Hope

As I thought about this special week, one thing kept coming to mind. 

It is a truth the world badly needs. 

It’s a truth we aren’t born with.

A truth that gives us a realization that comforts - brings peace and stability amongst all the unknowns in our life.

It’s a truth that is our lifeboat to our thoughts amongst the storms and struggles; it’s a safety net, a rising airship that lifts our mindset above all the sticky burdens and cumbersome thoughts. 

As Isaiah wrote “it” renews our strength.  Makes us soar like eagles, run and not grow weary and walk and not faint.

I think of martyrs who clung and lived in the “beyond”, who knew personally the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

What is the belief that has enable believers to endure even through harsh treatment, torture, and death throughout the ages?

What was this ultimate saving grace that empowered their mindset to transcend the natural? 

It was… “Hope”.

Every human desires hope. 

Some have unfortunately placed their hope in the things of this world only to pay dearly when those things fail them. 

Real hope isn’t some kind of “wishful” thinking but a confidence that wells up in the believer in Jesus Christ.   It is like the stiff wind that keeps our kite flying.  It is part of us but alien to us as well -for we could not manufacture or accomplished this hope by any means of our own.  It was gifted to us -when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. 

For when we were part of the world and thought and lived as the world, we didn’t have this hope and oddly we instinctively looked for this alien hope as if were a genetic spiritual code built in us by our Creator and passed down through all generations of humanity.

Man has tried to satisfy this need in their soul in many things - by loving the things of world, which could never satisfy.

1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.”

It is apparent when it came to these individuals -when it came to the few grains of sand in their hourglass they were gripped by sadness, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and ultimate emptiness.  No human means (money, popularity, fame, power, relations, self-righteousness) could save them… 

Before Christ, we had no spiritual passport to take us to a place our soul always yearned for- “a true reality of hope”.  We were stuck but thank God, when we called out to God from the dark hole we found ourselves in -God lovingly reached down and rescued us….

King David wrote, “I love the LORD because He hears and answers my prayers. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Psalm 116:1-2

When the Spirit of God rescued us, he took the blinders from our eyes, leaned over our shoulder and pointed us to a door of light- “a gate of hope itself” (Jesus Christ). 

In this there was this moment of clarity where we knew this was an invitation from God.  We accepted and in doing so received a great renewal that had it roots in hope and a love we are still yet beginning to understand for it is so great.

I ponder this in my heart… what is true wisdom?  What is true knowledge? What is true power? What is true authority? What is true peace? What is true joy?  Is it not hope living in all its abundance?

Take a moment…. 

The bible refers to hope as a confidence, a confidence in our salvation in Jesus Christ.  (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Hebrews 6:19 says, “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.  It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”

This hope in Jesus Christ anchors the soul to things that prospers it and keeps it away from what wants to steal from it.

This hope in Jesus Christ is to give us life and life more abundantly. 

The believer has been given the keys to God’s house.  So if our soul isn’t prospering – we must ask ourselves – “Where have I put my spiritual keys- where have we put our hope? 

Where is that spiritual access card that allows me to have access into the things of God like peace, love, joy, faith, renewal, confidence, grace and so on?”  Where have I put my hope?”  What have I mistakenly placed before God in my life?

John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son (Jesus Christ) into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

Jesus came into the world to save it and give it a lasting hope… but it is our choice to come to him be spiritually sustained by Him or not.  It is our choice to love darkness more then the light of hope in God.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “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.”

Think about it…  This is a message for you who are saved and you who haven’t given your life to the Lord yet.

Hope are you living in it?   

THE TREE

I was shown a vision.   There was this dark gray forest, a forest I thought at first were hairs on a dog in the moonlight.  But as I looked more closely I realized these were no hairs of a dog at all but trees.  They were trees without any limbs or branches.  There were thousands of tree trunks and they were all leaning like a great wind at blown them in all the same direction but within this sea of grey slivers I was guided to a single warm yellow light.  I looked closer and realized it was a tree, a tree of light.   It was small and I would had probably missed it if it hadn't been pointed out to me.  It had branches and leaves and it was standing upright.  A tree of light.... in a "barren" wilderness.

It does remind me of dream I had of a ocean and a forest.  A ocean that was pouring onto the land stripping the trees of their bark and laying their fruit to waste.   The trees were no longer getting their water from the mountain but the poisoning ocean.

If you have the Spirit of God living in you, you know the ocean is the sea of immoral humanity.  It poisoned the trees with it's sinful values, rules, mandates, human understanding and so called "improvements".  You can also figure the mountain is God, the source of life.      

The forest in this vision also had been stripped.... and a darkness had come upon it.

When you think of the word “gray” what does it mean to you? 

Gray isn’t black and white.  When things are not black or white, then there is no real sense of right and wrong.  When these things become gray how do we define things like justice, morals, sin, love...? 

When people do not stand on what is right or wrong or know right from wrong then they are blown this way and that way like grass in the wind.  They can believe anything is right and true even though it is not.   Truth is not a matter of opinion.  Truth comes from God, what is written in His word.  When you have no REAL truth living in your soul then you just have a "barren" existence.

Think how those trees were stripped... why were they stripped?

Existing isn’t life but “Life” happens when God (TRUTH) is allowed to be engaged in a person’s soul.  JESUS made this possible.  

Christians, God wants us to be that tree of light in a gray world.  He wants to sing in our branches-so to speak.

Yes Jesus said.... “Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”  But He ALSO continued with: “ But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.  And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come…” Matthew 23:12-14

Has the end come? No! Of course not, so why act as if it is so…  Our true HOPE is Alive and Well. And that hope in us is contagious because God, unlimited in encouraging resources and trustworthy promises, is OUR SOURCE!

  

Jesus spoke and there was light.  Jesus came into our life and a newness beyond our imagination came into our life.  We were transformed were we not? Light had come into our life! Truth had come into our life.

Jesus said “I am truth, the way, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John said "God is light" (1 John 1:5) and if you have Jesus then His light is to shine in you for He is the light of mankind. (John 1:4)

Jesus said to those who believe in him, “You are light of the world- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead put it on a stand and let it shine for all.”

Let the goodness of God flow through you!  TRUST and call upon His goodness with expectation… and in this, the calm peaceful pleasant perfect centering will of God will be manifested in your life! Yes Joy!  And the dark things of this world will become POWERLESS in your life... as the saying goes.. "This too shall pass..."

Do you remember what Psalm 1 says?

"Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. 
 But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law.   They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail.
  Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.  But this is not true with the wicked.  They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.  They will be condemned at the time of judgment.  Sinners will have no place among the godly.  For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”  

Be that tree of light! No matter how small a tree you might think you are- God notices and points you out.
  

Hebrews 10:23-24

“Let us hold resolutely to the hope we confess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds….” Hebrews 10:23-24

The launch pad of our decisions makes a great impact in our life and those around us.  

What I mean when I say “launch pad” I mean the “fuel” of a thought.  

We have a lot of thoughts… some negative and some positive... some we question "Where did that come from?" and some that seemingly have no purpose whatsoever…

Who do we allow to fuel our thoughts- who influences, sensors and transforms our thoughts? Do we ourselves fuel our thoughts? Of course!  Do we allow the opinions of others? On occasion.  Do we allow the world,  like television and social media? Quite possible.  Do we allow God?  

"Let us hold resolutely to the hope we confess"… What hope are you confessing in when you speak and act? 

What is being manifested?  What is regurgitated junk? What is living and breathing and needed and new?  God doesn't give us words that are dead for our soul but he breaths life into them and makes them new and deeper. 

I don’t know about you but this human condition had influenced my soul for a long time but did it prosper my soul?  Before the revelation of Jesus,  my hope was more often then not in things here today and gone tomorrow?  Were they in God? For the most part...  No.   Those temporary things the world offered never prospered my soul.  They were fleeting- and who can sit on anything that is fleeting.

What happens when we hold fast, turn to, submit, draw close to God?  When we sincerely look to God, WHO is faithful, He manifests His perfect will in our lives- which is something we just can’t produce on our own. 
 

In HIM... We live in who we are supposed to be and created to be.  We live in His love.  We live in the knowing we are children of God.

"For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’" Acts 17:28

(I am going to take a slight jump here in thought.)

1 Corinthians 13:13 says: “There are three things that will endure- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.”

God is the foundation of our FAITH.  He is our HOPE.  And His LOVE influences our life.  These things are to override/supersede, and prevail over everything else.  It is what makes us endure all things.

In His love we are set free from ourselves and the things that so easily trip us up like our own insecurities.

But we fail to live in this when look inward instead of outward towards God.  I wonder if we stopped looking inward at ourselves and being filled with the junk of this world  -what we might accomplish inside and outside of ourselves in God- hence being an influencing light in a dark world.

This is quite possible what Paul meant when he wrote:

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter.  Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.  Think about things that excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

So deliberately look to God in all things... And watch the God of peace prosper your soul in Himself and enable you to supernaturally, to spur others on in love and good things.   All things...

Why Do We Lack?

I was going to write about patron client privilege but then God whispered this to me as I was driving.

“God is my provider.”

“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” Psalm 54:4

We lack.   We hunger.  We thirst.  We fret.  We tire.  We doubt.  We fear.  We are unsettled. We are unsatisfied.  Because we don’t know or remember God is our provider, God is our help, God is the sustainer of our soul.

I know that is easy to say but to know... to know is all another matter entirely.    We all have these unsettling moments in our life but what stops the emotional earthquake?  What stops the walls from closing in?  What stops the landslide from overcoming?   What calms the storm on the rocky seas of life?  When do we suddenly stop walking in the deserts of this life and start walking in God's pastures of goodness?

Is God over our circumstances?  Another brother in Christ and I were talking about this… the conflicts, difficult circumstances, the let downs, betrayals, sideswipes, misunderstandings, the heaviness of life, the temptations, disappointments, loss, are all mended and ramified when we do what?

How does the dark shadows flee and the waters become clear?

The answer is when we turn to God.   He is the light that overcomes the darkness.   It’s in those trying times we become closer to God and dependent upon God.  Is this not true?

Right... we could simply give up but when we turn to God, He enriches us in those circumstances.

Without God we are a just like a bird with a broken wing, hopping around -trying to deal with the situation by our own means.

Do we really believe God’s goodness and unfailing love pursues us all the days of our life? Psalm 23:6

Jesus says “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Matthew 5:3

Do we show and tell God our need or do we just suck it up, deal with it, suffer in it?

Is God, Jehovah Jireh of our life?

Spiritual famines in our life come when we assume some kind of control or everything is out of control but in reality God is in control and nothing is out of control if we allow him to have control. 

The walls may crumble and fall, the clouds may give no rain, but all things that are inconsistent are not God.   It's easy to say we walk by faith not by sight but often we rely on sight, sight that blinds us to the enrichment God wants to bless our soul with.  Things that often can not be described in words.

We must be careful.  Our perceptions and imaginations fail us.  We see two hundred things to be done, an ailment, a loss of a job, a child needing money for college tuition where we are so overwhelmed and frazzled- we forget to bring God onto the balancing scales of our life. 

We say how come the Israelites couldn't remember God leading them through the vast and dreadful wilderness, the thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions and bringing a gushing stream of water from the hard rock?  Maybe they too got carry away in the cares of this life. 

Are we as forgetful?  It could be the very root of why we lack.   

Doesn't God say?

"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

 
Remember our words have power.  Just as we can speak goodness and life into our life and other people’s lives we can speak things into our life that God doesn’t wish, desire or want for us or others. 

God is our provider and sustainer.   He always has.   The reason we speak foolish things into our and other peoples lives is because we are either uneducated about what God wants for our life or have forgotten who GOD is to be in our life.   Are we to walk this life alone?  Of course not! What kind of encouragement would that be in Christ Jesus. 
 

God will supply what?

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

What about evil?

"If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your dwelling.  For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.  They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.  You will trample down lions and poisonous snakes; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue them and honor them.  I will satisfy them with long life and give them my salvation.” Psalm 91:9-16

By His stripes we are what?

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

He gives you what?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Think about Peter and the coin in the fish (Matthew 17:27).  The flowers in the field.  The birds of the air (Matthew 6:25-34). 

As you can see we are not just talking about material and physical needs here but what our soul needs.  Just this morning I woke to the words,

 "Your kingdom come your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". Matthew 6:10

Then as I pondered this God's Spirit gave me another verse.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

I wondered if the word "will" was the same type of "will" in both verses.  I found it was.

God's will is to be our sustainer.  He provides because He cares and loves us.

You know what I find interesting...  Him being our sustainer is us looking to Him.   It makes sense doesn't it?  I mean how can we seek God's hand of provision if we aren't looking to his hand. We lack because we do not look to Him.  We lack because we do not ask Him.

People often mess this up... people look to people, money and things to fulfill what they lack.  In other words we love people, money and things expecting to get a return on our investment and we stumble and hurt when this doesn't happen.   We even occasionally blame God for the failures and letdowns.  God says to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and all soul and there we are assured our needs will be met.  We are assured His will be done for us and in us which we find is truly good, acceptable and perfect.  The world thinks this is crazy.  How can one have peace and sanity in hard times but what they don't realize... it's not the circumstances that sustain us but God.  And what is most awesome of all is His will carries on into eternity as we trust Him.
    

Is that not something to smile about?  If not, genuinely ask God to make this a reality in your heart today.

Relentless 1

The “Way” was the name for the Christians before they were called  “Christians”.  They were called the “Way” because they followed Jesus Christ who is the “Way”.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Peter, John, Paul, Philip, Thomas, Luke and so on… lived in the “Way” which empowered them to think outside the confines of the fleshly understanding.  Their reality, birthed by the Holy Spirit, expounded into the reality of God.  They lived in the world but knew they were no longer of the world system of understanding.  So when they found themselves in physical restraints and circumstances they endured and accomplished many great and mighty things in God/ Jesus Christ.   

Has the name Christian, however good, somehow caused us to forget the “Way”?  Has it become like the word “Faith”, used but absent of relationship with God and guidance from God?

Some say action is faith but is it? We can do many “well-meaning” actions that are not spearheaded by God but of out of human traditions and understandings.  And I have seen the bed ridden have more faith in their eyes and heart then those using their mouths and hands.

The first church body had to deal with a great many entanglements including persecution from the world in which it lived but it was fueled and living by God’s RELENTLESS Spirit.

Jesus said,

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
  

The Way is living outside mirror maze of ourselves,our ideology of faith and of course the world.  It shatters those mirrors so we can see outside the box that has kept us captive and a stranger to reality of God.    

We are start to see each day, hour, minute are from God - and that we are to live and learn to live in the relentlessness Spirit of God.  He pulls down all the strongholds that try to exalt themselves over God. 

I am reminded of the words of Gamaliel as he strongly warned the Sanhedrin…

“I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go!  For if their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail.  But if is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39

In a manner of speaking, we don't want to be fighting against God in our life- we want to live in the "Way" which God intends for us... That not men, circumstance, day, month, year or evil can stop us from living the relentless life He prepared for us, planned for us, paved for us and wants for us. 

Lord give us fresh eyes as we read these verses… eyes that no only see the words but what is being revealed behind the words, and allow what we see to be set alive by your Spirit in our soul- that it will do what it was intended to do in this time forward. 

Abound in Hope

I seldom wake all bright eyed and bushy tailed...  Before I move my body it seems to remind me it is
still there with these aches and pains.  Then with a little heave I lift my body and let my feet greet the cool tile floor.  Then somewhere between the bed and the bathroom, I am reminded of my need.

"Lord give me a living a word...  A word that will wake my soul." 

I don't want a word that is tasteless that I have to drag out of my head like not finding a clean shirt and having to resort to pulling on a dirty shirt from the laundry basket and trying to ignore the stench as I pull it over my head...  No, I want something "refreshing" that only God knows will touch the very root need of my soul.  Not a religious word but a "living" word that God puts power in... that is what I need.  Something that quenches the thirst and puts oil in my lamp. 

A living word that answers the:

Lord revive...
Lord refresh...
Lord energize...
Lord strengthen...
Lord enlighten...
Lord inspire...
Lord... I don't know what I need but I need you to touch my soul this morning.

The Spirit just said, "Seek first the kingdom of God...."

"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

Seek His kingdom and His righteousness...

His kingdom that is supernatural.  His righteousness takes us beyond our understanding so we might live righteously in the real hope that has been revealed to us and empowers us as we genuinely seek Him in our most basic but important spiritual need as we live in these temporary bodies.  Remember God is looking for those who will worship/seek/abide in Him in Spirit and truth.

"God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of heaven is given to them."  Matthew 5:3

God is our daily hope to live beyond the confines of ourselves, to be let loose. 

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Joy and peace in believing...

It find the joy and peace often doesn't "carry" with us if we aren't mindful of Him, we slip into this mode where life in general can creep up on us.   We get lost in our own thoughts and tasks and fellowship ceases and we get bogged down.  When you think about it, how could anyone be renewed in their own thoughts?

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31
 
 The word of God says, "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

It's this continual fellowship which allows us to live in joy and peace and abound in hope.   It's this exchange of giving up what is burdening and taxing on our minds which allows our lamp to burn and burn more brightly.   

Do you see your need? 

I see mine daily. Lord for those who see their need fill us with your joy and peace in believing, that we will abound in your hope through your Holy Spirit.  In Jesus name Amen.

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. 

 

       

Bias 1

Photo by M.Smith

We have all acted upon biases, seen biases and have even read about biases.  Biases are made by how we see the world and understand the world.  We are either for someone or something or against someone or something.  We often think about bias in terms of prejudice, favoritism, a preconceived notion or forgone conclusion.

Biases can be based on mere speculations and perceptions that “look” as fact but are not.

Biases built “on” facts help us rule out counterfeits, lies and deception meant to build up strongholds and arguments in our lives and other people’s lives.  As the saying goes, “Not everything or everyone is as they seem.”

I find biases can be emotional responses or feelings, which can be influenced by our own desires and temporary impulses.  They can be based on our selfishness and even fictitious imagines.   

Biases can be dangerous and yet some are the most beneficial.  

As I scrolled through pictures of abandoned places in this world I saw castles, mansions, cathedrals, libraries, subways, and even cities…

 

These were places where people once lived and worked but now, for one reason or another, they were left behind as useless. 

 

I wondered how these places that seemed so beautiful, wise, beneficial and useful for a time came to be considered “nothing”.

 

I began to ponder the things people construct, study, work, and are educated to great degrees but how it benefits them nothing when they take their last breath.  

 

Why stop there… look at the bodies in which we live in now… how we go to great efforts appease the mortal flesh but do little or nothing to secure the immortal soul within which will live on into eternity in either heaven or hell. 

 

Is life really what we consider “life”?  I find this place and time in which we temporary exist is not really life but where we see if what we believe stands true or not in all the experiences and conditions we face in this place and time.  In other words, God allows us to see our ignorance of what we think “life” is about.    

Think about it…. How can something that isn’t meant to last and is temporary be life?  If the tangibles are to temporary define us in this life what defines us when the tangibles are left behind?  What gives life to the soul?  What gives life to the soul when the tangibles are gone?  What gives reassuring hope to the soul? What gives peace to the soul?  What gives grace and mercy to the soul?  It certainly isn’t things or myself.  

C.S. Lewis wrote: “If you think of this world as a place simply intended for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place for training and correction and it's not so bad.”

 

This place and time is not so much about the tangibles but the finding and understanding the intangibles in God that are life but when we think about life only in the tangibles we are biased to life itself- who is GOD.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Johns 14:6

Where is life?

Jesus said “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10

Where is life?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Matthew 19:23-24

Where is life?

Jesus said “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?  So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God  above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:25-34

Where is life?

I am reminded of a lake.  It mirrors the day and night sky.  It shows the colors and moods of the mountain cradling it.   The lake like our existence is occasionally rippled.  It is ripped by mountain trout living underneath its surface and by the tiny bird taking a bath along its edge.  It is rippled by a tossed stone and the fallen branch.  It is dotted by cold raindrops and brushed by winds and even cools the occasional bear but after those things have gone… the surface returns to its glass like state.   The water “reacts” to what lives within it and what surrounds it.   

How do we “react” to what lives within us and surrounds us?  Are we just a biased as that lake surface- are we at the mercy of whatever befalls us?  

How IS the frailty of the human condition soothed? In what must a man be invested in intimately to focus and encourage and stabilize his soul?  I say this with knowledge of failure and success… God. 

Any other source gives only headache, heartache, shame and hopefully some heavenly correction. 

GOD by his loving grace and mercy should set the sails of our soul and be our course of daily influence.  

HE alone needs to be our bias.  Honestly it takes some time to find our bearings…. but this might help.  I had a friend who was a marine.  One of the trainings was to fall backwards off a speeding boat where it was easy to temporary lose your equilibrium but he found if he just relaxed, his body would naturally float upward towards the surface of the water.   Spiritually it is the same with us.  If we just relax the Spirit of God living us will guide mentally in the right direction and lead us out of dark swirling circumstances around us.

GOD doesn’t want us to succumb to peer pressure or feelings or thoughts or circumstances but be succumbed in HIM.   GOD wants us to be biased to anything that wants to take HIS place in our mind and heart. 

 Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

People may know there is a GOD but the reason they don’t have peace and strength in GOD is because they don’t acknowledge HIM as GOD of their life. They make others and things gods of their life.   And the bible says when people don’t acknowledge GOD he abandons them to their foolish/biased thinking.

^“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.   Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.  They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”  Romans 1:28-32

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.