A Wandering Mind

“KEEP YOUR foot [give your mind to what you are doing] when you go [as Jacob to sacred Bethel] to the house of God. ”

Ecclesiastes 5:1a AMP

Have you ever been reading a book and realize that although you read the words with your eyes, you have no idea what you just read because your mind was elsewhere? Happens to me all the time, especially when I sit down to read the Bible, pray, and worship God. It seems that the second I open the Bible my mind starts thinking about the plan of my day, or how to fix my bike, or what I need when I go to Walmart. The Israelites had the same problem as we do, wandering minds, and really, your mind is going to wander, but you can get it to stop wandering. Whenever I catch myself (and that's the key, to recognize when your mind is wandering), I repeat the first part of Ecclesiastes 5:1...keep your foot. I willl repeat "keep your foot Kent, keep your foot." This will draw my mind back and get it refocused again. Now sometimes it will start wandering again, but I just say the words "keep your foot" and that brings it back to the task at hand. I also have found that when my mind does wander while reading the Bible, it is during those times that there is something God wants me to read and I need to go back and read that part again. Really this goes for anything that you are doing, not just reading the Word. It could be something at work, or driving down the road, whatever. God knew we would have wandering minds but fortunately He gave us the Word to bring our minds back.

Take Away: when you catch your mind wandering, repeat the words from Ecclesiastes..."keep your foot" and then go back over what you don't remember because of a wandering mind.

You Are Not Alone

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you – yes, I help you – yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand!”

Isaiah 41:10 NET

Do you ever feel like you are alone, as if you are the only one going through what you are going through? Do you ever feel frightened as if you can't make it, that you have no strength to complete the task at hand? I was reminded of something very simple this morning but even though it was simple, I fell into the trap of my thoughts, feelings and fears. What I was reminded of was that no matter where I am, no matter what I am going through, no matter how scared I am, no matter how much strength I lack, no matter what people are saying about me, no matter who has abandoned me...I am not alone! That's right, even though you can't see Jesus, He is right there, walking with you through each step. Yes, sometimes the steps are painful and sometimes you don't think you have the strength to make it, but in reality...you do have the strength because He is with you. Our feelings will lie to us and tell us we can't make it and that we can't do it. But God said we can! God said I am not alone. God said not to be frightened because He is there, even though you can't see Him, He is there. God said don't look at your weakness, because He will strengthen you! You have a choice...to believe your feelings and continue to live in fear, loneliness and anxiety...or believe what God said and walk in strength, courage and confidence.

Take Away: whenever you feel weak, frightened, like you can't do the task at hand...look yourself in the mirror and say "I know what I feel, but I also know what God said...and I am going to believe what God said and not my feelings...I can do this, He will strengthen me, I am not alone!"

Life or Death

“For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23 NET

I've been a Christian for most of my life, in fact I really don't remember any time in my life where I wasn't a Christian. I know that around the age of 8 I accepted Jesus as my Savior, but I don't really remember much of my life before then. I find it odd that this morning, when I read Romans 6:23 that I finally realized what Jesus did for me, in fact I think most of us Christians take for granted what Jesus did for us and don't really recognize all that He did for us. I must have read that scripture thousands of times and I've even taugth on this, but this morning, today, after nearly 45 years of walking with Christ, I finally got it. Because of what Jesus did, I no longer have to face death, I no longer have to wonder what will happen to me when I die, I no longer have to be separated from the loving Father, I know that because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, I have life...forever! I have a relationship with the Father...forever! I felt the Holy Spirit tell me this morning that knowing this deep inside of me will make changes in my behavior. These changes will make others want to know Jesus, which is one of the reasons why we are here on this earth to begin with, to help others know Jesus. When you really realize the scope of what Jesus did for you, your behavior, your way of thinking, the way you conduct yourself behind closed doors and in front of others will change. You will not only want to know Jesus more and more, but you will be the catalyst that will urge others to know Jesus.

Take Away: take a moment to read and meditate on Romans 6:23 and let the Holy Spirit reveal to you exactly what Jesus did.

Obstacles and Struggles

“Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me.”

Colossians 1:29 NET

The  Apostle Paul was talking here about the goal that God placed on him of delivering the gospel to the people. But I think the message that he is wanting to get across to us, as believers, is that when God places a goal in us, He will work in us and use His power in us, but it won't always be easy. A lot of us, myself included, think that when God calls us to do something that it will be easy, smooth, no problems, no hassels, and the minute we come up against a problem, we immediately think "no, guess that wasn't God!" Many years ago I felt God impressing on me that He wanted me to start teaching His word. I got an opportunity to teach a small group and I was so excited about teaching. I thought "man, these people are going to be blessed, and this is going to lead to more teaching and more teaching, and on and on and on." Well, my teaching turned into a huge failure that day, I mean no one got anything I was teaching, and so I thought "God, guess that wasn't you." Several years later a good friend told me that the Holy Spirit was "grieved" because I decided not to teach. After thinking about it, I said, "Okay Lord, if you want me to teach, give me something to teach." I got another opportunity to teach, and this time relying on the Holy Spirit along with a lot of humble pie, I taught, and well the rest is history. I've been teaching on and off ever since. The point of this is that when God places something inside of you and it lingers for many weeks and even months, pray about it, take a step of faith and start pressing toward that goal. You WILL have struggles and obstacles, and yes it will be painful at times, but that is all part of the training and growing. 

Take Away: If God has placed a goal inside of you, get it in your mind that there will be obstacles and struggles, but don't let those stop you. Use them for learning and training...and press on toward the goal.

Grieving The Holy Spirit

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk.”

Ephesians 4:30-31 NET

Most of us, if we were honest, would never want to grieve the Holy Spirit. In fact, we would probably be very hurt and repentive if we found out that we did grieve the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately most of us do it on a day to day basis without even knowing it. According to Ephesians 4:30-31, we grieve the Holy Spirit whenever we speak bitter words, slanderous words, when we quarrel with one another, and when we gossip about others. Of course we don't call it gossip, we sugar coat it by saying "you need to pray for this person," which of course is totally a lie. You are just wanting to tell your story on how someone hurt you, or how someone did something wrong. But when we do this, we hurt and grieve the Holy Spirit. When we talk, we are suppose to build up one another. We are suppose to speak words that will edify and encourage one another. In the verse that follows todays scripture, we are told we are to forgive one another. When we speak words of gossip and slander, that is not forgiveness and it hurts the Holy Spirit. 

Take Away: make a choice today to speak words about others that build and encourage and edify them, and not to speak words that tear down and hurt another.

Jumping to Conclusions

“The first to state his case seems right, until his opponent begins to cross-examine him.”

Proverbs 18:17 NET

We humans are so accepting of one person's story that we will almost instantly jump to a conclusion. I see this on the news, in the work place, in the church and even between friends of ours. We hear one side of the story and right away we believe that is how it was, how it was said, how the other person said it, and we don't even take into account that there is another side of the story, that there are emotions involved in the story, that each person filters what was said and what was heard through experiences of the past and through hurts of the past and present. What was said may have actually been said, but was it said in the way it was said? Was it said with the meaning that it was interpreted? Everything that we hear and say goes through a filter of what we have experienced, including hurts and pains we have had in the past and currently have. This is where we, as friends, and Christians should not be so quick to jump to a conclusion thinking that they are 100% correct, but we should be there for our friends, to listen to them, cry with them, laugh with them, point out inconsistencies, and confront them with love when needed. 

Take Away: When you have a friend that is hurting, instead of jumping to conclusions, be there for them, listen to them, correct them if needed, and most of all...pray with them!

God's Protection

For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. (Psalms 91:11-12 NLT)

God has many promises in His word. We don't even have to ask for them because they are already promised to us. Protection is one of those promises. I, along with many others I'm sure, have asked God to protect them on trips, journeys, driving, hiking, etc. But look at what He is saying here. In the preceding verses, God stipulates this promise with "If you make the Most High your refuge." So there is something that has to be done before this promise occurs, and in this case God has to be your God! As long as God is your God, then this promise is true for you, you do not even have to ask for it in prayer. If you are a Christian, if you claim Jesus as your Savior, then this promise is yours. You can rest in the fact (and it is a fact), that wherever you go, God is protecting you, you don't have to ask for protection everywhere you go, it is already yours. But Kent, bad things still happen, I still get hurt. Me too, I've gotten hurt biking, I've gotten hurt doing other things. Remember that we are still subject to the consequences of our actions, and if you do something stupid, or are not paying attention, then you will suffer the consequences of your actions. Now think about this, before you got hurt, did you hear a small whisper, a small little voice saying "don't do that?" That is the Holy Spirit trying to protect you. 

Take Away: God has already promised protection for you, stop asking for it, it is already yours. Listen to the Holy Spirit before you do something, He may be trying to protect you!

No Favor in Your Life?

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4 NLT)

Have you ever had someone who was just down right mean to you, or maybe not to that extent but they just didn't like you? Perhaps it was a supervisor that didn't care for you and no matter how much you look at what you've done in the past, you can't figure out why? Let me present this to you...perhaps you are looking in the wrong direction? Perhaps you don't need to be looking at what you've done or not done to this person, but maybe you need to be looking in the mirror? Is your life a life of loyalty and kindness, or are you consistently gossipping or slandering people? Are you consistently showing mercy to others or are you unforgiving, or causing them harm with your words? Scripture is very clear in this...we must lead a life of loyalty and kindess and mercy to others...and do it consistently. It must become a lifestyle for us. Sure, we miss it every now and then, we all have our days. However our lives need to be marked by being someone who occasionally messes up versus someone who occasionally is loyal and kind. It is then that fulfillment of Proverbs 3:3-4 come to pass, it is then that we will find favor with both God and man. 

Take Away: Ask yourself "Am I leading a consistent life of loyalty, kindness and mercy?" If the answer is no, then make a decision to start changing your life! Ask God to help you. If you do, He will! 

Friendships

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive. (Proverbs 27:6 NET)

I like to think of the relationships in my life like the parts of a tree. There are different parts of a tree; the leaves, the branches and the roots. Now "leaves" friends are really more like aquaintances. They are easy to identify because they are there when things are going good, but the second they even seem to be going bad, they are gone. But you can't get mad at them because that their role in your life. Then there are the "branches." These relationships can sometimes fool you because they may appear to hang around when things get bad, but you put a little pressure on them, then they are gone.  You have to be careful with branches because you may think you can really trust them only to find out you can't. Then there are the roots. These are the relationships that no matter what happens they are there, by your side, helping you out when things are bad, counseling you, pointing your errors and inconsistencies out to you, but they will never leave you. These are the ones you want to keep in your life. You may have many leaves, and several branches, but you only need a few roots in your life. Its the roots that you want to pour your life into, its the roots that you can trust, its the roots that will give you wise counsel and although they may hurt you at times (and it will happen), they will always be there.

Take Away: identify the root relationships in your life, these are the people you need in your life, these are the ones God talks about in Proverbs 27:6...faithful are the wounds of a friend!

Faith and Persevere

But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12 NET)

The Bible is filled with the promises of God for the believers. But if you notice what the writer of Hebrews is saying here, we've got to do something to see the promises of God in our lives. It says here we must have faith and perseverance. So what does this mean to us? It means we can't sit around waiting and hoping that something will happen. If you are doing that, then you may be sitting around waiting for a long time! We've got to have faith, and not only faith but passionate faith in God that His promises will come to pass in our life. And then (here is what I think is the hardest part) we've got to also maintain that passionate faith even when circumstances are saying the opposite. If we cave into circumstances, then we have lost faith in His promises. When we have the next rent or mortgage payment due and we are standing in faith that "God will supply all my needs (Phil 4:19)" and the bank statement says $12...and then another bill comes in...we've got to remain passionate in faith that God WILL supply my needs, even if we have to say it over and over. Really, that is what you need to do, you need to say those statements of faith over and over because that builds up your faith. It looks dismal at times, but if you stand in faith and persevere, God's promises will come to pass.

Take Away: when faced with dismal circumstances, stand in that passionate faith and persevere with the passionate faith until you see God's promises come to pass.

Getting Them Back

Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will pay him back according to what he has done.” (Proverbs 24:29 NET)

As long as we live life, we are going to be wronged by people, some intentionally and some not intentionally, but make no mistake...you will be wronged by others. Sometimes it is by perfect strangers, other times it is by those we love. The question I have is when someone does something wrong to you, how do you handle it? Do you say "I'm going to get that person back, and even worse than they did me." Do you want to take them out back and slap them around a bit? Or do you say "whatever" and move on? If you are like me, the first instinct is to devise ways of getting them back or just take them out back and teach them a lesson. Fortunately now I let those thoughts dwell in my mind for about a second, but in my earlier years, I would sit for days thinking of how to get people back. If we want to live the Godly life that He wants us to live, if we want to see changes in our life for the better, we have got to do things God's way. And His way is to forgive and move on. Notice I didn't say forget, because God never said forgive and forget. Our human minds will not allow us to forget. In fact in most cases we are to remember and learn from the experience. But in everything, we are to forgive that person and let God handle it, and move on with our lives.

Take Away: the next time someone does something wrong to you, whether intentional or not, choose to forgive and move on with your life.

You Have A Skill

Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will take his position before kings; he will not take his position before obscure people. (Proverbs 22:29 NET)

Every one of us has some skill, talent, whatever you want to call it, we all have something that God will use if we let Him. The problem with a lot of us is that we don't think we have anything to offer that God can use. When we think of skills that God uses, most of us think of musicians, pastors, teachers, etc. While all of these are skills that God uses, these are but a small fraction of what God can use...and YOU have something He can use. Still not convinced? Look at Joyce Meyer, she has already said that she thought the same thing, and then God told her that she has a mouth...and now she speaks to an audience that is world wide. We all have something to offer, we just need to discover it. And once we discover it, we need to learn more about it. Notice that the scripture says "skilled" in his work. This means we learn all we can about it, we exercise our skill, we constantly use it over and over. As we practice and use our skill, we are making it stronger. You can't discover your skill and the next day say "God, I'm ready!" That is not how God works. First He will show you what it is, then He will give you opportunities to learn more about it and opportunities to practice it. The Apostle Paul went away for 3 years before he started his missionary trips. I can only think that he was learning more and more on how to reach the people.

Take Away: If you feel you don't have a skill, ask God to show you what it is. Then, and this goes for those who already discovered their skill, learn all that you can about it and practice it. EVERYONE has something to offer!

Words VS Actions

Even a young man is known by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. (Proverbs 20:11 NET)

Ever hear the saying "if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it's a duck"? When we are around people, we want them to think the best of us. We want to leave a good impression on people, mainly because we want them to like us. But have you ever noticed that sometimes what people say and what they do are two different things? I knew a guy that if you believed everything he said, you'd think he was the greatest person on the planet, that he loved everyone and was always there to help people. Unfortunately what he said and how he behaved were two entirely different things. And although he thought people thought the best of him, they knew what he was really like because of his actions. That person was me. Yep, totally me...until God finally got a hold of me and spoke truth into my life. I look back at that person and wonder why anyone would want to be around me. Our words and our actions need to line up with each other. Like this scripture says, you are known by your actions. This should be a wake up call for all of us. If what you say is not lining up with what you are doing, then you need to get on your knees and ask God to show you why is your behavior and your words speaking two different things. You need to be open to hear His truth. It is only when our words and our actions speak the same thing that we can minister to others in truth and love!

Take Away: examine your words and your actions, and if they are not speaking the same thing, then ask God to reveal truth to you. Be open to what He tells you. It may hurt and you may not want to hear what He is saying, but His truth will bring healing in your life.