He Aint Heavy

 I feel bad, I did not 'post' yesterday, I so wanted to stick to this everyday, but so often Sunday mornings are different, and if I don't watch it, they get away from me, what with having to prepare a lesson and all for the "YA" (Young Adults class)....

Growin' up in the 60's & the 70's, I was blessed to be able to listen to a pretty wide range of music...and music to me was alot like sports...it meant alot to me, perhaps everything...It has been an even more 'stressful' week this past week, than usual....its the end of the month. that means the one biggy bill is due, our house payment, and unfortunately, we don't have it! Funny, I've fought off "scheming" actually...some friends had us over Saturday for supper and asked what we were yet lacking for this month, and what did February look like as well? This really kind of threw both my bride and I for a little of a loop, we weren't expecting this...and I think, it also caused us to "put our hope", our "trust", if you will in man! Soooo...I allowed myself to become , once again, the schemer...which in turn, created the stress in my bride! She needs me to be more trusting in our Lord....if I am not trusting, its a domino effect on her...."Lord forgive me!" Hence my title today..."He aint heavy", but I've been just that...."heavy", in fact too heavy....."Lord, at the times I feel this way, especially with my bride, give me Your strength, Your Super-Natural strength, to be trusting only in You, cause Your strength to flow thru me and into her" "We've come this far by faith" Psalm 40:1-3 "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord" Amen Lord, may this become me...Psalm 40: 12 reminds me....For troubles surround me-- too many to count! They pile up so high I can't see my way out. They are more numerous than the hairs on my head. I have lost all my courage. But my hope is in You O Lord, and may You Only Lord, receive all the glory due You, Your Name!

He is Jealous, for me?

Exodus 34: "the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God"  I read this morning that GOD is not only a jealous god, but HE is jealous for me...for me?  This made me start singing this popular Christian song that's been on the radio for sometime now.....its by John Mark McMillan

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Its quite difficult to imagine, the God of my universe, is actually jealous for the "likes of me"...but when I consider where this world often takes me...the countless times my appetite, my insatiable appetite takes me, far, far away from my God...I understand. Because when I do that, when I think to myself...."if only...if only I had this or that, or if only my job paid better, or if only I didn't have to do this..." I understand how my God is jealous....I only give Him attention, give Him   His proper due, when I am backed into a corner, when all my feelble attempts to satisfy, have come up empty...then He gets me....
"I fall so short of giving You Lord, your proper due...thank You for longsuffering over me, for never leaving or forsaking me...today You once again, give me another opportunity to live for You, give me the strength, give me the wisdom, to seize this day!"

A day of Rest?

Exodus 31:15 reads..."For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD." Ever wonder what was the Jewish Sabbath signifying? Even clear back then...God wanted His people to rest in Him. Did they? Even though they did nothing on the Sabbath day...they never did rest in Him! And what about today...what about me today? Do I truly 'Rest' in Him? Oh I have "moments" if you will, glimpses....simply mere fragments of what God ideally has in store for me, has made available to me. You see, even though  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Sabbath day, for Christ is our rest, I make it about me! I feel deep within us, we can't accept "the Rest" God freely offers us....it's too simple, I must work at it...it's about me! And with that attitude, that philosophy if you will, my 'working' becomes bigger in my mind than His work for me. Risks? Burn-out, backsliding, just to name a few...because I can't DO IT! I can never be good enough...no amount of my working can earn me the right...so no matter how hard, or how long, I try, I can't attain it....It's all of Christ...The only thing that can possibly save me is Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for my sins. And I must rest in that sacrifice; that finished work of Jesus Christ. "O Lord, help me this day, to truly Rest in You"...

It must be a 'heart thingy'

"it must be a heart thingy" Exodus 29:18 "a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire." God is giving Moses instructions on how to 'consecrate' (set apart Aaron and his sons, as priests, to the service of God)...fascinating process, from start to finish...Our God is a God of such detail, an order...This was not a ceremony for just anyone in Israel...the ceremony described here and carried out in Leviticus 8 was for priests, for Aaron and his sons. The process of consecration began with cleansing. All priestly ministries began with cleansing, and a cleansing that was received: you shall wash them. Aaron and his sons did not wash themselves; they received a washing. This was humbling, because it took place publicly at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. We cannot be cleansed from our sin without being humbled first. Like these ancient priests, every Christian is washed by the work of God's word (Ephesians 5:26), by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). This cleansing work was accomplished by the death of Jesus for us (Revelation 1:5) and appropriated by faith. Tip of the right ear . . . thumb of their right hand . . . big toe of their right foot: These consecrated priests were stained with the blood of sacrifice. They should hear differently because the blood was on their ear. They should work differently because the blood was on their thumb. They should walk differently because the blood was on their toe. Read for youeselves this process, and see....I've always been fascinated by it...how could all this blood,and burning of 'animal meat', how all that could be a pleasing aroma?...must be in the attitude, a heart thingy...its always a heart condition, isn't it Lord?  It's still that way today, for us...I can simply go thru the motions, I can outwardly appear to be "giving my all" unto the Lord, but inwardly...Isaiah 29:13 says...The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men...that's my fear...the Lord knows my heart...I can 'fool' men, but "ya can't fool the Lord"...Thankfully, God doesn't move away from us, unfortunately, we move away from God!
"O Lord...how important it is to stay close to You...Paul said..."So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man" Acts 24:16, help me this day Father, to do just that...keep my conscience clear before You!"

You'd think by now

Yes, yes....You'd think by now...a man who claims to be a "follower of Jesus Christ"...after years of plotting and scheming...of failing in his own attempts would "Stop!", You'd think! But nooooooo! he continues to try in his own strength. The idea is if I can just attain, if I can just achieve, it is going to satisfy. "Oh, this is it. This is going to satisfy. This is going to bring to me all that I am looking for in life." I just keep running down the trail. But when I get to the end of the trail, I once again find that it is empty, just like everything else. And yet. I look for another path to follow. I run here, I run there. I've got a thirst. i'm trying to satisfy that thirst, but it seems I truly don't know where...I don't know how...and finally I go to God's Word...Psalm 42:1-2..."As the deer pants for streams of water....my soul thirsts for God..." The psalmist knew....truly what I'm panting for, what I'm "thirsty" for, only God can give...Jesus, when He talked to the woman of Samaria there at the well, He said to her, "If you drink of this water you are going to thirst again" John 4:13 I need to inscribe that verse over every earthly ambition that I have, over every worldly pursuit. Go ahead, drink of it, but you are going to thirst again. You are not going to find the real satisfaction that your heart is yearning for, until you find God, and a meaningful relationship with God.    Again, yesterday, after yet another "plot" of mine...I hear my God whisper to me..."Don't you trust me David?"....O Lord, I confess to You..."before You, and You only have I sinned, please forgive me?"

Fire is everywhere?

Exodus 24:17 "To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain." I remember the first time I read of Our God being a consuming fire...I was disturbed, it scared me...funny, that was years ago, this morning I read it again, same response..."scarey". Again in Hebrews 12:29 for our "God is a consuming fire." One commentary says...Fire is an interesting phenomena of nature. One thing you can say about fire is that it is everywhere. There is what they call aeromocasis. Long word, but it means the slow burning fire of nature. Take a piece of metal and lay it outside here, and in just a short little while that bare metal you'll see little bronze specks on it. What are those little brown specks? Oxidation, the slow burning fire of nature, as nature starts to deteriorate that piece of metal, starts to eat it away. Slow burning fire of nature, destroying, eating away. Fire--an interesting substance, because it can consume. But fire is also used to transform into permanency. If you put the alloy into the fire and heat it, it becomes steel; hardened and tempered by the fire. So fire is interesting. It can transmit something into permanency while consuming others. It all depends on the material that it is working with.
The sinners in Zion said, "Who can escape the fire of God?" The answer is no one can escape the fire of God. It is everywhere. You can't escape it. The question is, what is it doing to you? And it all depends on what you are. If you are a child of God, the fire of God is transmitting and transforming you into permanency. If you're not, it's a consuming fire that will one day totally consume you.
               Soooooo,  it all depends on the material that it is working with. This makes me ask myself..."what material am I?" The commentary stated..."If you are a child of God"...if I am a child of God? Am I? Pastor Rob spoke on just this topic Sunday...he pointed out how Satan loves to get us to doubt...doubt ourselves...doubt God's Word...doubt God's promises...doubt Jesus work at the cross! I believe personally, I cannot rely on myself, on my works, I cannot earn my way, I cannot 'be good enough', no way! But God...but Jesus, doubt them..."huh uh, no way!" But thanks be to God!
Here-in lies the TRUTH....Romans 6:17 "But thanks be to God"  Romans 7:25 "Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 
1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
2 Corinthians 2:14 "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."  2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"  Salvation is given to us in Jesus Christ! So when the doubts come, and they will, I must rely on the TRUTH! Thank You Lord, Thank You Jesus!

Who's on your boat?

The boat of life..."who's on your boat?" I read today in Luke 8, the familiar story, the disciples are on a boat in a storm, fearing for their lives...they are quite certain, "their gonna die"...but The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Luke 8:24-25 The disciples had seen so much with Jesus...The disciples should have known that God would not allow the Messiah to perish in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. What? Do we think that the story of Jesus would end with Him drowning? Am I any different than the disciples?...shouldn't I know as well? I grow so weary of myself...can I get some encouragement here?...Just because you have a tough time in a tough circumstance doesn’t mean that you are walking in unbelief. Unbelief is when you ignore or reject a promise or command of God given to your situation. The disciples ask a good question: Who can this be? It can only be the Lord, Jehovah, who only has this power and authority: O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; when waves rise, You still them. (Psalm 89:8-9)
Thank You Lord for this reminder, keep me remembering this : "The boat cannot go down. Jesus is on board."

Then you will know

Wouldn't you think...once you've experienced a miracle, that, that would change your attitude?...for life? I've heard it said by 'non-believers'...."well if God just talked to me, you know, really talked to me...like loud, and from out of a cloud...or even a dog, boy, I'd believe then!"......would you now? "Then you will know"...the Lord is once again speaking to Moses this morning....the children of Israel are complaining, now they think their 'tif' is with Moses...Exodus 16:3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." You see now they were murmuring to Moses and Aaron. But Moses and Aaron said, "Hey man, you're not really murmuring against us, you're murmuring against God. It's God that has brought you to this place, not we. And your murmurings are against God." This is me! Over the years, at least early on in my life I felt this way....its my circumstance, its a boss, or a fellow employee, or a friend, or even a family member...but nooooooo, its actually against GOD! That's a hard pill to swallow now...my complainings are really vented towards God...the very same God who saved me, who provides for me, who blesses me, who loves me....truly loves me, like no other...faithfully longsuffers over me..."why is that?"....again I say: "wouldn't you think...once you've experienced a miracle, that, that would change your attitude?...for life?"       Now i feel as though I need to be clear on this, I said over the years, at least early on in my life----this doesn't mean I've conquered this area, this sin, in my life, and now I no longer grumble, or complain, or even murmer....by no means! I say God has made more keenly aware of my sin...I am a "work-in-progress"... He stops me often times in the midst of my complaining and, nudges me, gently reminds me.....for unlike us, He never forces Himself on us....He is the ultimate Gentleman....and He says: "Who is it that has brought me here?"
Encouraged? or discouraged?...both? Yeah I know, me too...probably both....discouraged, cause I still grumble, still complain, still murmur....feel like I'll never get this! Paul says in Romans 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."  There you go, see what I mean, the very thing I hate to do,  like grumble and complain, is the very thing I do, and often! I get trapped, trapped into fighting these spiritual battles in my flesh, ah there's that flesh thingy again....Trying to please God in the flesh has to be one of the most frustrating experiences in the world.  Trying to attain a righteous standing before God by my works has to be one of the most frustrating things in the world, because I have found with Paul that I do not always do what I know I should do. It is so easy for me to not do the things I should. Once again, it brings me to this, a dual nature if you will, my spiritual vs. my flesh....these two never stop 'warring' against each other...never, until the day God calls us home! So what is my hope? My Hope, is Jesus Christ....He has already won the victory, He has already conquered this battle for me....so as cliche as it sounds, its true....I must keep my eye, my focus on Jesus Christ..........Hebrews 3:1 "fix your thoughts on Jesus"

Listen carefully?

Exodus 15:26...the Lord says "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." Long ago God had a plan...yes yes He still does, but I'm talking about a plan for our lives, prior to "the Fall"...one that meant if we stayed on a path, a path He determined, yes I know its a narrow path....but if we'd just stayed on His path, hmmmmm. Well here this morning I quote from Exodus 15; now God has just delivered Moses and the children of Israel once and for all from Pharoah and his mighty Egyptian army...we read on in vs. 20-21 Miriam  the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.
Moses and the children of Israel get to see first hand the provision of our God, and He promises to them, that if they just do this one simple thingy....."If you listen carefully"...."that's all!"....and its still the same today, God promises you and I the same....."if"... if we'd just listen! "Yeah but", ah there's always the "yeah buts"...its a different time, technology, culture, "i deserve this"..."it's owed me"..."I'm entitled"....as my lovely bride just told me..."the list is in-exhaustable!" And I so agree, present company included....I do it too, I'm quite certain we all do, now some may do it to more extremes than others, but the fact remains, we all do it!
So my question, to myself always is this: "how do i get back on God's original path for my life?" I recall years ago reading the book, "We've Come this Far by Faith"....first with my bride, than as a family....perhaps I've shared this in an earlier post, anywho......what faith this family had, countless stories of how they prayed and asked God about pert-near all the"stuff" in their lives, all the time....and each time we would finish reading this book, I'd always say..."I want faith like that!" Now zoom ahead roughly 11 years, God has been systematically, gradually, removing the various "crutches" from our lives...."crutches" that gave me the false security, if you will, that I actually was in some sort of control of my life...stuff like finances and such...I guess years ago when I prayed and asked God to increase my faith, to give me the kind of faith this family had, I'd always hoped God could just flip a switch and instantly increase my faith.....but that's not how God does it...Faith comes from "tests" from "trials" from "tribulation", remember??? James 1:3 says "because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Your faith, my faith, cannot be developed, sort of like our brains, our muscles....they cannot be developed without tests, or trials, or resistance, or whatever.....that's how God does it...Faith is a gift from God.....Abraham was given this amazing gift, and it was the only thing counted "righteous" to him....and even though its a gift, He promises He will help us build it.....Faith in Him.....we must keep our eyes on Him, even during the what we feel are the most trying of trials.....Hebrews 10:38 "But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."  "O Lord, that's it....help me no matter what the trial Lord, to not shrink back"

Cause ya gotta have Faith

The very first "passover", Egypt...after over 400 years of slavery, God is about to give Moses and the children of Israel their travellin' papers. Exodus 12:11 "This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover."
The Passover lamb had to be eaten in faith, trusting that the deliverance promised to Israel was present, and that they would walk in that deliverance immediately. Ahhh Faith...up until this last plague, God had done everything He had Moses tell Pharoah He would do...and yet, Pharoah would not let the children of Israel go...I wonder, what the children of Israel's faith was like? Faith was essential to the keeping of Passover: By faith he [Moses] kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Hebrews 11:28
So what about faith? Is it essential for me? Oh yeah, and how...I admit, too often my faith waivers...I believe what I see, what I hear, what I feel...some verses come to mind....

It's a fine line

Ever thought that?...it's a fine line? It often feels like I battle with myself the most, I mean the thoughts in my head...the voices if you will...if I'm not careful, they run me...I read this morning in Exodus 7:3 "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart"...over the years I've heard it said so many times..."that's not fair, God hardened Pharoah's heart, then judged him for it, that's not fair!" God will let you set your course...and if I am insistent, God will "firm-up" my decision...say if the course I've chosen is a "hard one" (a course against Him)...It's a tragic thing when God firms up our decisions...Oftentimes He'll strengthen you in that course that you have set. This He did with Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. God strengthened his position. "All right, you want to harden your heart against Me? All right, I'll strengthen your position, in order that I might magnify My power throughout the whole earth." But Pharaoh had that free choice to begin with. He exercised that choice in hardening his heart against God, and then God firmed up his decision.           I've pondered this throughout my life, I used to wonder "why" my Dad did the things he did? My Dad "checked-out" of life...life got too hard for my Dad...he medicated...he chose alcohol...did he listen too much to the voices? For quite some time now, I've longed to be able to talk with my Dad, ask him these questions..."did the voices in your head drive you?" I fear they did! "It's a fine line"...what must I do? "what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" Acts 16:31 You mean, that's all? That's all. Believing in Jesus Christ. The power to save me comes from Jesus, even the power to stop listening to these voices?...when doubts and fears, grip me...Jesus can save me? Jesus promises these things, He promised me tribulation...He offers me peace..."These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 I won’t find real peace anywhere else other than in Jesus...A person can follow Jesus, yet deny themselves that peace...so true...when I allow "the voices" to rule me, to drive me...I deny truth, I deny peace. I am in one of those times right now, seems I have been for quite some time...my world screams of doubts, of tribulation...living week-to-week on pay checks, not having steady employment...jobs are not plentifull...no "skills" to fall back on, I truly have nothing to offer...I often say, "I have nowhere else to go"... I feel like I've exhausted all my efforts, all my schemes, all my plots, have come up empty...I feel God has hemmed me in...He is my only Hope...and yet my attitude is poor..."He surely has grown weary of me, why should God bail me out yet again?"     "It's a fine line"       "Dear God, I am weak, I need You to "firm-up" my decision to follow You"

Unwilling, or unable?

I grew up in the late 60's and 70's...one of my earliest memories, as a family...we'd get all excited "The 10 Commandments" are on tonite! I don't know, maybe it was like a 4-5 hour movie! Charleton Heston as Moses...remember? Wow..."what a "Mighty Man for God he was, but sadly, Charleton did me wrong...for later on as an adult, when God put it in me...to read His Word, Moses was not Charleton Heston! Hence, Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." This has been a real hard pill for me to swallow...I remember years ago, sitting in an Adult Sunday school class, first finding the "truth" out, Moses was not Charleton Heston! This can't be, I would blurt out...no way! God was not angry when Moses asked, "Who am I?" (Exodus 3:11). He was not angry when Moses asked, "Who should I say sent me?" (Exodus 3:13). He was not angry when Moses disbelieved God's Word and said, "suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice" (Exodus 4:1). He was not even angry when Moses falsely claimed that he was not and had never been eloquent (Exodus 4:10) - but God was angry when Moses was just plain unwilling. Hmmmm, is that me? So many times I do the same thing to God! Just like "M", there may be a hundred understandable reasons why Moses was unwilling, some of them making a lot of sense. Perhaps Moses really wanted to serve, but was unwilling because of past rejection. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Moses was unwilling, not unable. Unwilling..."It's common for men to give pretended reasons instead of one real one." (Benjamin Franklin) Are my fears real...or imagined? How do I fight this? How do I get past this driving fear? How do I break the chain, the pattern I've long since developed in my life? It is never "God is so mighty we can't do anything," but it is always "God is so mighty, He can work through us if we make ourselves available."   "O Lord, keep me! Keep me in the palm of Your Mighty Hand...regardless of my circumstance...regardless of how badly my body 'hurts'. of my feelings of "I just can't do this another day Lord", keep me close to You...Thank You for Hope...the Hope that, in the twinkling of an eye...You can change my course!" "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

How do I know?

January 18th...I read this morning in Exodus 3, Moses comes upon the burning bush (the very voice of God) God tells him to take off his sandals, for he is now on Holy ground...God is 'talking' to Moses....for quite some time now...people have longed to 'audibly' hear God's voice, His very direction(s) for their lives...and its even been claimed by many to actually hear His voice, now I'm not saying they have or have not, I know especially over these last two years or better, I too have asked and asked for His directions...to please  please get some direction...and I must confess, the only words "I hear" are "David, don't you trust me?"....hmmm? No rock solid, actual laid-out directions....what's with that?  I need direction...please Lord? Or am I asking to be bailed-out? I know, I've never been one for patience, I even hate the word patience...I never went the road, early on in my life, that so many of my peers seem to have gone (college) and furthered my education, to perhaps have the extra 'training' to fall back on...to have a 'skill'...No! I chose the "road-of-hard-knocks"...to labor...yeah, I've had many jobs...some I really enjoyed, but most?...well, hind-sight being twent-twenty, I often find myself..."wishin' " wishin' I'd done things differently..."do you do that?"
Ah yes, wishin'...it would seem these days especially, my wishin' is even more intensified! As we all know, our economy is probably the worst it has ever been (debateable I know)...but to me, it seems so....jobs aren't there waiting, especially for "the likes of me"...and I find myself, even more critical of my decisions I'd made years and years ago...to wish I could go back and "do things right"....and so I pray another day!
"Does the bush still burn?" Does God still talk to us? I often say, yes the bush still burns...God still talks to us, not so much audibly, but indeed thru His Word, thru His faithfulness, thru His promises, thru His truth...I must cling to these...where I long to be "bailed-out" (I know this), I've got His Word...like Isaiah 55:10-11 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. This means that God is not just “all talk.” When He talks, His words accomplish His intended purpose. The word of the Lord has power, and it never fails in His intended purpose. Now many might argue, God's Purpose? God's purpose in my life is usually not why I "cry-out" to Him like I do...where I am more often concerned with my circumstance, God is far more concerned with my heart, with my service to Him, my trust in Him, and in His ways, His plans...which He promises are being "done" and will be accomplished...and yet sometimes, not as often as I'd "like" (I confess), but sometimes He even comes thru for me...please hear me, I am blessed...He treats me far better than I deserve...but I also know, I am a very "needy" man.  Sorry if I seem to ramble, I know I've got those tendencies...I asked "how do I know?" If I base my answer to that on how often God answers my every 'whim'...well let's be honest, I couldn't, I must not...I must answer that on the basis of my God, and His Word....and His gift of faith, He has given me..."lean not, on my own understanding"...

Easier said than done

I love 'blanket statements' like " Every Christian should be able to see"...now don't get me wrong, there's truth in this blanket statement, darn good, darn right truth...You know the problem I find in so many of these 'blanket statements' in our Christian community?? my mind immediately goes to "easier said than done"...now don't get me wrong, like I said, these blanket statements are often rock-solid, and true...they are 'good-word'...but why I'm grumbling and complaining is, what I'm wallering in is, aw heck....I just love to gripe I guess...I just long for God to deliver me from my circumstance...you see, I know my circumstances run me, they rule me...and I even know this: "God could step in, 'right-now', and deliver me from my current circumstance...and I would be happy...for a little while...in a very short time, I'd be asking Him to once again deliver me from yet another circumstance...I know this! I'm just that fickle, I'm just that way....I know this! Isn't that sad?"    
Allow me to give you just a little background, a little of why I'm writing this today..I'm reading the strory of Joseph in the Bible, starts out in Genesis chapter 30 (near the end of the chapter)...and his story runs all the way to the end of Genesis....long/short of it....Joseph is almost the youngest of about 12 brothers, and he's pretty much his fathers favorite, and his brothers know it, and Joseph too often, being younger, reminds them of it....anyhow the brothers become so enraged w/Joseph, one day they plot to kill him....but one of the brothers gets a conscience, and talks 'em into selling him off instead....they convince their father Jacob, Joseph's been killed...fast forward, God causes many people, many influential people, to find favor w/ Joseph....in Joseph's future....Joseph eventually becomes like second in command in all of Egypt...he interprets dreams, and saves all of Egypt from a really nasty famine....after a long long time, who do you suppose comes back into the picture?? Yep, you guessed it, the brothers...and now Joseph's actually in a position, he had earlier predicted to his brothers would happen....they actually 'bow down' to him....many times I might add. I could go on, and on.....can I just encourage you to go to Genesis 30, read the story for yourself....please? But my reason for writing this    this morning is just this....the brothers meant harm....they meant for bad to happen....but God meant all this for His good, for good....So are you ready? Are you ready for one of these blanket statements I complained about earlier.......well here goes..... "Every Christian should be able to see the overarching and overruling hand of God in their life, to know that no matter what evil man brings against us, God can use it for good." You see? Its good isn't it? It's R-O-C-K solid, and it's true. Again hear me....it is true....I should be able to see the overarching and overruling hand of God in my life...I should know that no matter what evil man brings against us, God can use it for good. Its just that....well its just, you see.....I'm me, I'm human....From a human perspective, Joseph had the “right” and the ability to bring retribution upon his brothers, but he knew God was God, and he was not. God ultimately delivered Joseph, saved him....But God took His time, His time....boy that's another area...."God's timing is not my timing"....I want rescued like Joseph, and I don't want it take nearly as long as it takes, as it seems its taking....no way as long as it took even Joseph....and so my battle rages on, too often I think, in my peanut little brain of mine, I know better than God...boy oh boy, could I write on that?

"Can we get there from here?"

Afternoon thoughts January 16th, 2011... I keep asking myself..."Lord, do we ever get it right? I mean, can we get there from here?" I remember my Dad growing up, he'd say this all the time: "why can't we all just get along?" I wonder, is that what I'm asking as well? Colossians 3 is all about putting off the old man, and putting on the new man...which because of what Jesus did for us, we can now do as well... Col 3:13-14 says "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."   Each one of the qualities mentioned in this passage express themselves in relationships. A significant measure of our Christian life is found simply in how we treat people...or how people treat us...and trust me, I am very quick to run to just how poorly I feel treated by others...I think its funny (funny peculiar, not ha-ha) how God always brings it back on me...regardless of how badly I want to put it on everybody else...the tail-end of vs. 13 reminds me "Forgive as the Lord forgave you"...ah drats, I've been forgiven so blasted much....and I've been loved so amazingly well by my heavenly Father....there's really no alternative except for me to keep trying to "love like Jesus did"....so Lord, I need Your help to do this.............

"Too many whoopin's"

As I read my morning scriptures, I'm forced to recollect...to reflect on the "too numerous to count" times I've taken a whoopin'...now wait, what do I mean by "takin' a whoopin'?" Perhaps I was an abused child?...or perhaps I was bullied on during my school days?...well, yes and yes, but what I'm referring to is of the spiritual battles, we all as Christians face every day! Ephesians 6:12 says: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  The Bible states our real struggle is not in the flesh...its in the spiritual...think of this, it's like taking a knife to a gun fight! The prince of this air, Satan (I hate giving him a capital letter, but anyways) Satan loves for us to battle him...to take him on in our own strength, in our flesh...if you remember yesterdays post, "it's difficult in this flesh"...truly, in this area, or this arena, to attempt to battle Satan in my flesh is truly futile..."in this flesh" Satan has the advantage (so, its like I'm the knife, he's the gun....get it?)... You see, it is the trick of Satan to draw you in to a physical conflict, to get you at odds, to get you in this physical area of bantering back and forth. Satan is constantly trying to draw you into the physical arena to do battle with you. Why? Because if he can get you in the flesh, he can clean up on you like nobody's business. Every time he gets me in the flesh, he gives me such a "whoopin" you'd think I'd learn not to get in the flesh. But he's always seeking to draw me into the flesh. Hence, its why I say "he has a decided advantage over me." In Psalm 109:4 David said, "I will give myself unto prayer." I'm going to stay in the Spirit. Oh, how important that I stay in the Spirit, because in the spirit realm, I have a decided advantage over him. For you see, he was defeated at the cross. And if I can just stay in the Spirit, I can just wipe him out with the victory of Jesus Christ upon the cross. And prayer is actually the big guns of the Spirit by which I can defeat the enemy. To often, we think prayer isn't really much of anything, its small, I want to "do" BIG things, I want to "do" for my Lord, for His kingdom...but prayer is BIG, prayer is the Best I can do...because praying keeps me in the spiritual where I have the advantage...not because of me, not because of something I did, or do....but because of Jesus Christ! "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" Hebrews 12:2 We can only run the race as we look to Jesus, and have our eyes locked on to Him. He is our focus, our inspiration, and our example. If we keep our eyes on ourselves, our circumstances, our struggles...which I confess, I too often do....its very easy to get down, to despair...one look at myself, must mean 1000 looks to Jesus....there is Hope........"Thank You Jesus"!

It's difficult in this flesh

January 15th, 2011...."I'm a believer", ever heard that said? I think its fair to say, we are all believers...we all cling to some belief...regardless... if we are honest with ourselves, or others, we all believe in something...its what rules us, its what runs us, it even motivates us...what do we feed our beliefs??? what keeps our beliefs going??? I often say, my belief gives me 'hope'. Ah, 'hope'...now thats a word! So why did I title todays post, "Its difficult in this flesh"??? Right off the bat, I made the statement..."I'm a believer"...making such a statement, brings great responsibility (at least I think so)...if people who are around you daily know this, they tend to observe you more closely, they often want to see....does what he say and do, match up?...being a 'believer' to me means, I must strive to read God's Word daily....His promises are true....His promises give me hope...I've tried reading His Word daily for quite sometime, and over that time, I am reminded almost daily of "my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak"....or as todays post is entitled: "Its difficult in this flesh". You see...I am a very fickle person, unfortunately, my circumstances affect me, in fact, early on in my life...my circumstances drove me...but what God's Word has been trying to teach me over the years is that regardless of my circumstances, God is Good...circumstances are always changing, always challenging...it seems these last 2 years have always been more and more challenging...but regardless in the midst of these ongoing challenges, God is Good....and He cares for me!    Not only does He care for me, His Word tells me...He wants to do for me, He wants to give to me, to provide for me...and He does! I know this, I recognize this, I've felt first hand over the years, His many, many blessings in my life....yet remember, earlier I said, "I a very fickle person"...I tend to need affirming from Him, I am greedy...so when I read His promises....my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak...."its difficult in this flesh".....it was like that this morning, in my reading of God's Word...2 Samuel 7:25 David is praying to God, and reminds Him of His promises..."Do as thou hast said." David had learned to trust in God's promises, and in this case he simply reminded God of one....and said: "I'm only praying because You promised. You told me that this is what You want to do." and so I desire to do that as well....I simply want to live by faith in our awesome God, the one who cannot lie, who does what He says...who has a plan, although often I confess, I don't see it, I don't understand it..."Help me this day Lord, to walk by faith, not believing in what I see, or in what I think, but walking in Your promises...Your promises are true!"