Walk With God

If my wife agreed to go on a walk with me and then took off in a different direction, would you say we were walking together?

Amos 3:3 asks a similar question.

To walk together, you have to be in agreement. Our “walk” with Jesus is a metaphor for our way of life, but it’s also ture literally. There are many accounts of people walking with God; Adam & Eve, Noah, and Enoch. Jacob even wrestled God!

How is your walk with God? Are you in agreement? Or have you taken off in a different direction. If so, like the Matt Maher song says, “All you gotta do is turn around.”

God Bless!







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Speak, Lord

Samuel didn’t know what to do when the Lord first called to him. He didn’t even know it was the Lord’s voice.

His mentor Eli recognized what was happening. He told Samuel if the Lord called again to reply: “Your servant is listening.”

That sums up all that is required of us. Listen. Recognize the Lord in your life and listen to Him!

Sometimes God speaks and we don’t even hear it. I pray that His servants are listening and secondly, that they are ready and willing to obey!

May you recognize God’s presence today!







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All Things

I can do some things through Christ which strengthens me. I can do a couple of things through Christ which strengthens me. I can do a few things through Christ which strengthens me.

Nope, that’s not what the Holy Word of God says, is it? Instead it says: I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me. ALL THINGS! Not some, a couple, or a few.

All things.

That means everything. That means anything headed your way, good or bad – you can handle through Christ which gives you strength.

Now, does that mean you could run faster than a speeding bullet and jump over a building in a single bound? No… not unless God willed it and it would bring Him glory. Then, you bet you would. But, this refers more to like daily troubles.

As we face daily trials and tribulations, we know that Christ Jesus will strengthen us. He will be our strength when we have none. He will be our courage when ours has run dry. He will be there for us daily and supply us with ALL that we may require.

May you recognize God’s love with you today!







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Set Your Heart On Things Above #focusonGod #JesusSaves

To listen to a particular radio station you have to zero in on the right frequency. If you don’t, all you get is static.

Col. 3:1 tells us to set our hearts on Christ.

It’s all about focus.

What is your focus? Are you listening to all the radio stations at once and getting only static? Are you listening to voices that pull you below? Or have you set your focus to things above?

May you set your heart on Christ today and experience His wondrous blessings!

God Bless!







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Please and Thank You

How about we make year 2014, the year of Please and Thank You.

Please, God, help me.

Please, Lord, let me get closer to You. Please, Father, give me the Peace that passes all understanding!

Thank you, Lord, for all you’ve done for me.

Thank you, God, for the Cross and all that it stands for.

Thank you, Father, for loving me, for remembering me, and for saving me.

I think if we can make 2014 the year of please and thank you, we will all have a blessed year!

God bless!







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Let Go and Let God

Well, I've done everything I can do. Nothing left for me to do but pray, I guess.

Ever hear that? Ever say that? To be honest, I have. I've thought and/or said that very same thing myself many times.

Psalms 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken."

My wife said something the other day that really struck a chord with me, "Let Go and Let God!" How simple. How true.

But, how difficult!

Let Go

and

Let GOD!

Give God the reigns of your life. He is a much better driver anyways. Letting go is hard for us humans, isn't it? We have to be in control of everything. It's almost as if we're admitting defeat if we let someone else take over. If someone is more qualified, then why not? And if anyone is more qualified, it's the LORD. Why is this such a struggle?! It's OK to let God in. It's OK to let Him be the deciding factor.

Allowing God full access to your life doesn't mean you will be without hardship. In fact, we are almost guaranteed it. The more the world senses you are a Child of The King, the more it will hate you. The more it will sniff you out. The more it will try to crush you. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." John 15:18. "You will be hated because of me" Matt. 10:22. So, be ready.

Think of it this way, Jesus was the first to say Let go and let God! He prayed the hardest prayer: "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." Luke 22:42

Submission to the Father is scary but it's the only thing that leads to ultimate peace and joy. John 16:33 says it all. Look it up. Memorize it. Live it.

Let go and let God! God Bless!

#LetGoAndLetGod #YHWH

You Remain The Same

Sometimes I’m irritable.
Other times I’m patient.
But I’m hardly ever consistent.

Hebrews 1:12 tells us that God “remains the same.” That could be bad if God were capricious or unreasonable. But here’s the thing – He’s not.

He’s constantly and reliably good. He is Love and love always loves. The fact that He’s “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8) should give us great comfort. It means He will always hold us, catch us, save us and forgive us… even when we least deserve it.

May you experience God’s steadfastness today!

God bless!







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Exposed By The Light

Exterior Photography 101:

If the sun’s at your back, your subject will turn out dark. Flip the composition around, and the subject is exposed.

Similarly, if we keep THE SON at our backs, we will be in darkness, but put THE SON in front of you then your pathway will be illuminated.

Eph. 5:13 tells us everything exposed by the light becomes visible. Don’t you want a visible path?

May you bathe in the light of THE SON today!

God Bless!







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Pierced

After Peter's first powerhouse of a sermon*, it says the people "were pierced to the heart." Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever been so moved it felt like someone actually stabbed you in the chest? Sometimes you read scripture or you hear a lesson and it hurts your very heart! It's as if the words cut into you and exposed you. That is the Holy Spirit at work! God sees the heart. Sometimes He has to pierce it to revive it. He pierces it to wake it up. It's like a spiritual defibrillator! CLEAR!

To build muscle, you have to break it. Only God can create a new heart. Only God can grow your heart. Your heart has to break for what breaks His and then it will grow. Pray for Him to sing a new song over your heart. Psa 28:7

They were pierced and then asked, "What shall we do?"

Peter's answer was simple: Repent and be baptized and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a GIFT and Peter also calls him a PROMISE. God would never offer a gift and not give it. God would never speak a promise and not fulfill it. All you have to do is ask.

If God pierces you today, please allow him full access to your heart. Repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. It's a win-win.

God Bless!

*Acts 2:14-47
#piercedtotheheart #follower

Red Herrings

You've probably heard the expression, "red herring." Fans of mystery know what I'm talking about. It's used to describe something that misleads or distracts you from the actual thing. Red herrings want to send you to the wrong conclusion.

The origin of "red herring" is debatable. People say it came from the training of hunting dogs. Once the dogs were familiar with the right scent, their trainers would drag a fish across their path. Initially, the dogs would be diverted by the new scent. They had to be trained to ignore that scent and stay focused on the original scent.

There are so many spiritual red herrings in our lives. Countless things mislead us or distract us. There are far too many things that can get us off the right scent and following the wrong trail. Next thing we know, we are lost.

Note that the dogs had to be trained. It wasn't something that came naturally. Obviously, the scent of a tasty fish would throw them off! It was enticing! Things that get us off the trail are things that are attractive. Only with training could the dogs recognize the wrong scent and ignore it. It takes discipline and instruction.

We are pursuing Jesus. Our goal is Christ. Anything that is dragged across our trail to distract us, entice us, or mislead us MUST be ignored! We must recognize or (church word alert!) discern that it is not the right scent and discard it! Only through constant prayer, study, and communion with the Holy Spirit is any of this possible. Praise God for the Holy Spirit, am I right? Without which, we would be like lost hunting dogs chasing after the wrong prey.

Good hunting and God bless!

Fighting Against God

If God is in it, there can be no stopping it. If He is not, it will fail.

This was Gamaliel's advice to the Sanhedrin when the apostles were arrested in Acts 5:17-42. "Leave these men alone! Let them go! If their activity is of human origin, it will fail. But, if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Who was this Gamaliel anyways?

Gamaliel was a Pharisee which means He was a teacher of the law. He was honored by all the people. He was smart enough to learn from past mistakes. I can't say if he was for the apostles or not, but it seems like he was only giving this advice to save his own hide, doesn't it? He wasn't saying, "These ARE men of God! Let them go!" He was saying, "IF they are from God."

Regardless of Gamaliel's motives, what he said is absolutely true: If God is in it, you will not be able to stop it. You will only find yourself fighting against God.

Fighting against God. Even as I type that line I think just how ridiculous a concept it is. Ha! Good luck with that, pal. You have about as much of a chance as... (what's the most silly thing I can think of?)... about as much of a chance as the Taco Bell chihuahua would have in a boxing match against Mike Tyson.

The opposite is also true: If it's just humans, it will fail. I am reminded daily just how frail and flawed we humans are. It is only if we are in step with God's will that we can ever hope to accomplish anything.

So, I have to thank Gamaliel for putting it so succinctly. He was right on the money.

God Bless!

They Never Stopped

If I told you that becoming a Christian would make your life harder, would you still become one? The message many are attracted to today is one of sunshine and butterflies. However, this does not align with scripture. The reality is: being a Christian makes your life more difficult.

Let’s look at Acts 5:17-42.

The Apostles are out and about proclaiming the Good News of Christ’s return. What do they get for it? Imprisoned. An angel lets them out and tells them to go right back to proclaiming the good news.

Most of us would have considered ourselves lucky to be out and then find a place to lay low for awhile, right? We probably would not stand outside the very same prison preaching! When the Sanhedrin sent for them, they got the message that the Apostles somehow got out of a locked cell and past the Roman guards and escaped… to outside the prison where they were doing what they got arrested for in the first place. I’m sure Gamaliel did a face-palm at that one.

They are arrested again (nicely this time). Long story short, they are flogged and told not to preach again.

So, what did the Apostles do? They rejoiced. They considered themselves honored to suffer in Christ’s Name… and then they went out and did it again. “Day after day” “They never stopped,” it says.

These were men heavily anointed in the Spirit. They knew Jesus of Nazareth

personally. If anyone should get special treatment, it would be these guys. But they didn’t, and we shouldn’t expect it either. Things will be tough. Life will seem unfair and darkness may overshadow us at times, but that should not deter us from rejoicing about Jesus and His Return.

If we suffer for His Namesake, it should be an honor, not a curse. We are probably not going to arrested. If so, I highly doubt we are flogged. We got it easy!

So let’s stop expecting life to be sunshine and butterflies all the time and realize that to be a Christian is to have a tough go at it. But that doesn’t mean we don’t Praise God for every blessing and every hardship that comes along.

God bless!







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Rend Your Heart

When people wanted to show grief and repentance in the Old Testament, they "rended" their clothes. In other words, they ripped and tore their shirts. This was the ultimate sign of deep grief in their society. Some rended their clothes but they didn't really mean it. It was all for show.

We haven't changed that much over the years, have we? I mean, we don't shred our clothes when we are sorry, but sometimes we act like we are sorry when we really are not. I've told someone I was sorry but in my heart, I wasn't. It was all for show. Who hasn't?

The prophet Joel was trying to warn the Israelites of this same situation. The people had grown prosperous and we're relying less and less on God. When they did repent, it was an outward display meant to impress their friends. It was false. Joel told them to "rend their hearts" instead (2:13).

That line floored me: "Rend your heart, not your garments. Return to The Lord"

God is never fooled by lip service. He cuts straight through the nonsense. He knows whether you mean what you say or not. He knows when you are putting on a show,

If God has convicted you of some matter, tear your heart and offer yourself genuine and true. Don't waste your time with a song and dance. God's not interested in charades.

Know that I am speaking to my own heart as much or more than to yours and what I write, I write in love. Let us be more real with God. He's always real with us.

God bless.