Taking Comfort In God’s Direction

We are all human. We believers try to do good, but we will sometimes go the wrong way. We can take comfort in the fact that we have a very good Father. God is always there, always trying to show us the right way. If we will but spend time with Him and seek His face daily, He will daily renew the light to the path we need to travel, getting us back on track. In Proverbs 14:27 It says that reverence toward God is source of life and has the power to turn us away from those things that hook us and lead to death. If we will turn to God every day, and seek His face, then we can take comfort in the fact that their will be the power to get back to the right path. If we can remember to do this when we face those temptations, we can overcome them. And God speaks to us in a small voice when those temptations come up to give us that choice. It is a great comfort to me to know that I do have to try to do this walk with God out of my own strength, but in my weakness God is made strong (II Corinthians 12:9) by His calling to us and giving us the power to take the right path . Praise God!

Prayer
Father, Thank You for providing the course corrections we need to go down the right path. Thank You for the scriptures that You have given to us to help us learn Your ways. Thank You for being loving and patient with us, and making right choices available to us daily. In Jesus name. Amen.

Glory In God

Our God is a great defense. Sometimes He comes quickly to our aid. Sometimes it seems like He is taking a long time. But God’s timing is perfect. We have to rest and trust in Him. In Psalm 62 the writer speaks of trusting in God alone, that He is our rock and our salvation. He goes on to say to his soul to wait in silence alone, for God is the one in whom he has an expectation.

Waiting for God can seem hard at times. However, we can speak to ourselves as the psalmist does here, and encourage ourselves to wait for God alone. God will deliver us in His time. And that deliverance shall be great. God does not set His people up for failure. In fact, we are encouraged by the psalmist to not trust in riches if they come, but to remain trusting in God. This can also be hard because we live in a world that requires us to navigate things like bills, the costs for food and medicine, and the like. If we have lived in lack for a period of time, but then the deliverance comes, it can be easy to trust in those monies. Let us not do that, because they can leave again. Let us trust in those things that endure, like the love and peace that passes all understanding from God.

God will always deliver His people. Always. Rest in this.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You, O Mighty King! Thank You for always delivering us from those things that try to beset us. Thank You for watching over us, protecting us and delivering us from all oppression and need. You are a Mighty King! We give You all glory for Your magnificent works among men! In Jesus name. Amen.

When Loving People Gets Tough

There are times when things are good in interactions with people, and these are a great blessing to us. There are also times when interactions with people, even between brethren, are not so good. These are tough times. In John’s first letter we get some advice, some instruction, about what to do in these times. We are to love these people anyway. We are to love them because that is how we know we have the love of God in us. That is how we know we are His. If we let ourselves hear God’s voice, we can hear the right loving thing to do. It will likely not be something our flesh likes. there will be that part of us that wants to rebel against the loving thing to do. That will be our flesh. I encourage you to resist this temptation of the flesh, and do the right loving thing. This is what pleases God. This is what keeps us in the path of keeping God’s commandments. This is what brings peace.

Today, if you have something that you need to do to love someone that has been less than kind to you, I encourage you to do that, and receive the blessings and the peace of God that He has in store for you.

Prayer
Father, we praise and worship Your Holy Name. Thank You for always giving us a path to loving those that love us and those that do not. Help us to walk in that love toward others. Help us to show Your love to the world. Please help us to stay on the right path. In Jesus name. Amen.

God Gives Us Gifts

When we think of gifts from God, often we think of spiritual gifts. I am thankful for those gifts as well. However, today, I want to thank God for the people in my life that have added to my life and the lives of my family. I am thankful for my good friend in Arizona that continues to work together with me toward a better future for our families. I am thankful for the leaders at our church, not because they are always right, but because they are always leaders that God has placed in the church. I am thankful for the people of Bearfruit Films that brought so much to the surrounding communities this summer. I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for the people that are in the school systems in our country trying to help the kids learn. And I am thankful to God for never giving up on me.

Prayer
Father, You are the King. Please bless those that You have placed in my life to help hold me up. Please touch their lives and bring greater joy and prosperity to them. Please bless the leaders at church to know what You are doing and to have the courage and ability to do it. In Jesus name. Amen.

One Great Spiritual Warfare Weapon

This morning as I was getting up preparing to write, it occurred to me that there is one weapon of spiritual warfare that is very powerful. It is likely not taught often as such, but I have found that in using it this morning it dispelled the darkness of disunity. The weapon is apology. When we apologize for something, it brings the possibility of bringing believers back together in a more harmonious state. For me, I became frustrated with my wife over how to help our daughter with her homework. That created a wedge between us, which God hates and the enemy loves. This morning I apologized. That brought us back into unity.

In Psalm 133 the writer tells us to look and see how beautiful it is for us to dwell together in unity. In Proverbs 6:19 the writer says that God hates the one that sows discord among the brethren. When we become involved in disagreements that become personal, we are not in unity and we are creating that discord, giving place to the enemy. When we apologize, we destroy the enemies foothold, and restore unity. In Ephesians 4:26 Paul tells us that we can become angry, but not to sin. He goes on to say not to let the sun go down on our wrath or give place to the devil. Last night, when I became personally upset, I violated these rules. It was good to apologize this morning, but it would have been even better to apologize last night.

God loves us all. If you have been angry with someone and let it become personal, pray. Seek God’s forgiveness. Go to the person and apologize. Do it today if possible, and let God restore that beautiful unity with that person. You will be surprised at how good it feels to use this spiritual weapon to destroy the work of the enemy.

Prayer
Father, I praise and exalt You as the Most High God. You reign in the earth and heaven. Please help us to not allow our anger to become sin. Please help us to repent, and to apologize to those that we speak to in a manner that was not like the Messiah. In Jesus name. Amen.

What Are We Building

Today I want to say a few things briefly, as an invitation to thinking, We traditionally use Tuesdays to consider what we are building. To continue this theme, let’s consider for future discussion a few ideas.

What were you building yesterday? From the actions and speaking of yesterday, what things were you building? The answer can usually be found in what you woke up with today, If today was or was not what you wanted, what was it that you did yesterday that contributed to that? If we consider this point, we may conclude what may be good to repeat, or not, today.

What are you building today? If you want today to be more of the same as yesterday, then repeat your actions and speech. If not, change them. What are you building toward in the future? If you want the future to be the same or different, then either repeat what you are doing or change.

These are simple ideas, I know. But there may be more than meets the eye here if we dig deeper. In future posts, we will revisit these concepts.

Prayer
Father, King of the universe, we praise and thank You for all You have done, are doing, and will do. We ask that You help us to build like You. In Jesus name. Amen.

Paths That Drip With Abundance

Here is America we celebrate the working people today, Labor Day 2013. This is a day of encouragement for me. Not because it is a holiday, but because God also celebrates His people doing His work. In Psalm 65 the writer tells us of God’s plan for those that seek Him. He acknowledges that we will slip up and sin, but that God will atone for those sins, which He has done now through Jesus. He goes on to speak about how it is God who chooses people for His work, and that God will bless that man in the sanctuary. Today, we are that sanctuary. He speaks of how in the sanctuary (now in us) we will enjoy His goodness. Perhaps the greatest encouragement for me comes at the end where He talks about what we encounter and that the meadows and the sheep in them even sing to God. In verse 11 it says that God crowns the year with goodness, and that God’s paths drip with abundance! How great is that! I cannot imagine not wanting to be on those paths.

Prayer
Father, thank You for Your goodness. Thank You for creating a place within us to house Your Spirit and Truth. Thank You for providing for You atonement of our sins. We pray and confess now that You forgive our sins, and that Jesus rule in our hearts. Crown our year with goodness, and let us walk on that paths that drip with abundance. In Jesus name. Amen.

Cloud Rider

There are many pictures painted of God in the scriptures. One that I take comfort in is found in Psalms 68. The image is that when God stands up, His enemies immediately flee. He rides in on the clouds while His people cheer Him by His name, Yah! The enemies that cannot flee fast enough melt like wax before Him as He defends the widow and the fatherless, and brings those that were bound in poverty into prosperity as He moves. Even the desert is moved, and God’s presence causes the earth to shake. God marches in when we praise and worship Him, calling on Him to come to our defense. He delivers us daily and gives us great benefits daily. God has great strength and power, and this He gives to us!

Praise God!

Prayer
Father, we extol you by Your name, Yah! Come to us Cloud Rider, come Yah, and give us Your strength and power! Come Yah, and deliver us and give us prosperity that we may be a testimony to You. Confirm Your inheritance in us. Come in the power of Your Holy Spirit, and breathe on us today. Deliver us today. In Jesus name. Amen.

Resting With God

Jesus said He only did what He saw the father doing in John 5:19. We want to be like Jesus, so what should we be doing? We should also only do what we see the Father doing. So, this being the Sabbath, what is the Father doing? Resting. In Genesis 2:2 it says that God rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath. What does that mean for us?

Well, the Father is resting today. Why don’t we do the same?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. We thank You for giving us this Sabbath day of rest. We ask that You help us to rest, and to watch what You do, and promote Your kingdom. In Jesus name. Amen.

Something To Consider About Gathering Together

In Hebrews 10:25 we see a scripture that is often quoted that says we are not to keep ourselves from assembling or coming together to meet with other believers. There are other places in the scriptures that talk about the topic of the benefit of being with others of the faith. It can help us to stay the course, to keep moving forward, to try to live our lives in the Messiah. It is this possibility that is the point of today’s writing. When we say it can help, that also implies it may not help.

If we back up to verse 24 we something that is not often quoted but is equally important and comes before the direction to not forsake gathering together. In verse 24 we are instructed to consider each other in a manner that brings out love and good works in us all. This instruction defines what should be happening when we come together. But is it? I have personally experienced (and hear from many believers) times at various churches where the actions of the believers are more like the kids in the “in crowd” in school than loving adult followers of the Messiah. The characteristics of the environment that provokes believers to love and good works is one in which each and every person is made to feel like they belong. For example, do we all have the same opportunity to share our gifts, or are some held back, singled out for restriction, or even perhaps the the subject of much discussion by “concerned Christians” just trying to “keep everyone up to speed so they can pray” for certain individuals? How often are people encourage to break bread together? Are there some that are never invited to anyone’s house? Do our actions bring opportunity for joy in the hearts of our fellow believers, or just one more rejection? Sadly enough there will likely be people that read these words and become upset that I would infer that such things happen in church. If that is you, I encourage you to wake up, because there are many people in many churches with these very feelings, feelings of being cast down, of being rejected, of having the ability to add value but not given the opportunity. If there are any at your church, you may not know it, but God knows, and He will always set things right, and when He sets it right, it can be a bit more abrupt. These words are not meant to condemn, it is a call to repentance by all (including me), for it is likely that to some degree we have all fallen short in provoking others to love and good works. I know I could do a better job of it. I know together we can all do a better job of it, but we must do it together.

Prayer
Father, we magnify You as the Most High God. We love and praise You for who You are, and how You are. We are so fragile Father, and we are around others that are fragile as well. It seems hard sometimes not to do something that causes harm, that causes people to want to separate themselves from the assembly. It just seems like it should not be hard to cause each other to be provoked to love and good works. Please help us today, Father, to find our way to the place where who we are, how we are, and what we say provokes others to love and good works. In Jesus name. Amen.