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Edjumikashun

22 Mar

Edjumikashun

Proverbs 2:1-5     My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.

It is pretty much a standard of living that you will spend at least 12 years of your life in school. Therefore you will spend the first 18-20 years of your life seeking the minimum education required to “do life”. I stopped there with my diploma many years ago, only seeking the bare minimums to collect it and move on. I did not see the value in a further education, and I have paid for the mistakes of my youth. An education is a tool upon which the mind has doors opened to further the capabilities of it, and all those affected by it. This understanding has come from a lifetime of realizing mostly by error, the mistakes of things lost without knowledge found in that education.

Have you come to know Christ and desire to know more of Him? Have you answered that call He placed upon your soul in an act you still struggle to explain? So many times we come to know Christ, and feel that tug of desire to know what is next. We have felt that change that He brings, but we sometimes wonder how we are to get more understanding Him. It is all found in the heart that pursues him in prayer and his Word. The key to unlock to mysteries of God are found in the pages of God; through the power of the Holy Spirit he has given you. 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 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.

A high school diploma will get you just over 86,000 hours of education in that 12 years. You will have invested a good percentage of your early life in the pursuit of knowledge, and the hope and understanding of how it may be applied in your life. In Christ you have opened the door to eternity and all the endless possibilities that lie in it. For the remainder of your life here, the wisdom of God is given in the guidebook of life, the Bible. A heat that is genuinely seeking God every day will live a life in the rewards of the wisdom He reveals through His Word. Proverbs 2:10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you. Spend the rest of your life in the pursuit of a heavenly wisdom and understanding of God and the things of God found in His Word every day. The rewards for your time here are greater than any diploma recognized by man.

 
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Posted by on March 22, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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It’s ok….I forgive you

03 Aug

It’s ok….I forgive you

Philemon 1:15-19  For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave–a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay–not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.

Onesimus was a slave that had probably stolen something and ran away from his master. He had run straight into the Apostle Paul, and Paul had led him to Christ. They agreed and understood that Onesimus must return to His master to plea for forgiveness, but under Roman law this could have led to his death. Paul wrote Philemon to plea for his forgiveness and offer to pay for his debt, although he had done nothing to warranty that responsibility. These scriptures are a great analogy of what Christ has done for us. Christ has said of our sins to “put that on my account.”

Forgiveness is always difficult, and the greater the sin against us, the greater the strain of forgiving that sin. We all have been down that painful path most likely. The sin in our lives prompts us to take a prideful stand against a humble heart against forgiveness. Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. A summary of those scriptures is simply we are forgiven to the amount we forgive. Very tough words in a society filled with selfishness and sin against others. I have pled for forgiveness for those I have sinned against, and those that have sinned against me. God sheds light on these things through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

There is a liberation that comes with forgiveness, and a cleansing of the heart. We have all heard of carrying that weight of anger and pain, and how “it is gonna eat you up.”. That weight will drag you down, but the freedom of the release of it will lift you up. Peter had come to Christ asking at what point do we stop forgiving those who sin against us. Matthew 18:21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Christ simply states that you do not stop forgiving. We may wish ourselves to live a sin free life, but we cannot, and fail daily. We live in His forgiveness every day and must seek to duplicate that ourselves in regards to others. The freedom of forgiveness is one a Christian possesses, and must seek to share daily.

 
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Posted by on August 3, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Ya’ ain’t them kinda smarts

23 Jul

Ya’ ain’t them kinda smarts

John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

This was Christ’s fifth resurrection appearance, and it was to 10 of His disciples (Thomas was absent) who were meeting secretly together to discuss many things. They were in fear of what had happened, and surely met to encourage one another and discuss their future plans. Christ had appeared in His risen form to them in a locked upper room. He had come to encourage and commission them for their future plans. John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Their faith and future were strengthened.

Christ breathed on them. His breath proved His life, and through His breath He gives life. This even points back to the beginning in Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all the disciples as an enabler for their future ministries. The Holy Spirit is an enabler, and provides spiritual power to aide in the work of discipleship. This was not only a gift to the disciples, but also to you as a disciple of Christ.

If you are having trouble understanding the bible, is it because you are relying on your own wisdom to reveal it to you? These things are available only through the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 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.

Humble yourself, repent of your sin, and plea for forgiveness. Christ’s Spirit will come to dwell inside of you; revealing many things that you have never seen before. Your time here on earth will take on a new light, and you will be spurred to share as the disciples shared through the power of His Spirit. The give of the Spirit is for our time here, but yet the Salvation lasts an eternity. It is only gained through a humble heart, and not through our own wisdom.

 
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Posted by on July 23, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Strength in humility

27 Apr

Strength in humility

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It is always good to share; to unload your burdens on a willing ear. As men we are wired prideful and feel as through we can handle all these burdens on our own. We feel as though we must be the “strong one”, and pride is the spine of that emotion. We tend to keep things bottled up and find ways to handle the stresses of life our own ways.  These paths can take us down dark downhill roads of sin.  These lead us away from Christ and pride becomes that enabler for that journey. But before we head down those paths, we can cast our cares upon Him as in Matthew above. We can swallow that pride and as in James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. This step of humility is the beginning of change and healing.

When you realize your sin, and take your sin to Him in the plea of forgiveness, the Salvation that follows is a releasing of those burdens. You truly now have Christ living within you, and the strength and provisions that come with that are the power of the Holy Spirit, the “Enabler”. 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. We can begin to press that manly pride down through the strength that Christ brings to fight the demon of pride. Pride is straight from Hell, and it takes the power of Heaven to fight that enemy that lies within you. You can have that power living in you upon Salvation and accepting Christ as the only way. 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. Thank you Jesus!

 
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Posted by on April 27, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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If I could only remember ……..

24 Apr

If I could only remember ……..

1 Peter 4:10-11   As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

I REALLY struggle with memory. I destroyed much of it on my own with bad choices over 20 years. My family is prone to the Alzheimer’s disease which now all the medical studies prove stress is a large accelerant of that disease and the portion of the brain which affects memory terrifies me. Let me see, what was I going to say? All this can lead to elevated anxiety levels which is my biggest struggle I face. But underneath it all is the glue that holds me together, the Peace that Christ supplies. I know that every single thing I face is an opportunity to share Christ. It may be sharing the struggles that He has allowed me to face to encourage another facing the same struggles without that Peace He provides. 1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I never write these reflections daily for any accolades or to draw attention to myself. I write them out of obedience to where I feel God has called me, and my hope is that they encourage you in some way through how He works in my life. Even as I enter seminary in only a few short weeks, I am struggling still with the idea of school at 44, and all the memory issues that I have described. But I rest in God’s grace and provision of the promise Christ made to His apostles and to us through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. 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. I promise you the more time you spend with God, the more you will remember or speak His Word at the perfect time you or someone before you needs to hear it. You will wonder “where did that come from?” It came from the portion of your mind where Christ dwells and reveals Himself to you and others in God’s perfect timing. You can have it too by accepting Him, and honoring Him, by seeking Him daily.

 
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Posted by on April 24, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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