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...

How Do You See You?

The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his commandments which I am urging you today to be careful to do. (Deuteronomy 28:13 NET)

We need to have God in our lives, and by that I mean on a day to day basis, not just on Sunday and then the rest of the week we forget about Him until the next Sunday...I mean every day. When we do this, He is able to let us see clearly how He sees us. In this scripture He is telling you and I that we have value, we have affirmation of who we are. If we don't have God in our lives, we will never know how He truly sees us, and if we don't see how He truly sees us, we are left to finding out who we are from other people. This is VERY dangerous! This is where low self esteem comes from and a whole host of other problems. That is what happened to me. Until I knew God, I looked to other people to define who I was. Unfortunately I was looking to the wrong people, and by that I mean humans. I developed low self esteem, codependendy, fear of rejection, etc. After I started living how God wanted me to live on a daily basis, I was able to see how He saw me. It took a while for me to get that I am the head and not the tail, I am blessed coming in and going out, I am the pupil of His eye...but I finally got it. 

Take Away: Put God first in your life, every day and you will see who you truly are, a blessed child of God.

A Level Path

Make the path for your feet level, so that all your ways may be established. (Proverbs 4:26 NET)

We have a choice. We can follow God and His ways or we can do our own thing. Have you noticed that when you do your own thing, it doesn't always turn out so good? Have you noticed that when God gives you an answer you don't like, you tell Him "let me try it my way one more time, and then if that doesn't work, I will do it your way?" I'm raising both hands right here! Yes, I have done the above, and every time I did things my way, the end result was either a disaster, OR it was not God's best. Why do we think we know more than God? He tells us to make the path of our feet level. That means we have a choice to follow Him or follow our own desires. If we follow Him our path will be level. That doesn't mean we won't have problems. We are already promised we will have problems, but if we choose His way, those problems won't shake us. When we choose to follow His ways, our paths will be level, no matter what issues of life rise in our lives. 

Take Away: When you have a choice to do your own thing or follow God's ways, choose to make your path level, choose God's ways. It may be tough at first, but it is the first step to a balanced life.

A Wandering Mind

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT)

God wants our full attention, but unfortunately our minds have other plans. When you have your time with God, does it seem like all the thoughts of the world start running through your mind? Do you find your mind wandering the second you sit down and start talking to or worshiping God? Happens to me all the time. What I have to do in those cases and say "Kent, stop it, lets get our focus back on God" and then if that doesn't work, I'll spread out my hands, close my eyes and say "settle my soul Jesus, settle my soul." Honestly I should really do that at the beginning because that always works for me. You may need to find something else that gets your focus back on God. The point is when we have our time with God, we need to keep our focus on Him and not get sidetracked. We need to get control of our minds and not let our minds control us! 

Take Away: if your mind is a wandering mind the minute you sit down to have your time with God, don't let it continue to wander, get your focus back on God

Always There

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NLT)

Lets face it, we have finite minds, we can't think of everything all the time. What I mean is that we can't always have everything and everyone in our thoughts all the time at every moment, our human minds just can not handle that. For example, have you gone through a day when you just didnt' think of someone you loved for a period of time, but yet you knew that you knew that you knew that the someone still loved you and was always there. I admit I don't think of my wife 100% of the time, but I know she is always there, and is always loving me. And even when I am not thinking of her, she is still doing things for me, some of which I will never know about because she loves me. The same goes with God. I don't think of God all the time through out my day, but I know that I know that I know that He is always with me, always watching out for me, always having my best interest in mind, always orchestrating events for my benefit and good, EVEN when I am not thinking about Him. The enemy and even our own minds can get us down by saying "you're not thinking of God, you're not meditating on Him, how do you expect Him to help you when you need it." Those thoughts are lies, don't believe them. Like Isaiah said, don't be afraid for God is ALWAYS with you!

Take Away: The next time you hear a voice condemning you because you are not thinking about God, say "I may not always be thinking of God,  but I know He is always there, always thinking of me, and always looking out for me."

Seeking Needs or His Kingdom

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. (Luke 12:31 NLT)

In my last post I talked about how God provides your needs, in fact He is everything for you. He is your provider, He is your comforter, He is the One taking care of you. But there is a caveat to this. In order for God to provide for your needs, you must seek the Kingdom of God above everything. What does this mean? First, to seek something means to search it out through exhaustive measures. If means you must go after it with all you got. The Kingdom of God, as described in Romans 14:17 is peace, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit. This means you must pursue peace and joy and righteousness...and not only pursue it, but do your best to walk in it! If you are going around complaining about everything and being frustrated, or if you are constantly looking at the bad side of things...then you are not pursuing joy, peace and righteousness. When you start seeking joy, peace and righteousness, as described in Luke 12:31...and also in the book of Matthew), then God will provide for everyone of your needs. Notice that it didn't say seek your needs, it says seek His Kingdom. If you are seeking your needs, then you definitely will not find peace and joy, but you will find frustration and most likely an unmet need.

Take Away: Its not too late to seek joy, peace and righteousness. Make a decision today to seek God's Kingdom instead of your need.

Needs

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 NLT)

God will always provide for your needs. He always does, that's one of His promises. We don't even need to ask Him most of the time, He just does it! There are times, however, that we do need to voice our needs. In either case, we just have to have the faith and believe that He will do it! Some of us may want to wait for this big Hollywood-style way of God showing up with a light show and all the works. If you are waiting for that, you will be waiting a long time, God doesn't work like that. There was a story from a while ago where a man was on the roof of his house, surrounded by flood waters, and he asked God to save him. A few minutes later a boat comes by and they say to the man "get in." He said "no, I am waiting for God to save me." A few minutes later a helicopter comes by and they say to the man, "get in." Again, he says "no, I am waiting for God to save me." The helicopter leaves. The flood waters continue to rise and eventually the man drowns. He gets up to heaven and asks God why He didn't save him. God said "I sent you a boat and a helicopter, what else did you want?" All this to say is that God works through people to meet our needs, trust Him that He will do and don't miss out when He does provide your need!

Take Away:  When a need rises in your life, ask God to provide for you. Then recognize the provision when it comes and don't miss out. He may not send it the way you expected, but He will always send it.

Alone in a Big World

“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? (Luke 12:27-28 NLT)

When someone loves you, they want to take care of you. This could mean providing a roof over your head, putting meals on the table, sacrificing their own wants to care for you. The same is with God. God loves you so much that He wants to take care of you. He doesn't want you to worry about anything because He wants to take care of you. He loves you so much that He sacrificed His own Son, Jesus, just so that He could have a relationship with you. There are a lot of lonely people out there that think no one cares for them and that they are alone in this world. I used to think that way. I used to think no one cared about me, that I had no friends and that once I was gone from this world, no one would know the difference. These are the lies that the enemy wants us to believe to destroy us. The reality is there ARE people that care for you and there ARE people that call you friend...but most importantly there is a God that loves you so much and He wants to take care of you. When I realized this, my whole attitude changed, I stopped being depressed, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I started living! When I realized that God loves me, I found I had hope...and in the process I found I DID have friends and people did care about me.

Take Away: When you are feeling a little unloved, when you think you are alone and no one cares, meditate on Luke 12:27-28, tell yourself "I am not alone, I am not unloved, but I am loved by the God."

Why pray when you can worry

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? (Luke 12:25-26 NLT)

If there is one thing I know for sure, there is enough going on in our lives and in this world where there is no shortage of things to worry about. We worry about terrorism, we worry about someone breaking into our homes, we worry about not making enough money, we worry if we have a job tomorrow, we worry about this and we worry about that. We worry about the big things and we worry about the small things, but how far have we gotten with worrying about things? Did worrying ever help us? If you answered yes, then you are deceiving yourself because Jesus said reheotorically "Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" The answer is an obvious no. Worry can do nothing but cause you physical problems. When we worry, a chemical is released in the brain than causes all sorts of problems. God did not design us to worry. He designed us to live and walk in peace and joy. He made life so that when we have something going on in our lives, we are to give it to Him to take care of so that we won't worry about it. 1 Peter 5:7 says cast all your cares and axiety on Him, and that is what we need to do so that we can live in the peace and joy that He designed us to live in. A pastor in St. Louis that I knew said something that I'll never forget. He said, jokingly of course, "why pray when you can worry about it?" 

Take Away: the next time you have a chance to worry about something, do something different and cast it to God and let Him deal with it. Then, and this is the important part, don't think about it! If you need to do something, He will let you know!

Over Planning

But when they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you should make your defense or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say.” (Luke 12:11-12 NET)

My wife, Tammy, and I are planners. Everything that we are to do must have a plan, and not only that, it must be planned out days, weeks, and sometimes even months ahead of time. While this can be good in some cases, it is not good in all cases. What I mean by that is say we have an event coming up and decisions have to be made and  details have to be worked out which rely on other people to also have to make decisions. Tammy and I would not only try to plan every detail, but we would also be constantly contacting the other people if they decided anything...and we would do this months ahead of time when there was plenty of time to get it done! For us, however, it had to be done NOW! Well God finally got a hold of Tammy and I and told us that we need to have balance, and while planning is good to a certain extent, if we over plan, it leaves no room for Him to do what He wants to do. God even went as far as telling us not to plan anything for a season, and trust Him and let Him do what He needs to do and He would tell us what we need to do when we need to do it. When we listened to Him it was amazing how much stress and frustrations no longer existed. Since then we have kept to what He has told us and while we plan where we need to plan, we are trusting Him with a lot of the details and allowing God to be God!

Take Away: if you are an over planner or a details person and you find yourself getting frustrated at not only yourself, but at others because they are not doing things when you think they should be doing them, hand it over to God, let God be your planner, and then do what He tells you when He tells you.

Sheep

Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalms 100:3 NET)

I just recently read a book where the author was talking about us being God's sheep and that God is our Shepherd. We have all heard this at one point or another in our lives, but, if you are like me, you have always saw the good, nice and pleasant side of being His sheep...i.e. timid, gentle, humble, etc. But sheep have another side. Sheep are messy. It is interesting that God calls us the "sheep of his pasture." If you have ever walked in a pasture where there are sheep, you need to watch where you step because sheep leave a lot of...um...droppings. Sheep are messy, dropping a lot of "things" and that is exactly how we, as humans, are. We have a lot of "stuff" that we drop around and God needs to come and clean it up. We have bad tempers, egos, pride, arrogance, false humility, insecurities, codependencies, etc. What I find amazing is that even though God calls us sheep, He also calls us His own. He says in Psalms 100:3 that He made us and that we belong to Him. How powerful is that! Even with all our messes, we still belong to Him and He still wants us as His own! Only through what Jesus did on the cross can we claim that! We will ALWAYS have messes, but He will ALWAYS claim us! 

Take Away: If you feel like you have to perform for God to be accepted by Him, or you feel like you have too much "stuff" to be acceptable to Him, read Psalms 100:3 over and over. Start replacing those thoughts that you are not good enough with "I am a sheep that is messy, and God still accepts me, mess and all!"

Drifting Away

Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Hebrews 2:1 NET)

Have you heard the expression, "if you don't use it, you lose it?" In other words if you don't continuously use something, you will slowly forget and eventually have to be taught all over again. For example, I learned German in college, however because I never practiced it over the years since then, I lost what I learned. Now that I need to learn German, I have to start all over again from the basics. This is the same with God and His word. If we don't pay attention to what He is telling us to do in His word and if we don't continuously do what He is telling us to do, we will eventually forget, and we will slowly go back to our old ways of thinking and our old ways of living. If we want to see changes in our lives we need to pay close attention to what we are reading in His word and we are to continuously put into practice what we have learned so that we wont drift away.

Take Away: Take time out each day to read His word and put into practice what you have heard. 

When No One Else Is Watching

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in every respect, not only when they are watching – like those who are strictly people-pleasers – but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people, (Colossians 3:22-23 NET)

Everyone one of us, in some form or fashion, has a job to do, whether we are getting paid to do it, or we are doing a volunteer job, or we are simply doing something because it needs to get done. The Apostle Paul is telling the Colossians that no matter what you are doing, you are to do it with enthusiasm, you are to do it as if you are doing it for God, which, in reality, you ARE doing it for God. How do we know we are doing this with enthusiasm? You will know if you maintain the same enthusiasm when no one is looking. Its easy to do things with excitement and enthusiasm when people are watching, especially our boss, or our pastor, but when they walk away and you are there alone, are you still doing it with enthusiasm and excitement, or are you complaining and murmering? Its easy to maintain the enthusiasm if it is something we want to do, but what if it is something you really don't want to do, or something that someone else could do but you were the one that was asked? No matter what we do, no matter who asked us to do it, we are instructed to do EVERYTHING like we are doing it for God.

Take Away: the next time you are doing something (even though it may be something you really don't want to do) and no one else is watching, remember that God is watching, and maintain that enthusiasm like you are doing it for God.

Godly Patience

For God alone I patiently wait; he is the one who delivers me. (Psalms 62:1 NET)

Patience, something that we all pray for at some point in our lives for ourselves or possibly for someone else. But do we really know what patience is? I'm not talking about regular patience which most of us think is just sitting and waiting for something. I'm talking about Godly patience. The Hebrew word for patience in this passage is duwmiyah, which means stillness, quiet, a state of tranquility. What King David is saying in this passage is that he is waiting on God with patience, a patience that has a good attitude. That means when you are asked to be patient, you need to have a good attitude to go along with it. This can be difficult at times, especially when we need to be patient at the grocery store and the wrong price on an item is in the computer and someone has to go back and get the correct price and we are already 5 minutes late for our next meeting, or while driving in traffic we the slowest person on the road is in front of us, or waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles and the person ahead of you doesn't have the correct paperwork, or when we are on the phone with Verizon talking to someone in India who we can't understand, or when we are putting in a kitchen sink and a hose breaks...you get the idea. When we are able to be patient with a Godly attitude, there is nothing that will shake us because we will be walking in peace, we will be walking in a trust in God that no one or no thing can dislodge.

Take Away: the next time you have the opportunity to be patient, ask God to help you be patient with a Godly attitude, one that is full of trust in Him that He will take care of the situation and then make your mind up to walk in peace and trust.

Dynamis Power

So that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully (Colossians 1:10-11 NET)

Sometimes doing what God wants us to do, to live in a Godly way, to do things the right way, seems difficult at times. There are times where we think we just don't have the strength to do it. If you try to do it on your own, then yes, you do not have the strength to do it, in fact, you are set up to fail...on your own strength. But God will never have us do anything that we can not do because He is the one Who gives us the strength. In fact that strength is already inside of you. The Apostle Paul says that "we are being strengthened with all power." The word "power" in the Greek is dynamis. Dynamis means miraculous power, power for performing miracles. This same dynamis is used when describing the power to raise Jesus from the dead. Think about it, the same power (dynamis) that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power (dynamis) that is inside of us. Dynamis is inside you, inside me, inside every believer! So yes, you, on your own, do not have the power to do anything, but with God's dynamis power inside of you, you do have the strength...He has given you that, all you have to do is trust and believe.

Take Away: the next time you feel weak and don't have the strength to live the way God wants you to live, stop relying on your own power, and ask God to strengthen you with His power, His miracle working power!

Your Way or God's Way

You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress. (Psalms 59:9 NLT)

We, as Christians, have a resource that no one else has, and that is God. He is always there, always ready to help. Sometimes when He gives us help, we don't like what He is asking us to do, so we try it our way...and get results we really don't want. King David knew Who had the answers and Who had the help. He knew where to go, and he knew what to do, and that was to wait for God to rescue him. King David knew that God was his strength and he knew that God was his fortress. King David knew that God was the only One to help him. David didn't even trust himself! Part of that help is waiting, and sometimes that is worse than the problem itself, but it is what we have to do if we want the help of the Almighty, the help of the Creator, the help of God who will not only give us the answer, but the answer that will be long lasting.

Take Away: the next time you need help, call on God, know that He is your strength, and then wait for Him to answer.

Severed from Sin

So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11 NET)

Prior to becoming Christians, we were, for all intents and purposes, dead, our spirit inside us was dead, headed for hell. We were wallowing in sin, and although we occasionally did some good things, we were sinners. However, after we became Christians, any relationship we had with sin was severed! That means we no longer have a relationship with sin, it means that we are no longer sinners, but the righteousess of God because of what Jesus did. Yes, we occasionally do bad things, but what we do does not define us, it is who we are that defines us. Look at it this way, I ride a mountain bike, but that is not who I am. Who I am is a child of God, the righteousness of God, an heir of God, and the pupil of God's eye! When we start looking at who we are instead of what we do, then what we do will start to change. We have it all backwords. We think that if we change what we do, that if we stop sinning, then we will become children and heirs of God. The reality is we are already children and heirs of God, and knowing this will start to change what we do.

Take Away: if you feel you are chained to a sin, start renewing your mind. Start looking at yourself as a child of God, the righteousness of God, and an heir of God. As you look at yourself this way, then those chains that you see will slowly go away and you will see your behaviour start to change.

Walking in Fear

The LORD is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. (Psalms 27:1-2 NLT)

Are you one of those who is constantly walking around in fear, scared to even walk out the door, scared to ride in a car, even scared to eat your next meal? There are so many fears out there, but there has always been many fears out there ever since the days of Moses and King David. As a Christian, however, we have something that the non-Christians don't have...a Protector. David, who had every reason to fear as he was persecuted by King Saul, and then his son Absalom, CHOSE not to fear, but CHOSE put his trust in God. He knew that he was being hunted down, but he had such trust in God to protect him that even though there were people hunting him down, he knew that they would stumble and fall.  Although we could come up with every reason in the book to fear something, that is a lie and needs to be recognized as a lie. We have a Protector who will protect you from danger. We have One that will thwart the plans of those that are against us and Who will cause them to stumble and fall and, according to the Jeremiah, fail. When we start fearing something, we need to make a conscious decision and tell fear, "No, God is my Protector and I will not fear!"

Take Away: When you find yourself walking in fear, stand up straight and repeat the words of David, "The Lord is protecting me from danger, so why I am afraid? Even if there are things out there that are against me, those things will fail!"

Rest and Sleep

I rested and slept; I awoke, for the LORD protects me. I am not afraid of the multitude of people who attack me from all directions. (Psalms 3:5-6 NET)

David was fleeing from his son, Absalom, who wanted to kill him and take over the kingdom. Fortunately for David, he had something that Absalom didn't have, and that was a relationship with God, a trust that went so deep that even when his own son was out to kill him, David was able to sleep because he knew without a doubt that God would protect him. The same goes with us. We may not have people out to kill us, but we have problems that need to be dealt with and we have decisions that need to be made. There are times when I will lay down at night, feeling very sleepy, but once my head hits the pillow, my mind starts racing, trying to figure out the problems, creating scenarios of every decision I could possibly make, then the next thing I know 5 hours have just flown by and I need to get up in another hour. It is those moments that I realize that I haven't been trusting in the One who solves problems, I've been trusting in me. God is our problem solver, God is our decision maker, He is the One we need to trust in so much that we can lay down and sleep. Now, when my mind starts racing when I lay down, I start saying to myself, "Kent, get a grip, God will solve this, He is in control, so I can therefore rest and have a peaceful sleep."

Take Away: The next time your mind starts trying to solve the problems when you lay down to sleep, say "God, I trust You that you will take care of this problem, not me, and that you will tell me what I need to decide on...now I will rest and sleep in peace."

Overwhelmed

Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil. (Psalms 119:133 NLT)

I think we, as Christians, can honestly say that evil is all around us. No matter where we turn, no matter where we look, no matter what we read in the news, its everywhere. So how do we not get overwhelmed by evil? In Psalm 119:133, the psalmist says it very clearly...guide my steps by your word. What this means for us is that if we are not spending time with God, being quiet and listening to His voice, if we are not getting into His word, the Bible, then we will become overwhelmed by the evil around us, we will get unbalanced, agitated, frustrated, and the list goes on. This doesn't mean that nothing bad will happen to you or that we won't have problems in our lives. What this does mean is that we won't be overwhelmed by the issues that we face, or the problems that arise. For example, when I have gone through some really low times in my life, it was God's word that encouraged me. His word got my focus off of my situation and onto Him. The more I got into His word, the more I felt life returning to me. I encourage you that if you are not spending regular time with God, listening to His voice and reading His word, then start today. If you already are spending regular time with Him, ask Him to take you even deeper into His word.

Take Away: God's word is the only way that we will not be overwhelmed by problems and issues that we face in our lives.