Helping Hand

On November 8, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 24 – 25

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

So many times, when people hear about passion and desire they think of sexual desire. That is a very limited view of what this passage is speaking about. Your passion for anything, your desire for anything that is not God can be a problem. When your consuming passion is for a new car, a favorite activity, food, etc. then you are serving the desires of your flesh instead of the desires of the Spirit. So even if sexual lust is not a problem for you there may be something that does consume your thoughts. There is help though. When we crucify the flesh, Jesus stands with the promised gift in His hands. We do not have to fulfill the lusts of the flesh because we have a helper. We are not alone.

For those who belong to Jesus the helper leads and guide. He teaches and He empowers. As He teaches us, He also leads us in our own personal reformation. He changes us from the inside out. We no longer have to adhere to a strict set of rules that we enforce through an act of our willpower. That is life according to the law. Now, in our enlightenment, we walk by the Spirit. The Spirit leads and guides us. As we surrender more fully to His guidance, we just naturally do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh because He leads us by a different path.

The key word, though, is surrender. It takes a person of courage to surrender their lives fully to God. It also requires someone who can sacrifice their ego on the altar of grace. God, through the Holy Spirit, will do all of the heavy lifting but you first have to find the guts to move out of God’s way and give your complete life over to Him. In truth, I find that many just can’t put God ahead of themselves. They do not have the courage to surrender. They are just plain scared, and they don’t really trust God. Look, it is easy to talk the talk, but it is hard to walk the walk. How many will graduate from God’s elementary school to the upper grades? Well, the choice is completely ours. Can you really let go of your control, your thoughts, your plans, your ideas, your power, your ego? If you will really let go, the Holy Spirit will take you by the hand and gently guide you in the way. He will lead you into those green pastures. He will keep you from harm even when enemies approach from all sides and He will turn your problems into victory. Let go of your control and live and walk by the Spirit into all grace.

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Wolves and Fruit

On November 7, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 15-16

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

Galatians 5: 22- 23

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Jesus gave us a warning in chapter 7 of Matthew. He told us that in these days there would be people who would represent themselves to us a part of the flock of Jesus but in reality, they are ravenous wolves who would devour us if we let them. Fear not though. There is a way we can tell real followers of Christ from those who pretend to be sincere believers. You will know them by their fruit Jesus said. “What fruit,” you ask. The fruit of their character.

Do not attempt discernment by listening to what they say. Anyone can say anything. That is what Jesus was pointing out when he said they would be dressed as sheep. They will say the right things and will sound convincing but ask yourself about their fruit. They can even quote scripture and sound all holy but Satan quotes scripture too. That is what he did in the temptation of Christ (Matthew 4: 6) Being able to quote scripture does not make you holy or a Christian.

Also do not let their works persuade you. These false people will do many of the things that the children of light do in order to appear as sheep rather than as their true selves. But our salvation and our redemption are not in works. They are in faith in Jesus Christ, our redeemer. As a matter of fact, these people may even be leaders in the church. They may be on every church committee. They may participate in charitable works. But these things don’t make you a Christian any more than swimming makes you a fish.

Jesus explained that the way we can know about people is to check the fruit that is on their tree. Galatians 5: 22 tells you what fruit to look for. While none of us is perfect, if Christ is really inside of you then, you should increasingly bear the fruit that is of Him. You cannot give yourself to Christ without His light showing through you. As you walk through life don’t be mislead by people who purport to be Christ centered. If they truly are, they will not have to tell you. You will see that their lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

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Trust

On November 6, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

This scripture was brought to my mind recently and I saw it in a new light. Trusting the Lord is a favorite theme of mine both in my ministry and in my own personal life. I have a personal saying that I wish to walk in “radical trust in the Lord.” And sometimes I have been that deep in my trust, but I find it is a difficult place to stay. The world rushes in; my own thoughts take me captive and the next thing I know, I have let my trust slip.

This proverb points out how complete our trust in the Lord is to be. When we trust the Lord with our whole heart, rather than only part, then there is no room for any other emotion at all. There is no room for even one seed of doubt or one micro-ounce of fear. There is no questioning how He is going to provide the answer we need because we have completely abandoned the problem to Him. When we really trust the Lord with all our heart, then trust is all there is. All of your heart, all of your emotion, all of your thoughts are of easy reliance on our God and Father.

Read this verse again today, for the first time. Read it with emphasis on the word all. Picture a human heart and imagine yours completely full of trust. See that there is no room for doubt or fear. Let yourself feel that immersive trust welling up from inside of you and overcoming you entirely and enjoy a new level of trusting the Lord.

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Hater

On November 5, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 6: 16 – 19

There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife among brothers.

This is an amazing passage to me. First of all, it is so interesting that of the things God hates, I mean really hates, He has included haughty eyes and a lying tongue. Now we all expect Him to hate hands that shed innocent blood, feet that run to evil and a heart that devises wickedness. I don’t imagine any of that is a surprise but what about the haughty eyes and lying tongue? Did you think that God hates those as much as the others?

Secondly, the haughty eyes and lying tongue are mentioned before those heinous attributes that we all recognize as wicked. Also, the author uses a body part to describe each of the things that God hates until He gets to the end. He starts with eyes, then tongue, hands, heart and feet. When he gets to the end he just goes straight to talking about God hating a person who does these things. That is really strong. You may not have thought that spreading strife was that big a deal or making false statements, but it seems to me that those two don’t even get the benefit of a body part to hide behind. The writer just levels those straight at anyone who participates in that kind of behavior.

Lastly, I am struck that three of the things God hates have to do with how we use our mouths and two of them have to do with lying specifically. This is a great revelation. These things are an abomination to God. He hates a lying tongue, a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife. The first two are pretty obvious. As for strife, how is that usually spread? By the words of our mouths usually. Look, Jesus described himself as the truth so of course lying and bearing false witness are an abomination to the Lord. The truth and a lie cannot exist together. The devil, God’s mortal enemy, is the father of lies (John 8: 44) so we have no business having any part in deception of any sort. Jesus is the truth and the Holy Spirit was called, by Jesus, the Spirit of truth (John 14: 17) which stands to reason since Jesus is the truth. So, the truth is completely incompatible with deception and lying. We must choose. It is either truth or deception, God or the devil. You cannot have it both ways. Choose truth in all circumstances and don’t grieve the heart of God.

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Lifted Up

On November 4, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 75: 9 – 10

But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

It is nice knowing the conclusion of things beforehand. It brings confidence. This verse, we should take to heart and remember God’s determination for our lives. He has pre-ordained that all the righteous shall be lifted up. Your house, your name and all that you hold dear are on Yahweh’s list of glory. And by house, I do not refer to the timber box you live in. I refer to your family, tribe, or the group with whom you associate.

The wicked will receive their due. Don’t you worry about that. On the other hand do not become part of their world because the judgment has already been rendered. They will be cut off and hell is their reward. Hell is eternity separated from God. They will be in a dark place where there is no light. It will be awful and some of them are living bits of it now. You see it in people’s lives. Therefore, live your life to Christ, who is the light. Make decisions today which move you into the light rather than into darkness. Everyone gets the opportunity to make those life altering decisions daily, actually even moment to moment. What are you deciding?

Notice that the author has made a decision to sing praises to God forever. That is a decision of the light, and it is a choice. Even as Christians, we get the opportunity to make “light” decisions or “dark” decisions. God has not made us puppets. He values our freewill, probably more than even we do.

Let your light be lifted up as you reflect the glorious luminescence of our dear Lord. Let his light shine upon you so that your life is bathed in him and all that he is. May your life be glorified in him and a praise offering in itself. Be blessed today!

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Qualified

On October 30, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Colossians 1: 12

… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

You are already qualified to share in the inheritance of God. Isn’t that good news? You do not have to earn it. It is done. So, give thanks. Praise the Father. He has arranged everything so that you could be His heir. Even if you do not pray every day, get in the habit of praising every day. That is really more important because God has already done everything He needed to do to bring you into the throne room of grace. He has already provided for your every need. He has already bestowed on you the blessing of Abraham.

You have been pre-qualified. Now enjoy the fruit of what God has supplied you but always remember that as His child He has an expectation that you are not going to use all that He has provided you on your own lusts. He is not increasing you so that you can have a new boat. You can have the new boat and a jet ski too but remember that your job is to feed His children. You are to use your inheritance to spread God’s love and prosperity around. It is not only about you and how much of your inheritance you can spend gratifying the pleasures of the flesh. It is not just about a new vacation and new shoes. God wants to bless you, but He also wants you to bless others. He wants you to be like Him. He is not using up all of His resources on Himself. Otherwise, there would be no inheritance for us to receive. Don’t use up all the blessing that He is giving you on yourself. Thank God and praise Him from the bottom of your heart and then show your appreciation by blessing His kids. Find someone every day that you can bless. Then you will really see the manifestation of God.

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Outlandish Favor

On October 29, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 11: 3

And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

If you know the story about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, you know that neither Moses nor the Israelites had favor in the sight of the Egyptians in the natural. They were hated and despised. Pharaoh was more than fed up with Moses and Aaron. At one point Pharaoh told Moses that if he saw Moses’ face again, Moses would surely die.

None the less, when it came down to it, God was victorious. Not only did Pharaoh release the captives, but the Israelites carried out of Egypt much gold and silver. They left 400 years of slavery in immense wealth. God gave them such favor that the Egyptians just gave over their wealth to the Israelites. That is God for you.

We know that through Jesus all of the blessings of the Israelites have come upon all people; all who call God their Lord. How much more should His favor operate effectively in this country and in our lives than against such high odds as the Israelites faced in Egypt? After all, the Israelites were slaves when they were in Egypt. None the less, when they left Egypt, they left with the Egyptians’ wealth. The Israelites didn’t earn that bounty. It was the favor of God on their lives that moved the wealth out of the hands of the Egyptians and into the hands of the Israelites. That same kind of profound favor is available in your life too.

God sent His son to the cross for you so that you could enjoy all the blessings of God. We must accept in our hearts that God is a good God and that He has good intentions towards us. Then with our faith we reach out to Him with the expectation that He will be a good partner in our lives. He will lead us by His Spirit into the land of favor and abundant life. That is what Jesus came here to do (John 10: 10).

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