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Monthly Archives: June 2013

Contentment is expelled

06 Jun

Contentment is expelled

Revelation 3:14-22     “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,’These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’–and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked– 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‘ “

I was talking with a pastor the other day and telling him that this was the ministry I felt called to described in the passage above. We all have different spiritual gifts and callings; some are evangelistic, some are encouragers, all are called to repent. I was that guy from Laodicea; I felt comfortable in my life in so many ways, and I felt comfortable in my faith giving God an hour a week at church. I had grown up thinking you went to heaven because you went to church. That was how it worked; I could do all that I wanted and give God my hour to pay my entry gate fee for paradise. I could have all that I wanted now, as long as I sat in the pew on Sunday morning, no matter what I did Saturday night. By the grace of God I came to realize I would regret that lifestyle for an eternity if I did not repent of it. Now I fell called to an uncomfortable, tough ministry of the life I once led, but now through His grace and mercy I left behind.

Church will never save you; being a good person will never save you; no good works will ever save you; you can never do ANYTHING that will earn your way into heaven. Only through a humble repentant heart, is the key to eternal paradise; only through that heart seeking the forgiveness found in Christ’s sacrifice is heaven. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. There comes a point in your Salvation, that God begins the Sanctification process; making you more like Christ. You will be led to let go of sin, and turn to Him. This is a lifelong process, and at many times it is very painful; but it is the ultimate goal of God, to see His Son when He looks at you. This refining process should open your eyes through your heart, and bring about a desire to know more of Him.

I am going to take some time over the upcoming days to study this passage. I hope that you will join me on this journey. I pray that God will speak to you and open your eyes as He did mine. I pray that we will grown closer to Him together as a result of our time together with Him. Will you join me as we try and dig deeper into this passage; to grow closer to Him and move away from that happy medium of contentment? You are either growing in your faith, or you are backsliding. The middle ground of contentment is what is described in Revelation 3 above.

 
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Posted by on June 6, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Oh yea…. He did that too

05 Jun

Oh yea…. He did that too

Genesis 1:14-19   And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years. 15 Let their light shine down upon the earth.” And so it was. 16 For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 This all happened on the fourth day. (NLT)

Moses was writing the history of time, when time began, when God formed the earth, & heavens, and all that we know of it today. We can’t even come to the smallest grasp the power of God in creation; our small minds cannot fathom the complexity of speaking these things into existence. We are so wrapped up in the works mentality, that creation has become belittled in science and media into an evolution process. It takes greater faith in err to believe the idea of evolution, than it does in a supreme being and creation. The evidence lies before you every day of that supreme being; the proof that cannot be explained, and the evidence of your need to worship Him.

Moses was telling us of the fourth day, of the division of night and day, of the creation of the sun, and moon, and stars. The worship and mystification of the astrology has been around since the days of Moses; people seem drawn to the signs of the stars. The beauty in them, has led to worship of them. Moses directs that almost as an afterthought; “Oh yea, God also created those stars too; no big deal.” God breathed those stars existence. They were simply an act of his Will in  creation of all he had planned. They hold no special power, they are not worthy of worship, they are a natural beauty of creation to behold and point us to the power of God. Deuteronomy 4:19 And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the forces of heaven — don’t be seduced by them and worship them. The LORD your God designated these heavenly bodies for all the peoples of the earth. (The Message).

I say that if God can breath a star into existence, the details of my life are a breeze. When I get wrapped up into questioning the why of my circumstances, I try to remember it all falls under His design. Where I am at, what I am facing, what I am struggling to understand is all for me to draw closer to Him. Satan is the one who draws people into astrology; he is the same one who plants doubt and fear. I must rest on the hope that is found in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When I wanna know the answer, all I really need to do is know God. All I really need to do is to continually seek Him, and in him I may find the answer, but I will surely find peace to know he is in control of it all.

 
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Posted by on June 5, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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My hearts desire

04 Jun

My hearts desire

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

Lord I need you, oh I need you. Every hour I need you.

I awake to find a new day, as the pressures of the day rush in, you are there to comfort me.

I lie there in thought, what will the day bring? What will you bring or allow Lord?

I awake with the enemy pressing thoughts of worldly demands; he tries to steal my focus & joy.

I lie there early in the day, engaged in the war of the mind; the demands press down.

But in my soul, you lift me up; you give me the strength and desire for you in each day.

You give me the expectation of meeting you early each day. You give me hope for the day.

You give me the desire to arise early and seek You with all my heart, mind, body, and soul.

You meet me in prayer and your Word; you give me words of encouragement as your child.

You give me the understanding that all my struggles are temporary; eternity with you awaits me.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

You give me the desire to share with others what I have in you; for hope lies in you.

You give me the desire to share what I have found in you; my prior life that was lost without you.

You give me that testimony to encourage others embattling the same struggles; the hope you freely give; the grace you give; the mercy you give; the love you give; the promises you give; the understanding you give; the love you give; the endless fountain of life as your child you give.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

You place the desire in me to preach your word to all that will hear; you direct my path.

You give me the breath for the day, you give me hope for finding you throughout it.

You give me the me that desire to love you with all my heart, mind, body, and soul.

All I have, all I need, all I want is found in you Lord. Lord I need you, oh I need you.

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Recharging Batteries

03 Jun

Recharging Batteries

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

This ol’ world we live in will run you down if you let it. The pressures of life, and the seemingly endless problems in life, can take the joy out of life, without Christ in your life. Satan does all that he can to take your eyes off the eternal reward; he wants you to dwell in the present tribulation, to sink into the despair of it, and blame God for it. With a heart for God, you will seek God in it, and your faith will grow and deepen; Satan’s plan backfires. Satan may even come to you as the worldly blessing; this is a slippery slope where the joy of it slowly takes your eyes off the Provider. You become wrapped up in it, and forget to praise the One whom gave it. Anything that takes your focus off Christ is from the enemy, but in it all you can use it against the enemy, in that realization of a heart for God.

The apostle Paul has just laid out the doctrines of Christianity and he is now about to lay out the duties of it. He is plainly speaking of how to live your life as a follower of Christ; how to become a disciple by which you are called. 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. You are not of this world any longer when you come to Salvation through Christ. You are to live your life differently; you are now a child of an eternal king; you are in-dwelt with His Spirit living inside you. That gut feeling you get sometimes is Him speaking to you; listen and obey. I still remember early in my walk, my pastor plainly putting it to me; “That gut feeling is the Holy Spirit pal.” That simple statement stuck with me; Christ is living inside me now.

I speak of getting my batteries recharged a lot. This world seems to suck the life power out of me, and it is through seeking God every day that I find His power to face the day. It can be in prayer, His Word, a conversation, an encounter with someone; it is always just the right thing, at just the right time. It gives me a renewed spirit; it renews my mind; it re-charges my spiritual batteries to face the world again. Matthew Henry describes it well, “It is the same with making a new heart and a new spirit-new dispositions and inclinations, new sympathies and antipathies; the understanding enlightened, the conscience softened, the thoughts rectified; the will bowed to the will of God, and the affections made spiritual and heavenly: so that the man is not what he was-old things are passed away, all things are become new; he acts from new principles, by new rules, with new designs.” 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. You too can recharge your batteries every day with a heart, mind, body, and soul that seeks Him daily. His power supply is endless and eternal.

 
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Posted by on June 3, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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