Gratitude In The Attitude

A Thankful Heart Gives Back -

I am thankful for an attitude of gratitude!

Is there ‘gratitude in the attitude’ of our hearts? Are we truly ‘THANKFUL’ in all circumstances as the Bible tells us?

I Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How would our lives change if the ‘gratitude in the attitude’ prevailed in our lives and we lived that out as this verse says!

We have so much to be thankful for and it is always brought out more during the Thanksgiving Holiday season.

Thankfulness is an attitude of the heart! It is a heart condition. When the believer is set on Jesus and keeps their heart turned toward God in all things – then there is a gift of thankfulness that overcomes us.

Who among us is REALLY THANKFUL? If there is any that are – take a stand!

Luke 17:11-16 shows this in the story of the 10 lepers that meet Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. They ALL recognized Jesus and were healed – but ONLY one of them returned to Jesus giving Him praise and threw himself on Jesus’ feet giving Him thanks! Only ONE of them had ‘gratitude in his attitude’ toward Jesus.

His life was radically changed that day and he was thankful to Jesus for it! I am sure for the rest of his life he told that story and never forgot about throwing himself at Jesus’ feet – recognizing that He truly was the Son of God!

This should be our attitude as well! One of GRATITUDE for all He has done for us! We should be telling the story for the rest of our lives!

Being thankful sweetens you, grumbling sours you; being thankful brings sunshine to your countenance, being ungrateful casts a shadow; being thankful brings a melody to your words, criticism makes you sound like a clanging cymbal; being thankful keeps your feet on the pathway of celebration, complaint takes you down the road of despair.

When our hearts are filled with gratefulness we may feel like our thanksgiving is inadequate, but we can be certain that our thanksgiving is always appropriate. It will gladden the heart of God to hear your heartfelt thanks being freely offered to Him today!

God’s gift of life to us – if we are a believer – should make us have an attitude filled with gratitude for all He gives us! The believer should be thankful for breathing air today and everything that comes after that is EXTRA!

2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” God’s gift to us of Salvation is beyond any words that we can ever imagine! There can ONLY be the thanks! That is why it shows up the attitude of the believer! Our soul is close to God and we are so very thankful for that! There are no words. Only what flows out of our attitude toward Him!

Gratitude in the Attitude – is that something we are cultivating in our lives today? Are we seeking Jesus in such a way that our soul is overcome with that attitude?

Let’s spend this week working on our attitude of gratitude toward the Lord and ALL He has done for us! Focus on what your heart is really thankful for and give that back to God…Let’s enrich our relationship with Jesus by being grateful for all He has done for us!

Let’s come back to Him like the leper that was healed and THANK HIM FOR ALL HE HAS DONE FOR US!

A Thankful Heart Gives Back

Psalm 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise: give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Developing a thankful heart can change the way we view life! David cultivated a thankful heart and he understood what it meant to be thankful ALL THE TIME.

When we understand that all things come from God and everything is subject to God – we begin to be thankful in everything.

Paul says it this way in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Paul understood the concept of a thankful heart. He lived it, he taught it and shared it with anyone who would listen! Do we do that today? How will people know that God is good and His love endures forever unless we are telling them and living it out?

A truly thankful heart touches the Heart of God and causes Him to shower even more blessings on the believer that is thankful from the inside out.

The blessings of life are tied to a thankful heart! When we find ourselves thanking God for another day and believing He is in control of it all – God sees our faithfulness and pours out His blessing on our lives.

Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

We wonder why God does not bless us and why our lives aren’t changed and pouring out goodness. This verse gives us a clue to follow. When we delight ourselves in the LORD and KNOW that He is in control no matter what our circumstances say – then hold on for the pouring out of the blessing in our lives.

This all happens when our heart is thankful. A THANKFUL HEART GIVES BACK!

·         Trust in the Lord and do good – (Psalm 37:3) A thankful heart trusts God in ALL situations WHEREVER we may be. We ‘enjoy safe pasture’ no matter where the pasture is!

·         Commit our way to the Lord – (Psalm 37:5) He will make you shine! God will pour out on the person who is committed to God in ways that are unexplainable by mankind. That is His promise and God’s promises are true!

·         Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him – (Psalm 37:7) If God is in control – wait for Him to tell you when to move in big decisions and plans! Don’t be upset when others get the props in this life or when those who seem evil win. Waiting on the Lord is a beautiful thing and God intends for us to develop as a believer to be able to wait on Him!

·         Don’t be angry when things don’t work out like we think they should – (Psalm 37:8) Anger in the wrong place always leads to problems and more anger. If things don’t work out in whatever we are doing – look to God for the answers. Have a heart of thanksgiving even in the midst of the problem. Think about this story about Paul and Silas. (Acts 16:25-26)  When our hearts are in the right place – God ALWAYS rewards that in ways that show God is in control!

A thankful heart ALWAYS gives back! Even in their dire circumstances; Paul and Silas BELIEVED that God was in control and began to thank Him and praise Him even in chains and look what happened!

Are we doing that today? These stories in the Bible are timeless! They may have happened back in Bible times – but the circumstances of life are still the same today.

While we may not be in physical chains in a dark prison – we are often chained to our problems and awful circumstances and in a dark place in our lives.

God’s Spirit LIVES in the believer. Isn’t it time that we were thankful for that in such a way that our hearts are pouring that out daily?

No matter the problems, the circumstances, the issues, the darkness…God KNOWS them all and is waiting for our hearts to be thankful to Him in such times!

He WANTS to pour out the blessings of life upon us. He is waiting for us to recognize that He is in EVERYTHING THAT WE DO EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES!

As our Thanksgiving Holiday approaches let’s focus on what it means to be found thankful to God for everything! Let’s begin to examine our hearts and see where the breakdown is!

HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER! What IF we really started today knowing and believing that in a way that changed our hearts to ‘thankful hearts that give back’! Imagine how God can magnify Himself in us if that happens!

Would the chains fall off? Would you be more in love with the Savior?

In God’s Grace - Using The ‘Unworthy’

The Story of Rahab – Grace in action!

Joshua Chapter 2 – “…So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” “So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rehab: Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them.” “I don’t know which way they went.” “Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them. I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.” “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family because I have shown kindness to you.” “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”  Joshua 6:17b “Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.” Matthew 1:5 “Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.” Hebrews 11:31 “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

God NEVER ceases to amaze me! He takes the unusable and cleans them up and makes them shine with Light from Heaven! He did it for me and He has done it for you too if you are saved!

This is what happened in the life of Rahab the Prostitute in the Old Testament. There are GREAT lessons to be learned from this portion of Scripture that are VERY relevant today.

©     There was ‘history’ that came to the knowledge of the most unworthy – the town prostitute. Rahab was cast out of the city and lived by herself on the city wall of Jericho. She made a living by being a prostitute and even though she was ‘unworthy’ she KNEW the story of ISRAEL and recognized it when confronted. She had ‘heard’ the stories of how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt by His Mighty Hand. She had heard of how God parted the Red Sea and brought them across and then closed the sea on the Egyptians. She knew the history. I am sure when the spies came to her house; they introduced themselves as the spies in God’s Army and she did not doubt them. In our lives today – we KNOW the history of the Lord. We have to keep passing down through our generations what God has done in our lives so that when one of our own ‘unworthy’ hears of it they will recognize the Lord in their own life! It is so important to tell the wonderful story of Jesus to our loved ones! ALL of us were as ‘unworthy’ as Rahab before we found the Lord!

©     When Rahab Found Salavation, she wanted her family to find it too – Rahab’s heart had found the Lord and BELIEVED Him! Since she believed in God she wanted her family to see the truth too. ONLY God could have made her make such a statement! Her life had not reflected this kind of love for her family. She had radically changed in a matter of hours! God moves that quickly! After finding the Lord, her heart immediately began to grow love and she desired more than life the Salvation of her family! Aren’t we the same way? Once we begin to let God grow in our hearts – our minds turn immediately to our families? Our thoughts are to help them find God also! This is how God works! His GRACE flows over us and onto others. I am thanking God for Rahab today because she represents the Gentile people through time. She loved God enough to risk her life to change! No turning back. We see that she did not turn back either! She stayed faithful to God all the way through the Bible. How far is our faithfulness going to take us? Will we stay faithful until we see Salvation come to all of our house and beyond?

©     God spares the family of Rahab in Jericho because of Faithfulness – God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL to give us the desires of our heart when we are seeking Him and remain faithful to Him. This is what took place in the life of Rahab. She remained faithful. The spies asked her to tie the scarlet cord in the window that she had let them down into the city with and when the Israel army saw the cord she and everyone in her house would be spared. Rahab remained faithful to that task and her family was spared! In our lives – God requires the same action that Rahab took. God wants us to remain faithful to Him in what He asks. There should not be an option in our lives. God desires that we live by His Word and have a personal relationship with Him. There is no telling how many lives will be spared because of our faithfulness. Sometimes in this life we need to have a desire to see the bigger picture!

©     In the History of Life our record will show up – We see so clearly that Rahab was in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1. Rahab’s faithfulness was not lost! Hundreds of years later her name is recorded! The same is true in our lives. Many generations later our love for Jesus will be what comes through. Our loved ones won’t remember what we fixed for Sunday dinner in 100 years; but they WILL remember what we did for Jesus! It is so important that we live our lives out for God – the history of that will show up one day!

©     Rahab did the best she knew to do out of Faith – and God calls her faithful! She hid the spies and lied to the King’s men about it. Rahab did what she had to do to guard the Salvation of the Lord that day in history. She did the best she could do. She trusted the Lord and closed her eyes and believed that He would save her in the face of the unknown. She had no idea how they would respond when she told the King’s men that the spies were not there. Can you imagine how scared she must have been? Alone – outcast to the city wall – and now following the call of God on her life. We are the same in our lives. We are unworthy of the call – but we need to do the best we can do and God will do the rest! When we don’t know the answers we need to close our eyes and plunge forward in life believing God will help us.

This story is really amazing and there is no accident it is in the Bible and that the thread of the story carries all the way through and ends up in the famous Chapter 11 of Hebrews!

Our story should be about Faith also. There are no accidents in this life. God is playing out the story of Salvation in all of our lives. We just have to have the faith like Rahab did and reach for what God is offering. Finding strength in the small things of life rather than waiting for the ‘big one’ to come along. Faithfulness is dug out in the everyday life around us; making choices that are based on the lovingkindness of God instead of selfish ambition. Start today to live out the faith that God has put in your heart. Take that leap that separates us from the everyday world and live out what God gave us.

We are just as unworthy as Rahab was and yet God remembered her all through Scripture for her faithfulness. Don’t you want the same said of you in this life?

My Paper Heart

“I wanted to share this with you so that you can pass it on to those that you love. We all have a paper heart. Sometimes it is crumbled, sometimes it gets ripped in half and sometimes it gets torn to pieces but you just have to let the Lord fix it for you instead of you trying to fix it yourself….”

The quote above comes from someone who has experienced a broken heart and wants others to know that there is hope!

One of the perplexing questions of life that haunts me is ‘why do good people get their hearts broken over and over again?’ It hurts me so bad to see people get their heart broken. I always just want to fix it or help them in some way.

I think I identify with these people because my own heart has been broken many times. I have also discovered that I cannot prevent someone’s heart from being broken.

Isn’t it interesting that ONLY GOD can repair a broken heart? People can’t.

Hearts get broken over the simplest of things and also over the most complex of things.

Examples are:

My best friend isn’t my best friend any more © I heard someone say something terrible about me © My husband doesn’t love me anymore © My child is on drugs © My friend’s lifestyle isn’t what it should be © I got disappointed by that © My loved one has died © Children without help © Poverty © People who really know God when I can’t © Illness I can’t understand © Young adults who have turned to an alternative lifestyle ©

As you can see; the list could go on and on. The reasons for broken hearts can go on forever and as long as we have hearts – they will be broken by these things.

Psalm 34:18-19 says “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.”

As you can see from this verse; ‘No man can deliver us from the broken heart, only God can’.

Broken hearts happen to BELIEVERS! No one is exempt in this life. It is through our brokenness that God works! If we never had issues of the heart; God would have nothing to examine in us. ONLY GOD can look on the heart. It is our communication piece with God. Our heart connects with His.

©      God says ‘Give It To Me!’ ~ When we have something broken or torn what do we do? We typically throw it away and get a new something. The world teaches the believer to throw away the brokenness of our hearts and turn to something new. This is called HARDENING OUR HEARTS. This is the opposite of what God’s Word teaches us! Psalm 51:16-17 says “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise.”  In Hebrew the words ‘broken heart’ mean to be broken in shivers or in pieces. Contrite means crushed. God NEVER refuses to fix our broken hearts! He makes a way to be renewed. Isaiah 41:10 says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

©      God says ‘Return To Me’ ~ A torn heart opens up our soul so that God can pour in His Mercy and Grace! Joel 2:13 says “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” There are things in this life that tear our heart up! God desires that we use that opportunity to return or turn to Him and seek Him like never before. When we are keeping our ‘heart’ before the Lord, He is mending us and fixing us over and over again. When we are communicating our brokenness to God; He USES that in a powerful way. God loves us so much and when our hearts are turned toward Him He is ABLE TO COMMUNICATE that to us!

©      God says ‘Believe Me’ ~ ‘Lovingkindness’ in the Bible means unfailing love or the most tender love! When God sees His children He has ‘lovingkindness’ toward us. He is ALWAYS there when are hearts are stomped on, beat up, hurt, torn or crushed! Never leaving – He is EVERLASTING! When our focus is on Him instead of the brokenness of this life; He has the Power to fix the brokenness! Psalm 36:7 says “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”  No man is exempt from God’s Healing Power! The rest or the refuge for the broken hearted is the ‘shadow of God’s Wings’. When we think there is no way out of this situation or there is no healing for our hearts – God says the opposite! We have to take action however – and BELIEVE Him!

©      God says ‘You Will See Me’ ~ The gift that the believer finds when turning over our brokenhearted state to God – is that we WILL SEE GOD! We will. We see the things of God so easily when our heart is in the right place. When our hearts have been purified by God and cleansed of all unrighteousness – we will see God. Matthew 5:8 says “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The purification process breaks down our hearts and brings out what is pure and lasting. This is the place where we see God! The problem is that when we get brokenhearted – we harden ourselves against God and against this life. God wants the opposite of that. He wants to take our brokenness and purify us to see Him. Being able to see God in the midst of a broken heart helps us help others. We are looking outward not inward. We are no longer focused on our inner hurt but rather how we can use that hurt to help others. It is a GIFT of God and can come no other way.

In this life – don’t let a broken heart keep you from God! Instead, let that broken heart lead you closer to God and eventually using that very brokenness to help someone else.

That quote at the beginning is from a woman who sees God and desires that her own brokenness help someone else! That is what we should all be doing!

Examine your heart tonight and find out where you need to be before God. He desires to communicate with you in an intimate and tender way that no one else can!

Explosion Ahead! My God Will Come Through

Romans 4:20-24 “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

How many of us REALLY believe the statement that says ‘My God WILL come through’?

Many Christians DON’T really believe this statement and yet the Bible proves it to be fact!

We would rather put our trust and hope in US instead of in God. This is what causes the ‘explosions’ in our lives.

Has putting our ‘trust and hope’ in us fixed our explosions – the things in this life that there are no explanations for?  Has putting ‘trust and hope’ in our surroundings or our government fixed the wrong things of life?

Obviously the answer to these questions is ‘NO’.  Most of the time we choose to put our ‘trust and hope’ in our fellow man because it is easy. It is easier to say ‘What do you think’ than it is to get on our knees before a Holy God and ask forgiveness and lay the burden down at His altar.

The truth is - that God rewards our faithfulness with MORE faith and help than we can handle! If we are truly laying our burdens down at His feet; He LOVES that and always gives back to us in the form of more faith, hope and love! It is just how He works!

Testimony of believers can prove that out. Abraham’s life proves that out! Those who have done this kind of thing have no problem relating that to others. It is the Hope we should be clinging to!

To believe that ‘My God will come through’ is to say in the face of fear that –MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH and BELIEVE it!

What circumstances in your life are proving that out?  

I imagine Abraham believing God because he saw ‘God in Action’ in his life! He believed God when he called him to leave his home and because of that faithfulness God rewarded Abraham with more faith. He believed God when God said he would number his seed more than he could ever count and because of his faithfulness God rewarded Abraham with more faith! Abraham believed God when he said he would give him a son with Sarah and his faithfulness was rewarded by God. Abraham believed God would provide when his son’s life was required of him.

Abraham had nothing. He owned nothing. All he did was follow God and believe Him and his story is unfolded across the pages of the Bible!

In my opinion this is what it looks like to know that ‘My God will come through’! Abraham was not perfect, he messed up and he continued to turn toward the Lord.

I can see that evidence in my own life – Can you? Are we looking in the right place? Do we give God credit like Abraham did?

‘MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH’ – Are we saying this in the midst of the troubles and trials of our lives? Do we believe it today?

The truth is that God WILL come through. He comes through all the time; only we are not seeing it actively in our lives. A lot of times we see it in the past tense. We look back on the trial we came through and say; “you know God was in that” and yet we can’t actively believe in the midst of the trial!

What is going to change us? ACTIVE FAITH IN GOD!! It is radical and life changing and those who have experienced it would not change it! Why don’t we all try to be ACTIVE in our faith instead of letting our faith be in the past tense?

Corrie TenBoom once said “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength”. Our FAITH is what makes us stronger and makes us able to say ‘MY GOD WILL COME THROUGH’! When we are focused on the ‘worry’ of a situation; we are exhausting ourselves – when we should be relying on God coming through!

We have talked a lot about what causes explosions in our lives but now we need to focus as a chosen people on how to avoid the explosions and be ‘strengthened in our faith’.

©     Be strengthened in your faith by believing God and His promises! If you read the verse carefully above the whole reason that the Bible records Abraham’s life is to strengthen us! God wants us to look at the life of Abraham and find strength in that even though Abraham had problems and explosions in his life – he chose to BELIEVE God and wait on Him! (Lamentations 3:24)

©     Be persuaded that God has the POWER to do what He promises! Part of believing God is ACTIVELY believing Him! We don’t need to be a people that looks back and says ‘that was God’ we need to be a people that in the midst of the trial says –THIS IS GOD – and I BELIEVE HIM! It changes the face of the explosion in our life! (Romans 8:28)

©     Be a people that LIVE by the Word and Promise of God. The one thing that will follow us into eternity is our faith! How we lived and How we proved that out in this life. It is important, not only to us, but to all those around us. Study the Word and find out the promises that are recorded to increase our faith! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When the explosions come in your life – BELIEVE that God is at work and make decisions based on that one fact. It will change the way you look at the explosions in this life. Troubles and trials are real and they happen to all of us. The way that we react to them tells the story of our lives.

Let God take you to the next level in your belief of Him! God WILL come through when we are looking to Him through eyes of faith. Spend some time this week examining your heart before the Lord to see where your level of faith is. Begin to say in your heart and mind that ‘My God WILL come through’ in all situations in your life!

Here are some more promises of God that are recorded in the Bible for the BELIEVER! Psalm 31:24; Isaiah 12:2 and John 14:1-3

Explosion Ahead! Perfection vs. Obedience

When was the last time you felt ‘perfect’? Was it today, yesterday or sometime in your past?

My guess is that none of us have ever felt ‘perfect’ and yet that is one of the things that causes problems in our Believer’s walk in this life! Being ‘perfect’ or thought to be ‘perfect’ by others can cause explosions in our lives that shipwreck our faith!

It is Satan’s biggest hope – that we let someone shipwreck our faith and cause us to stumble in our walk with Jesus.

Our example of perfection in the Bible is Jesus. We are to follow His example while here on earth and while it does not make us perfect – it does teach us the concept and causes us to desire completeness with God. God wants our perfect love!

The believer DESIRES to walk with God and follow the example of Jesus. If we have Salvation; our soul now communes with God through the Holy Spirit and we have a desire to walk like Jesus walked. With each little victory we get a little closer to Jesus and pretty soon we have no desire to be somewhere else!

This does not make us perfect though - we fail, we sin and our flesh makes war with our soul on a daily basis.

The Believer says in his heart – “I will continue to serve God even though I fail, sin and my flesh doesn’t agree. I choose God!”…when this occurs in our heart we are beginning to see the light of OBEDIENCE!

Obedience is the Believer’s avenue to a relationship with Jesus. Each of us should desire to be obedient to God and choose Him over the sin of this life.

The closest we will ever come to perfection is obedience to Jesus. We must have a desire to be more like Him and less like our flesh. It is a solo walk. No one can do it for us. That is what makes it so REWARDING!

The Bible says in Matthew 5:48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus is referring to our lives being lived out in a complete, pure and holy way! The word ‘perfect’ in the Bible means ‘blameless’.

The beautiful story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is one that shows this kind of perfection! (Daniel 3:17-18) Oh my goodness that we would have this kind of DESIRE for the Lord! Imagine what He could do with us!

God WANTS to ‘complete’ us while we are here on earth. (Philippians 1:6) It is that completion that brings about a beautiful masterpiece that gives God glory. It all happens one little step at a time in our walk with Him!

This is where the OBEDIENCE comes in! God desires that we receive perfection through obedience to Him. A genuine ‘caring’ about walking pure and holy in this life is developed through our desire.

Obedience is what develops the relationship between us and Jesus. Obedience is hard work and when we fall or need more strength; we look to the Lord and ASK Him for these things. Our obedience is built through our FAITH in God. It is a chain reaction to the goodness of God!

We are a ‘work in progress’ and perfected in the end - at the coming of the Lord or our going home to Him; whichever comes first! He is NOT giving up on us and desires to see us building a relationship with Him that will last.

The ‘explosion ahead’ is that there are people who are mistaken and believe that all Christians should be perfect and everyone knows that is impossible. However, we do sometimes get derailed by this thought that is planted in our minds.

God calls us to obedience! Obedience builds Faith in Christ and each day is a new beginning to draw closer to God through relationship.

Let God continue to work on you and grow you right where you are in life! Be motivated and breathe deeply of God’s love from His Word!

Colossians 1:10-12 says “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”

Paul in these verses is so EXCITED that his brothers and sisters in Christ are TRYING their best to change their ways and grow in the knowledge of the Lord – he sends this wonderful letter of encouragement to them and continues to try to motivate and lift them up! Here are some things he mentions to the believers so that they can learn more about obedience to Jesus:

ª  Live a LIFE worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way ~ When we are truly living out the Lord in our lives it is evident to all and God is PLEASED! We should let that wash over us and desire God even more. When we are ‘living a life worthy of the Lord’ OTHERS are affected that need to be affected and we may not even know it! PRAISE God for the life you are living in Him!

ª  Bearing fruit in every good work ~ When we are ‘bearing fruit’ the work of God is evident in our lives. Bearing fruit means that we are ACTIVELY involved in the Lord and others are being affected by that love! Bearing fruit is in the ‘present tense’ and it means that we are not only hearing the Word of God; but that we are DOING the Word of God in our lives. Even if no man ever understands what we do…Please believe and KNOW that God does. He is watching and He knows our hearts!

ª  Growing in the knowledge of God ~ The ONLY way to grow in the knowledge of God is to get in the Word! If you don’t know how; start small. Reading portions daily and asking God for wisdom to understand and grow. He WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER! He WANTS us to grow in knowledge. That ‘knowledge’ is what keeps us separate from the world and what keeps us close to God. His Word is His very personal love letter to you. Each of us are attracted to the Word of God in a different way and at different levels. That is on purpose! The Holy Spirit feeds you what you need to know in the Lord…we just have to be open to it with the right attitude!

ª  Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might ~ Being strengthened in the Lord is a beautiful thing! The strength and Power of the Lord are what help us every day! It is so important to the believer to ask God for Strength and Power for each day. That is how we can defeat the evil one! Satan cannot stand up to God’s Strength and Power! End this day asking God for His Strength and Power to make it tomorrow! The Bible says that by doing this we will get endurance and patience to live this life. Don’t we NEED these things to make it? Ask Him to invade your life and soul! HE WILL!

ª  Giving joyful thanks to the Father ~ God did EVERYTHING for us! It is our job to recognize that! Are we thanking God today that He gave us today no matter what it has brought? Not only has He given us today he has given us JESUS! He made the plan; He gave us His Son; He will call us to Heaven at the appointed time! He rescued us from darkness!

Paul writes so beautifully here of how God loves us. Verse 13 is so descriptive of the reason to be obedient rather than striving to be perfect in this life: “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Through our ‘obedience’ is the ONLY way we can really see what God has done – it doesn’t make sense otherwise!

It is my prayer today that you do not WANT to be tripped up by other folks telling you that you are not good enough for God and that you have failed to be perfect! God wants us to be obedient to Him. He WANTS us to grow in His love. Don’t let people destroy the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you! Your gift of Salvation and living relationship with JESUS is a beautiful thing! Start today to become obedient to God and love Him – He will change you forever and this ‘explosion’ will NOT overtake you in this life!

Explosion Ahead! Dangerous Words

Have you ever said something and about a nanosecond later; wish you had not said it because it was hurtful and you knew it?

Often in the Believer’s walk things happen like this and we are left to deal with the fallout from those words. It seems like hurtful words from another believer are worse somehow.

The Bible teaches us to be encouragers and a people who can take the heat without having to respond with hurtful comments when people lash out. Is this easy to do?

Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

It seems to me that this is one of the hardest parts of the believer’s walk! Being able to ‘NOT SAY’ what comes into our mind in different situations!

Unfortunately, our words can cause huge EXPLOSIONS in our lives as well as other’s lives! Often we do not ‘think’ before we are compelled to say what we think! Often we do not put into practice what Ephesians 4:29 says! Remember; the Scripture says to not only read but also to DO what the Word says!

Not too many years ago; an 18 year old girl was sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter because of the words that she said! Her words directly caused the death of another. I imagine that there have been many times since that she has thought about those things she said that put her in the position she is in.

It is sad that we ALWAYS see after the fact the hurt and problems that come along with ‘speaking our mind’! Wouldn’t it be so much better if we live out our lives in DOING what God tells us to do and only SAY what can be helpful and build others up?

Do we think about the things that we say that are hurtful? Perhaps we should ‘think’ BEFORE we have to ‘say’!

If we are constantly TELLING others how they should live and not committing our own selves to a life of learning how to live for the Lord – we may never find the way for ourselves!

God intends that we straighten up our own lives and tongues…not someone else’s! God desires and teaches us that we must live out what the Bible says to do in Ephesians 4:29! We should take it personally and change the way we speak and use our speaking to be encouragement to others.

 Take a look at 2 Corinthians 12:20 “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

What do you notice about this verse? Do you notice that ‘dangerous words’ have to be associated with each of these acts? None of them can take place unless we are using our tongues to speak it!

Out of our mouths comes quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. Paul is saying here that when he gets there they may find that he is too harsh and they ‘talked’ about him instead of ‘doing’ what he said and then he may get there and find that they are not obeying the Lord! Paul knew people! He was willing to stand up though and speak to the Corinthians honestly and explain to them the Truth!

Are we looking for the Truth today? Are we willing to stand up for the Lord on the matter of ‘dangerous words’? Someone’s soul may depend on it!

Let’s look now at some ways that we can begin or continue to ‘TAME THE TONGUE’!

·        Using ‘Self Control’ ~ I have discovered in my life that this is a ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ and if I am not walking in step with the Spirit then it is hard for me to have self control. Self Control is a mature step in the building blocks of living out the Christian life! Galatians 5:22-25 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Notice here also that the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ is something that must be spoken out in your life. It is the outward motion of the Holy Spirit in us; moving us to be in accord with all people!

·        By ‘Purifying the Heart’ ~ If our heart is not on board with all the other functions of our body; then there is no way for the heart to be purified. Only the Lord can purify the heart. Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”  Jesus is saying this! He alone knows our hearts! Jeremiah 17:9-10 Until we turn toward the Lord and ASK Him to forgive us for our sin and ask Him to teach us the way to live through a purified heart; to ask Him for self control – we can’t change. We can change the outward appearance; but God alone knows the heart and that is what we will be judged on! It is so important that we understand this concept! If we want to change the way we speak words; we have to change the way our heart functions!

·        Taking inventory of our ‘Character In Christ’ ~ Again, this is something that only you and God can do together. Matthew 15:18 “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.” Our character in Christ is built on the principles we begin to put in place after we become a believer! Have we been putting the principles in place? Are we molding our character after Christ? That is the desire of God – that we would attempt to live out a life lived for Jesus. The only way to do that is to surrender to the Lord on a daily basis…sometimes it has to happen more often than daily. This does NOT make us weak! It makes us build character in the One and ONLY! It keeps our hearts soft and our spirit in step with the Holy Spirit!

The idea is that in this life we would want to follow after Christ in such a way that His self control, purity of heart and character would show through us to lead others and to shine His light! When we are willing to do these things; God has a wonderful way of teaching us to stay away from ‘dangerous words’ that damage others, relationships and even drags us down by using them!

We start today taking ‘dangerous words’ out of our vocabulary by following these guidelines to an even closer walk with Christ! We will NEVER want to be the same again!

Explosion Ahead! LIFE Interrupted

“Victorious living is not an instant arrival – It is the pursuit of one victorious day at a time until we begin forming victorious habits in the Lord!” – Beth Moore ‘Praying God’s Word’

Interruptions in life are things that happen to cause us to question where we are in life. If our lives were 100% balanced there would be no need for a Savior! God NEVER intended our lives to be ‘flatlined’ to a point that we can’t feel our heart beat! The ‘interruption’ of the heartbeat in our body is how we KNOW we are alive.

The same is true in the Believer’s walk! The interruptions of life are an assurance that we are ALIVE and in desperate need of a Savior to help us every day!

Anything that occurs in our lives that upsets the balanced calm of life is indeed an interruption. Some examples of interruptions are:

Children                                                        Money Issues                      Illness

Fast Paced Life                    Distractions                                      Marriage

Work Issues                                                             Doubt that God is at work

God has a way of teaching us through the INTERRUPTIONS OF LIFE – lessons that we need to become the ‘Victorious Living Christian’ that He intends us to be. The truth is that we MUST choose Him over the interruptions!

So many Christians believe that God causes the problems of life and they turn away from Him. The opposite is what God’s Word teaches! God teaches that when we come up against the things that we don’t understand; the things that cause our calm life to be interrupted; that we will look past them to see Him and seek His help and guidance in this life! God gets the glory for that!

Some interruptions are large and others are small; but through them all our goal should be to stay focused on God and His ultimate plan for us! In Romans 8:28 the Bible says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This Bible truth is true in whatever ‘interruption’ you may be having right now! Our job is to believe the truth and see past it!

How do we overcome the interruptions of life? One victorious step at a time until we are living the ‘Victorious Life’ that we are intended to live! It does not happen overnight! It takes time and many interruptions for the believer to be able to have enough wisdom to see God on the other side of each interruption.

So many people let the interruptions of life take them down into defeat. The believer’s life should never end in defeat! God gives us EVERY opportunity to turn the interruption into a moment where we KNOW that God is working even though everything in the world says the opposite! This really is the key to living victoriously - Living the life that God intends!

We look at the interruption and find God in it. We don’t ‘try’ to find God; we don’t ‘figure out the circumstance’ and ‘think’ God is in it; We accept what has happened and FIND OUT THAT GOD is with us and let the interruption mold us for the Kingdom! God will ALWAYS use these interruptions to help others find Him!

Here are four ways to understand that God IS with us in the interruptions of life:

©     Discipline in obedience ~ God desires that we learn from the interruptions of life! James 1:2-6

©     Direction in victorious living ~ God WANTS us to understand that interruptions are vital in order to grow our perseverance in this world – to see the direction God is taking us! James 1:12

©     Deciding to follow Jesus ~ We have to clean up our act and DECIDE to follow Jesus! God wants us to be obedient to Him and use our interruptions for more than just listening purposes. James 1:19-22

©     Devotion leads to VICTORY! ~ Really living in victory in this life is a win-win situation for the believer! Not only do we get a crown of life in Heaven; but we will lead others to live in victory also! James 1:25

God’s intent for the believer’s life is that we will see EVERYTHING that happens to us or is in our lives as something that can mold us and make us into an active, motivated, VICTORIOUS believer in Christ!

There is nothing that can happen to us in this life that should keep us from believing in the ONE who gave His life for us. All these things that happen to us in life called ‘INTERRUPTIONS’ are only moments in time that we can use to capture the very essence of the Lord! We have to be able to look past the pain, past the inconvenience, past the problems of the moment and see the bigger picture.

We are so focused sometimes that we forget what the bigger picture really is! Spend some time this week looking at what is going on in your own life that God could be using as an ‘interruption’ so that you can see Him at work in you!

Explosion Ahead! When There Is Nothing Left But Love

I Peter 4:8 – “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Sometimes when explosions happen in our lives we are left with the unexplainable and nowhere to turn – except to God!

Not everything in life that happens has a reason we understand, an answer or an explanation. God intends it that way. To believers who have lived through the storms of life and come out on the other side, this is true! (Deuteronomy 29:29)

The Bible is so clear on this point. However, sometimes we are so lost in the pain of the situation that we cannot see beyond the moment to the Hand of God at work in our lives and sometimes we don’t get to see it this side of eternity.

Faith or belief is the only WAY to make sense of a situation that does not make sense! When was the last time you encountered this in your life? Did you find yourself depending and holding on to God BECAUSE you did not understand and could not explain or did you find yourself being swept away – barely able to keep your head above water – not knowing which way to turn? Did confusion set in and you developed a sense of being overwhelmed -  not being able to breathe?

The Bible says to ‘fix it in your mind’ (Deuteronomy 11: 18-21) that you will obey and love the Lord – or in other words to settle it ahead of time; so that when the storms come you are prepared and CAN handle the situation with God’s help!

The ‘Explosion’ happens when we haven’t already made up our minds to look past the storm to the Lord and something blows up in our lives. In that moment our breath is taken away and we don’t know what to do!

God leaves the ‘choice’ of how we handle a situation up to us. He waits for us, never leaving us – so that we are seeking Him AND that is where the victory is! This is where the LIFE is!

Jesus came that we might have life. John 10:9-10  “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

The contrast in this verse is that if we have not chosen Jesus and are actively obeying Him; that leaves room for Satan to come in and ‘steal, kill and destroy’ US. That is the objective of Satan. He wants to destroy us and if we are not prepared ahead of time – he can and DOES knock the breath out of us at every turn!

Every one of us has had a moment in time when the unthinkable has happened to us! We think no one else has ever had it this bad or gone through this thing like we have gone through it and yet the Bible is filled with stories of those who have had the unthinkable happen to them!

Paul says that we should read the Old Testament and see that people went through terrible things and they are written for our example!  Often we forget about the great stories in the Bible where things happened to ordinary people and God turned them around and used them for extraordinary reasons!

He is STILL DOING THAT TODAY! He has not changed! God can and will use your life and my life in one way or another to bring someone else to Him!

Here are some stories about Bible figures:

Moses and Personal Defeat

Consider Moses. He failed, yet recovered and went on to magnificent ministry. He murdered the Egyptian, covered up the crime, was discovered, and fled for his life. Moses was rejected, dejected, and resigned to 40 years in the desert herding sheep (Exodus 2:11-22). And yet God used him in a mighty way! Why? Because Moses chose to believe God and even though Moses had the unthinkable happen in his life – he chose to love God! It was when there was nothing left in him that he saw the love of God!

Abraham and Personal Defeat

Abraham, to save his neck, lied and passed off his wife, Sarah, as his sister to Abimelech, the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18). His deceit was discovered. He was humiliated in front of the world. Even though the unthinkable had happened to Abraham – he was completely humiliated by what he had done – he saw the love of God!

David and Personal Defeat

David’s story gives hope to all in Christians who sin. He was guilty of adultery, cover up, and murder. He seduced Uriah’s wife, got Bathsheba pregnant, tried to cover the affair, couldn’t, then conspired to have Uriah murdered (2 Samuel 11:1-27). Although David did the unthinkable, he repented, his heart went back to God, and he maintained his position. Because of his experience, David was able to write the Psalms which have brought comfort to billions over the centuries. When everything in David’s life failed; He loved God!

You and Personal Defeat

What has happened to you in your life that has caused you to fall and think that God could not possibly hear, love or care what has happened to you? Are you seeing the love of God or are you looking at your situation as unthinkable, impossible, or unexplainable? Just like these Bible examples; God is not leaving you or changing or moving! When everything falls apart; there is the LOVE OF GOD! In fact; sometimes there is ‘nothing left but the love’. It is what we do with that information that is life changing.

The common thread of God is the Love! John 3:16 says it so beautifully! “For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The things that do not defeat us make us stronger! Life is not supposed to defeat us. God gives us life so that we can become stronger in Him. THAT is the plan. There is no evil plot against us in life.

When the unthinkable, unexplainable, undesirable thing happens in our life; God desires that we see it through eyes of love. That our relationship with Him is so strong that we believe Him even though everything in the situation says the opposite. (Psalm 47:1-2) “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. For the LORD Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.”

Perhaps the person standing in the middle of the thing needs to see your love! God will use that very light of love to bring the other person to Him! Are we a witness for the LORD when there is nothing left but love?

People feed off of reaction. What if our REACTION was one of love? It won’t make the situation any easier but it does solve the ‘why’ and you are able to move past it!

Sometimes life is uncomfortable and unexplainable! It is okay. God is in control and the LOVE will be the thing that brings the victory to us – ONLY the LOVE of God can do that!

The Bible uses the word ‘believe’ 289 times and the word ‘love’ 686 times. ALL of them refer to the believer who is seeking God!

Psalm 31:7 “I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.”

Romans 8:28-39 shows such a picture of love for those who believe God!

Be encouraged today in the love of God! Even when we can’t understand – continue to believe and be strengthened by the love that God extends to us!

When the explosion happens in your life – BELIEVE God and the LOVE that He pours out! Look past the explosion to see it! When there is ‘Nothing Left But Love’ you KNOW that God has given you the victory in the unthinkable, impossible, unexplainable situation!