In Or Out, Pick One

Good Morning!! In our home, temperature is often just one more "hot" topic. In the winter, the thermostat can be too hot for me,...but my wife loves it on the warmer side. I can eat foods straight out of the fridge,...but she likes them steaming hot out of the oven. One extreme or the other tends to dominate in several areas in our home. We are passionate people,...but somehow we've begun to settle for lukewarm as a way of life. Most Christians aren't any better when it come to the things of the Lord? What is your spiritual temperature? How many areas of life have we become content with just being lukewarm,...especially when it comes to living for Jesus?

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.—Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV)

We are so uncomfortable standing out, and speaking out too much. We rationalize our positions by saying that we do not want to offend anyone or come across as too zealous in our faith. We even justify sinful behaviors by telling ourselves that if we blend in with the crowd, then we can be a more effective witness. Where did these ideas really come from? Are they from the Lord? Not according to Revelation 3:16. Jesus says He will "spit" us out of His mouth if we are lukewarm. He wants us to pick a position; we are either cold, or hot,...for Him, or against Him. We either take up our cross and follow Him with our whole hearts, or we follow our own desires.

Living in the gray areas is unacceptable to God,...regardless of our human rationalizations.

Holy Spirit help us. Our churches are filled with complacent Christians who are quite content to live in the gray areas, not wanting to get too uncomfortable.We want to hear "well done good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23),...and not have Jesus say "I never knew you; depart from Me" (Matthew 7:23). We ask that You light a fire in our hearts today, that will set a blaze in any area of our life that has become lukewarm and complacent. Life here on earth is but for a moment, but eternity is forever. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"Those that kneel before God, can stand against the world."

Choose This Day

Good Morning!! Do you ever find yourself faltering between two opinions? Have you ever felt torn between decisions and not sure of what to do? Maybe we get torn sometimes because we are focusing more on the what, than on the Who. Whether we want to admit it, or not,....everything boiles down to a matter of choice. We must choose between who, what, and how, most everyday of our lives. The Bible makes it clear that we are to choose whom we will follow. God dose not make any allowences for middle of the road living.

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.—1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)

The problem lies in the fact that we do not like to think of ourselves as choosing to follow a false god, like Baal,...but when we turn from following the Lord,...we are turning to follow something else. We get caught up in life’s activities and look for God only when we need Him. Did we really just choose those activities, over the Lord? Probably so. How do we make sure that we choose God first in everything? We must work at making the Lord our priority, everyday. We must start our day with Him, praying about our schedules, asking for His guidance, reading His word for instruction, and worshiping Him with grateful hearts. We must learn to make this our practice everyday.

God knows our hearts,...and He wants us to want Him more than anything else.

Help us Holy Spirit, to stop choosing the what in our lives and start choosing the Who. Help us start our day with the Lord. Guide us away from choosing to serve the false gods of the world. Open our eyes we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

"Those that kneel before God, can stand against the world."

You Really Can Have It All

Good Morning!! When circumstances come into your life that taints the very face of God, it is difficult to know how to think, let alone pray. When evil seems to prevail over the innocent, we wonder and question and ponder if we really can trust God. Where is He in those times? What does it mean that He will never leave you nor forsake you when evil seems to have victory over good in the physical? Are God's definitions different? Or do we have to spiritualize everything that happens on earth, waiting to be vindicated only in heaven?

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,—Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)

No and no. The Christianity that is represented today in most people is not the Jesus that I worship. I am sick and tired of Christians that quote verses to the hurting just to make themselves feel better. My Jesus can give you Living Water that heals every hurt at the depths of the broken and abused soul. We should not settle with what other Christians have to offer. We need Jesus. We need everything He has to offer. We need Jesus to reach down into the depths of our hearts to bring healing and life and liberty to the captive. He has come to set you free; do not settle for anything less.

The abused, the lonely, the confused, the disillusioned, the helpless, must cry out to Him,...be honest,...deliverance will come.

Now, more than ever,...we need Jesus to reach down into the depths of our hearts, to bring healing, life, and liberty to the captives.

"A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God"

Rest, Trust, and Be Saved

Good Morning!! Over and over, the Lord calls us to a place of repentance and to rest in Him. “In repentance” means that we are in agreement with Him that our ways are not right. We fall short of His standards. Repentance also means to turn from our ways as we accept Jesus and accept that His sacrifice on the cross is all we need for salvation,...and there is nothing for us to add.

This is what the Sovereign Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.".—Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

The next part of today's verse is "rest" in His work. An inner strength is then developed by a stillness of soul,...quietness of mind, emotion and will,...because we are convinced that He will help us trust. Living out this verses goes completely against our nature, and the world. We want to do something, or fix it ourselves. We find comfort in feeling that we are in control. It is hard to accept that we have nothing to offer, that would somehow give us a leg up. That is why the verse concludes with "but you would have none of it."

Do you have a stillness of soul?...Do you trust the Lord for your circumstances?
A repentant heart is needed every day,...because we all fall so short.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30)

"A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God"

No Proof Required

Good Morning!! Satan makes frequent attempts to discredit us,...just like he did with Jesus. Satan said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God"… prove it! These are the same kind of taunting thoughts we as believers hear in our heads; "If you are really a child of God’s, then why dosen’t He do this for you?" or "If God has really given you this spiritual gift for the body of Christ, why are’t you working it better?" We start to question God’s ability to use us,...and we question that the promises given to us in His Word, are really for us today,...at times, we can even question if we are really saved,....so, we find ourselves testing the Lord's ability to save us, protect us, use us and speak to us; thus, saying to Him,..."Prove it." We know the Word of God,...and yet, our minds just doesn't seem strong enough to stay focused on the verses to overcome those voices and thoughts.

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written:" 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'".—Luke 4:9-12 (NIV)

Jesus is our example,...He was tempted in some of the same ways of trials (with different circumstances and people),...but overcame them all. We, too, can overcome the taunting voices of the enemy, to live a life pleasing to God by staying on His side,...by fighting His way,...using His words.

The Living Word of God (Jesus),...quotes the Written Word of God (the Bible),...to repel the attacks of the enemy.

Father God, we've been in tough times before,...and know that You have been faithful, regardless of our faithlessness. We know that You love us,...and You have every right to test our hearts,...and try our motives to see which way we will go. Lord, we choose You. We choose to not test, or question You, during these time. We know that Your promises will come to pass, and You don’t have to prove anything to us. Amen.

"A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God"

You've Got A Friend

Good Morning!! As adults, friendships are not so easy to define, or identify,...at least not like when we were young. We grow up, we grow distant,...and we get too busy to spend the time it takes to maintain friendships. But that's not how Jesus intended friendships to be. As adults, we need to remain childlike,...but not childish. Children do not worry about the boundaries or the real motive behind every spoken word. They just want a friend,...someone to hang out with. Jesus talked about friends as; someone willing to lay down his life for another. Maintaining friendships as adults is difficult because true friendship does “not [seek] its own” desires (1 Corinthians 13:4); true friendship is selfless and giving.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.—Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

Jesus is our perfect example of friendship. He laid down His life just for us, because He is our true Friend. Today, we can take comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, Jesus is always with us. Do you have a friend or companion who is there for you? Regardless of how alone we may feel at times, we need to take heart in knowing that Jesus is always our Friend, and He is the best one of all, for He will never leave us nor forsake us.

People need each other, in good times, and bad.
Open up, and let someone in.

Father God, help us to be the friend that someone is in need of, right now. Let our love and kindness mirror that of Jesus. Amen.
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"A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God"

Kept In Check, By Love

Good Morning!! Ever noticed that through the process of chastening, people rarely remember the circumstance that brought on the trial? But we will remember the intensity of the pain. When God really gets a hold of us and starts working on changing us, we can feel hallow and empty,...almost like a pumpkin. God cuts around our handle and scrapes us clean of all the seeds and stringy things. We liked all those seeds, stringy things and even the dingy environment,... at first, we grieve over missing the old us.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.—Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)

But then, He goes a step further and takes the knife of the Word and starts carving at our hardened protected side. With this, our insides now become exposed to the outside,...and now light has the ability to shine through. Often, we can barely handle such exposure,...and we feel the embarrassment and vulnerability. During these times we cry, yell, pray and beg Him to stop,...not really understanding why we have to go through this painful process. But in His perfect timing, we come realize that the peaceful fruit of righteousness, has resulted in us.

Stop listening to instruction,...and you will turn your back on knowledge.

Father in Heaven, we pray for Your light to be placed deep within us so others can see Your good work.

"A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God"