Ephesians 4:29-5:2 – “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. 

5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  NKJV

I never cease to be amazed at how many followers of our LORD view and understand Grace.  Some even feel that since God has been ‘gracious’ to them in extending his pardon and mercy resulting in the New Birth they are now free to sin.  I find that utter foolishness.  Many hold the view that religion has The Law, and The Law says, as long as you behave or keep the rules God is satisfied. 

The Law deals with behavior. We may hate our behavior, but we continue to do it, so we strive to look like good Christians and adjust our masks so that other Christians think we are good Christians.  That is performance orientation and is like lipstick on a pig altering the appearance does not change the truth.

Grace, on the other hand, does not make its focus behavior, it focuses on The Heart!  It deals with your “want to.”  It addresses where you want to be who you are and begins the process of change.  Then, when you are changed your behavior changes!  No masks, just an expression of who you really are!  You BECOME!

That is what the apostle is addressing when he says, “The Grace of God has come to you.”  It has invaded you.  It is on the inside of you.  Now, let it have its perfect work and begin to transform you so that you can BE who you ARE in Christ.  The Grace of God that brings salvation has reached down to the pit we were in, lifted us up, and transformed us.  In that sense, Salvation is happening every day for we are becoming as He is.

Salvation means wholeness and implies perfect health!  So, this salvation that is brought to us by the Grace of God makes us Healthy!  Of course, I speak of more than any physical healing but spiritual.  I have learned that physical maladies are often less problematic than our spiritually mental sickness.  I am not talking about the classic mental illness we hear much about but a spiritual condition in which we are sick in our thinking and feelings.

Paul says we are to Put Away malice, bitterness, anger, wrath, and all evil speaking. He is speaking as a physician would when identifying the need for radical surgery.  If we are to be healthy it must begin on the inside.  It is then we can radiate the health of Christ spiritually in our outward actions and appearance.  We will radiate God’s Life!

He tells us to Put Away and there is the emphasis that this is something we are to be deeply involved in.  I have some tell me that they are praying God will deliver them from those things and I always address the need for them to Put Away not attempt to Pray Away those things.  I emphasize that the process begins on the inside, and it is a heart problem, not an action problem.

WHAT DO WE HAVE TO PUT AWAY?

• Number one is BITTERNESS. 

Putting away bitterness is not just addressing it once and it is done.  Bitterness is a way of being!  It is a spiritual cancer that has gotten so deep inside our person that our spirit is infected.  It is a state of being and is constant although we are not always conscious of it.  It affects how we see people and things.  All people, All things All the time! 

The root of bitterness did not happen overnight, and it is something that we may have dragged in from the old life.  It does not matter what it was it Must Go!  It is a poison that courses through your being and defiles.  Bitterness does not get in your heart and mind it manages to get into your tongue as well.

• Next, there is WRATH. 

This is where we fly off the handle and it is rage.  It is like an explosion, and it burns deep within from Bitterness. 

• Next, there is ANGER. 

Although Anger is akin to Bitterness the person tries to hide or denies it.  You can see by their facial expressions and body language they are angry, but they are nice people.  They keep it bottled up inside. 

• Next, there is CLAMOR. 

Clamor is uncontrolled shouting where there is no control over the tongue. 

• Next, there is EVIL SPEAKING. 

This is where one deliberately seeks to hurt another.  In the Greek it means blasphemy.  (You blaspheme God when you talk about someone made in His image with the design and desire to do them harm). 

• Then we come to MALICE. 

Malice is a settled determination to hurt others or get even.  Paul says through the Holy Spirit PUT IT AWAY!

May God convict us and help us to Become who we are in Him.   God bless you as you go through this day!

Job 38:1-3 – “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 2 “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”  NKJV

In a very real sense Job allowed himself to drift into a self-righteous mindset and questioned God.  The LORD, as He often does, allowed it to continue for a time then made His presence known in the situation and placed Job in the interrogation room and informed Job that God Himself would be the detective in this case and ask a few questions.  I can only imagine how Job felt, especially after God in all His Holiness asked the first question or two.

Job had been proclaiming his righteousness and now God steps beyond man’s righteousness and reveals Himself as the Sovereign Creator of Everything.  In that light He causes Job to understand the fallacy of Job’s argument and the wrongness of questioning God.  How would you answer God were He to ask us?

• To Explain Creation to Him.
• To Explain Gravity, Planetary Balance, Sea Waters, the Waters above and beneath the earth, or Nature in general.
• To Explain light and darkness and their result and effect on everything.
• To Explain where Light and Darkness come from or Snow for that matter how each snowflake is different.
• To Explain the Stars, lightning, or other natural occurrences.
• To Explain all animal behavior and habits.
• To Explain God’s Rule over all Creation.

What if God were to demand that you explain all those things to Him?  Clearly, Job could see the occurrences in nature, but could he control or even explain them?  By the time God was through interrogating Job the heart of this man was filled with wonder and he recognized his wrongness.  He recognized the sovereignty of God and confessed that he had spoken words without knowledge.  I wonder how many times we, through our petty pet doctrines, do the same.

It was out of Job’s repentance that God had him pray for his so-called comforters which were truly physicians of no value and then restored to Job double.  Job came to a place that He would no longer trust his righteousness or personal perceived goodness but would fully rely on God.  That is the place we must come if we are to walk in the fullness of God’s Abundant Life that Jesus came to bring.  There is a place in God that is above the ability of humanity, and we can enter that realm through faith with humility and in obedience.

God bless you as you go through this day!

1 Samuel 4:21-22 – “Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”  NKJV

The word Ichabod means “inglorious” or “there is no glory.”  When Israel rebelled against the Laws and Precepts of God, they experienced times of the “absence” of God’s Glory and the dire consequences that followed should be lessons never forgotten.  Sadly, they continued to forget after being restored and as in the wilderness, they had to repeat the same lessons over and over again. 

Are we any different today? In America, we have a strong heritage and history suggesting the Providence of God and as President George Washington declared “God’s Propitious Smile” was upon us.  We have made mistakes along the way and drifted from our moral and spiritual foundation.  Over the past few decades, we have seen an erosion of our foundational moral and spiritual moorings and allowed God to be kicked out of our schools and public institutions. 

We have transitioned from a moral society to an amoral one and in MANY ways immoral.  We have allowed our laws, elected officials, activist, and courts to police thought, speech and conduct to the point that, in too many instances, we call evil good and good evil allowing things societally that God calls abominations.

Today there seems to be a hesitancy in denouncing sin and major denominations, churches, and ministries are striving to be seen as tolerant avoiding anything deemed controversial and condemnatory.  Some have even reached a place in the doctrinal views they believe that there is no hell and that a loving God could not and would not allow anyone to go to such a place.  They seem to have forgotten that the Cross is a reminder of how vile sin is and the Divine Holiness of God would be destroyed were He to do anything but judge it. 

God’s love is so encompassing that He has provided a means of escape, a pathway into Life, and a Door to Salvation.  God is not willing, or it is not His desire that any should perish but if we reject His Grace, we cannot expect His Mercy.  If we trample the Blood of Jesus underfoot by denouncing Him, rejecting His Grace, and living in rebellion practicing abominable acts He must judge us.  I believe that it breaks God’s heart when we reject His love, mercy, and grace.  The Blood of Jesus satisfied God’s Divine Justice and that blood and only that blood which was untainted by sin can cover us and free us from the penalty of sin. 

In today’s America, we (collectively) continue to move farther and farther away from the fundamental principles of God’s Word and in so doing are almost taunting God.  How long will He be longsuffering?  How long before He writes “Ichabod” over the door of this land and turns the nation over to a reprobate mind in which people become a law to themselves and do what is right in their own eyes?  How Long Lord?  How Long?

I am deeply troubled over the state of my nation, the state of much of the organized church world, and the overriding societal mindset of today.  I believe that the target of our prayers should shift from the nation to the church, and we need to pray that revival comes to the church and when it does it will come to the land.

God bless you as you go through this day!

John 15:13-16 – “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  NKJV

There is an overriding reality that is inescapable as we study Scripture.  It leaps forth in the 66 Books of the Bible and is visible on page after page and passage after passage.  It is something almost impossible to explain and almost inexplicable.  That of which I speak is the Incomparable Love God has for mankind. 

We are His creation, but our history has been one of rejection and rebellion.  He would have easily been justified in smashing the race like bugs and virtually did that in saving only Noah and his family.  He has demonstrated His incredible patience and willingness to give us second, third, fourth, and fiftieth changes, and yet mankind continues to seek something other than Him.

The work of Christ on the Cross is a testimony of the depth of God’s love for mankind as is revealed in John 3:16. Jesus, in our text, testifies that He considers us His friends and in laying down His life He has demonstrated the “no greater love.”  Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that God “… is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”  Paul wrote in Romans 8:37-39 regarding God’s love for mankind and declared that NOTHING could separate us from God’s love.  In Ephesians 2:4-5 he reminds us of the depth of God’s love

God’s love is Unconditional whereas human love is conditional.  If others reject us, spurn our demonstrations of love, disrespect, disappoint and turn their backs on us love would not be the descriptor for our feelings toward them.  But with God, He loves us regardless.  Make no mistake His unconditional love will not vacate His holiness or judgment.  He has promised that if we ‘come to Him’ He will not reject us but if we reject Him and die in that condition, He cannot overlook our sin. 

Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of the continual rejection of the inhabitants, and I believe God weeps over our world today.  There have been at least three times in my life when, in a time of prayer and meditation, I heard God weeping.  It was one of the most disturbing experiences I have ever had and as I sensed His heartbreak I was broken.  The Omnipotent One could crush us like aluminum cans and with the stroke of His finger remove us from the planet and yet He chooses to LOVE US and demonstrates longsuffering beyond human ability to comprehend.

We can never merit that love but through grace, He extends it.  As I meditate on this today, I tremble realizing the times I have taken His mercy for granted.  How could anyone reject such incomparable love?  How?  I believe that to reject God’s love we must become so self-absorbed that our love for ourselves overpowers our reason. 

I believe that to reject God’s love we must believe the Lie of the devil and elevate ourselves to be equals with God in our minds.  Jesus said in John 8:32 – “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  If we SEE truly SEE the finished work of Christ on the Cross and the Love of God, we will respond and be made free!

I pray that if anyone is teetering on the fence undecided about God, His mercy, grace, and love you have your eyes opened and SEE!  I pray that each of us gains spiritual sight to a greater measure and SEE God’s, Great Love!

God bless you as you go through this day!

Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is,  the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  NASB

In my years of Christian ministry, I have observed people becoming what I would call bored in their experience.  They go through the same ritual every Sunday.  Someone said, “You could leave most churches and be gone for months or even years and come back knowing exactly what they would do and what would be preached.”  I hope that is inaccurate.  I hope we have not become Always the Same!  I hope it is not the same song, hymn, prayer, testimony, and sermon.  I hope we are not people who are ever trying to recapture or recreate that Blessed Experience, trying to remember what it was like, how it felt, etc. 

The Hope we have in Christ is the consummation of the whole Kingdom of God.  It is not simply the Great Escape it is Life in the Fullest.  I believe in the Coming of Jesus for His church and believe that will be a Glorious Day when we finally enter into that Eternal Rest in Heaven.  But, what about now? 

I am not living to escape but to enforce the victory that Jesus won at Calvary and see the Harvest of God gathered into His barn.  When Jesus comes that will be the grand finale of what we are to be already enjoying in His Covenant.  We have a past and a future, so we dare not get caught up living in a vacuum in the middle of those two realities.  It is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory – Now!  It is now not in the sweet by and by.  We have God’s Promises for Now!  The Pardon we received, the fellowship, and interaction with the Holy Spirit is Now!

Remember the Prodigal Son?  When he finally came to his senses and began his trek home, he prepared his speech.  He was going to tell his father, “Father, I have sinned against you.  Make me as one of your hired servants.”  Do you realize that a ‘hired servant’ is not just a servant?  The servants live on the property all the time. The hired servant came in at harvest time and lined up in the market Hoping for a job.  He was the odd job laborer and hired by the day. 

The Prodigal was saying to his father, “Dad, forgive me. I’ll go live in the village, and at harvest time, do me a favor and give me a job.”  That is All He Expected!  But his father saw him a great way off and embraced him in Forgiveness.  The son got out his speech and began but everything suddenly changed.  Why?  The father would not let him finish. He reinstates him as a son.  He said, “This is my Son!  He was lost but now is found.  He was dead but is now alive.”  That opened a whole new life for the prodigal.

That’s the picture I hope you see.  When we came to Christ, pardon would have been sufficient.  But as we studied and learned the Word of God, we discovered that there was more!  We discovered that everything God has promised is ours.  But when we came to Him, we did not know that.  It is as we learn, grow, and develop that we find that God gives, and gives, and gives, and gives…

Believers, we need to move past the past and live in the present in God.  We need to learn to live in Hope and Expectation that His Promises are ours and we can expect them and enjoy them.  Don’t pitch your spiritual tent around Forgiveness as vital and wonderful as that is.  Don’t settle for what God has done but focus your eyes on Him and look forward to what He is and will do.  Live in Hope!  Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”  God Wants to Bless You!

That is where we are to live in Hope!  It is Christ in us that is the Hope of Glory.  We, as believers, are people of Hope!  We are those who have a positive, unshakable, confidence that what God said He will do, He will do!  We live in a state of Excited Expectancy and are filled with Eager Desire.  We Are the People of Hope!  Not as the world gives but Hope that God gives!

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

Colossians 1:25-29 – “Of this church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is,  the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  NASB

As we addressed yesterday, Hope is rooted in ‘eager desire’ for what God has said and promised.  It is filled with ‘persistent expectation’ that His promises are present realities in our lives.  It is anchored in confidence that no matter what happens or how things look the expectation will become reality. 

It is the heart saying, “I know it is going to happen!”  That is biblical Hope!  It means that we can get up every morning with the tingle of excitement in our hearts.  It is calm confidence that we will experience the Promises in fullness.  We look ahead to all our tomorrows and all our unlived futures and proclaim, “This is the day the Lord has made…”  It is a quiet confidence that in His timing and in His way, He is going to bring it to pass in my life.  That is Hope!

As I said yesterday, Hope is deeply connected to Faith and in a sense, it is faith.  Someone said, “Hope is faith shielding its eyes against the sunlight of adversity and saying, “I can see it!  I can see it!”  In life, we must operate in Hope and Faith.  The farmer operates in biblical hope.  They take that seed, that may look nothing like the finished product and plant it in the ground in hope and expectation.  They hope that seed will germinate and produce the plant that will produce the fruit desired. 

When you first came to Jesus, you discovered the promise of the Bible that your God-given destiny was to become conformed to the image of Christ.  You read it in the Bible, but you did may not see it in your life.  You have flaws, kinks, warts, blemishes, and more.  You refuse to let what you see determine your confidence in God and His Word, so you Hope!  It is “Christ IN us…” that produces the Hope of Glory.  You live in a state of eager anticipation for what God has said you are and what you hope to become.  You believe that one day, that Promise will be a reality in your life, so you Hope!

Remember in Genesis 3, God declared that one day the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.  Through the generations from the time of Adam to the New Testament and Christ’s appearing on earth that seemed far-fetched because of the condition of man’s heart.  But Paul and the disciples Hoped. 

Remember God’s Promise and covenant with Abraham?  God said that from Abraham would become one who would bless all the families of the earth.  David, the prophets all looked forward to the coming of Christ and His Promised Work and Provision.  Generation after generation lived reading about the Promises and Hoping.  The Bible even says that they died in faith.  They did not see it become reality during their earthly sojourn, but they kept looking forward in Hope and Faith.  Their declaration was, “I know He is coming.  I am absolutely certain that He is coming!”  They died telling their children, “Don’t forget, He is Coming!”

The beauty is that Jesus is not a figure of history but a present reality living inside each of us!  He is our Hope of Glory.  We live in Hope!  We live in Hope that everything we have hoped for will be realized before we die, or Jesus comes.  Let the eye of your heart see it and Hope!  Jesus has come!  What they Hoped for is here!  Tragically, too many believers live without Hope and some live in despair.  Why?  Because too often we live in a vacuum.  What do I mean by that?

Many believers only see the reality that we have been Pardoned.  We readily believe that we have been Forgiven.  Some have even entered, into a vital relationship with the Holy Spirit.  They attempt to freeze that experience and proclaim, “I’ve Got It!”  The thought is, “I am saved, and spirit-filled, so I’ve got it.  I have arrived at all God has for me on earth.  Now I must just endure the struggle.”  Then, each year we move farther and farther away from IT because that experience is relegated to our history rather than being our present.

I heard a very humorous but applicable story that I will share.  There was a man who decided to write down what had happened to him, and he called it is “Blessed Experience.”  He kept it in a box hidden away in the attic.  Anytime he had a visitor he brought out that box and read his Blessed Experience to them.  He would say, “This is what happened to me.”  One day a visitor came, and he sent his daughter to retrieve his Blessed Experience so he could read it to the visitor.  Sadly, she came back and reported that the rats had eaten his Blessed Experience.”  It was not reality but history and that is boring producing not growth development or fruit. We need to have Hope in Christ who is In Us!

I want to venture into this just a bit further so I will pause here and pick up next time with more on HOPE.  God, bless you richly is my prayer and desire!

Colossians 1:25-29 – “I was made a minister of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is,  the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  NASB

I have far more to say than I can deliver in the space available for a short devotional so bear with me as I try to hit the high points.  I hope you are inspired and encouraged to delve deeper into this gold mine of truth.  Hopefully, I will reach the destination of “The Hope of Glory” and how it affects believers today.  I will attempt to examine what Biblical Hope is, what Biblical Glory is, and pray it will enable us to come to a better understanding of “Christ in us, the Hope of Glory.”

The apostle Paul, in this passage, attempted to identify the essence of his ministry.  He said, “This is what I do!”  Paul traveled the known world teaching people and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The aim, goal, and vision of his ministry were to help people everywhere come to completeness, perfection, and wholeness spiritually. 

His desire was that believers would become Spiritually Mature.  He called it “The Mystery” in the sense that the truth he was preaching, and teaching were not apparent to the unbeliever but were available to all believers if they could and would receive it.  That Mystery was, “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory.”

You should have asked, “What does that mean?”  When Paul says, “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory” what does he mean?  We recognize that he is declaring something of great importance as he says, “This is what I teach.  This is what is going to make you complete, mature, and whole spiritually.”  That gets my attention!

The word Hope has developed a bad reputation in today’s modern world.  In some circles, it is believed that if you Hope, you are lacking in faith.  However, I challenge that based on the Bible’s teaching about the word.  It is a word that is found multiple times in the New Testament.  Sadly, I am convinced that too many misuse the word and adopt the world’s use of the word which is not remotely similar to the Bible’s usage. 

So, what is HOPE?  I heard the definition expressed by a small boy when he said, “Hope is believing that you are going to get that, which anyone in their right mind knows you are not going to get.”  That is the idea in the world’s view and some of the church.  We can only Hope!

When the world talks about Hope, they mean, “It is highly improbable that you will ever get what you are hoping for.”  Therefore, in that sense, it means that you are bordering on the impossible and to the average person it means you are clinging to a thread when all rational expectancy has vanished.  I’ve been in hospital rooms and heard, “Well, all we can do now is hope.”  That kind of Hope has disappointment deeply rooted in it. 

Can you remember the dreams and visions of your teenage years?  How many of those are realities today?  Most people would acknowledge that those dreams have long ceased to exist.  Hope, as understood by the world and much of the Church is rooted in disappointment because people do not believe they are going to get what they are hoping for.  That is not the Hope of the Bible! 

The Hope of the Bible is founded and grounded upon Expectancy.  Biblical Hope means, “That positive unshakable confidence that a specific blessing from God will undoubtedly come to pass.”  In that sense, Biblical Hope is closely akin to Biblical Faith. 

Bible Hope has eyes for the future!  It believes and expects!  Biblical Hope has a strong element of Certainty built into it.  The Hope of the world is founded upon disappointment and the Hope of the Bible is founded upon Certainty and Expectancy.  WHY?  Because of the God Factor.  God promised what He has promised and no matter how impossible it may look, God said it and His Word Never returns to Him without accomplishing His purposes. 

Bible Hope is not Fantasy, but it is an excited forward look with expectancy.  Remember the words of Paul in Philippians 1:20, “According to my earnest expectation and hope…”  The Amplified renders this, “My own eager desire, persistent expectation, and hope.”  That is Powerful!  It is the eager desire.  It is the persistent expectation and certainty that says, “I Know that it is going to happen.”  I Hope in God!

I will pause here and offer a little more in the next devotional.  God, bless you richly is my prayer and desire as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

John 1:1-5 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  NKJV

The Bible tells us that Faith comes by Hearing and Hearing comes by The Word of God.  To have spiritual hearing we must be willing to listen and obey the Word of God.  There is the Logos or the written word and the Rhema the spoken word and both are indispensable and neither relegates the other to a previous dimension or era.  When we go to Genesis the first book of the Bible, we find that God is a Speaking God.

It would be impossible to ignore that considering the number of times we read, “And God said.”  Not only that we find God coming to Walk and Talk with Adam in the Garden and throughout the Old and New Testaments we find the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Speaking to people.  Some people get nervous when the term Rhema enters the conversation and argue, rightly, that any Rhema cannot and will not contradict the Logos Word of God.  The Bible is a clear evaluator of any Word we believe we have heard.

But if Faith comes by Hearing and Hearing comes by the Word and the Word is God (Jesus) then it becomes imperative that we learn to Hear His Voice both in the Logos and Rhema.  It is imperative that we become sensitive to the speaking voice of God.  I do not suggest that you will hear God audibly.  You may but likely you will hear God like most of us, in our spirit, mind, and heart.  It may be an impression.  It may be a clear word where you hear a detailed declaration.  It may be a conversation through the Holy Spirit.  I don’t know exactly how you Hear GOD, but I know that we can Hear GOD and must Hear GOD if we are to become the fullness of what He desires for our lives. 

The development of Faith both for salvation and for miracles requires a Relationship with The Word of God.  We would never contemplate developing a relationship with another human being without actual communication.  That may come through the written word via Social Media, Text, Email, or Letters. It may also, and likely will involve oral interaction.  We believe that God is alive and that if we call upon Him, He hears us and yet many do not believe we can Hear GOD personally or have a dialogue with Him. 

Some believe that God stopped speaking in the 1^st Century with the establishment of the New Testament Church.  Yet, the Bible encourages prayer and obedience to God’s Word.  The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit coming as a guide and helper to lead us into all truth and teach us the words of Jesus.  It also speaks of building ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.  If God quit speaking to humans that would be a needless directive and request.  If God is, as the Bible declares Him, the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever then how can we not expect Him to Speak to Us?  Oh, I know the argument that He does through the Bible and that is valid to a degree.

Let me ask it this way.  If you were sick or shut-in and desired me to visit you, I could visit you in two ways.  I could come and drop off my letter to you at the Nurses’ Desk and let you read it yourself? Maybe I brought you the books I had written and dropped them off for you to read my words.  Another way would be for me to come into your room and talk with you for a time. Which would be more beneficial and desirable? 

Before you argue that this is comparing apples and oranges, I ask, Is It?  Who is better equipped to explain the Logos of God than the Word of God Himself?  How many times have you realized that you have misinterpreted a particular passage and when the revelation of the truth came you rejoiced, and it empowered you?  If you could visit with the LORD Himself and Hear Him speak to you personally would that not likely strengthen your faith?  You would be Hearing the Word!  The Word is Truth and Truth is liberating. 

What I want to convey if I convey nothing else is that The Word is HE, not just words on a printed page preserved over the centuries.  The Word of God is a Person, and that Person is our Creator and Giver of Life.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!  He is the Door of access to God!  He is our Hope and Coming King!  My daily prayer is, “LORD, create in me a clean heart, renew in me a right spirit, please do not take your Holy Spirit from me, and restore unto me the Joy of Your Salvation.  LORD, enable me to Hear You with clarity so that as I Hear You, I can respond to you in Faith and Obedience.” 

May the LORD bless you richly as you enjoy this wonderful day in Jesus!

Philippians 3:12-14 – “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  NKJV

Life is filled with choice. We make choices every day and even multiple times if not thousands of times every day.  Where we are today is a compilation of the choices we have made after this moment in time.  Who we are is the result of the myriad of choices we have made?  Yes, God wipes the slate clean and gives us a brand-new start at salvation but the formation of our character, condition, and position in life is directly related to our choices or if you will allow the direction to which we look.

Paul was addressing difficulties of life, suffering, trials, tests, and temptations in his and their ministry.  He was highlighting the need and desire to always reach for a life that is pleasing to and representative of God and His Grace.  He was focused on Spiritual Perfection or Spiritual Maturity to the point and degree that he and they could walk victoriously in all things and at all times without imperfection.  You may say, “Roy, that is an impossible dream” and I would not argue with you that on this earth we will likely never reach that point.  But Paul makes a poignant point and calls to mind something that I’m not sure we do not miss or overlook.

He acknowledged that He had not attained spiritual perfection or completeness.  His heart was crying out to lay hold or apprehend Jesus just as Jesus has laid hold of or apprehended him.  The word used means to seize, eagerly possess, and suggests a unification and becoming one with. 

The Psalmist described that heart condition in Psalm 84:2, “My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God.”  In Psalm 63:1, he cried, “O God, You are my God; I shall seek you earnestly; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and a weary land where there is no water.”  Paul was describing a longing and thirst that can only be quenched by the Water of Life that Jesus gives, that water our Lord said would spring up within us and be like a River of Living Waters flowing out from us.

He knew his position and condition and then reminded them that although he had not attained, he knew what he must do.  He spoke of Two Looks in Life that determine our destination.  He says, “one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  Paul’s One Thing has three parts – I do not dwell on the Backward Look.  I focus on the Forward and Upward Look.  I determinedly, doggedly, and devotedly Press Toward that which is ahead. 

He considered that a mark of maturity that we forget the past and focus on the future in God.  He considered it a necessary quality of a believer that we turn our hearts and minds upon the things of God and as he told them earlier, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ.”  That mind was void of selfishness and self-centeredness. He demonstrated a servant’s heart and a mind to serve. 

If we look at what was and dream about what might have been we will lose sight of what is, what can be, and what will be if we Press Toward the Mark and Keep Pressing Toward the Mark!  You have a choice in life to follow the BACKWARD LOOK or the FORWARD and UPWARD LOOK.  Which look do you choose?

God, bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him.