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Who is sitting beside who?

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

I have been laying low on writing for a couple weeks after enduring multiple attacks, and one vicious frontal assault on me from my enemy from someone close to me. Satan comes in many forms, and his words sting most when he comes through those closest to us; lest you not think you are above reproach, remember he stood at Jesus’ feet and spoke through Peter. Mark 8:33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” You must remember you are at war with the “Prince of the power of the air,” and this war is fought on a realm you cannot even see most of the time, every once in a while it become visible, and it gets even scarier.

This world that Satan rules with limited power, power that God allows in a complexity of free-will, sovereignty, and working Satan’s evil for good that only God understands. God allows even the hardest, harshest, toughest things in life to draw you closer to eternal paradise for those called according to his purpose. God allows you to go down roads of suffering that you would never travel by your own accord, but when you are at your weakest point, you see his greatest power, and you are likely changed forever and given the heart to draw glory to Him as a result of it. You are given the ability to comfort those who need comfort in similar situations. 2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. At some point in these trials of life you may be granted a glimpse of the understanding of God’s sovereignty, a minuscule portion that strengthens your faith immeasurably, allowing you to proclaim your faith to all that will hear.

This type of faith comes with a cost many times. God calls you to difficult ministries, calls you out farther from the world and the world becomes smaller to you. God will begin to lay difficult tasks at your feet because of the gift he has bestowed upon you. Your life becomes a walk of obedience to what the Holy Spirit lays on your heart, and much that he will lay on your heart is difficult tasks of duty, to call out sin, and to endure the pain of his higher calling. No gift from God, not even the gift of Salvation does not come with a cost; even his free gift of his Son, he calls you to become his disciple and to live your life with Jesus as your Lord. Many people live with a false security because they uttered some sentence and never changed, never produced heavenly fruit, never called Jesus Lord, never experienced true repentance, never opened their Bibles again, but just checked Jesus off their religious dutiful task list of life. Do not fool yourself; you will sit beside many people at church who will not go to heaven; hopefully they are not sitting beside that person. You know when you are saved, and you will spend the rest of your life rejoicing in it, sharing it to all that He has prepared to hear. Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height–19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. I am with Paul……that is all that matters to me in life.

Hearing God

1 Kings 19:11-12 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
I knew last night when I heard that still small voice inside of me, God wanted me to share of the past month or so with him. God wanted me to attest of his guiding me down this path of my life to encourage you; to point you to the evidences of himself, from a humble one who seeks only to abide in him, to be his disciple, and to be used to draw others to Him by whichever means He uses. He had let me go down to one of the lowest points in my life, where I received criticism and praise for being open about my struggles; now he has me on a mountaintop, and I want to shout his name from there.

The struggles in my life are many, no different from you, and a huge one of mine is our company, and what the future held with it. Everything with my life revolves around my business; to move it, sell it, to grow it effects my family, where we live, how we live, and an endless discussion of how much sleep I loose over the depth of this topic. One night, God had me awake, and I know not if it was seconds of time or hours, but clearly he whispered to my spirit, “I have given you what you desire in your basement.” This began an intimate conversation on some medium that he answered all my questions of the details of the move, a story within itself. I arose excited and came to my secret place to pray and spend time in his Word to draw even closer to him. In that prayer time he revealed another thing he wished from me, to invest in a ministry again he had used to draw others to himself.

The last month has been incredible. The excitement of knowing you are in the center of God’s will is evident and contagious. He began to reveal himself in seemingly every aspect of this huge undertaking; everything was and is still just falling into place. I testified of why we were doing it every chance I got. The office furniture came at a HUGE discount after we “randomly” ran into the owner and shared our story. We were told how he never gave discounts by his employees, and yet when we returned a few weeks later for more, we were granted the same deal. Fences, security systems, computers, flooring, big projects seemed small. The work poured in with perfect timing to allow us to do the work, but to recoup enough to make payroll and not worry. The blessing of a growth like I have only seen one time before is becoming evident daily. We are hiring, when all other HVAC companies are laying off because it is 80* in February.

This past Friday morning I felt the presence of our Lord upon me. It is so hard to describe, and how I wish I felt it more, but I could feel him around me. I wanted nothing more that to disappear into solitude to pray and spend time in his Word, but the world would have none of it. He strengthened me for the attack that would come that afternoon. I got the call that our van was broke down AGAIN, on the interstate, and let’s just say that is a nightmare. My $6000, 300,000 mile van has been a thorn to me for the six months I have owned it. The seller disappeared when we had troubles right from the start. I now have $10,000 invested, sitting at the dealership, and it became clear it was time to cut my losses and buy a replacement. This all came when our finances are very low with the growth and outpouring of cash in a slow winter. I saw the attack from my enemy and would not give him a victory in it. I posted, “Mountaintop experiences are only appreciated when Satan swings to try and knock you off of them. #abide.” I still lost much sleep over the worry of everything involved with likely a $30,000 purchase, which I set for my limit.

Yesterday I contacted a salesman I had met earlier, one we had talked to about a purchase that didn’t work out, but he is a man of faith and Dana and I shared openly with him. We all agreed it just wasn’t supposed to work out for our trade. Don and I began to text about the van I had narrowed down to, but plan A had a plan B, because I didn’t think I could afford it. When I got there and sat down, what was told me seemed unreal. Carrier had a $6000 rebate, putting me at budget almost exactly. It got better; a fleet purchase came with an extended 100,000 warranty for free. It got better; he got the deal approved with no money down. We both agreed God said this was supposed to work out.

I left the dealership exhausted from being there four hours, lack of sleep, and still some service work to do. I finally began to head home around 4pm, and God reminded me of the promise I had made to take our boys fishing. I will be honest in telling you I really did not want to go, but God pressed in my spirit that I needed to. Dalton met me at the truck with the question about it. Eric texted me while I sat there and talked to them about my day. He told me what to try, and they loaded up while I grabbed lunch at 4pm. We had maybe an hour to fish, and oh my gosh, we caught. It quickly became a competition catching close to 20 fish, and the best fishing trip ever with my boys. The high of that was indescribable, because they only now reading this, might realize how it was even more of a gift from God that hour we had at the pond last night.

Why do I tell you the details of my life? Why do I tell you of all the highs and lows of my life? It is to be an open book to encourage you to pursue God daily. It is to share with you my struggles and how I seek God throughout them. It is to share with you the highs such as this to point you to the blessing of an abiding heart. God will speak to you. God will let you know whether to turn to the right or the left. Genesis 24:48 And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.” The only way you are ever going to hear from God, is to silence the world by seeking him daily, and listening for that still small voice within you.

The End Result

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
As one whose testimony is rooted in pride, I understand this from the Apostle Paul, yet seemingly that statement itself seems prideful. Pride is the root of all sin; pride is the reason from which Satan was cast from heaven, he wanted to be like God. Pride grows in the Garden of Eden when they followed Satan’s lead and wanted to be like God, and then we have the Fall of Man into sin forever. It takes deep reflection and somewhat heavenly revelations, but you can trace much of your sins struggles also back to pride; it is a byproduct of the sin-nature that lies within us, all of us. Pride is as sly as the devil himself, many time creeping in unknowingly to ourselves, but God knows….and sometimes even those around us see it too. God knows the conditions of our hearts, why we do what we do, even when it is represented in a different light to those here. Pride may be at more of your root struggles than you care to admit.

If you read the context of this passage, you see this is on the heels of Paul, almost covertly, boasting of what God has shown him. You must understand what Paul has seen, and where Paul has been. 1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago -whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows -such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man -whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows – 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (NASB) Grasp the understanding that Paul has been to Heaven, has been to the highest Heaven in God’s presence, and returned with that revelation. Grasp that he has been with God, and now imagine in our lifetime now what headlines that would be. Once the news got out, social media would explode, seven figure contracts would be at his feet, and his name would be praised more that the One he visited…… God knew he had to keep Paul humble even in a day seemingly simpler than these. He still would have been elevated to a King’s status, and worshipped accordingly. Paul’s heart was right with God, and I believe Paul understood the thorn in his flesh that God had given him was that. It was uncomfortable, and most scholars agree it was physical (maybe eyesight), but regardless it was an act of God for Paul’s good, and an act of God that Paul could use to point others to God through their own struggles.

You are no different from Paul; you have struggles too and many times plea with God to take them away, many times for God to heal those he has not chosen to heal. God is sovereign on an unfathomable level; the designer, sustainer, and ruler of all in his universe. We are the pinnacle of his creation and designed to draw glory to Him in all that we do. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Grasp that God has flowed all time through his hands, that he does not recognize the restraints of the time he placed upon us. He sees the past, present, and future all the same, therefore the complexities of the struggles we see and feel, he sees the end result, before the struggle even started.

Fix the Foundaion

1 Corinthians 3:10-11   According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Being around the construction industry for 25 years, I grasp the understanding of anythings foundation. The beginning of the project, the preparation and installation of any structure being built. If it is wrong, even slightly, the more that is added to it in the building process, the more the foundational error is revealed. A hundred story building would likely collapse if the foundation was even unlevel one inch; the building would begin to lean as it began to grow. Can you see how that analogy relates to one’s faith? Can you see that if your faith system is based on anything other than grace, God’s grace through Jesus, your faith system will fail also? If your faith system is built on good works, church attendance, not bad works, false hope in all paths will lead to God (universalism), any blend of religions to make one religion, hanging around good people, hyper-grace(continued living in sin-Romans 6:15), giving to the poor or churches, or anything you may have heard or devised yourself to earn your way into heaven, you will fall like that building.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. That is one of the most foundational truths penned by the Apostle Paul; a truth that must be clearly understood. There is no way that you can ever earn your way into heaven, NONE, and until you grasp the free gift of God through the sacrifice of his Son, your foundation is way off. You are building your faith building on a poor foundation, and your building will faith when it is tested by fire on the Day of Judgement, when we all answer for our lives and our beliefs. But the simplicity, freedom, hope, and joy that comes to the Christian that God reveals grace to is indescribable and overflowing. That Christians seeks to share with others what they possess themselves, to share in the love of God through Jesus and the promise of eternal paradise. The little things and big things here don’t have the same effect on the Christian that understands grace and glimpses of God’s sovereignty.

Take some time and reflect on your faith. Take some time and pray for God to reveal your foundation to you. He knows your heart, your foundation, and in humble pleas for his revelation he will reveal himself to you. Christianity is all a matter of your heart; your heart’s relationship to your Savior. The level of your faith and your understanding of grace is answered within. God can straighten even the most crooked skyscraper before it falls, by placing the understanding of grace in just the right spot to right the foundation.

It all points to Jesus

Psalm 6:8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

I love how the Lord works, of how when we pursue him in prayer and his Word, he takes us down paths we have not seen, takes us to scriptures we may have perused over many times, yet they become new to us. He uses scholars ahead of us to reveal truths to us; he speaks to our minds through our hearts as we study God’s Word to us. These do not have to be great revelations, many times they are just reminding us of things we hopefully already knew. This morning I found myself deep into the Psalms; following the paths of two good study Bibles, which is always interesting because they sometimes lead down different roads when you go deep; evident that the Holy Spirit speaks differently to even the greats of our time that dedicate themselves to expounding God’s Word. The path that seemed to be the center was Messianic tug of the Psalms; the evidence of the foretelling of the coming Jesus, and how Jesus was foreshadowed throughout all the Old Testament. We must understand that the OT points to the coming Christ, the NT declares Jesus’ arrival, and prophetically his final return to judge his creation.

David uttered these words in Psalms six above in a plea to the Lord. The author of this Psalm is unknown, but credited to David, and he had no knowledge of how Jesus was using him. When you begin to study this passage, it goes much deeper into how Jesus is found and proclaimed throughout the Psalm writings. Jesus even references this in his proclamation of his final coming judgement of the world (Matthew 7:23/Luke 13:27). The more we dig deeper into God’s Word, the more he reveals both the complexity and simplicity of it’s heavenly woven, Holy Spirit inspired writings; no other book can compare to the depth of God’s Word.

As I continued to study, I read of how John the Baptist sent his disciples to question Jesus. John was spending his life proclaiming of the coming Messiah, and now John was hearing news of someone that might be Him. John gathered two of his disciples and sent them to find Jesus. Luke 7:20 When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ “ You can almost feel Jesus say, sit down and watch, and you decide for yourselves. 21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. 22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. I cannot help but think they bowed at Jesus’ feet for the KNEW who and what stood before them. They probably ran back to John to tell him the good news. Jesus gave John’s disciples a great word of encouragement as they departed, astounded and overcome with joy. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Take the joy of studying your Bible, and letting God encourage you just as Jesus encouraged John the Baptist disciples. Jesus will speak to you with exhortations just as he did them. The power of God’s Word is likely laying around your house somewhere, silently waiting for God to speak to you, and proclaim his message to you.

Response

Romans 11:4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

What happens when you study your Bible? God speaks to you in ways you likely did not expect, taking you places in scripture you did not know, and his Spirit that dwells within you teaches you these things. I am a word study guy; many times God lays a word on my heart in prayer and I research that word. This morning the word was “response,” for I was in a prayer of thanksgiving for the response of my heart being drawn to him. The study led me to the passage above, where God responds to the prophet Elijah, and tells him that he is not alone. God has designed or allowed all that is happening in that season of his life. The passage took me deeper, speaking of the doctrine of elections and grace, and God’s sovereign design of it all. It reminded me of this women’s movement currently, and how twisted so much of it is.

Romans 11:7-9 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.” 9 And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.

In our current events, God’s holy Word can still speak to us in a way we cannot comprehend, because even the events in the history from thousands of years ago, play out currently in our time. God does not see, God does not recognize, God limits our minds with time, but his Holy Word is alive in speaking to all that we see and struggle with this very day. The study takes us deeper into the Old Testament, into the prophet Isaiah, and to the book of Moses, both long before Jesus walked the earth, and Paul wrote the book of Romans.

Isaiah 29:10-14 For the Lord has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. 11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” 13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, 14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.

God is at work in all these “movements” today, just as he was at work in the rebellion of Israel thousand of years ago. Some in any movement mock God, and God has blinded them and condemned them to eternal punishment. Some in any movement will be drawn to God, and they will have a response to him, and their lives will become a testimony to him from the delivery from their sins. All our lives can become a response to our heavenly Lord, Father, and Savior.

For His Glory

Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

I really didn’t know until studying this passage that Paul was so moved by God he just had to praise God. Paul had spent the first eleven chapters of his likely greatest writing expounding deeply on salvation, and here he just can’t contain himself any longer and pens out a closing praise to who God is. He is likely overcome in heavenly awe of a glimpse of the realization of how big God is over everything; a glimpse of heavenly sovereignty, a minuscule taste of how unsearchable the greatness of the One he calls Lord is over all of creation; a quick glimpse of the unrecognizable time to the One who sees it all the same, therefore has power over the limit he has placed on us, that one limit is unsearchable. Time is a limit God placed on his creation, a limit that effects our minds, effects our comprehension of many things, yet also helps us to realize by his creation at how great he is, and deserves such praise as Paul could not contain.

How could I pen what I cannot explain? How can I pen, or explain if you will, what I do not understand? All the great scholars have been so moved by God that they have expounded on his sovereignty, on the level of his might that has been shown to them. I am a nobody in His army, a private first class that claims no authority, but I just like you, have a heart for my God that I cannot contain such as Paul. I quote many times the prophet Isaiah, how he penned what God laid on his heart. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. All throughout the Old Testament God used prophets to proclaim how great he is. He used the prophets to call out the sins of the people; God used them to proclaim repentance from their sins, and warned of the coming judgement of God upon those who did not repent. God showed his glory to these prophets, and those glimpses of God were so great they could not remain silent or care what anyone thought, they were the patriarchs of bold faith going into great nations and proclaiming against their sins against God.

Paul wrote of a hidden struggle most of us face, the anxieties of life. Paul wrote of how when we focus on God, how big he truly is, and seek him with all prayers and supplications throughout his epistles, that worry of life will leave us. We will gain a heavenly peace within us the world desires but cannot understand without a like heart for God. Philippians 4:6 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. When the Apostle John was writing about the gift of the Holy Spirit, he penned some of the most beautiful words of this peace that God gives those who truly believe. 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. If you will seek God with all your heart, mind, body and soul, he will reveal himself to you. You will change from the inside out, and those glimpses he gives you of his glory, you will proclaim as all the prophets and Apostles did in the Bible; you will become a light unto a very dark world, and God will give you a hope and peace and power that all the world desires, because you live your life for his glory.

Enough about you…what about me?

Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (ESV)

It would be impossible to expound this passage into a OneMinuteMinistry; the depth of this passage covers subject and huge struggle of any proclaiming Christian. The depth of our own sin is opened up, and the self-righteousness is openly addressed. The sin within us is quick to judge, standing on the platform of righteousness, using our own good will many times against us; then to complicate the depth of this passage even more, the Bible tells the saint to proclaim truth, to be the salt and light of the earth, and to not conform to the evil among us. The complexity of this passage demands a heart that continually seeks guidance, wisdom, and an abiding relationship with Jesus on a daily basis, to follow his lead as he speaks into our spirit regarding those he places before us. The sin within us prompts the opposite quick reactions standing on our own false regard; this battle is a continuous one until hopefully deep into the walk of God’s sanctification within us.

One of the hardest things I must do as a business owner is to find and address the faults of employees; this is for a long list of reasons, from everything of running a business, to the painful tasks of addressing personality traits and shortcomings. This is somewhat more difficult than terminating someone, because it makes people look within themselves, and they may harden their hearts with no change or improvement. It clearly in it’s simplest sense, makes me judge that person. Do you see how the Bible addresses this; how we must guard ourselves and look within ourselves before we pronounce judgement? It makes me think of the book of James, and how we may not see ourselves as others see us. James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (ESV) The writer of the first book of the New Testament, Jesus’ half brother, was clearly addressing those that proclaim Christianity, but don’t act or live like it; one’s that may sit on a false self-righteousness and judge others, openly, as in the context of James passage. Men I admire, Godly men, have given me advice such as this: “There is more to see than what you see.” “If you had any idea what goes on in my head, you would never listen to me.” We all struggle……..

You cannot even take a brief look at this passage and not address verse six of Matthew seven. 6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. In the simplest understanding of this passage, we must grasp the level of evil in this world, those that openly reject the Gospel, and of how we must guard ourselves from them. The Holy Spirit must be our inner guide, to flee or to engage, and only the prepared may engage with the strength He provides. Do not judge those evil among you, move on and tell them you will pray for them. Only God can turn the wicked, but God can protect you from them too. In all things, the depth of the saint’s judgement is relative and reliant on their daily walk and pursuit of God in prayer and his Word.

Our Heart’s Desires

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

Our hearts ache for others to “get it”
Our hearts desire is for others to possess what we do
Our hearts desire is for God to pursue those we pursue
Our hearts desire is for others lives to be transformed.

We want to witness the change only Jesus can make
We want to witness the security of eternal paradise
We want to witness the boldness of the saint
We want to witness the work of God before us.

A security of our own salvation lies in this passage
A security lies in the depth of these desires
A security lies in the boldness to proclaim and not just claim
A security lies in the level of our love for the lost.

We don’t understand the predestination of the chosen
We don’t understand the sovereignty of God
We don’t understand why our words don’t save
We don’t understand but trust our Lord and Savior.

Do we have a heart such as Paul
Do we pray continually for those such as he
Do we live with the boldness anywhere our feet may be
Do we focus only on eternity and not the temporary?

Who is around you in your circle of influence
Who has God given you to disciple
Who may you invest in prayer such as Paul
Who may God use you to change eternally?

Are you using the gift He has given you
Are you seeking God daily in prayer and his Word
Are you seeking the wisdom and riches he will give
Are you seeking him with all your heart, mind, body, and soul?

The life of a disciple asks themselves these questions
The life of a disciple possesses these traits
The life of a disciple seeks and prays such as Paul
The life of a disciple seeks to draw glory to God in all that do.

Inexpressible Joy
Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

The Lord woke me this morning with joy in my heart again. He reminded me of this week, of how clearly he spoke to me in the middle of the night, of his plans for the coming days. This joy is almost inexpressible, but the peace that comes with it is so clearly from God that I have said it is almost like my soul is excited. Many of you know of the rough season I just left, of how God let me go down incredibly tough roads of some anxiety, but much worse the depression side of things. He let me go down those dark roads to deepen my relationship with him; to test my faith in him, to mold me into more of the person he wants me to be. I had been struggling with a lot of huge life questions that effected my family, and everyone in my circle of influence; it was a great burden to bear. But in the middle of the night earlier this week, God clearly spoke to me and set my path to the center of his will for this next season. It was reminiscent of when he spoke to me when we downsized the business, pulling out before the economy crashed, and by the grace of God that decision allowed us to survive. In an incredibly sweet time with the Lord, he had detailed answers to all my questions in the wee hours of the morning. The peace of God, the excitement of change, the knowing what he wants for my family is inexpressible, but I will rejoice in it.

This passage above is in the context of the description of God’s sovereign design of Jesus’ work for your salvation. This passage speaks of a depth we cannot comprehend, but of how we can rejoice at how great our God is, and the sacrifice he made for us. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord, Through which the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118 is a special song of praise, a writing that carries much description, and is worthy of your study. Take the time to study this writing, see how Jesus recounted it, how many think it was written for a special occasion, but moreover, let God speak to you as you diligently study his word, let his joy fill your heart.

I was reminded of an A.W. Tozer excerpt I read earlier this morning on holiness. The Psalmist here talks about entering the “gates of righteousness,” and Tozer was writing of the pursuit of holiness. “You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact–the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God!” 1 Peter 1:15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” We are called to be different from the rest of the world; to live for God in this pursuit of righteousness, to be salt and light to a very distasteful, dark world. The pursuit of holiness that flings the heavenly gates of righteousness wide open is found through Jesus only, and the hearts pursuit of him in his Word. You cannot remain the same person you were the day before; God transforms you from the inside out, and conforms you into the image of his Son. The joy that comes to one’s heartfelt pursuit is sometimes inexpressible, but many times exudes from the smile on your face, and how you greet the day.