Success and Failure Blog

Being a parent I find myself repeating things over and over, seems sometimes my children don’t listen, don’t remember, or just don’t get it. about the third time I find myself rolling my eyes.

I Have been reading the book of John and wonder if Jesus ever rolled his eyes. He was fully man, right? & even though the bible may not translate it, I would think from time to tome Jesus was like “really? I’m pretty sure I told you this like 5 times”..so maybe, John 14:5(a) Jesus rolled His eyes. or, John 6:52 (a) Jesus let out a deep sigh and muttered “really” under his breath.

I’m not to be excluded from this, it seems I need to be reminded of what Jesus taught or how I should apply it. maybe it’s just me, but sometimes, after I loose my temper, or make a wrong decision, or dwell too much on crap, one word in my head tends to make me redirect…”Really?”

A while back I gave a guy something he needed in his home. I think I was as blown away by his reaction as he was by getting it. He tried to pay me what he could and kept saying said he owed me. I assured him he owed me nothing and need not pay me back, it was a gift, no strings attached (no he didn’t need to listen to me preach before he could leave either).

So there’s the economy we carry from material world to every other part of our lives. We think that everything comes at a price. Trust me I’m just getting used to this myself. It’s kind of the “love without condition” carried further. If by doing something for you, I expect (even eventually) something in return, maybe it’s just your friendship, or admiration, then I’m not doing it for you at all, I’m just bartering for something for myself.

I think giving is easier with strangers, maybe people you will never see again, do a random act of kindness and walk away, never expecting to see them again, and they can never pay you back. It seems a lot harder among acquaintances, maybe hardest in relationships. We’ve been raised in this “point” system; I help you with your car, later when my computer dies you help me.

In relationships, try to remember the beginning, think back to when just being with that person was the goal, didn’t matter what you were doing, just being around them was enough. Let a relationship last long enough and we tend to put it to the “point system” more and more it becomes what we’ve done for the other or what we can do, or vise versa “what have you done for me lately” or “look at all I do for you and what do I get in return?” well if you’re looking for something in return you weren’t really doing it for the other person were you?. As our relationships with God are compared to a marriage I think we tend to go down the same path, we forget where our faith began, when just knowing he was there was enough.

I’m not throwing out acts of love or intentionality that come naturally through love. But if you buy your wife flowers on valentines merely BECAUSE it’s Valentines Day, it is in your heart, an empty gesture, really, just acting out of obedience or obligation. The same can apply to our faith lives.

So now I get to the point where I may be wrong. But… we are told to go out and spread the Gospel… Gospel means “good news” I’m pretty sure the good news isn’t “well Christ died on the cross now you should feel guilty and not do anything wrong and make sure you read your bible 5 times a day and here’s a check list of do’s and don’ts”.. I’m pretty sure the Good news is the price is paid, “it is finished” not “hey, now the ledger shows you in the red so you owe me”.

God is able to give peace- John 14:27

God is Able to save – James 4:12.

God is Able to answer Prayer – Ephesians 3:20-21

God is Able to save from the furnace heat – Daniel 3:13-18.

God is Able to save from the lion’s mouth – Daniel 6: 18-24

God is Able to save from all uncleanness – Ezekiel 36:29.

God is Able to help us through his word – Acts 20:32

God is Able to save from our sins – Matthew 1:21

God is Able to make us stand – Romans 14:4.

God is Able to build us up – Acts 20:32.

God is Able to keep us from evil – 2 Thessalonians 3:3.

God is Able to keep us from falling – Jude 24.

God is Able to present us faultless – Jude 24.

God is Able to keep that which we commit to Him -2 Timothy 1: 12.

God is Able to perform His promises – Romans 4:21.

God is Able to do more than we ask – Ephesians 3:20.

God is Able to make all grace abound – 2 Corinthians 9:8.

God is Able to subdue all things to Himself – Philippians 3:21.

God is God is Able to raise us from the dead – Hebrews 11: 19.

God is Able to succour the tempted – Hebrews 2: 18

God is Able to save from death – Hebrews 7:25

. God Is Able to Heal Our Diseases- Matthew 9:27,28

God Is Able to Supply Our Needs- 2 Corinthians 9:8.

God is Able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Matthew 10:28

God is able to make every impossible as possible. Luke 1:37

God able to strengthen when we are weak. Joel 3:10, Hebrews 4:16

God is able to deliver us from enemies. I Samuel 14:6, I Samuel 17:47

People seek love in many places. When we love someone we have so many feelings and emotions for that person. When we fall in love we feel loved, happy, valued, accepted, honored, wanted and protected and we want this person to be in our life all the time and we will reach to the point that we can not live without them. We think of them all the time and we trust them to share our feelings. This person becomes our entire world and we long and desire to be with them. We love them with all our heart, soul and mind. The said love could be for our parents, spouses, family members, children, neighbors, friends, pets etc. but we have a hard time in loving God truly. God gives us everything we need, and gave us many things and abilities for us to love him.

Even though we say that we Love God our Lord Jesus Christ still we have hard time in loving him truly and we have diverted our mind and love on ourselves ,money, amusements, food and drink, clothes , TV, movies, sports and other types of entertainments. We are constantly distracted from God and busy in running  after worldly and material things. Is this a true love for our God?

If we truly love our God Jesus Christ we would love to spend unlimited time with Him in prayer, and Delighting in God’s Word and receive new revelations about Him, Communicating with God in Prayer by making confession, intercession, supplication and thanks giving .We will Trust His Word and allowing him to guide us into righteousness. God has an unfailing love, he is compassionate, kind and forgiving with us .His everlasting love endures forever he created us and lay down his life for us. His love is manifested by His mercy, grace, pity, patience, loving kindness, goodness, truth, forgiveness, and justice. Jesus Christ demonstrated true love when as God- He humbled himself and became a man on earth to restore our relationship with the God who created us, God made us to be loved perfectly by him, to be respected and treasured by him, his love is infinite. The more we spend time in his presence, the more we understand his love for us .But we often seek this love in other people to get our needs met, this causes us to feel unsatisfied ,unfulfilled ,frustrated and inadequate to meet the needs and are disappointed or hurt at some point.

In Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37-38 God has commanded to love God above everything, above everyone and even above more than our own family members. “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”.

When we love our God Jesus Christ we constantly think of God in our mind and heart we have the opportunity to grow in him depending on him for everything and he becomes our source to meet all of our needs, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. He comforts us, cares for us, appreciates us, he gives us peace through the Holy Spirit. God has spoken to people many times throughout the Scriptures by various means. He also speaks to us through others, through direct revelation, dreams, written words, prophets, circumstances, angels, nature, through impressions, events, thoughts and through the Holy Spirit.

When we are walking in God’s love, following His commands, His joy is manifest in our heart and He responds to us .We need to desire Him with our whole heart, hunger and thirst for Him and His righteousness. The Bible promises that if we seek God, he will come to us. God wants to be in our lives but we must be willing to turn away from the things that are not from God. God gives eternal life for the person who believes in Jesus Christ to lead a holy life and it’s a Gods gift. Eternal life is God’s kind of life. It is life that comes from God. (John 3:16, John 5:39, Romans 2:7)

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me’” (John 14:6).

He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!

He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!

He is the creative agent and the image of God!

He is our Passover, our great High priest and the Head of the church!

He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times.

He is same yesterday, today, and forever.

He was bruised and brought healing! He was pierced and eased pain!

He was persecuted and brought freedom! He was dead and brought life!

He is risen and brings power! He reigns and brings Peace!

He became poor – so that we might be rich.

The world can’t understand him, the armies can’t defeat Him,

The schools can’t explain Him, the leaders can’t ignore Him.

Herod couldn’t kill Him, the Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him,

The people couldn’t hold Him and the Satan couldn’t defeat him.

He has been misrepresented by those who don’t know him.

Nero couldn’t crush Him nor Hitler could silence Him neither the New Age can’t replace Him

He is love, truth, holy, just, unchanging God.

He has all power, all knowledge; He rules all things and sustains all things.

He is the Lord of lords, Author of Life and salvation.

He is the advocate and the Judge of the living and the dead.

He rules my life because I am his child and He is my Father.

I serve Him because he knows everything about me, He knows me even before I was conceived.

I love him because He loves me with an everlasting love.

He is my provider, and He meets all my needs.

When I am broken heart, He is very close to me for he is my greatest encourager.

His burden is light, and His goal for me is abundant life.

I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful,

When I am sad he wipes away every tear from my eyes for he takes away all the pain I have suffered on this earth.

He will never leave me, Never forsake me, Never mislead me, Never forgets me, Never overlook me, and Ever cancel my appointment in His appointment book!

When I am in sorrow, He comforts me!

When I am in danger, He is my refuge and my fortress!

When I am hungry, He feeds me!

When I am sick, he heals me!

When people are unkind to me, He is kindfull towards me!

When people reject me, He accepts me!

When I face Death, He carries me Home!

He is everything for everybody, everywhere, every time, and in every way.

He is my God; My Father who is greater than the father of this world.

He wants me to be his child, a member of Christ’s body and to be a citizen of heaven.

So, if you’re wondering why I feel so secured, understand this…

I delight in him and he will fulfill the desires of my heart!

I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God!

I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind!

I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.

I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.

I am significant because I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.

I am God’s temple and I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

Everyday is a blessing for me for Jesus Christ is in my Life and I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!”

Psalm 14:2  says that “Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if any one is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
What a MARVELOUS to experience the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and to fall in love with him!Nothing  in this life can substitute Gods Love!

We are to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Christ commanded that true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). We are commanded by the Lord to receive teaching and admonish each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God making music in our heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:19-20.

Jesus taught profound truths in simple ways. Isaiah 42:2 says He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. Jesus spoke primarily to people’s minds and not to their emotions. God can hear our thoughts just as easily as He can hear our words (Psalm 139:23; Jeremiah 12:3).His preaching challenged people and convicted them and stirred them to faith and obedience. He nor his disciples never whipped up their emotions the way many preachers do nowadays crying at the top of their extreme voices, Clapping, jumping, shouting, running, uncontrollable Laughing , loud and noisy music continual “Amen’s” and “Praise the Lord with dramatic speaking rhythm that stir up emotions and excitement. Isaiah 33:19 says “you will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue”. They tend to focus perhaps too much on feelings and personal experiences rather than the bible. They are not true spiritual but motivate people by means of emotional excitement very similar to what attracts people to sports and games , rock concerts,Hollywood etc.They have a form of Godliness(2 Timothy 3:5 ). True Preaching is emotional restraint and self-control, not acting wild and crazy. Gods word says in Ezekiel 8:18 “Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” The music of an unconverted, rebellious heart is to God an irritating noise. Because of their disobedience, God said to the children of Israel, “Take away from me the noise of your songs” (Am 5:23). What pleases God is neither the volume of the music nor volume of the tone but the condition of the heart. The “loud noise” in Bible times was not loud enough to harm people physically, leading others away from Christ instead of to Him.

“And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard” (Ezek26:13). Believers who live in peace with God have a

Constant song in their hearts, though the singing may not always be vocalized.

This is why the Psalmist says: “I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing

praise to my God as long as I live” (Ps 146:2; 104:33). Those Bible verses that speak about making “a joyful noise” or “a loud noise” unto the Lord do not teach us to praise God with excessive amplification of the human voice or musical instruments during the worship service. God defines music as melody not an entertainment, nor a talent show, nor a performance or a concert. It should be played skillfully without loosing control dedicated to please the Lord not the world where the listener should clearly understand the Gods message in it.

We need to sing with the spirit and understanding. (1 Cor. 14:15) and the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2.
The music should not sound like a mourning song. Here is what the scripture says in Ezra 3:13: No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. Amos 8:10.

Yes I agree that we need to shout praises to our Lord but not until you tare your throat off hurting oneself and hurting others with amplifiers, microphone & 1000Watt speakers driving people away and making them deaf instead of controlling ourselves, we are encouraged to have emotional outburst. The Holy Spirit can also make intercession to God the Father for us(Romans 8:26) and Jesus gives warning saying “When you are praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

The worship of God does not always require words, sounds, or loud actions. Habakkuk 2:20 says “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him,” Zephaniah 1:7: “Be silent before the Lord God!”, and Zechariah 2:13, “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord. There are times to speak to God and there are times simply to behold and adore Him in silence not bursting with extreme screaming. Learning to keep silent for extended periods of time can help us control our tongue all the time. Proverbs 17:27-28 relates the Christ like qualities of Godly knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to the power to rein in words: In James 1:19 also indicates a relationship between learning silence and learning control of the tongue: “But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak. In silence we learn to rely more on God’s control in situations where we would normally feel compelled to speak, or to speak too much. People have been accused of not being spirit-filled because they do not raise their hands, sway, or clap their hands. While there may be nothing wrong with any of these things, they are evidences of emotion rather than evidences of the Spirit. People seek “a good time,” enjoying the mood and excitement. But excitement does not equal spirituality. For they loved the Praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42-43. A true believer already understands that God’s presence is always with him (Psalm 139:7; Matthew 28:20; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:14), and he doesn’t need to experience any type of physical sensation to prove it.

The Bible encourages us to: “Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Even the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:15 “… judge for yourselves what I say.” 1 John 4:1 exclaims, “Beloved, BELIEVE NOT every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. God is not the author of confusion. The Bible says to be SOBER minded. Scriptures teach that Jesus practiced silence. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

Many people go to the church to listen and glorify their favorite Excited Preacher who is their performer not to plain word of God. The Pharisees were praying not to God, but to and for the people. Jesus so hated the Pharisees’ hypocritical pretense, pretending to be so righteous and right all the time, that in the most bitter denunciation He ever uttered against anyone, He publicly told them, “WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and of the plate, but WITHIN you are full of EXTORTION and FILTHINESS! You BLIND PHARISEE, clean first that which is WITHIN the cup and the plate, then the outside of them may be clean also!

“WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like WHITE-WASHED TOMBS, which indeed look BEAUTIFUL on the OUTSIDE, but on the INSIDE are full of DEAD MEN’S BONES and EVERYTHING UNCLEAN! In the same way, on the OUTSIDE you APPEAR to others as RIGHTEOUS, but on the INSIDE you are full of HYPOCRISY and INIQUITY!” (Matthew 23:25-28) .

We are told to love God with all our hearts and also with all our minds. Jesus never shouted while preaching (Matt.12:19). Nor did He say “Hallelujah” every now and then in His messages.

Some false preachers boast about anything capturing and holding the attention of the hearers for an extended period of time by teaching simple truths in profound ways replacing sound biblical teaching with emotion-driven response .Those whose words are directed not to God, but to their hearers. Jesus warned against such behavior in Matthew 6:5-8 where he exhorts us not to be showy, long-winded, or hypocritical in our prayers, but to pray secretly in our own rooms in order to avoid the temptation of using prayer hypocritically. False Preachers have come into the churches with their books, music, literature, movies, psychology, and seminars, and have turned the Father’s house into a den of thieves. There are some Preachers quit preaching against sins and some preachers themselves live in sin henceforth allowed sinners to stop feeling like sinners which allowed the sinner to continue to live in sin and justifying their sins hence they hardly repent for their sins.I am not here to condemn anyone but God’s Word condemns all of us (Romans 3:19-23)

Looking back over the past couple years and realizing that no matter how much I am becoming the man I want to be, sometimes the Man I didn’t want to be shows up.

It’s the awkward touchy feely things that make me uncomfortable around some situations, so when I’m standing on the side of the road hugging a homeless man after somehow I get him to voice his anger at God.  He cries/better yet/ wails into my shoulder.  The thought in my head “what the frell am I doing here?”

Earlier that year a Woman organizes a “prayer drive though” Corporate prayer is not my thing (please leave it at that) So I’m in the side of I 35 holding the signs, “Jesus Loves you”, and “free prayer”.  Again the thought in my head “what the frell am I doing here?”

The most shocking was early in my walk I was on mission to Biloxi. We were invited to join a small southern baptist church for wed night service, I did not want to go, I heard there was another church that played rock & more contemporary music.  I decided to got to the smaller church with the rest of my team. it was beautiful we walked in and they were all singing songs, no music or “hymnals” a lady sitting in front would sing a verse the rest of the people would follow.  It was beautiful so I just opened my bible and enjoyed the songs.  Then…. they stopped singing, the lady leading the worship looked over at our group and said “y’all…sing something”.  I jumped up in front of the whole church and sang “your love is amazing” 1 verse and the chorus, solo, a’capella, when I finished singing my Mission team looked like deer in headlights, I sat down and said to my team “that never leaves this room”.

Sometimes being worried about appearing to be one of those “wierd” people may deter us from experiencing something great or doing something great.

There are those who would “berate” people with the message “God loves you”. But I’ve been in in a bar talking to someone, and at the right point in the conversation I told a person just that. the reaction while still a little awkward was also met with gratitude.

Maybe it’s not so much what we say or do that turns people off.  But how we say it, why we say it, and what actions go with our words.  Is there meaning in it or is it just platitudes.

Not really sure how to tie this one up.   I guess there are 2 points… I think if we are living out our faith …to the full, there should be some “aw crap what am I doing here” type moments.  The second part is up for a longer debate.  Do we seek out these moments or allow them to be truly Spirit led… or do we constantly chase the wild goose (what Celtics (not the NBA Celtics) called the Holy Spirit), and thus mix the line between intentionality and spontaneity?

We were dancing

When the music stopped

I wondered where it had gone

I tried

to listen

to discern

What had happened to the beautiful music that had once played

The music that had

kept me

held me

Embraced me with so much love

I did not know where to turn

What would happen next

Would all the life be gone

Would I wake up and see that I was just another

Virgin without a lamp

Would I find out that I had

Chosen the wrong way

Taken a wrong turn

Taken my eyes off the One I love

Will I be the one

Who’s left

Never seeing

Never perceiving

Never knowing

Never Trusting

No I will NOT

Let this be said of me

I will be the one who

listens

hears

knows

I will be the one

giving

dancing

To the beautiful music

I will be the one embracing the One I love so…

Allow me this once more

To hear the music

Give me the freedom in You once more

To feel the rythm

To know the beat

To hear what others don’t

To walk that walk

Dance that dance

Love that love that I have known

~Bambi
March 30, 2010

A couple years ago I was on mission in Mexico. On the final night the Church we were partnering with had a long service. On this night my friend decided to buy a ice cold coke for a young local girl (maybe 9). This being a rare treat for her she gladly took it but nursed it down slowly. Later in the church service she pulled the bottle out, She offered a drink the same man who bought it earlier. He knew by now it had been shaken in dance,was room temp (close to 90), and maybe 50% backwash.

What a parable, God gives us everything, absolutely everything we have. We take it we use it and then we “offer” it to God, like it is something great. when in all reality it’s just a warm flat soda.

So to finish the story, My friend took the Coke and took a drink with a smile, not out of duty or guilt, but knowing this was all She had, and all she had to ofter, and she offered it in Love.

I know God Does the same thing. He accepts what we offer in joy, when we are offering in love, not just out of duty or ceremony.

Boy, do I over complicate things. Keep It Simple Servant! Faith and obedience, it’s really that simple.

Obedience is an action – Moses, strike the Nile with your rod. Raise your rod Moses. Strike the rock with your rod Moses. March around Jericho 7 times and shout. Lepers, go show the priest you are healed. Pick up your mat and walk. Keep it simple servant – Have faith and choose God, hear His word, then take an action in obedience. Simple enough, right? It only gets complicated after my ideas start to get involved. I end up trying to figure things out myself (Proverbs 3:5-8). When I do this, I have walked right into the war zone, Spirit vs Flesh -

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Our society teaches us to mask our emotions.  In fact, according to society’s standards, the better you are able to keep your emotions inside, the more ‘mature’ you are considered to be.   However, the Word of God shows us the opposite is true.  We could try to pretend that everything is ok, but even if we successfully deceive people, we cannot successfully deceive our enemy, and we most certainly cannot deceive God.

Plato said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Everyone you meet is going through something.  Life really boils down to a series of peaks and troughs, going up and down and in and out.  It doesn’t matter how well someone seems to manage his/her life, because we are all alive we are ebbing and flowing through life.  The truth is there can be no peak that is not preceded by a trough.  You cannot have a high unless you have previously experienced a low.

The Spirit of discernment, wisdom, and revelation knowledge is a superior degree of understanding that renders the previous level of understanding obsolete.
Recently I mentioned a situation I encountered with a loved one who said some destructive words about my life. From her perspective I’m sure she was simply trying to “help me understand the truth”… But Jesus said we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free (John 8:32). The “truth” He is referring to is God’s truth, not a person’s opinion or conclusion. Therefore if a person’s opinion does not align with the Word of God, then it is not the truth and therefore it is worthless.

Period.

Nevertheless, for nearly a month I allowed my thoughts to drift to those destructive words. That was a huge mistake, even though I didn’t realize it right away. I prayed about the situation, but I did not apply the Word of God to it. My prayer should have been, “Lord, show me Your way.” Instead I prayed, “Lord, help me to stop thinking about this!” At the time, I felt like I was trapped in a dark room and all I wanted to do was get out. I didn’t realize that I was standing in front of the door to my freedom, but I could not bring myself to walk through it. Now I know that the only way out…… is through. We must walk through the door of forgiveness unless we want to remain in the prison that has held us captive. Otherwise the pain of our past is continually repeated in our lives. God was seeking to heal my heart and usher me through the door…….but I was too afraid. That door is unfamiliar to me…it looked scary and risky and would take way too much effort. So instead of asking God for life, I asked for death.

Whoa.

Yes, that’s right. I was asking God to deaden that part of my heart. Why should I stand up and deal with the issue when it would be much easier to simply run and hide?

But then I found out there is nowhere to hide.

The Word says,

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

HEBREWS 4:12-13 NLT

We are each individually accountable to God…but what are we accountable for? What is God’s ultimate goal? To shape and mold each of us into His very own image and likeness. He wants to experience your love for Him more and more each day. He created you in order to love you and to love others through you. Since He is love, everything He does is motivated by love. He allows things to take place in your life that will continually fulfill His divine mission to transform you.

As a result…there is nowhere to hide.

You see, every single thought you have is naked and exposed before God’s eyes. Every thought. But the good news is this: He has given us the power to choose our thoughts. Since we are accountable to Him for our thoughts, when we choose to think good thoughts about hurtful situations, it brings glory to God. As we glorify Him, He is glorified in us! That doesn’t mean we feel good about being hurt…It means we choose to have a new way of thinking about the situation. We are to live from our spirit, which is where God dwells, not from our feelings, which is our flesh. That’s why walking in love is truly a miracle.

Your love walk begins with your thought life. Taking control of your thoughts is the first step toward the miracle of love.

Five minutes ago you may not have been thinking the right thoughts. But when you begin to meditate on the Word and think lovely and lovable thoughts, you cannot help but to have a different attitude. You have the POWER to choose your own thoughts! This is a supreme gift that is worth repeating over and over again.

Now, we know God does not force Himself on us in any way. However, He does have a way of pursuing us to surrender to Him. The reason I was trying to harden my heart to the pain I was experiencing is because a hardened heart is an emotion that is very familiar and comfortable for me. As difficult as it is to admit, I know this has been the way I have chosen to deal with these types of experiences in the past. It’s kind of like wearing an old pair of shoes. They may not be cute and they many not make you feel attractive, but boy are they comfortable!

But you know what? I’m ready to throw out those old, saggy, worn out shoes! I’m changing! I’m growing! Yes it took me a month to get clarity from God and move beyond this situation, but at least it didn’t take 3 months or 3 years! If you are engaging yourself in the Word, then you are also changing and growing! Hallelujah! Our future is not determined by our past!

But if you are not engaging yourself in the Word and continually renewing your mind with the Word, then you are relying only on what you’ve learned in the past and you are deceiving yourself.

How do you know when you’ve been deceived? You DON’T! Not until God reveals it to you through the Spirit of discernment, wisdom and revelation knowledge. So even though those negative thoughts infiltrated my mind, I tried to defeat them the wrong way. Eventually God showed me that I was being deceived and He helped me to lean into His pursuit of my heart. He gave me a twofold strategy and I’m so glad to say it is working! I now choose to consciously bring the situation, my loved one, and my heart before the Lord in prayer. Here is what I am doing:

1. Each time I think about the situation, I immediately pray for my loved one. I ask God to bless her in a special, extraordinary way that day. I ask Him to heal and restore her heart of any hurt she’s experienced in the past, and to help her forgive those who have hurt her, including me. I tell God how much I love her and I thank God for His love for her. I ask God to show her how special she is to Him, so that she will know she is beautiful and worthy of love and is thoroughly loved by Him. I ask God to ignite her spiritual growth so that she can learn to give love rather than rebuke. I ask God to help her love herself more, and I ask Him to bless our relationship so that we can be a testimony of forgiveness and restoration.

2. I apply the Word of God to the words that she said about my life and my ministry. I wrote down a few Scriptures and placed them up on my refrigerator since I’m usually in the kitchen alone with my thoughts when my mind drifts to the situation. (Remember satan’s plan: divide and conquer). The card is full of Scriptures that remind me of who I am in Christ. Each time I read it I get more and more excited about God’s vision for my life.

When you are experiencing destructive thoughts, know that satan’s goal is to gain momentum in your mind so he can ultimately gain momentum in your life. This is a spiritual strategy of war and there is only one way to stop his momentum – by using a spiritual weapon of warfare. One of those weapons is the Word of God. The power of God’s Word is stronger than your willpower. As your thoughts drift to unhealthy thoughts, you cannot simply tell yourself to stop thinking about it. I’ll give you an example. Right now, I want you to try not to think about jumping out of an airplane. Try not to imagine the wind in your face and the ground many thousands of feet below. Try not to think about your parachute. Try not to even think about the plane.

How well did that go for you? My guess is you saw each of those things in your mind. Our mind and the spirit world around us is made up of messages. These messages are carried in absolute terms. Therefore the words “not” or “don’t” have no effect. The message is still received. Here’s another example: do a search in Google that begins with the word “not”. Like “not eating junk food”. What comes up? Every single title has the word “junk food” in it…because that’s the input – the message – you gave it.

So it’s easy to see how ineffective it is to try to simply ‘think’ our way out of a pattern of negative thoughts. Eventually those thoughts will return because we cannot defeat satan in our own strength. The only other way is to SPEAK your way out of the pattern of negative thoughts. You can’t turn off your mind, but you can re-direct your thoughts by speaking out loud something else that may be 100% contrary to your thoughts. Try it! God’s Word really is ALIVE and POWERFUL! Get yourself a few Scriptures – even one will do – and speak them out loud over your situation every time you have a destructive thought. Visit “Inspired to Triumph“ and use those Scriptures as a starting point to stop satan’s momentum and put the ball back in your own court. Taking control of your thoughts is a learned behavior that requires a lifelong commitment. Fortunately we don’t have to deal with our entire lives at this very moment. All you need to do is make a conscious decision to change your thoughts by speaking God’s Word now. That’s what it means to sow a thought, and as the saying goes:

“Sow a Thought, and you reap an Act; sow an Act, and you reap a Habit; sow a Habit, and you reap a Character; Sow a Character, and you reap a Destiny.”

Often I hear people say they are waiting for what God wants them to do, sometimes this is needed, but sometimes I feel this is an excuse inaction. What are you waiting for? If You’ve read the same bible as I you know we are called to act in faith, yes many times the Spirit or an angel tells the person what to do or what to say. Then there are times when people act according to what they know about God and what God wants, and incredible things happen, read 1 Samuel 14. Johnathan doesn’t wait for a sign or a message he knows he is acting on God’s behalf and God will have his back.

If someone was about to get hit by a car would you pull them out of the way or pray about it? That sounds extreme, but what we can apply to the big cases we can apply to the small cases. it would be impulsive for most of us to pull that person out of harms way. so maybe we can train ourselves to make our acts of love and kindness impulsive, our acts of serving and giving. no second thoughts, no need to pray about it, knowing we are acting on behalf of our God, just acting. Read James 4:17. Many times we need to pray for guidance on what is right or good to do. but many times we know the answer….we’re just stalling.

James 1:12
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has
stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised
to those who love him.” James 1:12

(more…)

God is who He says He is, not who I think He is.

I confess, my original belief in a higher power was 100% backwards. I molded an image of a god in my own mind. This image stroked my ego and helped me feel good about my ways. My spiritual information was coming from things ‘I’ wanted a god to be. This selfish belief conveniently justified my lifestyle. It made me feel good about the things I did and the person I was.

Who was this god I made? “God created this marijuana for a reason and put it here on earth. It’s all natural. I can smoke it!” – I justified my actions by creating a god to be who I wanted in order to feel good about smoking marijuana. “God just wants me to be happy! It’s ok, I’m not hurting anyone!” – Again, justifying my actions so I can feel good about the choices I made that were contrary to the real God.  The list goes on and on… I continued to believe in a higher power, a god, but the god that I believed in was fully based out of selfish motives. This god of mine so happened to fit perfectly into everything that I did in life. Worth repeating.. I created a god that so happened to fit perfectly into all that my life was. I fully justified myself.

Then, I asked Him into my life and I started to get to know the real God. He started to show me who He was via His own words, and I see now that He was nothing like the god I had created out of selfish reasons, not even close! He was the opposite. Imagine that!!!

He showed me this self-talk, self-reasoning, self-understanding, self-justification, self…self…self. The god that I created looked like me, talked like me, thought like me. It was me and my selfish desires. And He said, “I am the Creator…I created you in My image. I mold you, not the other way around.” I had it all backwards. Praise God for pulling me out of the pits of self.

If anyone is in the same boat, I urge you.. jump out of basing things on your own understanding & let Him tell you who He is, in His own words (the bible). Ask Him into your life, then watch the world as you know it turn upside down (right-side up).

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8, New King James Version)

8 ” For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 ” For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 ” For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:8-11, New King James Version)

17 “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
(Exodus 34:17, New King James Version)

Pertaining to the last passage, it is my opinion that it means both carved images as well as any other image we may form in our mind. If we believe in an invisible god, one that is nothing like the true God, is it not the same as molding a god for ourself?

Have you molded your own god at some point in life? I did.

As far as physical carvened images, the true God of Israel answered this question, in a blessed revelation. Watch the Lord God take a golden calf off from around my neck – Check out this beautiful testimony: Testimony – the golden calf.

God bless you and yours,

joseph

(taken from my blog post Who is God?)

Living Out the Parable of Rendering Unto God and Caesar

How We Are to Live Today

Jesus once said that we are to “render unto Caesar what is due Caesar and render unto God what is due God.” The meaning behind this parable is easy to understand. We must pay our taxes and follow the laws the government lays out for us, while at the same time tithing and obeying God’s word in our lives. It was the ideal way to live then, and it is the way we are called as Christians to live today.

This means we must follow the laws of the land, no matter whether we agree with them or not. This means following the speed limit, being honest on our tax returns, and avoid taking that which does not belong to us. It also means that we must follow God’s law as described in the Bible, go to church, pray, and tithe. We must also do charitable works and serve others, for “faith without works is dead.” As human beings, we have many rules we must follow, as we expect our children to follow our rules.

The Bible also states that, “Man can not serve two masters.” So what happens if the law of man (the government) is directly opposed to the law of God? Just as the U.S. Constitution states that the law of the federal government comes before the laws of the states, the law of God must come before the law of man. In some cases, especially in some countries, this means facing potential jail time for following God’s law, or even being martyred. Yet, it is what we are called on to do, and as people who love God, we should do these things gladly. We should always be glad to follow God’s law, no matter where it leads us.

Do Not Be Lukewarm

We have to be careful here and not straddle the proverbial “fine line”. If a law is proclaimed that violates God’s law as stated in Scripture then you must decide to whom you have final allegiance. Laws requiring abortion or euthanasia or other such things fall under what is “due God.”

However, matters dealing with expenses, and where we work, how we get our mail and many aspects of our daily lives all fall into the realm of what is “due Caeser.” Yes, even taxes, no matter how oppressive. The tax system in Jesus’ time was incredibly oppressive, he himself paid them.

Why? Because it was due Caesar. However, matters of the heart, soul, and mind are what we render to God.

The difference in our mindset in this country is borne from the fact that for almost 200 years our Caesar (elected government) have given us the rights over everyday matters. And now that Caesar has decided to begin taking control of these things more himself, we panic and become angry, when in reality it began long time ago, most notably in the 1930s.

My Guarantee

And here is my hindsight prophetic guarantee to you (yes, this is confusing to me also but sure sounds good). Had we in our own lives (collectively as a nation) rendered to God what is due him (heart, soul, mind, strength) then our Caesar now would not be asking/demanding/taking a bigger chunk of what he believes is due him.

A hard pill to swallow, I know.

So, do your best to follow the law of man; and if you do not like it, use legal channels to change it, all the while obeying it while it exists. But never obey the law of man above the law of God. God’s law is supreme, in all cases, and that is the way it should be.

Here is a little on Tithes and Offerings to further your learning.

Having Proper Preparation in Your Life

The motto of the Boy Scouts is to always be prepared. It is a good creed to live by, as you never know exactly what is going to happen. Boy Scouts always make sure they have everything on hand they could possibly need for any eventuality out in the world. Their whole objective is to never be caught off guard. You should live your life that way, too, in order to provide protection and security to yourself and your family. This is especially important when it comes to faith, as it is said that Jesus will come as a thief in the night, so you must always be prepared for his return.

However, the fact is that no matter how much you are prepared, you can not prepare for every single thing. Unexpected things happen. Things that are totally random and out of the blue happen that no one would ever have imagined happening. You can have all of the first aid kits, hurricane kits, outdoor survival kits, snake bite kits, poison control kits and even emergency food supplies for extended natural disasters, and still find yourself without the one thing you need when the unexpected occurs.

Even in household budget planning, the unexpected happens. A tire blows out, a child has to go to the emergency room and there is no insurance, or a job terminates.

So how do you ever have full security in life? The fact is, you cannot outside of salvation. There will always be something that you could never have foreseen or imagined, and it could happen to you at the most inopportune times. Now, do not blow this out of proportion. Having blind faith by not preparing as much as humanly possible is advocated against in Scriptures as it is admonished that faith without works is dead.
Take heed in the meaning of the story of the ant and sluggard. You still need to have a budget plan, savings, emergency supplies, etc.

However, when you have faith in God (proving it through your obedient actions) you know you are never alone, never forsaken, and always protected in God’s own way.

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5.

With this faith, you need never worry about being unprepared, because you will always have all the help you need right at hand.

Remember that God is never farther away than your prayers. When the earth quakes and the streets flood and your house comes crashing down, remember that God is with you. Reach out to him in faith and trust, and know in your heart He will protect you. The only way to have proper preparation in your life is to have God.