Sunday, January 31, 2021

The Evidence

We are all God's children. Deep down we all have the seed of His nature, even though it is masked by the Adamic nature we were born with. When the going gets tough, His nature seems to come out in each and every one of us, even those that are not yet believers. What about the normal day, the day that we are not in the middle of some tragedy? As believers, as disciples of Christ, we come together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Our love for each other in everyday experiences as well as in the tough times of today gives others a glimpse of Christ. We may say all the correct, Christian things. We may talk the talk. But what others do is watch us, not listen to us. They watch to see evidence of Christ in who we are. ~ DickEvans.org

Saturday, January 30, 2021

He Is Proud

Believers are all equal in Christ. We are all brothers and sisters in Him. Each of us has a destiny and a purpose but that does not make us better than anyone else. It makes us important to each other and to His ultimate purpose for all. What do we really mean when we say we are proud of our children, our grandchildren, and even our county? It appears that we have redefined pride to mean privileged to be a part of. A parent at a school play feels privileged to have been a part of their life, of assisting in some way in their accomplishment. I am sure He feels the same seeing us walk the path He has for us. ~ DickEvans.org

Friday, January 29, 2021

Discipline

There is a discipline in our transformation walk. We have to take steps each day. We have to be disciplined to stay in His word and to take those messages we heard Sunday and meditate on them all week long, even if that means that we take notes in church. And when that sermon seems to slap us in the face, we need to take the correction it offers and change. God speaks to each of us in many ways and He expects us to be disciplined enough to walk each day as he directs us; as the Holy Spirit leads us. ~ DickEvans.org

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Trust Us

People who do not trust us will never listen to what we have to say. We have Christ and others do not. They do not have any idea what they are missing, but they will never listen to us if they don't know us. With His help, we must get to know them first. We must be invited into their world. It is only when in their world that we can be observed from their perspective. It is then that they will trust us and feel the presence of He who is in us. Obey the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21) and we will gain their trust and they will come to know the Lord as we do. ~ DickEvans.org

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Common Ground

When we are focused on Jesus instead of on ourselves, everything changes. It no longer matters that there is nothing we are interested in talking about with others. In Him, our interest is with the other person, no matter what they want to say. His love in us draws them to us and we begin to focus on them. In allowing that to happen, common ground emerges in the conversation. We find that there are things we really do have in common. It might be schools we have attended, sports teams we like to follow, cars we have driven, places we have visited, and a host of other possibilities. But we never get the chance to bring them to Christ if we never allow ourselves to find the common ground. We never get the chance until we release 'me' and let Christ shine through. ~ DickEvans.org

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

On Knowledge

It is not knowledge that binds the body of Christ together. No, it is love that does. Knowledge may be useful for those in churches that are trying to build attendance by using worldly methods like marketing campaigns. Only God can give the increase. And God's only method is Love. Let us pray that others are able to say that they know us not by our knowledge or outward appearance, but rather they know us by the Love of God we gave to them. ~ DickEvans.org

Monday, January 25, 2021

Just Do It

When God has something for us to do, and He always does if we just listen for His voice, nothing should keep us from obeying. What difference does it make if we are happy or sad? He sees us on the other side of those circumstances. Matter of fact, obeying Him will probably bring us right through that tough situation. It will bring a happy smile on our face. When we are doing His work there is no room for being sad anymore. His joy will fill us and all that 'stuff' will melt away. If we listen to Him and do as He asks, then we will be filled with His joy. So it is time we stopped waiting for our situation to change before hearing His word. You see, hearing His word may be all we need to change the situation. ~ DickEvans.org

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Inside Out

We live on the outside and on the inside. We live in the world and we live in the spirit. Before we became a believer, our life was lived outside in. That is, what we became inside was directly proportional to our outside environment. When we believed we received Christ and were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. He lives in us, comforting and guiding us in all that we do. Now our lives are inside out. Our environment should be changed because of it. ~ DickEvans.org

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Choices

Being a Christian does not make us choose correctly. No, it simply gives us access to the 'good choices' list. Simply speaking, if the choice is supported by His Word as revealed in the Bible, then it is on the 'good choices' list. If it is not supported by His Word, then it is on the 'bad choices' list. We must be careful, even when making 'good choices'. We can be so focused in the 'godly' work we are in, that we become a slave to the work and miss what God has for us to do. We might be so involved with our church activity that we miss that person in the marketplace that He has for us to speak to. We must be careful. We must not let our desire to do His work keep us from hearing His Word. ~ DickEvans.org

Friday, January 22, 2021

Free Will

We do have free will and we can make any choice we wish. But we mustn't fool ourselves, or let the enemy fool us into thinking that all we have is a 'get to heaven free' card. Paul reminds us that if we follow Jesus we will not do those things we used to do. Because of He who is in us our thinking changes. If it does not then are we really saved and on the road to eternity with Him? ~ DickEvans.org

Thursday, January 21, 2021

One With Him

When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became one in spirit with Him. It happened as soon as we asked, as long as the asking was true and not just mere words said for the sake of others. We are one spirit with the Lord. That is an awesome realization. He is in us and we are in Him. As we mature in our relationship with Him, we begin to know what He wants and think what He thinks. Let's remember that the next time we choose to do something that brings us back to our old self. The next time we want to defile our bodies with things of this world, let's think twice and remember that we are one with Christ. ~ DickEvans.org

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

New Bread

We look at our lives before and after Christ. Those things that we were into before Him is like old bread. It is stale and cold; not good for us to eat. Yet, there are times when we may slip back and take a bite or two. It is the new bread that is fresh and nourishing to our bodies. And it is the new bread of purity and truth that we must eat to walk forward in our journey with Him. ~ DickEvans.org

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Sin Happens

Sin goes on outside of the body of believers all the time. All we have to do is look at the evening news to hear the latest in our own city. We can even turn on many of the night time sitcoms and see the dramatization of sin right in our living room. The more we watch, the more it seems normal. This is dangerous. It is not our job to judge other believers in their walk with the Lord. But it is our job to keep those that are indulging in these types of issues out of the group or church we are in. We must not ignore this type of sin and sweep it under the carpet. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. ~ DickEvans.org

Monday, January 18, 2021

Know God

People will come to know God by knowing us if we are living by God's power. They will see the Holy Spirit in us as we walk His walk each day. They will feel His presence and be changed. We need to keep reading His Word and renewing our minds with Him. We need to communicate with Him daily and we must listen for His voice. As we hear Him and obey His commands, others will see the evidence of His presence and look to follow Him. ~ DickEvans.org

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Do As I Say

I can remember hearing and even saying, 'Do as I say not as I do'. Most of us know what we should do. We teach our children the right things to say and to do. We teach them how they should dress. We teach them all the good things we know. Then we wonder why they act differently until someone points out that they are acting just like they see us act. Ouch, that hurts. But we know it to be true. As we reflect back on what our children have heard us say and how we have acted with others, perhaps even our spouse, we can see that they are learning by 'Doing as I do not as I say'. People may seem to listen as we tell them about Jesus. They may want to believe, but as they look at how we behave and how we are when we are not Jesus focused, they have second thoughts. They don't want any part of the message because of the messenger. We are ambassadors of Christ. We need to be the Christian that others can follow. We need to teach by example and not by empty words. We need to be Jesus for others to follow. ~ DickEvans.org

Saturday, January 16, 2021

The Secret Places

Occasionally we are with someone we look up to and trust and strange things begin to happen. Circumstances occur that bring up anger in them and they explode. Their mannerisms and their mouth are unlike anything you have witnessed in them before. It is as if they have become a different person. The truth is that the mask they have been wearing has fallen off. Their true self has been exposed. God exposes all in time. He brings our deepest secrets to light and He reveals our true, private motives. Be diligent in your pursuit of God. Get close to Him so he can clean out all of those secret places; so that He can wash them in His blood. ~ DickEvans.org

Friday, January 15, 2021

See As God Sees

Isn't it time to stop viewing others as the world does and start seeing them as God does? We are all the same in God’s eyes. He made us and all that He made is good. All that we have we have because of Him. So let's stop envying others for what they might have and stop flaunting what we think we have that is so great. Nothing of value can be accomplished without God. All we have is because of Him. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. ~ DickEvans.org

Thursday, January 14, 2021

How Many

How many Christians do we know that are putting up a good front? Only God knows their hearts. Even they may not realize what a large gap there is between them and Him. They may be deceived. So we have to be careful not to elevate any person based on appearances. The only one that should ever be looked to in that way is Jesus Himself. Nobody else can be assumed to be faithful or worthy of such a position. All we can do is keep ourselves faithful to Him and know we have His forgiveness as we wander from the left to the right while trying to keep to the path He has for us. We must judge all that we do for ourselves, but not trust even that judgment. We must look to the Holy Spirit to guide us through and teach us daily. ~ DickEvans.org

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

God Works Miracles

God works miracles among us because He loves us. He gave us the Holy Spirit to comfort us and to guide us into all Truth. The converse of that is that the Holy Spirit also tries to nudge us away from untruth. But the choice is always ours to listen to Him and to obey or to ignore. Miracles don't happen just because we went to a special training session on how to lay hands on the sick. They don't happen because we now have our certificate of completion at the local bible school. Miracles happen because we believe and listen to the Holy Spirit. We listen when He tells us to step out and cast out demons and to heal the sick. We listen and we reach out in faith, for He has given us the power to do so. ~ DickEvans.org

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Different But The Same

We may look different and dress differently. We may have long hair or short hair. We may be a man or a woman. In the world's eye, we are not the same. But in Christ, we are the same. We are one with Jesus. We have the same Holy Spirit. We have the same power within us. We have been given the same promises. We are brother and sister and share the same Father God. We are all different yet we are all the same. As believers, we are all Christians and we are all one in Christ Jesus. ~ DickEvans.org

Monday, January 11, 2021

One Word

There is only one Word, one Christ Jesus. If what we believe does not line up with His Word, then we are not lined up with Him. We must be careful not to let tradition take us away from Truth. We must get in His Word, stay in His Word, and in all we do test everything by His Word so we aren't deceived into sin. ~ DickEvans.org

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Be Careful

We must be careful who we listen to. And when we do listen, we must test all that we hear and see by the Word of God before we get trapped in a web of deception. We must live by His Word. We must listen only to His voice and follow Him in all that we do. ~ DickEvans.org

Saturday, January 09, 2021

The Plan

God wants to work through each and every one of us. He wants us to believe and to seek the Truth. He wants us to walk the walk He created us for. To reveal the plan requires a relationship. Many times we wonder and wonder what He has for us to do. We read this book and that book. We attend seminars and special church services with the latest and greatest prophet and wait to hear a word from God. We wait and then we wait some more. Yet the plan is simple. He wants us to get to know Him, to have a close relationship with Him. Then we will be at that place where all of the plan can be revealed. ~ DickEvans.org

Friday, January 08, 2021

He Reveals The Plan

Paul listened to God. He asked God what the next step was, where he should go next. When he moved on to that next location he did it because God had revealed that he should go. It is time for us to use the instruction manual, the Bible, and to be in constant communication with He who inspired every page in it. When we communicate with Him, He reveals the plan for us. ~ DickEvans.org

Thursday, January 07, 2021

One Day At A Time

As we continue to seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ, we will continue to find new things in ourselves that must be dealt with. We continue to find sin that needs to be uncovered and wiped clean. It is in seeking that we shall find. It is in the journey that we overcome the sin that is left in our lives, one day at a time, one sin at a time. ~ DickEvans.org

Wednesday, January 06, 2021

A Signpost

The question is never about what God thinks of us. He loves us, knows us, and knows our heart. How we react when another brother or sister in Christ points out our shortcoming. It is all about reaction. You see, we will get into those situations as long as we are on this earth and we should expect that others will also. It comes down to love. Our communications must be done in love. If we are pointing out something to another believer, it must not be with pointing fingers. It is with love that we correct others. For the reason to correct is simply to be a signpost showing them the way to turn. ~ DickEvans.org

Tuesday, January 05, 2021

Only One Way

With God, there is only one way and that is His way. He calls us to be what He made us to be and we will never be really good at anything else. Get closer to God and He will reveal to you what His plan is. Then you can attack it with enthusiasm and He will work miracles through your hands. ~ Dick Evans.org

Monday, January 04, 2021

The Rescue

God sent His only Son to this world to rescue us. He came to show us a better way, a way of being free from the grip of satan and his evil ways. It is up to each and every one of us to remember that and tell others what Jesus has done for us. Tell others how He rescued you. ~ DickEvans.org

Sunday, January 03, 2021

Our Spiritual Consultant

We can't let man get between us and our relationship with God. We should be observers when we are with other believers having our eyes open at all times. Those things that others do or do not do that He wishes for us will be revealed to us. The only one we should be consulting is the Holy Spirit. He will reveal the things in us that we need to deal with one at a time. He is our personal spiritual consultant. ~ DickEvans.org

Saturday, January 02, 2021

Quiet Time

God is waiting for us to seek His face. He wants to tell us what His plans are. But first, we must get to know who He is and the only way to do that is to spend time with Him. Spend time in His Word, spend time in prayer, and spend time listening. Without some quiet time where we shut out the sounds of the day, how can we expect to hear His voice? ~ DickEvans.org

Friday, January 01, 2021

Complete Understanding

When we are in true unity we will be looking to Him and not to man. We will be doing the work He has for each and every one of us. He wants us at that place in Him where we have that full confidence because we have that complete understanding of God's secret plan. We are in unity with Christ Himself. ~ DickEvans.org