Matthew chapter 8 tells of Jesus healing many people and fulfilling prophecy but when he came to a town with two demon possessed men and healed them the entire town asked him to leave. It is hard to imagine but sometimes there are situations where we would rather put up with something that is not right than deal with it. As we saw earlier in the chapter there were people coming to Jesus asking him for miracles who had never met him before, yet they knew of him either from hearing others talk or by seeing people be made whole or by God's Spirit speaking to them. Many signs pointed to Jesus as the answer, he represented freedom from this life of physical and spiritual sickness they had been living. I believe this town knew of Jesus also either by what he did for these two men or maybe even before he reached their shore but it is the condition of their hearts and how easily they missed what their very souls were crying out for that concerns me this morning.
Lord, I welcome you to enter my heart for God's Holy Spirit has revealed that you are the Truth and the Way. Don't let my heart grow cold or my flesh become comfortable with the current state of my situation, causing me to miss out on the deliverance you bring even in my darkest hour may I turn to you.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Forgiveness
(Matthew 6:14-15) "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." Jesus did not mix words, he spoke clearly and with authority yet he allows us to make our own decisions. This scripture is one that stays in the forefront of my mind. Many times I find myself reluctant to offer forgiveness when I have been done wrong but just as often I am reminded of all the things I need to be forgiven for. While Jesus was talking about meeting our needs in the same breath he also talked about integrity, trust in God, motive, and forgiveness as they are all connected. So when I find myself struggling to make ends meet these items are good things to monitor.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven
What does God expect of his children? Though we are weak we are to be strong, though our site is dim we are to see that which cannot be seen, and though we are poor we are to give out of our riches. "God blesses those who are poor and realizes their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter five. We have a Father in heaven who knows us intimately, He sees our pain and He knows just how much we need Him yet Jesus is telling us who we are and as He speaks He not only reminds us of who we are but He opens our eyes to what our part is in His plan for all humanity. We must see beyond our own needs and understand that God has a divine purpose in our brokenness and the healing of the same. It's through our brokenness that we are training to be warriors of the spirit. Because of the healing God brings we learn to trust Him and because of this intimate trust we will follow Him. By following Him we become like Him. "But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Jesus (Matthew 5:48). Failure does not equate to quitting because God knows we will fall yet He calls us to more, we have a Father with high expectations and those high expectations requires us to reach outside of our own strengths, which is the heart's cry of the One who loves us most but Jesus warns us against religion, "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you - unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" Religion is man trying to control the means by which he is saved and God says NO! If God has the ability to save us He also has the ability to lead us!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Come Follow
Jesus saw the needs of the many "...in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who have lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined." (Matthew 4:15-16). As Jesus began to preach to the many he sent out a call to the few to come and follow. When I read how Peter, Andrew, James, and John dropped everything to fulfill the call on their lives it caught me by surprise, no I've read it before but it caught me off guard because I know how easy it is to hold onto that which we know and how uncertain feels. Would I do the same, listen he is calling now - what will my answer be? Do I consider myself among the many or the few...
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Each one is two
Before coming to Jesus and accepting Him as Savior your spirit man was dead, that's why Jesus said in John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." You are made a new creature in Christ Jesus but your flesh did not change, so what was made new? Your spirit and because you received new life in the spirit you must also walk with Him in the spirit, for by this He works on changing your flesh so that it might reflect the new life inside of you! In this way others will know God's great gift and His gracious love for all of mankind. Paul talked about being a slave to sin and was disgusted by this when he said, "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate." (Romans 7:15) but goes on to say, "So I am not the one doing wrong; it is the sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but can't." Was Paul just weak? No, listen Paul's life was broken and spent proclaiming Jesus to the world as God's Son and the only path to salvation, in spite of the many hardships his faith did not waver. In verse 22 Paul says, "I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."
God's law was given so that we might know of our need for Him. So we come to Him for salvation through His Son Jesus, which was sacrificed for our sins so that we might have relationship, once again with the Father. Jesus now is alive and well praying for us as He sits at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:9). This war that Paul spoke of between the spirit and the flesh will continue until we die or Jesus comes again but fear not your spirit is secure as long as you love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Hear this your flesh will continue to sin but your spirit must resist, therefore you must feed your spirit by prayer, study, and remaining hungry for righteousness. Remain faithful and God will work on your flesh. Do not become discouraged when you do that which you hate, like Paul you will come to know God's grace is sufficient for all of your needs and in the end stand victorious because of what Jesus has done!
God's law was given so that we might know of our need for Him. So we come to Him for salvation through His Son Jesus, which was sacrificed for our sins so that we might have relationship, once again with the Father. Jesus now is alive and well praying for us as He sits at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:9). This war that Paul spoke of between the spirit and the flesh will continue until we die or Jesus comes again but fear not your spirit is secure as long as you love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Hear this your flesh will continue to sin but your spirit must resist, therefore you must feed your spirit by prayer, study, and remaining hungry for righteousness. Remain faithful and God will work on your flesh. Do not become discouraged when you do that which you hate, like Paul you will come to know God's grace is sufficient for all of your needs and in the end stand victorious because of what Jesus has done!
Monday, December 19, 2011
I need you, Lord
God, you are my purpose and my light I pray that you keep my feet on the path you have set before me as I go throughout my day. Therefore, I will seek you in the morning, bless you with the words of my mouth, and by night trust in your sufficient grace.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Control, Second Thought
Control is central to being a Christian. Control is present in everyone's life but WHO is in control is what changes once you give your life to Jesus but even in doing this it is still so present in everyday living that it needs to be checked regularly, lest we are deceived. I will try to relay what I mean - it can be seen in the reasons why you labor as hard as you do on relationships. It can be felt when you get up in the morning to go to work or the in the reasons why you stay late to finish a project. You can sense it as a parent of teenagers. You know it is there when your mind fills with thoughts of what to do next? It's okay to admit it because it happens to everyone but as a follower of Christ we have been called to trust Him, obey His Word and utterly trust Him with our lives. I find that if I want to be in consistent communion with my Savior I must surrender control daily, for to keep it for myself is to push Him away. To know the importance of each decision yet not worry about it or get upset when things out my control change the route I have chosen. To do what is right then trust God to take care of the results.
Alright that's one side of control but it goes even deeper than that. Why do some Christians (usually older) feel that consumption of alcohol equals sin? In many cases it is because they have seen people lose control because of it – alcohol is in control. There are other reasons not to drink but drinking itself does not equal sin. We are given direction by God through Paul in Romans chapter 14. Look at this example: So as a Christian you drink wine with your wife at dinner. You don't get drunk, it doesn't control who you are, your wife is in agreement, your children are adults so you are not influencing minds too young to understand – conditions and attitudes are right but is God in control? What if He asked you to stop for an unknown period of time would you get upset or try to explain it away with your vast biblical knowledge? The very moment you do this you should know that you are holding onto control instead of giving it to God. To be clear I do not drink because that is my choice but not because I believe it is automatically sin. I do know this about my Savior He will give blessings and take them away all for the purpose of teaching me what holds true value. My eleven year old asked me the other day why do people fast; I told him it is to tell our flesh that it is not in control of our actions and to help us hear God's voice speak into our lives. Control saturates every area of our being. How often do you spend time thinking about buying something you would like to have? Do you control your thoughts, do they control you, or is God in control? While you are thinking about these things how difficult is it to hear God's voice? What's worse after buying it do you spend time wondering whether or not you should have? Sometimes God wants to bless us in a particular way but He knows whether through regret or greed or fear we will not enjoy it, we miss the purpose of the gift and therefore we are not ready to receive causing us to miss the blessings He intended and we walk away thinking it is not God's will, how sad.
We are also instructed throughout the Bible to maintain self-control - doing what is right when tempted to do otherwise. In this way we show that we belong to God and we trust Him to take care of the situation. Bottom line is this - we are all a work in progress, one day we can get it right and the next miss it completely. God gives us opportunity to put into practice that which we have learned, that's why we are to rejoice when going through tests - because we are growing in Him! Sometimes these tests come through blessings, more often through challenges but know this, His grace is there each time we need start again and He loves us more than we could ever imagine! Think about this today, who is in control of this life, we call ours? How we answer determines who we are and who we belong to.
Alright that's one side of control but it goes even deeper than that. Why do some Christians (usually older) feel that consumption of alcohol equals sin? In many cases it is because they have seen people lose control because of it – alcohol is in control. There are other reasons not to drink but drinking itself does not equal sin. We are given direction by God through Paul in Romans chapter 14. Look at this example: So as a Christian you drink wine with your wife at dinner. You don't get drunk, it doesn't control who you are, your wife is in agreement, your children are adults so you are not influencing minds too young to understand – conditions and attitudes are right but is God in control? What if He asked you to stop for an unknown period of time would you get upset or try to explain it away with your vast biblical knowledge? The very moment you do this you should know that you are holding onto control instead of giving it to God. To be clear I do not drink because that is my choice but not because I believe it is automatically sin. I do know this about my Savior He will give blessings and take them away all for the purpose of teaching me what holds true value. My eleven year old asked me the other day why do people fast; I told him it is to tell our flesh that it is not in control of our actions and to help us hear God's voice speak into our lives. Control saturates every area of our being. How often do you spend time thinking about buying something you would like to have? Do you control your thoughts, do they control you, or is God in control? While you are thinking about these things how difficult is it to hear God's voice? What's worse after buying it do you spend time wondering whether or not you should have? Sometimes God wants to bless us in a particular way but He knows whether through regret or greed or fear we will not enjoy it, we miss the purpose of the gift and therefore we are not ready to receive causing us to miss the blessings He intended and we walk away thinking it is not God's will, how sad.
We are also instructed throughout the Bible to maintain self-control - doing what is right when tempted to do otherwise. In this way we show that we belong to God and we trust Him to take care of the situation. Bottom line is this - we are all a work in progress, one day we can get it right and the next miss it completely. God gives us opportunity to put into practice that which we have learned, that's why we are to rejoice when going through tests - because we are growing in Him! Sometimes these tests come through blessings, more often through challenges but know this, His grace is there each time we need start again and He loves us more than we could ever imagine! Think about this today, who is in control of this life, we call ours? How we answer determines who we are and who we belong to.
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