And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.  Revelation 12:7-12

Victory causes uncontrollable Joy.  A joy, a wellspring of true emotional response in realization of freedom from our greatest oppressor.  Does your heart sing, with every ounce of internal abundance, exhibiting powerful harmonies, testimony to your salvation?  Have you set the enemy to flight, by God’s Word and overcome by the power of His Blood and the tranformative word of your testimony before all that hold witness?

Let me tell you about transformation.  We all know that there is something wrong in the churches.  We don’t see the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, the Power, the Authority of God in the pulpit, leading people to Christ and to their purpose.  Diverse critics have long theorized and come up with campaigns, programs, prayers and men centered logic to overcome this difficulty.  This very week I saw the method by which we may truly succeed in inviting God’s Holy Spirit back into the congregation.  We have a monthly men’s prayer breakfast, as simple thing where we eat, pray and the pastor preaches.  Yet, recently this normal event has been transformed by what we thought a simple revision.

Now, each month, a new man from the congregation gets up in the pulpit and preaches.  This has produced so many unintended and quite lovely consequences.  First the pastor has been changed, by the sight and knowledge that each man has the Holy Spirit living within him.  Each man has delivered a powerful message, each man in succession, becoming sharper at giving testimony, prayer and counsel.  This has also transformed the capacity of every man present to deliver their testimony.  It has returned the Holy Spirit’s leadership to an event that was traditionally another rote procedure.  We have reinvited the Holy Spirit into our church and His presence is transforming us from within.  No one knows where this will lead but we are effected by it, even to the point where those who are not right with God have stopped coming to the event.

This is the power of Christ, to overcome the enemy through His Blood having cleansed each of us from unrighteousness and prepared us to disciple.  Now it is our testimony of salvation that keeps him at bay.  Perhaps now we will learn what it means to not love our lives, even unto the death.  We are the victors, shouldn’t there be some evidence of that conquest?  Rejoice o Earth, for the Lord our God is still the only one in charge.  In Jesus’ Name.

How do you show concern for the people around you?  Does it cost you in any manner to remain conscious regarding the mental, physical, spiritual and situational circumstance of those within your acquaintance sphere?  Do you have to convince yourself to demonstrate authentic care for others?  Is it a struggle to find internal empathy for their poverty, hunger, illness or pride? Since I am connected to a living God, who lives inside of me, should I ever expect to experience this ominous disconnect from sympathy for brethren or those yet to accept His Grace?

We know the implications, yet we sit within our intentions never considering that God has left the building.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem, wanting so much to gather them together in safety and hope.  Have we forgotten His passion, empathy and zeal for salvation?  Shouldn’t this world break each and every heart given to Christ Jesus?  There will be a time when we will never shed tear for the decisions in this lifetime, but that day has not yet come.  For now, my tears should be shed with those in mourning, the dying, imprisoned, lost or sorrowed, for I belong to a merciful and mighty God.

Our God is the Living Lord.  He told Moses to call Him, “I AM”.  This erases any concept of Him being simply a unconcerned deity.  He does not simply try, attempt or perform works, He IS.  Therefore, though we ought to follow His footsteps in service, prayer and holiness we would be better served to Be, kind, gentle, long suffering, righteous, just, true, honest, patient, merciful, caring, encouraging, etc…..  These should not be acts perpetrated to alleviate, transform and nullify guilt or misbehavior in attempt to call ourselves Christians.  Christianity is an eternal state of being.  I do not somehow hope to become a Christian, I AM Christian, one with God through Jesus.  As such my actions will naturally reflect the internal state of being.  Though I will mature as I am transformed by God’s Holy Spirit, I will always be the same in relationship to God.  I AM His Son, something that requires no effort in realization.

Stop trying so darn hard to be something you can never become.  Just Be as God IS, leaving any remaining work to the one who is faithful and true to complete that which He first began in each of us.  I will never reach heaven for it is not a destination but a gift for believing on Jesus.  Being with God is part of my eternity, just as this life is obvious training for what comes hereafter.  What effects God’s emotion then should also ail me.  This world desperately needs Him and we ARE His designated messengers.  Being does not take work it just takes living in truth without concealment or denial.  So let us Be Christian instead of pleading indifference, inadequacy or excuse.  I pray for your strength, character and reason this and ever day from here throughout eternity.  In Jesus’ Name.

Long have I sought to consider myself in the group of people with no strife.  But why?  For it seems that this is just as the idle hope that nothing ever changes, rain doesn’t fall on parades and time stands still for them in bad health.  This is the life that the Lord has given me.  This is the family into which I have been born and raised.  These are the circumstances with which I must find my way to contentment.  If I truly trust God, having continually petitioned Him through prayer to change my situation and He in His Sovereign Authority has not, then I must assume that this is the crucible of my remaking.  If He isn’t changing it then I am the object of His intended transformation.

It provides me no benefit other than frustration and bad relation to fight against the determined winds of God’s erosive works.  Wanting my wife, my children, family, job, friends or finances to transform is a natural tendency within my self-determination.  However, I serve God’s Purpose and accepting this fact is the pivot point to my own transfiguration.  What if, I suddenly appreciated my Wife’s constructive comments as God ordained, intended for my polishing, improvement or rewire?  How would my life change if I saw ever opportunity from the perspective of its potential to bring me closer to God or reshape me toward His likeness?  How would my happiness quotient trend if I were to truly believe that this moment, this day, this situation is exactly what I need to get to where God wants me?

Just because I am challenged by my situation or seek the ease of comfortable living does not diminish the perfectible qualities of my predicament.  I must assume that God knows better than I ever will.  He gave me these people for my edification, this poverty or plenty for my betterment and this health so that I might glorify His Will through faith and testimony.  He also gave us this abominable status of a world that was intended for peace and perfection as a response to our inability to humble ourselves, believe and be set free from the sin of man’s historical disobedience.  We must assume, though His Word clearly corroborates that there is a time line by which time we must come to grips with this reality.  I recommend that we all accept those circumstances against which we have traditionally wasted our time, thought and energy in fruitless struggle.  This is the day that God has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.

I must then assume that my life will change significantly if I welcome the criticism of those whom love me, spend my wealth in a way that honors Him and steward my health, imagination and time to serve something other than my own self-honoring wishes.  Thank you Lord God for my circumstance, let me use it wisely through wisdom and new found perspective.  In Jesus’ Name.

Being afraid inhibits trusting God.  Shall I allow my doubt in God’s Sovereign authority and the grace He has given that I might petition Him in prayer, be replaced by anxiety, fear and apprehension?  The Lord did not give us the spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.  If I am experiencing fear, unless it is an awe inspired reverence for God, then it is certainly not coming from God.

I either believe that God will answer my prayers or I don’t.  Fear of men, events and circumstance are all notable opportunities to either trust God or give into worldly worry.  Caveat requires acceptance that my prayers may not match God’s Plan, but that does not alleviate my responsibility to have faith in His promises, righteousness, truth, justice and mercy.  Especially, in those circumstances where God has an answer that differs from my requests in prayer.  Either I trust in God or I trust in something else.

When I am fearful, do you think God steps away from my situation?  Does He pull back His blessings of mercy and grace because I have given into instinct or impulse?  Did my Father leave me when I learned to ride a bike, went on my first date, took my first exam, spoke publicly for the first time or found the open water for my very first swim?  No, my worldly Father stood there with me, but stepped back so that I might know the effects of experience upon confidence leading to growth.

Fears are real to the man experiencing them, but they fall into the category of self-denial into which God directs us.  Certainly I will be afraid at times, but I must also recognize that these impulses do not come from God and subsequently deny their sovereignty in my walk.  As Paul said, I must capture the thought, for there was never a sin committed that was not first contemplated.  Fear may remain a thought and not cause harm, it is when we allow it to sponsor action that the danger begins.  Being aware of danger and running from them are both sponsored by the same stimuli, it is the action that differentiates their definition.

This is the greatest battle for most of us because the prize of victory is massive, a surrender to God’s Will and an equal increase in our measure of faith.  Will you experience fear, yes?  What you do with that stimuli will determine your character and change the topography of the land before you.  Facing fears does not get any easier, what increases is our trust in God’s Sovereign authority and promises to provide for us and protect us despite the fears, obstacles, demons or battles we will inevitably face.

Recognize your fears, observe and contemplate them but act only in faith upon an unchangeable God.  Rejoice in His ability to overcome all that we might fear or face.  Stand and know that God is fighting for you and will never sleep, leave or abandon your trials.  Be transformed by a renewing of your mind as the Bible directs.  Be strong, be aware and be ready.  In God We Trust, by the Mighty Name of Jesus.

Each of us effectively conceals, ignores, compartmentalizes or works through the pain of the lives into which we’ve been placed.  How would we view it differently if that pain, that specific revelation were the secret to our mortal efficacy?  Would we then embrace the challenges as direct conduits to and beyond victory?  Would we choose to remain in the lion’s den, the crucible or upon the field of battle, knowing it the path to overcoming this life?  Accepting this as truth is an epiphany for the man or woman looking for reason to trust God.  For if the pain is instrumental in our Kingdom accomplishment then all of it was designed for Divine purpose.

My instinct screams, run!  It is with every ounce of my faith that I stand against the insurmountable.  I cannot fight what I can neither see nor understand.  These enemies aligned against me are more than my equal, my only hope found in His covering confidence.  They tell me to feel sorry for myself and develop a cogent pity-gram to share at meetings, parties and convince all listeners of the unfair shuffle leading to a truly intolerable hand.  They must at all cost send me scurrying for empathy, instead of embracing my circumstances as Divine opportunity to demonstrate God’s Glory.  These things are my devices, my leverage, my challenges and opportunities uniquely developed to reveal His Face within me.  Why then would I seek pity for such grand gift?

Perspective can create or ruin heroes.  Each of us prefers victory, but can we never truly achieve it without enemy identification.  My enemies are not mortal, they are armed with despair, hate, illusion and untruth.  Without these enemies I am left with love, clarity and abundance.  These things considered I must now accept, enjoy and look forward to my person dilemma.  Its struggles, unique to my past, my talents and my specifically, peculiar, Kingdom purpose are the answer to my fulfillment.  That I was never loved or received no familial encouragement, was poor, naked, tired and alone clarifies my need for relationship with God.  My pain is a breadcrumb trail that ends at the foot of the cross.

It is all a wonderful experience, especially that pain which first led me to God.  None of us likes suffering, persecution and correction, but what if they are the best friends a man could ever possess?  Do not cry over your lives my friends.  Instead, measure your life’s difficulty as an exponential opportunity to truly do something wonderful through Christ.  Your hard childhood becomes journey full of stimuli to reach higher, changing your envy for the man with an easy life into pity for his loss.  Now the job is to humble yourself and pray, repenting of your self-pity and rejoicing in God’s Plan for your life well lived.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of your perfect life to set us free for eternity.

The tears of time, saving time, wasted time, enough time spent in quiet with the Lord.  Waiting for direction, answers, patient fulfillment of His will for your time in this life.  Is there a should, ought, could, shall, injecting my own volition and will into the mix, determining those things worthy of my time?  How then is time spent, for it is the only treasure of any value?  My actions, my choices, the places I go and the words I’ve said to strangers all add or subtract from my account.  If I have one day left how priceless the moments?  What makes life precious, but its breviloquence?

Who measures your failure, your success, the adequacy and impact of your legacy?  Is it in the memories of those touched by your wake?  Isn’t the length of that memory from which history is determined?  For all those forgotten in short order was life an utter loss?  Is this life in its limitation capable of defining those things eternal for which even imagination lacks?  Aren’t those impacts of a life well or ill lived dependent fully upon external perspective, having eyes to view each life in its entirety, reviewing every impact, each ripple felt in the ocean of time?

If I had written my story then I would hold the burden, the authority of measuring its worth.  It would be up to no one but me to craft my character for maximum impact upon each reader in hope of capturing more witnesses.  Isn’t that the purpose of our composer?  A song, written for specific effect, cleverly crafted for length, rhythm and harmony.  What if, my song, my voice, my heart were meant only to remind and direct your attention to the composer?  What if each precious moment was specifically constructed, planned and given to provide reflection, direction and witness to His Glory?  What if I will never know how much it meant until it is entirely exhausted and I receive His review of its efficacy?  What if?

Do you have or know joy?  Although, as Christians, we do not construct our self-image by poll, collage or perceptual feedback, it is important to know the effect of our unexplained joy.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit of God you will invariably begin to impact those around you in a positive or negative fashion.  What does your joy level say about your walk with God?

Are you exuding hope, filled with possibility and rest in the knowledge of salvation?  Do people feel drawn to you in curiosity?  Do they run from you when you’ve never even spoken one utterance of conviction?  Or do they pass bye perceiving no differentiating qualities between you and any other human?  Does the unavoidable presence of the earnest of our salvation, the eternal seal, the Holy Spirit, emanate from the simple process of just living your lives?

What does being salt and light have to do with abundant joy?  What are the characteristics of salt and light that make them perfect descriptions of how Christians should be perceived by the world?

Salt is most notably and historically used as a food preservative, delaying or inhibiting decay, preserving nutrition for prolonged usage.  It is also widely recognized for its taste enhancing qualities.  Some cultures cannot imagine eating any food without applied salt as without it, food would remain bland or unappealing.  Salt has many uses including as a solvent, restorative as well as its effects in cardio and kidney functionality.  How then may we have these type of effects upon the world?  How are those impacts similar to the repercussions of abundant joy?

Light makes things grow. Light also warms the cold and weary bones of travelers tired from longest winter.  Light illuminates the unusual, magnifies the magnificent and reflects the depth of any object.  But above all light dispels darkness, providing a hopeful guide to those caught in its dreary blackness.  Evil runs from light and life leans into it.  In our review of the general characteristics of salt and light we begin to see the remarkable similarities to joy.

Joy preserves the wearied, troubled or anxious heart.  Joy dispels darkness and attracts creatures of light.  Joy makes life taste better, circumstances easier to travail and induces curiosity into the blandest subject.  Joy also brings tears of rejoicing, excitement to replace fear and hope to conquer despair.  This is the greatest evidence of God’s presence in any believer, that they be filled with abundant joy denying the power of circumstance.   How are we to be salt and light to the world, perhaps we may begin that process through open, continuous display of abundant and inexplicable JOY.

Thank you Lord for my peace and joy that surpasses all worldly understanding.  May I use it to lead many to the cross where they will find their own joy in relationship with You.  In Jesus’ Name.

A friend who is closer than a Brother.  Have you ever stopped to think just what that means?  Could you imagine coming around a corner, being confronted with a small group of men and women gathered around a single speaker, suddenly realizing you have come face to face with Jesus?  What would you do?  Would you know what to do?  Or would you be like me not knowing whether to cry, jump for joy or kneel, wanting to do all three at the same time?

What would you have done if you lived in Nazareth growing up and had the fortune of knowing Jesus one to one?  If you were elder would you attempt to offer him advice, constructive criticism or admonishment?  How would you have dealt with him being a school teacher responsible for his education, confronted by his discernment and lack of sin?  What would you do if you had the chance to be his friend as a youth?  Do you know that you have all those opportunities right now because Jesus lives with you everyday?  Certainly there is no remaining confusion as to his deity, but we were made for relationship with God.  How then are you approaching that intimate opportunity?

Jesus is not just my God, He is my counselor, my Father, my friend, my Family.  Yes I am in awe of His deity and magnificence, but I have his grace such that I may approach him with firm, confident, relationship.  This is not a lesser god that we place upon a shelf, taking it down to rub its belly or bottle in hope of wishes granted.  He is not a thing of metal or wood to whom we chant for fertile spring, good weather and plenty.  He is a living God, who loves us, prays for our growth, health, blessings and betterment.  He is our advocate, having paid for all of our sins, pleading the power of that fact in the court of Almighty God.  He is our blood, having proved his love by laying down a life by choice, so that we might live in freedom.  I will not treat him as some distant concept, detached, fickle and unpredictable.  He told me what he will do in this world and the next.  He told me what I must do in this world and what to expect in the next.  He continues to change me, educate me, protect and defend me against enemies, even those I have never seen.  This is not a thing of romance or philosophy, but a practical, empirical, evidentiary relationship with God.

This is my God, the Living God, walking this life with me, never leaving me alone to the mercies of time, chance and circumstance.  His name is Jesus, He is my King, my God and my Brother and my Friend.  That is a righteous place upon which to stand against the storms of our day.  Go with God my friends, in Jesus’ Name.

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Matthew 18:1-6

What is this passage really telling us?  Is Jesus commanding us to mimic the behavior of little children in order to enter heaven.  This is where Christianity gets interesting, for if we place our reliance upon man then some people will accept one pastor’s interpretation over another.  What then are we do when confronted with areas of the Bible that seem ambiguous, vague or indiscernible?  After asking many pastors the answer I have been given truly highlights the state of affairs.  In fact some appear caught in the quandary of second guessing/contradicting themselves as in this popular site, http://www.gotquestions.org/childlike-faith.html  Most pastors have declared themselves to be the end all and be all in interpretation, confidently directing me to accept their specific understanding.  That is not however what we are instructed to do when confronted with confusion or question when studying to show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the Word of God.

John 14:26 shows us how to deal with internal confusion or ambiguity when Jesus says, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  We are also cautioned to not depend on our own understanding.  This reluctance or collective naivety, I believe has created most of the problems within the churches, almost as much as our apparent disobedience to directions of God.  For when we have question, although we test the counsel of pastors, teachers, friends and family we are instructed to go to the Holy Spirit as the ultimate determining voice in our quest for clarity.

That being said, shall I attempt to decipher God’s meaning in the opening passage of this post, I think not?  I shall instead direct you to ask the Holy Spirit, trusting instead in God as your guide, rather then depending upon the ego and frailty of my humanity.  I do know this that I find children refreshing in their innocence and capacity to speak truth.  I long for their type of love and un-obfuscated dependence upon their parents for survival.  If only I could remember my youthful exuberance, joy, zest and relentless curiosity, I would face this world with renewed vigor and freshened perspective.  What are we to do when confronted with indecision, misunderstanding or doubt?  Don’t ask me, ask the one who will never lead you astray, the Holy Spirit of God, living within you.

For it is in His name that I pray for your clarity, energy and direction.  God help us, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Good deeds, bad deeds, it is all attempted works.  Working to save yourself, lose yourself, forget yourself or worse yet run from the God whom you so much want to love.  It is not my works whether ill or chaste that will gain me entry through heaven’s gate or hell’s demise, but my belief.  God has been clear in His authority to be so.  I may either run from Him, ignore Him or succumb to His offer of salvation, but it is my acknowledgement alone that determines my fate.

God is not a disinterested nightshade, but a Holy God who made us for purpose.  Not a life reason spent on self service, wishes and desires, but for Divine causality and efficacy.  We have been crafted.  Songs, poems, masterpieces, caring, effectual humans designed to love each other beyond the limits of sacrifice.  This is what we desire to be loved enough that someone would give of themselves on our behalf, in demonstration or their love for us and inevitably validating our worth.  If only someone would recover from  their self infatuation long enough to show me I have value?

Well, no one showed.  At least none of my family, friends, church or acquaintances.  Jesus did.  Jesus died, taking on mortal form, giving up His Divine authority over time, space and death, to die that I might be redeemed to a Holy God.  He gave His life in exchange for my sinful forfeit, cleansing me, so that I was reborn without blemish.  He showed me my value, showed me His love, gave me a reason in a life where there was none.  That is the God I love.  Unlike any other manufactured deity, He promises and delivers, He lives and interacts, changing me, directing circumstance so that I may be protected, directed and prepared for my place in His future.  You will not find another story, another Love like the one of Christ the King.

My value is determined, unshakable and strong.  It is defined by God, for God, without susceptibility of the mortal things of logic, emotion or relativism.  It is a life born of Truth, serving Truth, surviving in Truth.  You see someone died for me and that may not be undervalued, overlooked or forgotten.  It is the type of life occurrence that permanently changes hearts and direction.  My path is resolute, it leads through Christ to God and my feet remain firmly set upon that road.  Won’t you join me?  What may I do to show you that you matter?  Not very much, maybe tell about the one who laid down His life so that you might live.  I pray that my works reflect the God I serve, but if they don’t please take account of my faith, for that is greatest thing I will ever have, in this life or the next.  In Jesus’ Holy Name.