Soapy Water

Hebrews 10:21-24 (NLT)

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Have you ever been really thirsty seeking a cold beverage? You head into the kitchen and grab your favorite glass stacked neatly in the cabinet. After filling the glass with ice, you pour sweet tea or ice cold water to the top finally it is time to quench your thirst. As you take it to your lips and begin to partake that which you greatly desired, it becomes apparent there is a problem. Small bubbles begin to form in your mouth as you look for a place to rid yourself of the awful taste or dare to swallow it for relief. Either way, you have a mouth full of soap. The glass chosen had not been rinsed properly and hidden inside was the residue of the cleanser that was used to clean it. Your moment of satisfaction is squelched by the overcoming disgust of the bitter taste of soap.

A clean heart is a requirement of those who want to live in the Presence of God. Those who thirst after righteousness must experience the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. It was “sprinkled” to make us clean as our bodies were “washed with pure water.” This careful process provided by our Savior and executed by our Father through the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to take care of the sin problem that threatens to overtake us causing a rampant disease that will weaken our faith, destroy our trust and kill our hope. However, we must never underestimate how powerful the blood of Jesus is. It is an injection of such magnitude that it will permeate every cell of your being and every second of your existence until we are with God. All that power in just one drop. It is permanent. Though there is a daily struggle with sin and it is impossible to live a sinless life so therefore the blood of Jesus is absolutely essential but it only takes a drop to cover every single sin ever committed. It is all in the blood. But God goes further to wash us with the pure water of His Word which is filled with every single promise that God ever made to us. We have to go through the blood to the washing of the Word to live as God intended. But often, believers cannot get past the sin problem to the water flow. They live constantly in the cleanser and it causes a bitterness to rise up as they struggle to experience God’s Glory manifested. What hinders us from reaching the refreshing pure water of God? Why are we constantly faced with the cleansing process?

God has called us to a life of obedience. Consecration is the act of setting apart. When we live in constant contact with our Savior and adjust our living standard to match His Guide, then we experience the Promises of God in our life. The Promises of God hold peace, love, joy, and hope for every born-again Christian. Everyone must be cleansed by the Blood of Jesus to attain these things. However to experience the sweet goodness of God and be satisfied, it is imperative to live beyond the constant need for the radical cleansing experiences due to overexposure to the world and all the filthy residue it leaves behind to a daily washing in God’s Purity. It means living in the holiness of the Presence of God. Once there the Blood of Jesus is actively purifying you thereby allowing you to dwell in God’s Presence, but when we choose to leave and return to the sin of this world it requires coming through the blood again. Those who choose to constantly go back and forth will experience bitterness and frustration because they do not experience the manifestation of God’s Glory and His Promises in their life. It is that bitterness that the enemy uses to draw God’s Children back into the world where “anything goes” is the order of the day and sin destroys the lives of God’s Beloved. When a doctor prepares for surgery, he rigorously cleanses his arms and hands. He removes his daily living clothes that germs can live in and wears sterile scrubs. He dons gloves and enters the heavily sanitized operating room. As long as he does not leave this room, he is considered sterile and uncompromising to the patient. However, should he leave the room and go into the germ-filled hospital, the entire process would have to be repeated all over again. Therefore the doctor chooses to stay in the operating room until the procedure is complete. God is calling His Children to remain in His Presence until their Purpose is complete and they are with Him in Eternity! In this place is no bitterness and frustration, all that you desire and thirst for is waiting for you!

Psalm 19:13-14 (NLT)

Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

To experience the refreshing, revitalizing and satisfying pure water of God’s Promises, we must move beyond the need for constant cleansing and live in the Presence of God. Sin cannot be in control in this environment, it must be the Lord. The Message Bible says, “Keep me from stupid sins and from thinking I can take over your work”. If we can just move beyond the sin that attempts to reside in our life and move into the Presence of God with our whole being and entire life, there we will be satisfied. Bitterness has no place in God’s Courts. Break the cycle of constant sin and move into a new life standard that demands the Glory of God through obedience and discipline! You will experience to Glory of God and be satisfied beyond your greatest expectation!

Emptiness Revealed

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (Message)

Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God. I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain!

Consider the age old question, “Is the cup half empty or half full?” Both answers are correct, the difference in the answer is determined by the condition on which you focus. To those who live in fear of lack and poverty, it is a constant focus on what is going out of life and the preservation of what remains. To those who live by faith and maintain hope, it is a rejoicing in what God has provided and the manifestation of His Promise. The Word of God declares that the eye is the “lamp of the body.” It determines the “light” that floods our mind, soul and body. Therefore human focus is important to the condition of our perspective as we walk through life. What do you see as you look around today? Are your eyes drawn to what is missing in your life or all that God has done and has promised to do? The prophet Habakkuk understood this philosophy well as he looked around while he noticed emptiness all around. The beauty, pleasure, provision and sustenance were all void of fulfillment, yet his vision did not become fixated on such things. No, Habakkuk was praising God that these things did not predict his future but provided an opportunity for God’s Promise to take effect.

Whatever is lacking in your life today is a product of God’s Plan. His Promise concerning you is excellent and without flaw. As we focus on those things we feel to be important yet are absent from our life, we become dissatisfied and fearful. Afraid that our life will remain unfulfilled and incomplete desperation calls for instant action and we begin to cram the world into the places God has specifically designed for His Blessing! The things that are currently missing create an opportunity for God to show His Supernatural Power and Amazing Love for you. Emptiness is a cleaning out of those things that stand in the way of your blessing! God is preparing your life to receive that which He has promised. He is calling you into position to receive all that He has promised you! At the end of your ability to provide for yourself in the natural realm is a juncture for God to take over your care and show Himself faithful and true. When your mind tells you it can no longer comprehend how to see your dream to completion, God comes on the scene and says, “I have an idea.” The creation of a problem too big for human solution creates a blank space for God to provide the answer. All of these wonderful promises are available to the one who is able to shift their focus from emptiness to opportunity and to the one who can focus on the faithfulness of God!

Who are you counting on today? If you are counting on your own ability to maintain all that God has placed in your life, it is a futile effort. Things do not impress God – therefore they are unimportant! God’s total focus is on you today! He longs for your focus in exchange. Without exception, He is longing to fill your life with the great promises He has spoken to you. Your job is to prepare your Spirit to receive and faith opens that doorway. We must begin to “count on God”. We must rejoice in the coming promise and invite our faces, attitudes and hearts to join along. Like men, women and children who usher in the triumphant arrival of returning troops or a holiday parade, we must usher in the promise of God! When this happens, strength fills our heart. We will begin to see God at work in life and regardless of the current situation, it will become apparent that as God’s Child that nothing is impossible! The biggest obstacle is probably for those who have lived in contentment and experienced great loss. It is in that moment that one feels abandoned by God even though God was right there. The pain of the chasm left behind invites doubt, fear and remorse to flood one’s soul. Naomi felt such bitterness after losing her family and security. (Ruth 1:21) How could she ever know that she would be instrumental in the lineage of Jesus Christ through her relationship with Ruth? Release the finite thinking of trivial appearances and earthly trinkets and focus on the fulfillment of all that God has promised!

Romans 4:19-25 (Message)

Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.

God is faithful to fulfill every single promise that He has made no matter how large or small. He will create places in your life to plant these blessings. It is counted as to righteousness for those who are able to endure emptiness in life as they await God’s Ultimate Provision of His Supernatural Favor into their life! Are you that person today? Return your focus to that which God has promised you and rejoice in its coming. In exchange, God will continue to prepare the place for your promise, perfect its timing and release it into your life very soon! In answer to the question, your cup is more than half full it is about to overflow!

Unclaimed Grace

Romans 5:20-21 (Message)

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

It is the time of year when man benefits from his efforts through the harvest. Whether it is from literally laboring over the ground to produce a crop or a striving effort in the workplace to produce a paycheck, everyone produces something in life. According to Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, it is good for man to enjoy the things like food that are produced “under the sun.” Most everyone would agree that the harder one works in the natural, the more benefits that are experienced. However, if a person only works and never enjoys the blessing from his labor, his life has been robbed of time in exchange for regret. Just as a farmer who has carefully nurtured and toiled over a field would not forget to harvest the crop that soon thrives there, who would labor only to ignore the benefit? Seldom is it true that a man or woman who works hard for their employer neglects to pick up their paycheck at the end of the week. Rightly so, people labor for their blessing every day and would never dream of walking away without their just reward.

Repentance is toiling before the Lord. It is a conscious effort to seek the forgiveness of God and physically, spiritually and emotionally turn from sin to chase after the Lord! It takes work. The grip of sin is a tough stronghold that demands the touch of the Savior to experience release. While there is nothing people can do about the sin itself, it is a heavy load to bear and even more burdensome when it is dealt with. Why does it seem that while we labor in the workplace for monetary means it is almost impossible for some people to carry their burdens to Jesus in exchange for His Blessing? The exchange is when we deposit our sin into the Hands of Jesus and repent or turn from that sinful life to receive the Grace of God. Why is it that we walk away from the Harvest of God’s Favor after laboring to give Him everything? Repentance is a useless endeavor without the overflowing Grace of God!

When people repent it is a personal reaction to the awareness that sin has infiltrated life and become detrimental to our existence. It is a call to action that desperately seeks a life changing experience with the Lord. In that moment of abandoning sin, humility floods our soul shedding light on the void that is left behind. As a farmer plows a field, our heart is now equally as fertile and ready to receive all that God has. However, our mind tells us that we do not deserve God’s Grace, Love or Favor. The revelation of unworthiness in connection with the enemy’s taunts drive people from the altar on a mission to work out salvation alone and without the help of our Father! It is the greatest robbery ever committed against a Child of God when satan is able to keep them from experiencing the full measure of Grace that God intended! Repentance creates a cup that can only be filled with the matchless Grace of God and His unmerited Favor. The world will gladly provide cheap imitations that can be personally achieved through stringent living under the Old Testament laws, but God sent Jesus to provide us with freedom like we have never known! Perfection has never been God’s Requirement, strictly repentance. You have done your part! Have you walked away from your blessing today in an attempt to labor for God’s Salvation, Favor or Grace? The Holy Spirit is calling to you today. He says, “Hey, wait a minute! You forgot your gift just for meeting God! Stop, you forgot your grace today!” Won’t you listen to His Voice and experience the precious gift of grace and favor that God has for! You didn’t earn it and do not have the ability to do so, however; your labor was in the repentance by bringing all that you had in exchange for all that only God could offer!

Psalm 36:5-9 (NLT)

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Congratulations! You have a great reward waiting just for you at the place where you chose to repent and turn to God! Did you forget to claim the mercy of God and the Grace of our Lord! It is waiting for you in His Presence with your name on it. Claim it today! Live in it! God’s unfailing love is precious and can completely change the lives of those who choose to accept it.  Sorry you will never be able to work hard enough to obtain it as it is an exclusive item for the members of God’s Kingdom only! God’s abundance is for you and will permeate the life of those who choose the freedom that the Grace of God provides. No more working to death for the simple provisions let along the vast resources available to the Creator of the Universe! Don’t delay – pick up God’s Grace, deposit into your life account and watch the supernatural, incomprehensible, overflowing love, mercy, hope and joy of your Father flood your life!

False Starts

Galatians 3:2-6 (NLT)

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

There is a penalty in football known as a false start. Both teams face each other on the line of scrimmage, face-to-face eagerly awaiting the ball to go into play so that they may complete their assignment. Their job could be to block, tackle, run, receive or throw the ball, all part of a plan for victory carefully orchestrated in the coach’s playbook.  Each person has practiced for weeks and months before this game just to execute their duty skillfully and accurately on game day. As they come together in that moment, anticipation is at an all time high, flexing every muscle as their heart threatens to explode from their chest, the only thing on their mind is completing the job they have been assigned. Focused on the man on the other side of the line, sometimes a player’s focus drifts from the snap count and the signal that the play has begun causing them to jump into action too soon. The whistle blows and the referee signals for a “false start” penalty. The price is five more yards between them and their goal. Sometimes those yards can be easily retrieved and other times it may be the mistake that costs their team the game. What drew the man from his focus on the game? He became completely focused on the opposition and not the long term goal. Mistakes and penalties are costly in football and in life. Teams that have repetitive penalties do not win ball games and people who continually make the same mistakes do not claim the ground between them and the precious Promise of God which they seek. The football player becomes too intent on watching his opponent that he is able to be drawn off the line or lose his objective. As we chase the Promise of God for our life, it is not uncommon to experience a “false start” along the way as our opponent, satan, attempts to stop progress.

Abraham bore the weight of a great Promise from His Father. He would be the father of many nations. The only problem was that his wife could not seem to bear a child. As Abraham waited on God, he and Sarah became desperate for the plan of God to be called to action. Desperate to see God’s Hand in their life, they decided to assist God. Hence Hagar and Ishmael came into the picture, it was a false start. God did not intend for Abraham and Sarah to complete His Promise, He had a Plan. The plan required certain things from Abraham. Often God spends more time preparing His Children for their Promise, then actually achieving the Purpose in their life. God’s Plan and His Timing certainly could have been interrupted by His Child’s mistake. Abraham incurred a penalty for his lack of focus. He jumped the gun and there is always a price. However, God’s plan did not change. Just as a football team may have penalties and setbacks, their ultimate goal is still to win the game. Multiple setbacks have a way of blinding us to the Promise of God for our life but God has not given up on His Plan for you! It is time to focus on the Promise and not so much on the process.

God is calling us back to the line of scrimmage to achieve the Promise that He has been preparing us for most diligently. The line of scrimmage in football is the place of action! It is where yards are gained and forfeited. It requires relying on the discipline built through a life of conditioning. The football player uses weights and training while God’s Children use His Word and prayer! The line of scrimmage for a Christian is that place where Kingdom Real Estate is gained or forfeited. It is imperative that our focus remains totally on God the playmaker for our life and that we do not become engrossed with our opposition. We must wait for the Holy Spirit to release us into action and not react to the moves of the enemy. His goal is to have us move off the line and cause the play to stop. If he can draw you way from the Plan of God, he is able to stall your purpose. The good news is that the devil has no power to stop your progress, stalemate your purpose or steal your victory. He can however clutter the way with frustration and disappointment to hinder us along the way! False starts create consequences that must be dealt with and that takes time away from actually gaining the ground we desperately seek between us and our Promise. God has called you to be a finisher and the fewer detours the less distance between you and your goal! (Ecc. 7:8)

I Corinthians 15:58 (NLT)

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

God has provided victory for life if we will just focus on His Plan. When we become immovable from that which the Lord has set before us and move only at His Command an amazing thing begins to happen – PROGRESS! We could all use some small victories in our day-to-day life not to mention the realization of God’s Purpose for us! To do so, we must purpose in our hearts to be “strong and immovable”. To do so, it is imperative that we become so focused on the Plan of God that we are able to ignore the tricks and taunts of the enemy in a vain attempt to draw us away from God! You can do it! The Holy Spirit is eternal insurance for victory! He knows the plan! He is well aware of your purpose! Reclaim your focus today! Victory will follow!

Pretty Packages

I Peter 3:3-4 (Amplified)

Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; but let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God. 

Christmas is just around the corner with all the thrills the giggles and squeals of young children who anxiously await with great anticipation the surprises of that fabulous morning when their young dreams are realized in carefully wrapped packages scattered under the tree. We have been experiencing the joy of Christmas morning through the eyes of a child for 19 years and nothing brings me greater joy than their excitement. With years of experience, it would be safe to say that not all of our holiday purchases have turned out to be what was expected. The packaging and promotion indicated the perfect toy but upon closer inspection once the box was opened it became apparent that these items don’t always live up to the hype. Nothing is worse than the disappointment felt after such anticipation when the gift does not meet its expectation or due to poor quality immediately breaks. Last year was no exception, upon purchasing the toy of the season and all of its accessories imagine our frustration when our child had to put it all to the side for a post holiday return. We were misled by the advertising and the adornment of the box the toy came in only to find out it could not live up to our expectation.

It is apparent that people are attracted to nice adornments in life. Pretty and popular things attract others and in merchandising it opens their wallet. Ads are filled with beautiful “perfect” people because if you use their product you too will look that way or be that person. It is all about the way things look in the natural world. God is not concerned with the way things look for God looks for people who live by faith (Hebrews 11:1). When we adorn something, we actually decorate or add beauty to make it more pleasing, attractive and impressive. Unfortunately, we can become consumed solely in perfecting what others can see rather than on what God sees.

God has called us to adorn ourselves on the inside rather than on the outside. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with maintaining one’s personal appearance, there is an extreme danger when our spirit man is neglected in the process. Externally it is important to exalt Christ, living in a way that literally points to Jesus Christ in everything we do. By living consecrated lives only possible by the touch of our Savior, removed from the world’s standard as the exaltation of Christ is literally to constantly raise Jesus Christ as a banner over our life. But God is also calling us to prepare ourselves as the Bride of Christ by adorning our heart and preparing our spirit man to meet the Lord face-to-face. It is an intimacy that is developed through adoration that longs to be pleasing to the Lord only. I adore my husband! Therefore I long to please him because as I adore him my utmost esteem, love and respect for him calls me to be appealing to him and place things in my life to attract him. How much more so is our relationship with Jesus Christ?

There is a yearning of our spirit to connect with the Lord in an intimate and pleasing way. To do so we must remove the ugliness from our heart and mind and adorn it with the things that are attractive to our Savior. The Character of God must steadily replace the willful, selfish disposition of man. To adorn our lives as we carefully attach those God-honoring qualities as we perfect our appearance for the Lord. It is an inward change that will literally impact your outward appearance. The joy that floods a lover’s heart spills forth on their countenance when their partner is present. As we seek to attract the attention of God, we find that others will find us more attractive. The peace and love that will permeate our life will make it impossible for others not to notice. The Lord is a worthy lover for He is not fickle and clearly tells us in His Word and through the Holy Spirit what is desirable to Him!

Psalm 149:4-5 (Amplified)

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation and adorn the wretched with victory. Let the saints be joyful in the glory and beauty [which God confers upon them]; let them sing for joy upon their beds.

You are a pleasure to the Lord! There is an exchange made for those who exalt and adore God! By exalting Jesus in our daily life as evidenced by our walk, God will actually lift us higher to be a beacon to the world which will literally make us attractive to others. As we choose to adore our Savior and adorn our life with those things that are pleasing to Him, God will beautify our lives and adorn us with victory. The spoils of battle are great and God is looking to make even the weakest of His Children as a mighty warrior who is adorned in the reward of battle. The beauty of this world is not true beauty as it will fade and cannot be maintained for a lifetime by human standards but the beauty of God in our life just gets brighter and more appealing every day! It attracts the perfect lover to our life – our Lord Jesus Christ! If the Lord opened your heart today, what would He find? Would He be disappointed that the outward package of your life did not match the inward condition of your heart? We are all in preparation for the day that our lives will be open before God. May the cry of our today be that we are adorned in the beauty of God and the delight of our wonderful Savior!

Keep It Simple

I Corinthians 7:29-31 (Message)

I do want to point out, friends that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple —in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

Why do human begins thrive on complicated lives? It is human nature to clutter our lives with meaningless endeavors and selfish pursuits that lead the way to disappointment, frustration, anxiety and fear. The enemy sits on the sidelines of this marathon known as the rat race and thrusts obstacles and barriers meant to trip and trap God’s Children as they race to Eternity. He cleverly disguises these tricks as important and valuable aspects of life when really they have no value and mean very little to the Kingdom of God. The comforts in life which we seek add complications to life because nothing is simple outside of the Will of God and there are aspects pertaining to our journey that will bring heartache and complications because of the sin factor. Everything in our life is subject to the poison of sin which takes the simple instructions of our Father and makes them insurmountable tasks. The war is not on the outside of our body but rather inside our mind as we attempt to complicate our lives with the natural and supernatural aspects of our existence. There is not room for both because we become overcrowded. The wonderful freedom that God has given us through Jesus Christ makes all things permissible but not all things beneficial! (I Cor. 10:23)

God has provided an absolutely fabulous housekeeper for our mind – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is willing to take every thought and evaluate it for the simplicity of God’s Promise and will remove those things which are attempting to taint God’s Best for your life. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul uses the analogy of marriage. While marriage is certainly ordained by God, it does add complexity to life. Anyone married more than five days will attest that it requires time and effort that could be spent serving God. It demands attention and balance. But if this is the case, why did God create marriage in the Garden of Eden between Adam and Eve? Adam and Eve were sinless when marriage was created and there was nothing to threaten the institution of God. It was simple. When sin came into the picture it brought a life full of complications. Life began as a simple walk with the Lord and has now evolved in a fight for a moment with God. Complication began when sin entered the world and has grown with great magnitude as the enemy fights to distract God’s Children from a thriving relationship with God through Jesus Christ! Life has become so complex in fact, it is more difficult for people to believe that grace and mercy are so simple and a relationship with Jesus Christ does not come with a high price tag. There is no drama in Christ and people struggle to understand and comprehend this peace in a world of chaos.

It is time to simplify life! How you ask? The Holy Spirit stands at your service. God’s Spirit has the ability to evaluate every situation in your life to remove the complexity and apply the simple truth that God has spoken over you! It is time to remove the entanglements that are separating you from a life with your Father. Eternity may seem like a long way away, but a life in God’s Presence in constant communion with Him is available when we submit our lives to the Holy Spirit’s evaluation and restructuring. Hoarding difficulties in fear of losing that which you have worked for is like filling your house with garbage because of the price you paid for the item that has now been used. It is ridiculous to think someone would hold on to trash as treasure yet it is a real condition for some people and an even more reality in the life of God’s Children. It is time to let go of the clutter of complexity and embrace the simple promises that God has laid before you. Words of doubt and questions fill the atmosphere with complication because they are not governed by faith but fear. It opens the door to heartache and headaches because it is complex. In our exhaustion, the enemy takes over and we become entrenched in the despair of disappointment and regret. Shake it off today in the Name of Jesus!

Psalm 116:5-7 (NIV)

The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.

My friend, God is able to meet every single need that you will ever have and His Compassion requires Him to care dutifully for you! He loves you! It really is that simple. The complications of your job, family, debt, and other variables were created by moving beyond the simple life God created for you! While you still have to work, the workplace can be changed by an attitude of submission to Jesus Christ and working as if He was your supervisor. While you cannot change your family nor would you want to, it is up to you to invite Jesus to live in your home with you and slam shut the door to the world’s invasion of your family. Living simply within the provision of God and not squandering it for the things of this world will release you from the complicated prison of debt and loss. The Lord protects the simpleminded people who have chosen to focus on Him. His Ways and His Purpose are really quite simple! He not only promises to save you but to bring peace to those who choose to simply follow the Lord! Freedom is part of God’s Promise but participation is up to you! Begin to live simply today and choose to be free!

Today is Perfect

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 (NLT)

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

To be a farmer almost seems in the same thing as becoming a professional gambler, as you must make the initial investment not knowing what the outcome will be. Both professions require something without a promise of a fruitful return. The farmer labors over the land, plants the seeds, fertilizes the crop, waters it, and hopes there will be a season of harvest. A gambler studies the odds and participants and places his bet according his perception of his own odds of winning. Such uncertainty makes one wonder why either would ever engage in such activity, many people could not imagine the pressure of waiting on uncertain outcomes. In fact, Christians struggle with the same type of commitment. It is impossible to wait for perfect circumstances to trust God but we try to do just that. Asking God question after question about the outcomes we desire in life, all the while being afraid to commit our lives to His Outcome.

When a farmer plants a particular crop, he has in mind the harvest that he will receive. For example if the farmer was to plant corn and coffee came out of the ground, needless to say he would be quite perplexed. He has the equipment to harvest corn, the storage devices to preserve the corn, and the buyer to purchase the corn so the coffee presents a problem. Each farmer plants with an expectation specifically of what he will harvest. Indeed, the farmer generally harvests exactly what he plants unless there was a problem with the seed. It is a cycle of nature. However, as a Christian, we cannot predict what God chooses to do with the seed that we put in the ground. It is totally dependent on the Lord what harvest His Children will yield. For many believers whether they realize it or not, this is a problem so they limit God in their sowing because what they will reap is a concern. Until God’s Children can believe that knowing everything God is about to do in advance is not part of God’s plan for sowing and reaping, they will continue to be disappointed in their “harvest” because faith is required! To receive all that God has for you requires faith like a crop must have the rain. Are you satisfied with the “harvests” in your life? What have you planted lately?

“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.”  God has an amazing way of showing us His Gigantic Truth in the simplest way. As Children of God, we operate in the same sowing and reaping system as the farmer. Each day God’s mercies are new and carefully deposited into our life for our use. He gives us another day to use however we choose. The Lord grants us resources for that moment and the freedom to choose how we will use them. We are given everything that we need to produce abundant blessing in our life. However, when we hoard it for today in fear of tomorrow and never release it to the Lord, it becomes utterly useless and of no worth. God is waiting for His Children to stop waiting for the “perfect” time to serve Him and throw caution to the wind and do it now. That means sowing everything into the Lord by faith and waiting for the harvest of His Choice. When we sow, we will reap! It is a promise but the reward is God’s Choice and His Plan. Fear tells us that we will not be satisfied with God’s Best, or that He will forget us or that His Reward will come too late. All lies from the enemy who is planting weeds into your field of promise in hopes of choking out your blessing. Friends, there are things that God does on our behalf that we will never understand until we stand with Him Face-to-Face, and that is just part of our journey on earth and finite understanding. However, His Promises are true and untainted by sinful nature or desire, His Blessings are real! It is the sowing season, are you ready to start sowing into the Lord again?

Galatians 6:7-8 (Message)

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

Ignore the clouds that are covering your life today, the Son is still there. The rocks and weeds that threaten your life will be cleared by the Hand of the Master if you permit Him to! He is ready to bless you with an abundant and pleasing harvest, but you must plant something in order to receive it. God is nudging you to release what you have for something greater, now is the time to do it! The world will never seem like the right environment for God’s Greatest Blessing because it is filled with ugliness and sin but God is able to produce His Goodness in the midst of His Children who live in obedience. Repentance clears the rocks. Prayer removes the weeds. Faith plants the seeds. God gives the increase! Release that which is keeping you from your harvest and allow the Holy Spirit to tend the fields while you continue to plant! Your blessing is coming when you do! God’s Promise for you will begin to sprout and before you know it your tiny garden will become an endless field of God’s Abundant blessing! Today is the PERFECT day to start a garden!

God’s Grace Givers

2 Corinthians 9:9-11(Message)

God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, “He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.” This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

In the midst of the season of harvest, the rich, abundant fields are evident while traveling winding country roads. The deep colors of fall are a banner and the rustling wind is a call to gather and share the goodness of God with the ones that we love. It is a time of coming together! For many this time of year can be difficult, especially those who are lacking something to share. The feeling of insufficiency can hinder the great memories in the making over the fast approaching festivities. October prepares the way to November and a season of Thanksgiving which rolls quickly into the Celebration of Christmas and the birth of our Savior. The sharing season changes to the giving season. However, to those who feel they have nothing to share much less give to others the heavy clouds of depression threaten to rob them of the great blessings of these cherished seasons. God has extended grace into our lives to meet our every need without exception. God desires the fellowship of His Children. He fills the baskets of our life to share with others specifically for this purpose. Maybe today, we should evaluate the contents of our “life basket” to decide if we have allowed our Lord to carefully fill it with His Goodness or if we have allowed the world to clutter it with rotten rubbish! Fall calls for great cleanups including homes, yards and life. The crisp cool refreshing breeze of autumn calls us to be grace givers as we prepare to share the great goodness of God during the upcoming Holiday Season.

“God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways” is absolutely true. He can! In ways that will blow us away, God can meet and exceed our needs and radically change any situation. So why doesn’t God just bless all His Children without exception? What is the hold up? God has a principle in His Giving as He does in everything that He does. God is a God of Purpose and does not operate randomly. The Bible says that God gives seed to the sower. The one who is willing to cultivate it, plant it, water it, nurture it, harvest it, and share it. His abundance is too great to be left in the coffers of our life to spoil. The selfishness of human nature will boast of God’s Greatness while hoarding His Grace and Goodness manifested in life for personal use. God’s increase is never to lift up man but to glorify the Father. Burgeoning bank accounts do not testify the extravagance of God, it is in the release of His Grace that God smiles and approves. God gives you a measure of provision, but then He goes one step farther and gives you some to give away. This principle not only applies to money and food but goes even deeper. Your time will be multiplied if it is given for others. Your faith will increase if it is shared. God’s Grace will explode supernaturally when extended to those who attempt to harm you or hurt you! What you give – God will increase in your life without exception! God’s Purpose is for all to experience His Grace and Goodness and His Purpose for His Children is to be His Extension of Giving here on earth – we are His Grace Givers.

What are you lacking today? Do the unthinkable and attempt to share what you lack? What do you have to lose? In this simple act of faith, God will begin to explode in your life! Look beyond what you can see, because money will not bring you happiness and wealth will not bring you joy! Peace, love and joy are the cries of the human heart and monetary means are just poor attempts at a cure. God will make available to you the extravagance of everything that He has when you become a vessel of giving in His Name. Those who are not afraid to give it all away will experience the greatest blessing anyone has ever known because they have chosen more of God than the things of this world. Their faith exceeds what they can see or feel and is completely trusting in their Father’s ability to exceptionally care for them. Their heart beats in tune with the Father and is healthy and whole!

Matthew 25:20-21 (NLT)

The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!

When we are faithful with the things God places in our life, He is full of praise. Praise always brings a release. As Children of God, our praise releases the Hand of God on our behalf. When we become God’s Grace Givers sharing all that He has imparted in our life without exception, it pleases Him. God’s Presence is manifested in our life as He “celebrates” with us! Imagine experiencing the Joy of Your Father each and every day! His Gifts will begin to explode in your life as it is His Nature and He cannot change! All that you seek is in your willingness to be a vessel of the Lord today! Simply carry to others what God has given to you and make purposeful investments in the lives of others! God will in turn bless you even more to continue your good works! Be His Grace Giver today and experience a continuous flood of an abundance of grace and mercy that will carry you triumphantly through life!

Love God Day

I Corinthians 8:2-3 (NLT)

Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

This is a public service announcement to the Body of the Living Christ to take a moment from your daily walk today for a greater purpose. Today is a call to stop dragging those heavy loads of bondage from the guilt of insufficiency and past sins – just leave it where it is for now. If only for today, stop trying to be like “Johnny or Susie Super Christian” who is the perfect image of holiness. Clear your mind of the long list of things that you are changing for God today. It is now time for a break from the religious routine, obsolete quiet times and self-indulgent prayer. God is still on the throne and listening and will continue to do so tomorrow so there is no need to fret or worry, it can wait a day. Take a quick look in the mirror and say, “Hey you, I will get back to being totally involved in loving you today and meeting your needs tomorrow, I have a special appointment today!” Make it a point to stop checking bank accounts or worrying about your job and mourning your lost retirement, all those worries have a way of sustaining themselves and will await your return. Cease the agonizing for answer to questions that cannot be answered today but continually circulates in your mind for they will maintain a holding pattern on auto-pilot because the enemy wouldn’t have it any other way. “What Ifs” of doubt have the same superpower to keep themselves occupied until we choose to get back on the ride to nowhere. In Jesus Name, I call a halt to the madness of life today! By His Power and Authority, the chaos must stop today! It is “Love God Day”! Pure and simple without complication and condition, all God’s Children will cease their pursuits gone awry and pour out every ounce of love to the Father and not ask for a thing in return.

The person who loves God is the one that God recognizes. What a powerful statement! In the movie “Bruce Almighty”, Jim Carrey in his poor attempt to fulfill the duties of God for the day must answer all the people’s prayers as they come through on his email. With a cup of coffee in hand, Bruce sits down to answer a few “emails” only to be bombarded with millions of emails with the voices of God’s People in his head. Needless to say, while the movie is a comedy, one can only imagine the constant petitions that God hears day in and day out, 24 hours a day. Could it be that God is carefully listening to each prayer for that one person who says, “God I love you!” Nothing more or less, just “I love you”! As a parent, nothing gives me more joy than to hear my children speak those precious words without a request or petition attached. While their care is ultimately my responsibility it is quite refreshing to hear their expression of love for me. A hug can completely change my perspective and refill the joy drained by responsibility. God is listening to you today! He is attentive as always to your prayers and every word that you speak – He is straining His Ear to hear the voice of the one who loves Him! His People who truly love Him without exception are the ones who are willing to put aside their wants and needs if only for a day to lavish Him with great affection. Do you love God like that? Can you set aside a day just to love Him?

The love of God manifested in your life will without a doubt change you! In addition, loving God will make an even greater change! See to love God means we must release all the baggage that we lug through life because surrender changes the position of our hands. Open hands cannot hold tightly the past! Hands held high in worship are unable to carry the weight of the world. Mouths speaking praise and admiration to the One who loved us first can no longer complain to God about the current situation and strains. It cannot be used for evil because is speaking forth blessing over the Creator of the Universe. A mind concentrated on lavishing love on our Savior can no longer maintain regrets or thoughts of insufficiency or worry or doubt for it is only concerned with God and has chosen not to focus on itself! What a powerful release is experienced when we let go of all these burdens for a day of worshipping God and loving our Savior!

Romans 8:26-28 (NLT)

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

The craziest thing happens when we choose to focus on loving God. The Holy Spirit takes over to pray for us! By placing our needs, wants and desires in the Hands of God through the Holy Spirit to care for while we focus on loving God, His Purpose will begin to manifest in our life! So maybe after we celebrate “Love God Day” today, we can try it again tomorrow and just leave all those things that were weighing us down in the Hands of the Holy Spirit and continue to concentrate on the Lord! Suddenly everything will begin to fall into place and “work together for the good”! Why? Because you chose to fulfill God’s Purpose which was just to Love God!

God in a New Way

2 Corinthians 3:7-10 (NLT)

The old way with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.

Routine and ritual are the death of creative vibrant living. Threatening to suck the life out of you, routine calls for a daily schedule of unchangeable activity that demands to be adhered to. Like the dry erase boards in many households with its list of endless activities and chores with many to-dos, impending doom looms at the thought of missing an appointment or forgetting to pick up the dry-cleaning. Like a well-orchestrated dance, routine calls for the lead. There is comfort in routine for it symbolizes controlled living, but who is in control is more important. Ritual is not the friend that routine is and does not afford the comfort. It demands attention through obsessed thoughts. The thief of freedom it beats the mind into submission to its systematic and willful ways. Stuck in the proverbial rut with walls threatening to cave in on them, the world looks for a light in the darkness. Breaking free of the restrictive thinking of routine and ritual to reach beyond earthly activities into the spiritual realm will release the light that is desperately needed! The Holy Spirit waits quietly to reveal a new way of living! God has a new side to His Character that you have not experienced. He waits for you to step out of your routine and break free of your self-imposed restrictions and look to Jesus. It is time to see God in a whole new way!

Routine is a part of every organized human beings life. Even random-living individuals are bound to some form of schedule in order to continue from day to day. The schedules of life can threaten to overtake us until we forget to live and breathe as we go through life. Thinking becomes optional in a finely tuned list of events and do-and-don’ts. God is a God of Order no doubt but He is also a God of Glory. The Glory of God is breathtaking and life changing and it is in that exact place God has called us to live. Moses dared to venture into the glory of God and with a list of laws and restrictions in his hands which led to an almost certain death sentence re-emerged glowing from being in the Presence of God. Moses had seen God in a new way during the time he spent with the Lord! It could not be removed from his countenance. He glowed with God all over Him even though he was still in the wilderness, stuck in a rut, ruled by routine, and now with the Law of God to contend with – Moses’ encounter with God changed Him! God is multi-faceted! With each encounter in His Presence, there is more to know and more to find out! He has many sides but just one way! Now with even greater confidence, we may enter His Glorious Presence because Jesus paid the penalty for our lawbreaking ways and grace has been applied. Instead of attempting to make restitution for our failures, we gain access through Jesus and have an open invitation to dwell there as long as we choose.

God’s new way for you today is in the glory! Glory will change you each and every day because the goodness of God is not fully comprehended by human nature. It requires a daily serving of the mercy and grace of God and time in His Presence to allow it to cover you and penetrate your heart. This daily encounter will shatter your routine and halt your ritual because in the Lord condemnation is truly absent. As we continually begin to live in God’s Glory, His Brilliance, His Magnificence, His Excellence, His Faithfulness, His Goodness floods our life illuminating the insufficiencies, clearing out the clutter, making it beautiful because His Glory cannot change but has many ways of changing us and making our life better becomes evident as we meet Him at His Throne. Suddenly day-to-day tasks become second to knowing Jesus more and the need to please others and maintain earthly glory seems unimportant as your heart cries just to know Him more!

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (Message)

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Is your relationship with God stuck in a rut? Does life feel like a routine that is repeated day after day without a break? God’s Promise for your life is not found in a rut or routine, but in His Glory! He has a huge dose of it just waiting for those willing to enter His Presence to receive it! God is living, personal presence who longs to mess up your order to establish His Glory and Favor to brighten your otherwise dull existence. Things may seem okay for your today! Why live mundane existences when God is offering a magnificent journey filled with bright and beautiful tomorrows in spite of the world’s chaotic decent. God wants to show you a new side to His Love and Character each and every day. It will take a lifetime to begin to know our Heavenly Father. What an exciting love affair? The glory of new love always brightens human countenance but it fades. God promises to fill our life with constant brilliance when we live in His Presence and seek Him in a whole new way! Experience the glory of God today and live in its brightness!