Truth I Need In My Life

Matthew 6:13
....For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen....

The ending of the Lord's Prayer. But more than an ending...more than flowery words....they are 13 words that define the intent and the presence of God at work in the world today.

#1 -"Yours is the Kingdom"- The kingdom is defined by the dynamic rule and reign of God in our world. IT isn't about a geographical location. It is evident by action and power at work in the lives of those who have encountered Him. The Kingdom of God is present whenever someone is being prayed for, because such should be done in love. The Kingdom of God is present whenever someone is healed, delivered from demonic oppression or saved. The rule of God has come with power and has broken the stranglehold that Satan had over that life. That is the Kingdom of God....it belongs to Him and He exercises it at His will and for His good pleasure.

#2 - "And the power" - The word used here for power is a Greek word..."Dunamis". The same that we get our word dynamite from. Explosive, forceful power. In Strong's concordance, one of the definitions for this word, Dunamis, is miraculous power. So this Power that belongs to God and is a part of His kingdom, is demonstrated through action and movement on His part. In other words, what we are talking about isn't a mental exercise where we sit and think about receiving..it is a full-fledged invasion/ intervention of God's presence into our time and space. An invasion of His presence that comes with purpose to the one who receives.

#3 - "And the glory" -Every time God touches someone...every time someone is healed, delivered, saved or just comes in contact with God...they experience God's glory, or His nature and character. Because it is God who is moving and acting, His nature is brought to bear. Once again, looking to Strong's concordance, we find that the word glory means dignity, honor, praise and worship. If this be the case, then praise and worship are a result, or at least should be, of being touched by God's power as He exercises His Kingdom will.

#4 - "Forever" - perpetually on going. Never stopping. Never losing it's capability....the authority...or the purpose. The Kingdom of God continuing on until Jesus returns to complete the Kingdom here on earth.

#5 - "Amen" - Once again, looking to Mr. Strong's"...we find that the word amen means that this is a trustworthy statement concerning the Kingdom of God. It is a sure statement...a firm, foundational st statement that describes and defines God's kingdom.

So the next time you pray the Lord's prayer...let these words cause pause on your part to remember that we are declaring the rule and reign of God here in our time and space. That He has come to destroy the works of the devil, and does so with power, authority and ability...
Now if that don't set you on fire, then your woods wet.

God on you...
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I Want It Now!!!

II Chronicles 11:15
Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made.

The unspoken battle cry of humanity, living out side the will of God.....
"I want what I want, when I want it!"
"I'm the captain of my ship....."
"I am in charge of my life......"
"Why don't you get off my back"
Yep....just like old Jeroboam, we want to take the rules and commands of God and twist them to fit our own sinful pattern of life.
In other words, if I am in addiction, I will take the steps and make them the way I want them to read....

When in fact, the very heart of recovery is to approach life in a very humble state.
Realizing the need to have the ability to simply follow instructions. We've pretty much proved that we have a hard time following instructions. Well, let me rephrase that. It's not so much that we have a hard time following instructions, as it is me wanting to do it my way.

Old Jeroboam had gotten himself in a terrible jam. He was trying to be king and was making a mess of it. to the point that people began to leave the country to go to Jerusalem to worship. Ol' Jerry came up with a whiz bang idea. "I'll create my own version of worship right here in my country. It'll be bigger than anything they got down in Jerusalem, that way people will stay here and won't have to leave!" Trouble was, ol' Jerry took what God had created and twisted into some sort of pagan, ritualistic, form of worship. Ol' Jeroboam's battle cry was "I want what I want, and I want it now! Never mind that I haven't thought this whole thing through. Never mind that I have not considered the consequences of my actions...I want it!!!" Needless to say, it did not end well for Jeroboam. Why do we think we are any different? Why do we think that we can make everything work in our favor? Well, we can't. Living life in this way only leads to us saddling up like Jeroboam and heading down that destruction highway.

We forget the admission that has to take place with the very first Step to this new life of recovery.
Step #1-- I am powerless....
Powerless to choose rightly....
Powerless to carry out any decision I make to a suitable end.
Powerless.
Funny part in moving into relationship with Jesus, Powerless is the very anchor that holds everything in place. We can never get away from it. we cannot escape it. It is the truth that keeps me looking to Jesus for support, guidance, and power to live life on God's terms.

Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:9 - "God's power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."  I guess the big lie in life is a very simple one. When everything points to me being powerless...I keep telling myself, "I want what I want, when I want it. I can handle it!"
No, we can't. Our track record is evidence of this bad decision way of living.
Maybe it's time to quit living under the delusion of "I Want" and turn to Christ with a grateful heart and proclaim "I will".

God on you...
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Expecting

Psalm 5:3
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

I love this verse.
The art and power of prayer. Is prayer not an incredible gift given to us by God so we can communicate with Him? I think maybe "yes" it is.
The one word that jumps out at me is the very last one of the verse....."Expectantly"....
You see, if I had written this verse I'm not so sure I would not have used the word "patiently".
I like the idea of something taking place other than me marking time.
Trying to do something I'm not really good at...being patient.
But expectantly....now there is the heart of how we are to live life.
We have been called to be an "expecting" people.

Expecting God to do what He has promised He would.
Expecting God to show up at our meetings, when we gather to worship Him.
We are to live in expectancy of Jesus' return.
As George Creel use to say..."It's time we stop looking for signs and start listening for sounds (the trumpet of God).

I really think, as followers of Jesus, we need to get up every morning with an expectation of God intervening in our affairs. God showing up to instruct us to watch out for potential traps that others may lay for us to be caught in. That He might direct us to others who may need His help, so that we can be part of the whole "Your kingdom come..Your kingdom-will be done here on earth as it is being done in heaven" thing.

As to the verse from Psalm 5, we should pray with the expectancy that God will answer our prayers. Sometimes I think people really believe that the whole prayer thing is like playing the slots at Vegas...sometimes you win, most of  the time you don't. Well, not true...God answers prayer. God answers every prayer. His answers usually fall into one of three categories. 
1.) Yes....
2.) No....
3.) Not yet.
No matter which, we should live in expectancy of God's presence, His love for us, and His desire to work in us and through us daily.

So with this in mind.....prayer and expectancy...I want to ask you to join me in prayer for a person. Needless to say they are trapped in the cycle and darkness of addiction. Their addiction has taken them to a new level of misery. talking with them, I get the feeling that they have surrendered themselves to False Belief #4 which states....I am what I am, I cannot change, I am hopeless. Such beliefs only fuel the addiction because that is a hard lie to incorporate into your daily life. Such a life will suck hope and any chance for change to happen. Even when confronted by the truth about their addiction, this false belief will kick in and cloud the truth about God, His love for them and the power He possesses to change their life.

So please pray for this person. They may have, in fact, graduated to harder drugs which puts them at risk for O.D.
Pray that their hearts would be unlocked to receive the truth.
That hardness and blindness would be broken off of their hearts, eyes and ears, and mind.
Pray that God would release angels to keep death away from this person so that the truth would lead them out of bondage. And let us all wait expectantly for God to come with healing power to this person.
Thanks...

God on you...
mbb

Asking And Receiving

Useless information 
Using a fork was not always a demonstration of good manners. In fact, according to an anonymous writer, "It is coarse and ungraceful to throw food into the mouth as you would toss hay into a barn with a pitchfork."

Matthew 6:8
Don't be like them (gentiles), for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him.....

How does He know? How does God know what  I need even before it rolls off my tongue? Well, He is God....
O.k., I'll give Him that one. 
He does stand outside time and space.
Yes, He does....
Let's bring the answer down a little closer instead of giving a nebulous reply.
He knows what I need before I ask, because He is looking out for me. That means He sees before I see.

I use to have snacks ready for my sons when they came home from school.
Why? Because I knew that they would be hungry. God knows us...He knows our circumstances.....He knows in advance what it is we will need to make it through this day. O.K....if God knows all of this, then why do I have to ask Him for it? Does God require me to beg and grovel at His feet? God has no ego that has to be stroked by His creation. He wants me to ask because  it increases my faith when He does answer my prayers. It is evidence that He is listening. 

Another way of looking at this, is the position Jesus has called us to walk in. Did Jesus not say, "Follow Me!" when calling His disciples? Were they not required to leave their comfort zone to follow Him? Yes, they were. So Spiritually, to follow someone is to let them go first, then listen for their instruction and go where instructed. If Jesus is leading, then He knows what awaits us in this coming day. He knows the pitfalls and traps that are out there. He is ready to answer our prayers when we ask, so that we can navigate through whatever it is we are facing. 

I know that I have probably simplified this whole "Ask and you will receive" thing down a bit. I do know that when I ask in prayer for anything that is outside His will for me, He is not obligated to provide it. Oh He will answer my prayer, but it will probably be a big ol' "NO!". I have to trust Him that He really does know best for me. I think maybe I can rest on this fact. God loves me.....
God has a plan for me...
I trust Him to see this plan all the to the end.

God on you...
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Heartbeats

Ecclesiastes 3:2
A time to be born and a time to die.....a time to plant and a time to harvest.

Heartbeats......
We take them for granted, don't we.
We assume that there will be another, followed by another....
But if you stop and think about your heartbeat, you'll come to the same conclusion that I have.
We have two things going on at the same time with each beat of our heart.
The number of beats that have taken place since our birth is increasing. We're counting up with each beat.
But at the same time, the number of beats we have left is decreasing as we near the end of our life.
So to me, each heartbeat is like a little gift from God.
I get to live for another beat....
I get to draw breath here on planet earth for one more beat.

So if these "beats" are a gift....
Am I using the benefit of life in the right way?
Or am I simply coasting through my number of beats doing what I want to, saying what I want to, and believing what I want to, with no regard to anyone else. In other words, am I spending all my "beats" by being selfish? Self centered? Without any thought of the One who has given me life?

Do I let my circumstances and situations I face dictate my gratitude, or lack of it.
Am I a bitter person because life didn't turn out like I thought it should?
Or do I accept my blame for the bad decisions I made, and turn my face to God to make the best of what life I have left...

Do I waste my heart beats so I can hurt others?
Do I live my life blaming everyone and everything for my mistakes. Do I take it out on the very ones who love me? Using words and emotions to wound and hurt the ones who either have tried, or are trying to help me so I can feel better about my life. Making others miserable because I am miserable.
That is not life...
That is not what heartbeats are given for.

I love the words of Ephesians 4:1 - Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will give grace (or encouragement) to those who hear them
I want everyone around me to know that I love them.
I want everyone around me to know that God loves them.
I want to be the man God created me to be....
A man who is about his Father's business....
A man who does not waste the heartbeats he is given.

God on you.....
mbb

Daily Battle

Galatians 5:16-17
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. The you won't be doing what your sinful nature CRAVES. The Sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires.
These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out YOUR good intentions.

Here is the heart of life on planet earth.
There is a battle daily.....
A struggle within to "do the right thing".
Our ability to "do the right thing" is not a matter of will power, for if it was then will would be the Higher Power we seek in Step #2.
It is a matter of turning will over to a Power greater than ourselves who is at work in us.
It is a matter of feeding the right one.....
It is a matter of feasting on what the right one gives us.
It is a choice.

Sometimes I think having the ability to choose is not worth keeping.
But then I realize what an incredible gift God has chosen to give us.
To have the ability to choose is the ultimate act of love by God the Father.
What is even greater, is that when we choose wrong, He is there to show us the way out of the mess that surely will come because of our wrong choice.
The Holy Spirit brings conviction.
This lets us know that we have chosen based on our sinful nature and not from His direction.
He then offers forgiveness, if I confess my wrong.
Then restoration and rejuvenation to get up, get back on the right path and continue on with my journey.
Make no mistake....life is a battle as we deal with this conflict that rages within.
Choose God....?
Choose ME?
Choose the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit?
Or choose the craving of my sinful nature?
Well, I've done both of them...
I've chosen good....
I've chosen bad....
No surprise that I like the consequences of the "good" choice a lot better than the "bad" one.
As the Bible says...."Duh Huh!"

What I've written about today....choosing God over our cravings, is one more reason that we need to be connected to a community of people who have similar situations.
People we can relate to...
A place where we can open up and share when we are struggling.
We don't need a place or people who will excuse our bad choices.
Rather we need a place where people will love us and point us back to the way we need to go.
Think on these things today...
Choose God this morning....
Then go about your day, denying your old will and sinful nature.

God on you....
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"Where Have I Been?"

Well, well....the prodigal son has returned! Just had to go off and have an adventure, didn't you?
No, not really...It wasn't any of my doings to not post to this blog for a number of days.
It wasn't me taking time off to cool my jets, or refuel for the long haul.
It was a computer that was older than dirt, that refused a new bit of software.
Poor ol' thang, just couldn't hang with the new stuff.
It crashed.....(the computer)
It burned......(It crashed again)...
Several thousands of people were injured trying to save it...
But alas, time and Microsoft had moved on, leaving my computer standing in the shadows like some kind of jilted bride whose husband to be had run off with someone new.

In other words, I'd gotten just about as much mileage out of our old computer as I could. It just couldn't go on any more. So it gave a loud computer burp and then shut down. There in the silence, staring at a blank screen, I knew that I had just witnessed the death of a machine. Oh, well after a nano second of grief and remembrance.....it suddenly dawned on me..."We can get a new one!!!". Out with the old and in with the new. Such is the march of time and progress. 

Psalm 101:6
My eye shall be on the faithful of the land. That they may dwell with Me. He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve Me.

God's heart and focus is toward those who do more than show up to church on Sunday to warm a pew.. God's heart and focus is toward those who keep their minds and hearts always focused on Him. Those who, when hard times come, can truly say, "My God is good!". Not an easy task I might add, but one that keeps peace and Grace at the center of life. Such people are not swayed by the hard winds of life, that seem to come out of nowhere and bring destruction with them. I want to be like Job when the hard times come. To be able to be overcome with grief, but like Job, sit down in the dirt and worship the Lord. To be able to say, "God is good during the good times....and He is good during the dark, hard times."

Does God love everyone? Yes.
We have the "God so loved the world" verse to prove it....
But God's heart is that we all draw so close to Him, that you can't tell us apart. Salvation is the process by which we are Spiritually placed in Jesus, and He in us.  My goal is to disappear. Less of me, and more of Him. I really could care less if anyone remembers me after I've died. But I pray that they never forget my Jesus. That something I said during one of my times of teaching would plant a seed deep inside a heart, and that the seed would come forth at the proper time to produce the fruit of God's choosing.

John 15:5 - I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing.
Everything I need to survive the day is found in Jesus.
He is the source of all spiritual nourishment to me.
He is my "High Priest" who goes before the Father on my behalf, taking my prayers and petitions.
Where else would I go when life gets hard?
I know my own capabilities and how I only mess things up when I try to run my life.
I have seen the faithfulness of God all throughout my life. Why would I want to go anywhere else? Well, I don't. I will chase this Jesus in the good days....and I will lay hold of Him and walk through whatever darkness comes my way in the bad days.
I think maybe you can take that to the bank....God's faithfulness that is.

God on you...
mbb