Month: November 2012

Growth In The Wilderness?

James 1: 2, 3, 4

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith has been tested your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing.”

Our journey in the Christian walk is a narrow path of many different landscapes, distracting us from our focus on the Lord. The refreshing heights of success can make us proud and high-profile for temptation and set us up for a fall. The flat lands can be calm, but temptations rise where boredom lurks, enticing us to excitement. The valleys can be devastating as we encounter some of the lower than low moments in our lives, but it’s in these heights, these depths and these mediocre flat lands of nothingness where rare beauty lies waiting to be discovered and where the Lord calls us away to test our faith. It’s in the low places of failure and discouragement where our weary souls find restoration in His loving embrace, as we submit to His will. If we remain faithful and true to our God and His Truth we will emerge from our valley refreshed and rejuvenated, having grown in the maturity and the wisdom of Christ, our Savior and our teacher.

That for which we strive for as a believer, or our goal is to grow in Christ. Trials then, are reasons to celebrate with the inner joy of the Lord in our hearts. Let’s not lose sight of this precious and most valuable truth.

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Our Problem? Our Heart!


Romans 13: 6,7

“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

Our world is in a distressing condition with conflict upon conflict and wars within and between countries but more than that, within the hearts of individuals. Sin is man’s basic problem and he is hopelessly engulfed in it. We tend to believe that the problems are political or economical and are a result of unwise ruling and choices. At such a time a this, we must remember that even though God ordains governments and calls us to be subject to them in Roman 13: 6-7, it doesn’t mean that Satan isn’t roaming about seeking to get in there with his power and influence. Even though we may not approve of all that goes on in our government, it’s in God’s sovereign hands and it’s authority over us serves a divine purpose under God to bring about fulfillment of prophecy.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in Luke 20:26 with instruction to give to Caesar what was Caesars and give to God what belongs to Him. But, in all honesty, do we do that? Do we really give God all that is His by giving of our time, our prayer, our passion, our thoughts, and our trust? They all belong to Him, yet we hold back from Him on so many aspects of our living. He has so lavishly graced us with salvation and the Hope of Glory and yet we fail to focus on Him as our solution. Perhaps much change would happen within our homes, our families, our schools, our churches and our governments, if within our hearts we could find the respect and honor for our Creator; the all-knowing, omnipotent, and omnipresent God in charge and then because of our love for Him..treat others with the love, forgiveness, respect and honor that we owe them simply because God requires it of His people, His disciples and His followers.

Let’s be challenged today to honestly evaluate our own hearts before God before criticizing another. Perhaps our own spiritual laxadasical attitude plays a big role in the distressing condition that we find the world and it’s governments in. Perhaps the real problem lies within ourselves.

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God’s Will Prevails


Psalm 33: 12

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for his inheritance.”

Psalm 33 exhorts readers to praise God, to recognize the power of His word in creation and to fear our creator. It offers hope to forgiven sinners in that under the cleansing blood of Christ, they can live a new life under God’s hand of divine protection. His Word displays His character and a power that extends to ‘all’ nations. He speaks and creation is formed, boundaries are set, kings and leaders are established and nations are ruled and exalted or destroyed. Plans and schemes of mighty humanity will not prevail as Verse 10 confirms that God will confuse the plans of nations and thwart their evil schemes in order to bring His plan to fruition, fulfilling biblical prophecy. In His sovereignty, nothing will interfere with it. Nothing will stop it and nothing will counter His progress.

Today, His word still orders creation, still sets boundaries, still establishes rulers to govern and at His word and divine intervention nations will be exalted or destroyed for His glory. Those who fear this powerful, sovereign God; those who stand in awe of Him are His chosen inheritance Psalm 33: 13-19. We are either for Him or against Him, either with Him or without Him. We either stand in awe of Him or choose to ignore Him. We are either on His side, or we fight against Him. He is the victorious One, who will someday set up His mighty, victorious kingdom…We would do well, to grab the Victory shirt of salvation, fight the good fight of faith as one of His chosen and be assured of our glorious heavenly inheritance!

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Citizenship Loyalties?


Philippians 3:20

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

We must take into consideration the whole of chapter 3, then the word citizenship will fall into proper context regardless of the translation. In Chapter 3:20 our citizenship as a Christ one, is spoken of as “conversation” in the King James Version translation. The Greek word used in the KJV is of a very extensive meaning: our citizenship, our thoughts and our affections.

Just as traits of our nationality show in our dialect, dress, accent, traditions and foods, Christians then, heading for glory must live and conduct themselves as citizens of a glorious heaven. In Verse 14 Paul says, “I press onward towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.” So many believers live like they have no goal, no direction, and no concept of inheriting a heavenly citizenship. We get caught in the subtle ways of the world in our speech and behavior because that’s where our minds dwell.

Friends, it’s time to set our minds on the things of God and stand on the excellence of Christ’s example in our life presentation, as we await His glorious return. He is worthy of our very best and in honor of our Him, who is our Savior and our King, let’s honor Him and glorify Him, in our actions and behavior as we await His glorious kingdom!

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