Happy Days are Here

On October 21, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 30: 5

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.

Some people spend their whole lives in bondage of guilt and torment because they fear God’s anger is against them. This seems to be true even of people who are Christians. It should not be. God is love (1 John 4: 16). He sees you with favor. In other words, when He looks at you, He looks upon you with fondness. Anger is not the emotion that wells up in Him when He looks at you. We are His children and dear to Him. While we certainly do things which can provoke His anger, His disappointment in us and with us is always overcome by His great love and affection for us. We are His people. He made the choice. He knew what He was getting when He chose us. We did not choose Him, He chose us. His love burns like an eternal flame; it cannot be quenched. I figure that is His problem. He is the almighty. He knew I was flawed when He chose me but His great grace is working in me and in all of us to transform us into the image of His dear son. I am willing to give myself to Him to allow Him to work Himself out in me. You will have a very difficult time doing that though if you think your relationship with the Lord is based on His anger towards you. While we all may deserve His anger, His grace has given us favor. Bask in your favor and be grateful that we are not getting what we would have deserved if it had been up to us to earn anything. Praise God for His love and Jesus’ blood and let the favor of God completely envelope you. After all, the weeping was for last night or last year. It is a new day so shout.

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Parked Car

On October 20, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 16: 13

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.

There used to be an expression, “God can’t steer a parked car.” The point of it was that the Holy Spirit has been sent here to steer and direct you but you have to get the car off of the curb first. You must start the car and put it in gear and then the Holy Spirit can direct you. What does this mean in practical terms? It means that you cannot just sit around and wait for God to drop something in your lap and have great success. The reason is that He directs your steps not jump starts you. You’ve got to get involved in your own success. Talk to the Lord about the things you want. You can still tell Him that it is most important to you that you follow His directions. You’ve got to start heading somewhere, then He can tell you which turns to make and which paths to take. But don’t just sit in your car waiting for him to start the car and drive too. It is not going to happen. Start doing something. Head in some direction and He will let you know if a course correction is called for. But first, get out of park.

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Believe It

On October 19, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 10: 11

 

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.

I believe the above yet I know many disappointed Christians. For years I have wondered why we are not living in more victory than we are. I have found one reason even if it may not be the definitive answer. When we read a passage like the one above, most of us are initially excited by it. Within seconds, though, doubts come. We don’t know if we can really believe this or not. Right then we begin to compromise the Word of God. We don’t like to think that we do that but the truth is, unfortunately, that we do. The next thing we do is wait for God to prove that this word is true. We have all done it even though we all want to be faith giants. We adopt a “wait and see” attitude. To do otherwise is like stepping out on the edge of a cliff.

I am coming to believe, though, that God’s miracles are out there on that cliff. I believe He wants us to accept His word as truth and act on it rather than waiting to see it proved out in our experience. He wants us to learn to have faith and trust in the words we read and put our reliance in them. What would it mean to you if you really, really believed the passage above? What if you knew beyond any doubt that you would not be disappointed in whatever you do? Would it change the way you approach some situations? I know it would change how I deal with situations if I could jump all the way into radical belief and radical trust. Join me! Let’s step one step further out on that cliff and try to believe God the way He says things. Let’s try to accept Him where He is instead of making Him fit into our limited thinking. Let’s just inch one bit further into trust and acceptance. It could make for a very radical experience indeed.

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Harmony

On October 18, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 22: 24


Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man.

Truth be told, it is no fun being around someone who is prone to angry outbursts. Should it be a surprise that God has specifically given us instruction to avoid associating with these people?

Some people walk around full of anger. They do their best to contain it, they wrap iron bars around their hearts in an attempt to control their anger but it always turns out to be in vain. The smallest thing sets them off and their reaction goes far beyond what is merited. The reason they have such uncontrollable and out of scale reactions is because of the hurt which is within them every minute of the day. They have nursed these hurt feelings for years or worse, have stuffed them down into their subconscious. They lie to themselves saying they have it all under control but you only need be around them for a short time to see that they are far from in control. It is easy for these angry people to become further crippled by substance abuse as well. They will look for any remedy for anesthetizing the hurt.

What happens when you associate with these people? You will get hurt and you will be influenced by their anger issues. You may even find yourself responding in anger because of the need to defend your sensitive spirit from harsh and angry language and behaviors. There is a larger concept involved here too. Jesus is the Lord of peace. A brief search of the New Testament on the word peace yields 93 instances where it was used. I like what Jesus said in Mark 9: 50, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” We are to live in peace. He also said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace (John 16: 33). We could go on and on because Jesus is the Prince of Peace but let me end with something Paul wrote, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8: 6). Here we begin to see the crux of the argument revealed. Jesus is peace and the mind, or the person, set on the Spirit of God is peace. Another way of saying this is that peace follows the one whose mind is stayed on Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You cannot intertwine your life with Jesus and be a person of anger, turmoil and chaos. Jesus brings order and peace. So God recognizes that the person who is angry is not surrendered to the Trinity. These people sow friction and discord wherever they go.

This is not the way which the Lord has ordained for us. We are meant to live in peace and harmony. So, don’t go with a man given to anger. You will not be in the presence of the Holy Spirit but rather with a spirit of conflict. It is not good for you; it is not good for your spirit or even your health. Pray for those people but do not associate with them. So says God.

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Goodness Me!

On October 17, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

3 John 1: 11

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

The instruction John gives us in the beginning of this verse is pretty obvious; do good instead of evil. When we get to the second sentence we begin to see the deeper spiritual considerations.

One of the most frequent questions I get is about Christians who behave badly. Even though we are saved, this transformation that Paul wrote about in Romans 12 is a process. None of us always behave in the way we want to, that is a certainty, so we have understanding and forgiveness for others as they struggle to be the person they are destined to be. How is it, though, that Christians can do evil? The answer is here in this verse. They haven’t seen God.

Everyone needs a personal encounter with Jesus. That is the singular event which ignites the transformative process. We need to see God, to have a personal encounter with Him. It is this which will open the doors of our heart. Merely uttering a prayer of salvation does not fuel the furnace of change. It is the beginning of the quest but the quest is for Jesus, the Father and for intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit as well. Saying a salvation prayer is not an end all. It is the inception of this wonderful time of coming to know the Father and of having meaningful fellowship with Him. It is that doorway through which we walk so that we can encounter the Father personally. The one who sees God, who meets Him; the person who has a one on one encounter with the Holy One will forever be changed. That is why I so want you to seek the Father. He is the power to radically transform our lives. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Only when we see the Father and the Son face to face will we have the power to put evil and bad actions out of our lives. Even though we are not yet perfect, this resident power within us causes a metamorphosis so profound that we are barely able to recognize ourselves.

Do you want to “do good”? Goodness is in the Father. The more we pour our lives into Him and allow Him to be intimately close to us, the more His goodness is revealed through us. I want to encourage you to pursue the Father, Son and Spirit with all your strength and help others to find their way to a direct encounter with God. It will be all good.

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That’s Life

On October 14, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 John 5: 12

He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

I have been having some interesting discussions with people about the essence of life. What is life or who is life? Here we learn from John that the one who does not have the Son, does not have life. That is putting it plainly. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14: 6). John’s statement is certainly consistent with what Jesus taught him.

Jesus also told us that he came to give us life (John 10: 10). Do you think this is just a metaphor or is there a physical and spiritual law in play here? One of the things I have learned in studying the Bible is that it is much more literal that most of us realize. For example, the Word says, “As he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverb 23: 7). I dare say most Christians accept the idea figuratively that as we think of ourselves we truly are. If you think of yourself as unintelligent, you will manifest less brilliance. If you think of yourself as gifted, your gifts will show. However, science is now proving that this proverb is literally true. Our health, for example, responds to our thought patterns. We are learning through the latest research that a person can affect the physical construction of tendons, ligaments, bones, etc. through our purposeful and directed thoughts. That is amazing! People are manifesting healing in their bodies through their thoughts. Remember, Jesus told us that we would receive what we believe.

So, when Jesus said that he is the life, is he being literal? One might think so. Certainly eternal life is in him but I think there is more to it than just salvation. Jesus is the life. Whoever has Jesus has life. He is the source of life or he is that spark which is life. Without Jesus, there is no life either figuratively or literally. We are all dead without the life of God which is in Christ Jesus. I have wondered many times what the world was like those three days that Jesus was dead. What did the earth go through for three days without the life? Did the earth begin to die?

Give this a bit of thought. It is fascinating to think about. Mostly, there is comfort and reassurance that our life is well guarded and preserved in Christ Jesus. He is our source. He sustains us. Let that be encouragement to wrap yourself even more tightly about him.

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Needful Prayer

On October 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 12: 14             (Amplified)

Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.


I really think this is the hardest thing we have to do as Christians. If we are truly dedicated to our Father and really want to please Him, we have to learn to bless those who torture us. We have to learn how to ask God to bless those people who are mean and vindictive to us. Look, if they are behaving in a way that is mean spirited, then they really need your prayers. They are acting out of broken place in them and only our heavenly father has the power to heal those deep injuries. If you damn them and curse them, then who is going to pray for them? They are acting out towards you precisely because you are of the Lord and your life and light are beacons to them. Perhaps it is also a condemnation because they know the unloveliness that is resident in their hearts and they feel conviction from the Holy Spirit. Don’t give up on them though. No matter how they torture and abuse you, keep your faith in the Holy One of Zion. He will see you through and He is their salvation as well. Hang in there. You might be the only person that your tormentor has that will pray for them. Your father sees your suffering and your faithfulness. And even though it seems hopeless at times, your father will see you both through.
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