Press On!

When we grow in Faith we begin to want more and more of God’s plan because we have discovered that it’s better than ours.  Some questions I began to ask are “What is important in Life”?  How can I obtain everything God created me to have?

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thingI do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

God is good and to have all that He has for us we must press on!  The bible tells us that we will have tribulation.

John 16:13 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus overcame the world at the cross so we fight from a position of victory today. 

Question:  Are you looking forward or behind you?

The Value of Faith!

As we face the stress of every day life we need to remember the value of Faith!  We are quick to place our hope in “our” decisions and in “our” ability to direct life according to the outcomes based on factors and elements that are to great for our mortal control.  This is the concept of needing a “Savior”, someone who holds the key to our future, which is God almighty.  

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Fear is the opposite of faith and we are either consumed by its pressure or secure by allowing God to move in our lives by directing our path. 

 Question:  Are you walking in fear or faith today?

Confession of Christ

As we go through life our actions and thoughts are either displaying our confession of Christ as savior or displaying our fleshly nature.  If we are walking in humility and in faith that Jesus is our Lord then we are an example of Him who is righteous, and we are not trying to portray righteousness from our own selfish nature.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I believe this is the ongoing nature of those who know Christ as savior.  Our knees are bowed to the one that is Lord of our lives.  All honor and glory for life and the things that we achieve are given to the only righteous one.  He alone is worthy of glory and honor and praise!

Resist The Devil

We live in a world that is constantly throwing temptation into our path.  This temptation is designed to draw us away from God.  The Word of God tells us how to turn back the plan of the enemy that is trying to control our lives.

James 4:6-8 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

To get the devil to flee from us we need to resist him.

Webster’s Dictionary

resist|riˈzist|

verb [ trans. ]

withstand the action or effect of :

• succeed in ignoring the attraction of (something wrong or unwise)

Question:  Will you resist the attraction of something wrong or unwise today?

The Wicked World

Last week we talked about trusting God and about submitting to His will for our lives.  A good friend of mine asked me an important question. “When we know the truth of God how do we stay true to God’s will when the world we live in is so wicked?”

James 4:3-5 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

Question:  Are you a friend of God or the World?

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We Have A Trust Issue!

This morning I was having breakfast and thinking about trust.  I believe our biggest issue we face is trusting others and God.  Our “self reliance” has reached a level of personal dependency that we believe we can do everything without having to trust anything or anyone, especially God.  Call it selfishness if you will, but people, beg, borrow and steal to maintain self-control of things in life rather than rely on God and others for anything. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Question: Do you trust the Lord in your life?

What’s Your Opinion?

As I thumb through Facebook I see that everyone has his or her own opinion about everything.  This opinion usually is based on a persons past experiences.  The posts are from an intermingled mix of fleshly pride, off-based judgment and even partial spiritual truth.  For the most part, these posts have no real foundation but rather personal opinions based on the following scripture. 

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Without a “foundation” for us to glean from we are lost.  I believe the biggest problem with society is that social media has allowed people to believe their opinion is important.  We have billions of foundations based on personal opinions.  These foundations lack structure that comes from the ONE true foundation of God.

Are We Deceived?

The more I study the Word and seek God, I learn that we all can be deceived at times.  A lot of the time we actually deceive ourselves.  How you might ask?  People’s pride that comes from their good deeds or works starts to deceive them into thinking they are exempt from sin, or that their reliance is not on Jesus, but on themselves. 

1 John 1:8-10 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

When this happens we deceive ourselves, and our reliance moves from Jesus to us.  This causes a self-righteous mindset that could also be known as a “religious spirit”.  I don’t believe this is always a conscious mindset but rather a fleshly position that causes people to pass judgment on others when we all are sinners.  The fact is we will never stop needing a savior and to do so would mean Jesus’ sacrifice was not necessary.

Biblical Freedom

On this 4^th of July I wanted to post from the bible about “freedom”.  True freedom comes from God and without the foundation of biblical freedom there is no freedom.

Freedom In Christ

Galatians 5:1  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

2 Corinthians 3:17“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Galatians 2:4“…our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus…”

John 8:36“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Romans 8:2“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

The Calling To Freedom

Galatians 5:13“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

It’s Time to Get Out of the Boat

There are times in life when we are given a choice to have faith in God or to simply stay in the boat.

Matthew 14:28-29 ²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

When we walk with faith toward Jesus we can do all things.  Jesus simply said “Come”.  This scripture basically is telling us to go toward Jesus and nothing is impossible.  It is a supernatural surrender and trust in God.  It is a challenge of our faith! 

What Are You Wearing?

As we go through our daily life we are walking in a state that reflects either the world or God.  What ever we reflect ultimately reflects back at us.  It’s the same principle of reaping and sewing.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

It’s not always our words but more often our actions and demeanor that speak the loudest.  If we are sewing good things we will receive good things.  It’s a simple principle but very important.  It’s a choice to walk in love and joy, the world around us will notice.  The reflection back to us will become whatever we sew.

Eternal Life Declared

The book of 1 John is one of my favorite books of the bible.  The opening is the declaration of John who had been with Jesus and he is declaring this testimony to us that we can have fellowship with the father and His son Jesus Christ.  When we read this we receive joy in its proclamation of eternal life!

1 John 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.⁴ And these things we write to you that yourjoy may be full.

Growing In God

Growing in God is a process that we learn through God’s word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This morning I was reading in 2 Peter and this passage of scriptures gives us an outline of spiritual growth. 

2 Peter 1:5-11 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹ for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

These scriptures tell us that if we lack these things we will be shortsighted and even blind which can cause us to forget that we were cleansed from sin.

Everlasting Glory

While driving down the interstate I recognized that the road construction was everywhere. Crews were constantly repairing the damage that the traffic had caused.  I started to ask the question.  Is there anything that is going in the opposite direction?  It seems as if everything is in a cycle of withering away.  From the roadways to the flowers, trees and even people are in a process of dying off and or diminishing.  It seems that nothing is becoming better, or transforming into something beautiful.  I gained a revelation about our salvation from this withering away of life.  Only those that are saved and growing in God are being transformed into something that is beautiful with no end to the “glory” that God has in store for them.  By salvation our spirit is not only everlasting, but is becoming more and more complete and beautiful as we seek God to become all that He has for us. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

We have been called into His glorious light and it never fades away.  Our salvation is eternal and has not destruction or withering in it.  We have become eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord and savior. 

Life’s Lessons

When we talk about sports in the sense of its value we begin to gain perspective.  Team sport is the greatest teaching tool in America to teach our youth about life. 

As parents we can conclude that sports is a place to show acceptance for our children in the world.  It brings us pride for their success. This is good and bad, especially bad if our pride in our children outweighs the potential lessons that prepare them for life as adults.

We need to take a step back and look at the value of competition and how we handle failure and success.  On the field we see our youth fail by striking out or making errors and our human nature seems to want to make excuses for their mishaps, when in reality having to face this adversity is a great lesson that teaches them how to overcome and respond to difficulty with character.