Comfort Isn't The Goal

I've been reading a book written by Donald Miller called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", it's a good book, and this morning there was this part about how people in abusive relationships tend to go back to their abusers even if they have the opportunity to get free from them and stay with family or friends, because of the familiarity of their situation.  Even as bad as their life is there, they know and understand what to expect, and they get a sense of control from that.

The dictionary defines comfort as a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety. Nobody wants to be or feel uncomfortable do they?  As human beings, we tend to seek out those things which will bring us comfort.  We work so that we can have the creature comforts of home.  We purchase things that will make our lives easier.  Take for instance, the remote control for your television.  How many of you actually remember the days when you were the remote control for the family?  Sitting there close to the t.v. (but not too close, it can damage your eyesight remember) turning the dial to each of your four channels in hopes of finding something to watch.

Life is not really made to be comfortable however.  If you actually enter into it, and work at it, you will find it to be messy and uncomfortable most of the time.  Think back for a moment to some of the times in your life that you cherish the most; those situations where you experienced the human condition to the max.  Were they comfortable?  Did you feel at the time you were loving what was going on?  Probably not.  But I know from my own personal experiences that those times in my life, when I reflect on them do give me a sense of accomplishment and knowledge that I am in a better place because I entered into the challenge and ignored my desire for comfort.

Thinking about comfort this morning, I remembered the Pixar movie "Wall-E".  Now, I'm not a big fan of this movie, mainly because of the underlying story of how wasteful we humans are, and that we are only concerned with ourselves.  (There is some truth to that, but I go to see movies to be entertained, not berated.)  Yet there is an interesting thing in the movie, and that is how the humans built their space ship to provide all the amenities and comforts that they could ever need.  It was so bad that the people had become so fat and lethargic from all of the comfort that they couldn't even walk on their own anymore.  It's a great picture of taking comfort too the extreme.  I wonder if that is the direction humanity is really taking?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my comfort.  I don't want my life to be disrupted by stress or anxiety, even though I know there are times when those things enter in.  Let me ask you this, how much time do we spend working to be comfortable, dodging the problems instead of just entering into them?  I know it's in the times I experience challenges that I learn and grow as a person.  I can't really remember any times where I actually grew while enjoying some type of comfort.  It may happen, but more often than not it doesn't.

And herein lies the point that I wanted to get across this morning, comfort isn't the goal.  If we are just trying to work more comfort into our lives, we have missed the point of what life is truly all about.  Jesus told us that in our lives we would have challenges to face, but not to be upset by that, but to be of good cheer, because He had overcome the world.  (John 16:33)  Or in the words of one of my new heroes Phil Robertson, be happy, happy, happy.

What I really like about this passage of Scripture is that Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it for the disciples.  He tells them just how it's going to be.  He says, "Listen fellas, you are going to have trouble, just don't let that bother you. I have overcome the world."  For years when I would read this passage of Scripture I would tell the Lord, "Yeah, well that's good for you Jesus, You're not here and I am."  But one day as I was meditating on this, I heard His voice in my heart say, "David, if you are in Me, then you too have overcome the world."  Wow!  That turned my world upside down.  That meant that as long as I stayed hooked up with Him, then I would be able to overcome anything the world threw at me and stay, happy, happy, happy.

What I hope that you have gotten from reading this, is that comfort, while a good thing, is not the goal.  We should enter into life, experience all that it has for us, using the challenges that we each face to learn and grow in the process and become better people.  Let's get out there and face the world today!  Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Two Years & Time Travel

Today it has been two years since the death of my youngest son Noah. I must say that it really doesn't seem like that much time has past, but it has. One of the strangest things about losing someone who is close to you, is how slow time seems to pass for you, yet it seems as if those around you are moving through time at a much higher rate of speed. It's kind of like that old movie The Time Machine, the original, not the remake. When the time traveler operates his machine, he sees everyone moving around at a high rate of speed even though he himself never moves. The television show The Big Bang Theory had a humorous tribute to that movie in their first season, here is the clip:

While that is funny, in real life this slow passage of time is not. Speaking for myself, there is a part of me that just wishes I was twenty years down the road from this horrible event. At least that way I might have less to deal with, yet I know that is an impossibility, and not the way that God does things. And how many times have I wished that He would do things the way that I would like, only later to find out that if that had happened, it would have had horrible consequences? I guess He really does know best.

You know if I actually had a time machine where I could go back and change the course of those day's events two years ago I would do it in a heartbeat. I miss my son, I hate that what happened to my family happened. But that is science fiction and not reality. Reality is that my son made a stupid mistake and ended his life, and there is nothing that I can do to change that. But I can make a decision as to what I will do now, and that is to live my life. So many times when tragedy happens in people's lives they give up. They stop living, and like the time traveler just sit motionless while the world around them continues to move on. I refuse to do that.

Life is definitely different now that Noah is no longer here, but I cannot sit around waiting for life to begin again. That's like telling a wood burning stove to heat you up and then you will put some wood and fire into it. You would think that a person who talked or acted like that was insane, and you'd probably be right, yet this is what people do every day. They talk about what is going to happen later on, yet never move past where they are right now. And I for one, don't want to be one of those guys.

My life and that of my family's is different now, but God isn't. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And that is something that I can latch onto, and walk with having faith that Jesus wants the best for me and my family and was willing to go the distance even to His death on the cross to see to it that I have as He said in John 10:10; "Life and life to the full." I choose life, and I choose to live!

Who's A Sinner?

I fell into sin yesterday, and I was wondering this morning about that and how it's the little things that trip us up. You know the sins that don't really seem like much, but end up hurting our relationship with the Father. Jesus told us that if our eye offends us we should pluck it out, well that seems a little extreme doesn't it? Yet there it is, a command from our Lord. So what are we to do with that?

One thing that I've come to realize in Christianity is that we as a people group try to rate our sins or categorize them into various degrees of evil. Murder is at the worst end of the spectrum, while gossiping may end up on the "little sin" end of the scale. One of the things that I find really funny, is the fat Christian who points his finger at the person who drinks or smokes and condemns them as one of those really big sinners. The truth is, gluttony is just as much a sin as what they are pointing out, but lets don't talk about that, after all a person's gotta eat, right? And don't you know that we are told to fellowship with other believers, and we do that around meals. Yeah I know, just next time skip the third helping and two deserts, how about that? (And I've been guilty of this so don't stone me).

There are no degrees of sin with God period. Sin causes separation from God. It breaks the fellowship that we have with Him, and that is why it is bad. Regardless of what sin you commit, this will hinder you in your relationship with the Father. This is why He hates sin, not because He has this big list of do's and dont's, but because He knows that when we sin it keeps His best from getting to us, and He is all about doing good for us. Remember, "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11"

And that is the point really, the relationship I have between me and God. So when I sin, and we all do, this barrier raises up which keeps me from receiving God's best for my life, and the devil knows this. He works very hard to trip us up in this area. Now before you come to the conclusion that we are just pawns in some big cosmic chess game, I'm not saying that the devil can "make" us sin. What he does is plant thoughts in our little pea brains to see if we will act on them. Take a look at James 1:14 - 15 in the Amplified Bible:

"But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death."

"Baited by his own lust and passions". Hmm, now this is interesting, we are not driven along by the devil and his minions with pitchforks prodding us to do wrong. No, it is the lust and passions within us that cause us to sin. So, while the enemy has a part to play, we can no longer just blame him for our short comings can we? I think not. You know the bait covers up a hook, and it is the hook that causes the problem, for it snares us and brings the destruction of our fellowship with God.

So what are we to do then? If it is our lust and passions that trip us up then we need to learn to control those things. But how do I do that Dave? I'm glad you asked. You have to have a working knowledge of God's Word. We can no longer take a casual approach to the Bible and it's teachings, to do so allows sin to have it's way with us. We must master those things that would try and trip us up. Now before you go any further, just because you read the Bible does not mean that you will magically never sin again. You may read in the Word that you should not do something, but just having that knowledge won't save you, you have to act on that knowledge.

Just as sin starts as a thought and then you act on that thought. God's Word is a thought which you must act on too. The key here is that we have to do the acting, either for good or for bad, it is our choice. No longer do we have the right to say that we couldn't help ourselves because that is a lie, we can..."IF" we make the decision to do so. So get a Bible reading plan and start it, then act on those things that you learn there and you will see the things that once tripped you up will begin to have less and less ability to entice you.

Now I wonder as you read this today, did you get the point I've been making this morning, or have you just been trying to decide which sin I committed yesterday? 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!

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!

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!

Are You Watching Life, Or Participating?

Has this ever happened to you as you watched a movie or television show? You're sitting there enjoying the entertainment, when you see the main character about to get into trouble and getting caught up in the moment you start to holler at the screen for the character to watch out?

We've all done that I'm sure. Why do we do that exactly? It's because we can see what is about to happen to the people in those stories we're watching. We can see the man with the gun hiding behind the door, where the hero of the story can't. It's part of what makes story telling good, but it also makes us a spectator to those people's lives.

Wouldn't it be nice to know what was about to happen next in any given moment? I mean to have clarity in knowing that the decisions that you are making right now are the correct ones. What a wonderful gift that would be huh? Absolutely not! I mean part of me does wish for that, but if we knew everything all the time how boring would our lives become? It would be like eating the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day for your entire life. Yes it would nourish your body, but don't you think you would begin to detest meal times? I know that I would.

This life we are living is called by the Apostle Paul a race. But it is not a sprint, no it is more like a marathon, one that we run at a constant pace until we win. In Hebrews chapter eleven he talks

about the great cloud of witnesses that we have set as an example of what our race should look like. These heroes of faith are there to spur us on to continue our race no matter what. Paul says in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse two that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

There's a couple of thoughts here, first off the great cloud of witnesses were all men and women of faith that were before Jesus completed the thing that God had for us all. So therefore these people are our examples of how to have faith in God, even though we are partakers of the better covenant.

The second thing is that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus. I heard a minister speaking this year and he talked about how he was a track runner in high school. He told us the story about one of his meets, where he was way out in front of everyone else. He recalled that he could not hear the sound of anyone else's feet around him, so he turned his head to see how far ahead of everyone he was, and lost the race by one-tenth of a second.

There was another runner right beside him, and when he took his eyes off of his goal, the finish line, it caused him to slow up in his running just enough that the man beside him took the prize. He went on to say that the coach always told them to never take their eyes off of the goal, but to press on towards the finish line until the race was over. And had he done that on that day, he would have won the race.

If we do not keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will begin to get distracted from the goal of our race and slow up too. We cannot spend our time looking at what is around us, but must continue to strain forward towards the prize. We must pray, listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit, then step out in faith believing that we are making the best and right decisions that we can.

We must press on with that decision until we either win or realize that we missed it. And when we miss it, which we will from time to time, we need to stop, ask God to forgive us for missing it, then pray again, listen for God and then run our race. Life is not about getting it right every time, it is about getting out there and living that full, abundant life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10. Yes, we'll make mistakes, and miss what God is saying from time to time, but if we play it safe all of our lives, we will miss out on things that will make our lives more interesting for sure.

A good friend of mine said to me today, "Do what God is calling you to do, even if you have to do it afraid." Good advice for sure, the unknown can be scary, but even if we are afraid, we know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us because God is right there with us. So take a chance today, live life fully keeping your eyes on the prize, Jesus.

Do You Want To Be His Disciple?

In Luke 9:23 Jesus makes the following statement: "Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me." "Whoever wants to be My disciple..." And here we find the crux of the matter for most Christians. It is easy to be a Christian, I mean really all you have to do is follow Romans 10:9 - 10 and you are born again. Don't get me wrong, that is a very important thing indeed, without that everything else is pointless. But the decision to follow Christ is where the rubber meets the road.

When Jesus says "whoever wants to be" that leaves the decision in our hands. He doesn't force us to become His disciples. Remember when He called the twelve? He didn't walk up to Peter and say, "Hey you! I'm the Messiah, stop what you're doing and come be my follower." He simply said, "Follow me." Peter still had to decide to leave what he was doing and follow Jesus.

I have been a Christian now for twenty-four years, but I can probably say that I've actually been a disciple for the last five or so. Part of being a disciple is "denying yourself", and that is what I think for me has been probably the hardest thing. I still fight wanting to do what I want to do a lot. And it's not that I don't love Jesus, I do, I just wrestle with my flesh still. Although I am a little better at putting it in its place now than back when I first became a Christian.

Not everyone chooses to follow Jesus. Remember the story of the man that told Jesus to let him go bury his father first and then he would follow Him? Jesus's reply was to let the dead bury the dead, but for him to go and preach the Kingdom of God. (Luke 9:59 - 60) Unlike Peter, who left his nets and followed Jesus, this man had other things on his mind to do first. This person remains unnamed, while Peter goes on to be one of the Apostles. Could there be a connection here?

We are told that to be disciples we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. Three things that are the deciding factors as to whether or not we are His disciples. Following Jesus requires the ability to lay aside our desires, our wants and our way of doing things. But how do you know what to do in following Jesus? Where do you find that? In the Bible, and hearing His voice.

When you read through the Bible, you will see the things that are important to Jesus. And if we are His disciples, then the things that are important to Him should be important to us as well. If we see Him showing kindness to all, then we should show kindness to all. If He is ministering to people where they need it, then we too should be looking for opportunities to do the same. The Bible is full of things that we as disciples of Jesus should be doing, if we will only look for them.

We should also be led by the Spirit of God in our own spirits too. This requires getting quiet and listening in our spirits for Him to speak to us. We should also bear in mind that whatever He speaks to our spirits will never go against what He has written in the Bible. That is the standard by which we judge what is right and true. If you think the Spirit of God is speaking to you to do something and it goes against Scripture, then it is not right and you shouldn't follow it. This is why it is so important to read your Bible daily, this will keep you from doing something flaky.

Being a disciple of Jesus is a conscious effort on our part, but one that will cause us to have untold joy and satisfaction in our lives, if we will do the three things; deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. Let's determine to do that today, how about it? Get 'em up folks, we've gotta go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!

Where Did That Come From?

I was talking to a customer this morning, and she asked me to do something which I have a policy against doing. When I explained the policy, she bowed up on me. Well needless to say, that didn't go over really well with me, and let me just state that I didn't handle myself in the most Christian of manners. But before you think I've sinned and completely blown it, everything that happened was internal with me, and she never even knew. After she left, I repented to the Lord for my internal struggles and asked Him, "Where did that come from Father?"

How about you, have you ever had someone rub you the wrong way? How did you handle it? Did you walk in the love of Jesus, or did you let your flesh rule the way you responded? I will say that today apparently my flesh had a little better grip on the reigns of the direction my life was going, and not my spirit. Yet one more chance to come to realize that I haven't arrived in my walk with Jesus.

I remember once a man saying that when our emotions are low, our intelligence will be high. Conversely, if our emotions run high, then our intelligence will be on the lower end of things. I had an opportunity to learn this the hard way once with another customer. She had purchased several pair of shoes months earlier and brought them all back. For whatever reason it really ticked me off that day, so my emotional output was at an all time high. I refunded her money, without looking at the ticket and inadvertently refunded more money than she actually had paid for the shoes originally. Talk about feeling like a lunkhead.

Sometimes when things like this rise up inside of us, we should stop and take an inventory of what's really going on. I like to ask God, "What's that all about? Where did that come from?" and then take a little time and wait on His voice to speak to my heart. Several times there has been a revelation in my heart about something that has gone on in my past that never fully was resolved. So I go back to that, ask Jesus to forgive me, or I forgive the person that wronged me and healing comes and a little bit more of my heart is restored.

Things happen to all of us. We face trials and tribulations daily, but remember what Jesus said, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) This passage of Scripture used to bother me. I would say, "Well that's all good for You Jesus, but I'm still here." Then the Holy Spirit showed me that if I would stay "in Christ" and walk closely with Him, then I would be in Him and as He overcame the world, so I could as well.

Stay close to Jesus friends, let's get out there and whip something for the Kingdom today!

Are You A House Of Prayer, Or A Den Of Thieves?

I had another odd thought this morning on the way to work, let me share it with you. You may know the story of when Jesus went into the temple and ran out the money changers, and those who sold doves. You can find it in three of the Gospels; Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17 or Luke 19:46. It is an interesting story, and one that shows the zeal of the Lord. But what I want to look at is this on a more personal level.

When we become born again, Jesus takes up residence in our hearts. Our bodies are referred to as the "temple of God" now. (1 Corinthians 6:19) Well if that is true, then what is inside of our temple? Are we a house of prayer, or are we a den of thieves? I think it bears looking into, don't you? Are we in fact doing what is right with our temple, or are we using it for things other than what God designed for it?

I guess what I've got to do in my own life is take a hard look at what is on the inside of me, and if I find things that are contrary to God's Word, or things that I know the Father would not like me doing, then I need to do what Jesus did in the temple and run those things out. Anything that the Holy Spirit reveals to me I need to be honest and take a long hard look at how I need to rid myself of that hindrance to making my temple God's house of prayer.

How about you? Are there things in your life that maybe need to be removed? Are you willing to take a hard look at them and make the necessary adjustments in your life? I hope so. Well there's that, let's get 'em up folks and go whip something for the Kingdom!

Demoralization

There is this little insidious tool that the enemy has in his arsenal that he likes to use against believers. I have experienced this to a certain degree in the last few months and I can tell you that it is subtle and creeps up on you like a snake in tall grass. It's called "demoralization" and it can kill you if you let it. The definition for demoralization is, to undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten. Let me explain what I mean with an example from my own life.

As you know if you have read my blog for any length of time, I am a Christian, a born again believer in Jesus Christ. This does not mean that my life is without challenges, not at all. Every life has its share of them, so to think that just because I'm a Christian will exempt me from problems is just not true. I have been walking with the Lord for a long time now, and I had, while I was in the shower yesterday this thought, (While coughing and hacking up a lung.) "Oh come on, are you kidding me? I'm going to have congestion and the mucus fun now? What the heck? It's just one thing after another!" And then my heart sank within me.

I'm no novice at this Christianity thing, I may not be a father in the faith yet, but I'm no novice. I realize that the rain falls on the just and the unjust, (Matthew 5:45) but for some reason I felt demoralized standing there in the shower. It seemed as if everything that I had ever wanted to do for the Lord was slipping through my fingers like the soap bubbles off of my body. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, and I wanted to whine a little bit. (Yes, you heard my correctly, I wanted to whine.) I finished getting ready for church and my bride, daughter and I left to go meet with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We attended both services yesterday and I am so glad that we did. The first service was good, and my friend Daniel Shirley brought forth a strong word from the Lord about how the stone had been rolled away and that we should stop living under the law, and live under the grace that Jesus purchased for us. But it was during the second service, while Daniel was preaching that he made a comment about something my Pastor David Emigh had taught him. He said, "Preparation time is never wasted time, unless you waste it." And that made me sit up and take notice.

For a while now, I've been trying to understand the movings of the Spirit of God in my heart. There is something on the horizon for me and my family, but I'm not quite sure as to what it is. I've been searching, and asking but as of yet it is still a little hazy, the clarity has not come yet. And while I await the clarity, it seems that there has been one thing after another that has assaulted my heart for quite some time now. The death of my son, business appearing to not go as well as it used to and my not knowing where it is that God is leading me and my family right at this moment, and yesterday the fact that God's provision for my health was not where I wanted it to be. All of these things have been sucking the life out of me, and the real problem is that I have allowed them to.

You see here in lies the problem, it's not really the subtle attacks of the enemy that are major issue, it's the response that we give to them. The Bible teaches that the power of life and death are in our tongues (Deuteronomy 30:19). So when the attacks come, what are "WE" doing with them? Do we take a que sara, sara, whatever will be will be attitude? Or do we look a little closer into God's Word and find out what His provisions are for the thing we find ourselves in and take action?

Daniel and I were talking last night at dinner and he made the comment to me that after the sixth day, God quit creating. He put His creative power in mankind, and it is now up to us to create using our mouths. We really do have what we say, so what we need to be saying is what God's Word says about our situations, and not what we feel like saying. I've heard people say quit telling God how big your mountain (challenges) is, and tell the mountain how big your God is. And if we'll do that, then the weapon of demoralization will not have any effect on our lives.

Okay, so there's that...get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!

The Kingdom of Heaven Is At Hand and Heaven, Are They Different?

Jesus made the following statement while He was on the Earth, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Now I think that anytime you see Jesus say something, then it probably is something that we should take note of. But I think this statement gets caught up in the religiosity of the Christian community and takes on something other than what Jesus perhaps meant.

Here is what I mean, Jesus says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." and we hear, "Everything you will ever need you will have in Heaven." You've heard it said, and maybe even said it yourself to friends, family members and co-workers that are not born again, "Don't you want to get saved so you can go to Heaven?" (And yes, I too have used that lame line to try and win someone to the Lord. Father forgive me for misrepresenting You in that way.)

Yes I believe that if you die, and have been born again you will go to Heaven, but I don't believe for a minute anymore that that is the end all of what Jesus purchased for us with His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Everything that Jesus did, He did for us here on Earth. He came to return us to the original design. (That would be Adam & Eve in the Garden with a personal relationship with God the Father.) Yet, we cheapen it for so many people when all we try and do is get them saved without telling them what the real purpose is for that.

We were designed to have fellowship with the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, that is God's original idea. But because of the sin of Adam and Eve we fell, and that relationship was cut off. God sent Jesus to die for us, in our place, for the punishment of that sin so that we could return to the fellowship that God had desired in the first place. But until we actually accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we cannot be a part of that.

Look at Luke 4:17 -1 9: And there was delivered to Jesus the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." And then He sat down and said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears."

Jesus told the people there that this is why He had come, to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. We have everything that we need right now, are you poor, the Kingdom can make you rich; are you brokenhearted? Jesus was sent to heal your broken heart. Are you bound, then deliverance is yours. Can you not see (Either for real or spiritually?), then you can recover your sight. He has brought us liberty, and the year of jubilee, which when it happened meant you get all your stuff back! Hallelujah! That's good news.

So this whole thing is for the here and now, not in the by and by. We can have all of our needs met, whatever they are in the here and now, if we will just believe and act in faith. I don't know about you, but that makes me want to do a little happy dance. (Something I took time to do just now.) I am getting excited about my future, it is a bright one, and I will be operating in the Kingdom of God today, not when I get to Heaven, how about you?

Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom of God today!

What Is God Showing You?

I read this book called Real-Life Discipleship the other day, and it sparked my thinking about some things that we as Christians do in our walk with the Lord. One of the main things I wondered about is how much do people in my church study the Scriptures for themselves. We are told to "study to show ourselves approved" (2 Timothy 2:15) but I wonder just how many of us do that?

I have been amazed over the years at the people that I have known, that seem to be standing still in their Christian walk. I'm not judging them, I just wonder how it is that they think some of the things that they do, and actually do some of the things that they do. And understand me, I'm not perfect, not by a long shot, but I am concerned about why people don't seem to grow in following the Lord.

I think one of the reasons that so many people struggle is because they are not searching out the Scriptures for themselves. Oh, they go to church, maybe even on Sundays and Wednesdays, but never seem to grow much past their initial salvation experience. The one thing that I have learned is that if I wait for the pastoral staff at the church to teach me everything that I need to know about God and His Kingdom, I'm not going to grow very much. This is not to say that my pastoral staff isn't a good one, not at all they're the tops, but I can't just expect them to be the only way that I can learn from God.

After all God is about relationships, He wants to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us, and in that we will learn from Him. He longs to show us things, and teach us, if we'll let Him. And yes, that does come from a corporate church setting too, it's just not the only way that He teaches us. I mean who would you rather learn from, the man or woman who is an instructor or the person who created you and everything around you?

When I worked in Children's Church, it always amazed me the parents who would bring their kids to us on Sunday mornings and wanted us to turn them into spiritual giants. Never mind that the parents never prayed with their kids, or taught them Bible stories. They just thought their kids would get it by osmosis I guess. These types of parents are also the ones who think that their kids will learn everything at school, because after all isn't that the teachers job?

We have to study on our own, and besides if we have the Holy Spirit who Jesus said would teach us all things, then there is an untapped resource that many people are not using. I for one would hate to stand before God one day and have to answer for what I learned about His Kingdom and say, "Well I went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays the Pastor just didn't teach me everything." I don't think that will go over very well with God, do you?

So crack open your Bible and begin to read it. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you things, believing that He will and before long you will be learning all about God's Kingdom. The really cool thing is when God has been showing you things out of the Bible and you go to church and the Pastor is talking about the things that God has already showed you, that's pretty awesome!

So crack the book, and let's learn about God from God too...Shalom!

What If Jesus Did Return Today?

There is a man who has made headlines this week by stating that Jesus will return today at 6PM. (Now I'm not sure what time zone that it will be either, I'm not sure he said that part.) There have been all kinds of comments made about his prediction, and since he also predicted that this would happen in 1994 and it didn't, I don't hold out a lot of hope for him to be correct this time either.

What I have been pondering however is would I do things differently if I actually did know that Jesus was coming back at 6PM tonight? And that answer is yes. I wouldn't be going out and partying and running up credit card debts, I would be doing everything in my power to let as many people as possible know so that they too would be in the catching away of the church.

I probably wouldn't be tempted to waste my time on such trivial things as poor attitudes or withholding love from those who need it. I'm for sure that my last little bit of time here on the planet would be spent in such a way as to bring glory and honor to my Father God, not to heap more hedonistic pleasures on myself.

Why is it then, that I don't do that all the time now? I mean, I'm not a true hedonist in the sense of the word. (Definition: A person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life; a pleasure seeker. In case you were unaware of what that means.) But I do believe that we all seek a little pleasure in our lives don't we? I'm not saying that we shouldn't enjoy a little pleasure in our lives once in a while, but are we truly living for God if we spend more time living for ourselves? It's just a thought.

I think I'll spend less time wondering if in fact Jesus will return tonight, and more time on how I can give to those that are around me. Maybe forgo a little pleasure for myself to bring a little joy into the lives of others. So while I don't believe that Jesus will return at 6PM tonight, I think I should start to live like He may. Well there's that...get 'em up folks, we've got a job to do!

I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart

Last night at my church, we experienced a time in the Presence of God unlike the which I've not seen in a while. Our Associate Pastor Chad preached a sermon about joy, and how we as Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet, yet most days if there is any joy in our hearts, we have forgotten to notify our faces.

Joy is not an emotion, it is a fruit of

the Spirit. And as Chad said last night, an orange tree doesn't have to work to produce oranges, they just form naturally. Now there are things that you can do with the orange tree to make it's fruit become larger and more succulent, you can add fertilizer and prune the tree.

And just as it is possible to do that with a natural orange tree, we can also do that to ourselves spiritually. We can add fertilizer to our hearts, through reading God's Word and prayer. We can also do that by helping others when they are in need. As Christians, we are suppose to be faith people, and in last night's service I was made aware of how far from faith I have been lately. There have been things in my life that have brought stress, confusion and strife, and instead of doing what I've learned and been taught all of my Christian life, I just laid down and let the enemy run rough shod over me. Well, no more.

Life is hard, that is a fact. Life is good, and that also is a fact. These two things at times seem to be at odds with each other whenever we try and reconcile the two into our daily lives. See, being a Christian doesn't mean that we float around on flowery beds of ease, not at all. The early day saints had it rough, Roman occupation, being chased out of cities for spreading the truth of Jesus and what He had done. That was definitely not an easy life.

We are instructed in Scripture that it is the joy of the Lord that is our strength. (Nehemiah 8:10) And Jesus told us that in Him, we might have peace or joy. (John 16:33) So joy should be a mainstay staple in the Christian life. I wonder then why it isn't always? It is a choice that we have to make to overlook the things in our lives that cause us to not be joyful, and decide to be joyful in spite of what the circumstances tell us.

This is not always easy, and it appears that this is the thing that the Lord is instructing me in at this point in my life. Now I'm not complaining because I know in the end it will be for the benefit of me and my family. So now I will pick up the joy that is in my heart, which is my strength and I will put it on my face so that those around me can see the fruit of joy begin to blossom in my life.

Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!

Is This Your Battle To Fight?

I was talking with a friend the other day. He had called me to ask my opinion about a situation that was going on in his business. Without going into the particulars, and naming names, suffice it to say that my friend is a Christian business man, and his employee is not a Christian.

As we talked, he told me that he was going to have to fire the employee, and that he didn't want that to cause this man to not come to Christ as a result. We talked a little more, and I told him that he really needed to seperate the two issues, one, the fact that he wanted this young man to be saved (a noble thing to be sure) and two the fact that he was not doing the job that he was hired to do.

As I have thought about this a little bit more today, it got me to wondering if we actually take on battles that really we haven't been called to fight. I know that there have been times where I felt like I needed to jump in and try and save the day, but did I actually? I mean if I took the time to stop and search my heart asking the Father, I might have been better off.

I'm pretty sure that some of the things that I feel are all important and need doing, the Father would say otherwise. It's not always my fight, sometimes these things just get in the way of what Jesus would actually have us to do. I think sometimes the enemy brings things to us to battle that aren't our fight, just to distract us from what the Father really wants.

Anyway, that's just a random thought for the day...keep your sword up...strength and honor........