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Gut Feelings

15 Mar

Gut Feelings

Colossians 1:9-10 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
I still remember early in my Christian walk telling my pastor how I try to trust my gut feelings. He laughed back at me and told me “that is the Holy Spirit pal,” almost like he was saying, “I hope you listen.” Do you? You know right from wrong as God’s creation, but sin has such a grip on you that you seemingly deny it. You can be so lost in the pleasures of temporal sin, that your heart seems cold to the truth that lies within you. These are perilous roads to travel, for only the grace of God can rescue you if your heart becomes softened through the Gospel. That rescue will likely involve pain and a life altering event; a reality that God puts before you of your mortality and your sin. Second chances are no guarantee’s, and sadly many of us think they are, or in my case I thought I would “get right with God” on my own timetable. God even gave me the breath of life that day to even have the ability to think that thought. You don’t get right with God when you are ready, you respond when he reveals himself to you so clearly you know it is God, and you feel this is your only chance. That is the power of God to soften even the hardest heart, to rescue them eternally, and to build powerful testimonies of his grace and mercy for them to share with others still trapped in sin.

After you have responded to the gospel, the work of sanctification begins in your life. God, for every day that he grants you life here, wants to conform you into the image of his Son. He wants you to reflect Jesus to all that you meet; he wants to use you to share the gospel with those still trapped by sin. You were commanded by Christ’s last words to live your life as a disciple, sharing the gospel to all that would hear. Both of these works of God and Jesus are combined with the work of the Holy Spirit living inside of you. God is living inside of you whispering those truths to your gut. He reveals truths to you when you study God’s Word; he warns your heart prior, or convicts your heart after that sin in your life. He shows you right from wrong every day and you either listen and grow closer to God, or you deny you hear him and grieve the Holy Spirit. Once you grasp that it is truly God living inside of you, your life is never the same. We all will continually fail, but thankfully the conviction is deeper and the understanding of mercy and grace grows. Once we understand how great our need for a Savior is, how great sin has a grip on humanity, the Spirit uses that revelation to draw us closer to God.

In study you will find this passage in Colossians speaks to James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. There is an entire message in that verse, but the closer you draw to God through diligently seeking him daily in his Word and prayer, the more you will reflect those attributes and Christ. The less you diligently seek him, the more the reflect him, and the more you listen to your gut. Listening to your gut produces Christ-likeness in you, and that is God’s desire for your life, until he calls you to your eternal home.

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Can Ya’ Hear Me Now?

09 Feb

Can Ya’ Hear Me Now?

Matthew​10​:27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

God wants to use you! Yes, you heard me right, God wants to use little old you in his big old plan of the redemption of all of mankind from sin. He wants to use you as a part of rescuing mankind from the snares of hell that awaits them who have not heard; those who have not come yet to repent and believe. Now we must understand that God does not need our help, he could simply rewrite history by speaking it into existence. It is a humbling honor and privilege to be used by God. How could you not want to climb on top of your house and scream what he has shown and done for your life by rescuing you from yourself and sin? Proclaim him to all that will hear!

In the text above, the historical context was when priest would whisper to those who would proclaim God’s truths. Many times the flat rooftops where a good venue to preach the word of God. Commentaries believe this is mostly to the mind however, to where the Holy Spirit imparts truths to us that we must share with others. You don’t understand the Word of God from study, you understand it as a gift through the Holy Spirit living inside of you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (​John​14​:​26​ NKJV) You cannot understand the Bible without the gift from God upon salvation. He has likely stirred your heart with a glimpse, but until you repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins as the only way to heaven, you are not in dwelt with the Holy Spirit, God living inside of you.

How humbling it is to share something and see the hearers eyes light up as God showed them a truth through your voice. I personally don’t know who is more amazed. God has allowed you life, all the bad and good, to enable you to glorify Him in it. He has set people in your path for you to be able to proclaim His goodness, grace and mercy, for all to see and hear. Don’t keep your testimony or a truth to yourself. You are stealing a gift from God to those that may receive, and yes even to those that give.

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Talk to the Author first

12 Jan

Talk to the Author first

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

My favorite Bible is coming apart at the seams. Literally coming apart, and I was told to just get a new one…..but I can’t. This Bible is full of how the Holy Spirit has spoken to me over the past 6-8 years. It has all colors of highlights, underlines, notes in the margins, sermon notes, and full of life. I remember leaving it at church once and freaking out till I found it. This particular Bible is truly special to me and it very rarely leaves my study. The evidences of God in my life fill this book and only He and I understand how powerfully he has personally spoken to me countless times in it. This Bible is truly God’s light for me in this very dark world that we face daily.

We could go down seemingly endless lists of what people call the Bible; a love letter, a rulebook, a history book, a book of prophecy (and fulfilled), and on and on. What is it to you? If you begin to understand that it is God speaking directly to you, it will change the way you view it. We all want the clear sign, the banner in the sky, the voice in our ear, the answer to whatever question we are seeking him for. You have in your possession the answer in written form. Any answer to any question is found in the Bible. Every life application is found there; every life answer is found there. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. If you begin to grasp that all the Creator of all that is in the universe, that he put all that you will ever need to know in this book, that humble feeling you get at that revelation, is the beginning of the wisdom found there.

If you have tried reading it, and you just don’t get it, it probably means that you don’t personally know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. The Holy Spirit is who opens the truths of God to you when you read your Bible, and you only possess the Holy Spirit upon accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. The Spirit comes as a gift of redemption and the Bible takes on an entire new meaning in your life. If it seems a dull book, you are forgetting to talk to the Author of the book first to understand how to interpret it.

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Same day….different story

30 Dec

Same day….different story

John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

“Well, I am just headed to work today,” you might likely say. You could say running a few errands, going hunting in the woods, spending the day with your kiddos, or even sitting alone in your chair on social media all day. In every single circumstance their is an opportunity to share your faith. Let me challenge you even more by saying you claim complete solitude; diligently pray for someone close to your heart and the Holy Spirit will do a work you cannot. God has designed or allowed every step you will make today, and he is giving you opportunities to share your faith and harvest fruit from doing so. You will never know true joy as a Christian until you experience God using you to encourage someone else.

Jesus had just witnessed to the Samaritan women at the well. She was so moved by it she ran back to her city to share her faith and to take others out to meet Jesus. The disciples had returned to the well where they left Jesus to rest and found him talking to her. They were astonished he even was talking to a women, much less a Samaritan women. Jesus was showing her and them the gospel is available to everyone. He was teaching them about sowing and reaping heavenly work or fruit. He was teaching them to always witness to everyone God has placed in your circle of influence.

Is there someone who God has placed around you that you cannot imagine sharing your faith with? I have been in that situation many times myself. It takes a true combination of boldness and humbleness to speak to them. You must have the boldness to open your mouth, and the humility to know the Holy Spirit will give you the words. Christ told the disciples of the tough trials that awaited them as his disciples, and of how they must be such as this. Matthew 10:19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. No matter what excuse Satan gives you today to remain silent, ignore your enemy and be bold in your faith. God may use you to produce heavenly fruit of which you will receive those eternal rewards when you get to heaven. It all begins today…..

 
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Posted by on December 30, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pebbles and Ripples

08 Dec

Pebbles and Ripples

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

There is so much in this passage, so much more that speaks to the context of the passage when Moses spent time with God. Moses came down off the mountain and his face shined so bright from being in God’s presence, that he covered it to keep from scaring the children. Did they notice; did they even notice the fading away? There is much to discuss there, but let’s look past that at what is in the passage above. The veil is taken away; the glory of God is revealed. When you come to know and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, there is freedom found in your new life. Liberty is that freedom that Paul is describing here. Eternal freedom from the condemnation that the Old Covenant with Moses brought. Faith in Jesus Christ gives you the keys to heaven.

Also in this passage is God’s goal for your life; to transform you into the image of his Son. This is a lifelong process called sanctification, and a process that God uses the changes in your life to draw others to him. You are like the first ripple in a pool, that keeps rolling out, but that ripple started when someone shared the gospel with you. They were the pebble that he dropped into your pool. The power of the gospel is so intertwined with sanctification. The closer you draw to God through his Word and prayer, the more your reflect Christ, the more you share Christ. It begins with the gospel and it continues with sanctification.

You will never understand God’s Word, the Bible, until you humble yourself and allow Christ to become your Lord and Savior. He then gives you the promise of the Holy Spirit, God himself, to live inside of you. It is never through diligent study, never through any teacher or preacher, but only time and every time is the truth of God’s Word revealed to you every time by the Spirit. 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. God may use his saints to open his truths to you, but you have been blessed by the Holy Spirit with that revelation. After God drops the pebble of Christ in your pool, let him do the daily work of sanctification in you to push his ripples farther and farther out into the sea.

 
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Posted by on December 8, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Encouragement

20 Nov

Encouragement

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

I was incredibly close to stepping down from pastoral ministry last week. Satan had been increasingly firing his flaming arrows and the strains of ministry were truly wearing me down. Satan is the author of fear, and he uses doubt as a powerful tool in his arsenal against me. I was wounded heavily, and questioned everything. I opened up my heart from the pulpit and plead for prayer and encouragement. This week God has spoken to me in many ways and provided the encouragement that I needed to stand again. I have seen fruit from the ministry He gave me, and it has helped me to regain the strength to fight the good fight. I have been encouraged very directly in God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit has been revealing truth and opening up my mind to glimpses of what he may have planned for me. Encouragement brought by God through his Word and his saints when I needed it the most; thank you Jesus.

Jesus was telling his disciples he was leaving them. He was speaking of his return and the gift of the Holy Spirit that was coming to those who believed. He was encouraging them for their time to come as his friends; he was telling them how much he loved them in so many ways. He was telling them the hard truth; how they would not only abandon him, but even would be persecuted and die for their faith. Just after this verse above, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed his longest prayer recorded in the gospels. John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

This passage in John 16 is difficult for smiling preachers and prosperity gospels; Jesus himself says that we will have tough times for our short time this side of paradise. But wound up in that passage is the peace of one that understands their salvation and that the tribulations of this world are truly temporary. How could you ever enjoy the ocean with the fear or pain of hot sand? God uses all the tough times in life to point you to your need for him. You do one of two things; you get mad at God and flee from him, or you see your need for him and draw near. Both of these can have eternal consequences, but also rewards.

 
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Posted by on November 20, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Not an enigma

08 May

Not an enigma

Proverbs 1:5-7 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Sometimes I just love going back to the book of Proverbs; tidbits of knowledge in only a few short sentences that the Holy Spirit can speak volumes to me at just the right time. I am always amazed at how Solomon sums up life and it’s complexities so directly. Sometimes I am saddened that I don’t get the simpleness that it states, for my life is twisted into the complexities that sin and this world I live in have pulled me into. Life really doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it out to be; simplicity is found in following these tidbits of truth that Solomon penned for us thousands of years ago that still ring true today.

In the opening of his book, here in only the first seven verses are the prerequisites for everything that follows. If you don’t know God, if you don’t have holy reverent fear for the God of the universe, you won’t understand these proverbs. You can’t rely on your own understanding, your paths and supposed wisdom will lead you astray. If you don’t know God, and you don’t possess his Spirit, you will be blinded to the truths found here. The Holy Spirit is who opens the truths of God to your mind. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

You must understand, you will not understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit living inside of you. You may pick up the Bible for the first time with a heart seeking God, and God do a work that no man can do; you find Him there and repent and believe on the Christ that you read and see and feel there. When you do repent and believe you gain Him living in yourself as the Spirit of God. That greater your respect and reverent fear of Him, the more he reveals to you. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Without him the Bible would be just a book, and the book of Proverbs just some good riddles to live by. With Him it is the Word of God and Proverbs is a book of incredible knowledge stated in simple terms; not an enigma at all.

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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A Cry for Revival – Day 2

02 Jan

I asked permission to reprint this powerful devotional today by Pastor Dean Burris. It really struck me when I read it earlier today, and I wanted to share it with you. Oh how I yearn for revival in me and you. My message this week is one of questioning where our hearts lie; are we pursuing the faith we claim; are we seeking revival?

 

A Cry for Revival – Day 2

Yesterday, the last words of the poem we read were, “My children, it is time!”  Time for what?? It is time for a fresh, powerful, life-altering visitation from the Holy Spirit in our lives and church! It is time that our passion for Jesus Christ be ignited and that our lives burn brightly for His glory. It is time for revival!
Well, what is revival? To revive means to bring something back to life, to re-animate, or re-invigorate. Revival is a season when the Holy Spirit moves powerfully among lifeless, powerless and sleeping believers awakening them to spiritual vigor. It produces a deep conviction over sin and spiritual slothfulness and ignites the fires of devotion, prayer and evangelism. Believers are dramatically revived and the lost are dramatically and powerfully brought into the Kingdom. Revival is the “sanctifying energy of the Holy Spirit, converting the hardened sinner and reclaiming the backslidden and dormant believer . . . Behold, God showers his rain from heaven, and it (the hardened, backslidden heart) is suddenly softened. One sermon may prick to the heart. One drop of a Saviour’s blood, distilled on it by the Spirit, in the preaching of the Word, melts it like wax. The drunkard is made sober, the adulterer chaste, Zaccheus merciful, and raging Paul as tame as a lamb.”  That is revival and that is exactly what we need!
In 1802 Rev. Jesse Edson wrote from Halifax, Vermont, about a revival being poured out there: “The Holy Spirit seemed to come down like a rushing, mighty wind, to melt the souls of God’s children, to cause sinners to tremble, stubborn wills to bow, and hard hearts to relent. Numbers flocked to Christ as a cloud, and as doves to their windows.”
One of the great revivals in scripture is found in 1 Samuel 7: 2And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord (they mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them).
3Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only. And verse 10 shows God’s response, “But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day.”
We need to hear today the mighty, thunderous voice of God in our lives! We need revival! Begin asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to YOU your need for revival. Ask Him to make you completely dissatisfied with a spiritually mundane life. Plead for more! Do you long for more of Christ at work in you? Do you mourn for more of God? Ask today for revival . . . in you.

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Full of supplies

30 Dec

Full of supplies

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I have been up since about 3am. I woke up with church on my mind; well, a lot on my mind about yesterday to be honest. I have spent time in the Word reading the book of Philippians this morning, for I am hoping to do a series on it soon. I have also been reading a book I cannot put down called Knowing God, by JI Packer. This morning I read a chapter on the Holy Spirit, and sadly how as Christians we seem to pass Him over. Of how we concentrate our ministries on Christ, but miss Who Christ gave us personally till He returns. “The Spirit testified to the apostles by revealing to them all truth and inspiring them to communicate it with all truthfulness. Hence the gospel, and hence the New Testament. But the world would have neither without the Holy Spirit. Nor is this all. In the second place, without the Holy Spirit there would be no faith and no new birth – in short no Christians.”

In the book of Philippians, Paul is thanking them for the gifts that they have sent him while he was imprisoned in Rome. They have supplied more than his need, and the commentaries state that they have given much more over and above what was needed; made themselves poor per say. Paul is encouraging them greatly, telling them they cannot out-give God; they have a credit on their account.17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. They were giving from a cheerful heart, out of their love for God and Paul. Paul has expressed contentment where he finds himself now; he knows that even if he is in chains, the gospel is being spread. He sees the Holy Spirit working through him to even strengthen and encourage the faith of the Roman guards in his presence. He knows in all things in his life that God is at work.

I could not help but reflect on Phil. 4:19 in the context of the gift of the Holy Spirit this morning. “Supplying all our needs” as the great comforter, teacher, helper. John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. My prayer is that this small ministry has and will encourage you to spend daily time with God; to get into God’s Word and prayer and see how your life is transformed. The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you as a believer in Christ, is who opens the truths of God’s Word to you. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. There is One who will supply all your spiritual needs if you will only seek Him every day.

 
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Posted by on December 30, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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A Bottomless Well

26 Sep

A Bottomless Well

John 7:37-39     On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

It was this time of year, early Fall, at the Feast of the Booths, or Tabernacles; a feast to celebrate the Harvest and God’s protection in the Jews delivery from slavery out of Egypt. Those in Christ midst were wanting to go up to the feast, and Christ had told them to go ahead without him. He had left and gone secretly up to the feast; he had heard people talking about him secretly to themselves; he had heart them speaking of who he was, or was not. He boldly entered the Temple and began to teach. In this instance is one of those times they sought to arrest Him, yet they never laid hands on him; 30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. There was becoming division everywhere over Christ; they all marveled at his “uneducated” teaching; they marveled at the signs he performed; they argued whether he was the Christ they were seeking. They did not understand so much of his teaching, for God had not opened their eyes to the mystery that was found in Christ. Only a few truly believed that He was the Son of God.

On the last day of the Feast, Christ proclaimed the scriptures above in John. He spoke of the Holy Spirit which would be given to believers after Christ was glorified on the Cross. Christ’s Spirit would come to dwell inside all of those that believed in Him. The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you is the river of living water that flows out of you. Christ spoke to the Samaritan women at the well of this living water; John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” This living water is a water that fills you with something that the world cannot; fills you to the point of overflowing into the lives of others; give you something you seemingly don’t want to contain, but want to share with others what you possess.

Christ spoke of this gift in John 14:15-31, he speaks of the Helper that God is giving us when Christ ascends back into heaven. 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 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 God is tugging on your heart, answer that desire that is welling up inside you. Repent of your sins, plea for forgiveness, and open your heart to the living water that fills it. Your life will never be the same, and likely those God has placed around you will not be either.

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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