Hy-poo-crisy-“All Employees Must Wash Their Hands Before Returning To Work” 💩

Wouldn’t it be gross if you knew someone took a big ole dump then prepared your food and never washed their hands before hand? Well this is a unpleasant thought in the food industry. Yet many a Christian may think they can serve God and be a light to others while having the unrepentent poop stains of sin on their fingers.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 )

The truth be told is that we cannot truly be useful for God’s service or acceptable to Him unless we are first cleansed by the washing of grace. No matter how intent your heart is on bringing the blessing of spiritual burgers or the crisp fench fries of good works. The truth is our sin can corrupt even the most noble and righteous looking things we can do. So we are first by faith in Christ washed clean when we believe the Gospel, yet a believer can have dirty fingers also if they refuse to repent of some ongoing sin also.

” Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:8-10)

There is of course no sinless disciple of Christ, so repentence is a daily process of self examination and letting The Spirit show us any wrong attitudes, actions or thoughts that we have entertained.
Scripture says in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness”

To confess is more then just saying “yeah I sinned and then going on your merry way flipping spiritual burgers with dirty fingers.” True confession does involve acknowleging our sin and agreeing with God but sincerely asking Him to remove the stench and sin from us when we did wrong!

Open Doors

Faith Switches

Imagine a switch on a floor to open a hatch or door, or a switch on the floor to engage a mechanism that created some result that can only be manifested only if you put all your weight down on it. Now many of God’s promises in the word are this way. In order to see the Lord’s answer or for Him to do what He promises, on somethings you must just put all your faith down on the promise before the result comes. Faith is not wishful believing, but saying, “God said in His word, I therefore believe” yet faith that is strong goes a step farther and says “God said if I do this, he will provide in this way, so as intimidating as this task is, I choose to go forward believing God will come through”

Some people think God failed to answer, not because he did, but because either they tried and still yet do not see the result of their faith or in some cases they did not fulfill the prerequisite requirements.

That is why it is good to know when coming across a scriptural promise, if that promise requires some form of action on our parts first, or if it will require a season of waiting patiently for God to manifest His good word in His wise time he sees best.

Comparing Games Stifle True Joy

A piece of cheesecake, began to grumble that she was not as delicious as the other deserts at the table of the banquate. So the host and master of the banquate came and said, "What is the matter?" She said, "Im not as delightful as those delicious looking arrays of sweet chocolate covered cherries, nor am I as delectable as the pecan pie or the pumpkin bites." The master of the banquet who was also the chef said, "I made you as unique as you are so you do not have to compare yourself to other deserts, and you have your own unique and lovely flavorful qualities"

Women out there, this should especially be a reminder not to grumble and envy other women. Since it seems to be that women more often compare themselves in the appearence state to other women then men do. Men often boast of their accomplishments, strength and the things men often unfortunately put to much stock in. Really though, everyone can play comparison games of some sort, but its silly. Embrace your God given uniqueness, do not envy others but embrace your own identities as "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14)

When we truly accept and appreciate our God given worth and are secure in that, it frees us not to fret over what others say because we know our own value and have no need to envy, fret or fear others successes. That is so often the root of it isn't it? Many feel as though the only way to build themselves up is to tear down another's success. How foolish!

People who accept their worth is not dependent on others can be secure to rejoice in another's good without feeling bad about themselves. Who would not want to have such freedom? As the Word of God says, "It is more blessed to give then receive."

We all are most happy when we can take joy in the happiness of others, and not just our own prosperities.

As a teenager, I was the rather concerned about my physical appearance to a obsessive degree, and loved weight lifting. These were great activities that had nothing wrong with them, after all, God created our bodies and we should take care of his gifts, yet we must not just only invest in this, and my problem was that I thought that my strength and appearance was my success. Being in a wheelchair has brought some amount of challenges and insecurities, so I prided myself to try to become the strongest man I could physically and in a way now that I look back in hindsight, I see there was an element of me trying to overcompensate for feelings I had of being viewed as weak, helpless and inferior. So I suppose having a muscular physique made me feel more formidable and a little more imposing. I would think, well if some one wants to look down on me for being in a wheelchair, they will at least see the muscles and be impressed.

Yes, no doubt, I still like being muscular and strong, for one it just makes maneuvering a wheelchair and everyday life easier, and the ladies we all know love them biceps, haha. Humor aside, I do see my worth is not in this,  and after this phase in my life I suppose in subconscious ways I started really investing more in intellect and my mind, but our worth is not in our wits either.  People by all means should invest in their health, appearance and intellect, yet we cannot safely idolize such things. "Use what your momma gave ya," so to speak, but trust God to do what only he can, that is, give your life value, meaning, strength and purpose. When we attach our worth or well being to anything transient, lets say that in times these things get blown over by life's strong winds, we fall with them. "If they fall, your going down with them, going down with them baby if they fall." Yet when we follow the Scriptural prescription below, we have guaranteed security:

 

The God who created us unique and wonderful both male and female can be trusted with all the details of our life. He truly has more ability to enable us to fulfill his call and design for our lives more so then we could muster the skills and advantages on our own. Some people are floundering even trying to just figure out what truly will fulfill their inner hunger, they try all sorts of thing and many have tasted wealth, beauty, fame and all kinds of success from a human standpoint yet they feel no more thrilled with life then most, many say, "I have seen it, done it, tasted this, experienced that and now what?" After a while even life's most exciting thrills grow lack luster unless we are walking in God's plan that he lays out for our lives. He has a specific will for everyone and  few hop on board to go full force down such an exciting adventure.  God's general will fro mankind is that they come to know His Salvation at the cross that has bought our freedom and approval and favor with God. It is purely a gift that is offered to all whom receive this by faith by believing in Jesus Christ and surrendering our total trust into his plan for our lives. I am convinced God loves everyone, not everyone repents and responds in faith to this offer of unearned pardon, but no one who sincerely by faith reaches for it will be denied.

God loves his human creatures so dearly that he takes care of the indictment that we are all born subject to, the sin that is ingrained in us from birth that has become instinctive. We all start off on an even ground, and yes we are born into it but he loves us enough to sacrifice his own very heart to show us we matter to him. If we did not matter he would condemn us all, and we would be like condemned abandoned houses, scheduled for demolition. Yet what is it that God so loves about human kind? It is not one's beauty, wealth, accomplishments, or even religious acts that so many perform as one jumping through circus hoops. God's existence is not hindered by us, nor is his well being enhanced by what we have or do. It is purely grace, and the nature of God is love, so when he created humanity, he created a vessel to pour his love into and before the fall and sin, man and woman both had an unhindered ability to love God back, and have a meaningful relationship close to him.  Our sins drive a wedge between us and the Lord, so he has made a way to restore the broken intimacy and fellowship we can have with Himself.

He loves you and me, not because you look swell, or are athletic, or wealthy and give to charity, and he does not love us because we are good. We can compare our morals to others, and undoubtedly there are some decent human beings that out of their God-given image God places in all of us shows through. Yet we all have something very alien, and wrong with us—we need mercy, and grace, not more good deeds -as the modern equivalent of the fig leaves Adam and Eve wore to cover themselves when they sinned. God offers us His robes of righteousness through Christ, and a new identity, not one of guilt or feeling inadequate or unworthy of love. After all, "he demonstrates his own love for us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

So Christian and non Christian alike have been created by God with value to their lives and worth in God's eyes. Not inherent to us boasting of ourselves but rather as it was written in Genesis after God finished creating the world, "The Lord saw that it was good."

If then God says it is good, who are any of us to slander another person about what they look like or things they truly have no control over. The only thing God condemns in human beings is the corrupt pull called sin in our human hearts that stirs us to sin, envy, boast of ourselves, tear down others, rebel against him  and any other behavior or attitude that leads us to act out of our fallen disposition. Yet the Lord does not hate sinners, there will be a day he finally judges unrepentant people who refuse to plead for his pardon, yet he does not hate people,  He came to restore us to the glory we could have lived from if the fall had never happened.

Our value is rooted in His love, not our own self love nor is it redefined by our insecurities, nor others criticism. Live free today in the truth!

 

 

 

 

Heart Pregnancy

Everyone who is past a certain age knows that basic reproduction involves a sperm meeting up with an egg and under proper conditions the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining and a baby begins to grow.
But how has God left a divine finger print to impress spiritual truths through the natural realm on ou heart? Well, the heart of a person is the womb and when God’s Spirit fertilizes the truth of the Scripture, The Gospel of Grace in a barren heart, faith enables Christ to form in the heart of one who believes the message. Yet truth without The Holy Spirit bringing it to life remains just an egg and can end up just being expelled from the heart over time.
Yet pray that when you share the Gospel with those who do not know God, and The Love of the Savior, that God’s Spirit will bring to life that word of truth they have heard.
Always be gentle with people. After all, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws them to me” said Jesus, but wonderful is this finishing thought he concludes with, “And no one who comes to me will I by any means cast out.”
Our American Christian mindset needs to be readjusted often so we can instead of arguing people into a faith that is inconceivable in their minds, we merely ought to only obey our commission to share and pray over them fervently and not grow angry or impatient with those who have not grasped the truths yet.
Too many Christ followers are I think tempted to complain about our culture rather then seeing the heart of the issue. People need to be “Born again” as Jesus speaks of in John 3.

Storm Shelter.

When a tornado touches down and the sirens are blaring and the winds are howling they suggest getting in a ditch or hiding under a bridge if you cannot get to a basement. Well what should we do when life gets tornadic? Hide in the refuge of Almighty God. Sometimes all you can do is wait out the storm and flee for refuge in the Lord until it passes. We may be tempted to keep driving forward and outrun the storm because we think we can outwit our situation but truly the safest thing is to trust God and take refuge in His care and wisdom by doing what he tells us to, and often that is to wait and trust. We must remain loyal and upright in such times because waiting requires obedience to things we know we ought to do while we trust him with impossibilities beyond us.

Psalm 9:9-10 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Spiritual Opposition To Prayer.

Spiritual Opposition To Prayer, And Waiting On God's Answers- (March 13th 2017)

Daniel 10:2-21 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.” Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.” So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince. 

Daniel was a great man of God and he fasted and prayed for God'a wisdom and answers, but notice how they did not come right away. The answer came on the "twenty fourth day of the month of Nissan" which is between March and April on our American calender. Finally after he persisted 3 weeks until the angel appeared and said, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” 

The "Prince of the Persian Kingdom"? It is most assumable that this is not a literal human prince but a demonic entity that is influencing a geographic location. Although we do not know exactly how this all works, we do know that the New Testament makes it clear 

 

"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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." (Ephesians 6:12-20)

There are many reasons God does not answer prayers immediately or at all, sometimes its not his will, so he says no, and other times it is not his appointed time, so he delays, yet often a reason many Christians do not consider enough is spiritual resistence in heavenly places. Daniel did two vital things, he, "humbled himself" and "set his heart to gain wisdom"! And this is an excellent start!
We must continue praying even if we feel like Daniel did, "weak" because God rewards prayers of persistence that are in line with his will. Daniel heard, "Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” And then he says, "Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.” 

When God moves in our hearts to pray for His will or things we know are His will, we must allow His power to both breath life into us and our fervent prayers also!