Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Heavyweights


No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 
(Matthew 6:24-25)

 If you aren't in opposition to something then you are for it, right? Right! 
The bible says that you can not serve man AND God.    I am finding out the hard way that just because you are saved and on your way to Heaven, does NOT mean you can't still be trying to do just that...the flesh fights and kicks on it's way out...It's a battle that goes on within the spiritual realm ...

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  (eph 6:12)

And if for one second you think your are impervious to it then you better start praying cause something is surely amiss.  I had a friend send me a quote one day that read something like this...
"if you aren't FACING the devil each day then you two are going the same way" 

...You see, the devil knows He has just a short time until He is cast into the Lake of Fire for the rest of all time

"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 12:12, 20:10-11 )

...He also is very very aware that Christ has already fought AND won the battle over death and hell when He completed  the work of Calvary;

"Be  it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."  (Acts 4:10-12 ,Revelation 1:18-19)


...And because of his defeat, he is gonna do his best to throw you off your game ... So pad up... For you are in for the heavy weight fight of your life!
He is the Sugar Ray to your George Foreman...I know I know, there is much debate in the sports arena as to who would win and who's the best...for the sake of argument, I am just gonna say this...MAN'S OPINION DOESN'T MATTER...it is all in how much you train for the fight...knowing your opponent! ..

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made" (gen 3:1a)

...he floats like butterfly, but boy, given the opportunity he WILL sting like a bee!

So..."What do I do?" , this is question that goes over and over in my head as I stand in my corner pounding my gloved fists together, gritting my teeth and dancing from side to side as I stare my opponent down.  
When the referee rings the bell to the first round, I barely have begun to take the first swing and...UGH! A swift jab comes outta nowhere! ...I fall to my knees reeling from the doubt and fear.  Filled with confusion,  I am disoriented for a moment seems all I can hear is the jeers of the crowd...and I feel like throwing in the towel, I start to hear a cheer of reassurance coming from MY corner saying... 

GET UP!...'What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?' ( Rom. 8:31)...

GET UP!!...'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.' (2 Tim 1:7) 

FIGHT!...'Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.' ( Rom. 8:37-38) ... 

I feel my heart begin to pump with life...

'"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him' Psalm 28:7-8)  

I begin to focus on my training...

Trust  in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It  shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (Prov.  3:5-8)

 I  begin to feel strength find it's way to my legs...

'My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. ' (Ps 57:7)... 

I KNOW this player! He fights the same dirty way every single time...

'because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,   (1 pet. 5:9)

He is a tempter and a deceiver... my BEST  bet is to "bob and weave" 'cause the punches are gonna be quick and sneaky!  ... just as the bell of the round was ding-dinging I remembered the awesome combination punch of truth (ps. 37:3-7) I had been taught  and he's down for the count...

Trust in the Lord..BLAM, left hook to the kisser!...1-2-3
Delight in the Lord...UGH, punch to the gut!  4-5-6
Commit unto the Lord...WHAM!...he is on knees now...7-8-9
Rest in the Lord....KAPLOW!...10 -- knock out!!

The world and the flesh are always in the devil's corner and all around the ring taunting you, trying to distract you from your goal...you see, the world WANTS you to fail...your flesh WANTS you to give way to the punches of sin and doubt.  When you trust in any other opinion in spiritual matters other than the Lord's,  it's like asking your opponent's coach to train you for the fight...makes NO sense at all!  Giving in to fear, indecision, self pity, lusts, vanity, pride and a whole host of other sins will allow your opponent to beat your spiritual  man to a bloody  pulp in the ring of life. You will find yourself confused and ready to throw in the towel. :-/
But, when we rely on the Lord's game plan and Pad up with the whole armour of God...

STAND therefore, having your loins girt about with TRUTH and having on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS  And your feet shod with the preparation of the GOSPEL of peace;  Above all, taking the shield of FAITH, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of SALVATION , and the sword of the Spirit, which is THE WORD of God PRAYING always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and WATCHING thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.  (Ephesians 6:13-18)

Then and only then can we find total victory time and time again and we WILL BE able to stand against the wiles of the devil...

so, the next time you find yourself in the ring with a swollen lip, sweat pouring down your face, confused and ready to give up...remember your training...
"faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (BOB))...
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of loveand of a sound mind  (WEAVE) 
and "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (COME UP SWINGING)!





Thursday, July 19, 2012

Just DO it!

Nike had a slogan several years back where they encouraged people with a catchy little phrase... " Just DO it!". Now, when I was faced with an heart-wrenching hurt this past week,  this ad came to my mind.  I was reading about Solomon's prayer for wisdom and knowledge.  It was NOT just a vain prayer that he THOUGHT God wanted to hear, NO, Solomon pursued God...he sought Him out ( 2 chron. vs 6,8)  God saw that it really WAS the desire of his heart to do right unto Him ( v.10) therefore, He granted Solomon what he asked of Him and so much more (v11-12)   God wants to give us the desires of our heart and He will... He knew what Solomon needed...yet He asked him...'what shall I give thee'... Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give the desires of thine heart (ps 37:4) is a promise for those who truly seek the Lord in our lives. He desires is for us to pray and ask!!  Now, this got me to thinking about my prayer life.  Do I pray with this kind of sincerity? Do I pray with all faith BELIEVING that I have the power of Christ inside me to even change God's mind? Whoa! "Strange concept", you say? "Impossible!", you chide.  well, not so my friends... There are too many instances in the Bible where the prayers of a saint change the mind God. One such instance was with Hezekiah.   It was his time to die, but just listen to what unfolds because of His prayer of faith... 2 Kings 20:1-6 (KJV) "In those days was Hezekiah sick UNTO DEATH, And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for THOU  SHALT DIE AND NOT LIVE.  Then he turned his face to the wall, AND PRAYED unto the  Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have HEARD thy prayer, I have SEEN thy tears: behold, I WILL HEAL thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.  And  I WILL ADD unto thy days fifteen years; and I WILL DELIVER  thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I WILL DEFEND this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake." The scripture says he was SICK unto death.  I am sure that his body was trying to fill his mind with doubt and fear. Yet, he put his face against the wall and cried out to the one He KNEW could change it!  It says he 'wept sore'...see, that is where we miss the boat.  We don't pray with THAT kind of conviction and fervency, the bible says that the 'effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  Prayers are powerful people! We reason and plead our case when we cry out to Him to help us and it CAN change your circumstance!  No matter how impossible it seems.  Do you think for one second Hezekiah didn't recognize this? Of course he did. But, he believed in God's  power to heal and in the end got even more than he had originally asked for...not just healing, but...FIFTEEN years ADDED to a life that was already settled to be over AND deliverance from his enemy AND  a defense of his city...so you see, your prayer of faith can change the lives of those around you as well!  And not only did God grant Hezekiah's request to remember him, just as he did with Solomon, he gave him even more than he had asked in the first place.   Hezekiah personified the kind of guy Nike execs would have loved...Because, even while up against enemies, his body wracked with illness and facing death, he poured it all out and took a chance, believing God could change his situation.   Just like with Solomon...he knows our hearts intention ...He knows what you need, but He wants YOU to seek it out! and He, just like with Hezekiah, knows if you are gonna waste the wisdom and possiblities that come with an extra 15 years or not.  Hezekiah's heartfelt  pleas didn't go unnoticed, neither will yours...Are you willing to be obedient unto the call of our Savior? He is watching and waiting for your cry...He will meet you in the midst of your storm...listen to Him, seek Him and  " just DO it"!!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Domino Effect

TRUST....DELIGHT...COMMIT...REST From Kings to servants to prophets to ole sinners like myself, this question has been posed..."what should I do Lord?" Well here we go...  8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee,  but to do justly, and  to love mercy, and  to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8) I had not remembered reading this scripture until yesterday. I  know  I make my life so much more complicated than it should be. He has shown us what is good...to behave JUSTLY (Fair, morally right in weighing out decisions),  to LOVE MERCY( to pleasure in being Compassionate and lenient toward others ) and to  HUMBLY (with submissive  respect, modesty, not arrogant in behavior) walk with Him!!   Now some of you may be just like me and at first say, "well I get WHAT you're saying, but HOW am I supposed to DO this?" my friends, believe me when I say this, He NEVER leaves us without perfect instructions on the " how to's..."   Number one...TRUST... trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (ps. 37:3) Now I know that some of us have a difficult time putting our trust in anyone or anything.  It's a personal battle...but, my friend, we can't base our decision to do this on the way others have let us down or disappointed us, because He ain't like that! He is God...the creator, the one who CHOSE to leave all of Heaven to take on the lowest estate of man; to suffer the  ridicule and  shame of Calvary and ultimately sacrifice His life for you and I! The stripes he bore upon His back, the times he faced mocking and betrayal of those He loved...can you just stop, take a moment and breathe that thought into your soul? If you will, I promise it will change the way you see trusting in Him...it won't be so hard anymore! He is the Master of bringing the impossible to pass! And we are promised when we trust in Him, we will always find refuge and an ever present help!...He will NEVER fail. Number two...DELIGHT... Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (ps 37:4 ) If you are like me, sometimes finding delight in anything can be a challenge.  This is sad, but true! We get so distracted by the effects of sin; that to experience sadness, anger and doubt is easy.  These emotions flow out of us naturally...but, to take great PLEASURE in the beauty of God's instruction and grace is, well, quite frankly, a struggle! I am finding out more and more that when my life is upside down, it is because my delight isn't in the right place.  Instead of finding honesty, loveliness  virtue and just living (phil4:8), just to name a few; I am enjoying the sins of the flesh far too much and far too often. D'oh! Did I strike a nerve ? Well good! Because, when the Lord struck mine, it began to change my way of thinking about delighting in Him...think back about the Cross again for a minute...no, I mean REALLY consider the work of Christ.  "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2-3) Our Savior DELIGHTED in doing the will of the Father so much that he saw His suffering and sacrifice as a JOY! He WAS the epitome of mercy! Now can you start to see how our hearts should delight in the LORD.  It really isn't difficult to find great pleasure in loving and living for someone who JOYFULLY gave his life so that you can have life, for without HIS delight in you, you wouldn't have that precious gift! How can We NOT find ourselves take great pleasure and comfort in that! Number three...COMMIT... Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (ps. 37:5) In today's cynical "does love exist" world where the grass is always greener on the other side;  people find it difficult to decide on what to do for dinner and make a decision, let alone pledge their whole path in life to someone they can't physically see and feel...lots of doubting Thomases live here...we don't see how true love has existed before creation! It was His love that brought us INTO existence. When your fears and prideful doubts give way to the gravity and grace of the Cross, you won't find it so hard to bind yourself to Him.  Your behavior will begin to unfold with His character when you meditate upon the love and power displayed at Calvary. He has a perfect plan for our lives.  When we seek him, we WILL find Him and all goodness the world could never offer, HE will bring to pass...it's a promise!  And finally...REST... Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. (ps.37:7) In the hurried society we are faced with, it is easy to just exist and not actually LIVE! It seems the demands that we place on ourselves AND others just set us up for failure! Rest seems to elude us. But, it is just like steps one, two and three...it's a choice! I know, I know...how can a person rest with the weight of day's problems on their shoulders? Well, it really is much simpler than you think...TRUST, DELIGHT, COMMIT ! Because, when we do these, we behave justly, mercifully and humbly; therefore we do good and no matter what comes, how busy we are, what adversity we are facing, we will surely run and not grow weary, walk and not faint because we have the promise that HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden is light! So, if you are overwhelmed to the point of no peace...examine your burdens, see what you are yoked up to because God does NOT lie! You will find that there are some chains no doubt that you need to ask the Master to free you from.  Give Him your worries and fears, let Him replace them with the peace of trusting in His will to come to pass! I guarantee that no matter WHAT the days bring, His grace is sufficient to give your the strength to choose rest!  11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (ps. 42:11) A humble walk with God in the cool of the Garden of grace, filled with the fragrance of mercy and justice, is where we do good! So, heed to the instructions of truth and...trust, delight, commit and rest in the powerful and completed work of the Cross! His life for ours...He came so that we could have, not only eternal life to come, but an ABUNDANT one while we live here on earth... One of blessings beyond our finite imagination...One of a peace that passes all understanding...One where joy can be found in the midst of struggles. I like to think of it like this...There is  a domino effect that kinda happens when you begin to trust in Him...True trust brings a joy and peace that births a delight in serving Him which only encourages a commitment to the one who keeps you...Jesus and when you truly know this truth, then rest is an absolute!