Jesus Prepares Our Way!

We have recently been talking about our direction and where we are going in life.  We will be guided by the Shepherd’s voice or the voice of the world.  The shepherd makes the way for His sheep.  The sheep trust that He will lead them to their destiny.

John 10:3-5 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The revelation I obtained from this scripture is in verse 4.  “He goes before them; and the sheep follow him”.  We have a good shepherd that goes before us and makes the way for our future.  When we follow another master we are off course and headed for destruction.

DECEPTION VS TRUTH

What is Colin Kaepernick's Foundation for Rebellion?

Is the Rebellion of Kaepernick and others not honoring the National Anthem based on God's Truth or is it more than likely based on deception?

I believe in standing up for what you believe, but when someone does it uninformed or without God's truth, it is causing greater deception rather than a solution.  Kaepernick is in a position to influence others, but from a fleshly position rather than a biblically true position, it simply adds to the problem.  In other words; If the message isn't clear its causing deception.

As we live in a world deceived by more and more untruth we find society drifting further from any peaceful answers.  It seems I continually write on the fact that without a Godly foundation there will be no peaceful result to racism, terrorism, gun control, and so on. God didn't create the destruction that lies within all these fleshly issues. These are man's issues based on selfishness, jealousy and pride that was never a part of God's perfect plan for us.  These are FLESH issues and you can never fight FLESHLY battles with FLESHLY answers.

Unashamed Dependence

Carrie was reading her daily devotional this morning and there was a key phrase that jumped out at me.  It said; “you need to attach to God with “unashamed dependence”.  Our admission of needing help is so important in our walk with God. 

We must conclude that God is not only “relevant” to us, but He is completely necessary at the highest level in all areas of our life. 

Our pride is what has us walking around relying on our own dependence.  It is actually a foolish position when you think about it.  There is no way we can control all the elements and factors of life, much less the schemes and attacks of the enemy.  We are simply inadequate in our own ability to manage life. 

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?

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.

When I read this scripture I gained a revelation about the “Shield”.  What is a shield and how does it work? 

For a shield to work it has to be raised into a position that will block the enemies blow.  This is a parable to “Jesus” in our life.  We must raise HIM up so He can “Shield” the blow. 

Question:  Is your Shield lifted up today?

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’s Your Everything?

Our performance in life is related to our success.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of pleasing man instead of God to gain short-term popularity, promotion or acceptance.

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Question:  Today will you seek man’s approval in your choices or God’s?

Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. ¹² I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

God created us and His perfect plan has eternal impact on our lives our families and the people around us.  This Godly influence and impact can only come by seeking Gods will and not falling into the trap of the world.

The Blood of Jesus!

I watched a video this morning about how critical the church is about people, which means that people are putting the blood of Jesus on trial rather than the person. 

This reminds me of when Jesus who was without sin faced the Pharisees of His time and they accused Him until He was proclaimed guilty even though He had not sinned. 

First of all we are all sinners and fall short of God’s glory.

Romans 3:23-24 For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

When we are “IN” Christ Jesus we are no longer found guilty of sin in God’s eyes.  The church must set the standard of following the true gospel of Christ and its foundation which is that Jesus set us ALL free from the destruction of sin.

ARE YOU THROWING THE FIRST STONE?

There is a pattern of judgmental religion running rampant in the church of America today.  This is a place that makes sinners feel unwelcome and it doesn’t represent the true relationship we have with Jesus Christ. 

Mark 2:15-17 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)¹⁶ But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he told them,“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

This judgmental state of religious people remains heavy in our world.  This is a mind-set that says our works can make us worthy of “position” to judge.  It is also stating that these “religious” people think they are without sin therefore it qualifies them to pass judgment on the ones that are clearly recognized as sinners. This is not true.

Favor, Protection and Wisdom!

Today is my wife Carrie's brithday.  When I woke and thought about her I was reminded of our daily prayer life.  We pray every morning for Favor, Protection and Wisdom in Jesus name.  Thank you for being a great partner in life Carrie!  I am reminded today about what these 3 things truly mean.  I hope you enjoy this post from May 9th.

When we seek God first, we begin to evaluate what is important in life.  I have learned to pray for 3 things that God made available to us. These 3 things are “Favor”, “Protection” and “Wisdom”.

When Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin He opened up the portal to the blessing of God into our lives.  It is up to us to seek Him and all that He has for us.  This means we need to replace our fleshly desires for the things of God. 

Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

When Jesus was growing He increased in wisdom and favor with God and Men.  When we pray for wisdom we are taping into the unshakable “Truth” of God.  This Godly wisdom is the only wisdom we need to reach a Godly future. 

Focused as a Bee!

We have all heard the term “Busy as a Bee”.  Through observation I am going to introduce another gift of the Bumble.

When watering my garden I noticed the Bumble Bees that were moving diligently from flower to flower.  It was not a random busyness that I saw, but rather intense focus upon their task at hand.  It seemed nothing would distract them from “Their” job!  Even when I began to spray water they quickly returned to task to accomplish their goal.

I was intrigued by their “Focus”.  The revelation I gained from watching them has to do with people. 

Question:  How focused are we on a task?  Also, how many things distract us from the important tasks?

Proverbs 4:26-27 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

First of all our priorities should be:  Seeking God (Matthew 6:33), Being a husband or wife and also being a father or mother.  When these 3 responsibilities are my focus, I have had success in work and other priorities. 

God’s Promise

Sometimes we need to be reminded of God's promises.  Today I came across a recent article that I had shared on just how important His promises are and how much we need to focus on His word and stay in faith.

We go through life making many promises to ourselves and to others.  We also have had people make promises to us that sometimes are broken.  This is part of human nature and unfortunately we will face many broken promises that can cause us to lose hope.

These broken promises are not like the promise of God.

1 John 2:24-26 Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

Webster’s Dictionary

Promise

promise |ˈpräməs|

noun;  a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that guarantees that a particular thing will happen

Our failed flesh nature is what causes us to struggle at keeping our promises.  We are conflicted by what is “truth” of God and what is the “lie” of the enemy.  Our temptation is our enemy to broken promises.

Question:  Have you ever broke a promise?  Has anyone broke a promise to you?

It’s All About God!

God made us in His image and has a plan for each and every person.  When we humble ourselves to understand that it’s about Him and not us, we can achieve a life of joy, peace, love and success.  I was reading through my first book “The Perfect Game” and wanted to share this 2-page story below.  As I look back over the past 10 years since this writing I am even more convinced that life really isn’t about me.  It’s about becoming whom God made us from the foundation of life.

One Sunday an evangelist brought a message about the book of Hebrews to our hometown church. At the beginning of the message, he made the statement that scholars were not 100 percent sure that Paul was the author of Hebrews. The writing was different in nature, and it was obvious that there was some confusion as to the certainty of the author.

About a week after the message, I was reading through the first part of this writing. I felt the Holy Spirit reveal to me a powerful revelation. The word was, “Mark, could you write this book without putting your name on it?” The next word was, “Would it be enough about Me [the Lord] that you could give Me all the credit for the writing?” Wow! This was a tremendous revelation to me.

Pick a Card

(Revelation)

Once saved by accepting Jesus Christ as savior we need to know what our choices are so we can grow in God to walk out our salvation and reach our destiny. 

Daily Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 

Daily Parable:   During a youth message on a Wednesday night, God showed me a parable with cards that brought out a great revelation about choices.

I needed three people to come forward and pick out a card from the deck. They all chose their cards. I asked the first person to either keep his card or exchange it for someone else’s card. He exchanged. The person he exchanged with didn’t want to give up his card. He liked it! After trading, he decided to trade his new card with the third person. This took place and I told the third person that they had to keep their card they ended up with.

God Provides A Way!

Every now and then we face trials and the busyness of life.  Lately, I have been overwhelmed with a lot of things and I was thrust into this morning without the time to write my blog.  I try to be fresh and in the moment when I write instead of doing it a day in advance or needing to repost previous blogs because of time restraints.  I received a facebook message this afternoon from Lewis.  He is a man that follows my blog daily and it encouraged me very much.  He said that he looks for my blog daily.  I needed his message because today I fell short on being able to accomplish all my tasks as a father and husband as well as get my blog up.

Sometimes we face issues and today I have.  I am thankful for the opportunity to share with you what God places on my heart.  And even though this day has almost slipped by I am going to repost a message that fit my situation and I am certain it will speak to someone because God always has a plan.  Thanks Lewis!  Here is the message I posted March 2nd and God Bless!