Today I was reading in Jeremiah 6 and came across verses 13-15 that read:
13 “From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the LORD.
As I read this passage I couldn't help but think about myself and all the other leaders within the church.
Do we conduct ourselves in such a way that God is pleased with us? Do we blush when we do something that we shouldn't? Or do we go about like nothing ever happened?
I want to read this and say "That's not me! I would never do something wrong and do nothing about it." Yet I can't. Every day I am sure I miss an opportunity to be a light in another person's life. I am sure that I miss divine appointments from God to minister. I am confident that at some point in time a friend has come to me with something that was laying on them heavy and I simply dulled it down and said "Peace, Peace" when actually there was no peace for them at the time.
I want to make the most of every opportunity presented to me.
I want to make sure that I am allowing God to move in my life at all times. Not just when I WANT Him to move. God is ALWAYS at work. He is always reaching out to other people through His children. It's about high time for me to realize that everyday, God has some form of ministry for me to accomplish. God does not want us to have dry, bland, and ordinary lives. He wants us to have excitement and adventure, otherwise He wouldn't have created us to desire those things.
So my challenge from reading this passage is this: To blush when I don't act in accordance with God's word. To blush when I fall short of God's glory. To not simply say "Peace, Peace" to people, but to truly listen to them and minister to them. To take time every day to begin reaching out to those around me that may be hurting or suffering in this life.
THAT is what God has placed us here for. THAT is what we, as children of God, are called to do. God has BIG things in store for every single one of us, we just need to open our eyes and see the opportunities God is placing in front of us!
God Bless You!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Be My...
God,
Be my strength in my weakness
Be my security in the dangers of life
Be my light in the darkness
Be my provision in times of need
Be my comfort in times of pain
Be my patience in times of waiting
Be my everything in my life
Be my strength in my weakness
Be my security in the dangers of life
Be my light in the darkness
Be my provision in times of need
Be my comfort in times of pain
Be my patience in times of waiting
Be my everything in my life
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Not a Captive
I have recently been thinking about what happens whenever we are tempted and fall in our sinful nature as believers. Previously I wrote about us all being soldiers and how we are constantly in need of being prepared for battle. With that in mind I want to progress in my thoughts.
If we are all soldiers fighting in a war day in and day out we need to look at our actions in the light of such a situation. When we let our guard down we are highly susceptible to any form of attack. We need to be constantly focused on protecting our weaknesses in our armor. Every soldier has a weak spot in their armor. It is our duty as soldiers to find our personal weak spot and do whatever necessary to protect that particular area.
However, in this war, we do not die once we are attacked. So we may think, "well I'm not really hurting anybody" or "I'll recover from this one blow." But the thing about it is that several attacks over and over to the same weakness can result in death, although it is not immediate. One thing you can surely bet on is that the devil (our enemy) will go to whatever measure necessary to hit us in our weak spot over, and over, and over, and over again.
His goal is to kill us slowly. His goal is to assure that we are injured just enough to feel defeated. Once we feel defeated, that is when he moves in for the kill. When we lose all hope and when we lose focus on being strong and courageous in the Lord when we let our guard down, that is when he will attack.
We need to make sure we are watching out for that weak spot. We need to make sure that once he knows where and what it is that we put up our guard. We need to stand firm against those attacks and pay more attention to that area. We may be sore and have scars, but scars make our exterior tougher, if they heal. So we need to make sure that we allow our wounds to heal by heightening our guard.
We cannot allow ourselves to continue to be beaten by the devil. Every time he hits us it is going to be harder than the last time, it is going to penetrate deeper than the last time. His attacks become more and more relentless every time. The more he beats us down the weaker we become until he is able to drag us away and do with us whatever he finds pleasing.
We need to not allow ourselves to become captives to the devil and his schemes. We need to make sure that we are standing secure in the way of the Lord. We need to plant our feet solidly in the Word of God so that we will not be shaken when we are attacked.
Jesus answered the devil with the Word of God when He was tempted in the desert. We need to follow suit and answer the devil in the same manner when he comes against us.
Romans 8:18-39 is a great encouragement to us in our hard times. Whether it is physical persecution or spiritual temptation, we are always more than conquerors when we are established in Christ. Christ will always have the final word in our lives. We just need to submit our lives over to Him and not be so proud to think that we can defend ourselves on our own.
Christ is our protection, He is the living word of God and is the entire suit of armor in which we stand to protect ourselves. Let's take a stand and be the men and women of God that we have been called to be. No longer will we allow the devil to prevail with his schemes. God is greater than all things the world or the devil has for us.
We shall overcome!
If we are all soldiers fighting in a war day in and day out we need to look at our actions in the light of such a situation. When we let our guard down we are highly susceptible to any form of attack. We need to be constantly focused on protecting our weaknesses in our armor. Every soldier has a weak spot in their armor. It is our duty as soldiers to find our personal weak spot and do whatever necessary to protect that particular area.
However, in this war, we do not die once we are attacked. So we may think, "well I'm not really hurting anybody" or "I'll recover from this one blow." But the thing about it is that several attacks over and over to the same weakness can result in death, although it is not immediate. One thing you can surely bet on is that the devil (our enemy) will go to whatever measure necessary to hit us in our weak spot over, and over, and over, and over again.
His goal is to kill us slowly. His goal is to assure that we are injured just enough to feel defeated. Once we feel defeated, that is when he moves in for the kill. When we lose all hope and when we lose focus on being strong and courageous in the Lord when we let our guard down, that is when he will attack.
We need to make sure we are watching out for that weak spot. We need to make sure that once he knows where and what it is that we put up our guard. We need to stand firm against those attacks and pay more attention to that area. We may be sore and have scars, but scars make our exterior tougher, if they heal. So we need to make sure that we allow our wounds to heal by heightening our guard.
We cannot allow ourselves to continue to be beaten by the devil. Every time he hits us it is going to be harder than the last time, it is going to penetrate deeper than the last time. His attacks become more and more relentless every time. The more he beats us down the weaker we become until he is able to drag us away and do with us whatever he finds pleasing.
We need to not allow ourselves to become captives to the devil and his schemes. We need to make sure that we are standing secure in the way of the Lord. We need to plant our feet solidly in the Word of God so that we will not be shaken when we are attacked.
Jesus answered the devil with the Word of God when He was tempted in the desert. We need to follow suit and answer the devil in the same manner when he comes against us.
Romans 8:18-39 is a great encouragement to us in our hard times. Whether it is physical persecution or spiritual temptation, we are always more than conquerors when we are established in Christ. Christ will always have the final word in our lives. We just need to submit our lives over to Him and not be so proud to think that we can defend ourselves on our own.
Christ is our protection, He is the living word of God and is the entire suit of armor in which we stand to protect ourselves. Let's take a stand and be the men and women of God that we have been called to be. No longer will we allow the devil to prevail with his schemes. God is greater than all things the world or the devil has for us.
We shall overcome!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Soldiers
As I read today in Philippians 2 I was drawn to verse 25 where Paul writes:
"But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphrodites, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs."
After reading that passage and seeing the word soldier in Paul's writing it made me think. Paul was not a soldier in the sense that we commonly associate the word. When I here soldier I think of a Roman centurion, or a Spartan, or a Marine. But that's not the type of soldier Paul was referring to himself as. He was referring to them being soldiers in the army of God.
The Greek meaning of this word is "an associate in labours and conflicts for the cause of Christ."
When I read that I couldn't help but think about ourselves and our need and calling to spread the message of Christ and to make disciples. The language that Paul uses here shows us that the carrying out of the Great Commission is not going to be simple. It is going to be tough and hard fought in order to accomplish the goals God has given us.
With that being said we are in great need of making sure we are always prepared for a battle, much like all the soldiers that come in to my head when I think of the word. They are always prepared to go to war at a moments notice. Are we?
See in Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul talks about our need for the armor of God. Armor, another thing that a soldier needs for battle.
These two passages together show us that there is a huge battle going on everyday for the souls of people. And we need to be readily prepared to go to battle at any moment in our day. The hardest part of all of this is found in verse 12 of Ephesians 6, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
If our battle was against flesh and blood, we would be able to readily see our enemy. We would be able to see them from a distance as they move in to attack. But we don't have that advantage in out spiritual warfare. We are unable to see them with our physical eyes, but we need to train to see them with our spiritual eyes.
We need to be true soldiers who are covered in the armor of God.
We need to be prepared at all times to go in to battle for what we believe and what we know is true. And that is the message of Jesus Christ
I want to challenge all of you, including myself, to get in the word of God and learn to put on the armor of God each and every day. We are all soldiers! We are all in standby, ready to go into battle at any moment. So are we prepared? Are we ready?
If not, let's start on a process in which we will prepare ourselves like a true soldier.
These are the things we need for battle: "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
We are given all these things as we begin to dig deeper into the word of God and spend time praying and listening to Him. I want to challenge you all to take an hour a day and read the Bible and spend time praying and asking God to make sure you are prepared for anything that the enemy, the devil, might through at you as a weapon of war.
This is of utmost importance. Seek God in all parts of life!
"But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphrodites, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs."
After reading that passage and seeing the word soldier in Paul's writing it made me think. Paul was not a soldier in the sense that we commonly associate the word. When I here soldier I think of a Roman centurion, or a Spartan, or a Marine. But that's not the type of soldier Paul was referring to himself as. He was referring to them being soldiers in the army of God.
The Greek meaning of this word is "an associate in labours and conflicts for the cause of Christ."
When I read that I couldn't help but think about ourselves and our need and calling to spread the message of Christ and to make disciples. The language that Paul uses here shows us that the carrying out of the Great Commission is not going to be simple. It is going to be tough and hard fought in order to accomplish the goals God has given us.
With that being said we are in great need of making sure we are always prepared for a battle, much like all the soldiers that come in to my head when I think of the word. They are always prepared to go to war at a moments notice. Are we?
See in Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul talks about our need for the armor of God. Armor, another thing that a soldier needs for battle.
These two passages together show us that there is a huge battle going on everyday for the souls of people. And we need to be readily prepared to go to battle at any moment in our day. The hardest part of all of this is found in verse 12 of Ephesians 6, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
If our battle was against flesh and blood, we would be able to readily see our enemy. We would be able to see them from a distance as they move in to attack. But we don't have that advantage in out spiritual warfare. We are unable to see them with our physical eyes, but we need to train to see them with our spiritual eyes.
We need to be true soldiers who are covered in the armor of God.
We need to be prepared at all times to go in to battle for what we believe and what we know is true. And that is the message of Jesus Christ
I want to challenge all of you, including myself, to get in the word of God and learn to put on the armor of God each and every day. We are all soldiers! We are all in standby, ready to go into battle at any moment. So are we prepared? Are we ready?
If not, let's start on a process in which we will prepare ourselves like a true soldier.
These are the things we need for battle: "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
We are given all these things as we begin to dig deeper into the word of God and spend time praying and listening to Him. I want to challenge you all to take an hour a day and read the Bible and spend time praying and asking God to make sure you are prepared for anything that the enemy, the devil, might through at you as a weapon of war.
This is of utmost importance. Seek God in all parts of life!
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