Philippians 3:12-16 – “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same  standard to which we have attained.” NASU

            I am convinced that a major principle in spiritual maturity is realizing that you have not arrived!  The apostle Paul, a man stretched beyond that of most, tested beyond most, and yet is able to make this amazing declaration.  He said, “I have not attained.”  He confessed that he had not achieved the ultimate in spiritual growth but he refused to look back and focus on the past but was ‘pressing in’, ‘reaching for’ the attainable in Christ.

            I love the translation of the word ‘teleios’ in the Greek which means COMPLETE with regard to labor, growth, mental, and moral character.  It means a mature person.  So Paul is saying that those who are ‘spiritually mature’ have the attitude that they have not arrived but are pressing in to attain the attainable in Christ.  They are to refuse to let the past sidetrack them and have their eyes on the ultimate goal in God consistently.

            I watched a situation once where a person lived several miles from the church yet no matter how difficult it was he found a way to attend services and other activities.  Then he moved near the church and was frequently absent.  He confessed to me that when it was difficult he stayed focused but when it became easy he was easily distracted and sidetracked.  That is so true in many lives and one of the reasons that there is growth in persecution.  In those times when we know that we have not made it and have to stay focused to have that relationship and fellowship with God we grow.  In times of ease we sometimes take things for granted and allow little things to distract or sidetrack us.  I am not saying we should pray for persecution or difficulty but rather we should become so complete in our commitment and focus that in times of ease we take advantage of the open door rather than allow distraction.

            I want to be a vessel in the Master’s hands that is usable, a tree in His orchard that produces fruit in abundance.  I want to be a light in His lighthouse.  I want the gifts He has deposited in me to be fully used and beneficial to the church and kingdom.  I want to attain the attainable spiritually.  I want Christ in me to be manifest to the world in such a powerful manner that when they see me they do not see me but Him who lives in me.  I want my life to be a demonstration of His Love and Life!

             May God be with you as you go through your day!

Romans 4:1-4 – “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?   2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”   4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.”  NKJV

            The human heart, as a result of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, is bent toward wanting to deserve our Salvation and God’s Mercy.  I am quite serious in that statement.  I cannot tell you how many times I have had people tell me that based on what they were doing, had done, and planned to do in comparison to others they felt that were okay with God.  Their ‘works’, in their minds had ‘earned’ them a spot in heaven.  In some of those cases no matter what I tried to do or say they could not or would not receive it and preferred to live in their self-justification mode, content with their list.

             As Paul reminds us if Abraham was justified by works then he would have something to boast about but that Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’  His FAITH and TRUST was what brought to him God’s Grace not his efforts of the flesh.  Paul makes a powerful statement in the last sentence that if we ‘work’ and if spiritual things were on the basis of works then it would be a ‘debt’ that God owed us not GRACE.  We read in Ephesians 2 that it is ‘by grace’ that we are saved and not of ‘works’ lest we should boast that it is not the result of anything that we have done other than TRUST GOD that brought about our salvation and forgiveness.

            Remember the Pharisee and the Tax Collector Jesus referred to in Luke 18 where both went to the temple to pray and the Pharisee self-righteously puffed out his chest and proudly declared, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’   Then He turned the focus to the tax collector who repentantly stood and would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’  Jesus identified the one that received God’s justification was not the man of ‘works’.

             I am not suggesting that ‘works’ are unimportant only that they will not save you.  I am equally convinced that while you cannot work to earn your salvation if you have salvation you will work.  I believe that faith demands that works become a normal part of life.  It is not to earn something but because of the free gift that we have received that we have a heart for the work of the Kingdom.

             Remember as you go through this day that your salvation was not earned by anything that you have done or will do but by God’s infinite and awesome GRACE!   So may God be with you as you go through your day!

Psalm 14:1 – “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”  NKJV

             You just read the text and my title and probably have a question so let me answer it without you having to ask.  Most of us would never utter the words, “there is no God” but too many times we live as though He either does not exist, is blind, or disinterested.  He is none of those.  He is not blind and is very interested in the details of our lives.  If you remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 10 that not one sparrow falls without God’s approval and the hairs of our heads are numbered.  Now does that sound like a God who is disinterested?

            David declared in Psalm 139 that there was no place to hide from the ALL SEEING EYE of God so I ask, ‘does that sound like someone who is blind?’  The Hebrews referred to God as THE LIVING GOD as distinguished from all other gods and religions in their world.  Remember when the disciples went to the empty tomb and the angel informed them that Jesus was not there but risen.  Then they encountered Him and went forth touching their world because HE LIVES.

            Yet, how often do we commit acts, entertain thoughts, harbor resentment and more as though God either was not living, blind, or disinterested.  It is not enough to just not say something if our actions or words express that we believe what we have not said.  The world watches us and as has been said truly we are the only Bible some people will ever read.  The gospel according to our lives is incredibly important for it could mean the difference between life or death spiritually for someone.

             I had a gospel singer once tell me that although he was not living as he should he was just singing the message not proclaiming it so it was okay.  Seriously?  Is that what takes place in a worship service we sing it and somehow do not think that is the same as saying it or that our lives should back up what we sing as well as what we say?  If God knows our hearts, and He does, would it not behoove us to have our lives match our words? 

            I am not trying to beat anyone up but felt compelled to remind each of us that it is not just what we do not say but what we do and think as well.  I am all for not sinning with our lips and while we may say all the right words the heart is the real issue and focus.  We would mostly concur that it would be the words of a fool to say, ‘there is no God’ but what is it when our lives say that very thing?

             May God be with you as you go through your day!

Psalm 8:3-5 – “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.”  NKJV

            I love the outdoors and spend as much time there as I can.  I love being in the woods and just watching the handiwork of God in nature.  This world is truly the work of an incredibly talented artist and I have had some of the most wonderful and humbling experiences just sitting on a hillside or near a stream and watching one of God’s spectacular sunsets.  I have been at a campsite and looked heavenward and saw the endless array of stars and watched as a meteor shot across the sky as I listened to the creatures of God’s world break the stillness of that peaceful place.  I have stood in awe as I looked up at some of the most majestic peaks or looked down from a ledge on one of them across canyons brilliant with the colors of nature and time.  Each time I am warmed by the confidence that this design was the work of a designer and humbled at how insignificant I am in comparison to it all.  A mere speck!

             Yet, I know from the Bible and personal experience just how much God cares about his creation called man.  He loves man more than he loves all the rest of creation.  I can say that because God says it and He demonstrated it at the Cross.  He continues to demonstrate it with the wooing of the Holy Spirit drawing a rebellious sinful creation to Himself.  His love for us is boundless and although man has continually rejected Him He still reaches out to us offering SALVATION.  That is nothing short of amazing but such is God’s grace!

             The humbling reality that He has chosen us to spend eternity with Him as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus is amazing!  Man rejected God in the Garden and continues to reject Him in so many ways today and yet GOD still loves us and desires to bring us to Himself.  If you have difficulty believing the power of God just look at this world, the design, the beauty, the intricate detail.  If that does not convince you then consider the design of the human body with all the nerve paths, arteries and veins, organs, and the function of the body.  If you want me to believe that this all just happened you should have gotten to me before I saw the first sunset for after than I was hooked on God.  I did not immediately serve Him but I have never doubted His existence and will not doubt.

            Oh Lord, thank you for your creation that we are allowed to experience and utilize.  Thank you for your daily provisions and endless love.  Thank you for making a way that my sins could be washed away and my name entered in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Thank you for giving me help for today and hope for tomorrow!   If you are low make plans to watch a sunset and I believe something will stir inside your heart.

            May God bless you as you go through your day!

Genesis 3:1-5 – “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'”  4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  NKJV

             The serpent’s challenge to whether Adam & Eve would die is often viewed by detractors as proof that the Bible is false for they argue Adam & Eve ‘did not die’ after eating from the forbidden tree.  Was he right or was he wrong?  In some measures both but ultimately wrong!  Let me explain what I mean.

            I believe that in the Garden Adam & Eve would have lived forever in their natural state had they not ‘sinned’.  Sin brought death to the human race both physically and spiritually and although they did not die immediately physically the process began but spiritually death was immediate.  They lost their innocence, learned fear and shame, and their fellowship with God was immediately altered.  In a very real sense THEY DIED upon disobeying and in their actions they, by an act of rebellion, shifted the center of their universe from God to self and in so doing came under the domain of darkness or the ‘god of this world’.  It was a failed attempt of the devil to overthrow God and failed as miserably as his first attempt that got him thrown out of heaven.

            Obedience, confidence, and trust were the issues and they failed on all points.  The serpent appealed to their egos as he apparently managed to do with one-third of the angelic creation and once the lust for immortality and becoming a little god was birthed destruction was imminent.  There was nothing magical in the fruit of the tree, in my view and could have been an instruction not to cross a particular stream at a particular place.  Its purpose was for testing obedience and once they allowed self to move to the center then their eyes were opened to evil and that always tends to blind or block out good if nurtured.  It is not that evil is more powerful than good but it appeals to the flesh so powerfully that the mind seeks it out, justifies it, reconciles it, and adopts it calling it good.

             Thorough the years I have person after person tell me all the things the devil had been saying to them that were causing them problems and bringing temptation.  My question has always been the same, “Why are you listening to him?”  The Bible says he is a LIAR and the truth is not in him.  The Bible says that he is a DECEIVER and comes as an angel of light.  The Bible identifies him as opposite of everything good so why would you spend any time listening to him?  Why would you listen to his false promises?  WHY?   Instead go to the source of Life and read His words allowing them to feed your soul, build up your spiritual immune system, and equip you for dealing with the diabolical deeds of darkness.

            The devil always presents an element of truth wrapped in his lie so that he can trip you up.  Reject anything and everything he says, impresses upon you or brings into your path.  Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and follow Me.”  Learn His voice!

             May God be with you as you go through your day!

James 1:2-8 – “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  NKJV

             I have preached from this text many times and each time I read the first words of the sentence number one I have the same reaction.   Are you kidding me?  I am supposed to not just count it JOY but ALL JOY when I have trials, tests, and troubles!  Seriously?   YES!!!!   There is a parallel study in the Book of James that reveals the characteristics of the twelve sons of Jacob and it is powerful but that for another time.  Here I focus on the question, “Has James lost his mind or is this truth that really works?”  Well, I have proven this in my life so I can testify that it worked for me and works for me.

             James identified an important factor that too often we, as believers, want to avoid, TESTING or the testing of our faith.  Faith is not really faith unless and until it has passed testing.  It is more theory than faith because ‘biblical faith’ is rock solid, unmovable and sure.  It is convinced with conviction!  James gives us some important aspects and results when we follow the prescription and learn the JOY of REJOICING!

            Tests of faith produces PATIENCE and who among us could not use more patience?  But it is not just patience as in tolerance but patience as in willingness to WAIT ON GOD.  It is learning this biblical patience that we reach a place that our faith is as granite and our confidence in God absolute that we WAIT and in waiting we lack nothing.  James then seems to shift gears but it is all connected for he said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…”  Do you need wisdom in any area?  Ask.  However many of us need wisdom in waiting because we are normally an impatient people living in a microwave world of instant everything. 

            James also tells us that our waiting and asking is to be done without wavering.  We cannot be double-minded or vacillate back and forth for in that condition faith cannot live and will wither into nothingness or blind hope not assured confidence.  It is learning to find reasons to rejoice no matter the situation and knowing that this temporary problem, setback or obstacle is just that TEMPORARY.  It is as we learn to WAIT that we walk with a new boldness in our Christian life and demonstrate to the world that not only do we trust God but that our God lives!

            So as you encounter setbacks, problems, obstacles, and delays COUNT IT ALL JOY!  Then rest in your confidence and as the Holy Spirit teaches you the art of waiting watch your faith soar, your confidence climb, and your life changes!

             Blessings as you go through your day!

Hebrews 13:5-6 – “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   6 So we may boldly say:

 “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”   NKJV

            Frequently in reading Scripture I find something that speaks to me a different way that it had in the past and this passage is one of those.  I have read this many times and each time I focused on the absence of fear when walking with God.  As I read this again there were words that flooded my heart and mind – ‘Contentment’ and ‘Courage’.

            The apostle, as was his pattern, charged those listening to live without ‘covetousness’ and to live in ‘contentment’.  I believe that he understood something that we have missed too often that COVETOUSNESS is one of, if not the biggest problems in believers lives.  I believe that virtually all the other commandments have their beginning in that little self-centered, green-eyed monster and as we give way to it in our lives we find ourselves succumbing to numerous other failures in life and character.

            His encouragement and qualifier for living a life of CONTENTMENT was God’s Promise, “I will NEVER leave your nor forsake you.”  If I truly believe God’s Promise then I can be absolutely ‘content’ in whatever state I find myself because I know as David declared, “I was young and now I am old and I have not seen the righteous forsake nor his seed begging for bread.”   We can take the many promises of provision including, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.”  The question is not God’s ability but our confidence in His Word.  So, if I believe God then CONTENTMENT is a natural by-product of that trust and I do not have to look with envy or covetousness toward anyone or anything after all My Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and He owns the hills.  There is NOTHING impossible with Him and I am His therefore I trust, relax and rest in confident contentment.

            The apostle did not stop there but identified that out of our contentment we can make a bold declaration that since God is my provider, my helper, my teacher, my guide, and my protector – I WILL NOT FEAR.  My life then will be lived without fear of man or anything because what can mortal man do to me?  He may take away my possessions but God can and will provide.  He may take away my physical freedom but I’m free in spirit and can never be enslaved even if I am imprisoned.  He may take away my life but my life is not dependent on how long I draw breath on planet earth for I am an eternal creation and should they snuff out my physical life I simply transition to ETERNAL LIFE.   What can man do to me?   Much but nothing in comparison to what God can do for me. 

            So as you go through this day ask the Holy Spirit to help you TRUST the Promises of God so you can truly live in CONTENTMENT and COURAGE.   God bless you as you go through your day!

Proverbs 21:23 – “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”  NKJV

            I often have people quote this to me and demand that it means only the spiritual man but I would challenge you to examine the word translated ‘soul’ in the Hebrew.  It is nephesh and literally means a breathing creature and would include (any appetite, body, desire, etc.).  If you follow that it means if we ‘guard’ keep our ‘elephant mouths’ from overloading our lives we will avoid unnecessary troubles and problems that result.

             How many issues can you think of in your life were the result of a ‘rash’ or ‘harsh’ word spoken?  Probably many!  The Bible teaches us to guard our hearts because everything flows from it.  No wonder the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  Is it not sensible that we should ask the Holy Spirit to help us ‘bridle’ our tongues?  The tongue is a small member but capable of causing more trouble than you can easily get out of.

            Yet if we take that to the spiritual we also realize that if we are hasty with our words making vows and promises to God that we cannot or do not keep it brings trouble to our lives.  I would suggest that it is possible to talk oneself into such negativity by allowing unbridled and unfiltered words to flow that we plunge into depression, doubt, fear, and faithlessness.  Words are important and they are powerful.  Not just the words we hear but the ones we speak.  Words have meaning and if God did not consider them important He would not have placed so many references in the Bible about the tongue and what we speak.

             We have all witnessed the disruption through words and sadly words cannot be retrieved once uttered.  They can be repented of and attempted retraction but once released they are forever there and can be incredible weapons of the enemy against our souls or lives.  While I understand that we will never be successful in preventing all such words from coming forth we can continually seek the assistance of the Holy Spirit in ‘guarding our mouths and tongues’ that we speak words of life not death.  You may be one that takes pride in ‘telling it like it is’ but I would pray that you will learn to ‘season your words’ with an understanding that just being brutal is not always the best approach.  I dare say you do not like it when someone gives back in kind.

             So as you go through your day let your words be yes and amen and allow the Holy Spirit to put a few seconds delay on your lips before you speak.  God bless you richly and may He empower you to fulfill your dreams and desires!  Blessings!

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God…”  NKJV

             I do not normally like to take isolated portions of scripture and build a message or even a devotional but I feel compelled to do just that today.  In the first four words of Genesis 1:1 we find the very best place and the only logical place to start in our consideration of life and anything that it affords – – “In the beginning GOD…”

             I know that some who claim to be atheists or agnostics rail at that and are offended by the mention of God and some insist that we cannot know or be sure.  I knew a guy in Vietnam who would vehemently attack anyone who even mentioned God and on one occasion when it appeared that he might be about to meet death began to whimper and called out to God.  Sadly, none of us were equipped to help him spiritually and I do not know if that was a life changing experience for him or not but I have never forgotten the event. 

            I grew up believing God existed but did not grow up serving God and there is a vast difference.  After Vietnam my dissatisfaction with life continued to grow and in Palestine, Texas a couple of families were nudged by the Holy Spirit to make my salvation a matter of intercession.  They slowly erased all my excuses, demonstrated no ill feelings at my verbal abuse and rejection, and showed me love and compassion when I gave them no reason to do so.  The people of that little church had something I knew I did not have but I resisted strongly.  Finally through a series of events upon receiving a note from one of them suggesting that I read a particular passage of Scripture my world changed about midnight on a Saturday night sitting at the kitchen table.  Prior to that night I had come under such conviction that I knew I was lost and going to hell if my life did not change but the devil had me convinced I had done too much and was doomed.  That passage from Proverbs 3:5-6 was the catalyst that God used to penetrate my wrong thinking and bring me to freedom spiritually and I WAS SAVED.  I did not have to tell people there was a change they knew it.  I did tell them but people would come to me that knew nothing and ask, ‘What happened?  You are not the same.”

            When I finally began at the beginning I found LIFE and HOPE.  I had to begin with God.  I am so incredibly thankful that He spared me through Vietnam and allowed me to live long enough to come to a full knowledge of Him and receive His grace and mercy.  I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to share my experience and the love of God with countless people that I knew and influenced during my life before SALVATION.  I am thankful for the years of walking with the Lord and would not take anything for my journey.  He has demonstrated His faithfulness even in my unfaithfulness and failures.  NO, when I think of Life I can only think of THE BEGINNING and that beginning is GOD.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

Acts 2:46-47 – “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” NKJV

            I know you are wondering what part of this I’m calling revolutionary.  Well….  Notice the first few words, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple….”   They got along in Church!  Wow!  Sadly, I have seen more than ‘infighting’  than I would like to remember within the local congregation where people were jockeying for position and control.  I have watched as churches split over internal disagreements that could have and should have been solved by biblical principles.  I have watched as those outside the faith were so alienated by this type of attitude and activity that the church virtually lost its witness in the community and become a clique rather than a church.  But, I have also seen churches that were so harmonious that they touched their communities powerfully and impacted the lives of members in a positive and dynamic fashion.

            Imagine this fledgling entity called The Church after Jesus’ ascension having such unity that they could meet together DAILY and still get along, be in one accord, and press toward the common goal.  They fellowshipped and that is not just getting together for a social event but a blending of lives, hearts, minds, and faith.  They were people of simplicity, gratitude, and praise and as a result they had a dynamic impact upon their community.  I suggest that we would have like results if we had like minds as they.

            I have no problem with people having different ideas on many things within the church but to allow it to become a wedge that divides is not a good thing.  I’m not talking about compromising your convictions or winking at sin and disreputable behavior.  I’m talking about power struggles, positions and titles being allowed to become more important than the purpose for which the church was originated.  Notice the last sentence where we see the LORD adding to the church DAILY those who were being saved.  That says something about their daily lives and witness. 

            Some have the idea that you have to be in the church building to get saved but you don’t have to be in a hospital to get sick or well and you do not have to be in a mortuary to die.  If the church were unified in purpose and touching its community as these we would find that Sunday morning was less of a preaching service and more of a reporting service of what transpired during the week.  I’m not against preaching.  I am for reaching our communities DAILY.

             So as you consider the church and examine the early church, allow the Holy Spirit to mold your thinking so that your prime objective is the central purpose of God.  May the Lord be with you and bless you as you go through your day!