God Wants To Date You!

The Bible has been called, “The Greatest Love Story Ever Written”.  Given this accreditation, I asked myself, what do you do when you really love someone?  As I began to study and look about information and publications on love and relationships, I found a common denominator.  It didn’t matter if the relationship was new, or if the relationship celebrated 70 years of marriage, the one thing they all did was to continue to date.

What happens on a date?  How does it all take place?  Usually if it is to be special, the meeting is pre-planned.   It is orchestrated, it is thought out, and there is an expectant end.  The couple is alone, even if they are in a busy restaurant; it seems as if it’s just the two of them.  The hustle and bustle of the crowd seems to go unnoticed as the couple talk with each other and communion one with another.  Surprises are planned, hands are held, and at the end of the date, a kiss of affection is given to say, “I did this all for you!”

Whether you are single or married, realize that God desires to “date you”.  What do I mean, Brian?  Well I am glad you asked me.  One gets a phone call saying, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”  And the meeting is planned.  God has pre-planned the meeting with you: “Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord…”  He has orchestrated your life “to give you an expected end”.  God calls us to be alone with Him in the beauty of Holiness, for God cannot dwell where there is sin.  “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” 2 Corinthians 6:17  Have you ever felt like everyone has left you and that you are all alone and there is no one else to talk to but God?  That was Him divinely setting a “date with you” to woo you closer to Him.  Even though the hustle and bustle of the world is about you, it seems like there is no one else around but you and Him.  Then just when you think it’s all over and everything will come crashing down around you, God surprises you with a gift of health, or a sane mind, or a situation solved, a problem averted.  That is His way of saying He can provide ALL that you need.  And as you sit in awe of what just happened and reflect on how He brought you through, He gently leans over and kisses you saying, “I did this all for you.”  The sunset was for you, the provision was for you, the stranger offering you encouragement out of the blue was for you, and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, the beating He took, the humiliation He suffered, the separation from His Father, and the anguish God felt as He watch us crucify His only son, it was all for you!

God wants to date you, daily.  He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.”  Revelation 3:20 How is he calling you?   Is it through a circumstance, a job loss, a death of a family member, or is it just a still small voice that keeps saying, “I am waiting for you?  Come unto me if you are heavy laden and burdened and I will give you rest.”  Whatever way it is, answer the phone, and simply say, “Lord, I’m available to YOU!”

Are You Bitter or Better?

In Genesis 37, 38, 39, 40-47, we find the story of Joseph who as we know was sold into slavery and left for dead by his very own brothers.  It is an amazing story of one man’s determination to take whatever came his way and still look to serve and to honor God in all he did.

Let’s face it.  He had sufficient enough reasons, enough to become bitter: to give up, to become mad, hateful, and resentful: to start to question the who(s) in his life, the what(s), in his life and definitely the why(s).  He could have started to doubt God’s providential care, provision, and ultimately, when the opportunity came for God’s power and purpose to be shown forth in his life, Joseph could have been so bitter that God would not have gotten the glory from the situations and circumstances that GOD had led Joseph through.  And we would not have this incredible story of overcoming.

Thank God, for us, that Joseph did not become bitter, but rather he became BETTER!  He used his circumstances and situations and trusted in God, fully.  No matter what came his way, betrayal of his brothers, enslavement, rise to authority, fall from position because of a lie, being forgotten by those he helped, and then ultimately the rise to power and the opportunity to do good to his brothers, who had done so much wrong to him in his life. 

You see the circumstances and situations that happened in his life were ultimately NOT about him.  They were about the saving of nations, and lands, and family.  If Joseph would have become bitter, Egypt may well have perished, the land would have stayed barren under famine, and his family would have surely died. 

What has happened in your life that you don’t feel is fair?  Do you feel betrayed by the very ones closest to you?  Are you wondering, “why God, why?”  Well maybe it’s not about you, but rather those around you, your land, and most importantly your family that may or may not have hurt you. 

It’s ok to forgive.  It’s ok to move forward.  Become BETTER not bitter, and look for the opportunities that God is trying to bring to you, to show forth His power and glory in your life.  And maybe, there is another BETTER “Joseph” in the making.

Healing Our "Withered Hand"

Scripture Reference Mark 3:1-5

Jesus comes to the synagogue, and finds a man with a withered hand.  A man with a withered hand in the bible times could not work, could not support himself, nor make means to feed his family.  It would make it difficult for him to go into battle, slay his enemies, and come out victoriously in any fight.

If we look at this story from a metaphoric view, the synagogue represents the church, the place of worship.  While we are able to make it to the place of worship, we often sit on the sidelines, with a withered hand. We know he was sitting because Jesus instructed him to “Stand forth.” vs 3. Are we sitting in the place of worship, with a withered hand?

Look at the comparison to the modern day saints of God.  We have the power of the resurrection and the life of Jesus Christ, who died once, for all men to have a right to the life and life more abundantly. We have available to us the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent to us. (Luke 24:49) So why don’t we ask for this power, and when we do why don’t we receive it?

The man in our text is probably sitting on the side, maybe even back in a corner somewhere. Given the very nature of a man, with a handicap or hindrance, we often relegate ourselves to the sidelines, with a false sense of inadequacy. We assume the notion we are no go to anybody for anything.  What is your withered hand? Is it self-condemnation, or maybe judgment from others? Maybe its the haunting of a past mistake, relationship, or offense against society? We all are have a "withered hand" somewhere in our lives. And yet there is a healing for our what's withered.

Most of the time we don't even ask God for help with it. For the few who do ask God for help, we often times ask for purposes other than kingdom building.  Matthew 6:33 clearly instructs us on what to do. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, then all things will be added unto you.” Check your asking.  Is it for personal gain, or to further advance the Kingdom of God?

What Jesus set in motion here was the healing of the church’s “withered hand”.  It may be the inability to hang on to things well within its grasp. Or the hindrance of placing bricks in an effort to build what He has given us to do. Maybe it is purely psychological, paralyzing us from standing up and being counted on, due to feeling unable to complete the task at hand. After Jesus instructed the man to rise up, he then said, “Stretch forth thine hand” (vs 5).

No matter your hindrances, shortcomings, or obstacles, God is instructing us to first stand up, in whatever capacity we are.  Then we are to stretch forth, even the withered part of us, in an effort to forward the Kingdom of God. In so doing, we will find our healing, restoration of ability, and our power to help others.  When this is done, He promises us, “all things will be added unto us.”

It is time we stop sitting in the corner and on the sidelines with our withered hand.  We must rise up in the power of the Holy Ghost and stretch forth our hand towards the work of the Kingdom.  Its time to make the Church the fully able body, God intended it to be!

Do We See 450 or 700?

What's your favorite color? Is it more 450? Or do you tend towards 600? Maybe even 700?

In case those numbers don't immediately mean anything to you, on the visible spectrum scale for light 450 nanometers means "blue," 600 is yellow, and at 700 nanometers you are seeing red.

But we don't "see" numbers, do we? We see the beautiful, variable, illuminating colors that light takes on as it is refracted and reflected before our eyes. We don't experience nanometers. We bask under a blue sky? Or we bath in wonder at the beauty of a sunset that melts from orange to red to crimson and purple. Whether we catalogue light as 550 nanometers or perceive it as "green" is all a matter of perspective. Are we dissecting the idea of "light" into its most basic components (measured nanometers)? Or are we responding to the expression of that light as we experience it in the world (colors)?

In Matthew's account of the "Sermon on the Mount," immediately after Jesus lays out his "blessed be" Beatitudes, he lifts up two metaphors of how disciples of the kingdom will be known to this world. They will be the "salt of the earth," they will be the "light of the world," a light that will "shine before others." Salt sharpens flavors. Light sharpens both sight and insight. Jesus is calling would-be followers of the kingdom to sharpen lives by living on the sharp, the cutting edges, the places where new perspectives, new tastes, and new visions are embraced.

Light does not just banish darkness and illuminate corners and crevices. Light also works to provide a new perspective and attitudes. It warms us and feels our hearts with the reminder of His love for us.

The Bible tells us to, “Let our light shine amongst men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven”. (Matthew 5:16) Today let’s show forth His love, and radiate from 450 to 700!

My 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!

Are You Trying To Save What God Is Trying To Kill?

“David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.” -2 Samuel 12:16

We find David here, after the prophet, Nathan, has confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.  As a result of his sin, the prophet has told David, “The child shall surely die”. And yet David still seeks God on the child’s behalf, trying to save its life. He prayed and cried out, he fasted, and he stayed up all night long, probably shedding many tears. 

We have all been there. We have all begged, pleaded and cried out to God for Him to change a particular situation to the way we wanted it. Even though we know what we were doing or had done was wrong, or not in God’s will for our lives, we stayed up all night begging Him for a change in "our direction".  The boyfriend who never treats us right when God said, “leave this one alone he’s no good”.  The girlfriend who uses the child to hurt the father by keeping them separated when God said, “wait until marriage”. Being stuck in a job, which we took for the money, when God said, “stay put right where I have you”. The house we can't pay for when God said, “just be patient I have something else in store for you”. The credit card bills we struggle to pay, when God said, “bring your finances unto me and I will guide and lead you”.  Yes we al have wept, cried, and stayed up all night, trying to get God to change the situation to what we wanted. And He seems to continue on in heaven, not feeling our pain nor willing to hear our cry.

The truth is God hears everything! He knows our thoughts before we think them. He actually wrote the end before the beginning. He knows what is best for us. Could it be possible He is trying to kill of something in you, to bring about what He has for you? Trying to kill your rebellious spirit, or your independent attitude. Or maybe its your blind eye to sin, or your unwillingness to bring all things, including your money under His control?

The fact is something has to die, in order for a Resurrection to happen. He’d rather kill your wish or desire, than for you die in your sin at the end.  For the wages of sin are death. Lets’ allow Him to kill off the things in us which are not of Him, so we can have life and have it more abundantly!

                          

Our "Finally Moment"

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton hadn't won a game in eight weeks. A critical press was suggesting that he be dropped from the starting lineup. The future looked bleak, and Sutton felt terrible. Then, before a game, Dodgers manager Walter Alston tapped him on the shoulder. "I'd like to speak with you, Don," he said. Sutton prepared himself for the worst.

"Don," said Alston, "I know how the past couple of months have been for you. Everyone's wondering whether we can make it to the play-offs . . . You know there's a lot of pressure . . . I've had to make a decision." Sutton had visions of being taken off the mound. Then Alston continued. "If the Dodgers are going to win this year," he said, looking Sutton in the eye, "they're going to win with Don Sutton pitching. Come what may, you're staying in the starting job. That's all I wanted to say."

Sutton's losing streak lasted two more weeks, but because of his manager's encouragement he felt different about it. Something in him was turning around. He found himself pitching the best ball of his career. In the National League pennant drive, he won 13 games out of 14.

There are all kinds of theories about how to motivate people. We can do it through guilt, through fear, through shame. But these were not Jesus' methods. Jesus motivated through positive messages of hope and encouragement. Jesus always looked for the good, and never focused on the bad: He saw us in the future and knew we looked much better than we do right now!*

Don Sutton went on to set a record for team wins, be a MLB Hall of Famer, a Broadcast Journalist, and had his number retired by the Dodger; the highest form of honor a team can give a player. His coach, Alston, saw him in the future and knew he looked much better than he did at a particular moment in his life.

How do you see yourself and others? Do you look for the positive or the negative?  The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

It is time we came to our “Finally Moment” in life and begin to see others and ourselves in our current situation and in the future, with Christ. Forgive others for being human; there are much better things in store for them.  Forgive yourself, for the same holds true for you too.  Lets show the very Grace Jesus gave us back on Calvary: Finally.

*Part of a sermon I heard

A New Look on Crying Out

Scripture Reference Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

We often look at this verse and I have even heard it explained in light that even Jesus had a moment of weakness.  However that is simply not the case.  To get to the real issue and true meaning of the text and therefore His words, we must take a further more in-depth understanding of who He was and is and what He came to do.

First He was and is The Messiah, The Creator of the universe, The Alpha and The Omega.  As John records it, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3) He calmed the storms, He expressed the power of God on earth, He walked on water, became eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, health to the sick, feet to the lame and mouth to the dumb.  He was not a coward for He stood against the money changers and the Pharisees and Sadducees.  He called them hypocrites that left the morally crippled, still crippled.  Yet with all the miraculous splendor of a “Man from Galilee, He died a non-miraculous death. 

As we know Jesus is our perfect example.  Perfect and true, pure in all His ways, there was non-else like Him.  Since we know we were created in His image and likeness, we begin to understand that there is normality on one side of us, but there is a miracle on the other side.  And we must let the normal die in order to take hold of the supernatural.

Jesus and God’s relationship was unparalleled.  He was one with the Father and the Father with Him. He also knew all things and was all things.  You see Jesus’ question was not one of breakdown but one of breakthrough.  He prayed to the Father, in essence, “Father, show me why I am going through this right now?”  By placing His faith in the Father, The LORD showed Him three days into the future.  At that point, He knew He had the victory, even though He had not yet received it.  He then claimed the victory by faith, saying as recorded by John 19:30, “It is finished” and He gave up the ghost.  Three days He spent gathering the three keys that were lost by the first man Adam’s fall: the key to the grave, the key to hell and the key to death.  Jesus next ascended into Glory, with all power in His hands.

Jesus experienced the most pain and affliction any one person has ever endured, while He hung upon the cross.  But yet instead of doubting or showing weakness of faith, He asked the Father to show Him the plan for His life and the reason why He had to suffer.  And God, being ever faithful showed Him three days down the road.

There is a reason you are going through what you are going through.  There is a reason you are experiencing the pain you are experiencing.  Sometimes our hardest decision is to decide to let the natural die, so the supernatural can take hold.  There must be a cross before there is a resurrection.  So you might as well ask the Father, believing faithfully in Him, and He will show you why you are going through the pain you are experiencing right now.  Then by faith will you be comforted into letting that thing in the natural die, so you can take hold of what God has in-store for you next!

Today, LORD, I submit fully to Your will.