Car Trouble

Today I had car trouble.  As I sat on the side of the road, my first inclination was to pray.  Sounds “religious” I know, but you didn’t ask what I prayed.  I prayed, “LORD, what is it you want me to see in this and through this?  What are You trying to show me”?  Sound strange to you?  It shouldn’t.  While Jesus was about His earthly ministry He spent all of His time teaching and showing His disciples what they were missing so they could continue to grow in revelation of Him, thereby increasing their relationship with Him.  The only way to get to relationship in threw revelation of what He sees, desires and is trying to show us.

So I sat on the side of the highway, and waited.  He told me to get out of the car and watch all the people passing by me.  I did, there on one of the busiest highways in Dallas, TX I was standing behind my car watching people go by me at an alarming rate.  Some blew right by me, some slowed a bit, some looked at me, some did not even notice me, and others waved at me, and others even went as far as to point me out to their fellow passengers.  But no one stopped to talk with me.  They were all too busy trying to get to where they were going.

Then it hit me, how many of us are too busy with “where we are going” to even notice Jesus as we pass right by Him?  Have you ever blown by Him because you had an appointment?  Slowed down a bit in life to look at acknowledge His presence but then hurried on by to get to your next thing on your agenda?  Have you ever told your friends about Him, but in reality never really took time to see what He was trying to say to you?  Are we too busy trying to get to where WE are going, instead of trying to hear where HE wants to take us?

Well long story short, I got my car running again and off I went.  I also discovered I was low on oil, so I went to the store and got some: thus preventing a major problem “down the road.”  (As you know oil is the life blood of your car: but that’s a different blog) Thank You, LORD, for the situation, or how else would I know You as Jehovah-Shammah: The LORD is there!

LORD, thank You for slowing me down today enough to notice You and what You want to say to me, and in that allowing me to see a potential problem that could occur down the road, if I didn’t take the time to hear and acknowledge You! 

Christ’s Passion? of the Cross Part 1

In Acts 1:3 we learn that Jesus “showed Himself alive, after His passion…” or after His crucifixion on the cross.  Why did He say it was His Passion? 

In the Greek the word passion is translated pathos.  It’s represented in the root word for our pathological.  This means being to such a degree that is extreme, excessive, or abnormal.

This goes beyond a mere feeling or desire, Jesus actually had an abnormal, excessive, extreme love for us all.  In Isaiah 53:10 which for tells of what God is about to do to Jesus, He says, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”  We find that Jesus loved us so much that it pleased Him to be beaten for my sins, wounded for my transgressions, and chastised so that His peace may be upon me.  No matter how many times I would mess up,  not get it right, turn my back on Him, walk away from Him, hurt my loved ones, get prideful , talk back, break His commandments, lie, cheat, steal, covet, kill with my tongue, gossip, backbite, blow a fuse, inject drugs, run to an illicit relationship, prostitute myself out for money, friends, things, job advancement, or any other number of things, that He would be abnormally, excessively and extremely pleased to redeem me with His love.  What kind of God loves me like that?

My God, My God, what a mighty LOVING God you are!

I Found God's Weakness

I know what you are thinking.  If God is ALL powerful and has created the heavens and the earth and that there was nothing made that was made without Him, how could He have a weakness?  Well let’s look at scripture.

When Hezekiah the king became sick, even unto death, God sent Isaiah the prophet to him and said “set your house in order for you shall die, and not live.”  Then Hezekiah began to talk about all the works he had done, but the death sentence was still in effect.  Then Hezekiah began to talk about how he had kept the law of God, but yet the death sentence was still in effect.  Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and began to worship the all knowing God, and said “LORD the grave cannot praise you!”  The all knowing God who said in John 9:31 “Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he hears”, turned His head and sent Isaiah back to Hezekiah and said tell him if he is going to worship me I will restore him and add 15 years to his life!

I don’t know what you are going through or what your situation is, but if God were to have a weakness and want to turn His ear towards you and hear you, all you got to do is begin to worship Him!

Are there any who are ready to hit God in His soft spot and begin to worship Him?

Scripture Reference 2 Kings 20:1-6

Valentine's Day TRUE LOVE

I use to think Valentine’s Day was a hard day to endure.  But then Jesus started to show me His love for me.  He showed me how he cared for me, and how He has provided for me.  How He has given me all good things, and how He has taken all things away from me that killed me.  How He enabled me to become a whole man, and how He endured the cross, and all its pain and shame for HE LOVED ME SO!

Jesus says in Jeremiah 29:11 ” For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.”   Jeremiah 31:3 tells each of us, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee”. 
Jesus is clearly in these days calling ALL OF US to HIM and HIM alone!  But can we hear Him?  Are our hearts open to Him and our ears attentive to His voice?  Today seek not the approval of people, but the LOVE of Jesus, who first loved YOU!  1 John 4:19 He’s waiting!

Tradition Troubles

Have you ever done anything because its “tradition”?  Have you ever heard someone say, “We have always done it this way, that’s why?”  Some traditions make sense, like waiting for the entire family before eating Thanksgiving Day Dinner.  Some traditions are harmless, like taking down the Christmas decorations on New Year’s Day.  But what if a tradition goes against God?

In looking at 1 Kings 1:1-8 we find Abiathar the priest, siding with Adinojah who is proclaiming himself King.  Sure the oldest son, Amnon, which tradition says should have the throne after David was killed by the second brother Absalom.  Absalom then himself being killed in his failed rebellion against his father.  So tradition would say that Adinojah should be King.  And Abiathar who had been so loyal to David all his life, sided with Adinojah. 

But God had other plans!  God was not consulted by Abiathar.  For this, in the end Abiathar lost his right to be a priest and, if it were not for the kindness of Solomon, would have certainly lost his life.

The danger in tradition is that it keeps us from taking responsibility to think things through in the light of God’s will.  Before we just go along with the crowd out of “tradition” maybe we should learn to consult God, and His will.  After all in His will is where we are to be!

Scripture reference 1 Kings 1:1-8; 1 Kings 2:26-27

Relationships

What state are your relationships in?  Do you have a bunch of “friends” whom you rarely check on, speak to, or listen to what they have to say?  Does that mirror your relationship with Jesus Christ?  He desires to check on you (be with you always), speak to you and to listen to you, but we rarely take the time to hear Him.  We become too busy with work, home, activities, and so many of the worlds distractions that we neglect the one thing that holds all that we need, a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ!

A friend of mine asked me “So why have you been talking to me lately?”  I declared part of my conviction from God that through my relationship with Him, I am now free to have a relationship with others!  He removed the distractions that I had and enabled me to focus on what is really important, but I first had to focus solely on Him. 

What are you focused on and how are your relationships?  Maybe we need to rediscover THE RELATIONSHIP, so we can grow our relationships with others.

Scripture references Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 28:20, Mark 4:9, Exodus 20:3, 1 John 1:7

Ever struggle doing right?

Have you ever had a problem or temptation that you wondered how you would overcome it?  Have you ever recognized that something you were doing was a sin, but you didn’t know how to bring it under control so that you would not sin again?  God’s Word says “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13)  Have you ever wondered “what is that way?” Do you desire to serve Him more than do your own will and sin?

Let’s look at how the Word of God provides for us during our times of temptation and when we are faced with situations that could cause us to sin against God. 

We are going to use three scriptures of reference.  When Jesus was tempted of the adversary He used scripture, and since Jesus was our perfect example, let us follow His teaching also!  The Bible says in Romans 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:” In James 1:5-8 it says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  ⁶But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  ⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  ⁸A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” And finally in Acts 2:3 the Bible says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”  What does all this mean?  Well I am glad you asked.

The American Heritage dictionary defines infirmity as lacking power, disability, bodily disability, frailty, or moral weakness.  In Romans 8:26 we come to know that The Holy Spirit will help us with our infirmities or lacking of power and moral weakness.  This means the Holy Spirit is feeling what we are going through.  He knows our struggles as we are pulled away from our LORD and led to a life of sin. He understands the adversary’s attack upon us and He has the power to help us overcome.  But He is not going to take away all things on His own.  We must have a mind to want work with the Holy Spirit.  If we will just will it, and all we have to do is believe it, (have faith in God) then the Holy Spirit will come and help us with whatever the temptation might be.  But we cannot be caught wavering between two opinions.  We must make up in our mind that either we are going to be with Christ or against Him.  For in James we learn that “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways”.  And when we become resolute in our desire to be Christ-like, no matter the situation or temptation, we find that in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost, “sat on them”. Please understand that the Hebrew language is not like English.  Hebrew was and is a very precise language.  There was always a deeper meaning being conveyed for truth and understanding.  The Hebrew word for Pentecost is Shavuot which historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  In its narrowest sense, Torah the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, sometimes called the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. In its broadest sense, Torah is the entire body of Jewish teachings, or the Law of how to govern one’s self according to God.
So what does all this mean?  Quite simply, we will have weaknesses and things we struggle with.  However God has sent us His Holy Spirit, and if we will just ask, and all we have to do is will it, then the Holy Spirit, on the day that we get our understanding, knowing God’s will and desire for us, that if we ask Him to come, He will come and SIT ON US!  When the temptation becomes too great, LORD I need you to sit on me!  When my flesh is at the other end and I am about to act a fool, sit on me.  When that woman looks too good and I can’t get around it, sit on me!  When my spouse gets me angry and I want to say or do things that are not in love, sit on me!  Knowing that as during any temptation we are real vulnerable and susceptible to do the wrong thing tight then, we need the Holy Ghost to, sit on us!  Hold our mouth, hold our tongue, and keep us from doing wrong. Because truth of the matter is I don’t want to lose my anointing, I don’t want to lose my job, I don’t want to lose my wife!  I have worked too hard to get where I’m at, so LORD, sit on me!
I need the Holy Ghost, I want the Holy Ghost, I thirst for the Holy Ghost to help me with my infirmities and I pray the same for you.  Let us no longer be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good! (Romans 12:21)

To God be ALL the glory and the honor, Oh LORD we give YOU praise!

Nothing else matters, but seeing You, Jesus, for a charge to keep I have and a God to glorify!