Grace for your spirit August 31, 2009

Grace for your spirit

But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. Mt 15:18-19

If we are carrying a cup of liquid and someone bumps us, what spills out of the cup? That’s easy, whatever is in the cup spills out. As we walk through life and someone bumps us, what comes out? That’s easy, whatever is on the inside. Do the bumps in our lives, bring out our faith, or does it show our doubts and anger? We may be able to pretend to be filled with faith in good times, but watch out for that bump in the road. When our mouth opens, if we are defiled on the inside, all of it will proceed right out of our mouth. Let’s not just try to clean up our mouths, let’s clean up our hearts. Watch out, there’s a bump coming just around the next corner.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 28, 2009

Grace for your spirit

For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. II Corinthians 7:11

God doesn’t want us to just be sorry we got caught in our sins, He calls for us to have a godly sorrow. Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation, but it gives us so much more. As sinful people attempting to live a life of righteousness we are constantly under the microscope by others. Godly sorrow gives us a victory over such accusations, and fills us with zeal to continue our Christians walk. When we walk with the blood of Christ on our lives, we are vindicated from our shortcomings, and have a positive message of the freedom that we have in Christ. When we feel a little dull, are down in the dumps, carrying the guilt put on us by others, come to Him. Godly sorrow, and true repentance is our answer.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 27, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- Galatians 3:13

The Apostle Paul constantly was confronted by many Christians who were confused. Their devotion to Christ was being drained off by those who wanted them to go back to the Old Law. Paul illustrated their mistake in many ways. Here he calls the Law of Moses a curse. How could the Ten Commandments be a curse? It was a curse because no matter how hard anyone tried, they could not keep it, and no one could be saved by the effort of trying. The Law was designed to bring Christ into the world so He could bear that curse for us. He bore the curse when He bore our sins on the cross. It is dead, He is alive. It is an insult to want to share the cross and the Law. Let’s die to the Law permanently and live for Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 26, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, Ephesians 4:1

The Ephesian letter talks about how we should walk. We should walk in a worthy manner, as children of light, walking carefully with wisdom. The way we walk tells others a whole lot about our Christian character. As we exercise our Christian faith each day, our walk will reflect our confidence, and trust I walk the mall everyday for an hour. I can’t see big difference every day, but over time, my steps are surer, and I receive the benefits. Let’s walk in a worthy manner every day, so we never get too lazy to walk the Christian road with others. Someone down the road needs our encouragement. Giddy up. Let’s go! That’s the worthy walk.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 25, 2009

Grace for your spirit

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3

Most people go to the Bible to find facts. They look for commands about what is right and wrong, ways to please Him, and find eternal life. While that goal is wonderful, there are larger reasons to search His Word. God wants us to know Him, and to know Jesus the Christ. The Apostle Paul found joy and complete satisfaction in knowing Christ as Lord. To know the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings and His death burial and resurrection, was his goal, and it should be ours too. When we know God, He provides us with a framework for right living. The more we know God, the less we will need to look for His rules. We will please Him, and spend eternity with Him.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 24, 2009

Grace for your spirit

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins Col 1:13-15

When we are redeemed, we are transferred into the kingdom of Christ. Rescued from the darkness and delivered into the light for eternity, we need to make every effort to not get lost on the walk home. The best insurance against getting lost is to walk with the King. In Genesis five, Enoch walked with God, and God took him home with Him. The more we walk with Jesus, the closer we get to His house. I like that. If I ever went on an ocean cruise and stopped at a port, I would be concerned about missing the boat. I would therefore make the decision to stay with the Captain always. Jesus is our Captain on this voyage. Let’s stay close.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 21, 2009

Grace for your spirit

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, Romans 8:3

Which do we love more? Do we love our sin, or our sinoffering? We all have been given a choice for our earthly lives and for our eternal life. We can choose to serve sin and spend eternity in hell, or we can choose to serve Jesus, our special sinoffering, and enjoy eternity with God. No one can serve two masters. If we desire to escape condemnation and walk after His Spirit, God has a special gift for us all. We all sin, but God has given us a gift to bear our sins. Let’s open our gift right away and keep it close to our hearts.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 20, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

In the first days of the church, the apostles were a little embarrassing at times. They were obvious unlearned and ignorant men, yet they taught boldly in the face of strong persecution. Strong threats from authority did not turn them to the left or the right. What could give them such knowledge and boldness in their ministry? The only answer was that they had been with Jesus. Jesus had left the earth, but now He was living and working in them. A leader in the Jewish council warned the resistance to be careful. He said, “If they are of God, we will not be able to stop them.” Yes, they were of God, and no, they couldn’t be stopped. We may be an embarrassment at times, but when we wear the aroma of Christ, God will give us victory too.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 19, 2009

Grace for your spirit

When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. I Samuel 28:6

Saul was king of Israel and he was in big trouble. His life relationship with God had been a disaster. Because of his failure to obey the voice of God, the Spirit of the Lord had left him, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him daily. His kingdom had been ripped away from him. Now he wanted some help from the Lord, but did not get any answer. Did he have too much wax in his ears? If you can have spiritual ear wax, his ears were full. Often we have a big decision to make in life, and suddenly would like the Lord’s direction, but we get nothing. We don’t read His Word, or pray, and we can’t understand why we haven’t heard from Him. We might be surprised how a little repentance, study, and prayer could clean out our ears.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 18, 2009

Grace for your spirit

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:7-8

The devil wants us to believe that we are the center of everything, and we can live and do whatever we wish. The devil promotes the finger in the water bucket theory. We stick our finger in a bucket of water, and see no difference. We pull our finger out, and no one notices that it was ever in the water. We are not meant to be a rock or an island, as Paul Simon sang to us. The Christian life is directed to be a life of salt and light, living in active fellowship with one another. We do not live in a vacuum, and we will not go into eternity alone. Whether heaven or hell is our destination, we will take someone with us. It is time to choose what the Lord desires.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 17, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. Numbers 11:1

God hates it when He gives us His very best blessings, and then all we can do it complain. He had freed His family from bondage and was directing them to their promised land in a way that would make then thankful and strong. They were neither thankful nor strong. As parents, when we hear our kids complaining and running us down, it hurts our feelings. Then it makes us angry, and punishment will surely follow for the little ingrates. God is the same kind of parent. Hurt, angry, and then comes the fire. How can we break the cycle for us and God? When we repent, obey, are thankful, and satisfied, the cycle of blessings will continue. Let’s respond to the voice of our Lord before the firestorm hits us.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 14, 2009

Grace for your spirit

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Mark 8:38

Jesus has been selected to be our advocate with our Father. He will represent us before God in our daily lives, and on the judgment day. Do we really want Jesus to be ashamed of us? I want the one pleading my case before the judge to be my friend. We need to be bold and show the world with our actions and words that we are not ashamed to call Him Lord, and defend His cause. What are some warning signs? Well, for the Apostle Peter it was distance and denials. Following a long way behind Jesus, and warming himself by the wrong fires, made it a lot easier to deny Him. When we distance ourselves from Christ and even deny Him, we need to make better choices. Let’s choose boldness, not be ashamed.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 13, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Galatians 5:19-21

God knows the deeds that come from our sinful nature, and so does the devil. The difference is that God warns us to avoid them and enter His kingdom, and the devil sings us a tune encouraging us to continue in them. It is easy for the devil’s tune to take hold of our lives, because he appeals to our flesh. We know what God wants us to do, but we just keep hearing that sweet tune of the devil. Years ago there was a song like that called. “The Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.” The man knew he was supposed to doing something, but the rhythm got a hold on him. Don’t let the devil’s tune and rhythm get a hold on us. Shake loose.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 12, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. I Thessalonians 5:1-2

The Apostle Paul wrote letters to people who were consumed with the thought of Christ’s return. Some thought He had already returned and they missed it. Some though He had already returned and this was their punishment for missing Him. Others thought He would be here right away, so doing nothing would be appropriate. Paul told them to stop figuring and stop fretting, and get busy in the work of the Lord. Since then, many have consumed themselves trying to calculate the Lord’s. return date. Here was Paul’s advice; Stop it. It will be like a thief in the night. In other words, you won’t know it until it happens. Jesus doesn’t know the date, and you won’t either. Once last clue; the day you think…..that’s wrong!!

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23

Grace for your spirit August 11, 2009

Grace for your spirit

And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Mark 4:37

As the apostles were crossing the Sea of Galilee one night, they thought they had their boat in the water, but as it turned out the water was in the boat. Fearing the great storm and threat of sinking, they went to Jesus for help. They cried out to Him, “Don’t you care that we are perishing over here?” One song writer wrote of this incident, “No water can swallow the ship where lies, the Master of ocean and earth, and skies.” Do we know that? When we have more water in our boat than we can stand, may we all remember this one thing; when Jesus is in our boat, we will make it safely to the other side. The storms are coming, so before we cast off, someone needs to go check and see if He is in there.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 10, 2009

Grace for your spirit

If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32

When you ask people if they are a Christian, and they will most likely take you down memory lane. Back to a day long ago that they made their confession of faith and experienced their baptism into Christ. Most people can give you the date, time, and circumstances. History lessons are nice, but God is more interested in current events. When someone asks if you are saved, how about giving evidence of continuing in His Word since that day? A testimony of living a life a love and service that is taking place right now. These are the signs of the true disciple. These are the signs of one still living truly free.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 7, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Phil 4:8-9

As I walk the mall every day, I passed through the Cosmetic Dept. These women are on a mission. They constantly practice putting makeup on each other, and talking about their products. They try to look their best and prepare to help others look their best too. They are on a quest to make the ugly beautiful. What a model for our Christians mission. Focus on Jesus, allow Him to transform us, and spend our lives preparing to share the good news with others. Practice, practice, practice, brings peace, and helps make an ugly world beautiful.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 6, 2009

Grace for your spirit

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell Your holy hill ? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. Psalm 15:1-2

The Old Covenant Jews loved the trip to God’s Holy Hill. The Temple in Jerusalem was the place they could feel good. Unfortunately their lack of faithfulness would not allow them to abide there. Our tent of the Lord, our holy hill, is our life in Christ Jesus. Just going to our church services and going through the motions will not make us the person Christ wants, anymore than sitting in a henhouse will make us a chicken. To abide in Christ, we must be a commitment to integrity, living right and speaking truth. These qualities are only found when we surrender our lives to Christ. That allows us to abide in His tent forever.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 5, 2009

Grace for your spirit

One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed. Proverbs 19:17

There is so much instruction in the Bible that directs us to help those in need. The picture of the judgment day features blessings for those who fed, clothed, and visited the least, last, and lonely of this world. Even with all the scripture, there still seems to be a skeptical attitude among many Christians toward helping those who ask. Many think the poor are lying. Others think helping the needy will never do anything for the church in the future, and we will never get paid back. There is a fear that people are taking advantage of us. Fear not, says the Spirit of God. When we help the poor, we are loaning it to the Lord. Who could be a better risk that Him? Lay up those treasures in heaven.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 4, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, Deut 17:18-19

Hundreds of years before the first king, God gave them the formula for success. Don’t focus on power, money, and women. Make a public commitment to learn what the Lord wants, and carefully observe His commands. Next, take notes, write it down, and read it every day. What a great idea for everyone. When we make a public commitment to faithfulness, study, take notes, and read it, God will bless us in all we do. The kings never did it and they lost everything. Now it’s our turn to commit.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 3:23

Grace for your spirit August 3, 2009

Grace for your spirit

Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:12

This Psalm is answering that eternal question, where can I go to get away from the presence of God? Have we ever thought that since we are in the dark, God won’t be able to see what we are doing? Since God has the quality of being everywhere all the time, it should not be hard to realize that He sees us just as well in the darkness as in the light. So, the next time we think we can cover up our sins from His sight by turning off the lights and running away, let’s save our energy. Our efforts would be better served finding out what pleases Him, and doing those things. Can you remember times when you could have used this information? Yes, me too.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit

Philippians 4:23