Reluctant Warrior

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

Luke 6: 32 – 35

And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Fore even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

You can know that God did not choose me as the editor of His book because had he, this section of text would have been edited out. This is Jesus speaking and presumably he is teaching from a position of understanding and wisdom. Whatsmore, everything Jesus teaches us is for our own good even though sometimes it is hard to see the spiritual law behind the command.

I suppose everyone has a thorn in their flesh and thorns are usually people. The worst part about it is that the person Jesus is speaking about above is someone you know. I hope it is not your spouse but it likely is someone in your family or church. It is usually someone close to you. That is what makes this so difficult. You can’t get away from them. Maybe it is someone you work with. No matter what a jerk they are you still have to practice your grown up Christianity. That means that we have to love the jerks even though it is to us that they are being unkind. And guess what. You really don’t even get to call them jerks. Verse 36 says for us to be merciful and verse 37 says “Do not judge.” I have to make a judgment in order to conclude someone is a jerk. 

Did you see the part about loving our enemies? How about doing good to them? What!? Are you kidding me? Now I will tell you honestly, you may be a bigger person than I but I cannot love them in my own strength. I feel strong, negative feelings bubbling up from deep within me and I want to give voice to them and they are not nice. That is me in the natural. If I am going to love them and be nice to them then it is going to have to be through the love of God within me. I am going to assume most of you are like me, still struggling a little with the flesh when you are injured. This is where we have to dig deep. We have to fill up on the love of God. We need Jesus to step out front. 

The first thing is not to let the junk come out of your mouth. Your will can help you with that but it really requires the strength of the Lord. Then start praying for the offender. You aren’t going to want to but do it anyway. Jesus wants you to pray blessings over them. It is crazy. Here is the part that is so hard. You pray for God to bless them and because God honors your prayers, even though that person is not walking in the light, they get blessed. Then they act ugly to you and Jesus wants you to pray more for them. “Look Jesus, I was already gagging on the last blessing they got and you want me to bless them more? Did you not see and hear what they just did to me?” That is what my flesh is screaming but then I am reminded of Jesus’ walk on the earth. One of his beloved betrayed him. That had to hurt. Others disappointed him but through it all he remained the picture of grace, love and blessing. And then I am challenged. I say I want to walk in this earth as did Jesus. Well, here is my opportunity. What will I choose? Shall I rant and rave and tell of the injustice done me? Or will I pray? “Okay Lord, you win, I will pray for them but you must help me as it catches in my throat.”

I imagine everyone can relate to this scenario. We have all been through it, haven’t we? So, you pray but a half hour later you find yourself angry again. Stop right then and forgive them and pray for them. Then when it rises up in you again in an hour, forgive them again and pray again. This is a battle but we are not unwise children. We have the might and the wisdom of our Lord. We’ve got to tag him and let him jump in the ring for us. He has already defeated the enemy and given us power to win. Our victory is in Jesus and in taking his advice. If we will let him be our strength and humble our wills before him, we will come through these battles victoriously.

And don’t miss the end of the passage – great will be your reward and you will be honored as a child of God.

Back to Top

Called Out

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

Isaiah 45: 3

And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

Did you know that you are called of the Lord? And that he has called you by name? Well, you are called. He has called you to himself. Who will answer his call? He is willing to pour out his blessing on you to confirm his call on your life. The secret to all of this is in the answering of his call. Run to him with all that you are. Withhold nothing from him. So many people pray to him for the things they need when the real answer is to turn your face to him. You do not have to call him. He is already present with you, calling your name. You have only to acknowledge him. In every way that you acknowledge him, he will be your Lord and bless you. If you let him be the Lord of your health, he will bless you in your body. If you acknowledge him in your finances, he will release his blessings in your financial life. Acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make your paths straight (Proverb 3: 6).

Back to Top

On December 19, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 23: 5

Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.

It is my opinion that Christians should not be feasting on the nightly news. Sure, it is good to know what is going on in the world but realize, it is the world’s news that is being reported, it’s even in the title of the news show. Those reporters are not reporting your news because you are not of the world. Does this sound trite? I hope not because this is a very important point. The news shows can only report the condition of the world. Our news is found in today’s scripture selection. We have been relieved of the effects of the curse and God has given us blessing instead.

Now here is the truth of this matter. You can have either report you wish. If you listen to and meditate on the world news tonight then that is what you will receive. If, however, you read God’s report and meditate on it, that is what you will receive. You will have whichever you give your attention to. You see Christians going the way of the world and it is heart breaking. It is because they are filling themselves with the world. We have 24 hour news channels that pump the airwaves full of doom and gloom and if we participate in it we will receive doom and gloom. It really is that easy. If, though, you fill your heart and mind with the Word of God and let His words penetrate your spirit then you are going to reap blessing even while 10,000 fall at your side.

Romans 10: 17 teaches us that faith comes through hearing. Whatever you put in your ears consistently is what you will have faith in. It is easy to develop fear in your heart. All you have to do is pump yourself full bad news. The reality is that even under the same circumstances some people will suffer while others succeed. We usually attribute the successful person with good luck but it isn’t luck. They daily program themselves to succeed. Computer programmers know this. They say, “Garbage in, garbage out.” They understand that the output can only be as good as the data input. So what input are you feeding to your spirit? It absolutely will determine whether you succeed or fail, whether you live in the blessing or wallow in the curse. And may I say, I have seen the truth of this personally. You can watch two people who are equally situated and in five years their conditions will be very different because one of them chose to listen to God while the other filled up on the world news. Your spirit can’t bear that immersion in the world. Don’t do it.

A person who will apply the Word of God to their lives will succeed even when the economic and environmental conditions are against them. Success isn’t in the stock market. It isn’t in your job. It is in the Lord our God who causes us to reap where we have not sown, who gives us a hundred-fold harvest in the midst of the famine. Our success is our inheritance from God so don’t let the doomsayers influence you. They aren’t talking about you. Your God, your Father loves you and turns the curse into blessing for you. Let His words fill your ears and your heart. Believe His report. You will be so glad you did.

Back to Top

Holy Health

On November 3, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Malachi 4: 2

But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like claves from the stall.

There is so much to love about this scripture. The image is one of incredible blessing for those who love God. Just thinking about the sun of righteousness rising on you might be enough to dwell on for quite some time. But that the rising of the aforementioned sun brings with it healing is great news. Because you love God, because you have dedicated your life to Him, there is blessing in the wings for you. One of the blessings is that you should live a healed life. You do not have to accept the sickness that the devil has spread. God and Jesus have already provided for your healing and your health. They have so blessed your physical body that as you receive more of the blessing, you will be able to skip around like a calf. You are expected to be spry and agile. Your body serves you. And if you are in Christ then you have your life in Christ and your body is his temple. Your body is dedicated to the service of the Lord and the Lord is responsible for its upkeep. Thank the Lord for his grace and mercy and for the great gifts he has bestowed on us.

Back to Top

Honor the Lord

On October 3, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 9 – 10

Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes us rich, that prospers us and meets our needs, not the work of our hand nor our wisdom. God blesses the work of our hands and is he more than willing to give us his wisdom. We then follow his wisdom and the thoughts and plans that he gives us and we prosper. What is our part then? We are to honor him with the fruit of the success he has given us. We are so blessed of God to live in this country and to have the opportunities that we have. We are to take our opportunities and bless God with them. Bless his kids. The first 10% of our increase or our income is to be set aside for God. That is the tithe. Out of the 100% he has given us, we are supposed to give him 10%. That seems like a pretty reasonable ratio. But don’t let your giving stop there. Re-read the passage for today and you will see that the gifts that you sow are what God is using to get more to you. He uses your seeds to bring you a whole other crop so that your barns will overflow. Don’t be stingy with God. Bless him so that he can continue to bless you, so that he can increase your overflow. Honor him with your wealth so that he can create in you super abundant overflow.

Back to Top

The Greater Blessing

On September 8, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 20: 35

“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Do you really believe that? We have heard this expression all our lives and we have each experienced those moments when giving something to someone else really did bless us but, do we actually believe this statement in our hearts?

Sometimes I think the world is divided into two groups, the givers and the takers. It seems sometimes that people do not flow from function to function but rather remain fixed in their group. I have observed folks who are accomplished givers. They think of things the rest of us would never have considered. It isn’t that we wouldn’t do some of the same acts if we thought of them, we just never think of others that sincerely. We live in a society that tells us to “Get all you can for yourself” and “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This is not the Christian ethic so there are warring messages inside of us. To which of these voices will we surrender?

I want to send out encouragement today in the hopes that the result will be each of us looking around for someone to give to. Proverb 19: 17 reads, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” I would venture to say that anytime you give to others, whether or not they be poor, God is well pleased. The way I see it, that provides a number of motivators for giving. First, it pleases God. Second, it is like giving to the Lord. And third, self-interest is advanced. Don’t think the third one is “dirty”. God rewards his kids and it is His pleasure to do so. Besides, isn’t self-interest the reason most of us are not more generous in the first place? 

I honestly believe that this “giving thing” is a real big deal to our Father. We are supposed to be like Him and we all know that He is a giver. Additionally, we are told that kindness is one of the traits we are supposed to exhibit (Gal. 5: 22) and the verse from Proverbs makes me think that kindness leads to charity. Charity is part of a generous heart.

Here is what I would like to suggest. Let us all give something today. Let’s just all unite in a spirit of giving for this one day. Find some way to give something to someone. Now here is a thought. Make it personal. The easiest thing to do is to give to a national charity. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t require much of us personally. It would be really great if we could all do something for someone where we can look them in the eye or make some kind of personal contact. We should endeavor to give out of our hearts not our pocketbooks. The two can go together but the former cannot be overlooked. One other caveat . . . I learned this from Joyce Meyer; don’t just give away something that you don’t want or are done with anyway. Give something meaningful. It does not have to be expensive but it should come from that good place inside of you. Maybe it is nothing more than buying someone in the break room a drink. It doesn’t have to be big but you should extend yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit.  

Open your eyes and look at the world a little differently. Look for ways to bless folks. I am hoping that you will have a lot of fun. I am also hoping that you will write me this evening telling me how you were blessed.

Back to Top

Follow the Blessing

On August 27, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 28: 2

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.

When you read the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy you see that there is much blessing promised in that chapter. I quite like the idea of the blessing chasing us down in the street and overtaking us. And as much as we might relish that thought and even believe God, we still might question how it is going to happen. The answer, fortunately, is in the last phrase of the sentence. The blessing is in our obedience. That may sound more spiritual than it needs to. It is more basic than many of us appreciate. God will bless you even in tough economic times by giving you ideas and plans for gaining wealth. Maybe he is telling you to save 10% of your income. Maybe he is telling you to give money to a charity. We have to become sensitive to the urges God is using to prompt us and then we must obey. Maybe we have thought to give money to a minister but haven’t done it. Maybe we had a generous thought towards someone else and didn’t follow through. God isn’t trying to get something from you; he is trying to get something to you. He will prosper you in these times but you must obey. In the midst of a bad economy, God wants to prosper you abundantly. Listen to what he is telling you. Pray about it and by all means follow through.

Back to Top