May 16 Thought for the day..hang in there

Have you ever thought God I've waited long enough for your promise. I'm done waiting! I've seen others blessed, others have their prayers answers and here I sit...I'm done! Most of us have reached that point. But the writer of Hebrews challenges us with something different.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 

Now we have looked at this verse already, but today I need us to look at the phrase "without wavering" it means something that is fixed, inflexible, it does not bend, unchanging. What is being said here is, don't ever give up on your dream. God has it in His hands. We don't always understand why He waits, but if you stand firm, He always comes through.

If we add what I have translated on other days to this, we could interpret this verse this way...

"Let us come into agreement with God and begin to speak what He says, tightly wrapping our arms around the promise we are confessing — embracing it with all our might, holding tightly to it, rejecting all attempts of anyone who tries to steal it from us, not allowing ourselves to be fickle in our commitment, but determined to be inflexible and unmoving from that which we believe and confess...."

The devil only knows how to lie. If he is whispering in your ear, "give up, there is no hope," why are you wasting your time, this is never going to happen." you can be assured God is going to come through. Don't give up on your dream or God's promises; He is faithful to keep His promises!

May 15 Thought for the day...effective prayer

How many times do you find yourself simply throwing up a quick prayer? Not taking the time to engage Him just talking. I know we all do it from time to time with people and God. One of my biggest struggles is this in the lobby after service. I want to greet every person and show him or her the love I have for them, but so many are there we have to rush through. Sometimes people feel neglected; I wonder if God feels that way when we are in a hurry in prayer?

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints"Ephesians 6:18

The word for prayer used in this verse is the most often used word for prayer in the New Testament. It is a combination of two words with three meanings.

First, it means intimacy, closeness, being face to face. When Paul speaks of prayer, the Holy Spirit is guiding him to teach what it is meant to be, a time of intimacy between us where we are face to face with God.

Secondly, it means a vow, a promise, a sacrifice, consecration. It is the idea that when we are offering our prayers, we are in complete surrender to God and are willing to submit to him completely. Because of the first part of the definition, we know that it is a calling to an unconditional love between the pray-er and God. As we pray, we feel His love and willingly surrender to that love to trust that His answer will be perfect.

Third, it means "thanksgiving,"  it is the idea that as we come to the Lord to talk, make our request, and build our relationship that we come expecting having a heart of thanksgiving knowing God is going to respond for our best.

Real prayer is having an intimate, face to face with God. It is surrendering to Him, all that we are and in exchange, we gain all that He has for us. We do this all with such an expectation that our hearts are full of thanksgiving for what He is going to do in us, through us, and for us.

I hope this changes your outlook on prayer. I know if you understand this it certainly will change your effectiveness. God is always faithful to hear and answer our prayers. Will we be faithful to effectively pray?

May 12 Thought for the day....a way to stop worrying

It seems at every turn there is something to worry about. Increased cost, pressure to meet a deadline, family pressures, you name it, we could worry about it but the Bible tells us something different.
     
1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Peter learned this lesson very well and challenges each of us with it. "Casting" as is interpreted here means to through off of yourself onto a beast of burden or someone who could carry the load much more easily. Peter under the direction of the Holy Spirit is making it clear that we are not designed to carry such heavy loads but the Lord is very willing and strong enough to carry them for us.

The medical profession has verified that most of the diseases and ailments we suffer from are directly related to stress. Our bodies and minds are not designed to carry such loads. The word "care" at its root means anxiety, affliction, difficulty, hardship. It simply means anything that would cause you anxiety regardless of the reason. That pretty much covers everything we face each day. The Holy Spirit is telling us, even if we are the root of the cause we are still to give it to Him and He will handle it!

The phrase "He cares for you" means He is always thinking of you, keeping tabs on what you are going through, very much aware of what is happening and before we realize it if we choose to place it in His hands, He has already taken care of it.

You are important to the Lord! You are valuable to Him and this frustrates the devil to no end. Let Him handle your stuff, even if it is your fault and He will deal with it far better than you could ever imagine!

May 11 Thought for the day...the peace you have been looking for

Let's face reality; we live in an age where news is 24/7. People have access to us 24/7. The demands of life are simply 24/7 between work, home, kids, and everything else we could all use a little peace.

"and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

Just like that, it is a beautiful promise. When we look deeper, it becomes amazing. When Paul says the "peace of God," that contentment, security, focus, love that comes from God, "surpasses" all understanding. "Surpasses" means it transcends any problem, outshines any difficulty, goes higher than any trouble can reach, it makes every struggle and difficulty look small and doable compared to God's peace.

What does it outshine and transcend? Our "understanding" the ability to reason, to think, to comprehend the world around us. Together this phrase is telling us, no matter how impossible the situation may be and how large it is by our comprehension, God will cause us to outshine and transcend any difficulty with His security and contentment. The way you think is the way your life will be! He doesn't leave it there.

When we begin to grasp this understanding of God's peace, our flesh and the enemy will try to fight us on it. The word "guard" means that God's peace is like a sentry around your heart and mind. It monitors everything that tries to enter your heart and mind and protects you from those things that would do you harm.

Paul is telling us, "the security and contentment of God will outshine any difficulty that we might be able to reason is an overwhelming problem and that same peace from God will protect our heart and mind from anything that might come to rob us everything God has for us."

I hope this is the peace you have been looking for if it is, relax! God has got this for you, must choose to live in it!

May 10 Thought for the day....just do it

My blogs often are long. I break down the Greek meaning so that we can all better understand what was written. But there are times I simply need to be plain and to the point and today is one of those days.

These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:17

We need to understand this simple truth; this is not an option this is a command. Jesus did not say, only love those that look like you, think like you, have the same background as you, agree with you. He said "I command" which means if you are going to call yourself a Christ-follower, you have no option but to do as He says and "love one another"! In other words, even if you disagree with the person if they are a democrat, republican, tall, short, rich, poor, white, black, brown, purple it doesn't matter, this is not an option for someone who calls themselves a Christ-follower...LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

So the Greek for "love" is, to dearly love, to prefer with immense favor, to give of yourself. How does that apply to the way you think about everyone in your church and every Christian you know? Jesus was saying, "I am charging (commanding) you to prefer with immense favor, giving of yourself to others in a way that shows My life to them."

I think that is probably enough for today...I love you, but you must learn to love one another...please!

May 9 Thought for the day...agreement with God

There are some people I completely trust. Unless someone has taught me otherwise, I tend to trust people first and not be suspicious of them until they prove otherwise. Trusting God completely is something that most people work on for a lifetime. The author of Hebrews is encouraging us to do just that in Hebrews 10:23

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

We have all known people that talk a good talk. They speak all of the right words, it would appear that their "confession" is true but as you get to know them something is off. Their walk with the Lord is not as it should be their walk is not matching their talk. They have anger issues, lying issues, lust issues, bitterness or any faction of the flesh fully alive in them.

I am not talking about people who are trying to follow the Lord. We all have issues that we are working to overcome but ones who are playing the church game to impress others rather than to love both God and people. The difference is found in their "confession."

The word "confession" is what I want us to focus on today. This word is a bit tricky. The idea is you take God's word; you memorize it, practice it in your life, then choose to make it yours. It is making God's word alive in you in such a way as you have so completely come into agreement with His words. It is not just something you know, but it is part of who you are, your agreement is as if your heart and God's heart are completely in sync with one another.

The evidence of this synchronicity is that your confession is no longer empty chatter but is life-giving and powerful to change the world around you. You are no longer speaking mere words but words that are in complete agreement with a relationship with God. You know His heart, His words, and you are living them powerfully. This "confession" makes it easy for God to keep His promises to us!

Each week as I prepare to preach, part of my early morning prayer is "Lord, I know your words in my mouth are just as powerful as your words in your mouth, let my confession be true. Let me only speak your words that I show I am in complete agreement with you!"

May 8 Thought for the day....helping the immature

We have all seen it the parent who acts worse than the child at the sporting event. The bully, though they are now an adult stills acts like a child. We have them in our lives, at work, in our neighborhood in our families and Paul helps young Timothy with them in the church.

"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient," 2 Timothy 2:24

Paul is writing Timothy in response to a letter Timothy sent to Paul about unruly, immature people in the church and some even in leadership. As I am writing this, I am reminded that I need you to understand, if you see the immaturity in your own life be grateful because the Lord is showing you what you need to work on to be ready to fulfill your destiny otherwise you never will.

To be honest, there have been many times in my life where I have tried to help Christians reach their potential. However, when it came time to respond to correction rather than understanding I was trying to help them get to their destiny, they made excuses, accused others, placed blame.  I watched time and time again as they continue to walk around the same mountain. Graciously, only a few never made it, most eventually became frustrated enough that they accepted the correction or discipline needed. This is where real leadership skills come in.

Must not "quarrel" this word means to argue, fight with verbally, strive or contend with. As a true servant, we are never to lower ourselves to the level of immaturity where we are verbally jousting with others. We are to speak the truth in love, explain it the best we can, respond to the questions but do not lower yourself to get in a battle of words, just stay on track, stay focused.

"Be gentle," Paul is indicating here that when dealing with someone who is immature realize what you are doing. The word gentle in this case references to treat them as if they are at the maturity level of a child, caringly guide and direct as you would a child. The problem with many immature parents is rather than being the adult, the parent, in disciplining their children, they lower themselves to act like children. In my eyes, this is a very big problem in parents today. We must not become children in disciplining and correcting the immature but act like mature adults never "flying off the handle" but maintain calm with patience.

Once again, if you see this immaturity in your life, don't worry, be thankful the Lord has exposed it. He is probably preparing to promote you but will not do it until you are ready. He will expose the immaturity so you will be ready to fulfill the destiny He has for you!