Monthly Archives: April 2012
I want to change
I want to change
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Most of us want to change ___________. Yep, fill in the blank. We all have something that we want to change about ourselves. But any and all change is only accomplished through Christ first. Nothing can or will change you eternally except Salvation. Without Christ, there is nothing but temporal change that will always leave you unsatisfied. Upon Salvation, and the indwelling of the Spirit within you, there comes a yearning for more, or should I say change. We begin to want to improve our lifestyle, to grow closer to God, to become a better person. These are only accomplished through Christ and through seeking His guidance as in Matthew 6:33. True change is accomplished through seeking and following God’s Will for our lives.
If there is one thing I can speak to you outside Salvation, it is to live this lifestyle of Matthew 6:33. Put God first and into everything of your life. Spend time every day in His Word and prayer to see your life evolve. All these things you plan are futile if they do not fall under His leadership. All these things you plan will fall into place if you truly seek Him, and you may find out your plans were not as well thought as His for your life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. God will reveal Himself to you once He sees the honor you place on Him with your heart truly seeking Him. When we put Him first, and don’t move without seeking His guidance, He is there for us. The more time we spend with Him every day, the more we begin to understand what His Will is for our lives. Once we begin to understand that, the rest falls into place.
I tell you this because it is my testimony of change that started with Salvation, and led to wanting to simply start reading my Bible every day. Change happens through the Word of God and prayer. A few minutes every day has turned into hours, and that has changed my life. What I once valued most, I now value least, and I see things that truly matter. God will open your eyes through your heart once you begin to seek Him first in all things. All you must do to change is to accept Him, then seek Him, and follow His Will for your life.
Worry? Only for a day, if that!
It is hard to condense a favorite verse into a OneMinuteMinistry. It is hard to decide which road to go down when God has spoken to me so many times in so many ways in these scriptures. How it is a spine of my belief system to Seek Him First. How if I could tell anyone anything next to Salvation, it would be to live your life as in Matthew 6:33. If you will truly put God first in every avenue, every detail of your life, the rest of your life will fall into place. Today I touch on anxiety, which I have been open with my struggles with anxiety and depression before, but I have found the best medicine was between the pages of the Book that is the strength He gave me. I may spend a few days here in Matthew, so bear with me as God reveals my heart to you to encourage you to seek Him in all things!
Worry? Only for a day, if that!
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6 is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. The Lords Prayer is found there, the scriptures about time alone with God, fasting, and then it ends in the passages about anxiety. I struggle with anxiety and must press into these scriptures often. Just as a lawyer in a trial would issue their closing statement, Matthew says if we put God first in all things, nothing else will matter. Verse 34 even closes that argument stronger in the avenue of worry. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We must understand the frailty of life and spending the day worrying about the next day that may never come is an exercise of wasted effort. James 13-14 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Matthew 6:33 is a scripture that represents a lifestyle. It represents what you value, what you place before God. How big is your problem, or how big is your God in the avenue of everything that occupies your thoughts? When Satan enters in through doubt, he gains a foothold in the weakening of your faith. He begins to undermine your faith and continues the attack. But you must realize that God gave you the power to overcome him, and this is accomplished through prayer and time in the His Word. There is strength in the Bible that will push Satan down when worry comes and I can personally promise you this. Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. The world worries about how their needs will be met. As a child of God you can rest in His assurance that He will provide for you today, and you will have no need to worry about tomorrow. That is the description of biblical peace that you can obtain by Salvation through Christ, and a relationship with Him through daily time with Him, that nothing can take from you.
How can ya’ love…….?
How can ya’ love…….?
1 John 4:17-19 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
John was the apostle whom Jesus loved, and much of John’s writings are an expression of that love. In the verses before this (1 John 4: 12-16) John is speaking of knowing and seeing God through love, and how our lives are a reflection of Him in that. If we truly abide with Him, we will love one another and become an outpouring of that love, in a self centered world far from it. 1 John 4:12-13 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. The world we live in preaches self at all costs, and Christ preaches humble love through selflessness. When we abide in Him, we begin to reflect His love for others through our actions and reactions that go against what the world expects. They begin to wonder what makes you different.
So much of the world right now is in a state of elevated fear in all arena’s. The wars and rumors of wars are on the forefront of the world stage. The world economy is on the verge of collapse, and most of us have seen drastic changes in our own financial struggles over the recent years. All this is creating fear, but you can possess an inner strength that can overcome that fear. Love and fear are an oxymoron from God’s eyes. Fear is not from God, but from Satan. 2 Timothy 1:For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. When we rest in the eternal security of Salvation, not even war or poverty can tug us down the road of fear Satan wants us to take. He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world. Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Seek the relationship with your heavenly Father daily that will produce a heart full of love, and a sound mind full of peace, that can face the daunting days with a smile that will reflect Christ.
Roller-coaster
Roller-coaster
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
The roller-coaster ride of the thing we call life. It really does seem to be the perfect analogy with all of the ups and downs, the constant direction changes, the going in circles, or even when we feel as though we are going crazy like a corkscrew. We set our plans in motion and a unexpected drop or turn is thrown into our path. We begin to climb the ladder of worldly success and upon reaching the pinnacle, the world falls out from under us. There could be countless analogies that we all could insert our stories into that ride. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, and he understood that from his own success and failures of it. I strongly encourage you to read the book of Ecclesiastes for it is so relevant for today. Ecclesiastes 3: 2-8 is a great description of that roller-coaster of life.
In Ecclesiastes 3: 2-15, my Bible commentary puts it; “Solomon teaches that all events are in the hand of God, who makes everything happen in the time He judges appropriate.” It is so hard for our prideful, sin filled hearts to ever accept the idea that we are not in control of our lives. But all that comes to us, or leaves from us, passes through the hands of God either by His design or allowance. Matthew Henry puts it; “That every change concerning us, with the time and season of it, is unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power; and we must take things as they come, for it is not in our power to change what is appointed for us.” His commentary is so strong that I have includes a link below to it. With the understanding that God is in control comes a Peace that this world cannot provide. We are assured of how He can work any situation ultimately for good in Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Once you have accepted Christ unto Salvation, there is nothing this roller-coaster of life can throw at you that will ever leave you in fear of leaving the tracks, for God designed the ride.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/ecclesiastes/3.html
Even that?
Even that?
Philemon 1:4-7 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
Yesterday I was sharing my love for God with a customer. He is a brother in Christ and we were just having a great talk. But the reason we started talking was the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do so. When you feel those nudges inside to share your faith, do you respond or immediately begin to argue why this is not the time? Many times we get scared or “cold feet” when we feel led to share out faith. But we are actually saddening the Spirit that lives inside us, for He seeks to edify and share Himself with others. Ephesians 4:29-30 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Christ told the disciples in Matthew 4:19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This was and is not accomplished by remaining silent.
God can use you in ways you don’t realize, understand, or maybe even conscious of. In Philemon Paul was making a plea to him regarding someone whom had wronged Philemon. Paul was also edifying him for he knew of his love for God and even had a local church meeting at his house. Paul was pleading for forgiveness for the one who had sinned against Philemon. When we speak with someone it should always reflect the love that Christ has instilled in us. These are accomplished through our deeds also. In 2 Corinthians 9:8-15 Paul is speaking of giving to the poor and sharing Christ with them in doing so; how the sharing of our faith through deeds all brings glory to Him. But it is accomplished in our daily routines of life also. Those every day meaningless tasks that occupy time can are even used by God to draw those surrounding you to Him. Nothing is wasted in every breath of your life if you live to glorify Christ. This life in pursuit of Him will not grieve, but please Him that lives within you.
Don’t Go
I have been asked about my testimony recently, and the reflections of my 44 years have been flooding my mind. A life full of sin, a poster child for many great sins, for I even sinned to the best of my ability I presume. But now it sickens me and I strive to live a better life, to walk in the Light as He is in the Light (1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.) This has become a daily pursuit, a life seeking to abide in Christ. It does not come from Sunday’s alone, but from putting God first in all things. It means that Satan is making my life real hard trying to steer me off God’s path. But it means that I also have the power and plan of God to use these trials of life for His glory and my understanding of that. His Will be done, not mine.
Don’t go
Romans 13:11-12 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
You have accepted Christ and the gift of Salvation, and you are back to work on Monday morning. Life goes on and you wonder what is next on the to do list. You know something has changed inside you, but yet the world leaps out at you and presents all those old sins that seem much more enticing than before. Satan seems to have wrapped them up as gifts and hopes to draw you away from your new found life. That is a spiritual battle that you now have entered but you have the assurance through Christ you are playing in a game that is already won through Him. He defeated Satan and sin at the cross for eternity, but Satan wants to convince you otherwise. You must seek God and His Word for the His strength to fight this battle. Galatians 5:16-17 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Your old life and your old sins will try to tempt you to come back to them. Satan is the author of all that temptation for God will never tempt you to sin and God will provide you a means of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. That means of escape can simply be a conscious move on your part to remove yourself from the possibility of the sin. Remove yourself from that person or place where that sin has a opening to your soul.. Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Escaping from that sin can be very simple for there is a place where the sin takes place. Do not go there.
Marching Orders
Marching Orders
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
In the days after Christ’s Resurrection, He was appearing (and disappearing) to those whom He loved. He was encouraging them and preparing them for the ministries that they would spend the rest of their lives pursuing in His name. All of these appearances were to solidify His returning from the dead, even appearing to over 500 as in 1 Corinthians 15:6. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. Then just before He ascended into Heaven, He gave them their marching orders known as The Great Commission above in Matthew. To spread His name, to live righteously, and to have the assurance He would never leave them.
Do you follow Christ’s marching orders? Do you not only try to live right, but try to share what He has done for you? We are all called to become disciples putting Him first in all things. Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. When we began to truly realize what Christ did for us it begins to stir our soul. The Spirit inside us begins to prompt us to share what we possess. Do we deny the Spirit and those promptings never to share our faith with those He puts before us? When those opportunities arise, they are designed by Christ for you to encourage them through the guidance and strength He provides. Moses was scared to death when God called him to speak. But through God He delivered a nation. Exodus 4:12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” The Holy Spirit that resides inside you upon Salvation is that same voice that will lead you in times of sharing your faith with others. Be ready, willing, and able through the strength that lies within to share what you possess following Christ’s marching orders to you also.
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