Things Are Always What They Seem

But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Matthew 14:30 (NET)

We would all like to say we see every thing the way it really is. What I mean by that is that when we are looking at a situation, we think we are seeing the whole story through God's perspective. But what usually happens is that we see a situation through our perspective which is tainted with hurts from the past, experiences we have been through and a method of thinking that our brain uses. This twists the situation whereby we come out looking like we are right, and everyone else is wrong...or we are the victim and everyone should apologize to us. This has happened to me many times because of my own insecurities. I would walk into a situation where I would think the whole world is against me and that I am the victim. God finally got a hold on me and said "look Kent, you are looking through your own insecurities and not through My eyes." What really had happened is that I got my eyes off of Jesus and on to my circumstances. You see, circumstances will try to dictate reality, but in essence you are only seeing part of what is really going on. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we let go of our insecurities and our hurts, and let Him deal with the situation. Now He may tell you that your thinking is wrong (which many times is the case for me), and in that case you have to change your way of thinking. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and look at reality through His eyes and not our own. Circumstances may try to get your eyes off of Jesus, but don't let this happen. Keep your eyes fixed on Him.

Take Away: whatever the circumstances may seem to dictate, stop looking at your circumstances, and look to Jesus. He will take care of your hurts and pain.

Worship Song of the Week...

When God is Silent

O God, whom I praise, don’t stand silent and aloof

Psalm 109:1 (NLT)

Have you ever asked God something and all you got was silence? Its happened to me on several occasions. I would ask God "should I do this, or should I do that," and all I would get was silence. Back in the late 90s I was dating this woman and after several months I asked God "should I ask her to marry me?" Silence, nothing but silence. I asked several times...and silence. So in my logical mind I concluded that the next logical step would be to get engaged and then get married. So I asked her to marry me and she said yes. From that moment I felt life start to leave me and over the next month my life just got more empty and empty. After a month we ended our engagement and I asked God why did You let this happen. He said "I never told you to get engaged." When I look back, I could see how God had been talking to me about not pursuing that relationship, but I ignored Him. God really wasn't being silent when I asked Him about me marrying that woman, He had been talking to me for the previous several months, I just ignored Him. When you ask God for something and you get silence, go back in your memory and see where God WAS talking to you. He will be talking to your through other people, through circumstances, through your own heart, through church...but He is talking to you. Now, when I get silence, I go back and see where He has been talking to me. It is then when I know the answer without having to ask Him again.

Take Away...God really isn't silent, He has been talking to you the whole time. So when you think you are getting silence, think back and see where He has been talking to you. It is then that you have your answer.

Worship Song of the Week...

The Appointed Time

For everything there is an appointed time,
and an appropriate time for every activity on earth

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NET)

Many years ago God told me that I was going to be in a band. I got so excited about this because I had been praying for this for several years, and I thought Wow! It's finally going to happen! Days started to go by with no band, then weeks started passing, then months had started passing and still no band. So I made the decision to start a band on my own. I even prayed about who is to be in the band but all I got from God was silence. So when I found someone who played an instrument, I asked them if they wanted to be in the band. I went to several musicians asking this and eventually, over time (and I would say several months) I had a band. We then started rehearsals which went every way but smooth. I had members who wouldn't show up, ideas clashed constantly...it was something that I could certainly say wasn't of God! Eventually the band broke up. When it did, I asked God "what happened, You told me I was to be in a band, I got in a band, why didn't it work?" At that point the silence broke and God told me "now wasn't the time for the band, I will tell you when." It wasn't for another 7 years that the band God told me about happened. When God tells you something that you are to do, or something that is going to happen, He is telling you for a reason, and not that it is going to happen tomorrow. There is a "preparation time" that you need to go through before whatever it is happens. During that preparation time, you need to be patient, listen to God about the steps you need to take which may include work on your heart and work on your mind. If you are patient and do what God tells you to do, whatever it is He told you are to do will happen flawlessly and without any effort on your own. He will do it!

Take Away: There is an appointed time for everything God tells us. When God tells you something that you are to do or something that is going to happen in the future, be patient as you go through the "preparation time."

Worship Song of the Week...

Ernest Angely and High School

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Luke 6:37 (NET)

When I was in high school and had just rededicated my life to Christ, I read this verse and really didn't give it much thought. Meanwhile, there was this evangelist on television named Ernest Angely. He spoke with a "different" accent (yes he was an American), he acted different than what most people would call normal. He was quite wide known at the time and a bunch of us in school would were always making fun of him, mimicking the way he talked and so on. Interesting that after I read that verse, I noticed that whenever I would make fun of Ernest Angely, something bad would happen to me. And it wasn't just once or twice, it was every time I made fun of him. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me that although he may sound and act different gives you no right to judge and criticize him. Every one has a past that has dictated the way people think, act, talk, whatever, including you and me. To judge and criticize people because they think and behave differently than you or I do is really saying we are better than they are. In reality we are no better than the other person, we just have different histories and pasts. We, as Christians, as the body of Christ, need to be flowing in more mercy and in more forgiveness and in more understanding towards other people. God didn't say its alright to criticize if they are doing something really bad, He never says that! What He does say is to love them, pray for them, and forgive them.

Take Away: instead of criticizing and judging people, ask God to help you show mercy and understanding toward others, no matter how different they talk or act.

Worship Song of the Week...

Truth or Feelings?

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32 NET

Interesting thing about our past experiences, they all have a bias. Yep, each one of our experiences is biased, and the further we get in time from when that experience happened, the more biased it is toward our perceptions of the event. What I mean by that is that when we think of something that happened to us in the past, our thoughts become biased to where we look the best, or where we look like the victim. Unfortunately we bring those distorted views of our experiences to present day and apply that to a current circumstance. The result is that we end up being the victim all over again and we get hurt all over again. What we need to do is bring Jesus to the current circumstance. Jesus said that He will show us the truth, and this truth will set us free. That means that whenever you are in a circumstance where you are feeling hurt, or are re-living a past experience or starting to experience feelings that you had from a past event, instead of diving into those feelings, go to Jesus, ask Him to reveal truth to you. Feelings will lie to you, past events and your memories are distorted to the point that they will lie to you, but Jesus will not lie. He will bring truth to you and to the situation. Now you must be ready for what He tells you, because believe your not, you may be the one who is wrong. But whatever He tells you, He will be telling you the truth, and it will set you free!

Take Away: In every situation you find yourself in, don't rely on past experience and feelings to dictate the outcome, ask Jesus to reveal truth to you!

Worship Song of the Week...

When It Gets Tough, Stand in Faith

David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and brave! Do it! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is finished.
1 Chronicles 28:20

Has this ever happened to you...you've been praying for God to give you a purpose or a calling, or even a job to do, and then right after He shows you, you get all excited and you can't wait to get started. Then when you get started, and it starts to get tough and difficult, you ask yourself or God "what did you get me into?" And then you give up. Yep, right here! I can't tell you how many times God has given me something to do, then I would start it, it would get difficult, then I would say, "well, it must not be God," and then I would quit. Over the years I've missed out on a lot because I stopped and didn't allow God to be God. You see, whenever God gives you something to do, its not based on your abilities, but your willingness to do something. He will do the work through you, He will give you what you need when you need it, such as strength, money, supplies, He will supply them all for you, you and I just need to REMAIN willing and not quit. God is a big God, much bigger than what we give Him credit for, so press on in faith, knowing that He will not abandon you before your work is finished.

Take Away: the next time God gives you something to do, don't give up when it gets tough, but go at it with the confidence that He will do the work through you, give you what you need when you need, and He will see you to the finish!

Worship Song of the Week...

Habits and Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

Have you ever had a habit of doing something that you really don't want to do, but you keep doing it anyway? I think we can all raise our hand to that, I know I sure can! Fortunately Jesus, when He died and rose again, did something for us that takes care of that, and that is He gave us freedom! He gave us a freedom where we never have to suffer from those things again. Now I know exactly what you are going to say. "Kent, if Jesus gave me freedom, then why I am still doing what I don't want to do." Jesus did give us freedom, however it is up to us to receive that gift and hold on to it. Notice what Paul was saying here, "stand firm and do not be subject again." This means we have to do something. This means that when we are being tempted to do that which we don't want to do, that we have to stand our ground and say with all our being "NO!" It means that whenever we have an opportunity to do that which we don't want to do or even think about that thing (and may I had think pleasurable thoughts about that thing), that we do whatever we need to do to change our thoughts and turn our back on that thing. It took you and I a long time, years sometimes, to get into the mess and behavior pattern that we are currently in. It is going to take some time to stand firm and consistently stand firm before you start seeing that bad habit fade away. And if you slide back into that habit, that's okay, as long as you are consistently standing firm against it and consistently turning you back and changing your thoughts on that thing.

Take Away: if you consistently stand firm and consistently stop putting yourself in a situation where you will no longer go back to that "bad" habit, you will eventually reap the reward of freedom. The key is "consistently!"

The Smallest of Details

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
John 14:14

It seems a lot of people have problems just going to God and praying. We think He is too busy to be concerned with our own daily lives that we only go to Him for the really big things, like praying for someone who needs healing, or praying for a job, etc. But in reality, God is very concerned about our daily lives right down to the smallest details. We think God doesn't care how I landscape my yard, or God doesn't care whether I get a 42 inch TV or a 50 inch TV, or which road should I take this morning...we think those are too small because "God is only concerned with the large things in life." Take a look at the first part of John 14:14, it says if you ask Me ANYTHING. Anything means just that, anything, from the largest of things in life to the smallest of things like which belt am I going to wear today or what road should I take to get to work this morning or what should I fix for dinner tonight. God cares! He wants to be part of your daily life, He wants to be involved in your daily routine. Start today by asking Him for the input into the small details of your life. Then watch and listen to Him!

Take Away: God is not only concerned about the large details of life, but also the small ones. Start praying for God's input into your daily life, even if you think God doesn't care. That's a lie because He does care!

The Cyclist and the Car

So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
Galatians 6:10

I was watching a video of a motorcyclist starting to pass a vehicle, and then suddenly the vehicle that the motorcyclist was getting ready to pass swerved, hit the cyclist and drove off (but later stopped). The motorcyclist was alright, banged up but alright. Unfortunately at the time of the posting of the video his wife that was on the cycle with him was still in ICU. When they found the driver of the car, he said he purposely swerved to hit him and didn't care that he hit the cyclist. What has happened to our society? What has happened that human life means nothing to people anymore? Now I could definitely start venting, but that won't help. What will help is what Paul is saying to us in Galatians 6:10...do good to all people. It is easy to do good to those we know and like, but it gets a little more difficult to do good to those that we don't know, or don't like, or that cut us off in traffic, or are mean to us on the phone at the office. But look at that verse again, it says do good to ALL people, that means everyone, the nice people and the people that, well, aren't nice. Hey, we are not always nice either, but we expect people to extend grace to us, right? If we expect people to extend grace to us, then we better be able to do the same for others. More importantly though, God wants us to be nice to all people, and in this way we are truly witnesses to for Him.

Take Away: let's be the salt of the earth, let's be the ones who make the change to at least those around us...when you have the opportunity to be nice and do good to those that are not particularly good to you, choose to do good...we are the ones that can make the change!

The Rhema Word

After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire,there was a soft whisper.

1 Kings 19:12 NET

In my last post I talked about hearing God speak through His logos word. Today I am going to talk about God speaking to us through His rhema word. Rhema literally means "utterance" or "thing said." This is how God speaks a specific word that is directed at you. When God speaks to us through His rhema word, the Holy Spirit is actually talking to our spirit. Now some of you may be saying, Kent, that's sounding a bit spooky. Well, hear me out before you diss me. Look at 1 Kings 19:12. Elijah was probably looking for God in the fire, the windstorm and the earthquake, but he didn't find God. Then finally there was a small whisper. I'm not saying God will never have this thunderous voice, but it is very clear in this scripture that God's voice, the Holy Spirit's voice is a small whisper. Some people, myself included, come to know this as the sixth sense or that "knowing" where you just know something. Other people will hear that "whisper" in a picture, in nature, however the Holy Spirit chooses, He will speak to us in a whisper. You may say Kent, I hear voices in my head all the time, how do I know which is the Holy Spirit and which is everything else? Very easy to tell. The Holy Spirit's voice will never bring you confusion, anger, resentment, frustration, etc. The Holy Spirit's voice will always bring you peace. And if you're still not sure, then wait a day or two when the "voices" have settled and then ask the Holy Spirit to repeat what He said. It takes practice hearing God's rhema word, so don't give up. 

Take Away: God still speaks to you and I, and He will speak to you using His logos and rhema words. Take the next month and seek to hear His voice. Ask Him to talk to you specifically through His logos and His rhema words.

The 4 Letter Word

“if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him with your whole mind and being.”

Deuteronomy 30:10 NET

In my last post I talked about how God is still speaking to us and that He uses His logos word and also His rhema word. Today I am going to talk about his LOGOS word. Logos is Greek and means sayings of God, decree, moral precepts, instruction, etc. That is the Bible, the sayings of God, the decrees and moral precepts of God, the instructions of God. From Genesis to Revelation God is speaking to you and me. In order for you and I to know what God is speaking to us, we've got to do this one thing I am about to tell you, and its a very important thing. Its a thing that involves only 4 letters. When you hear this word it is going to be a huge revelation to many of you. Are you ready, here is it. When it comes to God speaking to us through His LOGOS word (the Bible), we've got to READ the Bible! A lot of people count on other people to read it to them because they dont understand what they are reading, or they are reading a version that has to many thees and thous and thines, the old English way of speaking. Here is what you do if you find it difficult to read and understand the Bible. Find a version of the Bible that you can understand such as the New Living Translation or the New English Translation. Next, before you open the Bible, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand and to reveal truths to you. Then open the Logos Word and start reading. If you don't understand what you are reading the first few times, that's all right, keep reading, the Holy Spirit will eventually reveal truth to you!

Take Away: The logos way of God speaking to us is through His written word, the Bible. If you haven't opened it up lately (and you can tell by the amount of dust on it), pick it up, read it and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal new truths to you.

God Still Speaks To Us

My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27 NET

Yep, it's true, God still speaks to us. "But Kent," you say, "I've never heard His voice, and why would God want to speak to me, who am I that the Creator of the Universe would have an interest in me?" In John 10:27 Jesus is telling us that yes, He still speaks to us...and He WANTS to speak to us! I have yet to read anywhere in scripture that says God no longer speaks to His children. In fact, if God didn't speak to His people, we would be in a terrible situation. We would essentially be doing what we thought was right, and you see how well that worked out for Israel and Judah back in the Old Testament. They did what was right in their eyes, ignored what God was speaking through the prophets, and both countries ended up being abolished by the Assyrians (Israel) and the Babylonians (Judah). God speaks to us in two different ways, through His "logos" word which is scripture, and He speaks through us through His "rhema" word, which is a direct personal word from the Holy Spirit to you. Over the next couple of days I will talk about how we hear through logos and through rhema and how to apply them to our lives today.

Take Away: God still speaks to you and to me and He WANTS to speak to you and me, but before we can go further, this must become an underlying truth in our lives.

Reaping From Your Decisions

Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows,
Galatians 6:7

Did you ever do something that you knew better not to do, but you did it anyway? Then when it wouldn't work out, even though you knew not to do it, you wanted God to fix it. I can raise my hand to that...over and over. Yes, I don't think it matters how long you have been walking with the Lord, there are times when we get all full of ourselves and we think we know better, even when God says "no." We think that since God loves us, He will rescue us and fix us from the results of our actions, but that is not the case. Right here in Galatians 6:7 He is saying you reap what you sow. What that means is that we have to bear the consequences of our actions. For many years I built up a large amount of debt on my credit cards. I knew better than to spend money I didn't have, but I did it anyway. Then when the bills came due and money got tight, I asked God to fix it. You know what He told me, He said "you got yourself into this mess, you are going to get yourself out of the mess...but I will show you how to get out of this mess and I will teach you so that you will not get into this mess again." That's the cool thing about God, although we must bear the consequences of our actions, He will always be there to love us and to teach us. God didn't pay my bills for me, but He showed me how to budget and get my spending under control.

Take Away: don't think God will fix the messes you got yourself into, but ask Him to show you how to get out of your mess and He will teach you so that you will not get into that situation again.

Extending Grace

“And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.”

1 John 4:21 NET

It is so easy to love everyone on Sunday at church, isn't it? We raise our hands in worship singing "glorly to you God, I love you Lord," we give each other hugs, we hear a message about God's love and how we are to love each other where we are saying "Amen" several times. Then we walk out of the building and across the parking lot...and words that we would never say in church start coming out of our mouths, sometimes at people we don't even know! Or we start thinking thoughts like, "if I walk into work tomorrow morning and there is a stack of papers on my desk, then heads are going to roll!" You may have never said those exact words, but don't say you never thought along those lines. I've done it, and sometimes I still do it. So where is God's love in all of that??? When it comes down to it, we do love God, the problem is we are still reacting to issues inside of us as are the people all around us. When we go to God, we know He is going to forgive us and help us, and we need to be giving that same kind of grace to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters as well. When we get into a situation where we feel our emotions rising up, we need to take a deep breath, and put the cross of Jesus as the back drop of the situation. When we do this, we bring the grace of God into the situation and in doing so we bring the "right thing to do" into the situation. We need to realize that we are not perfect and neither is our neighbor. We need to extend the grace that God gave us to our fellow Christian when they aren't acting so great. We need to extend the grace that God gave us to our wife, husband, children, friends, pastors, etc with the same grace that we expect God to give us.

Take Away: start looking at every situation you encounter with God's love. See the situation with the cross of Jesus as the backdrop and extend grace to those around you.

Being Used and Not Knowing It

“But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me.””

Luke 8:46 NET

For many years I used to think that I had to get all prayed up, worship for a couple hours, you know, get myself to where I thought I was really holy before I thought God would use me. I would work myself up singing and dancing, reading scripture, all the time thinking that "man, God is really going to use me today, I'm going to touch people and they will be healed, I'm going to prophecy to people, God is REALLY going to move through me today." Well, as you probably could guess, I didn't see mighty moves of God in my life that day. But for some reason, on days that I wouldn't do all that, where I was just being me, God would move through me to touch other people. Funny thing is, I would not know He was doing it until days later when someone would come up to me and say "what you said really meant something to me the other day." Honestly I wouldn't even remember saying it. When we think that we have to get all "holy" before God can move in our lives, then we have tied God's hands to where we only allow Him to use us whenever we think we are perfect. God is not a God who waits until we are what we would call "perfect." God moves in our everyday life, most of the time without us even knowing it. Jesus felt the power move out of Him and into that lady that touched His robe, but He never had to work Himself up, He was just being Himself. If you are a believer, that same Jesus is living in you...and everything else that goes along with Jesus, including His power. We need to stop thinking that we have to be all "holy" before God can use us and allow Him to use us in everyday life while we are just being ourselves.

Take Away: God can use you just the way you are, you don't have to have perfect behavior or a perfect attitude. Allow yourself to be you, and let God move through you. You may never know when He is using you, but He will do it!

Questions and Reactions

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Proverbs 16:18 NET

Like you, I have read and heard this scripture time and time again. We all like to think we are not prideful. We all would like to think that we are humble. But truth is we all have some pride in our hearts to deal with. Now, if you are saying "Bless God, Kent I don't have any pride," well that should be a red flag going up saying uhhh, I think you do! Here is a good test of whether you have pride in your heart or not...how easy is it for you to say I failed at something? How easy is it for you to accept criticism WITHOUT getting upset? How easy is it for you to watch someone else get an award at work for the exact same thing you did, but no one noticed? If your answers to the previous questions make you uncomfortable, or if it is NOT easy for you to say I failed, or accept criticism or watch someone else get an award you thought you should have gotten, then you have some pride to deal with. But this isn't a bad thing, in fact this is a good thing because God is shedding light on areas of your life He wants to work on. Open up your heart and let God work on areas of your life that He wants to clean up. It may be tough in the beginning (and it probably will be tough), but the pay off is tremendous!

Take Away: Ask God to show you areas that you are prideful, and then open up your heart and allow Him to work on those areas.

Finding a Home

“not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.”

Hebrews 10:25 NET

Going to church is a very important part in our walk as Christians. Church is a place where we can come to learn and worship along with fellow believers. I find it interesting that some people think they can walk through Christian life never needing to go to church. I've heard some say that, "well, as long as I watch Brother So-and-So on TV, then I am getting all I need to learn." Unfortunately this is a direct contradiction to Hebrews 10:25. Furthermore, church is not only a place to come and learn and worship. If you read the rest of Hebrews 10 :25, it says church is a place where we can encourage others. Unfortunately a lot of people have been hurt by people at the church for a number of reasons. I want to encourage you that if that is your case, don't let that stop you finding a group of believers to be with. God wants us to gather together with believers to encourage each other, to worship together and to learn together. The one thing the enemy really dislikes is when we gather together because there is strength in numbers. Don't allow the lies of the devil to keep you from meeting together with believers. Find a church home and don't abandon meeting together. 

Take Away: if you do not have a church home, find one. Don't let the lies of the enemy keep you from gathering together with other believers. If you are afraid or hurt when it comes to going to church, then go to church afraid and hurt, that is really the best place to go to get healing and encouragement.

He Is Helping You

“For I am the LORD your God, the one who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’”

Isaiah 41:13 NET

If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you have probably heard this verse repeated over and over and over, "do not be afraid, I am helping you." It sounds great, doesn't it? God is here helping us! So, why am I still dealing with this problem? Well perhaps it is because we are not listening to His helping voice? I've heard people say, "this came as such as surprise to me" or "I never saw this coming." Well as much as you may not want to hear this, those statements are a lie. I know, I probably just stepped on a few toes, but the reality is that God was helping you, you just didn't listen. If you think back about a situation, you will likely recall that little voice that was saying "don't do that" or "better do it this way" or "don't say that." Instead you did what you wanted to do because you thought you knew better. I can raise my hand to all of that! God IS helping us, and we need to learn to not only listen to that little voice inside of us, but also act on what He is saying. It's one thing to listen, but it needs to be followed up with doing. I can also remember many times when I did listen to that voice and acted on it. It may not have turned out the way I wanted, but the result was so much better than what I wanted. We must do things God's way, not our own way. This requires us to lay down ourselves and our wants, and do things His way!

Take Away: when you approach a situation, ask God to help you. Then listen to that still small voice and do what He says. His result is so much better and lasting that anything you can come up with!

Experience His Love

“So Jesus added, “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.””

John 6:65 NET

For many years I thought that I have dissappointed God. I thought, at times, that His love for me was based on my performance, and if I didn't do something good, or if I said the wrong thing, if I hurt someone (even intentionally), that God wouldn't love me and sometimes even to the extent that He would reject me. And then I read this verse...the Father has allowed me to come to Jesus. In Psalm 139, it says that God knows everything about me, what I say, what I do, where I go, etc. What this is saying is that even though God knows I do bad things, think bad thoughs, say bad things, spread rumors, gossip, all that muckiness...through all of that, God still chose me! Yes, He knew what He was getting when He got you...and still He chose you to come into a love relationship with Him! Our human minds will never be able to grasp exactly how much the Father loves us, but one thing we can grasp is that He DOES love us. He loves you, He loves me...that is one thing that will never change. If you think you are unloveable, if you think that you are not good enough, if you think that you will never amount to anything that someone would want, if you think you are not smart enough or pretty enough, if you think that there is no way anyone could love you...then ask God to reveal His love to you, ask Him to show you His love!

Take Away: we can rest in the fact that God loves us. If you don't feel His love, ask Him now to reveal His love to you so that you can experience His love! If you ask, He will do it!

Problems and more Problems

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage – I have conquered the world.””

John 16:33 NET

There is one misconception I see a lot of Christians struggle with, and that is they wonder why they are continuing to experience trouble, problems, sufferings, etc.  I use to think that if I continued to get closer and closer to Jesus, my troubles would slowly fade away. The truth is, the closer we get to Jesus, the more troubles and problems we will experience. Yep, to the non-Christian that probably sounds like a reason not to walk closer to Jesus, but here's the reality...we don't have to get all wrapped up in our troubles with anxiety, anger, resentment, etc because we have Jesus Who is the One Who solves our problems. In fact He is the One Who gives us peace as we go through our struggles. The problem a lot of people experience is that when they encounter problems, they try to solve it themselves instead of going to Jesus Who can solve it for us. By trying to solve the problems ourselves, we create more problems by walking in anger, anxiety, etc. Since we are already told we are going to experience problems in this world, why would we want to add more problems on to the problems we are already promised? We need to make a decision that when we encounter problems, we go to the Problem solver and not try to fix it ourselves.

Take Away: when your next problem rises up (and it will), go right to Jesus. Then choose to walk in peace knowing He is taking care of it, and if He needs you to do something, He will tell you.

Submit and then Resist

“So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7 NET

I can't tell you how many times I've read this scripture and used this scripture...but somehow in most of those times, I usually focus on the last part of the verse, you know, the resisting the devil part. I used to think that if I resisted the devil then he would flee...period...end of discussion. Right? Not even close. I always would overlook the first part of that verse...the submitting to God part. With all my resisting the devil, he wasn't fleeing. In fact, it seemed at times like conditions got worse. Without submitting to God, we are using our own strength. While that might work for a time, it is not lasting and you eventually end up right where you started from. We've got to realize that we can't do it on our own, it must be God....and in order for it to be God, we've got to submit to Him. If you and I think we can go through life submitting to Him only when its convenient for us, we will have a life filled with troubles upon troubles upon troubles, and never walk in peace. When we submit to God, we are acknowledging that 1) we love Him, 2) we trust Him, 3) we can't do it on our own, and 4) we need Him. Submitting is not always easy. It may mean doing something we don't want to do. At those times you've got to stand your ground and tell yourself, "self, I'm going to submit to God and do things His way!"

Take Away: if you want to walk in victory and peace, you've got to submit to God first. Then and only then can you resist the devil, and when you do, the devil must flee.

Preparation Time

“nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.”

Galatians 1:17 NET

In this passage, Paul was talking to the Galatians about how he got to where is was at this point in his life. After Paul's conversion, God gave Him his purpose, to preach the word. However God didn't send him out right away. Paul had a little character building and relationship building with God to do. In the next verse, Paul says that he was in Arabia for 3 years. Throughout the Bible there are many times that God has told someone that they are to do something or they will be something, and then a period of time passes before it came to pass. That period of time is meant to be a preparation time. When God tells us our "assignment" or some people like to call it a "calling," but whatever you want to call it, whenever God tells us, most of us will run out right away and try to make it happen. Then we get frustrated because it doesn't happen the way or in the time that we want it to, and then we figure "well, that must not have been God." There is a preparation time between the time when God speaks to us and the time it is fulfilled. That preparation time is really a character building time and a relationship building time with God. God needs to get us to where we need to be to fulfill whatever He is speaking to us about. We need not to get impatient and frustrated during this time because this character bulding time is for us, it is for me and for you. It may be several years before what He has spoken to you comes to pass, but during that time, don't get frustrated or impatient...take that time to learn from Him what you need to learn.

Take Away: when God speaks, we start preparing, then after the preparation time is over, get ready!