Permissible

Romans 7:19 NLT

I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

A minister friend said recently in a message that when we were not saved everything was permissible and fun. Now that we are saved, everything is still permissible but no longer fun. 

We are not rejected because of what wrong path we take. As a matter of fact, I believe Holy Spirit is constantly attempting to guide us back on the path He has for us to take. In our stubbornness we cling to our soulish desires and our logic to do what we have decided He wants of us. What He really wants is for us to think with the mind of Christ and not our old mind filled with logic and knowledge capable of figuring things out for ourselves--leaning to our own understanding. 

So here we are plodding along trying to take the right road even forcing open doors Holy Spirit is trying to close for us by putting blocks in our way. Instead of understanding what they are we logically find our way through or around the block and call it an answer to prayer. I can just imagine what Holy Spirit thinks then! But it does not stop Him from trying a different approach for us to listen.

I think we make a simple Gospel complicated. His perfect will is in His Word. If what we are doing is not advancing the Kingdom of God, then we should open a new door. Jesus commissioned all of us to preach the Good News to the world we live in to save the lost, and set the captives free by delivering them from demons and healing them. And yet we all look for the part we want to play. All the parts to play that are laid out in the New Testament writings are for Christians in relationship with other Christians. We are all to go outside the church be Jesus. 

In the church we compliment each other in gifting and all the gifts are active in our fellowship no matter how small that fellowship is in bodies. Holy Spirit gives out the gifts as needed and when needed to build up the church, teach the church, and encourage the church.

If you are making a difference in church, then you are where He wants you. If your disciples are going outside the church setting the captives free, then you are doing your job. All too often I believe we get wrapped up in the job and not the results of our work. It is all about setting the captives free so they can set more captives free. It is all about being Jesus to all we encounter.

And waiting is not in the commission Jesus gave to all of us. The action is in the GOing. Growth does not come by waiting. Growth comes through GOing, being corrected and continuing to GO. God deals with all of us so differently. If we have peace that we are doing God's will, we will GO ahead more readily. If not, the checks we get from Holy Spirit will come through loud and clear.

Remember that faith is spelled R I S K. To GO we must step out and take a risk. 

Direction

Matthew 28:19-20 NLT
Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

When we became born again it was not to just get a ticket on the bus to heaven. And yet, many are just waiting around attempting to be good little Christians until Jesus returns or they reach their expiration date for this part of the journey.

Jesus commissioned us to preach the gospel message, to make believers and then to disciple them.

Many get to church on a weekend and think that plus their good lives is all they are to do. Wrong. Jesus said we would do what He did while He was here on earth and even more. How can that happen if we don’t step outside the church?

Oh, so you tell others what a great church you attend and even invite them? Good for you, but that is like inviting them to a football game or to see a good movie. Jesus did not commission the church to convert the heathen, He commissioned you and I. When they are born again because of what you did, then bring them to church as new believers.

And then disciple them. It is not the pastor’s job to disciple, he/she is the encourager, the teacher, the pastor. We are to bring them alongside us and teach them by our example what it means to walk as Jesus walked--to be Jesus in the marketplace.

Emphasis has been on conversions and not on discipleship. It does not matter much how many say:’Yeah Jesus.” What matters is how many, because of our discipleship learn to “Be Jesus.”

Well, you say, I am waiting for God’s direction before I get off the couch and do anything. He has to tell me what to do next, where to go next, who to get involved with. I need a word from Him before I can do anything.

He gave us His Word so we would know His Will and His ways. He gave us Holy Spirit to encourage us as we go. It is in the GO that we get direction. It is in the GO that we grow. It is in the GO that we see the doors to close and the doors to open.

God does not paint a big sign on a door for us. We are to seek the doors and as we attempt to walk through them Holy Spirit gives us a check in our spirit when our direction is wrong. It is up to us to be aware of those checks and back off if we take a wrong turn.

As we pursue obedience to His Word and therefore His Will, He shows up. When we see a door, we walk to it and if it opens and lines up with His Will as defined in His Word He will give us what we need to fulfil the task He has for us.

If that door you see open is one you cannot go through without His help, then it is probably the door He has for you to pursue. If you can do it on your own then it is probably one you are opening all on your own. For it is through having to trust God that we grow through our experiences in this life.

The GO is easy in hindsight. But as we walk towards it, the way may seem insurmountable and it is only with His help and our complete trust in Him that we can make it. We have to go through the doors together. We have to go through each day together. It is not six days for this life and one day with Him. It is living every day with Him. He is in us and at our side and covering our back and leading the way, every day.

Plumb Line

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

We all know what a plumb line is, right? Nowadays there are electronic gadgets that are used. It used to be a string with a weight pointed at the bottom. When the string was held up with the weight at the bottom the line from the top to the point at the bottom would be perfectly vertical. When used to align a wall being built it would insure the wall to be straight.

That is where we want to be with our Father God-perfectly aligned with Him. When we are out of alignment our life sways back and forth. We try to be right in our thinking, but temptation from our own thinking pulls us off our plumb line.

All scripture is God breathed. For us to breath it we must read it. When we ask Holy Spirit to reveal the Living Word of God to us, the words jump out from the pages and sealed in our heart.

When we find ourselves veering off the plumb line all we need to do is pull out those words of love from deep within--those words He revealed to us as He breathed them into us.

As we walk out staying aligned with God, others see Jesus in us and miracles happen as we allow Him to reach out and touch the lost and the saved. Praise God!

Thinking

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) 

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

One of the worst things to do is immerse yourself in what others say about why you are not moving in your ministry or why you are not fully healed. We get what we think. Jesus heals without qualification. When His anointing is present so is His presence. And the anointing breaks the yoke.

What we read becomes what we think. And our mind is what drives us. The Word should be our primary reading material. We need to klnow how Jesus thinks. We should have the mind of Christ and his mind does not think why I cannot. It only thinks why I can. 

Satan loves to keep us thinking about why we are not healed and the more we dwell on it the further from the mind of Christ we find ourselves. Jesus save. Jesus heals. Period. Thinking any other way is not of God. 

No matter where our physical condition is God has something for us to do to advance His kingdom. We need to seek His face, listen for His voice regardless of what we are dealing with in this physical realm. 

"Thank you Jesus for where I am right now. Thank you for using me in the physical and emotional condition I am in. Continue teaching me all things and advancing me one step at a time. In Jesus' name I pray."