Time With God = Revelation!

I am always amazed at the Grace and Love of Jesus! He just comes to us so clearly when we are seeking Him. The most wonderful thing that God has ever done for me is reveal to me how important it is that I come to Him one on one every day.

That I have a personal time with Him to share my problems and thoughts and speak Scripture to Him. The most amazing thing has happened in that I want more of that relationship with the Lord. I crave it, hunger for it and I KNOW that is giving me strength to stand each and every day! The burden of my heart is to teach others that they can have that same thing!  

Lamentations 3:22-25 "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS. I say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him."

God desires that none of His children miss this relationship growth with Him! And yet, we put our time and effort into so MANY other things. God's great love and faithfulness should draw us to Him over and over again!

There is nothing in our walk as a Christian that will teach us to grow more in Christ than personal time with Him.

This personal time transforms us to a relationship with the Lord that compares to none!

We talk about a lot of things in the Christian walk; why we grow, why we don’t, what it takes to live the Christian life, how to make it work in our families, etc.

The truth is that none of these things compares to our personal relationship with Christ. If we don’t have that going for us; none of the other things will work!

God desires first and foremost a personal love relationship with Him! He wants us to grow and believe and love; all of which come from Him. We don’t have the power to grow this within ourselves. It has to come from God! This is what teaches us to have a heart like Him!

Here are some practical ways to do develop the personal love relationship with Jesus:

©       Find a place that is quiet and away from everyone. Somewhere that has good lighting and where you have a place to have your materials to study.

©       Make a time that is separate from everything else that we do. Jesus modeled in the Bible that the first of the morning is a good time to be with the Father, when everyone else is asleep. That is when He chose to have personal time with the Father.

©       Prepare for your quiet time with the Lord. It is important and we should come prepared in our hearts, in our minds and our souls to have an appointed time with Jesus.

©       Have a purpose. All of us have a reason for everything that we do. Our quiet time should be the same. We should have a purpose of studying to show ourselves approved unto God. Desiring to grow in His Word. Get into the Word of God and let God reveal Himself through His Love Letter to us!

Spend this week seeking a personal growth relationship with the Lord! Just like He called to His disciples to become a follower of God; He calls each one of us! Develop that quiet time that was so important to Jesus and live it out daily in your walk with Him!

Time with God does really equal revelation! The REVELATION is that we develop a deep desire to be closer and closer with the Lord.

All of the things that have been mentioned bring our hearts in line with God so that we can lift our hearts to Him in prayer. Talking to Jesus one on one! Praying that He will grow us and give us wisdom and understanding that go beyond anything in this life.

Get In THE ZONE!

In our Christian walk we have an opportunity to be ‘In THE ZONE' and we choose whether to accept the challenge or to just continue life in another ‘zone’.

God gives us the free choice. There is nothing pushing us one way or the other. It is of our own free choice that we make commitments in this life.

Where is our commitment today? Is it ‘In THE ZONE' or somewhere else.

There are three zones that we all fall into. Check out this Scripture:

Proverbs 4:11-13 “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life."

·        ‘THE’ ZONE; this is where Jesus is and where God desires us to be. Ready and willing to go and be and do in His Name and for His purpose. That can be anything from being obedient in our family or going to a foreign land and proclaiming the Name of Jesus. When we are in ‘THE Zone’ we are in relationship with Jesus in a way that nothing comes above it and God blesses that! We are growing in the Lord; reading His Word; working in the local church and serving God to the best of our ability. When we are in ‘THE Zone’ we find God's blessing in ALL situations and we are keeping our eyes on Him no matter what the circumstances or situations are in our lives!

·        ‘The Comfort Zone’; this is where Christians get comfortable coming to church sometimes and helping out when it makes us feel good. This is where the Christian is that says ‘hey I will help or do or be only IF it is comfortable for me’.  This Christian is not obedient to the Word and obeys when it is comfortable for them. The relationship with Jesus suffers because unless it makes the person comfortable to read the Bible; it is put on a shelf and only used on Sundays and Wednesdays. This person finds that God blesses others more often than their own life and discouragement is ALWAYS on the horizon. Things happen and this person always thinks that it is because of the judgment of God on their life. It is okay to have a little Jesus and a little sin as long as there is comfort.

·        ‘The Danger Zone’; this is where people get in a place in their lives where they are neither a believer nor a non-believer. They are in such a place that nothing really applies and sin is more appealing than accepting Salvation in Christ. There is no obedience to the Word of God and there is no relationship with Christ. Sometimes people who are in this zone make a profession of faith but what happened at the altar on the day they professed God’s Name was a onetime only experience and they do not choose to continue it. There is no prayer and the condition of the heart is cold. It is cold to other people AND God. This person often wonders why they ever confessed Jesus’ Name! In the ‘Danger Zone’ this person makes decision without any thought and serves only themselves. This person laughs at Christians and their belief and has a small niggle in their heart that tells them they really should try to believe; but the voice in their mind is way too strong and it overshadows the still, small voice telling them the truth and sin runs rampant in their lives. Nothing goes well for this person and they blame all the bad on the Lord.

Where do we want to be? What kind of ‘zone’ do we really want to be in? For the sake of our life, our family and our existence; we should desire to be in ‘THE ZONE’ for the Lord. All things work together for good to those who love Him! That is what the Word says to us.

God gives us willingly the keys to make it in this life we are living here on earth. He KNOWS the trials and problems that we face and tells us in the Word that if we will give our entire life to Him we will show us the way and light our path! There is no failure when our hearts are tuned with His. When our relationship with the Lord is where it should be and we are reading and studying and praying and fill our lives with all the good that God has to offer; He just has such a way of making our steps light and joy filled no matter what the circumstances are in this life.

To be in THE ZONE does not mean that the life of a Christian is an easy road! Problems come and circumstances happen that cause us to look even closer at the Word of God and pray even more diligently that we did yesterday. When our hearts are filled with belief in Him; this is an easy task in the heart. We will walk through the problems and circumstances of this life filled with God and He will direct the way.

It is my prayer that we all desire to get  in ‘THE ZONE’ for the Lord and put our relationship with Him first and give God the problems and circumstances and let Him control it all.

Believe Him today! Your life will NEVER be the same!

Proverbs 4:11-13 “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life."

Walk This Way

Have you ever watched people walk? If you notice; they ALL walk differently. Everybody is unique in their walk and just as that is true about our humanly form it is true about our soul.

Everyone has a different walk in their soul.

When I think about the title above; I immediately think of the famous song by Steve Tyler; “Walk This Way”; which is in no way a godly song; but even he must have had a glimpse of people as he dreamed up the lyrics of that song!

In the song; he is attempting to get with a girl and will do anything to that end; he would ‘walk this way’ in order to get the girl.

The song was made famous by the group Aerosmith and still to this day the lyrics will stick with you.

God calls us to ‘walk this way’ in the Bible. He teaches us through His Word just how important it is to have a different walk to draw people unto Him.

I Peter Chapter 1 is a story of living out our lives by ‘walking the way’ God intends for us. God desires that we walk in holiness with Him to be able to stand in our day.

There HAS to be something different about us if we are going to attract the world to accept Salvation from the Lord. We can’t walk the way Steve Tyler's song says we should walk and make a difference in this life.

I Peter 1:1-2 says “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. Grace and Peace be yours in abundance.”

©     Real believers  SHOULD BE strangers in the world. We should desire the Lord much, much more than the world. This is a definition of who we are in Christ! We are strangers to the world, chosen by God, cleansed and renewed by the Holy Spirit and a people who desire to be obedient to our calling of Salvation!

I Peter 1:3-5 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

©     God has given us a living hope in this life that we live. If we EVER had a reason to walk differently in this life…this would be the reason! God has given us HOPE where there is no hope! There is no hope in the world that is going to last forever. It might come for a season; but it won’t last. Humanity is desperate to find something that is lasting and WE (the believers) HAVE IT IN OUR WALK! We have to understand that Christ died for the walk that we have today. The Bible plainly tells us that our Hope will never perish, spoil or fade! Oh, I am so thankful that I have something that won’t rot, go away or get old! We have such a gift that should be cherished! It was ALL purchased for us through the Cross of Christ. He paid our sin debt so that we could have ETERNAL HOPE!

We are always giving our kids gifts aren’t we? I can’t give my children enough…because I love them so much. Someday though; those gifts will get old or fade or tear up….but the GIFT of the Father of Heaven will NEVER get old; NEVER fade and NEVER tear up. I need to know that in this life. Our ‘walk’ needs to reflect the great gift of Christ and our children and family need to see us walking that out!

I Peter 1:6-12 tells us HOW we should walk BECAUSE of what Christ did for us!

©     We may have to suffer. Everything in our lives will not work out. There will be trials that we don’t understand. If we are 'walking the walk' though and seeking God; then our eyes are on Him and our Hope will keep us going through any suffering this life offers.

©     Jesus Christ has called us to ‘Walk This Way’ in Him! Be different. Christ was different! He was called out; chosen by God and He was not afraid to walk a different walk. We should desire to be like Him! WHAT a pattern to follow. Christ had a desire that ALL men should know God like He did. He deeply desired that we would have a relationship that mattered with the Father. In fact He died for us so that we could have it. He rose from the dead and sits at the right Hand of God; ALWAYS mindful of us and helping us each day ‘walk this way’ in Him!

I Peter 1:13-17 tells us WHAT to do in Christ!

©     Prepare our minds for action! Not only do we need to ‘walk this way’ but we need to be believing what we are walking. Our minds much be transformed in Christ. Every single day we must renew our minds in Christ by seeking forgiveness for sin and asking God to reveal Himself to us. Renewing ourselves every day in Him should be our desire. To develop a ‘walk with Christ’ we have to desire to be in relationship with Him enough to make a difference! We have to be willing to change our walk and it all starts with our mind! Preparing inside and outside for the walk that God has for us will be the most rewarding thing we could ever do! We NEVER know who is watching us. To lead others to the Lord we HAVE to have something different!

The Bible is full of encouragement for the believer to be a different kind of person. It is on purpose that we would ‘walk this way’ in this life! IF we are truly saved and called of God to Salvation; we should be walking in a way that others desire to have that kind of walk.

I think ‘how many people have walked like Steve Tyler' just going in any direction; following something that won't last? How many people choose to walk after God?  Steve’s song has faded; it is a dull memory; but the HOPE of the eternal GOD is NEVER going to fade so…WALK THIS WAY! Start today! God is waiting for us to come to Him and desire to 'walk the way' of the Lord!

Healing the Hurt

“I might be hurt – but I MUST be committed to healing the hurt to be healed”. ~ Author Unknown

When we are injured in our body; we seek a doctor and trust that he is going to give us the medication or physician’s wisdom that will cause us to be healed. We continue to follow through until we are completely healed. In fact we continue to see the doctor until we are ‘released’ from his care; noting that we are healed.

Why don’t we have this same approach in our spirit? Why don’t we seek in the same way what it takes for our spirit to be healed when it is hurt?

The hurts of the soul are the ones that leave deep scars that keep us from ever pursuing the life of a believer to the point of total healing. Why is that? Is it because no one else can see these hurts? Do we keep them quiet because we don’t want others to know just how weak we are?

In order to be fully in the Lord; we must heal the hurts that are hidden down deep in our hearts. God wants to pluck those things out and replace them with courage, boldness and love that never ends.

In order to do this we have to DO a few things! It will not happen magically! We must find inside of us a commitment to being healed from hurt!

God equips each of us with ability to desire to be healed. It is what we do with that ability that is life changing.

In Psalm 1 God gives us the formula for success. It is easy to do if we are committed to Him and REALLY desire a healing in our soul.

©     We have to find our healing in the Word of God! Develop a love so deep for it that it is life changing!

©     We have to find our healing through teaching of the Word of God. God intends that we develop friendships and mentorships with godly, wise people! He doesn’t want us off on our own without others to help us on our healing journey! This leads to a trap from the enemy. (Proverbs 13:20)

©     We find healing through meditating on the Word of God as though it is medication for our soul. If we close our eyes and really see these Bible characters in action we can see them as they really were! They made choices just like we make choices! (Joshua 1:8-9)

©     We find healing through asking God to heal us! (Jeremiah 17:14) We need to ask God to come into our lives and heal us! Transform us! ASK God to forgive us of our sins and replace that sin with love and power from Him. Only God has the tools to heal us inside! He wants us to replace that sinful thing with a Godly thing! That takes commitment and love on our part!

Being committed to healing IS healing! It is ACTION on the part of the believer to be healed! We have to be committed to wanting to be healed. It does not come easy. It takes follow through and action on our part. Our society teaches us the exact opposite! This is one reason we have so many believers that are not full of God’s Almighty Power! If we can’t fix it in a day or through one prayer; we just don’t fix it…we continue on in life and are never free from the things that hurt us! We must put forth effort and action to be changed.

©     James 5:13-16 tells a beautiful story of someone who is willing and seeking. Are we in trouble? The Bible has such a way of putting things right in front of us. It is what we do with that information that becomes transforming!

©     Tell others so that they can pray with you and be that encouragement that we need. God never intended that we would not share with other believers the hurts of this life! Somehow we have gotten away from that practice even in church! Ask others to pray with us!

©     Be accountable to others about a commitment to be healed! It is ok to let each other know we have hurt. It does not make us less of a person. If we are a believing bunch of people; then it should not matter if we share! Verbal commitment does wonders for the soul! It helps us be transparent and pure before each other AND God! (Matthew 5:8) Don’t we want to see God?

©     We need to be committed enough that we sense God and KNOW that we KNOW we can ask anything and be healed and changed! (Matthew 7:7-8) God says that if we had enough faith as small as a mustard seed we would be able to move mountains! Oh my goodness that we would believe that in our lives when it comes to hurting inside!

We have an opportunity to heal the hurt and be changed in such a way that we are RADICAL in our faith and belief! What is holding us back? ….WE ARE HOLDING OURSELVES BACK….

Be committed to healing the hurt inside. It can absolutely be LIFE CHANGING and you may never know until you try it! Not only that; but God WILL use what you have learned to heal others! Your commitment to God in healing your hurt will lead someone else to want to do the same! Be used of God today! Be transformed in your mind and heart and BELIEVE God!