Many believers don't know their Bible they get their theology from a book of quotes written by men, rather than God's Word.
Psalm 119:11 "Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You."
We cannot obey God if we don't know what He says!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Did You Wake Up In Your Right Mind Today?
How many of you feel this way, I am blessed every day that I wake up in my right mind, and other things too.
Our blessings most of the time are simple every day provision. Most of us have all our needs and a little more. When we are satisfied with that then we are blessed.
When the Lord speaks of blessing it is my humble opinion that He is not speaking or thinking of piles of material wealth, but rather He is wanting to heap upon us His wisdom and grace among other character qualities that glorify Him.
Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"
We have got to retrain our minds to think in spiritual terms rather than material. Our human tendency is to equate everything to the physical world, but God wants us to grow more and more in the spiritual. It is of much greater value for eternity. All our physical wealth will burn up one day and all that will be left is our character in Christ.
Our blessings most of the time are simple every day provision. Most of us have all our needs and a little more. When we are satisfied with that then we are blessed.
When the Lord speaks of blessing it is my humble opinion that He is not speaking or thinking of piles of material wealth, but rather He is wanting to heap upon us His wisdom and grace among other character qualities that glorify Him.
Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"
We have got to retrain our minds to think in spiritual terms rather than material. Our human tendency is to equate everything to the physical world, but God wants us to grow more and more in the spiritual. It is of much greater value for eternity. All our physical wealth will burn up one day and all that will be left is our character in Christ.
Going Home Soon I Hope!
Looking forward to going home soon, to meet all the brothers and sisters I have met on facebook, but have never seen. I never had a bio sister, but WOW, has God blessed me with a whole lot of Sisters in the Lord. And Brothers too!!!!
Bless you all as we wait for the time when we will all be together at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
My prayer is that those who are not yet saved but think they are, will evaluate themselves according to Scripture, and become a part of the family of Christ.
My other prayer is that those who are born again, will become more bold in these last days, increasing in everything especially love...God's kind of love that yearns for the unsaved to find Christ and seeks holiness in their own walk.
Have a blessed weekend family of God!!!!!!
Bless you all as we wait for the time when we will all be together at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
My prayer is that those who are not yet saved but think they are, will evaluate themselves according to Scripture, and become a part of the family of Christ.
My other prayer is that those who are born again, will become more bold in these last days, increasing in everything especially love...God's kind of love that yearns for the unsaved to find Christ and seeks holiness in their own walk.
Have a blessed weekend family of God!!!!!!
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Seeing Things As They Really Are
The more we know Christ, the greater our discernment, we will notice more evil than ever before because our eyes will be open. With that knowledge and wisdom comes sorrow but also strength to endue it.
Ecc. 1:18 "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Philippians 1:9-10 "9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,"
Hebrews 5:14 "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Proverbs 2:5-1 "My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
Those who only want to enjoy life, ignoring or denying everything that is evil around them, will feel content, but they are not useful for the kingdom of God.
We cannot be truthful and honest while denying truth simply to feel good. We are strong when we can admit truth no matter how ugly, feeling a sense of sorrow over evil while at the same time retaining that deep down sense of joy because Christ knows all about it.
Denying evil does not change the evil and it is lying. Prayer over the evil can bring change, but if we deny that it exists then we won't pray. Who is the focus when we deny evil? It is a selfish person who prefers positive friendly encounters all the time, there is no sense of helping anyone or glorifying God when our focus is our self.
We all love to feel good, but as believers, our positive outlook has nothing to do with avoiding the truth. Our sense of well being comes from knowing Who is in control and that all things have a purpose.
Pretending everything is alright, no matter what the sin people are involved in, is lying and unproductive. When safety is the goal of a believer, then narcissism has taken over.
IF we want to be useful for the kingdom, then we take things as they come, calling them what they are, handling them God's way while carrying on for Christ. His joy surpasses anything we have to endure.
Ecc. 1:18 "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."
Philippians 1:9-10 "9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,"
Hebrews 5:14 "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Proverbs 2:5-1 "My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
Those who only want to enjoy life, ignoring or denying everything that is evil around them, will feel content, but they are not useful for the kingdom of God.
We cannot be truthful and honest while denying truth simply to feel good. We are strong when we can admit truth no matter how ugly, feeling a sense of sorrow over evil while at the same time retaining that deep down sense of joy because Christ knows all about it.
Denying evil does not change the evil and it is lying. Prayer over the evil can bring change, but if we deny that it exists then we won't pray. Who is the focus when we deny evil? It is a selfish person who prefers positive friendly encounters all the time, there is no sense of helping anyone or glorifying God when our focus is our self.
We all love to feel good, but as believers, our positive outlook has nothing to do with avoiding the truth. Our sense of well being comes from knowing Who is in control and that all things have a purpose.
Pretending everything is alright, no matter what the sin people are involved in, is lying and unproductive. When safety is the goal of a believer, then narcissism has taken over.
IF we want to be useful for the kingdom, then we take things as they come, calling them what they are, handling them God's way while carrying on for Christ. His joy surpasses anything we have to endure.
Seek God For His Will
God's creation is a testimony to His work of salvation and purpose to glorify Himself.
As I was pondering the apple tree that is rooted in the neighbors yard across the fence, I was reminded how that tree testifies to God's work of salvation in believers.
In order for an apple tree to grow, the seed that falls to the ground must die, before it can be changed into something else. When that seed dies, and is no more, then a tree grows producing a trunk, leaves, and eventually apples. The original seed will never come back, but the new tree that produces apples will have within that fruit other seeds that will fall to the ground and die too, producing an orchard.
This is very much a picture of the Christian life, when we confess our sinfulness desiring to be changed by Christ, HE comes and changes us making us into a new creation, the old cannot return. When the new comes, it will keep producing fruit, and that fruit will produce seeds for new trees, I believe this is a picture of the believer spreading the gospel and others will become saved and grow their own fruit and spread more seed.
All believers will have the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
The fruit of the Spirit is not works, they are spiritual character qualities.
The gifts of the Spirit are talents,for lack of a better word, that allow us to more fully spread the Gospel and serve other believers.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 "4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
As I was pondering the apple tree that is rooted in the neighbors yard across the fence, I was reminded how that tree testifies to God's work of salvation in believers.
In order for an apple tree to grow, the seed that falls to the ground must die, before it can be changed into something else. When that seed dies, and is no more, then a tree grows producing a trunk, leaves, and eventually apples. The original seed will never come back, but the new tree that produces apples will have within that fruit other seeds that will fall to the ground and die too, producing an orchard.
This is very much a picture of the Christian life, when we confess our sinfulness desiring to be changed by Christ, HE comes and changes us making us into a new creation, the old cannot return. When the new comes, it will keep producing fruit, and that fruit will produce seeds for new trees, I believe this is a picture of the believer spreading the gospel and others will become saved and grow their own fruit and spread more seed.
All believers will have the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
The fruit of the Spirit is not works, they are spiritual character qualities.
The gifts of the Spirit are talents,for lack of a better word, that allow us to more fully spread the Gospel and serve other believers.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 "4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."
When one becomes born again, they will never lose any of these fruits, they were integrated into our being and will never leave us. The gifts will come and go as God sees a need for them.
The gifts of the Spirit are given to each of us, as God sees fit, we are not to ask for them, we are to walk and pray in God's will and He will give us gifts as are needed for whatever task He gives us to do. Begging for gifts is a way of telling God what He must do. We are to desire Spiritual gifts, but not our own idea of what we want. We are to ask for God's will for us, for His purposes.
Luke 1:38 "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
Notice in the account of Mary's encounter with the messenger from God, the messenger told her what was to be the will of God and she submitted. No where in the Word will you find someone who commands God as to what He will do in them. We seek the Lord for His will and He will do it in us.
Bottom Line: Seek the Lord for His will and obey when you hear Him.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."
When one becomes born again, they will never lose any of these fruits, they were integrated into our being and will never leave us. The gifts will come and go as God sees a need for them.
The gifts of the Spirit are given to each of us, as God sees fit, we are not to ask for them, we are to walk and pray in God's will and He will give us gifts as are needed for whatever task He gives us to do. Begging for gifts is a way of telling God what He must do. We are to desire Spiritual gifts, but not our own idea of what we want. We are to ask for God's will for us, for His purposes.
Luke 1:38 "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
Notice in the account of Mary's encounter with the messenger from God, the messenger told her what was to be the will of God and she submitted. No where in the Word will you find someone who commands God as to what He will do in them. We seek the Lord for His will and He will do it in us.
Bottom Line: Seek the Lord for His will and obey when you hear Him.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Fear is a Dead Giveaway
I wonder if the phrase "don't judge" is the most used out of context phrase in the Bible. American's have turned it into a magical mantra to intimidate others into silence when they are confronting sin. Do not be intimidated by those who would raise their voice to frighten us into submission.
When someone raises their voice to avoid admitting their sin or mistake, we know they are fearful themselves. Fearful animals and people attack when they know they cannot justify or defend their position.
When someone raises their voice to avoid admitting their sin or mistake, we know they are fearful themselves. Fearful animals and people attack when they know they cannot justify or defend their position.
Our Response Proves Our Heart
When we experience trials we can be sure the Lord is speaking to us. If someone is not born again, the trials are there to bring us to our knees in repentance. If we are born again, then the trials are to expose what is left in our hearts that needs to be cleansed.
We can know that the "negative" things in our life grow and change us to become more holy, or they will harden us to become more evil, the choice is ours.
James 1:2-16
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures"
This principle reminds me of the Bible account of the Pharaoh who hardened his own heart, in the same passage God says HE hardened Pharaoh's heart. The truth is that God did what He knew would cause Pharaoh to harden his own heart. He does that with us, He gives us challenges to dredge out what is inside. When we become angry and lose faith over trials, that is what was inside all the time. God wants to show us our hearts, so that we will confess it and ask for cleansing.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Hebrews 3:15 "while it is said, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME."
We can know that the "negative" things in our life grow and change us to become more holy, or they will harden us to become more evil, the choice is ours.
James 1:2-16
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures"
This principle reminds me of the Bible account of the Pharaoh who hardened his own heart, in the same passage God says HE hardened Pharaoh's heart. The truth is that God did what He knew would cause Pharaoh to harden his own heart. He does that with us, He gives us challenges to dredge out what is inside. When we become angry and lose faith over trials, that is what was inside all the time. God wants to show us our hearts, so that we will confess it and ask for cleansing.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Hebrews 3:15 "while it is said, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)