Put Your Offense on the Field

(Dream Revelation)

One night I awoke from a dream and realized it was very meaningful.  In this dream I was on the field playing quarterback.  My team was running plays and the success was absolutely zero.  We were unable to gain a yard.  In fact we were losing yards on every down. 

We were locked down against our own goal line and I had called a time out.  I looked to the sideline and realized that our playbook was completely non-effective.  In fact it became clear to me that the other team already knew the plays we were running before we called them.  It was a completely helpless situation and it was obvious we needed a completely new plan to have any kind of success against this defense.

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.

Hope

As we remember those we have lost on Memorial Day I am reminded of a word in the bible that brings us comfort and peace.  The word is hope. 

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.

Webster’s Dictionary

hope |hōp|

noun

1 a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen

We have the hope of eternal life in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  It brings boldness to our faith of seeing our loved ones in our future in heaven.  This eternal hope inside us by the spirit of God compels us to spread the Gospel to those who are lost in hope that they will to share in the inheritance of our Lord.

The Coaching Box

(Revelation)

As a baseball coach I have fought many battles in the 3^rd base-coaching box.  When you are unable to play yourself you live and die with every pitch.  Over the years of coaching things began to change.  Following the Lord and imparting the things of God to my team started to transform my thinking.  I began to see the player’s personal needs at a higher level than the outcome of their performance. 

Over a seven-year period we returned several three-year players.  Our relationships were strong and I understood their needs away from the field and the battles they faced at home.  Some of these players were qualified and loved by how good they were at a sport.  This began to work on my Spirit.  Players that were good kids had their identity wrapped up in their performance.  It was the only identity that they really had.  That identity was placed upon them from home. 

Humility and Prosperity

We battle against the pride inside of us and almost certainly it is what causes our stress and discomfort in life.  While I was reading the word this morning I gained a new revelation about humility. 

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

This scripture tells us that if we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, He will lift us up.  All of God’s word has meaning and there were 2 points in this scripture that spoke to me in a new way.

Finished Work

In a previous message we talked about a “CLEAN TITLE”.  Meaning that once something is purchased and there is nothing held against it, it becomes a free and clear title of ownership.

God purchased us back with the shed blood of His only Son Jesus Christ; Acts 20:28.  This is the “exchange” and or payment that made the “Title” to our lives free and clear in Him.

He took the stripes for not only our past sins, but also our present and future failures.  No matter what our lives look like to the world or how often we “miss the mark” of righteousness He still holds the title which He purchased with His blood. 

Wow, what an awesome revelation for us to grasp.

 Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^, free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering, And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Choose Today

Another day has come and we have been given an opportunity to choose whom we will serve in life. 

The summer has started and a new set of time consuming events are coming our way.  In the midst of this chaos we will have the ability to choose life.

Joshua 24:15 ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

This scripture reminds us that we have the choice to serve the Lord.  Not only for ourselves but for our “Household”.  If we as parents make this choice to serve the Lord our children will grow to follow as well.

Question:  As your day unfolds will you choose to serve the Lord?

God’s Mercy

As we go through life we will make mistakes and be in need of God’s mercy.   

Romans 11:31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

It’s human nature and pride that keeps us fighting a battle in a world that we are not capable of winning in our own ability.  This is why we need a savior.

Question:  How many problems will you continue to struggle with until you admit to God that you need His mercy and grace?

I am convinced that people are mostly too prideful to admit that they need a savior.  The longer this continues the more struggle people will have finding peace.  Self-reliance keeps us from a relationship with God so that He becomes our source.  This means we need to accept His “Mercy” as good for us.

We Need Truth!

It is our nature as people to seek peace. This is difficult when society is telling us to do whatever we want and its “OK”.  It also is forcing us to accept "Everything" as truth. 

When this happens it causes everyone to live by “His or Her” own foundation while creating confrontation and conflict because a selfish foundation is not rooted in God's “Truth”. 

Psalm 52:2-4 You who practice deceit,
   your tongue plots destruction;
    it is like a sharpened razor.
³ You love evil rather than good,
    falsehood rather than speaking the truth.
⁴ You love every harmful word,
    you deceitful tongue!

2 Timothy 4:4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

It’s a simple fact that people don’t know what they are doing.  They are being led by their fleshly emotions and believe that their opinion matters.  Everything that doesn’t come from the truth of God is of the enemy. 

Be On Guard

Each day we go out and face a world that is on the attack.  The enemy is looking for someone that he can devour.

1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Question:  Are you open for the attack today or are you on guard against the enemy?

2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Iron Sharpens Iron

Prov. 27:17 – “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

To be able to grow in my personal walk with God I needed to change the environment around me.  I needed Godly relationships and a bible based church to help increase my knowledge of the Word.  I had to separate myself from the people that were walking in their flesh and pulling me into the same traps of the enemy. 

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Before accepting Jesus as savior I was the “King” of fools.  I have good friends that simply lack wisdom and instruction just as we all do, but those that choose to despise it cannot grow spiritually.

I needed new relationships because I was not spiritually grown up enough to be able to walk in the enemy’s camp without falling to the traps that were around me.

Question:  Are you mature enough spiritually to walk in the midst of temptation and stay clear from its desires?

Spiritual Discernment Part 2

The second part of the “reply” I received on judgment is listed below with some more good insight on discernment and how we are to deal with our flesh as it relates to judging others. 

Mark, 

In I Thessalonians 5:21, Paul was exhorting the entire church (all believers) to “examine everything carefully.” Here Paul is urging believers to scrutinize everything they hear to determine if it is genuine, to distinguish between the true and the false, to separate the good from the evil. In other words, he wants them to examine everything critically. “Test everything.”

I Thessalonians 5:20-22 Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil.

I believe we live in a world that the enemy is running rampant in people’s lives.  We see different forms of ungodliness all around us.  This “evil” comes from the enemy and we MUST be careful to hold fast to the good and abstain from every form of evil as the scripture suggests. 

Spiritual Discernment

I am thankful that a good friend of mine wrote a response to Friday’s blog on “Knowing Yourself”.  The blog is discussing judgment of people.  I wanted to share his response today and then follow up.  Many good points are made in his response. I will elaborate on the areas for even further breakdown of spiritual discernment.  God’s “Living” word has so much for each of us “Personally”, and hopefully we can all grow by our discussions.

Hi Mark,

Good article today. In a future article could you discuss the difference between judgment and discernment? Obviously what Jesus was condemning in Matthew 7 was the hypocritical judgment of those who held others to a higher standard than they themselves were willing to live by.He was certainly not suggesting that all judgment is forbidden. In fact, Jesus indicated that taking a speck out of your brother’s eye is the right thing to do—as long as you first get the log out of your own eye (Matt. 7:5). We are not to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart, because only God can see them (Hebrews 4:12).

Know Yourself!

Judgment and Condemnation

As we continue to talk about salvation we can conclude that it has to do with our identity.   When we are in Christ Jesus we begin to take on His nature.  That nature opposes the fleshly judgment of the world, which comes from our sin nature.  This judgment often leads to the condemnation that causes us to become like the “World” and cripples our witness. We condemn others and ourselves when we lose our identity in Christ.

Statement of the day:  “To make a difference in the world we must be different than the world!”

When we judge others, normally it is in response to an area of struggle from within ourselves.  It passes the burden of our own conviction over to someone else.  It’s a comparison that comes from our feeling of being inadequate.  Often it comes from a root of jealousy, envy or anger.  All of these are works of the flesh found in Galatians:

Galatians 5:19-21 ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God

Bring It To God

We helped on the ministry team at a revival last night and I gained a revelation from God.  During the alter call we had people that came forward to bring their sin before God and ask for forgiveness.

The scripture below that came to my mind talks about how Adam and his wife “hid” themselves from the presence of the Lord?

Genesis 3:6-8 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Adam and Eve sinned and then hid themselves from God.