Monthly Archives: April 2013

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Sunday Morning Blues

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bluesLet this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  ~ Philippians 2:5-8

The Sunday Morning blues… why that thought has been on my mind from the time I got out of bed I do not know. But it got me wondering today why some folks lack the motivation on Sunday to go to church.

Possibly the first reason is because they’re not in their right mind…

Paul said “Let this mind be in you.” And what mind was that? The same one that was in Christ Jesus. The mind that causes us to want to be like God. Wanting to be like God is okay when it’s in the biblical aspect. It really hit me this morning as I read this verse that people who say “So and so think they’re God,” Implying that a person thinks more of themselves than they should, may not be getting who God is either. In reality if one “thinks they are God,” arrogance is nowhere in the picture! God made Himself of no reputation but took the form of a servant. Being in “that mind” is polar opposite of arrogance.

What must Christ have thought when He went from being God to being God fashioned as a man? Paul said that He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of cross.

If on Sunday morning you have no desire to be in the house of the Lord (I speak to you as though you were saved) you’re not in your right mind. You should want to be where God wants you, and that’s in His house with His people, those that He gave His life for.  If you’re not saved there is still that desire to want to be where God is. God said in John 12:32 ~  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  There is a desire inside of you to know God, and to know God is to desire being with His people.

Sunday morning blues can sneak up on anyone. But when your mind is on Him…

He brings joy.

1 Peter 1:8 ~ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoices with joy unpeakable and full of glory:

He makes the heart glad!

Acts 2:46 ~ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

So… where is your mind this morning? There’s no room for the Blues in serving Christ! He deserves so much more and He wants so much more for you. He died that you might have life and that it would be abundant! So head on out to church and get ready to praise Him! He’ll meet you there!

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And you’re upset about noodles… really?

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A recent scroll on Facebook had me following a line of comments from “concerned” mothers. If it wasn’t so ridiculous I’d get upset. A posted picture of pasta dyed in food coloring sent parents on a tirade of comments about poor parental food choices, high risk eating and a pleather of insults toward a few moms who just wanted to make lunch a little more fun for their children. And yet…

We’ll let Planned Parenthood into our schools and call it a “choice” that children are old enough and mature enough to make, and yet noodles are worthy of a nationwide uprising. Really?

We’ll let government waste billions of dollars on funding like (If you can believe it!) $175,587 “to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior”. Really? True story!

We’ll allow terrorist into our country and pay them welfare benefits and give them housing, and yet a family is now homeless because they’re unemployment benefits are now exhausted after having paid taxes in America for 30 years. And you’re worried about noodles?

We’ll allow educated people to tell our children that premarital sex is okay, that their opinions matter (so long as it’s not biased by religion) and call porn “artistic expression” and then wonder why marriages fail when it doesn’t live up to the lies Hollyweird has convinced America is truth with their “new normal.”

Oh, I know… I’m on a rant this morning. By the way, God thinks it’s just as ridiculous…

Matthew 23:24 – Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

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God is Able! Yes Amen :)

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God is Able by True Gospel – www.truegospelonline.com

Nuggets of wisdom found in God’s Word come at the right time, with just the right words to soothe a tired soul. When I began my journey of faith 17 years ago I couldn’t have imagined the joy in the journey I was about to experience. I’d never known peace in all my years; I’d had a simulated peace afforded by people and things, but knew it would not last. And then there came the day that God shook me to the core! with the understanding that He would not leave me nor forsake me. EVER! He may not pull me out of the fire, but He’ll be right beside me in it and so it is that I praise Him today for His Word.

Hebrews 12:25-29 –  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:  For our God is a consuming fire.

The first time God shook me was February 1996. I didn’t know what happened, I only knew it did. From the top of my head to the tip of my toe I was changed. Life did not get immediately better, I still had struggle, but God is not only able, HE IS STABLE! He never moved.

The writer of Hebrew penned these words by the divine inspiration of God and I believe God wants us to understand that the things of this world, “as of things that are made” by man’s hands will move, it doesn’t take much to shake our world. There is no stability in the works of man. Your job, your home, your family could be gone today, but… take heart dear child of God. One thing will not change… “that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”

What are “those things?”

“Those” things “not” created by man.

The Kingdom of God cannot be moved.

Romans 14:17 ~ For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

1 Corinthians 4:20 ~ For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

The Kingdom of God is so much more than we can imagine! It is where the Power of God dwells, and if you are a child of God by the acceptance of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, that means you have the Kingdom and the Power of God dwelling within you. Oh shout!!! How wonderful is that?

The Grace of God shall not be moved

Romans 11:6 – And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

We can no more earn grace than we can keep it. We are saved by God’s grace. God, the great I AM. Who was, is and always will be, is the keeper of your grace. And it’s a gift not be earned or returned. It’s not going anywhere.

The Fear of God shall not be moved.

Revelation 21:8 ~ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

As time draws night for God’s return it appears that man has no fear of what God can do. But that fear is still there laying just beneath the surface. There will be no arrogance on the Day of Judgment. Praise God for godly fear. It is that fear of Hell that draws many to the cross, but is the love and peace of Christ that you experience there that keeps you at His feet, praising Him for His goodness.

Thank You Lord that You do not move. You are not shaken by the condition of this world or the circumstances of life, and if we hold onto you, we too are able!

 

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Banishing the Mocker… a few thots on Boston

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File:Mimus polyglottos1.jpg

Genesis 2:9-11 ~ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

In light of the Boston Marathon bombing my heart again has been broken for our country. I just cannot fathom what the mindset of an individual is that plots an event like that without regard for life. When a soldier goes to battle he or she knows that their life lies in the balance of mercy. They’re there on the battlefield expecting to be shot at and prepared for the circumstance. But in the city of Boston, where it wasn’t a battlefield, the runners and spectators were not wearing Kevlar vests or prepared for the battlefield they were on without defense.

This morning as I sat in the hotel lobby with these thoughts running through my mind in the back ground they reported on the capture and death of one of the Boston bombing suspects. I don’t get life, but I know Who does. I don’t understand what makes evil “tick” but I know Who sees all and will repay.

When God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a child, Sarah laughed. It was ludicrous to think of a woman her age giving birth, but it’s always God who gets the last laugh! Sarah had the child God promised, but because of their unwillingness to wait on God, Ishmael was also in the picture; Abraham’s son by Hagar. When Sarah see’s Ishmael mocking Isaac, she tells Abraham to get rid of the child and his mother. In my culture I don’t understand this way of thinking, I don’t think Abraham got it either.  I can’t imagine casting this child and his mother out into the wilderness without regard for their wellbeing, but Sarah does it. And what blows my mind greater than that is the fact that God okay’s it.

12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Ishmael had mocked the child of God and was cast out. Ishmael’s descendants still mock today.

In our culture we may not understand it, but spiritually I have no problem understanding the message that lies in this text. Even though Sarah was partly to blame for this child being in her home, there came a time that she seen the damage that was being done and knew the need for separation. I have nothing against foreign people in America. I am friends with many and love them all and they love me, therein lies the difference. But those who are on American soil and mock us, that’s a whole other story. When Ishmael mocked God’s chosen his rights to be in the home were gone.

Abraham was still his father, but he severed the privileges. This morning as I watched the news, I get that. I love God’s people, all of them! God is the creator of all the earth, every soul created regardless of race is afforded the privileges of the Father’s home provided they believe they are there by the blood of Jesus Christ.

America was founded on Christian faith and because of that we’ve had the favor of God. For how much longer, I’m not sure. I believe that we will lose the favor of God for certain if we continue to allow the mockery of our faith, by those born on our soil and those born in other lands as well.

Tonight as a I try to put a cap on this blog, they’ve just captured the 2nd terrorist and the people rejoice, and my heart rejoices with them. My only prayer is… please get it America. This goes far beyond Boston. It cuts at the very core of our faith. I pray we see the need to stop embracing  those who mock us…

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In need of that second touch?

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Mark 8:18

Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

I can’t figure Christians out. Even being one and knowing that I am seconds away from backsliding any day, I still don’t get it. A preacher preaches his heart out, pours himself out before the congregation of the Lord, there are shouts of acclamation and glories to God with hands being raised and then they walk out of the church and back into the world and they have faith amnesia. Somewhere between the a.m. and p.m. service they’ve forgotten what Jesus did, and something else takes priority in their minds. Yep, I needed to vent.

I don’t know why I am so surprised, the disciples were no different and they were face to face with the miracles of God. Christ had twice in their presence fed thousands with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, and yet just afterwards on a journey across the sea they’re worried about lunch. Christ ask them “Do ye not remember?” They had just seen him feed thousands with a little bit of nothing, what would it have been for him to take care of a few men in a boat! Let me put it on a more personal level, what about you? Do you remember what He’s brought you through? What do you now stand in need of that Christ cannot supply? There are days I too forget when I get in the midst of a struggle, but God is so faithful to bring me through in ways I’d never imagine.

Christ asked in verse 19-21 “When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?”

Why do we not understand? In this same chapter Jesus heals the blind man by twice touching his eyes. Verses 23-25 read:

 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

You may be asking, why did it take God Himself touching him the second time before he was completely healed? And I lay to your charge the question “Why after God touched you do you not believe? Why do you fail to serve Him as you should? I asked myself the same question and I didn’t like the answer. A lack of faith, a heart not exactly right (which is wrong). In that same chapter Christ asks His disciples “whom say ye that I am?”

The world says all kinds of crazy things on who Christ is, but if you’re saved you know! Do you not remember? I pray today God brings to remembrance the miracles He’s done in your life and that your faith will be stirred and renewed. That you once again will receive another touch from Christ that will allow you to see clearly what’s going on around you and the need to get busy telling others what Jesus means to you that too may be touched. STIR US UP LORD!

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Meat & Potato Faith!

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Psalm 119:131-134 ~ I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

I look back on my life and so much of it has been wasted under the oppression of man. I would let others define my day, be it good or bad. If my work pleased my master’s (note the small “m”) then it was great day, if it didn’t I would fret over it for days. I would rehash again and again what I could have done differently. As I’ve grown in the Lord I’ve changed. I won’t tell you I don’t have moments of relapse, but they’re temporary. I strive to live for Christ, and if man gets pleased along the way then that makes for an awesome day. But if I do all I can do in my ministry or in my secular career that has to be enough. And life is too short to waste it eating hash.

Hash is a meat and potatoes dish that I love, and these verses in Psalm 119 remind me of the “meat and potatoes” of Christian faith.

Longing for God’s Word

If you do not have a desire in your heart to read the Word of God, you are already defeated. Mark it down this day… you lose. Because as one who’s been there I know, I have a whole closet full of those shirts! You have got to make time in your day for the Word of God because in it is the wellspring of life! Proverbs 16:22 says it ~ Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.

To understand that the Bible is a living document is key. I can guarantee, because my God is faithful, that if you open the Bible up and begin reading anywhere in it there is a word for your day. It’s shocking sometimes how spot on the Bible will be in my life, and yet it shouldn’t be. If I believe what I say, then why would it shock me? So… Do you have that longing in your heart? I have no doubt that you do, you may have mashed it down beneath the load of care you’re choosing to haul around by yourself today, but it’s in there.

Looking in God’s Word

David said that he wanted God to order his steps. He said earlier in Psalm 37:23 that “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” David knew that the only way to find happiness and contentment in life was to follow the path that God had designed. It’s not always obvious, but there are always clues. You may be asking “So what does that mean when you live and work in a world that is not God conscious?”

Just because those around you don’t acknowledge God in the equation doesn’t remove Him. It just means that they don’t get to enjoy the favor of God. If you go to work looking for God, He’ll be there. It may be in a small way, or it may be huge! It begins with you going to work to please God, not those you work for, although they’ll be pleased in the process. I’ve been blown away lately by the way God has been working with me on my job. My thoughts are clearer, my direction more defined both spiritually and mentally because I spend my day seeking Him in whatever I’m doing. I know that if I seek to please Him, I will do my job in a manner that will please my employer. And if I fall short (as I often do) God’s mercy has me covered!

Leaving behind the false word

David said he wanted God to “Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.” If you are trying to live a God focused life, it’s almost a given that Satan will send someone to blindside you. David knew that it would not be easy to keep the principles of God because he’d fallen so many times before. The oppression of man is the coercion of others to get off track.

They can do this in a number of ways:

DISCOURAGMENT:  how many times have we heard “that won’t work.

DOUBT: How many times have we heard “are you sure you want to do that?”

DOOM: “No matter how you do it, it still ends up bad”

LEAVE THEM BEHIND!

Focus on God’s Word, it’s guaranteed truth!

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Hold on!

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Revelation 2:25- But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

The Word of the Lord as John wrote to the church of Thyatira, and what great words they are! “Hold fast till I come.” John had just given them the good news/bad news report from the Lord. In verse 19-20 he wrote “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”

I found it interesting that he mentions “work” twice, and in the next verse He said that His “servants” had been seduced. Obviously this was a church with a servant’s heart, but they’d got seriously off track in doctrine at some point.  But not all! Therein lies the good news.

24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

The modern day church as a whole does not have a good name. There’s so much infighting, false doctrine and Jezebel’s of the church that the Name of the Lord is tarnished like a piece of neglected silver. But in this church like all others there was remnant who had held true to the Holiness of God and to them the Lord says “Hold fast till I come.”

I repeat those words this morning to you who are reading because I know how hard it is to stay faithful in this fallen world; but if ever there is a time to hold fast it’s now. Our family and friends need to see that Jesus is the same today as He was then. There’s still a few crucial things that you can to hold onto in the church until He comes.

The Word of God – The book of Revelation for many years was seldom preached in the church because it made little sense to those who read it. The metaphors were wild to even imagine, but now… they read like yesterday’s news. For John to have seen the visions of our day in his day, what must it have looked like? To see visions of our war machines! They look like monsters to me. But hold on till the end of the book!

The Wisdom of God – As a child of God our wisdom comes from Him. It’s so easy to get frustrated with the condition of the world and want to through in the towel at the Jezebel’s and just walk away, but hold on! It only looks like they’re winning. Have you read the end of the book? No war fought on this earth is as destructive as the one we fight. When I think of Jezebel I think of the harlot whose goal is to steal the lover of another, and that is exactly what Satan desires to do. He is the happiest when he can lure someone away from the church with the filth of the world and corrupt their minds into thinking that it’s the “new normal.” Hello can I can a witness on that one?! And if you caught my reference to the show on television that’s not new, it’s as old as time. But God is faithful to give us wisdom for this battle, just ask for it!

Another thing you can hold on to is the Ways of God. Don’t buy the lie of the world that we have to accept the standards of the day and drag the world into the church. So many churches have watered down the gospel to the point Christ’s sacrifice is unrecognizable. They’ve taken the “Thou shalt not’s out” and replaced them with “That’s not for us.” Satan has lulled many into believing that God’s ways changed with the times. They didn’t. Hold on to it!  God’s way is true and faithful.

If you’re struggling to stay in service, if Satan has buffeted you with people and things to get your eyes off Christ Hold on!!! Jesus is coming soon! If ever there is a time to let our friends and family see that we have something to hold on to, it’s now.

 

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To save a nation…

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There are times that I read the Old Testament and it’s more than my stomach can handle. As someone who has never been able to watch scary or gory movies without the image getting seared in my mind, the Bible stories are sometimes almost as vivid. And then there are other days that although I wouldn’t have the stomach for it, I get so fed up with the wickedness of this world that I can totally understand how God could wipe out half a nation.

We find one such case of God’s wrath in the book of Numbers. In the first verse it is said that “Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.” (vs. 1) They had begun to sacrifice and bow down to their gods, at which time God gives Moses the command to “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”(vs. 4). I think God is pretty serious about sin to say the least, but there was a hero in the story that stopped God’s wrath by the name of Phinehas.

One of the children of Israel had brought into the congregation of the Lord a Midianite woman while the children of Israel were weeping at the door of the tabernacle because of the state of affairs. God had just laid the charge to slay those who had sinned in this manner against God, and this guy brings a woman into the congregation of the Lord. When Phinehas sees what happened scripture says “And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. (Vss. 7-8)

That act alone stopped the wrath of God.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: (Vss. 10-12)

I’m not suggesting anyone go to this extreme, but oh that men would be so zealous as to stand up in the congregations of the Lord and say “Enough!” The church in so many ways has linked arms with the world, there is no longer a separation or a holiness. Sin is overlooked and embraced dependent upon “who” it is. Praise God we are now under grace, God no longer calls upon the destruction of a nation He doesn’t have too, we’re destroying ourselves.

This is a somber thought for Monday morning, but I just feel that I needed to remind myself as I go out into the world today that God expects more of me. Just because the world says it is okay does not make it so. I am a child of God, set aside for His purpose saved by His grace. If the Israelite and the Moabitish woman were cast before me today, I’m called to give them grace, not judgment. I want those I meet today to see the love and grace of almighty God in me, but I also want to remember the zealousness of Phinehas who called sin out and saved his people. I have to begin by examining my own life… The other children of Israel were weeping at the door of the church, but Phinehas zealously acted on it and saved his nation.

What can we do… stop “playing” church. Live it!

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Sunday Morning Shipwrecks and Warfare

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I Timothy 1:18-20 – This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Speak of warfare and Korea will likely top the headlines or another warring country, but the greatest war of all is being battled on our own soil, regardless of where you are as you read this. When I Googled warfare a video clip came up of an actual military maneuver where the U.S. military were following a vehicle hauling weaponry. Their video cam zoomed in close enough to make out what they were carrying and 8-10 people on the ground, they discussed it a little while longer, received permission to deploy missiles and two seconds later those 8-10 people were in eternity and everything around them was dust.

I can assure you that Satan doesn’t call headquarters to get permission to deploy his weaponry on you this morning, we often provide our own. Wow… that was a sobering thought.

Timothy was about to go full time into the ministry, and the Apostle Paul lays a charge to him along with some heartache and sorrow from previous experience. He warns Timothy that he’s about to go to battle and his weaponry will be faith and good conscience which Paul previous ministry partners shipwrecked by walking away from the church and denying God.

My heart breaks at the friends of faith who have walked out on God. I’m not saying they blasphemed, but they at the least broke God’s heart. Satan’s missiles of choice are human. Sometimes self-inflicted wounds and other times by the words and actions of others. Usually a little of both. Because if truly we are holding onto faith we’ll let no man come between us and our Lord.

Please do not say to me that you can be as good a Christian outside of the church as I can in the church, because you have now put Satan between us, and I’d rather be looking at you this morning. It’s a lie out of the pits of Hell that you can lay out of church and not have it affect you spiritually. Little by little your faith will suffer.

What about those who cannot physically get to church you ask? First of all, ask them where they’d rather be. I believe that God takes care of us in every season of life, and there may be a season in any of our lives where we cannot attend church. But if you’re healthy and have means to attend God says in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

As time quickly passes by, we do not know the hour or day of Christ’s return. This certainly is not the time to give credence to Satan by allowing our friends and family to see us dishonoring God by being out of service.

God loves you, and I love you! I hope today finds you in the house of the Lord and celebrating your faith with good conscience. Don’t let anything or anyone keep you away from the house of the Lord. Christ died for everyone in it, there’s not a one of them perfect. I’m at the top of the list of imperfections…

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All my oars in the water….

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Luke 16:1~ And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

A modern day version of the unjust steward. An executive is called into the bosses office and accused of misappropriating funds, he’s been skimming money from the boss. He’s given the opportunity to defend himself, but is obviously guilty for he does not protest the accusation, but begins to ponder unemployment. “I cannot dig” he’s an executive, that’s a laborer’s job. He cannot beg in an Armani suit for cryin’ out loud! So what’s a fellow to do?

He goes to people who owe the company money, and what would have normally been his profit or commission from collecting their sales, he knocks that off the top in order to get them to pay and to gain favor from them so that in his hour of need they’ll help him out, (he’s about to be fired!) perhaps offer him a job, or at least a place to stay when he loses his house. He obviously did not take more profit from his boss when he took money off what the people had owed, because in verse 8 it says “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” His lord would not have commended him if he had cost him more money. So obviously the money lost was that of the unjust steward.

A strange lesson, but a valuable one to the church on stewardship.

God has given us a wealth of resources in the church. Every soul that commits to Christ has a gift to offer for service. Every soul! No one is excluded. But we’re wasting it… myself included.

I’ve been struggling lately to keep all my oars moving the same direction. Sometimes I find myself out in the middle of the lake of life going around in circles because one of my oars isn’t moving at all! I am assuming you understand the boat analogy. If you only paddle on one side of your boat, your boat begins to turn. I remember that from my days of john boat riding on the Elk River in Braxton, WV. The same theory holds true if your life is out of balance and we’re not making the most of our resources.

It pricked my heart when I re ad that the “children of the world are wiser than the children of light?” Shrewd business people know how to make the most of their resources. They use everything and everyone they have at their disposal to make a profit and further their goal. Why shouldn’t we? God has given me everything I need and then some to live a balanced and successful life. He placed people in my path to help me, and I’ve failed to. He’s given me talents and tools, and yet I don’t use them for fear of failure. If I was truly trusting in God for everything in my life I’d use everything I have without hesitation knowing that He intended it for my good and His glory. We tend to separate our lives into home/career/church, when in reality it’s our life. Do they not all belong to God?

Jesus told His parents at the age of 12 when they had misplaced Him on their journey Luke 2:49 “I must be about my Father’s business.” He knew then that there was a great work to do, and He knew it was going to get done.

The parable of the unjust steward ends with a stern warning from Christ in verse 11-13 ~ If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches.  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Nothing we have on this earth belongs to us. To separate any part of our life is saying that part of it belongs to God, and the other to us. That’s not balance! Balance required equality and the only way we can be equal is to be in Him. The steward learned to give God His share, and share any excess with those he served, counting on his Lord to take care of him. Such a great story! I could learn…