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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Strength in contentment

07 Feb

Strength in contentment

Philippians 4:11-13     Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This point in Paul’s letter was most likely the reason he wrote the letter; he had received a gift from the Philippians, and he wanted to express his gratitude. It seems as those this church had continually sought to take care of Paul, even when others had forgotten him; he recognized this and he wanted to show his genuine thanks for it in this epistle. Paul was encouraging them to be content themselves in this epistle, and he used his life as an example of it. He found his every need satisfied in Christ. Contentment is a state of being that is not bred into our society of today: we are either feeling we are entitled to more, or we are so focused on our own abilities, that we feel we can obtain anything we desire. We are never happy with our current state.

Likely the most abused scripture in the Bible: 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We take this scripture, weave it in with pride, and believe that with Christ on our side we can do anything we put our minds to. We believe we can hit home runs, secure business deals, run a marathon, be successful by worldly standards, be anything we put our minds to. This is the opposite of what Paul is teaching! Paul is saying he cannot do anything without Christ! He is saying that through Christ’s strength he can face whatever state he finds himself for the day; he is content in that strength of Christ. Here is is teaching contentment, obedience, and strength, not empowerment of oneself for the means of accomplishing a self satisfying goal.

Matthew Henry says of this contentment; “This is a special act of grace, to accommodate ourselves to every condition of life, and carry an equal temper of mind through all varieties of our state. This was an account of Paul’s learning, not which he learned at the feet of Gamaliel, but at the feet of Christ.” The strength you need to face whatever you may, is the strength found in the contentment of abiding in Christ in that current situation. He has taken you to, what He will deliver you through. That strength in contentment is the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7).

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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This is our God

06 Feb

This is our God

Isaiah 25:9 And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

I wish every morning could be like this. God planted a partial worship song in my head early; and I knew I had to find it. I had a great prayer and began my search, which lead to being moved to tears running down my cheeks with my hands in the air upon hearing it. MOVED by the presence of God engaged in worship to him alone very early this morning. Setting the tone for the day in the realization of a heart of thanksgiving………I could not start the day better reciting the lyrics, “I will fall at your feet”. I decided to do a word search of “this is our God”. I came to the passage in Isaiah 25 above.

Isaiah is not only pointing us to his faith and hope of our God, but he is pointing us to the coming Christ. He speaks of how God will humble and destroy the prideful throughout this Psalm. Of how those haughty in spirit will be brought low with their cities. Of how He will judge the wicked and gather and 10b As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. 11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands. There is God’s judgement that the wicked and those that deny him will pay the price for their decisions eternally in Hell coming. In this Psalm praise is woven in with the coming judgements; those secure in Him will be eternally blessed as a result of his removal of sin. 8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.

I guess I don’t get it; I don’t understand how people don’t see the evidences before them; don’t see the need of a Savior for them; don’t see there is more to life than selfish desires for our time here. Surely in your mind somewhere you must realize that there has to be more to life than this. That ? is God stirring your soul. That ? is a small glimpse of God pursuing you. That ? has your eternity hinged upon your response to it. Deny it and He will deny you. Respond to it and your eternity will be paradise with the One who created paradise. You will possess the blessing of peace and security that will enable you to endure your time here until He returns. 4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 5 like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. (ESV) He is the answer to every ?; He is our God.

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Peace in an out of control world

05 Feb

Peace in an out of control world

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Christ was giving his disciples their marching orders. He was telling them of how he was about to leave them and return to heaven. He was telling them that it was about to get really hard for them as followers of Christ. He told them of persecutions and death to come, as those who hated Him, persecuted those who loved him. He told them they must suffer as his disciples, but to rejoice in this suffering; in the honor of this suffering. John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” They had spent time in the wonder of walking with Christ; now they must take that knowledge and witness of Him, and stand on their own in the strength He provides.

If you are sliding down the highway of life without a trouble in the world, you are most likely a child of this world. What is a child of this world? It is not a child of God, for a child of God is not of this world as Christ spoke in John 15:19. Therefore, Satan,  the ruler of this world, that is on a leash held by God; takes no worry with you, for he has no regard for loosing you. If you dig deep into your heart, the cares of your heart will reveal where you place your hope. Your hope can be in anything you feel as though you can attain; or your hope can be in the realization of how lost you are in sin without Christ. That epiphany is eternally life changing once you come to Christ in it. Once your hope is placed in eternity, the tribulations that will come will only be seen as temporary, and a means to draw closer to God.

Eternal security will bring about that peace that Christ describes. Knowing that you will spend your life in heaven will overcome all that you face today. All that Satan throws at you will only draw you closer to God; backfiring the plans of the enemy. Once you accept the free gift of Salvation, there should be evidence of change in your life. You should have the desire to draw closer to Christ; the Holy Spirit begins to convict you of sin; you will begin to see things differently upon Salvation. Satan immediately tries to convince you that you obtained nothing. He is the father of lies; God is the father of truth, and your eternity is secure. Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Yep…..it is all good

04 Feb

Yep…..it is all good

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; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

As most of you know I am open about my struggles with anxiety and depression. These struggles were never a part of my life until God grabbed a hold of my soul. When Satan did not want to give me up, the battle of the mind is where he began to wage his war. I humbly confess that my struggles are on a spiritual plain, and I humbly confess that is where they are fought. When their is movement on the front lines, I approach God in prayer and his Word. The Word is the only offensive weapon we have to fight against Satan. Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. When the attacks come, the preparation you have made in your time alone with God is the weapon you will use to fight that fight on the spiritual plain.

How is it then you ask that I can describe my faith in one simple word; Peace. 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Paul follows up the scriptures of anxiety with the passage of peace too. Because no matter at what level the battle is fought; of how high the anxiety goes; of how deep the depression sinks; I am still winning the war through Christ; I am fighting a defeated enemy that refuses to accept that fact. God did not promise us a life of ease, but that we may be conformed to the image of his Son; and a part of that purification process is painful. These are either designed or allowed by God to draw us closer to him. This understanding will allow you to obtain this peace.

Paul continues to give us an example of what to focus our lives on; how to find the good and set our minds and hearts on it. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. If you are spending your time filling your minds with all the things in this world that Satan provides you to take your eyes off God; he is winning that battle in the war for your soul. How much time do you invest in everything else but God and His Word? A heart for God is much more that a Sunday service. A heart for God sees God in everything; even the struggles that  He is allowing you to face today, to draw you closer to Him.

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Preparing Sinners and Soul Winners

03 Feb

Preparing Sinners and Soul Winners

Acts 10:17-21   Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. 19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.” 21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”

My best friend has been called to pastor a struggling church in the inner city of downtown Charlotte. I have been at his side serving. and loving seeing God move and work in the early stages of reaching the community for Christ. I am seeing God bring in people from the community that have a heart and a zeal for God; they are surely to be used by God to reach their neighbors. There are plans of how to do community outreach events in the works; there is the front door ministries; care ministries; the pastor is already beginning the shepherding of his flock; there are many aspects of spreading the Gospel, of seeking to see the church grow. By God’s grace in my current schoolwork I am in the book of Acts, and seeing the plans God had for growing the early church.

God was preparing Peter for the unthinkable of his peers as a Jew. God was preparing Peter to deliver the Gospel to the Gentiles. Jews were not even supposed to hang out with non-Jews, much less break bread to sit and eat with them. God had given Peter a vision of breaking the old Jewish law and eating the unclean. 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” At the same time God had given a Roman soldier Cornelius a vision of seeking out Simon Peter. Cornelius was 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. Cornelius feared God, but was not yet saved. God was preparing the sinner and soul winner.

God is always at work behind the scenes. He is preparing the hearts of the lost. He is seeking them and hopefully they are responding to His call on their lives. He is working in the lives of the believers. He may be pointing out sin in their lives; he is showing them truths in his Word and prayer;  he is preparing them for his work through them. The Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his entire household of faith that day. Christ was brought out into the Gentile world for 34b “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.” The Good News is available for all to have, and for all to share in what they possess. God has most likely prepared that persons heart that stands before you today; to hear the Good News which you possess.

 
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Posted by on February 3, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Better than Wheaties

02 Feb

Better than Wheaties

Philippians 3:20-21   For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

My wife gets to the point of listening to my moaning, that she tells me she is just going to take me out back and shoot me. All of my adrenaline filled antics of my younger years are starting to take their toll on my mid-forties physic. I have worked hard, played hard, and abused my body for most of my life. The aches and pains are the daily reminders of past experiences, and God has his hand in a few that humble me more than the antics of my extended supposed youth. These also seem to point me to the sins I have lived in this body; of the abuse that was more than physical. Matthew Henry calls it “an occasion and instrument of sin”. That stirs the heart and mind when we come to that realization.

Paul was speaking directly to our sexual immorality, but his scripture speaks to how we view our bodies also in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? That understanding of our bodies as a living temple will bend our understanding of how we treat the physical and the mindset of them. It should not only move us to try and live healthier lifestyles, it should move us spiritually to truly see and understand what is important. How we eat, how we exercise, how we  nourish our bodies plays a huge part in how we physically feel, which we understand affects our emotional state also. Simply stated the better we treat our bodies the better we feel as a whole.

That spiritual side of your temple is only fed by time in God’s Word and prayer. That is where you gain that peace and focus of the life after this; the eternal life that will bring the renewed body and eternal paradise. You can spend 80hrs a week focused on proper diet and exercise, but your physical body becomes your own temple, and you are starving your eternal temple. The strength gained in the spiritual nourishment brings about a peace the world cannot provide. Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We need that spiritual strength and focus to go out into a world every day that is far from God. Prepare your breakfast today with God. It is the most important meal of the day.

 
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Posted by on February 2, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Huh? I can’t heeaarr you…..

01 Feb

Huh? I can’t heeaarr you…..

Psalm 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.

When I pray, I feel as though I must pray aloud. This is not necessary, for God knows the heart and mind before we utter the words. But in my heart, in my mind, unless it is a circumstance that calls for secret unspoken prayer, I speak it aloud to God. It helps my train of thought, it helps keep my mind from wandering, it keeps the distractions of the enemy at bay. It helps me to know my relationship is strong enough with my God that I can say anything to my God. It also helps me to know that their is strength and the power of God in the spoken word.

Psalm 55 is a deeply emotional plea by David; he has been betrayed by a friend and his plea is for God’s judgement on the wicked. David’s prayers are typically passionate, and he is not afraid to lay his true feelings out to God, and the Psalms are full of these emotions. But they are also full of the reassurances that David has in God’s plan for his life; he knows that God is in control. Psalm 55:8 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me. David speaks of the peace he feels when he goes to God in what troubles him; he knows the strength that is gained in these prayers. 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. You can easily see the reference by Christ in this when He told us in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

There was a time not so long ago I could not imagine praying aloud in front of anybody. Fear was at the head; fear of how it would sound, fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of not saying anything, fear of prayer period. There is no right way or wrong way to pray, period. Your prayers do not have to be full of the religious jargon; many times they are to impress those that hear. If your prayer is a respectful heartfelt plea to the God of the universe, let it be your own words; those many times are the most beautiful prayers. The one thing you must never do is be ashamed to pray, for that sin has consequence. Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. If you feel it, speak it aloud to God and anyone else that he has before you to hear.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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