Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Indulging in Fruit

John 5:6-7 When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to become well? [Are you really in earnest about getting well?] 

The invalid answered, Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it] myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me. 

Think about this man’s response to Jesus. His statement gives us a very revealing look at his spiritual state.

To better understand this, we must clarify the meaning of the word “invalid”. This word has two pronunciations. 1) in-va-lid 2) in-val-id. Definition #2 means: an intended point or claim is not valid, is null or void. Definition #1, in which I will focus on, means: a person made weak or disabled by illness or injury.
Here’s the point. This man’s response revealed that he was not only physically disabled but also spiritually disabled. His first words to Jesus, who asked him a yes or no question, was a negative statement that had nothing to do with the question. He helped make him-self weak and disabled by the words that he spoke. Proverbs 18:21 states: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. If his first response to Jesus was negative, he had a mental stronghold of negativity. Negativity mastered him. He had been thinking negatively for so long that he couldn’t tell Jesus he wanted to be healed. The man was weakness, failure and self-pity and his tongue followed. He achieved what he thought and spoke every time.


 Unfortunately, this man’s life reveals a part of mankind and our nature of negativity. So what can we do differently? Proverbs 8:6-8 says: Hear, for I will speak excellent and princely things; and the opening of my lips shall be for right things. For my mouth shall utter truth, and wrongdoing is detestable and loathsome to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous (upright and in right standing with God); there is nothing contrary to truth or crooked in them. When we read the Word regularly and pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance, we can stop our tongues before they repeat the negative. We will have scripture to replace the negative thoughts. Then we can speak the truth of God’s Word, in faith, and see it come to pass.

“Next Level Thinking” requires us to search out our negative thoughts and words and align them with the Word of God.

Ask yourself today what fruit am I indulging in? Death or life? 

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Invisible Chains

The chains of your past may have cut deep into your soul. If you still feel the pain of the chains, it's not the chains, it's the cut. 

You are free from the chains but the Lord needs to heal the cut. 
Let Him go there.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Ground

God gave us the perfect picture of how deep His Son's blood will penetrate our past and wipe it clean. Luke 22:44 says:
"And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."
The ground is what God used to make Adam. Gods redemption can't go any deeper than that. When Jesus bled on the ground He was drawing a line in the sand stating His people are no longer bound to condemnation.

Don't let condemnation hold you back. Condemnation is only a shadow not a reality.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Are You Hoarding?

Matthew 6:19-20
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal

I admit it. I enjoy watching the reality show “Hoarders”. It used to be that my self-righteousness would want to kick in and judge. Fortunately the Spirit reminded me how messed I would be without my Savior.

The show has a central theme of why most hoarders are hoarders. An unfortunate or traumatic experience in their past has made them get stuck. As Christians we could be “spiritual hoarders”. No, I’m not promoting a new reality show. What I am doing is looking at what I’ve had to realize in my life and share it in hope’s it will help someone else. In essence, I’m removing clutter from my house and giving to others. This very act of removing clutter from a house is the beginning for a real life hoarder to heal and get unstuck. So it is with Christians. Some of us Christians get stuck at the cross of Jesus. They never grow or build from there. Some of us grow for a few years until we get offended or a tragedy happens. Some just quit because they were looking for all the goodies of God and didn’t get them fast enough. (Sorry for stepping on some toes.) It could be any number of situations that would keep us from moving forward in any area of our life.

What is it for you? I would guess if you’re not experiencing growth in any area of your life, you are stuck. If you’re stuck it’s hard to see a good future. It’s hard to see a way to get unstuck. You’re likely frustrated with life. When we are stuck it’s difficult to have faith and hope in our God.


Here are a few steps that have helped me get unstuck.
  1.  Identifying the area(s) of your stuckness. (Is that a word?) Is   it you health, career, a relationship or is it emotional? You may find it easy to identify or you may have to dig deep but do this step first. Once found, you can then start the process. Remember Peter before he denied Christ. He was stuck in his own limited ability to follow Christ. After he came face to face with the truth, he then became a pillar in our Christian history.
  2.   Read Luke 9:13-17 several times in different translations. This is a powerful principle for “spiritual hoarders”. Simply put, when we give the wisdom, knowledge or gift that  God has given to us to feed the hungry, we don’t lose it. It multiplies when you share it. If you share your story of  salvation, you aren’t suddenly un-saved. If you share some bit of helpful information at work, you don’t suddenly  not know what you just shared. On the contrary, it multiplies. In addition, Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his  life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. If we start sharing little by little what we  know, in any area of our life, to the benefit of others, we will start to notice the flow of life again. To not share your  wisdom, knowledge or gift is hoarding.                                                                                                                                   
  3.  Go with the flow. Revelation 22:1 (AMP) says, “Then He showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing  out from the throne of God and of the Lamb." We have the fullness of Christ living in us. Therefore we, potentially,  could have the river of life flowing out of us. Hoarding stops the flow of life. First it stops your life then the life  you could have touched. If a kitchen sink is clogged, the water will flow slower and slower because of build up in the drain. When the drain  is completely clogged the water will back up to the surface and will bring a vomit inducing smell with it. (Sorry for  the gross description but I’m trying to make a point.) This is what happens to us if we get spiritually clogged. We slowly die and become a bitter smelling portrayal of Christ and Christianity. Sharing your wisdom, knowledge or gifts keeps the river flowing.
Are you hoarding? If so, start with these steps to begin to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

The Spirit helps us in many different ways. I hope this helps you.

What are other ways the Spirit has helped you get out of your stuckness? (There’s that word again.)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Don't we all have choice in our future? Most of us realize we have this choice daily. What most of us don't realize is the effect it will have on countless others for the good or bad.
God the Father gave Jesus a choice in the garden and He chose crucifixion because of the long term effect on your life.



What we do today, good or bad will make a difference in someone's life.

What will you do different today for the long term effect of someone you don't know?

Thursday, July 11, 2013

This Is Going To Hurt

Psalm 42:7 (AMP)
[Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me.

   This is not a description of a gentle God. It sounds like God is trying to drown the writer with a mighty vengeance. I love this description and I need it to be true in my life. Let me try to explain why.
   The apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians to know the depth of God’s love. I’m sure I will never completely know this because God is Love. It’s too deep to comprehend. I can’t comprehend the depth of the core of the earth so how could I ever truly know the depth of His love. I see the first three words of the above Psalm, “[Roaring] deep calls…” as God calling. He is as a roaring Lion that loves us with an in-comprehensive love and He is calling to something. What is He calling? He’s calling to another “roaring deep”.
    Recently God has called to a “roaring deep” in my life. He has called to deep emotional injuries of my past. And He has called to it with a vengeance to be feared. Jesus said He came to give us life and life to the full. One way for Him to give us life to the full is to heal us emotionally from past pains.
    Emotional pain is a bit different than physical pain. In most cases we can narrowly pinpoint the cause of a physical pain. It can be very different with emotional pain. In many cases it will take years to expose its disfigured head. It may take a tragic event or help from a therapist. And if we don’t confront it head on, it will lead us to a sad, pathetic and regrettable end of life. I don’t want that for me or you.
    Once exposed, the Spirit of God will get very definitive and go to the root of the pain. For us it’s a dreadful journey through an intense hidden path that leads us to the graveyard of our emotional disfigurement. This path is hidden by the wilderness of an untamed jungle created by our neglect, disregard and dismissing the fact that we have a deeply infected injury. And to get through the jungle of our bitter justifications, we need to take hold of the Spirit of the Lord until He blesses us. We must take hold of our spiritual machete, the Word of God, and allow it to cut away the untamed jungle of our soul. Hebrews 4:12 (AMP) says:
“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.”  Your heart was injured and Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted.

    It will be extremely difficult at times to confront the source of the brokenness. But remember Psalm 23:4. Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
    What next? If you feel suffocated or overwhelmed with life and you can’t seem to hear from God or get a sense of direction, it may be the Lord has His rolling waves over you. Maybe He is calling you to go deeper with Him. If so, you have two choices.
  1.      Panic and do nothing but continue in the neglect of your injury. In this case you will notice the infection will lead to a slow agonizing spiritual and emotional death. Your relationships will not flourish. You will live a shallow and incomplete life. But the most devastating result will be living out phantom Christianity, not ever knowing the depth of God’s love for you.
  2.      Admit your need for deep healing and allow the God of Love to cleanse you with His healing power.

    What will you do? I encourage you to pick up your machete (The Word) and allow it to cut away the untamed jungle of your soul. Let the depth of God’s love go to the depths of your brokenness and heal you. I promise you He is faithful to finish the good work He started in you.

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