Beyond Normal

On August 1, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 3: 3


[F]or you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
Paul seems to say here that he did not expect us to walk as mere men. He expected more of us. We are expected us to walk like Christ. Paul could tell that his disciples were not walking in the Way because there was still jealousy and strife among them. He berated them as fleshly babies but then attempted to draw them up to their true calling. They were to leave fleshly desires and behaviors behind and come up to a higher walk. Paul actually expected them to walk in a way that was above normal life. Honestly, most of the things that people strive over or are jealous about are temporal. They generally are not important in the grand scheme of things. When you have your eyes on the things above, it helps you tolerate the things of the world. Set your gaze on things above and let the things of this world slip beneath your feet. Don’t get caught up in the things of this world and you will find it easier to be kind to other people and jealousy and envy will no longer plague you.
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The Body

On July 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 1: 27

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; . . . standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

I find this an interesting passage from Paul’s letter written from prison to the faithful in Philippi. Can you imagine a minister writing this today? It is a bit harder to imagine because the situation is different. Perhaps if you started a church in a foreign place you might write such a thought. I think there is another difference also. I believe today we pastors, teachers and evangelists speak to audiences of one. We attempt to teach each person who he or she should endeavor to be rather than speaking to the body corporately. It truly makes me wonder how much of a body we honestly are.

A body is more than a collection of individual parts. While a body is a union of many parts all of those constituent parts work together to perform. Can we say that a body is like a machine? Each of the parts have their individual function but all of those functions are for the furthering of a greater purpose which is the greater goal. Different components of our cars do different functions but it is in their collective that a car serves its greater function. This is what Paul was speaking to.

Paul wasn’t preaching to each member individually. He wrote to the body. He wanted to them to stand in unison with one goal, one mind and one purpose. Do you ever wonder what our greater purpose is or where you may fit in to the body? This is why ministers try to get you to partner with them. Partnership with each other is much, much more than financial support. It is a sincere effort to gather all of our separate parts together so that together we can fulfill our greater purpose. Our individualism sometimes causes us to be separate and even breeds loneliness. While we honor the individual it is also true we are most fulfilled and satisfied in togetherness.

I am not asking you, today, to do anything specific. Perhaps today’s devotion causes you to think, maybe it stimulates a prayer. I think it is important, though, that we see ourselves as part of a group; that we understand that our strength is not only in our relationship with our God but also in our unity with each other. God didn’t call just you. He didn’t call just me. He called us and we stand together as the Body of Christ.

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Partner Meeting

On July 28, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Thessalonians 5: 17


Pray without ceasing.

Now what does this have to do with our partnership with Christ? In yesterday’s Word of the Day I shared how Father gave me insight and answers while I prayed. Now, what if I want that divine insight and wisdom all day long? Well, pray all the time, right?
I am increasingly impressed that our part of many situations is simply prayer. However, there are times when there is more for us to do. It is through prayer that Dad tells us what to do. He wants to lead us every minute of every day and the way He can do that is through our vigilance in prayer.
One of the cultural problems we encounter is that we have built prayer up to a formal event. Read what David wrote and you will appreciate that prayer was never meant to be ritualistic. It is the common communication between you and your father. It has to be familiar rather than formal if we are to pray without ceasing.   Prayer is simply talking with your Father, God.

Another element of prayer is making ourselves receptive to His voice. We also use the time in prayer to give Him the authority in every situation. This is when you can put the problem in His “inbox” (see the Word of the Day for June 4, 2014 and October 19, 2015). We need to invite God into our every part of our lives and day and then we need to let Him work out the problems and tasks for us. In prayer give Him your projects and then begin to thank Him and praise Him for the result. And do this all day long, without ceasing. This is your perpetual partner meeting.

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Partnered with Christ

On July 27, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 25: 12

Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
First let us begin with a small reminder. There is no reason to be afraid of the Lord our God and father. This fear is more akin to a reverential awe. I personally read it as, “Who is the one who loves the Lord?” I think of this as applying to the person who is living in and with the Lord. Those who so do will be instructed by the Lord. God will show such a person the profitable path, the way he should choose.
I want to use another illustration today to demonstrate the idea of partnering with God in our lives. This partnership means that we are neither exercising our own might and power nor sitting on our hands waiting for God to drop everything in our lives.
Last week I was praying over a house. I was asking the Father to abide in the property and beseeching the Holy Spirit to saturate every molecule of the house with his presence. As I prayed I kept hearing the words “abide” and “saturate” repeating in my head. Well, isn’t that what I just prayed? Then I realized that the words were not coming from me but from Father God. He was telling me to abide in the space I was praying over. “Set up a desk here and work in this space. Reside here, abide. Next, if you want the Holy Spirit to saturate this space then you saturate it with prayer and anointed music. Sit here and pray. Let your prayers saturate the walls.” As I received this message I remembered some of the old churches I have been in. As soon as you walk into them you can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Westminster Abbey was the most amazing in this respect but I remember going into an old country church and feeling that anointing. I remember thinking that one could feel the generations of prayers which had been offered in that building. The prayers of the saints had saturated the walls and the pews.

The point, though, is that through prayer, through connecting with God, He told me what to do for that property. You see, I prayed and then He told me what to do. He has a part to do and I have a part to do. When we begin our days, projects and work with Christ, then we will walk in the way we should. He will direct our paths. This is how we work in harness with Jesus, this is the way of partnership.

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Shipping is Free

On July 26, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Samuel 22: 31                NLT

“God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
I want to look, this week, at how we walk in the blessings of God. If God has blessed us, if the Word is true then why don’t our lives look more blessed than they sometimes do? This question has plagued me personally and professionally for years but I believe I am beginning to have a revelation into the answer. I would like to use a couple of personal illustrations to demonstrate how we can live in the promises of God and even how a blessed person can miss them.
Last week I was fortunate to get to go bike riding several days. On Saturday I went for a fairly long ride over new territory. I was psyched to go to this new place and spent time Friday getting my water, food and clothes ready for a long day of cycling. I missed one preparation step though and I paid for it. I forgot to pray.
Now, how does a minister of the gospel forget to pray? I have my own theories on that but it is really bad. You see, God has made me many promises. In fact, every single promise that He ever made to anyone is mine if I choose because God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10: 34) which means that He does not show favoritism. What He has ever done for anyone else He will also do for me or for you. Therefore, every promise in the Bible is mine.
Now then, today’s verse, along with many others, tells us that God is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. His promise has been tested and proven true. How can it be, then, that I fell on my Saturday ride and scraped up my elbow? Where was my protection from God? Why did my bubble of protection not keep me unscathed? As I am sure you have discerned, the protection never settled on me because I never prayed. I never received that promise. Today’s verse says that, “God is a shield for all who look to him for protection.” Well duh, I never looked to Him for protection. I just jumped on my bike and took off in the power of my might. What an idiot! Don’t copy me. Cover yourself, clothe yourself every day in God’s protective power. 
 
God isn’t assumptive or controlling. He has given you and me authority and decision making power. He says, “Okay, here is a protective shield. Put it on if you choose.” We have autonomy. That autonomy has a price though. We have decision making power, and that is great, but it also means that His promises are not automatic. They are all activated by our choices. This is how a friend of mine explains it, “We wait for something to happen, or be handed to us, rather than working hard and reaching for things ourselves. It’s like lying on the sofa, asking for someone to bring us a drink. IT’S IN THE KITCHEN, GET UP AND GET IT!!!!! God’s blessing are there, within our power to have, we are just too lazy to get them.” I think this friend has a revelation. God has already stocked the refrigerator with all the drinks we could ever want or need. We have only to go open the door and take what we want.

All of God’s promises are yea and Amen (2 Corinthians 1: 20) which means that He has already said “Yes.” However, we have a role to play. We must appropriate these blessings for ourselves. The warehouse is stocked; it is full. Now just write out your requisition form and have what you need and want shipped to you. Shipping is free.

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The Hardest Job

On July 25, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 22: 6           (NIV)

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Every parent confronts a big challenge in raising their children. It has always been a difficult job. God knows it too. He has had a time with disobedient children. That is why He has so constantly sent us prophets and teachers to lead us. Now He has even sent us His own Holy Spirit to be our teacher and our guide. God knows that if we will receive His teaching that it will guide us all the days of our lives. He also sent His son to be an example for us.

In the same way, we raise our own children. It is not enough to just tell them what they have done wrong. We must also tell them when they have done well. We must teach them the difference between right and wrong and help them to make right choices. The most powerful thing we can do for the children in our lives is to set a good example for them just as Jesus did for us. When they see us pray and read our bible, then they learn how life is to be lived. And don’t just read a Bible to them and talk to them about Christ. Live it in front of them. Read your Bible for you. If you don’t want your children to lie, don’t lie. If you don’t want them to steal, don’t steal. Whatever principles guide your life will be the model for them. When you raise your children on Biblical principles they will always have that strength and truth to lean on and to guide them.

It is the toughest job there is to be a parent and there is not a parent out there who couldn’t use the help of the Lord. Parenting is the hardest and most important job you will ever have. Let God lead you and let the Bible be your resource manual. If you raise your children in the Word, they will continue in the Word. Even when they are older and out of your house, they will always have that Word in their hearts directing and keeping them.

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Rightness

On July 22, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 5: 21          NIV

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Isn’t this just amazing?? God took the sinless Jesus and turned him into sin for us. The He took the righteousness of Jesus and gave it to us. Wow! Jesus was righteous, who would argue with that but in this substitutionary miracle we became the righteousness of God. So how does this work? 
 
Well, the key words are “in him”. Those who are “in” Christ have become the righteousness of God, but what does this really mean? We are all saved, does that mean we are all righteous? Does that mean we all act like we are righteous? Can you be saved and not be “in” Jesus? 
 
Righteousness means that we have right standing with God. It does not mean that we always act right, that we always do the things we ought to do. It also does not mean moral conduct. If you look up the word righteousness in a dictionary you will get that idea but it takes Jesus out of the equation. It is a worldly view. Jesus took (became) our burden of sin so that we could stand in the presence of God clean and pure. It is not about anything we have done or will do. You can’t act righteous. You can only “be” righteous and that is entirely about what Jesus did for us.

I am listening to a song as I type these words and the lyric speaks directly to this miracle of righteousness: “For now there is no condemnation, I am under the blood of the lamb.” That is the key, Jesus’ blood paid the price of our sin that we can stand sinless before God. That is just amazing to me. Knowing how we behave sometimes, God worked out this plan for us to be able to be with Him sinless and whole. The key is being “in Christ” and thank God for our savior.

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