I Really don't like you Paul

"seriously Paul? Really? committing everything to Jesus?" 2 Timothy 1:12 says..."nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." Ahhh yes, the boldness of Paul! Once again we find Paul here suffering in prison, of all places...he surely must've felt abandoned by God? But instead of moping and grumbling or complaining, I sense Paul has boldness? What? What's up with that Paul? What was it that Paul committed to Him? Surely, he first has in mind his life. Paul knew he could not keep his own life; he knew only Go...d could keep it. God was able; Paul was not. Knowing this made Paul full of boldness, but it wasn't boldness in self, but in God! But it wasn't only his life that Paul had committed to God. Paul had committed everything to Jesus - his life, his body, his character and reputation, his life's work...yep, everything that was precious!...what? Seriously, precious? What do you need to commit to Him? Everything that is precious! Now, perhaps you understand why I've said it before...."I hate you Paul!.....Help Me Lord! Happy the Saturday Y'All! Stay home, stay warm, God bless Y'All...Peace!"

December 28th, 2011

"uhh, no fear...?" 1 John 4:18 "Now, there is no fear in love" I must admit, I've struggled for years over this verse...I've told myself so often..."you're always afraid, worried, anxious, you must not love God"... One commentator writes: "The completeness of love means we do not cower in fear before God, dreading His judgment, either now or in the day of judgment. We know all the judgment we ever deserved – past, present, and future – was poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross." Another writes: "If fear has gripped your heart, it's because God's love is not perfected in you. You're not totally assured that God loves you." He goes on: "I'm not really sure that this is gonna work for good, this may destroy me. This may be the end of my road. This may be all she wrote. This looks bad, I don't see any way out. What am I gonna do?" You see folks...this is me! The second commentator goes on...Well, you see, if God's love were perfected, if you really knew God loved you, so totally loved you, that whatever and anything that may happen to you can only happen because God allows it to happen and He loves you supremely, then I don't worry about what happens to me. "Man, what a mess, but I know that God loves me and so He's gonna work it out some way or other, you know. Well, they just foreclosed and took away my house, you know, but God loves and He's gonna work out something, you know." Oh, the confidence that comes when I know that God loves me and His love is perfected in me, I can accept what comes without fear..........I've had flashes of this over my years, but right now??? Well... right now, and honestly for quite a 'season', I confess...I'm in quite the 'funk'...and I'm very sure, I'm "no fun" to live with!! In fact, just last night, my bride said to me..."where's your faith?" So....my battle rages on...

Christmas Eve 2011

"aw, be c-a-r-e-f-u-l...you're worse than you think you are..." Phil 2:3 "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves..." Wow, how's that stack-up to the world's idea?...to the world’s concept of self-esteem? Uhhh, bunk's it, don't it? The ancient Greeks considered lowliness of mind to be a fault, not a virtue...sound familiar?...sounds like 'our-world-today', ya know? But Paul goes on...(vs.5 says) "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had"..."Aw come on Paul, are you serious?" It's always been too easy for me to read this description of Jesus and admire it from afar; yes God wants me to be 'awed by it', yesss! But He also wants me to see it as something that I must enter into...and i-m-i-t-a-t-e...You see, Jesus was/is God, He created us...and Jesus was willing to let go of His deity to become a man..."for the like's of me"..."He, who should have been served...Served !!!" That puts a slight 'twist' to things ya know? I had a brother tell me...years ago..."Uhhh, David, that would be Utopia!" Yeah, just think about it...If I consider you above me, and you consider me above you, a marvelous thing happens: we have a community where everyone is looked up to, and no one is looked down on! "Hmmm...kind a makes one think, ya know?"
"Hey folks...It's Christmas Eve...Our Dear Savior is Born!!!"

My yuck, does affect others?

December 18th, 2011......"there are always going to be 'conequenes' to my actions...my decisions..." Ezekiel 16:58 "You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD" As far back as the children of Israel, many people who had gone through the rite of circumcision were still living after the flesh. And so the whole ritual was totally negated by the fact that they were living after the flesh...thus it is a meaningless ritual...because the rite itself did not guarantee that. Read thru the whole book of Ezekiel, God continually warns His children, "you will bear the consequences", yet they wouldn't listen...they kept going to their rituals, their acts, yet their hearts...well that was always a different story....so what of today? You see, God desires...God wants the circumcision of my heart, not of the flesh. So you say, "Well, I take communion." So. "I've been baptized." So. Those are marvelous rituals. They are very meaningful rituals if the truth has been actualized in your own experience. And it's the circumcision of my heart that counts.  My outward acts mean zilch, if in my heart, it's the very opposite! Often times, I can fool those 'round me, but ultimately..."ya can't fool God..!" Sometimes, God calls ya on the carpet concerning it, and when... that happens...whoa, do my decisions have mega consequences...especially to those who I love the most...my family! So, when I read of the history of God's Children, were warned, over and over again by God Himself...I think to myself, "boy, I think I would've listened to God's warnings... yet, do I ? Why, don't I?"

How does that make you feel?

"in the thinking of the world today, I have my truth and you have your truth...now, how does that make you feeeeel...?" 1 John 1:6 "So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth"  An ongoing question, for what seems like a very, very long time...is it possible for some to claim a relationship, or in fact think they have a relationship with God that they do not have? Many Christians are not aware of their true condition. They know they are saved, and have experienced conversion and have repented at some time in their life. Yet they do not live in true fellowship with God. Here, John speaks of a walk in darkness, indicating a pattern of living. This does not speak of an occasional lapse, but of a lifestyle of darkness. "So we are lying"...John gets right to the point...nothing middle of the road here, no candy-coating it...John is much too plain for our sophisticated age, which doesn't want to see anything in black or white, but everything in a pale shade of gray. In the thinking of the world today, I have my truth and you have your truth. But Jesus said, "I am the truth" and the Bible clearly tells us of a truth that is greater than any individuals feeling about it.  "hmmmm, how does that make you feel?"

Saturday, Dec. 3rd, 2011

"O ye of little faith...uhhh, me?" My son A.David reminded me of this verse this morning...Matthew 17:20 "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Tooo many times, my faith is in me...or in my employment, or my $ funds (or lack thereof)..."now listen kettle, this is the pot..." A small amount of faith - as much as a mustard seed (a very small seed) - can accomplish great things, if that small amount of faith is placed in a great and mighty God. "O Lord Mighty God, help me to not put my faith in me, but in YOU"

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, m...e, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" Rocky Balboa (#6) "O Lord....help me to take life's hits, to keep moving forward, and I pray in doing so, to bring YOU the glory..."

Friday, Dec. 2nd, 2011

"ever feel...like you're hated?" John 15:18 "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first."...There is no just cause for the world to hate Jesus and His followers they way they do. The world hates because its sin is exposed, and because they know not the Father or the Son. It's pretty much a given as Christians, we can, and will face the worst, press on brothers and sisters, recognize that Jesus has been there first, and then press on ahead. "Keep pressin' on"