Living Long

On March 27, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 55: 23

But Thou, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in Thee.

So, do you want to live a long life? Well, there is a hidden pearl of wisdom here. Men of deceit will not live out half their days. Ouch!! Now you see what is happening to the life span. Honesty has life in it. Deceit carries death with it. 

Deceit is interesting. I think of deceit primarily as not telling the truth but that really does not represent the thrust of the definition. According to the New American Heritage Dictionary deceit is misrepresentation, deception. It is characterized by trickiness and falseness. Deceitful means: Given to cheating or deceiving, misleading or deceptive. Some of the words associated with this idea are deceive, betray, mislead, beguile, delude, dupe, hoodwink, bamboozle, outwit, and double-cross. So what is the point? 

Deceit is not simply telling a lie. That is part of it, of course, but the greater part of deceit is to be intentionally misleading. One could tell a truth then, answer a question true technically and yet mislead the hearer. This deception is often seen in how we couch our facts. It is deceitful to represent the facts in a way which best paints the picture you want perceived when you know it is not really truthful. It is a twisting of the truth in order to mislead someone. This is a manipulation of the truth and of the person being addressed. It is reprehensible to God and will limit the number of days of the speaker. Just ponder this for a moment. We have all seen this and some of us even been guilty of it. We speak what is 10% true and leave out the other 90% of the truth because we do not like how it reflects on us or that it won’t bring about the desired result. I have watched people completely reframe an event in order to look guiltless. They will argue they did not lie because they spoke a bit of the truth but the reality is that in cloaking the greater part of the truth they are attempting to deceive someone. Now I want you to search your gut at this moment and see if you can tell how incensed this makes God. “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him” (Proverb 6: 16). Out of the seven two are about not being truthful. This deceitfulness is right in the middle of all that God hates. I am guessing that is not where we want to hang out.

Jesus is truth. We are called to be the people of Jesus, therefore people of truth. It is a slap in God’s face when we mischaracterize something even it if is not a bald-face lie. In the eyes of our Father it is exactly the same thing. And why do people lie and deceive? In the end of things it is because they do not trust the Lord, their God. How much more can we insult God? Do you want to live a long and fruitful life? Be people of the truth.

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Favor and Reputation

On March 26, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 3 – 4

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, so you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

The secret to attaining what we want in verse four is found in verse three. We can have favor with God and man and we are meant to. We also should enjoy a good reputation. You can work hard for a good reputation. You can apply all of the world’s wisdom on how to gain man’s favor, read all of the Positive Mental Attitude and Sales books, or you can take the shortcut. 

If we want to apply the Father’s shortcut the first thing that we must acknowledge and accept is that this is heart work again. You cannot just read the Bible like it is a self-help book and reap the benefits. The power of the Word is that it lives in you, in your heart. We are supposed to take the things that the Holy Spirit is teaching us and write them on the tablet of our hearts. Writing on our hearts is a purposeful act of our own. We choose what abides in our hearts and in this passage our Father is encouraging us to make it truth and kindness. 

Now if you really think about it, you would expect a person to have favor and a good reputation who has prioritized truth and kindness in their lives. No one likes a liar and a person who is unkind will have no friends. I think, though, that we can go even a little deeper with this. First of all, we are not talking about being unkind as much as being affirmatively kind. That is different. It means that kindness goes before you. Overt acts of kindness become one’s calling card. People ought to be able to rely on us responding with kindness. We ought to be predictably kind.

As for truth, there is truth with a little “t” and Truth with a capital “t”. The difference is Jesus. He is the truth. When THE truth is what we bind about our necks and write on the tablets of our hearts then we certainly will be favored among all people. Then telling “the truth” takes on a more profound meaning. Jesus becomes “the way” in our lives. His ways become our ways. Again we become reliable. People can count on us and that is really very important. How many people do you know that you can count on? Those people become precious to you.

God wants you to walk in favor with Him and to have favor with all people. That is why He is telling us how to get it. Favor means that things just go your way, people do things for you, give you things. Sometimes it is nothing more than a good parking place. Other times it is the impossible happening for you. In any event, you are supposed to have favor with God and man and it comes by letting God express His essential nature through you in love, kindness and truth.

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Revealed Secrets

On March 25, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 2

For length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you.

Length of days, years of life and peace are all things most of us deeply desire. Too bad the author didn’t tell us how to receive them. Okay, he did, I’m kidding. It is in verse 1 which reads, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.” Aw man, it’s the same old drill. God hasn’t changed his mind yet. The benefits of his promises are in following Him. Go figure!

You know, it kind of perturbs me today to listen to people talk about life expectancy and getting old. First of all, most people have no expectation of living long and this is true even of Christians in spite of the many promises from God about long life. The other point that is becoming all too clear to me is that we shorten our life expectancy in so many ways the loudest of which is in not following God. When Jesus left he sent his Holy Spirit to lead us in the way we should go but probably more Christians than not never listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling them much less follow his advice. I know this was true of me and it was really showing in my life and health. But now, I have a new lease on life because I have found God’s secrets. He hid them right where I should have found them but wasn’t looking – between the covers of my Bible. But now the lid is off because I know where His secret stash is and that knowledge is now showing in my body and health too. The comparison, in fact, is like night and day.

The first part of the equation is His Word. Hey guys, it really is no mystery. There is life in that book and as I got back into it and started applying the Word, things began to change. I went from hobbling along like an ancient person to riding my mountain bike 35 miles at a time. Doesn’t that sound like a miracle to you? Well, it is but the key for this one was that I was a participant. I helped Dad bring this miracle about by hearkening to His Word, believing it and doing it.

Do you want to know super huge secret number 2? Can you handle it? Okay. The second mystery is found in the 11th word of verse 1. It is the word “heart”. Do you hate hearing that as much as I used to? No, you guys wouldn’t but it used to make my skin peel back. I just hated all that goo-goo stuff that some preachers spoke, like love and heart. Do you know what I mean? I was so intellectually entrenched that I had lost track of where I had put my heart. And just because I say that I was intellectually entrenched that does not mean that I was all that smart. Obviously, because if I really was smart I would not have made my mind and my thoughts the center of the universe. Really? How smart is that? No, it was just that my approach to the world, to problems and even to God was to think about it, to reason. Wow! Find that in the Bible. Now, however, I am on a heart journey and literally that impacts every area of my life including my health and physical well-being. God is now at work within me healing, guiding and repairing the damage. His Word lives within me, in my heart and it is spreading through me like warm honey. And it really is making a difference in how I feel, how I am able to move and how healthy I am. His Word in my heart really does work. I know Dad has been telling us that for thousands of years now but I just finally heard it so I am catching up.

There is one last thing that I have noticed that damages our life expectancy. While today’s verse is good news there are also the verses that tell us what will happen when we don’t follow the good advice that God is giving us. Just yesterday we looked at Isaiah 41: 11 which tells us what will happen to those who hassle God’s kids or who do not treat us with love. They are going to disappear. And you see, this is even true for Christians who gossip, backbite and deal dishonestly. So one of the reasons that we are seeing people die before they should is because we have not been dealing fairly with each other. Brother, when you talk that negative junk behind someone’s back you are planting a seed that is going to produce a crop that you don’t want. Then when that seed begins bearing fruit folks start blaming God. Hey, we don’t have to blame God. He is telling us up front how to live long, healthy lives. Read the Word and do it. You are going to reap great rewards.

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Vanishing Enemies

On March 24, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 11

Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing, and will perish.

Trouble comes. You know that. Even for Christians there are challenges. Sometimes I think we ought to be able to live charmed lives where nothing can touch us but that is fantasy. In reality problems affect everyone. The secret is in how we deal with those issues and how we let them affect us. We really can live above the fray, above the chaos if we will let Jesus be Lord of our entire day rather than just our philosophical Lord. What do I mean by that? We have all given our lives and hearts to Jesus. We have asked him to be Lord of our lives and we are sincere in our surrender to his lordship. However, Monday morning always comes and in the clamor of all that must be done we lose sight of our position with Christ. That is why it is so good to give the Lord even just a few minutes in the morning before you are confronted with the tasks of the day. We need to re-establish first thing in the morning Jesus as Lord over our lives and, significantly, over every minute of our day. Then throughout the day when issues and questions present themselves we take them to Jesus. If he is Lord then he ought to have a say in what goes on. When we systematically apply Jesus’ lordship to everything we do and to everything that invades our lives then we can move from the center of the tumult. Jesus fights the battles, completes our task lists, multiplies our time and does everything else we need.  

You can’t fight the battles on your own because your detractors will lie and cheat. You need the supernatural power that the trinity can provide. If you want to look around and find the enemy just gone, then you need to put the problem in Jesus’ hand and leave it there. Sometimes that is a minute by minute process but when you allow the lordship of Jesus to prevail over the problems of your life then it becomes his problem rather than your own. That is when you will look around and find that those who contended with you are as nothing. We don’t pray against them, of course. We don’t have to. And if you truly understand today’s verse you will understand very clearly why Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. Those who attack, criticize and condemn us are walking into a hornet’s nest of their own making. The bad seeds they are sowing are going to sprout and produce a bountiful crop of trouble for them. We need to pray for them because if they mess with you they are going to be shamed and dishonored, be as nothing and perish. Okay, not a good forecast.

God is on your side. He is in your corner. Let Him be your fight manager. Let Him be the boss, the Lord and then the outcome is assured. You will arise and your enemies are going to suffer. Pray for your enemies because they have signed a destruction order over their own lives. Get a big revelation of Jesus as Lord of your challenges and step out of the turmoil and into his glorious victory. Amen.

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No Fear Here

On March 23, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 10

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

How many times do we need to have God say to us, “Do not fear?” Probably at least once a day. So here is today’s dose. Our Father wants us to know that He is on the job. He is paying attention to us and we should not fear. He isn’t begging us not to be afraid, though. This really appears as a command. And now that I look at the situation from His perspective, it is a bit insulting, isn’t it, that He is our God, our Father and yet we are running around in high anxiety and fear. Our God is Yahweh, He that is and ever will be. Why should we be afraid?

Father goes on to assure us that He is with us. We don’t have to anxiously look around us. We can go with confidence knowing that He is with us always, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is strength for us so that we need not try to be strong in ourselves. In fact, Paul taught us that in our weakness is strength (2 Corinthians 12: 10). 

How do we convince ourselves that our Father is with us; that He will strengthen us and uphold us? I really believe we learn it through the most frightening mechanism of all; letting go. We have to let God be God. We have to relinquish a bit of the control to Him. I like to say that we have to let go of the reins because that paints a picture for me that I can relate to. I really think that for most of us we have to take God out for a test drive. We trust Him with something small and see that all works well when we put situations in His hands and then the next time we are able to trust Him with something a bit larger. The other situation is that get to the point that we are so exhausted that we have nothing left but to trust God. And then, Eureka! It works.

I really wish one person could experience this for everyone and then that we could all just believe that person, subsequently taking this verse as truth on its face. If we could only believe that God and Isaiah actually knew what they were saying. Unfortunately, it rarely works that way. So, instead of asking you to believe me or to believe this verse, I am asking you to give it a try. Take it around the block, kick the tires and see for yourself. God is worthy of our trust. He will uphold you, guard you and protect you. He is your shield and your refuge. Invest a bit of your trust in Him and let Him show you that you have no need in being anxious ever again. Think about it, to never fear again. Now that is a good way to live.

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The Battle Is Won

On March 20, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 54: 4

Fear not for you will not be put to shame; neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.

This week you are receiving many of my favorite scriptures. I haven’t used many of them for the Word of the Day and even those I have used I haven’t written about in a long time. But this is like a walk down memory lane for me because several of this week’s verses come from Isaiah. Not only is the book of Isaiah my favorite Old Testament book but it is also the book that got me through a time of intense spiritual warfare. These verses helped me to stand when there were attacks from every quarter. If you are having one of those periods in your life, let me encourage you. Have no fear, nor feel ashamed or humiliated. Your Dad is going to make it right. The truth will be seen. Those people who are lying about you – they are the ones who will be put to shame. Believe me, I know. I have been there. The good news is that I have been “through” it. I didn’t pitch a tent and stay there. God doesn’t expect you to set up camp in the valley of the shadow of death either. He has strong weapons of warfare and mighty warriors. He intends for you to win.

I just love Old Isaiah and when I get to heaven I am going to tell him how much I appreciated his book. He had a revelation of warfare. He knew then that the devil was going to get in our faces. He also knew, however, that God had foreseen it too and prepared armies and weapons of His own. There is no battle that you can’t win. Think about it, this was even before Jesus came and won the victory for us. You see, Dad never left His kids out in the cold. He always had plans for our protection and our welfare.

So if you are under the gun right now do not fear. There are scores of angels, legions even, at your beck and call. You have the power of God in the person of the Holy Spirit. And you have the victory medal from Jesus’ campaign. Do not fear! Do not take the trouble into your heart. Your Father will stand for you. Just hang out in the Lord’s presence until the battle is won.

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The Age of the Spirit

On March 19, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 26

But the helper, the Holy Spirit …, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

Throughout history God has been with humanity in one form or another. During Old Testament times God’s presence was with the people but there was little known about the son. The Israelites learned that a Messiah would come but besides a few prophets they knew very little about who to expect. Then the Messiah came and the New Testament is primarily about him. There was almost nothing known about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. As Jesus prepared to leave earth he began teaching people about the Holy Spirit and telling them what to expect. In verse 18 of this chapter Jesus promised that he would not leave us as orphans but that he would come back to get us. In the interim he sent the Holy Spirit to us as a gift. God sent Jesus. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. We are living in the age of the Holy Spirit and yet I find that we know very little about him. I believe it is to our advantage that we learn about him.

The Holy Spirit has many roles in our lives. In this one verse today we see several of the important ways the Holy Spirit aids us. He is a helper, a teacher and a reminder of all that Jesus has said. He will bring to your mind scriptures whenever you need them but he is so much more. He is the power of God, a pledge of promises yet to come, a promise himself and a gift but the role that is perhaps most significant is that he is a comforter. Jesus sent a comforter to be with us at all times. He is called the stand beside because he comes along beside us at all times. We use the expression, “I’ve got your back.” Imagine one of the three aspects of God with you side by side all day, every day telling you that he has your back. He is a protector. He does all the heavy lifting for you in all things. He is like that perfect best friend. You are sealed in him and his presence with you is a sign that you are a valued child of the Most High. 

You can also get to know the Holy Spirit. He is the third person of the trinity so if you can know God; if you can know Jesus, then you can also know the Holy Spirit. He may even have a name, probably does. Jesus is part of the Father but he has his own name. Perhaps you can get the Spirit to reveal his name to you. Think about that for a moment. God has a name, Jesus has a name and even your angels have names. How is it that we have not inquired of the Spirit that is with us day and night as to his name? But we can. 

We are the people that God spoke of in Joel 2: 28: “And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.” We are the children of promise. I think we should take our inheritance seriously and find out what benefits we are entitled to under this promise from God. You know how God loves for us to exercise our rights. I believe that there is an enormous blessing in our relationship with the Holy Spirit of God and that it is just waiting to be revealed. Pursue God the Father; pursue God the Son but do not fail to seek out God the Holy Spirit.

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