The Struggle Within: Checks and Balances

 The Bible tells us the Job was perfect, yet he was tested. After this great testing, Job received back everything that he lost and more. The word also tells us that God allowed Satan to do this to him. 

In contrast, we see King David, a known adulterer, liar, and murder be called a man after God's own heart. He was nothing like Job in the "perfect" sense. However, both men loved God. Both men knew more about themselves after their struggles too!

Near the end of Job's testing, we see that Job says he knew of God but now He really knows him. Job was a man who knew how to dot every "I" and cross every "T", but in the struggle, he received a deeper understanding of who God really was. 

Throughout David's life, we read the Psalms and see that there are times when he is doing well and following the known godly principles and times when he has made bad choices. He struggles with his thoughts and sometimes when he acts on his thoughts, he sins. Like Job, he has a deep love towards God and desires to follow God with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength; however, sometimes the flesh got in the way. The Bible tells us that the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak. 

We stay strong in the Lord by putting  on the armor of God every day and walking with God throughout the day making hymns, songs, and melodies in our heart to the Lord. The Bible tells us that if we draw near to God he will draw near to us.

We also have to learn to do good. But let's start to walk with God more proactively and less on the defense. Let's start taking the principles of God and walking in them before trouble comes.

David writes about the word being a light to his feet. He asked God to show him God's ways. The Bible also tells us to take every thought into captivity. And since God has given us choice, a response to our choices shows our growth and love towards God. Isaiah 55 tells us that God's ways and thoughts are not our ways; therefore, we must be in God's word and taking what our thoughts are telling us to do and line them up to the word of God. And the more we study the Bible and know the word, the more than our thoughts will be like God's thoughts because we need the mind and heart of God in hours.

God is looking for the more mature spiritually minded person who loves him and will follow after him with all of his heart. Both Job and David loved God in this manner. We are most obviously like David, and it is good to know that we can still receive the promises of God when we keep our heart pure and clean before the Lord. When we set it in our heart and mind that we will do things right by putting on the spirit of truth and God's righteousness and do things God's ways, we can know that we are on the right track to being strong in the Lord and not leaving an open door for the enemy.

The devil has no power over us unless we give him room. When we decide to do things our way by lying and being deceptive, we are leaving an open door for the enemy to work. There are no shortcuts and we cannot justify our actions based on what we think, if it does not line up to the word of God.  Likewise when we harbor feelings of unforgiveness and allow a root of bitterness to spring up, we are leaving an open door for the enemy to work in our lives. 

There are consequences when one lies and there are consequences when one harbors bitterness towards person. There are negative consequences when we are unforgiveness towards ourselves too! And often the effects are negative to us causing us the pain, shame, and guilt. Though the word tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God, when we begin to take matters into our own hands and we sin, we feel ashamed and begin to back/off of approaching God because of our actions. When all along, God is waiting there for us to deal with our hearts, the struggle that we have on the inside, and come near to God.

David asked the Lord to create a clean heart in him. He knew about the struggle that was going on in the inside of him. Folks, we are all struggling with something that God is dealing with us and trying to teach us. We will keep facing this struggle until we deal with it. This is part of the growth and wilderness process

The Bible tells us that God desires truth on the inward parts and that there is no secret that is from him. So when we take matters into our own hands and think that we are fooling God, we are not. We should care more about what God thinks of us and not what people think of us. It's easy to full people,  but we can't for God. We also need to understand that God wants the best for us and that is why he is put his principles out there for us to learn and live with! He doesn't want us to have negative consequences in our lives. He wants to see us walking and freedom, happiness, and blessings! 

When we take matters into our own hands, what we are really doing is harming ourselves and this includes little lies. In fact, we are making our own gospel when we mixup what we think is right and is not right with parts of the truth. And this is wrong! 

The truth is is that God wants us to do things right because the right way is a way of protection and blessing. The word tells us that there is a way that seems right onto man, but the end thereof is death. 

So the last time I checked in the word that never changes, it's still a good thing to walk pure, free, and in love with God and people. And truly folks, that is the key, to line up everything that you want to do to the word of God. It's the best form of checks and balances that I know!

What are your thoughts? 

Your Relationships Must Honor and Serve God or Your Fire Will Begin to Dim

If you're not careful, the relationships that you treasure and spend time with can actually pull you away from God and begin to put your fire out. I'm talking about another principle to help you keep your fire burning strong for Jesus! I'm warning you ahead of time that you were going to have to follow my train of thinking and let it simmer for a bit and your spirit before you respond. For the seasoned saint, this entry may not be very radical, but for the middle schooler and teen .... it is!

I've been thinking a lot about keeping my relationship with God fresh! This means that I have to think about the influences that I involve myself in, as well as the people that I fellowship and walk life with.

I've been spending a lot of time telling our youth group the importance of keeping their fire burning bright for God and that they have to keep the relationship between them fresh.

We've been talking about the obvious things like reading your Bible, praying but listening, praying but thinking, praying but seeking, worshiping him with music on, etc. So there's a private time that it is very important in fostering a spicy relationship with God. And though this may be a difficult one to get started and be disciplined with, it's probably the most easiest for us to understand and except.

But God wants us to be well-rounded be  a whole person who is transparent both in the private and public life and devoted to God. If we want to keep the fire burning for God, and we need to surround ourselves by people who have God's fire burning in them. So I'm talking about your close friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, and fiancés. I'm talking about people that are in the pre-marriage state. If you fellowship with someone at great lengths  and their number one focus and desire is not Jesus, what do you think will begin happento your fire? Yup, you got it. And it will be so stealth when it happens that you won't be aware of it. Before you know it, you'll be asking yourself and God how your fire went out. How did you end up in such a  arid place.

So what can you do to keep the fire burning and foster a relationship with someone who loves Jesus that is desiring to walk with the Lord too?

 Read and talk about a Bible passage and discuss what God is speaking to you both. Instead of solely texting about trivial and personal things, put  God first and text about what he is doing in your life. Here's a radical thought, pray together! 

Folks, this walking with God thing is important and you have to set a plan in place to keep your fire burning. If you are not careful, your relationship with the person can become an idol. When you put that person above God, God's feelings will be hurt. The Lord also tells us that God is a jealous God. He tells us not to have idols or make idols. What are you making with the people that you're hanging around with? Are you making a comfortable fun world that is devoid of God? Or is God in the center of your life?

If you are not willing to put God first in your relationship with people, you need to ask yourself why you still pursue these relationships. In all honesty what is happening is that you are really being disobedient to God when you do this. And God is not trying to keep you from anyone, he is trying to protect you and help you to find people that will walk with you with God in life. When you get married, of three for cord that cannot be broken spiritually is created. So it is true that when you have relations with someone before marriage, that you are connected with them and God spiritually. This is a chain that has to be broken and then the relationship between you and God is restored again. What do you want to be part of your life and attached to you? So I'm thinking about the analogy of a car and the type of trailer that it would pull. I wouldn't just want to hitch my car up to ant type of trailer. Think about it, there would be guidelines that you would put in place to make sure that you purchase and use and maintain a well working trailer. Would anyone purchase or use the trailer that was going to cause them danger or get them sidetracked? Honestly, when this occurs, people often make the choice to do so. When Polacca money and need the trailer for work, they may settle and buy something that isn't going to get the job done.

God never wants us to settle, and God wants us to get his job done. He doesn't want us to be shipwrecked and unhappy; he wants us to live a whole life. He actually puts principles in place to help us live life with principles that do work. If we would just put in place the natural good concepts and the spiritual concepts, we have a lot less trouble happening in our lives. I think we would find ourselves in less trouble, though we no trouble will come, and will be in a better position to handle it and grow from it because our relationship with God and the people around us is strong.

As usual, I think I've given you something to think about and pray about. What do you think? 

Spicy or Bland: Which Is It?

You know whether or not your relationship with God is on fire or if it is dry and crusty like a stale piece of bread. I used to be on the crusty side of things, but now that I'm living, eating and breathing in the land of bread pudding; my relationship with God has moved from dull and mundane to passionate and spicy! 

Every day I asked God for more seasoning. I know that he is always available and ready and willing to speak to me, but today my heart is open to touching his more than it was yesterday. And as I continue to seek him, my hunger and thirst for him grows more! Even as I'm writing that some of your skeptical because you've tried to press into God and were not able to sustain your efforts. God is the only master chef, and he knows just what you need!

The advice that we receive regarding having successful relationships is to listen and be open. Never give up on that person and keep trying to understand and know them. I think this is fruitful advice that can be applied to fostering a deep relationship with God.

What you will begin to notice, once you are serious, is that you will desire to pray, listen to him more, sing in his presence, and read his word more. And all of this begins with asking the Lord to show you more of him. In doing that, you are asking  for more of God, meaning that you won't be drawn and carried away by your own desires because your true hearts desire is to know him more. When you want to know him more, he's on the top of your list! There Is nothing better than him. This doesn't sound like drudgery at alll. 

Haven't you heard the saying that seeking God will cost you? For sure, the initial investment does take discipline and the willingness to set aside time. But once you begin to do that, you will begin to see your life changes and you will not miss the things that you stopped doing so you could spend more time with God. In my case, I'm just watching TV last and I'm listening to the word more and listening to God more. I'm honestly not missing out on anything! I am passionately in love with Jesus more and more every day. What about you? Do you need to stop what you're doing right now and asked the Lord for more? Is he truly the number one thing in your life that you desire? Only you can answer these questions. The Lord always has more for us, all we have to do is ask him to spice it up! The passionate pursuit of God is always rewarding!

What comes around goes around-even if it's unforgiveness

I think today's topic will really blow your mind. Christians often think about godly principles separate from other biblical principles or themes in the Bible. We don't do this on purpose. It seems it's often easier to think and or process about one thing at a time.

 I'm a reading teacher who teaches students to take short stories or articles and read each chunk or paragraph to come up with a main idea. I'm also careful to have them take those mini chunks or subtopics and think about how they relate and obtain a main idea. If they never see that the parts make the whole main idea, comprehension never occurs.

Applying this idea to studying the Bible, I became aware of two principles of God that they have direct correlations with each other. This kind of thinking helps us to go deeper in our studies, as well as our relationship and walk with God. 

So instead of thinking of the "law of sowing and reaping" and "forgiveness" as separate godly principles, the Holy Spirit opened up this combined biblical concept and blew my mind.

We will reap what we sow. That means that we will receive what we invest, whether good or bad. I have preached on this principle. I often commented on people's Facebook pages who write "what comes around goes around". Friends, this is true! If you sow in forgiveness, you will have more forgiveness extended to you. If you so in unforgiveness, you will have people who are not willing to forgive you. 

How did I come to this conclusion? It was the rather simple. I began to examine my heart and some of the interactions that I recently observed. If someone is unable to mention a person's name because of a past incident etc., there must be unforgiveness. Yes, we've heard it spoken over and over how forgiveness frees the person on either end of the conversation and that forgiveness is good, and we can comprehend that. 

But what if we accidentally harbor ill-will, due to a deep wound? This is going to have an adverse effect on our relationships with people and God. Take a personal inventory of the relationships and people in your life and see if there are people who have made it known that they have issues with you and are unwilling to extend forgiveness to you. If you answer yes to that question, perhaps you need to go back and pray, asking the Lord if there is someone who you have not forgiven. God never tells us to withhold our love. When we are unwilling to extend His love towards someone, that issue has to be dealt with. If you're asking the question, how many times do I have to forgive? Bible tells us 70×7.

So once I had this revelation, I went to Bible Gateway.com and began to look for support of this new understanding that I received today while walking and praying. One example of this is found in first Peter 3:7. Husbands are admonished to love and forgive their wives so that their prayers are not hindered. So there it is, the "law sowing and reaping" is related to both forgiveness and unforgiveness.

We are admonished to forgive others because Christ forgave us! Forgiveness is good because it sets people free. But finally, if we want forgiveness to be extended to us even as Christ loved and forgave us, we have to be willing to forgive no matter how hard it hurts. You may be reading this blog and saying I'm not hurt anymore, I just don't talk to him. But that is not forgiveness and if you have harbored bitterness in your heart, the law of sowing and reaping will come in full fruition to your house.

I never thought of it this way before! What do you think?

Galatians 6: 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

High Places are Traps

Lately, there has been an intense desire to Concecrate my life more fully to God. A confirmation to this was attending the Concecrate Conference last week in Sarasota, Florida. I am welcoming the Holy Spirit's purging the chaff that does not belong in my life. While there are some things that the Lord has asked me to give to him, like consecrating my time, there are other things that are not evil but he has asked me to separate from.

It's actually somewhat complicated because consecrating my time means that I have to think about what I'm doing with my time and which activities fill up that time. When I think about how much time I really give to God just to minister to him and listen to his voice in relationship to the amount of hours in a day, which is 24, I begin to realize how little I have truly consecrated my time. I'm not talking about how much time I am at church, worship practice, working in the office at church, preparing for a word, etc. I'm talking about how much time I truly set aside to worship and listen to my heavenly father speak.

I think the importance of personal sanctification and consecration is the key to knowing the truth on our inward parts. It says in Psalms that the Lord desires truth on her inward parts. The Bible also says that it's difficult to know one's heart.

But then we also see that were telling us that out of the heart the mouth speaks. I can expound on that literally and then ask myself to consider my conversations with people and my posts on Facebook. What I do in my home and outside of my home, do they line up with the word of God. We hear the saying actions speak louder than words, and that is why I am making this correlation today.

I only write these words to get you thinking and asking the Lord what his speaking to you. The Lord wants us to take down all of the high places in our hearts (see the scripture below). 

We have to be looking for these high places. I think someone looking on the outside of my life more easily see some of the high places that are in my heart. I think that's because when were so close to a situation we really can't see objectively. Again, this is why we truly need to spend time listening to God and consecrating our lives. We also need to willing to run this race with people who are in authority over us, will live a godly life, and are able to speak into our lives for correction etc. 

This is not a wimpy Christians. This is for Christians that truly want to make a difference in this earth and be a change maker.

The high places in our heart keep us from doing what the Lord wants us to do; or one could look at it like this, if I spend time placating to the high places in my life, I will be less of an influence, follower, and co-laborer with God the people around me. I will be less effective. I will not be a history changer for the King of Kings and Lord of lords!

If you're all in, then you're all into taking down the high places in your life. What is a high place? I Highplace is a person, place, or thing that has been placed in a position above God. It's idolatry folks. This can be anything-sin or not, such as pornography, video games, disobedience, covetousness, worldly music, etc.

 If you think this looks like a list of legalism, you've missed the entire point. If it's a sin, you should not engage in it and it should not have power over you. Some people allow sin or self  to be exalted above God. Regarding things that are not sin, if you are spending an exuberant amount of time fostering these person, places, or things and they have been elevated in your own heart is higher than God, then you have a high place. Can your service to God become a high place? Absolutely!

All high places must come down. Of course, you can choose to hold on to these high places. You can choose to be unwilling to allow the Holy Spirit to purge your heart. You can choose to walk in rebellion and pursue whatever it is that you want to pursue. But you can also be willing to face your high places and become truly free. High places are often obsessions. Our only obsession should be Christ. This is not the only reason why we need to take down our high places.

Holding onto high places is allowing an open space for the enemy to come in. If you have not dealt with high places, then you have allowed an open place for the enemy to come in. If you're unaware of high places in your heart, they still may exist. The bottom line is you would not know about these high places unless you spent time with God and allowed him to take a look and read your life and your heart.

Friends, my job used to be a high place where I put a ridiculous amount of time into beyond what was required,  expected, and or needed. I was driven and compelled to pour myself into a cause. Yes, I was a Christian, lover, and follower of God, but I was unaware of the high places in my heart. Until I became aware of this Highplace, I was doing very well in my comfort zone. I have had to make a decision about what I will pursue and do. God had a lot of other things for me to do, but I was too busy to listen and know what He was saying. And isn't this the truth of most of the people weather in the church or in the world? Running around like busy bees and busy beavers doing the list that we have for the day, never asking God what He wants to do with our time. Since God is the keeper of our time, I think it's important I ask him how I spend it. He knows exactly how much time I have on this earth and he knows exactly what he has asked me to do. 

All of what I do must be consecrated before God. I must seek him and ask him about what he wants me to do with my time. I am not saying that I should slack off on my responsibilities at work. I am making the point that it was more important for me to perform well at work for praise then desiring the praise of God and hearing those words well done my good and faithful servant. I was more interested than that and hearing a daily word from God and asking him what to do with my time. 

I am a teacher and an advocate for education. The job is not a ten-month job;  it is year-round, due to the fact of preparing for the next year etc. But I do not have to spend most of my time pouring myself into these things. I must discipline myself and be willing to consecrate my time and life before God.

This is the only way that the high places can come down in my life. High places are traps that the enemy knows that you will fall into. Even holding on to a high place but not fellowshipping with it is still having high place, and it is still not dealing with it. What about you? What are your thoughts and comments? Are you ready to start digging for high places that need to come down? 

1 Kings 22:43

New International Version (NIV)

43 In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.[a] (from Biblegateway.com)

Please enjoy the song Victors Crown. I am reminded of the lyrics in the song that state every Highplace must come down!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g84C902JFYM

Standing in a Firestorm

Isaiah 33: 13-14 

"If you’re far away,

    get the reports on what I’ve done,

And if you’re in the neighborhood,

    pay attention to my record.

The sinners in Zion are rightly terrified;

    the godless are at their wit’s end:

‘Who among us can survive this firestorm?

    Who of us can get out of this purge with our lives?’”

15-16 The answer’s simple:

    Live right,

    speak the truth,

    despise exploitation,

    refuse bribes,

    reject violence,

    avoid evil amusements.

This is how you raise your standard of living!

    A safe and stable way to live.

    A nourishing, satisfying way to live......

God is telling us that if we want to be able to stand when the firestorms come (trials and tribulations and the purging of sin from our lives) we have to live right. 

When I say and write the words live right, it's pretty simple. Obey the things God has told me to do. Continue to consecrate and separate from the things God has asked me to stay away from. Yield to the Holy Spirit. Surrender my life daily to Him. It's sounds easy, but in actuality it's not that easy for me.

I pursue God and His prescence because that is the only way I can stand and come out of firestorms. I have to pursue God because I have learned it's the only thing that will satisfy my soul. I want to be in God's neighborhood (v13). If I find myself lost (not living right), I know they way back to His neighborhood. 

What about you? Where do you find yourself today? 

Are you divergent?

So I've been thinking a lot about the novel: Divergent lately. I was thinking about possible spiritual principles and correlations that could be extracted from the book. So if you read the book or saw the movie, you can relate to this radical idea. If you have not, I've kept this entry very simple so that you can still grasp the concepts I am writing about today.

When I think of my own definition of divergent in today's society, I think it applies to present day. Someone who is divergent is able to operate in many roles and not just one. Taking it a step farther, a divergent person is one who operates in the natural and the spiritual. If we understand the power that has been given to us to walk as a Christian on the earth, then we understand why being divergent is dangerous. It's mostly dangerous to the Devil, who is seeking to devour you like a roaring lion. The very thought of you thinking on your own and organizing your life around the Word to live in God's kingdom on Earth scares the Devil. Satan would prefer that you would be ignorant and continue to walk in a single focus lifestyle: a bland Christian who does not live beyond the salvation experience. He enjoys resting and not worrying when your feet touch the ground in the morning because you do not have the revelation of who you are in Christ: You are divergent!  I pray you receive that revelation today. 

In this book, society has been narrowed down to five factions. The major roles in society have been separated out in an attempt to protect society. The problem is that you cannot take people and put them into one box and make them dress the same way, look the same way, and think the same way. We find out is that in the end, they are not all able to suppress their ability to be multifaceted, their ability to choose, and their ability to think and act outside of their factions. They cannot be brainwashed anymore! They are a pure breed of divergent ones. So are God's people. 

So you're reading this and you're thinking that that is exactly what the Christian world tries to do to people. I hope not!!!!  This should not be the case. The shepherds and the leadership should seek to grow and develop people in their unique talents and gifts. While there are guidelines for dressing modest in all societies, this is not telling people they have to wear a suit and a tie the church etc. People should know the Word and what they believe and not be told to do so. The truth is knowing what you know and believing what you believe depends on your study and quiet time with God. Yes, when you come to church you consider and take in what the preacher says, but true Divergent people are thinkers and they line everything up to the Word of God.

I believe that God embraces the divergent ones. Think about this. We are all different but unified in one purpose: Christ. Each one of us can reach a certain specific group because of our uniqueness in God. This is the same for the other side. There are dark divergent ones too. Depending on how we advertise for and in whatever place where we are, this depends on who we will draw people to. The Bible tells us to be fishers of men and draw men to God, The Bible tells us to live our lives like an open book; therefore, we should be transparent and true in all situations. It should be clear that we are divergent for Christ!

I did not intend to open a can of worms and take each character and plot elements and line it up to Christianity. What I really wanted to express today is that you are divergent in God. Why not start acting like it? You are the chosen generation. You are supposed to rise and shine and lead people to Christ. How can you do that in darkness? How can you do that if you do not embrace both the natural and spiritual aspects of Christianity? Divergent people are serious about their purpose in God. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that we have a plan and a purpose for our life.

God did not wake you up today for you to play church and Christianity; instead, He woke you up today to live and be Christ like! He did not wake you up today to pretend to some that you are godlike and to others to act another way. Praise God, He woke you up today! Praise Him and radically live divergent  for Him!

Finally, I've taken a new approach and am writing this as I am walking and praying. I will of course review later.

God bless...... divergent ones!