Sharing the Experience

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of everything we have in Christ. ~ Philemon 1:6

“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?” That’s an arguable phrase. We understand that objects of a certain mass will make a sound loud enough for the human ear to hear—one of which is a tree hitting the ground. But if no one is there to hear it, how can we know for sure? This past weekend we celebrated Easter. As the day was approaching, I heard a lot of people speak about how we know that Christ died and was resurrected because people saw Him and could give a testimony about it—they witnessed it and shared what they saw and experienced. Think about how differently we’d live and believe—or not believe—if Christ had died and risen, but went straight to heaven instead of revealing Himself to His disciples.

When we share our experiences with others--being touched by the Holy Spirit, our first time coming to Christ, the amazing transformation that's taken place in our lives--it not only reinforces that excitement and passion in our lives, but it touches the lives of others.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother have refreshed the hearts of the saints. ~ Philemon 1:7

Words

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. ~ Proverbs 15:1

My grandpa told us a story about how he’d had a bad day at work and came home in a mood. When he opened the door, he heard his children and wife laughing and playing in the living room. He said he knew that what he said and did in the next seconds would determine the mood of the rest of the evening. The Bible says, “A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish tears hers down,” and “A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless,” (Proverbs 14:1, 16). They say the tongue is the most powerful muscle in all the body. With it you can build someone up or tear them to shreds. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to use your words to bring life and to build up those around you.

Crossroads

Make this valley full of ditches. ~ 2 Kings 3:16

After reading the Bible and spending time with people, I’ve discovered that we all have something in common: we all come to a crossroads at some point—or many points—in our lives. I’m not talking about salvation, but a point in which we must all choose whose way we will follow: His or ours. Will we follow the direction that God leads us or will we follow our own counsel? In reading this, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Of course I’ll follow God’s direction.” But what happens when His way seems strange, out of the norm, and totally in the opposite direction of where you thought He was leading you. What then? In 2 Kings 3, three kings were on their way to defeat the Moabites, as they felt God leading them to do, but they were out of water, they were tired, and frankly they were ready to throw in the towel. When God sent Elisha to speak to them, he told them, “Make this valley full of ditches.” Now, if I’m dying of thirst and in need of shelter and rest, the last thing I’m going to want to do is labor harder than I’ve been. But that’s what God called them to do.

What is God telling you to do? In what areas of your life are you working really hard, feel like you are getting nowhere with nothing to show for it and are ready to throw in the towel? Is God telling you to dig ditches, dig in a little deeper, go a little further, give more than you think you have, trust more than you’ve ever done before? Are you at a crossroads? If so, which way are you going to go and in whose counsel will you trust?

But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. ~ 2 Kings 3:24

The Nature

But if you do not do what it right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you ~ Genesis 4:7

In Spider-man 3, there is an alien substance that changes Spider-man's personality every time it attaches itself to him. The Bible says to "put on Christ," and to "put on the new self, that is created to be like God," (Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:24). When we don't put on Christ or the new man, then we don't have the nature of Jesus on us and that leaves us vulnerable to attack. Sin is like the alien substance and it won't leave you alone just because you will it to. You need something more powerful to get it to let go, which is what putting on spiritual armor and having the nature of Christ on you does for you. The devil comes like a thief in the night-stealth-sneaking in under your radar, when your guard is down. That is why we must always be on guard and stay alert, because the devil will wait until we are vulnerable and then sneak in and have us for dinner.

But there is hope. God said, "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you; but you must master it." When God is in you and His power and authority are you on there is no room or opportunity for the devil. When we awaken to the power and authority we have in us because of Christ Jesus, the devil will flee from us!

Lord, my prayer is that everyday, in every way, we would put you on--put on the new self--that nothing foreign would be able to attach itself to us. And the enemy would take one look at us and flee because "He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world," (1 John 4:4). Lord, I pray these things in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Do Not Worry

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ Matthew 6:34

Jesus said, “Do not worry.” That phrase does not translate into, “Sit on your butt and do nothing.” Rather, it means, “Don’t get distracted.” John 10:10 tells us that the devil comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. He comes to steal our blessings and gifts from God, kill our dreams, and destroy our lives and he does it all through worry. If you’re up all night worrying about your kids, you won’t be productive at work the next day. If you’re fighting with your spouse all the time because you’re worried about the bills, it's hard to have a healthy marriage. In the second part of John 10:10 Jesus said, “I have come to give you life to the fullest.” Jesus said, “Do not worry. Don’t get distracted by the devil’s schemes. Instead, seek Me first and I will supply all your needs, take care of all your cares, and give you life to the fullest.”

Cast all your cares on the Lord because he cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7

Expectation

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of His inheritance in the saints. ~ Ephesians 1:18

So that you will know the hope… The Greek word for hope means to expect, either good things or bad. An expectation is the mode of transportation for action. The world calls this self-fulfilling prophesy. If your expectation is, “They will never change and I will still have to do all the work,” then your subconscious is going to speak to your mind and tell it this expectation over and over and you will begin looking for examples that prove this point. Then, you will begin collecting these thoughts in your head until your thoughts turn to words and you tell that person everything you’ve been thinking about them, tearing down in them any shred of confidence he/she had left, which leads that person to have the expectation, “No one expects me to do anything with my life, why bother.”

The Bible says that the power of life and death are in the tongue, but the tongue gets its orders from the mind. With this in mind, what expectations do you need to change for your life?

And we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 10:5

Sonship

You have received a Spirit of sonship...~ Romans 8:15

Yesterday, an article was published in the paper about four area families who all adopted sons and daughters from Uganda. The article talks about the story of how each of the children got here, but the picture tells the most. The pictures tell the story of families, where the parents do not esteem their birth children higher than their adopted sons or daughters. These families all had to sacrifice something and pay a price in order to bring their adopted children home. The Bible considers us evil with respect to God, and so if we--who are evil--will sacrifice and pay a price and take children who are not of our flesh in as our own sons and daughters, "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11). Romans 8 talks about sonship and adoption. God, through His son Jesus, bought each of us at a very high and costly price to be able to call us sons. How much more so should we, as sons and daughters of the living God, live as the Spirit--who lives within us--calls us? Romans 8:14 says, "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." As sons and daughters, allow yourself to be led as the Holy Spirit leads.

The Spirit himself testifies that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ... ~ Romans 8:17

Portals

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened ~ Ephesians 1:18

I’ve heard that your eyes are like windows to the world. They are the place or portal through which what’s going on, on the outside can effect what’s going on, on the inside. If that is true, then how much more important is it for us to watch what we are watching or seeing? When Paul sent this letter to the Ephesians, he was talking about God’s calling, but if God’s voice is a still and small and our eyes are taking in a lot of worldly noise, how will we hear what God has to say? If we are to hear and follow all that God has for us, we must protect our eyes and feast upon the Word of God to feed our hungry souls, for that which you feast upon determines your direction.

Who's Your Daddy?

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:19

I love how it's personal. It's not the "God of the universe." It's not the "Great & Powerful God" (said in a booming voice, like the great and powerful Oz). It's my God, my Best Friend, my Daddy, my Go-To Guy. It's personal and I love it. I'm not asking or begging or hoping that someone else's God will take care of me. I have a relationship with Him, so He's my God. Having that relationship builds confidence. It's a knowing. I know that He hasn't let me down and because He's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I can assure you with confidence that He won't let you down, either. And so, with confidence, I can say that my God will meet all your needs, too. And not only am I confident that He will do it, I can even tell you how: according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. You can't get that from someone you don't know. That kind of trust and confidence comes from being tried and tested and continuously coming through. It comes from having a relationship. He's my God, my Best Friend, my Daddy, my Provider. He wants to be the same and have the same relationship with you. I've got just one question for you: who meets all of your needs?