Monday, August 31, 2015

Work

John 6:29, 40 NLT
Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent." For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day."

We grow up in our culture today with the goal of becoming educated in order to obtain a good paying job. We work to earn a living so we can purchase shelter, food, and enjoy life. It is not about how much we make, but rather what we do with what has been allotted to us.

Common sense tells us we cannot live in a two thousand dollar a month home if we only make fifteen hundred a month. But we are tempted by credit card companies to charge what we want in hope that we will make more in the future and pay off our debts. It is good for them, but bad for us. So we often work more than one job to make enough to feed our need to spend more.

I do not think Jesus was talking about this kind of work. No, He was telling me that I do not have to work to retain my relationship with Him. I am saved, born again, a friend of God. All my sins have been forgiven. He is the same today and tomorrow, the same as He was yesterday. There is no work I have to do to keep Him in me. Nothing can change His mind about how much He love me.

Is there work to be done? Yes there is. Our work is sharing the gospel message with all we come in contact with. How can they follow Jesus if they do not know who He is? We are to go in to the world, the places where we live, and share Jesus. We are to be a light in dark places. We are to be Jesus to a needing world. But it does not stop there. When someone accepts Jesus we do not let them go. No, we are to disciple them so they go to their world and share with them what Jesus has done.

How much work we do following Him does not have an affect on our eternity with Jesus. The closer our work with Him, the more rewarding our life here on earth. Out names were written in the book of life the day we asked Jesus into our heart. And that was not done with an erasable pencil.

Thank you Jesus for using me in the world I travel in. Thank you for being in me and working through me. Thank you for my eternal promise to be with you forever.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Cleansing

2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

We are a clean people. We wash our cars, our clothes, our teeth, ourselves, and more. The consequences of not doing so may result in a reduced number of friends, loss of a job, loss of teeth, or worse. Living in/with filth has health consequences as well.

God's promises to us are numerous, but the most important one is His promise to save us from death. He sent His son, Jesus to show us the way to eternal life. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior we move from a life on earth ending in death to an abundant life here ending in eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.

Now that Jesus lives in me, I want to be the cleanest I have ever been. Sure I clean up on the outside the same way I did before I was saved. It is the inside that is needing a good washing. The way I thought, the selfish ways I approached things, the WIFM attitude I had, the movies I watched, the language I used, the endless supply of innuendos, etc. all had to go.

My list of was longer than that, but I have already listed more than I had planned as it is. You see, when I realized who was in me, I could not be that same person. My mind had to be washed clean by the blood of Jesus. My mind needed to be renewed. I needed to operate out of the mind of Christ and not of my old mindset.

I would love to tell you I am fixed. I am not. There are still things in me that Jesus is working on. Holy Spirit shows me what they are and I work on changing, with His help.

"Father God, show me what needs to change in me. Help me to be the person you designed me to be and not the person satan tried to turn me into when I was tempted to do all those worldly things and hang around with the wrong people. Help me to be where you are working and give me the boldness to allow Holy Spirit to work through me so Jesus can touch lives all around me. Cleanse me. In Jesus name, I pray."

Monday, August 17, 2015

Masterpiece

Ephesians 2:10 NLT
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

When I think about a masterpiece, I think of an old painting created by a famous artist many years ago and worth a small fortune. Dictionary.com defines masterpiece as, "A person's greatest piece of work, as in an art or anything done with masterly skill". We are God's greatest work.

By going to the cross for us, Jesus canceled out our debts for all time. Our sins are forgiven--past, present, and future. We are covered by the blood of Jesus shed for us at the cross. It gets even better.

When we became a believer and asked Jesus to come into our heart, God heard us. We became born again; born of the spirit with a new birth date. And Father God sent the Holy Spirit to come into us and fill our spirit. Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ lives in us. Jesus is alive and working through us as we practice His presence each day.

"Thank you, Father for being in my life. Thank you for my being your masterpiece. Thank you for teaching me daily as I step out and minister to others, to those you place in my path. Continue to order my steps and point me to where You are working so I may join you. It is in Jesus name, I pray. Amen."

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Tattoos

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT 
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Every so often someone asks me what I think about getting a tattoo. I do not have one and have no desire to do so. A number of my friends and family member have them. I know some people come back from battle with one or more. I don't know when that began, but some of my relatives in WWII came back with them as did friends who saw action in other conflicts. In today's younger generation it seems to be the "thing to do". They are placed in hidden places and in obvious spots on their bodies. Women seem to like them on their back in the waist area and you see them as you walk the beaches seeing the bikini clad women. Some are just cute little butterflies or hearts, others large with some implied message. Everyone is doing it, so it must be ok, right? Here is what I find my Bible has to say about it and, if God said it, are we not to obey?

Leviticus 19:28 NLT
Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the LORD.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Just Do

James 1:22 NLT
But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

We spend years learning things in school and most of it we never use in our lifetime. Well maybe we call on some of it in trivia games. But we each learned things we needed as we moved on in our lives and we each needed different pieces of that education.

Then we moved on to our next chapter, the one where we found a profession and began to use some of those tools we picked up in our worldly education. Even though we knew some basics from school we did not really get to how to use them until we used them. Doing made it real and allowed us to learn even more. 

As we "do", our knowledge grows as we experience things hands on. This experiential knowledge is more valuable than book knowledge. The book or whatever our method of learning was propelled us into life experiences that allowed us to obtain experiential knowledge and grow in that area of our life.

One way many experience God's word today is by listening to a teaching or sermon at church or on television or even on the Internet. There is a lot of good messages out there to listen to and many use scripture throughout. 

However, this is not digging into God's word for ourselves. I know God may speak to us through those messages, but how much more when we are in His word for ourselves. I believe the most important way He speaks to us today is through His written word, our Bible. When we read it what we "hear" is not filtered through someone else's experiences.

When God reveals His truth to us we are not to just make a note or bookmark the passages. We are to do what it says. And as we do it, we experience if for ourselves and grow to a new level in Christ.

Monday, August 03, 2015

Your God

Isaiah 41:10 NLT 
Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

I was told a long time ago that fear was false evidence appearing real. Fact is fear is not of God. The enemy likes to use it to open a door for worry and then hopelessness.

So when fear tries to sneak in we need to take those thoughts captive casting them out of our mind and think on things of God. Remember who we are in Christ. Speak out those scriptures and fear will dissipate as we allow Holy Spirit to cleanse our mind.

He is our Father God. He loves us and is always with us. Even when we allow circumstances overwhelm us He is right there waiting for us to reach out to Him. Instead we try to fix it on our own. But His word tells us to not lean to our own understanding. When we lean on Him, He is right there to comfort us and bring us out of those circumstances. With Him we can fly above any circumstance the enemy can try to throw at us.

Thank you Jesus for being in my life, in me. For with you nothing is impossible, no mountain too high.