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!

There And Back Again...A David's Journey

I don't know if you've ever read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien before, but if you have you know the pure joy of the story about a little hobbit who gets swept up into an adventure of a lifetime and comes to realize that there is lot more to him than he ever imagined.

The story is set in a fantastical land where dwarves, elves, men, dragons and a whole host of other very inventive characters live. But what I find the most intriguing, is that Tolkien uses characters which are in fact make believe, yet which have the very same personality traits that you would find in all the kinds of people that we come across in our daily lives.

I finished reading The Hobbit earlier this year, but when I saw the first pictures of the actors who are playing some of the dwarves in their costumes, for the upcoming Hobbit movie that Peter Jackson (The writer, producer & director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.) is making, I was blown away and decided that perhaps I should read it once again.

I can honestly say that this is the one book (Besides the Bible.) that I can pick up and read and immediately I am swept up into the story, and no matter how many times I read it I enjoy it just as much as the very first time that I read it. Not many books can lay claim to that in my library, but this one sure does.

A couple of years ago, I read the book with the mindset of really following the main character Bilbo Baggins. What I mean by that is that every time as I was reading the story and it involved Bilbo, I watched his reactions, his demeanor and what he was thinking about himself a the time. While I did this, a very interesting thing happened, I began to see Bilbo as a type and shadow of my Christian walk with God. Now I know that this is not a Christian book in the sense of using chapter and verse, but the Lord did use it to show me some things about myself. And if he could use a talking donkey in the Bible, why not a Hobbit in another book?

Since I don't want to spoil the story for any of you that perhaps have not read this book, I will not tell you what I found out. If you are curious to know, email me at godsfirstknight@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to tell you. The first of two movies is due to be released in 2012 click here to find out more about that. Let me just conclude by saying, if you have not read this book, then I highly recommend it. If you have read it, then what about picking it back up and giving it another read? I think you'll be glad you did.

Know Thyself, And To Thyself Be True

Something that I have learned from experience, is that no matter who you are, God can use you. I had a conversation with a person who had entered into a new phase of ministry not too long ago. As we talked, I asked them how they were finding their new role to be, to which they replied, "I've not been to bible school, so I can't really do much." (I'm paraphrasing the conversation here.) I will say that this sent up red flags in my mind however, and that "Don't tell me!" spirit on the inside of me began to rise up.

Many years ago I contemplated going to bible school. I sought the Lord concerning whether or not I should go, and in a comical way (I love it when the Lord does that.) He answered my prayers through a travelling minister who came to our church. This man operating through the gifts of the Spirit said to me, "Just as I've used ignorant and unlearned men before, I will use you." There was a lot of laughter, and even the minister was a little taken aback by what the Lord said through him, but that word from God answered my prayer about bible school, and I've been used by God ever since.

One thing that I've noted over the years is this thought that if a person hasn't been formally trained by attending bible school, then they don't have as much to offer the body of Christ. And please understand me, I'm not saying that people shouldn't attend a bible school, they should do whatever the Lord leads them to do, they just shouldn't think they are not as capable if they haven't attended bible school.

Look at the men that Jesus chose as His closest disciples. These men didn't appear to have formal religious training. They were; fishermen, tax collectors, a doctor, a thief, etc. Yet Jesus saw something in each of these men and He called them to follow Him and become His disciples. And it is in this, (Becoming a disciple of Jesus.) where you will find those who are doing the will of God. It is following Jesus as a disciple that is the most important thing, and that does not always include going to bible school.

I think so many people have been cheated out of their place in the Kingdom of God because of them thinking that since they are not formally trained, they cannot do much for Jesus. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher and our Guide. He is the One Who instructs us, and that can be done from your living room floor while you read the Bible and pray. God speaks to the hearts of men, and has been since the beginning of time, if you are willing to take the time and listen for Him to do so.

If God is telling you to go to bible school that's great, you should go and give it everything you've got. But if He isn't saying that to you, don't feel that you aren't able to do anything for His Kingdom. Find out what it is that He has for you to do and go and do that with all of your heart. Just know who it is you are, and then be true to that, not short changing yourself in the process.

God will use you if you will let Him. I guess my question to you is, will you let Him? Get 'em up folks, there is a whole world of people who needs us to help them out there, so stop wondering if you can do anything and let God show you that you can!

What About You Dad, Are You Causing Your Family To Sin?

I was reading in my Bible this morning in the book of 1 Kings and saw something in verse 26 that while I have read numerous times, the Holy Spirit brought out a level of meaning that I had not seen before. It says: "He (The current King of Israel.) did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit."

The thought came to me that a king can cause his subjects to sin, and a father can also lead his family to sin. Now let me tell you, that made me sit up and take notice. I've been on this journey of discovering what a true authentic man of God is for quite some time now, and today I think I've put another piece of the puzzle into place. I don't have a complete picture yet, but it is coming more and more into focus all the time.

As fathers, we lead our families in the way that God wants us to go, if we are doing it correctly. This can be a little bit overwhelming if we will let it however. And the reason that it can become overwhelming is if in fact we are trying to do this on our own. The more we lean on our own understanding of things, the more we will become stressed when things get tough. You see, we were never made to figure everything out on our own. If that were the case, then why did God say that if we lacked wisdom we should ask Him for some? (James 1:5)

What I think is one of the biggest problems that men have, is this tendency to isolate themselves and think that they should be able to handle any situation that comes along. Then when they fail (And eventually, they will.) that failure sends them into a downward spiral that causes them to go even more into isolation and the failures come even faster.

We were never meant to do this alone, and when we do, the leading of our families goes awry and they begin to do things on their own. We, as men, are the source for all the needs our families have. Our source as men, is God. So when our family has a need they bring it to us, and we in turn bring it to the Father, and He supplies our need so that we can supply theirs. If we are alone in this, then we have no source, and when our family brings their need to us, our supply gets depleted and we fall into sin.

By our example, our family then falls into sin as well, and before you know it, you have led your family into sin, just as some of the kings in the Bible led Israel astray and after other gods. It's insidious, and something that the enemy has been using for a very long time. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

What we as men have to do, is to lean more and more on the Holy Spirit as our helper, asking God to reveal to us what our next step is. We need to let our families see us pray, and ask for help. We need to let them see where our help comes from, and in doing so they will begin to have faith to seek His help as well. Fathers are responsible to teach their children about God, this does not mean you have to have a set devotion time every day. (Something that is terribly difficult in our fast paced world nowadays.)

Just make the most of all the time you have with your children. Teach them Scripture as you drive to sporting events, have them read a passage from the Bible as you're driving them to school, or to a friend's house. Pray together (And keep it short.), ask them what they are needing from the Lord and agree with them about it. Most of all however, as fathers let your kids see that you love your bride, kiss her, hug her and make a game out of grossing your kids out with your affection.

Men, we don't have to lead our families into sin, if we will keep ourselves centered on what we are supposed to do, be humble to ask God for help and be transparent with our brides and kids, they will be transformed into what they are supposed to be for God. So men, get 'em up and let's go lead our families into the Kingdom!

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!

Settling Accounts, King David & The Godfather

One of my favorite movies is The Godfather. It is a dark tale about the mafia and the nefarious underworld in which they live true, but the thing that I love about this movie is not that, but the story Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola tell about the family.

What I found interesting this morning as I was reading in 1 Kings 2 about the death of King David and his final words to his son Solomon, was a parallel I'd never seen before. King David instructs his son to remain close to God, to follow in all of His ways, and to stay true to the law of Moses with all of his heart and soul, so that there will always be someone from the house of David sitting on the throne of Israel.

But then in verse 5 David says, "And there is something else..." and he begins to talk about some of the men who had caused problems for him. He tells Solomon to, "Do what you think is best." As I was reading this, a scene from the Godfather came to mind. Michael Corleone and his father are sitting in the garden talking about things that are to come in the very near future.

VITO CORLEONE:

So - Barzini will move against you first. He'll set up a meeting with someone that you absolutely trust - guaranteeing your safety. And at that meeting, you'll be assassinated.

(Later) Now listen - whoever comes to you with this Barzini meeting - he's the traitor don't forget that.

Then after the death of his father, Michael Corleone proceeds to take out the heads of the five families. It was an interesting thing for me this morning to see King David as an old man telling his son what to do after he was gone, and Vito Corleone instructing his son Michael in very much the same manner. Two powerful men, settling accounts with men who had done their fathers wrong.

Who would have ever thought that I would have seen something from the Bible like that in the movie The Godfather? Strange I know, but then strange is what works for me. Well there's that...strength and honor....

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!

Shut Your Mouth!

There is an interesting story about John the Baptist's dad Zechariah found in the book of Luke 1. As he was burning incense in the temple, an angel of God appeared to him, telling him that his wife Elizabeth was going to bear a son, and then gave him instructions about the things that John was to do and not do.

The angel was Gabriel, and he tells Zechariah that his prayer has been answered and that he will have a son. Wow, that's cool, how would you like to get the answer for your prayer delivered by Gabriel? Anyway, Zechariah listens to what Gabriel is telling him, then answers him by saying, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is along in age." It is at this point that Gabriel says, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time."

Zechariah did what a lot of us do, he chose not to believe the Word of God and what it was saying to him. He did not believe Gabriel's words, and consequently was mute until the time of John's birth. We have a choice just like Zechariah did, each and every time God shows us something in the Bible. We can either choose to believe it or not believe it. The only difference is that we don't have an angel shutting our mouths to keep us from speaking words of doubt and unbelief.

The Kingdom of God works on this principle; you believe it, and speak it and it will come to pass. In Romans 10:9 - 10 we see that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Because it is by believing in our hearts that we are made right with God, and it is by confessing with our mouths that we are saved. This is how everything works in the Kingdom of God, we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths and we will have what we say.

The interesting thing is that people want to put everything off on God, and the reason they don't have what they desire is because it is just not His will for their life. The thing that really bothers me about this line of reasoning, is that they don't understand what His will is for their life, and if they don't get something, or see an answer to a prayer they attribute that to the fact that God must not want them to have it. Never mind what the words are that are coming out of their mouths, that part just doesn't figure into the equation for them.

For instance, let's say that I pray for the Lord to help me out of a financial bind that I've gotten myself into. I see in Scripture that it says that God will supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) Then after I pray and ask Him to help me, I begin to talk about how hard things are, that the economy is bad, my needs aren't being met and I don't know how we're going to make it. What I have done in effect is basically undo all of my praying and believing. Truthfully if I do that, (And I have to be quite honest with you.) I am not believing what the Scriptures say. And so I am getting what I say, not what I pray.

It is really simple to know God's will for our lives, it's in the Scriptures. We just have to choose to believe it and then act on it with our faith. Remember faith is believing what the Bible says is true contrary to what our five physical senses tell us. We're called believers, because that is what we do, believe. But we can't discount our part in all of this, saying the right things, and not just speaking words of doubt and unbelief.

If we can learn this one thing, I believe we will see huge growth in our spiritual lives...I for one need to learn this better, and that's what I'm going to work on this week, watching what I say! Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom this week!

Could It Have Been?

Many were the days as a young boy that I spent in the backyard of my parent's home fending off dragons and rescuing fair maidens form evil men of old. Much like Don Quixote's windmill, I had an old, gigantic oak tree that served to feel the brunt of my wrath. Many were the leaves that fell to the ground as dragon's scales slowly giving way to the behemoth's soft underbelly. I always vanquished my foe, and rescued the maiden, yet the beast always returned to challenge me the next day.

One of the saddest days of my life was the day I realized that I really was too old to continue fighting imaginary dragons, and hung up my sword and shield. You may have had a similar experience, where the realization that adulthood was near and you would have to leave all of your childish dreams behind. I hated to leave the nobler days of knighthood behind me; it was one of the toughest things to lose in my childhood. Little did I know that a mere twenty-five years later I would begin to re-visit some of those thoughts and dreams of my youth.

Knights of old have always fascinated me. I don't know if it is the swords, the chain mail or just the ideals they stood for, but I have always found them interesting. I always wanted to be the knight that fought against overwhelming odds, with truth as my shield dispensing righteousness with my sword and triumphing over every evil enemy all the while winning the heart of a fair maiden. Any movie with swords and knights seemed to call to me saying, "Come join us in our noble adventures."

I remember my sword, which in my mind's eye always gleamed with the shine of polished silver with gold inlaid in the handle, but which in reality was made of wood. That sword was my constant companion and I was quick to dispense justice to any brigand who dared behave in any manner unworthy of the crown.

There was a time when I wondered if I had been born into the wrong time, and that maybe I should have been born during the era of knights and kings. Then one day I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and received the free gift of salvation and realized that He had a plan for my life and it could not have been fulfilled during that time period, but had to be in this present day.

As the Spirit of God told Jeremiah, "Before you were formed in your mother's belly I knew you." (Jeremiah 1:5) It was by accepting Jesus as my Lord that I was removed from the kingdom of darkness and placed into the Kingdom of Light. I went from not having a King, to having one in a moment of time.

One of the things that I find curiously odd is that the Holy Spirit moved on James the king of England to have the Bible translated so that all men and women would be able to read God's Word. This was done during the time when knights roamed the European countryside. I mean God could have chosen any time to move upon someone to translate the Bible into a common tongue, why did He choose that time?

Could it be because that what the knights of that time stood for were very similar to the attributes that God wants His men to achieve? After all when God talks about the armor of God in Ephesians, His equipment list is that of a knight's isn't it? (Ephesians 6:10 - 18) This excites me to think that perhaps there is more here than a little boy's fantasy about slaying dragons and saving damsels in distress?

Maybe, just maybe God has a plan for us as men and we were closer to understanding it when we were ten playing in our back yard. Perhaps that wasn't as much playing, as it really was preparation for the lives that He wants us to live, the lives of knights of the realm, His Realm.

Well suit up then men, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!