DO YOU NEED A ROAD MAP?

 

REPRINT FROM 2015

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

Romans 6:21
What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

It's like standing by the side of a railroad track watching a speeding train headed your way, and you know that it is going to wreck. 
You wave your arms....
You scream at the top of your voice....
Yet you know there isn't anything you can do to stop it.
Welcome to the wonderful world of addiction.

We see the mind of man, under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, driven by a sin nature, make choice after choice that defy human logic.
Running head long toward destruction with a heart filled with pride and a "Can't no one tell me what to do!" attitude. And they are right.

Sometimes it takes a personal encounter with the living God to make them see the truth. Sometimes that encounter comes in a form that most would not recognize. God's Spirit opening the heart and mind to the truth about where they are headed. That sudden moment where thoughts become lucid and move beyond the effects of the drug or alcohol. Where the state of the current condition is truly realized. "I am Powerless!"

For most who follow the Twelve Steps, they don't really believe that they will encounter a Higher Power until they reach Step #3. Truth be known, our Higher Power, Jesus, opens us to receive the truth. So why doesn't everyone who comes to this knowledge of being powerless move on in their recovery and have a normal life free of drugs and alcohol? If I could answer that one, I'd be a rich man. I don't know. I think maybe it has something to do with free will, and who you give yourselves to.

I just know that if we aren't brought to the truth about who Jesus is, and what He can do in any life, then the course is the same. We are headed toward the finality of life. Here again, everyone of us is headed toward that junction point. But when we finally reach that point, every decision we have made during our life will be sealed forever, and we will cross over into eternity. That means that if you've lived your life rejecting Jesus, then that will carry over and you will be forever separated from Him....from life....from joy....in other words, you will find out the truth about hell. 

Time and time again, I have heard others say, "Well, you know what? I could never believe in a God who sends people to hell." Me either. I could never love, follow, or believe in a God that would let people plunge into eternity without Him. And I'm glad that such a God does not exist. God expends Himself on loving people to Himself. He gave the ultimate price to see our salvation made available. He allowed His own Son, Jesus, to take our place, pay the price of our sin, so that we could have relationship with Him forever. We are the ones who push His offer away. We are the ones who reject anything to do with Him. We are the ones who choose to run headlong toward our destruction, as Mark Heard sang, "We ride our passions with the throttle in our hands".

If you are struggling with any form of addiction today, and you have read this posting, then give pause to think on what you've just read.
What if it were true?
What if Jesus, and relationship with Him were the answer to all the darkness you are going through?
Then cry out to Him....
Tell Him that you are ready to change...
Confess your wrongs....take responsibility for them...
Tell Him you are willing to follow Him....to learn to listen for His leading you, and that you are willing to do it.
Ask Him to fill you inside with His Spirit.....
And then simply believe that what you have just done is real and true.......
Now you're ready for real life....

God on you...
mb

DO WE TRULY DESIRE TO BE BURNED BY GOD'S HOLY FIRE?

 

Words of John the Baptizer: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and FIRE!!!"

Fire.....hot, light, not something we would gladly stick our hands into. But John is referring to the presence of God in us. In this case, the fire of God is a cleansing and purifying work He does in us.

I think one of the saddest commentaries on a person's life is that they are saved and then sit down to wait for Jesus to come back. Now when I say "sit down" I am referring to the mindset that there is nothing else I need to be concerned about. I really don't need to study scripture.....I am saved.  I don't need to stop living in my old ways and thoughts.....I am saved.  I don't know about you, but I need the fire of God to fall on me and burn away everything that is displeasing to Him. To purify me and help me to stay focused on finishing the race He has called me to run.

There is such a depth and level to the Holy Spirit that we can never know or understand what He is doing in us. But that doesn't give us the right to simply ignore Him, thinking that all is well with us when in fact we carry around the stench of unconfessed sin.

Many of you may be aware of a move of God that is taking place at this moment all over the world. Groups...crowds...gatherings have taken place to simply be in His presence. To worship the One who gives life. To lay before Him and cry out, "Oh God! Here I am. Take me and purify me with Your Holy Fire."  These are for the most parts unplanned and unscheduled. God truly does show up where ever two or more are gathered IN HIS NAME.

Luke 12:49- "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled."

It may be that the fire Jesus spoke of is the power of the Holy Spirit that could only come after He had accomplished His work on the cross (I have a baptism to be baptized with). I like the use of the word Kindled. A gathering of smaller branches and leaves to use to start a fire. You don't stack up huge limbs and logs and try to light them. You gather us grass, small branches, and other material that is easy to ignite. Collected together in one place, these things are easily lit that allows the fire to grow. 
Maybe God is gathering up people to use as a spiritual kindling to receive His Holy Fire. To be set ablaze for His purpose and Kingdom plans.

As for me, I cry out, "Here am I! Set me on fire!".

God on you....

michael b

HOW COULD HE

 

Luke 23:34
Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do."

Such a statement would have been looked at as being lofty and above the filth and rabble of daily life. To be able to stand and say, "I forgive you" is looked upon as being something that does not fit into the fabric of our world.
Jesus preached forgiveness....
Jesus taught forgiveness....
Jesus pointed out that we have to forgive our enemies...
Pray for those who persecute us....
He said it at the Temple...
He spoke it from the hills surrounding Jerusalem...
They were words that conveyed high and lofty attitudes for the masses....

But unlike others who spoke similar, lofty, ideological concepts about the human condition...
Jesus lived his own teachings out in the most horrifying event a man could go through.
The cross.....

Jesus didn't throw out platitudes of how life should be...
He spoke the truth about how God expects us to live.
He said the hard things that caused people to stop and think about their current way of living.
This whole deal about forgiving others was not a suggestion...
It wasn't a divine hint about how to get into heaven...
It was the root and base foundation for everything God stands for.
Forgiveness!!!

Hanging on the cross....
Experiencing pain that I will never be able to comprehend..
Jesus' first words were...."Father, forgive them."
When those words were spoken, they weren't directed just to the crowd surrounding his cross....the religious rulers, the Roman guards....
No, those incredible words were spoken to impact time and eternity from that point on. He spoke them about me and you. They were the mortar and cement that built a bridge so that God could receive me into His kingdom.
Those words became the banner that flies over every heart that confesses that Jesus is Lord and Savior of our lives....and that God, the Father, raised Him from the dead.
How could God do such a thing as forgive me?
Because Jesus paid my sin debt.

Oh, if we could ever lay hold of the truth about how much God loves us, it truly would change everything. It would take us into a new way of seeing the world and those around us, and cause us to act in ways we thought we never could. The sheer act of forgiving those who have hurt us liberates us, and frees us from the muck and mire of this world that seeks to keep us in darkness. 

Freedom in forgiveness...
Freedom in Christ...
He showed us the way to carry out such an idea as forgiving.
Think on these things today...

God on you...
mb

WE ALL NEED THOSE GETHSEMANE MOMENTS

 

Night came and seem to wrap itself around everyone and everything.
No wind.....
No wind to carry the sweet smells of life that seem to flourish in the daytime.
No wind to carry the sounds of life of the people who lived nearby.
No wind....
Everything was still....
Strangely still...

Even the sounds of his footsteps seemed to be muffled into silence by the ground beneath his feet.
Slow steps...
Deliberate steps....
Hesitant steps...
Unlike us, always pondering the "what if's" and "should I's", he knew his future all too well.
He knew what the coming day held. He knew that any plans he made would only have a life of less than 24 hours.

This night, which was peaceful to some, seem to suck the color out of the garden which he found himself in. He'd come here many times, but never with an agenda such as this night held. Tonight was about him, yet wrapped in this struggle were the lives of millions upon millions. Not just life here on this side of heaven......but the eternal destiny of all humanity. Tonight was the culmination of journey that would transition into something the human finite mind could not even begin to comprehend. 

He walked on, stopping only to fall to his knees to talk with his Father.
He knew all too well that from the time of his birth, the clock was ticking and the map lead to this very place. Shadow's seemed to deepen as the night grew thicker. Shadow's.......cross-shaped shadow's...seem to come at him at every turn. There, kneeling on the very substance his Father had used to create humanity, Jesus prayed. Oh it wasn't a flowery, feel good, religious sounding prayer. It was the kind that is birthed in a heart and soul in torment. It was the kind that rises up and becomes a heart cry.....It was the pure kind of prayer that comes when one submits themselves into the very core of God's will and purpose. "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me.......yet not My will...........but Yours be done."  

Such is the place of victory....
When our will is sacrificed for His will.
When my wants and desires is laid aside like filthy rags, only to take up His desires and His will. Such become snow white garments of righteousness.
Such is the Kingdom of God.
Supplanting the will of the finite, to embrace the will of the infinite.

There are times in every one's life when we must go into Gethsemane's darkness and fight this struggle.
The struggle of will over eternal purpose.
We all love to read about the resurrection.
The empty tomb.....
The joy of discovering that He Has Risen!
Death has been defeated.
You can't get to the tomb unless you first pass through the cross.
To get to the cross, you have to enter that dark place of surrender to God's will.
You must pass through Gethsemane. 
It isn't a place of punishment.
It isn't a place of retribution because of past deeds and actions that come from a heart driven by the sin nature.
It is a place of healing.
It is a place where new life begins.
It is a place where the love of the Father exists. 
We can't always see that love when we are struggling with what to do.
But because we can't see it, doesn't mean that it isn't there. It is.

Remember how much God the Father loves you.
He loved you before you even gave Him one thought.
He loved you every time you went to the dope house.
He loved you every time you bought a bottle to dull your life into a meaningless stupor.
He loved you.
He has never stopped loving you.

Let me ask you something.
What would you have to do to make your earthly Mother and Father stop loving you?
I don't think there is anything you could do to stop that love.
You might hurt them.
Or you might disappoint them.
But I don't know that you could do anything to stop them from loving you.
If your earthly parents carry around such an ability to love....then why would your Heavenly Father not love in a way that overshadows everything and everyone?

So when you find yourself in the throe's of a Gethsemane time.
A struggle of your will and His will...
Remember that His love for you has a purpose and reason.
He sees the greater good.
We can only see the selfish intent of our own dark hearts.
I choose this day.......
His heart.
His will...
His purpose.

God on you...
mb

THE UNHOLY THREE

 

Hmmmm....
Let's see....
God says in the Hosea passage that He will heal their waywardness...
I see in other versions of Scripture where the word used instead of waywardness is backsliding....
Another version uses the word "faithlessness"....
Truth is, all those different words have the same thought behind them...
A people who turned away from God to go do their own thing.

Waywardness, to me, depicts a direction that took Israel every where except the one direction they needed to go in. Sounds a little like the trip the Israelite's took when they marched out of Egypt a free people. They refused to obey God, so He jerked their GPS (God's Positioning System) and let them wander on an on an on and then when they couldn't wander any more....they wandered some more. 

One of the versions of Scripture used the word "backsliding". In other words, falling back from your current position...losing ground....going backwards. Of course one has to realize that in order to backslide.....you must first front slide. Backsliding isn't something that happens outside of your own ability or strength. It is the result of taking your focus off of Jesus, and putting it squarely on yourself. 

There is also a version that uses the word "Faithlessness".
Lack of faith...well, let me rephrase that. Scripture says that every person is given a measure of faith. So it's not the fact that you don't possess faith. It is the simple truth that said faith is never exercised in any way, shape, form or fashion. Faith is me placing my complete trust in God that He is who He claims to be, and will carry through with every promise He has spoken to those who do trust Him.

So with all this in mind, God is pretty up and into healing an saving people. What's my part in all of this?
An invitation....
An invitation to (as Hosea 14:1 puts it) Return O Israel to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.

Sins have brought them down? How?
By their faithlessness
Their waywardness
Their back sliding....
These are the unholy 3 that we have to guard our hearts against.
Left alone, these 3 will be our undoing. The real problem is that these unholy three don't just show up and blast us off the path of following God. They slowly creep in and take over the heart and mind. One seemingly simple choice opens the door for them. That one choice leads to another......and another......and another wrong choice. Pretty soon, you've built a stronghold of reason as to why you should be in control of your own life. Before you know it........Blezbo!!! You're in the ditch calling out for help. Or in some cases, the bad choices continue to pile up until you die.

Aren't you glad that God knows our human condition, and how a heart that is sin-driven operates. Not only does He fully understand such, He has provided healing for all!!
Not that is good deal.
Think on this today...

God on you...
mbb

TRUTH OF GOD IS FOUND IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

 

"Out in the eye of the storm, the friends of God suffer no permanent harm.."     Mark Heard.

Seems to be a belief among people that God is a kind of "good fairy" that will not let harm come to HIS people. While I do believe that God is a protecting God, and one who cares and loves deeply for those who live for Him, I believe that for us who walk this planet, life happens.

Cancer comes knocking and claims lives....
Divorce rears a division between a married couple....
Addiction takes people away before it's their time....
But when you proclaim your allegiance to the One True Living God..You can lose your head. You can have your business closed and be run out of town. You can be hauled into court and even jailed. 

IF you want Scripture to see that pain and suffering is a part of life especially when you are a follower of Jesus, all you have to do is turn to Hebrews 11:35-38 - "But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground."

I realize that what was written in the Hebrews passage is kind of extreme,but when you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, the ante goes up. We become enemies of this world. But such does not give us liberty to cover our heads and disappear from society. The one part of the Mark Heard song, "Eye of the Storm", that I dearly love is where he sings..."The friends of God suffer no permanent harm." Emphasis on the word "Permanent".  There is nothing in this world that can separate me from the love of God. Everything that can happen to me, no matter how bad, is only temporary. I will die eventually. I will find out the truth of what I have staked my very life on. I will stand before the one who died for me, and I will worship Him like it's nobodies business. The things and events of this world will fade away in His presence, and I will live in the Glory of God for ever. Why, I can't even wrap my brain around that one. But I know that I know, way down deep inside me that it is a truth born from the heart of God who sent His Son to die in my place. A Son who paid a price for my sin that I could never repay.

I don't want this mornings posting to depressing or gloomy. The truth is, I want us all to dig our heels in a little deeper and say, "We're not turning back, no matter what happens." So here is what I rest in this morning. That no matter how dark and spiritually oppressive our society becomes...God is in control. No matter what I may face as a believer and follower of Jesus..God has me in the palm of His hand. No matter what happens to me, it is but a momentary light affliction that will pass away. 

So today, I will focus on Jesus, not on this world.
I will listen for His voice, and not the world's message.
I will seek His face, and not the world's agenda.
I will rejoice in my salvation, and not the destruction that is ongoing in this world.
I will tell my story..a story of hope, and not be a spreader of fear and depression.
Today, I will follow in His Steps, and not walk the broad way to destruction that the world is following.
He is a good God!

God on you...
mbb 

LIVING THE STUFF

 

John 17:3 /  And this is eternal life, that THEY MAY KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

To pursue God is more than just physical movement in our daily lives. It is the physical movement guided by the Holy Spirit who lives in us. It is a matter of daily surrendering will to embrace His Kingdom plans and will for me.

Value # 1 - I value the pursuit of God. I have tasted, seen and experienced His presence and I want more. I want to know Him better today than I did yesterday. This pursuit of God is found as I study the Bible, as I learn how to pray, and most importantly, learn how to HEAR God when He speaks.

His speaking doesn't always come through an audible voice. For me it is these faint thoughts and impressions that come to me that I know I did not think up on my own. Bottom line, in my daily life I am hungry to know God's presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him. I will say this about trying to hear God and then do what you've heard.  I can't tell you the number of times I acted on what I thought God was saying only to discover I had missed it. It is my belief that if you are acting on what you thought God was telling you, there is a lot of grace to mess up. By that I mean when you realize that you missed what you thought God was telling you to do, there is His grace to get up, dust yourself off, and try again. I had much rather mess up trying to hear and obey than to simply do nothing.

There has to be more than I know or understand about God. Truth be known, I will never fully comprehend Him, His nature or His ways. But this doesn't mean I am not to chase after Him.

What is it you expect in your daily life as a follower of God? The one thing I have truly come to know is that if I spend my day expecting nothing from God, that is probably what I am going to receive. A boat load of nothing. 

In this pursuit of God we focus more on Him and others than we do ourselves. Getting outside yourself is not a bad thing. This value of pursuing God prepares me to live in this world and move about as I meet others pointing out the truth of who Jesus is to them. I am not talking about having a conversation where I try to convince someone, I'm talking about listening with my spiritual ears asking God to touch them and open them up to the truth. The last thing I want to do is to boil down the eternal things of God into methods and formulas.

I know that John Wimber (who was instrumental in moving the Vineyard movement forward) referred to ministering to someone as "Doing the Stuff" (Or the works of Jesus -  see John 14:12-14).  I'd like to refer to this life style as "LIVING THE STUFF". That I have connected myself to Christ and His life is now my life. I no longer live for the things of this world. I guess if this new way of living were put in the easiest of terms it would look like this.

          HEAR GOD = APPLY WHAT I HEAR = BE OBEDIENT = GROW

This would not be a one time action on my part, but would become part of my daily routine.   Interesting verse found in Hebrews Chapter 5.

"But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

You grow in Christ because you have "practiced" or put into place that which you heard God say. As you get better at hearing God you act on what He said. This causes you to grow spiritually. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Well, enough for today. Check back tomorrow!
God on you...

michael b

NOW BUT NOT YET

Not trying to open up a can of worms in today's posting. Just sharing what has come to me as to the nature and character of God. I guess the first place I need to start is with the word "Sovereignty" as it relates to God.

The Easton's Bible Dictionary defines God's sovereignty as His "absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure." The thing that always washes over me is the idea that God wishes to include us in His sovereign plans. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that "We are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Part of the theology of the Vineyard church at large has been referred to as the "Now and the not yet" of the Kingdom of God. This means that God is at work in our time and space, but we do not see evidence of the completed finished work when it comes to us being salt and light in a dark world. We don't see the fullness of the Kingdom rule of God until Revelation 21:4 -  "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

So what do we see today in our world? Tears, death, sorrow, pain, and yet in the middle of these terrible things, we do see God continue to move and act as He desires. 

The one thing that I have found to be true is when I pray for someone and they don't get healed, it leaves me with a lot of questions. I find myself asking "Did I do something wrong? Is my faith too small? Why did they not get healed?"

 To be honest the answer is found in the "NOW AND NOT YET" of His Kingdom. My call is to be obedient and follow God's leading as I do pray.  I know it can get frustrating when you pray for person after person and they aren't healed. Part of you screams out, "I'm not going to pray for anyone else if they are not going to get healed!" Well let me ask you this. How many WILL get healed if we do not pray for anyone? God is sovereign....I am not.

One view of healing that I think we overlook (or at least don't want to acknowledge) is the simple fact that if a person is a believer then death IS the ultimate healing. The one who dies has shed the confines of this world and now stands before the very one that created them. I remember when my mother was in the hospital and the doctors had said that it was only a short time before she died. I was young in my faith and I just knew that as I prayed my mom would be healed. I remember sitting by her bedside, holding her hand, praying with everything that was in me. Finally the time came and I watched her take her last breath. In that moment I was so mad at God. I had done what I thought He wanted of me. I had come before Him with my prayers on behalf of my mother, and she had died.

I remember a good friend, upon hearing the news of my mother's death, said, "Well Hallelujah." This caught me by surprise as I tried to make sense of the words. He went on to share that my mom had just experienced the ULTIMATE healing by going home to be with Jesus. Those words made more sense to me and comforted me more times than I could count as the years have passed.

If you read my previous posts then you remember how I referred to believers as being "conduits".  We are merely vessels through which the power, love and grace of God flow as we pray for others. God ultimately decides the outcome. He is not a vengeful, spiteful, angry God with holding His goodness. He is a God who sees far beyond what you and I can see, grasp, or understand. God is sovereign. Notice I said "IS"....not "Was" or "Shall Be". He is sovereign right now, today.

With this in mind, then I will continue to pray...continue to love....continue to share with others. I hope I didn't muddy the waters (so to speak) with this posting today. I do pray that we all search our own hearts to find God's truth for our lives today. To find His desire for us all as His church. Pray for me, as I pray for you

God on you this day!

michael b.

FAITH = RISK

 

Yesterday's posting touched on the authority and power that is given to each believer to carry out the kingdom plans of God here on this earth. Not sure about this? Remember what it says in the LORD'S PRAYER --- "Your Kingdom come (God's rule and reign)...Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God has called the church to be the vessel through which His Kingdom rule and Kingdom will is carried out here on earth. 

Now don't confuse this mandate to mean the church as we know it, or meant for a particular denomination. Never forget the church IS the people...not the building...not a denomination. It is the people God has called.

Here is the way I see it. As a believer, I am a conduit for God. Now a conduit is nothing more than a hollow pipe that, in some cases, carry wires that direct electricity. Did you catch that? I have no power of my own, but I am called by God to display His power. Does this mean that the power is flowing all the time? Good question. There are times when you may be called by God to pray for someone that, in your own thinking, may seem impossible. Who is stirring you to pray? Hopefully it is God's Holy Spirit. It may come in the form of an "urging" inside, a thought that comes to your mind, or even a "knowing" that has formed as you listened for God. So the big question is....."Am I going to step out and be obedient and pray.....or am I going to let this pass. Remember....we have no power of our own, but we do have the Holy Spirit living in us. It is His power and His directive that we need to listen for and then obey.

Can't tell you the number of times I have moved into that "not knowing for sure" place only to see God do some pretty incredible things. I remember early on being approached by a young lady I worked with, who came to me with a request. She'd just given birth to a baby girl, and had found out that the baby had kidney problems. They were not operating in the way a normal kidney's should. 

This young girl came to me and said, "I had a dream last night, and in the dream I asked you and your wife to come and pray for my daughter. Would you do this?" How could I refuse this request, but as soon as she'd asked me I was overcome with doubt and the old "Who am I" mentality. This was followed by a couple of thousand questions of my own beginning with "What if nothing happens? What is this baby isn't healed?"

My wife and I did go to pray for this baby. As we did so, I was not aware of anything out of the norm By that I mean that we simply spent time listening for what God wanted us to pray. We finished, hugged the mother and left. 

Within a few days the mom came to me and said that she'd taken her daughter for a check up on the condition of her kidney's. The doctor's were amazed that they were normal. No sign of the problem that she'd been diagnosed with originally. God had moved! God had brought healing to this little baby. If you don't think that didn't set us on fire you're wrong. 

Never.....never....never discount what God can do through you. All you have to do is be willing to take a risk and step out to pray. You may be asking..."Do everyone you pray for get healed?"  I will touch on this in the next posting.

God On YOU!

michael b.

REVISITING SOME OLD THOUGHTS AND BELIEF'S

 

Just revisiting what I believe when it comes to living out daily a relationship with God.  This "living out' includes our being connected with like minded people who carry the same belief's that we have come to embrace. It isn't so much that these "like minded" folks have embraced our core values as it is we all have embraced the call of God on our lives.

Now this call takes many different examples such as what we read in Ephesians 4:11 where Paul writes that to the church God gave some to be Apostles, some to be prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are part of the government or hierarchy that God placed for the teaching of His word. So what about the average Joe and Josephine that sits in the pews listening and following the teaching? Do they have a place in all this, or have they been relegated to the 2nd team so to speak. Sadly today many carry this view of what could I possibly do? I'm no teacher...certainly not a prophet. This is the place I was in when I first came to the Vineyard back in 1994. 

All the "doing God stuff' was for those who were a lot smarter than I was. It was for those who were more spiritually mature than I was. Or at least that is the way I viewed it. How wrong could I have been.

I soon discovered that those who have truly been saved and or walking in obedience to God carry with them something that is seldom talked about. The Presence of the Holy Spirit living in them. John 14:26 tells us, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

Did you catch that? If you are a believer then you have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living in you. John tells us that the Spirit will teach us. In order to be taught, I have to be listening, and them applying what I hear to my life. Sometimes it is scary to think this way because we are flooded with a wave of thoughts that tell us...."What if you mess up?" "What if you get this wrong?"  

Now let's take this one step further. We are saved and filled with God's Holy Spirit. So would it not stand to reason (if you will) that this Spirit is there for more than simply keeping us focused on our own life, giving not thought to others? I think maybe there is more to this than we may have considered.

All throughout the New Testament we read where Jesus taught the multitudes. After He finished with His teaching He would validate the truth of what He'd taught through a display of God's power. There would be healings, deliverance. and many other acts which was proof of God's word. Jesus surrounded Himself with disciples and taught them how to walk in the authority and power He had given to them. Guess what? That same authority and power have been given to us to be exercised to a world lost and blind.

I want to stop here and continue this thought hopefully tomorrow.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read these postings.

Until next time........God on you...

mbb

The Darkness Of Man's Heart

 

There isn't any use in talking about how spiritually dark the world has become and is becoming.
We can talk against the darkness all day.
We can pray against it.
We can point to it and declare it defeated.
We can meet and collectively rail against the darkness
But the truth is, we see God's greatest miracles and presence during the worst times of our lives.
Now this doesn't mean that we all run out and make ourselves miserable and distant from God just so we can see Him work and move in our midst. How foolish would that be. What I find is that I have a tendency to pray for God to remove me during troubling times. Take me out and make the pain go away. Truth is I need to remain still and silent and wait and watch for God during these times. Should I never pray for God's removal of me from tribulations and terrible times? No! Pray! I should pray like never before. But I don't need to pray from my flesh, which only seeks to preserve itself. I should learn to pray from my spirit which seeks God's heart for whatever I am facing. A kind of "Not-my-will-but-yours-Lord" kind of outlook and prayers.

The greatest time for God's miracles are in the worst of times in our lives. Extreme and radical persecution are the times when God reveals himself to bring us through the darkness and into the light.
So what do I need to learn from all of this?

1.) God always honors and blesses those who honor him no matter what the situation or circumstance.
2.) Trying to break the darkness and tribulations in my own strength using carnal weapons is dangerous. Kind of taking the will of God and doing it in our own strength. In other words we supplant God and his will to carry out our own.
3.) God does hear and answer the prayers of His people.

Whatever you are going through today......
You are not alone.
Even though you feel as though everyone, including God, has forgotten you. That is a lie and not the truth that God speaks of.
Believe and call out to Him....
He will hear...
He will comfort...
He will strengthen....
He will be there.....

God on you.......
mb

BORING....TEDIOUS.....HUMDRUM

 

Numbers 3:36-37
Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the Tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment and the service concerning them, and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords.

Sometimes this new life of recovery is simply us doing the every day things.
But doing them correctly and with the proper attitude.
What attitude?
Why an attitude of gratitude of course.
Just like the men and families that God appointed to carry the tabernacle (the tent and Ark of the Covenant) during their wilderness wanderings, it wasn't all glamour and 10 Commandment moments. A lot of the time it was simply doing the right thing, over and over and over. Set the tabernacle up.........make sure everything is in place according to God's design.....do the daily, monthly and yearly sacrifices according to instructions....take the whole she-bang down, pack it up and move to the next location. It would be really easy to slide over into a place of apathy or even resentment. Thinking to yourself, "Hey...look at the family Jones! They don't have to carry any of this tabernacle stuff! Why don't they have to? Why am I stuck with carrying the tent pegs while others get to carry the Ark? Why don't I get to carry the Ark? I'm as good as they are.

We need to guard ourselves and be grateful and content with what God has given us and the place he has given us to occupy. It is there in the place of his calling that we will receive his blessing and favor if we are faithful. It's more than simply doing what God has called us to do, it also involves the motive and attitude we carry as we do the job.

The apostle Paul writes: Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
What was Paul's secret?
That God can be trusted.
Knowing that there is purpose behind where ever we have been lead to be.
If God called us to carry the tent pegs of the tabernacle, why then we should be the happiest, most content tent-peg-carrying people that ever existed.
No matter what is going on in your life today, fall on the fact and comfort that God can be trusted and that your circumstance has not caught him off guard.

This relationship we now live with Jesus Christ is built on faith, his grace to us and trust.
Did you see how Paul's situations were always changing? Prosperity...or want....full stomach or going hungry...abundance or suffering...no matter what, Paul's faith in God did not waver. This is the kind of life I desire to have. How about you?

God on you......
mb