In times of trouble where do you put your trust? In times of plenty where do you put your trust? We know the old song trust and obey, but sometimes we fail to go that far with God. FAITH = Trust and Obey. Faith is supported by action. When faith is inactive it is a dead faith. Where faith is dead, situations are dead. You will not have an active faith, and dead circumstances. why? Because faith always alters circumstances. Is there a mountain in your way? Jesus talked about how to deal with mountains.
Matthew 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Speak to that mountain to get out of your way. How? By faith. When the three Hebrew children refused to bow to the idol that the KING made, they risked their very lives to honor God's commands. Their hope and trust was fixed completely upon God. When Daniel opened up the window to pray to God, he was breaking the KINGS command and he risked his very life to obey God's commands. These men committed all they had to God, so God committed all he had to them.
In counseling with people, by far what I see is that people disobey God's commands, get themselves in a mess, than they want immediate resolve from God. I see many more people who get themselves into a mess by disobeying God instead of people who get into a fix because of their obedience to God. Always the miracle working power of God is working with those who have OBEYED God, not those who have disobeyed. If you have gotten yourself into a messy situation because you have disobeyed God, don't expect an immediate deliverance. The laws of reaping what you sow does not go away because we turn to God and ask him to fix our mess of disobedience. Always when God delivered people who get themselves into a mess because of disobedience repentance was required. Repentance does not mean, "Sorry I got caught and have circumstances." Repentance is a brokenness of heart, that is a true shamefulness regarding sin. When you truly repent of sin, you are determined to serve God if he gets you out of the mess you made or not.
In the good times, God wants us to trust him. In the bad times, God wants us to trust him. When trials come, God wants us to trust him. When we are prosperous, God wants us to trust him. Is he just the God of your troubles, or have you made him your trust no matter what the situation or the circumstance.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Take this old world just give me JESUS
We have been talking about our soul, and where our soul places it trust. I cannot express to you today how many people I see in the USA that is placing their trust in money and possessions. For Jesus himself said, "You cannot serve both God and money." Do we take that seriously? Half the stuff that we got bills on, we don't even need. Half the gadgets that we spent our cash on breaks within a few months. Are we walking in wisdom, or are we walking in lust for possessions? I heard an evangelist say something to this effect, "If you have a car that is a hand me down, you are making God look bad because of you being poor." So we think that we have to go out and borrow beyond our means to make ourselves 'LOOK BETTER?' Jesus said this of the Pharisees of his day.
Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness
Here is the truth that we as Americans like to ignore. More than 1/3 of the world lives on less than 2.00 a day. If you have a roof over your head and food on your table you are in the top 20% of the richest people on the planet. When the Bible talks about rich people, count yourself in that number America. You don't believe me that you are rich? Go live in Mexico, or China. Work the jobs that they work for the pay that they get and try to live on it for a while. You will want to be back in the USA very quick. So, as rich people what do we do? We spend all we have, then we borrow and spend some more. Than we declare bankruptcy, play down our debt, and then in a few years borrow and spend some more. And, God is pretty sick of it all. There is a whole world of lost, dying, phobic, depressed, clinically sick, addicted, suicidal people out there, and what do most of our preachers want to talk about, money, prosperity, finances, reaping and sewing in money matters, tithing. Don't get me wrong, all of that is part of the Bible, but when we spend 15 minutes out of a 30 minute program EVERYDAY talking about these things we have brought about our own desires, because we are hungry for more wealth and finances.
God is interested in your heart. God is interested in your mind. God is interested in your health. God is interested in your speech...and he isn't interested in those things so that he can do something as insignificant as prosper you. Someone is thinking, "insignificant." Yes, it is insignificant because it is of this world, which is currently passing away. Hello. You can't take it with you when you die! He is interested in you so that he can fellowship with you. He wants to be more than a banker in the sky regulating your giving and receiving. He wants to know you intimately. There are those in the body of Christ that would have you believe that maturity in Christ means you are wealthy and prosperous and abounding in financial gains with no lack. Jesus is the WEALTH of the gospel. My treasure is that I have him. Yes, he has blessed me financially, with abundance, no lack, every need met...but that isn't what I wanted in life. I wanted to KNOW him and the POWER Of his resurrection and I have chased hard after Jesus all my life. All the blessings and provisions in my life was just what he gave me of his own design. I never sought those things, I sought him first, and his kingdom, and he decided to give me provisions, that was his choice, what he did, not what I desired, cause I only desired God...I just want to know him, to know his peace, to have his presence on my life, to walk with him, and to talk with him. I want HIM, God is my treasure, he is my abundance, he is my wealth, he is my good fortune. You can take this old world, Just give me JESUS!
Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness
Here is the truth that we as Americans like to ignore. More than 1/3 of the world lives on less than 2.00 a day. If you have a roof over your head and food on your table you are in the top 20% of the richest people on the planet. When the Bible talks about rich people, count yourself in that number America. You don't believe me that you are rich? Go live in Mexico, or China. Work the jobs that they work for the pay that they get and try to live on it for a while. You will want to be back in the USA very quick. So, as rich people what do we do? We spend all we have, then we borrow and spend some more. Than we declare bankruptcy, play down our debt, and then in a few years borrow and spend some more. And, God is pretty sick of it all. There is a whole world of lost, dying, phobic, depressed, clinically sick, addicted, suicidal people out there, and what do most of our preachers want to talk about, money, prosperity, finances, reaping and sewing in money matters, tithing. Don't get me wrong, all of that is part of the Bible, but when we spend 15 minutes out of a 30 minute program EVERYDAY talking about these things we have brought about our own desires, because we are hungry for more wealth and finances.
God is interested in your heart. God is interested in your mind. God is interested in your health. God is interested in your speech...and he isn't interested in those things so that he can do something as insignificant as prosper you. Someone is thinking, "insignificant." Yes, it is insignificant because it is of this world, which is currently passing away. Hello. You can't take it with you when you die! He is interested in you so that he can fellowship with you. He wants to be more than a banker in the sky regulating your giving and receiving. He wants to know you intimately. There are those in the body of Christ that would have you believe that maturity in Christ means you are wealthy and prosperous and abounding in financial gains with no lack. Jesus is the WEALTH of the gospel. My treasure is that I have him. Yes, he has blessed me financially, with abundance, no lack, every need met...but that isn't what I wanted in life. I wanted to KNOW him and the POWER Of his resurrection and I have chased hard after Jesus all my life. All the blessings and provisions in my life was just what he gave me of his own design. I never sought those things, I sought him first, and his kingdom, and he decided to give me provisions, that was his choice, what he did, not what I desired, cause I only desired God...I just want to know him, to know his peace, to have his presence on my life, to walk with him, and to talk with him. I want HIM, God is my treasure, he is my abundance, he is my wealth, he is my good fortune. You can take this old world, Just give me JESUS!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Trust and Obey
We have been studying the heart of man, because there is nothing more important in your life than the condition of your spiritual heart. If you invite Jesus into your heart he doesn't want to share your heart with anger, jealousies, lust and pride. The issues of life doesn't come from your circumstances around you, they rise up out of the issues in your heart. Today we are going to look at our trust. We love with our heart, but we trust with our soul. Have you ever heard the comment, "he is a trusting soul." It is with your soul, the decision of your will that you place your trust in something. By far the number one reason that people miss God is because their heart is cluttered with things that do not need to be there. The second most important factor that I see, is our soul, and where we place our trust.
Exodus 14
21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
Moses and the children of Israel had their backs up against the sea. When your back is up against the wall, what is your fall back? Moses only had one fall back, and that was God, and if God didn't come through, they were GONNERS. The problem with us today is that we have way too many fall backs.
Just imagine the average church today in a no win situation like Moses was in. The sea in front, the armies of Egypt in behind. Can you imagine the committee that would be nominated to 'research' the problem. Can you imagine the dollar amounts that they would bring before the board to resolve the conflicts. What are some of the typical solutions that you see in churches today.
(1) Lets borrow 100 millions of dollars and build us a bridge across this big red sea.
(2) Lets study the possibility of getting equipment to dig under the sea, wouldn't it make a good aquarium for later generations, we could make money on admission, so on and so forth.
(3) Lets send a committee over to the Egyptians and convince them that our God is the same God as their god.
(4) Let's have a prayer meeting once a week, and really seek God to do something about this situation.
(5) Let's just speak a positive confession, quote scriptures over this water, and be the first positive faith church of the Red Sea.
(6) Let's just get rid of this Pastor, who lead us to this difficult place and get a new leader (well, they actually did want to do this but it was the wrong answer.)
Can you see that these are all things that we do in our churches today, and what are they? They are all 'OPTIONS' that we think we have instead of following God's plan of faith, and trusting in HIS divine power. And in our own lives, we try to do similar options to our problems and we negate the power of God to do what we think we are able to do, instead of trusting God to do what we are unable to do.
Moses said to them, stand still and see the power of God. Meanwhile, Moses got serious and began to pray. God said to Moses, "why are you crying out to me for? Stretch out your rod over the sea, and tell the people to move forward." The dependence was upon God's power, and man's faith. What do you need to move that mountain? a loan from the bank? a quotation of scriptures and prayer? A job? Transportation? A new relationship? for people around you to change? All you need is faith! Faith comes when we hear God, and the miracle comes when we faithfully obey! Our trust must be in Christ Alone!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
In all things be content
We are going to continue to talk about the heart today. The condition of your physical heart is one of the most important things to your body. The condition of your spiritual heart is one of the most important things to your soul. The book of proverbs says to guard your heart because out of it comes the issues of life. You can have two people go through exactly the same thing, for instance, Job and his wife went through the same trial together. Job responded in faith, she did not respond with faith. It is the same way in life today. Two people can go through the exact same thing as someone else, and it may completely devastate one and not really bother the other at all. Why is that?? It is because no matter what you are going through it is only as bad as it seems to your heart. If someone does better than you, it will seem really BAD to your heart if jealousy if alive and well inside of you. If someone does something you do not like, it will seem really bad to your heart if you are trying to control everything. If you have to struggle day by day to make ends meet, it will seem really bad to your heart if you desire easy living or the comfort of wealth. Why is it that two woman can have the exact same dress and one of them is happy to have clothes and the other is embarrassed of it? It is because one of them has pride in her heart and the other does not. When you begin to learn that it is not the things that you go through that make you unhappy, you will begin to learn how to live this life with contentment. When you begin to learn that hard times, or bad circumstances is not what makes you miserable, but, it is your OWN heart you are beginning to understand.
Paul said, in Philippians 4 10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
He said I have LEARNED to be content. So we see that being satisfied and peaceful does not come from outward circumstance, but from an inward training of the heart to find contentment. The more jealousy you have in your heart, the hard it will be for you to walk in contentment. The more ease of comfort you desire in life, the harder it will be to live in contentment. The more greed and anger and desire for things you have in your heart, the harder it will be to find contentment. The more you want to control others, or situations around you, the harder it will be for you to find contentment. The more you want to be loved and respected, the harder it will be for you to find contentment. Do you have a heart that WANTS WANTS WANTS? Than you are going to spend a lot of miserable days on this earth! When I live to love God with all my heart, and to love my neighbor as myself, the selfish desires and motives of my heart begin to lose their hold as I repent and yield to the Spirit of God in my life.
What does that mean for you when you can learn to be content no matter what the circumstances? IT means that no matter how bad of a situation that you find your self in, you can be content, peaceful, joyful, happy, ready to give and receive love. It means you are free, free to love as God loves.
The book of Timothy says: And having food and clothing let us be with these things content.
The book of Hebrews says: Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
When we are looking at our circumstance, our problems, and the people who are around us, and we are demanding that they change so that we can get some peace and contentment we are missing the power of God. The power of God is that he can give you CONTENTMENT and JOY no matter what you GO THROUGH, just like Paul and Silas thrown in jail. Then those people that are making your circumstances so bad will see you having peace and contentment of God, no matter how badly they try to destroy you. And then they will understand that God is REAL and that he is with YOU. We keep begging the power of God to change others, first, you must let the power of God change YOU. It is amazing that when I change, my circumstances don't seem so bad, and others begin to change with me as well.
Paul said, in Philippians 4 10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
He said I have LEARNED to be content. So we see that being satisfied and peaceful does not come from outward circumstance, but from an inward training of the heart to find contentment. The more jealousy you have in your heart, the hard it will be for you to walk in contentment. The more ease of comfort you desire in life, the harder it will be to live in contentment. The more greed and anger and desire for things you have in your heart, the harder it will be to find contentment. The more you want to control others, or situations around you, the harder it will be for you to find contentment. The more you want to be loved and respected, the harder it will be for you to find contentment. Do you have a heart that WANTS WANTS WANTS? Than you are going to spend a lot of miserable days on this earth! When I live to love God with all my heart, and to love my neighbor as myself, the selfish desires and motives of my heart begin to lose their hold as I repent and yield to the Spirit of God in my life.
What does that mean for you when you can learn to be content no matter what the circumstances? IT means that no matter how bad of a situation that you find your self in, you can be content, peaceful, joyful, happy, ready to give and receive love. It means you are free, free to love as God loves.
The book of Timothy says: And having food and clothing let us be with these things content.
The book of Hebrews says: Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
When we are looking at our circumstance, our problems, and the people who are around us, and we are demanding that they change so that we can get some peace and contentment we are missing the power of God. The power of God is that he can give you CONTENTMENT and JOY no matter what you GO THROUGH, just like Paul and Silas thrown in jail. Then those people that are making your circumstances so bad will see you having peace and contentment of God, no matter how badly they try to destroy you. And then they will understand that God is REAL and that he is with YOU. We keep begging the power of God to change others, first, you must let the power of God change YOU. It is amazing that when I change, my circumstances don't seem so bad, and others begin to change with me as well.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Guard your heart
We have been talking about our hearts. We have studied that Cain thought that his issue was Able, but the real issue was the jealousy that was in his heart. Yet, Cain was so convinced that Able was the problem that he murdered his brother. The book of proverb says to guard your heart because out of it comes the issues of life.
Matthew 6:19-21
Matthew 6:19-21
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
When Jesus said, "treasures" this is not necessarily talking about money or material things. Your treasure according to verse 21 is where your heart is. What do you treasure in your life? Whatever you treasure will have a special place within your heart. Should we let worldly things make up the treasure in our hearts?
The Bible says that out of the mouth, the heart speaks, so whatever you treasure in your heart is what you talk about to others. Are most of your conversations about cars? Then that is the treasure of your heart. Are most of your conversation about your family? Than your treasure is your family. Is most of your conversation about Jesus? Than your treasure is Jesus. Does your heart moan and complain about troubles and problems? Than you are living for strife and comfort. Someone may say, "I want to get rid of strife and discomfort." Yes, If you complain about it and it is on your mind and heart a lot, that is where your treasure lies. Just because you are going through strife and discomfort and trials doesn't mean you have to hold those things in your heart. No matter what you are going through, if you are willing to honor God above everything, even your own comfort, your heart will be on Jesus.
Jesus is the desire of my heart, and I guard my heart. If I find that difficulties, and problems and stray worries and strife is occupying my heart and mind I begin to repent, and place my mind and heart onto Jesus. Only Jesus gives life. Only Jesus gives joy, peace and the Spirit of God that gives me the strength to persevere. No matter what I face, my responsibility is to keep Christ Jesus as the center of my affections. I don't have to manage or fix my problem.
I place my mind on Christ and let him lead me and guide me through the trials. My responsibility is to stay my mind and heart on God, his responsibility is to take me through my trial and fix whatever is wrong. My only battle is to use the armor of God to keep myself IN CHRIST, that he is the center of my thoughts and affection. Most people battle to get the things they need and want. That is not your battle it is the LORD's. Your battle is to guard your heart, you stay your heart and mind on Jesus, and HE WILL win your battles. We are fighting to get what we want, but our only battle is to guard our hearts, when our heart is stayed on JESUS, God gives us the desire of our hearts!
No matter what I go through, if I fix my heart and mind on Jesus, I will have the peace, love and joy of the Holy Spirit to take me through it by the grace of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. You can't afford to take your eyes off of Jesus to manage your problems. If you let down the guard on your heart, anger is going to get in, depression is going to get in, panic is going to get in, strife is going to get in. Guard your heart and don't let anything take your heart away from Jesus as the center of it all. In doing so, you will find that God makes a way when there seems to be no way.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
God's promise, "I will give you rest"
We have been talking about the heart of man. In the book of Proverbs we are told to guard our hearts, because out of it comes the issues of life. What issues are you facing today. When our circumstances get desperate, the issues that are in our OWN hearts begin to rise to the surface. God does not want us to have a heart that is dominated by worries, anxieties, frustrations, anger or self pity.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.
God wants us to have a heart that is dominated by God's love. When we have the idea that our circumstances are going to have to change before we can be joyful, we are letting or circumstances dictate to us what life will be for us. How are we going to have a heart after God's own heart? By casting all of our cares on him. Some of us got something in our hands. We got a hand full of problems. Moses had a big problem. There was a big sea in his way. There are times that we think that everything would be OK, if we could only get this problem out of our way. Getting that sea out of the way only lead to ANOTHER problem...a desert without water. We look at our current problem and think if only I could get this problem to go away...but when it goes away, it just opens us up into another situation, another problem. This is how some have been living from day to day, year to year. Fix one problem run into another. You keep waiting for the problems to go away, so that you can finally have peace and soundness of mind, but they NEVER go away. Problems just keep coming, and coming, and coming.
When will the problems go away? It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous, to some degree there will always be problems, but you have to know what season of life you are currently in. We see in the story of Moses some of the seasons of our lives.
season one: In bondage in Egypt. Are you in bondage to any type of sin that has made you it's slave? If so you will face the oppression of that slavery until God delivers you from it. Why would you want to remain in slavery? Yet, when Moses went in to deliver them, some of them wanted to stay in slavery. Slavery was all they knew, they weren't confident that they could ever escape their slavery. It was easier just to stay where they were in bondage. This is how we are when we are in bondage to the sinful nature. It takes a lot of attention and effort on our lives to let God purge us, and wash us, and make us without spot or wrinkle. If you are in bondage to sinful living your problems will continue to come one right after the other. God keeps us right where we are until we learn to overcome this world. God wants you to learn that we reap what we sow, so do not sow to the flesh. You may think that the problem is your lack of money, or lack of relationships, or lack of provision or opportunity. Nothing is going to bring you to wholeness until you learn to stop living for the sins of the flesh. 'fixing' any of those other things will not bring you any closer to fulfillment. Serving a desire of your flesh will own you when you are in Egypt. You will lose everything in your life to serve that sin of the flesh that demands you feed it. When you learn to put to death the works of the flesh, and to put on the LORD Jesus Christ you will be ready to move into the second season.
season two: In the wilderness. When God has you in the wilderness, your life will go in circles until God let's you out of that wilderness. In the wilderness you are learning to overcome the sins of the soul. You see when you are in slavery in the world, you are learning to over come the sins of the flesh, but there are also sins of the soul. Your mind, your mouth, your heart...all of these things can sin, even when all you are doing is sitting still thinking...If we do not learn to overcome the sins of the soul, we will be walking all of our lives walking around in circles never getting anywhere. When God said, "don't doubt." He meant it. When God said, "don't worry." He meant it. When God said, "forgive others." He meant it. In the wilderness they weren't making any ground whatsoever and they had nothing but problem after problem, after problem...You lack of food and water, clothing, transportation, job, money or whatever is not your problem, the problem is in your own heart and soul. When God said, "learn to be content in everything" and "give thanks in all things." He meant it. In the wilderness you will serve LACK. All you see is lack. All you think about is what you don't have, what ain't working, what is NOT there. When you learn to honor God even above your own lack, you will be ready to go to the third season of life.
In the third season, God brings you out of your own lack in the wilderness, and gets you going a certain direction in life. It is here in the third season that you become a problem for the enemy. Instead of being oppressed of the devil, now you are taking out the devils stronghold. But, there are still problems. There are walls you must break down, rivers you must cross, enemies that you must expel. It is in this season that you are walking in faith and obedience to God, and just like Jesus you are going about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. Instead of the devil being a problem for you, you have become a real problem for the devil. Everywhere you go the kingdom of God has come close to those that you touch, and many are brought closer to God by your witness.
All of us want to be that person that is strong in the LORD taking down the enemies strongholds. You won't get there until you complete the first two seasons of your life. You must first learn to overcome your own flesh and soul before you will be able to take down the enemies strongholds. We are in bondage to our fleshly desires, griping, fussing, worried, angered...and then declaring the enemies strongholds are going to fall. yada yada yada...All that declaring and confessing is pointless when you are still in bondage in Egypt. All that declaring and confessing is pointless when you are still going in endless circles in the desert. You can confess, profess, declare, and tell the devil to beware all that you like, but, if God has not taken you across the Jordan, you are just shouting at the wind! The only way across the Jordan is through the red sea where you shed your flesh, and through the wilderness where you learn to quiet your soul upon God!
That brings us to the fourth season of life. God's rest. When you have overcome your flesh, overcome your soulful sinful desires, and torn down the enemies strongholds you have entered into your season of prosperity and rest. Now you have become God's stronghold, prosperous in God and in the power of his might. Lord God, may we all be given the grace to enter into your rest. amen.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.
God wants us to have a heart that is dominated by God's love. When we have the idea that our circumstances are going to have to change before we can be joyful, we are letting or circumstances dictate to us what life will be for us. How are we going to have a heart after God's own heart? By casting all of our cares on him. Some of us got something in our hands. We got a hand full of problems. Moses had a big problem. There was a big sea in his way. There are times that we think that everything would be OK, if we could only get this problem out of our way. Getting that sea out of the way only lead to ANOTHER problem...a desert without water. We look at our current problem and think if only I could get this problem to go away...but when it goes away, it just opens us up into another situation, another problem. This is how some have been living from day to day, year to year. Fix one problem run into another. You keep waiting for the problems to go away, so that you can finally have peace and soundness of mind, but they NEVER go away. Problems just keep coming, and coming, and coming.
When will the problems go away? It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous, to some degree there will always be problems, but you have to know what season of life you are currently in. We see in the story of Moses some of the seasons of our lives.
season one: In bondage in Egypt. Are you in bondage to any type of sin that has made you it's slave? If so you will face the oppression of that slavery until God delivers you from it. Why would you want to remain in slavery? Yet, when Moses went in to deliver them, some of them wanted to stay in slavery. Slavery was all they knew, they weren't confident that they could ever escape their slavery. It was easier just to stay where they were in bondage. This is how we are when we are in bondage to the sinful nature. It takes a lot of attention and effort on our lives to let God purge us, and wash us, and make us without spot or wrinkle. If you are in bondage to sinful living your problems will continue to come one right after the other. God keeps us right where we are until we learn to overcome this world. God wants you to learn that we reap what we sow, so do not sow to the flesh. You may think that the problem is your lack of money, or lack of relationships, or lack of provision or opportunity. Nothing is going to bring you to wholeness until you learn to stop living for the sins of the flesh. 'fixing' any of those other things will not bring you any closer to fulfillment. Serving a desire of your flesh will own you when you are in Egypt. You will lose everything in your life to serve that sin of the flesh that demands you feed it. When you learn to put to death the works of the flesh, and to put on the LORD Jesus Christ you will be ready to move into the second season.
season two: In the wilderness. When God has you in the wilderness, your life will go in circles until God let's you out of that wilderness. In the wilderness you are learning to overcome the sins of the soul. You see when you are in slavery in the world, you are learning to over come the sins of the flesh, but there are also sins of the soul. Your mind, your mouth, your heart...all of these things can sin, even when all you are doing is sitting still thinking...If we do not learn to overcome the sins of the soul, we will be walking all of our lives walking around in circles never getting anywhere. When God said, "don't doubt." He meant it. When God said, "don't worry." He meant it. When God said, "forgive others." He meant it. In the wilderness they weren't making any ground whatsoever and they had nothing but problem after problem, after problem...You lack of food and water, clothing, transportation, job, money or whatever is not your problem, the problem is in your own heart and soul. When God said, "learn to be content in everything" and "give thanks in all things." He meant it. In the wilderness you will serve LACK. All you see is lack. All you think about is what you don't have, what ain't working, what is NOT there. When you learn to honor God even above your own lack, you will be ready to go to the third season of life.
In the third season, God brings you out of your own lack in the wilderness, and gets you going a certain direction in life. It is here in the third season that you become a problem for the enemy. Instead of being oppressed of the devil, now you are taking out the devils stronghold. But, there are still problems. There are walls you must break down, rivers you must cross, enemies that you must expel. It is in this season that you are walking in faith and obedience to God, and just like Jesus you are going about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil. Instead of the devil being a problem for you, you have become a real problem for the devil. Everywhere you go the kingdom of God has come close to those that you touch, and many are brought closer to God by your witness.
All of us want to be that person that is strong in the LORD taking down the enemies strongholds. You won't get there until you complete the first two seasons of your life. You must first learn to overcome your own flesh and soul before you will be able to take down the enemies strongholds. We are in bondage to our fleshly desires, griping, fussing, worried, angered...and then declaring the enemies strongholds are going to fall. yada yada yada...All that declaring and confessing is pointless when you are still in bondage in Egypt. All that declaring and confessing is pointless when you are still going in endless circles in the desert. You can confess, profess, declare, and tell the devil to beware all that you like, but, if God has not taken you across the Jordan, you are just shouting at the wind! The only way across the Jordan is through the red sea where you shed your flesh, and through the wilderness where you learn to quiet your soul upon God!
That brings us to the fourth season of life. God's rest. When you have overcome your flesh, overcome your soulful sinful desires, and torn down the enemies strongholds you have entered into your season of prosperity and rest. Now you have become God's stronghold, prosperous in God and in the power of his might. Lord God, may we all be given the grace to enter into your rest. amen.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
It is in MY heart
Today we are going to continue to study about the heart of man. So far we have learned that God wants to give us a new heart that is one heart, stayed on him. A double hearted person has multiple problems through out life because of the uncertainty of their heart. Also we have learned that the issues that we have in life do not come from our circumstances. Our issues spring up out of our hearts. When your heart has issues, this world can toss you around like a rag doll. But, when your heart has been kept, and the issues in your heart are healed, you will be able to go through anything and keep the faith. Today we are going to look at what kind of issues are in the heart of mankind.
The first issue we will look at is the heart of Cain. Jealousy was an issue in his heart. Was it Abel's fault that Cain killed him? After all Abel was over there being a show off wasn't he, offering up a more better sacrifice. I'm sure that is the way Cain saw it. But the LORD said to Cain.
Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said to Cain, Why are you wroth? and why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.
Cain was unhappy, and he wanted to blame Abel, but the issue was not anything in the physical realm. The issue was an issue of Cain's heart and had NOTHING to do with Abel. Cain didn't offer the required offering and jealousy rose up and made an issue in his heart.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.
Those issues that you are facing right now, they are not there because of your circumstance, they are there because you have issues in YOUR heart. Someone wants to argue that they have been wronged, it is the other person that is the issue and not your own heart. What about Stephen who was stoned. I know that YOU have been done wrong, but you certainly have never been STONED TO DEATH. Stephen had his very life taken from him. Look at his circumstances. Yet, he was able to pray, "Lord, Lay not this sin to their charge" Why was he able to do this? Because he had no issues in his heart. Cain had an issue, he was jealous, and sin taking opportunity laid upon that jealousy and caused him to hate Abel for doing well.
You have to understand that just because you have a bad circumstance, does not mean you have to have an 'issue' as well. A bad circumstance doesn't have to send you into a tail spin of doubt, fear, anger, rebellion and hatred. If these things rise up in your heart, it was because those things were in your heart before the circumstance ever even came up. The circumstance only brought those things up to the surface, they did NOT create those things in your heart. The idea that you would be happy if your circumstance changed is false. Why? Because you are not going to be what you should be in God until you get all of those issues out of your heart. The circumstance is just the trigger that pulls them up. While we are so busy blaming others like Cain did, our own heart grows darker and darker. Until I stop blaming someone else, and I ask God to get my heart to a place where it is WITHOUT SPOT AND WITHOUT WRINKLE, I will continue to perish.
It is time to stop blaming our circumstances and blaming others for our bad behaviors and bad moods. If Paul can sing at midnight when he has been arrested, though he had committed no crime, we can be happy where we are in life too. We just have to get rid of some issues, and those issues are in our own hearts.
The first issue we will look at is the heart of Cain. Jealousy was an issue in his heart. Was it Abel's fault that Cain killed him? After all Abel was over there being a show off wasn't he, offering up a more better sacrifice. I'm sure that is the way Cain saw it. But the LORD said to Cain.
Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said to Cain, Why are you wroth? and why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.
Cain was unhappy, and he wanted to blame Abel, but the issue was not anything in the physical realm. The issue was an issue of Cain's heart and had NOTHING to do with Abel. Cain didn't offer the required offering and jealousy rose up and made an issue in his heart.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.
Those issues that you are facing right now, they are not there because of your circumstance, they are there because you have issues in YOUR heart. Someone wants to argue that they have been wronged, it is the other person that is the issue and not your own heart. What about Stephen who was stoned. I know that YOU have been done wrong, but you certainly have never been STONED TO DEATH. Stephen had his very life taken from him. Look at his circumstances. Yet, he was able to pray, "Lord, Lay not this sin to their charge" Why was he able to do this? Because he had no issues in his heart. Cain had an issue, he was jealous, and sin taking opportunity laid upon that jealousy and caused him to hate Abel for doing well.
You have to understand that just because you have a bad circumstance, does not mean you have to have an 'issue' as well. A bad circumstance doesn't have to send you into a tail spin of doubt, fear, anger, rebellion and hatred. If these things rise up in your heart, it was because those things were in your heart before the circumstance ever even came up. The circumstance only brought those things up to the surface, they did NOT create those things in your heart. The idea that you would be happy if your circumstance changed is false. Why? Because you are not going to be what you should be in God until you get all of those issues out of your heart. The circumstance is just the trigger that pulls them up. While we are so busy blaming others like Cain did, our own heart grows darker and darker. Until I stop blaming someone else, and I ask God to get my heart to a place where it is WITHOUT SPOT AND WITHOUT WRINKLE, I will continue to perish.
It is time to stop blaming our circumstances and blaming others for our bad behaviors and bad moods. If Paul can sing at midnight when he has been arrested, though he had committed no crime, we can be happy where we are in life too. We just have to get rid of some issues, and those issues are in our own hearts.
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