God Brings the Moral

Photo by Jeff Johnson

God has always given us the opportunity to walk with Him, in His ways- which are Life or choose a lifestyle of death that ends in the destruction of the soul.

We often don’t think about how our thoughts -control our actions or how they help us to receive help and guidance from God or not. 

God is only a thought away but it’s amazing how far that empowering thought can be from us at times if we aren't including God in our thoughts.

Vinegar by itself does nothing in a bottle but put some baking soda in with it and watch that mixture overflow the confines of that bottle.  We are like that vinegar and God is like that baking soda- alone our thoughts stay stagnant but with God we grow past the confinements of our understanding.

King David wrote, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever…”
  

Jesus said, “He that believes in me, as the scriptures says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Ever felt on edge, wary, fickle, frail, frustrated, burdened?  I have….

At times we can be our worst enemy.

So for those times, I have asked God to help me write some things down to help me regain and stand in the balancing rhythm of God’s presence, bringing moral -“LIFE” to my soul.

Jesus said to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength (ability) but the only way I have found to have this “ability” is to surrender my heart to God in all matters of life which fits well with the words from book Zechariah.

“It is not by force nor by strength, but my Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts.

In other words, “Let go…”

The Apostle Paul learned it’s not by one’s strength or sure determination but an acceptance of “ones weakness” that allows God’s power to rest upon them… “For my grace is sufficient.”
(Repeat sentence if it hasn't sunken in.)

As I reflected on these passages written by Paul, I have gotten a sense of freedom and a certain contentment- he didn’t try to wrestle everything but had God use what came as an opportunity for God to show himself stronger and brighter and mightier then the circumstance.

Paul was driven to practice the art of losing the part of “himself” that hindered him from experiencing the liberating fullness of Christ.  In Paul’s mind, the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ and the promises that came with those things could not be out done- so knowing this he surrendered his “hindering life” for Jesus’ sake.

Do you remember Jesus saying, "to find life one must lose it for his sake"?

I find this “losing” of ones self is a continuous thing- and I have found that the “tender responsive heart” is handicapped from God’s leading and greatness in our life when we close ranks on ourselves -by accepting schemes and ideas that tire, wear, mundane, burden, assume and think we are in some kind of control.  For WHERE is the renewing power of the Spirit of Christ going to work and move if the space God wants to use is already taken up by our own faulty understanding?

2 Corinthians says, “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalt itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
 

When we do this "we make room" to receive the necessary things from the Spirit to make the soul abound and overcome.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In being reminded of our supernatural birth in Christ Jesus to now- it is vital that our created souls be continuously "yoked" to the Spirit.  For our souls were specifically created to experience a fulfilling life in the Spirit of God.

Colossians says, “Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” 

We know the new self is created by the Spirit of God.  We need this engagement of the Holy Spirit daily or we may suffer a very shortsighted, drab existence, hindered not only by our understanding but whatever might come.  The things of life are no different then what anyone else goes through but it’s in WHO you and I focus in that gives moral to our soul.

With God- he helps us unfold and fold our thoughts in a godly manner.

Knowing Jesus’ Lordship over our lives gives us this settling affect in our soul- strengthening our inner man like tapping the weakening bubbles out of a substance.

In art school I often saw the havoc of air bubbles in ceramic pieces- causing vessels and pieces to shatter and crack in the firing process.

It is not different in us… God is the potter, he is the author and finisher of our faith- and he knows what “air bubbles’ to rid us of so we will make it through the firing process of this life.  Knowing this we look to Him to strengthen the inner man.

Psalms says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

Galatians says, “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”

2 Peter says “As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need to for living a godly life.  He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!  And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises.  He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you and caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.”

Doubt can even become evil for not addressed.  That is why it’s important not only to believe but ask God to help us overcome our doubt... so that the edginess, worry, fickle, frail, frustration and burden will not reign over our hearts but God who brings moral.

Like a commander bringing moral to his soldiers before battle… this is what Jesus wants to do for us daily.  That we may “not” go out in the world with some kind of dread but go out with cheer and vigor and hope!

“For if God is for us, who can be against us?”         

The Sick Forest

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“This forest feels sick, as if a disease lies upon it.  Is there no way around?” J.R.R. Tolkien

This line struck a cord in my soul.

I have always had a special place for trees.  I grew up in a place where enormous evergreen and maple trees grow and stand.  I enjoyed playing in them and amongst them.  I have great memories of the trees that filled the greenbelts and woods of my childhood home. 

Today I like growing trees in pots on my back porch.  Some have grown from seed and acorn, others I have discovered while tending to my yard and garden.  Little presents from God. White crape myrtles and boxwood elders seem to be my favorite.  

Trees are beautiful things but that wasn’t the main reason why Tolkien’s sentence echoed in the chambers of my soul.    

It was the correlation that my soul drew upon.  It was the illustration that God Himself often makes in His word…  How trees symbolically represent people.

“They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”  Referenced from Isaiah 61. 
 

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“But as my people watched, I destroyed the Amorites, though they were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks.  I destroyed the fruit of their branches and dug out their roots” Amos 2:9     

“Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." Ezekiel 47:12

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." Jeremiah 17:8

Even our LORD Jesus Christ is referred to as a tree or branch in scripture.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord;” Zechariah 6:12

How differently I think of the cedars of Lebanon that Solomon used to construct the temple of the Lord. For this event was to illustrate what was to come. It was to show us how the Lord and King, Jesus Christ, would use God’s forests (so to speak) to construct the living temple where he would dwell.

  “Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16

A temple that the red dragon, Satan, would love to destroy in as many ways as possible.

 ^“And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.” Revelation 12:17

Tolkien’s speaks of a sick forest, a forest that has been put under an evil spell, a poison that has allowed evil to undermine and weaken the forest of Mirkwood.   It has caused the trees, under closer examination, to become bare and fruitless and pale.   Evil has been allowed to weave its webs there and those assigned to task of overseeing these forests have been overwhelmed at the decline and condition of these once beautiful woodlands.  

It has reminded of such verses in the bible.

 “You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” Revelation 3:17

  

“The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:10

^“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-12

Now it’s NOT hard to imagine why Satan, the deceiver, would try to convince many with his skilled poisonous whispers "division from God".  In fact Satan tried to separate God’s chosen creation, made in God’s image, by encouraging Eve and Adam to question God in the Garden of Eden.   Satan still tempts individuals with the temporal pleasures and foolish opinions of fallen men -that God is not all that important.   Satan uses items such as money and the securities and comforts of the world that never satisfy in hopes to keep many away from God.   Blinded by the dragon's sickness these people become disenchanted, selfish and close-minded about life.   

For how many... have you known, who inadvertently took their eyes off God and found themselves in a dark predicament?   

Have you ever thought everything is meaningless and pointless because you have failed to seek, surrender your perspective and been appreciative to God for the things He has given you?

Satan tries his hardest to get people’s eyes off of God, who is the sustainer and light of men. (Why do you think Satan works so hard to get God’s name out of “this” and out of “that”?)  For God is the LIFE giving Spirit and without Him we would be doomed to become like the Forest of Mirkwood or the still trees of Narnia. 

“And the trees, they retreated so deep into themselves that they haven’t been heard from since.”…. Narnia movie quote.

Ever been in the presence of such a tree or gathering of trees?  Their thoughts continue in same circular pattern that drives them into a dark deep hole.  They lose track of the path in which they were to stay on.  They don’t seem to remember to look up for a way out. 

  

Fortunately by the grace of God, we have been awakened from such dreadful heavy states just as David.

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again--my Savior and my God!” Psalm 43:5

Jesus said,

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:3

What a mighty verse to stop the dark allure of spreading its blight and causing inner spoil of blackness and rot. 

Here is another...

“³ Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.” Revelation 3:3

We need a good shaking from time to time to knock off the cold heavy snow from our branches that hasn’t allowed us to hear or see clearly.  We need a good wind to stir us to allow our roots to grow down into God's love. 

In transplanting my trees, I find some become root bound.  I have to cut the roots on the side of the root ball so they will grow properly in the ground.   We too can put ourselves in a pot of our own making and become root bound in our own understanding and stop maturing and becoming fruitful.  BUT God because He loves us took us out of that pot, cut the root bound away and placed us in His fertile soil with no pots!!!  God doesn't set limitations on us but we do.

   

 ^“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:16-19

So when you feel the allure to trust in something other then God or when all you seem to see is darkness, the mundane, and the meaningless of the world -submit to God and he will lift you up- James 4:10. 

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Remember Satan wants to undermine and sicken the forest of God.  He wants to destroy the tree that you are in God.  He wants to tear down the temple and it's beauty that God is creating in you.  He wants to contaminate your mind and heart with his dragon sickness just as illustrated with Thorin Oakshield in the Hobbit who exhibited hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, division, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy… these are just some of the symptoms listed in Galatians 5:19-21.  A sickness if not awakened and healed from, leads to no eternal life in heaven.   

Satan does not want you to become what God has planned for you.  He wants you to close and blockade the doors and shut them so no light comes in and darkness can have it's way with you.

Think of it this way, Satan knows…   

Who wants to look at a sick tree? Who wants to go into a sick forest? Would you use rotten trees to build a house?  Of course not! Get the picture?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8

“I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 3:11-13

GOD- THE LIFE CHANGER. Pt. 1

FAITH

While reading Deuteronomy 6... I could not help but see what FAITH does in GOD.  It is a very different landscape and new world with God.   It is an indeed a very “unexpected” journey.  Though once part of "this" world we now become like foreigners and nomads living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our fellow man while we look forward to the time when we can finally fall asleep and the angels lift us out of these bodies and we go to our rightful HOME... that is if we are not taken up or ruptured first.

 

TO SEE JESUS... the one when we think about -brings all good things to our soul.   Though HIS smile, I have only seen in visions and dreams , it instantly lifts and lights my burden soul.  How wonderful this affect is on the soul - I do wonder how much more wonderful it will be when there is nothing separating us from HIM.  

Like a child who loves the embrace of a parent or relative, I look forward to JESUS' embrace.    To hear his laugh and hear the voice that called everything into being.  Can you imagine? We will hold the very hands that made and formed us and even took the punishment for us.    

John 1:3 says: “God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”

GOD the FATHER thought it, JESUS spoke it, and the Spirit created it.

 

Can you imagine the hands lifted in such JOY and PRAISE!  Hands raised in golden rain that soaks and saturates our smiling faces (I do not how this will be because I have only seen glimpses of this in vision.) I look forward to be without fail in his continual presence where no fleshly hindrances interrupt - for full surrender is that what will be lived in heaven of every moment of eternity.   The peace and energy that will encompass us.  It will be beyond comprehension.  

We gave nothing compared to GOD who gave everything to become personal with us.  We gave ourselves and GOD gave us HIMSELF which is everything!   

Now we draw water from cisterns we did not dig and eat from vineyards and olive trees we did not plant.   The Spirit gives us living water and we are anointed and baptized in HIS Spirit.  The LORD has broken the chains of our slavery and rescued us from Hell.  We have opportunities everyday to stop from our basic cluttered thinking and start afresh- abiding in His SPIRIT of GOD who is richly stocks us with unlimited goods and resources to encourage and relieve us from our load.   Where we receive understandings and spiritual food we did not produce or thinking up on our own.  He is the one who becomes our guide of the day- organizing the tasks at hand and we often don’t thank GOD for doing such thing- and for this I am sorry for not recognizing the efforts you have put forth for me. 

By GOD’s patient teaching, we realize LIFE is about trusting GOD with holy surrender and reverence knowing in doing so he blesses and preserves our soul.

Religion does not do this for how could it if GOD is absent and it only preserves the traditions of man.  Religion is acting.  Religion is left to it's own unsatisfying devices; it is absent of the assurances, hopes and leadership of GOD. 

GOD is the GOD of FAITH not RELIGION.

Faith is finding GOD is GOOD and FULL OF MERCY.   FAITH is KNOWING GOD is SPIRIT and HE ALONE renews the SOUL and makes us RIGHT with HIMSELF.       

RELIGION can use God’s name or not use God’s name and even those who claim to have no religion have the religion of their own understanding.  Religious people like to crawl into the seat, which is rightfully GOD’s.  They are like kings and rulers who kill their predecessor so they can be ruler but GOD cannot be killed and no one can sit on HIS throne but HIM. 

    

RELIGION is dependent upon all the accomplishments and deeds of the USER and excludes GOD from being SOLE SAVIOR.   

JESUS said: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” JOHN 6:63

JESUS speaking of himself said: “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him.  But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God.  Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than light, for their actions were evil.  They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness.  They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.  But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see they are doing what God wants.” JOHN 3:18-21

  

Religions may seem wise in appearance because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial and even serve bodily discipline but they provide no help in godly maturity and conquering a person's evil desires. (Note Colossians 2:23).  Religion is blind to the path of GOD's grace and prevents others from experiencing the transforming power of JESUS CHRIST.  

ASK any Christian; if they were not saved by some religious rule of man.  Did they break free of some stronghold on their own?  Of course not....  They were saved by GOD who birthed them into the realization of Himself/ JESUS CHRIST.   

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From our house to yours,

We wish you a wonderful Merry Christmas as we all celebrate the season of the Savior’s birth.

Christmas is about loving God and loving others.

When I think about Christmas I can’t help but see the two commandments Jesus told us to live by.  These commandments seem to sparkle especially bright during Christmas time.

Think about it....  As we celebrate Christmas we celebrate the love we have for Jesus Christ.   And as we celebrate the remembrance of the greatest gift to mankind, we give gifts to others.

We in the Spirit of the season, love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and that overflows to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

This giving of cards and gifts some say come from the magi (wise men/kings) who followed the great star to Bethlehem to bestow gifts to Jesus but I am pointed in another direction when it comes to gift giving.

This custom,  I believe was, influenced by Jewish festivals such as the festivals of Purim where there was deliverance from death.  During these festivals, even to this day, food and presents are given to one another and to the poor.

We too celebrate the deliverance from death (eternal death) through our Savior Jesus Christ who came as a baby, born of a virgin.

  Jesus speaking of himself said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Not long after this, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz:  “Ask me for a sign, Ahaz, to prove that I will crush your enemies as I have promised.  Ask for anything you like; and make it as difficult as you want.”  But the king refused, “No,” he said, “I wouldn’t test the LORD like that.”  Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! You aren’t satisfied to exhaust my patience.  You exhaust the patience of God as well!  All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign.  Look! The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel- ‘God is with us.’”  Isaiah 7:10-14

Christmas.  It is a season where we celebrate our deliverance through Jesus Christ. 

  Celebrate the joy of deliverance! Merry Christmas!