Matthew 3:8-9 – “You must prove your repentance by a changed life.  9 And don’t presume you can get away with merely saying to yourselves, but we are Abraham’s descendants!”

God rewards or deposits in us according to our ways.   Ways are routes, roads, or paths, but they also signify motive and intent.  God responds to what causes us to be and think what we do.  The fruits (plural) of our doings (practiced lifestyle) bring God’s response. 

There is no ambivalence or ambiguity with God. It is either the curse or blessing that we receive.   In Matthew 3:8-9, this is brought into focus.

A truly repentant heart includes and reflects a changed life, outlook, and motivation.  It is not just words.   I believe that it is evidenced transformation.  It is a transformation that is noticeable in our daily activities.

The tug at my heart is to have “evidenced repentance.”   God does not desire, nor will He accept verbal assent; He requires total surrender that transforms.   A transformed heart exhibits the heart of Jesus.  Its ways reflect Love and Forgiveness without restrictions.

LOVE – – God’s love is unconditional and transformational.

Jeremiah 21:8 – “…I have set before you the way of life and the way of death.”   The path we choose is reflected in our lives in a measurable way.

The cry of my heart is, “LORD, help me to totally surrender my life to You.  Help me to be a living example of a transformed life walking out the demonstrated love of God.   I want to be a visible manifestation of You on this earth- not my will, but Yours.  Help me give up my pain for Your Joy so I can infect others with Your love and grace.  I want to die, to me so I can truly live.  Amen!”

We each need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He searches our hearts, motives, perceptions, preferences, and purposes.   If we totally surrender, He will manifest Himself in us fully, and we will become who we are and do what He did.   You are powerful, limited only by your hesitation.  

This is your day; receive it and let it be manifested in you!

Exodus 3:5 – “Do not come near here. Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

My prayer for each one today is that God will grant each one access to His inerrant guidance through the Holy Spirit. I pray that He will lead each one onto the right paths and bring the right encounters into each life, enabling everyone to soar like an eagle.

As I prayed, read, and meditated upon the Word today, my heart was filled with awe.   In Exodus 3, Moses saw the Bush that was on fire but not consumed. It was an obvious anomaly, so he went to check it out. From the bush, God spoke and said, “Do not come near here. Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” That caught my attention.

Mankind has the propensity to make shrines out of experiences.  Some would have made that bush an idol temple and worshipped it there.

The LORD posed this question to my heart: “What made that spot holy?”  It was not the bush nor the location but the presence of God that made it holy. Think about that for a moment.  The presence of God makes the location holy.   Therefore, if God is IN you, wherever you are is holy ground.

The awe of God should be felt and realized, whoever you are! The Holy God is IN you. Where we are, He is, and where He is, that place is holy ground.   That is causing me to rethink every action I take. We are visible representations of God.   The question is, what image or impression of God do we give others?   That is both wonderful and frightening.  Our responsibility before God is embodied in that reality.

In the Book of Acts, the apostle Paul’s presence elicited a reaction from those he encountered. His presence and words were filled with Jesus. The LORD tugged at my heart, “Are yours?” Ouch, LORD!

In Athens, Paul encountered philosophies that are still prevalent today.  Epicureanism was a radical materialistic philosophy. The belief and focus were self, pleasure, and materialistic gain.  Stoicism was a passive determinism of emotional indifference that elevated self-control to god status. They believed that they could make themselves perfect by their willpower and minds.

They even had an idol dedicated to the “Unknown God, ” which Aramaic translates as “The Hidden God.”

Today, some reject God because they don’t see Him. But, if He is IN us and where He is, that place is that Holy Ground.  The reality is that they do see Him.  The question becomes, What Do They See?

Acts 19:11 – “God kept releasing a flow of extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul.”  Why Not Through Us?

What made Paul unique? It was the overflowing presence of the Holy Spirit, which is available to us. Jesus said that the works He did and greater we would do only by the overflowing presence of the Holy Spirit.

• God is IN you. You take Him wherever you go.
• The Holy Spirit is IN you. You take Him wherever you go.
• Miracles are IN you. You take them wherever you go.

The problem is we have allowed the devil, the world, and sometimes the church to convince us we are not special enough. It’s not you. It’s Christ IN you. It’s time to be who God says we are! We need to see it, believe it, and be it.  We are God’s expression in this present world; let’s be the expression that draws to Him!  

Have a fantastic day, and remember that the Promises of God are never unattainable but are as sure as God Himself.   Rejoice, and seize the day!

Proverbs 18:21 – “Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life, and the talkative person will reap the consequences.”

The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. It is an interesting principle that can be applied to life.  Small changes can have and often have a significant effect later.   The Law of Sowing and Reaping is one example.   One tiny seed produces a harvest multiplied.   Luke 6:38 – “Give and IT shall be given multiplied…”

A caustic word can cause a wound that festers, shredding a relationship.   One kind word can bring healing that becomes a covenant bond. Our words are like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings.   Life and death are on the power of the tongue.   By our words, we are justified or condemned.  Words have meaning and power.   Jesus said that His words were Spirit and Life.

What are the butterflies in our lives?  

• Small changes.  
• One more moment of worship. 
• One more word of prayer.  
• One more act of kindness.  One more act of forgiveness.  

All are seeds that produce a multiplied harvest: good butterflies or bad, our choice.   Cultivate the harvest you desire through the butterfly effect in your daily walk!

We are constantly being transformed into His image; as we transform, we gain access to His fullness.  As we gain access to His fullness, we are better equipped to live and love others, serving them where they are and lifting them out of the pit where they find themselves!

Let’s embrace the butterflies in our lives and adapt to the changes that make us more like Christ!

Have a fantastic day in Jesus!

Matthew 22:37  – “Jesus answered him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’”

As I reflect on things today, the overriding thought in my heart is LOVE!   God’s incredible, unalterable, and unconditional love!    The Love God has for us is impossible to fully comprehend because we tend to compare it to human love.   God’s Love is unselfish, but human love always seems to have an element of selfishness in it.

Matthew 22:37 instructs us to Love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.   That is very interesting.   Repeatedly in the Bible, we are told to believe in our hearts and forgive from the heart, and now Jesus says we are to love from the heart. 

The heart is the seat of who we are!   He says we are to love with the soul, and most definitions of the soul are “mind, will, and emotions.” However, when He included loving God with our minds, that causes one to possibly reconsider that definition of the soul. Maybe there is more to it than we have considered.

The emphasis is that we are to love God with our ALL.   Body, Soul, Spirit, Heart, Mind, and Emotions – With our entire being!   He is to be the focus of our lives, the center of our universe, and the all-consuming passion of our ambitions and dreams. 

If God is sought first above and before everything, He will make everything else better and properly relegate things in our lives.  Life has no easy buttons, but when God truly holds our hearts, minds, wills, bodies, goals, dreams, ambitions, and souls, Life becomes easier because we operate from His Strength!

In Gethsemane, Jesus said, “Not My will but Thine be done!”   He asked if there was an alternative plan but surrendered to the plan.   It would not be easy, but it was the only possible way for mankind to be redeemed, so He said Yes!    Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.  I ask, did He?  I believe the answer is yes!

If He did what He was assigned and He did, why do we not exercise the authority He says we have?   Why do we live settling for less than God’s promises?  Why do we justify our inadequacy when we have the promise of His adequacy to guide and empower us? One reason is that we believe the devil’s report and have a wrong view of who we are. 

• It is time we reprogram our minds to become filled with Him and His Promises and Provisions. 
• It is time that we live as though God is telling the truth because He is. 
• It is time that we enforce the victory of Calvary. 
• It is time for us to exercise the spiritual authority He has given us. 
• It is time that we become manifestations of the Kingdom of God and pull down the strongholds that hinder us. 
• It is time for us to set the captive free and do the works Jesus did and the greater works He declared we could do! 

Today is your day of victory!  So, let us begin to expect God’s promise to be realized in our present.   This is the day the Lord has made; we should rejoice and be glad in it! 

Victory is ours, in Jesus!