Being Busy

While I was talking with God, he shared this one liner with me, "Being busy does not glorify Me." I wondered what it meant and then He cleared it up.

We run our lives using a calendar. Some of us have it on our phone or on our computer. Mine even sends me an email a few days in advance to remind me of my appointments. So I do not even have to remember to look at the calendar. We lead busy lives.

As believers, much of our time seems to be spent with church involvement. On Sunday's we look at the things going on in the church we attend. If we put every one of those things in our calendar we would not have much left over.

James 2:26 
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. (NIV)

In addition we think up all kinds of projects that God should approve. We want to always be working for Him. After all, without works faith is dead. But what are those works worth?

Psalm 37:23 
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. (NIV)

First and foremost, I believe God wants our focus on Him. He wants our praise and He wants us to have a relationship with Him. The only entry He wants to see in our calendar is a date with Him every hour of every day. If we do that and listen to His voice, He will fill in the slots in the calendar. He will direct our steps to the works He has for us to do instead of the works we think are godly.

You see, busyness is not godliness.

Modern Medicine

2 Chronicles 16
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. (NLT)

God gave us a mind to think and create. So we have created modern medicine to heal us, they say. Physicians have been around for centuries, even before Jesus ever walked the earth. As they have practiced their trade, they have become better at what they do. The more test subjects they treat the better they get at diagnosing the problem and suggesting a remedy that works most of the time.

Psalm 103:3
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. (NLT)

But why would God want us to turn away from Him for healing and turn instead to man? Why would he have us depend on man to heal us?

John 14:12-14 
"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! (NLT)

All we have to do is ask, in the name of Jesus and it will be so. If we believe. And yet, man turns away from God to be healed, to live a longer life. Is he turning to just another graven image?

Mark 16:16-18
Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved... They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed. (NLT)

Jesus did mighty miracles and told us that we will do the same works, and even greater ones. He sent Holy Spirit to dwell within us and gave us the authority and power to call forth the miraculous.

Let's stop turning first to man and instead keep our focus on God. He will heal all our diseases.

Turn it On

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV)

I remember when we got our first television set. It was sometime in the late 1940's and it was a large, boxy thing with a screen smaller then the one on this old laptop I am using now. The picture was in black and white as color had not been invented. We moved out the old stand up am/shortwave radio from it's living room position and moved in the latest technological marvel.

Unlike the hundreds of channels available today all day and all night, our television would only pick up a couple of channels and only during a rather limited period of time. When the stations were not broadcasting a show, they sent out a test pattern. Anybody remember what that looked like?

When the television is turned off we cannot see anything on it. But when we locate and then pick up that remote control and press the on button all is visible and we have access to anything available.

Perhaps our life in the spirit is similar. We make a decision to believe in God and that He sent Jesus to live amongst us, to live and die for all our transgressions. We turn on our spiritual eyes when in faith we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

He opens up a whole new dimension of life for us. We see beyond the current situations in our lives and on to what is to come; what is eternal.

Before we turned on the switch, the television set was blank. Before we turned on Jesus in our lives reading the Bible was a chore with nothing gained. It was like reading a textbook in a subject we really had no interest in.

After we found Jesus and let Him into our lives, reading became a joy. Unlike TV, there are no reruns! The Bible all of a sudden has hundreds of channels and each time we read it something new pops out just for us, for our current situation, and to propel us into our eternal life journey.

Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:13
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (NLT)

How easy it is to remember that God is always with us. He knows what we desire and what we are being tempted to do or say. Sometimes we are the author of our own temptations as we listen to the thoughts coming from the enemy. "You have done it before." "What can it hurt?" "Nobody will know."

At other times we fall under the spell of others, often so called friends of ours and even our spouse. They are going off in the wrong direction, a way that we know takes us from the will of God in our life, and we choose to follow.

Another saying popped into my mind when I read this scripture. "God will not give you something you cannot handle." This is quoted often and is a misquote of the above scripture. It indicates that God is the author of temptation, but this is untrue.

James 1:13
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. (NLT)

God is watching our back all the time. He does not tempt us or put us into bad situations. We are very skilled at doing that ourselves. And He does not allow the enemy to tempt us beyond what we are able to endure.

God is faithful to His Word. We are to trust in Him in all things and listen to Holy Spirit as He guides us away from the temptations that come our way.

Sacrifice of Praise

Hebrews 13:15
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (NIV)

The Amplified ends with "which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name."

And the Message ends with "Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name."

We are no longer under the Jewish law. We no longer offer a blood sacrifice to atone for our sins. Jesus did that for us once and for all.

The sacrifice we are to offer is to openly profess His name, thankfully acknowledging and confessing and glorifying Him by what we say in Jesus' name.

And yet often our time is spent openly with God in that quite place inside, in our own home. We think of praise as what we say in church on Sunday when the praise and worship team leads us through a series of songs in that direction.

Well, that is not enough. We are to take our place outside with Jesus. We are to go outside the four walls of our house and speak His name in what we do, how we act, how we react, and what we say.

We are to be Jesus to the world around us. We are to give Him all the glory and when we reach out and touch someone we do it in the name of Jesus.

This is the sacrifice of praise we are to openly make daily.

His Glory

I believe "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" in the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is telling us that whatever His will in Heaven is, we want the same here on earth. And for that to happen we need to be in the Glory Cloud of His presence. We need to be under His anointing.

When that happens deliverance happens. Healing happens. Miracles happen. And all in the blink of an eye. No one has to do anything. God moves and people are set free.

Yes, I believe God answers prayer with or without the presence of the anointing. The difference is in the timing. When we are in His Glory, we are in timeless reality and what could take days or weeks or years to happen in the natural, if at all, happens in a moment of time.

More Glory = Less Time

Now you ask, can someone be in an atmosphere of healing and not be healed? Yes, they can. Where we are physically is not necessarily where we choose our mind and spirit to be. We have the right to ignore the presence of God and as such will not be touched by what is freely available.

Isaiah 60:1-2
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (NIV)

Praise and Worship can tap into the Glory Realm. It can bring down a strong anointing of God in the congregation of Spirit filled believers. Holy Spirit's presence permeates the atmosphere and people are touched. The anointing is an accelerator. It speeds up the process. The enemy has to flee in His presence.

Psalm 91:1
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (NIV)

We need to dwell in His presence, in the secret place. But, how do we get there? Praise and worship can play a great part in opening Heaven so the anointing is present.

Our music should being with praise--fast tempo songs that make us dance, jump, and shout to the Lord. It should continue until worship comes, not until the program or order of service says it does. Not two fast and one slow song. No, we stay in an atmosphere of praise until worship comes. And the our songs should be intimate, slow songs of love to God.

As we soak in His presence we will begin to feel the thick, heavy presence of the Lord. After the Glory comes down, the anointing, we need to wait. We need to wait for God to move. If we move out on our own we will be ahead of God and miss what He has for us. We need to minister out of God's Glory and not out of our own gift. When Holy Spirit moves, then we move with Him.

On Suffering

John 10:9-10
Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (NLT)

Jesus did not come for us to suffer. He came for us to have abundant life, a rich and satisfying life. But that does not line up with satan's plan. No, he comes to steal and destroy.

Yet how often we hear about how we have to suffer for God. And so not true. It is one of the myths that keeps a child of God from receiving a healing touch. They honestly believe the lie of the enemy that tells they they are suffering for the glory of God.

John 9:3
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Some think this man was born blind for the express purpose of having Jesus lay hands on him and give him sight. Yet the works of God were not displayed until Jesus healed him. Our sickness does not glorify God; our healing does.

It is life before Christ that was filled with suffering. We were lost and blindly following the lead of satan. Sickness and despair were a normal part of our lives. We lived from paycheck to paycheck and from doctor to doctor. It was not an abundant life. It was living for the sake of living.

When we found Jesus, we found the only way out of the grip of satan. We found the truth that had been hidden from us, masked by a cunning enemy. All we have to do is put our trust in Him for our daily lives and Holy Spirit will keep us on the right path. And that is the only path that leads to an abundant life here on earth and a path that leads to an eternity in Heaven with Jesus.

Matthew 16:23 
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." (NIV)

When suffering tries to come upon us we need to do what Jesus did and command satan to get behind us. He has no authority in our lives and he has not power except for the power we give him. With Holy Spirit in us, we have complete power and authority over satan. It is time we used that power in our daily lives.

Using Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:7
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. (NLT)

It is so hard to separate spiritual gifts from our worldly thinking about the talents we were born with. Natural talent is not a spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the church, the body of Christ.

We each have things we excel in and things we are not very good at. I am not an artsy person. You can put me in a room of paintings and I will not appreciate them like my wife, Dianne does. She sees the beauty in each and I just see pictures. Put her in a room of computers and she sees a bunch of stuff while I see the differences between them and sometimes understand what they are being used for.

My point is this. I do not have a natural talent to paint pictures. She does and if she practiced she might even be able to sell her work. On the other hand, although she has quite a bit of experiential knowledge of computers, when someone has a problem they do not call Dianne, they call me. Before retirement, I was able to make my living in the computer field because of my natural talent.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[b]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. (NLT)

We all have been given spiritual gifts so we may serve others in the body of Christ. Perhaps it is the gift of healing, or the power to perform miracles, or perhaps the ability to prophesy. But how often are these gifts used as a means of income production? The Holy Spirit did not give a gift so we could make money off of it.

And it is not us who determine which gift to have. It is the one and only Spirit. And that gift may be given for all time, for a season, or even for a particular instance where it it needed. When we are laying hands on the sick we may get a word of knowledge about the person we are praying for. We do not move in words of knowledge all the time. But God knows when that person needs a boost of believe to be able to fully receive the healing to come. When they hear that word, they know without a doubt that only God could have known and therefore that God is present.

When the healing anointing is present during one of our meetings, many lay hands on the sick and see miracles occur. It is the anointing that heals, not us or the person praying. It is Jesus. When they leave the meeting, that anointing may linger for a little while, but next week they may not be seeing the same results. Holy Spirit gives the gift in His time for His purpose, not for our benefit.

When books and CDs and speaking engagements revolve around income production, we are off track and using the gifts for personal gain and not to serve the body. Don't get me wrong, the body is served whenever Holy Spirit is present. It is us that are misdirected and as the result of our actions we may cause others to take the same path.

2 Thessalonians 3:10
Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat." (NLT)

Think about Paul. He lived off his tent making business and used his spiritual gifts to benefit the body of Christ. Shouldn't we to do the same?

He Heals All our Diseases

Psalm 103:3
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. (NLT)

It is important to realize God has NO limitations in what He can do. He does not need mankind to perform miraculous events in our lives and in the lives of others. As born again believers endued with the Holy Spirit we have the authority and power to see the same miraculous events occur through our hands as Jesus did when He walked the earth as one of us, as a man.

There is no reference in my Bible to aches and pains coming at a certain time in life. Yes as we grow older we are mature in life and hope to be mature in our faith as well. Yes old people die of old age now just as they did when Jesus was with us as a man. However, we are to be just as physically healthy then as when we were younger. The body wears out and God calls us home.

Do we get sick? Do we have physical issues that need to be dealt with? Yes we do, but how we deal has a lot to do with who we are in Christ. Do we accept the word of man over the word of God. Do we allow words of death spoken by man to affect how we live? We certainly can and most do. This is exactly what the enemy is working toward. Satan wants us a slave to medicine. a slave to man, a slave to him.

When someone does place their trust in a doctor God does not desert us. He is still present in our lives. Holy Spirit is still in us. But our Faith is not with them. It is with man. When someone puts their faith in man, we still pray for them and pray that the people healing them are doing the best they can and that God intervenes.

If God depended on man to heal, then why does God replace metal in someones body inserted by man with original parts? Why does God replace organs repaired by man? We have seen this happen time and time again.

God is the healer. But He uses you and I, our prayers and our hands to do the healing yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Thoughts on The Church

Woke up this morning thinking about the church today and how far off we have gone in our thinking and actions. God established a temple for His people to worship Him. In order for that temple to exist there had to be men to oversee it. They came out of the synagogues of that time and were led by Rabbi's. This was the "church" before Jesus came onto the scene and the "church" Jesus was brought up in. In order for this organization to do what God had ordained it to do, the people were instructed to tithe a tenth of what they had to support the established "church" of that time.

Along comes Jesus and His "church" is out in the marketplace and the countryside. It was anywhere He went. The crowds followed Him. They sought Him out wherever He happened to be. Yes, He did preach in the synagogues also. This was where the Jews were and those were the people He was sent to call unto Him. But, most of the stories we read about in the Bible are when He was between destinations, on the journey from one place to another. We are never told of Jesus taking an offering from the people. Although that must have occurred as Judas was the keeper of the coins and those funds must have come from somewhere.

Spring forward a few years and we have Saul, a member of the established "church" hunting down Christians. Then Jesus came to Saul in his travels and struck him off his horse. Saul's experience was so profound that he did a 180 and began to preach the Gospel to the gentiles. He never sat under the teachings of any of Jesus' original followers. No, Saul (now Paul) was given the same Holy Spirit who taught Paul all things.
 
Paul went on his journey to spread the Good News. Along the way he established "churches" made up of groups of new believers meeting in homes. There was no hierarchy; no persons placed between the church body and Father God. There were no offerings taken to support the "church". Instead they were told to share all they had with each other. There were no handouts, no food stamp programs or disability benefits. They helped each other in their needs as they got back on their feet. And they believed the Scripture that says if a man does not work he does not eat. Even Paul worked making tents.
 
This new "church", the body of believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, did take up offerings to help support other bodies of believers in other areas of the world. You might say this was the first example of supporting missions.
 
Then in about 300 AD things changed. Man, led by former Jews who had become Christians, formed a formal established church. No longer a body of believers as Jesus and Paul had established, but a brick and mortar one. One that had to be supported because it needed people to run it and it needed funds to maintain it. A blending of the old (synagogue) and the new belief in Jesus.

Instead of passing down the message by word of mouth, which had been working and bringing many into the Kingdom of God, a new order was established. A formal set of manuscripts was created out of the many letters that were being passed around. These were added to the already known Jewish writings and made into the Old and New Testaments we know today. Because of the lack of duplication methods, only the leaders of the new established church had them so they became the teachers. And Christianity was launched into a new era.
 
While the people were the "church" and sharing this Jesus to the world as commissioned by Him years before, signs and wonders was prevalent with all believers as the Holy Spirit moved both inside and outside of the "church". God's miraculous touch brought people into the Kingdom and took care of those already in the Kingdom.

When man took over, the signs and wonders seemed to have disappeared. But God's order was removed and replace with the new order of the new church. Holy Spirit was replaced by the priests. They took over the teaching of the gospel message to the people. They introduced fear of God to make converts to Christianity instead of signs and wonders. God did not take away signs and wonders. Man moved away from them. They had lost belief in the measure of authority and power given to each believer.
 
The new church is here today. It is not part of the established church which over centuries of revelation and revolution has splintered into numerous different sets of beliefs. It meets in homes and in the marketplace. It seeks to unite established churches into the one true church, the body of Christ. Signs and wonders abound in this new, Holy Spirit inspired work.
 
It is time to stop playing church and start being the church Jesus came to have. A church with the full authority and power inherited from Him. A church without walls that takes care of its own members. A church that reaches out to a lost world with the gospel message and with signs and wonders.
 
What about you? Are you ready to choose a church like the one described in Acts? Are you ready to take a chance and see the kind of change living in the Kingdom of God can make in your neighborhood?
 
I am not suggesting everybody run out of the established church. I am saying look around and become the church Jesus called us to be. Be the community of believers that reaches inward to each other in need and outward to the community. Be the church that unites with other established churches to do the work of the ministry in your area. One church. One body of Christ. One message for all.

Praying in the Spirit

Galatians 3:2,5
Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. (NIV)

The Holy Spirit is not a benefit we get for coming to church. It is not a reward. Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead. He is one of the three; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38
Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

We receive Holy Spirit into our lives as a result of our decision to turn to God, our repentance of those sins we are aware of and an agreement to repent of those we do not as they are revealed to us, and our baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.

Mark 16:16-18
Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.

What is the evidence of that baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives? The evidence of our being saved?

Jesus says it clearly in Mark when He says that those who are saved will do miraculous signs. And He speaks to four signs that follow the spirit filled believer.

1. They will cast out demons in the name of Jesus
2. They will speak in new languages [other tongues]
3. They will be immune to deadly poisons
4. They will lay hands on the sick and they will be healed

1 Corinthians 14:14-19
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. (NIV)

When speaking about praying, Paul tells us he prays in tongues (his prayer language) as well as praying with his mind (in his vocal language or known words). And he speaks about singing in tongues and singing with known words.

Jude 20-21
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

Jude, the half brother of Jesus, explains that we build ourselves up in faith when we pray in the spirit, in our prayer language. The more we build ourselves up in this manner, the more power we receive from above.

Ephesians 6:18 8
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (NIV)

Once again Paul is speaking about praying in the Spirit. When we place those we are praying for and those requests we have into our mind and then pray in our prayer language, we believe our spirit reaches up to God's Spirit and lays those needs at His feet.

So, is having a prayer language evidence of being Spirit filled? Yes, it is. But it is not the only evidence. We are filled when we are saved. We are saved when we believe. We are baptised when we confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

Evidence of being saved is the fruit of the Spirit visible in our lives. It is the change that only God can make in the person we used to be. It is Christ shining forth to the world around us. It is casting out demons in the name of Jesus. It is laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover. It is being Jesus in the marketplace by showing His love everywhere we go.

Obeying the Law

Galatians 2:16
A person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." (NLT)

Law as defined by Wikipedia is "a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible."

The Jewish law caused followers to be a moral god fearing nation believing they became righteous simply by abiding by the laws and traditions handed down over generations and defined in their Torah, "the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts."

Then came Jesus, their Messiah who came to fulfill the law. He came to show them and now us the way to righteousness. He took us away from traditions, special seasons and holidays, and works to obtain salvation.

We are made right simply by our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Only through Him can we be declared righteous. Only through Him do we obtain salvation.

Now I am not saying we are to ignore the Ten Commandments. We are to do what is right and holy in all our dealings here on earth. Even traditions and celebrations are still good for us. But only when what we do is not placed above God. We are to worship Him and not the events we organize and participate in. Only He is holy.

Are we to do good works? Yes, Jesus tells us so, but they alone do not get us to heaven. It is only belief in Jesus that does that.

People Turn Simple to Hard

It amazes me how complicated it has turned out to become a Christian. And complicated to be one. Let's start with the become part.

John 3:16-17
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. (NLT)

To be born again or saved and have eternal life in heaven we have to believe in Jesus. We ask Him into our life and to forgive us of our sin. We ask Him to be Lord of our life. He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and the past is history. We are a new person born of the spirit and led by the spirit as we give Him permission to do so each day.

And yet, that has turned into a period of convincing one that they would rather be going to heaven than the alternative, hell. Then the saying of a well crafted "sinners prayer" right then and there or, more often, the dragging them to a church service days later so a trained team can lead them through the prayer and line them up with the hours of training necessary to become a Christian, as they understand it.

When we ask Jesus into our heart and begin that relationship with Him each day with the guideline of the Holy Spirit we are convicted of those things we are doing wrong, the sin in our life. And yet many "programs" hand out lists of do and don'ts for "new" Christians to follow. Lists of what is acceptable behavior. This is all wrong. It is not us who judge the world, but God. It is not even Jesus!

Jesus died on that cross for all our sins-past, present, and future. They are all erased. This means that there is nothing we can do that will not be erased. All but one thing; we cannot grieve the Holy Spirit. Father God never sees our sin after we have given our life over to His son, Jesus. This means that when we die in this mortal body and ascend to heaven He judges us on all the good we have done. He has never seen anything else in our life because Jesus took all sin away shielding us from Father God.

Jesus commissioned us to go into the world and tell. We are to speak the truth to people all around us. If they do not believe, we are to walk away and not waste any more time. We are not to argue the Bible or try to manipulate people into saying empty words so we think "we got another one!"

He did not commission us to lead the troops to cancel out sin in the world. No. That is His job, not ours. These we lead to salvation will change if they truly have believed. They will not have to be told of their sin. The Holy Spirit will do that and in the proper order in their lives. he does not use a list from 1-100 of sins to convict them. He does it one at a time as they grow in Jesus. Sure that does mean that some believers will still smoke. Some will continue to live out of wedlock. They may lie, cheat, and use vulger language from time to time. But over time in their relationship with Jesus they will change. And that change will be some of the fruit of their salvation.

There are many things all around us in this world that go against the grain of a committed Christian. But we are not to go about trying to change the world. With God nothing is impossible. It really is pretty simple. We are to reach the lost one person at a time. He will change them.

God First

Luke 12:21 
"Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." (NLT) 

Most have a difficult time getting to the next paycheck never mind storing up earthly wealth. You pray you don't run out of money before you run out of month.

If you own a house--well if you live in a house the bank owns--you are storing up for a time when the bank turns that deed over to you and gives you a "Paid in Full" stamp on your mortgage.

Even though it is a struggle getting to that paid off place, it is worth it when those monthly payments go away. This does not make you rich, but it is earthly wealth. So are the big screen TVs, the iPhones, the cable and Internet connection, the two automobiles, the boat, the one or two vacations a year, and so forth. Don't these things make up our earthly wealth?

How much of our time is spent toward this accumulation of wealth and how much toward our relationship with God?

God wants us to enjoy life and that means accumulation of some stuff. However, He wants us to put our relationship with Him first--before taking time to get more stuff or even to use the stuff we have.

When that relationship is rich, then we will have the time to do all those other things important to us. But, God needs to always come first in all we do.

The Trinity

Father, Son, Holy Spirit; the three in one, the Trinity. We know about the Trinity but is it part of our reality?

Jesus taught us how to pray when he gave the disciples the Lord's Prayer. Not as what to pray but how to pray. And it was as all his prayers were directed to Father God. Do we pray during the day to the Father?

We all have friends and communicate with them regularly. Without communication can there really be friendship? In our high tech society where communications is no longer face to face, we email, tweet, Facebook, text, and of course talk on our cell phone. And as a result our friendships are not only local they are global.

Is Jesus our friend? Do we communicate with him like we do with our mortal friends daily? In other words are we in relationship with him?

When we are looking for an answer where do we go? Do we go to the source of all knowledge to the Holy Spirit given to teach us all things? Or do we Google instead?

The Trinity is real and desires our involvement throughout the day so let's pray daily without ceasing in the spirit and in the natural to God the Father. Jesus wants a closer relationship with us so let's get our fingers off the keyboard and chat with Him as we go about our day.

And last but not least let's allow the Holy Spirit to comfort us, to guide us through our day, and to teach us all things.

Virus Protection

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NLT) On our computers we add virus protection so malware cannot find a way onto our hard drives. The protection software filters out the unwanted material before it does any damage. When I was growing up I could be pretty sarcastic. It was like whatever popped into my mind just fell out of my mouth. Finally I realized what was going on and began to think first, speak second. I added a filter to my mouth. This did not get rid of the thoughts. When I first was involved with computers IBM gave out these plastic signs that you would place on your desk that simply said THINK. The implication was that before doing something you should think first and act second. So it is up to us to clean up what comes out of our mouth. The cussing does not just stop because we believe in Jesus. The nasty comments to family and friends do not go away on their own. The verbal reaction to the driver that cuts us off does not stop on its own. As our relationship with Jesus builds, the times of slipping into unwholesome talks lessons. However, when we are around others not at that same place in their walk, temptation always lurks and we find ourselves having to stop our mouth from taking us in the wrong direction once more. When we speak, we must consciously build others up according to their needs. Let the Holy Spirit be our filter so only good pours out of our mouth.

Abba Father

What is your mental picture of God?

Is He that untouchable God on the mountain with Moses when he received the Ten Commandments? Is He only found in a special room where only the select few are allowed to enter and not actually see Him? Is He someone you live in fear of? Are you afraid of what He might do to you if you offend Him? Is this your image of God?

Or is God a gentle, caring, loving, forgiving, daddy to you? Is He the one you can go to at any time and sit on His lap? Your Abba Father?

We have a dog who loves us unconditionally. She depends on us for all her needs. No matter what we do, she still loves us. Now, I and not saying a dog is a god. What I am saying is that our Father God loves us in the same way--unconditionally, no matter what we do.

And what about Jesus?

Is Jesus your friend? Or do you have Him in the same box as God?

In the end we will be one with Jesus--we will be His bride; the bride of Christ.

In earthly marriage we marry our best friend. Although often it goes the other way--after marriage husband and wife become best friends. When those in marriage are not best friends divorce lurks in the darkness waiting to pounce. Perhaps that is a marriage that was a one sided friendship or even just physical with no friendship involved at all.

Father God wants to be our daddy and Jesus wants to be our best friend, our BFF. He wants us to become His bride so He can present us without a spot or wrinkle to Father God in the last days.

Wait and See

Luke 17:14
He looked at them and said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. (NLT)

It is so easy to take a wait and see attitude to much going on in our life. This is especially true with the political situation no mater what year it is. Once we have voted someone into an office, we then wait and see what s/he does. If we like the results, we vote for them when they are up for reelection, otherwise we vote against them.

But how often do we take a wait and see attitude with God? As we read our Bible, we come across many promises for our day to day lives. All we have to do is believe, and yet we wait and see if they will happen without any action on our part. If it is God's will we say. Well, hello! He put it in His word so we know it is His will.

This story in Luke is about the ten lepers. They cried out to Jesus as He was passing by them. All Jesus said was "Go show yourselves to the priests."  Jesus did not lay hands on them. He did not pray a long flowery prayer. He just gave them an action to perform.

The lepers knew they could not show themselves to the priests unless they were healed. They believed and as they walked forth in that belief they were totally delivered from leprosy and healed.

As believers we have been saved from our sinful existence. Our spirit man has been reborn. All the promises of God are yes and amen. What lacks is not God's will, but our belief and action. We do not have to wait and see. As we trust in Him and walk forth in faith, we too are delivered and healed.

Can Christians be Mean?

How come some who say they are Chistian are mean or easy to anger?

Anyone who says they are a Christian is saying they follow Jesus. However, what that means to them may not be the truth. You can tell a Christian by what they say combined with who they are--how they act and react to situations in life.

And remember that we have both a material (old man) body and a spiritual (born again) body. So someone could be born again, but still dealing with anger and meanness in their old man.

We are to love all our fellow believers, but are not to follow them in all they may do

Bad Example

3 John 1:11
Don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove
that they do not know God. (NLT)

People set examples in everything they do. Our parents actions set examples for us to follow. It was not the words out of their mouths but those actions that influenced us. Each of us can look back and see the things our parents said or did and think forward to today and see the effect the actions had on our own behavior.

I know some of our children have remarked about saying things to their own children that we had said to them when they were growing up. They had promised themselves they would never utter those words, but the influence we had on them was too great and the words eventually came out.

Now we are saved and guided by the Holy Spirit. When someones actions tempt us into doing evil things He shows us the right path to take. However, someone appearing to be doing good is not necessarily a Christian.

There are many good people working hard to do the right thing each day. So the appearance of doing good is not necessarily proof of a Christian. But, doing evil is proof of not being saved.

As believers guided by the Holy Spirit, we should be setting good examples for our children, our friends, out co-workers, and everyone we meet in the marketplace.

Were you that good example today?

The Flaw

2 Peter 1:3
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. (NLT)

Growing up I was given all I needed. I went to good schools, had many friends and my parents kept me in clothes, fed me, and provided a place to sleep. They brought me to Church where I learned about God and Jesus. They discipled me in life as they knew it.

When God made mankind, He made them after His own likeness. But, he gave us one flaw. Unlike the rest of the living creatures, He gave us the ability to choose the direction we would go. Adam and Eve had everything they needed for living a godly life. What did they do? They chose wrong and everything changed for mankind.

Today when confronted with a choice between godly and not godly, how often do we choose to please ourselves? After all, it is only for this one time. The last time the world chose so poorly, God had Noah build and ark and He drowned the rest of mankind. Hmm, what about all that rain this past spring?

When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior it did two things. It was the key or the password to unlocking all God has already placed in us. And it opened a place in us for the Holy Spirit to reside. We have it all. We have all the knowledge and wisdom we need to build a close relationship with our maker and the Holy Spirit to keep nudging us in the correct direction for that to happen.

The flaw pops up once again. We get to choose. With God's help, we pray our choices are godly ones and that each day our relationship with Him grows.

Not Receiving

James 4:2-3
You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (NIV)

When I was growing up and asked Mom or Dad for something I did not always get it. Take desert for instance. It was conditional. If I finished what was on my plate then I got to eat dessert. When I turned sixteen and obtained my driver's license, I wanted to use the family car. But that did not always turn out the way I wanted it to.

I was wise enough to realize I could not ask for something unreasonable or to even try when I had not been on my best behavior. Sure they wanted to make my dreams come true, but only if those desires lined up with what our family could afford and did not go against our family values.

However, had I never asked for something how could I expect to receive it? They had no way of knowing my deepest desires. This was evident at birthdays and Christmas when I would receive presents geared to what they thought I might like to have rather than something of a wish list I had provided.

God is our ever loving spiritual Father. He loves us unconditionally. He knows what we desire and what we need; not always the same thing. However He does not just shower us with gifts based on His knowledge. No, He waits for us to ask.

Even then, we may not receive because it is not something that lines up with His purpose for our life. Or it may be a reasonable request, but not the right time for us to have it. There may be some growth we need to attain first. then we will be ready to use it for His glory.

"Father, may my requests line up with your Word and may the fulfillment of them be for your glory, not mine. In Jesus name I pray. Amen."

Correction

Galatians 6:1
If another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. (NLT)

It is so easy to see the problems other have and want to correct them. Matter of fact often the only problem they have is our perception. They do not have a problem at all. We are simply looking at them as though they were us. God made each of us differently and satan has brought each of us through a different set of temptations. What is wrong for us may not be the wrong thing for them.

Does helping them back onto the right path always mean telling them they are wrong? I don't think so. Others will learn more by our actions than our words. However, words are necessary in many cases.

Is drinking wine a sin? Some would say absolutely, it is. The Bible tells us not to drink. But does it? No, it tells us that drunkenness is a sin. However, some cannot even have a sip of wine without going all the way to being drunk. I believe this is the result of a spirit of addiction they are dealing with.

So if we have had a problem with drinking, smoking, drugs, or even overeating we are apt to come down hard on others who are doing the same. We tell them like it is based on how it was for us.

What is sin is sin, but what we do may not lead us into sin while others doing the same would fall right into the trap of satan. If we know someone is dealing with an addiction like overeating we should not tempt them by suggesting we go out for lunch at a buffet or even by finishing our meal with a big dessert. That would be tempting them to stumble.

Two key words in this scripture are gently and humbly. How often are we guilty of trying to help yet much more forceful in our delivery then we should be? Yet, if we are to do everything in Love as Jesus commanded, how can we not point out they are doing something sinful? And yet we must be careful that our actions are sending the same message as our advice to them.

Obey Your Master

Titus 2:9-10
Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. (NLT)

We may think it terrible to think about slaves and masters. I know my great grandfather Evans was from Massachusetts and fought in the civil war to free the slaves in this country. But don't we have a similar situation in our workplace today?

We may be free and lead our own life outside of work, but during those working hours we are just as beholding to our boss as those slaves were back then to their masters. Of course the penalties for not obeying were much stricter, even unto death.

We are to show ourselves trustworthy in all we do and be an example to the world around us of the love of Jesus.

The Good Silver

2 Timothy 2:20-21
In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. (NLT)

When I was growing up my mother had every day forks, knives, and spoons we used for all our meals. Then there was that special set stored in the dining room in a drawer with felt cloths covering them. They were sterling silver and only used on very special occasions like when my father's family would come for dinner.

Before use each had to be polished with a special silver cleaner. For those occasions we also had individual silver napkin holders engraved with our initials that held our cloth napkin and a set of dishes that were not used on a daily basis also known as the good china.

What is our life like? Do we have two sets of "me"; one we take out when around other's we value as Christians and another around our everyday friends? Which set is the real us?

Who we are every day is a reflection of the real person. If our day-to-day lifestyle is not a reflection of Christ, then who really lives in us?

As we allow our relationship with Jesus to grow, it becomes easier to live a clean life. Our everyday "me" will be the reflection of Him and that old "me" will never have to be seen again.

So let's keep our selves pure, so we will be a special utensil for honorable use. For we desire our life to be clean, and ready for the Master to use us for every good work.

Fulfilling the Law

Galatians 3:10
Those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law." (NLT)

Before Christ it was easy to know the laws to be obeyed. Think about it; there were the Ten Commandments. All those after Moses probably knew them by heart. And they still could not obey them. As hard as they tried, they fell into one mistake after another.

Then religion came into the act and created more laws. Laws are like rabbits; they seem to multiply at an ever increasing pace.

Today we have so many laws on the books that nobody can know them all. And yet ignorance of the laws of the land is not a sufficient excuse for breaking them. We are guilty of breaking laws each day that we do not even know of.

How about that speed limit sign you missed seeing? The officer pulled you over and you asked why. When he told you about the speed limit and what he clocked you traveling at, you responded that you never saw the sign. Ignorance is no excuse. You were guilty and had to pay the fine.

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. (NLT)

Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. (NLT)

Jesus came to fulfill the law. He came to take away from us the burden of fulfilling it to satisfy requirements to be made right with God. He gave us one commandment and a commission. Yet, He made us right with God by having us simply believe in Him.

As we live out this Christian life as born again believers, we are not made wrong with God when we fail to fulfill that commandment or miss an opportunity to fulfill the great commission. Once made right, we remain.

This does not mean we have the right to ignore Jesus' commandments or the great commission. We cannot turn our back on them or we are turning our back on Jesus. We have a responsibility to work out our salvation doing what the Holy Spirit leads us into knowing that He will never give us a task we are not capable of fulfilling.

Freedom

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. (NIV)

Every day I am thankful for the freedom we have in this country of ours. As much as we may complain there is not another to compare us to. Even just having the freedom to complain is unheard of in other places.

Our freedom is based on the freedom Jesus died for us to have. In our following of God's principles which we read about in His Holy Word, we exercise freedom in all we do and say. It is freedom in Christ it was all based on. This country was founded on Christian principles and as hard as the enemy tries to change it, we continue to be led by His principles laid out over two hundred years ago by our founding fathers.

In freedom we have choice and of course that includes the freedom to choose to follow the enemy instead of God. And we make choices every day that push and pull us off the line leading to truth and eternity with our Father God.

If we truly follow the principles laid out in the Bible and the leading of the Christ within, the Holy Spirit, we will continue to walk in that freedom and our rewards will be great.

But our freedom of choice allows us to step over the line and indulged the sinful nature present in each of us. This is what has us ignore the speed laws, accept payment "under the table", tell white lies, get angry at other drivers giving them the one finger salute, drink and drive, cheat on our taxes, steal cable channels, and more. You know what you do, but may not attribute it to your sinful nature.

"Lord God, help us toe the line. Give us the wisdom to know when we are tempted to cross that line and indulge in sin. Open our ears to the cry of the Holy Spirit warning us. When we mess up, accept our apology and forgive us. In Jesus name; Amen."

Direct Connection

Galatians 1:11-12 
I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. (NLT)

When flying on today's airlines it is difficult to schedule a direct connection between two points. There are major hubs most airlines fly through and that is where you end up waiting for that next connection on your journey. When you can find one, a direct connection gets you right to your final destination the quickest.

In this world of education we spend years learning how others do what we want to do before anyone will hire us. And yet most often we end up as clones of those that came before us. We do things the same as they have been done before; younger hands getting accomplishing the same tasks.

Don't get me wrong. Education is a good thing but there are times when we need to bust through the walls and be creative. Success does not come from doing what we learned from others. It comes from how we used what we were exposed to combined with our God given abilities; our direct connection to Him.

Paul did not run to the leadership, the apostles at that time, to be trained in how to be a Christian. He took time to be with God. His training did not come from man. It came from Jesus. And Paul did not come up with his own teaching program complete with books and DVD's to make others follow his way.

Paul preached Jesus as the Holy Spirit led him to do. And wherever Paul went signs and wonders followed the preaching of that truth. People were delivered, healed, and set free to develop their own personal relationship with Jesus.

Don't let the fact that you have not been formally trained hold you back from what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do, and don't let man stop that which God has placed in motion.

Reflection

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (NIV)

When I was a boy, we used to play with mirrors; we would use them like a flashlight by redirecting the light of the sun coming in a window to a darkened place. Or even the light from a lamp to a spot not covered by the lamps glow.

That reminded me of focusing the light from the sun through a simple magnifying glass to start a fire with dried up leaves.

Then we would also take two mirrors and place them on the opposite ends of a long cardboard tube to construct a periscope so we could see around corners.

When we look straight into a mirror we see our own reflection. I look at mine and wonder about who I see. The reflection is not the young man I still think of myself as. The reflection shows the reality of who I have become.

And isn't that true with our walk with Christ? We who have been saved are without the veil. The Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ, lives within. When others look at us in our daily life do they see the reflection of He who lives within? Or do they see a person of the world who is hiding the truth deep within?

As we allow God to transform us into His likeness, that reflection becomes the light of Jesus in all we say and do. And like that magnifying glass, we can focus His light on those that need His fire in their lives.

A Typical Day

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (NIV)

A typical day for most is an early rise getting ready for another workday. It may include an exercise routine and breakfast or at least a cup or two of coffee.

Then, liking it or not, off to work we go. It does not matter what the job is. For some it is hard physical labor. Others sit at a desk or stand at a counter all day dealing with the public. Some stare at a computer screen while keeping their cool solving problems for their caller of the moment.

Some love their work and other despise it. Yet they all do it each and every day to survive in this world we live in. Many are so wrapped up in it that it has become their life. They know more about it and their fellow workers than their own family. Retirement becomes a scary thought because it means leaving that family.

Notice that God has not been mentioned and that is typical. God fits in on Sunday if nothing more important does not come first. After all, He understands all that is expected of us in our day to day life. Plenty of time for God when we get older.

Paul tells us to stand firm. I believe he is talking about our faith, our relationship with God. How firm is our relationship? Do we talk to Him during the day? Do we read His word first thing each morning? Do we pray without ceasing during our workday? Do we stand firm when others tempt us to get involved in gossip, dirty jokes, or inappropriate language?

We are to not let Satan and the temptation he sends us through other people or even those thoughts he gives us make us take our focus off of our Father God. Nothing should be able to move us.

And as we go about our workday giving ourselves fully to God, He opens up doors of opportunity for us to be a shining light to others. No matter the obstacles the enemy tries to erect in our path, our labor for the Lord is never in vain.

Let's give every day to the Lord and let the Holy Spirit guide us in all we do and say.

Five Rules to Live By

1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. (NIV)

Paul throws this in at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians. In this one sentence I find a lot of important points to remember as we travel on our Christian journey.

We are to be on guard.


We are to be aware of what is going on around us always watching out for the works of the enemy and his temptations. Others we know may be used as his vessels to coax us into things to bring us away from our journey.

We are to stand firm in the faith.

The faith being our belief in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And in our knowing that God the Father loves us and is always with us. That He is a loving God always out for our best interest. Yet like any good parent, He allows us to make our own choices in life while standing by to pick up the pieces when we realize we have taken the wrong path.

We are to be courageous.

The easiest thing to do is stand by and watch the world go by. And in this day and age we can do that without ever leaving our house. Many are worldly and opinionated about what is happening in the world only because of their addiction to television and the various news channels. And courageous is not about running into a burning building to save a child. It is about courage to go where most Christians dare not to find the lost and tell them about our faith; tell them about our experience with Jesus Christ.

We are to be strong.

Although it is a good thing to spend time building our physical body up. And I recommend a daily exercise program either at home or at a local gym, but that is not what this is about. We are to be strong in our faith. We know that we know that we know we are a child of God and we are saved by the blood of the Lamb. In Jesus we are strong and able to stand up against the wiles of the enemy which comes in all forms of mankind. Be strong when our friends and family members come against us. Be strong when even strangers confront us. Know that with Christ all things are possible and it is not our strength but His that we walk forth in.

We are to do everything in love.

And this is the most important of all the five rules. God is love and we are children made in the image and likeness of Him. When we fall into temptation, we take our eyes off of God. We momentarily forget who we are in Christ and that He is in us. We ignore the Holy Spirit within and take off on a side road in our journey. We are to love our fellow Christians, the non-believers we come into contact with, and our enemies. But we must be careful to remember the first four rules and not let our love for others allow us to be drawn away from our journey with Christ.

God Knows Me

1 Corinthians 13:12
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (NLT)

How many times have we heard people talking about getting to know themselves? That is not as strange as it may sound.

Others know us as the person we let them see. Often that visible person is not the real us. We hide who we think we are behind a mask of who we want them to see. And yet, who we really are is often hidden deep within and we do not even know who that is.

As we experience life, we learn more about the person behind the face in the mirror. Through the trials we face and our reactions to them we gain understanding of that person within. Sometimes it is a pleasant revelation and other times it reveals traits we are not pleased with.

The good news is that God already knows us completely. He knows who He destined us to become. He knows our potential and waits patiently for us to discover it.

When we become a believer our spirit man is re-born. Our sins are forgiven. The possibility of us becoming all God knows us to be is unlocked and we begin a journey of become Christ like in our nature and our actions.

Follow My Example

1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (NIV)

I remember that old adage "Do as I say and not as I do." I truly used to expect my children to follow it. If I knew how they should behave and I was not behaving that way myself, how could I expect them to not follow my example?

How many of us made our children attend Sunday School every week and say their prayers each night, but failed to set that example for them? Do we set the right example for them today? Or are we still expecting them to listen to our logic over our life examples?

And what about those we work and socialize with? And by socialize I am including face-to-face as well as the virtual world of email, texting, Facebook, and Twitter.

Are the life examples we set consistent with what we "preach"?

Living Power

1 Corinthians 4:20 The Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power. (NLT)

We all know people who can tell us how to do something. They have an answer for everything. When we get excited about starting on a new venture they can always be relied on to explain why will not be successful at it. When it comes to telling about the Good News to strangers they have the exact message that will bring everyone to their knees and to Christ.

But often it is just a lot of talk. We never hear stories of their successful ventures or about their leading someone to Christ. It is always about "how to do" and not about "how I did".

We can be the most informed person in the world and in the things of God. We can recite Bible verses left and right and argue with the best about what the Word of God says. But all that is just a lot of talk.

My cell phone is a great tool, but I have to plug it in to charge it daily so I can continue to benefit from the apps it has to offer.

In order to walk out in His power, we have to walk and not just talk. As we walk out doing what the Holy Spirit shows us, we not only grow in our faith, we see His power unleashed with increasing levels. When we plug in to Him our batteries are recharged and we get to walk out in the gifts as the Holy Spirit directs.

Obedience to His voice unleashes God's power and grows our faith.

The Power

Remember that old TV show, "Have Gun--Will Travel"? 

Paladin was a good guy with a black hat. His services were for hire. This was one of the most popular shows of the late 1950's. Okay, so you were not even born way back then. Google the show title and watch an episode or two. His Colt .45 gave him the power and those who hired him, the authority to fulfill his missions.

Luke 10:1,17

The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit... When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, "Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" (NLT)

Jesus gave the disciples authority and power to go out two by two. Had they not gone would they have had the power?

If you want to have the power you have to do the work. It comes as a result of the doing. You do not get it first and then walk out. Power comes in the walk. As we walk God directs us onto the right path. But without motion there can be no direction. You just stand still looking around.

Just as in the law of physics that says every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every time we step out to complete the Father's work here on earth another piece is added to our spiritual man. We don't feel it, but we can tell when the next assignment comes along. We are able to recognize it quicker and complete it with an added level of confidence.

As baptized believers we have been given the Holy Spirit along with the authority and power to do whatever He tells us to do when we do so in the name of Jesus.

Superman

Acts 4:9-10 Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. (NLT)

We all know about Superman. You remember? "Faster than a speeding bullet..." He was a comic book hero to many of us back in our youth. I recall seeing him first in a black and white serial between two two main shows on Saturday afternoons. He came from outer space and had super powers, but...

The "but" had to do with a particular rock from his home planet called Kryptonite. Whenever he was in close proximity to any of those rocks his powers disappeared and he even became very weak. Of course, one way or another he always made it through the difficult time and came out unscathed on the other side.

After Jesus left the disciples ascending to heaven to be with the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell each believer. We became His ambassadors with authority and power to do what He did and more. He gave us His name to use, the powerful name of Jesus Christ.

When we lay hands on the sick, the weary, the demon possessed we have the power and the authority to use His name. It is His name, the name above all names, that makes it all happen.

Like Kryptonite was to Superman, our enemy is Satan. He drops thoughts into our head making us wonder if we really can heal that person. He temps us into other directions than where the Holy Spirit is leading. He is our nemesis and when we allow him to get in the way, we lose our power.

James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (NLT)

But all we have to do is resist the devil and he must flee. When we come against him, we regain our power and make it through the difficult time and come out unscathed on the other side.

What is Your Addiction?

As soon as we hear the word addiction we think about drugs and alcohol. We have heard the stories about family members who have been addicted to either or both and the horrible lives they and their family led. And we have heard of the deliverance from the addiction that has occurred in those who turned their live over to Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:12
You say, "I am allowed to do anything"-but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. (NLT)

Satan is a subtle serpent. He temps us into many other addictions just as bad as drugs and alcohol. But these may not be illegal addictions, they are things that trap us into a lifestyle further and further away from God's path for us.

"Sure, he must mean smoking", you think. Yes, that is a legal substance bad for our bodies and for our pocketbook. But what about eating, working, television, pornography, gambling, the lottery, sports, speeding, and spending?

Addiction is defined as a condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.

Wow, that certainly covers everything, doesn't it?

Having to be home every Monday night to watch a particular show on television is an addiction. Having to have two cups of coffee every morning to get going is an addiction. Having to watch the news every evening is an addiction. Always looking for something to put in your mouth is an addiction and a health hazard.

Having to do the same thing over and over is a habit and an addiction. What is the difference between the two? I believe it has to do with being able to stop. Can you change or remove that habitual behavior? Can you no longer have coffee in the morning? Can you skip the evening news? Can you stop snacking during the day?

Matthew 22:27
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. (NLT)

I believe an addiction to anything other than God Himself is wrong. To habitually occupy ourselves with anything else draws us away from Him and He alone is worthy of our complete attention. Are you addicted to Jesus?

Success

How do you measure success? That is the question I woke up with the other day. You might think it would have an easy answer, but as we look around us we can see many ways success is measured.

From a worldly perspective it might be measured by how much you make; how large the paycheck is each week. Often children are raised to look toward the education that will result in the highest paying vocation instead of aiming at individual talents and desires.

After all, if you are not making enough money, how can you afford the necessities of this life? You know what I mean. They must have things like 50 inch flat screen televisions, the latest SmartPhone, a Kindle, super high speed Internet connections, a big SUV to drive, and the list goes on.

Some measure their success by getting their name in the paper or being on television. How many television shows today allow the average citizen to compete to be the best. From game shows to weight loss shows to reality shows to music people competing to become a household name.

Others spend portions of the little paycheck they get on a chance to win the big one, the lottery. Maybe if they win they can have the big check and be able to have the things in this life that label us as successful. Maybe.

Philippians 4:11-13, 19
I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

As believers we know we already have all we need. We are not in competition with those we work with, our family members, our friends, and especially not with those in our church.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

I believe our true success is measured in fruit. And I am speaking of the fruit of the spirit. Others should see the fruit in our lives not because we tell them but because it is obvious in our day to day lifestyle. We should be walking with Jesus guided in our every step by the Holy Spirit. If we do this we cannot help but bare fruit.

And then as we disciple others in their walk by sharing our lives with them, we should see that fruit multiply and be present in their lives as well. This is the kind of success I am looking for. This is a success that is measured for eternity.

Believe the Message

Galatians 3:5
I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

God gives us the authority and power to perform miracles because we stepped out to answer His call. It is not because of who we are are in the world, but because of He who lives in us. And to do His work and see the miraculous signs and wonders we must believe the message about Christ.

It does not say we have to attend a program at a local church or be a Christian for a certain amount of time. It does not even say we have to obey the law of Moses. Quite the contrary as receiving the Holy Spirit to reside in us only requires believing the message about Jesus.

God's path is always easy. Man complicates it. Someone can be a new believer and see signs and wonders occurring everywhere they go while another who has been a believer for years may yet to witness one.

Moving out in God is not about what you earn out of hard work and strict obedience to the law of Moses. There will never be a time while we are here on Earth when we are without sin, without doing the right things all the time.

God calls us righteous because of our faith, not our actions. However, improper action can negate what we have said.

Should we try to follow the Ten Commandments. Sure, they are all good for us. But our righteousness is not determined by our ability to follow them. It is about our following Jesus. As we grow in our relationship with Him, it becomes easier to be like Him.

But our sin does not keep us from God. Jesus paid that price once and for all. We were made righteous the second we accepted Jesus into our heart.

Unbelief

Mark 6:4-6
Then Jesus told them, "A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family." And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (NLT)

Those we want God to touch first after our conversion is our family and friends. Yet they seem to be the hardest to reach. They look at us and see the person we used to be and not who we have become in Jesus.

Just because we believe something does not mean others will as well. Unbelief is the deciding factor in many spiritual issues. God is sovereign you say. He can do whatever He wants. And I believe that to be true. However, He does not go against a persons free will.

When others tell us their woes, they usually are not looking for us to pray for them or even to tell them what to do. They just want a shoulder to cry on or someone to line up with their side of the situation. They are not interested in a solution. They like it just the way it is.

We can become very frustrated running around attempting to solve the problems of others by laying hands on them and praying to our Father God for them. Better to pray in private for them then to confront them to convince them to believe.

We are asked often if people are sometimes not healed when we lay hands on them in the name of Jesus. The answer is yes. They may come forward after a meeting for prayer because everyone expects them to. They come with unbelief and may leave with unbelief. Does God touch them? Often we see it happen and His presence changes that unbelief to belief and they are healed.

Being saved is the result of reaching out in faith for Jesus. This one act does not remove all unbelief in our life. It is shed from our life as we walk with Him. As our experiences in God grow our unbelief diminishes. And to get that experience we have to take a chance and walk out doing as the Holy Spirit prompts.

Are You Willing

James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (NLT)

Years ago I studied Karate and one of the first things we learned was to walk away from conflict. We were taught that the last thing to do was to use Karate to inflict pain. It was only to be used to defend oneself when all other methods were exhausted.

James speaks about troubles coming our way. In Mathew, Jesus speaks to persecution.

Matthew 5:10
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)

This does not sound like running away from conflict. This tells me we are expected to defend our faith. We are to step up to the plate whatever the cost.

Are we willing to be persecuted? Do we step out and face the enemy or run and hide the truth?

Hide the truth? Yes, by not stepping out and sharing the Gospel message with others we are hiding the truth from those children of God needing to hear it.

"Father God, give me the courage to stand and tell others about Jesus Christ and what He has done for my life. And the wisdom to speak the words they need to hear so they too may know the Truth that will set them free. Amen."

Money

1 Timothy 6:9-10
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Money is one of the driving forces in today's world. I guess that has not changed since the beginning of the civilized world. Here is Paul speaking right to our current issues from two thousand years ago.

When things start to get out of hand, like the price of gasoline, people start to blame big business and question why those businesses need to make so much money. We are close to $4.00 a gallon and it seems to be climbing daily. We blame the US oil businesses when it really comes down to those supplying the raw material who are busy supporting a war in their own country.

It does not matter how much money we are talking about. The spirit of greed can be working in the life of someone making minimum wage as well as the person earning a six figure income. They each want more and will do whatever it takes to make it. And they do it all so that they can have the latest cell phone, the hottest Wii or X-box game, the exotic vacation, or whatever.

I am reminded of the old cartoons of Uncle Scrooge and his huge cache of money that he would dive into. He loved his money and was more interested in just getting more of it than in using it to purchase anything.

To obtain things we need to have money. But it is not the love of new things that is the issue. It is the love of money. After all it is the availability of money that creates the ability to get those new things. Then the cycle starts. We need more and more money to get more and more things. Everything we do involves making more money and before you know it the love of money controls us.

How many go to college pursuing an education to enhance their ability to make large amounts of money instead of using college to further their knowledge in the area they love, the area they are called by God to enter into? Too many, I am sure.

So lets reassess our motive for making money. Is it to sustain us in our God given call or is it to allow us to stand out in the community with all the things we have and do? Do we love God or money?

The Vending Machine

John 14:12-13
"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. (NLT)

When I was teaching at the college and had to stay for an evening class I would head down to the vending machines and get a soda or perhaps a bag of chips or something. All you had to do was feed a dollar into the slot, look over the items in the machine, and pick a number. Then the item you wanted would drop out. Success had to do with the condition of the dollar bill. Some went in fine and others were all wrinkled and unable to be read by the machine.

How many times do we treat God like a vending machine? We know what we want from Him, stick in our offering, and press the button of our choice. We don't get to see what we want as a display of products. We speak to Him and ask for it and the "condition" of our prayer does not count at all. Unlike that wrinkled dollar bill that would not work in the vending machine, our pray can be a short plea in our own words or long and filled with scripture and He still hears us. Then we judge God when He does not deliver what we want in the time frame we want it. Wow!

We tend to take verse 13 on its own instead of in context with verse 12. It looks to me like Jesus is saying that as we go about doing the works He did, we can ask in His name and see them finished. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, told mountains to move, raised the dead, and more.

As we go about doing the works Jesus did, completing what the Father starts, we are to ask for those things in Jesus name. For we cannot do them on our own fleshly merit. But He can do them through us when we ask.

The Same Spirit

Romans 8:11
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. (NLT)

As believers we know Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in each of us. He is our comforter and our guide throughout this walk we are on. Paul refers to Him as Christ within. When we are about to do something in the flesh, the Holy Spirit gives us that nudge making us think again, hopefully before we acted. With His help and our yielding our character gradually changes to be more Christ like.

Do we really understand who the Holy Spirit is? It was He who was in Jesus when he walked the earth as man. It was He who raised Jesus from the dead! Yes, the same spirit!

Then why do we let our mortal man, our flesh, have so much power in our lives? We have within us the authority and power from Father God Himself. And all we have to do is listen. But we get so wrapped up in our little worldly things we do not pay attention to that voice within.

Oh, we do listen from time to time. But how often? How many times are we so motivated by our human desires that we put up barriers so we can avoid the Holy Spirit? And yet, when things do not go the way we wanted we are quick to yank down those barriers and ask for His help after the fact.

Shouldn't we ask, listen, and then act on what we heard? Instead we think, decide, and do on our own. Then we complain and ask the Holy Spirit for help to clean up the mess.

If we would only seek first His face. If we would only ask His advice before stepping out each day. I wonder what our lives would be like then?

Received the Holy Spirit

Galatians 3:2 Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. (NLT)

We have it much easier than the original disciples almost two thousand years ago. No we don't, you say! They got to walk with Jesus. He was right there to teach them.

That is all correct, but... They did not have the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the only man who did and this is where His divine authority and power came from. Before He went off to be crucified and die for the sins of all mankind, He promised His first action when He got to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father was to have the Father send the Holy Spirit, the comforter to live in each believer.

Here in Galatians we see Paul teaching on receiving the Holy Spirit. He does not come to abide in us because of the works we do. There is no waiting period to have Him with us. We received Him the moment we believed the message of Christ; the moment we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior; the moment we became born again.

That moment in time is our Upper Room experience. Our spirit man is reborn and the spirit of Christ comes to reside. We are a new person in the spirit beginning a journey under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 16:15-18 And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved...These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will... speak in [tongues]... They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed."

What we do not necessarily have at this point in time is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of which is our prayer language. How do we receive this baptism? Let's look at what the Bible says about that.

Acts 19:1-7 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul... found several believers."Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." "Then what baptism did you experience?" he asked. And they replied, "The baptism of John." Paul said, "John's baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus." As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied...

Believers have the Holy Spirit and see fruit in their lives. Their character begins to change and what pleased them before is replaced with other interests. Their friends notice the changes and see Jesus in their behavior. Once baptized in the Holy Spirit, as Paul gives evidence to in Acts, they begin a new level of communication with God the Father through their prayer language.

Right Timing

John 15:16
You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. (NLT)

There are times in my life when I am at just the right place at the right time. Years ago I thought it was just dumb luck. Now I know better. God was in the mix and those things happened when they happened because of His plan, not mine and certainly not dumb luck.

In this passage, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, but I believe His words apply to us as well. His twelve were saved and on their way to eternity with Jesus. But they did not make a logical choice to follow Him. Each was chosen.

Those who know me understand that I am not a sports fan. However, it is impossible to not know about the big games. There is information about them everywhere. I have no desire to sit around and watch a game or even go to one. For me to go to a game takes a decision that involves looking at how far I have to travel, if I have anything else to do instead, and perhaps how much will it cost.

In our country it is easy to know about Jesus. There are books, movies, billboards, as well as people holding up hand made "Jesus Saves" signs on street corners. Someone has to be out of it to not know something about Jesus.

If a friend called me up and told me they had tickets to the big game and wanted to give them to me there would be no choice. I would say "Yes!" The timing was right on and the price was right, even though I really was not a fan.

So when asked if they believe in Jesus, a person can easily think about all they have read or seen or heard and come to a logical decision on their own that they do know Him. But even if they repeat a "sinners prayer" at this point, were they chosen by God or just picked out of a crowd and convinced based on foreknowledge about Jesus? After all they were being given a free ticket. so why not take it just in case?

I believe that first we are chosen by God. He softens our heart making us ready to reach out to Him. Then when we are picked out of a crowd it is not as if we have to be convinced of anything. We are ready and just say "Yes!".

Then we are saved. Then we are in the position Jesus speaks to of when He said "Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."

Decision Time

We make decisions all the time and then move forward. We weigh the benefits of going in one direction or another. Does choice #1 get us closer to our intended destination than choice #2? Is there a downside of choosing one over the other?

For those of us that are logical thinkers decisions boil down to choices. To those that use the other side of their human brain the decisions are more in favor of what feels best. This can be a problem when two people are trying to come to agreement and one is right brained and the other left.

John 3:3
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

What about the decision to follow Jesus; the decision to become a born again Christian?

This is not a human decision made with thought, logic, or emotions although many try to convince someone in these ways. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is not a choice. It is an opportunity that arrives when your heart has been opened. There is no decision to be made. God has already made you ready. You just have not been told and when someone opens up the gospel to you, you simply accept.

Sure, many are convinced that they need to say the "sinners prayer" and do. Some come forward out of pure emotion at a church service. Was this their opportunity? Only they and God really know that answer.

What if they said it to get you off their back? They said it because everyone else was saying it in a church service? They went forward because of peer pressure and not because their heart was open to it? Are they really saved?

Matthew 7:16
You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act.

Jesus said we should know his followers by their fruit. As the weeks go on and they walk with the Holy Spirit (Christ within) changes begin to occur in their very character. They begin to do things and even speak differently than they had before accepting Jesus. It is then that you know the words they said really did come from their heart and they are born again.

The Tongue

Proverbs 18:21
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. (NLT)

We live in a world of email and instant messaging and texting. But still we forget that once we have pressed the Enter key or clicked on Send we cannot get those words back. No matter what we say next, the words are in cyberspace and not only will reach their intended destination, they will also be out there forever.

Words can hurt. We know that. And once spoken even if they were done in jest they cannot be taken back. They can apologize to us and we can accept their apology, but this does not lessen the effect they had on us. When those words left their mouth they were just like email. They were gone and could not be taken back. And they are with us forever.

The words we speak are so important and yet we says things like "You are killing me" or "I always get a winter cold". And what about the words we speak to people we love like "You can be so stupid" or "You can never get anything right".

We must watch what we say to others and most importantly to ourselves. We can make our self sick by speaking sickness. Now I am not suggesting we can be sick and say things like "I am not sick". That would be speaking a lie over our self.

When we are not well, we should accept the reality that something is not right. But we should then speak forth God's promises over our body parts and speak them into wellness. He has given us the authority and power as believers to do just that.

For the tongue can bring life or it can bring death. So we must watch what we say to others and watch what we say to ourselves because our words do make a difference.

Tradition

Mark 7:13
And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others. (NLT)

Tradition is defined by Merriam-Webster as meaning an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom). As we have observed many churches over the years, we have seen many different traditions. Three stand out to me as I write this.

The first is the way the minister and the congregation are dressed. Some leaders are in fancy garments; robes for the choir members and a very ornate one for the preacher. Even the congregation is dressed in their "Sunday best" as their parents and their parent before them taught. The woman in dresses and the men with suits and ties.

Then there is the tradition of water baptism. There are those who believe you cannot be baptized unless you are fully immersed in water from head to toe. Others believe you may be sprinkled with water. And some do not use water at all and believe it is a spiritual baptism.

Then how about communion? Some use wine and others grape juice. Some actually tear a loaf of bread in half and pass it out. Others have little squares of a bread like substance while some use little pieces of bread (often stale) or even wafers that taste like cardboard.

When I was growing up my Catholic friends believed it was a sin to eat meat on Fridays. This was not from the Bible I knew, yet they believed because their church had told them so. According to the Word of God, all things are good to eat. Nothing is banned from us now that Jesus has come. Saying they could not eat meat went against the Word that said they could.

It is the Word of God that is the truth and we cannot let our traditions pull us apart from other believers. Nor can we let our tradition overtake what God has said. Just because another believer does something different in their church service does not mean they are not following God. It just means their tradition is different from yours. As long as that does not go against what the Word of God says, celebrate Jesus and do not be concerned about the differences.