Preeminent

Webster dictionary wrote this about the word "preeminent ".

"What is noteworthy about the following sentence? "Mount McKinley is a prominent eminence in the Alaskan landscape." You very likely recognized two words that are closely related to "preeminent" - "prominent" and "eminence." All three words are rooted in the Latin verb stem -minēre, meaning "to stand out." But did you note as well the related word mount? Not too surprisingly, "-minēre" is related to "mons," the Latin word for "mountain." That relationship leads us in turn to "paramount," a word closely related in meaning to 'preeminent.'"

—The mountains in the Pacific Northwest are the head of the landscape- well on a sunny day.

Everything from ski parks, cabins, houses, lakes, highway overpasses, forests, wildlife refuges, and the sprawling picnic blankets of the cities sit below the the beautiful but need to be respected mountains. They reach the heavens and bring fresh water and life to the streams and rivers.  They bring enjoyment, recreation and relaxation, wonder, and peace to those who wander their parks and trails... Jesus Christ, God, is the "Mountain" of our life.

As I think about this I think how people who live in the Pacific Northwest can ignore the mountain... Baker, Adams, Rainer, Pilchuck (lol), Helens, Olympus... they drive by them everyday not always admiring their beauty and what they provide...

Then I think about Jesus Christ and how we can ignore Him the Mountain and not see all He provides.  How he should be admired and respected. How in Him is life and that life comes as we make him preeminent in our daily lives. Think about....

Those Inspired by God Inspire Others Part 2

 

Who INSPIRES you?  How do others INSPIRE you? 

As I was guided on this devotion God gave me a banquet of inspiring individuals.   There were biblical figures like Joseph, David, and Moses.  There were writers like the Apostles Paul and John and C.S. Lewis.  There were local athletes like Becky Hammon who said, "I just first want to thank my Heavenly Father -for none of this would be possible without Him." And there were friends - some who a have passed through the veil of this life into eternity.  One friend recently called me out of the blue.  He sold everything and went on a walk with God.  Backpack strapped to his back and guitar in one hand he obediently walked where God told him to go.  He said, "Jeff, God really took care of me.  I didn't have to sleep one day on the streets."  Now married, he lives in Arizona, has written a book, works at a Christian camp, and enjoys views of the mountains

I find people who INSPIRE others and "awaken" OTHERS to the reality of God's love- are those
who are encouraged and inspired by God.

What do we know of those who INSPIRE us?

• They are resilient.... they can occasionally be oppressed but WATCH OUT!  They can come back stronger in their faith then before -for they trust in the LORD and their strength comes from the LORD.
• They have a godly perspective.
• They are in the Word of God.   They read it and abide in it.  They depend on it.   
• They pursue what God has put in their hearts regardless to human opinions, ideals and obstacles.
• They look to God who is their constant help.
• They seek God for guidance.
• They know God makes a way where there seems to be no way.  
•  They see and recognize it's God who appoints whoever He wants to His purpose regardless of human ideals, abilities, traditions or opinions. 
•  They cannot help but give glory to God for all he does in their life.
•  They are ambassadors for Christ.  
• They inspire others in their goodness. 
  

We as human beings do not produce godly goodness by ourselves.  Godly resilience doesn't come naturally.  Even the Christian hope, love and genuine faith do not come by us naturally.

God is the one who puts that faith in us... does he not?  He gives us that measure of faith that we might seek Him and find Him.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." JEREMIAH 29:13


And In Him that seed of faith grows... but if we depart from him we can do nothing good.
  
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." JOHN 15:5

GOD is LIFE.   HE gives LIFE. 

Jesus said,  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." JOHN 14:6

Look at this carefully.... You and I without Jesus are miserable creatures.   Without Jesus we do not have eternal salvation in heaven.   Without Jesus we have no way in which to follow.   Without Jesus we have no truth in which to stand and can believe in when in troubles come.  And LIFE of peace and security and fulfillment is always beyond our reach without JESUS.

Without God there is no WAY, there is no TRUTH, and no LIFE.

Jesus is the way.  He is the one who is to guide our lives.  He is our shepherd.   Everything has life through Him.  I have found the truths of God are trustworthy.  They are an anchor to the lives to those who hold on to them.  And they are much deeper and richer and powerful then any one of us can imagine.  They go far beyond what we can see and understand in natural woman or man.   God’s truths are eternal and they are for our souls which are eternal.  That is why we all must understand nothing on this earth can satisfy- for our eternal souls can only be satisfied by what is eternal.

JESUS GIVES LIFE....  HE GIVES HOPE AND INSPIRATION!  HE gives our lives light, goodness and resilience.

Ever say or hear "Be better, do better, get stronger, be more righteous...." that is all useless non-sense without the reassuring godly perspective that comes from a continual relationship with God.   Has the Spirit of God ever fallen short to our sure will power, strength, determination and foolish pride?    
Of course NOT!

Ever smell a delicious warm meal being cooked and prepared?  Would those mouth watering aromas fill the air without being exposed to heat?
 
Does a delicious warm meal cook itself?   Of course not....  It has to be cooked/ exposed to the heat.   It has to be prepared by someone who knows how to cook it.   It is so with our lives.... God has put all the unique ingredients into our being.  God is the master cook.  He knows how to bring out the delicious aromas of our life.  He knows how to make our lives taste good.   He is the one who needs to work through us. 

I was reminded by the Spirit just a second ago of this passage. "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:2

Think about this statement for a moment by Jesus,  "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves." JOHN 14:11

What is Jesus saying here?   He and the Father are ONE.   They work TOGETHER. 
Jesus is saying LOOK at the RESULTS of the Father and I as ONE.  What does that say about us and God?  It says we NEED GOD  to be our source of hope and inspiration.  

2 Corinthians says, "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing," 2:15

How can we be the aroma of Christ unless we are allowing God to work and inspire our lives?
 
God help us to remain in and abide in His amazing love. 

GOD INSPIRED 
We know the word of God is "inspired by God" but what does "inspired" really mean.

Come with me for a moment to Ezekiel 37.  Think about this for a moment...   Who's words did Ezekiel speak when he spoke to the dry bones that covered the valley floor?  Did he speak his own words or GOD'S WORDS?
  
Ezekiel spoke what God had him speak to the dry bones.  The bones began to rattle and come together..... flesh and muscle covered them.  Ezekiel spoke again what God had him speak ...and breath came into those bodies.  And before Ezekiel knew it there stood a great vast army before Him.

Ezekiel spoke God's words which made those bones come together- covered those bones with muscle and skin and gave those bodies life.

We were headed for death... we were as hopeless and uninspired as those scattered bones.  But when a person spoke what God had told them to speak, what happened to our life that was headed for death?  LIFE!  
   
"For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.  And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message."  1 THESSALONIANS 1:5 

God wants to INSPIRE US making us productive children of God but sadly we don't give him the time and attention he deserves to inspire us.   Then there is the thought by some that we have everything we need - so why take the time to spend with God but that is erroneous thinking.  Yes we have the Holy Spirit in us, if we have accepted Jesus Christ to be LORD of our life, but have you allowed the roommate of your soul to speak to you and encourage and inspire you?  

Again who is the MASTER cook?  Who can bring out the delicious aromas GOD poured into your soul's make-up when HE created you?  You or God?   Do you know God's plans for you?  Do you know what is to come tomorrow?  God does?  So let HIM prepare and inspire you for what is to come. 

May God be our INSPIRED lives.

Listen, Obey, Trust

Recently I had a vision…. And I have got to say sometimes I am just slow at times with what God is showing me.

In the vision I am in a place where it is quiet and still. I am humbled, surrendered and submitted on the floor on my arms and knees - when a person appears before me. This person is wearing a shimmering yellow robe -and with every step a fog like haze perforates from the bottom of this rob. The haze is so thick that I cannot see the person’s feet. The robe mimics one of those essence lanterns you see Catholics holding during their different ceremonies, - that puts out smoke when they wave it back and forth. (I am not a Catholic so I don’t know what the lantern is called but I believe it is supposed to man made way to represent the Holy Spirit.) I look up at the person wearing the rob and it’s a man. He has long white shoulder length hair that is brushed out of his face and a perfectly trimmed white goatee and mustache. He looked as if he was waiting to speak. I call him Father. He looks into my eyes. His eyes are deeper then the depths of space. The man’s face then turns to a sphere of fire and shoots into the sky. A voice says, “He illuminates all the pages.” Then as quickly as the vision began- it ended.

The days following the Holy Spirit led me to the books John, Luke, and Matthew in the bible.

John 12:43 “For they loved human praise more then the praise of God.”

John 5:44 “No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from God alone.”

Next verses

Luke 8:15 “But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest.”

Luke 8:18 “So be sure to pay attention to what you hear. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they think they have will be taken away from them.”

Next verse

Matthew 15:8 “The people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far away.”

Later the Holy Spirit urged me to go and read those verses again and that is when I discovered that the root of Matthew 15:8 came from Isaiah 29:13-14.

So like uncovering a great secret I turned there:

“These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more then human laws learned by rote. Because of this, I will show that human wisdom is foolish and even the most brilliant people lack understanding.”

I was then lead to Isaiah 6: Where it talks about the Lord wearing a rob that had a train that filled the temple and their were seraphim angels that covered their faces and feet and they sang, “Holy, holy holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundation and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke. After Isaiah’s guilt was removed and his sins were forgiven the Lord asked, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?” Isaiah then answers “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”

There were not seraphim angels/ or beings in my vision and I did not see the Lord’s train fill the temple but I did see a robe and I did see smoke which is sometimes the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Not just in the spiritual realm but also in how he manifests himself in the realty in which we physically live at this moment.

I have been asking the Lord to send me for sometime. Sometimes we are afraid to ask God to send us because of “where” he might send us. Others ask to be sent hoping to be sent to some foreign land but he sends us to a relative, a neighbor and even the church we attend instead.

Messages to your own church can be difficult especially if the messages doesn’t seem all that encouraging or uplifting but corrective in nature. I have found more often then not a message from the Lord even if it is a corrective one is better received then receiving no message from the Lord at all plus a corrective message given in the Spirit of love in Jesus Christ roots deeper in the mind and heart then not spoken in the Spirit of love in Jesus Christ. And even if they reject what you say by the Spirit- they aren’t rejecting you but God who had you speak it. I find sometimes it’s better if the majority “stays away” after a message I give from the Lord because then I don’t get lured in by human praise and my neutrality stays intact and rooted in the Lord where the Lord esteems me/ not man esteems me. I feel very uneasy when people want to give me praise and not God who gave it to me to say. This last time I even started to quiver after I gave it realizing the mighty source in which it came.

When a message is given usually there are also two or more people to confirm what you say is true. Example: God gave me a message, I obeyed God and spoke it and he confirmed the message was on track because the sermon our pastor followed with had to do with what I shared and then a brother in Christ had gotten the same message as well from the Holy Spirit.

The message had to do with being still and quiet and submitted and surrendered before the Lord and making a greater effort to spend with the Lord because he loves us. We should put no one or anything in front of the Lord in all occasions- good or bad. God puts no one in front of us so we should not allow or put anyone in front of him. Give honor to God. Keep your eyes on the Lord’s love for you and you will be able to love each other, as you should in the unity of Christ's body but if you fail to keep your eyes on the Lord then it will be impossible to have unity in the church body.

Of course this led to our young adult bible study about letting God use us as willing receptacles. God knows if our heart is receptive and willing or not. He knows if we are just giving lip service or if we truly trust him and want him to work his mercy, grace and love through us. For Jesus says “This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he sent.” John 6:29

There is where the fullness of Christ is woven into our soul. Believe the Lord is Lord of your life.

Believing in the one he sent (Jesus Christ) not just in your mind but your heart as well helps us to not just listen to the Holy Spirit but to obey and trust him with the task he is going to “partner” with us in doing. Believing is doing. Maturity happens when we begin to understand in our heart. This kind of knowing of Jesus as Lord of our life will surpass even our heart knowledge because God’s love, wisdom and power surpasses anything we could know. And yet this is only possible in Jesus Christ- where can we live and experience God’s love, wisdom, and power that is beyond anything we could understand or imagine as we live in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Paul says the same thing here:

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 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. 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. 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. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:16-21

For we are just the vessels and he does the work through us so we learn to not to depend on ourselves but depend on Him who enables us to do what we thought at first as not possible for us to do or experience.

God (Father, Son -Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit) is our ultimate source of love, encouragement, praise, refuge, strength and certainty. We must listen, obey and trust him in all things.

It's Not about Mary: It's ALL about Jesus.

It’s not about Mary; it’s all about Jesus.

Why do I keep hearing this buzz of Mary?

Mary carried the seed of God who was Jesus.

We now carry and share that spiritual seed of Jesus with others.

Neither Mary nor we should have any credit for this for God chose us just as he chose Mary.

When the Holy Spirit is in you do you receive any credit for what it produces within you or others? Of course not!

Does Mary receive any credit for what was produced within her?

No! The Holy Spirit is responsible for Mary to become pregnant with Jesus Christ. Jesus receives the credit for doing the will of the Father.

Does Mary have anything to do with making us right with God through some kind of sacrifice?

No Jesus makes us right with God because he was blameless and the only holy sacrifice.

Does Mary have anything to do with resurrecting Jesus?

No! The Holy Spirit resurrected Jesus just has he will resurrect us and has given us new life, new sight, new perspective and a new heart.

Do we receive any credit for our resurrection or our new outlook in life? It is based on our faith in Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus receives all the credit for saving our souls not us. Jesus receives all the glory for awakening us to this truth and new life.

Mary would be shaking her head in pity for those people who try to make her into some god of worship and so would any of the apostles. You kiss no statue nor do you worship it. You worship the one and true God.

Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit.