Submit Yourselves

Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ~ James 4:7

Trust.  It’s all about trust.  In today’s world we are given many opportunities to submit ourselves to many different voices - our jobs, our wallets, our desires for more success, our ambitions, or even just the desire to submit to ourselves and what we may think is best for us.  Our world is geared to helping you submit to yourself and whatever those desires may look like selfish, or not.  When we submit to ourselves and our own abilities instead of God's, that's when sin and temptation tend to slowly creep into our lives ever so subtly.  All of a sudden our ambitions create a whole lot of pride; our success leads to greed; our greed leads to gluttony and on and on and on it goes before we become so selfish that we can’t seem to find the time, or effort for anyone else.  Fight the urge to put yourself first; serve others and submit your ways to God and watch the devil leave you.  We must resist the cultures’ me, me, me, self-service attitude and put others first if we truly want to find joy and happiness in life.  Humble yourself and submit your whole being, your life, your kids, your work, every part of your life to Christ and how He would have you live your life and watch the devil flee!  He must!  Be mindful of the many temptations Satan uses to entice you with.  They often come wrapped in shiny, fun, pretty little packages, but once unwrapped and opened they will have you paying dearly - so push back and resist with all your might the temptations set before you.  Call out to Christ and let Him give you the strength to resist and say NO!  Use God’s word to guard your heart, mind and spirit and memorize God’s promises so you can easily bring them to your mind when confronted with the liar and his schemes.  Remember, you must do both - resist the devil and submit to God.  You will see victory!  Be obedient and God’s grace will carry you through. ~ Amen

Eternal House

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:1

In this life, in your current and temporary body, you will experience aches, pains and fatigue.  In due time, our bodies will fail us here on earth and we will pass away.  Everyone does it.  No one is exempt.  It’s a sure part of life.  The earthly body our spirit inhabits right now will one day fail us, but as believers in Christ, our spirits will move on to their permanent house built for us by Christ himself.  This earthly body, or tent, as Paul describes it, is not our permanent home.  Night will come for my earthly body, but my spirit will move on to its permanent home with Christ and my soul will rejoice in its homecoming.  As part of the worldly creation, we were not yet able to live in the heavenly realms, but once our work here is complete and Christ calls us home, we will have our eternal address with our King.  When our bodies are gone as our temporary housing unit, our spirit still has eternal hope in our new home that no human mind can comprehend where we will spend eternity.  As I have heard it said, we are a spirit living in a temporary body, not a body with a temporary spirit.  One day we will move from this home to our forever home.  Rest assured that as followers of Christ, we will live in a glorious state with a new body surrounded by Jesus and His glory forever.  While it is important to maintain your “tent”, or “house” as best as you can, be careful not to spend so much time on the upkeep of your body that your soul deteriorates.  Make time for God and His Kingdom.  Prepare for eternity so as to make sure you are in the heavenly realms when the time comes.  We would be wise to exercise our souls for His Kingdom as much as we exercise our earthly bodies to keep them in tip top shape.  Pursue Godly living and walk by faith knowing that our future is glorious even though we cannot see it yet.  Be encouraged that there is so much more in our permanent, heavenly home. ~ Amen

Bless Abundantly

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:8

Through God’s gift of unmerited favor, that he bestowed upon me, I should show that same generosity towards others.  We exercise our faith and trust in the Lord when we give generously knowing that God has and will meet all my needs at all times.  Maybe not all my WANTS, but all my NEEDS are met all time. When we choose to be generous, we are actively choosing to act in a way that aligns with God's character and His love.  It’s not an “I give, so God has to bless me” mentality, but rather as a way to experience the joy and fulfillment that comes from giving freely. To be spiritually blessed knowing that you are walking in accordance with God.  Christ has already proven himself to meet all our needs even unto death as the sacrificial lamb for our redemption to God.  Followers of Christ must learn to trust God in all things so that our good works and generosity will not be inhibited.  Christ’s generosity knows no bounds and as long as we are tethered to Him, our generosity will also know no limits; whether it’s with our resources, or our time.  For if we are tied to Him, who is the source, we will never run out.  God’s grace runs through many veins in our lives, but when it comes to generosity and giving, we can never out give God.  He wants to bless His followers who have big hearts and giving hands.  Too many times we hold tightly to what we believe is ours because we are afraid we won’t have enough to meet all our needs, but God would say, “try me”.  A gift can come in many different forms and different sizes and sometimes all God is asking from us is a small gift, enough to test us while still meeting the needs of a fellow human being.  We feel the crunch of the wallet and have forgotten that in God’s economy it is much better to give than to receive.  Jesus himself taught in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Every follower of Christ has received an abundant gift of grace through the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness shown to us.  May we be as generous as what has been given to us not so that we have enough, but so that others will have enough.  Let our hearts be generous. ~ Amen

Has Made

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

Just when you thought things could not get any worse, tragedy strikes.  You lose your job, you lose a loved one, one of your kids gets extremely sick - you name it; all you know is this is not what you had planned for your life.  Heavy burdens and uncertainty can pave a road of doubts and fear, but if you read Ecclesiastes 3:1, you will see that everything has a God ordained time.  The truth of the matter is that God’s timing may seem way off the mark, or what He is doing is so painful you think there is no way this can be part of His plan.  The truth is He is always working from a different perspective.  A much higher perspective than we can possibly fathom.  Operating out of his sovereignty even when He allows extreme pain in our lives.  He sees the whole jigsaw puzzle of our life and the masterpiece that it will be; while we oftentimes, get stuck on one piece at a time because we can’t see the whole picture.  Our life is a wonderful mesh of many different pieces that make a priceless piece of art; a one of a kind.  Too many people walk aimlessly through life thinking this is all there may be for us, but Ecclesiastes 3:11 makes it abundantly clear that we all have a God given knowledge that there is more than what this world has to offer.  We can have tremendous hope and encouragement when we rest in the fact that eternity will be spent with our Creator and this world will be but a vivid memory.  One day we will be able to see what God was doing; how He was in control and how He will make everything right again.  God’s timing is not our timing and our job is to trust Him; to hold onto our hope and faith and believe that we will see how everything had a specific and beautiful place and time for a reason.  Everything comes together in harmony specifically designed, or allowed by God.  God sees the past, present and future and knows how to piece it together at the right time.  We need to trust God, especially in trials, as He sees what we can’t.  We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and trust Him to craft our lives. ~ Amen

Lacks Wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ~ James 1:5

We often wonder if we are making the right choices in life.  It is said that everyday we make about 35,000 decisions – some good and some not so good.  That is mind boggling!  How in the world do we make so many decisions?  Some of them we make without even thinking about; as if they are instinctual.  Some of them are easily answered and others, well, we need wisdom on how and where to land.  Sometimes we go to our parents for advice, a friend, or even a coworker.  Have you ever listened to someone and then wished you would have gone another direction?  Ever received wrong advice?   Whether or not we get the wisdom we are seeking depends on how much we truly trust God.  If we truly believe God wants the best for us, then going to Him and asking for wisdom would be a no brainer; especially in difficult times.  God wants you to ask for wisdom and delights in the questions and the following obedience.  To live a God centered life, we are wise to ask God for His wisdom instead of just going about our way in such a confusing world.  It’s also important to understand that God is willing to give you the wisdom you seek without judgement, but rather freely no matter what your past may look like.  You don’t have to have it all together before God will give you wisdom.  He just wants you to ask.  When we ask God for his wisdom, we are acknowledging that we can’t do this on our own.  We are acknowledging that He knows best.  Go to Him with a humble heart and receive.  Seek godly counsel, pray for wisdom, wash your mind and heart with God’s word and trust that His wisdom is in line with the best for you.  His wisdom is full of peace, selflessness, and goodness as opposed to worldly wisdom that is oftentimes self-centered, crafty and sometimes more concerned about personal gain than others.  Wisdom from God, instead of the world, benefits our spiritual well being and can produce great outcomes not only for you, but for others close to you as well.  Wisdom to lead your family also impacts your loved ones.  Wisdom to deal with a difficult co-worker may soften their heart also.  Wisdom to use your resources the way God wants you to can help meet the needs of people you don’t even know.  Godly wisdom, coupled with your obedience to follow, oftentimes can have eternal consequences that you may never even know about.  Let’s be sure we are asking for the right wisdom and then follow with an obedient heart. ~ Amen

Keep Focused

So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.  If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision - you will see it yet!  Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. ~ Philippians 3:15-16

There are times in our busy lives when we will be distracted from our ultimate goal of living Christlike and we will lose sight of the kingdom rewards.  But we must get back on track and stay focused.  This world is filled with distractions and it’s never been so easy to be consistently busy; busy with things that aren’t even going to matter at the end of our life.  It is vital that we mature our minds and hearts in God’s word and press on to become more like Him so that we do not get swallowed up in the worldly manner of things and sucked into self reliance and independence.  Pray for guidance, trust Him, press into how He has shown us to live so that people become more important to you, second only to Christ, than anything else.  A spiritual life without growth will become stagnant and unproductive.  Just as a pond becomes swampy, smelling and filthy with no fresh inlet of water flowing in and no outlet for water to flow out of so can the spiritual life be without any renewing, or refreshing of your mind.  Spiritual staleness will not produce new life giving growth.  As followers of Jesus, we are called to mature in our walk, to grow from newborn infancy into mature adults in Christlikeness.  Pauls even suggests later in Philippians that we should strive to the maturity level of even being willing to suffer, or die for Christ.  Focus on your daily walk with Jesus and ask Him to help mature your spiritual life to show you where you may not agree with Him and ask Him for clarity.  Dive deeper with Jesus and He will meet you.  I think it is important to remember that we are called to be givers, helpers, and lovers of people; we are to be selfless in this world full of selfish and worldly desires.  We are called to maturity that causes self-denial and possible suffering for the cause of Christ.  In Revelation 3:14-17 Jesus comes down hard on the Church at Laodicea:  “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  I don’t want Christ to think that of me.  I am praying for the maturity of God that sets me ablaze! ~ Amen

Everyone Competes

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:25

Strict training, self-discipline, self-control; all great athletes practice these traits when getting ready for a race.  Athletes who hope to win victory and a great prize keep their eye on the end result and stay focused toward that goal.  Christians should exercise the same self-control for the race that they are in and for the heavenly prize that will not wither away, but that will give us eternal glory.  Athletes watch what they eat, stay away from harmful substances and exercise their body to give them the best chance at victory.  Everyday, Christians should be on guard of their daily habits, on how well they are living righteously, and how humble and loving they are and they should exercise their heart, mind and soul with God’s word to stay in tip-top shape for the race towards our end goal of Christ’s eternal service.  Every believer who exercises self-control for God’s glory will win a crown that won’t rust, fade, or decay, but one that will last forever.  Hearts, heads and souls that are won over for the Lord because of the love you have shown them and because of your kindness and humility will all culminate to make your glorious crown in heaven.  To train our minds and attitudes to win over the lost and to bring glory to God should be our number one goal.  To win the lost takes discipline, training in the Word and sometimes giving up our own personal desires so that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus according to God’s will for our lives.  We must throw off what doesn’t ultimately matter in life and run God’s race with perseverance for the purposes he has for our lives while reaching the lost.  Winning for Jesus takes discipline.  So dust off those sneakers.  We’ve got a race to run. ~ Amen

Stand Before

You then, why do you judge your brother or sister?  Or why do you treat them with contempt?  For we will all stand before God’s judgement seat. ~ Romans 14:10

I’d like to say that I have perfected the art of being non-judgemental, but that would be a downright lie.  This is something I have to admittedly work on.  We are reminded in this verse that we will all be judged by God so judging others is not a wise use of our time.  Instead, we should be judging ourselves with the same standard that we want to judge others by and see how well we do.  If we would remember that we also will have to answer to God we might be a bit more gracious and merciful towards others.  God alone is judge and jury and in this verse, brother or sister refers to a fellow believer in Jesus. Family.  We should be living in love for them and living humbly for them.  Helping them in their walk as they help us - not being judgemental, or hurtful.  Paul even used the word contempt; which also is translated as despised and families that have siblings in a contemptuous relationship are sure to cause fractions within the whole family.  We must not despise each other; in so doing, we are being judgemental and that is not our place.  Unity is important and vital to any family, so it goes with Christ’s family.  The fact of the matter is that each of us will be judged and none of us will come out squeaky clean, so who am I to judge my fellow brother, or sister when I probably have the same issues, and those issues probably have nothing to do with the huge commonality we have as being family in Christ?  For in the larger scheme, why should personal opinions or convictions that don’t have salvation significance get in the way of loving one another?  If it’s not a salvation issue, it is a secondary issue and should not be allowed to disrupt unity among family members.  Righteous living, humility, love of others and trust in God should be our forward goals; not judgement of our brothers and sisters.  Let us put our opinions away and love. ~ Amen

Your Gentlenss

Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near. ~ Philippians 4:5

There are people in my life who I call “gentle giants”, but really, these people are extremely strong.  You know the type - they keep themselves in check and seem to keep their cool even in the most difficult times.  They are the followers of Jesus who don’t bat an eye at persecution, or disagreements and they handle it by traveling the high road instead of getting easily angered.  They do what I often find impossible to do….hold their tongue.  The fact of the matter is that this type of gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit; you can only exhibit this gentleness by abiding in Christ, trusting God and loving others.  This kind of gentleness can only be illuminated when you let the Holy Spirit cultivate your emotions and you stay in step with Him.  You must be in check with your heart and mind and be on guard so that Satan can’t get a foothold in your  mind, your feelings and your reactions.  We must treat people, believers and non-believers alike, with grace and patience.  We need to be flexible with others and acknowledge that we are not all alike.  We must give up our own rights and be considerate of others first.  We must learn that it’s okay to agree to disagree and still love the people.  Many people have rough edges because they have never learned to be flexible, considerate and gentle with others who don’t see life the same way.  The truth of the matter is, as believers of Christ, we need to bring all anxiety, worry, strife and quarrels to Christ.  We need to remember that in quarrels, especially among other believers, nothing is as important as our end goal - to live for Christ for He is coming back soon and is near; nothing in this world is as important.  Ultimately, we are on the same team; in the same family and want the same thing.  The practice of restraining our emotions and yielding to forgiveness is the way of the “gentle giant”.  May we have the ability to hold our tongues and feelings in check so that we can be great examples of a Christ filled follower. ~ Amen

Straining Forward

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 3:13-14

Back in the day, I used to be quite the runner and I had great endurance.  Between about the fifth and sixth step of any race, or training, I would get myself into a familiar breathing and step pattern that would carry me to the finish line.  In no race did I turn my head back to see what was going on; I kept my eyes forward and focused.  In the same way, Paul urges us to press on for Christ to the finish line.  Do not look back; look forward so that you may win the prize.  We all know people who get stuck in their pasts, or play the victim role of life until it consumes them and pushes everyone else away.  Some get sucked up with bitterness, anger and resentment and stay stuck in that quick sand.  It’s important to learn from our past, but as believers of Jesus, we are not bound to it.  We need to forgive ourselves, forgive others and throw off our shame and let God’s grace wash over us and accept it so we can continue in forward motion in our spiritual walk.  Moving forward to live our life in God’s will and in His character and to live according to His ways versus the world’s so that we may have eternal life with Him.  Rewards and accomplishments here on earth will pale to our spiritual rewards in heaven.  This race is personal and no two believers’ race will look the same, but should be a journey aligned with God’s will for you and will require perseverance and intentionality each day to see spiritual growth.  Never in the history of the mankind has it been so easy to get distracted by the things of this world; however, if you immerse yourself in God’s word, cultivate a prayer life and keep yourself in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, your race will be encouraged, uplifted and a lot easier.  Now is our time to run our race with perseverance, love, joy, peace, and patience to stay focused on God.  He will be with us and make our paths straight.  He will never leave us as we move forward.  He is our biggest cheerleader.  Let’s give Him all we’ve got. ~ Amen

Even Though

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ~ Psalm 23:4

Psalm 23 is often read at funerals, memorials, or celebrations of life, but the darkest valley in our life doesn’t always mean death.  Your darkest valley could be a financial difficulty, unknown changes, watching someone you love live a dangerous lifestyle, a scary health diagnosis, or any other tumultuous circumstance.  God is with us through it all.  In the most trying times of your life, your God will never leave you even when you feel all alone.  By relying on God and leaning into Him and his providence over our life, we can overcome the fear that threatens to drown our faith and swallow up our hope.  The fact is, as believers, we do not face adversity alone.  God is with us.  The rod in this verse symbolizes God’s protection just as a sheep herder used the rod to protect his flock from predators.  The staff symbolizes God’s guidance as the herder would use the “hook” end of this staff to gently pull, guide and direct his sheep back to the right path, and/or field.  By committing this verse and other verses of God’s faithfulness to memory we can combat fear and anxiety with hope and reassurance.  Jesus has promised, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish - no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28).  Inevitably, bad times come into our lives, but God does not change and He will be with us even to our last breath.  He has conquered our worst days, our difficult situation, our stresses and He has even won victory over our death.  I think it’s important to remember that God knows what is best for us and knows His will for us and sometimes we get our own will confused with His will, but He always meets our needs and provides and guides us the way He feels is best for us - not necessarily always the way we feel is best for ourselves.  Nonetheless, He meets us and never leaves us; no matter the circumstances.  I will have faith that even in the darkest and dire of circumstances, God is with me and for me.  Even unto death. ~ Amen