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!