Holy Is The Lamb

I love worship music that moves me. It moves me when it says what I am feeling and helps me to say what I am feeling even better. I love it when I find that song I can play over and over and over and over and I just feel like I am sitting in the throne room of God. This is that song for me right now. It's from a guy named Coffey. Truly gifted and I know his career is gonna take off.

Holy Is The Lamb.m...

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Better Off Dead

"Better off dead." That is a morbid statement when you really stop to think about it. But for those of us who know Christ and have asked Him in to lead our lives, it isn't morbid anymore when you think about what that entails for us. Now this is not a cry to go out and find a way to take your life or anything, these are just some of my thoughts after reading in Philippians. In the first chapter, verses 20-23, Paul says it would be a hard choice to make if he was forced to make the choice. Some days here in the world are so tough we can hardly wait to get to heaven to be with God--there will be no more of the things that make this life hard to bother us. Spending time doing things like worshipping God--things that we have a hard time finding time to do--will be what we do all day. Yet when we have those good days here in the world, the days where everything is going right, we are pumped about the progress our lives are making and we want to stay here until our work is done. That is the hard part about being able to make the kind of choice Paul was talking about in these verses. The point that was made is that wherever we are called to live, here on earth or called home to heaven, our lives should be lived to bring honor and glory to God. Whether we are trudging through the trenches here or walking on streets of gold there we need to walk in a way that is pleasing to God. Paul starts off this passage of verses by saying "I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame....and that my life will always honor God." That should resonate in all our spirits and that should be our prayer as we go through our day. We might not be home yet, but we don't want to get lost on the way.

What Really Matters

Philippians 1:9,10 NLT: 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

Isn't that what we are all looking for in every situation that we face in our lives? We want to know what really matters and how we can best serve that fact. Here Paul mentions three things that are intertwined and that I believe must be lived through together for them to be completely effective: love, knowledge and understanding. If we have those three things together working in our lives then we will truly understand what really matters. First is love because it is the greatest commandment that Jesus ever gave to us. The love we have for people needs to be tempered with the knowledge we have about people, our nature and our world that we all live in. That knowledge in turn needs to be tempered with understanding of how those things exist and affect the way that we live. The Message version of this passage says that Paul's prayer is this: "that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."

I think that is an awesome statement: "use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not just sentimental gush." I think oftentimes when we are told to love our neighbor the first thing that comes to our minds is the sentimental gush that Paul is talking about. Loving someone as ourselves needs to be understood before it can truly be lived. It is a hard undertaking to complete if you really think about it. By the shear definition of our innate survival intuition we are not capable of loving anymore than ourselves; once we begin thinking about the people that mean the most in our lives (spouse, children, parents, etc.) the propensity to talk about the love that we feel for them seemingly becomes mired with the sentimental gush we are talking about. If that is the case with the people we love how is it then that we can believed when we say we feel that way about our neighbors and those we do not even know?

I think that as our discipleship walk deepens with Jesus, we begin to see the people in our world like He does. We begin to feel for their souls and for their basic need to be led and to be genuinely loved unconditionally. Therein lies the key to the knowledge of our love. We begin to know why we love the way we do, because it is how we are taught to love. As the knowledge of our love grows our understanding of the people and their situations needs to increase as well. Simply knowing why we love (or why we should love) isn't enough to love, we need to understand the conditions of the people around require love regardless of their position or situation. Understanding the conditions of people doesn't equate to condoning sin or actions, it makes the sin or action understandable and thus highlights the need for an unconditional love. Jesus never passed judgement on someone who was sinful but rather He had compassion on them and ministered to their basic need for love.

It is my prayer today for me as well as for you, "that (our) love will flourish and that (we) will not only love much but well. (That we) learn to love appropriately. (That we) use (our) head(s) and test (our) feelings so that (our) love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."

My Friends In Philippi

I am reading through the book of Philippians tonight. I have read through this book times before, but tonight there is just so much that is jumping out at. I love how faithful God is. It always seems that I am in a spot in my life where I am crying out for a good word of comfort or direction and He always takes me to His word and gives it to me. I mean I can have read the passage over and over and over again a hundred times before and then read it when He leads me and it is like I am reading it for the first time thinking "I didn't know this is what it said!" He really is faithful to meet me right where I am at.

One of my favorite verses is in the first chapter of Philippians. 1:6 (NLT) "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." I like it in The Message version as well: "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. "



I like the verse in the NLT because it uses the word "finally." The word finally, to me, represents the fact there was a process involved in the undertaking of some task that had to be completed. To me it gives justice to the fact that most processes involve work that sometimes includes struggle. I know that the work that Jesus has begun in me has been a struggle at times, especially when it involved me changing. Change is not an easy thing for me, especially when I had to learn to redo things in my life after I had been decades doing them the wrong way. I had to learn to trust my destiny and life to someone else that I couldn't see. If that doesn't involve struggle then I am not sure what would.


I like the verse in The Message because it has a more celebratory feel to it. It tells of a "flourishing finish" to the work that Jesus has begun in us. When we have accomplished all that we have been called to accomplish, or we have been found faithfully working to accomplish what we have been called to accomplish when Jesus returns we will be greeted with a "flourishing finish" to our work--a celebration for a life time of work that has been successfully completed. I also like this version because it is more definitive in the words it uses to describe the author's certainty of the fact of Jesus' faithfulness to watch over His work in us. "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind..." sounds more secure in the knowledge of a fact than simply "I am certain..." To me the first method of explaining certainty is more emphatic than the second.


Beyond the wording of the verse in the two different versions, it is one of my favorite verses simply for what it says. It says that Jesus has made an investment in our lives, and just like any good investor, He is going to diligently watch the investment to make sure it accomplishes what it is supposed to. His investment is going to achieve the purpose He had planned for it. It is exciting to me to think that Jesus believes in me that much and that He cares about my success in His kingdom enough to personally watch over what I have been called to do. When I stumble He doesn't sell all the shares He has invested in me, but rather He redirects them to get me back on track to make me profitable again.

Childish

I have been accused of being childish on more than one occasion. It was probably well deserved as I have often wished I had some of my childhood and childlike instincts back. It was good to be a kid. I didn't have to deal with all this yucky adult stuff that I am facing right now. Paying bills, finding the faith to hold on to the dreams and calling God has given. Finding the faith to believe that what seems impossible is indeed possible. At least when I was a kid I knew what I was going to be when I grew up. I find myself now at 31 asking myself what I am going to do with the rest of my life. Rather I find myself asking God what He is going to do with the rest of my life. When He speaks is usually when I need that childlike faith to believe that it will all come to pass. Being a kid was great. I knew I was going to eat but didn't have to worry about where the groceries were going to come from. I knew I had a place to sleep but didn't have to worry about the mortgage that had to be paid to make sure I could have that place to sleep. I flipped on the light switch and the lights came on, I didn't think about the light bill being paid. I had new clothes to wear but didn't have to wonder what was going to be sacrificed in the budget that month to be able to have the money to buy the clothes. I want that kind of faith and trust again. In a way this is a testament to my mother, the single woman that raised three kids alone in a middle class neighborhood and kept us in the lifestyle we were always accustomed to. We knew money was tight at times but I don't think we ever really knew just how tight it was or the sacrifices she made for us to have what we had. I want to be a child again. I need that faith. I know it will all be OK because it always is. But this time I want to feel it.

"Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Matthew 18:3

How To Start a Conversation

I am reading through some of Paul's letters in the bible lately. It just finally hit me today as I began reading Colossians that he starts every letter by saying who he is in Christ and by saying that he is thankful for the people he is writing to. He also says that he is praying for them and for the work they have been called to do. I think that is awesome. I am not one that needs constant affirmation, but wouldn't it be great to know that someone is thankful for you and constantly prays for you and the work that you have been called to complete. I have learned from being a manager responsible for hundreds of people that encouragement is one of the best tools someone can use to get something accomplished. In a way Paul was like a manager to some of these brand new churches. He was reaffirming the good that they had accomplished and that they were continuing to do. He also let them know he was constantly supporting them with prayer. Amazing! Some of the best business principles and interpersonal relations techniques can be seen in the bible.

Just a random thought.
Mike

Ignored and Overlooked

Ignored and overlooked. As a kid on the playground none of us wanted to be the last kid picked for the team. None of us wanted to be passed over or passed by. We wanted to be a part of the action that was going on around us. We wanted to be a part of the group--to have something to belong to. We had a need for association. As we have grown up, has this need changed or diminished? Maybe to a degree it has, as we are more selective of the groups that we look to associate ourselves with. Thinking in terms of society, I still can't imagine one of us that wants to belong to a group that either of those two labels applies to. Overlooked for a promotion because of our gender. No that's not good. Ignored in political realms because we don't have a high voter turnout percentage. That's not a good feeling either. How about ignored because we are in prison for committing crime or worse yet crimes. What if I was in prison because I committed the same crime over and over and over and got caught each time--should I be ignored or overlooked? I don't have a job right now because I am sick. What if my life was reduced to holding a sign on the corner because I have exhausted all my other means of support? Would you ignore me because it was my fault? Ignore me because you have your own problems? Overlook me because I am overweight so I must be eating somewhere? One of the things I have heard most from people who have AIDS is that the thing they miss most is being touched. Would you let someone who is sick with AIDS die without being hugged simply because their disease carries a stigma just as big as its death sentence? Overlook them because of what they did to contract the disease? Pretty tough questions. These are roaring through my mind right now. Especially now. I don't have a job. I am not made of nor was I born into money. Yet I have so much more than I need. I have the luxury of deciding what, when and where I will eat. I hear God calling again. I know He is going to move again in my life soon. I feel it.

Matthew 25:37-40 (The Message)
"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

Brokenness

I was going through my files to see if I had a picture to help me describe brokenness. I did. It is a picture of me. I am learning more and more about myself lately. I am learning all the masks I had to wear and chose to wear. I am learning to take them off. I am learning that underneath it all I am broken. What I am learning even faster is that it is ok to be broken; in fact we are called to be broken in our discipleship walk with Christ. Like the fish and the loaves. Blessed. Broken. Given. That is my quest, my highest goal each day.

Be Blessed. Be Broken. Then be Given.

Mike

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

1Corinthians 12:7
NKJV
7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all

NLT
7A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.

MSG
7Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!

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I think that God is trying to say something to me! This is the verse that popped out on the page today in my study time. Yesterday I read that it was okay to explore to see who I was and what I was called for. Today it is reaffirmed that we all have a calling; that God has given each of us a gift that would not only benefit us but that would also benefit His entire church. Each translation says it a little different and makes it a little more clear and easier to understand. I love the Message version where it says "each person is given something to do that shows who God is." That is great! When we move in the gift that we have been called to operate in we are given the opportunity to show the world who God is. That also means though it could be something that we are not that comfortable doing; it might be something that requires us to step out of our comfort zone and trust God to move in the gift through us. I say this because if we are demonstrating who God is then we have
to be at our weakest so that He can be at His strongest. We will have had to resign our lives to His control to move the way He wants us to move to benefit His church the most. That's a lot to take in!

The Spiritual Indiana Jones

Galatians 6:4-5 MSG
4Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. 5Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
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I read this verse this morning in my study time. It hit me so hard that I had to read it a few times. This verse is telling us to make a careful exploration of who I am. Just this first part of the verse speaks volumes and answers a question I know some people struggle with constantly--you know the big question, "Who am I?" Well it may not be that dramatic, it is something some people wonder. What this verse says to me is that it is okay to not know who we are deep down, it is okay to not know what we have been called to. That is the purpose of the exploration--to find the answers to those questions. In the search for who we are along the way we will encounter what we are here for. We have all been called each according to our gifts it says in the bible. But its okay not to just naturally know what those gifts are straight away. When we were growing up we were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. We most likely had an answer depending on whatever we were currently
infatuated with. When we were in high school we were told it was okay to not know what career path we wanted to pursue when we graduated because that was what the first two years of college were for--to find out what what we were good at and had an affinity for. We were sent out to college in essence to find ourselves.

I know just the first part of this verse could do so much good for a lot of people who struggle to find their place in the kingdom of God and His body. It is okay to not know where and in what capacity you should be serving. It is okay to explore and to see where you fit best, where you can do and be your best. We are told that once we find that place we are to sink ourself in to that work. It will be easy to do so because it will feel like we are at home.

What it is not okay to do is to do nothing. We can't just sit idly by and wait for the big banner in the sky to tell us what we were created for and what our purpose in the world is. That doesn't take any exploration at all.

If you haven't already go make a careful exploration of yourself and what work you have been called to.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

If I am Me...?

Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey host the wildly popular Rick and Bubba Show, a drive-time radio broadcast that originates in Birmingham, Alabama. Animators once made a cartoon out of their two characters and invited Rick and Bubba to provide the voices. Rick was the voice of Rick, and Bubba, the voice of Bubba. Bubba, however, couldn't seem to please his producer. He suggested that Bubba change inflections, volume, and other details. Bubba grew understandably impatient. After all, he was voicing himself. He turned to the producer and objected, "If I am me, how can I mess me up?"--as told in The Cure for the Common Life, by Max Lucado

Take away point:

Be yourself. So many times we are faced with people and circumstances that try and fit us into the molds they want us to be shaped like. We have been called to be who God wants us to be. No one knows us better than us, except for God. As long as we are walking in His direction and following His voice we will be all we ever need to be.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Free....To Be a Slave

This morning I was wandering through the book of Galatians, just wondering what the Lord would say to me through His word. Usually He is faithful to bring it up pretty early with me as I am reading because I think I am developing a touch of ADD when reading :) But that was not the case--it wasn't until t he 5th chapter that the words popped out at me.

Galatians 5:13-14
13For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We have been called to freedom--not freedom to do as we please or live our lives the way that we want to, taking pleasure in all the pleasurable things of this world; rather we have been called to be free to serve each other in and through love for one another. Paul is addressing the Galatians here and he is specifically talking to those who are falling back into the bondage of the law. They were craving the law and to be a follower of it--so he met their need and summed it all up into one statement for them--Love your neighbor as yourself.

That is a powerful statement. I know there are people out there who suffer from depression and self esteem issues, but I don't fall into the category very often. I happen to love myself. I love myself almost too much sometimes. I have had to battle with selfishness since my high school age when I discovered myself. I have been selfish with my time, my energy and even my words. So to tell me that I need to love everyone else as much as I love myself is quite a big statement. Can you imagine the possibilities of loving someone as much as yourself? Or if there is difficulty in that area of self love and appreciation for you, then can you imagine loving someone else the way that you want to be loved? That is an awesome thought.

Today was a particularly good word for me. For two days God has been speaking to me about changing the course of my ministry and has laid some big ideas on my mind. This is the second day in a row that He has taken me to a place in His word that deals with what He is talking to me about. I'm listening God!

Love someone today in a way that you want to be loved!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Attitude Adjustment

1 Peter 4:1 "1So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you are willing to suffer for Christ, you have decided to stop sinning. "

I have thought about sacrifice and discipleship together ever since I was touched with the desire to take a discipleship walk with Christ and become a student of His teachings. It only seems logical that sacrifice would become a big part of the discipleship walk because you are undertaking someone else's plans for your life as opposed to your own. Naturally in this situation there are going to be things that you would want to be or do that do not fit in with the lifestyle you have decided to undertake and you will need to sacrifice these things for the sake of remaining true to your decision to become a disciple. When I read this verse this morning something else came alive in me.

I have always known in the back of my mind that discipleship would also entail some sort of suffering. My idea of discipleship has always been of the idea that the decision to become a disciple is self imposed; therefore all the parts of my life that I would need to lay to the side or sacrifice for the sake of remaining faithful to my decision would be my choice as well. I saw that line of thought this morning in a new not so positive light. When I make it my decision to sacrifice something in my life I am in essence still retaining control of my life and not completely resigning that control and decision making ability to the One that I am following. It was almost as if I decided how I was going to suffer on this walk. Christ did not have that attitude when He came to earth to walk among men. He came and did what He was called to do.

We need to have the same attitude that Christ had when He came to suffer for us. His suffering was selfless and love oriented. Peter says that when we take on this attitude we are in essence making two decisions--we are deciding to follow Christ and be led to accomplish what He has called us to do, and secondly we are deciding to stop sinning. Discipleship to Christ is the complete resignation of control of your will for your life so that you can become as Christ-like as possible and move in the direction He has called you to move in to accomplish what He has called you to accomplish. Being willing to suffer along this walk with Christ is adjusting our attitude from being selfish (no longer chasing after the desires of the flesh) to being selfless (being anxious to fulfill the will of God, and not your own, for your life).

Idle Hands...

We have all heard it before..."idle hands are the devil's playground!" When we have nothing to do, or rather when we are doing nothing, then we are more susceptible to doing just anything. What I am trying to say is that we need to be focused on something. If we are not focused then we run the risk of doing anything to keep ourselves busy. When we are not grounded in the word of God or in finding His purpose for our lives then we are in danger in doing something that is not in His will for our lives. We need to strive to do the work that He has called us to and to live the lives that we are ordained by Him to live; otherwise we are just keeping busy and not accomplishing what we we are purposed for. The other way I read that old saying is this: "The devil loves idle hands." he loves them because if they are idle then they are not working against him. They are not furthering God's kingdom and therefore are not working against the kingdom of darkness.

2 Thessalonians 3:6
6And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from any Christian who lives in idleness and does not follow the tradition of hard work we gave you. 7For you know that you ought to follow our example. We were never lazy when we were with you.

Paul tells this church to stay away from the Christians who have become idle and don't follow the tradition of work that they were taught. Being a christian should not be easy--in fact it should be the hardest thing that we have ever done in our lives. It requires us to make the hugest sacrifice we could ever make in our lives; we have been called to lay down our very lives in the advancement of the kingdom of God. Being a disciple of Christ is not something that can be done part time. It is not something that can be done passively or in a group. Being a disciple of Christ is not something that you are sucked into or a title that is automatically given. It is a very personal decision that we have to make on our own. Each of our discipleship walks with Christ is different as we are all called to accomplish different things for the kingdom of God.

The people who sit idle in the pews of the church today are a problem. The lack of activity they demonstrate is a hindrance to what the church has been called to do. Their lack of participation in the kingdom calling is more that the brothers and sisters on the front lines doing the work of God have to pick up. It only makes me wonder if they cannot hear Jesus calling "follow me!" or if they are simply ignoring it. Idleness is contagious. We can catch it by surrounding ourselves by infected people until we simply just become one of them. We can also catch it by working ourselves into weariness and burnout if we focus on those around us who are inflicted with idleness. Paul has it right when he instructs the church, those who are actively pursuing the calling that God has placed on their lives, to just steer clear of the idle.

The Purpose

I am reading through 1 Timothy today. I have a lot of questions that have been going through my mind lately and it seems that God is answering them one by one. This morning these words popped of the page at me:

"The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with a love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith." (1Timothy 1:5 NLT)

This spoke volumes to my spirit. It confirmed in me a need to preach and teach discipleship. My heart hurts for the people that are saved and then allowed to fall by the wayside and fend for themselves in terms of spiritual development. I know that each person that comes to meet my savior is called to a specific purpose in His kingdom and they need some guidance and help find out exactly what that is. Sometimes people get so concerned with increasing the number on the souls-saved-board, that they allow these new converts to get lost in the new life they have just taken on. Our goal should be to help these new brothers and sisters in Christ "be filled with a love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith."

Father let me help advance Your kingdom with a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith in you.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

A Whoopin' Biblical Style

17You have wearied the LORD with your words.
“Wearied him?” you ask. “How have we wearied him?”
You have wearied him by suggesting that the LORD favors evildoers since he does not punish them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

I know we all have done it. We see the horrible things happening in the world around us and we wonder where God is. We wonder why He hasn't stopped those bad things from happening to the innocent people--the good people. I know I do. I often wonder where the justice is when I see people get away with horrible crimes and actions. That bothers me. Well actually it frustrates me. It seems sometimes like the evil in the world prospers more than the good does. I was thinking about this hard the other day and this was the verse that God led me to. It would seem that I am not the only one who gets frustrated and tired of seeing what I see, but God also gets tired of people questioning His ability to be sovereign and to the only Judge. Reading that the first time put me in my place. reading it the second time made me officially whooped and repentant. God is God and God alone. He is sovereign over all things to do with them as He wills when He wills. 'Nuff said!

Move

It has been kind of rough for me lately emotionally and physically both. If I let it, I think depression could have gotten the best of me these past few days. It is hard sometimes to know you are following God's will for your life and sometimes not see the rewards for the work you are doing. It is hard sometimes to not be as active as you want to be and to feel like you are always in the holding pattern waiting to take off. As I was venting this morning to God, He reminded me of the first sermon that I ever preached.

Gen 13:14-18
"14After Lot was gone, the LORD said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction. 15I am going to give all this land to you and your offspring as a permanent possession. 16And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they cannot be counted! 17Take a walk in every direction and explore the new possessions I am giving you.” 18Then Abram moved..."

God has given me promises for my life. He has told me specifically what I will be doing. And turn by turn I have followed His directions. Sometimes though when things don't quite seem to be happening fast enough for me, I start to get stagnate and the waiting gets the best of me. I imagine the promises that He gave to Abraham were a little hard to believe at first as well. But God told Abraham to look as far as he could see in every direction and what he saw would be His. In one version Abraham is told to walk the length and breadth of his land. He is basically told to inspect it, to get to know it, to claim it. Abraham could have just waited till all of this was accomplished before he did anything about it. He could have waited to see if would come to pass before he put any effort into it. But he didn't do any of these things. the first part of verse 18 says that "Abram Moved..." He received his direction from God and he took action to receive the gift God had laid in front of him.

I think so many of us sit and hold on to promises God has given us when we should be out there moving. We should be inspecting, claiming and owning the gifts that He has placed in us. We need to walk the length and width of the promise God has given to us and claim ownership of the talents that He desires to use for His kingdom. When it is so easy to sit and wait, wondering where God is and when He is going to use us or move through us, I think we should consider the possibility that He is waiting for us to move. He is waiting for us to take ownership of what He has given to us.

There is a lot of opportunity in the kingdom of God to move. If you don't know your gift or calling or purpose in the Kingdom of God, still move. Move in prayer. Move in encouragement. Move in helps. Move in sharing the word of God. Move. Move. Move!

Habakkuk Is Still Speaking

This past week I have been reading through the minor prophets. I have gone back through some of my notes and one thing that is sticking out is in the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 2:2 "Then the Lord said to me, 'write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else.'"

I try to write things down if I think I am going to have the tendency to forget them. When I am going through some rough times I am not going to be sharp enough to remember all the good things that God has promised me. The first things that come into my head are not going to be all the reasons why these hard times will not last forever. I am sorry to admit that, but it is true. That is why I am sure that God had Habakkuk write down what He was going to say. When God promises restoration or judgement we need to remember that something has to be gone through to have the need to be restored. There is always an outcome or an end to a situation and for those of us who believe in the grace and goodness of God, we know it will always be for our betterment, He always has our best interest in His interest. I am going to start a promise book. Where I fill it with the promises of God, spoken through the bible or from those who speak encouragement into my life. When the rough times comes, it will help me focus and have faith in the outcome and maybe make it a little easier to walk through, knowing the ending.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

A Reminder to Love

This email was sent to me by a friend. It is absolutely a prayer that reminds us to think more like God and see situations and people through His eyes and with His love. I truly believe we come across people and situations in our lives solely for the purpose of adding them to our prayer list or at the very least to pray for them at that moment. I pray that as you read through this, you will be able to identify with it and it will touch you as it did me.

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help withhomework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with just those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Amen.

I am not big on "pass it on" letters, but in this case how can we afford not to remind people to love everyone, not just those we want to?

If you send this to 5 people, then you have a chance totouch 5 people. Working for God on earth doesn't pay much......butHis retirement plan is out of this world

Be blessed and Be a blessing!!
Mike Aguilar
Empty Vessel Ministries

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

Word Marinating

I came across this scripture last night as I was cleaning out some of my saved links. Right now it is speaking volumes to my heart. I will just let it marinate until it is done.

1 Samuel 14:7.

NIV "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

MSG His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way."

NLT “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

NKJV So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”

Stupid Smart

Prov 12:1 (NKJV)
1 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge,
But he who hates correction is stupid.

Prov 12:1 (NLT)
1To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.

When I first started work in the retail industry, I decided right off that I would not be a sales clerk for long. To me the sales clerks seemed to be the drones of the industry. I wanted a position, a title. I wanted be needed to be useful and not seemingly expendable. In my first job, even at sixteen, I managed to do this. I had wiggled my way into a position where there were only two of us. What I didn’t learn was that once achieved, you need to continue to learn to maintain your position. And because of this I was laid off. When I took my second job while I was in college, I vowed to learn from my mistakes I had made in my first job. I learned everything I could about the position as a supervisor I wanted. I did most of it on my own time, and I volunteered to help out whenever I could. When I was promoted, I was promoted to a level above the one I was hoping for. I was unstoppable and I acted like it. When my manager tried to reign me in, or to help me hone my skills, I brushed him off. I knew how to do my job better than he did. I was convinced there was nothing he could teach me or correct me on. I was book smart, he was people smart. He had that to teach me, but I refused.

I came across this verse and it really hit home with me. We all love to succeed, we love to achieve, we love knowledge when it helps us become better. Once we have achieved what we wanted and have worked for, we take it as ours as if it was due us; we forget that we are new to our positions and need to be honed to fit it and to administer it well. The people that are truly successful in life are those who accept that extra knowledge and correction; the ones that fail or grow stagnate are the ones that refuse to be corrected. How often do we do this with God and what He has given us? I know in my life I have done it way to often.

Father let me always be open to correction and to knowledge to help me pursue the things You want for my life.

God All The Time

Ecclesiastes 7:14 (NLT)
Enjoy prosperity while you can. But when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. That way you will realize that nothing is certain in this life.

Good times in life are great. No worries, no cares, just sailing through enjoying times as it passes by. Good times are the easiest ones to have faith in. That is when we can hear “my God shall supply all my needs…” and be able to respond with a big “AMEN!” Good times are great because as we walk through our day and people ask us how we are doing we get to say “BLESSED!” Good times also provide us with the opportunities to tell people whose walk isn’t as easy as ours “that things will get better” or “just give it to God, He knows what’s going on.” The best part about saying those kinds of things in the good times in our lives is that we can actually believe them. We see the good things in our lives and they are easy to attribute to the goodness of God. But times in our lives aren’t always good.

Rough times in our lives are bound to occur at some point or another in our walk with Christ. These are the times when our faith is challenged and what we have been taught and what we claim to believe in is put to the test. It is hard enough for us to say things will get better, let alone believe that they actually will. When people ask us how we are doing it is barely all we can to do to mutter something without telling them that we have been beat up, battered, bruised and we don’t know how we are hanging on. When we walk through these hard times it is hard to look at them and not wonder where God is in all of this. Where are all of His promises and His provision? It is hard for us to see it, but the truth is that his promises and His provision are just as present in our lives in the hard times as they are in the good times.

In the Book of Daniel God uses an evil king to accomplish His plan for His people. He did not love His children any less when they were in captivity than when they were free. He wasn’t any less of God than He was when he wasn’t using Nebuchadnezzar in His plan. In all of the trials that Daniel and his people went through in captivity it would have been easy to question God and his motives; Daniel knew however that to do so would be foolish. He had accepted that God was sovereign all the time—even in the rough times. That is a lesson that we all need to learn—God is God all the time. When we are walking out the hard times in life, we need to cling to our faith and not abandon it; we need to not ask “why I am going through this mess” but rather we should ask “what is God trying to do through this time in my life?” We need to know and accept that God is good when He gives us the good times and when He allows us to walk the rough times.

Goose Bumps, Tears and Sensations

Coming down the mountain was always the hardest part of going to church camp. It was so hard that the speakers and directors starting preparing us for the shock from the very beginning of the services. It was easy to be a Christian and be a young adult at the same time at camp. There was nothing but people similar to you, who shared your beliefs all immersed in the presence of God for the duration of the time at camp. You felt God all around you, especially in the services and study times. When you went down the mountain back to your normal life, you managed to keep that feeling for a little while, maybe even a few days, but it started to diminish quickly and it was hard to maintain. Didn't God exist at the bottom of the mountain? Or did the higher elevation keep me closer to Him and therefore His presence stronger all around me? Or the real question--was I chasing a feeling or longing for the same experience I had at camp. I wasn't looking for God, I was looking for how I thought God made me feel. I was chasing the experience I thought was God in my life.

It is funny, not really funny but peculiar how some will say that everything is fine when they are in church, that they fell like they are sitting in the presence of God then when they leave the sanctuary they don't feel that way anymore. We sing a few songs, maybe even raise our hands, listen to a preacher challenge our lives with the word of God and then we are done. We think we have met God because we went to church. We feel like we met God because we got some goose bumps as we were singing. We met God because we started crying during worship or it seemed like the pastor wrote that sermon for my life. If that is the case we are not going to church because we want to meet God, we are going to church so we can have an experience. If we are basing the presence of God on goose bumps or tears then we have seriously missed the mark. If we go to church and leave saying that we just didn't "feel it" today and use that to gauge the presence of God, then we are in more dire straits than we can ever imagine.

Only when we get to know God, know Him intimately, desire to know what is on His heart, can we begin to understand that feelings, sensation and experiences have nothing to do with His presence. It is about our willingness to not only seek the power of His hand, but to desire to know what is on His heart and what He has to say to us. When we quiet down and stop murmuring our requests and issues to Him long enough to hear what He has to say then we will know what the presence of God feels like. When we get out of our own way or take the God out of the box we have put Him in then we will know what the presence of God is all about. It is then we will see Him move the way He wants to move to accomplish what He has purposed to accomplish. He might even see fit to use us, if we will only listen long enough to let Him.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Special Because Why?

There is so much in the book of Daniel that is just screaming to be learned. The messages of the Old Testament are just as relevant today as they were when they were happening. The next lesson comes from the third chapter. The king has received his dream and the interpretation of it from God through Daniel. He has been told that his kingdom is the greatest then and among all the kingdoms to follow his in time. He is more impressed with Daniel and his ability to hear God than he was with the message. He did not reverence God and follow Him as most would. Instead He focused on the dream. It was almost as if he believed that he was something special to God because He singled him out to help fulfill His purpose. I have been guilty of this. I began to minister in the church when I was 12 years old. I was spouting off prophecy and words of wisdom that I knew nothing about. I was such an anomaly that the preachers and pastors would treat me differently. I definitely felt like I was something special because not everyone was doing what I was doing. Just like Nebuchadnezzar I was a tool that was being used—no better than the next tool, just suited for the job. I am extremely careful now to understand that without Christ I am nothing; able to do nothing of my own accord in His kingdom. As a church, as a people we need to quit looking for the title with the status and just start doing the job.

God I thank You for the work You have called me to do. I know Lord that with Your anointing and blessing I could do nothing on my own, I worship You with my Life. Amen

Robbing God

It is a tremendously awesome feeling to be used of God. It is so exhilarating to feel God’s power at work though you as you are preaching or praying for someone. When you see the person you are praying for starting manifest their healing or you see that someone is the audience is being moved by the mere words you are speaking you can’t help but say “WOW!” As the people of God whom He chooses to use, we have to be very careful abut taking what belongs to God. By that I mean to say that we need to be very conscious of the fact that we are just the vessel of the power and not the power itself.
It would be very silly of us to revere the plug of an item as the power source of all of our electrical toys. After all it is the thing we see working. We know that when we plug it into the wall socket our toys work. The plug is merely the conduit for the electricity that gives our toys power and functionality. When we are working for God we are merely the plug, He is the power source we plug into. Just as we need to make sure we recognize His ability in us and give Him His due praise, we need to make sure that those who see the same miracles and power of God at work in us give Him His praise.
Growing up we used to see a lot of power charismatic preachers come through our church. It was easy to be awestruck by all the wonderful things happening and to ascribe them to the man or woman doing those things. The really good ones would always give the praise to God before, during and after their ministry. The not so good ones would run the stage and make their exits like they were rock stars.
These thoughts are inspired by my next lesson from Daniel. After Daniel had ministered to the king his dream and the meaning of the dream, the king fell down before Daniel and worshipped him. He ordered an offering and burnt incense be made to Daniel. Daniel was quick to say that he could not have done it without God and that it was God who had chosen the king as a recipient and Daniel as the messenger. Daniel was quick to say this several times. He wanted nothing of what belonged to God.
We shouldn’t want any of what belongs to God either. We were made to praise Him, not take His praise.

Father, let me always be used by You that You might always be glorified in all that I do and those around me might see Your power and love. Amen

Taking a Stand

Faith is a hard thing to have sometimes. We are asked to believe in God in every situation without question, yet we do not know how the situations are going to turn out. We are taking blind steps towards the unknown. We can be assured that the outcome will be God’s will, but we can never be certain that it will be desirable or favorable to us. God has asked us to take a stand for what we believe and that sometimes means taking a stand when it is not the cool thing to do. That stand while adding to our reward in heaven can have disastrous effects here on earth. It could cost us friends, family, relationships, jobs, and a host of other things. Daniel chapter 3 12, 16-18 show us just how dangerous that stand we take can be.

They were instructed to bow before the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar and they refused. They had first made the choice to not defile their bodies with the food of the king and now this. They were not in danger of losing their lives before in the diet situation but now they were. They had made their decision based on the fact that they would not compromise what they believed in. Any deviance from those beliefs would water down their testimony they had established. If they bowed before the statue it would all but erase their devotion to the power of God they had demonstrated in their new homeland; but to not bow before the statue would mean certain and immediate death. There had to be a thousand reasons that they could have generated amongst themselves to make bowing before the statue seem alright. There was one reason not to bow before the statue that kept all the other reasons to bow at bay. That reason was that if indeed they did bow they would be turning their backs on the God that they believed in and defile their own undefiled faith.

If God calls you to do something for Him that would involve taking a stand that could cost you a lot, if not everything, could you? It is hard to think of something so severe in our liberal and accepting melting pot of society that would indeed cost us that much. What if you were a missionary in a foreign land where being a Christian could cost you your life, would you risk it to reach the people? If you work for a church, would you risk standing up to your pastor if you felt he/she was compromising your faith? Would you risk losing your job for your beliefs? Or would you water down your faith to keep status quo? All food for thought.

Father I thank you that I have You to have Faith in. I pray that I will always take a stand when You call me to. Amen.

Giving God What Is His

"It is said that Alexander the Great was standing and
watching Diogenes and after awhile asked Diogenes
what he was doing. When asked, the older man
answered, 'I am searching for the bones of your father,
but I cannot determine the dust of your father from the
dust of the slaves.'" (ref?)

As I am focusing on the 2nd chapter of Daniel this really painted the picture of the last point I found. In the end when we are done with our life here on earth and we go to be with the Father, I want to hear "well done..." I dont want to hear that I robbed God of some of His glory here on earth because I was the vessel He chose to use and I did not give Him the Glory. I never want to rob anything from God. I remember a time when God used me to give a message to one of my pastors. I had to tell her that it was not about her and that she was robbing God of His glory. That was one of the hardest word I ever had to speak. When I am invited to preach I always tell people that it is not me. I make it known that I never would have chosen to be a preacher. but God called me. Any good that comes from it needs to be directly attributed to Him and not to me. I NEVER WANT TO TAKE WHAT IS GOD'S!!!! Just the thought of having to answer for that gives me chills.

Daniel makes sure to give God the glory for interpreting the king's dream. He does this several times. He, too, wants to make sure that God gets what is His.

Father I thank you for all that you are using me for. I give You all the glory for it all now and forever. Amen.

Undefiled and Infectious

I have been thinking a lot about the kind of ministry I would like to have. I have seen so much divisiveness in the church and the people it ministers to. There seems to be the group that wants to barricade themselves in their sanctuary and let only those in who make it past the front doors. Then they are wary of those people because of the backgrounds they come from. Some of them forget that they too at one point in their lives had a background that wouldn’t let them into their church. They talk about saving the sinners and once they introduce them to Christ they never let them forget the fact that they were sinners. Then there is the group that wants so much to reach the world and show it that Christians can be like them to. They want them to see that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean changing your style and likes. Some in this group go too far in trying to do this and you can’t see where they stop and the world begins. They offer a watered down version of salvation in that the title on the badge changes but the lifestyle doesn’t. They just become worldly Christians. Is there a happy medium that is happy without being compromising? Is there a less formal more outreaching Christianity that we can look to as an example in our modern times?

As modern as we would like to think that we have become, the bible remains true in that it says “there is nothing new under the sun.” We only have to look in it to find examples of men who have remained true to their convictions and callings in the world without being defiled. We can look at Daniel who in chapter 2 of his book saved the lives of all the wise men in the King’s Court. They were all in the order of execution issued by the king for being frauds and not being able to fulfill his request of detailing his dream. When Daniel says that he can do as the king wishes and comes through, he does not say that the other wise men were frauds. He does not tell the king that he and his friends are the only ones who should be spared since the magicians, sorcerers and other religious men could not perform what the king ordered. Instead he steps in on all their behalf and saves their lives because he can. Does he push his beliefs on others in the group after this saying that his is the only way to believe? No. In doing what he did simply it is how he believed, I am sure he opened the door to conversations about his beliefs with the others who were in the court. He was in the world, not affected by it and not changed by it.

Jesus was in the world. He was not affected by in it other than to have compassion on those around Him. He was not changed by it and it did not defile him. He walked with sinners; He ate and drank with them. Where the religious leaders of that time would say that He was defiled by allowing some of them to touch Him or be with Him, He was just showing them that they mattered in the eyes of God and to Him. He had compassion on them. As members of the church we need to not be abrasive and “in your face” with our beliefs. We need to move as the Spirit guides us and let our lives be our key to open the doors of lives that haven’t been touched yet. I can love a person who is living in sin but not love the sin they are living in. When you turn away a soul because of their sin you turn away the soul who needs to be reached. You confirm the stereotypes of Christians being the hateful, un-accepting hypocrites that many have made us out to be. When you reach out to someone who is living in sin and love them for being a person, but never confusing that compassion with acceptance of their lifestyle, and the person can see it is genuine, the opportunities to introduce them to the saving grace we know will come.

This is a long way to say that the fact that Daniel saved all of the wise men with his faithfulness to god and to his beliefs impressed me. He did not seek the credit with the king but was quick to ascribe all the glory to God. He worked as a whole with the other people of different faiths but never allowed them to defile his beliefs, but I am sure he infected theirs.

Father let me open to those who need you regardless of what they look like, like Daniel let my love for you be infectious. Amen.

Straight to the Source

In Daniel 2:2 King Nebuchadnezzar has had enough of his insomnia and his dream. He called on the people who were supposed to provide him insight into the spiritual realm. He called on his wise men, his advisors—sorcerers, magicians, conjurers, and the Chaldeans. These people were the learned among his advisors. These are the people he relied on when he needed information from the spiritual realm and guidance for his actions. He must have been let down by them several times because this time he did not reveal to them the dream he had; but rather he tested the abilities by requiring that they first describe to him the dream and then interpret it.

So often when we are faced with situations where we are in need of advice we call our wise men to help us—they are our friends, our mentors, professionals, whoever we can think can offer insight into what we are going through. What we need to remember though is that these labels they wear are ones that we have assigned them. They have no more insight into what we are going through than we do. They cannot predict the outcome or future circumstance with any more certainty than you or I can. We look to professionals to help us with our problems because we figure they are intelligent and studied up on what is facing us. That is partially true, they are professionals because they have completed a series of courses that merited them a degree. That degree does make them anymore intelligent that you or I. It does qualify them to be able to predict our future or tell us how we should proceed in any situation.

The king saw the wise men before him for what they were—perpetrators. They claimed to have insight into the spiritual realm and into the meanings of dreams. Yet without the knowledge of the dream they could not interpret it. Much like the modern day shrinks of today cannot tell you what a dream means until they know the content of it. Who is to say that the substance of your dream has the same symbolism as the substance of my dream? When the king saw the uselessness of the wise men in his court he ordered them all killed. What use were they to him? My point is this—we all run to the people we have deemed to be the wise men in our lives when we need a fresh word or a sense of direction. Why do we run to the people who are in the same boat we are. We need to run to the run to whom all of our dreams and visions should be held captive to. We need to go to the source of all inspiration and the one who in infinite in the amount of wisdom He holds. It wasn’t until Daniel intervened and went before God that the truths of the king’s dream were revealed. Daniel went to the source, sought out God’s wisdom and God was faithful to meet Daniel with what he was looking for.

Father let me always come straight to You for what I need. Amen.

Refuse to be Defiled

I am studying in the book of Daniel and I am stuck on something that I cannot get past. Daniel made the choice to not be defiled. He chose to remain pure and true to what he believed. How awesome is that. We are faced with so many things in a day that challenge what we believe as individuals. We are faced with decisions constantly that beg us to compromise what we stand for. Many times we find ourselves not avoiding the risks involved but weighing them and managing them. It has become increasingly harder to draw a line in the sand and say we will not cross. We are looking for our own ways to cross the line without changing the labels that we wear and subjecting ourselves with the changes that come as a result to the crossed line. Daniel made the choice to not defile himself. We could say that times were different back then. The choices they were faced with weren't as gray as ours are today. Things were much more black or white and right or wrong. To a degree I would agree with that. We live in a generation and a society that has all but erased the lines between right and wrong. We have added degrees to the principles of right and wrong. We have blended the white and black into varying shades of gray. But still they were faced with things that appealed to the basest human need--food. They had been stolen from their homeland and seemingly abandoned by the God they believed in; they were presented with delicacies the king himself was feasting on, but it was contrary to the diet the law laid out for them. Feeling abandoned, confused and hopeless still they refused to be defiled. When Jesus started his ministry and went into the wilderness, as a man, He neglected His flesh for forty days by fasting. When the fast was over satan came to Him and tempted him with things again that appealed to the basest human desires--food and power. Being tired, weak and hungry and offered the things that could end all of that, Jesus refused to be defiled. The world has painted its morality system gray. We need to search for our white and black. Once we find the line that stands between the two, we need to choose what side we will be on, dig our heels in and refuse to be defiled.

Message to Me...

There are times when I feel my faith being challenged. I find myself questioning what I actually believe. I find myself speaking what I claim to believe all the time. Sometimes I have been forced to actually reconcile my words with my actions. You have heard people tell the same fictional story so many times that they actually forget the fact that it is not true. I speak of the wonderful things of God and of all His miraculous abilities, yet when it comes down to it, do I still believe in what I say? I pray for people to be healed, yet deep down do I believe that they will be? Am I a worthy enough vessel for God to work through? Is there someone else that could have a better result, because of their character or their faith? If it were someone else who had been captured from the king of Judah’s court and not Daniel and his friends would there have been a different outcome in the story in chapter 2?

I know I believe in healing, I have seen my mother healed several times, and recover when she should have died. I have seen ways made in people’s lives where there should have been no way to be found. I do believe in His miracles and furthermore I believe we are called to do even greater miracles than He did while He walked the earth—I count on that! I believe that God uses every situation that we walk through for our benefit or for someone else’s like he did in both Philemon and Daniel. I believe in the faithfulness of a God that says He will be faithful to complete the work he began in me. While I am no where close to being the man I was when I started my discipleship walk, I am no where near the man I will be when I go see my God or when He comes to get me. I am ok with that.

A work in progress,
Mike

Favor for Faithfulness

Daniel found himself in different surroundings being forced to subscribe to different beliefs and teachings. While the world tried to transform him into something that he was not, he maintained his heart and his spirit true to his fear of the Lord in which he was raised with. How easy it would have been to forget God and all that He had done for His people. Some would even say rightly so—after all He did allow them to be conquered and taken into captivity. Some would argue that Daniel would be a fool not to forget about God and acclimate himself to the ways of the Babylonians; he was in the inner circle being educated and fed like a royal himself. Daniel held strong to his beliefs and to the God who had blessed him, despite the fact that same God allowed him to be enslaved.

Could you do the same? Could you love God after He took everything away from you and allowed you to be captured by your enemy? If you asked me that question about 5 years ago the answer would have been an emphatic “NO!” Today I think it would still be hard. I know now that God has a plan for everything that happens to me in life, both good and bad. I know God enough to know that what I know about Him and His ways are not even close to a complete picture of Him. I guess it comes down to faith and just how much you have and what shape it is in. Daniel refused to be defiled and was willing to be put to death before he allowed his captors to defile him. Though he lived in the world of the Babylonians he maintained the truths of his home and didn’t allow them to be corrupted or altered in his heart.

The world tries to make us into things that we are not. It paints pictures of the perfect life and the way it should be lived. A lot of the time though that perfect life is not congruent with the way we are called to live through Jesus’ teachings in the bible. Sometimes the callings that we have on our lives are in direct conflict with the things of this perfect life and prevent us from having both. What do we choose? In my life I wanted the perfect life—the big house, nice cars, and all the money. I didn’t care what I did as long as I had the perfect lifestyle. I wanted to be a part of the “haves” instead of the “have-nots.” I discovered along the way that “having” meant compromising what I believed in, what meant so much to me. I began to become jaded and found less and less time to serve God so I could get more. I had to make a choice—to “have” or to “have not.” Having what the world says you should have to be in the perfect life isn’t all that is look like. It cost me more spiritually and in my heart than I could ever imagine. I think Daniel knew that as well.

Daniel refused to be corrupted and to defile the faith that he held so dear. Because of this God honored him and gave him favor, both in His sight and in the sight of man. It is the favor for faithfulness trade off. I have never been so happy since I have chosen the path the God wants for me. I may not be rolling in the rich life of the world, but I am storing up my treasure in heaven and having my every need met here on earth.

Father I thank you for your faithfulness and for your continued favor with all those I come in contact with that Your will might be done through me. You are my only choice. Amen.

The Choice

The book of Daniel continues to prove itself a book full of life lessons even in terms of discipleship. After Judah was captured Nebuchadnezzar called his “chief of staff” and told him to get the brightest, strongest and best looking (?) men from Jehoiakim’s house and teach them to be his advisors. Daniel was among these as were 3 of his friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) who would later become to be know as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were taken apart from the rest of the captives, given Babylonian names, given the Babylonian education, and they ate from the king’s table and from his cellars. Essentially what they tried to do was brainwash these young men into forgetting their culture and into becoming Babylonian. They wanted to make them into Babylonian elite. They changed their names from names that all represented a quality of God into names that celebrated the Babylonian Gods. They fed them food from the king’s table which was far from the diet and food practices that was allowed under their law they had grown up with. They tried to educate them into becoming Babylonian.

This is important because as Christians this is exactly what the world tries to do to us. The world tries to educate the belief we have in God out of us since its science cannot prove his existence. The world feeds us from its table of self gratification, immorality, lawlessness. It tries to change our name from that of being of the family of God into one that celebrates itself. While there is nothing wrong with a secular education or the learning from the secular world, there is something wrong with it when it starts to negatively impact and influence on your faithfulness to God. Daniel and his friends were faced with just that decision.

Daniel had a choice to make: would he give in to the opportunities the king was presenting him or would he remain faithful to the practices and the God he had always known. Verse 8 of chapter one said that Daniel made up his mind that he would not be defiled. That is an important point to look at. We simply cannot hide in a dark corner and hope that the world will not notice us so we will not be subject to its influence. Rather we need to stand out in the world and stand up and announce that we choose to not be defiled by the world we are surrounded by. Defilement is a choice. Its like being in a pool. You can be in the deep end of the pool and even under water. You are completely surrounded by water but it is not penetrating you. The water does not enter your body until you open your mouth or unplug your nose and let it in. The world cannot defile us or influence us until we let it inside our mind, heart or spirit.

Father I thank you for Your guidance and Your strength. I pray Lord that I would be aware constantly of the influences that surround me and always aware that I may be here now, but this world is not my home. Amen.

You Brought It On Yourself

The first two verses in Daniel speak volumes to my heart already. The first verse describes the capture of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar. The second verse tells us why. This happened because God wanted it this way. This is not something that god allowed to happen or that slipped past Him without Him knowing—God caused this to happen! God gave the land of Judah, its king, its holy relics and the Jewish people (His people) over to a King that did not serve Him, in fact King Nebuchadnezzar worshipped other Gods. This was hard to understand why God would do this to His own. The thing is that His people were not acting like His people. They had been sinning against Him as individuals and as nations for a long time. He had sent the prophets to warn them and to bring them to repentance and they refused. Most (close to all) of the kings of both Israel and Judah sinned against God and led their nations in sin against God. Because of the sinfulness and refusal to repent, God judged them and disciplined the nation of Judah with captivity to Babylon for 70 years.

The first thing that popped out to me was that when we veer off the trail God has for us, He lets us know. He nudges our spirit and when that doesn’t work He brings people into our lives to help us remain accountable to the walk we have started with Him. When we continue to walk on our own, we do so at our own risk. Another prophet even said “woe to them for they bring judgment on themselves” (paraphrased of course). Some people wonder why God allows things to happen to His people. I understand it here that sometimes He does allow it to happen, but there are also times that He causes it to happen. As humans we discipline our own children, why should Father God be any different?

Along those lines it is interesting that God would use someone who was at war with His principles to judge and discipline His people. What I understand from this is that God will use whatever tools He has available to Him. In another prophet’s book in the Old Testament, King Nebuchadnezzar is called God’s servant, because though he was evil God still used him to accomplish His will for His people. God will do what it takes to get His people to return to their first love. It’s amazing that he could love us that much and be that jealous to go through such lengths to keep us close.

Father I pray that I will continue to be faithful to your calling and to your will for my life. Amen.

Who Turned On the Light?!?

Today I am starting a new study on the Book of Daniel. I am so reluctant to get into the Old Testament because I often get lost with all the “so-and-so begetting you-know-who” in the “third year of the reign of what’s-his-name” and stuff like that. The only reason I am even looking at this particular book is because a prophet told me that God was going to speak to me out of it. I know God should speak through all of His word and I am sure He does. But there are honestly times when I feel like I am just reading and not studying because I just don’t get it. And since I am using words like “honestly” I might as well come clean and say that I have not even read that book since I was a kid. There are so many great stories that I used to hear in Sunday School when I was just a pup. So I opened up the Bible (well actually I pulled it up since I use like 4 different versions on my laptop) and I read the intro and chapter 1. I was a little leary because right away there is the “third year of king whose-it’s reign.” As I continued reading through the chapter, it was almost as if someone turned the light on in a dark room. That little homie nudge of the Holy Spirit was there as if to say “See I told you so!” Sure enough the principles just started popping off the page. God is awesome!! He really does have a fresh word for all of us and will meet us just where we are! As I process my thoughts I will post them—so much to digest just in the first chapter!

Faithfulness and Questions Answered

Reading the book Philemon this time with some understanding and with a deeper, more committed walk with Christ really opened it up to me. When you read God’s word with the intention of learning something or seeing what the Spirit has to say to you that day, as opposed to just reading for the sake of reading, you are bound to meet God in your study time and have Him reveal the lessons you need. That is exactly what happened to me. I went into this study wondering if it was truly possible to be like Jesus and to walk this earth with God like qualities. In this book I see that the answer to both of those questions is yes. Paul was just a man like any man today. He was someone that was converted to Christianity after being one of its biggest detractors; yet he came to be one of its leading founding fathers. In the book of Philemon we see that the God in him became the God-like qualities through him. In the book there is the sinner, the savior and different facets of the grace of God. There is reconciliation and redemption. Though they all have spiritual connotations and bases, they were all brought about through the physical actions of and obedience to God by a man.

Father I thank You for showing me the principles in Your word. I pray that my life demonstrates Your principles more and more with each coming day. I praise You for Your faithfulness. Amen.

Obedience Is Key

Sometimes I think that God does things in ways that are more difficult than I would do them. I know that seems crazy, but don’t we all second guess our bosses sometimes? I am never bold enough to tell Him He is wrong or that I won’t do what He is asking me to (we know where that got Jonah!). One of the reasons I don’t do that is because I have seen Him do things His way so many times that it often has a better outcome than what is expected. Take for instance the story of Philemon. In the last verses of the book Paul tells Philemon that his obedience to Paul’s request will refresh his heart and make him happy. God could have just refreshed Paul’s heart and gave him joy. Instead He took the long way around involved more people and situations. He allowed Onesimus to run into Paul after he had stolen from Philemon and ran away from his house. Philemon ends up serving the Lord and becomes a servant not only to Philemon but now also to Christ. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon’s house as a newly saved brother in Christ so Philemon receives not only his servant back but also a new trusted brother in the family of God. For added benefit to both Philemon and to Onesimus, Paul offers to pay Onesimus’ owed debt to Philemon personally on Onesimus’ behalf. When Philemon obeys Paul’s request to receive Onesimus back into his house then Paul’s spirit gets refreshed because he has made peace in an otherwise tempestuous household. Through this peace and Philemon’s obedience Paul’s spirit get refreshed, he is happy and all of them offer praise to God. You see there is so much better that came out of the situations when God is in charge, as opposed to just going straight to the end result. The whole result was contingent ton Philemon’s obedience to Paul’s request. Philemon could have denied the request and taken his due penance from Onesimus (his life for the theft); however Paul was confident in his forthcoming obedience.

In our own lives we need to be conscious of the fact that our actions and obedience to the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nudges of the Holy Spirit could make the difference between refreshing a brother or sister’s spirit and God receiving His due glory from a situation or not. It is hard sometimes to be obedient, especially when our flesh gets in the way. How hard is it to walk up to someone and apologize when we know that we were not the one who was wrong? When we do that though we become the peacemaker; we refresh the spirits of those who the situation involved and the ones who were watching it. Through our obedience to making peace God gets praised. Anytime we act in obedience to the Holy Spirit, God gets the praise and the Glory from the outcome.

Lord let me always be sensitive to what You want me to do, whether or not I know the outcome or think I can do a better job. I thank you for all the lessons I learn from You. Amen.

Inside Out

Coming near to the end of the book of Philemon we see that Paul is actually a picture of Jesus Christ in the story. In verses 18 & 19 Paul continues in his letter to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, the slave that stole from him and then ran away. In these verses Paul writes to Philemon to tell him that anything that Onesimus owes him to charge it to Paul. He writes that he will indeed pay Philemon personally and without ever having a thought of either him or Onesimus owing him anything in return. WOW! There is a whole to be said of a person that will write a letter of recommendation for another person because they are essentially putting their name on the individual and their abilities. It is something completely different when someone believes in or loves and individual so much that they assume their debts and pay them on their behalf. That is exactly what Paul did for Onesimus. He considered Onesimus family now and treated him like a son. He loved him so much that he wanted to make sure that he had a fresh start in the family so he offered to pay any debts that he owed to his master Philemon.

I said that Paul in these verses in particular looks like Jesus because that is exactly what He did for us. God loved us so much and wanted communion with us that He sent His only Son to reconcile us back to Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. How many of us are able to say that, even in our walk with Christ now, we would do the same thing Paul has done? Paul acted like Jesus in this particular situation; he acted like God would have responded to the situation. He did this for one simple reason—he had God in him. I would venture to say that at this point in his ministry Paul had more God in him that he had himself.

Mercy is a hard to gift to practice if you weren’t born with it. It is not a hard gift to learn however since we all have been extended mercy when we accepted Christ. When we sit and think about it, who are we to withhold mercy from one when we have benefited from it? Doesn’t it make us hypocrites to benefit from the same thing we refuse to give to another? I am coming to see more and more the proof that our words and actions are nothing more that reflections of our hearts. We might as well be living inside out.

Father I thank you for all that you have given to me. Soften my heart and help me to see everything through Your eyes before my eyes corrupt my view. Amen.

My Credentials

There have been many times in the course of my career where I had to use my name and my reputation to help another person. When I put someone who was considered to be an underdog of sorts up for a promotion and my boss disagreed with me I had to put my stamp of approval with my name attached guaranteeing their success. I have also had to call in favors sometimes. There were times when one of my associates needed a transfer to another location and that other facility was not receiving any new associates into their building. I would have to talk to the manager and use my reputation and the rapport we shared to get that associate transferred. It is amazing what a person can do based on the name or reputation of someone else. Paul uses his name and relationship with Philemon to help Onesimus out.

Philemon truly did not have to receive Onesimus back into his house, regardless of what Paul asked. Paul knew this. When communicating to Philemon, Paul uses his relationship with Philemon to appeal to his heart, “So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.” Paul called in a favor. He sent Philemon home with his stamp of approval with his name attached to it. That is awesome considering who Paul was in the Christian community. But there is more to consider.

Jesus has done this for you and me. When we accepted Him into our lives, He put his stamp of approval on us. He gave us the power to use His name to get things accomplished in His will. When we consider the impact and power His name carries, it is truly amazing how much He loves us. I think of all the doors He has opened for me to preach and to share His message that He has placed in my heart it is truly awesome. I shouldn’t have been able to go to the places, I have been. I shouldn’t have been able to speak to the people I have had to the opportunity to minister to. The only reason I have been able to do those things is because of His name. His name and the calling He has placed on my life have become my credentials. How awesome, how blessed, how changed the world would be if we all displayed our credentials to get us to the places we need to be to do His will for our lives!

Father I thank you for the calling and the gifts you have place in me. I thank you for the opportunity to worship you with my life. Amen.

Forgiven Not Forgotten

I often find myself amazed by the grace that God has shown me in my short lifetime. There is so much that He has done for me that is totally and completely unmerited on my part. It is hard to imagine that He has done all that He has indeed done for me simply because He loves me and wants to be in communion with me. Like the story of the prodigal son, I was the one that was spiritually living with the pigs and wallowing in their pen. When my heart was moved to return to my father, He didn’t lecture me on my wrongs, but He received me into His house with a celebration.

The story of Philemon and Onesimus has grace as one of its themes. If it can be seen anywhere it can be seen in verse 16, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother-especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” In his letter to Philemon, Paul writes how great it is to be able to receive Onesimus back into his household. For he will not only be a trustworthy servant and someone Philemon can rely on, but he now is also a fellow brother in Christ. When we accept the grace of God in our lives we start to evidence a change in our life. We no longer are bound by the pressure of sin and death but rather we are set free through grace and life.

Grace is life lived through freedom. We celebrate and cherish this freedom because we have done nothing to deserve it. This celebration of grace turns into worship to the one who granted us this grace that we did not deserve. We realize just how powerful this grace is. The bible says that as we realize just how sinful we truly are, that the grace in our lives expands that much more to cover that sin. As we realize just how precious this grace is, how much we are loved, we realize just how much He is truly worthy of our praise and our worship.

A final thought on this verse. Philemon didn’t receive Onesimus into his household with a barrage of questions on his sin and his activities since he had been gone. Neither did the God who bestowed His grace on us challenge our worthiness of His love and mercy. In both instances the person giving the grace forgave, forgot and received the other person into the family. I imagine that the person who was being given grace was thankful for the forgiveness but never forgot what they had done before it was given. Not because they were bound by guilt but rather because they never wanted to forget just how precious the gift of grace was in their lives. When we have the opportunity to extend grace, let’s remember the forgive and forget principle shown to us by God. When we are the one who grace has been extended to, let’s remember the forgiven but never forget principle so we never forget the power of the gift given to us.

Father I thank you for the grace that you have extended to me though I did not deserve it. I pray that when I have the opportunity to extend grace I will do so, just as You did with no strings attached. Amen.

Road Blocks and Stumbling Blocks

It is amazing to think sometimes that God is sovereign over all things. We hit some roadblocks in life sometimes and we wonder how we will ever get passed them. We find things that trip us up and we stumble and we wonder if we can ever get back up again. Not so much can we get up, but do we want to get up. When I go through the roadblock times, when my walk with God is harder that it usually is, I will admit that I am glad sometimes. Glad not because I am walking through them, but because I know He will deliver me from them. I’m glad that the enemy has to take time out to attack me. To me that means I am a threat to him and to his plans. When I stumble though, it is so much harder to gain the ground that I lost in the stumble. It is so much harder to return to my joy. Partly because I feel stupid for being tripped up and partly because I know I have let myself and my God down. If He is sovereign over all things, does that mean that He knew I was going to fall? Is my stumble in His plan for me?

Paul states that when Philemon receives Onesimus back into his house, it will be forever. In order for Onesimus to reach this point though he had to walk through some heavy stuff. He had to steal from Philemon, and then he had to run away. Onesimus had to meet Paul and consequently meet Jesus Christ through Paul; thereby changing his life forever. Paul lets on that all of this had to occur in order for Onesimus to meet Christ and for Philemon to be able to receive him back into his house forever. It would seem then that God had a purpose in the walk the Onesimus had to take. Even in his sin, God was still sovereign in that He used it to draw Onesimus into His kingdom.

I won’t dare say that God has sin planned for me and that’s why I stumble. I will say, however, that even in my sin God is sovereign. He uses it to teach me lessons. He uses it to show me chinks in my armor. He uses it to teach me lessons I need to learn in order to be successful in the calling He has on my life. As easy as it could be to give up, as hard as it is sometimes to get up from a fall, I know that my Daddy has a plan for me and a lesson to teach me.

Father train me to see the stumbling blocks in my path before they trip me. I pray that You help me to be more like you and more able to carry the calling you have for me with each new day. Amen.

Leadership Lesson

The hardest role I have ever had to play in life is that of a leader. I have always had the qualities of a leader, but have not always wanted to be one. In my last secular job I was responsible for about 350 people in a building. The hardest thing to do was to get that many people on the same page, doing the same job, hoping to get the same results. I am by no means a small man, and I am not in the least bit shy or quiet. Quite honestly I know I can be intimidating at times. It would have been very easy for me to use my size, demeanor, voice and position to get what I wanted done. But that is not being a leader. That’s being someone with authority who has no leadership skills. I preferred to get people to do things because they wanted to do them; be it that they did them for themselves, for the company or because they respected me, I just wanted them to want to get it done. To me that is what leadership is—leading someone to the desired result not forcing them along the way. It always made me feel good when someone approached me telling me something was already done before I could request it of them. It made me feel even better when we had volunteers step up to fill the needs we had in our facility before I had to appoint people to the positions.

Paul felt the same way with Onesimus and Philemon. After he had decided to send Onesimus back to Philemon’s house, he tells Philemon that as much he wanted to keep Onesimus there to help him on Philemon’s behalf, he is sending him back because he doesn’t want Philemon to feel compelled to leave him there because it was Paul who was asking. Paul wants to give Philemon the opportunity to send Onesimus back to be of comfort and help to Paul while he is imprisoned. Paul had as great a stature in the church as any man, apart from Jesus, could ever have. He could have required it of Philemon; he could have lorded his position over him and made Philemon feel required to leave Onesimus with Paul. But he didn’t. Paul approached the situation delicately and with grace. He did not overstep his bounds and trample over Philemon’s rights or wishes.

How so many of us need to learn to tread lightly with the relationships that we are in with each other. We have come to expect things just because we expect them. Moreover we expect a person to react to our needs because it is us that has the need. We learn from Paul in the book of Philemon that we do a disservice to people when we compel them into making decisions emotionally. We do not allow them to receive their due blessing for the act because it did not originate in them and it may not be in their heart to do it. We need to be leaders and guide people to the answer. We should want to help them make the right decisions, with the right heart and not force them into doing something they don’t want to.

Father I thank You for Your lessons in leadership you provided in Your Son Jesus and through His training of the disciples. I pray that You continue to raise up the leaders we need in this generation. Amen.