"The Child of God"

Here is the thing about childlike faith that makes the most sense to me, it requires the one that is believing to be accepted as God's child; and as His child, that person knows that God will not abandon him, nor will He cast him out. But I must say, given this current period of time that we are living in, it is hard to catch that same feeling from the way some parents treat their children. I think that you can blame that on technology and the way it has pulled everyone into themselves, and cause us to care more about ourselves than anyone else, including our children. However, God is not that way, nor does He change, as do so many that call Him Father. If we believe that God is Love, as John tries so hard to get across in the Book of 1 John, then we must also trust Him in everything that He does, or does not do. This has been a hard thing for me to get a solid grip upon, especially over these last eight years; but even though I sometimes doubt what God is doing, I must still continue to believe that He has His best intentions for me, and that He wants only the very best things for my life; it's just that sometimes His very best and my very best don't quit line up together. One thing that I remember as a child, up to the age of around eleven, was that I had two things to do: keep my room clean and do my chores. The chores varied from time to time, but keeping my room clean was a constant thing to do; and everything revolved around the clean room: before there was anything fun or pleasant, the question spoken was, Is your room clean? And you might think this is funny, but my mother actually owned a pair of white gloves, and she would literally use them to check my room for cleanliness. Oddly enough, I never remember hating to clean my room; but I do remember the joy that I felt when she said, Good job; you can go out to play. Do you think that our Father in heaven treats us in such fashion? What if cleaning my room as a child was similar to asking forgiveness for my daily sins? I think one thing that I learned from keeping a clean room, is that I like my room clean; and one thing that I have learned from asking God for forgiveness, is that I like a clean slate; and He is more that faithful to forgive, when I ask Him to. Okay; I am now free to go out to play... "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother; my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever." (Psalms 131)

"Childlike Faith"

Try all that you can, but you will not find a reference to 'childlike faith' in the King James Bible; although it may be in the more liberal translations, of which I do not read. However, there is some creditable meaning to this phrase that has been handed down through generations, but it is not the definition of faith; it defines the person who has the faith. We are not to have the faith of a child, nor faith that is like a child; for children will believe most anything that they are told. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Faith is being persuaded in the truth; to be firmly persuaded in what you know and believe to be true. This is not the faith of children, because a child can be moved from anything that they have been told. Many people that speak of 'child-like faith' are talking about blind faith, which is faith that just believes because it is told to believe; this is not the faith of a child of God, because we were once blind, but now we see. That being said, childlike faith speaks of humility and dependability of a child in the light of faith. It is something which makes the person that believes humble like a child before his God, and dependent upon that God for his life, as a child is dependant upon his parents for his welfare. Looking back to my childhood, I was a very independent child; one that thought to often that I could make it on my own. However, it was the dependency of my parents which gave me such liberty to assume that I could, because I always knew that I had a home that I could return to in case I failed in my independence. When I was around thirteen years of age I had ran away from home for a period of about six months; living wherever I could and doing whatever I could to survive. But I always knew that I had a home to go back to whenever I ran out of options, because I had a mother that loved me, and would always welcome me back. In a way, this is how our faith in God is based upon; as we know that He will always love us, no matter where we stray off to; and that if we humble our self before Him, He will welcome us back to His loving arms. But just as it was true in my relationship with my mother, so too, we find that the dependency of our God's forgiveness can lead us to sometimes become independent and on our own; only to discover that we cannot make it without Him...

"Teachable" -3

Sadly to say, we are all teachers to our children, to good and to bad. If you study a child and compare their actions to that of the parents, you will find that they develop certain traits of the parent; and then, almost as if they take ownership of that trait, they develop it into their own, but stronger. This can be a scary thing if your actions around your developing child are not those that are good, and worthy of passing on to the next generation. I do not claim to know all there is to know about raising a child, but I do know what the Bible says regarding teaching a child in the way that he should go. There is something that must be done with our children, which many of us do not do, and it has to do with teaching God's love, mercy and grace from a practical point of view. (It has been another one of those sleepless nights, so I must ask that you bare with me.) Try to picture what I am trying to say, and imagine those that were not going into the promised land telling their children about the God that they served; instructing them in the mistakes that they had made, and in the ways to do things right. Yes, I know it's a stretch, but if you read the account of what happen in Numbers 14, they had learned a great lesson in obedience; and the ones that did not learn, they were killed by the Amalekites and the Canaanites when they tried to go into the promised land on their own, after God had told them that they would perish in the wilderness for not trusting Him. Do you think they that remained had realized their mistakes? If not, they sure had a good example of what happens when you are not under God's protection. This is something that must be pressed into the heart of our children, that their need for God is never abandoned or taken lightly. One way that we can assure this in their lives, is by making them aware of our mistakes; that we acknowledge the mistake and how it transgressed God, and then show them what we must do to correct it. In the case of the children of Israel, they had to instruct their children on trusting God; having seen the mighty hand of God which delivered them from Egypt, they were now responsible in declaring that deliverance to their children. Okay, maybe again you are not getting the full picture, and I blame myself for the lack to communicate properly. However; if you mess up in something that your children know that you have done wrong in, and then you do not show them the way to correct it, and why that it must be corrected, then how will they understand the importance of being under God's protection?

"Teachable" -2

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12) Okay, you might have wondered what I meant by torment; but if not, that's okay, because I did. For me, to be tormented by something requires that I search for answers that I can not find; and in the case of what I was searching for yesterday morning, around 1:30am, it was not being answered to my satisfaction. You do know that the Bible uses stories to illustrate things which can take place in our own personal lives, right? Well if you didn't, it does. Many of those Old Testament adventures are, such as the children of Israel had taken; from the time of man's creation, God's word uses the situations that man gets himself into and that God delivers him from, to illustrate the conditions of our wickedness. With this in mind, I was wondering about the forty years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, so that those who doubted God's abilities would perish, leaving the next generation to inherit the promise land. That does not mean that those that entered the promise land were perfect, because they were not; but what they were, was teachable, and able to accept instruction from God. After being lead by God for forty years, and having God provide for their every need, they became dependent upon God for instruction and provision. Now then; let's examine this for just a moment; what did the children of Israel being delivered from Egypt represent? Did it represent the Salvation of God? I believe that it did, and I believe that the crossing of the Red Sea was the baptism that took place, even though they did not get wet, but they were brought through the sea. However their doubting began, it was uncalled for, because with a mighty hand of God they were delivered from bondage. There was no doubting God's ability to do whatever He wanted to do in order to protect and to care for them, yet they continued to doubt His abilities, and His heart for them; saying things like, "Because there were not enough graves in Egypt, have you brought us out here". Yet, I was tormented by this one little thing: the children of those who murmured were watching as their parents murmured against God; and yet, they were the ones to enter into the promise land. Does that mean that there is hope for our youth? or did the parents teach them well enough to matter? I am thinking that the later part on the question is the answer, and that those who did not enter, were however instrumental in the raising up of those that did...

"Teachable"

"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3) Something has to be said for trying, even if you don't succeed, at least you can say that you tried; but when we are talking about trying to follow Jesus, it's not the same type of experience as trying to do something new, like surfing or snowboarding. To be converted as the verse above speaks about, is to be changed, just as Jesus changed the water to wine, we must be changed radically; if that did not happen for you, then you may want to ask again! However, to become as a little child and to be teachable, there must be a conversion of our hearts which takes us to a place of turning; turning from the old, and towards the New; and then being instructed in the New, as a child must learn to walk, or in the case of some of us, as a child must be trained to want to use the toilet. After having done that week long posting of tithes, I could not help but wonder what many of you thought of what I said; not that it really matters, because I said long ago, I will say what I feel lead to say, regardless of what you might think. That is the advantage of being where I am: not dependent upon you, and free to say anything that I want; yet our pastors do not have such liberties, because they need people to keep showing up for church. Yet, I wondered, what if anything was spoken into your heart, and if you had learned anything about trusting God with your finances; or if you just wrote off what was said, as the ravings of some unknown? Anyways; last night I was tormented with the thought of our next generation and what they might think of when it comes to trusting God; will they trust Him as they have been instructed by their parents? or will they be converted on their own, and learn to trust and obey? or will they even show up for church? "Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day." (Psalms 25:4 & 5)

"Our Daily Bread" -7

So; how do you like me now? There is something that I learned yesterday when talking about my post that morning, people do not like to be told that they must give money to their church! I heard so many different excuses on why they do not give; everything from "I give my time to the church, therefore I should not have to give money too", to "I don't know what they do with my money, therefore I won't give very much of it to them". Maybe we should look at the verse prior to yesterday's, and see what Paul said regarding holding back in our giving: "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:6 & 7) Believe what you will, but I can only tell you from experience, God loves to bless His children; and His blessings are poured out in more ways than just our daily needs for our households, they are poured out for our spiritual needs also. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8) To be more direct about how I feel in this matter, I will not do, because so many people are offended already; but if you do not feel like giving 10% of your money to your church, then you should not give it; but I would ask that you search your heart for the true reason why you refuse to do it, asking God for the answer that you seek. Back to the Lord's Prayer, and the reason that we ask our Father in heaven for "Our Daily Bread", is to be provided for by the Giver of all good things; and in so doing, we must also acknowledge His provisions by giving back to Him. He does not need your offerings, we need to give them out of an obedient heart! And given what I know, having entered our churches receipts into the computer for years, those that give faithfully are those that have the ability to give more in the form of an offering; while those that give little and rarely are the first to complain about not having enough money; do you think that there is a pattern to that? Why would someone not want to give 10% of what they receive, if it meant receiving more??? Did you know, that if everyone in our church were on welfare and gave 10% of their monthly check, then the bills would be paid; the pastor would be paid; the missions would be funded; and most of all, all God's people would be blessed... "As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor; His righteousness remaineth for ever. Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;" (2 Corinthians 9:9 & 10)

"Our Daily Bread" -6

"Give us this day our daily bread." If this is what we are to ask for, is this a one way prayer? (Don't worry, I am almost done with this, because I know that there are some who do not want to know.) Being forgiven of our sins does not mean that we are free from honouring God and trusting Him in the basic needs of our life. Tithing is the basic form by which God has given every one of His children, that they would not only give of their substance that they have been given, but that they would give in a manner showing gratitude for His provisions. I don't care if your a beggar on the street, if you are a child of God, then if you receive ten dollars, you should give a dollar; but if you need forty, then you should give four!!! "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or out of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7) Two things that we must look at in this Scripture that are important to know; one is our attitude in giving, the other is God's response. First off, we must give cheerfully; which requires the giver to give with purpose; but not grudgingly or out of necessity; but with more of the idea of a partnership with God in our well being. Come again??? Alright, I will give you the best example that I can: experience in doing. It is not just about pleasing God, it is about testing Him at His word, in an agreement to do what we have purposed to do in our hearts, and then sticking to that which we have purposed to do, because we trust that He will provide. To really become a cheerful giver, then we must figure out what it is that we need to sustain our livelihood, and then pay our tithes accordingly. By doing this, we are taking part in the provisions that we are seeking for, on not only a level of trust, but on a level of a partnership with God, which is based upon His word to prove Him in this area of our life; whereby, we are setting the scale by which we shall be blessed! Odd way to look at it, you might be thinking; yes? But the oddest thing about it, is that God loves a cheerful giver; and He really loves to be trusted in the area of our provision; because He can provide for us in ways that we could never imagine; which I really think He gets a kick out of doing. We may not see how things are going to work out, nor are we meant to; but that is what trusting God is all about!!! Whenever I set down to figure out a budget, I first figure out what I need to pay for those things that I need to live; housing, food, car, health, etc, etc; not forgetting about some down time cost, such as snowboarding (soon!!!); but listing everything that I spend money towards, I come up with a total, that more times than not, needs to be prayed over. After coming up with a total expense for my monthly living, I then figure out what ten percent of that is, giving me a new total of 110% of my budget; which is now my new budget, and that by which I tithe off of. Recently I have done things a little differently, and have been tithing on my weekly sales, but they are so inconsistent, that I have been convicted, that I need to be consistent in the basics, and then give more, when more is given. You might not see this type of giving to fit your needs; but I can assure you, that if you set out, purposing in your heart to give God ten percent of what you need, that God will meet that need, and then some!!! However, let me warn you of one very important thing, that if we begin to start taking a census of what we have; much like David did, in looking upon his abilities instead of trusting God; then we can get ourselves in a wobble, where the wheel of trust is thrown out of balance; trust me on this!!!

"Our Daily Bread" -5

"The Windows of Heaven"... subtitle to what is being said today; actually I have been awake most of the night thinking about "Give", wondering how to make that a title; and then I saw a vision of 'Jacob's Ladder' and had to wonder where this was going. Malachi 3:8-12 is my favorite portion of Scripture when it comes to speaking about tithes, and how important it is to give them. You can try and justify your decision not to 'pay' your tithe all that you want, but I will not agree with what you are saying, because this little Book of Malachi, although small, is the closest to the Coming King, in more ways than one. To understand what I am talking about you should take a look for yourself about all that he represented and was speaking to; his main issue was that God was still on the throne, and He still cares, but He has not changed, and still is Holy. Now, as for these Windows of Heaven, which are not just windows to gaze through, they are the avenues of our prayers and God's answers. Looking back to the Lord's Prayer, the word 'give', as in, "Give us this day", is a petition to our Father which art in heaven, for His provision; however, right before asking this petition, there is a declaration of "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". Think about this for just a moment, and imagine that you had a child who constantly asked you for things, but hardly ever respected your will, let alone sought to keep it; would you give that child all that he asked for? or would you hold back your blessings to try and get them in line with your will? But Rich, that was Old Testament stuff, and we are under a New Covenant. Is that what you think? Tithing was not part of the Law, it's part of our reverence for the God that supplies all of our needs; and if we are asking for His provisions, then we should be giving out of reverence to the Giver of all good things! "Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts"; that is God's answer to those that do not believe! Do you really believe that He is God? Do you believe that He is able to provide for all of your needs? Tithing is the one thing that God will ask us to test Him in; and this word 'prove' that is found in Malachi 3:10, is the only use for that which is beyond a spiritual sense, which is primarily to search out or examine; here it means to test or to try, where God is saying, test Me and see if it so. Okay; you might have noticed that I used the word 'pay' in reference to giving our tithes, which is actually what our tithes should be looked upon as; in other words, our tithes should be the first bill that gets paid when we sit down to pay our bills; an offering is something that is given which is beyond our tithe, and should not be confused with the tithe, nor the tithe with the offering. Malachi 3:8 clearly says, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings." Not to get over legalistic, but robbing God is a pretty big deal, and I would not want to be thought of as doing that; not by God, nor by myself... "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3:11)

"Our Daily Bread" -4

David, a man after God's own heart. Just in case you thought that tithes and offerings had to only do with our daily provisions and our finances, let me show you something that might tell you different. First off; David had committed a grievous sin against God; not that he had not sinned before, because he had; but this sin was one that had to do with his strength, not with his weakness, as in weakness of his flesh. This is not something that we need to get into right now, but take my word for it, this sin was worse than the sin which he committed with Bathsheba. If you wanted something to compare it to, you could use the example of Nebuchadnezzar, who spoke out saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?"; only to find the kingdom ripped from his hands, while he ate grass with the oxen (Daniel chapter 4). However, in David's case, he knew better, because as a small child he knew and understood who God was, and that it was He that established the earth and the heavens. There are two accounts of this census which David took, 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21; in 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan is mentioned as the instrument used against Israel, and this is the only place that he is called by that specific name in the historical books of the Old Testament. Okay, enough on the setup to what we are here for; David sinned, and after the death of more than seventy thousand men, which was punishment for that sin, David was instructed to build an alter; but first he would have to purchase the specific place from Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite, which was his threshing-floor; which just so happened to be on Mount Moriah, where Abraham had attempted to offer Isaac to God, and where Solomon would soon build the temple. Here is the way it happened that David needed to purchase this place, and both accounts proclaim this same lesson for our understanding of what a sacrifice is meant to be. David saw the angel of Lord, that was the destroyer, at the threshing-floor of Araunah, and the angel had a sword drawn to smite out over Jerusalem; then David cries out to God, asking for mercy towards his people. After this, Gad, David's seer, was instructed by the Lord to tell David to build an alter upon the threshing-floor of Araunah; this instruction did not involve the purchase of this area, only the task of building the alter and offering sacrifice. As David approaches Araunah's place, Araunah goes out to meet David, falling on his face before him; the Chronicles account says that Araunah (Ornan) saw the angel also; but both accounts show how much this man reverenced David, and would have done whatever the king should ask. After David tells Araunah that he needs to purchase his threshing-floor to build an alter, and to offer sacrifice so that the plague against Israel would end, Araunah offers to give David all that he needed, besides just the land, but the oxen and instruments needed for the sacrifice. This is not acceptable to David; because he was the one who had caused this plague, he was the one to pay for the sacrifice needed to end it; David knew this was to be so, saying, "Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost". I know that there are some who think that an offering does not matter on the cost or the amount given, but it does; it matters because of the cost of sin, and what was needed to purchase our sin. To offer a sacrifice unto God, there really should be something that is sacrificed; meaning that it has to cost you something to offer it, or it really is not a sacrifice at all. How many of us would have thought nothing of accepting Araunah's offer? Some of us would have thought it was a bonus, or God's provision to His will being performed; yet, it is not what is required for a sacrifice to be given; because David was instructed to offer sacrifice unto God, he purchased and provided for all that was needed for the sacrifice. It's not really about the tithe being ten percent, it's about the condition of our heart as we are giving; whether we are giving from a heart that is expectant upon blessing and honouring God, or a heart that wants to be accepted as just giving... "For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved." (Psalms 30:5 & 6)

"Our Daily Bread" -3

'What is it?' That was my question regarding the illustration that I saw of the children of Israel gathering manna and what that had to do with our giving tithes; Lord, what are you telling me? 'Manna' is the Hebrew word 'Man' which comes from the word 'mah' which means all sorts of the words which would be used in a question; how, what, where and why; 'Man', however is a word that refers to Manna, but it literally means "What is it?" One of the three items to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant; along with the second set of tables of stone that God wrote upon, and Aaron's rod which did bud. It was God's miraculous provision for the nation of Israel for forty years, as they wandered in the wilderness. There is no greater example of God's provision for our physical needs than that of the manna which He gave them six days a week, for forty years. Yet, at first, the children had to learn to trust God for this provision; just as we must learn to trust God to provide for our daily needs. They were instructed to only gather enough for their daily use everyday, with the exception of the sixth day, and then they were to gather enough for the Sabbath day also, so as to not be gathering on that day. However, there were some which would gather more than they could use, and then the next day, that which they had gathered would be rotten and full of worms. And then there were those, who thinking that the manna would not last more than one day, did not gather enough on the sixth day for the Sabbath, and they would be out to gather on the Sabbath day, finding that there was no manna provided for them on that day. What a perfect example of how we must trust God for our provision when it comes to our finances and the giving of our tithes. How often we hold back from giving our tithes, thinking that we do not have enough to give to God His portion, only to find that which we held back to be rotted away and consumed by worms; which actually represents the devil. Jesus said time and time again how we were to not worry about tomorrow, yet how often we do; thinking how we will make do with what we have been given beyond today; and then wondering how it is that we do not have enough, nor find what we thought would be there, when we do not follow His instructions...

"Our Daily Bread" -2

I felt obligated to explain further why the giving of our tithes is the substance of our obedience to Jesus Christ. The primary reason has something to do with continuity, meaning that because He is our Daily Bread, which has come down from heaven, then we are to react to His provision with a sacrifice of trust; the giving of our tithes is the primary way that He has established for that to be done. Okay, so maybe your not convinced; but the way I see it, Abraham established giving a tithe when he gave ten percent of all that he had to Melchizedek, who brought to him wine and bread, and then blessed Abraham "of the most high God; possessor of heaven and earth" (Gen 14:19). This was done after Abraham delivered the people and all the wealth of Sodom back to the king of Sodom. The king of Sodom seeing that Abraham gave a tenth of all he had to Melchizedek, then offered Abraham all the goods of Sodom that he had recaptured; however, he did not accept the offer from the king, and said, "I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. That I will not take a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shoudest say, I have made Abram rich" (Gen 14:21-24). It was after this that God makes an agreement with Abraham, showing him the magnitude of that he would be blessed in; all of which was brought on by the encounter that Abraham had with Melchizedek, who was a representation of Jesus Christ. Then, as we look to the Book of Hebrews, which has nine references to Melchizedek, we can gleam something about this giving of tithes in chapter seven; whereby the writer says in much explained fashion, that the tithe which Abraham had given, really was a forefront to that which he had received; and that there are common threads between our giving and our receiving. (This might take longer than I had originally thought.) Okay; so let's move ahead to Jesus and His statement about prayer; which given at face value, can mean enough in it's self; but taken to be a point by point presentation of our approach to God in prayer, it takes on a whole new way of understanding how things work. For example; one way to understand the continuity of our relationship with God, is to see the portion of the prayer which follows "give us this day our daily bread", which is, "and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". The way that Jesus puts this portion of the prayer, it is not a request for us to forgive, but a request that we will be forgiven because we have a heart of forgiveness. This same principle is associated with the asking for our daily bread, in that we are asking because we are trusting God to be our provision. It is in this framework that our giving of our tithes that is the venue that has been established for us to trust God for His provision of our daily needs; not giving of our excess, but actually giving the tenth of what we receive. There is a very sizable difference between us giving of our excess and giving of our tithes! Besides, Jesus, when speaking of tithes, did not say, if you give tithes, He said, when you give tithes!

"Our Daily Bread"

Substance for our daily lives! There are several different ways that you can view what that statement means; more often than not, you would relate it to the Lord's Prayer, and would then associate it with the Word of God. The Greek word is 'epiousios', and it only occurs twice in the New Testament writings, Matthew 6:11 & Luke 11:3; both of which are the accounts of the Lord's Prayer. After having a discussion last night at church with a fellow Elder, I was instructed to be praying about something; something which for some will seem unusual, to say the least; but it was the beginning of our conversation that really pricked my heart, and it had to do with the giving of our tithes and "Give us this day our daily bread". At first I did not see the association between the two, but the more that I have prayed about it, and thought about the whole Bible, with It's many different examples about our dependence upon God, and our need to not only give, but to give with an expectant heart; not expectant upon being paid back, but expectant of blessing God with our obedience; the more I see Jesus as our Daily Bread, and the more I see giving our tithes as the substance of our obedience to Him. Okay; I need to explain that a little further, because some will not get that right off the bat; I know, because I did not understand it either; at least not until I was shown something which is going to be a little difficult to explain. The vision which God gave me this morning involved stacks of transparent stories from the Bible; stories such as Abraham with Melchizedek, the children of Israel gathering manna, David at the threshingfloor of Araunah, the windows of heaven mentioned in Malachi 3:10, and Jesus speaking "Give us the day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". Altogether in this stack there was a common thread which had to do with giving, and how we can never out give God; which is not really about money, but is more about substances for life; life that we are living now, as well as life eternal...

"Sharing Jesus" -.05

"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6) Okay, so that didn't go exactly as I had planed it, but I at least told someone yesterday that Jesus loved them; I just did not have the time to show them how much. However, one thing that I discovered about yesterday was how much I paid attention to the people that I meet, as if each one of them were set before me to be witnessed to; thus my actions were constantly in check, waiting for an opening to share, and prepared to give a testimony for the hope within me. My only problem was the jet-pack which was strapped to my back, causing me to be rushed in so many different directions, and not having the time to share much more than a smile. I had thought about getting some tracts, which I could hand out to those that I passed by with signs asking for help; along with some money and some instruction about quizzing them about the tract next time I see them; something of an incentive to read it. That would actually be kind of fun; don't you think? Wait; I have a better idea: How about giving out pocket Bibles to them, and saying, Memorize a Scripture, and next time I see you it will be worth $5.00 to you? Imagine that; you could have your own Sunday School class spread all over the city; people reading God's word and placing it in their hearts. Okay, so I get carried away sometimes, but the Scripture above was one which I memorized years ago, to keep me in remembrance of Who's I am. The work which was begun in me way back in September, 1981, was maybe put on hold on and off over the years, but it is no way complete! Remembering back to something that I realized in 1983, only two years after I began, that God may allow us to quit, but He will never quit on us. I had purchased my first home at that time, and had shifted gears for a while; being focused on sales far more that sharing the Gospel. About six months into our new home, I had been praying for some way to get involved with our church, and God gave me an answer in the form of a vision, which was me handing a tract from our church to everyone that I meet. Needless to say, I found out in short order that some people did not appreciate me handing out these things to them as part of my Termite Inspection; so I found ways to leave them somewhere inside their home; like in the bathroom next to the toilet. It did not take long for that to be brought to the attention of my boss, who scolded me about pushing my beliefs upon others, and how we were to respect the privacy of our customers home. So I stopped with the tracts to homes that I went to, and began leaving them in every public place that I went; in the public rest rooms, restaurant tables, public telephones, grocery store shelves; it was all out war on the enemy, and I was out for blood. It was at this time that I memorized the verse above, in an effort to be reminded of Who's I was, and that He was not finished with me yet... It's time to put this verse back to the forefront of my mind!

"Sharing Jesus"

By now you might be wondering what I am getting at; or at least, why I am still talking at all; are you? Yes, I gave you an open ended question; but the question I really am interested in has to do with sharing Jesus, and is He still the one who fascinates your life? Once upon a time, you could not shut me up from talking about Jesus and all He has done for me and you. Some people had to move away from their old friends after accepting Jesus, so as to not be influenced by the old ways of living; me, I scared all my old friends away, because everything in my life was about Jesus and how awesome He was. I was able to get a few old friends to go with me to some concerts, but for the most part, they were not interested in what I was sharing; although I have prayed for them now and again over the years, hoping that something they heard was received. Lately, I have thought often about this lack of enthusiasm in my life, and why I have settled for just being an average Christian; someone who takes what they are given, instead of reaching for more. That is how I remember things were back then, I needed more of Jesus; more and more; everyday was another day to experience something new in Christ! And how do you think I felt these new experiences? There is only one way to really experience Christ anew in our lives everyday, and that is by living out Christ in our lives, to the fullest; not settling for what life gives us, or for what we might think we have been given; but reaching out beyond our little bubble, and actually touching the life of another with the Gospel of Peace. I have been thinking about this, and praying what the Lord would have me to do; yet, I know that the answer has already been given, time and time again. Can you imagine that? I know, maybe I should fast and pray for God to make that answer more powerful in my life? Or, maybe I should just do what the Lord would have me to do, and find someone to tell about His mighty love for them, and make someones day! Lord, I pray that today You allow me to share Your love with someone, and let Your love be renewed in me. In Jesus name, Amen.

"Finishing Well"

"I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father" (2 John 4) Given a choice start well or to finish well, which one would you choose? I will choose to finish well, because that is what will really make a difference. Many people start out, meaning to take it all the way to the end; yet, making wrong choices along the way, they finish poorly. However, to finish well is always still a choice to be made, and can be made; because there is nothing that is to big for God to fix; absolutely nothing! I would like to go back to something that I touched on early last year, it was about digging wells; which was something both Isaac and Jacob did well, however Isaac had a hard time holding onto his. Wells are something that can provide water for generations to come, yet they require labour to be dug; labour, which if completed, does not have to be endured by those that follow. If however you do not finish digging a well, then others that follow will have to complete it, or more times that not, they will not even try, assuming that the well was no good for water. This is why to finish well is so vital to those that follow, because an unfinished well is just a deep hole in the ground that others will pass by and wonder at. It really matters how you finish, that you will give others something to drink upon; otherwise what you have left is either an unfinished well, or a well that is not fit to drink of... "And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it." (2 John 5 & 6)

"To Really Make a Difference"

Now don't go thinking that I got all soft on you, because the challenge does not stop with the stitched in home; although, our real challenge involves stitching our home into our heart, and then our heart into our home. "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men;" (2 Corinthians 3:2) This word 'written' that Paul is using means engraved; like to inscribe, to fix, as in the heart. Something which requires this to happen to our heart, is a heart that is sold out for it's new home; thus, it is a heart that is sold out for Jesus. Thinking back to my earlier days as a new Believer, I remember something which had happened in my heart, besides the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, there was a yearning that was there for heaven; a yearning that made me live as if that was really my home. To be perfectly honest, over the years, this yearning was replaced with a complacency for waiting. Do you know what I am talking about? Well, it goes something like this: where my waiting to be with the Lord in heaven had actually taken my focus off the heaven that was inside of me; which was to be lived out in my life that was still here upon this earth. If you don't understand what I am saying, that's okay, because it is maybe something that just happened to me, and had not taken place in your heart. The sad thing is, that the people that read my heart the most are the ones whom I live with; they can see the things that I get upset over, and those things that I live for; sometimes better than I can see them myself. If I could only have it to do over again! Not likely. However, the Lord has placed this upon my heart because there is a pattern that is forged into our lives by not living out the heaven that is within us. Maybe I should explain what it means to have heaven living inside of our hearts? If heaven is my home, then there should be a continuity between my heart and heaven, and is something that is expressed by my daily living. This is something that is not just talked about, but is lived out by my actions, and especially by my reactions to life in this world. How often do we let those things that come against us take us from there to here? I know that one day I will be with the Lord in heaven, but right now I am dealing with something that is here and now. That is something which comes across loud and clear to those that are closest to us; and it resonates much more into their lives than we might think. Having been the owner of my own business for the last twenty one years, I can tell you that I have wished more than once or twice that I was working for someone else; if for no other reason than to have someone else to blame for my mistakes. There is a certain peace that comes from being told how to do what you are to be doing, and then doing that to the best of your ability. Anyways; the point that I am trying to make has more to do with a little thing called trust; trusting God in everything that comes our way; not just the big things, but in all things; even the little things can count for big things in little eyes...

"To Make a Difference"

"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:28 & 29) Set your heart towards heaven! That is my quest for this day, one day at a time. As I was thinking about this, I was reminded about something that Jesus said about storing up treasure in heaven, and what that actually involved. I went to the movies the other day and saw the movie 'Courageous', which really brought me to my knees. There is something which must be said for making a difference in the life of another person, especially when it is the ones that we have been given; our wives, our children, and our friends. These are more than just persons that God has placed around us, they are reasons to set the example of giving our all for God; that the grace that we have been given can be made manifested into their lives. This is really something that should not be taken lightly, yet we sometimes forget to remember that our ministry starts in our home. You have most likely seen the saying, Home is where the heart is; which is usually stitched into a cloth and mounted in a picture frame. There is good reason for this presentation of such a saying, because how we are at home is stitched into our hearts; although we might forget this as we have a different persona at home than we do in the company of others, especially those in the church. But the truth, sometimes sad truth, is that those whom God has given to us at home are the ones that we have the most influence upon; whether good or bad. If we are going to store up our treasure in heaven, then what that involves is making a difference in the lives of others; which starts in our home, because our home is where our heart is...

"The Will To Succeed" -3

Get engaged in the battle!!! I know what you might be thinking, I am already in the battle, I don't need to be engaged anymore than I am! Well, if that is what you are thinking, then let me assure you of something that the Lord has spoken into my heart: if we think that this material world is where the battlefield is fought, we are gravely mistaken! So you begin to give all of your all to Jesus, finally deciding to put down your pride, give up your selfishness, and follow Him with all your heart, and then you lose your job, your house, or even a loved one; is this the battle that we wage? Or could it be that the enemy has only so much at his disposal to be used against us? We, on the other hand, have far more to be used against him than he has against us; however, we must be suited up properly in order to wage the proper war, because the proper war is not what we think. You do know that God is the one in control, right? Some will try to convince you that He is not; as if Satan has full rein, and can do whatever he pleases; but that is not so. Satan can do nothing more to us than God will allow; besides, he is limited to messing stuff up here, and here, we are only Pilgrims, waiting for the place where we will call home. Do you understand that? And because this is not the home that we are looking to, then anything which happens to us here is only a temporary matter; which cannot hinder that which is to come; that is unless we are fighting the wrong battle! Here is another point to the verse, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin", because sometimes the battle will get ugly, really ugly; but if God is for us, who can be against us? Sometimes, what we need to do is pray, pray, pray; knowing that God is more than able to bring to the other side, yet we must pray still for the collateral damage which will be forged alone the way; accepting what is done as God's will, and striving alongside of Him to the tearing down of strongholds. That might sound like more than you bargained for when you asked Christ into your heart; but what we are talking about here is the battle for your mind; and when I say mind, I mean your soul, as in the seat of the desires, affections, and appetites; the will to succeed... "Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12:12-16)

"The Will To Succeed" -2

"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12:4) In light of all that I know about the Lord, you would think that I could be better prepared when things do not go my way; or at least when things have that impression. But regardless of how things may appear, we that are His children have something which the world does not know, nor can they understand what it is that makes us tick; we have the Love of God within our hearts. And yet we continue to be drawn away from that which we have been given by the things of this world; sometimes not even caring for or about these things that draw us towards them, we are still taken hold of by pride, based upon stature and our reputation. Jacob comes to mind as I think of this, for he wrestled against God all night long, while his brother approached the camp with 400 men, and he believed in his heart that his brother was coming to destroy him; only to find out that his brother was actually coming to greet him and comfort his heart. By the end of the night, the Lord had touched Jacob's side, causing his hip to become dislocated as they wrestled; giving Jacob a new name, which was Israel, meaning "striver with God". Here is something to be reckoned with: to strive together with God; something that is altogether different than to strive against God, which is what we do in rebellion and sin; but to strive together with God, is to labour with God in the work that He is doing, whether in us or in ministry. This is what this Love that we have been given is all about, in that we are in love with Him that first loved us, which makes there be a unity in the affections of the things that He loves; causing us to not desire those things that He hates. It is therefore within our power to have the will to succeed, but that will which we have is based upon His love; and the love that we share in, is based upon the love that He demonstrated to us on the cross; a love that can not be denied, nor equaled by any other. Have you resisted unto blood against sin? Have you yet hated your sin so bad, that you have become sick over it? God will take any sin that we are struggling with out of our way, but we must first hate the sin, in order to have the will to have it removed. Once we can come to the point of hating our sin, then we will no longer be striving against God, but will be striving with God in an effort to be done with it, once and for all...

"The Will To Succeed"

"For Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." (Hebrews 12:3) Just when you think that you have something figured out, the Lord likes to show us something from His heart. Case in point, would be "lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds", because sometimes mind can mean soul, which in this case, that is exactly what it means in this passage of Scripture. As a matter of fact, it specifically means our entire affection, which can be translated to mean more than with all of my soul, but could speak something like, whole heartily. Do you have the will to succeed? Have you ever? As I was thinking about these questions this morning, a particular church of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation came to mind, the Church of Ephesus; always labouring to do what was right, but never really able to finish well; why? because they had left their first love! And yet in the list of those things that Jesus had towards them, He said, "and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted" (Rev. 2:3), giving reference to this word faint again, but with a different meaning altogether. Oh, I can find a way to make these words mean the same, but there is a real difference between what is physical and what is spiritual; because the reference of this word faint in Revelation has to do with the physical, as in to be tired from work, like to be plugging along and not growing weary in well doing; but the faint from Hebrews is one of being despondent, which is more like disheartened, or having lost the will to carry on in the race. Been there and done that! I can recall one ride that I was on, I think it was back in 1987; I was strong; really strong; and I had sprinted far out in front of everyone else, with an awesome burst of energy and felt as though I could keep that pace forever. Well, forever lasted about two hours, and by the time I hit the mountain, I was done; as a matter of fact, that was the first race that I never finished; although I continued on from the point of hitting 'the wall', I only did so for about another two hours; finally throwing in the towel at the 76 mile mark of a 100 mile ride. Given, I did have an excuse, because I had went over a rail-road track that was buried below a puddle of water, bending my back rim rather severely; however, I could have fixed that rim in about five to ten minutes, if I really had the will to succeed. But here we see the difference between will to go on and the ability to continue due to something else; and we can find a way to make them mean the same thing, if we so desire; but will that really change them? You know what a loser's limp is, and what it means? Passion plays a very big role in our will to succeed; Do you think love has anything to do with that???

"Set Out To Seek Jesus" -3

Here is a little trick to training to win a race, which any good athlete will know: you must do everything that you can to decrease those things that hinder you from going faster and further, and you do everything possible to increase your ability to win. Now then; as for this title, which I am sure many of you have been wondering what it might mean to 'Set out to seek Jesus'; there is a point to Paul saying, "looking unto to Jesus", besides just to be looking for comfort, peace and faith; for it is Jesus that has set the race before us, and it is Him who will give us strength to run well. However, we are not racing against each other in the race that has been set before us, we are running against all those things that are against us; primarily, the things of the world and the devil. Each of us has his or her own race that we have been given, unique as we are individual, but altogether united in the same goal; and we must help each other to the furtherance of each others ability to win; unlike a race that we might be running in that we are in competition with one another, and that we would not give advise to, or hold up fellow competitors when they are down; this race requires that we help one another to succeed. The main point to this race that we are in, is not to hinder each other, but to help one another in an effort to make our own race swifter and less cumbersome; because we are all one body, made up of many members, yet the same body; and as such, we must treat each other just as we would treat a part of our own body in the preparation and the effort to endure any race. Besides, Jesus having set the path before us to finish, has set it before us so that we might finish it well, but in order to follow the path that He has established, we must set out to seek that path, and not try to make one of our own. Which brings me to another trick to winning a race: emulating those things that the one who is winning might be doing, and then you will at least stand a chance to win... "For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12:3 & 4) 'I do not have sin in my life that I do not like...'

"Set Out To Seek Jesus" -2

"Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1 & 2) To be totally honest, the race that I feel that I have been running is more like a fun-run; you know what I mean? There are those that set out to win, and there are those that run for the fun of it. They are the ones that you might see running with friends in a small pack; talking and having a laugh or two, as they patiently stride down the road, usually towards the end of the mass of runners, but never in the front. To lay aside every weight and sin is not something that really needs to be done if you are not running to win; but if winning the race is your goal, then you are going to want anything gone that can hinder your ability to perform well, and to finish well! If you have ever performed in endurance sports, you will know exactly what I am talking about. I use to do a lot of bicycling, and would challenge myself to always do better than I had before, on each and every ride; never really setting out to be the first one to finish, but to finish well. In an event of 300 or more people, I could usually finish in the top 25; and every once in awhile, the top ten; but my intention was never to finish first, because I could not see myself beating my own personal best by that much; which was usually about 20 minutes in a 100 mile ride. Twenty minutes might not seem like much, but when you are talking about riding for 100 miles, it could be the difference between being first and twenty fifth. However, if I really wanted to train myself to win, I know I could have become skilled enough to win; which is what it would have required, skill, which means trained. There is only one way that we can become trained in anything, and that is by training and training and training some more; but by all means, we never stop training because we fail, we train harder to succeed; that is if we actually want to win...

"Set Out To Seek Jesus"

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Romans 13:11 & 12) First off, let me say that the only way we can truly set out to seek Jesus, is to set our minds on Him. Do you know what your mind is? Thoughts are things which represent our minds activity, or what our mind is drawn to; but really, if our heart is where love resides, and our soul is our will, then what's up with our mind? How about our plans? What are you planning to do today? This is where the blueprints of our days are set into motion; where we gather our thoughts together, and then set out to make the things which our heart desires to be done, come to life. How about planning our day for seeking Jesus? I know, you might not get what I am getting at; but, let's say that you are planning your day, something we all do, whether we realize it or not; and as you are setting out to plan your day, you have placed within this plan something that is not actually worthy of you even thinking about, but it has been placed there anyways; does that plan, even if it may not get played out, come between you and your ability to seek Jesus? Yes, it most surely will! It will because we have set out to something which actually draws us away from Jesus; or, better put, makes us avoid seeking Jesus, to better complete our plan. As we look at what Paul is saying in the text above, there is this concept of waking up out of a sleep; which actually means to become attentive to one's dangerous position and to the salvation of God delivering therefrom. Adding to this, the point about "casting off the works of darkness", and we have the counter to the workings of what takes place in our minds. Okay, so maybe this is something that you don't think is that big of a deal; mostly because you are not actually going to perform these acts that you have set into your daily plan; it might just be some kind of a fairytale, or a what if kind of a thing. However, do not discount the power of the mind; and what we place in the mind, or let into our minds, can really become a hindrance to our will, let alone our heart... "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:10-16)

"Seeking Jesus In The Mix"

"But God commandeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God's love is real; His love is sure; but, most importantly, He loves me! We must set our hearts on what God did for us, which was much more than just His act of love for the world; it was His demonstration of love for me, and you; each one of us were in His mind as He set this plan in motion. That might seem hard to accept for some people, Like how does God know me then? Wasn't that over 2,000 years ago? Actually, God set His plan in motion a lot earlier than that! And yet, I believe that God knew me even back then, however long ago that might have been, because God is eternal, and He knows all things; which means that He knows today, yesterday and tomorrow. The word 'commandeth' that is used in the verse above means to show, prove, approve, manifest; to commend, recommend or make acceptable or illustrious. Here is the thing that gets me really thinking: if God knew me then, then He knows me now, and He knows me hereafter; which really causes my brain to swirl when I think about how He sees me; because now He sees me covered by the blood of His Son; washed whiter than the snow; as if I never sinned. And because God chooses never to look upon sin, then does that mean He has always seen me as if I have never sin? Some might come to that conclusion; however, if we are to try and accept that, then what about the fact that "He commandeth His love toward us, in that we were yet sinners"? It makes my head spin! Therefore, I am thinking that there is only one thing left to do, which is to set my heart and soul to seek Jesus; to place my loves desire on Him and to put my affections towards Him; making my will to do the things which bring Him glory. That is how I set my heart and soul to seek Him, because He is waiting for me there; He is longing for me to make the right choices; to place my love for Him above all else; to seek Him with my whole heart!!! Everything else is not important, and is not seeking Him...

"Reaching Out For Jesus" -3

And then? That's the words that I heard this morning as I tried to pull myself out of bed. Do I know what it means? I have a couple of clues that have been set before me, and they are more real than I think I want them to be. This mornings devotional in Matthew 5:21-24 was one of them, and it had to do with reconciling with by brother; but more than that, it spoke to my heart about living in unity with one another. Living in unity is not what we might think of when we are angry with one another, that is for sure; but what does in mean to actually live in unity? Grace is something that we can never run out of; God's grace to us, and our grace towards one another; yet, for some reason we think that it is of limited supply, as we bestow grace upon our brother, then wait for the response, as if giving more will be based upon how well they respond to what you have just given them. Then, as I was praying for the Men's Retreat that is starting later today, I noticed that the theme is, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"; as if I just had something confirmed to my heart, and I must be prepared for God to speak. And then, I was reminded of something else; something which is so often not remembered in the midst of our selfish lives: God poured His grace out to those that did not love Him, not waiting for our response to give us more, He kept on pouring it out, and keeps on still, even in the midst of our disobedience!!! Do you know what our problem is? We have been given grace which must be lived out in us, in order to be realized! Do you know what that means? Am I saying that we cannot know God's grace without living it out in our lives towards one another? No, that is not what I meant. What I am saying, is our knowledge of the grace that we have been given, has a life and is alive within us; meaning that the grace by which we have been saved is waiting to be shared, and by not sharing that which we have received, we will not realize what we truly have been given. What is knowledge that is not put to use? Waste...

"Reaching Out For Jesus" -2

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John 4:18-21) I am so convicted in my heart right now, it is to hard to express it in words; therefore I will just put out the message that I have heard, and let that be my expression. First off, who is my brother? And, how do I not love him? Maybe the best way to begin, is by asking what love is, and then moving out from there. Prior to stating that "there is no fear in love", John says, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as He is, so are we in this world". AS HE IS what??? LOVE!!! God is Love, which then goes on to say, that we are the love of God in this world. Okay, let's try this by looking at Jesus: who was and is the expression of God's love to us; and if we are to follow Him, then we are to also express the love of God to this world. How do we express God's love to this world? Feeding the poor? Caring for the sick? Giving shelter to the homeless? These are all worthy acts of compassion; but the greatest compassion that we can have for our brothers and sisters that are in this world, is to show them God's love, by pointing them to the cross. "Before a man will care what you know, he will want to know that you care!" This is the example that our Lord demonstrated in the three and a half years of His ministry; by loving through compassion, for that which can be seen, so that those who had ears to hear, would listen to the message about that which really mattered. So I will ask again, Who is my brother? And, How do I not love him? My brother is anyone that I meet on this earth; anyone is my brother or my sister, because we do not know whom will be saved or not saved, and we definitely cannot judge who is worthy or not to hear the gospel message, or to be someone that we share Jesus to. This is the point of John saying, "that we may have boldness in the day of judgement"; which is not what "no fear" is all about; but the boldness that we have is due to our love that was expressed to our brothers and sisters, and that our love we expressed was His love. The fear comes into play by the act of sharing in His testimony to this world, which means that because we know how much He loves us, that our love for Him trumps all fear of anything outside of Him. So then; I do not love my brother, if I do not reach out to him in his time of need; and that really matters most, when his need is Jesus...

"Reaching Out For Jesus"

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17) What are we in this world? To fully understand what John is speaking about, we must first understand who Jesus is, primarily because it is the knowledge of who He is that holds the keys to who we are in Him; and if we are going to stand any chance against this world, then we must know Who's we are. As I was saying yesterday (things that might be hard for some to comprehend, but nonetheless, things that must be accepted), Jesus Christ is God, which therefore means that He is not of this world; this, the same writer of the passage above made perfectly clear in the first 18 verses of his Gospel. The word 'herein' that begins the passage above, is not necessarily for the 'because' in the same verse, although, the 'because' does complete the 'herein'; but the 'herein' is the product of the two verses before, which say: "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him". I wish not to get in a battle over words, or the meaning of 'Son of God' verses God, but know this: Jesus is referred to as the Son of God because He came forth from God; the same meaning which Peter declared of Him in Matthew 16:16, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God". Back to Colossians 3:2, as Paul says to "set your affections on things above, not on this earth", primarily it is due to the fact that we are no longer of this earth; here, but no longer attached to this world in our spirit, we have been raised up in Jesus Christ, who being seated at the right hand of the Father, is given all the authority of the Father. However, there is only one temporary obstacle in our way of being as He is, and it is called this mortal body; which, as both Paul and John explain, that this shall change either - Here, There or In The Air; but in the mean time, we are to be perfected in Christ by the love that we have been made aware of. It is the knowledge of this love that manifests itself in us; something that is not foreseen or explainable prior to the conception of that knowledge, but is only obtainable upon the acceptance of who Jesus is and what He has done for us...

"Hold Onto Jesus" -2

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in Glory." (Colossians 3:1-4) What need have we of anything else, but to be right with God? For if we are dead in Christ, the life that we have, we have in Him; therefore, what life should we be living for? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If we really look hard into that which was created within us, what we will see is Light; Light that is eternal, and has Life. This is not some mystical hoopla, because it is real and it is obtainable; but it is only obtainable in Jesus Christ. Where we have gone was from death, to death, to life; for we were dead in our sins, doomed for an eternal separation from God; then we were crucified with Christ, wherein that body of sinful flesh was made dead to the rudiments of the Law and made free from the bondage whereby it's ordinances had us captured; being raised up with Christ in a life that is not bound to this old way of living, where we are held by the physical and material things of this world; but are held to a glorious and eternal life that is in Jesus Christ, which is what we hold onto! It is this eternal life that we have been given in Jesus Christ that keeps us bound to Him, for He is eternal; which many people just can not get a hold of. Many see Jesus as the child born in the manger to become the sacrifice for our sins; but they do not see Him as the Creator, the First and the Last, the Great I Am, and the Life!!! When Paul uses the expression in verse one of Colossians 3, "sitteth on the right hand of God", it is an expression that is meant to imply that whoever is placed at his right hand by him who is of importance is to be recognised of equal dignity and given equal honor with himself. Therefore, Jesus seated at the right hand of God, expresses His Deity as being One with God; and because there is only One God, then they are both One in the Same; therefore, when we look to the life that we have been given, it is altogether proper and essential to see Jesus Christ as the Giver of this life. And because He is the Giver of this life that we have been given, then we must hold onto Him with all of our might, which requires that we "set our affection" on Him; which means that we are of one mind with Him...

"Hold Onto Jesus"

"He that saith, I know Him, and keep not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (1 John 2:4-6) It's odd, but last night as I went to sleep, I saw in a dream the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed, saying, If I can just touch the hem of His garment, then I should be healed. After that dream, the title for today's blog came to my mind, Hold Onto Jesus, but it was in the form of a song, which played over and over in my head. And then the strangest thing happened, as if a playback movie was presented in my head; you know, the kind where you just see little glimpses of events that have taken place; random images of Biblical stories, each involving Jesus being called out to, reached out for, and held onto. And then there was one image that kept repeating itself randomly between all the others, John resting his head upon the chest of Jesus, as if to hold onto the Creator of his soul; much like the young man who held onto the leg of Jesus as they took Him from the garden. Now, about this thing I was sharing on yesterday; Do you know why the heart gets hard in the first place? I will give you a hint: it has to do with not doing what we know that we should do. In case you did not get that: it has to do with sin! Remember, sin is missing the mark; the mark being the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we miss the mark, we have an opportunity to correct that which we have wronged in, and that is done by confession; not confession to man, but to God. However, if we fail to confess that which we need to ask forgiveness for, then the hardness begins; layer upon layer of unconfessed sin, and there you have it, a heart that is hard as a rock. And then we have the elective surgery that must be performed, which I shared about yesterday, and that I know may have made some feel down; but fear not!!! There is One who shall carry us through anything and everything that we could possibly have to go through, but we must hold onto Him with all of our might. Pressing through the stuff, the crowds, anything that is in between us and our Redeemer, to but touch the hem of His garment and be healed; that is if you want to...

"Elective Surgery" -2

Now then; before I go any further, I must warn you about something: this may get physical, and it surely will get personal. Thinking about something that I said at the closing of yesterday's blog, I believe that this explains so much about fallen leadership within our churches; it comes down to a little thing called a callous heart; which many would say that it means a heart that has become hard, or a hardened heart; which may be the condition that the heart is in; but, there is another meaning to this word, which I believe are the properties that a calloused heart has as it's manner of expression. Expression of what? What have we been talking about all year long? A little-Big thing called Love!!! The other meaning of the word callous is unfeeling, or insensitive; which has so much more to do with love then we would care to admit. The unfeeling or insensitive heart is a heart that has no depth for love; in other words, love does not, and is not able to penetrate into it's core any longer. This is a heart that might feel love, but the love that it feels is only on the surface; making love superficial in nature, which cannot take root, and thus is unable to be the motivating factor in a persons ability to obey God, or to follow His commands. Instead, the factor which becomes the motivator is one of what looks right in the eyes of others; which is only on the surface, or what is portrayed for all to see. Sadly, this type of heart will not be healed by simply praying for God to heal it; Why is that? Cut away!!! That is why! It must be cut away from the heart of the Believer; which will require elective surgery at the Hand of God, but at the cost of the one who's heart has been hardened saying, Whatever it takes! I know it's going to hurt, but do whatever is needed to fix it! Again, this is not something that can just be prayed for; this is something that must be lived out, otherwise the heart may get harder still once the surgery has begun. Those that are in leadership within the church have the least amount of chance with this type of surgery, because they can hide behind their service to the church, fooling themselves into believing that they are cured. But they forget one very important thing: God is not fooled! This might sound devastating to some, but the harsh reality is that works can become a replacement for love in the heart of those that serve. Having said all of that, let me assure you that all is not lost in the case of those who's heart has been hardened. God is mighty to save, and if we really want to be healed, then He will, and can perform it...

"Elective Surgery"

Now we are getting somewhere!!! What does God want? God wants to change my heart!!! That my dear brothers and sisters is what takes place in the ministry that God calls us into: the servant becomes the student; the teacher gets taught; the man of God is fashioned into a son of God. All of these things actually take place at the moment that we were conceived into the family of God, but yet they are also produced and brought forth within us as we grow in the Lord; sometimes repeatedly, if need be! Am I saying that we might need to have our heart circumcised again, as if that which was taken away has grown back? Not necessarily; because that which was cut away, was taken out of the way by Jesus Christ, never to be put back again; however, anything that was put back, was our own doing; which makes that which has been put back something that is made with hands; yet the actual circumcision that was first performed was not done with hands, but was of God. Therefore we are faced with something new; something which requires elective surgery at the hand of God. I have written in between verses 11 & 12 of Colossians chapter 2: Cut Away - Elective Surgery. Now, could it be that the two are meant to go together? Which would mean that the question that was written between verses 10 & 11, What Does God Want?, was then answered between verses 11 & 12; which would say that God wants to cut away at the parts of my heart that do not belong there in the first place; which requires the heart to yield to, and give permission for the Mighty Surgeon to do His work. I will even go a step further, to say that this ties into what Paul says in verse 16; wherein he does not change course in sharing what God has done in us, but affirms that which might be something that might be the cause of what we tend to put back: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holiday, or of a new moon, or of the sabbath days". And yet there is another aspect of this equation that must be considered, and it is something that is overlooked by many that get involved in ministry: God is not done working on our hearts!!! People hesitate getting involved in a particular ministry because they know that God will require them to change as a condition of being in that place; and yet when they feel that they are ready for the ministry, they think that they have changed; however, God is not done changing them; which causes some to question the ministry that they are in; when really, the question that they must ask is all about them... 'Change my heart O God, make it ever new; change my heart O God, may I be like you...'