What’s Next?

I woke up this morning with this thought on my mind. What’s Next God?

When we have uncertainty of our future we must hold on to the truth of God and trust Him.  This takes humility to turn loose of our fleshly perspective.  God has a great plan and we need to seek Him daily and rely on the fact that He will guide our steps.

Psalm 25:9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Question:  Do we want to “learn” from the ways of the world or from God?

Are we looking and pushing towards things that that are offered by the world, or asking the question, What’s Next God?

Do You Believe?

John 11:26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

This death that Jesus spoke of was a physical death, which explains that we are separated from our earthly body into spirit that goes home to be with the Father.  This would mean that our spirit remains alive.

Our spirit becomes alive when we know Jesus Christ as our savior.  The life we experience here on earth before our physical body dies is already alive inside of us.  We have the ability to walk in the spirit now and forever!

Galatians 5:16-17 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

Call or Text?

 (Parable lesson: Phones and life!)

To call or to text?  That is the question we all ask. 

In the busyness of everyday life we face the dilemma of taking time to answer the calls we receive or hope the person will drop us a quick text message.  We realize that a lengthy conversation may delay our progress during the day, especially if it can be summed up by a simple text message.

I began to analyze what goes on in our minds when the phone rings.  We ask the questions:  What do they need?, and do I have time to address it properly?

The identity of the individual that is calling us provides us a pre-determined answer in our “mind” of what most likely the conversation will Intel.

I believe there are 2 main categories of the potential conversations that normally cause us to wait for a text or answer the call.

1. Is it going to be a lengthy call?
2. Is the call more than likely going to be “negative” in nature?

I believe both of these scenarios require setting aside time and even preparation for us to handle the conversations properly.  We also should not be rushed when dealing with someone’s emotions.  Most likely a quick call during the busyness of the day ends up escalating issues due to time restraints.  When we have these circumstances arrive, we simply need to receive a text to understand and evaluate the question or issue.  This allows someone to better understand whether or not to clear their mind of what they are involved in at the time to properly be able to have a legitimate conversation. 

Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Leave It Behind

Mark 10:17-23 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ”

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him.“One thing you lack, ”he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The rich that Jesus is talking about in this parable is worldly wealth.  God revealed to me that we all have things that are worldly that we are unwilling to give up. 

Silence, Be Still

When the storms of life come, it threatens our situation.  We have an expectation of what we believe is the answer.  Those expectations are disrupted, so we are quick to react in a way that is opposite of God’s plan.

Mark 4: 35-41 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,“Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”³⁶ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

³⁸ Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

³⁹ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves,“Silence! Be still!”Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.⁴⁰ Then he asked them,“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Stretch Out Your Hand

I was reading pastor Mark Haney’s daily scripture and I gained revelation from God that I wanted to share with you this morning.

Mark 3:5-6 He said to the man,“Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

First of all it took action for the man’s hand to be healed.  We have to move in faith for God to work in our lives.  We need to take the first step and trust that God will do His part in our lives.  Many times people sit back and blame God without action. 

Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand! 

Question:  Do you feel God has told you to do something and you are standing still?

Unity Requires a Foundation!

To unite people you have to have common principles and values to bring them together.  I keep reading how we need to unite together no matter our differences.  This would mean race, sexual orientation, cultural differences and even spiritual backgrounds.  When you mix the “anything” is acceptable into this bag of differences you end up with variable differences that simply have no chance of unification.  The liberal view of anything goes will never work because it lacks “TRUTH” as its foundation.

Truth is not a choice but rather a condition.  Truth comes from GOD and its foundation is clearly laid out for us in the Bible. 

Job 34:12 Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

God’s Truth works like gravity.  If I drop something it falls to the ground.  If we apply truth of God it works.  If we do not apply His truth it will ultimately fail.

Boldness in Jesus!

Reading the book of Acts this morning I was drawn to the prayer of boldness from the Disciples. 

Acts 4:29-31 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

The denial of Jesus as Lord was obviously taking place in the world following His resurrection. We live in a world today that attacks the word of God and tries to eliminate Christianity in a similar way.  We need to pray for boldness and be willing to speak it and reveal it to the world around us.

When we hear people speak with boldness in the Lord it brings great hope to Christians, but it is shocking to people of the world that do not know the gospel.  They are deceived and lack the knowledge of the Word to bring understanding.  The “World” hates those that know Jesus.

Seek and Save the Lost

After sleeping another night at the hospital I was led to do a repost from April.  We all fall short and are in need of a savior. My prayer is that this post helps us all know more about our personal identity.

The word of God has taught me that our "identity" is what we seek in life.  Our identity is what defines us as people.  Everyone has the question “Who Am I” going on in their mind, even if they haven’t stopped to think about it.

In seeking God I have concluded that we are either “Lost” or “Found”.  First of all, we must be lost before we can be found.  

Luke 19:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The bible makes it clear that all have fallen short of the glory of God, therefore we are first “Lost”

Romans 3:9-10 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

¹⁰ As it is written:  “There is none righteous, no, not one;

A Dad’s Measure of Faith!

As my father is recovering from heart surgery I have learned a great deal about life and how we face the reality of the challenges it has for us.  I learned about faith by listening to my dad and how he faced this difficult challenge.  He faced open-heart surgery with faith and hope of what was to come.  He said many times leading up to the surgery how he will soon get going so he can watch his grandsons play baseball at Leedey this fall and follow Drew’s minor league games on the computer. 

There was one key statement of faith he made to His doctor John Randolph when they met.  Dad found out that doctor Randolph used to play football for OU.  Dad quickly told the Doc that he wanted to be able to see OU play Texas again.  A game that he had attended 55 straight times until the last 2 years.  It was clear that my dad had great expectations and faith of his recovery and that he would be out attacking life again soon.

Jesus Is Willing

Mark 1:40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.

We are all in need of being healed of something.  It may be physically, mentally or emotionally, but we all have scars of different types. 

The revelation I gained from this scripture came from verse 40 where the leper asked the question “If you are willing”.  This is a question of faith.  The leper believed that Jesus could heal him.  More importantly he needed to know if Jesus was willing!

Question:  Do you believe that Jesus is willing?

The Lord Is My Shield

We face an enemy that is cunning and deceiving and he has a plan to destroy us.  Christ Jesus defeated him at the cross.   We can call upon His name in our time of need and He will hear our voice.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The Lord is our Shield in times of trouble. 

Psalm 3:3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill.

Some Assembly Required

(Revelation)

One day I received a box in the mail that contained a weight lifting machine I had ordered for my boys.  It was called the “Body Pro 360” The box had a big sticker on it that said, “Some Assembly Required”.  I gained a great revelation from this scenario. 

First of all it required me to read the manual to assemble this machine that had many functions.  Some of these functions include: bench press, pull downs, leg lifts and butterflies just to name a few.  The box was full of nuts and bolts and there was a detailed owners manual.  This required a lot of “assembling”.

For this machine to fully operate at the level it was designed it would take time and learning.   It would take effort to put it together in the proper manner so that all facets were complete and workable.

As I assembled this machine, one item at a time began to operate, which allowed for another part to work.  Without the first part working properly the rest was useless.

Winning and the Search for Truth

After being blessed to coach thousands of games and winning many championships, I have discovered that sports provide a very unique look into the spiritual realm.

The ability to achieve goals based on hard work and rules in a short-term setting allows us to view a goal and plan and the completion of a plan in a short time frame. We therefore can evaluate the individual behavior as well as the social behavior of a group. The same plan could be evaluated for a bigger group or “life” in general.

In life, whether we know it or not, we are seeking for the “truth.” As we grow with the Word of God, the truth in every situation reveals itself to us. The times I have won championships and viewed others winning championships, I have learned one common denominator: An overwhelming “love” comes over the “victory” group. Every other selfish emotion and fleshly plan or desire disappears for a short time and all involved “rest” together through love.

Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

(An excerpt from my book: Victory)

Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

I had a dream that I was playing baseball on a town team with older men. We were gathered together for fun to play a game. In this dream I was well versed in the game rules and understood baseball at a high level. The confidence I had in my ability allowed me to steal bases and basically do anything I wanted. The experience I had gained from college and coaching at multiple levels had made my reactions sharp, and I was able to help others with the rules and execution.

Some of the people playing were women and young boys who had very little if any experience with the game. They were unsure of the simple truths, such as how many strikes and balls you could have as a batter. Others didn’t even know that you could steal a base. The knowledge of the game varied greatly among the players.