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Will you stand for truth?

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

I find myself deeply troubled over an ever changing world and nation I find myself in. At this point in time, my freedoms have been taken away at levels I never imagined. I am supposed to be remembering and thankful today for those who have died to provide and protect the freedoms that have been removed. I feel as though we are dishonoring them in this state of division and corruption in the government they served to the end, while we are sitting idly by while freedoms are removed. I fear my nation is falling, corruption at it’s core with sinister manipulation to obtain power over it’s people. I believe we don’t know what to believe, because we have been lied to so much, and the truth changing ever day, every story contradicting the one before. The media can’t seem to keep up with their lies, so they constantly change the truth, and people believe it…..

I do believe in Truth, in a difference between right and wrong. I believe the truth cannot be changed, cannot be manipulated to wander till it fits the situation. I believe Truth is a moral compass, a difference that can be denied, but what determines right from wrong. Jesus Christ proclaimed he is the Truth, his teachings the moral compass by which we measure, and the Bible is full of those teachings. John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Sadly the church has failed the exclusivity of that teaching in many American pulpits today. Many preachers have proclaimed all paths lead to god, preached hyper-grace that god loves everyone, preached tolerance of sin and denied the consequences of Hell, preached a moment in time of raising hands and continuing in lifestyles of sin merits Heaven, not the denying of one’s cross and making Jesus the Lord over one’s life. There will be many Christians denied access to Heaven, for they just proclaimed the benefits of Christianity and not the costs of discipleship.

What if you changed today, changed to focusing on the never changing attributes of Jesus Christ and the truths found in the Bible? What if he began to open your eyes to the differences between right and wrong, opened your eyes to your own sin, opened your eyes to things keeping you from intimacy with him, opened your eyes to darkness around you, opened your eyes to the truths of the Bible you had skimmed over before? God may call you to stand for him, to stand for truth in a society denying it. 2 Corinthians 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. Will you not change, and stand for truth, no matter the cost?

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.

The level of unbelief

Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Yesterday at work I had an estimate I just knew I had to prioritize, I needed to “work it in.” It turned into an incredible God experience as I heard of his miraculous healing of an incurable cancer, and how I was able to encourage them through our business ministry. I shared how it reminded me of India, where God changed my life forever, when I saw and felt the presence of God so deeply it is still hard to talk about it today without being in tears. God dumped out the box I had put him in, let me see and feel evil on a tangible level, then let me see his power over it, and miracles many would not believe. I played a small intercessory part in a healing, laying hands on someone else with that gift as they prayed over someone, and I felt God move through us…….. that left me in uncontrollable tears, for I had been in the presence of God (only a few understand). I will never limit God, never doubt evil, and never be the same after my trip to India where God is doing a visible work in what many call the last frontier (until all have heard).

The passage above is close to my heart. On what level is our belief limited, what box have we put God in? The man was pleading to Jesus to heal his son, to take away the demon possession that had tormented him from childhood. Jesus’ disciples had failed, and there are many sermons within the context of this passage. You can almost hear Jesus laugh, “If I can?” You can feel the fathers exhaustion, his heartfelt last cry for help, how he didn’t know what to do any more; you can feel he is at the end of his rope as he pleads for Jesus to help him, and his son. God so many times lets us go much farther into the trials of life than we choose, than we would ever even venture, for when we reach exasperation, it is there that it is a true hearts cry for God’s help.

Mark 9:28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” There is much depth when you begin to search scripture and commentaries on this passage, on the entire context of this story. What depth are you willing to go with God, are you relying on simple prayers at the time of need, or seeking him every day? Where is your walk with God, is it abiding with him daily, going where he is already at work, or asking him to join you? The only way you get through the trials of life is through the preparation for them, the seeking of one’s heart daily through prayer and his Word in the good times, not pleading for help just when you need him. God will still perform miracles today, still heal the sick, the blind see, the lame walk, but it is up to God’s sovereignty, and relative to the level of unbelief in your heart.

My life is a typo

1 John 1:4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

My ministries have changed in recent years. These 1MM have went from religious daily duty, to when He lays them on my heart. My social media ministry evolved into excerpts, short direct examples of God’s Word in my daily life. Those that follow, see my typos, my own language, my personal way of communicating my thoughts and explanations of God’s revelations of my faith through my daily life. Many times I am able to share about personal conversations and times spent where God let’s me listen, speak, encourage or be encouraged, seeing God work through others lives in my circle. Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.My mind is slipping with age, many times not able to get the words to my lips, or even the wrong words coming from them (a funny story on stage recently comes to mind). My life is a typo, but through it I know my faith in my God come through clearly.

John was writing from the same heart in the text above. John is fighting the Gnosticism of his day, a blend of spiritual and physical, the separation of the two to justify sin, and claim a greater knowledge than those who hadn’t come to “know” God. There are many blends of religion today, many preachers talking of the blessings of heaven, without the condemnations of hell. Many teach universalism, all paths lead to god, many teach of not offending, yet denying the clear penalties of sin. 1 John 4:5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. Way too many people are being led astray by the false prophets of our day, preaching watered down gospels and not the righteous King who will return to judge the world of it’s sin. When Jesus returns soon, we will all bow before him and answer for all of our lives, what we did, what we didn’t do, and what we thought about the reasons why for both. Christianity is a matter of your heart, and Jesus knows the condition of it.

Do you desire to share your faith just as John? Charles Spurgeon said, “You are either a missionary, or an impostor.” One of the assurances of your salvation is the desire of your soul to share your faith. Many fear they will do it wrong, fear of not being able to answer questions, fear of what others will think, but God did not plant that fear within you. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Speak up, or write it out, but be bold in your faith. Ignore the typos and mis-spoken words you can’t find, and know God will make it perfectly clear to those he has prepared to hear.

Tell em’

Acts 8:4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.

Who else lies in bed with racing minds? Either we are trying to go to sleep, or awake early before rising to start the day. It is amazing where our minds go when left to drift, unoccupied time focusing on seemingly random things, life’s struggles, at any time in life plucked from memories, pondering or deep reflections, torments and thanksgivings, the list is personal and endless. Yesterday was an incredible day in business ministry, followed by some bad business news at the end of the day. This morning brought deep thoughts in the early hours, then Satan seemed to take the bad news and run with it. I would not give him the victory, so I arose and sought God in prayer and his Word. The VOTD was perfect, then the passage above confirmed the call to live my life spreading the Good News, and leave the day to day to my CEO; he will work out the details of the business if I will just focus on my faith, and not my failures.

At this point in the book of Acts, it is following up on the heels of the murder of Stephen for his faith. Saul had held the coats of those beating Stephen to death, and the church was forced to scatter because of the imminent persecution. Christianity could have seemingly “failed” in the earliest stage, everyone could have kept quiet from fear, denied their faith, and been safe, but Philip went where no Jew would go, to the Samaritans, and preached Christ. In their town even a great magician heard of this Jesus, and believed in him. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. There is no place, no person, no one so evil or seemingly so good, that does not need to hear about the Good News of Jesus Christ. In a world preaching tolerance, telling us all paths lead to god, we must take a stand and preach of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. (John 14:6) We must do this in love, not lofty condemnation, but clearly present our faith in the Word of God.

I heard yesterday the testimony of a past where faith was only from the pulpit, of how the Bible was not to be owned, much less read, but only heard from the priest. That religion is still prevalent today, many still think they attain heaven through church alone in any number of ways. One of the most touching times I had this race season was a talk I had with a probably six year old boy. He was feeling condemned for not being at church, and I spoke to him about Jesus being inside of him, in any building or anywhere he went. Jesus encouraged that young boy through my words, his countenance changed, and I pray his faith grew. Take your faith outside today, wherever your feet find you is your ministry for the day. 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

Winning with no effort

Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

I am hard on my boys….. I am raising them to become strong men, amongst a confused spineless society letting them decide what they will identify as this week. I don’t let them say I can’t, but push them to failure so they understand it, then the reward of success is much sweeter. I don’t believe everyone gets a participation trophy as a child, and those lives will be much harder as they learn the truth from their weak childhoods. In the sport we have chosen, it requires pushing yourself past your limits, failing, getting up, and trying again, again, and again. It is a solo sport, one you cannot blame your team, but the success is much sweeter when you accomplish your goals. Being a motodad always will strain relationships as you develop their skills into victories, ones that it may take later in life to appreciate.

Jesus was as direct in his ministry on earth as anyone ever could be. He told people the truth, because he is the definition of the truth. Jesus was the epitome of “tough love” because even his condemnations at times were wrapped up in love. All throughout the Bible are the teachings of tough love, of telling others the truth, yet many times helping them to learn from it. Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Are we exemplifying to our children the love of the Lord if we are letting them think life comes easy, everyone gets trophies, and rebuke is an evil thing that will offend?

Though I may push my boys through sports, or work and life, I will never force them into religion. I grew up in religion, and rebelled against it when the opportunity came. I turned my back on God and ran from Sunday’s as fast as I could. Your relationship with God is a heart thing, not a checklist of duties required by the church; Jesus condemned the religious who thought they received salvation by their works. Show your children your faith by how much you pursue it, by your life filtered through your faith in the sovereignty of God. Life is hard, winning is sweet, but grace and Heaven are the greatest victory you never have to work for.