Compassion

"He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19 ESV)

Scriptures like this are amazing in my personal opinion. These are the truths that we as Believers need to constantly focus on. God is compassionate and merciful and more than able to handle anything that we have done or will do. It's the enemy that comes in and constantly tries to tell us, we've done too much, we fallen too far, or the sins we've committed are too great for God to save us. It's scriptures like Micah 7:19 that instantly shutdown the lies of the enemy and bring the truth that God will again have compassion on us and tread our sins and cast them into the depths of the sea. Another translation calls it "the sea of forgetfulness." This kind of compassion is almost unimaginable to us. It's only once we've been made aware of our own sins that these types of scriptures can seemingly jump off the pages of the Bible and come to life. 

In my own life I've missed it more often then I'd care to admit but the one constant I know is that God is compassionate and His grace is sufficient. Now, does that mean I can play the "grace card" and live my life however I want doing whatever I want? Absolutely not, but what it does mean is there is hope. Just as 1 John 2:1 tells us, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One" This hope means we don't have to be perfect, yes we do strive for it, but believe me we all will miss it, guaranteed. This is why we need the saving power of Jesus Christ. God's compassion was shown at its fullest with the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

So don't think you've done too much or messed up too many times for God to help you. Just get back up, get it right, dust yourself off and keep going. God is God and His compassion, mercy and grace doesn't waver and is not measurable by anything we do or do not do. 

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

Keeping Believing

"For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

God is still in control and He will do what His Word says He will do. Life can sometimes seem like an endless gauntlet of unfortunate events but is that really what it is or is that just what is seems likes at this moment? That promise from God that you are believing for, that new job, the salvation of a family member, the easing of the pain of losing a loved one, whatever it may be looks impossible but we know according to countless passages in God's Word that nothing is impossible with God.

God is all around you and is actually there in the midst of your pain. Lean on Him and allow Him to restore you.

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

Believe, Receive & Love

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. (Mark 15:31, 32 NASB)

Referenced Scriptures: Mark 15:31-32, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:6

In Mark's account of the Passion Story I was drawn to this portion of scripture and couldn't get it out out of my head this morning. When Jesus was there on the cross taking our place all the "religious" folk gathered around and had the audacity to say to let this Christ now come down so that we may see and believe. They gave Christ and ultimatum? Really!? Come down and then we'll believe you are who you say you are.

We see this and think, how dare they, but you know I myself have found myself in the past knowing and unknowingly giving very similar ultimatums. How many of us have said something like this, "Lord, get me through this and then I'll believe your word is true." At other times I find myself not moving in a direction that God clearly showed me to go because I haven't received a sign or confirmation from another source. Another words, I've said by my actions or lack of actions I walk by sight and not by faith. Which is not at all how scripture instructs us to walk (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). We tend to put the sight before the faith; meaning we won't move forward until we can put all the pieces together of how God will do it. The fact of the matter is this walk with the Lord is not meant to be easy if it was then everyone would be true Christians and the world would be in a lot better shape. What type of faith would it take to trust God if He just gave us everything immediately when we asked for it? Don't you think the Creator of everything knows best what we need? (see Matthew 6:8)

At the end of 2010, many of you know, my older brother passed away now the internal battle that the loss of a loved causes is indescribable and there came a point in my faith that I had to make a decision and this event forced this to come to the surface. With the small amount of knowledge that I had learned from scripture and what God has graciously revealed to me; I had to decide what to do with this event that has now taken center-stage in my life? You see some pull away from God during these type of things; I knew I couldn't do that. I know what I'm capable of apart from God and I can't go back there. So I had to say, "Lord, you answered our prayers just as we asked. I choose to believe in You regardless of what happens around me. I don't need to you do anything to prove to me that your there because I know that your Word tells me your there (Hebrews 13:5). Even though there is pain I know you are still in control. I trust that you will work this together for God and that in the end You will get all the honor and glory."

Bottom line, there comes a point in this thing where you either believe it or not. You either believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he did come to earth, died for the sins of mankind, rose again and will return again one day (as he said he would) or you don't. You can fake it for a while fooling others and yourself but God knows our heart. Our lives should reflect what it is we truly believe. If we are waiting for God to show us a sign or answer a specific prayer before we decide to give him every aspect of our life then we've missed it. There is a level of faith that goes hand in hand with this and if we refuse this aspect of believing in God then as the Word says, "it is impossible to please him" (see Hebrews 11:6). We will go through things while we're here in fallen world, and God's Word is the only constant that we can truly rely on. We don't need God to prove anything to us; this was already done at Calvary by Jesus. Our part in this whole thing is to just believe, receive & love.

Take Care & God Bless,

-E 

Thoughts

"From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise." (Philippians 4:8 CEB)

Referenced Scriptures:  Philippians 4:8, Isaiah 54:17, 1 John 4:4, 1 Corinthians 2:16

Do you find yourself getting frustrated throughout your day? Do you often find your mind wandering off and taking you places you shouldn't be going? Well, I do from time to time and when this happens Philippians 4:8 is a great place to renew my mind and shift things back into alignment with God's Word.

What have you been focusing on lately? We don't have to entertain every thought that just pops into our mind. Another area that attacks can come is just because a thought comes into our mind it doesn't mean we have fallen into sin. We have a choice at that very point, we can either follow the thought regardless of what it may be or we can chose to NOT follow the thought. So if the thought lines up with Philippians 4:8 then we are instructed to "focus your thoughts on these things". However if the thought in question is contrary to this portion of scripture we need to just put it out of our mind and begin quoting other scriptures that we know will head off the flaming darts of the enemy. A few of my favorites are, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper"(Isaiah 54:17), "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4), "I have been given the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16)

These are powerful scriptures that are perfect in combatting the battle that ranges in our own minds and help us take control of our thoughts. Think about any time we may have tripped up and given into sin the action of performing the sin has always begun with a thought. So if we can, through scripture & through Christ's power, take control of our thoughts we can begin living a more victorious life that glorifies God.

Take Care & God Bless

-E

Negativity & Complaining

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” (Numbers 13:30 & 31)

Reference: Numbers 13:24-31, Philippians 2:14, Psalm 28:7, Ephesians 4:29,

In today’s reading of a portion of the Old Testament we see the account of the Children of Israel at the doorstep of the Promised Land. So basically in a nutshell, some spies were sent ahead of the congregation to check things out. When they returned Caleb, was totally ready to go and take possession of what God had already promised them. Caleb knew that what God had said would come to pass. His faith was what drove him to make this statement (Numbers 11:30). However, the spies were afraid of what they saw in the land.

"What in your life has God already told you to go take possession of but because of the faithless words of others you have not?"

If you’ve been in your walk with the Lord for a while and been in your Bible reading and seeking God there are things He has revealed and showed you. Have you by faith moved forward in those things or are you too afraid of what you see ahead of you? Have you allowed the comments and opinions of other Believers dictate your actions? I think we have all done this at one point or another. The faithless words of fellow (immature) Believers can seep in and tear down your own faith.

I have experienced this more often lately than ever. There seems to be a real trend of negativity within the world today and it’s acceptable (and somewhat cool) to be negative, complain and murmur about anything and everything (i.e. -the price of gas, the Government, the economy, other people, etc.) How is this acceptable when we can find scripture that says we shouldn’t be this way? (See Philippians 2:14, Psalm28:7, Ephesians 4:29) When find myself with a complaining or negative spirit it usually means I am lacking in my personal time with God. I tend to start focusing on the fallen world around me rather than focusing on God. We all have been there and I know this because I hear the conversations of those around me. The words of Believers are riddled with complaints and negativity. So here is the issue, we’ve all been there or are even there now, finding ourselves being negative and complaining about everything, the real question is this; how long do you plan on staying here?

Recognize it, learn from it, repent and move forward!

Take Care & God Bless,

-E

Man Up!

"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11 ESV)

Referenced Scriptures: Romans 6:11, Ephesians 5:22-32, 1 Corinthians 13:11

Dead to sin; what exactly does this mean? Well, recently God gave some revelation on this and yet to some it may seem so obvious some of us are a bit more hard-headed. I had often read this portion of scripture and it never really clicked until recently. What Paul was saying, through divine inspiration, is that we must see ourselves as dead to sin; meaning we no longer have to give into every earthly desire we have. Wait...what!? You mean I don't have to look at porn like all the other guys at my work do, I don't have to spend my free time playing video games and completely ignore my wife, you mean I don't have to lie about any thing and everything just because everyone else does? This was as I said, so obvious, yet I had missed it for so many years.

You see when God showed this to me it was as if the lights had come on and I verbally said out loud, "I don't have to give into this anymore." The realization of what Christ did came flooding to me once again, full force, and with a new revelation. For many years I had seen how (so called Men) act towards their wives and women in general and it left something to be desired. Something just didn't seem right. Husbands and Fathers would spend an insane amount of time on hobbies (i.e. - music, sports, drinking, guys night out, porn, etc) and completely neglect the family they had at home. Now, I am not blaming anyone for anything I am just saying I have observed this and if it wasn't for God's grace I too could have gone down very similar paths. To be transparent and real I have looked down some of these paths more often then I care to admit, but God is so good, and His grace and mercy kept me and continues to keep me.

So what's the point? Well, my point is this; if you call yourself a Christian and remember 76% of all Americans love to wear this title; then men start acting like real Christ-like men. Now if you can stand there and honestly say you have been being all the husband/father you can be; then terrific, keep up the good work! Let's check out Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus (read Ephesians 5:22-32). Men & Women, if you are indeed married, are a professing Christians and you do not strive for what is described here then we know that something is off. Get before God and just be honest with Him. When I had to do the same thing my prayer went something like this, "Lord, there is no way I can live up to these standards in my own strength. Help me to be all that she needs me to be all that You have called me to be. It is only through Your grace and mercy that I can even begin to do this."

Now, I am not saying I am the perfect husband but I am saying I know I'm not where I need to be but thank God I'm not where I used to be. It's time we put away childish things and be the men that God has called us to be. So where has your free time been spent lately? Think about it and I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul (divinely inspired), "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." (1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV)

Take Care & God bless

-E

Don't Freak Out

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. (Ephesians2:14a NLT)

Referenced Scripture: Ephesians 2:14

So why do we worry and freak out when God's Word clearly tells us the Christ has brought us peace? Think about that Christ has brought you peace. In the midst of deadlines, bills and all life can throw at you Christ has brought you peace (past tense). Remember that the next time you start to stress out and try this. Instead of saying, "What am I going to do...?" Stop, recall Ephesians 2:14, smile and then say, "God what are You going to do?" It helps put perspective back on who really has control and will allow you to walk in the peace that Jesus has already given us.

Take Care & God Bless

-E

God is Good

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." - Mark 10:18 (ESV)

Referenced Scriptures: Mark 10:18, Romans 8:1 

 

In this portion of scripture in the narrative of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler we see where Jesus is called "good" by the Rich Young Ruler. Jesus in all his his humility corrects and redirects all glory and goodness to God the Father. There are many powerful lessons we could obtain from this exchange. One that really stands out is the goodness of God and that God is so good that even Jesus knew that while he was here on the earth among mankind he knew that God and God alone was only entity that could truly be good. The word "good" here that Jesus used is "agathos" which can be translated using words such as; pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished, upright and honorable. When we see it in these terms then yes, truly, Jesus was speaking the truth no one on this earth can honestly measure up to these standards. The only Man that ever came close (Jesus) quickly deferred this notion back to God the Father. 

Lately the goodness of God has been at the forefront of my devotional time and He has been faithful to reveal some things about it. I believe that most true Believers (Followers of Christ) do in fact strive to please God; however, in the process our motives and actions can become clouded and/or non-existent. Recently, I missed a couple of days of my one-on-one time with the Lord and the enemy seized this opportunity to come in with some heavy condemnation. I praise God that this attempted attack was so obvious that I was able to quickly discern what he (the enemy) was attempting to do. As I went before God in prayer I quickly repented for putting other things above God and I internally realigned my priorities. During this time God spoke and what He said was so comforting and I believe He is telling you the same thing today, He said, "My mercy, grace, love & goodness is not dependent on you; remember, it's not about you?" 

This is something that I can say I think we've all known or have had God reveal it to us at one time or another in our walks, but when God takes a truth like this and brings a fresh and new revelation it's truly an awesome thing. This revelation was followed by such a peace and joy that I was overwhelmed by Him all over again. I found myself just thanking God over and over that His goodness is not measured by my actions or lack thereof. Regardless of what I do or do not do; God is still God and He is still good. Can you imagine if this were not the case? We'd all be eternally doomed.

You see the enemy would love us to believe that when we do mess up God's grace, mercy and goodness certainly could not rescue us and we end up being covered in a blanket of condemnation (see Romans 8:1). This is a very real tactical weapon for the enemy to use against God's people, and if we're not careful we can quickly begin to believe it; but we have to expose this LIE of the enemy. This is not at all how God operates. Our short-comings and failures are exactly what God's grace, mercy and goodness are meant for. Now, this is not a "get out of jail free" card or a free pass to sin it up; God knows our hearts and He will rightly judge those that abuse his Grace. But for those that are honestly attempting to live their lives in line with God's word to the best of their ability; His grace, mercy & goodness is more than sufficient.

As I drove into work the below track randomly came across my iPhone, so don't tell me that God doesn't confirm His Word anyway He chooses to?

Take care and God Bless,

-E