Join Me On the Journey

Some of you are like me…you say what you’re thinking. But, many of you aren’t. You keep a LOT inside.

It’s our personality. It’s our life experiences. It’s our maturity level.

We’re all aware, though, that we have an outer life and an inner life.

Our outer life is what people can perceive; our outer adornment, our facial expressions, the words we say, the things we do.

But, our inner life is ours alone…or is it? We may think that our thoughts are private; that no one knows what we’re thinking. And for the most part, that is true.

But, God…

for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. 1 Sam 16:7 (KJV)

Now I don’t know about you, but I find this sometimes a comfort…and sometimes a fear.

God doesn’t look at us the same way others do. God is concerned with what is on the inside because what’s in will come out.

For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45b (NKJV)

Whatever you’re thinking in your heart will eventually come out in some way…either in the words that you say, or in your actions. The secret life of the inner man…that’s where God wants to work.

Take some time today and listen to what God hears.

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Did you know that you are surrounded by television signals? It doesn’t matter where you are, there are television signals coursing through the air. You could say, “Well, I don’t believe they’re there because I can’t see them!”

But, I could prove to you they are there by taking a television set, plugging it in, and tuning it in. Then you would hear and see that the waves are there whether you perceive them or not. The broadcast was there before the set was turned on and tuned it; it didn’t start when you turned on the TV, it originated whenever that station opened its doors and began broadcasting. However, you only began receiving that broadcast when you began to utilize a device designed to receive that signal.

Now, if you’re watching TV and all of the sudden, the channel you’re watching goes dark, what do you think? Do you automatically think that the station stopped broadcasting? No, probably the first thing you’ll do is turn to another station. If all the stations are black, you know that there’s something wrong with your receiver, but the signal is still being broadcast.

We can apply this analogy to God. God has the transmitter. He built the transmitter. He is broadcasting. He is the giver of all earthly and spiritual blessings. Everything comes from Him.

He has already transmitted those blessings and if you aren’t seeing them manifest in your life, it’s not time for you to pray and ask God to fix His transmitter. It’s time for you to fix your receiver.

Most of us, when we’re not feeling the joy of the Lord, we go to Him and we say, “Oh God, where’s my joy? What’s wrong?” We may lament, as David did,

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psa 51:10-12 (KJV)

There’s a song that many of us have sung in church that is based on this passage of scripture written by King David; and it is a beautiful song. But, it is based on the Old Testament covenant.

When you or I pray this prayer, it makes what Jesus came to do for us on the cross of none effect (as it says in I Cor. 1:17). David did not have a New Testament covenant that God would stick with him through thick and thin. There were times when God took His hand of protection off the Old Testament man. The Old Covenant was based on performance (sacrifices, etc). Old Testament believers were not born again as we are today.

What we have is infinitely better. Jesus said:

…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Matt 28:20b (KJV)

This is a covenant promise of the New Testament and if you’ve been born again but you don’t feel the presence of God, there are a couple of possibilities.

1. you may not truly understand the benefits of the covenant that you have with Jesus
2. or, you may be in unbelief

Instead of praying, “Where are you, God?” try praying,

“Father, I don’t feel Your presence. It seems like You’ve left me. There’s no indication of Your presence in my life…But…I know that You are here with me. I know that Your Word promises that You will never leave me or forsake me, so I know that You are here. Whatever is causing me to feel this way, I know it’s not You that’s forsaken me.

So, Father, I’m not going to pray the prayer of David and say, “Don’t leave me! Don’t cast me away! Don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me! Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” Father, I know it’s already here. And if I’m not feeling it, it’s not Your transmitter, it’s my receiver.

Help me to fix my receiver and release the blessings that reside in me…in my spirit.”

This is a prayer of faith.

Now, what do you do if you aren’t receiving the signal from God; if you aren’t receiving His blessings? What do you do if your receiver is broken?

You go to the owner’s manual and figure out how to fix it. Can you guess what the owner’s manual is?

When we pray and read and study God’s Word, we are studying the owner’s manual.

If you’re struggling to receive the signal from God, spend some time studying the owner’s manual and learn how to repair your receiver. God is so faithful.

God Bless You on Your Journey!

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Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:1-5 (KJV)

I used to read this passage of scripture and say to myself, “OK. Starting today, things are going to be different! I’m going to start keeping the commandments. I’m going to read my Bible every day. I’m going to pray for an hour a day. I’m going to start going to church every Sunday. I’m going to be nice to people.” On and on the promised went; again and again, I would fail.

Then, someone pointed something out to me. Most Christians suffer from spiritual dyslexia. When they come across a passage like this, they read the words, but jumble the meaning.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments…” When you read that, it’s hard not to think that loving God means that you have to make sure that you keep the commandments of God. But, the next phrase says, “and His commandments are not grievous.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I found that trying to keep the commandments of God was grievous. It was just plain impossible. There are so many commandments! You start out with the 10 Commandments. Then, there are all kinds of dietary laws, there are ceremonial laws, there are festivals to keep. There are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of “commandments” in the Bible.

And I thought, “Well, some of those laws don’t apply to me because I’m a New Testament believer. Jesus came and fulfilled the Old Testament law for me and now I don’t have to.” But, I was left with this vague ambiguity; a question. “What was God saying here? Exactly which commandments am I supposed to be keeping?”

Then, I began to read those verses again. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God…”

They key here is not “keeping the commandments.” They key is “when we love God.”

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

When you read this verse with and emphasis on “when we love God” and not on “and keep his commandments” you go a long way to discovering a truth that will change your spiritual life. When you begin to focus on loving God…following His commandments is a natural bi-product of that love.

Think about it.

When you love someone…I mean really love someone, don’t you naturally go out of your way to please that person? When you were first dating your husband, didn’t you wear clothes that you knew he would like? Didn’t you go out of your way to learn things about him and do things that you knew would make him feel special? Weren’t there things that you changed because you knew it would make him happy…and those things weren’t grievous. You did those things, made those changes, because you loved him and you wanted to make him feel special and loved.

What if you treated God the same way? What if you learned what He liked and began changing your life to accommodate Him? What if you fell so in love with God that you just naturally began to follow His commandments? Wouldn’t that be so much easier?

So, how do you “fall in love” with God?

It’s a legitimate question, I think. After all, God can’t “talk” with you. Remember those hours and hours you spent just gazing into your hubby’s eyes (or on the phone) talking about nothing and everything? Well, that just doesn’t happen with God. We cannot, on this side of Heaven, just sit and have a two-way conversation with God.

But, we can pray. We can read the Bible…God’s love letter to us.

Most of us have forgotten all about writing letters. We call; we text message; we email; we IM. But, not so long ago, calling on the phone was cost prohibitive; computers were unheard of. “Back in the old days” people kept in touch via “snail mail.”

Many of our grandparents “fell in love” via letters. A letter can be an intimate revelation of the heart of the person who wrote it.

The Bible is our love letter from God. In it, He pours out His heart and soul. He tells all about his family; all about His chosen people; all about His plans for those people. He tells of His heartache when His people rejected Him. He tells about how He sent His Son to redeem YOU to Him because He loved you so much.

Today, take a moment to sit down and thank God for His love. Take a moment to examine your thoughts about the Bible. Begin thinking of the Bible as a way to get to know God intimately.

Instead of focusing on what you have to do to love God, why not focus on loving God instead? If you fall in love with God, I promise, you will keep the commandments more fully by accident than you were ever able to do on purpose.

(This is a reprint of a post from June 19th.)

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Imagine you’re staying in a beautiful cabin high in the Rocky Mountains.

Early one morning, you wake up before everyone else. It’s right before dawn, and you decide to go downstairs and watch the sunrise.

You pad downstairs in your thick, fuzzy pink robe and slippers, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and then settle into a comfy overstuffed chair.

Facing east is a huge plate glass window. You watch the eastern sky as it begins to turn a watery green-blue.

Gradually, the horizon begins to turn shades of pink and red and apricot. Soon, shafts of yellow and orange begin to radiate upward and then, the sun breaks over the horizon in all its splendor. As the sun rises, you notice a glint off the window in the corner. Curious, you walk over to investigate.

During the night, someone has shot a beebee through the window and there is a little hole. Now the window must be replaced.

It doesn’t matter whether you drive a beebee throught it or whether you drive your Hummer through it, that window is just as broken. The entire window has to be replaced.

That is how sin is in our lives. James 2:10-11 says:

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. (KJV)

It’s human nature to categorize sin.

“I must be okay because I’ve never murdered anyone.”

“After all, it’s not like I’m sleeping with him. “

And yet, Christ addressed these very issue during His ministry.

You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! Matt 5:21-22a (NLT)

You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matt 5:27-28 (NLT)

The next time you catch yourself justifying your sin, stop and think about that plate glass window.

Christ lived a sinless life and then died on the cross; a sacrifice for our sin. Instead of trying to justify sin, confess it and then thank Him for dying…so you don’t have to.

Praise God for His love for us!

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When I was a young Christian, I was taught you were supposed to confess your sin…that it was necessary to confess every sin in order for it to be forgiven. I understood that if I didn’t take the time to ask God for forgiveness for each sin I committed, that sin wouldn’t be forgiven until it was confessed.

It was incredibly discouraging because I came to realize that there is no way to actually do that.

Considering what sin is and how ubiquitous it is in my life, I wouldn’t get anything done all day except confessing sin! So, I quickly gave that idea up and just began hoping that somehow, it wasn’t true.

However, it effected my relationship with God. I believed deep in my heart that God didn’t want to hear from me because I had so much sin in my life I had failed to confess.

I didn’t shed that belief until I was in my thirties. It was then that I came to realize that it just didn’t make sense.

If you had to confess sin for it to be forgiven, that would mean that a Christian who died instantly in a car crash while they were driving one mile and hour over the speed limit would go to hell (assuming they had been diligent all their life and confessed all their sin up until that time).

After all, the Bible teaches us to obey the laws of the land and if they died instantly, they wouldn’t have time to confess that they had been speeding.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, [obey the laws of the land] for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Rom 13:1-2 NIV

Plus, what about the stuff that one doesn’t realize as sin? I know that as I mature in Christ, things that I once did without any thought, I know as sin today.

Plus, what about the stuff I know I’m supposed to do, but don’t?

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17 (KJV)

I finally realized that God forgave my sin over 2000 years ago when Christ died for me on the cross. Technically, all the sin I ever did or will do is future-tense sin and it is already forgiven. My “confessing” wasn’t doing anything to help God forgive me more than He’s already forgiven me.

I’m so thankful for that realization. It doesn’t give me license to sin, it gives me freedom to come before God knowing that when He looks as me, He sees my righteous and holy spirit. He sees what Jesus did, not what I did. Praise God Forevermore!

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Perhaps you were shocked a bit by the title. What do I mean by that?

Paul said in his first letter to the Christians at Corinth,

“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. I Cor. 10:23 (NIV)

Because you have a Savior Who died for all your sin—even the ones you are going to commit—all things are permissible to you. The sin you commit after you accept Christ’s atonement is not held against you because Christ took all your sin upon His body 2000 years ago. This is part of the grace that God extends toward you when you accept Christ.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Rom. 6:1 (NIV)

Of course not, Paul says, and so do you, I’ll guess. As you begin to mature and you begin to meditate on just what Christ did for you on the cross, your desire to sin will lessen. You will draw closer to Him and the tendency to sin will decrease.

And this is how we may discern [daily, by experience] that we are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand, and become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments). I John 2:3 (Amplified)

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Gal. 6:16 (KJV)

When you’re a Christian, you can sin just as much as you want to…but you’ll want to less and less as you draw closer to Him.

(This is my post from last week at Faith Lifts.)

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Do you know that God has a picture of you in His wallet?

Well, He would if He had a wallet.

You see, God loves you so much that if He carried a wallet, He would have your picture there. He would take it out whenever He met someone and brag on you.

You are on His mind every moment…of every day…of every week…of every year of your life.

The Bible says that you are “the apple of His eye.” (Deut 32:10; Zech 2:8)

Following are highlights from Psalm 139. I would encourage you to read this passage yourself sometime today. (These verses are paraphrased from the New Living Translation.)

God formed you in your mother’s womb. (v. 13)

He has examined your heart and knows everything about you…everything…down to the most minute detail. (v. 1) Matt 10:30 tells us, “…the very hairs of [your] head are all numbered.” (KJV)

He knows every thought you think…before you think it. (v. 2)

He knows everything you’re going to say…before you even say it! (v. 4) And He still loves you!

God goes before you and He follows behind you. (v. 5) He knows when you sit down and when you stand up. (v. 2) God charts your path, tells you when you need to stop and rest, and knows precisely where you are at every moment of the journey. (v. 3)

He records every day of your life in His book. (v. 16)

God’s thoughts about you are innumerable! (v. 17)

There are so many verses describing how much God loves you, but God’s love for you can be summed up in this one verse:

…God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Rom 5:8 (KJV)

Before you ever even thought about God, He thought about you and loved you.

And when you accept Christ as your Savior, the Bible says that God adopts you as His child.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Rom 8:15-17 (KJV)

I encourage you to stop for just a few moments today and think about God’s love for you.

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I found a blog that I recommend. Joy in the Journey is a blog written by a mom living in Indonesia. She has five very small children and her family is a missionary family…a different life from the one I live.

But, she worships the same God as I do, and so we have a lot in common, don’t we?

She wrote earlier this week about accepting compliments and about humility. Where do we draw the line between acknowledging that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and “considering others better than ourselves”? (Psa 139:14 and Phil 2:3)

Let’s explore that, shall we?

First of all, we must understand that there is a difference between our spirit, soul, and body. (For further explanation of this, please read the article Spirit, Soul, and Body.)

Our spirit is righteous and holy (Eph 4:24). It is that part of us that is made new at the moment of salvation and it is sealed by the Holy Spirit so that it cannot be corrupted (Eph 1:13). (See Canned Spirit, Anyone?)

Paul says in Philippians 1:6:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: (KJV)

He’s speaking of the fact that God created a new creature (our spirit) at the moment of our salvation (II Cor 5:17). The rest of the Christian life is to allow Him to complete that work through the renewing our soul (intellect, emotions, will, conscience) day by day. And we have a big part to play in that.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (KJV) Phil 2:12-13

Our new spirit is a gift from God…something that we do not, cannot earn. But, we are in charge of changing our soul. We are in charge of renewing our mind. Romans 12:1-2 says:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)

So, what does all this have to do with humility?

The very next verse in Romans 12 says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

This verse says not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but it doesn’t say, “think of yourself as lower than everyone else.”

Romans 12:6a says, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…” We have all been given gifts and those gifts are given so that we can minister to each other. We must acknowledge those gifts and strengthen those gifts in order to be effective in the body of Christ.

One verse in the Old Testament that has truly helped me to know my place in God is found in Numbers.

(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) Num 12:3 (NIV)

Moses wrote those words under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He wrote those words about himself!

Yes, the Bible exhorts us to “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10) But, Jesus Himself said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” (Luke 10:27 KJV)

Let us honor others through service, love others with the love that flows through us when we love ourselves, and accept compliments from others with a gracious, “Thank you!”

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I don’t think that many of us can understand what it’s like to be a slave. In Exodus, the Israelites were in bondage for years when Moses first came to tell them that God was going to bring them out. Let’s take a peek at how they reacted to Moses’ message:

And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. Exo. 4:31 (KJV)

The Israelites listened to the message that Moses had from God and they worshiped Him.

Pharaoh wasn’t as impressed with God’s message. Instead of letting the Israelites take a break and go into the wilderness to worship God, he decided that they must have too much time on their hands. They were making bricks with mud and straw and until that time, the straw had been provided them. Pharaoh decreed that not only must they continue to make the same number of bricks, they must now gather the straw themselves.

After that, in Exodus 6:9, we see an entirely different reaction to Moses’ words.

And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. (KJV)

The word here translated “for anguish of” means grief, or much discouraged, shortness or impatience. In other words, they didn’t listen to what Moses had to say because they were so grieved and discouraged that they no longer even wanted to hear what he had to say.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been so discouraged and grieved that you didn’t want to hear the Good News of God’s grace…of the gifts that He longs to give…of the wonders of life when you follow Him. Have you ever been so discouraged that you grew impatient with people who were trying to tell you about God’s goodness? or who were living with the blessings of God evident in their lives?

I’ve been there. It’s not a happy place. I will never go back again.

When bad things happen in your life, sometimes, you can slide into this mentality. You may not want to hear positive messages because it hurts too much. Perhaps you’ve come to the place where you think, “If I don’t expect anything good to happen, then I won’t be disappointed when I’m right.”

It’s so hard to leave that place once you’ve lived there for a time. As miserable as it is there, it is safe. You know what to expect. Reaching beyond that place is fraught with risk.

But, if you are truly ready to leave that place, you must draw a line in the sand. You must fight to pull yourself out of that quagmire.

It doesn’t seem like it will work. And it will take a time to see things differently…much longer than you feel comfortable with.

But, I promise you, life is so much better after you leave that place.

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Isn’t it awesome that God is the God of more than enough?!?

I read this week that they had “discovered” a new species of purple frog. There are 4740 known species of frogs in the world right now.

If my God created that many species of frogs, is He not the God of more than enough? I mean, really…how many species of frogs do you need?

It follows then, if He is so extravagant with creation, He desires to be extravagant with us. After all, we are His supreme creation. We’re the pièce de résistance, the culmination of His creative work. We’re His adopted children.

…he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will Eph 1:5 (NIV)

We all love our children, but think about it. Isn’t there something different about adopting a child? A child that you adopt is a child that you choose. It’s awesome! That is the way God thinks about us.

And, don’t we love to give gifts to our children? Did you know that God feels that same way about you?

Jesus said,

…what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matt 7:9-11 (KJV)

God loves you so much. He sent His Son, Jesus to die on the cross for your sin and to obtain life, hope, faith, healing, prosperity…every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17a says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…ASV)

And, He desires for you to have a wonderful life filled with extravagant gifts from Him.

Praise Him for His Love! Praise Him from whom all blessings flow!

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