1/26/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: 1st Corinthians 13:13 " And now these three remain: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love."
If we could do only one thing to make us more like Jesus, what would it be? Would we heal the sick and hopeless? Would we teach others about the kingdom of heaven? Would we shoot down the Pharisees and their self-righteous attitude? Well, I believe that we all do have the chance to be more like Jesus in the way we live our lives. How? By aligning our heart to be more like the heart of Jesus, always putting love above all else. Why are we so quick to judge others when Jesus himself never judged others? In fact, He warned against the consequences of such actions in Matthew 7:1-2 " Do not judge others, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Jesus loved us so much that " while we were yet sinners, He died for us." He never let our sinful nature stop him from loving us. If there is one thing that I wish I did better in my life it would be to align my heart more like the heart of JESUS. I wish I wasn't always looking at my situations from such a selfish standpoint. I wish I was more loving towards those that despise me, like he taught on the sermon on the mount. I wish I wasn't so needy, fully capable of realizing that His love and grace were truly sufficient for me. I wish I didn't hold grudges like Jesus didn't. I wish I could look at every situation with my heart in a place of love before I spoke or acted. I fail a lot at this and it bothers me. For I have seen the peace and grace that does indeed fall upon me when I respond to various situations in my life in a manner that would make Jesus proud. Those are the times when I feel the best, the most liberated from the bondage of my own worldly instincts. We live in a world where an eye for an eye is the mantra for survival. Jesus taught that approach leaves everyone blind. He taught forgiveness while we seek retribution. I get mad when people don't agree with my beliefs. How stupid! I should pray for them and try harder to love them even more. I get upset at the political games that are taking place in our country and the pain that is being inflicted on the country I love by a few who have chosen to gratify themselves with the power they have been given, rather than to serve the ones who elected them. Who do I think I am? I should be more aligned with Christ in these thoughts and realize that as He did that we need to pray for our leaders. Besides this isn't our home anyway so why should I let it bother me so much. As Philippians 3:20 points out " but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Focusing on the character of Christ leads to a loving response and a grateful heart in all circumstances. I just wish I could always be aligned with him, and get myself and my emotions out of the way more often. That is my goal and I strive towards it, hoping each day to be a little bit more aligned with the heart of my Savior. Love is the greatest of all that will remain, now and for eternity. That He loved me enough to die for me on the cross for forgiveness of my sins is the greatest love I will ever know. His love is perfect in all ways and manners. Mine is not. I pray to be more aligned with His loving heart and to cherish each person He brings into my life the way He cherished me at Calvary. Amen.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Our Weakness, His Strength
1/19/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: " Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."
We are all born with unique abilities. What comes naturally fore some, might be nearly impossible for others. Some people have a knack for selling, some for teaching, some for math and others for science. Some are athletically gifted, some are Spirit led. God gave us unique gifts because He had a specific goal in mind for each one of us when He created us in our mother's womb and He needs us to fulfill our role. Likewise, we also have weaknesses. Things that leave us vulnerable to destroying our lives if we are not able to recognize them and to reign them in. Many people have similar weaknesses, areas in our lives where we are easy pray for the evil one if we are not especially careful. Most, including myself, have struggled with one or more of these things at various times throughout our lives: Lust, insecurity, fear, greed, gossip, pride, dishonesty, substance abuse, ungratefulness, the list goes on and on. I have struggled with each of these areas at one time or another in my life. What truly matters though is our we willing to recognize our weaknesses, the areas where we are especially vulnerable at any given time, and to realize that we may not have the strength to deal with them on our own? Our personality flaws can be a powerful motivation for good or evil in our lives, depending on our response. A proclivity for sin can ruin your life or it can drive you to utter dependence on God. The fact that God is mighty to save us from our weaknesses, our sin, should be the joy we focus on when we realize that we are too weak to deal with certain things on our own. The Apostle Paul understood this so well that he had gotten to the point where he had learned to rejoice in his sufferings, for when he was weak, he knew that he must depend fully on God and that God alone was strong enough to pull him through any ordeal. In the Bible verse of the day above, the term mighty to save should give us great joy and comfort. We think of mighty in our world today in terms of brute strength and physical prowess. But in the original Hebrew text, the word for mighty is yasha, which indicates freeing, delivering, defending, preserving, rescuing, saving, victorious. In the grandest sense, yasha means that if we trust in the Lord, God will win. He wins the very lives of the people he sets out to rescue from harm. When we think of God in this way, we grow in our faith and get excited about what He can do for those who put their trust in Him. I have found many times in my life how weak I was to deal with certain sins in my life. My initial response was either one of pride, saying I could find or way to deal with it, or to try and downplay the significance of the very sin that was holding me in bondage. I have found that to be a recipe for disaster. Sin never sleeps and it's consequences always stay longer than we want them to stay, and always cost more than we want to pay. Make no mistake, sin can ruin your life. It can leave you broken, destitute and alone. Putting our faith in God's strength and Him alone can lead us to a new, better life free of those areas of our life that we are too weak to control. He alone is mighty to save. He will free us and deliver us from our temptations if we turn to Him with utter dependence. Praise be to God for His power is made great in our weakness.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: " Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."
We are all born with unique abilities. What comes naturally fore some, might be nearly impossible for others. Some people have a knack for selling, some for teaching, some for math and others for science. Some are athletically gifted, some are Spirit led. God gave us unique gifts because He had a specific goal in mind for each one of us when He created us in our mother's womb and He needs us to fulfill our role. Likewise, we also have weaknesses. Things that leave us vulnerable to destroying our lives if we are not able to recognize them and to reign them in. Many people have similar weaknesses, areas in our lives where we are easy pray for the evil one if we are not especially careful. Most, including myself, have struggled with one or more of these things at various times throughout our lives: Lust, insecurity, fear, greed, gossip, pride, dishonesty, substance abuse, ungratefulness, the list goes on and on. I have struggled with each of these areas at one time or another in my life. What truly matters though is our we willing to recognize our weaknesses, the areas where we are especially vulnerable at any given time, and to realize that we may not have the strength to deal with them on our own? Our personality flaws can be a powerful motivation for good or evil in our lives, depending on our response. A proclivity for sin can ruin your life or it can drive you to utter dependence on God. The fact that God is mighty to save us from our weaknesses, our sin, should be the joy we focus on when we realize that we are too weak to deal with certain things on our own. The Apostle Paul understood this so well that he had gotten to the point where he had learned to rejoice in his sufferings, for when he was weak, he knew that he must depend fully on God and that God alone was strong enough to pull him through any ordeal. In the Bible verse of the day above, the term mighty to save should give us great joy and comfort. We think of mighty in our world today in terms of brute strength and physical prowess. But in the original Hebrew text, the word for mighty is yasha, which indicates freeing, delivering, defending, preserving, rescuing, saving, victorious. In the grandest sense, yasha means that if we trust in the Lord, God will win. He wins the very lives of the people he sets out to rescue from harm. When we think of God in this way, we grow in our faith and get excited about what He can do for those who put their trust in Him. I have found many times in my life how weak I was to deal with certain sins in my life. My initial response was either one of pride, saying I could find or way to deal with it, or to try and downplay the significance of the very sin that was holding me in bondage. I have found that to be a recipe for disaster. Sin never sleeps and it's consequences always stay longer than we want them to stay, and always cost more than we want to pay. Make no mistake, sin can ruin your life. It can leave you broken, destitute and alone. Putting our faith in God's strength and Him alone can lead us to a new, better life free of those areas of our life that we are too weak to control. He alone is mighty to save. He will free us and deliver us from our temptations if we turn to Him with utter dependence. Praise be to God for His power is made great in our weakness.
Monday, January 9, 2012
God is in the resume building business
1/9/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Psalm 37:3-4 " Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
God is in the resume building business. He is always using our past experiences to help prepare us for future opportunities. The Bible is full of such stories. God uses the failings and the successes of our lives to prepare us for what we need to achieve for His Kingdom work here on earth and in Heaven. 2nd Samuel 23:20-21 tells the story of a valiant warrior named Benaiah, who kills 2 of Moab's mightiest warriors, and then kills an Egyptian giant with his own spear and finally kills a lion in a pit with his bare hands. All of this was preparing him for the day when he would become head of King David's body guard regimen. David himself was being prepared to be a king when he learned to place all of his trust in the God who delivered him from the giant Goliath, giving him the courage to run to the battlefield with only a slingshot in his hand. Moses was a reluctant leader who had been prepared by God just at the right time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Noah was prepared by God to withstand the ridicule and shame that came from his culture for building an Arc in the middle of the Desert. The stories go on and on. One thing remains the same. God sees the big picture when we often times cannot. He is preparing us throughout our lives to play a part in his picture show, and we need to trust in His plan, even when it seems scary and impossible to believe. Thankfully, God is as patient as we are stubborn, and He will wait for us to come around because He knows how important it is that each of us fulfill the divine role that He has in mind for us. I look at my own life and often wonder how my past experiences are preparing me for some future opportunities. I must admit that at many times I wonder where exactly I am headed in my life. I have many things that I would like to accomplish, and yet can already feel the reality of time constraints starting to pinch in on some of my dreams. I must stop myself at those moments and recalibrate the image, because my understanding is so infinitesimal compared to the size of His power and His purpose. Isaiah sums this up well in 55:8-9 when he says " for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." My job is to humbly admit that I have no real understanding of how the big picture is being worked out through all of my little life experiences. I must truly trust, by faith, that the God of the universe is going to be able to make it all come together at the perfect time for His glory. My fears can quickly get in the way of His plans if I don't catch myself and learn to continually seek Him and trust His plan for my life. When I get anxious, it is because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE HAS IN MIND! But guess what, He doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that He uses the mystery of our individual journeys as His main tool to build a deeper faith within us. If He showed us the ending of the movie at the beginning, life would loose all its mystery and intrigue. I think that learning to embrace that uncertainty is one of the hardest, yet most important parts of our Christian walk. It is called faith! When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are granted eternal certainty of being with Him, but we are not granted situational or circumstantial certainty in any manner. We must learn to see His hand at work in all facets of our life and to trust that all things are being worked out for His good. A selfish attitude around our desire to be in control, leads to anxiousness and fear. A selfless attitude where we trust in our Savior for all provisions and keep our eyes on Him leads to a " peace of God that transcends all understanding" and helps us to cope with the storms of life. I struggle with having the desire to constantly live this way and the inability to do so. I still am a slave to the culture I live in and often feel like I am being torn in two by the desire to live for Christ, and the need to find acceptance in a culture that is 180 degrees opposed to His teaching. We live in a narcissistic world, where self-centeredness is rampant and where the kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. The battles that rage between spirit and flesh are alive and fierce. I pray that God has been building my resume for the times that are to come so that I may be prepared, and understand exactly what is needed. When courage is required,God needs His men to be the dependable ones. That fact has remained the same throughout the history of the Bible and God has always used their lives to prepare them for action. May my resume be ready at just the right time!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Psalm 37:3-4 " Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
God is in the resume building business. He is always using our past experiences to help prepare us for future opportunities. The Bible is full of such stories. God uses the failings and the successes of our lives to prepare us for what we need to achieve for His Kingdom work here on earth and in Heaven. 2nd Samuel 23:20-21 tells the story of a valiant warrior named Benaiah, who kills 2 of Moab's mightiest warriors, and then kills an Egyptian giant with his own spear and finally kills a lion in a pit with his bare hands. All of this was preparing him for the day when he would become head of King David's body guard regimen. David himself was being prepared to be a king when he learned to place all of his trust in the God who delivered him from the giant Goliath, giving him the courage to run to the battlefield with only a slingshot in his hand. Moses was a reluctant leader who had been prepared by God just at the right time to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Noah was prepared by God to withstand the ridicule and shame that came from his culture for building an Arc in the middle of the Desert. The stories go on and on. One thing remains the same. God sees the big picture when we often times cannot. He is preparing us throughout our lives to play a part in his picture show, and we need to trust in His plan, even when it seems scary and impossible to believe. Thankfully, God is as patient as we are stubborn, and He will wait for us to come around because He knows how important it is that each of us fulfill the divine role that He has in mind for us. I look at my own life and often wonder how my past experiences are preparing me for some future opportunities. I must admit that at many times I wonder where exactly I am headed in my life. I have many things that I would like to accomplish, and yet can already feel the reality of time constraints starting to pinch in on some of my dreams. I must stop myself at those moments and recalibrate the image, because my understanding is so infinitesimal compared to the size of His power and His purpose. Isaiah sums this up well in 55:8-9 when he says " for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." My job is to humbly admit that I have no real understanding of how the big picture is being worked out through all of my little life experiences. I must truly trust, by faith, that the God of the universe is going to be able to make it all come together at the perfect time for His glory. My fears can quickly get in the way of His plans if I don't catch myself and learn to continually seek Him and trust His plan for my life. When I get anxious, it is because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HE HAS IN MIND! But guess what, He doesn't owe me or anyone else an explanation. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that He uses the mystery of our individual journeys as His main tool to build a deeper faith within us. If He showed us the ending of the movie at the beginning, life would loose all its mystery and intrigue. I think that learning to embrace that uncertainty is one of the hardest, yet most important parts of our Christian walk. It is called faith! When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are granted eternal certainty of being with Him, but we are not granted situational or circumstantial certainty in any manner. We must learn to see His hand at work in all facets of our life and to trust that all things are being worked out for His good. A selfish attitude around our desire to be in control, leads to anxiousness and fear. A selfless attitude where we trust in our Savior for all provisions and keep our eyes on Him leads to a " peace of God that transcends all understanding" and helps us to cope with the storms of life. I struggle with having the desire to constantly live this way and the inability to do so. I still am a slave to the culture I live in and often feel like I am being torn in two by the desire to live for Christ, and the need to find acceptance in a culture that is 180 degrees opposed to His teaching. We live in a narcissistic world, where self-centeredness is rampant and where the kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. The battles that rage between spirit and flesh are alive and fierce. I pray that God has been building my resume for the times that are to come so that I may be prepared, and understand exactly what is needed. When courage is required,God needs His men to be the dependable ones. That fact has remained the same throughout the history of the Bible and God has always used their lives to prepare them for action. May my resume be ready at just the right time!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Beginnings
1/03/2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 2nd Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come."
When the calendar hits January 1st, it is a new beginning. Hope permeates the air as we look forward to a clean slate and a fresh chance to make the best of the talents that we have been given. The past year is soon forgotten, and we strive to make an impact given the new beginning we have been given. We hope to learn from what we did well last year and also from what we did not do so well. People set all kinds of goals and resolutions to seek to make improvements in their lives. I am in the process of starting a new consulting company and feel a tremendous amount of energy and focus around my new endeavor. But I realize that as Psalm 127:1 states " Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stand guard in vain." See I am limited in my power and am susceptible to the fears of my heart. But in God, when I put my trust in Him and lean not on my own understanding, my power is made infinitely more strong. As a matter of fact, as the Bible verse of the day above states, all things are made new in Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Him provides the ultimate new beginning. For me, all the pain and disappointment of past relationships and my own shortcomings were washed away when I first came to know and accept Jesus as my Savior. In my own weakness, I found new strength in Him. I am still amazed at how since that day I still feel like every day is a new beginning, as I get a new chance to glorify Him who is worthy of my praise. When my focus is on Christ, and I am humble and prayerful before Him, He guides my path and leads me to many new things. On my own I can have occasional good ideas, but with Him I can have God ideas. There is an unseen force that guides things all around me and helps me to see new opportunities. Where before I was blind, now I can truly see. I can see things as Providences, rather than as coincidences. I can see new opportunities, and positive results, where before I could only see challenges and my own fears to stifle them. Christ is the ultimate new beginning because in Him, everything is made new. Each and every day is a gift to be an effective steward with the gifts He has given us and with the opportunities he brings our way. What we do with those opportunities is our gift back to Him. May 2012 be a year of new beginnings, as we draw closer to our Lord and Savior on a daily basis and seek His ways. For He will surely make our path straight and His wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing we desire can compare with it. Those who seek His wisdom, will surely find it. May you seek it will all of your heart. Amen!
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 2nd Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come."
When the calendar hits January 1st, it is a new beginning. Hope permeates the air as we look forward to a clean slate and a fresh chance to make the best of the talents that we have been given. The past year is soon forgotten, and we strive to make an impact given the new beginning we have been given. We hope to learn from what we did well last year and also from what we did not do so well. People set all kinds of goals and resolutions to seek to make improvements in their lives. I am in the process of starting a new consulting company and feel a tremendous amount of energy and focus around my new endeavor. But I realize that as Psalm 127:1 states " Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stand guard in vain." See I am limited in my power and am susceptible to the fears of my heart. But in God, when I put my trust in Him and lean not on my own understanding, my power is made infinitely more strong. As a matter of fact, as the Bible verse of the day above states, all things are made new in Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Him provides the ultimate new beginning. For me, all the pain and disappointment of past relationships and my own shortcomings were washed away when I first came to know and accept Jesus as my Savior. In my own weakness, I found new strength in Him. I am still amazed at how since that day I still feel like every day is a new beginning, as I get a new chance to glorify Him who is worthy of my praise. When my focus is on Christ, and I am humble and prayerful before Him, He guides my path and leads me to many new things. On my own I can have occasional good ideas, but with Him I can have God ideas. There is an unseen force that guides things all around me and helps me to see new opportunities. Where before I was blind, now I can truly see. I can see things as Providences, rather than as coincidences. I can see new opportunities, and positive results, where before I could only see challenges and my own fears to stifle them. Christ is the ultimate new beginning because in Him, everything is made new. Each and every day is a gift to be an effective steward with the gifts He has given us and with the opportunities he brings our way. What we do with those opportunities is our gift back to Him. May 2012 be a year of new beginnings, as we draw closer to our Lord and Savior on a daily basis and seek His ways. For He will surely make our path straight and His wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing we desire can compare with it. Those who seek His wisdom, will surely find it. May you seek it will all of your heart. Amen!
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