Cast Down

Do you feel like you are being knocked around and beat up because of your stand for the faith?  If you don’t feel this way at times as a believer then you are probably standing too far away from the battle lines.  If you are not a threat to the kingdom of darkness then you are not fulfilling your duty as a soldier in the army of the Lord and Satan may not view you as a threat.

I have mentioned this before, as a born-again believer when you get up in the morning before you start your day you need to put on the whole armor of God.  No soldier goes out to battle without being prepared, ready to fight and being dressed for the battle with weapons ready in case he needs to use them along with a strategy for winning the battle.  Remember this, if you are a child of God then you cannot lose the battle unless you chose to give up.

The Word says this in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Also verse 16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  There is one thing you can be sure of and that is darkness cannot overcome the light but light can drive out the darkness if it is turned on. The problem is that there seems to be believers that want to hide in the shadows and not display the light that they have been given. I believe that we all need to be encouraged to let our light shine brightly in a dark, dying and sinful world.

Have you ever been misunderstood or persecuted for your faith?  If not you probably are not allowing your light to shine brightly and you are more than likely too far away from the battle and are hiding in the shadows so as not to be detected.  Being a chameleon will not honor the Lord and will not be very effective in combatting the evil one and tearing down his strongholds in people’s lives.  How will anyone experience the light for themselves if we aren’t willing to show them the light that is in us?  It may cost us something if we let our light shine but it will also be a great blessing, for when people see our good works they will give glory to our heavenly Father and we will become stronger in the faith and some may be saved because of our decision to let our light shine.  

When Paul the Apostle let his light shine it cost him more than we may ever have to experience.  Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 4:5-9, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.  For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

One thing you can be confident in knowing is that, like Paul, if we let our light shine we may be persecuted and even cast down but we will not be destroyed because darkness can never overcome the light but the light will always overcome the darkness.  So be encouraged and let your light shine and you will be blessed even if you may have to suffer, in the end we will be the overcomers.  May God bless you and yours and have a great day!!  

Convictions And Our Words

Today I want to talk about how a person can be bound by his or her words and about convictions.  The Holy Spirit’s convictions are very important in a believer’s life and we shouldn’t take them lightly but we should always respond to those convictions appropriately.  

Can you think of a time when you felt you were being convicted of something and you responded with repentance?  If it dealt with sin and your response was to repent then that was a great choice.  But sometimes we make things much harder on ourselves then we should.  For instance sometimes we struggle with some kind of temptation and without thinking rationally we blurt out of our mouths something that puts us in bondage.  If we are not careful of what we say and we speak from an emotional state, like maybe anger at the time, then our words may come back to haunt us.

I remember getting upset with my wife on the phone one day when I called her at work.  She said something about the personal calls she gets which sounded to me like she was saying that I was calling her too much, so I said, “I will never call you at work again.”  What I should have said was that I will not call you so often or something like that.  As of today I have never called her while she was working and it has been a few years.

I was talking to a relative not long ago about this subject and he told me about a problem he and a guy he knew had, it was buying stereos, always having to have the best one that came out.  So instead of saying I am going to try to be content with the one I have and not be so impulsive, he said I will never buy another stereo, and he never has, but many times he wishes he never made that statement.

I remember hunting deer many years ago, everything was going fine, I saw a deer and shot it which was alright and legal.  The problem was when I got close enough I could hear him whining and making noise before he died and it bothered me so much that I said I will never hunt again and I never have.  There have been times I wish I never said that.

You may think these are trivial things but a man is only as good as his words.  The Word says in Matthew 5:37, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”  Remember we will be acquitted or condemned by our words.  Are you a person that keeps his word or do you talk just to pacify people?  

It also says this in James 5:12, “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.”  If you are a person that exaggerates, or lies, who is going to believe you and what kind of reputation will you have?  It is very important to keep your word and very important that you think before you blurt out something that will put you in bondage.  Yielding to the Holy Spirit’s conviction is imperative for our Christian experience and our walk with the Lord.  But be careful what you blurt out of your mouth because you will be responsible to the Lord for what you say.

There is a sad story in the Word about something a man said that he would do if God would give him victory over his enemy at the time.  At that time people not only lived in their houses but so did their animals.  This man said that he would sacrifice to God the first thing that came out of his house when he got home if he gained the victory over his enemy with God’s help.  To his shock and horror, when he got home his daughter came out of the house first and I am sure his words haunted him for many years after that.  The man’s name was Jephthah and you can read the story in Judges 11:29-40.

We all need to take this message seriously; I hope it was a blessing and help to you.  May God bless you and have a great day!!            

Broken Heart

Jeremiah was called the ‘weeping prophet’ in his day.  He knew what was about to happen to Judah and Jerusalem and it broke his heart.  He knew that God was just and He always dealt with sin accordingly.  Jeremiah knew that God was a merciful, kind and a loving God, full of compassion and was fair and holy, but that He was one who didn’t tolerate sin even when it came to the ‘apple of His eye,’ the Israelites, that He had chosen from all the other nations of the world.  

God’s judgment was about to fall and the Israelites would suffer much for their sins.  Jeremiah didn’t weep for himself but he was broken hearted for God’s people just like God was and Jeremiah’s concern overwhelmed him and broke him to tears.  Have you ever wept over the condition of your nation; has it ever brought tears to your eyes?  Are you praying for your president and your leaders that are in government positions ruling over the nation you live in or do you just complain about what they are doing?  The one thing that many of us seem to forget is that the hearts of the leaders are in God’s hands.  It says this in Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

It was that way in the days of the Kings and it is the same today.  It also says this in Romans 13:1-7, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  For he is God’s minister to you for good.  But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.  Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.  Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”

We must never rebel against the ruling authorities because of our own agendas but we can never allow the government to define who we are and who we will serve, if we are true believers.  Which is better to obey and serve, God or man?  We must obey God, just like Jesus’ disciples did when confronted with opposition because of their faith and Christian principles. 

You may be struggling with your government officials but you are commanded to bless them and pray for them.  Think about Moses and how God’s people complained about him and his authority but he was God’s chosen man at the time for the task.  Was he a perfect man?  No, but God chose him to be their leader and there were consequences for those who rebelled against his authority.  God raises up anyone He wants to be a leader and if they dishonor Him, He can remove them and the consequences will be laid on their own shoulders.  

When the Kings in the Old Testament rebelled against Him and encouraged God’s people to sin, they paid for it and sometimes it was a very high price to pay.  I think God still holds government officials accountable today for what they do and the decisions they make.  I heard a silly thing awhile back and it was this; that you are never supposed to talk about politics or religion.  Don’t believe this lie of the enemy, both subjects are very important and need to be discussed rationally, to keep people from being ignorant about either subject so that they can make rational decisions about them.

If your heart isn’t broken over the condition of the government, the condition of the nation and also the condition of mankind in general, then it would be good to ask God to help you in these areas to truly love people regardless of what position they hold in life.  Instead of continuing to complain about what you don’t like happening start doing something to better the situation, start praying.  Ask the Lord to help you hate the things He hates and to love the things He loves.  I hope this has been encouraging and a help.  May the good Lord bless you and yours.  Have a great day!!                          

                                                                                        

Offended In Jesus

When you have doubts about Jesus because things aren’t going the way you think they should or when your prayers seem to be put on hold; don’t allow the evil one to deceive you into thinking the Lord has forsaken you and He isn’t listening to you.  There are many reasons why you may feel that way and it has nothing to do with the Lord leaving you or forsaking you if you are a child of God unless you are living in sin and have not repented and confessed it and are not sorry for it.

If you are living in sin then your sin will separate you from God.  Just like when Adam and Eve sinned and they hid themselves from God because of their sin, sin will always cause us to hide from God, but take note of this, God still came to them, He knew they sinned but He still showed up in the garden like He always did.  The difference was that Adam and Eve didn’t greet Him like they would have if they hadn’t sinned; their sin caused them to be ashamed so they hid from God out of fear and, I think, humiliation.

I think a problem with many new believers in this area is when they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior the enemy attacks them forcefully since he doesn’t want to lose them because if they become grounded in the faith they will be much harder to control and they will cause havoc to his kingdom.  Keeping this in mind, sometimes it seems at first that everything goes wrong and doubts start rising within their minds which can cause them to have doubts about the Lord.  

Here is another example, sometimes fear and doubt happen because our expectations are not met.   Think about John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Jesus.  Read what John said about Jesus in Matthew 3:11-12, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John knew who Jesus was but, when he was thrown in prison, John seemed to have doubts about Jesus, it says this in Matthew 11:1-6, “Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’  Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’”

Many things happen to believers that they don’t expect which can cause doubt to overtake their minds and cause them to be disillusioned.  Then they can become offended in Jesus, so we all, as believers, have to be careful how we react to our circumstances and situations.  Our enemy will be right there to try to convince us that the Lord doesn’t care about where we are or what we are going through and try to cause doubt to overtake our minds.  We need to stand on the promises of God, no matter what happens or how long it takes for things to turn around in our lives knowing that God has everything in control and that He will never leave us or forsake us.  He will always work out all things for our good.  

So don’t let anything shake you and cause doubt, just make up your mind that you will always serve and trust the Lord.  Remember this; nothing can happen to one of God’s people without Him allowing it to.  And don’t forget you are in good hands in the Lord.  God bless you and have a great day!! PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.           

Faith Plus Actions

Is this faith-if it is very cloudy out and you tell everyone I believe by faith it is not going to rain and then you go out carrying an umbrella?  It may be thought of as wisdom, but it is not faith.  Most believers have heard the biblical term of what faith is: the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, but what does that really look like?  

I believe it is believing for something we want and not giving up until we receive it.  Faith is doing what we believe we should do and believing the outcome that we desire will happen.  Praying is a great example, asking the Lord for something and knowing without a shadow of doubt it will take place.  

Sometimes we demonstrate faith and we don’t even realize that we are doing it.  Going over a bridge, through a tunnel or under an overpass with vehicles or trains on them, shows that we have faith, but we don’t even give it a thought most of the time.  Faith is demonstrated every single day of our lives from the time you get out of bed until you get back in bed.  

In the book of the Bible where most people believe the faith chapter is, it says this in Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”  God spoke the world into existence out of nothing, using nothing but His spoken word.  Believing this has been a real struggle for many years, but it is true, it also takes faith to believe this.

Faith is a word that demands action to display it.  James 2:17 says this, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  It also says this in verse 14, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?  Can faith save him?”  If you agree with someone’s teachings and it never changes your life it is all intellectual learning and not faith.  If you want to be justified, declared righteous it will take more than just declaring you have faith, it will take acting on your faith.  It says this about Abraham in James 2:20–24, “How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?  Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see, his faith and his actions worked together.  His actions made his faith complete.  And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.’ He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”

I write on this subject at different times because I think we need to be reminded of this fact, that without faith it is impossible to please God and trying to accomplish anything spiritual on our own, without backing it up with faith and actions is subject to fail.  Every person in the hall of fame in Hebrews 11 believed in something then they acted on what they believed which showed that they backed up what they believed by expressing faith with actions.  

Sometimes we pray about things to take place but we do nothing to help bring it about.  For instance, if you’re praying for a job but you sit home instead of going out to put in applications, you probably won’t find a job.  You need to put feet to your faith.  Actions speak louder than words in most cases and it also shows that you are sincere.

I hope this will be a blessing to whoever reads it. God bless you and have a great day!!