If I knew then I wouldn’t need to come to the Lord and ask.  As men, we fight, fuss, lie and avoid telling those around us that we simply don’t know.  Our egos are so fragile that it is potentially hazardous to reputation or self-image to admit that we are not prepared or are in the need of education.  This is absolutely ridiculous because by its nature we are ignorant of a thing until we have learned it.

Children know that they don’t know and so they approach a circumstance with that eager mind, accepting that they don’t know and are ready to learn.  Then the world gets a hold of them and threatens them with constant criticism, bullying or shame for not knowing and they become adults like me who are basically ruined innocents, unwilling, afraid, terrified of admitting that they might not know and thus in need of assistance.  As tragic as this is in isolation it is tremendously compounded when it begins to interfere with our Lord relationship.

Coming to the Lord in humility is essential to reverent fellowship.  If I know everything or cannot admit when I don’t know for fear of worldly admonishment then I will never fall at the foot of the throne for merciful assistance.  I cannot nor would I tell other people how to approach the Lord, but for me I just admit my ignorance up front and let him know how desperate I am for his helping hand.  I simply don’t know and want to learn.  I mean he knows I don’t know anyway, right?

I am going to tell people when I don’t know something.  No more deception no more unintentional prevarication, that’s “lying” as a note to self, who doesn’t want to admit that he not only doesn’t know but also covers up that fact with lies.  Father, there is so much in this life for which I am unprepared, ill-equipped or awaiting your intervention.  Lord, I simply don’t know.  Let me be free of my desire to be seen as complete by this world.  Let me be seen for the man I truly want to be which is a man who is fully and happily dependent upon his loving Father.  Lord, let me not be an example of a worldly man, who is independent and self-sufficient of the relationship with you.  I want you to have the glory so don’t let me “put on airs” that I have some how overcome every problem or have some grand revelation about things that allows me to overcome the things, by nature, that I do not yet know.  Let me be okay with not knowing and express a childlike willingness to learn.

In Jesus’ Holy Name I pray.  Amen

We have been taught, we have been instructed, we have been led and we have warned of those consequences associated with ignoring, disobeying your commands.  Father your Word says that we are without excuse.  Let us remain accountable for our actions Father never seeking to blame you or others for our own failures or committed sin.  Father keep us close as the blessed children we are, don’t let us stray from the protections accorded us by our kinship to the King.

Lord forgive me for my deliberate disregard for your direction.  I knew better so I am left with no other recourse then to beg your forgiveness, knowing that Father you have promised forgiveness for my repentant heart.  I walk away from my sin Lord, please keep me safe from its tempting cry.  Let me walk in righteousness and truth, saving myself for a marriage in faith and commitment.  I am the one responsible for my behavior, please hold only me responsible and wherever possible Lord overcome those external influences seeking to have comport with my flesh.

Lord Let me walk in the Spirit of Holiness and communion with you.  Keep my eyes and heart in laser focus of your loving eyes.  Father fill me to overflowing, draw them to you using the light of my smile and walk.  Let me participate in their introduction to you Father that I might rejoice at their salvation.  Take from me any desires to serve other gods or idols.  I want only you.  Keep my family, friends, colleagues and even my enemy’s conscious in the knowledge of your grace, so that we all might be saved by your loving Kindness expressed to all men.  We thank you and praise you, in the precious name of Jesus I pray.

What in the world has continuous improvement got to do with Christianity.  I thought it was a get out of jail free card, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and that was that, neat and tidy.  What is this about being filled with the Holy Spirit, is that really necessary, it just seems too complicated?  I thought that once I earned my way into heaven by believing that my part had been done and God would do the rest.  Now your telling me that it is a journey and not a destination.  How do I keep up with all the effort I need to put out?  I mean is there a pamphlet, a class or a youtube segment I can complete that shows me the requirements, perhaps list of action steps?

How do I continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit, isn’t it a one time indwelling where I receive the Spirit and I am filled to the brim, wabam!!  You mean I have to remain in a surrendered state, that’s frankly just too much to ask, don’t you know that I have a life to live here?  That is the rub, I died on the cross two thousand years ago so that Christ might live this life through me now.  If I continue to wrestle with the Lord for the steering wheel or the reins to control this life then he will let me take the control.  The problem is when I do that I quench the Holy Spirit and again am left to my own designs.  That frightens the heck out of me, because every time I do gain the control back from God I proceed to run the bus into the nearest tree or end up in a sin calamity following my own wicked heart.  The Greek form of the verb in the Bible is actually to “Keep being filled” with the Spirit of God. Meaning that it is a process not a plateau.

Recently I have been asking God to step in and remove the expectations and frustrations associated with my human impatience in this life.  When I do this and continue to be filled with the Spirit, I am no longer limited by the parameters of my own limited capacity and thinking.  I am freed to let the Spirit live through me and use His Power, His Plan, His ability, authority and love to change the world around me.  I am just a vessel for the Spirit.  That makes you mad that he expects us to give way and lose our lives so that He might live instead of us?  I am sorry thems the rules of God.  I have made a mess of everything, Sure I have achieved treasure and glory consistent with worldly success but it pales in comparison to the victories I have experienced in Christ.

Will you continue to be sanctified and continue to keep being filled with the Spirit of God to overflowing?  I don’t know for that is your choice, but I am praying for you to do so, because that is my responsibility and my choice.  I choose victory, I choose the things He has planned for this life and forgo my own plans.  Lord continue to fill me with your Spirit, make me a magnet for those you would have me help, love and journey alongside.  In your precious name I pray.  King Jesus.

He leads, I follow, you call that complicated.  I understand the only way to avoid the absolute Truth of God’s enduring Word is to develop radical excuses and justifications for your defiance to His Commands.  You see, I get it that you believe that you should be able to determine if you are good enough to go to heaven and you cannot imagine a God who would punish his creation for not following his rules.  That position makes sense for a person who is self-determined, self-sovereign, self-actualized or serving the gaping maw of self indulgence.  I see you do it till your satisfied, just do it, do whatever you want when you want for how long you want and you want to never have anyone tell you different.  Unfortunately that position places you smack dab in the middle of the broad boulevard of those who are in defiance to God’s Will for Mankind.  I wish I could tell you a fairy tale that would somehow relieve this conflict in which you find yourself, but He Leads, I follow. Seems simple enough to me.

I don’t make the rules, I don’t enforce the rules, I don’t change the rules, I don’t explain the rules, my job is to simply let everyone know that God loves them so much that he provided a way to comply with the rules through belief and faith in him.  I don’t even have to live up to the rules, sure I want to because I love my Father and I want to show him my love by following his commands, as well I don’t want my Father to discipline me.  See the freeing part of my faith is that I realize that I never can and never could live up the standards of God’s Perfection.  That is why, out of his unequivocal love for me he came and fulfilled all the rules so that if I simply put my faith hope in trust in that completed work, I am viewed as wearing Christ’s righteousness.  Yes, I said it, God looks upon me, this simple, inadequate man and he sees the characteristics of Christ “covering” my sinful existence.  He sees me washed clean by the payment of his sacrifice on the cross, he has forgiven me simply for my faith in his plan for my redemption and return to good standing in his kingdom.

This is not complicated, you are using that as an excuse to avoid, ignore, defy or justify your anger that God gets to make the rules in the world he created.  Don’t you get to make the rules in your home?  If you are the boss at work don’t you expect those who you employ to follow your rules.  Certainly they may choose to ignore them at their own detriment, but the rules are still the rules, right?  It is not complex to imagine a Holy and Righteous God who sets a standard for his creation and then enforces those directives.  The amazing thing about our God, and frankly the thing that astounds even his angels, is that he cared enough to provide a way to escape the penalty of our disobedience.  How is that complicated, how is that possible that God would love me that much that he would give me a way out of my own wickedness?  How could he possibly look past my own disobedience, my own failures, if I would simply own them, confess them and receive the forgiveness accorded those children who accept the simple gift of God’s Grace and Mercy?  Praise Him because of who He is.  Praise him for the simplicity of an escape plan that frees me from the poison of my own sin.  Praise Him because He is “Simply God and I am simply not.”  In Jesus Name.

I am not the keeper of all wisdom, God is.  Go to him or to his word if you want the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Try as I might part of me always gets in the way of my perfect dissemination of that truth.  That does not mean that I am being willfully disobedient, just that this humanity clings to me in such a way that I can feel its weight upon my thinking and conversation.  If that is the case that my humanity gets in the way of my spiritual works in spreading the Gospel, then it is by definition an enemy to my walk.  Prepared with this understanding how then do I say to anyone with confidence that my advice is better than their own conclusive decision making or discernment from the Voice of God

It isn’t.  Face it self, if you could have done this the Lord never had to travel from heaven to become a man and finish that to which I was ill intended.  Self help, self actualization, higher self, supreme self are all the same descriptive phrase that bid us win the battle with our own will.  My self is not capable of achieving what my spirit calls me toward.  If you are recommending I go into spiritual battle armed with the weapons of self-actualization, you are sending a sheep to slaughter, unarmed, ill-equipped, destined for failure and un-fulfillment.  I will not be led by satan’s siren called to try to win a spiritual battle with my worldly resolve, power or will.  This is the greatest fool’s errand, perpetrated by fool’s or those who have you be one.

I will not recommend, lead you into or direct you toward a spiritual battle unless you are armed, prepared and educated as to the weaponry of the battlefield upon which you will capture victory.  Go first with God, the knowledge of God, a relationship with God for it is HE that wins any spiritual battle engaged by believers.  If you think you are going to win with your own powers then you are a witch, sorcerer or worse yet completely misinformed.  Only satan’s minions utilize personal power on the spiritual battlefield for they are using his power given them for a short while until he consumes everyone and everything out his lust for power and dominion over all.  The Lord Jesus rebuke him and send him to the abyss if he so chooses.  If you are looking to be powerful know this you are setting yourself up as an enemy of God, for satan shares nothing but pain, deception and destruction.

That is all the attention need given the enemy for even evil serves the Lord’s Good Plan.You want victory, find Christ.  You want salvation and forgiveness, honor your relationship with Jesus.  You want power to overcome this world and everything in it, go to Christ who has already done so.  This is not an exercise, a feel good pep rally designed to give you chills until they wear off by Wednesday.  This is the Word of God and the Word of God is Jesus, the spoken Power of Creation and the rightful King of All.  Stay away from self-help if you truly want healing go to the Master Physician himself who died so that we might be healed of “ALL” our ills.  Stay away from self-help, do the greatest thing any one of us can to help ourselves and that is surrender control over our lives to the Mighty, Caring, Deft and Divine hand of God.  All wisdom comes from God so the people writing those books, pushing those seminars and showing examples of the Golden Calf to which you may dedicate your passions have either taken their knowledge from the Bible or from the enemy.  Do you want the copy or the King.

Be cautious, be careful but live in the abundant Joy that only comes from Christ.

What are you chasing?  I mean what feeds your passions?  What consumes your day?  Are you pursuing; worries, things, conquest, a burgeoning 401K or do you seek a lasting relaxation period? Someone reminded me this morning that we all look through our own lens and typically my perspective is always right.  Sorry that leaves you in a position less than right, notably wrong or misguided so that I may lead you to the light of my greater understanding.  Frankly, I don’t know any better than the next guy, but the Lord’s Word is Righteous, Perfect, Immovable and the only trusted source upon which we may establish a reflection for our lives.  So go to the Word when you seek correction, justification or understanding, unlike me it is never wrong.

Where does God fit in your list of priorities?  Please be honest for there were few things that upset Jesus more than hypocrisy.  I mean he gave us the law as a mirror so that we might see that it is impossible to live up to God’s standards, and though we should try out of love for him, it is only the Work of Christ through which any of have or will be saved.  I didn’t do that, that work on Calvary, Christ did.  He came that I might be redeemed to him and be free of the spiritual and real prisons associated with sinful man.  Does that just sound like good philosophical writing or do you truly believe that you have been set free?  If you truly believe that, then you must turn to God for direction in all things, believing as the Bible teaches that he has purchased you back from your slavemaster with Righteous Blood given freely as propitiation.  I know that is a big word, but it is just a complicated way of saying, he paid your slave master’s fee and now you belong to him for he took the death each of us deserved and gave us “LIFE”.

Are you living that abundant life he died for or are you merely existing, waiting until the next thing comes along?  This life is awesome if you believe that it is, for all things are found in faith.  If you are faithful that your life sucks then suck it will.  Free will is the power to make up your own mind and own those decisions.  God gave us free will so that we might choose him freely.  Make the free will choice you have been empowered through creation to make for yourself.  Choose life, choose eternity, choose joy in Christ in this life and the next.  In Jesus’ Mighty Name.  Amen.

My heart should operate through love.  Yet, I continue to discourage, to complain, criticize and challenge those whom God has commanded me to love.  May I follow personal or alternate life agendas and maintain my position on the skinny path to glory?  Without love I’ve got just humanistic reason, analysis and good intentions.  Without love I am powerless to convince anyone of anything.  I love them that is why I do what I do.  Without it there are only self-serving reasons left for my subsequent action.

I am sorry for what I have said, done, how I have said it or have done it that did not resemble love.  Love is so precious that if I don’t receive it myself it may turn me bitter and through contempt cause me to react in kind.  That is the enemy’s intent to deny us loving kindness replaced by cruelty and self focus so that it becomes difficult if not improbable that we will meet others in love.  I am not controlled by enemy suggestion but I can “choose” to participate in the feelings and emotionally controlled responses purposeful to the enemy’s argument.  I only follow the good shepherd so those things which I have not done through love must be inspected, revised, apologized for and discarded.

This is the man I was intended to become.  A man who loves even when not receiving that in kind.  For if I give love only in response to extended love then I am merely reacting as a dog for a cookie.  Love should be given freely as from God gives it freely to me.  This is not one of the choices I can take lightly for it directs all my ministry, my friendships, relationships and fortune.  Living in love is a life not a convenience.  I love you and you need to receive clear reflection of that love through my initiated and responsive actions, not just as reward for service.

Father, keep me close so that I may never be deceived, be disobedient or led astray.  It is your path upon which each of us walks.  Keep my feet firmly upon that surface, direction accurate and focus undeterred.  This is your life, I am thankfully along for the ride.  Let me never inject my command over your helmsman-ship.  You are the leader I follow and that is how it should and how I want it to be.  Let me live in love, through love and with love, throughout.  In your name I live, Jesus Christ the King.

Learning to dance, sing, design obscure mental images and describe in detail the greatest moments of life.  Laughter, my key to unlock the defenses of those who have been wounded by the crucible.  Healing available they may be made whole simply by relationship with the hand of their Creator, God, Almighty God.  To refer otherwise indicates misunderstanding of impossibility and grasp of the infinite.  Were we to serve lesser gods, minor influences, concerned with their own stature and dominion, deliverance would be absent in every discussion.  Ah, but the Father, the Loving God we serve wants for us the best in this life and the next.  We have but to align, commit and surrender ourselves to that authority to achieve the inconceivable.

Bring it to him, this pain, this tragedy the impossible influences of a torturous existence.  For within His love lay the capacity for redesign, transformation and renewal.  To become a new creature, perfectly designed for specific works of precision and demand.  The born again you must be remade into humanity fashioned for such purpose.  Putting behind the wounds of our past we move on to those new obstacles, plateaus and treasure intended for our days remaining.  We become inclined and focused upon those things previously unattainable.  We are separated from our past pain, except in memory, pressing forward toward ideas and missions previously misunderstood or ignored. For this man has been made for God’s Glory, not my own.  And through that glory I am blessed to bring his powerful healing hand to them in suffering or locked in the prison of their own volition.  I am privileged to direct them to the place where they engage Jesus and find their re-creation, cleansing and destination.

The world begs you hold on to your misery while God whispers “let go, give it to me”.  Having trained ourselves linguistically to worry and fuss about worldly voices we cling to past processes reluctant, fearful and untrusting of God’s Promised delivery.  Praise a Holy, Loving God that we remain pliable and are sanctified by time and pressure to the understanding our own freedom and salvation to live as men, denied no more by the limits of previous existence.  Transformed for higher calling, the work of priests and princes in protection of the people, guarding the innocent and prayerful intervention.  The Purposeful existence only found through Grace.  The thing which all men seek whether through prayer, perseverance or sorcery, to live forever without regret in the powerful knowledge that made an impact, a difference.  To reach this august summit you must meet and surrender to God, for their is one door to eternal inclusion, through the shepherd, Jesus Christ the King.

Read, listen, pray and act.  “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord.” If you don’t know what the Lord says how can you emphatically state that you believe.  For the obvious retort is, “what do you believe?”  If you don’t know the voice of God, how may you discern between that of the shepherd and the other numerous directions in this world?  If you don’t pray to the Lord, how then have you formed an active relationship with a living God?  If you take no steps based upon his direction how may your faith become real and resolute without referring measure?

We must live our Christian walks intentionally.  Without the conscious commitment, the requisite contemplation/meditation, discussion with God and responsive action we are simply leaving our edification to chance.  Granted the Lord will change us, sanctifying us through this world, but I cannot ignore the difference between volunteered, surrendered participation and following our own paths waiting for God to redirect our actions.  Without knowing what you believe, you cannot be assured of that belief.  Without determining to whom we will respond we are left to listening to the loudest or most compelling directives.  Note; often the loudest are those of the enemy, the world and the flesh.  Without prayer we are wasting our greatest assets in having the privilege, the power and the gift of going into the throne room for praise, worship and petition.  Without action we are impotent and unfulfilled.

Do you truly know what it means to be a Christian, not just the joyful, abundant life segments upon which the feel-good churches prosper, but the work, the suffering and the sacrifice of willing slaves to righteousness preparing for their coming King?  Have the characteristics of God’s Holy Spirit become notably evident in your lives?  The realization of God’s glory and the salvation of the masses is our purpose how then may we be Christian with no evidence of fruit in those areas?  How may we say that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit with no glaring observation of that presence by the surrounding population?  If they cannot see God in your actions and attitudes, how then is it assured you are sealed by his power or that others will know him through your example?  For what purpose are you called?  If you don’t know what God did for the world, cannot hear God’s voice, don’t go to him in prayer or take actions based on commitment to that relationship then what possible argument can you ever use that you have ever been a Christian?

If this sponsors contemplation praise God.  If this causes you to listen to the Word frequently, Amen.  If this builds your desire to spend more time with the Lord in prayer, Hallelujah.  If this prompts you to all three of those and gets you off the couch out on the road for Christ, then my purpose has been realized.  Go plants some seeds, heal some wounds, raise the dead and prepare this world to receive their returning Saviour, God and King.  In Jesus’ Name I pray.

What will you do when God commands you to go?  Will you hem and haw?  Perhaps, you will avoid, saying to yourself, “that wasn’t His voice.  He would never want me to experience the pain or frustration associated with being displaced or losing my stuff, would he?” Of course he would.  Because that is what defines a test of faith.  It is your willingness to step out in trust or obedience when it cost you something, perhaps all, to take that action that demonstrates your belief.

Should you worry when things aren’t going right or stuff is whirling about you throughout the storm?  That is the obvious, natural worldly conclusion.  Seems plausible that it would make sense to panic, worry or become paralyzed by the crashing seas, the rocks in the distance or the wind and rain.  But in the Christian “faith view” these things are designed as stage equipment to measure faith in your walk with the Lord.  So are you saying that I shouldn’t concern myself with the storm?  Yes, if the Lord is in the boat with you why would you have cause to fear anything that comes your way.  I mean you do believe that he created all things and is sovereign over all things, don’t you?

What then of the journey.  Should you rush to get to a safe destination?  Absolutely not, especially if the Lord is allowing obstacles to be placed in path to slow you down or stop you.  Don’t push it if the Lord says, “WAIT”.  Perhaps he is clearing the road ahead, or slowing your travel so that you meet up with the provision or prayer opportunity forthcoming.  Would you want to pass up an opportunity for blessing, just because you got ahead of the Lord’s timing?

What I am counseling makes no sense except to them who put there faith, hope and trust in the Lord.  If he is in charge, holding the keys, the steering wheel and the brakes of our lives, then he ought to also be in control of the comings and goings along the path, right?  Who knows what the Lord has in store for each of us, tomorrow, around the bend?  Shouldn’t we be walking according to the speed, direction and rest set forth by the Lord?  If you aren’t hearing his voice of you aren’t receiving the blessings of divine opportunities, then perhaps you are getting out in front of him.  Slow your walk, talk with him and maybe even stand still until you hear clear indication you were meant to leave.  You will be blessed by what you find.

May the Lord bless you with life in abundance.  In Jesus’ Name.