From the moment we awake our thoughts come alive and buzz like some annoying fly. We think of so many things at one time.
Our thoughts zigzag from driving to work to being at work and wondering what we will do at the end of the day. We muse on obligations and demands that have to be met and we regret the things we didn't (or did) do yesterday. Our thoughts remind us we are hungry and need a shower before leaving home. Just as the body is stirred by our thoughts and so is our emotions that can make us from feel bright and confident to downright dismal and depressed in a mere second or two. Who needs the traffic problems on the freeway when some of us have a multi-lane back up of thoughts jammed in our head?
It says in Psalms 94:11: "The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." (KJV).
Yes, it is true that many of our thoughts are just that - empty and futile. What a comfort considering if we acted on every thought we will be in a great deal of trouble!
And as any believer knows the mind is where most of the battles are fought. Thoughts will come unbidden from the world, the flesh and the Devil. That is why the promise of God giving us a sound mind is everything to discern what is good and godly from that which is sensual and demonic. Our thoughts should never control us but only the Holy Spirit who speaks truth to guide and instruct our conscience. His thoughts are always higher and more wonderful. A mind stayed on Him is a mind at peace (Isaiah 26:3).
The key to a healthy mind is what is really going on in the heart. If God is the sole owner of our hearts then it will generate thoughts that are centered on Him. Whenever our thoughts are being assaulted by doubt, lust or some other troubling notion we must ask Him to search our heart (Psalms 139:23).
We can go into over drive in binding the devil or doing something to get our mind to think rightly but often God is speaking to us about something deeper and more troubling that is causing our minds to froth and foam like an unsettled sea. When we are troubled in our minds we must sit still long enough for God to speak to our hearts. His peace will break through the roaring in our heads and calm our anxious spirit.
Some are afraid of hearing what God may say and only just want the thoughts to go away. But thoughts can become a pattern and repeat itself in response to things that are difficult in our lives to understand. Thoughts can form an argument which in turn becomes a stronghold that walls out the Spirit of truth.
So tell God what is troubling you. Speak to Him privately of those hidden and secret thoughts that He knows already and let Him shine a light in the darkness. You will be pleasantly surprised how being transparent and honest can bring a lasting freedom. It's the very thing the Devil cannot stand when you come in the light of His presence.
And our honest cry to live and think holy thoughts will only serve to assault Satan's mind - a darken, lie infested mind - that has no power in our thoughts.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Coming Attraction
As you drive along the highway, you may see signs that tell you there is an attraction in the area. It could be a historic site, a museum or park or some local event. Such attractions can turn into a distraction. It means taking the next exit and keeping your eye on the signs pointing you in the right direction. When leaving the main road, it means additional time before reaching your final destination. It also means the chance of getting lost if you don't have a GPS or map to guide you back to the highway.
Various sources of entertainment will show a coming attraction knowing how audiences get easily bored and want something new. The entertainment industry wants more money so they feed a teaser or clip to keep the consumer coming back for more.
For the believer there is only One coming attraction - the soon return of Christ. I Thessalonians 4:16 says, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." (NIV). Revelations 1:7 tells us every eye shall behold Him! Now that's an awesome attraction!
Beloved our cry should be maranatha or Lord come quickly! We have this comfort that He's coming back to take us home. It can happen at any time when we are at work or at home. This should not be a fearful thing but Paul tells us we should comfort ourselves with the promise of His return (I Thessalonians 4:18). Just to think some of us may not die in this life but in a twinkling of an eye be transformed and be caught up in the clouds with all the saints!
As I mature in Him and grow older the longing for heaven is increasing - something I believe the Lord has put in every believer's heart. He reminds us this is not our home but there awaits a place where in His presence all is whole and restored. A place where no disease or war or famine will exist. A place where greed and crime will never rob or destroy the good things. Where the devil is banished forever and only the Lamb of God walks among His people. Forever. Eternally.
Take a moment when you are outside. Look up at the open sky and peer past the clouds. Softly whisper the word, "Maranatha!"
I could only imagine one day God looking down at His people in response, "I'm coming," and slowly stands to His feet, "Son, it's time."
Various sources of entertainment will show a coming attraction knowing how audiences get easily bored and want something new. The entertainment industry wants more money so they feed a teaser or clip to keep the consumer coming back for more.
For the believer there is only One coming attraction - the soon return of Christ. I Thessalonians 4:16 says, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." (NIV). Revelations 1:7 tells us every eye shall behold Him! Now that's an awesome attraction!
Beloved our cry should be maranatha or Lord come quickly! We have this comfort that He's coming back to take us home. It can happen at any time when we are at work or at home. This should not be a fearful thing but Paul tells us we should comfort ourselves with the promise of His return (I Thessalonians 4:18). Just to think some of us may not die in this life but in a twinkling of an eye be transformed and be caught up in the clouds with all the saints!
As I mature in Him and grow older the longing for heaven is increasing - something I believe the Lord has put in every believer's heart. He reminds us this is not our home but there awaits a place where in His presence all is whole and restored. A place where no disease or war or famine will exist. A place where greed and crime will never rob or destroy the good things. Where the devil is banished forever and only the Lamb of God walks among His people. Forever. Eternally.
Take a moment when you are outside. Look up at the open sky and peer past the clouds. Softly whisper the word, "Maranatha!"
I could only imagine one day God looking down at His people in response, "I'm coming," and slowly stands to His feet, "Son, it's time."
Saturday, September 12, 2015
When Weakness Is Stripped Away
God is so very gentle and patient with us when stripping away our weakness.
He knows our frame that we are but dust (Psalms 103:14). James describes our life as a mist that is here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14). Imagine a mighty God who created the heavens and earth by the power of His word promises not to break us or extinguish our lives like a faltering wick (Isaiah 42:3).
The process of conforming to His image can be quite an ugly process. I've been told on occasion I'm gentle, kind and merciful but I have also been know to be very angry, resentful and bitter. I get discouraged very easily at what seems like a split personality. Why can't I be more loving and kind instead of miserable and grumpy? Most of the things that upset me are quite small and trivial not something life and death hang in the balance. So much energy and time was spent for things that really don't matter when considering the larger picture.
I know that I'm not alone. Paul described this tug of war between the flesh and spirit, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:15,18 NIV).
But with God there is hope in the transformation to be like Him. When God strips away our weakness He does not do it to shame us. His intent is not to expose our soft underbelly so to speak of what we are hiding under all those protective layers we hold out to people. Rather the more He removes those things that produce sin and weakness in our lives the greater capacity He has to pour more of His life and power into our clay vessels.
We have to trust God knows what He is doing especially in the moments of our greatest failures. We have nothing in ourselves to bring about lasting change. Promises and vows to do better will always fail and lead to greater frustration and despair. Rather we must be honest with Him right at that moment when we fail. We must ask for His help even if our prayer is a whimper and our blood pressure is running high to do something stupid! I know. My prayer sometimes is limited to the words, "Help me!". Beloved, in that moment God is so faithful to break through our heated moments and downcast seasons to lift us up and back on our feet to continue walking with Him.
And here is the hope we hold...the more we call out to Him in our weakness and allow Him to teach us, the quicker the recovery from failing and less will be the episodes of falling flat on our faces.
In the end it will be worth it all to see Jesus on that day face to face. For in that moment, when all weakness and sin is all but a distant memory we shall say with Paul, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (I Corinthians 13:12 NIV).
Be encouraged you are His masterpiece not a master mess in the works!
He knows our frame that we are but dust (Psalms 103:14). James describes our life as a mist that is here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14). Imagine a mighty God who created the heavens and earth by the power of His word promises not to break us or extinguish our lives like a faltering wick (Isaiah 42:3).
The process of conforming to His image can be quite an ugly process. I've been told on occasion I'm gentle, kind and merciful but I have also been know to be very angry, resentful and bitter. I get discouraged very easily at what seems like a split personality. Why can't I be more loving and kind instead of miserable and grumpy? Most of the things that upset me are quite small and trivial not something life and death hang in the balance. So much energy and time was spent for things that really don't matter when considering the larger picture.
I know that I'm not alone. Paul described this tug of war between the flesh and spirit, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:15,18 NIV).
But with God there is hope in the transformation to be like Him. When God strips away our weakness He does not do it to shame us. His intent is not to expose our soft underbelly so to speak of what we are hiding under all those protective layers we hold out to people. Rather the more He removes those things that produce sin and weakness in our lives the greater capacity He has to pour more of His life and power into our clay vessels.
We have to trust God knows what He is doing especially in the moments of our greatest failures. We have nothing in ourselves to bring about lasting change. Promises and vows to do better will always fail and lead to greater frustration and despair. Rather we must be honest with Him right at that moment when we fail. We must ask for His help even if our prayer is a whimper and our blood pressure is running high to do something stupid! I know. My prayer sometimes is limited to the words, "Help me!". Beloved, in that moment God is so faithful to break through our heated moments and downcast seasons to lift us up and back on our feet to continue walking with Him.
And here is the hope we hold...the more we call out to Him in our weakness and allow Him to teach us, the quicker the recovery from failing and less will be the episodes of falling flat on our faces.
In the end it will be worth it all to see Jesus on that day face to face. For in that moment, when all weakness and sin is all but a distant memory we shall say with Paul, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (I Corinthians 13:12 NIV).
Be encouraged you are His masterpiece not a master mess in the works!
Saturday, September 5, 2015
A Place Called Safety
Joshua chapter 20 designates six cities where a person may flee for safety when they accidentally killed a person. “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood (verses 2-3 NIV).
If ever we need a strong reassuring sense of security and protection it is now.
Daily we hear of reports of terrorists destroying lives especially children and breathing out threats against other nations. Right in the heartland of America there was a riot that boiled over into the streets. Schools, movie theaters and even a church - places no one expects violence - lives were gunned down by the hands of men blind with rage. In major cities there is a growing discontent with those who are to uphold the law only to learn they were breaking it themselves.
Who are you going to trust? Where do you run from this ever increasing madness where lives seemed no longer valued but are killed like animals? It seems in our society there's not a thought that God is real and He exists. Or there is a heaven and hell. And a day of reckoning. Indeed truth has fallen in our streets! (Isaiah 59:14).
While we may seek out the courts instead of cities of refugee; we have God who is our ever present help in time of trouble. Psalms 9:9 says, "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." (KJV)
Beloved, though we live in turbulent and disturbing times we must daily acknowledge God is our refuge. It does not mean we are an exception to suffering or pain. Who knows we may die at the hands of a madman. When the towers fell on 9/11 it claimed the lives of many Christians, including those in the airplanes.
But our hearts are peace with a God who will right every wrong. He is the judge of the whole earth. It says, "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31, NIV).
When trouble is all around comfort your hearts with this promise: "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." (John 14:27).
There is a refuge where peace surrounds us though our hearts and flesh may fail but God is our portion (and refuge) forever (Psalms 73:26).
If ever we need a strong reassuring sense of security and protection it is now.
Daily we hear of reports of terrorists destroying lives especially children and breathing out threats against other nations. Right in the heartland of America there was a riot that boiled over into the streets. Schools, movie theaters and even a church - places no one expects violence - lives were gunned down by the hands of men blind with rage. In major cities there is a growing discontent with those who are to uphold the law only to learn they were breaking it themselves.
Who are you going to trust? Where do you run from this ever increasing madness where lives seemed no longer valued but are killed like animals? It seems in our society there's not a thought that God is real and He exists. Or there is a heaven and hell. And a day of reckoning. Indeed truth has fallen in our streets! (Isaiah 59:14).
While we may seek out the courts instead of cities of refugee; we have God who is our ever present help in time of trouble. Psalms 9:9 says, "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble." (KJV)
Beloved, though we live in turbulent and disturbing times we must daily acknowledge God is our refuge. It does not mean we are an exception to suffering or pain. Who knows we may die at the hands of a madman. When the towers fell on 9/11 it claimed the lives of many Christians, including those in the airplanes.
But our hearts are peace with a God who will right every wrong. He is the judge of the whole earth. It says, "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:31, NIV).
When trouble is all around comfort your hearts with this promise: "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." (John 14:27).
There is a refuge where peace surrounds us though our hearts and flesh may fail but God is our portion (and refuge) forever (Psalms 73:26).
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