Mindful of Him

Have you ever been talking with someone about Salvation and they make a comment like this one, "I can't seem to forget all the things that I've done wrong" or "I feel in my heart that something has changed, but in my mind I can't seem to forgive myself." As I was reading the first chapter of Colossians this morning, I was drawn to verses 21 & 22 "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - "

Paul says that we have the assurance, through Jesus Christ, that we are NO LONGER ALIENATED from God. When I look at the word, alienated, I automatically think of "outerspace", "the far-side", "a great distance away", etc... Once we WERE, as sinners, a long way from God and distanced from God, but through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection of His body, we have been made "heirs" with Christ and have the presence of God IN US!

I think a lot of Christians today fight the "battle of the mind" and allow the devil to trick them into believing that they are not forgiven. The battle of Salvation has already been won through Jesus, all we have to do is believe that He was and IS and is to come! I preached Sunday morning on Jesus being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Whatever circumstance you may be going through today, Jesus is the WAY. Don't let your "mind" tell you any different. A lot of the times we let the struggle in our minds dictate our lives, but the bible says that we are to "offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God in spiritual acts of worship and to not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by renewing our minds" (Romans 12: 1,2). We can win the battle in our minds by letting God transform us from the inside - out! I have come to know that when I am "mindful" of God's ways, my struggle with temptation, bad attitude, fleshly motives, etc... decrease because I believe what Paul said to the church at Ephesus, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" Ephesians 4: 22-24)

Let's strive to have the "mind of Christ" each day and to live a life that is pleasing to God. Remember, that Jesus paid our sin debt and all we have to do is receive and accept. Our minds may remember "the evil behavior" but God has forgotten our sins and given us a renewed life in Him! May God Bless you today!

In the way

Sunday morning the Lord allowed me to share the passage of scripture in 1 Kings about the account of Ahab, Elijah, and a man by the name of Obadiah. This is a very familar passage of scripture and I have preached from this text before, but the Holy Spirit lead me in a different direction this time. You see, this is the account of Ahab and Obadiah splitting up and going separate ways to look for a water source and grass that would nourish the herd and people because there was a great famine in the land. The land had been without rain for a period of about 3 years and God has now told Elijah to "Go present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the land" (I Kings 17:1).

When Ahab and Obadiah split up to go their separate ways, the bible says in vs. 7 "and Obadiah was in the way..." The Lord spoke to me about people of God sometimes are "in the way" of what God has purposed, ordained, laid out, planned for man and the church. This spoke very stern to our hearts and began to show us that sometimes we may be in the way of what God has shown the "man of God" that is supposed to be leading us. Now I know this scripture is referring to Obadiah being in the path, or on the same physical location as Elijah, but let's suppose that Obadiah did actually get in the way of God's plan and that plan was that Elijah meet up with Ahab (which was serving Baal, a false god) and show him that God Almighty is real! This happened with an incident in front of 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18: 16-40) Let's suppose that Obadiah refused to tell Ahab that Elijah was looking for him, Ahab and 450 prophets of Baal might have not turned their hearts to God (vs. 37).

I often wonder if I allow my own stupidity, my own fleshly thoughts, my doubt, etc... interfere with what God has planned for my life and the life of others around me. I wonder if I find myself "in the way". It's my prayer today that we seek God's face and allow him to teach us His ways and to learn how to trust in the "men of God" that He has called to do His work!

Choice - it's yours

"Many jokes are made about the devil, but the devil is no joke. He is called a deceiver. In order to accomplish his purpose, the devil BLINDS people to their need for CHRIST. Two forces are at work in our world - the forces of Christ and the forces of the devil - and you are asked to choose."
- Billy Graham

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you."
Matthew 6:33 Holman CSB

Let's face the facts: your life is a series of choices. From the instant you wake up in the morning until the moment you nod off to sleep at night, you make countless decisions - decisions about the things you do, decisions about the words you speak, and decisions about the way that you choose to direct your thoughts. As a believer who has been transformed by the love of Jesus, you have every reason to make wise choices. But sometimes, when the daily grind threatens to grind you up and spit you out, you may make choices that are displeasing to God. When you do, you'll pay a price because you'll forfeit the happiness and the peace that might otherwise have been yours.

Consider the kind of Christian you are - and the kind of Christian you want to become - and ask yourself whether you're sitting on the fence or standing in the light. The choice is yours ... and so are the consequences.

Training Wheels

Let go and let God.

I was driving down the road this morning on my way to Gallatin Hospital to visit a person and the Lord spoke those words into my spirit. "Let go and let God." Sometimes we get a "message" from the Lord, and as in my case, I try to decipher if it's for me or for a message that's coming up in the near future or what?

As I was driving I thought about when I was teaching Bailey how to ride her bicycle "without" training-wheels. I remember holding onto the seat and telling her to keep her balance and keep the handlebars steady and focus on what was in front of her and that at some point I would be letting her go so she could "ride" the bike all by herself. But for her to do all of that and to really TRUST in me letting her go, she had to TRUST in the fact when I let her go, I would be right there beside her running alongside of her to catch her when she started to fall or get all swervy (if that's a word).

Whether those words came to me for my sake or for a message down the road, I believe it will preach. Sometimes, no let me rephrase that, ALL the time we need to TRUST GOD and realize that He wants us to "ride without the training wheels" and that we can STILL trust that he will be there to catch us and steady us.

To be continued ...

Inquiring Minds (continued)

"As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me." (2 Samuel 5:20b)

King David was in battle against the Philistines and the promise of the Lord was that he would hand over the enemy to David and his men. I like the analogy of the waters breaking forth. When I read this passage of scripture I can vision David's army coming against the Philistines in a way that caused the Philistine army to be in awe and amazment of the feeling of overshadowing. When I think of waters breaking forth, I think of a gushing, forceful, speedy, energized body of water spreading out and covering whatever it falls upon. This is how the power of God should be in our lives. If we are facing giants (the Philistines were in the land of gaints) we can overcome those gaints by the force of God that works in us by just releasing ourselves to the obedience of God's will in us. Whatever the battle, it's not greater than the power of God. Whatever the choice, it's not greater than the power of God. Whatever the decision, it's not greater than the power of God. We need to let the power of God break forth like waters into our lives and we will see the glory of the Lord work in our daily lives.

David inquired of the Lord in his battle. We must do the same and in so doing, we will see that the Lord will go before us and cause us to "hear the sound of marching" (another post). When we hear from God we are to move quickly and as King James says, "bestir thyself" - become active, rouse up. It's time to be active in the Kingdom of God and rouse up some dead spirits that have been just laying around among giants and to go forth in His name and live victorious!! Inquire of the Lord today and watch Him do a work in you!!

Inquiring Minds

The Lord has put in my spirit this week the passage of scripture we find in 2 Samuel chapter 5 that talks about King David inquiring of the Lord about a battle with the Philistines. We have battles in our lives just about everyday. We make choices in our lives just about everyday. We have some kind of decision that we have to make in our lives everyday. Those battles, choices, and decisions may be good battles, choices, and decisions, or they may be bad battles, choices, and decisions. How can we take those battles, choices, and decisions and be confident that we are going to be victorious? We do what David did. We inquire of the Lord about our battles, choices, and decisions.

David knew that there was going to be a battle against the Philistines and the first thing he did was inquire. 2 Samuel 5: 18, 19 "Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?' The Lord answered him, 'Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.' " David used good sense when it came down to choosing this battle and he made the right decision. He asked the Lord what to do. He was victorious because the Lord assisted him in this battle. We can be victorious in our battles, heartaches, frustrations, etc... if we would just learn to inquire of the Lord about our business.

I believe God has more for us in this passage of scripture so, to borrow a phrase from Paul Harvey, keep tuned in for "the rest of the story, good day!"