Hear Me

On July 17, 2015   /   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; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Okay, so here is my question. How is it that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is supposed to “speak” to us? Well? You see, I was reading in the book of John when I read this very familiar verse. I mean, it’s highlighted in my Bible. I know this verse and yet as I was reading it, I just stopped in my tracks. I have always assumed so much as I read it. How, am I to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking? How is he going to guide me into all truth? This is a big verse with several really big disclosures in it. Are we all prepared to hear him?

I am aware that there are a lot of people who never hear Yahweh speaking to them. I’ve got to say, my heart grieves over this fact. Most of you know my story and how I was desperate to hear God talking to me. I literally chased God down in my pursuit to hear His voice. The Bible says to seek Him but I was way past that. I flew 2500 miles to a conference to get Him and I told our Father that I was coming back with the ability to hear His voice. And you know what, Dad honored my desire. I got what I wanted and Dad got what he wanted, me. Life has not been the same since.

There is no reason why you cannot hear God, the Holy Spirit and the Son speak to you too. There certainly is nothing special about me. Maybe you can hear Him now but just not as often or as clearly as you would like. My advice to you is, “Don’t settle for anything less than everything.” Ephesians 3: 20 casts our mind out beyond normal, common or perhaps even possible. Father wants us thinking beyond our boundaries continuously. Today’s boundary is tomorrow’s history. He is the God of “exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.”

Jesus sending the Holy Spirit to us was a really big deal. This is the age of the Holy Spirit right now and we really need to connect with him. He was sent here for us, to help us and to be always at our side. We can talk with him, we can see him. He is here, in the earth, for us. It is he who leads us into victory daily.

I want to encourage you. If you don’t hear God’s voice routinely or you just want to improve your connectivity – Press In. Call on God. Chase Him down in the streets if you must. He is willing to grant you this interconnectedness with Him where you feel His presence and hear His voice. There is more that He would do with and for all of us but it is beyond all that I can think or ask in this moment. Let’s rally together to call on God and receive everything that Jesus won for us, especially that we hear all the Holy Spirit speaks.

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Big Guns

On July 16, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 5: 44

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Okay, now we are talking about serious spiritual warfare. This verse doesn’t look like warfare though, does it? None the less, this is where the rubber meets the road. When the enemy is all around you and it feels like even the house is falling down on you then start praying. Sometimes the pressure on you is so heavy that it is hard to pray. I understand that. Just come up with something real simple that you can say each time you feel overwhelmed. Here is an example, “Father, I forgive them and ask you to forgive them. I pray that you bless them and meet their needs.” Then every time that feeling comes in your gut just turn your thoughts to our beloved Father and pray those words.

Jesus gave this scripture for us, not for them. He said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16: 33 NIV). This is one of the ways that he is leading us from trouble to overcoming. Trouble comes but Jesus is our victory. He has already provided the means of triumph. He spent his time on earth teaching us those means. So when you read that you should pray for your enemies, take heart because Jesus is leading you to the victory. Glory!

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Eternal Life Secret

On July 15, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 3: 36

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

I’ve said it before – Christianity is more than the one time utterance of a salvation prayer. When Jesus went to the cross he had in mind the building of a family. He delivered himself up so that every person could be restored to the family of the Father. What Jesus did for us was very personal and as such, it was meant to bring us individually and collectively into a that very personal experience.

Yahweh is very proud of his son and all that he accomplished. He has raised him to the highest of all pinnacles. He is the first of all children and our lord and high priest. It is important, therefore, that we obey his word, not only to honor him but also because he is leading us into the light and to victory.

We call Jesus Lord and that should imply that we do what he says. First, though, we must know what his words, teachings and commands are. We can know this through our Bible and Bible teaching ministries. To say that we are under his lordship and yet we do not do what he says is to lie to ourselves. He who does not obey the Son will not inherit eternal life because Jesus is the way and he is showing us the way.

Second, we’ve got to learn to listen to his voice speaking in our spirits. How do we do that? How, if you’ve never heard God speak before, do you begin to hear and recognize his voice. Fortunately, there is an easy way and my friends at www.cwgministries.org will show you. 

Eternal life is in the Son. We must hearken to him and to his words. It is not enough to say that we are Christians. That isn’t the secret password to get through the gates. The secret is no secret at all – it is adherence, yes, obedience, to the Lord Jesus. Hear what he has to say, read his word and follow.

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No Longer Sinners

On July 14, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 John 3: 6

No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 

Christians make a big deal about sin. It is kind of interesting really that people who have been redeemed from sin would be so sin conscious. But look, Jesus has solved the sin problem forever so let’s get sin off of our minds and focus on that indwelling victory within us. We are saints, not sinners.

You may hear people confessing that they are “an old sinner saved by grace.” Well, which is it? Are you a sinner or saved by grace. Surely, today’s verse will change our confession. We know what these folks mean though, don’t we? They are trying to give Jesus a nod for what he has done for us so it usually is well intentioned. However, I want to get those words out of your mouth because you are now a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 17). You have been reborn. The old person has died and behold you are new. Hallelujah. We need to focus on what Jesus did for us in that miracle transformation instead of always looking back at the dirty garments he took from us. Those are grave clothes and they are supposed to be in the grave with the old self. 

Are we perfect? Well, yes. When we are abiding in him and following his leading, we are with the perfect and we are perfect. But then the old man resurrects and we do something stupid or we just simply make mistakes. No problem. Jesus took care of that so we just run to him as fast as our little spirits will carry us and trade our error for his flawlessness. We run to the altar in our minds and cast our “self” on the altar and put on Jesus.

Am I minimizing sin? By no means! I am casting it into the pit of hell where it belongs. My purpose in this devotional is to get sin off our minds and out of our mouths. We should be focused on Jesus and his righteousness. I want to change your self-image. 1 John 3: 9 says, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” This is where we live. We don’t practice sin. We abide in the Holy One of God and we cannot sin. Just keep abiding. Get out of yourself and into Jesus. Let his abiding presence be louder than your former sin. Lose your sin consciousness and revel in the saving grace which abides in you. This simple paradigm shift will lead you to praise and you will be lifted up rather than down trodden.

Look, here is the bottom line, sinners aren’t getting into heaven so you better decide you are a saint. No sinner abides in Christ and Christ most certainly does not abide in a sinner. Put on your reformation in Christ. Let your eyes be fixed on Jesus and the wonder of his majesty instead of focusing constantly on yourself and your shortcomings. In other words, get yourself off your mind. Jesus is our heart, soul and has become our very existence. You are truth and righteousness in the Lord, Jesus, our Messiah.

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Habitation of Jesus

On July 13, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 John 1: 9

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

The Apostle John is, besides Jesus, the expert on abiding. In this passage he shows us that we should also abide in Jesus’ teaching. He makes a rather strong statement here. Anyone who does not abide (hangout, remain, live in persist,) in Jesus’ teaching does not have God. Okay, wow! Now that will shake up a person’s theology. There are “Christians” all over the world who do not pursue Jesus’ Word and thus, his teaching. John says clearly that unless we are living in Jesus’ teachings then we don’t have the Father. One would then have to ask whether or not we have salvation. How can you have salvation without the Father?

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7: 21). That is a truly frightening verse, is it not? It means there are people running around thinking they have their ticket punched for eternal life with Christ in heaven but who are instead deceived. They are not truly members of the family. We must allow ourselves to be adopted by the Father. That must mean more than just repeating a prayer. Ultimately we must choose our life in this world or His life. Unless we submit to the Lordship of Christ what meaning is there in calling him Lord, Lord?

We are entering into the final days. God is calling His children to Him. This is a time for entering in to His presence. There will be a separation of people but the good news is that we each get to choose what group to be in. Today’s message isn’t meant to frighten you but rather to invite you into the deep. It is time for all of God’s children to enter into a fully committed relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit. Hearken to Jesus. Abide in his teaching, abide in his word. 

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Abiding Life

On July 10, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joel 2:28

And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.

This pouring out is called The Pentecost. The record of this wonderful event is in the second chapter of Acts. God poured out His Spirit for all people. Jesus said of the Spirit, “That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14: 17). This is the purpose of the Pentecost, that divinity would come and make a home with humanity. This abiding presence is not limited to the Spirit of God though. It extends to the Father and the Son. In  John 14: 23 Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make Our abode with him.” God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all want to make a home with us.

Jesus talked a good bit about “abiding”. His ministry, sacrifice and victory have made it possible for us to be united with the Father, Son and Spirit as never before in history. We are now to become one with the divine trinity. Our DNA is being replicated in the image of Jesus (Romans 8: 29). For those who will submit themselves to Jesus’ words and teaching Jesus moves in and takes up residence. We are becoming enmeshed, intertwined with the Father, Son and Spirit so that there is now no separation between us and the divine. We are becoming so integrated that nothing can tear us apart. “I am convinced,” Paul said, “that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8: 38 God’s Word Translation). And since God is love that means that nothing can separate us from Him. 

This abiding in and with the triune presence of God is the key to our Christian testimony, outreach and life. Abiding in Him means that we shuck off the old self and adorn our new selves with the life of Christ which has now taken up residence within us. No longer do we have to will ourselves to act like a Christian should, no longer do we have to contemplate what Jesus would do in our situation. Now we let the life of Christ which is within us flow out of us and into the world. We put on Jesus and let his life, light and love reach out to other people. 

If you want to know if you are abiding in Him and He in you check your love walk. To the degree that you are others centered, that is the degree to which you are allowing Jesus to express himself. Put on Christ and let him abide forever with you.

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Compassion

On July 9, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 7: 13

When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

I have lately been strongly impressed with the importance of compassion in Christ’s ministry and his personality. There are seventeen places in the New Testament which speak about compassion. That is a significant number of entries. It turns out that Jesus got his compassion from his father. Romans 9: 15 reads, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” The point is that compassion is a behavioral and personality characteristic which is important to our heavenly father. 

The dictionary defines compassion as “the deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another in the inclination to give aid or support, or to show mercy.” Wow! That is a powerful ideology and doesn’t it sound exactly like Jesus? Now we see why so many times the scriptures say that Jesus was “moved” by compassion. Compassion is not the same as pity. Compassion invokes action. When we look again at Romans 9: 15, where Yahweh is talking about showing mercy and compassion, we can now comprehend that His compassion stimulated Him to action. Because of His great compassion He moves on our behalf. 

In today’s verse we see that Jesus felt compassion for a woman. If we will read one verse more we will find that he then did something. He didn’t just feel sad for her and say, “Oh, I am so sorry for your suffering.” He did something. He raised her son, restoring him from death to life. Okay, that is doing something!

Compassion, encouragement, love, acceptance, forgiveness and forbearance, these are the bricks and mortar of Christianity. It isn’t in how many Bible verses you can quote. It isn’t in how much service you offer at church. The life of Christ in you is seen in how you extend the love of God to those around you. I see so clearly today how Jesus comes along side us and is filled with joy when we, out of the overflow of our hearts, express his essential nature. This isn’t something we do. It actually is allowing the life of Christ within you, his nature, his compassion, to flow out from you. It is a living testimony of the love of Christ in his people. And it is how you evangelize the world and disciple nations. Let Christ in all his glory be expressed through you.

Do you want to find the real church leaders, the one’s that the Holy Spirit recognizes? Go look for those people who reach out from themselves with compassion and encouragement. Look at who is actually praying for others rather than talking about it or discussing doctrine. See who responds when news is received. Who picks up the phone and calls just to offer an encouraging word or a prayer? Who is it that always seems to find a way to bless their friends, neighbors and even people they don’t know? Those are the true leaders in the body of Christ. They are not always the celebrated in the earth but the angels know their names. God bless you, the encouragers, the compassionate, the beloved.

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