WOW!! Bad day...great finsih!

My day wasn't the best today with various frustrations, and as I often do I turned to TBN to find Pastor Joseph Prince preaching in Israel.  Despite trying to tell myself all day to maintain "perspective" it was difficult but the moment I began listening to him talk I got it back...big time!  First, the worship was just amazing...thousands of people praising God with outstretched arms as scripture describes, & not just singing words to some song but really praising the Lord with their own words as well.  For me, this has always been "church" - connecting with Jesus is it whether it is in a building with others or at home alone or riding in my car or out in an empty field- praise from the heart of man is real worship.  So, that immediately re-grounded me in what is important in life - above all else - connecting with Jesus.  I know it in my head, but it is when it overtakes my spirit that I really appreciate what that means.

Then Pastor Prince began to preach - his sermons are among the richest  I have ever heard - deep, yet so simple you wonder why you didn't see a point he is making ever before.  He has a way of connecting the scriptures & teaching about the law, grace, and what the appearance & death of Christ really did for man that it blows you away.  Many churches are missing the real & complete meaning of this & salvation, yet it is right there in black & white for us to read & we do yet still miss it by a long shot.  Once you "get it" deep in your understanding it validates, excites, & in my case confirms so many discerning moments I have had where I knew what I was hearing or seeing was so wrong yet no one seemed to realize it.  I can't explain it adequately because you have to grasp it in your own spirit fully & the best way I can tell you to do that is to listen to a few of his messages-it may change your life.  It has changed mine in my spirit where it counts - there are good sermons & good services, and then there are "defining moments" where Jesus is magnified to us in such a way that we are forever changed.  All the man-made traditions and Martha type busywork is lost in the light of being a Mary & just sitting at the foot of Jesus learning, enjoying him, & seeking nothing but him.  That is when we truly begin to serve, to grow, & to reflect him.

The world has a way of destroying our faith, stripping us of our passion, & keeping us from doing the things Christ really calls us to do.  We have to daily regroup so our mind & body follows our spirit, not the other way around.  So many things are so glaringly obvious in God's word that we gloss over, ignore, or misunderstand.  Sometimes we have to get out of our comfort zone whether it is church, friends, family, fear, or whatever that keeps us there and ask Jesus to show us more of himself so we can be more like him.  Have you ever just cringed at something & known you could not make someone understand why, yet you knew Jesus was cringing too?   Those are God moments when our spirit is so in tune with the Lord that we want to cry at the insanity of what we see or hear, & sometimes do.  Then there are the God moments when tears of joy come out of the beautiful communion with God as we worship him or hear his word and it becomes manna to our soul when before it was just words.

You can catch Pastor Prince on TBN or find him online-order a CD or book-I hope & pray he will enlighten your understanding through the work of the Holy Spirit & that you will be more excited about Jesus & your life in & for him than you knew you could be.  God bless & have an awesome tomorrow in & with Jesus Christ, our Lord & Savior for that is exactly why we are here on planet earth!

Thoughts from today's quiet time....

Never do in your own strength that which God does not require...all the while remembering..."to whom much is given, much is required".  (much could be salvation, money, family, intelligence, strength, wisdom, great health, special talents, & a host of other things)  Satan gets our eyes off that scripture by causing us to focus on & care only about self, not others & God's will for us.

When it is time for church our thought should be...I am SO excited to get there & hear what God has to tell me, to worship him with all my being, & to serve him in the way he has called me to.  The greatest servants are so often behind the scenes, watering the planted seeds for increase.  Service, worship, & hearing the word should be a thing of joy, love & enthusiasm.  Be aware, that satan does all he can to cause chaos before church often.  It is the responsibility of each of us to not allow that to happen to us or those around us.  He does not want us to hear, worship, or serve the Lord but to be distracted with issues, behaviors, and selfishness.  "Enter his gates with thanksgiving."

The Lord shows us SO much... I never had a brother, I lost my Dad at an early age, & sadly I went through a divorce that truly hurt my soul for a long time (until I saw the Lord using that for which the enemy meant harm, for good)...& it has become more real to me of late that the Lord has put strong Christian men in my life who encourage me & pray for me, aside from my two wonderful sons. Some of these fellows have popped up out of the most unexpected places & I ask God's blessing upon them for they are living the one true "religion" which is to help others, especially those of the household of faith.  Some of them, older than I, have gone to be with Jesus & I know will be blessed by him for all they did for me & others. 

Ohio's mottto is"With God all things are possible" - suggested by a 12 year old boy!  (Oh, to have childlike faith, untainted by the skepticism of man.) In Ohio I have experienced some miraculous things, and also a lot of enemy opposition.  I think both of these are reflective of an area with such a motto and are reflective of lives lived for Christ.  Miracles and opposition are the stuff a life lived for Jesus is made of!  Our job is to testify of the miracles, & to pray against the opposition at every juncture.

The Lord encouraged me today to see the realities, not the faulty perceptions of the world.  I challenge you to do the same.  "Iron sharpens iron"!

Up, up, & away....

Greetings gospel followers, curiosity seekers, & those who are just plain bored & needing something to read!  :)  All are welcome.  My title is 3-fold today....first I am feeling "up" after consulting recent stats re. readership of my blog, which I have sadly neglected.  I am glad my readers are more faithful than I have been, but I hope to have a more definitive time of blogging soon.  It would be neat if you all would sign on as followers, but I can appreciate your privacy as well.  No worries there.  My goal is to be a beacon of light in some small way.

I am also "up" because good things have been happening lately...little good things, nevertheless a lot of them all at once.  I share this as an encouragement to all who wander by here in re. to prayer.  I recently asked a trusted few folks to pray...without telling them what I wanted prayer for except that it was really important.  Most of my reason for that was privacy, however one day soon I will tell them what exactly they were praying for.  At any rate, never ever doubt the POWER of the prayers of the believer.  Whether they are short or long, no matter what language they come in, there is a power there not because of the person praying....but because of the person of Jesus who inhabits the prayers of his people & is ever an advocate with the father on behalf of his people.  Someone once told me that God honors prayers uttered after a matter has been resolved....because...the Lord knows all things & has already deposited that prayer to the account of the person needing it before it was said.  When prayers are said for me, even though I may not have the words to pray for myself, I pray for those who are praying for me.  This is just a personal thing of mine that I feel strongly about.

Finally, I am "up" because as I was feeling those prayers in the little victories of my days & seeing the interesting ways Jesus showed up to remind me he was right there with me, I was studying the topic of GRACE.  We all pretty much know what grace is in general terms, but I have discovered that there is a lot more to be learned if we wish to really walk in the grace that has come to us through the sacrifice of Christ.  Many of us live under the "law" of the pre-Christ era, not seeing the freedom from condemnation there is in grace.  The law has & had a purpose-it was to deal with sin, but when Christ paid the price for sin it became that which reminds us of what sin is but no longer something that condemns-the payment for sin was made at the cross-all sin-forever.  Payment in the OT was in the form of sacrifice...when Jesus came, he made the sacrifice!  Grace is NOT a license to sin, it IS freedom from condemnation!  We do not have a list of do's & don'ts in Christianity -that is found in religious doctrines that are man made.  When we don't live under a cloud of judgement for our sins we have peace, power, & victory over sin, satan, and problems. It occurred to me that remembering this when tempted to accuse someone of sin might help us out a bit-if Jesus doesn't condemn us, who are we to condemn each other?  Actually, in reality, if we do become an accuser of the brethren our power in Jesus goes right out the window.  Remember, satan came to rob, kill, & destroy and if you let him use you as his mouthpiece your peace & power will be zapped!  Human nature (our sin nature) is to dredge stuff up & pitch it at folks when we aren't happy with them.  The Holy Spirit in us & others can be quenched by judgements we should not be making!  Pray for those you sense have no peace & live in a haze of judgement day to day.

Think about grace & the law this way-before Christ came the commandments were what told people what they should & should not do & there was a system of laws in place to deal with sin which involved sacrifice from the blood sacrifice of animals to the blood sacrifice of man (in the form of things such as stoning a person).   This is a very simplified explanation.  After Christ came the sacrifice part was over & the commandments still pointed to what is sinful, yes, however our job now is to not live under a shadow of condemnation feeling we always have to pay what Jesus already paid or we deserve less due to sin.  If we are aware of the enormity of grace our propensity to sin will be greatly diminished and our freedom from feeling condemned will enhance the power of Jesus in our life.  Again, this is somewhat of a simple explanation but once that realization really settles in the light bulb goes on & we start experiencing a peace we can't have when satan is beating us down with reminders of our failures.  Life is easier to understand & live when things aren't going so well because we have an inner strength that really almost defies explanation.

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (RSV)  If you read Paul's entire letter to the Romans, chapter by chapter, verse by verse you will find distinct understanding about the law & grace often we zip over without really digesting the meaning of his words.
2 Cor. 12:9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  (RSV)  Think about it...there is POWER perfected when we, realizing our total inability,
embrace the GRACE of Christ! 
James 5:16 (RSV)  tells us "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."
1 Thess.5:17 (RSV) "pray constantly"...as simple as that!  Paul also reminds us here to rejoice, be thankful, not to quench the spirit, not to despise prophesying...to test things, hold fast to the good & abstain from evil.

Read your Bible with attention to the verses surrounding any one verse, and when in doubt look up Hebrew or Greek meanings...if you have a computer, it is easy to do!  :)  Oh, look!  You are reading this on a computer!  Google word meanings-expand your understanding.  Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.  It requires interaction with our beloved for maximum outcome!  Have fun...enjoy the journey...we, not the pastor, are responsible for understanding the word of God.  Because we can tend toward laziness in this, many who pervert the gospel have taken advantage and fed us a weak or different gospel!

Until next time, be blessed with his grace, walk in his power, and seek all of his truth!  If you find anything on the blog that would help someone you know please refer them here.  It's purpose is to encourage, inspire, & empower by pointing folks to the Word of God and stirring up the thought process with regard to him and the scriptures.  I don't spend a lot of time proofing these entries so please forgive any errors in grammer, punctuation, etc. 

1 Thessalonians 5:19, 20 "Do not quench the spirit,  do not despise prophesying"...it goes on to say test things, hold fast to the good and abstain from the evil.  The Bible clearly states that it will be imperfect (in Corinthians) & subject to the person speaking it, but it is nevertheless a gift God tells us to not despise or quench.


The TRUTH about prophecy...   what it is not...it is not "fortune telling" for gosh sake - it is not of satan as some would say-it isn't even just for Biblical times!  How I know...I read the Bible, study God's word, and I see God used this for discipline before Christ at times when speaking to the prophets of the Old Testament, Paul encouraged us that all should use this gift in the new Testament, and the word teaches what the appropriate use of it is!  It is, since Christ, a gift of "encouragement" that believers exercise to build one another up in their most holy faith!  Why have so many believers failed to see this?  Partly due to the failure to study (not just read) God's word, partly due to being taught error, and partly due to the enthusiasm of those who do understand it to misuse the gift which then leads others to disbelieve the gift.  The same is true of healing, faith, and all the other gifts-if we abuse them we mislead others into doubt of the reality and power of the gifts God has bestowed upon us for our well-being.

Why should we care about prophecy?  Well, for one thing the entire Bible is a prophetic book!  The OT is rich with the prophetic and a large part of it is devoted to the prophets of God.  The book of Revelation is an exciting book of God's prophetic word to the apostle John.  The problem comes when we do not realize that the gift of prophecy is actually a gift of love and that we were instructed in it's use and value.  I cringe whenever someone extracts something from the word of God and says this part isn't meant for "today" or "I don't believe this part" - the word of God is all both to be believed and to be of value for us today.  Somehow I think that God himself must cringe when we disbelieve his word and his gifts.  I wonder how much we grieve the Holy Spirit when we fail to embrace the third person of the trinity with the same degree of belief as we do the Father and the Son?   Yet look at the absolutely weird things people believe in the world today, and yes, even Christians believe some very strange things but can't wrap their brains around the power of the creator of the universe.

My belief is that we all should look at the specific scriptures in regard to the Holy Spirit and the gifts of God and pray for personal revelation.  For me, when I first read them, it was an "aha" moment when suddenly the big picture of God's creation, salvation, and love for us came into sight!  To prophesy means simply to declare, preach, or proclaim.  1 Cor. 14:3  "...he who prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding encouragement, and consolation."  Paul goes on to say prophecy edifies the church!  He tells us he wishes we all would...prophesy..in other words, to encourage, console, and build one another up!  It is that simple...prophecy is an act of love toward the church...and through Paul God himself told us to use it.  Many scriptures address this gift and the others and most folks believe the ones they choose to-the ones they aren't afraid to accept from God.  Have you ever been afraid to accept a gift of love from a parent?  In the OT the Holy Spirit fell upon men, but now we all have the Holy Spirit within us once we are saved.  That means quite simply that God put the comforter in us so we could avail ourselves of that power whenever we need to.  We can let it lay dormant or we can embrace it. 

Check out Amazon

Devotional on Christian accountability. ISBN 0-9745635-0-1 GOD'S CIA (God's Called into Accountability) or under spiritual growth.

Good for Bible Study, new believers, teens, devotions, etc. Includes study guide, illustrations, self-test, & lots of scriptures. Basic Christianity applied to life!

Palm Sunday

Today we recognize the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Having gone there last July, & even celebrated my birthday walking the streets of the old city thanking the Lord for my very life, this year I see an even clearer picture of that event. Many things have changed over the years yet if one visits Jerusalem with an open heart the Holy Spirit brings revelation & a clearer picture of the events that unfolded there. Not everyone can go to Jerusalem but there are so many excellent films on TV regarding the Holy Land I would encourage those who cannot go to view them.
Today as I think of Christ entering Jerusalem what comes to mind was standing & looking at the Praetorium from where Pilate could see all that was going on. We know that it was an essential part of God's plan that his son die that we may live-what does that mean to us? It means first & foremost that we too must die - to self - before we can have eternal life, for accepting Christ as our savior requires humility in admitting our sinful nature. People often say that no one has promised our life will be easy & that is very true, but God has promised that he will give us everything we need to deal with life if we trust in him. The Father did not promise that final trip into Jerusalem would be easy, but he did give Christ what he needed to deal with it. He was able to speak intelligently with Pilate, he resisted satan's taunts, & he withstood his closest friends' failure to acknowledge knowing him. We too can speak with intelligence to our enemies, resist temptation, & tolerate the failures of those closest to us with grace if we know Christ. Knowing Christ requires not just knowing who he is & what he did for us, but engaging with him in a personal relationship. Scripture tells us he is our friend, our brother, & our savior. We should be able to talk to him just as we would talk to an earthly brother or close friend. Just as Pilate sat in his lofty headquarters and watched, so the world sits & watches us. One of the best things we can do is to act with confidence & show them the victory there is in relationship with Jesus.
Little did the world realize just how great the triumph would be as Jesus rode into town that day, as they thought an earthly king was coming, but soon they were to witness the power of God in a new way. Up until now they knew only of the Father but soon they were to see Jesus was the Son and not long after they would see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. 2,000+ years later man has tried to water down the message of the word of God, but God...Father, Son, & Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today, & tomorrow! If we take God at his word, we must believe his entire word. He created us, saved us, & he empowered us. He gave us gifts that many of us have failed to open thus rendering ourselves powerless. I would challenge you as you reflect on the vastness of creation & the depth of salvation to move forward to open & use God's gifts to you so that you may fight the good fight without a spirit of fear. Growth as a believer requires acceptance & understanding of the whole word.

Do we really understand Easter?

Easter is about to be here yet again & I find myself asking how much we truly grasp what we are celebrating. I have gone to Easter dramas, observed the Lenten season with fasting, and even visited the Savior's tomb in Jerusalem! What troubles me is that all too often we fail to daily celebrate our salvation by witnessing, serving, & seeking the Lord. We fuss & grumble about this circumstance or that but often we have little right or need to do so. So often we become all puffed up with service we do offer, too judgemental in the use of the scriptural knowledge we have, & fail to be true to the very verses we have quoted frequently. We can't say for example that love keeps no record of wrongs and hold grudges - we can't manipulate the scripture to mean what we want it to, to suit our wishes - and any number of other things we sometimes find ourselves doing. Christ died for us & we should celebrate the exchange of his death for our life with service every day. It may be as simple as praying for the sick or as complicated as being involved in a big ministry. Celebrate Christ! Celebrate life! Easter Blessings!

Wrestling with God beyond faith

Recently the Lord reminded me of Jacob wrestling with God & told me to read that story
again...and so I did. It seemed he was telling me I should "hang in there" on several fronts where I wan't seeing the progress I would like to. OK I thought, I will, even though there are days I really wonder what is going on there in the heavenlies. As I pondered this I felt that the Lord was speaking to me about "beyond faith", saying that the required amount is indeed very tiny-only as large as a mustard seed. However, as he has pointed out so many times, patience & obedience is also required - I have worked on those lessons for some time now. So, why is the faithful, patient, obedient believer often waiting & waiting for things? He reminded me that perfect timing (in his time) is an important aspect of these things & that we must be watchful for the lessons in the circumstances! Bingo! I remembered Job saying "though he slay me..." and I vowed to pray for God's timing & sensitivity to the lessons he teaches me as I move with his spirit and not my agenda. Interestingly in the days since three things I had been praying about seemed to have moved ahead a bit! I take this as confirmation & encouragement that he is indeed at work in my life even when I can not see it.
Often I will look back on situations and recognize God's clear orchestration of the time & way a thing has evolved. When things don't seem to be moving they way we want that is the time we need to reflect on other times we thought that & remember the Lord came through.

Amazon

The devotional I wrote several years ago - GOD'S CIA - will be available on Amazon shortly.