselves to be molded into their way of life. We as Christians should desire to live as Christ did, spending everyday concentrating on glorifying the Lord. We also are to be examples to all walks of life. Sometimes having unbelieving friends keep us sharp, and allow us to impact them towards Christ by the life that we live by faith. While Jesus was on earth, He had Christian friends and non-Christian friends. He always seem to hang out with the "sinners", and even told the Pharisees that he was their to heal the sick. Well, unbelievers are sick, and they are in need of a physician to heal their souls. By removing ourselves from their life when we get saved, we may remove the only good example of Christ that they know. We need to remain friends with the sick, and be careful not to engage in the activities or beliefs that they are caught up in everyday. By doing this we can possibly change their minds of what Christianity is all about. Remember it is ok to be friends, but not ok to go back to their way of life. Be sure to remain firm in your faith, and do not allow them to get you off course.

Hydration

2008-03-30T07:36:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug their own wells, broken wells that cannot hold water.”

One of the keys to success in distance running is proper hydration. When running for extended periods of time, the body loses a great deal of water through perspiration. A runner, who fails to properly hydrate before a race combined with a lack of hydration during the race, is in for a great deal of trouble. In fact, the body will completely shut down, muscles will lock up, the body will overheat, vision will become blurry, balance will askew, and unconsciousness will result. Needless to say, the runner will stop running, lose the race, and need medical attention. The key to success in running (or any physical activity) is to drink plenty of water. Proper hydration will allow the runner to run a better, longer and harder race. Hydration is the key!!

After carefully reading the verse we should be able to make the conclusion that all people are thirsty. We all have a thirst inside us that only God can quench. The problem is that we seldom realize that we have a thirst or that God can quench it. In this verse, God alludes to His people being thirsty. He doesn’t come out and say it, but we can assume it just by reading the context. The cool thing is that God doesn’t reprove them for being thirsty. It is ok to thirst. Thirst is not the problem, but how you decide to quench that thirst can be a problem.

Notice that God accuses His people of committing two sins. He accuses them of forsaking Him and then He accuses them of seeking to quench their thirst on their own. God is the Fountain of Living Water and they are thirsty, yet they seek to quench their thirst apart from God.

We are no different. We thirst for happiness, security, stability, pleasure, contentment, belonging, love, relationship, purpose, and meaning, but instead of allowing Almighty God to be the providence for these things, we pick up our shovels and try to dig our own wells. But just like His people in the verse, our broken wells don’t hold water. We dig in a spot for a while until it dries up, and then we dig somewhere else. We eventually spend our whole life digging holes while never quenching our thirst. We live a life of dehydration because we fail to trust that God can and will forever quench our thirsts. You see, it is not wrong to thirst for happiness, security, stability, pleasure, contentment, belonging, love, relationship, purpose, or meaning; in fact, God designed us to thirst for these things. However, it is wrong to seek these things from the “wells” of the world and forsake the Fountain of Living Water.

God will properly hydrate us when we thirst, if only we would let Him. If you have been seeking to become hydrated from the “broken wells of the world”, then its time to lay down your shovel and take your thirst to God. John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, "From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" If you thirst (and you do thirst), go to God, drink, become hydrated, get back in the race, and finish strong. Depending on God to quench our thirsty souls will allow us to run better, harder, and longer. Hydration is the key!!

Spending Time

2008-03-29T06:28:00.001-07:00

Eph 5:15-16 “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”

ATTENTION: CrossWord Supporters

MEMORANDUM: CrossWord Bible Ministries Inc. is conducting an experiment with the first 20 readers today. The first 20 people to sign the attached application will be able to participate in a month long scientific experiment that will pay you $168.00 a week for one month. The only stipulation is that every cent that you spend of the $168.00 will have to be accounted for via receipt and all receipts will be turned in to CrossWord Bible Ministries Inc. for scientific evaluation.

Of course, there is a catch and the catch is that the memorandum above is not true. If it were true, then most everyone would jump at the offer. I know that I would! Even though it is not true, I can pretty much determine the results of the experiment. From an analysis of the receipts I could place people in one of two categories:

Category 1 - those who spent the money wisely
Category 2 - those who squandered the money foolishly

God has given to each one of us 168 hours in every week. Each one of us will fall in one of these categories as to how we are spending our time. We are either wise and “making the most of our time” or foolish and squandering our time. “Making the most” is translated from the Greek word exagorazo. Exagorazo actually means to ransom or rescue from loss. We are to rescue the time that we have been allotted from being lost, because when time is lost, it is lost forever. Listen; there is nothing further away from you than one minute ago. You can never gain time that has already past, once it is gone; it’s gone for good. There is a sense of urgency involved in rescue. When someone needs to be rescued from a burning building, firemen do whatever it takes to rescue that person. Time is of the essence! If the building falls, then the rescue is unsuccessful and the person in need of rescue is lost. The heightened state of urgency during a rescue is the same urgency we should have for the time that God allots for each one of us. We need to do whatever it takes to rescue our time from loss! But how is it that we are to rescue our time? Verses 17 and 18 of Ephesians 5 tell us exactly how we can rescue the time that God gives us each day. A moment-by-moment commitment to “Understanding what the will of the Lord is” and being “filled by the Holy Spirit” is the way to rescue the 168 hours a week with which God has entrusted you.

The only way that you will ever know what the will of the Lord is to get down and dirty in the Word everyday. Everything that God wants you to know about His will is in His Word. If you don’t know what the will of God is then you have not been “making the most of your time” by “accurately handling the Word of truth.”

Apart from walking by the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit, there is no rescuing the time. In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul talks about our deeds as being worthwhile or worthless. Anything that we do apart from the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit is worthless, because it is done in the power of the flesh. Time spent in worthlessness is squandered time. On the other hand, anything that we do in the power of the Spirit is worthwhile, profitable, and wisely spent time.

In which category do you place yourself? Do you “make the most of your time” for the Lord? Or do you squander the time that God gives you to fulfill His purpose? It is pretty cut and dry!! You have 168 hours a week to live for the Lord Jesus Christ!!!! You can either walk as a wise person or unwise person!!!! You are either rescuing your time with a sense of urgency because God’s plan is important to you, or you are squandering your time because your plan or someone else’s plan is more important to you!!! Don’t be foolish, “make the most of your time" by "understanding what the will of the Lord is" for your life, and fulfill it by walking in the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit.

A Morning Word from Buck

2008-03-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 4:5 "But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

Do the work of an evangelist.

What exactly does Paul mean by,"do the work of an evangelist"? Well, an evangelist is someone who "brings the good news", so to do the work of an evangelist would be to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How often do you proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What hinders you from proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I often hear Christians give the excuse, "Well, I just didn't feel lead to share the Gospel" or "It wasn't the right time to share the Gospel." Do we feel the same way when annoucing the birth of one of our children? You see, when a couple gets married and they have a child, they don't have to be "lead" in order to tell someone. They don't wait for just the "right time" to announce the birth of their child. They send out announcements, put balloons on the mail box, make phone calls, etc. They tell everyone that they know because they are proud, overjoyed, excited, and giddy over the fact they just had a child. Why don't we take that same attitude with Christ? How important is eternal salvation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your life? How important is your "Rebirth"? Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel. He tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Gospel is of first importance. Is that your attitude toward the Gospel? Are you ashamed? Is it of first importance to you? Let's stop making excuses for the reasons we don't share the gospel and take the command of Paul serious. We all have numerous opportunities throughout our day to share the Gospel with someone. Make the most of that opportunity today and "Share the Gospel." Do the work of an evangelist!

Count the Loss as Gain

2008-03-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Phil 3:7 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

Today we live in a society based on accolades. We have an award show for everything. Many careers are based solely on the achievements listed on our resumes. The world has based qualifications on the accomplishments that one has, rather than the attitude of the individual. We, as people, are judged based on our earthly abilities. In Philippians, Paul gives us his resume full of achievements based on self, not Christ. He has come to understand in this verse that these things mean nothing compared to his accolades in Christ. Accomplishing goals in life are a good thing, when they are based completely on Jesus Christ. In Gal. 2:20a Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;" We need to understand, as Christians, that nothing in life is important if it is not in Christ. We are so caught up in our daily schedules that we find it difficult to look at where we stand with Christ. We spend many of our days trying to impress others to gain praise and self-gratification. If we fail in the worlds eyes we are called losers and told that we will never amount to anything. This failure causes stress and depression and many times suicide. Stop being foolish!! In life there is no gain without total submission to the Lord. In Christ we are 1st place in everything we do. Look beyond the world's view and tap in to the things that God has laid out for us. As Christians, we have been crucified with Christ, and also we live now in Christ. He has paved the road for us in every situation that we encounter. Don't get tangled up in what this evil world expects from you, but let Christ carry you every step of the way. If what you are doing in life does not glorify the Lord, then stop and let Him live in you. Regardless of what society says about you, you will receive all the accolades and praise from your Lord, Jesus Christ. These are what life is all about.

Running on Empty

2008-03-28T08:17:00.001-07:00

Hebrews 12:1b-2 "...., and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

When I joined the military in 1999 I wasn't in the best shape and running was not my best event. The first few distance runs almost killed me because I had no training, no consistency, no motivation, and no endurance. If you have ever started a new running program then you know that you have to persevere through the first couple of weeks until your mind and body become conditioned. In the begining, I only focused on the pain, shortness of breath, distance, others passing me, and my lackluster run time. When my eyes were "fixed" on the discomfort and discontentment that I associated with running, my mind would tell me to slow down or even quit and my body would listen. It became a struggle to persevere through the pain and the pressure. Once I developed a little endurance and took my focus off of the negative aspects of running I began to run longer distances. Through persitence, determination, and endurance I embraced a new found joy for running because I no longer focused on the problems, the pain, or the pressure but on the "goal" of becoming physically fit.

In this passage Paul compares the Christian way of life to running a race. What we have to understand is that in order for us to become "Spiritually fit", we must persevere through many problems, times of pressure, and great pains. If we "fix" our eyes on these things then we will hinder our progress, slow down, or just quit running. But if we "fix" our eyes on the "goal"which is Jesus Christ, then we develop endurance and consider every step of the race a joy. James 1:3-4 says "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." Endurance is gained through the consistent training of learning and applying God's word. When we apply truth to experience our focus shifts from the trials of life and we "fix our eyes" on the author and perfector of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop focusing on the pains, problems, and pressures of life and start focusing on the Perfector of life. He makes every step of the race a joy and you will become "Spiritually fit", being able to endure and enjoy the plan and purpose for the "race" that He has set before you.

Sifting

2008-03-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

Luke 22:31-32 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

I can remember as a kid making cookies with my mom. (Not those pre-fab Nestle Tollhouse cookies that you buy at the grocery store.) We made them from scratch. I’m talking homemade from separate ingredients, the main ingredient being flour. Before the flour was added to the other ingredients, it had to be sifted with a sieve. Those not familiar with a sieve, it looks like an oversized soup can that surrounded mesh with a turn handle. The sieve would grind the flour against the mesh to separate the large particles from the small, what was left on the mesh was thrown away. There would always be some flour left that didn’t make it through the mesh. For more information on sifting, check your local T.V. listings for Martha Stewarts special on “Prison made utensils”.

1 Peter 5:8 “Satan prowls around like a roaring lion”.

So caught up in the notion that he was on the fast track to defeat, Satan went as far as to beg for permission to “sift Peter like wheat”. Not Peter. Not the one who cut the temple guards ear off in Matt. 26:51 when they tried to take Jesus to Caiaphas (High Priest of the Temple), or the one along with the other eleven disciples who said “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." Though Peter was sincere when he told Jesus this, it could not prevent the sifting of Satan. Peter was already dead in his transgressions.

“Simon, Simon, behold” Not once but twice did Jesus call him Simon (called name twice to get his attention; called Simon because Jesus was referring to Peters former self; i.e. Old Man, his will) in a warning that Satan was gunning for him. The warning did not stick because Peter (Simon; Old Man) had already rejected the truth. When Jesus told the disciples of the things that would happen to Him in Jerusalem, Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him (Matt. 16: 21-23). Can you picture the sieve handle starting to turn?

Jesus and Satan knew Peter was in rejection (“Simon, Simon”). He suppressed the warning from Him so He gave Peter a sign to bring him back to the reality of truth. It took one rooster, two crowings, and three denials. The first crowing he didn’t hear because of the defense mode he was in after being twice pointed out. He reacted with fear and flight instead of faith and standing his ground. The second crowing could have been missed because of his fear while making an oath in order to confirm that he was telling the truth to the people in the courtyard; though he was lying. If not for Jesus looking eye to eye, led out of the courtyard, at Peter while at that very moment in the background the rooster’s crow was revealing what Jesus told him, Luke 22:61-62 "The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly."

Peter’s sense of failure and remorse so over-whelmed him that he wept bitterly. It was the final turn of the sieve by Satan. Peter had been shot by the “flaming arrows of the evil one” Eph 6:16. His faith lapsed but did not fail. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” was Jesus’ answered prayer for Peter. Even though Peter had lost confidence in Christ by way of aggravated sin (sifting), he still new He was the Messiah. In His prayer, Jesus told Peter “when once you have turned again” or when he confessed his sin (1 John 1:9), then he would be able to walk consistently (Gal 5:16). From his own experiences Peter would be able warn others of the dangers, comfort and keep them from falling victim to continual sifting of Satan by “strengthening your brothers”.

Satan is always in the shadows lurking with his sieve and it is our Spiritual life he is grinding through the mesh looking for the smallest portion. He will not stop and we cannot afford to stop. We have to “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong” 1 Cor. 16:13

When the Walls Come Tumbeling Down

2008-03-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 11:30 “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.”

God had promised the Israelites a land that flowed with milk and honey, but standing in their way was the intimidating, awe-inspiring city of Jericho. Jericho not only had a formidable military, but was also fortified by two massive walls that encircled the entire city. The outer wall was about 6 ft. thick and 20 ft. high. The inner wall was about 12 ft. thick and was 30 ft. high. Between the walls was a guarded walkway about 15 ft. wide. Israel had a huge problem, and that problem was penetrating the walls of Jericho. Can you imagine what this place looked like to the average soldier of “little ole Israel”? If Israel would have “walked by sight”, then to conquer Jericho would have seemed impossible, but they “walked by faith” in the promise and instruction of the Lord, and the seemingly impossible became absolutely possible. Because of their faith and obedience to the word and plan of God, the walls of Jericho fell flat on the ground, and Israel conquered their insurmountable obstacle. (Joshua 6:1-24)

Just as Israel was presented with the obstacle of the walls of Jericho, you and I will face walls and obstacles in our lives, as long as we live. We have to learn to look upon our obstacles not as dead-ends, but as opportunities for the Lord to be victorious in every situation. Our walls could be marital problems, the death of a loved one, financial difficulties, struggles with addiction, or any one of a million different problems or obstacles. If we approach our walls by “sight”, then they will look just as ominous as the walls of Jericho looked to the Israelites. But if we “walk by faith” in the promises of God and obey the instruction of His Word, then we too will see our walls fall flat on the ground as they did in Jericho.

As we face our “walls”, whatever they may be, we can do so with confidence because “we walk by faith and not by sight”. (2 Corinthians 5:7) What we have to understand is that no obstacle is insurmountable as long as we face it in the Lord! The victory is always in the Lord. In 1 John 5:4, John tells us, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the VICTORY that has overcome the world -- our FAITH." As long as we apply the word of God by faith to our “walls of Jericho”, then we will always be victorious.

What kind of walled city are you facing right now? Does it appear to be unconquerable? Do the walls look too high and do they appear too thick? Does it seem that victory is absolutely impossible in your case?

Let me remind you that if your walls haven't already fallen down flat, they can! They can fall right now! You need to take a lesson from Israel and start handling your "Walls of Jericho”, God's way. Claim a promise from God, obey the instruction that He has given you in His word, and “walk by faith not by sight” around and through the walls that seem to be insurmountable in your life. The victory is in faith. Do you trust God to level your walls? He can and will, if only you will “walk by faith”.

Spiritual Gifts I

2008-03-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 4:11-12 “ And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

After we are born, we begin to grow and develop natural talents in different areas. Some people are naturally smart, athletic, artistic, or creative. We call these people "naturals". When we are reborn, at the moment of salvation by faith in the work and person of Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit comes to reside in our body (this is called the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit immediately issues or "gifts" us with a Spiritual Gift. We call this "supernatural".

It is important for you to identify your Spiritual Gift, because you will need to make decisions in your life based on the use of your Spiritual Gift as it relates to the plan of God. We should think of a Spiritual gift as a tool or an instrument that is to be used, rather than a gift that brings us pleasure or recreation. Think of the different tools that a carpenter uses to build up a structure from many individual pieces into one object. So are the Spiritual gifts. (Different tools to build up the church into one unified body.) These tools have been given to believers in order to unify the body of Christ, edify the body of Christ, and glorify Almighty God.

Today’s lesson will cover the first of fives steps to identifying your Spiritual Gift.

Step 1: The first step is to realize that God the Holy Spirit has given you a Spiritual Gift.

It is my belief that we only have one Spiritual Gift. If you believe that you may have more than one Spiritual Gift it is my recommendation that you try to identify one first. And when you begin to exercise your Spiritual Gift supernaturally, look for others if you choose, but it has been my experience that practicing one leaves very little time for practicing anything else, especially another Spiritual Gift.

Scripture supports the idea of one Spiritual Gift by referring to GIFT (Charisma) in the singular. 2 Tim 1:6-7 “ For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the GIFT of God, which is in you…” 1 Peter 4:10 “ As each one has received a special GIFT, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Tim 4:14 “ Do not neglect the spiritual GIFT within you…” Romans 1:11-12 “ For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual GIFT to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.” 1 Corinthians 1:4-7 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any GIFT, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”

From these five passages of Scripture, we are given eight principles to apply concerning our GIFT.

1. We are to come to an enlightened understanding of our Spiritual gift. (2Tim 1:6-7)
2. We are to employ our Spiritual Gift. (1 Peter 4:10)
3. We are commanded to not neglect our Spiritual Gift. (1 Tim 4:14)
4. Our Spiritual gift is for encouraging each other in the faith. (Romans 1:11-12)
5. Our Spiritual Gift makes us firm and stable. (Romans 1:11-12)
6. We are to exercise our Spiritual gift accordingly. (Romans 12:6)
7. Our Spiritual gift is for serving one another. (1 Peter 4:10)
8. Our Spiritual Gift is for the common good. (1Cor 12:7)

The purpose of Spiritual gifts is to unify the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:25), but it becomes more and more clear to me everyday that Spiritual gifts ARE DIVIDING the church because of a lack of UNDERSTANDING within the body. Satan’s uses our ignorance of Spiritual Gifts to divide the body. He understands the principle of “UNITED WE STAND; DIVIDED WE FALL.” Luke 11:17 “Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” Satan wants nothing more than for us to continue in ignorance and arrogance, debating over Spiritual Gifts. As long as we stay divided over Spiritual Gifts, the battle stays within the body instead of unifying and directing the fight towards him (Satan). If you are confused about Spiritual gifts, don’t know what your gift is, or have questions concerning Spiritual Gifts, then stick with me for a few days as we will go over in detail the next four steps to Identifying your Spiritual Gift. Remember, the first step is to realize that God the Holy Spirit has given you a Spiritual Gift, now it’s time to find out what that gift is and employ it.

Spiritual Gifts III

2008-03-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

1 Peter 4:10-11 “ As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever * serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen”

We have been going over five steps to Identifying Your Spiritual Gift. The first step was: Know that you have a Spiritual gift. The second step was: Continually Walk by the Spirit. Today we will go over the third step to identifying your Spiritual gift.

Step 3: Study the Word of God

In order to identify your Spiritual gift you must gain an intelligent understanding of what the Bible specifically says about the Spiritual Gifts. There is no substitute for a deep self study on the Bible’s teaching about Spiritual gifts. Because Spiritual Gifts are dividing the Body instead of their indented purpose, to unify it, I will only list the nine spiritual gifts that most churches agree on. If I leave out a gift that you may think that you have, please leave a comment or email me and we can discuss it in detail.

Two types of gifts: Speaking and Service

1 Peter 4:11 “Whoever SPEAKS, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever SERVES is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies;”

Speaking gifts

Eph 4:11-13 “ And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the EQUIPPING of the saints for the work of service, to the BUILDING UP of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

From this passage of Scripture we are told of the Speaking Gifts. Two of these gifts are still active in the church today.

Pastor-teacher - a supernatural ability to lead and teach believers whereas the end result is spiritual growth leading to maturity. This includes the ability to study and understand the doctrines of the Bible, to organize them, and then teach in a way that is most understandable to the hearer.

Evangelist- A supernatural ability to communicate the gospel, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, to unbelievers.

Service Gifts

Romans 12:6-8 “ Since we have GIFTS that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise THEM accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching, or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.”

From this passage of Scripture we are told of the Serving Gifts. Seven of these gifts are still active in the church today.

Helps - a supernatural ability to help out and lend support to any work, activity, and ministry inside and outside the church. Also lend support to other believers in the function of their gifts.

Mercy - a supernatural ability to sympathize with others undergoing intense suffering, and to provide just the right physical support or words of encouragement to help alleviate their suffering.

Exhortation - A supernatural ability to encourage, support, console, through conversation and through the word of God with others who are need of such support. Also is able to detect those in need of such support.

Leadership - a supernatural ability to provide leadership and influence people to work together to accomplish goals within the church.

Giving - a supernatural ability and desire to give material support to those in need. God tends to give these believers much in order to pass it along.

Serving in ministry- the supernatural ability to organize, participate in, implement spiritual gifts in, and see completion in any and possibly every ministry of the church.

Administration - the supernatural ability to understand and put into action the things that directs the progress of the church. (Logistics, finances, organization, structure, church business)

You will never know what Spiritual gift you have been given if you don’t have an understanding of permanent Spiritual gifts. I advise you to do as much personal study as you can on these gifts. If you have any questions or complaints please leave a comment or email me. Tomorrow we will look at step four.

Spiritual Gifts II

2008-03-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 12:1- "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware."

The first step to understanding your Spiritual Gift is to realize that you have one. I know a lot of people who are Christians that have no idea that they have been given a Spiritual gift. So obviously the first step would be to come to an understanding of Spiritual gifts by studying what the Word has to say about the subject.

In the New Testament there are five different Greek words used for the English word GIFT.

Doma - This is simply translated as a gift and can be found in Phil 4:7.
Dorea - is the word used to describe a gift offered in honor and can be found in Eph 2:8, 4:7; Heb 6:4; John 4:10; Acts 2:38, 8:20, 10:45, 11:17.
Hadrotace - can be translated as an abundant or a generous gift and can be found in 2 Corinthians 8:20.
Eulogia - can be translated as GIFT, but is better understood as blessing and can be found in 2 Corinthians 9:5.
Charisma - which is always translated as a Spiritual Gift and can be found in Ephesians 4:11-12, 2 Tim 1:6-7, 1 Peter 4:10, 1 Tim 4:14, Romans 1:11-12, 1 Corinthians 1:4-7, and 1 Corinthians 12:1.

The New Testament uses the Greek word Charisma to speak of various gifts given to believers by God the Holy Spirit. In English, Charisma is used to describe someone who has a certain indefinable quality that attracts people to his personality, but if we translate it literally from the Greek it means manifestations of Grace (Charis). This is an accurate translation because Spiritual Gifts are manifestations of the Grace of God in the life of a believer. In layman's terms they (Spiritual Gifts) are gifts denoting supernatural abilities, distinguishing Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual Gifts are given to each believer by God the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts enable the believer to serve, edify, and unify the church by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Spiritual gifts can only be identified by walking by means of the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Today's lesson will cover the second of fives steps to identifying your Spiritual Gift.

Step 1: The first step is to realize that God the Holy Spirit has given you a Spiritual Gift.

Step 2: Walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)

Maturity is not a prerequisite for identifying your Spiritual gift. We are given a Spiritual gift at the moment of Salvation, therefore Spiritual gifts are part of the salvation package, considered milk doctrine, related to the Doctrine of Salvation and can be identified by baby believers. That being said, they (Spiritual gifts) can also be abused by the baby believer that does not have sound teaching or a full understanding (epignosis) of what God's word has to say on the subject of Spiritual gifts.

Although Spiritual maturity is not a prerequisite for identifying your Spiritual gift, walking by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit is absolutely a prerequisite. Moment by moment examination of ones sins by confession is necessary to be filled by the Spirit (1 John 1:9). Walking (Peripateo) by the Spirit requires not only being filled, but also requires study and application of God's Word, a love for God that is demonstrated by obedience to His will, and a life lived in the presence of God. Do you live your life as if you are in the very presence of God? Or do you only live your "church" life as if you were in the very presence of God? A disciplined soldier in the military is a soldier who "makes the right choices when no one is looking". A disciplined Christian is one who makes choices as if he were in the very presence of God. Regardless if you live life as in the very presence of God or not, YOU ARE ALWAYS IN THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD! LIVE LIKE IT!

Remember, it is a SPIRITUAL gift and cannot be exercised nor identified in the power of the flesh. One must be SPIRITUAL. Are your choices and descisions made only after careful consideration of the Word and Will of God? A believer who is WALKING by the Spirit is a believer who learns from God, lives the Word, loves the Lord. A believer who is WALKING chooses God's will over his own. A believer who is walking by the Spirit is not WALKING by the flesh.

Gal 5:17-18 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (17) For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."

If you are searching for your Spiritual gift by taking online tests, STOP!! What you need to do is understand that you have a Spiritual gift by studying every passage of Scripture that relates to Spiritual gifts, and walk by the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you apply these two steps then you will be well on your way to identifying your Spiritual gift. Stop by tomorrow and we will dive in to step three.