Hey Dad!

On May 3, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 8: 15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Which part of this verse would you like to talk about; the part about the spirit of slavery or the Abba, Father part? In fact, they are really the same. We have been given the spirit of adoption; we have been adopted into the family of God. No longer is He a deity only. He is now Daddy, Papa. He isn’t far removed to those who have received this spirit of adoption. He is as close as your next breath.

This expression, “Abba, Father” is one of intimacy, familiarity and fellowship. This isn’t the name or title you would call the priest. This is what you would call your earthly father in the most special times, when you felt closest to him. When you reach this level of comfort and relationship with God, then you will find that the spirit of fear no longer reigns in your heart. Then you will notice how many people really do live in some level of fear. You will begin to stand out, at least to yourself, as very different because you just are not afraid. You understand with the deepest part of your being that your Dad is not only the biggest guy on the block but also that He is watching out for you and will make things alright for you. This confidence is not a form of denial. It can recognize danger and risk. It also is not foolhardy. When, however, you know that your Dad is powerful and you know that He is looking after you, then you don’t have to fear. It is simply a confidence born of trust and experience.

When a person is beset by fear, they truly are slaves. Fear will take your life prisoner. You will make decisions based on the part that fear plays in your life. Without even realizing it, fear begins to control aspects of your life. If it is left unchecked, it will grow like a weed. Soon you will discover that it has taken a deep root in your life and is so well entrenched that it is hard to remove.

My advice is to cry out to God, “Abba, Father” and let Him bring intimate, personal, familiarity into your life. If He is always “God” to you and never “Dad”, then you will likely never gain the kind of confidence and trust that sets you free from oppression. The New Covenant is all about Him moving into our lives and setting up house in our spirits. He longs to be with us. There is no longer separation unless we put it there. You have been adopted into the household where there is complete comfort and peace. You need be a slave to fear no longer. Be freed by the love of the father.

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Flashing Lights

On February 5, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 9: 3 – 4

And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice.

Everyone needs a personal meeting with Christ Jesus. It is in this personal contact that we come to know the person of Jesus. Hopefully, most of us do not need a wakeup call as loud as Paul’s though. Paul could not hear the quiet voice of Jesus. He was too busy persecuting followers of Christ to hear the voice of the Lord. He was a zealot pursuing a course of action that he thought was right. Though he was trained in the law, he did not have a relationship with the Father. He never checked in with Father God about what he should be doing. He just decided in his own reasoning that he was protecting the church from heretics. As it turned out, he was far outside the will of God. After his encounter with Jesus though, he learned to follow the leading of the Lord in everything he did. His religion came alive on that Damascus road. It was no longer a book of the law to be rigorously followed; it became a relationship with a beloved Lord. In like manner, we all need to meet the Lord personally. We need to know him personally. That begins with recognizing that he is still alive. Jesus is not dead, he is resurrected. From there you have only to ask him to enter into a personal relationship with you. That is it. That is what this whole thing is about. If Christianity is a stale religion to you, I invite you to meet Jesus personally. Talk to him. The next thing you know, you will be walking in a deep love relationship with the one who loves you.

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Closer to Thee

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

James 4: 8

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Do you desire a close personal relationship with God? Do you really want to be one of the people that talks with God, rather than at Him? Well, you can be. That kind of closeness and relationship is available for as many as who desire it. You have to initiate that kind of rapport though. God has given us free will and He is not going to violate yours. He is not going to force you into a close friendship with Him. But, if you initiate it, then He will joyously join you.

But how do you really draw near to God? The first and easiest thing to do is to spend time in His word. His word is part of Himself. When you read and search the word of God, you search the heart and mind of God. You will learn a lot about Him and you will find Him in those pages. 

Secondly, spend time talking to Him. Forget traditional ideas of prayer. Just talk to Him like He was your best friend. He likes being part of everything that is important to you. Tell Him everything. Talk to Him about everything.

Lastly, learn to praise Him and be appreciative of all that He does for you. In the beginning you might not be aware of how many things He does for you in a day but as your relationship grows, you will begin to see His fingerprints on many things in your life. When you sincerely tell any friend how important they are to your life, it always draws the two of you closer. Learn to express your gratitude.

As you begin to do any of these things you will find your relationship with Him growing and becoming closer. It all begins with drawing closer to Him.

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Getting to Know You

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

John 14: 9

Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me?

Philip was one of Jesus’ hand-picked apostles. He was on the executive council, if you will, of Jesus’ ministry. He walked, talked and lived with Jesus everyday for three years. They ate together, traveled together and ministered together. One would think that anyone in that position would know Jesus pretty well. None the less, Jesus accused Philip of not knowing him at all. Jesus sounds pretty astonished that they spent so much time together and yet Philip still did not have a revelation of who Jesus was.

Of course, my reaction is if Philip walked daily with Jesus while Jesus was in the flesh, on the planet and didn’t really know him then what chance do I have? The truth is, many of us call ourselves Christians or followers of Christ and yet do not know him very well at all. It should be our goal, though, to become intimately familiar with him. We can do that, you know. Jesus is still very much alive and although he is not here in the flesh he still talks with his people every day.

In many ways we have even more of him now than the apostles did. He has now made our hearts, your heart, his temple. We can, and many do, have daily fellowship with him. Reading Jesus’ words to Philip makes me cringe. I sure don’t want Jesus to say those words to me or worst yet the words he spoke in Matthew 7: 21 – 22: “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”.

So what is the point? The point is that we, like Philip, can hang out in all the right places, partake of all the right feasts and rituals and yet come to the end and find that we don’t know Jesus and he doesn’t know us. So how do you get to know Him? Well, John 1: 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So we start with the Word, but you knew I was going to say that didn’t you?  Next, jump over to Joshua 1, verse 8 and see the advice God gave Joshua: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” So, step 2 is to meditate on what you read from the Bible or ponder it, we might say. This really isn’t an intellectual exercise although it may sound like it. We aren’t analyzing, cogitating or thinking about what we have read. It is more like mulling it over, rolling it around inside of you for its deep meaning. Through this process, revelation arises.

And then we should have the word in our mouths. That’s what God said. We speak as he speaks. We keep His words in the forefront of our thoughts and in our heart. Lastly, pray but when I say pray I really mean spend time seeking Jesus. Talk to him as you would a dear friend. Take him with you everywhere you go. Spend the day talking with him and listening to his responses. The more you hear him, the more you will get to know him. Seek him, that is the real key. If you seek him, you will find him. I promise.

The greatest reward of Christianity is getting to know Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. They can become your closest friends if you like and it is nice to know they are always there with you. Don’t get caught out in the cold. Get to know Jesus.

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The Symbol of the Word

On September 28, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 6: 6 – 8

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

God places a high value on His words. God’s words are the difference between life and death both spiritually and physically. Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6: 63). We see from these verses that the words of God are to occupy a preeminent space in our life. 

The first thing that God tells us this valuable asset is to be installed in our hearts. I have been following the teaching of Dr. James B. Richards. He has a breakthrough teaching, program actually, which is called Heart Physics. I strongly recommend Dr. Richards’ teachings generally but the Heart Physics specifically. The bottom line is that we can, and should, connect with God in our hearts. Moreover, this “religion” which we call Christianity is in reality not a religion at all but rather a relationship with the creator of the universe and our beloved Father. In fact, the purpose of Jesus’ ministry in the earth was to restore us in fellowship with the Father. It takes place, though, in the heart and Jesus is the Word, so it is logical that The Word must be incorporated and integrated in the fabric of our hearts. 

Not only is the Word supposed to be close to our hearts but we are supposed to share God’s Word with our children. We are not called to teach religion. God says to teach and share His Word. We should fellowship over His Word. One of the reasons we do so is because there is always blessing in the Word. Even when you go out to dinner with friends, if your heart, conversation and fellowship are over the Word you will find that blessing always follows.

Lastly, if we representatively have the Word of God on our hands and our foreheads then we constantly represent the Word. If on our hands, then the Word is in everything we do; if on our foreheads, then the Word is what people see where ever we go. So, meditate on this passage today and determine how the Word can infiltrate every area of your life.

Look for Dr. Jim Richards’ programs at www.impactministries.com.

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Paid Return Ticket

On September 21, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joel 2: 13

Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil.

Are you as close to the Lord as you want to be? Are you as close to him as you once were? Do not worry. He is a God of great compassion and graciousness. This is a great time to draw nearer to him. He does not hold grudges or count passed time. He just wants to be your closest friend. He forgives all even when we don’t deserve it. He sent Jesus to this earth to be the sacrifice for us so that nothing would ever stand in the way of our close, personal relationship with him. Do not let anything in your past prevent you from drawing nearer to him today. There is no hardship and suffering in him, only love and compassion.

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