Welcome Back!

Welcome back! I took a brief vacation from writing, but I am back, better than before. God has shown Himself mighty in my life, and I am excited about what He is doing in this season.

Keep in mind that perspective is half the problem with our battles. You have already won, so fight like it! See ya soon!

In Spirit and Truth

John 4:23-24 (NLT) But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

 

As we are facing another new year by the grace of God, let’s be found worshiping in spirit and in truth. That pure and honest worship that pours forth from a devoted heart is what God desires. In that holy place where all flesh burns away, we can commune with God in the presence of Jesus Christ (THE Truth). We must be the worshipers that the Father seeks.

Worship is more than a church service or a song. Worship is living your life every day to the glory of God, following the example of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Worship is a life of service to the Father and to one another in love. Worship is a life of willful obedience to God’s Word. Worship is living in awe of the Most High by breathing His very presence into the depths of our souls.

Worship is not being inaccessible to our neighbors. Worship is not harboring unforgiveness in our hearts. Worship is not holding people to different standards based on our prejudices and stereotypes. Worship is not placing more value on church membership than the love of Christ.

Worship is loving God with all that we are, and allowing Him to love others through us.

 

Happy New Year!

Ambassadors for Christ

While you are about the hectic business of shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, and planning your perfect Christmas day celebrations, don’t fail to reflect on the original Christmas day. There was a child born in the City of David, whose name was Jesus, who came to save his people from their sins. Although the Savior is the most precious gift we could ever receive, there are people who are nothing but depressed at this time of year.

If you have the opportunity to spread some Christmas cheer to your neighbors, please do. Sometimes all people need is a smile and a kind word. Make a special effort to be patient and friendly in the department stores or grocery stores this week. As you remember that Jesus gave up His heavenly throne to give us hope, extend that grace to someone else today. With the commercialization, financial constraints, and excessive travel of the Christmas holiday, the levels of frustration and weariness can be very high. 

We often worry about getting all the presents, getting them wrapped, and if the people who receive them will like them. Jesus was born in a stable – a nasty, smelly shelter for animals. His first bed was a feeding trough. He was born, not into a royal family, but into a carpenter’s. Take some time this holiday season to imagine the emotions of Mary and Joseph as they had to deliver their child away from home. Put yourself in the sandals of the wise men, who followed a star to the bedside of the Messiah.

Recognize this year that Christmas is not about us. Christmas is about God becoming man and dwelling with us. The best gift that anyone can receive this season is Jesus Christ. We need to make sure that everything we say and do reflects the light of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NASB) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Just Thankful

Sometimes it gets so difficult to write. When so many life-changing things are happening day by day, moment by moment, it is hard to isolate one particular topic to discuss. Today, however, is the day before Thanksgiving Day in America. I choose to be thankful.

 

The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy. If you listen to/watch the news, you will see that he is very successful in that mission. If we aren’t careful, we will believe that he is winning. With so many bad things happening so frequently, sometimes it may seem that God has thrown up His hands and given up on us. Don’t allow the negativity in the world to cause you to lose sight of everything you have for which to give thanks.

 

As Christ followers, we have a responsibility (a commission, if you will) to show the world that there is a better way. We are required to love each other, while the world is full of hatred, distrust, and abuse. Don’t allow your emotions to keep you from fulfilling your charge as a child of the Most High. Love those who hate you. Love those who abuse and oppress you. Love those who even hate God. If Jesus can request forgiveness for people killing Him, surely we can at the very least pray for those who persecute us.

 

When it comes down to it, none of us are worthy of salvation. We all may sin differently, but we all sin. Those of us who have been redeemed from the hand of the enemy have plenty to be grateful for. If we would focus more on what God has done for us, rather than what people have done to us, we would be more willing to find solutions, rather than magnify problems. There are people who will never understand your struggle, but can they see the grace of God on your life?

 

God, I thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ to save me from my sins. I thank you for my basic needs being met and so much more. Lord, I am grateful for the opportunity to worship you publicly without being executed. I thank you for family and friends with whom to spend the holiday. God, I thank you for your grace and your mercy and for giving me another chance to be your ambassador in the community in which I live. I thank you that I have a mind to be grateful for all that I have without trampling over people to obtain more. Help us all to be more like Jesus Christ, as we live in a world full of inequity and injustice.  I thank you for your Holy Spirit living inside of me to keep me in your will daily. Amen.

Repenting

Repent: to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.

Details aside, I had to repent today. God brought it to my attention that although I recognized what I did wrong, I never told Him that I was sorry nor asked His forgiveness. So, I had to repent for not repenting! I heard a wonderful message on Sunday about pursuing God, and how that involves a repentant heart. I hadn’t even realized that I wasn’t truly repenting sometimes.

Doing something different because it produces better results is not repenting. It’s logical, and it’s smart, but that isn’t repentance. Repentance is being sorry enough about it that you change for the better. Repentance is going to God, saying, “I messed up. I know that now. Please forgive me.” We have to fess up to the error, so that we can be forgiven. Then we can go forward in peace.

Pretending that you just changed for the better on your own totally defeats the purpose of pursuing God. We need God, His Son, and His precious Spirit to be able to enjoy His presence in blameless holiness. Admitting our shortcomings to Him, and asking Him to help us overcome them is a part of this process of pursuing God.

I John 1:9 (NASB) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

'Nuff Said

Proverbs 19:1 (NLT) Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.

This is one of those ‘nuff said moments.

Defining Marriage

Holy Matrimony (by the authority of God) vs. MARRIAGE (by the authority of the State)

We have a whole lot of believers getting very bent out of shape about the same-gender marriage issue. Yes, it is disturbing to the body of Christ; however, we need to understand that the world is not going to adhere to God’s Law. It is not our job to enforce God’s commands on anyone. Our job is to love God and love people. When we get that right, maybe we can talk about somebody else.

We share the truth in love, but we are not God’s enforcement squad. We can see what happens when we try to force the nation to follow the Bible. Defining marriage on a federal level caused that definition to be invalid on a federal level. Just STOP and PRAY! We don’t have to like it, but we must love everyone. There is far too much hatred being spewed from the mouths of so-called believers with regard to this topic.

Why are we so upset about marriage in the world, when we have so much divorce in the church? We are held to a much higher standard in holy matrimony than the world is in marriage. Our vows are taken before a holy, sovereign God whom we profess to love and obey. Our responsibility is to make sure that we are doing what is pleasing in the sight of God. We cannot control what everyone else is doing, saying, supporting or celebrating. I do NOT have to agree with you to love you. I do NOT have to celebrate your choices to love you. I do NOT have to bow down to your god to love you.

Since when did love ever have all these conditions? If Jesus Christ would have loved us only if this or only if that, we’d be lost.