Monthly Archives: September 2015

Feet for today

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Well……the big question is……..what is the desire of your heart? Wow, so you mean anything, you might think? Our minds speed down trails of countless stuff; money and all that it could buy, happiness on endless measure, fame, fortune, sex, drugs, rock and roll……all desires of a worldly heart measured by worldly standards. We want everything the other guy has. We desire something better that we have, what we have is never enough. I have found myself going down this road over the past couple weeks with a truck; selling one, and getting another one, just because the Suburban is old….I want something new; I am no different from you.

Psalm 37 is a contentment psalm. David writes it regarding why the question of why the godless prosper by worldly standards. I love how one of my study Bible’s puts it; “The faithful are called to be loyal to the Lord – a loyalty expressed in contentment, honest dealing, generosity, and just speech.” A heavenly view, on and about earthly things. It makes me think of a parallel of likely the most abused scripture in the Bible; Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That verse has been quoted and claimed for the pursuit of countless worldly pursuits of success since Paul penned it. The context and meaning of that passage are not success by any worldly measure; not God giving you anything as a reward of his strength in you. Paul is writing that epistle from prison; Paul is writing of being content wherever the Lord has him at that present time in his life. Philippians 4:11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Paul saw and lived with a hearts desire for the Lord’s will to be done to and through his life dedicated to Him.

Read Psalm 37 today; pray for God to open your heart to the truths found there. Learn how to be content in what you have, where he has you for your life today. Worry not about tomorrow. Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Contentment is a place of peace in the Lord. Contentment is a place of joy in the Lord. You begin to grasp a glimpse of his sovereignty there when you seek him with all your heart. Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. The peace of God, is found in contentment, is found in a heart that seeks him wholly, seeking to live their life as Paul did, content wherever He had their feet for the day.

New Family Members

Mark 3:33-35 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

I can promise you, without fail, anyone who has given their life wholly to Jesus, living their life as his disciple, has close members of their family that struggle with it. In open discussions with his disciples, I too have heard of the family struggles of different levels of faith, to agnostic (no faith), to slander, to anything else you can imagine. There is a pain that the disciple must endure when someone close to them won’t live their life for Christ. There is a pain in the slander that comes to those who live for the world, those who live stuck in religion, those who deny God. The pain the disciples endure, is used by God for their benefit in some way they don’t understand.

Jesus had done so much incredible teaching and healing, that now he was being accused of being crazy, or even worse, one of Satan’s angels. His own family, his brothers did not believe him after living with him for 30 years. John 7:5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. One of those hardened hearts, later wrote one of the first books in the New Testament (James). Jesus knew his time would come. Jesus knew that God would open his heart, and he would play a role in the kingdom work eternally. Jesus knew his earthly family would come around, in God’s timing. Jesus concentrated on those he now called his family, those who became his disciples and lived their lives for him.

God will redesign your circle of friends and family to fit an eternal order. God will have hardened hearts around you, slanderous hearts around you, but those that will edify you also. Those who will diligently pray for you; those who will exhort you with a word from God; those who will truly be there in life’s trials, with Godly wisdom and encouragement. Embrace the new family that he is placing before you. Embrace the love, wisdom, and rebuke that comes with true Godly friends.

Living Testimony

Revelation 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

I have been reading through Revelation this week; time becomes lost when you disappear into the prophetic story of the certain future of mankind. The book of Revelation fascinates me, intimidates me, and makes me leery of expounding upon it. This book is incredibly descriptive, and carries a warning of those that might add to their own interpretation of it. As you read of John’s descriptions of heaven, and God’s judgement upon mankind, you read of those who lived their lives for Jesus, and their eternal rewards that will come to them. Heaven is a place we cannot imagine; sin taints our minds of the endless potential of a sinless world. We are marred by depravity, yet the Word of God stretches our imagination of living in paradise with him. The book of Revelation will put a smile on your face when you see what awaits you as his child rescued from sin. The book of Revelation is a book of promise, a book of hope, a book that points you to vivid descriptions of your own piece of heaven.

In the context of Revelation 12, Satan has been at war in heaven during the Great Tribulation, defeated, and cast down to roam the earth. This great beast is going to torment those who believe in Jesus, those who will not bow to him, but look at the strength found in verse eleven above, “they have conquered him.” Satan is defeated by those who remain faithful, those who see him for the defeated enemy he already is. Those who seek God with all their hearts, obeying the first commandment wholly. Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. When you are seeking God through prayer and his Word every day, their is a strength that he gives that will even defeat Satan, even to the point of death, for you realize it is temporal. Paul spoke of this struggle of suffering for faith, but remained steadfast in his faith to the end. Philippians 1:23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. The strength found in a heart that abides in Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.; is the strength of God to endure all things that come our way, even the temptations, trials, and tortures, that our defeated enemy brings upon us.

Your testimony is something that Satan has no power over. Your testimony is how Jesus has changed your life. Has Jesus changed your life? Is there any evidence of it? CH Spurgeon said, “If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction.” Your daily walk is a testimony either to conversion, or false conversion. Your living testimony may be the only Bible someone has ever read. Live your life in reflection of the change Jesus has made in you. Live your life seeking Him, and all that is his will for your life. Your enemy can’t take away a heart that has felt the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness that has realized their need for a Savior. Let the Gospel do it’s work in you, through you, and be a living testimony to it’s power.

Heavenly Outsider

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

The world tugs at our hearts, minds, and bodies to invest in worldly pursuits. The world parades every lust and pleasure in front of us to lure us into the pursuit of it. We see countless things that we want, we place all our energies into working to obtain, all the while sacrificing what really matters, relationships of both heavenly, and the people He has placed around us. Nothing else matters beyond your relationship with Jesus, and those he gives to you to invest in eternally. Nothing else remains after you are gone except the people you invest in. Every once of energy that you spend pursuing anything in relation to success that is measured by worldly standards, the smartest man who ever lived, (Solomon), wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, labeling it “vanity of vanities, and chasing the wind”
I remember studying John 15 and seeing my pride there. Even seeing how Jesus said you can’t do anything without abiding in him, I saw my pride of I can do anything I put my mind to. We are lost in our prideful pursuits of success, our prideful pursuits of religion, our prideful pursuits of elevating ourselves in any fashion. God has continued to take out his hammer and chisel to weaken my pride continually; daily physical pain is a reality to me, and I see him at work in it. John had just written of the gift of God, the Holy Spirit given to us, and the incredible gift of heavenly wisdom that comes with it. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John continued to write of the peace that comes with Him, a peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace that the world does not comprehend. John continued to write of the struggles that will come to the disciple of Jesus, of how we will become outsiders to all those still in pursuit of worldly things. 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. It is OK to be a heavenly outsider; you are a chosen child of God to share his light to a dark world, to endure tribulation for a short time, and reap a heavenly reward for eternity. One who abides with Jesus is one who seeks to live their life for him. To lay down their desires and pursue righteousness and heavenly things following the will of the Father for their short time hear. They invest in people and relationships.

Political correctness is a huge problem in our society today. Scared to offend has crept into our churches and our minds. Satan is doing a great work in keeping people from standing for the truths found in God’s Word. Satan is smiling every time we refrain from pointing out sin, from committing the sin of omission, for the sake of feelings. Being a Christian means more than just accepting Jesus, being a Christian means standing for truth, being a like the prophets in the Old Testament who were obedient when God told them to speak up. Spend time in God’s Word each day and let him mold you into the disciple that abides, the disciple that stands in his strength, not scared to be a heavenly outsider.

Fear of Hell

Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.

Why is it these days that most pastors shy away from preaching and teaching on Hell? You can almost go as far as to say they don’t preach on sin. The messages have become concentrated on just warm and fuzzy good news that tells the people what they want to hear, but never the real Good News that comes with a life convicted and rescued from sin. There is equal power of God in both the good news of Jesus Christ, and the conviction of sin which points us to our need for him. He is not only our Shepard that keeps us from trouble, but our righteous judge who will call us to account for our lives. The political correctness has slipped into our pulpits; we are afraid to offend for fear it will effect the financial state of our church. So many mega churches and even our small town churches, have forgotten how to preach about sin, repentance, and Hell.

Jeremiah had a tough calling of God placed on him. He was to call his people to repentance, to turn from their grave sins of idol worship and back to the one true God. His prophetic book is full of him being open with God; of him lamenting over the struggles of his life, of his struggles with the tough ministry; but he simply could not contain what God laid on his heart. Notes in my my Bible put it this way. “The thread that wove together Jeremiah’s knowledge of God was his understanding of the word of God.” When you spend time in God’s Word, meditating on the truths found there, he places them on your heart and mind. An understanding, that is heavenly sent through the Holy Spirit, is a gift from God. There is power, and their is conviction found when these truths are revealed and comprehended to you. Sin will bring on a new sting, both self and what you see around you.

In the gospel of Matthew, we are called to lay down our cross, our sin, our struggles, our focus on all worldly things, and to follow Jesus. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? The more time you spend in God’s Word, the more you understand sin, the consequences of it, and the promise of heaven’s rescue from it. When I fail daily, I repent of the sin daily, and I am constantly reminded of the presence of God’s mercy and grace. Holy, reverent fear of God is a good thing; Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Fear of Hell is a good thing too.

Biblical Repentance

Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

It is really hard to cover big topics in this OneMinuteMinistry, but sometimes the fundamental must be approached. I have been discussing repentance with someone, and the Spirit has been keeping it on my heart. When God approaches us, yes, he makes the first move, (John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.) then, will we begin to realize that we are a sinner and eternally lost. We can’t begin to grasp all that is found in Jesus, until we realize our depravity; we are condemned to hell without Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Repentance is turning from sin, a change in action, and change period. Repentance biblically defined is changing your mind about who Jesus is, what he has done, and what it means to your temporal and eternal life. A humble repentant heart is one that understands their need for a Savior, one that repents of their sin and turns from it, and lives their changed life as a result of that repentance. CH Spurgeon put it, “If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction.” If you have prayed a prayer, signed a card, and nothing has changed in your life, do you really rest eternally that you have recognized the condemnation that awaits those who do not truly make Jesus their Lord and Savior? It was only a short time later in Luke 13 that Jesus addressed those who thought they were saved, and were condemned. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

If you are resting on Sunday’s religion alone, or weighing your life on the scales of good deeds, your hope is false. If you rest on the understanding that you are a chosen child of God, forever rescued from hell by Jesus, then your life is one of self-sacrifice for the One who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Living your life with Jesus as your Lord will produce heavenly fruit that flows for the heart that abides in Him. Repentance, properly defined, is necessary for salvation. “Biblical repentance is changing your mind about Jesus Christ and turning to God in faith for salvation (Acts 3:19). Turning from sin is not the definition of repentance, but it is one of the results of genuine, faith-based repentance towards the Lord Jesus Christ.” If God is stirring your heart, that is him making you realize your sin. Repent of your sin, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and live your remaining days here living your whatever he wants you to do with your life. That repentance is Biblical and eternally rewarding.

Cartoon Caption Box

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

One little thing, one really big thing, stands out in this passage – fulling the lusts of the mind. We could go down each of our own mile long list of how we outwardly fulfill the lusts of the flesh. It would be countless pursuits of stuff and pursuits that we thought would bring happiness and fulfillment. We likely have found it but temporal for a moment, and moved on to the next pursuit that grabbed our attention, but our thought life is invisible, and likely hidden sins from everyone except God. My old pastor put it something like this, “If I knew what you were thinking I wouldn’t talk to you, and if you know what I was thinking you wouldn’t listen to me.” What if we all walked around with the cartoon caption box above our heads revealing our true thoughts to others? Sin would abound on a level we cannot imagine, if our inner thoughts were not hidden any longer.

Paul was writing of our life before Christ, of how carnally we fulfilled our sinful desires outwardly and inwardly. I look back at my life before Him and even justified the inward sins as long as they never produced an outward action. There is not a man alive who has not looked at another woman with inward lust, but the Bible says that thought is as guilty as the action. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. How do we men battle the lusts of our minds in the such a sexual exploited society where it abounds before us every day? We must prepare ourselves by starting each day with God in prayer and his Word. This is a daily battle all men face, even the pastors you see every Sunday. This is a battle that requires daily spiritual nourishment and repentance.

Paul wrote in Romans 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.
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. The renewing of your mind, is the daily act of the pursuit of purity and holiness worked out by the sanctification process of the Holy Spirit living inside of you. The pursuit of God by your time spent seeking him, is how the Spirit steers you from sins, even the hidden ones. This is a continual battle, one that requires continual preparation; daily time with God in prayer, repentance, and his Word. God knows our heart, knows our mind, and thankfully we don’t have the cartoon caption box to let everyone else inside our heads.

Peace within you

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

In the time the Lord gave me pastoring for about a year, I closed most services with the reading of this passage before prayer. No matter where God had us that day, the peace of God could fill us that day. We could be stung by the conviction of sin, or challenged by our lives, or even as a affirmation of what Jesus has done for us, but the peace of God is always available to us. This passage speaks of the gift of God, the Holy Spirit given to us, God living inside of us, changing the way we do life once we grasp that understanding. Sadly, so many of us do not grasp the gift of God that comes with the Gospel, that comes to the humble, repentant heart before God. Jesus said it was better for him to ascend into heaven; better for those that even walked by his side that he was to leave them, so that he could live within them. John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

I was actually reading this passage in Romans 5, that study lead here this morning. 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (ESV) Suffering abounds today, just as it always has since the beginning of time. God uses the trials of life to point us to our need for him. You are enduring nothing that someone has not endured before, and you either rebel against God, or draw closer to him as you see your need for him. Many times we realize coming out of the tribulation that we were closer to God than we had ever been as a result of being knocked to our knees. When you are at the bottom, you only can look up.

I openly struggle with anxiety; it is a spiritual battle and one that continually points me to my need for time with God. I find strength in his Word; I find strength in preparing myself for a war I cannot see, but very much feel and endure. Even on it’s worst days, the days I want to retreat into solitude, my bedrock faith and peace are never shaken. A life of struggles, whatever God allows in your life, only points you to your need for daily time with Him. You are not strong enough to do life without Him. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. The more time you spend with God, the more you feed His Spirit living inside of you. The closer you get to God, the more his peace fills your soul. This requires more than religions church attendance and dry prayers, but a heart for God such as King David. I promise you, that if you will truly seek God, you will find the peace of God……living inside of you.