Author: rbeaird

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?


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Psalm 8:1-9 – “O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.   3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.  6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen — Even the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.  9 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!”  NKJV

 

I love this Psalm for many reasons but one of the most significant is that it identifies the attitude God has toward His creatures, made in His image and likeness.  The position afforded to man and the potential in man are incredibly lofty but often locked inside a misconception and misunderstanding of Who He Really Is.  I remember Kirk Douglas in the “The Rag Man’s Son” where the hitchhiker asked, “Hey, do you know who you are?”  That is an incredibly appropriate question for each of us.  I have shopped for automobiles and many times looked for a used car.  One of the keys in shopping for a used car is to focus on the internals more than the externals for that is what makes the car.  If the engine, transmission, and drivetrain are good the externals can often be updated.  It is the internals, not the chrome and/or shine that makes the car a good car.

I am convinced that “First Impressions” are often, if not usually, overemphasized in our society.  Truthfully, you cannot know what a person really is by looking at the outside.  Shakespeare said, “Nature with beauteous wall doth oft cloth in pollution.”  Therefore, what the engine is to the automobile, the inner self is to the person.  It is the real you.  Man looks on the exterior but God always looks at the heart.  Peter speaks of the real person in 1 Peter 3:4 as he speaks of the ‘hidden person of the heart’.  The character is where the true beauty lies. 

A person’s Character is that combination of qualities or traits that distinguish and individual.  Personality is reflected in the aggregate of the features and traits that form the individual nature of a person.  Morality and ethics are exhibited in the honesty and courage of the person.  Personality is the projection of a person’s inner self or their true soul.  A person’s Character is the actual state of the inner self or the true soul.  Each of us has basic attitudes, feelings, and emotions.  All of us have the capacity for anger, fear, love, or lust.  Those emotions are a part of our being and whether they are rightly or wrongly controlled reflect the character.

The human soul is made up of our values, attitudes, motivations, reasoning, imagination, conscience, and will.  Our value system is reflected in our lives.  Let me illustrate it this way.  A teenager might work two jobs but see his grades suffer.  His desire and drive to continue working even at the expense of grades is for a reason.  He has something he wants to buy, such as a car, bike, etc.  That is a higher priority than education. What we value the most we will find a way to have or make room for in our lives.  Our daily conversations and activities evolve around our value system.  The relative worth or significance we assign to differ objects, people, purposes, or objectives determine how we spend our time, money, energy and lives.  What is your focus?

I want to say a bit more on this subject but will pause for now and pick up next time focusing on the question, “Do You Know Who You Are?”  May the LORD richly bless you as you embark on today’s journey in Jesus!

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FOR TOTAL LIBERATION SPIRITUALLY WE MUST HAVE – A Change of Focus.


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Psalm 150: 1-6 – “Praise the LORD!

 Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!  2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! 3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!  4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! 5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

 Praise the LORD!”  NKJV

 

It is God’s desire that each child of God know and enjoy Spiritual Liberty.  Because that is true He has provided a tool, weapon, and activity that brings us to TOTAL LIBERTY in Him and that is PRAISE!   2 Corinthians 3:17 informs us, “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  It is with that thought and desire in my heart I feel directed by the Holy Spirit to call your attention to this reality and truth.  I have often said that the Book of Psalms is a beautiful place to go for a quick pick-me-up spiritually.  It is a Book of Refreshing largely because it is a Book of Praise, Adoration, and Worship of our Great God and Majestic Creator, Jehovah God!

As I read this text, I am overwhelmed by the injunction given!  I believe that PRAISE is one of the most powerful principles in the Word of God.  As I study the Word of God I find that PRAISE always has a prominent place in the teachings and activities of both the Old and New Testaments.  It has been a substantial part of every revival in Church history.  It has also been among the first practices to stagnate in periods of decline.  I am incredibly thankful to God for His sovereign acts of grace and power.  He, I believe, is in the process of restoring the art and practice of PRAISE to the Body of Christ in a very powerful manner.  Praise is not something that is relegated to a select few churches but is something that is crossing denominational lines all around the world.  It is a sovereign act of God, not something conjured up by man or through man’s manipulative efforts.  It is and will sweep into places where there has been a spiritual drought of long standing and life is beginning to beginning to be infused into those congregations and that is exciting.

The result of this Revival of Praise is restoring to the Church much of the lost power she has experienced.  We are seeing a renewed view in many churches that God is “alive” and “active” in a very real and powerful way.  There is a renewed understanding that we are “indwelt by deity.”  We are seeing entire congregations who individually and collectively actually pulling down strongholds through Jesus.  They are walking out the truth that we are more than conquerors.  I sense a new excitement in the midst of incredible darkness and that stirs my heart.  As believers engage more and more in PRAISE we see them demonstrating a victorious daily life that is like honey to flies drawing people to Christ.

Although we may disagree on many things in the church one of the things we should have no disagreement is that GOD IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED.  When you consider that PRAISE will a Chief Activity in Heaven we need to get into practice here on earth.  If PRAISE bothers you on earth you will be terribly uncomfortable in heaven.  Also, PRAISE produces a setting for Revelation.  If you remember John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos you will see this powerfully.  John could have been dejected, defeated, and embittered in his exile but rather it was a time of PRAISE that He had His vision and divine encounter with God giving us the Book of Revelation.  In Revelation 4 we see John in Worship seeing an “open door” in heaven, a “heavenly voice” speaking from that door, an “occupied throne” in heaven and from there he received a divine command.  Let me suggest that PRAISE is where God lives.  Remember Psalm 22:3 tells us that God “inhabits” the praise of His people.

If you have lost your hunger for PRAISE I encourage you to set your heart and mind to rekindling that fire in your being.  Determine to Praise whether you feel like or even want to but determine that you are going to Praise, Praise, and Praise God.  When you do, I am totally convinced He will inhabit your praise!  Praise is a gateway to Worship!  Therefore, since Praise is a chief activity of heaven and sets the table for revelation should we not desire to become more adept at praise?  I believe successful Christian living and service involves Prayer, Praise, Worship, and Feasting on God’s Word.  It is out of those four things that right attitudes and right living flows and the result is reaping in God’s field.

God  bless you richly as you continue your walk in God!

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MANIPULATED OR MANIPULATORS???


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Ephesians 3:14-21 – “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,   15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”  NKJV

 

Nobody likes to be manipulated but too frequently we use manipulation to get what we want or we attempt to.  My thought is, if we dislike being manipulated why would we resort to it?  SELF-INTEREST is the culprit.  I believe it goes far beyond that simple statement and can be discovered in the prayer of Paul in verse 17 of this passage.  Note the prayer:  “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love…”  Of course, we must read the rest of the verses but the thought I want you to consider is that the reason we manipulate or attempt to is because Christ does not dwell in our hearts to the point we are rooted and grounded in His love and demonstrating His character.  I do not mean NEVER but that at the moment of succumbing to the temptation to manipulate we are lacking.

Another key is this prayer is not a prayer for the unbeliever but believers.  Paul is crying out to God that believers KNOW the Love of Christ that transcends the bounds of human knowledge and understanding.  One of the problems is too many believers never move far from the point of entry where they encountered Christ as Savior and fail to follow the Process of becoming Christlike.  God’s desire is that we be COMPLETE.  I would suggest that man in the Garden of Eden was complete.  Adam and Eve were joined as one to the creator and it was only as they became disobedient they fell into incompleteness.  You and I, to be complete must be joined as one to our creator and we cannot be complete any other way.  I cannot complete you and you cannot complete me that is something that can only come from God. 

We all need to be loved even if we insist we do not, we do.  However, human love is a conditional love and out of that need, we fall prey to the temptation of manipulation.  But, if we are secure in the Love of God we can love as God loves and reject the need to manipulate others to give us the impression of satisfying that need deep inside our beings.  We all have desires that in and of themselves are not wrong.  God made us to enjoy life. We need to be satisfied and as the old song goes, ‘we search for love (and satisfaction) in all the wrong places’ for true satisfaction can only come from God.

Churches and Ministers are often manipulators even without intending to.  We use religion to manipulate rather than release people.  The drive for acceptance is so strong that we manipulate and allow manipulation as we strive for acceptance.  Man is continually trying to fill that empty hole in his life and tragically some try to fill it with drugs, alcohol, work, sex, things, etc.  When we attempt to manipulate God through religion we fail miserable.  We know that as humans if we do certain things for others they appear happy and pleased, therefore we seek to make God happy by what we do failing to understand it is not what we do that pleases Him but who we are in Him.  We manipulate our words and lifestyles to make God happy and to be accepted of Him.  We go to church, say our prayers, volunteer and fill our daily schedule to the max to be accepted thinking if we do enough He will like us and we will receive His favor and blessings.

Sadly manipulation often results in emptiness and when a person is empty inside they seek to fill that void with something.  There is a significant kinship between a person seeking to fill the emptiness in their lives with drugs and a person seeking to fill the emptiness with religion.  Oh, I understand that one may have by-products of worthwhile activities but both are missing the mark that it is WHO WE ARE not WHAT WE DO that moves the heart of God.

Let me be clear, it is impossible to bargain with or manipulate God so you only frustrate yourself trying.  Rather than trying to DO allow Him to help you BE.  As someone said, we are not HUMAN DOINGS we are HUMAN BEINGS and we need to be joined to our Creator as one and BE.  It is out of being that we are free!

God bless you as you embark on today’s journey in life!

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PRAYER TWO-STEP…


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Matthew 6:9-13 – “In this manner, therefore, pray: 

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”  NKJV

You have heard of the Texas Two-Step dance but how about the Prayer Two-Step?  I would never suggest there are only two steps in prayer but wish to offer two that I believe are crucial to Victorious Praying.

  • STEP ONE – – Praise.

In this step as we enter our prayer closets praise enables us to shift the focus from “self” and “circumstances” to GOD!  It is as we focus on Him, His Promises, and His Provisions we create a place for faith to rise up and become strong.  Our confidence begins to flourish and our hope soars in new and powerful ways, enabling us to rise above the struggles of life and view things from God’s perspective mounting up with the wings of an eagle.  It is here that our hearts are strengthened, emboldened and encouraged for tackling more difficult matters of Spiritual Warfare.

  • STEP TWO – – Submission.

Until we come to the place of total surrender and submission we will never soar with the eagles and become the mighty warriors in prayer the Kingdom needs and God desires.  It is in the place of TOTAL SURRENDER of everything that we become formidable weapons in the hands of the Holy Spirit waging spiritual warfare and pulling down strongholds, moving mountains, and plucking souls from the clutches of hell.

As we do the Prayer Two-Step we find that a new dimension in the realm of the spirit opens and prayer becomes much more than a daily chore or obligation but a joy as we sense and see the hand of God move in ways we may never have experienced or dreamed possible.  In this condition, we are able to invite God’s Presence into our lives so powerfully that the stage is set for the Holy Spirit to begin praying through us and guiding us in prayer so as to be the most effective.  We must determine in our minds (the exercise of our will) that God’s will is of paramount importance and that we are willing for His will to be done fully in our lives here and now on earth.  This is a total surrender.  No, I am not talking about getting saved all over again but a daily TOTAL SURRENDER or ABANDONMENT of ourselves to HIS WILL.  It is here that we are in a position and condition to engage in prayer.  For it is here that the Holy Spirit takes control of the rudder of our lives our tongues and in agreement with the Spirit and Word of God we set the course of life in prayer!

In this Two-Step, we find four areas of focus:  SELF

SELF – We place self on the altar of sacrifice daily and completely.  We determine that we will stay before God UNTIL the Holy Spirit charts that day’s course and then we proceed but not before.

FAMILY – We should be praying for our spouses, children and extended family.  We are placing them on the altar before God and praying for His guidance in their lives.

THE CHURCH – If you are not praying daily for your pastor, the leadership, the congregation and the harvest, I must ask why not?

THE NATION – We are commanded of God to pray for those who have the rule over us and pray for His guidance in the decisions of the state that will affect everything we do in life.  I would suggest a fifth focus according to Psalm 122:6 that we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Someone asked me how long we should pray and my consistent response is UNTIL.  Until what or until when?  UNTIL you have heard from God, come into His presence and received your marching orders for that day.  I have never placed a time on prayer for I have found times when in a matter of minutes I knew that I knew that I knew and at other times it was hours and even days before I knew.  Prayer is more than an exercise to twist God’s arm and get Him to do something for us it is Worship and Warfare as well as Petition.

            God bless you as you embark on today’s journey in Jesus!

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SIX PRINCIPLES OF PRAYER…


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Matthew 6:9-13 – “In this manner, therefore, pray:

 Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”  NJV

 

Through the years studying Scripture and the Prayer Strategy Jesus taught I find there are at least “six” definite topics or principles which deserve our focus as we seek to become more effect prayer warriors in the Kingdom.  Victorious Prayer affects others and incredible things result.  We must never forget or fail to realize that we are engaged in a Supernatural War and our commission and directive are to utilize the Spiritual Weapons we have been given to defeat the enemy, pull down strongholds, and set the captive free from the chains of darkness.  Our fight is not against flesh and blood even though, at times, it seems it is.  We are battling those things not seen by the natural eye in heavenly realms.  We are standing against and battling principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.  We are battling a defeated foe but one that will fight until the final chains are placed on them.

Let’s briefly consider the Principles we should learn and focus on in Prayer:

  • PRAISE – – I call this the recognition stage where we give verbal and mental acknowledgment and recognition of whose we are and who we serve. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.” 

I am convinced that too frequently we enter the Prayer Closet with “gimme, gimme, gimme” and bombard heaven with our petitions rather than dealing with our hearts and entering God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise.  This is the conditioning of our heart in recognizing the One before whom we are standing or kneeling.  HE IS GOD!

  • PRIORITIES – – This is the submission stage where we make a verbal commitment to obey the Will of God in all things and at all times. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.”  In or on Earth AS IT IS in Heaven.  First things first and we know from the words of our LORD that we are to “seek first the Kingdom of God… seek first His righteousness…”  HE MUST BE FIRST!
  • PROVISION – – This is the appropriation stage where we learn to appropriate the promises and receive the provision of God’s supply. “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Remember Jesus telling His disciples, “take no thought of tomorrow, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof…”  I do not have to know what tomorrow holds but I do need to know who holds tomorrow and know that HE WILL PROVIDE.  This is a development of trust.
  • PEACE – – This is the stage where we reconcile differences and learn how to get along with others in this life. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  The conditional aspect of that is incredibly powerful and should be both comforting and arresting.  The word “AS” is incredible and key.  In this stage, we learn to roll our cares on the LORD and learn to release those who have wronged us and how to reconcile with those we have wronged.
  • POWER – – Here we learn how to consistently and effectively defeat the devil. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  There is power in the presence of God and this gives focus on the position and condition where we take up permanent residence in His presence.
  • PRAISE – – We come full circle and this is where we reestablish our commitment, trust, and confidence in God. “For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for every. Amen.” 

For us to become mighty in God it is imperative that we learn how to pray!  For us to fulfill the commission given us, we must learn how to pray!  But more than learning HOW we MUST PRAY!

          God bless you as you embark on today’s leg of life’s journey!

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THE HARVEST and THE HARVESTERS…


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Matthew 9:35-38 – “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.   36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”  NKJV

 

I recall, early in my Christian service, thinking about the immensity of the Harvest and the great need for the Gospel to be proclaimed to the whole world and became despondent.  Some would chastise me over that statement and have, but I was viewing the work through the lens of “one man” and my insignificance and limitations.  I believe that, in a great measure, is what the writer of Ecclesiastes was speaking to when he said, “He who observes the wind will not so, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”  When we look at a project or objective through the lens of our personal limitations we will have a great tendency to pull back and not venture out because of the enormity of the task.  The Holy Spirit helped me overcome that mentality and explained something to me in such simplistic terms I was delivered from my fear and frustration as to the immensity of the task before us as believers.

The Lord helped me understand that the harvest is not dependent upon me alone but is a collective effort of every believer in every part of the world.  Some will reap thousands if not millions and some will reap one or two but each will reap in their field and contribute something to the harvest.  It is not my responsibility to reap the entire harvest by myself but reap that harvest that is open before me where I am.  If my field increases I will increase my reaping, but if it remains the same I will reap in that field and other fields are not my responsibility except to pray for the worldwide harvest and worldwide laborers to be trained and thrust into those fields of harvest.  If the only opportunity you have to spread the Good News is to only a few people, occasionally, then rejoice in that opportunity and faithfully discharge your duties investing yourself in the opportunity.  If God opens the doors for you to speak to millions personally or via various electronic media invest yourself in that opportunity that is your new field of harvest.  If you find yourself experiencing dry season and drought, then immerse yourself in prayer and remain faithful, planting seeds knowing that “some plant, some water, but God gives the increase.”  It is a collective and collaborative effort of the Body of Christ not each of us individually.

The Harvest Fields have not diminished even with the increase of evil in the world or the rise of religions that oppose and reject God and the Bible.  The number of laborers increases and decrease for various reasons but our individual responsibility is our “Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria and our door of opportunity.”  Then, we are charged to PRAY for more laborers to be sent forth into God’s harvest.  I have known of churches that invested themselves in prayer that God would do that very thing, send forth laborers into His harvest and when He did many of the souls harvested did not affiliate with their local congregation and they became jealous of those God choose or invited to participate and reap the benefits of the harvested souls.  If we keep in mind that it is HIS CHURCH, HIS KINGDOM, and HIS HARVEST we will rejoice when a soul is born again and plucked from the clutches of the devil.  I told a group of ministers in one particular community that I was convinced I had helped build several churches other than the one I was charged with leading.  We would see people born again and their heritage, family, or something caused them to gravitate to other denominations and rather than becoming angry I rejoiced they were born again and seeking to become established in a local congregation where they could be nurtured and developed spiritually.  It is God’s Harvest and I trust Him to plant people where He wants them planted and am committed to being a “faithful servant” and “steward” of His commission.

There is a Great Harvest, too few laborers, and too many times we seem to be hindered because of the immensity of the task.  Let’s move beyond that hesitancy and invest ourselves in the field of labor the Lord has set before us, reaping that which we can for the Kingdom.

God bless you as you embark on today’s leg of your life journey!

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GOD IS NOT SADISTIC…


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Jeremiah 29:11-13 – “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”  NKJV

 

I guess I need to explain my title before launching into this devotional.  The text and the title do not seem compatible in many ways but I believe they are in perfect harmony.  Frequently, I hear someone argue that they are the way they are because God “made them that way.”  In one sense, I can accept that and in another I totally reject it.  If you follow that thought or idea through to its logical conclusion God would, in fact, be quite sadistic and completely other than the God of Love of the Bible and the God who offered those comforting words in our text.  If we follow that idea through to its logical conclusion then one would have to determine that we are simply robots controlled by the divine and sin is not sin because if I am not responsible for my actions I cannot be held accountable for them.  Sin would be God’s fault and if we sin, blame God.  I know of few Christians who would embrace that idea.  However, it seems to be taught indirectly by some who envision themselves as God’s Voices and Authorities on all things spiritual if not all things.

I readily acknowledge that genetics and environment play a significant role in our character and makeup.  I would never argue that there are not genetic, neurological, and even chemical factors involved in addiction and physiological and psychological bents in life.  However, if I adopt the view that “God made me this way” regardless of what “this way is” then whatever I am is God’s fault if it is unwholesome and He gets the credit if it is wholesome.  The Bible speaks of choices from Genesis to Revelation and if we have no choice then those directives could be considered sadistic and that is foreign to the Bible’s teaching about the nature, person, character and purpose of God.

Let me approach it this way, I have battled weight for a considerable amount of my adult life but if I believe God made me fat, why should I get off the couch or out of the easy chair and take steps to get in shape, lose weight and become more healthy?  To do so would, under that ideology, be fighting the very design of God because after all, “He made me fat.”  The Bible also gives warning about the dangers of anger or rage but if God “made me this way” then why resist?  Hey, I can fly off the handle and go into a fit of rage with no accountability because after all “God made me this way”, right?  NO! NO! NO!  The Bible clearly warns that if we become angry and that anger is not bridled it is akin to murder and God forbids murder as a violation of His righteous principles and a violation of the right to life of another human being.  There are any number of people today who are addicted to something whether that be alcohol, drugs, food, sex, money, power, or many other things and if we adopt the idea that “God made them that way” why fight against God?  Of course, genetics and other factors can and do come into play but there is also a choice and sometimes that choice is simply to call upon God for help.  Remember our text and the promise of God.   He has plans for us that are good, not evil and wants us to have peace, not turmoil.  He wants to give us a future and a hope, not a life of despair and the darkness of depression through addiction or something else.  His declaration was, “…You will call upon me and pray to Me and I will listen to you.”  He further said, “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”   Seeking is one thing finding often quite another and it would be sadistic for God to instruct us to SEEK HIM with no hope of FINDING HIM.  If we are doomed to a life, whatever life, of darkness because we were made a particular way that is not HOPE that is DESPAIR and that is not God!

God is not out to get us and while human beings cannot explain fully why there are birth defects, difficulties, and propensities in some and not in others but we can trust that God is not SADISTIC and intentionally designing us to make us suffer or cause us to be other than the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  If I believe, and I do, that God is a Loving God who wants us to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers I cannot accept the notion that He made me a certain way that with no hope of deliverance or healing.  I cannot adopt the mentality that God creates us in ways to force us into actions and lifestyles that propel us outside His will and desire to punish us.  We are CREATED in the Image and Likeness of God and unless you want to label God in the ways we accuse Him of creating us you might want to rethink your argument.  We do a fine job of making ourselves into something other than the righteousness of God.  He is not the blame!  He has provided a way of escape and a door to salvation and invites us to enter into the Joys of our Lord.  I cannot and will not blame God for any sin or flaws in my life but will credit Him with His Grace and Mercy that brings me forth to victory!

            God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Christ Jesus our Lord!

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CHRISTIANITY IS NOT DIFFICULT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE IF…


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Psalm 15:1-5 – “LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 

2 He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; 3 He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;5 He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” NKJV

             My title is possibly confusing so let me state at the outset that Christianity is impossible IF we attempt to live it in our own human strength.  It is often difficult even when we are strengthened by the power and Grace of God but impossible if we attempt to live it by willpower and human strength.

Consider the question of the Psalmist.  His inquiry was who could live in God’s presence and could be acceptable to God.  A question each of us has or should have.  “Lord, what do you require and what do I need to ABIDE in your tabernacle and DWELL in your holy hill?”  If we want to maintain a permanent residence in His presence we need to know what is necessary and if there are things that will ensure our steadfastness we need to discover them, right?  Therefore, let’s walk through this in a limited manner.  He asked the question and the answer from the Lord is as follows:

  • Walk uprightly, work righteousness, and speak truth.

(On the surface that may not sound difficult but think back to the number of occasions you felt compelled to taint the truth, take the path of least resistance, and engage in behavior or act that was not completely upright.) 

  • No backbiting (gossip, etc.), no mistreating or taking advantage of others, and resisting the temptation to reproach a friend or anyone.
  • Despise evil but always honor the upright.

(That almost sounds contradictory to the New Testament’s directive of loving our neighbor but if you recall the apostle Paul warned to not even give Godspeed to those who promote heresy and hypocrisy.  While God is no respecter of persons He most assuredly takes note of the heart and so should we.)

  • Keeps His Word (Swears to his own hurt and does not change).

(Your word is to be your bond in all things and at all times even if you come out on the short end of the stick, so to speak.)

  • Never make excessive demands on others based on what you do for them and never allow money, power or influence to cause you to be moved against the innocent.

           A most amazing statement is found in the final sentence, “He who does these things shall never be moved.”  WOW!   Even if we in our best pious mindset and self-righteous assertion insist and believe we fulfill all those with ease, if or when we honestly examine them in the far-reaching aspect they present we will find that WITHOUT the GRACE OF GOD we fail.  Therefore, it is my desire and objective to make a new commitment of my life to the Lord and asking that He grant me the grace and strength to be a person so described in this Psalm and thereby become so rock-solid in my commitment and faith though all hell assail me heaven’s grace will not fail me and I will present a life in which others see less of me and more of Jesus!

          God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

 

 

 

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THE SIDE-EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION…


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Psalm 12:8 – “The wicked prowl on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.” NKJV

I had a person tell me some time ago that they didn’t like “hellfire and brimstone” preaching and was so glad that the modern church is now presenting a much more sanitized version of the gospel.  This individual stated they did not like hearing things being called sin for sin was such an ambiguous term and drove people away from the church rather than drawing them to it.  That conversation caused me to meditate and contemplate on the state of my own life, my nation, and the church as I viewed it.  It sent me back to the Bible to examine that view and caused me to ask other ministers their views as well as questioning churchgoers as well as non-churchgoers what they thought about this matter.  After that, the Holy Spirit whispered in my spirit and heart, “What do you think God thinks about it?”  Whoa Nellie!  That arrested me like nothing I had heard from those whom I had spoken.  That was the heart of the matter and where the rubber truly meets the road.  WHAT DOES GOD THINK?

I would suggest that is the question regarding every question of life and once we determine what God’s Word says and through prayer determine the heart and mind of God we have a clear path or direction, or we should.  Let’s take the text and examine the thought presented that the Wicked not just Wickedness or Sin is present and prevalent WHEN vileness is exalted among men.  We are living in a time when frequently, evil is called good and good is called evil and many in our society from politics to pulpits have abandoned some of the central teachings of God’s Word and sought to reinterpret the clear declarations of God on various matters we traditionally identify as sin.  Some, it seems, have sought to sanitize the Gospel to make it less bloody and less constraining.  Please understand, I do not like to hear someone preach ‘hellfire and brimstone’ without a broken heart and without the clear view and objective of redemption.

It has been said, “What we allow in moderation or children will do in excess.”  The Psalmist warned that if we exalt or give place to vileness among men and justify, excuse, or ignore sin and evil the Wicked gain prominence and power and plunge our world deeper and deeper into a depraved state opening the door for wickedness of all kinds to not only become prominent but acceptable or non-troubling to our sense of rightness and godliness.  We have become so desensitized by the incessant barrage of language, violence, corruption, and lasciviousness through Hollywood and television many are no longer troubled and grieved in their hearts by what is happening in our world.  I cannot imagine that God desires desensitization and I truly believe that His heart is grieved when “vileness is exalted”.  Why would we be told to “shun and flee the very appearance of evil” if evil was not like leaven with corruptive power?  Why would we be told to “come out from among them and be separate” if there was not a corruptive influence in the ways of the world?  Why would we be instructed to “be holy for I am holy” if there was not redemptive value in holiness and godliness?

If we fail to paint sin as it truly is with its corruptive and destructive influence and fails to identify the reality and eternality of hell as well as the beauty and wonder of heaven people will tend to diminish, justify, and excuse behavior that violates God’s person, character, and word.  Conviction will fail to grip the hearts of men because they have been or are being told that it’s just part of human nature to be, think, and do those things.  I am not suggesting legalism but I am promoting preaching the Cross with its gruesomeness for “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”  Without the Cross, there will be no Crown.  Without the Cross there is no satisfaction of Divine Justice and the open door to pardon for whosoever will that comes and calls on the Lord.

We wonder why our world from Wall Street to Main Street, from the White House to the Tenement House, and from the President to the Average Joe on the Street is in the state it is in where evil is prevalent and the Wicked seems to be ever gaining power, influence, and strength.  It is we have allowed “vileness to be exalted among men.”  Therefore, it is high time that we awaken from our slumber and return to the Cross and God.

God bless you as you make a reaffirmation of your faith and receive a rekindling of His Grace in your heart and life!  

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WHAT ARE WE PROFESSING?


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John 18:33-38 – “Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”  35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”  37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”  NASU

 

The question of Pilate and the response of Jesus is intriguing.  Pilate asked Him a political question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered with a question that should resonate with each of us, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?”   It would seem that Pilate was asking a question which would facilitate his justification for consenting to the request of the Jewish leaders to crucify Jesus.  If Jesus responded in the affirmative Pilate could label him an insurrectionist and accuse Him of treason, a justification for crucifixion under Roman Law.  Jesus did not fall for the bait but turned the tables on Pilate and asked a question of heart not hear-say.  The question for us should be and is, “Is what we are professing something we have heard from others or what we have determined in our hearts as truth through study and experience?”  Mama and Papa’s religion would get us into heaven.

However, Jesus did not totally refuse to answer the question and in a very real sense did answer it clearly saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  Simply, “Pilate, I am not a political threat to your rule, authority, or Rome although I may be a threat to your ideology and philosophy because my Kingdom will transform the heart.”  I gave the Roy Beaird translation there but I believe you can grasp the meaning and message of Jesus.  Jesus even acknowledged that He was truly a king but not an earthly one.  His response confused and conflicted the non-believing Pilate and the question of Pilate is one that still rings through the ages, “What Is Truth?”  In other places and other ways Jesus answered that question as well for He is “THE TRUTH” and He is “THE WAY” and “THE LIFE.”

I have never been one that wanted to base my life or hope on what someone else thought but have always sought to KNOW for myself or EXPERIENCE for myself.  That has brought me both joy and pain through the years and placed me in situations where I had to learn heard lessons that could have been avoided had I not been driven to KNOW personally and experientially.  I do not want to simply HEAR ABOUT Jesus I want to KNOW Jesus personally, and I do.  I do not what to HEAR ABOUT God’s Truth, I want to EXPERIENCE God’s Truth in my own heart, life, and mind.  I want what comes out of my mount in my Profession of Faith to be something I know from my personal experience and study rather than simply reciting a Church Creed.

            God bless you as you embark on this day’s leg of your life journey.

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