James 1:19-20 – “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” 

In our microwave world of instant everything where we demand things immediately if not sooner and we wanted it yesterday this passage can be problematic.  There are principles in every facet of our world that if we begin wrong we will normally reach the wrong destination or reach the right one marred and scarred.  This passage illustrates that perfectly.

• SWIFT TO HEAR…

Many people I know find that a most difficult task for hearing is frequently one of our shortcoming.  Not that we cannot hear but that we do not listen and therefore do not hear.  I have known people who are so focused on their response and what they will say next they fail to hear what the other is saying.  There can be little agreement, comradery, fellowship and certainly no “koinonia” if this is the case.  To develop interpersonal relationships and build unity we must HEAR and James instructs us to be SWIFT in that pursuit.  It should a prime objective to both hear our brothers and sisters and to hear the Spirit of God.

• SLOW TO SPEAK…

Sadly, many fail at this point even if they have heard.  We have a tendency to engage mouth before we engage the mind and too frequently before we have discerned the heart of the Father on the matter.  Many proudly proclaim, “Well, I just tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may.”  That can be good but it can also be incredibly destructive, insensitive, unfeeling and without grace.  If we carefully weigh our words, evaluate the consequences and impact of those words we will find the guidance of the Spirit of God empowers us to dynamically impact others.

• SLOW TO WRATH…

One of the reasons we tend to speak quickly is because we fail on this front.  If we are quick tempered and allow our anger to quickly boil over into rage and wrath we will find it impossible on the second part speaking.  If we allow the Spirit of God to maintain control over our tempers we will find that we are able to speak soft answers that turn away wrath without being perceived as a doormat or pushover.

Obedience on these points is valuable, if for no other reason than failure does not produce righteousness.  If we are to be God’s witnesses and are to manifest Him to the world then we need to walk in God’s righteousness.

Therefore, I encourage everyone to seriously seek the help of the Holy Spirit to empower, enable and strengthen our discipline so that we are Swift Hearers, Slow to Voice our Opinion and Controlled in our Anger.

            May the Lord be with you as you go through this day!

Judges 3:31 – “After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.”  NKJV

            This has always been a fascinating sentence inserted in the history of Israel and their recorded struggles for freedom in the Old Testament.  Ehud had led the nation to victory over the Moabites and eighty (80) years of rest or peace ensued.  As he grew older portions of the land began to fall into the hands of plunderers and thieves, especially those of the Philistines.  There was no one to lead Israel to victory and most people, the historical record indicates, simply stayed off the highways and were isolated and living in fear.

We know little of the man named here (Shamgar) and it appears that there was nothing particularly unusual about him with the exception of his obedience to the Spirit of God.  I cannot unfold the account with historical accuracy but simply draw from this verse to say, “Little is much when God is in it.”  Here, it appears that one man, alone, without proper weapons or battle armor withstood an army of Philistines with what the Bible calls an “ox goad” or as many identify a plough-share.  This was nothing short of a miracle and in this act of a solitary man the nation of Israel was once again delivered.

That screams to me that the false claim, “I am only one what can I do” should be forever eliminated from a Christian’s vocabulary and philosophy.  If God could use Moses, Joshua, Caleb, David, Samson and Shamgar to perform exploits outside the norm then why can He not find one among us today to deliver?

It is not the armor or weaponry that one has at his/her disposal but the Arm of the Lord that matters.  If God could use Gideon and his small band of men to completely route an entire army can He not raise up deliverers in this generation?   He can, but He first has to find willing hearts who will dare to believe Him.  He has to find those so completely trusting they can see no option but success and value His word over their lives.  He has to find someone who will dare to believe in the impossible and attempt the improbable.

In something like the exploits of Shamgar one has to acknowledge the intervention of the supernatural for in the natural it would be impossible for one man with a plough-share to defeat 600 armed men.  Yet, the Bible declares it happened and I believe it.  Therefore, I draw from it hope and faith to believe that if God directs it He will enable and provide.  Rather than focus on the problem focus on the God of the solution and hope will begin to rise, faith will strengthen and courage will ooze forth from deep within.

Truly, little is much when God is in it but much is little if God is not there!   Remember He said, where two or three are gathered in My name I am in the midst of them.  God bless you as you face this new day!

 Genesis 25:21-22 – “Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.”  NKJV

I am a Christian who is unashamedly Pro-Life and I base that on my understanding of the Bible.  I hear many, including Christians, refer to that thing in the mother’s womb as a ‘fetus’ rather than a ‘baby’.  I understand the medical terminology and that the politically correct approach is to use the term ‘fetus’ but I cannot for I believe that God views that developing and growing life inside the womb as a child, a living human being.

If you notice in the passage I used as a text the unborn twins in Rebekah’s womb are referred to as “children”.  The Hebrew word (banim) is a common word used to refer to children “after” birth and normally means sons.  In the New Testament the Greek (brephos) was used to refer to John the Baptist, who “leaped in Elizabeth’s womb” because of the presence of the unborn Christ.   [Luke 1:41-44].

Since, I find no evidence that God considers the unborn babies simply lumps of tissue that can be disposed of at will I find it impossible to support abortion.  Since Psalm 139 declares that God knew our parts even before we were formed in the womb I find it difficult to believe that life does not begin at conception.  Our parts were written in God’s book in the days He fashioned us and He knew them before they existed in the flesh.  When does life begin?  It begins in the heart of God and if the Bible is to be trusted most assuredly begins at conception.

I realize that many Christians will find difficulty with my assertion but I can find no valid evidence that a human baby living in the womb goes through reptile or fish stages.  They do not develop fins, tails or gills.  Murder, in the Bible, is the intentional killing of innocent human beings and is regarded as a heinous crime and sin.  I know that many believers make exceptions to such events as rape, deformity, incest, etc. but can we really make those exceptions?  Did those conditions somehow transform that living being into a non-living or unimportant mass of tissue? 

Ezekiel 18 informs us that a child is not to be executed for the crimes or sins of his/her father but each person dies for their own sins. The father does not bear the guilt of the son nor the son the guilt of the father.  The answer to whether abortion is a valid option or not is answered in determining if that living growing thing in the womb is a baby, child, human being or simply a mass of tissue that can be disposed of as we would a bag of trash.  Once you answer that question the abortion question has an easy answer.  I know what I believe and what I believe the Bible teaches but I cannot answer the question for you.

May God help us to value human life and value that which He has and is creating.  God bless you as you go forward from this day!  Blessings!

Psalm 42:1-3 – “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.  2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?  3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”  NKJV

When I read passages like this and compare the heart cry of the Psalmist to the deep cries of my soul I am moved deeply.  As I read these few verses I cannot help but sense the incredible longing of the writer for God’s revealed and realized presence.  He was comparing his hunger and thirst for God to that of a deer in the heat longing for water to be refreshed.  He then adds that he has been so moved with longing that the well of tears from within his being were like a never ceasing fountain.  His tears have consumed him rendering him unable to consume natural food due to his quest for God.  He cries that his inner man continually asks, “Where is your God?” 

I have experienced times of intense longing and am currently so hungry and thirsty for God that I find myself weeping on my bed in the night crying out for His presence in a more pronounced way.  The intensity of His presence is not always consuming in our lives and I’m not sure we could survive physically if it were to that degree.  However, the consciousness of His presence is needed for us to overcome the assaults hurled at us by the enemy of our souls.  It is by the strength of His presence that we are able to withstand the many twists and turns life hurls at us.

David was identified by God as a man after His own heart and when I read passages like this, I understand how God could so describe him.  He was clearly a man, a leader, a king, a warrior who had a passion for God.  David instituted worship in the Tabernacle like never before experienced for he understood the importance of the presence of God.  He understood that through worship and praise we enter God’s gate and courts.  It is through our worship and praise that we invite His presence in a most powerful way.  Additionally, we know through Scripture and the life of our Lord Jesus Christ the importance of prayer as a means of communication and communion with God.

I believe that appetites are cultivated in the natural and in the spiritual.  It is as we ingest His word, pray, praise and worship we cultivate the appetite for Him and in so doing we develop a hunger and thirst that motivates us to press into His presence.  It is in His presence that we receive strength, renewal and restoration enabling us to fulfill the purposes He has for our lives on planet earth.

If you are not hungry and thirsty for God then I suggest that you begin to develop a habit of prayer, reading the Bible, praise and worship and I believe that the hunger and thirst will be a natural byproduct of those activities.  As we engage in those activities our hearts become conditioned to receive His presence and our souls begin to long for His presence.

            God bless you as you allow the Holy Spirit to make you hungry and thirsty for God.  Blessings as you move to the next steps and phases of your life on planet earth.

Genesis 1:26-28 – “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” NKJV

I love discussing the Bible and creation with people who believe that all this just happened and man crawled out of the ocean as a one-celled amoeba or organism and gradually over millions of years evolved into the thinking being we know and are. I know I am being generous with the thinking statement but, for the most part, man is a thinking creature.  Man has mind, will and emotions making him unique among all the living creatures on the planet.  I have long taught that, in a sense, man is a creator.  That reality should provide a natural basis upon which our belief in creation.  The aforementioned passages for our text affords us opportunity to realize our creativeness and its source.

Man has IMAGINATION and imagination is the mother of invention.  If one can imagine or dream something it can usually become reality.  In that sense we are creators.  Oh, I completely understand that God provides the intellect, ability, talent and inspires our imagination and is the true creator but as a being created in His image and likeness we could be called creators.  Consider the inventions and advancements in science and technology over the past ten years alone and then turn back the clock fifty years and see just how far and fast we have traveled the road of invention.  Today we can get on an airplane and in hours be almost anywhere in the world.  We can take the cellular device we carry with us, a pocket computer, and dial a number instantly connecting with someone on the other side of the world and have a crystal clear conversation.  That is nothing short of amazing.  We can go to the doctor and have images of our bodies with such detail they can detect even the smallest abnormality and with laser guided precision operate with minimally invasive procedures.  Just twenty years ago that would have been considered other worldly or something from a comic book fantasy.  Because of the creativity of man created in the image of God we can produce amazing things.

Yet, no matter how creative we are, we cannot create eternal life that is God’s realm and God’s alone.  We can receive it but we cannot reproduce it.  We can pass on genes to our offspring and in so doing they have genetic propensities that with proper guidance will give them abilities inherited.  Yet we cannot pass on in our genetics eternal salvation for that is a personal experience that each person must experience personally through the Lord Jesus Christ.

I realize that some, in religious circles, have pressed imagination out of bounds but God never wants to stifle our imagination and wants us to dream the dreams He inspires in our hearts.  Dreams motivate us to continually climb higher and reach for that next rung on the ladder of life.  I’ve been called a dreamer because the vision of my heart (that has yet to become a reality) is so vast that other dreamers have scoffed at its vastness but yet I dream and continue to believe that I will see the fulfillment of the dream.  However, if I do not realize it in this life I will continue looking for the city and believe that the seeds I sow will germinate and produce the reality of the vision.  If God birthed it in my heart and caused me to imagine it’s reality He will provide the people, power, provisions and opportunities for it to be real.

How could anyone view man’s creative abilities and still believe that he just happened?  God bless you and may you have a fantastic day!

Galatians 5:16-26 – “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”  NKJV

There is much more in these verses than a short simple devotional can exegete so I will simply present something that hopefully will inspire you to delve deeper into individually.  The apostle Paul brought to the attention of the Galatians as to the importance of a Spirit led life rather than a life dominated by fleshly passions, lusts, desires and propensities.  He identified the war within our beings of “Spirit and flesh”.  He presented, what to many, was a revelation that IF one is led by the Spirit of God they are free from the Law.  They are not free from moral constraint or righteousness but from the man-made directives that had become incorporated into the Law.

He then takes a most interesting approach.  He identifies WORKS and FRUIT.  The flesh produces no fruit only works and the Spirit produces fruit that will be walked out and could be identified as works.  He gives a lengthy list of WORKS:  Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, and outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like.  Examine the list carefully and you will likely be surprised that some of these are called WORKS but they are the outworking of the flesh.  He then gives a lengthy list of FRUIT: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We might have called some of these works and as they are walked out in our lives they are actions that manifest the heart and reveal the character.

We are either dominated by the flesh or the Spirit and when our lives find the overriding manifestation of FRUIT we realize that the flesh is losing control and we are becoming Spirit led people who can not only represent our LORD but manifest Him to the world.

Paul identified the need to LIVE IN THE SPIRIT so that we can WALK IN THE SPIRIT and that is a safeguard against becoming conceited and allows us to motivate not provoke or envy another.  We will become assembled members of the Body of Christ where each part provides that which it was designed and created to perform and provide thus advancing the Kingdom mightily.

LORD help me be a fruit person not a works person!    God bless you as you go through this day!

Proverbs 25:21-22 – “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”  NKJV

It is a difficult thing in the realm of human emotions to extend a hand of love to someone who has set out to hurt you or has hurt you.  I’ve had Church people tell me, “I don’t get mad I get even.”  I had a preacher tell me, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times and I’ll destroy you.”  He felt that he was following the directive of the Lord to turn the other cheek and once he had turned both cheeks he was at liberty to take matters into his own hand and respond in kind.  Somehow, I find that incompatible with the overall directives of the LORD and the Bible.

Here we are instructed to feed a hungry enemy and give water to a thirsty enemy.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that is incredibly difficult.  This can be expanded beyond the basic needs of food and drink.  Jesus told us to love our enemies.  I hear Christians say, “I love them but I don’t like them and want nothing to do with them.”  I have often wondered if I can truly love someone I truly do not like and abhor their presence.  There are those who have demonstrated their vileness and willingness to do harm whom we find in need.  How do we respond?  How did Jesus respond to those who sought his death?

The second portion of this is fascinating.  I recall a dear old saint telling me that by doing the first part of this directive we got our pound of flesh because God would burn them up as a result.  As a young minister I found that a very difficult interpretation for that would seem to indicate that God was authorizing vengeance and retaliation.  I know the Old Testament taught an eye for an eye but when we get to the New Testament we find our LORD instructing us to love our neighbors and love those who sought our hurt.  I sought the LORD to better understand.

Let me suggest that when we view the Day of Atonement process, the high priest would take his censer, fill it with coals of fire, put incense on it and the result was a sweet-smelling aroma.  As I contemplated that the thought that came to mind is that the coals of fire are the conviction of the Holy Spirit and when we place the incense of acts of love and kindness even to an enemy there is a sweet aroma that rises.  It may not be immediate and the heart could be so hard it never happens but the likely result is that our act(s) will open the door for the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and burn inside the heart of that one deemed an enemy.  It will produce a condition like that of Paul on the Damascus Road where Jesus said, “It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” 

If I give blow for blow, reviling for reviling, insult for insult I will drive a wedge that will make it difficult to overcome.  However, if in the process of my hurt I extend the kindness, graciousness and love of Christ I provide the LORD with a pathway to bring conviction to the heart.  My act of kindness and Christian charity will burn in the heart and mind of that one.  They may view me weak and laugh at my acts but it will be difficult for them to totally dismiss my response.

God bless you as you go through this day!

Proverbs 19:19 – “A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.”  NKJV

I cautiously suggest we read this slightly different to garner what could possibly be a more full understanding, “Great wrath will suffer punishment; for you rescue from it, you will have to repeat the process.”  Understand, I tread lightly here for I do not want to add to or take away from God’s word.  My singular objective is to grasp the full meaning of the truth presented.  If we only focus on a hot tempered man we will miss the larger view of intense anger, rage and wrath that is in the heart.

We know from scripture that we are instructed to discipline children and the Bible emphasizes the danger of stubbornness in the heart.  We are repeatedly warned of the dangers of wrath, anger and rage.  We are in James 1:19-20, “…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  I have a friend who is incredibly hot tempered and he justifies it saying, “It is my Irish coming out.”  No!  It is not just your ethnic heritage it is a condition of heart that needs to be addressed.

Most of us have hot buttons that can be pushed and once pushed anger, sometimes intense anger, rage or wrath spews forth and we say or do things we frequently regret.  A person given to temper will never lack conflict.  A child that is undisciplined will develop into a man or woman who is undisciplined and often given to fits of temper if they do not get their way.  Wrath incurs woe and reaps the fruit of that action which could rightly be rendered punishment.  A heart that is unchecked by the Holy Spirit and gives place to wrath will not learn by intervention (rescue) it will only change by the transforming power of God’s love.

The cure for a hot temper is not punishment or intervention by others it is a transformation of the heart by the Love and Grace of God.  It is a heart problem not just an attitude or personality disorder.  Its roots are in self-centeredness and an attitude of entitlement or the enthronement of self as the center of one’s universe.  We must dethrone self and enthrone our LORD and as John the Baptist said, “He must increase but I must decrease…” 

In children the need for repeated correction and discipline is required to shape the will and point the heart toward the tugging of God’s Holy Spirit.  It is required that we teach our children discipline and self-restraint so they can function productively in society.  Most of us have learned that flying off the handle produces no good result.  Oh, it may make us feel good for a moment thinking we set someone straight but in the long term it only drives wedges and provides fuel for feuds, divisions, discord and creates an environment or atmosphere of conflict.

God will always chastise His children not because He desires to punish us but because He loves us and wants us to overcome the battle of the flesh and walk in a manner that manifests His character, nature and heart.

May the Lord empower you to overcome the flesh as you maneuver through this day’s obstacles and opportunities!  Blessings!

Acts 17:28 – “…in Him we live and move and have our being…”  NKJV

When the apostle Paul came to the philosophers in Athens, Greece he challenged their myriad of gods by proclaiming the “Unknown God”, who is the One True God.  As he gave his discourse and presented line upon line identifying this “Unknown God” he came to the words I highlighted for a text.

It is in this God that we LIVE.  He is life, for Jesus Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life…”  He is the source of life and apart from Him there can be no true life only existence and even that is realized through Him.  As the old gospel hymn, “Because He lives, I can live also…”  Paul passionately proclaims that LIFE is through the work of this God they identify as the “Unknown God”.  Paul identifies this God as being the creator of all things and the sustainer of life.

It is in this God that we MOVE.  That is an interesting word to use.  It is the Greek [kinoumetha] and Doddridge translates it, “And are moved”.  Many Bible scholars believe that it is in the middle voice and the rendering of “and move” is correct.  Regardless of which you accept it is clear that it is from this God that we derive our strength and are in a constant state of dependence upon Him.  It is from Him that we are able to move forward in life.  We can perform no motion physically or spiritually without Him.  He is the giver and sustainer of life.

It is in this God we have our BEING.  Our continued existence is totally dependent upon Him.  Life is a gift from God and as James warned in 4:14, “…For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  There is not being without this God the Greeks identified as the “Unknown God” who to those who believe the “Only True and Living God”. 

Sadly, many do not know or recognize this God, the Living God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.  In our day of excessive tolerance and acceptance of anything and everything we miss the imperative the Holy Spirit through Paul issued.  Paul addressed the ignorance and even unbelief that created the altar to the Unknown God and said, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a don on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” [Vv.30-31]

The source of life naturally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually is God!  Without Him we could do and would be nothing.  Through Him we are “more than conquerors”.  We can do all things through His strength.  I pray that each of us realize more and more each passing moment of our total dependence upon Him.

            May God bless you richly as you go through your day!