What Do You Have in Your Hand?

Pastor Brian Houston's encouraging word from the Lord.

Hope this touches you in about your calling, purpose, gifts and talents....

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/my-hand-my-heart/id193231712?i=338979810&mt=2

Something NEW

In learning to drive a stick shift, there can be a lot of jerking and grinding.  It can be pretty frustrating...  Maybe learning to drive a stick shift was at first a frustrating process … because we presumed it would be easier or maybe because we are.... perfectionists.... but how can learning to drive a stick shift pertain to daily life and how we look at life?

If we don't look to God first thing in the morning... our morning can start off jerking and grinding...   and we might not even get out of park or even first gear.  Forget coffee... without God you might as well had stayed in bed because coffee doesn't restrain what comes out of your mouth.  

Some people wake up and turn on the radio or television filling their heads with garbage first... how do you think that effects your thoughts?

And they wonder why they feel so negative about life.... without God -looking at the world our righteous anger might turn to hate, revenge, slander, bias, cursing, and violence.  God says to be angry but do not sin.  Looking at the world our feelings of oppression might turn to depression, hopelessness, self-pity, and loss of self worth.

Even our uncanny trait to presume something of the day can hinder us like a curse.  Have you ever heard someone say, “I dread Mondays”?  Why do they dread Mondays?  Are they looking only to their own understanding?  Where is their mindset?   Presumption is assumption by us not God and certainly not God living through us?  Might as well put blinders on and not even consider what God has for you on Mondays.

We live in a world where there is little or no certainty.  The only certainty people have is in God but what certainty do you have if you don’t have God?  Where are your hopes and dreams if you don’t have God? Can you make a positive difference if you don’t have your eyes on God?

The world jerks and grinds enough but our soul doesn’t need to jerk and grind with it. 

God’s word says…

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and prefect will.” Romans 12:2

We might live in this disturbing world and clamors for our attention but we need to have a spiritual disconnect from the world because if we are Christian then our real life is hidden in Christ. 

“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

Stability doesn’t come from the world but God.  Why do you think the founding fathers of the United States based our country on the principles of God? They knew God gave them stability even in uncertain times.

We can see and hear and experience the murders and the injustices to Jews and Christians around the world but for us to function, as God wants us to we must keep our hearts in Godly perspective where God is to sit on the throne of our hearts.  Time is growing short for Satan so he is pulling out all he can to corrupt the world and turn against God’s own… to steal our rights- forget the constitution, kill the innocent and destroy what is right.  But for those saved in Jesus name… we have already WON.  And we must stand in our position Jesus Christ has WON for us. 

Jesus said…

 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  John 10:9-10

God says, “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 3:25

David says, “He refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3

God says, “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”  Reference: Isaiah 49:23

We have WON in our INFINITE GOD. 

God being Infinite is about making things new in our life.  He isn’t stuck in thoughts of yesterday.  His mind isn’t seasoned by days of the past.  Nothing is routine or mundane with God.  He isn’t even surprised by the happenings of the day.  In our living, active, all knowing God we are not to go around and around- like some religious merry-go-round or listening to the enticing forked tongue earworm that works hard at trying to taint our thoughts.

We are striving to be and do what God wants us to be and do.   Seek He who is infinite, abide in He who is infinite and FIND.   Find the CHANGE of our lookout and in the CHANGE we CAN touch those around us.

The word says the uncompromising, the righteous are as bold as lions. [Reference: Proverbs 28:1] So do we believe it?   

God who makes a NEW DAY also makes us NEW… changing us from glory from glory. He does not save us and leave us but has given us Himself that we might turn away from the old and be renewed and empowered!

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

He isn’t about religion but a faith that is living in the here and now.   He is about speaking to the here and now.  He is about making things fresh in the here and now.  He is the FIRE to makes the lasting flame not some flame that goes dim in the night!

Example: If a church stays in the past, it is the same as a mind that stays in the past- it isn’t living in the Spirit and truth for the Spirit makes the truth come ALIVE! The truth of word of God will always remain but the Spirit causes the truth to LIVE in US!    

ALIVE IS CHANGE… it isn’t a stagnate pond that collects blood sucking mosquitoes.  It is a river that supports life and brings life.

Our Infinite God is about NEW. 

“For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!! Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

No one wants to live in the dry wasteland of ourselves, looking for something to satisfy our souls… no one want to live off the scraps of this world that acts like a bunch of vultures huddled around some smelly decomposing road kill.  Nor can anyone live off yesterday.  No one in their right mind says, “let’s eat that yesterday’s manna that now has maggots gathered on it.”  Does a fresh mountain stream come back the same way it came?   No! Only the decaying and dying do that.  God’s rivers bring refreshing, nourishment and LIFE! Forests and green pastures…

When we don’t seek God we end up flapping our wings wildly trying to get somewhere like a mad bee trapped in a clear vase.  We think we see clearly but we are stuck behind glass of our own understanding only wasting time and energy.  God says seek me and I will make you soar!

“Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:30-31

There is only ONE remedy to all this…. there is only ONE remedy to see and experience and live all the plans and possibilities God has in store for each one of us.  There is only ONE remedy that will make us prosperous and will be feed, sustained and cause our souls to flourish.

"Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; if you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.” Deuteronomy 30:9

Living, heart and soul, in God’s Spirit is our remedy to living life FRESH and NEW.

Here are some notes I have jotted down in my quiet time with the LORD.  Some these things say the same thing but that isn’t bad… sometimes it helps us think of the same content in a different manner.

-Ask God to refresh your soul and mind daily. Cleanse you the grit and dirt of yesterday and the past.

-Submit to God in living in Spirit and truth.

-Let God give you the spirit you need for the task- Any task.

-Be Spirit guided not flesh guided.

-Go at the speed of the Spirit not the speed of your want or presumption.

-Do not try to predict or control.

-Know God will provide in what you need and in your call.

-Know there are eternal ramifications in your actions.

-Be in one accord in Spirit for a task to be accomplished successfully.

-Know God wants do something new everyday of your life.

-Know God wants us to come to the knowledge of the truth and live in the knowledge of the truth as Christ is our mediator, teacher and guide.

-Liberty comes with us letting go and letting God do through us.

Did you notice all these things speak of God doing something new in our life?

God is not about putting you in park.  God is not about you grinding and jerking your way through life.  God is not about putting you in first gear where you hold up a line of traffic behind you for miles.  God is about letting you find the hope, peace, joy, love and wisdom of driving with Him- where the drive is refreshing and new and encouraging. 

God we ask that you refresh our souls… guide and direct our lives, empower us to see life not through our own limited understanding but through your enriching infinite Spirit that causes us live this life you have promised in abundance and boldly in you.  In Jesus name Amen. 

 

       

EASTER

--> The REDEMPTION of HUMAN KIND through GOD’S SON JESUS CHRIST.

The deliverance, rescue, liberation, salvation from our sins and all unrighteousness came through JESUS CHRIST taking the punishment for our sin becoming the once and for all the last sacrificial lamb.

God knowing we would never know the wonder and greatness of Himself…  God knowing we would never come to know His plan for our life…  God knowing we would never have the power to overcome sin on our own, or be justified before Him- God who is LOVE allowed Himself to be put a cruel torturous life taking cross for us fulfilling the destiny of prophecy spoken by God and the representatives of God.

JESUS TOOK OUR SIN UPON HIMSELF 

“Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for our sins!  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped and we were healed!  All of us have strayed away like sheep.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.  He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.  He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.  And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.  From prison and trial they let him away to his death.  But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins- that he was suffering their punishment?  He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone.  But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grace. But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief.  Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs.  He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s plan will prosper in his hands.  When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.  And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death.  He was counted among those who were sinners, He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.  Isaiah 53:4-12

“The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.   Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life.  Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners.  But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God’s sight.”   ROMANS 5:17-19

Righteous and innocent of all sin JESUS took the keys of death and hell.

Jesus said.

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18

Easter is about knowing we are not justified by anything we can do but by surrendering to Christ Jesus who makes us justified before God. 

Satan loves to try to convince humankind that we are justified by our deeds but our good deeds don’t justify us in fact when our deeds to God are like filthy rags.   Have you ever smelled a filthy rag that has been sitting out too long?  Have you ever forgotten about a load of laundry in the washing machine … and when you go to open the lid this awful stench comes out? 

“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6

Our good deeds don’t justify us in fact when we try to be justified by our good deeds they say to God, “God…your sacrifice on the cross means nothing.” 

We are only justified through Christ Jesus and knowing this humbling reminder helps us not to be caught up in ourselves in pride, prejudice, and foolish ignorance but in what Christ has done and can do in us in submission to His life enriching wisdom and authority.   Knowing this… our godly lifestyle is empowered by Jesus’ sacrifice that speaks mighty of our value and worth to God.   So we don’t have to be preoccupied to prove ourselves to anyone, which allows the grace, peace, and love to flow from us.

Jesus said,

“I am the way the truth and life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” John 14:6

Jesus also said,

“Yes, I am the gate.  Those who come in through me will be saved.  Wherever they go, they will find green pastures.  The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.  My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”  John 10:9-10

Once again, the thief, who is Satan, will always try to appeal/petition to the fleshly understanding of man that wants to act according to the desires of the flesh and justify it self but we cannot justify our selves.   Knowing our worth and value to God brings the riches of peace, hope, love, mercy, grace, wisdom, and godly self-control… all things that the people of this world continually seeks but look and invest in all the wrong places.

“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, [The law of the Spirit, living in Spirit and truth, To love God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself] nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.  You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.   But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness [Faith in God].   And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” Romans 8:7-11

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

JESUS rose again.  He took up HIS life again.  He was resurrected!

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,” John 11:25

Jesus being fully God and man said,

“No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded." John 10:18

“David was looking into the future and predicting the Messiah’s resurrection.  He was saying that the Messiah would not be left among the dead and that his body would not rot in the grave.  This prophecy was speaking of Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and we all are witnesses of this.  Now he sits on the throne of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.  And the Father, as he had promised gave him the Holy Spirit to pour upon us just as you see and hear today.” Acts 2:31-33

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit identifies as God’s children.  The Holy Spirit teaches us all truth and to know God and the things of God.   The Holy Spirit helps us overcome unhealthy and sinful temptations.  We can invest and enrich our souls in the things that are eternal and lasting by the Holy Spirit.

“And now you also have heard the truth the Good News that God saves you.  And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.  The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.  This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.” Ephesians 1:13-14

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” Ephesians 3:16

So that is why we celebrate Easter!  God saved us through Jesus Christ and we want to share this real life saving/changing message with others.

God your Maker…. God your Creator… came to save us.  He came to save you and I… to give us life and eternal life in Heaven and that we might come to know Him and discover what is means to abide/live in Him.    

The question is are you going to accept this life saving gift from your Creator and be changed forever?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Easter, it is about Jesus sacrifice for us.  It’s about our Savior Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death to life.  And through faith in these two things we are made right with God and we are transformed…. by the LOVE of our Savior- Jesus Christ.