How Well Do You Hear?

Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  We understand this to mean we need to hear the Word of God.  And often we use this to justify why people should go to church.  But look closely, there is a comma there, conveying another deeper, richer spiritual truth.

You see, yes we need to gain faith from hearing, or understanding the Word of God.  So what’s the second part?  To see this we must become blind physically.

What do I mean? The time we rely on hearing is not when things are perfectly clear but rather when things are foggy, grey, or even pitch black.  In these times we must be able to hear, using our Spiritual ears to hear our Shepherd, Jesus directing us to His side!

How well do you hear?

Peace With God

There is a big difference between the Peace OF God and the Peace WITH God.  You see Peace of God surpasses all understanding. It makes going through the storms of life, manageable and keeps us from mental failure causing us to commit suicide and even murder (both physically and verbally). The Peace OF God was given to us freely by Jesus.

But the Peace WITH God was costly!  Jesus paid the price of reconciliation, when He went to the Cross, to bring us back into right standing with God so He would no longer judge us in our sins. Jesus went through tremendous pain, agony and total separation from God the Father, the very death we should have encountered, so we could have the right to the Tree of Life. 

Now when God looks at man, He sees His Son, Jesus, and His love sacrifice for us, and God gives us peace with Him, instead of anger and wrath. 

If you don't know you have this Peace, contact me right now! 214 725 9962

Peace Of God

John 14:27 records Jesus saying, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  He left wit us HIS peace. Did you ever see Jesus in a panic?  Stressed about money? Worried about a job? No. Why?  Because He had the Peace of God.  So if He left us His peace, why are we in such disarray?

Maybe we don't really know Him and the power of His Resurrection  Maybe we need to read and learn His Word more? Maybe we need to pray more?  Or maybe we need to start?

Today I challenge you to move closer to Him, and watch all your fears and anxieties begin to fade away!

Touch Us LORD

We sing the song, we cry out sometimes in agony, grief or pain.  We even sometimes seek it in all the wrong places.  But when it comes down to it, only God can give it to us!

So how do we get it?  If you remember Jesus told the disciples if He didn't go away, the Comforter could not come.  Acts 2 records the story of the Holy Ghost setting up His earthly reign.   In the third verse we see how we get the touch.  It says, "...and it sat upon each of them."  Here is our answer, we must allow the Holy Ghost to sit on us!

When we feel all alone, Holy Ghost Sit on us!  When we feel like stepping out on our marriage, Holy Ghost sit on us!  When life gets tough and we feel as if we can't go on, Holy Ghost sit on us!

We must learn to let God touch us through His Comfort agent and give us the touch we need from heaven.

What To Do First

Judges 1 begins to tell us how the children of Israel slipped away from God. Then, like all of us, began to realize they were missing something in there lives.  So they called upon the LORD for direction and He gave it to them.  Their instruction comes in Judges 1:2, "...and Judah shall go up first..."  What can we take away from this?  Judah means Praise.  The LORD told them, start out with your praise, and you will see I have already given you the victory!

If you find yourself in a situation, and you know you have strayed away from God.  He will welcome you back and restore unto you all He desired for you, all you have to do is begin to Praise Him!

Its Time To Return

Often times, when we have been away from the LORD, we are not sure where to start when we want to change our life ways, and go after what He had purposed for our lives before hand. If you have strayed away from Him, and find yourself looking around, wondering how to begin cleaning up the mess you have made, its interesting to note, the bible gives us a real life witness!

Judges 1:1 begins to tell us how after Joshua had died, "...there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (17:6)  This shows us apostasy which simply means abandoning religious faith or the abandonment of original loyalty.  They strayed away from God.

However the men were smart enough to figure out, nothing they were doing was working, and they needed to return to God.  Does this sound like your life or an area of your life now? The Bible says "they asked the LORD..."  Do you need to go to Him for direction today?  You will be surprised how quickly He will answer you!

What We Long For

In Genesis One, we see "In the beginning, GOD....."  This tells us from the beginning, He was.  As we proceed through the remaking of the earth after the fall of Satan, we see God spoke things into existence.  Look at vs 3, "And God said, let there be..." vs 6, "And God said, let there be..."  vs 9, "And God said, let there be..." and so on until we get to vs 26, "And God said, let us make man..." Did you miss it?  Man was the first thing God touched. He loved us so much even before we were created He wanted to be intimately connected with us.  But then then in chapter 3 man sins, and looses touch with the Father, and we have been missing His touch ever since.

The thing you search for is Him. Not a spouse, not a friend, not a parent who is MIA, not a job, not a title, not a degree, not an association, nothing, but His touch!

Reach out to Him, ask Him, "Father touch me once again.  Help me to understand its Your Love I am missing and needing, which will make it all alright!"  And watch Him reach out and touch you, and you will never be the same again!

Your Sin Is Worse Than My Sin

We often look at ourselves and justify our actions because they are not "as bad" as someone else's. For instance, lying is not as bad as committing murder, right? Well the Word of God does not distinguish between degrees of sin. It calls all sin, sin!

David was one who had his share of struggles and setbacks in various ways of sin.  I am convinced God never liked sin David committed. However, David had a heart which allowed him to recognize his ways, and to cry out to God asking forgiveness.  In Psalms 73:22 David recounts these words:  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee."  He could take a moment, pause, and understand he had done wrong.

Can you look over your life and understand how much God dislikes the sins you have committed, or will you continue to judge others for what you perceive to be a "worse sin"?

Know Who You Are In Him

Did you know Jesus never let the fear of being rejected, manipulate Him into being someone He was not in God? Yes pressure to live up to others standard of what they think you should be, will always be prominent on today's society.  However, God, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, gives us understanding, boldness, and power in who we are in Him.

I use to try and please everyone.  I used to try to make everyone happy. I would often find myself deficient in areas I needed, trying to be something I was not, to someone who cared not.  This was because I was not sure in who I was in Him.  Then He gave me His comforter, and by His Spirit, He gave me understanding.  I no longer have to please everyone. I simply need to please Him.

No one can please everyone.  Not even God.  So why are you trying to do this?

Jesus Knew who He Was!

Jesus had no doubt who He was. He declares it in John 8:12. "I am the light of the world. If you follow me you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." (NLT)

When we know who He is, and who He is in us, then and only then can we begin to know who we are in Him.  For in Him we move, live and have our being. 

Have you begun the journey of knowing who He is?  If so, how is your progress? What can you do each day to further know Him better?

Why do you..?

I have been asked, "Why do you spend so much time studying?" "Why do you not watch more TV, or how can you not be up on the latest sporting news?"  My answer will often confuse some, and bewilder others.  But to me its quite simple.

I use to give myself wholeheartedly to drinking, smoking cigars, and just making Brian happy.  But then something happened.  It wasn't just the situations, although they helped push me in the direction He was sending me. It wasn't just the loneliness, but I've realized I was lonely even when I was out with friends.  It wasn't just the lack, because I was lacking every true sustaining Word of life God had for me.  It was God who use all these things and more to get my attention, or really it took all these things to get my attention because I was just quite simply that hard-headed.

But then He touched me, and Oh the joy, that floods my soul.  For something happened.  What is it you ask?  I moved from religion, to Relationship with the Father.  When you get one, you will find, nothing else matters too.

Grudge Holder, Grace Receiver, Fear Overcomer

The bible has many triumphant stories of overcoming fear. Some we tend to overlook the depth of them, because we see it from the end backward, and fail to see when they went through the circumstance it was just like us, from where we are into the unknown.  

Even in Genesis Chapter 4 when Cain murders Able, Cain does ask God if his sin was to great for Him to forgive?  God not only forgave Cain, but also placed a seal on him so he and everyone else would know God was with Him.  

Look closely, God sent Cain out into the world, among all the perils it had, and instructed Cain to trust Him that His seal was protection enough for Cain's life.  Cain, by his own account was in fear for his life from every man he could encounter, however he was to trust God fully for the protection of his life. Even tho Cain had sinned, God, in perfect Love, gave Cain the courage to go forth and build a city, turned nothing into a productive place to sustain life and community.  Here is a man who could have feared at every corner he turned, yet found the courage in God's perfect Love, to encounter people after he once feared every man, and to work with them to build a city.

Just think of the amount of trust in God and God's perfect Love Cain must have had.  If God will do this for a former murderer, one who thumbed his finger in the face of God, one who had messed up in his ways, won't he do the same and more for you, one who says LORD, help my unbelief!

Grudge Holder?

In Genesis 4 we find our first encounter with murder.  The Bible says Cain rose up and slew his brother Able in the field.  He did this because Cain was holding a grudge.  A grudge because his offering or sacrifice unto the LORD was not acceptable unto God, while Able's was.

Often we find ourselves holding a grudge against someone.  When this arises in our spirit, we need to learn to go to God and ask Him to show us why we fill the way we do.  God gave Cain room to repent.  Cain's response was one of of being flippant and not one of humility.  He wagged his finger in the face of God, instead of asking God for mercy, and forgiveness.  Asking God to show him where and how he messed up, and how he could correct his behavior.  Instead he murdered the one person who could have helped him come back to God.

What grudges are you holding?  How is your attitude about it?  Have you asked God to show you why you feel the way you do after His chastisement  or have you wagged your finger in the face of God, and even murdered others with your words?

Grace Receiver?

In Genesis Chapter 4 we see a Grudge Keeper, however we also see a Grace Receiver.  Cain holds a grudge against his brother because of his own improper offering and sacrifice. He does not come to God in humbleness, and humility to understand his wrong actions and seek God's guidance in His way and not Cains way.

God comes to Cain and tries to reason with him.  He tries to get Cain to humble himself and approach the LORD with reverence, understanding He has set an order and a proper way.  But Cain would have nothing of it and eventually winds up murdering his brother.  But then something miraculous happens. Even tho Cain has messed up, then not sought God in humility, but rather rises up and murders his brother, God still gives him GRACE.  He was still a Grace receiver!  I wonder if he ever finally understood this or did he live the rest of his life in condemnation and guilt?

I stopped by today to tell you, it doesn't matter what you have done, or where you have been, God's Grace is sufficient  and His mercy endures forever!  Won't you stop holding onto condemnation and guilt, and begin to walk in His Grace today?  After all He died so you could live!