God Is Watching

Exodus 3:2-4: There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight - why the bush does not burn up." When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."

As I was doing my morning Bible reading I came across this passage and the Holy Spirit highlighted this in my heart. "When the Lord saw..." That says to me that God is watching to see what we do. I have learned that God is always speaking to us; sometimes through a physical manifestation, our hearts or through the Bible, whatever the case He is always speaking. The question is, are we taking the time to stop and listen?

I have heard that in the Middle East it is not an unusual thing to see a bush catch fire, so Moses had probably seen this before. In the movie Kingdom of Heaven there is a scene with Balian where he throws a rock at a bush and it ignites into flames.

This is probably what Moses was used to, the thing that made him stop was the fact that the bush did not burn up. So he turned from what he was doing to check it out.

This is what God is looking for from us, stopping from our daily duties long enough to hear Him speak to us. What would have happened if Moses had been too busy thinking about his day to stop and see why the bush wasn't burned up? How many times do we miss what God wants to say to us each day because we are too busy or in too much of a hurry to stop and listen? I know that I have ended up in this position too many times. It is something that I am working to change in my life.

Taking time out of our schedules to listen for God to speak each day really would do wonders for us. I mean let's take this "church thing" and make it into a lifestyle rather than just a Sunday/Wednesday activity. If I have learned anything in my 48 years, it is that God wants a relationship with me, not a puppet, and that makes me very happy because I don't really want to be a puppet.

So today, look for your burning bush and when you turn aside to see it, you'll find God there waiting on you. Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Questioning Jesus? Seriously?

I've been talking with the Lord lately about how He talked with people in the Bible. I'm curious to see if God showed up in the flesh, or if it was a still small voice in their hearts. I really want to know, because I think it would help me to have a better relationship with Him. This morning I was reading the account of Saul's conversion which takes place in Acts 9, and I found something very interesting.

In Acts 9:10 - 19 we find the account of Ananias, the disciple of Jesus who went and laid his hands on Saul resulting in him being healed of blindness. The thing that I found really interesting is in verse 13 and 14 where he questions Jesus. The Lord has just told him what to do, but he in turn says, "Whoa, wait a minute. You do realize that this guy has come here to imprison Christians, right?" How many times have you questioned Jesus about something that you felt He impressed on you?

I mean come on, vision or no vision this is still a little bit of a scary proposition for Ananias don't you think? But what is so beautiful in this passage is that Jesus doesn't act like the great and all powerful Oz yelling, "I AM JESUS, OBEY ME!" No, Jesus listened to Ananias's question, and then answers him back in a true conversational way. This just blows me away to say the least. Jesus isn't forcing His will on us, He really is wanting to have a relationship with us. Only a God secure in who He is would do that, don't you think? I mean why else would He have a conversation like that with Ananias?

This just goes to show me one more time that God is wanting a relationship with me, not just another servant. And I don't know about you, but that makes me feel amazing this morning. I think that I will not be afraid to question Jesus in the future. Because I know that in doing so, He will answer my question in order to help me see what it is that I need to do. Oh, and then I'll need to do it. Think of what would have happened if Ananias had never gotten around to going to see Saul, we might not have 2/3 of the New Testament now.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Change Is Coming

You know there is a great line from the movie Tombstone, where Wyatt Earp says to some of the bad guys, "You tell 'em I'M coming...and hell's coming with me, you hear?" And after that for the gang of cowboys, change came to their lives, in a big way.

Change is an ever present entity with us in this human experience. We are constantly undergoing some type of it every day. If you don't believe me, take a look at a picture of you from twenty years ago, you will find that change has come. The problem is that most people try to run from change, they want things to stay the same, but there is only one thing that ever stays the same and that is God, everything else changes.

So why spend your life in an exercise of futility trying to make things stay the same, when instead you could embrace the change and live a much fuller life? I don't know what Wyatt Earp really has to do with change, except that I thought of this movie line this morning and how we all try and stop change in our lives and decided to write a quick blog before going to work.

So don't run from change, accept it as part of your life and then see how much fuller your life will become. Change is not the enemy, resistance to change is. Have a great day and remember, "Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!"

Here's A Thought, Are You Doing Everything God Asks?

In Genesis 6:8 it reads, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." And then Genesis 6:22 says,"Noah did everything just as God commanded him."

I walk in the favor of God every day, the Bible tells me that He has placed His favor upon me. Actually, one of my daily confessions is, "I'm surrounded by God's favor shield. People like me and they don't even know why." But I wondered this morning as I read these two Scriptures if I was living the first one without doing the second?

It's great that God has favored us, actually that is one of the most awesome blessings that He has given, but are we doing the second part? Are we doing everything that He has commanded us? Do you even know what He has commanded you to do? Are you even taking the time to listen for His voice to speak to your heart?

I know that I like to claim the promises of God for my life. I love reading about what He did for saints in the Bible, and then believe that He will do that for me. After all He is no respecter of persons right? But do I do my part after procuring these promises? Do I do everything that He is commanding me? If I was to be truthful, probably not. But the most awesome thing about God is His willingness to forgive when I don't measure up.

Look at Adam and Eve in the Garden, they eat the fruit and have their eyes uncovered. God shows up "looking" for them? I mean He is God right? He knows all, sees all and He is looking for them? The Bible does say that they were hiding, but come on God knew where they were. Why was He doing that? To give them an opportunity to repent. When He finds them, He asks Adam what he had done. This is another opportunity to come clean about his actions, but he just blame shifts it onto Eve. So God asks Eve, giving her an opportunity to ask for His forgiveness and she just blames the serpent.

If you will look at the story of Cain and Able too, after Cain has killed his brother the Lord asks him where is Able? Cain's answer, "Am I my brother's keeper?" You see when God asked Him where Able was, it wasn't because He didn't know, He was giving Cain the opportunity to own up to his actions and ask God to forgive him.

God is nothing else if He is not faithful and true to want to help us. If He didn't want us to repent, He would have just killed Adam and Eve never giving them the chance to get right with Him. I am so thankful that He doesn't give us what we deserve, which basically is the definition of mercy. How could I not do everything that He commands me?

So how about today spending a little bit more time with Him and asking Him what it is that He wants you to do? And then going out and doing that with all of your being. I mean after all Jesus died for us, can't we live for Him? That's how I'm going to spend my day praying to my Father, let's just see where this takes me. Shalom my friends!

A Different Look At Jesus

If you haven't checked out John Eldredge's latest book "Beautiful Outlaw",, let me recommend that you do. It may be his best book yet, and I have to say that I am now looking at the Gospels in a different way, as well as seeing Jesus in a different light. Click here to download the first chapter and see what I'm talking about.

What John has done in his book is bring a completely different way to look at Jesus. He says that taking what we read in the Bible at face value, is like kind of watching television with the sound off. We recognize that something is going on, but the man on the screen waving his arms around doesn't make any sense to us, because the personality of the man is missing. Reading the Bible in an academic sort of way, not taking into account the personality of Jesus leaves us with a one dimensional character not full of much life. But Jesus is so full of life, and He does have a personality, one that if we will allow ourselves to see will bring a much richer relationship to our lives.

Seeing that the Christmas season is upon us, why not pick up a copy for all of your family and friends. After all what better gift could someone receive but a book that helps them find the true nature of Jesus in all of His glorious personality? Click here to find out more about this amazing book!

Strength and Honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Will He Break You?

In Rocky IV, the champ goes up against Ivan Drago a Russian super soldier who killed Apollo Creed in the ring. As he is preparing to fight Rocky, he says, "I must break you." I was thinking about what I wanted to write about this morning, and this image appeared in my mind as I was mulling around some ideas. Check it out:

This got me to thinking about the enemy of Christians everywhere, the devil. Jesus defeated him with His death, burial and resurrection, yet for all of that he continues to try and conquer those of us who bear the image of Christ. The problem I've seen with most Christians is that they just let the devil win. It's like he says, "I must break you." and they respond by going, "Okay."

Jesus told us in Luke 10:19, "Look, I (Jesus) have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you." Does that sound like the enemy has the authority over us, or we have the authority over him? I mean if this doesn't settle for us once and for all who is in charge, then I don't really know if there is hope for you.

This is not to say that the devil doesn't have power, he does. But he is missing the true element here, and that is the authority to use that power. You see he can throw all types of fiery darts at us, but we don't have to allow them to hurt us. We have the authority to either accept them, or deny them. I can hear you now, but bad things happen, we can't deny that bad things happen, our five senses tell us what's going on.

True, our five senses will try to tell us what is what. But there is a higher level of understanding than what our bodies tell us, that is the understanding of our faith. Faith trumps all senses. Because faith comes from the Word of God, look at Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ and what He has done for us." When faith comes, it supersedes whatever your body is telling you.

This is where the battle comes in for us. We have to believe what God's Word says is true, even when our senses say it isn't. That is called the fight of faith, it's the fight to believe what God has said is true even when everything and everyone around you says differently. Jesus Himself had to deal with this, why do we think we are any different? Check this passage found in Matthew 16:21 - 23:

21)"From then on Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead.

22)But Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things. "Heaven forbid, Lord." he said. "This will never happen to you!"

23)Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from me, satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."

Notice that it says that Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Satan!" Wait a minute, I thought Peter was His friend? Why then would Jesus be talking to satan? Because Peter had been just talking to Jesus about not fulfilling the call of God for His life. Peter was allowing his mental thoughts to be persuaded by the enemy of all mankind, and then talking to Jesus. And the devil is just not that clever folks, he still uses the mental realm to do his dirty work. Jesus wasn't calling Peter the devil, he was addressing the enemy where he was at, in the words of Peter.

What we say has power in our life, this is why we must, and I stress must watch what we think about. If we focus on what our five senses tell us and then bring that over into the realm of our Christian walk as the basis for what is really going on, then we will find ourselves in the same place that Peter was. Obviously we must allow our senses to give us information, but we don't have to accept that information as the truth, because God's Word is truth and it will overcome what our senses tell us, IF we will let it.

So don't let the enemy use your five senses to tell you what is what, when that happens, you turn it on him and tell him what God's Word says about that situation. It doesn't matter what area of struggle in life you may find yourself, God's Word has something to say about it all. Dig into the Bible and find it. I love how God has hidden things in the Bible for us, not from us. It's like digging for buried treasure, when you find it, man you are a blessed person for sure!

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Don't Beat The Fields Down

Matthew 9:35 -38 it says, "Jesus went through all the towns, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

I have been thinking about this passage of Scripture for a while now, and the harvest fields are indeed still plentiful, but Jesus wasn’t talking about us tramping all around in the harvest field, and beating it down. It seems to me that what passes for gathering in the harvest most of the time is Christians preaching "AT" the lost.

I heard it said that we need to earn the right to share the Gospel with people. You've probably heard it said people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. When they beat the lost up with Scripture they are no better than those Pharisees we read about in the Bible.

We've got to invest time first, earning the right to speak into people's lives, and then do what Jesus did; teaching them, sharing the good news with them and healing their bodies. After all that's what Jesus told us to do wasn't it? (John 14:11-13) And don't shoot the messenger, Jesus said it, I'm just repeating it.

We have got to remember that when people act like the world, it is because they don't know any better; this is why we have to teach them. Here’s an example. A Christian is talking to a worldly person and the worldly person cusses quite a bit. So he holds up a finger and says, "Excuse me, I'm a Christian and don't like the way you are cussing in front of me, would you please stop?" The person will more than likely stop, but from that day forward they will stay away from that Christian, keeping the Gospel from being shared.

We have to be as wise as serpents, and yet as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16) if we are going to reach our generation. And don’t get offended when people act like the world, just love them into the Kingdom.

Lonely?

Have you ever felt lonely? I don't mean have you ever been alone, I mean have you ever felt lonely? Loneliness is something that can happen to you in a crowded room, and it is a horrible feeling. I know that as a Christian I am not supposed to be moved by what I feel, yet that doesn't mean that I totally disregard my feelings either. Christians are not supposed to be like Mr. Spock on Star Trek, devoid of human emotions.

Loneliness is something that seems to be haunting my steps on a daily basis here lately. At home, at church and at work, irregardless of how many people are around me. If I get quiet for too long I feel a sense of loneliness that tries to overwhelm me. And the really funny thing is that I know Jesus promised to never leave me or forsake me, (Hebrews 13:5) and that the Holy Spirit is right there with me at all times (John 14:16). And yes, there is some comfort in that, but at times I seem to just crave a little human contact that doesn't involve me instigating it.

Oh, I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that one of my best friends is out of the country right now, and I've started this new job where I am away from family and friends for close to twelve hours each day. Not to mention that the place that I find myself in at almost 50 years old is in a starting over mode. I guess it's just not where I expected to find myself at this point in my life.

I read a book called "Point Man" by Steve Farrar a few years ago, it is a book about how a man needs to lead his family. He takes the term "point man" from the military, talking about the man who is out in front leading and looking for the enemy. This is one of the most dangerous places to be when you are out on patrol, because you are the first one seen by the enemy. If you are out in front, then you are going to be the one to take the hit first, and that too can be a lonely job.

Leadership in and of itself almost by definition means to be alone. Leaders lead, that is the crux of it. People follow leadership that is true, but if you find yourself in a leadership role, you will almost invariably find yourself alone at some point. And when you do, that is when you have to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead you. Because truly, in what I have found in my life at least, I don't really know what I'm doing most days. I have to stay close to Jesus in order to make sure that I am not leading my family into a trap of the enemy.

I have been feeling lonely, that is a true statement. What I'm not letting happen however is me being so overwhelmed by this loneliness that I am unable to lead my family. It's not a fun place to be, but it is one that I understand and I will assume because my family needs me to lead, not because I'm the best at it, just because it is the position that God has placed me in as the husband and father of the Felts family.

So if you have ever felt lonely, or are feeling that way right now, look to Jesus. After all it is a fact that He will never leave you or forsake you so that you can boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, in what will I be afraid?"

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Why Would I Go There?

I started a new job this week. For the past 19 years I've been self-employed, and that means that everything I've done to earn money has been done in the ways that I've wanted them done. Sometimes that worked out good and other times not so good, but that was how it was. Now I work for a company which makes, threads and coats pipe in a variety of sizes and lengths for the transporting of fluids of various kinds. (I'd tell you what kinds, but I'm still in the learning stage of my new job and don't know them all.)

found myself yesterday thinking about the men that I was meeting there and how they are really quite a bit different than the men I've been surrounding myself with for the last several years. And I don't mean different in a bad way either, everyone of them that I've met have been great, and I'm really excited getting to know them all. What I mean, is that for the past 20 plus years I have surrounded myself with men (and women for that matter) of like minds, you know Christians like me. (Well maybe not exactly "like" me, there really aren't too many people that are "like" me.)

I have been asking myself why did the people in the Bible like to be around Jesus? And would these men that I've been meeting want to be around me like that? And if not, why? And while I was thinking about these questions that led me to wonder what these guys would think about my church? Would they feel comfortable there? Would they understand what even was going on in the service during praise and worship, the teaching or the offering time? Would they understand the terminology that we as Christians tend to use? You know, those "christianeze" words we adopt into our vocabulary the longer we follow Christ?

This is not to say that I am embarrassed by my church or the people in it, because I'm not. I just think that maybe we are looking at the people in the world through a very different set of eyes than what the world looks at us (as Christians) with. One of the things that I have noticed in this new job environment is a different way of talking. The use of profanity is prolific to say the least. Now I'm not a prude, and I won't lie and say that I've never used any profanity, but it has definitely been an eye opener for me to hear four-letter words being thrown around all the time.

I'm sure that most of my Christian friends would be extremely uncomfortable around these guys I've met at work because of the cussing, yet I think my co-workers would be doubly uncomfortable around my Christian friends. Why do you ask? It's simple really, these guys "couldn't" relate to most Christians, because most Christians "wouldn't" relate to them. Let's face it, we love to pick on the Pharisees in the Bible, but aren't we just as bad when we refuse to relate with people who may seem a little bit rough around the edges or different than us? After all, doesn't the Bible say that rain falls on both the just and the unjust? (Matthew 5:45)

I think I know why all those people liked to spend time with Jesus (and it wasn't for the free happy meals and free medical either) people liked to be around Jesus because He could relate to where they were at. He didn't walk up to them with a holier than thou attitude (that's what the Pharisees did) and tell them to serve Him. No, he served them and ministered to them and that is why people wanted to be around Him.

Truthfully we have to ask ourselves, are we any better than the Pharisees when it comes to us relating with people that we meet in our everyday walk? The most important thing in this life are the relationships that we make. And we have also been commanded by our Lord Jesus to go out and make disciples. How long did it take Him to make those first twelve? He was only able to disciple them because He took the time to develop relationships with them.

Why then do we think that if we will just throw some Scripture at people we see, they will want to come and be a part of anything that we are doing? Really, they won't, they'll probably scratch their heads as they walk away and say, "Why would I go there?"

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Look Out World, Here I Come!

Today marks another of many "firsts" in my life, I start a new job this morning. I have officially been unemployed since September4, 2011 and while that time was a little uncomfortable, I enjoyed staying home and playing house dad for a while. Although I will admit that I was itching to get back into the workforce, and that was a revelation that kind of surprised me.

Today I will be joining the Paragon Industries in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in the receiving department. What does that mean exactly? I have no idea, but in a few short hours I will find out. And that is what brings me to writing this morning. The unknown. How do you feel going into something when you don't know what it all entails? Do you find it exciting, fearful or maybe a mixture of both? For me, it is the mixture of both, the excitement of doing something you've never done before, meeting new people and that little bit of fear in your gut that you will be able to accomplish the things that are asked of you.

One thing that I know for sure, is that God is with me and that helps me to know that I can jump right in and begin to learn the job. He is with me, but not only that He has gone before me to prepare a place for me as well. Yeah, yeah I know Jesus was talking about in Heaven when He said that, (John 14:2) but I think it applies here as well. He wants me to do a good job there, and He has seen to it that I am in the place He wants me at this time.

All I know is this, today is the day that I start out on a new path laid out for me by my Father. I was thinking about Joseph, and how he got to the place that God had for him to be. Many people look at that story and see all the hardship that Joseph went through, sold into slavery by his family, lied about by his boss's wife, thrown into prison and forgotten. But in the end, in a matter of minutes actually, he became the ruler of the greatest nation on the planet, subject only to Pharaoh himself and no one else. Ending up seeing his family actually come and bow before him just as the dreams God had given him so many years before said they would.

This job, while a good one for me, and I am thankful for it, is not the end job that God has for me. I know that there is something else inside of me that He wants me to do, but with this job I am being prepared for it, just as Joseph was being prepared all of those years before he came to stand before Pharaoh. I guess the moral of Joseph's story is are we willing to suffer a little indignity to ourselves and learn the lessons set before us in order that we might do the work God has for us to do? I know, that I am patterning this time in my life after Joseph, so look out world, here I come!

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

What's Your Opinion Of Yourself, Or Do You Even Have One?

I was listening to some music from my past last night, it was Styx and the song was "I'm OK" off of the Pieces of Eight album. It brought back a lot of memories, but the strongest one and where I'm going with my thought this morning is that I have been my own person for as long as I can remember, and have really not been too concerned with what other people thought of me. Now that's not to say that for many years I haven't been out to get validation for the things that I've done in my life, I have, more often than not too much so, but as far as following fashion trends, or the latest thing that the masses chase after, that I've never done and have really encouraged my kids to stay away from as well.

So as I was getting another cup of coffee this morning, the thought crossed my mind, "What's your opinion of yourself, or do you even have one?" So many people if they even have an opinion of themselves it is a poor one. They choose, or maybe have been programmed to see the negative attributes of themselves in themselves and not the positive ones. Some people will say, "Yeah, but if I say good things about myself people will just say that I'm arrogant." Thinking good things about yourself is not arrogant at all.

God said in the Bible that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalms 139:14) We are not all the same, we are as unique as each and every snowflake that falls to the ground in winter. This world wants to fit us into a certain mold. Oh you were born here, so you have to act this way, or everyone wears their hair this way, so you've got to do that as well. I think we need to set the trends, not follow them blindly.

I heard a story about a young man that went to get a hair cut, and the barber by accident cut a large strip of hair out of the side of his head, leaving his scalp bare and showing. There was nothing that could be done short of shaving his head and the boy wouldn't have that and just decided to take the ribbing at school from his friends and let his hair grow back out. The next day at school there wasn't much said about his hair, and life for him went on as usual. A few days later, he started to notice that many of the boys in his school were now sporting the same haircut as him, as people thought it was a new style and began to copy it.

Now while that is funny, it also shows how insecure people are, those other boys went and had their hair cut in what the first boy thought was a horrible way just because they wanted to be cool and thought that it was a new trend in haircuts. People have been falling victim to peer pressure for eons, and there is no sign of it stopping anytime soon. And if you are an adult reading this and you are thinking well those kids these days, peer pressure isn't just for kids, it happens with adults as well.

How about at work, do you follow the crowd or are you your own person? Do you coast along doing just enough to get noticed by the boss, but not as to appear to be brown nosing? Are you doing the absolute best job for your employer, or do you stay with the pack? I heard a minister the other day say that when he was in high school playing football, that one day the players were all running and he was out ahead of the pack, when one of his teammates yelled for him to slow up and run with the rest, that he was making them look bad. That's funny that this guy thought the one giving his all was making them look bad, when in actuality the guys that weren't giving their all were making themselves look bad.

Having a good opinion of yourself is not a bad thing, and doing the best that you can actually do in a job, on a team or at school doesn't make you a loser, it shows that you are who you are supposed to be, and doing what God expects from each and every one of us, to be originals. Don't worry about the pack that is behind you, get out in front and be the leader that you are called to be. Just don't worry about what others think of you, they really aren't going to help you, just hinder you and that's for sure. So just like the song says, "Cause I believed them when they said I must do things their way, they tried to cast me in their mold, but I just had to say, that I'm O.K. I'm O.K. this way yes I'm O.K." I've embedded a YouTube video of the song below if you've never heard it. Funny how something that I listened to 30 years ago can be applied to my life today...strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

What Are You Looking Forward To?

Proverbs 13:12 (AMP) says,"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life."

My question to you then is this, what are you looking forward to? Are you even looking forward to anything? I know that after the death of my youngest son, we as a family had to make ourselves look forward to things on a daily basis. We made the decision to go on a family cruise as our Christmas present to ourselves, and with the passing of each day prior to the cruise we would say to each other, "We're one day closer to our cruise!" We had an expectation that helped us to cope with the loss of Noah.

Well, it's been nine months since that cruise, and I was asking myself today, "What are we looking forward to now?" We have had changes come to our lives in the past several months, with me out looking for a job and Cheryl working full time in the work place. (She has always worked full time, it was just in the home and now is at the shoe store.) It seems as if we have just fallen back into that surviving mode which happens with major life changes. You don't really try and make as much forward progress as you might have once done, and life just becomes hard.

That's what I think this Scripture is saying, if you defer your hope, life will get tough. It is easier for me to pull back, not engage the world and just want to stay home with my family instead of pressing forward and living the John 10:10 life which Jesus promised me. Life is going to be hard, there are always going to be things that we don't like or challenges in our lives that we never thought we would face, but if we let our hope get deferred, who's fault is that? I think it rests squarely on our shoulders, and no one else's.

The definition of the word deferred is: Put off (an action or event) to a later time; postpone. Life is about choices, I think that we can all readily agree on that. And if life is about the choices that we make, then we must make the best possible choices on a daily basis. And choosing to look to something in the future, and not putting it off or postponing it will do wonders for our souls I think.

Well hopefully this has given you something to think about, strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Old,Me? Maybe, Just Not Numerically

This morning I woke early in my Comfort Suites hotel room in Gallup, New Mexico to frost on the ground, coffee in the lobby and a the knowledge that I may need help to really be considered a man. As my friend Terry and I ate breakfast we overheard a couple of older fellas comparing notes about their lives. One of them was a World War II navy veteran, and was a very cordial and engaging man, the kind that you want to sit and listen to him talk and tell stories for hours on end.

As we listened, we realized that he had taken a cross country trip on a motorcycle, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 miles. The interesting thing is that he is in his mid eighties, and really pretty spry. As we were sitting in the lobby, swigging coffee and perusing the internet we saw him and the man he was talking with both leave the hotel and get on their motorcycles. The second guy walked out of the hotel using a walker too.

Okay, at this point both Terry and I decided that we would have to up our game or we were going to lose our man cards. We were both gimping around the lobby acting like we were twice our actual age, and these older guys were acting half theirs. It was definitely a wake up call for me, I'm not sure what to do with this information, or where to even start. These two seemed to be really living life, that's not to say that I'm not, it was just weird to see older guys living what to seems a pretty full life.

It makes me think of where I'm going to be in forty years, will I still be gimping around or will I have made it to the level of living that full life that Jesus talks about in John 10:10? I think I better get on with making it the second. I probably need to spend more time on the people I meet and not so much on talking about me. Well here I am again, realizing that I need to work on my love walk, to be more like Jesus. Here we go Lord, let's change my heart and become more of what You desire me to be.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

How'd You Like To Be Job?

I don't know why the book of Job fascinates me so much. Maybe it's because so many people are quick to put God and the devil playing a chess match with Job in the middle. I think this one passage of Scripture has been so misquoted and it aggravates me that God gets blamed in this way. Let's look at it for a minute.

Job 1:21, "And Job said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

This passage of Scripture gets quoted a lot at funerals, and while it has the appearance of being Godly, I really think it has been used by the enemy to confuse and bother people more than anything else. It's plain to see from the passages before this, (Job 1:12 -19) that it wasn't the Lord that had taken from Job, it was the devil. Job in his limited understanding of what was happening determined that it must have been the Lord, even though it wasn't.

Deception. That is the enemy's number one tool. He works to deceive us every chance he gets. If he can get us to thinking that God is the one doing things, or we have through some lack of effort on our part caused the calamity to happen, then he has won a small victory. He loves to take himself out of the equation when bad things happen, then sit back and watch us scramble around trying to affix the blame to someone other than where it belongs.

Notice the earlier passages (verses 13 -19) when the messengers start to come in. The first one arrives and tells how all of Job's oxen and donkeys were taken and his servants killed. While this guy is telling Job what has happened, the second messenger arrives and tells how all the sheep and servants were killed by fire from the sky. Before he can finish, a third messenger shows up and tells Job that all his camels are gone and the servants killed.

But the worst news came when the last servant arrived and told Job that a mighty wind came out of the desert and destroyed his oldest son's house killing all ten of his children. It is at this point that Job makes the statement found in verse 21. Now I've had some bad days, but I think that we can all agree that Job probably has had the worst day of anyone ever. He lost everything in the course of a few minutes time.

On a side note, did you notice that it was fire from the sky (lightning I'd imagine) and a mighty wind (a tornado) came in from the desert to destroy his son's home? Those sound an awful lot like what insurance companies call "acts of God" to me, does it to you? And if it was the devil that caused the calamity in Job's life, then shouldn't those actually be called "acts of the devil"?

The thing that I want you to see here today is found in verse 22, "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrong doing." Even though Job said that the Lord takes away, that was not considered in God's mind, charging Him with wrong doing. It says that Job did not sin by charging God with wrong doing. What does that say about us when we do? If we say that some catastrophe in our life is caused by God, then according to this Scripture we are in sin.

I know that I have foolishly charged God with things in my past, but since learning who is behind things, I have corrected that in my life. How about you, have you ever charged God with something that should have been attributed to the devil? If your answer is yes, then you should probably hop on over to 1 John 1:9 and confess your sin to Him and receive the forgiveness that is yours in Christ. You'll be glad you did.

Okay to wrap this up, there is no cosmic chess game going on, the devil is not on equal footing with God. So in the future if bad things happen understand that it isn't God that is doing them, so place the blame square on the devil's shoulders and keep moving forward with God. I like to say it like this, God is good, and the devil is bad. That pretty much covers it in my life. If something good happens, then it is from God, and if something bad happens it is from the devil.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Life, Is This All There Is?

Now I must admit that I do not understand this obsession that the world has with zombies. There are movies about them, video games where you can shoot them, and I even saw a computer commercial the other day, where the CEO of the company has a vision of what could happen to the world if they left out one part in their latest computer. I mean really? Using zombies to sell merchandise, who would have ever thought it?

I've been thinking for a while now about Jesus and how He lived while on this planet. I see in Scripture that He went from one thing to the next, and there always seemed to be excitement surrounding Him, and you could say that He lived a very full life, and that would not be an exaggeration. Jesus even said in John 10:10 that He had come to bring us life, and life to the full. So in looking at my life, I have to ask the question, "Is this all there is?"

I'm not complaining here mind you, but I am beginning to wonder what has happened to me that my life has become more about complacency than living a full and satisfying life. It seems that in my heart I long for this full life that Jesus talked about, but in reality I'm just looking for a way to have more comfort and free time. Is life about working hard every day and falling into bed at night exhausted just to get up the next day and do it all over again?

I'm not opposed to hard work, after all if we don't work then we don't eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) It just seems that life is geared towards doing work, trying to make room for a little comfort and then going the way of the grave after many, many years of this circular situation. Crap! I hope that's not the case! Jesus came to bring us a full life, not just an existence. Yet what I see mostly in Christians is this cycle of life.

Which brings me back to my first paragraph about zombies. I think what we have are a bunch of Christian zombies, people who are not fully alive, just existing and waiting until they can reach Heaven. I could even lay claim to this title, and that my friend does not set well with me. I realized this yesterday as I was listening to the Mercy Me album "All That Is Within Me". The song is called "Goodbye Ordinary" and you can watch a YouTube video of it below:

I listened to this song somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty times yesterday. It convicted me, in that I realized that I have been living an ordinary life. Something that I must change today, I can't wait, it has to happen today. Won't you join me in breaking free of an ordinary life? I don't know about you, but I want my life to mean something. I want to live a life that is to be followed, not one that is to be regretted. Jesus said, "The works that I do, you will do also, and even greater works than these." (John 14:12) That's what I want to do, the works of Jesus.

Father, I ask that You lead, guide and direct me by Your Spirit in living a life that is anything but ordinary. Show me how to be Your hands and feet, and to show the love that You have shown to me to those that are hurting. Help me to live my life to full, just as You promised in Your Word. In Jesus Name.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

I Talk To Myself, And I'm Not Crazy

Talking to yourself has gotten a bad wrap I think. If I stand around out in public and talk to myself, it won't be long until somebody is going to think that I am mentally unstable. Yet, we are actually encouraged in Scripture to talk to ourselves, and by doing so it starts the process of renewing our minds to the truth of God's Word.

In Joshua chapter one, God is encouraging the new leader of the Israelite nation to be strong and of good courage. He tells Joshua to meditate on the laws of God (God's Word), and then his way would prosper and he would have good success. Another word for meditate is to mutter. To say over and over again what God's Word says about you.

Now let me bring this over into today's way of life. There is plenty of ugly stuff out there to make you think that you can never make it in this life. But that doesn't change the fact that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) He also said, "I am the Lord and I change not." (Malachi 3:6) We can take Him at His Word, that whatever He did for Joshua, He will do for us. The really cool thing is that we have a better covenant than Joshua had.

We are living in a time that is the most exciting time in history, and we can and do have what we say. So let me ask you this, what are you saying when you talk to yourself? And believe me, we all talk to ourselves. What did you call yourself the last time you did something wrong? Did the words, "idiot", "moron", "stupid", or some other word that is similar to those? We are programmed to say the wrong things to ourselves, it's the way of this world. Don't believe me? Watch the news for a few minutes and see if you don't hear more negative news than positive.

The most important things said about us, come from us. Remember the story about David and his men in the Bible? They had gone out to fight, and came back to find that all of their families, animals and stuff had been taken by some bad guys. It was so bad that these mighty, warriors all sat down in the dirt and began to cry. Things got real ugly when they began to talk about killing David. So what did David do? Scripture states that David encouraged himself in the Lord.

How'd he do that? He began to rehearse all of the good things that God had done for him up to this point. Once he was able to get his emotions under control, he then asked the Lord if he should chase after the bad guys to get all their families, animals and stuff back. The Lord told him to go and do it, and they did and got everything back.

Did you notice that David was in no place to hear from God until he encouraged himself (Began to talk to himself) in the Lord? I think that is where I miss it a lot of times, I talk about what is going on, but forget to talk to myself and get back on course with the Lord. Maybe I should do that more often, hmm, I think I will. How about you? Are you going to begin to talk to yourself in the right way now?

Strength and honor!

Your Heart Is Free

Yesterday after church, my bride and I came home, fixed lunch and then did what we usually do on a Sunday afternoon, we rested. As I waited for lunch to finish cooking, I was flipping through the channels to see what show I would watch during my nap. This weekend was a free Showtime weekend on Direct TV, so I was looking to see if there were any movies I may not have seen yet that were showing. What I found was "Braveheart". Now I own the director's version of this movie and have watched it more times than I can actually remember, but if I'm not doing anything important and it is on, I'll always stop and watch it.

There was a line in the movie that caught my attention this time watching it, and it really struck a chord with me. Young William's father and brother have been killed by the English, and he is dreaming about his dad. They are laying side by side in his dream when his father turns his head to look at William and says, "Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it." Here is rough video of the scene:

As I pondered the words of William's father, I couldn't help but think about my life as a Christian. That is after all the whole reason that Jesus came, to free us. Look at this passage in Galatians 5:1 AMP "In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery[which you have once put off]."

Here's the deal, Jesus purchased our freedom with His death, burial and resurrection. Why then, do we not live free? And I'm not talking just about living lives that are entangled with sin so much as just the fact that we sometimes don't enjoy the freedom that Jesus has given us. It's like prisoners of war, even after the fact that they have been freed, sometimes they don't really know what to do with that freedom. For obvious reasons they are a little bit skiddish about what to do once they have been liberated.

I think we as Christians do that too. We live almost in fear sometimes that we are going to do something wrong, or embarrass ourselves so we hold back. All the while the Father is watching us, maybe even inspiring us to let loose a little, but because of fear we never really act out what perhaps deep in our hearts we really want to do.

If our hearts are truly free, and we were to live like it, what would that look like exactly? I think it would be that our days would be full, and vibrant with a life people would envy. We are told to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. (1 Peter 3:15) How many times has that happened to you? I mean do you live in a such a way that people look at you and wonder about why you are as alive as you are? If our hearts are truly free in the way that Jesus wants them to be, then people will wonder about it, and ask you.

So, if we are not being asked about the hope that is within us, it makes me wonder if we are truly living free? I think we need to reevaluate what we are doing as Christians, don't you? After all, as Christians we are the ones who have the answer to life's challenges, and His name is Jesus. So let's get out there and live as if our hearts really are as free as Jesus made them.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

If Only I Could Go Back And Change This

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you went back in time and changed some of the things you did that weren't the best decisions in your life? You know, the old "hindsight is 20/20" thing can be somewhat appealing when the notion of changing your past to give you a better future is involved. This is something we've seen in movies and television shows which causes us to figure this could be a good thing, regardless of whatever effect it would have on the space/time continuum.

I used to think that going back to high school knowing what I know as an adult would be a good thing. I'd do things differently, make a better effort to learn things and be nicer to the people that I maybe wasn't as nice to as I should have been. But this morning as this thought crossed my mind, I began to think about where I am as an adult, and truthfully I wouldn't be where I am if some of those things in my past were taken away and replaced with other options.

Yeah, I wish I would have been nicer to some of the kids in my school. Not that I was a bully or anything, at least not in my eyes, but what they actually saw in me could have said otherwise. I wish that I had not been bullied, or at least would have stood up to a few of those who picked on me instead of cowering down in fear.

I remember one time in like the 5th grade that my friend Terry and I decided to bring our G.I. Joes to school to play with during recess. Man, how I would like to go back and change that. We were harassed endlessly for days for playing with Barbie dolls, it didn't matter how many weapons our soldiers had. And it was about that time that I lost interest in them, and a part of my childhood died that day.

How many things did you give up as a child due to bullying or the attitudes of your peers concerning those items that you loved? This may be one of the reasons that I have always told my children not to care what anyone thinks of them except Jesus. And there in is the crux of what I'm trying to say. You see, if I had not taken my G.I. Joes to school with me, and been ridiculed for playing with them, would I have been as adamant with my children about not caring what others think of them?

So you could say in a round about way that what I learned in my childhood, even as discomforting as it was for me then, has helped my kids become better people today. So if I were to go back and change that day in my history, what kind of kids would my kids have become? I think that sometimes we romanticize our past, and wish to change it for the sake of making our lives back then easier, when in reality we would be destroying part of who we are today. After all it is those things which happened to us in our past that has helped to make us who we are.

There has been much change in my life lately, and I guess I've been doing a little bit of reevaluating because of it. And since I've always said, "If I could only go back and change this, I would be so much better off." this morning I've come to realize that those things in my past are important. They are important because I would not be the man I am today without them. So yes, while there were some hurtful things back then, changing them would change the outcome of who I am, and truthfully looking at who I am right now, makes me appreciate in a different light who I was back then.

Don't let your past hinder you in your future. Also, don't wear the things that happened to you in your past like a badge of honor, instead let's do like the Apostle Paul instructed us, and forget those things which are behind us, and let's press on towards the mark of the prize which is in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Trusting Him Especially Now

You know since I have started this journey of not having a job to go to each day, I can honestly say it has been very interesting. I seem to be way more observant of what we have in the bank, pantry and my soul. We have cut back on our spending, only doing what is absolutely necessary of course. I'm not gorging myself like I used to either, not living in lack, but thinking more frugally for a change.

The biggest thing for me however, is to be aware of my soul and what I am believing. First off, understand that when I use the term soul, I'm talking about my mind, will and emotions, not my spirit man. My spirit man is the part of me that is made in the image of God, is born again and filled with God's Spirit. My soul, is the part of me that reasons, feels emotionally and retains information.

What I'm finding is that all of that time I have spent over the last several years putting God's Word into my heart is paying off. When situations arise that I don't know what to do, God's Word comes up out of my spirit and I begin to quote it to myself and the circumstances change. Let me give you an example of my day yesterday, and how this looked in my life.

I was going to go to Broken Arrow to help some guys mow a lady's yard. She goes to church with us, and doesn't have any yard equipment, so we were going to help her out. As I was heading in that direction, I first needed to stop by the shoe store and get the store's deposit so I could take it to the bank for my bride. As I was walking across the parking lot to the store, I heard something and looked back at my truck only to find radiator fluid flowing out of my truck onto the pavement. So, instead of driving the truck, I took the van.

Now as I was gassing up the van, I thanked God for His provision. This is something new for me, as I've not always done that before. Now I thank Him for providing gas for my vehicles each time I fill up and check the oil. I got to Broken Arrow, mowed the lady's yard and headed back to Sapulpa to pick up my daughter and take her to work. About half way back, the check engine light started flashing and the motor starting acting funny. Talk about coincidence! Two vehicles in less than three hours, what the heck?

I was reminded in my spirit of that Scripture that says that God is our very present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) I immediately reminded the Lord of His Word and followed that up by saying, "Lord, help! I'm in trouble!" So I made it home, waited for my son to arrive, took the car he's been borrowing (he blew the motor in his car a couple of weeks ago) and took Sissy to work. When I got back to the shoe store I checked on my truck and found out after talking with a friend that it looks like my water pump may have gone out, the leaking was due to something called a "weeping valve" or something like that. (actually that was good news for me, that's an easy fix with some of my friends of course)

It seems with all that has gone on in my life the past few weeks, my faith has been tried more than ever before. Maybe because I have not really had to trust in my God like I am having to do now. Proverbs 3:5 - 6 has become my life Scripture; "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will show you which path to take." Thank You Jesus, for helping me and my family learn how to stay closer to Your heart and experience this full life You promised us! (John 10:10)

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

And So It Begins...

DC Talk put out a song a few years back called Nu Thang, and the opening lyrics go like this:

"Ya know He's doin' it,

God is doin' a nu thang."

Well I'd like to say that there is something new going on with the Felts family. And yes, I do believe that God is in it.

One of the things that I love most about the Bible is the stories that God tells us. Really, there is a just about any type of story you might want in there; from romance to action to horror. God loves a good dramatic story too. Look at the story of the three Hebrew children for instance. God didn't rescue them, until they were thrown into the flames. What about Moses? He leads the people out of Egypt only to be pursued by Pharaoh and his army. And it is not until their backs are up against the wall that He tells Moses to raise his staff so they could pass through the Red Sea. I mean, He could have had angels wipe the army out, He didn't have to make the people wait like that did He?

God isn't cruel, and He doesn't like to see mankind suffer, or just play games with us, no He likes to show off! I'm convinced of that the more I read through the Bible, and live on this planet. After all He's God, He could have smote all of the Egyptians and just let His people leave any time that they wanted to, but instead He chose to send Moses, and let the story play out that way.

The Bible was given to us to be an inspiration and instruction manual. Like the acronym says:

B. asic

I. nstructions

B. efore

L. eaving

E. arth

That is what the Bible can be, to those who will receive it. The instruction manual which helps you to know the who's, what's when's, where's and why's of this life. But unlike what most of us would prefer, the Bible/God does not give a step by step, play by play, this is exactly how things are going to go way of following Him. Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) God wants us to trust Him, and to do that we have to live by faith. And faith doesn't work if you have all of the answers, all of the time.

And so that brings me to the announcement that I want to make this morning. Faith and trusting God. Something that the Felts family is now going to get to live out in a much bigger way than we ever have before. And it is exciting, and a little bit scary at the same time. You see, after today I will no longer be Dave the shoe-guy. After 19 years as Sapulpa's shoe-guy, the decision has been made that I must step down from the store and pursue other employment.

With the effects of the present economy, and new retail shoe locations popping up all around our area, business has been off for the past couple of years. As we looked at the numbers from the beginning of this year, our losses have just about equaled my salary. The decision was made that if my salary was taken out of the business, then it should begin to at least break even. And as I'm sure you are aware, a business that is losing money cannot stay in business. (Despite what our government thinks.)

So as of 6 PM today, you will not find me at Felts Shoes in Sapulpa. (Unless I happen to be there to take lunch to my bride. She is staying on to help out for the time being.) But before you think that this is a bad thing, I am excited about the opportunities that lie before me and my family. Yes, it might be tight financially for a time, but it is also a great time for God to show up in our lives and save the day, so to speak.

For many, many years now I have counseled men to not just take a job to make money, but to go out and find what it is that makes their hearts come alive and then to go out and do that. Because what this world really needs is men who have come alive. And if you find that work which God has for you to do, then it really isn't work at all. And what I have seen in the lives of those who have done this, is that the money follows them. Okay, and for those of you who think that I'm going to sit around and wait for God to bring it to me, that is not how He works, so I will be looking for gainful employment to provide for my family, my focus is just not going to be just about a paycheck.

God's Word is true. God is a faithful God. Me, and my family are right in the center of His will. And while I know that, this does not mean that we haven't had to reevaluate some things, and ask Him if in fact this was caused by sin in our lives, or an attack of the enemy. Cheryl and I feel as if we may have missed God a few years back and should have left the store then, we've asked the Lord to forgive us for not listening closer and following His leading back then, but you know when you have the security of a paycheck, it can be distracting to the leading of the Holy Ghost. It shouldn't be, but it was in our case.

The really amazing thing is that God is a redeemer and a forgiver. And I believe that at 47 years of age, my best days are ahead of me. I told Cheryl one night not too long ago, that I wanted the last half of my life to be better, and for me to do more for the Kingdom of God than the first half of my life. And I believe that with God's help, it will be! So be on the lookout for a new man after today, God is amazing, and it is my honor to get to serve Him and learn a nu thang for sure!

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Oh, and if you haven't pre-ordered my latest book, "God's First Knight: In Service Of The King" click the link at the top right hand corner of this page and get your copy pre-ordered today.

People Need Jesus, Not A Jackass

In John 13:34 - 35 Jesus said, "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples - when they see the love you have for each other." The Greek word that Jesus used for love is the word "agapao" which means, "to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly".

Today's blog may be a little too much for some people, but I know that I need to hear this, and if I need to, others do too. In my life, the love walk is probably the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I can dismiss a person in a matter of seconds, without even really thinking about it. That's sad to admit, especially when the whole reason that Jesus came and took that beating and died on the cross was because of love. He loved us so that we could love others.

So since I realize that I have a hard time with this, what is at the heart of me not wanting to love others? Being a jackass. You heard me correctly, the reason that I don't love is because I am a jackass. Okay, here is the definition I found of the word jackass: A foolish or stupid person; a blockhead. Now I understand the power of confession, and saying the right things, but if I don't do what Jesus says, that is foolish and stupid. That is me being a blockhead.

I think selfishness is at the heart of the whole thing. Love is hard, it takes something to give of yourself to others and not look for anything in return. If there is any hint of selfishness, then you won't be able to give love, it will stop up the flow of God in your life. And this is the really stupid thing, I know better, and I bet you do too.

Sometimes for me, I just allow myself to get distracted by the cares of this life. We all have things that we have to do, that is part of this life. But what we must not do is let those little things come in and cause us to miss out on the opportunity to give love to someone who may be in a place of great need in their lives. Remember, some people are really good poker players. They may be looking like they've got it all together on the outside, but on the inside there could be a tremendous storm raging.

What I need to do is let the love of Jesus shine through me, and be Jesus to the people that I come into contact with, instead of thinking of myself and acting like a jackass. If you would like to do the same thing, then pray this prayer with me. Father, I ask You now according to 1 John 1:9 to forgive me for withholding love to those around me. Holy Spirit, I ask You to remind me when I see others to let the light of Jesus shine through me, and not show my own selfish ways. In Jesus Name, Amen.

So let's be Jesus and not jackasses! Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

What Is Faith Really?

Hebrews 11:1 NIV says, "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for, and the assurance of what we do not see." In the Amplified it says, "NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

If you have ever wondered about faith, then you are in good company. I wonder about faith all the time. Am I standing in faith, acting in faith or even truly in faith. Hebrews goes on to say that if we don't have faith, it is impossible for us to even please God. And that is because we have to believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who "diligently" seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith is probably one of the most important things that we will ever learn about. Because I want to please my Father, and it takes faith to do that.

Let's take Hebrews 11:1 apart a little bit and investigate it closer. Look at how it starts out, "Now faith is..." from this it would appear that faith is a right now thing, not a going to be thing. For us to truly be in faith, then it has to be something that is present with us, not something that we will wait to have. It is a present thing, not a future one.

So faith is a now thing, and it also says that it is the confidence of what we hope for. Faith is the confidence of what we hope for. The amplified calls it the "title deed" of the things that we hope for. The definition of the word hope is: the feeling that what is wanted can be had. So we could also say that faith is the feeling that what I want can be had. So faith tells me that what I hope for can be had.

It goes on to say that faith is the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. Look at that last sentence, perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. You know, the five senses; hearing, sight, touch, taste and feel. So regardless of what these five senses tell us, faith is the proof that we have what we've hoped for already.

So what I'm gathering this morning from this, is first off I have to be hoping for something. So many people are waiting on God to show up and bring changes to their lives, or bless them with things, when they actually have no hope or expectation for anything in the first place. A lot of times people are like this because they think they are being spiritual. "Well brother, you know if God wants me to have something, He'll give it to me." Why? Why will God give you something? From what I've seen here, in order for us to really be "in faith" we have to have hope for something. I love how it doesn't say, faith is the confidence of what "spiritual" things we hope for either, that tells me that faith will work in every area of our lives.

So we see that faith is a now thing, it is what we are hoping for (so we have to start hoping for things) and it is the title deed to those things. Now I know that some people are going to have a problem with the "things" portion of this blog. When I'm talking about things, I mean everything that you can imagine. There is one catch to this however, and that is that whatever you are using your faith for must be according to God's Word.

So find a promise in God's Word for you, and apply your faith to it, believe that you have it now, and thank God for it daily until it shows up. I remember a minister saying one time that faith is like calling for your dog. You walk out on the front porch and begin to holler for Fido saying, "Here Fido, here Fido!" Even though Fido is not on the porch, you're calling for him to get on the porch. You expect that when you call Fido, he'll come a running. If you didn't believe that, you wouldn't be out there in the first place. Well faith is just like that, you are expecting that those things that you are hoping for are going to show up when you call.

So let's get out there and please our Heavenly Father, by operating in faith today. The really cool thing is that He wants to bless us even more than we want to be blessed, and He has given us the avenue by which He can bless us. Thank You Jesus!

Why Don't We Ask God?

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that when problems show up in my life, the first thing I do is to begin thinking of solutions to them. Now this is typical I think of most people, and it was the instruction that God gave to Adam in the Garden, “Take care of it.” (Dave’s paraphrase.) But how often do I run off fixing things, only after the fact realizing that I never once included God in on the process?

I do believe that as Christians we are called to be problem solvers, but as I look at Proverbs 3:5 – 6 I see that I am supposed to trust in the Lord with “ALL” my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge Him in all my ways and then He will direct my paths. That does not look to me like we should rush off to fix things until we've first consulted the Lord. This is something that I know I have been negligent about, and that concerns me greatly.

Trust in the Lord with all my heart. What exactly does that mean, to trust with all of your heart? Well first off to trust with all your heart is a spiritual thing, and not a mental one. Scripture doesn’t tell us to trust in the Lord with all of our reasoning; it says to trust with all our heart. The heart is the most central part of who we are, and don’t forget Scripture also states that out of it (The heart.) flow ALL the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

The first thing to do so you can trust the Lord with all of your heart is to get your mind out of the way. Now I don’t mean to empty your mind like a lot of Eastern religions encourage, no that can lead to you being led by the enemy, what I’m talking about is putting your reasoning aside so that your heart (Which is the core part of who you are.) can do what it does, believe what God’s Word says.

Scripture tells us that in order to appropriate any of the things that God has for us, we have to first believe, second confess what we believe and then we’ll see the manifestation of it. (Romans 10:9 – 10 / Mark 11:23 – 24) This is how everything works in the Kingdom of God, and if we expect that we will see any of the promises of God come in any other way, then we are going to be disappointed in life.

God tells us that we have not, because we ask not. (James 4:2b) Basically that means that if we don’t ask, God can't work on our behalf. I know what you are thinking though, He’s God, and He can do anything that He wants to do. That’s not exactly true. He cannot do anything on planet Earth unless we ask Him. Once we’ve asked Him according to His Word, and this is the essential part here, He will move Heaven and Earth to see to it that we have what we’ve asked for. But don’t think if you just ask anything it will be answered, it has to be according to His Word and you have to ask in faith. Remember, He said that He watches over His Word to perform it, not our wishes.

If God was moved because we had needs in our lives, then there would never be any needs in the world. God is not moved because you or I have a need, He is moved by faith. We have to operate in faith in order for God to move on our behalf. This is not because He is unjust, mean or wants to teach us a lesson. It is a legal situation, plain and simple. If we never ask, He will never answer. My friend Joe McGee says it this way, “You stare at God, and He’ll stare right back at you. But if you draw near to Him, He’ll draw near to you.” (James 4:8)

It’s all in our perception of things. What are we looking at, what are we seeing? If our heart is the central thing, and we are instructed to trust God with our whole heart, then perhaps we aren’t seeing things correctly when we look through the eyes of reason. After all the realm of reason is where the enemy lurks. We are instructed to take every thought captive, (2 Corinthians 10:5) thoughts happen in your own understanding. Remember God speaks to us through our hearts, not our heads.

So when things show up in your life, instead of just rushing off to figure out the solutions, let's take a few minutes, bow our heads and talk to the Father of all creation and get His idea for how to handle things. This is something that I am getting to learn daily right now, and while it at times seems overwhelming to me, I know that God has my best interest at heart, as long as I take the time to find out what that is.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

How Sharp Are You?

Hebrews 6:11 - 12 "Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent."

There is one thing that God thinks is more important than anything else, besides loving Him with all your heart, and that is to love your fellow man. Paul states it in this passage that we are to keep on loving others as long as life lasts. Well seeing that we are spiritual beings, that is a very long time huh?

The thing that I found interesting in this passage today however, was that while he is admonishing us to keep on loving others, he explains that if we will do that, then we won't becoming spiritually dull and indifferent. Spiritually dull? I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like the thing that I want to be known for.

If we stop loving people, then we are in danger of becoming spiritually dull and indifferent to the things of God. This is a dangerous place to be because once you become dull to something, it ceases to amaze and stir your heart. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get to the place in my life where I am not amazed at the things of God anymore.

So what I saw here this morning is that if I want to stay sharp spiritually, I'm going to have to continue loving others as long as my life lasts. It's like loving people is the wet stone to sharpen your spirit, and keep it from getting dull.

Let's keep loving people, and never stop so that we can stay spiritually sharp towards the things of God and not grow dull and indifferent, what's say?

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!