Explosion Ahead! Are We 'Dwelling' or 'Living In Fullness'

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 2:6-10 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”

The question is: Why do we choose to live like we do when God so clearly says that we have all the ‘fullness’ of Christ in us if we are His?

We LOVE the ‘explosion’ moments in this life and would rather choose them that the abundance of God. What a painful thing for Jesus to watch us play out every day when He is our advocate before the Father begging for mercy on our behalf! We really can’t imagine the pain that must cause Him.

Explosions happen in our lives whether we are making wrong choices or right choices. It is what we do with this ‘fullness of Christ’ in these situations that makes the difference!

Those who teach and lead in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ – long for those who don’t know the closeness of Christ – to come close! To really see the love of God that is waiting. To taste the Power of the Lord in a way that becomes a life changer! What develops in the teacher is a love for the ones that are being taught!

That is my desire - To teach you how to grow into a deeper life of Faith in the Lord. I long to see you have fresh encounters with the Holy Spirit and to have a deep sense of belief that NOTHING can sway you in this life…not even an explosion!

Paul felt the same way! His instruction in the Bible is to the believer – because he sees the ‘Explosions that can happen’ to us. His hope and prayers are that we will look past them to what is beyond; to what can hold us up in the midst of the explosions.

Obedience to the Lord and His Word is a challenge. We look around and we see destruction and pain all around. We think we might as well ‘dwell’ instead of ‘overcome in the fullness’ of Christ!

God says the opposite in His Word!

I Thessalonians 5:16-24 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat the prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

Explosions peal the layers back of our life and expose us even more to God in a way that either calls us closer or drives us further away. The theme of the Bible is ‘explosions’ and an avenue in God to escape them!

Where are you at in your life? When the ‘explosions’ happen to you are you prepared in the ‘fullness of Christ Jesus’ or are you giving in to ‘dwelling’ in the fallout?

Here are some places that we ‘dwell’ instead of living in the ‘fullness of Christ’:

Bitterness ~ Do we hold on to those things that make us mad? Is there a part of your heart that is holding on to something someone did to you in the past?

Relationships/friendships that lead nowhere ~ Are we keeping ourselves wrapped up in relationships that are hurting our walk with Christ? Are we willing to ‘dwell’ with these relationships or ask for courage to overcome them with the Power of Christ?

Envious thoughts ~ Do we have thoughts and actions built on envy? Do we wish we had or did ____________? If we are always looking at what we don’t have – we can’t see what we DO have in the ‘fullness of Christ’ if we are always looking elsewhere.

Worry ~ Do we find ourselves always worrying over what we can’t control? Do we spend a lot of time thinking of ways to defeat worry and yet we don’t do any of them? Are we ‘dwelling’ in that worry instead of overcoming it in the ‘fullness of Christ’ using His POWER to overcome what we can’t control and letting God control it?

Angry thoughts, actions and deeds ~ Do we let ourselves become consumed with anger on different levels? If we think it – more than likely we can carry it out! Are we willing to ‘dwell’ with these angry thoughts or are we willing to move past them and be consumed with Holy Spirit Fire instead!

These are just a few of the ‘Explosions’ of life that cause us to stay off track in the Lord. Often we choose to dwell in these places when God’s Promise and Love are so fulfilling -  if we only seek it more than these things listed!

The VICTORY is in the choosing! Life is built on choices and the stronger we become in the Lord the more sure our choices become. We find ourselves looking past the ‘explosions’ toward how God can use them to strengthen us! Only God can do this in us! Humanity does not give us the ability to look past the explosions.

In I Thessalonians 5:16-24 we read that God is asking us to not put out the Spirit’s fire! The fire is the Holy Spirit that dwells in us! The way that we walk through the explosions of this life is by the Holy Spirit’s Power and Fire; believing that God is who He says He is!

The REALLY AMAZING thing is that usually when we are willing to look right past our ‘explosions’ – God will use these circumstances to His Glory! We will have the chance to share these things with other believers and encourage someone else who might very well be struggling with these same things! ONLY God can do that!

God desires that each one of us be an overcomer in this life. Have you ever wondered what that means?

What it means is that we are overcoming ‘explosions’ to give Him glory and to let God shine in our lives so that others will see and believe! It is the way that God chooses to work in this life – through us!

It is my prayer that you are finding that it is so much more meaningful in this life to live for Jesus than it is to be a ‘dweller’! There is such hope and promise for those who do!

Paul says it best in the Word of God – which is my prayer for you!

Ephesians 1:16 “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

Explosions Ahead! Friends With NO Benefits

Last week we studied about friends that God provides in our lives and how they help to move us along on life’s path. These friends often help us become closer to the Lord or help us in some way that leads us in a direction away from problems and circumstances that harm us.

This week we are going to study how the opposite kind of friends come into our lives and if we can’t wiggle free of them; will lead us down paths of great destruction and defeat and cause us to turn away from the Lord.

Sometimes we choose friends that make us weaker instead of stronger. They cause us to depend on them instead of the Lord and we let them speak into our lives in a way that causes us to believe less and less in the LORD and His Power!

These kinds of friends do not inspire us to greatness but rather inspire us to wallow in self pity, insecurity and sin. They do not challenge or help convict of us sin in any way but rather help us go deeper into a pit that leads away from the Lord.

Do you have friends like this? Friends who spend all their time leading you away from the Lord instead of toward Him?

Friends that encourage us to sin or be involved with things that are not godly are not really our friends. They are a tool of Satan in our lives to keep us from the Truth!

God always makes a way to get away from a ‘friend’ like this so that He can work in our lives. We have to be listening and watching.

We must be ever watchful over our Christian walk and guarding it like a treasure. When we let a friend come in and lead us in the opposite direction; defeat and destruction are sure to follow.

This does not mean that we cannot work with the lost, the downtrodden, and the people who need to find God and His message of eternal salvation. When Jesus came to our earth in the flesh, He always went after the sinners and the outcasts. But when Jesus went after these sinners, it was always for the express purpose of getting them saved and cleaned up - not for friendship sake. This is a powerful lesson that all believers should learn and use!
His friends were the 12 disciples and they were godly. There is a reason that God instructs us to have godly friends! They help us along God’s path for our lives!

The goal of the Believer’s walk is that we would grow closer to God on a daily basis. If our friends are not helping us in that direction; they are not helping us grow!

Here are some ways to determine if our friends are beneficial for our Believer’s Walk or not:

†        God instructs us to choose our friends carefully. When we allow friends to come into our lives and cause destruction and problems we are not making a wise choice! God calls the believer to walk after Him and when we do that we find that our choices reflect that. Don’t let a friend lead you away from the Lord! In Proverbs 12:26 the Bible says 

1.      “The righteous should CHOOSE HIS FRIENDS CAREFULLY, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

†        There are benefits to choosing godly friends instead of friends that lead us astray. Once you turn the reigns of your life over to God for Him to fully handle, He will now make sure that you get matched up with the right kind of people that you can become true God-friends with.

1.      “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14)
 

2.      “A wise man is strong, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; for by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 24:5)
 

3.      “Every purpose is established by counsel; by wise counsel wage war.” (Proverbs 20:18)
 

4.      “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.” (Proverbs 15:22)
 

5.      “Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.” (Proverbs 19:20)
 

6.      “Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27)

†        The value of seeking friends that are godly as opposed to those who are not is that a godly friend will teach you how to be stronger in the Lord. This is so important in the life we live because there is so much negativity everywhere we go!

1.      As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)

†        The Bible instructs us to not be ‘unequally yoked’ with unbelievers. There is a reason for this! God loves us so much and He sees the destruction ahead if we make choices that are not based on Him! He gives us clear instruction in the selection of friends in the following verses:

1.      “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” (2 Corinthians 6:14)

2.      “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)
 

3.      “A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, but knowledge is easy to him who understands. Go from the presence of a foolish man, when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:6)
 

4.      “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers …” (Philippians 3:2)
 

5.      “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6)
 

6.      “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Romans 16:17)
 

7.      “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Friends with NO benefits for our godly walk only keep us from God. They keep us in the middle of turmoil, problems and negative thoughts. All choices that we make are not good ones - but for the heart that is trying to become more like Christ; every choice that we make that draws us closer to the Lord is a good one! Friends are one of the choices in this life.

God desires that we love Him enough to make good choices where our friends are concerned. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord and let Him help us make good choices starting today!

For every bad thing we give up; God promises to replace it with something greater and better! Imagine the friends that could be waiting for us if we are making godly choices about them!

Are My Friends Heaven Sent

Sometimes people come in to our lives for a reason, a brief segment of time or sometimes even a lifetime. Some friends are put in our lives to encourage, strengthen, inspire, challenge and convict us.

Have you ever wondered why? You get this friendship and it is so precious and before you know it the friendship is over. Almost as fast as the friendship was made; the person drifts out of your life.  

Have you ever thought – ‘we use to be such good friends’? ‘What happened?

God gives us friends to help sharpen our spirit! Sometimes this happens and the friend moves on or sometimes it happens and the friend stays until life on earth is ended.

God has such a wonderful way of bringing friends into and out of our lives for reasons that we may not understand until a later time in life or sometimes, we don’t understand at all.

The Bible has a lot to say on the subject of friends! As we look into our own lives at our friends, is it possible they are answers to prayers that we have prayed? That God has sent in human form an answer to us?

Do our friends sometimes aid us physically, emotionally or spiritually? Surely this is the work of the Lord! We have to be able to recognize it though. Do we see the Fingerprints of God on our lives through our friends?

Read what Jesus says to His friends:

In John 15:13-17 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

It is stunning that Jesus called the 12 disciples friends! The very Son of God sat among people and told them that the love a man has for his friends is what causes him to lay down his life. A friend tells the others everything that is right and good. A friend chooses a friend because he wants to be there for life. Jesus goes on to say that when we do these things, God will listen to our hearts and all of this comes out of love!

We should desire to be and have friends like this! Jesus laid out the pattern for us to follow in friendship.

Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” – A friend in Christ is a tool to help us. We should praise God for them and desire to be that kind of friend!

Sometimes friends come into our life for a season and bring us experience of peace, or love that we may not know or understand until we see it in action in another. They teach us by example how to live out love. That is exactly what Jesus did for those disciples that He taught.

A friend may come into your life to lift you up from a low place. They may say or do something that inspires you to get up out of the low place in your life! We should be thanking God for these kinds of friends because surely they are Heaven sent! When was the last time we thanked God for friends in our lives? For people who go the extra mile to make sure we understand what it means to live for the Lord? Friends that say things that comfort us and make us feel loved.

These kinds of folks are from the Lord sent directly into our lives! They are gifts from our Heavenly Father. The 12 disciples were blessed because they walked and talked with Jesus; but now that He has gone to Heaven; He sends friends among us so that we are encouraged and motivated and challenged to live this life on earth! Do we see our friends like that? Do we want to be that kind of friend?

Here are some ways:

©      Godly friends sharpen us. They will sharpen you and you will sharpen them. Proverbs 27:17

©      Godly friends assure each other when times are tough. Do we have friends that love us through the hard times? Friends that don’t fade away when times get rough? Proverbs 17:17

©      Godly friends participate with each other. Proverbs 18:24 teaches us that friends activate each other and move each other to desire to want to do something! Inspiration is another word here. Do we have friends that inspire us to do more or do things that we have not done before?

©      Godly friends rejoice with each other! When something wonderful happens in our lives what do we do? We call up all our friends and share the great news! That friend is so glad you did! Rejoicing with each other is a special bond between those that love the Lord and each other. We desire to share the blessings of life with each other.

©      Godly friends forgive each other. There is not a desire to be mad at a friend. A godly person understands that unforgiveness will eat away the goodness in our lives and lets it go. People mess up and hurt other people. It is a fact. The godly person will go the extra mile and forgive and move on in friendship!

©      Godly friends do not share or harbor anger towards others. Praying together over anger is one thing; but to continually bring up the anger and make it grow is quite another. God wants more from us than that. A godly friend sees past anger and finds a way to challenge a person to get past that anger. Proverbs 22:24

©      Godly friends develop the truth in each other. We strengthen each other to see and say the truth! We develop accountability with the friend and desire to believe and share the truth in all situations – using the Word of God as base of that truth!

It is my prayer today that you see the Fingerprints of God in your life by the friends you have! Praise God today for your friends that love the Lord and God has placed in your life. Maybe today for the first time you realize that God placed people in your life for reasons you never thought of before. If that is true thank God and then thank your friends for being there for you. WHAT a gift from God! You might find out that your friends are REALLY Heaven Sent!

It's A REAL Family Tradition

I Corinthians 10:23 “Everything is permissible – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

People often ask me is it ok to have some sin in their lives AND be a Believer at the same time. My answer is that  they are asking two different questions. These two items do not go together.

If the believer is being the BELIEVER then there is no question to begin with. The verse above explains this clearly. We can ‘do’ anything we want; but it may not be good for us. If however, we are trying to be a living testimony; then we must keep our walk in Christ right because others are paying attention to our lives.

The question above comes from one who is in the flesh. They are not walking in the Spirit and seeking God. This person is really seeking what their flesh desires and finding a way to justify that. This person wants to find a way to serve themselves and also serve God.

When the BELIEVER is walking in the Spirit; the soul is seeking the Lord and being fed and saturated by the Word; the Instruction Manual for this life!

The damage of entertaining the world while claiming to be a believer is where the problem lies. A person like this become a stumbling block for others and may prevent them from believing the Lord! Not only this; but their ‘earthly family tradition’ is completely opposite of God’s Family Tradition.

I think that Hank Williams Jr. says it best in the chorus of one of his songs:

“Hank why do you drink?
(Hank) why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
over and over everybody made my prediction
so if i get stoned and drink all night long
It’s a family tradition”

If we, the BELIEVERS in Christ are going to carry on a ‘REAL Family Tradition’ it must be one that edifies our brothers and shapes us into the image of Christ! The ‘family tradition’ that Hank talks about in this song is one of earthly desire and feeding the flesh. It leads to nowhere and is going in the opposite direction of following the Lord.

Jesus walked this earth and lived a Sinless Authentic Life for His Father – God. 12 men watched Him live it and they lived under His teaching. Their lives took on new meaning and they took the example of Christ and spread the Gospel across the world. They lived out the REAL Family Tradition! We should want the same thing. This is what Jesus came for; to show us how to live. To set a pattern for us.

God teaches us and gives us the keys to living the BELIEVERS LIFE in the Bible and desires that we love our Family enough (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) to live out the REAL Family Tradition. God’s Family is the one we were adopted into when we got saved - like it says in the following passage! God chose us to live out His Family Tradition through Jesus!

                                                                                   

In Ephesians 1:1-8 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to be the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

The ‘Family Tradition’ that matters here is the one that leads to eternity. The other one leads to defeat, heartache and possibly Hell. God has ‘adopted’ us into His Family and gives us the way that we ought to live.

Our LOVE for God should ALWAYS outweigh any worldly desire we may have. We are to ALWAYS think of God first and desire to live that out. When we are living this way there is no question and no stumbling block for others! We become STRONG in the Lord and do not desire the flesh. We desire instead a relationship with Christ that helps us understand that through Him we can do all things!

God’s ways are so beautiful in that His Word teaches to LOVE more than anything else and when we are doing that; there is NO ROOM for these other snares in life. It is a beautiful thing to be FREE of these kinds of thoughts and questions that clutter up the mind!

God’s Love is what draws men to the Lord. Live out the FAMILY TRADITION so that everyone around you sees it and wants to be part of the family! It could mean the difference in their lives…and which family tradition they live out.

Jeremiah 31:3 says “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

You see our ‘Family Tradition’ is that we are following Christ and loving others to the Cross to find Salvation! If we are doing that there are no questions!

Some may argue their fleshly point; but everyone longs to fill their soul and know the Truth and the Bible says that the TRUTH WILL SET US FREE! The kind of family tradition spoken about in that song above is one that leads in the opposite direction from the TRUTH.

Your FAMILY TRADITION is worth sharing with others so that they will see the Lord. The best testimony you could ever live out in this life is the REAL FAMILY TRADITION that God has given you, the believer! Share it today with someone else!