Finishing the Race

     The other day I stopped by to visit with a dear old friend, we spent a couple of hours just talking about old times, how things have changed and what has happened to our loved ones the last twenty years.  There were so many things I wanted to ask him and tell him.  I couldn't bring myself to ask the things that have weighed heavy on my mind about church splits, rumors I had heard, why he made this decision and that one. I wanted to pick his brain, I wanted to know so many things.
He was tired and still plugging along.  This man was so much a part of my past, training me up to be the mature Christian I eventually became, I can still hear his voice repeating sound good advice in my head when the occasion arose that I needed to hear it again.  I love this man and his family.
    I cried on my way home from the visit. I asked the Lord, "please explain to me what has happened and what is happening with this man I love so dearly like a father".

My mind began to flash back to scriptures about running the race of faith.

Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

This man will finish the race, he has touched so many lives and the Lord began to show me the other side of the rumors, he has been betrayed and hurt by those he loved. He has not been understood and has had very few people he could trust and those he trusted betrayed him instead of coming along side of him and giving him a hand up. In the end God will say," Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!"

Its not about winning the race, its about the journey of the race, those of us that have been fighting for a long time might be the last to come in to the winners circle and we may be dragging our feet and out of breathe but we will make it.  Those of us dragging are dragging the heavy load of our fellow brothers and sisters also. 

So why is it that we feel we have to go and tell people what they are doing wrong? Why do we feel that we are better than them and know what they should or shouldn't be doing.  We should be coming along side of them and praying for them and speaking all good things for them so our Heavenly Father will hear and lift them up to a place that they can stand on their own feet once again. 

Galatians 5:7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 
I don't want to be the one who cut in and kept someone from obeying the truth.  Do you?

Pillars of the Temple

Pillars of the temple

2 Chronicles 3:17  He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.

Revelation 3:12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.

 

     "Its time for my people to stand up and take their rightful place standing before the Throne calling Me Father." Your shepherds and your intercessors are worn out praying for you.  Time to take up the fight and hold their hands up. "

 

As the church we have been spectators sitting back like watching a TV show on Sunday mornings, leaving the service saying that was a good sermon or I didn't feel it.  We have idolized the leaders of TV ministries or in our own pulpit crying out to our shepherds, help me, fix me, pray for me, feed me, me, me, me, me. 

 

I declare all who read this today that you will take your place and help others, fix others, pray for others, feed others, the lost, the hungry, the broken, the abused, the orphans, the widows, the prostitute, the homeless, the little children. 

"Lord, I pray today that all those reading this their eyes will be opened to the truth of their calling in You and their ears will be opened to hear Your voice and they will understand who they are in You. " In Jesus precious Name

 

I realize this will probably not get a lot of "shares" or comments but I don't write things for attention, I write that you might seek the Father a little deeper or for the first time if you never had before.

God bless you all today and forever.

9-11

  

Annual Tribute in Light tested in New York's Lower Manhattan as a man takes a picture at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, September 9, 2013.

 

  Today is a day of remembering the horrific tragedy that our country suffered. Everyone is asking "where were you when the towers fell?"  Anyone that was at any age of understanding can recall exactly where they were and the emotions they felt. Feelings of total shock, vulnerability, fear, anxiety, even panic were running high on our emotions meter.
     I was working in a call center for an unemployment office and many people called in with questions on their claims just to turn the conversation into "Did you hear what happen?" and everyone wanted to be consoled and know they were not alone in the things they were feeling.  I remember some of the people in the office were terrified and thinking the world was going to end. I did my best to show my faith and my hope in the Lord and I was reminded by my Heavenly Father that there is nothing in this world that happens that can affect who I am in Him.  Physical circumstances do not dictate my destiny.  Only God alone determines my destiny and no matter how dire the situation surrounding me, God is with me and has equipped me with all the weapons and tools that I need to overcome anything.  Even if the body is destroyed, I will live on in eternity worshiping at the foot of the Throne with everyone that has gone before me.  There is a peace and a calmness that comes over me in the midst of tragedy that can only come from my Father who loves me more than anything or anyone could on this earth.  That doesn't mean I don't feel the emotions, but I have learned to not dwell on them, they are meaningless and change constantly and cannot be relied on as a source of truth in my life. 
     I challenge you today to not look at the past through your emotions and seek to find the miracles that came out of the rubbish and the terror.  So many stories of heroic people, God miraculously rescuing people, a renewed pride in being an American, and most of all people coming together to protect and help their fellow man. 

1 Corinthians 16:13  Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

 

1 Peter 5:9  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

 

Psalms 56:11 In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?

 

^{Go out and be a blessing to someone today.}

 

 

 

Faith versus Hope

     I was sitting here thinking about the many things have happened in my life in the spiritual realm and I began to thank the Lord for the blessings in my life.  I was pondering what exactly having faith means.
     Many of us mistaken hope for faith and are sorely disappointed, always on a roller coaster of highs and lows because some things we hope for don't materialize in our walk with the Lord and we blame ourselves and say we didn't have enough faith and then we try to muster something up out of thin air to create more faith.  Then we think ourselves as less than those around us that seemingly appear to have super faith in their lives.
The definition of hope from the dictionary is: to cherish a desire with anticipation, to desire with expectation of obtainment, to expect with confidence.  Hope is the state which promotes the belief in good outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "looking forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence" or "feeling that something desired may happen.

Don't get me wrong we need to have hope. 

2 Corinthians 1:20 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us

 

Hope keeps us going, hope gives us a desire to continue in our walk, hope gives us a reason to move forward day by day following Jesus expecting great things with confidence.  But the difference of hope versus faith is Faith is a concrete belief that our feet rest on and it keeps us balanced, hope is an action we take to help us move forward day by day.

Hebrews 11:1-2  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

When we really enter in to a relationship with the Lord and faith develops in us, we truly understand that we are not only hoping things will work out the way we wish they would, we are completely putting our trust in the Lord that no matter what happens, even when it goes against what we have been praying for that we trust him completely that He is the creator of all the world, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end and He is in full control.

Romans10: 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith is a tangible supernatural manifestation of our intimate relationship with our Father in Heaven.  The more we get to know Him through His Word the closer we get to Him and the greater our Faith. He is the Creator of all things and we trust Him for every aspect of our lives.    

Loving the Lost

     I have been increasingly becoming more sensitive to my Father's heart for the lost.  In that I mean I have begun to see people with new eyes.  I feel their pain as if it were my own and I know the Lord is preparing me for something different. 
     Do we really understand how Father feels about His people?  All of His people which includes every person on the face of this vast world with no reference to race, color, creed or religion. As "Christians" we have taken Biblical truths to beat people up and have shown intolerance for anyone different than us.  The church has certainly missed the boat in that aspect.  Not judging just making a statement.  It's time we get back to the truth and start loving one another.
     I have always been interested in the Justice system, and now with the wonders of television I can watch criminal trials and I am always amazed at the twisted way we can turn the law into what ever we want it to be.  The church for the last 100 years has done that very thing.  We have taken a gospel of good news and love and turned it into rules and condemnation for those that don't follow "our" rules.  We need to get back to the basic simple spiritual laws that God has set before us and stop trying to twist them into something to suit our own selfish needs. 
     My Father has recently opened up my little world, in this little bubble of Reno Nevada to seeing that not every one lives like us. As I grumble about having to sweep all the dirt in my house daily (and there is a lot :)  ) the thought came to me that I could have a dirt floor like many other people live.  I sometimes complain about my transportation and I have come to realize there are people serving God with everything they have in other countries that have to walk miles just to get to their church or to help others and they do this unselfishly and without complaining. We are so spoiled here, so very spoiled. We voice our opinions loudly everyday about the politics of things going on this country and yet we forget to thank God that we still have our freedom to express our opinions and we forget to shut up long enough to actually look around and find someone, a real person, right in our path that we can help. 
     There are so many needs right here right now, right in our faces that we can be fulfilling for people and showing the love of God instead of pointing fingers. 
      I became aware of one particular group of kids that I had never heard about. They don't tell you this stuff on the news.  Once a child becomes 18 and they are in a foster home the foster parents stop receiving funds for the child so they get thrown out to live on the streets.  I was devastated to learn this takes place everyday right here in our community. These children need love and need to know someone cares about them.
     So I challenge you for the next week, step outside of yourself and look around to see what you can do for someone.  It can be as simple as holding the door for an elderly person at the store, letting the guy wash your windows and instead of giving him change, give him a twenty, it won't kill you.  Take the time to smile and start conversations with those in the grocery line, just be pleasant and nice.  Slow down, stop complaining, start thanking the Lord for all the blessings you do have and love on someone and show them who Jesus really is.
    

Jump in with both feet!

    I woke up this morning filled with new life and a renewing of my spirit singing praises to my Father in Heaven and excited that I am chosen to participate in the greatest times of the history of the earth.  There is no question that according to prophets and apostles, church leaders, lay people and everyone else that we are in the last days.  I say Come on latter rain! Let's move forward and come into the place that we were all called to be. 

     It's time to mature and move forward in your own life.  One time I had a revelation about the Holy Spirit and He is the living water flowing all over the earth in streams and rivers giving life to everyone that dare step into the water.  You have several choices, you can stand on the bank and watch it flow by, you can step into it about ankle deep and complain about it being murky or you can jump into the middle where the current will carry you where the Lord wants you to be in your life. 

     Once you are in the mainstream stay there with your praises and your worship to the Almighty Father in Heaven that loves you so much He would let His son die in your place.  If you start to float off into your own thing, you will find yourself caught up in the stagnant puddles left over from past experiences with the Lord, there is no life there, you have to keep in the current. 

     When raging flash floods come don't end up as debris on the banks broken and destroyed, reach out and hang onto the Father's hand as you ride it out and you will come out stronger and more blessed than you will ever know. 

     I challenge you today to move forward into your calling even if its just one tiny step, each step will bring you closer to peace and prosperity.  Start by meditating on this scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation of what He has for you today.

 

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NIV) As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Be blessed!

Grace

     I was driving the other day and contemplating what exactly God's grace means. The actual dictionary meaning is this:

1a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

b : a virtue coming from God

c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

2a : approval, favor <stayed in his good graces>

b archaic : mercy, pardon c : a special favor : privilege <each in his place, by right, not grace, shall rule his heritage — Rudyard Kipling> d : disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e : a temporary exemption : reprieve

     A lot there to try and comprehend but the revelation that God gave me was that of being in the womb.  Covered in complete protection, connected through the umbilical cord directly to Him who provides every need we have.  We don't need to eat, drink or even breathe, He is our complete source of life.  If we continue to stay connected through prayer, praise, worship and declaration of who He is we will never want for anything.  We will be submersed and protected by the fluid waves of the Holy Spirit and all of the stimulation of the outside world will be filtered through the warmth of the Lord's comfort and glory.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
2 Corinthians 1:12
For our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.