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Fiery darts

19 Jul

Fiery darts

2 Timothy 4:5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (ESV)

The past couple days have been a whirlwind. God laid before me a huge act of obedience, a step of faith, a test for me. I have learned obedience from my best friend, whom now I call my adopted big brother. God places these tests of faith before us, to see where our heart lies with Him. He knows how we will respond, but it really is for our benefit, growth, and understanding of how He works in our lives. Each step requires that act of obedience, that is where the faith lies. Going out into the unknown is where Jesus is. Going out where we can’t accomplish it on our own. Satan leaps at these opportunities to draw us down the paths of sin, and provides all the distractions imaginable to turn us away from God. Yesterday brought attacks at multiple elevated levels that I was not prepared for. As the day wore on, the attacks grew. Stress has entered into the arena, the battle is on.

I thought of seemingly some of Paul’s last words to Timothy here. Paul knows he is about to die for his faith at the hands of the Roman government. His letter to Timothy is to present to Timothy what he must endure; to encourage him for his ministry, and the focus of his life as a minister of the faith. Paul pours his heart out in 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (ESV)

The war of good and evil is fought on a plain we cannot see. It is fought in the heavenly places; it is fought in our minds; and it is many times presented in situations that come before us. The circumstances that God allows; they either draw us closer to him, or take our eyes off him. You must come to the point in all of them, that you see God in all of them. The strains of life that Satan means for evil, God’s Sovereignty can mean for good. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. These acts of obedience, when you say yes to God, know that He knows what Satan already has in store for you. When the attacks come, draw closer to Him in His Word and prayer for the strength to endure, guide, and focus on Him. He brought you to it with the power to take you through it. In all of it, He is glorified.

 
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Posted by on July 19, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Stay on top

20 Jun

Stay on top

Romans 6:10-11   For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul has been explaining of how sin entered the world through Adam in the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. He points to Adam as a type of Christ; using that example of imparted sin on all of man, to the imparted grace through Christ for all of man. Of how that grace is greater than that sin; for how it justified us to a holy God. 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. He continues to explain of how we are united with Christ into that death of sin, and of how the greater joy of being baptized into the newness of eternal life. We are to understand that we are to live our lives in that knowledge of being dead to sin, but alive in Christ.

This world we live in is drowning in the cesspool of sin. Idolatry & sexual immorality abound before us every day. Satan seeks to take our eyes off God and live for only the temporal pleasures he can provide. He wants us to live for the moment and never worry for eternity. What if we are captured in that moment of sin when our life clock stops? What if we fall back into that sin and run from God wanting to bank on Grace? Was our hearts ever really changed if we continue to live in sin? Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? I remember telling my parents for years that I wanted to have my fun for a time and then I would get right with God. Only by God’s am I able to be here today, to share a life full of sin, to a life full of forgiveness. I now seek to live my life to the best of my ability in showing others of His grace I was given.

I had a great talk with a customer yesterday, and the topic was about living your life as an example. Of how people are always watching you even when you don’t realize. I told her of how I believe many times our lives are the only Bible some ever read. All of the sin in my life; many great sins, are forgiven by that Grace I have been extended. All of my testimony can be used to reach someone that God has placed in my path with the same battles. I can through Him, show them the eternal forgiveness and escape from that snare that sin has on them. Live your life as an example of what Christ did for you. Live your life differently that those around you. Walk on the water through Christ;  don’t be dragged down into Satan’s cesspool.

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Concept of Grace

15 May

Concept of Grace

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Satan really wants you to realize you are a bad person; he wants you to think you cannot obey the rules God set before you. He wants you to think that knowing you will fail in The Law, leaves little options on how to get to God. He wants you to seek the pleasures of this world instead of the demands of it. He may even take the route of letting you feel comfortable in the religiosity of your church participation, the rituals that you go through to fell good about yourself for the week. Satan has many tactics to keep your eyes and heart from the promises found in God’s grace. Grace is an undeserved gift, freely giving you what you do not deserve. God’s grace is found in the sacrifice of his Son, to justify the necessary sin debt due; to open the door to eternal paradise with Him. Satan never wants you to grasp the concept of Grace.

Galatians 2:17-21 is a confrontation between the apostles Peter and Paul. Peter had exemplified hypocrisy, and to the point that many followed his lead. He dwelled with the sinners (Gentiles), until the religious Jews arrived. He then removed himself and ate what only the Jews ate, to appear holy and righteous. Paul called him out on it, and presented the Gospel of God’s grace to all that would hear. 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV) The purpose of the Law is to point us to our need of Christ. It is to reveal our sin to us, and to help us understand that we cannot abide by the Law to become righteous before God. Any works based faith goes against all of God’s grace found in Christ.

I grew up thinking you went to heaven because you went to church. It was not until much later in life that I came to grasp the concept of Grace. In that realization of a life of rebellion against God, it humbled me. How could God not strike me down and condemn me for the sinful lifestyle I had lead? How could God offer me anything, let alone everything, without paying a price? A humble heart that repents and pleas for the forgiveness found through Christ will be transformed. Grasping that Grace produces a life as a disciple; produces the good works after Salvation, not as a means to earn it. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. (ESV) I now seek to live my life for God; to make my life about the eternal, and not the temporary work or pleasures found here. If you truly grasp the concept of Grace, you will rest in the hope and promises of it, and dedicate your life to it.

 
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Posted by on May 15, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Apprehended

31 Jan

Apprehended

Philippians 3:12-13   Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

It might be easy at a quick glance of this scripture to see a pride welling up in Paul. But it is far from that; it is a humbling revelation of the desire to attain that which he cannot. Paul had spent the prior verses speaking of giving his life wholly to Christ; of seeking to emulate Christ in all of his life. Paul pressed into sainthood as deep as anyone could, yet he understood he could never attain that goal in this life. It will only be when Christ returns and sin is wiped from this world, that we live in perfect union and conformity with God. It is that eternal goal, or prize, that we live our Christian lives in pursuit of. Our lives are bound by our faith, and works that are a product of that faith, are the levels of reward we seek. There is no greater reward that to stand at Christ’s feet and hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

You must understand that you didn’t “find” Christ. Christ sought you first, and you either responded to his invitation, or you denied him. 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us. There comes with this understanding of His pursuit of you, a change of heart. You may well up in joy and pride of the revelation of Salvation, but a deeper understanding is found when you realize that it was nothing of your doing, but simply a response to a heavenly call upon your life. This brings about a new level of thanksgiving, a deeper desire of grateful service, a longing to give up the things that matter no longer for the eternal pursuit of what does. A heart that realizes that you are a chosen child of God, is a heart that desires to become a disciple of Christ in the pursuit of living their lives for him. Those things that mattered before, now seem worthless.

How much is Christ stirring in your soul today? Are you claiming to know Him, yet not living your life for Him? He gave his life up for you; is it not too much to ask for you to do the same for him? This world will distract you every day in every way from growing closer to Christ. This world is not living for Christ, so are you living for the world, or for him? If you will spend some time in alone with God in genuine, humble prayer; He will likely reveal himself to you and open your eyes through your heart. When he does, you either grow closer to him than ever before, or you run away. Pray and let Christ apprehend your life like he did Paul’s, and live your life in pursuit of him.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Why Pray?

03 May

Why Pray?

Matthew 6:9-13 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

This being the National Day of Prayer I hope you are spurred to spend some time with God. It would be impossible for me to unfold my thoughts on prayer in this short daily ministry. I have heard the quote “Prayer is like breathing to a Christian” – Amen! What is prayer to you? A time to ask for __________ from God? Is that the only time you approach Him is when you need something? How do you feel when that is the only time you hear from a ‘friend’? God designed you for a relationship with Him, and a key to any relationship is communication. The less we pray, the farther we are from God; for the sin of the world and ourselves tugs us away. Mark 14:38 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. That scripture is the reflection of those closest to Christ failing Him in prayer when He asked them to, because their flesh is weak.

Everyone wants to hear God speak including myself, but He does through prayer and time in His Word. Henry & Richard Blackaby have written great books and studies on Experiencing God. They speak about not asking God to bless where we are at, but asking God to take us where He is blessing. Once you begin to see God for who He is, you are naturally moved into wanting to pray and we are consistently told to pray in the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I  have talked about my struggles with Anxiety & Depression, the place I gain my strength to fight those demons is with God in prayer and His Word. Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Until you capture the idea of prayer, your life will remain the same, and a life without prayer is a life without God. Salvation is only gained through a repentant prayer, and that alone shows that prayer changes everything. Why should you stop there?

This is a great link with many scripture resources on prayer.
http://www.gotquestions.org/why-pray.html

 
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Posted by on May 3, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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PFY

29 Apr

PFY

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

PFY – Prayed For You. This is an acronym some of those close to me use to let each other know we have been lifting up them in prayer. A simple text most of the time that assures them we have been praying for them. When we confide in each other of our struggles, it is always reassuring to know that others are praying for us. To be perfectly honest I love praying for others, but struggle in prayer for myself. It is very reassuring to me to know that they have my struggles covered in prayer.

In this scripture Paul is struggling with the Philippians with many things including pride and humility. Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Paul was trying to assure unity in the church, and not allowing pride to creep in. He uses Christ as the pinnacle of humility in Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. The next time you start to pray for something you are struggling with, pray for someone else who is struggling. Lift them up in prayer, send them a PFY, and that not only will encourage them, they will most likely Pray For You.

 
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Posted by on April 29, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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On a curve or a scale?

30 Jan

A great morning with God. I was actually researching another verse when this verse grabbed me, and I felt God speaking to me here. I know I have, and I think we all do to some degree, get confident about ourselves because we think in some way “well at least I am not doing that.” Then when we were watching the news, and all the mayhem that goes with it, we feel better about ourselves. Satan is instilling those thoughts. We are told that if we break one of The Commandments, we have broken them all. Uh ho,,,,,,,that puts us all in big trouble. I loved Pastor Jack’s story yesterday that culminated in him hearing God speak directly to him about another sins “Jack, that guys sins were just more visible.” Very convicting, and very true for all of us. But continue to press on to growing your relationship with Christ, and don’t let your enemy steal your security and peace that you possess through the Atonement of the Cross.

On a curve or a scale?

Romans 3:23,24     for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Undeniably you inherently have, and will continue to sin. Romans is the apostle Paul’s pinnacle book, full of deep theology, and even verse 23 goes back to Genesis and the beginning of sin in the garden of Eden. It is so hard for some to realize our depravity, and that we all are sinners by birth, We cannot live thinking that because of our good deeds, or lack of bad deeds, that God judges on a curve.We feel as though we are above the drudgery of society, we will make the scale, for we are not really that bad.

He is a God of perfection, and demands such. Their are no imperfections in heaven, no scale, no “you just made it.” We cannot ever obtain perfection, and realistically would never make His scale if there was one. Only through the washing of Christ’s  blood, the ultimate sacrifice that was given for us, are we justified in attaining paradise for eternity through Christ alone. The free gift that we must humble ourselves to accept as the only Way, grasping our depravity and Romans 5:1 says “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” You can have this too, it is free, and it lasts an eternity.

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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