Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  NKJV

The Psalmist described spiritual thirst in an incredibly vivid pictorial manner in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”  The picture, often passed over, is that of intense thirst and when we read Matthew 5:6, I wonder if we catch the implication that simply have a shallow craving for spiritual things will not bring one to this water nor satisfy that intense longing.

The word “thirst” is translated from the Hebrew (sama) and the Greek (dispos).  There is an English word derived from “dispos”, the word “dipsomania” which described extreme thirstiness, but especially the insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.  It describes someone that has to have a drink.  Thirst refers to the sensation of dryness of the mouth and throat which is caused by a lack of fluids resulting in a craving for something to quench that sensation.  Using this understanding we find that people of almost any language use the word “thirst” to refer to an intense craving for something.  We are said to have a thirst for knowledge, wealth, power, etc.

The question we should ask is, “have you been truly thirsty?”  Understand I am not talking about the mild dryness of mouth and that sensation when we have been working in the heath of needing a drink of water.  I am talking about being truly thirsty!  I am referring to the thirst that Hagar and her son experienced in the wilderness in Genesis 21:14.  Thirst was something the people of the Middle East readily understood.  This is a subject the Bible refers to over and over again as it was very frequently a life threatening condition.

If you have been thirsty you know that some things quench thirst better than others.  Yet, even water cannot quench the need for salt no matter how much you drink.  Revelation 7:16, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst.”  This is speaking of that time of eternal perfection that we do not fully know here on earth.  We need the “Water of Life” from God for spiritual health and if we are going to be FILLED we have to become desperately thirsty.

Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 5 brings us face to face with the realization that if we are to have full satisfaction and be filled with Him and His righteousness we have to develop an intense thirst.  Also, we know from the revelation of the Bible that ONLY JESUS can satisfy that thirst.  ONLY His word can bring us the water of life.  ONLY the Holy Spirit can lead us to the well of life and help us drink.  If we are not filled the only biblical explanation is that we either have not become thirsty enough or we are not drinking of the water of life He brings.  Either way is spiritual disaster.

The promise of God is that IF we are hungry and thirsty for Him and His righteousness we WILL BE FILLED.  There is no gray area in this. If we are and drink then we are filled.  What is your level of hunger and thirst?

            God bless you as you go through this day!

Ecclesiastes11:1-2 – “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. 2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.” NKJV

There are several possible interpretations of this passage and all plausible so let me offer some thoughts about stewardship not just generosity that I believe is being illustrated in this passage.  There is no question that the Bible instructs us to be charitable and generous regarding the needs of the truly needy.  God never forgets acts of kindness and generosity and the Psalms declare that “giving to the poor is lending to the LORD.”  In Luke we read that we are to “give and it shall be given to us…”  Therefore it is quite plausible that this is speaking of caring for needs that we see and I would never argue against that interpretation but I believe it is more than that.

I have seen interpretations that suggest this was being spoken to the farming communities along the fertile Nile.  The idea was that the time for sowing seed was when the waters were receding leaving incredible fertile loamy beds in which the seed could be deposited and the result would be a bountiful harvest in due time.  Thus, the farmer would receive a great return on his investment or seed.  That too is plausible but I believe it is more than that.

The reason I believe it is more is because of verse two, “Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.”  I believe that could be rightly translated, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and speaks of stewardship, enterprise and investment.  If the entrepreneur shipped his bread (goods) via the water (rivers and seas) in due time the return on his investment would be great.  The words, “…for you do not know what evil (disaster) will be on the earth.”  Times change, situations change and conditions change therefore having all one’s eggs in the same basket could spell disaster but diversification could be a hedge against economic turmoil.  I believe that the writer of Ecclesiastes is teaching a lesson in economics which will enable one to hedge against economic downturns and provide the ability to care for their own and to have enough left over to care for the needy before them.

If you read the next verses you will get a glimpse of the danger of inaction further solidifying my belief that this passage is about more than just charitable giving and caring for the needy before us.  If we do not obey verses one and two then we face the dilemma of verses three and four and encounter the uncertainty of verse five.  The imperative is for action not idleness.  It is for stewardship not pie in the sky fantasy that you are responsible for nothing just sit and wait for God to drop portions from heaven for you.  I believe God will care for His children but I also believe that when He opens doors and gives us directives for stewardship we err and could be guilty of tempting God if we fail to act.   Remember the parable of the talents where one took his talent and buried it so he would lose nothing.  No risk, no gain!  His no risk mentality was not appreciated or rewarded and the master took his talent from him and gave it to the one that was a good steward and man of action.  God does not reward laziness or timidity but faith!

I believe deeply in the principle of “sowing and reaping” in all aspects of life.  I believe that if we give it will come back to us.  I also believe that God wants us to live in this world “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”  If we know to do good and do not do it that inaction becomes sin to us.  This is true in all aspects of life including economics.

May the LORD bless you and guide you in your walk of stewardship.  Blessings!

Hebrews 12:5-11 – “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

 “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens,And scourges every son whom He receives.” 

 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”  NKJV

Nobody likes to be chastened.  Nobody enjoys the process of chastisement.  Well, no one in a healthy sane spiritual condition and mindset.  In the natural I did not enjoy chastening my children and I can guarantee they did not enjoy it.  As a child I did not enjoy the rod of correction being applied to my fundament and my parents were not sadist enjoying applying the rod of correction.  However, because of love and understanding that chastening is necessary to correct, shape and direct in the right path.  I won’t get into a debate over how that correction and chastisement is to be applied.  That I will leave between you and the LORD but I had the board of education applied and applied it to my children and, at this point, it appears that we are better not worse for it.

Chastening out of love is not just for correction but is redemptive in nature.  It has an objective in mind and that objective is not to punish behavior but shape character and direct a life in a particular direction.  Paul informs us that we are not to despise chastisement and that could be applied to the one receiving it and the one responsible for administering it.  We are not to neglect correction for it has redemptive value.  He informs us that God chastens or corrects us because He loves us and is not willing to just allow us to do our own thing in our own way.  There is right and righteousness and He wants to direct us toward that.

We are instructed to endure or submit to chastening, humbling ourselves, learning the lesson being taught and rejoice in the love that is willing to teach us right.  God’s chastening is a mark of sonship for God deals with us as His children.  It is a testimony that we are members of the family and that He, as a loving father, disciplines and corrects us.  I would rather have God chasten me now rather than hear Him say on that day, “I never knew you.”

Paul then tells his audience that if you are not corrected it is an indication that you are illegitimate children.  In the natural, the ones caring for illegitimate children frequently demonstrated no affection or obligation to correct or train the child.  That is not universally true but was incredibly accurate in Paul’s day and is also largely true in our time.

Therefore, when the LORD chastens me it humbles me and while it is painful spiritually and emotionally it is joyous because I know that He would not be going to the trouble of correcting me if He did not love me.  Because He loves me, I welcome His correction.  I do not want to go astray and would ten thousand times rather He correct me now than let me go my own way and not hear, “Welcome, my good and faithful servant, enter in…”   The objective and fruit of chastening is so desirous it makes the chastening’s pain pale in comparison.

Discipline us O’ Lord we want to manifest you in this present world.  Blessings as you go through this day!

2 Corinthians 3:1-6 – “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.  4. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  NKJV

There is a teaching in Christendom today that suggests man is and has everything he needs to be complete in himself.  I can agree with that with the qualifier that it is IN CHRIST that we have sufficiency.  In my own flesh I am powerless against the forces of hell but IN CHRIST I am more than a conqueror.

The apostle Paul address this very thing numerous times but especially in Philippians 4 when he spoke of the various states or conditions he found himself.  He had known plenty and poverty.  He had been hungry and full.  He had flourished and floundered and declared that he had learned the secret of contentment and that secret was his confidence in God and God’s ability to keep him.  He said in verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” 

In the text referenced above Paul is reminding his hearers of the biblical truth that we have been weighed in God’s scales and been found deficient in ourselves.  However, those same scales when used IN CHRIST we rise to the top and excel being more than conquerors through Christ.  We are IN HIM and it is IN HIM that we live and move and have our being.  It is IN HIM that we are sufficient.  It is IN HIM that we are able to break free from the bondage of the doctrines of man and move into the gloriousness of Him and His life!

I am sufficient IN CHRIST and that sufficiency is not mine but His.  It is Him living His life through me for the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of and faith in the Son of God.  When the Blood of Jesus is applied there is no deficiency.  When we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light there is no deficiency.  When IN HIM we live and move and have our being there is no deficiency.  We are often tempted to fall into the trap that enslaved Adam and Eve.  That trap was making self the center of their universe, firing God as the center and elevating self to that position.  They went from beings that would and could live forever in their natural state to beings filled with death, dying and decay.  In a sense they were born again backward believing THE LIE of hell.

They did not house, in themselves, sufficiency for that comes from God and God alone. They moved from His keeping and care to their own strength and enslaved the race to the devil.  However, when Jesus went to the Cross as a sinless sacrifice for the race, shed His blood, rose again and ascended to the Right Hand of the Father that curse was broken.  Now man, IN CHRIST, has the sufficiency to not only survive but thrive.  Now man can enter into the Life that Jesus came to bring – ABUNDANT LIFE.  Now, man has the potential to be more than a conqueror IN CHRIST.

What is your condition and position?  Rise up and be who God declared you to be IN CHRIST!   God bless you as you go through this day!

Psalm 34:18 – “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”    NKJV

In the natural broken things are often despised and thrown out.  Of course, sometimes there is effort to fix that which is broken but in much of today’s world it is deemed more desirable to replace rather than repair.  Damaged goods are rejected and that includes people.  We see it frequently.

In marriage, when difficulty arises and relationships become strained, it is a far too common to “walk away” rather than go through the incredibly difficult and often painful process of reconciliation.  The world is filled with broken people, broken hearts, broken relationships and broken lives.  We “walk away” but God comes in and “restores.”  David, a man after God’s own heart, was a broken man at one point.  He cried in Psalm 51 for God to create in him a clean/pure heart and in verse 17 declared, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.”   God is near the broken hearted and His compassion opens the door to His Grace.

We toss broken things aside but God restores and renews making the repaired better than the original.  A man/woman that walks with a limp from brokenness will be mightier than someone who has never been broken.  They will walk in humility for they understand firsthand that their gift, ability, talent and/or success is not based on them but God’s incredible Grace!  Without the broken body of our Lord Jesus we could not be restored and healed.

It is in brokenness that we realize how much we need Him.  It was not until I realized and admitted my sin that God could come in and rescue me from darkness.  It was not until I found myself hopeless (broken) that He could come in and infuse hope into my being.  When we come to that place of brokenness that we no longer strive to do it ourselves but are totally dependent upon His grace we will live beneath that life He came to bring.

I have a friend who says, “I don’t trust a man who doesn’t walk with a limp.”  He was referring to brokenness spiritually as with Jacob who wrestled with God and forever walked with a limp from God’s touch.  His brokenness transformed him from a supplanter to prince with God.  Had he never been broken he would never have been the patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel.  His greatness came through His brokenness.  The same can be said of David, Job, Paul, Samson, Gideon, Moses, Abraham and the heroes of faith of the Bible.  We are broken but never discarded by the Father.

May the Lord transform your brokenness into victory and strength in Him!  Blessings as you go through this day in Him!

Philippians 2:14-16 – “Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life-in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”  NIV

 Philippians 2:14-16 – “Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” NKJV

Although I truly believe that we should examine everything with due diligence and verify doctrines with the Word of God I also believe there is a place for willing obedience to those in authority in the Church.  I love what the apostle Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians 11:1 – “…follow me AS I follow Christ.”  In the earlier portion of the text chapter Paul tells the hearers to have the same mind as the Lord Jesus walking in obedience.

We are taught in Scripture that we are “living stones” placed in God’s building by the wise master builders that God has selected to oversee our spiritual walk.  In the natural, a stone is placed where the mason desires as prescribed by the architect but as living stones we have a tendency to resist, argue, push back and let our egos override our obedience.  We sometimes think of ourselves more highly than we ought at any particular time.

James 4:10 informs us that if we humble ourselves before God, He will exalt us.  When?  In His time!  Attitude is a problem in society and in the spiritual realm.  Our attitude determines our altitude and our altitude determines our aptitude.  If we truly love the Lord we should be content to bloom where He plants us and remain there until He transplants us.  If our assignment is cleaning the toilets, shoveling out the stables, sweeping the floors then let us be the best we can be at that task.  If our assignment is standing before people then let us do that with humility and allow the Holy Spirit to live and speak through us.  No matter our assignment we should pursue it without complaint and argument. 

I am not suggesting that you mindlessly obey any human but that you allow the Holy Spirit to hone and develop you in His time and in His way.  Iron truly sharpens iron and few of us like being sharpened for it is sometimes painful and hard on our egos.  Paul, a mighty apostle of God, could honestly declare that he was content wherever God placed him and in whatever condition he found himself.  Why?  Because his inner peace, contentment and significance did not come from external recognition or position it came from relationship with the Lord Himself.  It came through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  When God determines it is time to promote you He will and you will find success.  If you are one that forces doors open you will find discontent, dissatisfaction and disappointment.

Let your attitude be one of obedience and I am convinced God will open the doors to your dreams in due time!   God bless you as you go through this wonderful day!

Ephesians 4:26-27 – “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.”  NKJV

Years ago a dear church member said as I became visibly angry over something, “Anger is sin!”  This individual believed that even the slightest agitation was a sign of a sinful heart and because I had become agitated there was sin in my heart.  Based on that belief it was their conviction that I should immediately resign the church or be removed.  They never got over my momentary lapse and could not modify their belief to accept the above passage.  It was almost, do not confuse me with the facts my mind is made up.

Clearly anger is destructive and if one has no control over their emotions they damage their own souls.  Here the apostle Paul declares, “Be angry, and do not sin…”  He did not say if you become angry you have sinned.  Admittedly, you may have but every demonstration or experience of anger is not sin.  The Bible warns us to guard against wrath, rage and being quick tempered.  It also warns against allowing the emotions to become unbridled and describes anger that is harbored in the heart is a condition of a fool.  We are told to guard our mouths and that harsh words stir up strife.  James declared that a person that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and if we have control over our anger we are mightier than one who conquers a city.  Jesus warned that in our anger we are standing on the precipice of judgment.  Ephesians 4:27 declares that we are to “give no opportunity to the devil.”  Here Paul instructs that if we become angry we are to resolve it quickly, “do not let the sun go down on your wrath”.  He could have stopped there but he did not and continued, “…nor give place to the devil.”

ANGER opens a door we do not want open.  It allows the enemy of our soul to plant seeds of bitterness, vengeance, malice, jealousy and even hatred.  Proverbs 14:29 gives a powerful revelation that a person who is slow to anger has great understanding, but if we are quick tempered we exalt folly.  In Proverbs 25:28 we read, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”  Anger leaves us defenseless and gives the devil a clear pathway to our minds and our hearts.  If we are to resist the devil we must resist anger as well.

If I see a child being abused physically or verbally I become angry.  If I see blatant wrong being committed I become angry.  If I see the American flag burned I become angry.  If I see or hear biblical values trampled by politicians and so-called Christian leaders I become angry.  My anger is sometimes directed at the ones committing the act but always at the devil for inspiring the act.  However, I also seek to be forgiving and want to guard my heart against hate and bitterness.  Therefore, I strive to be like Stephen as he was being stoned to death, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  I also strive to be like my Lord Jesus as He hung on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  I would be less than honest if I said I am always successful and become angry without sin.  Sometimes I have to not only repent of the anger but of sinful anger.

It should be a Christian objective to never open a door to the devil needlessly and that is so easily done via the emotion of anger.  I pray for you that the LORD help you keep your emotions in check and never give place to anger nor allow it to remain producing the root of sin and opening a door to the enemy of our souls.

God bless you as you go through this beautiful day!

James 1:12 – “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”  NIV

The word rendered trial in this version and temptation in most others is “peirasmos” which means to “put to proof by experiment and experience.”  Trials and temptations are, in reality, tests through which we grow, experience, develop and learn.  If we learn the lesson well we do not find ourselves taking another lap around the mountain and can move on to the next test and lesson to be learned in our maturation spiritually.

James calls the person who perseveres in the process a blessed individual.  The reason is that when we have going through the trial, passed the test we triumph and receive the Crown of Life.  That is the prize of the high calling Paul was speaking of in Philippians 3:14 and is the objective for which we are reaching.

I have dealt with people experiencing various trials and/or temptations and many would lament, “Why is God doing this to me?”  The reality is that God is not doing anything to us it is a condition or door we opened in our lives.  It could be a Job-like experience in which we are being tested where God has lifted His hand momentarily and conditionally allowing the enemy to come in like a flood.  The key is NEVER GIVE UP!  If we persevere and having done all to stand, stand we will find that the prize far outweighs the tribulation.

Life is filled with twists and turns.  Life is filled with trials and I am convinced that there will be tests, trials and temptations as long as we walk on planet earth and draw breath, in the natural.  However we can face whatever may come with the confidence that we are not alone.  We have the promise of the LORD to never leave nor forsake us.  We are assured that we are more than conquerors through Him and that we can do all things through Christ who is our strength.

The presence of trials in your life is not an indication that God is mad at your or sending evil upon you.  James declares that God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone.  He informs us that temptation comes out of the depravity of our human hearts.  Therefore, many of the trails we face in life have arisen because we have opened or left open a door of opportunity for the devil to enter.  I have long taught that we need to regularly check the doors to be sure they are closed and locked.  In the natural we would not leave our houses unlocked nor should we leave our spiritual houses with unlocked doors through which the enemy can enter.

The trials come and bring a test that once we have endured or persevered we move closer to the ultimate prize of God the Crown of Life!   May God be with you and richly bless you as you go through this beautiful day in Him!

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.”  NKJV

The process to Salvation is crystal clear in the Bible and it is incredibly simple but often complicated and misunderstood by humans.  The three step process described by John in our text is:  Confession, Forgiveness and Cleansing.  But it is more than that but it is worth our time to consider what is said here and the subtle nuisances found in this sentence and truth.

• The Word “IF” is inescapable.

The Bible is filled with “if’ – “then” clauses, statements or conditions regarding the promises of God but that imperative is critical in this case.  If implies that we might attempt some other method other than honest confession.  Man has a tendency to justify his wrong and earn his redemption.  Therefore, unless we confess we will not move to step two in the process.

• The Word “CONFESS” is critical.

The word “confess” here includes and means to acknowledge.  We are to agree with God that we have “missed the mark” or sinned.  We have failed to meet His standards, been weighed in the balance and found wanting and we have violated His Law of Life and Liberty.  Unless we confess there will be no step two or three.  There will be no redemption.  We will remain in our lost condition.

Confession of sin flows out of a broken heart not because we were caught but because we disappointed and broke God’s heart and laws.  It is remorse out of our guilt and repentance is doing a 180 degree turn and going the other direction.

• The Word “FORGIVE” is important.

God not only forgives He forgives ALL our sins.  Not some but ALL and that is critical.  That is why the Paul could declare in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if we are IN Christ we are new creations and the passed is gone as we now walk in the newness of life.  All that we were is gone. We may not have reached sinless perfection but we are a totally different creature on the inside.  We look the same, our mannerism may be much the same, the inflection of our voice the same but we are NEW CREATIONS.  We have been given a new heart, our spirits made alive and our souls born again.  We are REDEEMED!

• The Word “CLEANSE” is not to be overlooked.

The word means to “purge” or “purify”.  We have not just found that those things on our account have been erased but our person is transformed.  It is not simply that God now opts not to remember our past and hold it against us it is that He transforms us into new creatures.  We are BORN AGAIN spiritually!

It all begins with “IF”.  Failure to “confess” results in no forgiveness and no cleansing.  It is not earned or deserved for it is by grace that we are saved through faith.  It is the gift of God through the Lord Jesus Christ but on our side of the ledger it begins with the action required in the word “if”.  Total Confession brings Total Forgiveness and Total Cleansing.  

            May the blessings of the LORD be upon you as you walk in His Redemption and Grace!