Month: December 2017

WHO IS IN CHARGE – God or Man???


spiritual blog - God In Charge

Genesis 8:22 – “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” NIV

             I do not mean to be political in my devotional but I laugh at those who are clamoring and decrying the evils of mankind, insisting that man is causing global warming and climate change.  When did God turn that job over to man?  In the natural course of events of this earth there are volcanic eruptions that send huge amounts of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.  Science tells us that Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enables the earth to absorb the infrared radiations and helps keep the earth warm.  It tells us that plants utilize carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.  It informs us that the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form carbonate rocks and that the utilization of CO2 by the plants produces Oxygen for us to breathe and helps maintain our breathable air on planet earth.  Who did this?  GOD DID!   God established the method of how what we call ‘nature’ works and He is keeping His hand on it even today.

God is not an ‘absentee landlord’ as some have declared and while we do things that are not prudent or wise we are not going to destroy our atmosphere by our use of fossil fuels or anything else short of total nuclear chaos which may well be what some of the Bible prophecies describes in the last days.  But in Genesis, the seed book of the Bible, God said in the above passage that we would ALWAYS or as long as there is an earth the natural process of life which includes climate being controlled by Him!

My purpose is not to get into a political debate over what someone may or may not believe regarding ‘man-made climate change’ but to point to the truth that GOD IS OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, and OMNIPRESENT.  He is God, always has been, and always will be!  I trust Him with my life and my planet.  Does that mean I should be negligent in my attention to my natural surroundings?  NO!  I am appalled when I see liter and trash dumped everywhere.  As an avid outdoorsman and one who loves to hunt and fish I am wounded deeply when I see trash and garbage on our lakes, in our forests, and on our highways.  It only takes a few seconds to properly dispose of those things and as a Christian, I cannot understand just littering for convenience or laziness sake.

Over my years which have spanned a few decades now I’ve seen incredibly cold winters and incredibly hot summers in given years and the reverse on others.  I’ve seen winters so mild that you could wear shorts around Christmas and so cold that you could barely endure being outdoors for more than a few minutes at a time.  I’ve watched as the rains in the Spring and Fall are so plenteous that the ground stays saturated into the Summer and Winter and seen it so dry that if you did not water your lawn you would have no lawn or foundational stability for your house to sit on.  It has been cyclical but all the while I have believed and do believe that God is in control and I rest on His promise here in Genesis that as long as the earth is the earth and we occupy it there will be ‘seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer, and winter, day and night.’  I do not expect to wake up tomorrow and find that the hand of man has destroyed the planet that the ALMIGHTY GOD created and cares for.

My simple message is ‘Stop Fretting’ over things that are God’s to handle.  Relax and enjoy God’s gift to us and be wise in your use of it but enjoy it and enjoy Him along the pathway from the cradle to the grave!

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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WHY I REFUSE TO WORRY ABOUT LIFE…..


Spiritual Blog - Worry

Luke 12:22-32 – “And He said to His disciples, ” For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!  25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?  26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?  27 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  28 “But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!  29 “And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying.  30 “For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things.  31 “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.  32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”  NASU

 

Recently I had a conversation with a person that I care about deeply and they were struggling with the condition of things in government, the state of the economy, and the future.  They were wringing their hands and lamenting that the future was so dim and dismal that they were despairing of life.  This person is a Christian albeit at that moment their faith was in another dimension not on the promises of our Lord.

I shared with them this passage, which they were very familiar with and said, “This is why I refuse to worry about life.”   You see here in simple language, our Lord Jesus said, “DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE….”  Don’t fret over what you are going to eat, drink, wear, and in the context of that truth where you will live.  He illustrated the birds of the air and the flowers of the field and the fact that God cares for them the way He does.  He also cautioned against worry saying that we cannot add even one hour to our lifespan through it and we now know through medical science that we can shorten our lifespan by it.  Jesus told us in the familiar verse 33 what we are ‘not to seek’ and what we ‘are to seek’.  He then concluded the statement by saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”  In that Kingdom, there is the King and with the King are all the resources that we could ever need.

If I worry about life I am not placing my faith and confidence in God.  I am not suggesting that we make no preparation for our latter years or that we nonchalantly go through our days with no labor or effort to earn a living.  NO THAT WOULD BE PRESUMPTUOUS.  I am saying that once we have done all we know to do then we TRUST and REST in the Promises of God and take Him at His word.  He said DON’T WORRY and I believe He meant what He said so I CHOOSE not to worry!  I believe as David declared, “I was young, now I am old and I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread.”  God has promised to take care of us and He will.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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WHAT IS YOUR SOUL WORTH?


Spiritual Blog -Value of the Soul

Mark 8:34-38 – “And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.  36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  37 “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” NASU

 

I have read and preached from this passage on many occasions and recently a conversation with a person who was a ‘self-described liberal theologian’ it came to the forefront of my mind again.  As we were discussing the existence of God and the Cross I referenced this passage as he argued that ‘everyone would go to heaven’ that a loving God could not send anyone to hell that would be out of character for God.’  I’ve met this same argument before in many different forms and each time I think that with the provision that God has made for us to have salvation our rejection of it is almost incomprehensible.

There are many other potential passages to consider but the question I asked this man who acknowledged that humans have an eternal soul, “What is your soul worth?  What value would you place on it?”  He paused and said, “I don’t know, a lot I would think.”  It was at that point that I inserted this passage into our conversation drawing attention to God’s valuation of the human soul.  God said it was worth ‘more than the entire world’ but even then that is not fully descriptive of the value God places on it for if you consider the Cross you realize that the Father valued the human soul ‘worth the blood of Jesus.’  That, to me, is almost beyond comprehension or imagination that God would place such a value on mankind.  We are His creation but that is an incredible value to place on man, who turned his back on God and in the Garden voted with the devil to remove God from being the center of His universe and enthrone man on that throne.

Therefore, if you think you have ‘done too much to be forgiven’ as I did when the Holy Spirit brought my heart into conviction regarding my sin and my condition, think about the valuation God placed on your soul.  If you feel that you have ‘no significance’ and ‘no value’ think about the Cross and the valuation that God has placed on your soul.  If you think that because of your condition, plight, your social, or economic status that God, does not care about you think I challenge you to consider the valuation He has placed on your soul.  Your value according to God is THE BLOOD OF JESUS and more than the ENTIRE WORLD.

So, instead of allowing yourself to focus on what you do not have, focus on what He has offered!  Instead of allowing the devil to turn all your thoughts inward and revel in self-pity or allow a woe-is-me attitude to prevail, consider what God has provided via the Cross.  You, according to the Bible, are worth the blood of Jesus!  If God loves you that much how can you not turn to Him?

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

 

 

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IN THE SHADOWS OR CASTING THE SHADOW….


Spiritual Blog - Shadows

Psalms 91:1 – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”  NASU

I do not mean to disparage E.J. Rollings old gospel song, “Standing Somewhere in the Shadows.”  But I do believe that it begs the question, “Is Jesus in the shadows or is He casting the shadow?”  The song has some tremendous words and meaning and when we come to the chorus we find:

 

“Standing somewhere in the shadows you’ll find Jesus,

                        He’s the Friend who always cares and understands.

                        Standing somewhere in the shadows you will find Him,

                        And you’ll know Him by the nail prints in His hands.”

             Truly, Jesus is the friend who always cares and understands and the one who paid the supreme sacrifice on the Cross for our salvation.  Yet, too often people are looking for Him in the shadows when He is the one casting the shadow and instead of drifting into the shadows to find Him we should realize as Psalms 91 declares that we ‘abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’  He is the one causing the shadow.

I think I understand E.J. Rollings intent and it is good but I wonder how many misinterpret the song and life with an image of our Lord as being somewhere just out of sight and reach when He is the brightness of the noonday sun and His presence casts a long shadow over us.  In that closeness to Him, we are safe and secure knowing that His outstretched arm affords us protection.  His presence affords us peace.  His nearness testifies of His greatness and as we walk near Him all fear is banished from our hearts.

So instead of looking for Jesus in the ‘shadows’ realize that He is ‘casting the shadow’ and He is so near that we can reach out and touch Him.  He walks beside us.  He walks in us.  He is nearer than our breath and in that presence, all shadows are banished and all fear is repelled.  Know that if we ‘call’ He will ‘answer.’  Know that He will ‘never’ leave us ‘nor’ forsake us.  Know that His promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen.’  Know that you cannot walk without Jesus.  Know that you cannot escape His presence for as the Psalmist said, “If I ascend to the heavens or make my bed in hell YOU ARE THERE!”

May the nearness of God be so real to you today that you develop a new and renewed confidence and boldness!  God bless you as you go through your day!

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BORN TO BE DIFFERENT….


Spiritual Blog - Different

Matthew 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  NKJV

             I realize that Paul appealed to the Church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:10 that they ‘all speak the same thing, be without division, and joined in the same mind and judgment.’  However, that does not negate the truth that we were all BORN TO BE DIFFERENT.  None of us are the same, each of us is unique and each has a particular purpose in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus said if salt loses its ability to ‘season’ it has no purpose.  He said that a light that does not ‘illuminate’ has no purpose.  Likewise, a voice that is ‘not heard’ or ‘does not cry out’ has no purpose.  We become like trees in the orchard that produce no fruit and after time we are only taking up space, space that a fruit-bearing tree could occupy.

You do not have to preach in a pulpit or have some spellbinding testimony to be a witness for the Lord.  You are ‘salt’ and ‘light’ and you can impact the world that you live in and you should.  Your presence should bring ‘seasoning’ to your environment and impact lives.  I knew a man that never preached a sermon, never did any great exploits, never accomplished great feats but at his funeral, there were scores of people from what many would call the ‘other side of the tracks’ at his service and one after the other echoed their eternal gratefulness for this man.  He had impacted their lives simply by his life!  He lived before them more than he said to them the gospel.  They testified that it was his compassion and consistency that slowly broke down the walls of resistance they had built up in their lives.  It was his example simply being ‘salt’ and ‘light’ that drew them into the Kingdom.  He never tooted his horn or proclaimed what he was doing HE JUST DID IT. 

I have had the privilege of preaching to large and small crowds and that has been a thrill to be so used of God but the most important thing is not how much or how often I have preached but how I have lived.  How has my life impacted others?  How has my example been seen by others?  I pray to God that my life has been ‘salt’ and ‘light’ for those that I have influenced through the years.  I pray that I have touched some for the good of the gospel.

Do not think that you have to be a great orator or have a large following or platform from which to speak simply LIVE THE LIFE and allow your life to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in this present world.

             God bless you as you go through your day!

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HOW MUCH AM I TO LOVE YOU?


Spiritual Blog - Love of God

Mark 12:31 – “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” NASU

             It is very interesting to me that the Greek word used here for ‘love’ is (agapao) which comes from a word that means ‘much’ and can be seen in contrast to (phileo) or brotherly love.  It is a deeper love than just a casual social appreciation of someone.  It was not (storge) which is a fondness through familiarity or (philia) which is friendship or (eros) the romantic attraction but (agape) which is an unconditional love or a God-kind of love.

That being said, if everyone were to take this passage literal from a personal viewpoint of how they regard themselves the world would be in a world of hurt because some people have anything but LOVE for themselves and then others have nothing but LOVE for themselves.  Some have an unhealthy un-love for others and some have an unhealthy love for themselves and to love others as they love themselves would be dangerous and difficult.  Yet, if we are ‘in Christ’ and His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and we do not think higher of ourselves than we should then we can love others in a wholesome and balance way that produces a beautiful interaction and relationship.

If we view others through the eyes of the Spirit of God and realize that they are creations of the Father and follow what is called the Golden Rule and truly react and respond to others like we would desire to be treated we will find more peace than turmoil in our relationships.  It is when we attempt to ‘love’ others without first coming to grips with ‘who we are’ and having the ‘who and whose we are’ settled in Christ we have difficulty.  I have heard people say all my life, “You have to look out for old number one” to justify whatever it was that they did and the way they treated or took advantage of others.  That is not ‘loving your neighbor as yourself’ that is disregarding your neighbor for yourself.  It is contrary to what Jesus called the 2nd Great Commandment of God.  If we get the 1st one right the 2nd one is easy but until we get the 1st one right the 2nd one is almost impossible.

I cannot love you on an equal plane with myself if I have not first learned to be comfortable with ’who I am in God.’  It is only as I find myself in God and know that I can trust Him can I make myself vulnerable and ‘love you’ as I do myself.  The self-defense part of our natures prevents that and it is only as we move from the ‘survival mode’ to a life hidden with Christ in God that we can move out of our inner sanctuary of self-protection and LOVE biblically.

            May God be with you as you go through this day!

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THE RESULT OF TRYING TO DETHRONE GOD….


Spiritual Blog - Rebellion

Genesis 11:1-9 – “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.”  NASU

 

This ideology or desire on the part of man was not new to Nimrod and the people in Babel it actually began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  However, it goes farther back as Isaiah identifies, it reaches back to when Lucifer, one of God’s Arch-angels, and rebelled against THE MOST HIGH.  He rebelled and convinced one-third of the angelic creation to go along with him in attempting to ‘dethrone’ God.  He convinced Adam and Eve that God was hiding something good from them and that if they ‘voted God out of office’ and became the center of their universes all would be wonderful.  It cost them the Garden and introduced death to the race.  Here in Babel the attempt to virtually ‘dethrone’ God and elevate man to a place that God will never allow brought about the inability to communicate, the various languages, and ethnicities that were scattered across the globe.  It has been the source of incredible confrontations and complications in man’s ability to live with man on planet earth.

Sadly, on a smaller scale, many do the same thing in their personal lives by ‘ignoring’ the clear directives of both the Word of God and the Spirit of God.  We refuse to ‘forgive’ and thereby close the door to forgiveness for ourselves, alienate another human being who could be useful in our journey, and bring injury to them and our ‘bitterness’ that results in others being defiled and their spirits marred.  I fully believe that God is sovereign but that does not negate His directive for me to ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel’ trying to bring the Good News to everyone so that none be lost.  Sadly, we have difficulty to communicate not just because of differences in spoken languages or dialects but in differences of beliefs we do not all speak the same language either naturally or spiritually.

I have found in my opportunities to minister around this nation and world that when I carefully ensure that God is supreme in my heart, mind, life, and thinking He has used some unique ways to help me communicate to others. God’s Love is a language that is universally understood even when our words are not.  The Spirit’s drawing power is universally felt even when our words fall short of explanation.  It is when we allow something to ‘dethrone’ God in our lives that we find the confusion setting in and in that state we are unable to communicate and cooperate with our fellow human travelers through this thing we call life.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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JESUS, LIFE, and the POLITICAL….


Spiritual Blog - Jesus is Lord

Matthew 4:4 – “…”It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'”  NASU

Did our Lord have anything to say on political matters during His time on earth?  That depends on whether you read His teachings for specific direct quotations regarding political matters or His implied statements in what He taught.

An example would be on ‘fair wages’.   In Matthew 20 our Lord told of the conscientious vineyard owner who was concerned about his crops being harvested and hiring idle laborers.  He, at different times of the day, went to the marketplace and hired laborers.  Then at the end of the day he took those he had hired last and paid them but when he came to those who had worked the full day he paid them the same amount and they were furious shouting and murmuring ‘unfair’ or in today’s world they would be calling for ‘wage and salary’ laws to be mandated to any employer.  Notice what Jesus said that the business owner said, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?  Or is your eye envious because I am generous?” (v.15) Our Lord was, by telling this story implying that it is the right and privilege of the laborer and the employer to come to an agreement as to wages and no outside entity should legislate differently.

The Bible speaks about caring for the ‘poor’, the ‘widows’, and ‘orphans’ as well as giving a clear directive regarding ‘laziness’ and ‘idleness’.  Therefore, indirectly and directly He speaks of the ‘entitlement world’ and gives a biblical directive on how we should operate regarding those in our family and communities.  He did not mention nor did any of the New Testament writers a ‘government program’ of welfare but a personal and community one.  Jesus spoke of unjust weights and measures speaking of unjust trade and there was a prescription for each of those and it always came back to the church, the community, and the individual to police.

Jesus did say to Peter regarding the taxes that were mandated, “Render to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God.”  We are told to ‘pray’ for those that rule over us.  Yet, our Bible speaks to every aspect of life and teaches that our lives should not and cannot be regulated or legislated into holiness or morality.  That is a matter of the heart not a matter of some man-made law.  Of course, we need laws and yes mankind is morally bankrupt enough that we cannot be a ‘law unto ourselves’ with regard to life and property.  But with regard to how we earn our livings, care for the needy, and do business we have a guidebook that is impeccable and if followed by individuals and the Church our world will dramatically turn from the present path of decadence and depravity toward a godly way.

So, before you adamantly proclaim that Jesus was never involved in politics you might want to read what He taught and realize that He dealt with life and politics is part of life.  I trust what Jesus said not what man thinks about what He said.  The Bible teaches and I believe that the most important is the eternal not the temporal.  The Bible, if followed will affect every dimension of life, including the political for the political affects life.  Jesus came that we might have LIFE and that life be abundant.  Abundance is not in what is possessed in the natural but what we have in our spirits.  We are in this world in the flesh but not of it in the spirit.  That means we must deal with everything that affects our lives in the here and now and maintain our relationship with our Creator preparing ourselves for our Eternal Destiny.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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GOD EXPECTS US TO KEEP OUR WORD….


Spiritual Blog - Word Keeping

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 – “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed — 5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.” NKJV

             In today’s world, a man’s word seems to be worth very little and that is a sad indictment of our society.  Politicians and Used Car Salesmen or two groups which are the brunt of many jokes about not being truthful.  It has often been said of both, “You know they are lying when their lips are moving.”  Having sold cars I never knowingly told anyone something that was not true and I know many others in the industry that had the integrity, to tell the truth.  Of course, I’ve known both politicians as well as salesmen that didn’t behave ethically, as have you.  But, to be honest I’ve known preachers that embellished the truth so often that you never knew when they were as one woman said to her pastor, “Pastor was that story true or were you just preaching?”  That is an incredibly sad thing to hear but unfortunately, it is sometimes the truth.

Why anyone would make a commitment to God, who knows all things at all times and then defer to fulfill it is beyond my comprehension.  God NEVER fails in His promises and if He says it then it is ABSOLUTE.  He expects nothing less from us.  Oh, He fully understands that we may find it difficult and even impossible to fulfill a commitment and in those cases, if we come to Him with a repentant and honest heart He will help us through that time and enable us to fulfill the commitment.

One thing I’ve seen too often is someone trying to bargain with God and bribe Him to do something that they desired.  They say, “God if you will do this, then I will do this.”  Then when God fulfills His part they realize that they have allowed their Elephant mouths to overload their peanut behinds and either cannot or do not want to keep their word.  In those cases, I would not want to be in their shoes!

Once when Jesus was being questioned about His authority to do what He did he used an interesting illustration found in Matt 21:28-31 – “”What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’  29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.  30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”  “The first,” they answered.” NIV

He emphasized doing the will of the Father far more than saying we will do something.  Words, in this case, are cheap, actions are powerful.  If I tell someone that I will do something, I endeavor with everything in my being and ability to do what I’ve promised.  If I find that I cannot, I humbly explain why I am, at that time, unable to fulfill my promise.  We’ve all had people tell us that they will do something and then it never happens and they never mention it and may even seek to avoid us as a result.  I’ve seen friendships destroyed, marriages damaged, business deals disintegrate, and churches split over that very thing.  What am I say, “If you give your word to God or man – KEEP IT!”  When you give your word you are giving your integrity! 

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

 

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SORRY, BUT I CAN’T SEE THAT….. (Part 2)


Spiritual Blog - Sorry

Proverbs 27:6 – “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” NASU

Yesterday I asked regarding ‘blind spots’ and our Christian walk – “Are You Consistent?”  Today I want to ask more questions beginning with the following:

ARE YOU SELF-CONTROLLED?

Romans 8:28 (Phillips) – “Moreover we know that to those who love God, who are called according to His Plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good.”

This verse does not say that everything that happens is good.  It says that it will ultimately work for the good. Its focus is on the ‘finished product’ not the ‘process’ and ‘incidences’ along the way.  One of the greatest evidence of our walk in the Holy Spirit is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ in our lives and those include ‘self-control’ and ‘temperance.’  Have you ever asked yourself why it is a mark of distinction to manifest a ‘controlled life?’  What is ‘self-control’?  What happens when ‘self-control’ is taken to the extreme?

Self-control referenced in the Bible is the quality of abiding or resting in the Lord.  When our entire world is being torn apart, tensions and trials are raging, and men’s hearts are failing them for fear of what they see or perceive is happening or going to the Holy Spirit enables the believer to demonstrate a peace and tranquility that surpasses human understanding.  It is trust in God’s Promises and Resting in them.  One of the reasons a leader or anyone needs to exhibit ‘self-control’ is STABILITY.  People are looking for and longing for Stability and Reality in life.  When the storms of life rage we need stability and that will come with ‘self-control’ or ‘Spirit Control.’

Remember Peter’s reminder of Jesus’ words in 1 Peter 5:7 where we are counseled to ‘cast all our cares or anxieties upon Him because He cares for us.’  Jesus said in Mathew 11:28-20 that we can come to Him and He will give us rest.  As believers, we need to ‘overwhelm’ the world with our calmness and tranquility in the midst of turmoil.

DO YOU THINK INDEPENDENTLY?

Palms 1:1 – “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”

People who study such matters tell us that the ‘real key’ as to whether a person conforms to the pressure of the group or resists peer pressure is whether it comes from that person’s ‘inner personal convictions’ or from the ‘external mores of his peer group.’  An individual with a strong healthy ‘self-image’ and ‘confidence in God’ will more readily resist negative peer pressure than one who does not have those attributes.  It takes strength to say NO! 

There are two groups who cannot or do not ‘think for themselves’:  The Classic Conformist and the Classic Non-Conformist.  Some people have a ‘convoy mentality’. Their life is lived by simply follow the directions of the crowd and we all know how dangerous that can be.  In Psalms 1 there are three words that need to be considered:  “Walk, Stand, Sit”.  This demonstrates a progression away from godly principles.  The Psalmist indicates that ‘walking, standing and sitting’ are deliberate choices.  Once we have broken the first barrier of ‘walking’ it is easier to feel comfortable ‘standing’ with sinners and once we accept their mindset can easily and comfortably ‘sit’ with them.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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