Stormy Waters

On August 16, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 4: 35 – 41

35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”

36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Don’t you just love this story? It is so out of our realm of experience. The storm they encountered out on the sea was obviously a big storm because waves were crashing over the boat and filling it with water. There were gale force winds. That is not the time most of us want to be out on the ocean. First of all, Jesus was just sleeping through it. That is amazing enough but then when his disciples awoke him, he actually rebuked them for their lack of faith. He was disappointed that they were afraid. Now how many of us would also have been afraid if we were in that kind of storm while on the sea? And yet Jesus tells us that we should not be afraid nor should his disciples have been. We are supposed to counter frightening circumstances with faith instead of fear. Isn’t that remarkable? Jesus did not even seem to think that the storm required a lot of faith to overcome. He accused his disciples of having no faith. You would think that hanging out with Jesus would cause his disciples to have great faith but they were even more afraid of him than they were the storm. They began to learn what he could do but they were not learning yet that it was his faith in the father that was the source of it all. Jesus expected the disciples to take care of that storm using the same faith that was available to him. What does that say for us? 

We must all learn to utilize that same faith that has been given to us through the son and the Holy Spirit. First by reading and meditating on this story and others like it, we can begin to become familiar with the level of faith that is available and even expected of us. We cannot begin to walk in this level of faith until we accept the idea that this kind of faith is possible to us. You cannot have what you cannot believe for and you cannot believe for that which you cannot fathom. Therefore, the first thing for us to do is to begin to wrap our minds around the concept of an enlightened faith walk. That is a harder task than it may first sound like because there are so many people who just cannot believe past the end of their noses. They won’t want you believing big either so they will attempt to discourage you. My advice is to follow Jesus example rather than theirs. I just think that you would rather walk like he did than anyone else you know. Set your eyes on him as your example and begin to tell yourself that all things are possible to those who believe.
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Rightful Reliance

On August 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2: 4

Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.

There are quite a few observations we can receive from the prophet Habakkuk. One of the first is that the proud person and the righteous person are not one in the same. That may seem obvious but perhaps we have not yet made that connection intellectually. We can be either arrogant or righteous but not both.

Secondly, Habakkuk tells us that an arrogant or proud person is not right on the inside. There is something amiss in their soul. This is really tragic. There is damage on the inside and this damage or unresolved injury prevents this person from being righteous. Now in the New Testament, Jesus is our righteousness so one might argue that righteousness still belongs to the arrogant or self-centered person because of Jesus. The problem with that argument is that this righteousness, which was purchased for us by Jesus, must still be received. The arrogant person can no more receive the grace of God’s righteousness through Jesus than he was able to do under the old covenant. God has always been the source of righteousness. We must die to self, take our eyes off of ourselves and live unto Christ if we want to walk in the blessing of Christ. All the blessings are provided for us but they are “in Christ” where we too are supposed to be. We cannot be into ourselves and into Christ. One might even ask how a person can be a Christian, a follower of The Way, with eyes, motivation and passion focused on oneself instead of on the Christ.

Lastly, the self-absorbed person cannot live by faith. Faith is in the rightness provided for us in Christ Jesus. That means that an arrogant person cannot also be a person of faith. This person, even if he confesses to be a Christian will be unable to live and walk under the umbrella of faith. Faith begins with Jesus. Faith comes through an end to self-reliance and a surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of Christ (Romans 10: 17). Faith, therefore, requires submission to the person of Jesus. Faith requires that we put our egos, ideas, thoughts, reasonings and truly all that we are behind the words of Christ. That necessarily means that we cannot be self-absorbed, self-impressed or self-sustaining and also reliant on the person and words of Jesus. We must take the idol of our intellect off of the throne of our hearts and ensconce Jesus there.

Not one of us wants to admit that we are arrogant because only fools are such. Whatsmore, I may find it quite easy to lie to myself in this regard, but here is the question I must consider, that is, not whether I believe or think myself to be arrogant but rather what others may say about me. If I can be completely honest with myself do I suspect that others might find me self-impressed. Oh dear God in heaven, save me from myself. Repentance brings the oil of gladness and repentance means nothing more than turning and going the other way, it means a change of heart, a change of mind. It does not mean travail or moaning and groaning. Just let Jesus and his word change your way of thinking. Be saved by the renewal of your thoughts, by the refreshing of your mind and be free from the burden of yourself.

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Strength and Courage

On July 18, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 27: 14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.
This is certainly a good verse for teaching about waiting on the Lord. I was really intrigued, though, over the line, “let your heart take courage.” I see in those words that we must make a decision to be encouraged. We have to decide to let our hearts fill with encouragement. You can choose to be discouraged or you can choose to be encouraged. Perhaps it takes strength to allow yourself to stand in courage instead of living in discouragement because David tells us to be strong. Certainly, in waiting on the Lord, you must decide to “faint not.” That means, don’t give up. Don’t give up on God or let your faith founder while you are waiting. Waiting in faith does take backbone. You have to decide to stand regardless of the appearance of the situation around you. You must decide to keep on confessing words of faith even when the circumstances appear bleak. You have to decide to let your heart be filled with courage. You can even learn to encourage yourself when you don’t have an encourager to do it for you. You purposefully decide to be of good courage. You purposefully decide to believe God and his word instead of letting your heart fall into discouragement. If you have felt discouragement lately, take heart; be of good courage because now you know that you can affect the condition of your heart. Allow yourself to be encouraged. Allow your heart to be filled with courage. The Word of God is the best encourager there is. Get in there and let your heart be full of the encouragement of the Lord.
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Believing

On June 30, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 21: 22

And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this verse simply said, “All things you ask, you shall receive?” But, there is that problematic word set off between the commas, believing. We receive all things which, when we pray, we believe we will receive. In Matthew 8: 13 Jesus told the Centurion, “[L]et it be done to you as you have believed.” That could be frightening if Jesus said that to many of us. We might be concerned that we will receive just exactly as we do believe. Is fear dominant or is faith? Most likely we have been receiving just exactly as we have been believing. 

 
In Mark 9: 23 Jesus told a petitioner, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The man immediately cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” The man had not been in faith when he first approached Jesus. He told Jesus that he had brought his son for prayer but that Jesus’ disciples had been unable to cast out the spirit which was oppressing the boy. Jesus responded “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to me.” The boy was delivered to Jesus and the boy’s father said to Jesus, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” Jesus must have been amazed at the father’s unbelief. He exclaimed, “If you can!” That is when Jesus said to the man, “All things are possible to him who believes.”
So whose unbelief was it that Jesus was speaking to? It is often presumed that Jesus was dismayed at his disciples and maybe he was. But take a look at this man. When the boy was taken to Jesus, he did not immediately pray for the boy. First he spoke with the father. He had to change the father’s unbelief into belief before he prayed for the boy. You see, it was the father’s unbelief that was keeping the boy imprisoned. When Jesus told the father that all things were possible to him if he would but believe he cried out, “I believe!” Well, that is a great start. First get your confession right. Say out of your mouth that thing which you need, the result you want. Secondly, knowing that he was no faith giant but rather was in unbelief, he asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. That was the real issue. That was where Jesus had to minister. As soon as the father believed, Jesus was able to cast out the spirit. The boy was set free.

In order for us to receive the great gifts of the Lord, we too must cast out our own unbelief and become real believers. Pray to the Lord for help and work on believing Jesus. When he says a thing, just accept it. If it is too big for you, then ask the Lord for help in believing. This is how the whole kingdom of God works.

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Good God

On June 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 8: 32      (New Living Translation)

Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
Our God is a good God. That cannot be said enough. So many times we think that God is punishing us when something bad happens in our lives or that God is trying to teach us a lesson. That just is not true. Our Father loves us. If He loved us enough to let His only son die a cruel and horrible death for us, will He not also give all good things to us? Is it reasonable to suggest that He did not withhold His son but is withholding all kinds of other good things from us? The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6: 17 that God “richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” We are increasing in our knowledge of God and His nature. As we do we also increase in our trust in Him because we come to know that He wants to perform good works in our lives. Then the relationship with Him also grows and we come to trust Him even more. The more trust we put in Him, the more we are able to walk faith. It all keeps growing to our benefit but the first step is ours. We must let him be a good God to us and expect good things from Him.
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Ready, Willing and Able

On June 10, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 14: 28 – 31

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (emphasis added).

I want you to notice that Jesus did not hesitate but rather when Peter needed him, He moved immediately. Many of us have the idea that God waits until the eleventh hour to move on situations. I have been guilty of that myself. Now that I have seen this verse I must reevaluate my thoughts. Jesus did not wait to see if Peter could work it out for himself. He did not let him sink a bit in order to let Peter exercise his faith or grow. As soon as Peter cried out, Jesus saved him. Jesus did teach Peter that it was his lack of faith, his doubt, that caused him to begin to sink but He took hold of his hand first. Jesus works that same way with us today. He wants to teach us and he wants us to walk in faith but He always provides for our safety first. He will not throw you out in water over your head and expect you to walk on the water all by yourself. He will always have you by the hand. Not only that but also He will teach you all you need to know in order to succeed in your endeavors.
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Fearless

On May 10, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 112: 8           (NIV)

His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

This is just one of the benefits that belong to the person who reveres the Lord. We are supposed to come into a place within our faith that we no longer fear those who strive against us. Our hope and our trust are in Him, our Lord and provider. In Him is victory. In Him is peace, the kind of peace that makes us secure regardless of the circumstances. We can come into a place wherein our thoughts of Him and our faith in Him are bigger than any other person or thing we encounter. We only have to keep our eyes glued on Him and His word and speak His words instead of the doubt of this world.

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