Monthly Archives: February 2020

BE STRONG

1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

It is hard to encourage others when you are needing encouragement yourself. As I was praying this morning, the words “be strong” were what I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me. I searched the scriptures, many references in the Old Testament, but I landed here where Paul was closing his letter to the Corinthian church. As always, I wanted to understand the context, so I went back deeper to the preceding chapter, and I read of Paul’s testimony, and these scriptures stopped me. 1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. “But by the grace of God, I am what I am”……I was who I was, I am today alive by his grace, and tomorrow if he wishes I shall be where he wants me in time. We cannot grasp the complexity of a sovereign God’s controlled blending of ones free-will and his ordained steps. I struggle so greatly on the sects of Christianity that divide, those teaching religion or soft gospels that do not transform lives. So many get hung up on election, pre-destination, and the arguments of free-will, that they never seek to live in the freedom of a heart seeking God’s will each day. I grew up in a doctrine of election to the point I did not know how to be elected. I discovered grace later in life and now see the abuse of the hyper grace moments of time in raised hands and signed cards. I do not see lives transformed, those living as disciples of whom they have come to call the Lord of their lives.

There is no way you can understand the sovereignty of God, no way to understand his power, his control, his ability to direct the details of your life, how he can turn bad into good, how he can still love us unconditionally to the point he died for us….I could type an endless list and each of us could interject a personal details. How big your God is, is directly related to how little you comprehend him, or even think you do on some small scale. All God wants is to make you like Christ, to make you as he designed you to be before sin entered the world. Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Jesus is coming back real soon, back to claim his bride (the body of believers), and your eternity will be based upon your decisions and life here. Do you call Jesus your Lord? Is your life different from the day you say you became a Christian? Is there enough proof to convict you of being a Christian? You cannot earn it, but a humble heart that realizes that is granted the keys to heavens gate. Talk to God, seek him in prayer and his Word to see where you are lacking. Make Jesus your Lord today, and be strong in the grace God gave Paul and you to do so.

How to rest

Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

“The most dangerous thing an old man faces, is still thinking he is a young man” (author unknown). That is probably the most accurate statement to describe myself, and many of my peers at this stage of life, many of us in seemingly a transition stage of life. My thirties and forties did not phase me, yet my fifties have kicked me in the teeth. I know not if it is the weakened physical capacities or the slipping mental abilities that bother and worry me more. I have peaked, and am headed down the backside of life, yet I do not, nor will not give into that ideal without a fight. I am a danger to myself, yet in the back of my mind looms how tired I am, how I desire to rest as this chapter speaks about. Rest is a deep word in scripture, many meanings, yet a root of them is surrendering to God. We rebel in our flesh as I described, and we war in our spirit to work out our salvation, instead of resting in the faith of the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews was written to the Jews, who God had rescued from slavery, told them of a Promised Land he would give them, and for forty years they roamed in the desert in rebellion. Their faith was such a roller-coaster that an entire generation did not enter the land God promised. When you begin to study this chapter of Hebrews it speaks of the rest by God’s example here, and hints to the eternal rest in Heaven to those who believe. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. There was a reason God gave us the Sabbath example in creation, to show us our need for rest for our time here. The eternal rest is a place of peace our limited minds cannot fathom, eternal paradise with it’s Creator. Religious duty dominated the minds of the Jews, rest seemed so hard for them to attain.

Our world puts stresses on us to a level we were not designed for. We do not know how to rest, and the phones we have in our hands all day are warping our minds into split-second needs and false satisfactions; we are never at rest. Their accessibility and ability has been pulled into the work environment, being expected to be available 24hrs a day for any work responsibility. Our children’s generation will suffer the most, their minds from young ages now only able to handle seconds of attention, before changed their attention to the next thing in line. They will become much more tired, much earlier in life, their thirties will feel like their fifties. How will they rest……

I truly believe time cultivated in a written Bible, a copy you turn one page at a time, produces a soul rest your heart desires. God’s Word speaks to you when you slow down and take time to read it, resting in the assurances he has given you.

Consider it

2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

I see pain all around me
I see so many hurting within
I know many struggling on large scales
I have my own I can’t win.

I see the Christians fighting demons
I see their worlds falling apart
I see their endless tribulations
I hear of the ripping of their heart.

I fight my own battles each day
I am no different from you
I hide behind smiles and scriptures
Still within not knowing what to do.

I learn of those close to me
Struggling to go on each day
We all wonder what is of this life
We wonder if there is a better way?

My heart hurts for them deeply
As I search for words to say
I battle my own demons daily
Wondering if I know a better way?

Paul wrote to Timothy in the letter
He spoke of the war he would face
He used the athlete’s analogy
Of seeking to win a marathon race.

We cannot see the invisible war
But we can feel it’s affects
Good versus evil over our souls
The spiritual and flesh connects.

In some twisted way he believes
Satan thinks he can still win
He wars against the Christian with vigor
Your soul is the prize within.

Your fate is sealed eternally
Your sins covered by Jesus’ blood
Don’t let Satan convince you
To keep your head stuck in the mud.

There is something strange about it
The harder you try the worse it seems
Satan seeks only to destroy you
And he will do so by any means.

Consider it your duty to serve
As a soldier of the most high King
You will fly on the wings of eagles
And victories bell you will hear ring.

The better way is so simply
To know this life is a short time
And know paradise awaits you
To those who consider this short rhyme.

Victory is found
On the holy ground
At the Cross he paid
For why you were made.

Good Words make ya’ wise

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

This is the way I see most Christian’s lives being lived out; seasons of highs, followed by lows, seasons of seeking God, and the cycle continues. Many a sermon has been preached on the trials of life, either going into one, coming out of one, or the blessings between them. I can attest to you that since God got ahold of my heart, that has been my life’s cycle. Anyone preaching a prosperity gospel of worldly blessings and easy living is lying to you, and having you focus on this life, instead of the eternal one filled with immeasurable wealth in Heaven. I know not how they contend with the suffering for our faith that fills the New Testament. Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. God’s ultimate desire is for us to be like Christ, therefore we must “suffer” to some small degree, just like he did on the highest scale for us.

When I was praying this morning, the Holy Spirit whispered the scripture above in my ear, to not lean on my own understanding. I am a planner for a living, have a very stressful demand upon me for many lives, and it weighs upon me heavily. I am seeing God at work in this Trackside Ministry on an incredible scale, so Satan is attacking my mind and my financial state to torment me. I have openly battled anxiety and depression, and their waves pummel as the tides of the shore. My business is focused on the weather, and we are incredibly slow with this Winter’s warmth and rain. The highs of this weekends ministry, were followed by faults pointed out repeatedly by my enemy. Both of these weave the fabric of the high of anxiety, followed by the low of depression. Anxiety can come at a moments notice, while depression always lurks under the surface. Both require a defense mechanism, almost an offensive attack, yet sometimes a retreat……yielding defeat. The cycle is physically and emotionally exhausting.

If it were not for my faith in the sovereignty of God, the all knowing all powerful God I worship, I could not do this. If it were not for the testimony of the years of his provision, at times when I had no means, I would not believe it would work out. My business and my family have survived on God’s math the last 10-15 years, it makes no sense, because it is through His provision, not my direction or ability. As you see in the picture, I have frequented this Proverb, even comparing it to another favorite of mine, Ecclesiastes highlighted in blue. Proverbs 3:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. When you are struggling in life, in any way, search out the scriptures for a good word from God, it will make you glad you did, and you will be wiser for it.

Seed of Faith

Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Yesterday was a day of fear, a day of violent storms, flooding, wind and tornados all around my hometown. The city found itself in the crosshairs of a direct hit, business people lined stairwells in skyscrapers, and children huddled in school hallways, living what they knew was not like a drill they had practiced before. Fear gripped many people yesterday, and likely many of them said prayers for the safety and others, not knowing what the next minutes held. God uses big things like these, to show us our need for him, and to tug on hard hearts, tilling the soil in preparation for planting the seeds of faith. Do you wonder how many have found their faith in natures power, how many have plead to God for safety, and their lives changed eternally with those answered prayers?

In the text above, we are seeing Jesus send out people into the towns to share about him. We are seeing Jesus sending out his messengers ahead of his arrival, being bold in their faith, going into the unknown. When you read around the context of this passage, you read of the houses of peace; those homes in which God has already prepared hearts to receive the Good News, hearts that have already answered the call of God, or are about to respond to that tug he has placed upon their hearts. The power that God gave them in their journey was incredible, but Jesus told them not to rejoice in what they have here, but what was to come. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Such simplicity in that statement, such as our faith should be, not to worry or rejoice in regards to this life, but to focus on the paradise of the faithful into the next.

What if someone around you had prayed to God for safety yesterday? What if they felt that tug of God on their heart, but they really didn’t know what to do with it now? Satan is already attacking them, trying to steal the seed planted on shallow soil. (Matthew 13:18-28 The parable of the sower) Satan is always trying to discourage those quickly who just sought out God, who may have just prayed and had an answered prayer. Satan will immediately tell them it was a coincidence, have them laughing it off, back to their old ways, and Satan smiles. What if you were bold like those Jesus sent out, proclaiming your faith to all God has prepared to hear? What if God could use you to encourage someone about answered prayers, about their need for Jesus, about the next life that lasts eternally? God is always doing a work before you, you just have the opportunity to join him where he has already been working, and hopefully get to plant eternal seeds of faith.