AND GOD SAID

Before I begin my story, let me say God today still speaks to His children. God speaks through His word, through a message, through someone, and with that personal still small voice, a Rhema word. It is this Rhema word, when God speaks directly to us that I want to talk about.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 18:b.....Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

In the beginning of the 12 years I was saved and running from God, a spirit of suicide came upon my mind. Since I refused to read the word or go to God's house, instead of renewing my mind each day in Christ I had opened my mind to wrong thinking, I no longer fought against the flesh, the world or the devil. I just gave in to my sin and gave up on God. This reality was killing me day by day, and hear is what the enemy would say: " you are nothing, no one loves you, no one wants you, you are saved, you are going to heaven why don't you just die, you won't be missed". Finally, since I would not give up my sin, I believed I should die and be free. So I dabbled at suicide, until one day I bought the largest bottle of extra strength Tylenol and took the whole bottle and laid down to die. I had chosen to lay down in my psychologist doctor's office back yard on a Sunday. But God had other plans, I heard someone talking to me, it was my doctor (he wasn't the only doctor in that building, it was a converted old house). He later told me that the young man who mows the yard could not come that weekend, so at the last minute he decided to come mow, himself. Imagine that. Now a few years later a lady I worked with, her husband took the same amount of pills I did, and his internal organs began to fail and in 3 days he died. Yet here I was unharmed physically by my experience. God had His hand on me but it would be years later before He would tell me why. But, the spirit of suicide left my mind, and though my life did not change I did not entertain or attempt suicide again.

Now let's fast forward approximately 23 years, this prodigal daughter had returned to the arms of my Savior about 14 years earlier, I was worshiping at the church I am today, living in an apartment. One Sunday at church God told me to speak something very specific to a younger woman, it was nothing but a word of encouragement, but I didn't because I was unsure if it was God I heard and I felt foolish, yet conviction fell on my heart and after church I contacted her and told her what had happened. But my disobedience led me to pray this "Father I don't ever want to doubt Your voice again" and that prayer saved my life.

A couple of weeks later, I had not slept at all the people upstairs were arguing and very loud. At approximately 5am a voice in my mind said "you might as well get up and go post something on Facebook about your neighbors" I sat up swung my feet over the side of the bed, prepared to do just that when I heard "Don't do it" and immediately I laid back down, 10 minutes later I heard a loud noise, I thought they have knocked one of my pictures off the wall and got up to see. When I reached the dining room I saw nothing had fallen, so I started to turn off the light, when I noticed a white powder substance all over my table and laptop, I looked up and saw what was a bullet hole in my ceiling, the bullet went behind the chair (I would have been sitting in if I had gotten up) ricocheted off the china cabinet and ended up in my living room. The police said if I had been in that chair I would have been dead. God once more spared my life. A week later praying and remembering the events of the week, GOD SAID: " From the moment you prayed God I don't ever want to doubt Your voice", He was preparing me to obey that still small voice "Don't do it."

A couple of years later, I was having some physical problems went to the doctor, stress test taken the report said a heart attack at some time in my past leaving scar tissue in my heart. Now heart doctor, more test a year later another stress test, no scarring no damage heart fine.

One night in prayer reflecting on all these times of wanting to die, almost dying, body trying to die; I said "Lord, why have You spared my life?" AND GOD SAID "I have something better for you". Of course in my mind I thought what could be better than being with you in heaven.

But my life moved forward, and God was with me and helping me, I was growing in Christ and happy. Then suddenly just a few months ago on a Friday, such an overwhelming oppression came over my mind, I became depressed, crying, (for no apparent reason) on Saturday I could not even get out of bed, I found myself praying "God surely my purpose here is more than Facebook, more than planning a meal. Lord let me die!" I did not want to go to church Sunday but I made myself get up and go anyway. I cannot tell you much about the music, or the message, I do remember him saying something like "sometimes you have to tell yourself to get up and do it even when you don't want to". But something happened while I sat in God's house, the spirit of oppression was lifted off of me, the Holy Spirit ministered to me, being in worship with my church family encouraged me and I left refreshed ready to keep moving forward. I, to this day, have no clue why Satan squeezed my mind with his oppressive thoughts, other than he hoped to stop me from continuing my walk with Jesus.

In all of this, I would go back to AND GOD SAID "I have something better for you". When God speaks it is always in agreement with His word. Again as I was reflecting on His words long ago, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this scripture:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think for toward you, says the Lord, thoughts (plans) of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I will praise the Lord all the days of my life, for He is my Redeemer, my Lord, my Hope, my Help, my Healer, my Provision, my Provider, my Comforter, my Strength, He sustains me, He lifts me up when I fall, He loves me, He is my King, my Everything. He is the very Breath in my lungs.

I hope you have never found yourself in the places of despair, ready to give up, but if you have, you are still standing here today because God did not give up on you and like the song says "He didn't let go."

GROWING FAITH

Let me share with you my journey of faith. I have been praying "Lord I want to go deeper with You". So He began to show me about faith, where I have been, where I am now. I know where I want to be in my faith journey and I know one day, Lord one day I will be. To tell my story, I will be using scripture along the way.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile). For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

See the words "from faith to faith"? Our faith matures and grows as we travel through this life, and we find that in the middle of adversity that will be the soil our faith grows in. See the words "the just shall live by faith"? We the believer, followers of Christ are the "just", not "just" by our performances but "just" based on His finished work. And we are counted "just" by God and we are to live by faith, not in what we can see with our eyes but in who we have placed our hope and trust in, Jesus. As we live by faith, we will begin to see His fruit grow within us, we will see evidence of Him working all around us and we will see our faith move and grow with each season in our lives.

So here is my testimony the way God revealed to me.

At 9 years of age I had just "a measure of faith" in Romans we are told a measure of faith is given to all men, just enough to believe and receive. Oh I believed there was a God, yet I had an unhealthy fear of God; a fear of dying, because my daddy had died I became angry with God and began to run from Him instead of to Him. I was unsaved, yet God was pursuing me.

At 27 years of age I had a "little faith". I had stopped running from God, had begun to seek God. I had come to realize that the void in my life could only be filled by Jesus and I received His gift of salvation. I got active in church and bible studies. Yet in me was a false expectation of what being a Christian was suppose to look like and I had a preconceived idea of how God was going to make my life and marriage perfect.

At 38 years of age I had "fleeting faith". Before I start, here is the verse God showed me that I had "fleeting faith". Hosea 6:4b.....For your faithfulness is like the morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away.

Did you see it? God was speaking to Ephraim and Judah how their faith was fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow. And when God took me back to my timeline He said "Here you had fleeting faith". Just let me add what I now understand today; God corrected me as a father would his child just like He did with Ephraim and Judah, there are always consequences as a result of stepping out of the will of God, yet God is waiting with open arms to receive you back, His desire is always for us to repent and return. During these years of running, my sin was always before me, I could not run from it or hide from it, I was continually aware of my sin (this was the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the evidence of God's grace and mercy pursuing me.) And though Satan was sifting me like wheat, Jesus knew the day was coming when this prodigal daughter would come to her senses and return to her Father's arms. But let's go on.

At 50 years of age I had "some faith". What do I mean by the word "some" well my faith had grown during my journey,  I spend 12 years in fleeting faith, and though I would have preferred not taking that detour in my walk with Jesus, the detour was the catalyst that brought me from "little faith" to "some faith". I had been gone from church and running from God for 12 years, and now as I sat in the church pew and heard the word, got back into studying His word, back into prayer, back into serving in His kingdom I began to grow in my faith. I saw God at work in my life, I saw that even in the years of running God never let me go, I have now learned He set up markers in my life that would remind me of His goodness. Yet when circumstances around me became storms and mountains i would relinquish my peace to the problem and become fearful and weep and cry. Yet, what I would learn at 62 would be:

At 62 years of age I was growing in "enduring faith".God moved me from the church I was at and loved; but He had somewhere He wanted me to go that I might learn what He wanted me to learn and grow in my faith. This is the church I am at today, it is here that I began to truly understand how to praise Him in worship, how to battle in prayer and how to die to self. Perhaps a year or so ago, my pastors did a sermon series called From Death To Life it lasted 12 weeks and was probably one of the most life changing and faith growing series of sermons I had experienced. It was here that I found myself dying to my desires, my wants, my ways. It was here that I laid myself in the grave and said not my will but Your will be done. Here I lay and realized that in the struggle of the storms of life I had been expecting God to change my circumstances, WAIT A MINUTE!! That was exactly what I was expecting from God when I was 27 years old! But here I am now probably 67 or 68 and suddenly realized God wasn't changing my circumstances He was changing me in the middle of my circumstances.  God is a faithful God and many times He has supernaturally changed what was happening, He is always with me, He is with me by the calm seas and the raging seas, these times of struggles most were brought about by my own bad decisions, yet witnessing His faithfulness to always provide, changed me. Suddenly I realized no matter how bad things may appear, my trust in Him would not falter. So it is here my faith went from "some faith" to "enduring faith". There is a song out today that says "like a mountain my faith will not be shaken" since I can never remember songs or song titles I probably quoted this wrong (smiling).

Now here I am on the doorstep of 70 and God says you have "more faith". My faith has grown because I have seen the markers He has placed in my life. I have experienced, His grace, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness, His faithfulness. I have witnessed His provision, His protection, His favor. One day at a time He has continually shown me He is my rear guard, He is always working for my good and on my behalf. 

As God was showing me all of this I was reminded of the scripture in Matthew 8:5-10 the account of the Centurion's sick servant and in verse 10 " Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. " Here is the continued  direction of my journey of growing in faith. I said Lord I want great faith. Immediately fear whispered in my ear "this will harm you." but faith rose up and shouted not today Satan, my God was with me yesterday and He will be with me today and with me the next day and the day after that. His word says the fire nor the waters will bring me no harm. God told me years ago He had a better plan for my life"  this is "boldness of faith", a faith that rises up and declares victory over the  enemy and fear, "boldness of faith" stands courageous over fear.(I guess you could say "\more\\\ faith" just went to "boldness of faith") I just looked up the definition of great it means to be "above normal", yes Lord my desire is to live an above normal life, being on fire for Christ, seeking those things which are above,  walking and serving with kingdom purpose,  letting my life glorify God, lifting up Jesus and walking in obedience to the direction the Holy Spirit is leading. I desire an Above Normal faith, a faith that says "come what may I stand believing".

1. We have all been given a measure of faith to believe  Romans 10:17

2. It is God's grace through our faith that saves us Ephesians 2:8

3. Jesus is both the author and finisher of our faith Hebrews 12:2

4. Jesus is both the object and substance of our faith Hebrews 11:1

5. Without faith it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6

6. We have been called to walk by faith and not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7

7. Our faith in our true Healer will heal James 5:15 and all through the gospels and the book of Acts. This is as true today as it was then.

8. We are to remain steadfast in our faith Colossians 1:23,

1Peter 5:8

Faith and fear cannot coincide, they are opposite. You cannot live in fear and walk by faith. So a decision must be made are you going to live pleasing God or live surrendered to the roar of the enemy who screams FEAR??

Hear the words of Jesus: Luke 18:8b......Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith in the earth?

I use the New King James version of the bible and in it faith or some form of faith is mentioned 389 times. While do not fear or some form of do not fear is mentioned 365 times.

THEN COMES THE TEST

On Saturday August 5th, our church took a trip up to the mountain top behind our church, just to worship. God was waiting on us when we arrived, oh there was no earthquake,  no fire, no wind, just His presence and that still small voice. There was such a peace and unity as we sat there and sang and prayed; I really didn't hear a word from God, yet where He is there is His Peace. I already knew God was going to ask me a question because earlier in the week I heard the question. So I was not surprised when before daylight on Sunday morning August 6, 2017, God woke me up and asked: "What did you go up on the mountain for"? Still half asleep and really not knowing how to answer I said: "To listen." And God being God asked: "What did you hear"? I had not heard a word, just His presence of peace, so I just said "Peace" But I asked how can I hear peace? Lord give me a scripture. And that He did;

Psalm 85:8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and His saints; but let them not turn back to folly (foolishness)

Then God began to speak to me and remind me that He is my peace, it is in His presence that I continually have peace, and He is always with me. When I allow people and things to determine my peace then I have given them authority over my peace. 

Notice the last part of that verse "do not turn back to folly", once God has revealed a truth to us about us, then we are to move forward and not go back to how we used to be. And once you see it two things will now happen 1. Satan will attempt to draw you back instead of moving forward and 2. God will use this to test our faith and our obedience to Him. Remember Job!

So it only took a short time, and everything and everyone began to affect my peace. The news would steal my peace because I would get upset and angry, people would steal my peace because I found myself being hurt and offended at every little thing, even my new pet, The Cat, would steal my peace because after all it was behaving like a cat. I really should not use the wording "steal my peace" because in fact I relinquished my peace by reacting to what was going on around me as if it were happening to me personally.

Heard a pastor use this wording so I am using what he said and speaking it as it spoke to me. "When we look inward we become depressed", woe is me, see what is being done to hurt me. "When we look outward to what is happening around us we become distracted", even seeing what is happening in our world, our nation, our lives can distract us and send us spiraling into a time of unrest, and fear. Even Jesus had an answer for that:

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but I have overcome the world.

We relinquish our peace when we place our focus inward, finding our focus in our own selves and our emotions, when we focus on the outward we find ourselves distracted from our purpose and relinquishing our peace to circumstances and situations.

So where are we suppose to be focused? UPWARD, when we place our focus on Jesus and His kingdom, viewing everyone and everything from God's perspective we will find that peace we have in Him will remain no matter what comes against us. 

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth

None of the above is a new revelation but God has to remind us where we need to be, and how to maintain our peace even when we think "Everyone is against us". Here is the tactic of the enemy, the devil (which means accuser), or Satan they are one in the same. This enemy is called in the scriptures "Wiley" which means "crafty", the only power he has over a Christian is the power we give him; but that doesn't stop him from trying to convince us we are powerless. He will throw a "dart" into our minds, that thought is a dart, that may say something like this "nobody likes me, that person said something that hurt my feelings". The scripture in Ephesians 6:16 speaks of our shield of faith that is able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one, the difference between a dart that comes to our thoughts and a fiery dart is: when we receive a dart as truth and begin to think about it, then we have just given our enemy power over our thoughts and lives, and it is now a fiery dart send to destroy. So our faith should rise up and quench the dart immediately by denying the lie and speaking the truth. 

How should I respond to any dart sent to take my peace? "Not today, Satan, my God is my peace."

So I failed my test, but I have a Good Father who does not give up on me, but teaches me more that I will be prepared for the next test.

SMELLING SMOKE

July 26, 2017

Where do I begin? I have been praying for sometime "Lord, consume anything in me that is not of You and purify what is of You." It seems that I have seasons of growing, pruning and burning, with each thing God reveals it is to shape me into the vessel for His kingdom purpose.

Though God has not called me into the ministry, He has gifted me to operate in the ministry. The gifts He has given me are to be used at His appointed times to support my pastors and edify the body. Yet there are things buried deep within me, that I don't want to see, don't want to accept, nor have God reveal them to me. It's like standing naked before God and looking into a mirror at the same time. ( all exposed and looking ugly)

As my heart's desire is to be in the will of God, seeking Him praying for revival and saying "Lord let it begin in me". God honors these prayers. And as painful as exposure is, repentance will bring such a healing peace that pushes me forward in victory over my flesh.

God has been talking and burning and pruning a lot these last few days, can you smell the smoke? But what He has said to me today is, when I allow these hidden sins to go on, they will hinder me in His plan for my work in our body. I just remembered my pastor recently had a message on that (more than one) my sin affects the whole body and sin breaks the unity. Wow! The Holy Spirit is so good! God has shown me over and over how much He loves me, then here comes the discipline. Our recent conversation Me: "Lord what is wrong with that person?  I need discernment Lord to see what is happening". God: "No Linda you need to see what is wrong with you." Ouch! Jesus spoke about this as I remembered Him speaking on removing our plank from our eye.

We are told to examine ourselves, the Holy Spirit will reveal and bring to the surface, through conviction, not condemnation, for the purpose of true repentance. Thankful God shows us a little at a time, like peeling away layers.

Without seeing our need to repent, why would we think we needed revival? 

During this process, we will find that the consuming and the pruning are just as painful, yet most necessary for our transformation, our spiritual growth and our moving forward with Jesus.

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire

Psalm 66:10 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined

God will prepare us for His outpouring, but we have to lay ourselves on the altar and say: " Here am I Lord, cleanse me as one who refines silver, test me and see if there is an unclean thing within me." This also a part of our dying to self, our surrender to His will, His way. Whatever we may think of our maturity level, suddenly in this process we are humbled with the truth.

Some of you may wonder "Why does she write this stuff"? So let me say this, I want to encourage each of you, our journey of growing is on going it did not stop with our salvation. I was 27 years old when I came to know Jesus, I was not always faithful to God. But when I came to my senses I came running back to my Father, and have set my path to never run from Him again. I am now closing in on 70 years of age and God continues to love me, to bless me and to discipline me. He has never let go if me, He desires that I walk in victory so when something  has sat up in my thinking, my actions, my words He quickly reveals to me that this is not His way, this is sin! And I in repentance must acknowledge my sin to Him and ask for forgiveness. Our testimony in Christ continues as long as we are on this earth. The word says we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by our testimony. 

Be encouraged, it is good for God to show us our sins, so we can move as victorious conquerors.

WE ARE ALL THIRSTY

This will not be an easy blog post, but it will be an honest post.

Though our past experiences can contribute to shaping us, we are never defined by them. Through Jesus we have been set free! Then why do we still struggle with things that once held us captive? May I explore with you what I am learning? First off: "Being set free, and living in freedom." are not the same thing. Jesus has set us free but it is our choice to live in that freedom, or remain chained to the pain of our past.

May I be perfectly frank? I have, since very early in life, struggled with low self-esteem, feeling of unworthiness, and needing assurance from others that I did it right, said it right, etc. I have confessed and asked for forgiveness for having these thoughts, I have cried out to be set free. But honestly I don't know how to live without these thoughts. I know we are to cast down strongholds, I have done all of that, then I ask "Lord why am I not set free?" "Why do I still have thoughts that no one cares"?

I have already forgiven the ones who hurt me in my past, why do I still carry around the baggage that came with it? How many times do I have to lay it on the altar, pray burn it up God with Your consuming fire? Some of you, who are more spiritual, may not understand what I am talking about; yet others, though you may be experiencing something different than me have said and done the same thing. LET IT GO! I have said both to others and to myself. And just when you think you have let it go, there it is back to frustrate and torment you.

At times I would say "I need encouragement " then I would pray "Lord I don't need others encouragement,  I just need Your encouragement. "  Now I want to say it is good to encourage others in their walk with Jesus. But God was fixing to show me ENCOURAGEMENT was not what I was wanting, it was only what I thought I needed.

I watched a 55 second clip of a preacher, I do not know, he said one word and that word shouted into my soul. VALIDATION! !! I knew immediately God was speaking to me! God was saying "Validation of who you are in Me, you may know who you are in me, but you are looking for others to validate it." I have been praying, Lord reveal in me anything that breaks Your heart. Consume everything that is not of You and purify all that is. Hmmm is that smoke I smell?

We are all thirsty for something: Love, acceptance, forgiveness, prosperity, etc. What are you thirsty for?

The Samaritan woman at the well was thirsty, Jesus told her that water from that well would not satisfy her, only He could satisfy her thirst. So what well are you drinking from? Me, the well of "Validation" . 

So how do I walk in freedom? Recognizing the truth about myself is the first step, the woman at the well had to recognize the truth about herself. Secondly confess my sin of looking to others to validate me when He alone has done that. Thirdly do not allow the enemy a foothold in my thinking by for one moment of entertaining his whisper in my thoughts. Instead the word says "Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you." "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you".

"Take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ".

Everytime the wrong thought enters my mind I must immediately cast that thought out, don't wait for it to take up residence in my mind, not even only for a day. Surrender my thought life unto God, the blood of Jesus covers and cleanses my thoughts and I must keep my thoughts renewed daily, seek to be closer to God, and watch the enemy flee. Each day that each of us do this; we will find ourselves walking in victory and living in freedom.

Oh and the reason validation from others only lasted (satisfied my thirst) until the next time I needed it, I was drinking from the wrong well!

Just another day growing in Christ.

Scriptures I used: John 8:31-36

John 4:1-19, James 4:7-8, 

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

BLOOM WHERE GOD PLANTS YOU

Have you ever asked God "why am I at this church?" I did, so here is my story that lead me to this very question.

My story begins approximately 19 years ago, I was actively serving in my church, loving the people, but I had not asked that question, "God why am I here?". I came there because, I had been running from God for 12 years, and I had stopped running from and began running to. My children went there and I began and soon it became my home and family. I found rest, love and a sense of belonging. I grew and God used me where I was.

Then about 18 years ago, while praying one night, I said "Lord have I forgotten to pray about anything?" In my spirit I heard very clearly "You did not praise Me". Now I understood He deserves all our praise and we are to always be thankful. So I thanked Him, as I knew to do. But His words never left me, so I set out to understand what did my Lord want me to do and how do I praise Him.

 Years would pass, the company I worked for, closed, now I was without a job, so I began cleaning houses. Along the way I answered an ad to clean a church and daycare area in the evening. During this time, I enjoyed my work, loved cleaning the worship center and praying over everything in the room, listening to the praise team as they practiced. But working day and night, plus taking care of my mother who was dying, took it's toil and a few months after her death, I quit.

Another year would pass and then God moved, He began to shift me from where I had been worshiping and serving and leading me in a new direction. I found myself without a church home and I began my search. Believing it was me who decided where I would go to church! God reminded me of the church I had once cleaned and enjoyed, but since it was Easter I did not go, because I did not want to be labeled just an Easter Service attendance, can we hear the word PRIDE! (smiling) but the very next Sunday I went, I heard my pastor say these words during worship "Can we just love on Jesus a minute church?" and I heard praise for who He is coming from the lips of people I did not know, it was not chaos, it was beautiful ! And yes it did take me out of my comfort zone, but I knew I loved every minute of it. So I stayed, I came and I began to learn how to praise my Lord, not just in my heart but from my lips. I heard truth taught, I saw a people who loved and who desired God. I became involved which was one of my fears: (that I would not be used by God in another church.) See how the enemy operates? A whisper can be as effective as a roar when it touches on that little place of anxiety.


Time passed and during prayer I asked THE QUESTION: " Lord why did You bring me here?" He responded and with a word that captured my heart "You came to make an income, I brought you here to learn how to PRAISE ME, how to WORSHIP ME!" Approximately eleven years after God said "You did not praise Me". He placed me in the body of believers I now am at, and along the way of learning how to praise Him and how to worship Him, I began to walk closer with Jesus, to dig deeper in His word, to grow in my gifts and calling that God has placed in my life. In other words not only did I bloom where God planted me but I flourished. I would never have known about this church if I had not gone there to work. WOW! God is so good, for us it seems like a long time yet when eternity is His timetable it happened in just a moment. Another Kairos moment where God spoke, moved and planted. Let that sink in a minute in God's plan me going to work their was to bring me where I am now a part of this church family, and enjoying every minute of it. Thank You Jesus.

Many people are searching for THE church to fulfill all their needs; the music, the nursery, the leadership, the teachers, the Pastors. I will be the first to say, I like a particular style of preaching, I enjoy hearing a passion for God in their voice, a little humor and truth founded on God's word.

1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

1 Corinthians 12:14 For in fact the body is not one member but many

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

As God has placed each one of us in the local body of believers, we have a contribution to make to that body of believers, to use our gifts and talents to further the kingdom of God, to grow in knowledge, to encourage and minister for kingdom purpose and not for our own glory.  So the next time you visit a church ask God; "Why I am here and is this where You want me?" and if you decide to leave a church, make sure you are following God's leading in it completely, and not allowing emotions to dictate where you will serve God. The word tells us to examine our hearts, and that we need to do regularly. There are seasons in our lives, seasons in a church and seasons in another church. Where do you find yourself in this season? But first and foremost remain faithful to God and serve Him with delight where He has planted you, without crumbling or complaining, we will never be satisfied apart from Him and His will.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God, who works all in all.

PART TWO OF MY KAIROS MOMENT

As I continue to write, of how God showed up, stepped in and showed off, when all I was doing was walking with Jesus day by day. I will continue where I left off, when Satan tried to tempt me to take control.

On that Sunday, July 2, 2017, I called Patty and said: I do want your car and I am selling mine. So we made plans to go get it. I checked with what I thought was a reliable source to see what % they used to figure the taxes, knowing what the tags would cost, I said God I don't have the money.  Did not know what I was going to do, but went to get my car. Patty said that she and her husband wanted to let me have the money for the taxes. Well Praise God! Thank you Jesus! Now this was not a gift because it was added onto the debt I owed, nevertheless I was more than happy. Only one problem, we had the wrong % and when I called Friday morning I found that even by adding the money I had I was still $25.00 short. I did the math over and over again and didn't' know what I would do, by now I am driving to the courthouse and telling God I have no choice Lord I must lie to Caesar about the cost of the car,  then I would say: God I can't lie when You are truth. Then  in my mind the scripture where Jesus told the disciples to reach into the fish's mouth and they pulled out a coin, and He said: give unto Caesar what is Caesar's. (Now I know that wasn't an exact quote because I still haven't looked it up) as soon as I remembered that I heard "Do you trust Me?" By now I am almost at the courthouse, and I say: God You are in this, I will not lie, because I knew if I lied, that was me taking control and would totally mess up what God was doing. So here I go thinking well I will have write a bad check. I get there and could do nothing because her husband had not signed the title. I go to clean my Friday  house, and found they had written my check for $25.00 extra. So they just became the fish I pulled the coin out of.

So here is what I have learned in my Kairos encounter:

1. It will come suddenly and unexpected

2. It will come with undeniable confirmation

3. Others will think REALLY! Are you SURE? Because it will not look like a God thing to them

4. Your own doubts and fears will arise. (What if I am wrong)

5. I must make a decision; do I walk by faith or by sight, do I listen to others opinions, do I recognize my own fears are not based on God's word but my own reasoning. (My decision will determine what happens)

6. Satan now stepped in and attempted to shift the direction God was taking me by offering a counterfeit way that would cause me to take control of what God is doing.

I experienced each one of these in the past couple of weeks. Being able to see and recognize this is my moment when God said "Look what I am doing, and trust no one but Me!" Came from growing where God planted me, seeking God daily, sitting under sound teaching, staying in the word and in prayer. This has taken years not days or weeks. It is persevering in the good times and the bad times. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to impart into my inner man the truth of God's word. Do I still mess up, you bet I do, yet each day I decide do I walk in victory and stay in Jesus?

We have heard the term "impartation of God's word" some may call it an epiphany or a light bulb moment; this is when we read or hear the spoken word and suddenly shout "I GET IT"! What I have experienced with an impartation is when the word that was heard or read is placed so deep in my inner man that when I need it, the moment I need it, the Holy Spirit will bring it back to my memory, example: recently I heard someone say "conceived in the spirit" and immediately it took me back to a message my pastor gave 3 years ago, the whole message, NO, just the part that I needed to remember. It is the impartation that will bring about transformation. 

2 Corinthians 4:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Oh and my car, my daughter is buying it for her daughter, my sweet granddaughter. Now whether God was doing this strictly for my blessing and using this to bless them I don't know. An truthfully it is unimportant because God will never harm me to bless someone else, so I see this as simple as God has blessed both me and my family, they had a need and He met their need. I hope my story has been an encouragement for you, and has helped you on your personal journey with Jesus.

SEEING GOD IN MY KAIROS MOMENT

 

Have you experienced a Kairos Moment? Many times we have, and might not even recognize it, in fact the moment of our salvation was a Kairos Moment. Some of you may ask what exactly does this mean? 

Kairos is that moment when God reaches down and intercepts our day, when He intervenes with His plan for us. Here we are chronologically walking through life and there He is dropping right into our day. So let me tell you of my recent Kairos Moment. I am changing the names of those involved, because I have not asked their permission to use their actual names.

I must begin a few months ago, I had been having to invest money into my car and it was a constant struggle. My friend Lucy said "you need another car" my response was "God would have to drop a car in my driveway, for me to get another car". Now that is only the beginning!!

As most of you know I clean houses to supplement my income, I keep a schedule of everyone I clean for, and in the summer some get off of their normal schedule and I have to wait to see what day they want me to clean. On Thursday morning June 29th I looked at my calendar and all my people were booked except one. I prayed Lord I need to work Wednesday July 5th and the only one not scheduled is Sarah, Lord I need to clean Sarah's house July 5th. Then I headed to work.

Arriving at my job, I noticed they had purchased a new car. Immediately Patty began to show me her old car she was selling. She went into great detail and I was thinking WHY! I couldn't buy a car and was not looking for a car. But jokingly as we started in I said: "Patty, how long will I have to work for you for free to pay for this car"? Her reply was " I Don't Know Let's see." can you imagine my shock look? But it still wasn't registering what was happening. Then as I was leaving she said two things that caught my attention; Linda can you afford to lose the cash I pay you each month? I replied: Patty, I do not know but my God always supplies my needs. She replied: let's see what God is going to do. 

When I got in my car a text message came through, the name said Sarah. The text said: Linda can you work me in and clean my house one day next week? My response: yes, I can come Wednesday July 5th. Did you see what God just did? He was saying I heard your prayer, I heard what you just said to Patty and I am showing you I am in this. But in this moment I found myself terrified because I saw God in this and could not understand, its like saying:" God!! What are You doing?  And where are You taking me?"

But then came the doubts; coming from opinions and my own fears, you see Satan is quiet aware of our weaknesses, he has observed our lives,  and knows just the right whisper that will generate doubt and fear.  With me it is low self-esteem and the fear of hearing God wrong. Just a side note: I know who I am in Christ today, and when these moments of self doubt and fear of hearing wrong come up it is based on my past, years of running from God. I have been set free from that person, but Satan will attempt to bring our past up as if it is still the present. Victory comes each time we don't linger in his lies but tell him "I am a child of God and I was worth His dying for, get behind me Satan in the name of Jesus."I lingered longer than I should have in this, but by Sunday I was willing to take a leap of faith and commit to the car. The plan was and is to sell my car apply that cash to my new car and work off the remainder if any.

Anytime we make a decision to walk by faith, the temptation will also come to attempt to take control, and the enemy will step in and try to shift us from the direction God is taking us. This happened on Friday July 7. This is only part of this marvelous adventure. In the next part I tell how the enemy, Satan, almost convinced me to take control. God is still at work in this whole situation and I stand in amazement. 

One thing more, in the beginning I said "God would have to drop a car in my driveway " and there it sits.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope

John 8:32 you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

The truth about what? Not just the truth about who Jesus is, but also the truth about who we are. Seeing ourselves correctly, recognizing not just our sinfulness but know our weaknesses, the areas of our lives that are vulnerable to temptation. So when the enemy throws out his lure, we see it and are not caught in his snare. We have been set free from the power sin has over us but not from the temptations that come our way

TO KNOW HIM

In our last session we looked at the difference in following a religion verses having a relationship. today we will look at the joy of living in a relationship with Jesus.

In Philippians 3:9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,  which is from the law but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

The law could never declare one to be righteous it could only reveal our inability to be truly righteous before a holy God. It pointed to the promised One that would be able to fulfill the law in all areas, and exchanging our unrighteousness for His righteousness,  as we surrender to His finished work on the cross. Let's look at a few scriptures that support this.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain.

Galatians 3:23-24 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

So what do we do with the law once we are saved? Isaiah 51:7 tells us the His law is in our heart. But one more and moving on.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

The heart we once had was hardened by stubbornness,  selfish desires, strong will; but through the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit our hearts now become fallow ground, pliable to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Now because of the Holy Spirit our desire is no longer to please ourselves but to please God, no longer seeking our way following our desires, but seeking His way and following His desire for us. His law is no longer a requirement to justify ourselves before God but it has become placed in our heart as part of who we are in Christ.

Philippians 3:10-11 that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

There again is the word "know" speaking of an intimate relationship, and "the power of His resurrection",  John 2:19 says that Jesus will raise Himself up, Acts 2:24 says God raised up Jesus from the dead and Romans 8:11 says the Holy Spirit raised Him up. So what does this mean? It took the unity of the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to raise our beloved Savior and that Resurrection Power lives in us. (Look at Acts 1:8) It is the power to walk in victory, to walk by faith, to keep pressing forward and upward in this journey we call life. "Fellowship of His sufferings" we are in a partnership with Jesus and the kingdom of God and because we are not of the world, we will be mocked, ridiculed,  and persecuted. Jesus said in the world we will have tribulation but to be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) And because He has overcome trough the power within us we can overcome also. Before our salvation we are told in Ephesians 2:1 that we were dead in our sins but we were made ALIVE by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. How are we "conformed" to His death?  It means that as we were told in Philippians 2:8 Jesus both humbled Himself and became obedient to His death on the cross. Here He is Deity, God in the flesh and He was willing to be obedient to the Father and die for mankind. That we might be reconciled to God and be restored in fellowship with God as God desired it to be in the beginning. He did this by allowing the wrath of God for sin to be poured on Jesus Christ. So does God expect us to die also? Yes!! 

Matthew 10:38-39 And he who does not take His cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

To take up my cross is a daily act of complete surrender, to say Lord I want Your will for me, I want Your way for me, I want to walk as You desire for me to walk. I humble myself by letting go of my life and saying the old Linda is dead, Christ lives in me, I am guided not by my desires but by His desires for me. I allow His Holy Spirit in me to teach me and guide me. I seek His word to light my way, that I might know the will of God for me and to learn more of His character.  I surrender myself to prayer that I might speak with my Father and listen for when He speaks to me. I worship Him for who He is both privately and corporately. When Paul said "I may attain" he was not speaking in doubt but of humility and striving to pick up his personal cross daily. Some scriptures you may want to read privately: Romans 6:1-23. I had hoped to get further into looking at our citizenship but that is for session 8.

 

 

 

RELIGION VERSES RELATIONSHIP

Today we begin in chapter 3, looking at a warning about false teachers.

Philippians 3:1-3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

Notice the phrase "rejoice in the Lord", as a Christian we can rejoice in our relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul in the very beginning reminds us that we are in a relationship; Paul is about to address a problem that has found its way into the church by focusing on religious, ceremonial procedures verses a relationship with our Lord.  In this session I hope we will see the difference. As it was in their time so it is in our time, some may look a little different in their demands of what the church is to look like and act like but it is still focusing on performance verses relationship.

Paul has heard about what is happening and is writing a warning to the church because Judaizers, who taught that Jesus does save BUT you had to add the observance of the law to that to complete your salvation. "Dogs" today dogs are pets, loved ones and brings a smile to most people's face. But in that day it was a deriding term some Jews used of Gentiles. In other words it was a term that spoke of their disgust of them. Today circumcision is practiced not as a religious act but a decision made in the hospital when your son is born. But for the Jews it was a sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and a requirement established by God that when a son was 8 days old they must be presented to God and circumcised.

Paul tells the church that our confidence is not in ceremonial laws, nor our performance. Our confidence rest in Christ Jesus our Lord and what He as accomplished for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, least anyone should boast.

Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

Galatians 3:2-3 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

Even today there are false teachers and prophets teaching salvation through our works rather than salvation through the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord. We see it as they knock on our doors bringing tracks declaring another gospel. What is another gospel? Any that declare that salvation can be found in many ways, when Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me." Also many deny the deity of Christ, they say He was a prophet, a Teacher, a Man of God but deny that He is God, if Jesus is not God then we are truly lost, because His sacrifice would have been useless, the perfect Lamb of God had to be without sin, a mere man could never be without sin.We can even hear it on television as they try to sell themselves to get you to send in money by saying "if you buy this, or give this God will open the windows of heaven and bless you 100 fold." Our blessings and gifts from God were purchased by the blood of His Son, anyone trying to sell you a blessing is a Deceiver, run from that deception. This kind of talk is what gives the church a bad name. False teachers speak, this a little bit of truth to attract you but their lies are of deception. Attempting to snare you into believing that as a Christian you must dress a certain way, wear your hair a certain way this  is focusing on religion and not relationship, etc. Yes as a Christian we do not want to dress like the world that does not follow Christ, but there is nothing wrong with a little style. We are all unique individuals with a diversity of personalities, though Jesus does work on our personalities, He is focused on changing our character. While religion wants us to conform to be like everyone else, Jesus wants us to transform to be more like Him. Jesus prophesied about false prophets in:

Matthew 7:20 Therefore by there fruits you will know them.

in John 15 Jesus talks about when we abide in Him we will bear His fruit. The verses in Matthew 7 show us that just as a Christian is attached to the vine through salvation and remain in Him we will bear His fruit. A false prophet will be attached to the world, the flesh and the devil and will bear its fruit. They may deceive for a time but their fruit will surely give them away. Are they building the kingdom of God or their own kingdom?

Back in Philippians verses 4-6 Paul begins to share his testimony before Christ. How he of all people had confidence in the flesh, confidence in the law, confidence in his performance then he says:

Philippians 3:7-8 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the  of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

Paul laid aside his human achievements and counted them as nothing for his relationship with Christ. What human achievements are we hanging on to? What does our trophy room look like in our minds " I did this for Jesus, I served here, I did that. See my accomplishments! " Do we play these over in our minds like a check list to present to Jesus? As my pastor recently said "You are either living a performance based life or a faith based life." Let us ask ourselves which are we living?

LET HIS LIGHT SHINE

Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain nor labored in vain.

In Part A we looked at the first part of this verse and talked about what comes out of our mouth. At some point we all have complained and even participated in disputing, yet there is a simple remedy: "Before we speak filter our words through the Holy Spirit and ask ourselves these questions:

1. Does it edify?

2. Does it encourage?

3. Does it inspire?

4. Does it lead others to Christ?

Number 4 is the focus of today's session. The verse above says "among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life". Too often we find Christians, pastors, and ministries shining a spotlight on themselves and what they are doing rather than letting the light of Christ shine in them for others to see Jesus not them. We are not the source of the light nor can we produce the true light without the Holy Spirit within us. Yet, the coming Light that would come and be reflected through all of God's people was prophesied by Isaiah.

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine ; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

Where the light of Christ is the darkness of the world must flee. Let us look in the book of John

John 1:4-5 in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:7-9 This man (John the Baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

Let us take a moment to understand that the world and its value system is based on darkness. The ruler of this darkness is called by many names, Jesus at one point called him "the ruler of this world" in John 14:30, yet we call this ruler Satan. Once we also walked in this darkness under the influence of the world and its ruler, but then came that day when we turned from that darkness in repentance and turned to the Light in faith, from 1 Peter 2:9. Now each day we go out into the world, a world filled with darkness among people who walk in this darkness; now here is the question for each of us to ask ourselves: "When the people walking in darkness meet us do they see the Light of Christ reflecting through us, or do we look just like them?" Jesus said that if we, His church, would lift Him up He would draw all men to Himself. It is His light shining through His people that draws. Jesus gave this instruction for us:

Matthew 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

When the word speaks of us being the light of the world it is speaking of our behavior as seen by others around us. My pastor recently preached a message about the light put under the basket,"when the enemy (Satan) brings oppression over our minds it is as if a basket has been placed over our light."  Our enemy desires to steal our joy, destroy our faith and kill the light within us; because Satan wants the people of this world to stay in his darkness and keep the light of Christ from shining through us and from drawing the lost to Jesus.

 We must hold fast the word of life,  persevering, remaining steadfast, not allowing the world, our flesh, or the devil hinder our walk in the light. There are times we must ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and reveal our daily walk to show areas that His light in us has become dim by shining the spotlight on ourselves, or being oppressed that our light is been his under a basket, ask the Lord does my behavior that others see reflect You, do others see me different from the rest of the world? Ask Lord show me what do others see when they watch me at work, at home, shopping, playing and yes at church? Part of our transformation is seeing the truth in ourselves and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us. This transformation will bear His fruit and by His fruit in us we will lead others to Christ.

WHAT AM I SAYING !!

This will be a part A and part B session.

Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain nor labored in vain.

"Do all things within complaining and disputing, or we could say murmuring and arguing". How often do we find ourselves doing exactly this. Even at times towards God. Especially when something does not go the way we expected it to go our way or we think we have been treated unfairly. But how does God view our murmuring, complain, and arguing?

Going back to Moses; it was time for the children of Israel to enter the promised land, so they sent out 12 spies to check out the land, 10 came back in fear of the people of the land and sowed discord among the people, only Caleb and Joshua came back saying with God we can do this. But listen to the people:

Deuteronomy 1:26-27 Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; and you complained in your tents and said, because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the land of the Amorites, to destroy us.

Now listen to God's response:

Deuteronomy 1:34-35 And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath saying, Surely not one of these men (except Caleb and Joshua) of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, 

Does our complaining and disobedience please God?

Here in the book of Jude verse 16 it talks about the apostates who in their ungodliness have turned from the church and the truth of God's word:

Jude 1:16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

When we find ourselves continually complaining in church; "It's too cold, it's too hot, the music is too loud, they sing to long, I like the old hymn books, will they ever stop praying, enough preaching I'm hungry". Hmmm is that worship God hears? Or at work; "the boss never does their share, so and so is always on her phone, are they going on break again, I'm tired of having all the work dumped on me". Is God pleased when He hears our words about others? Do people, including unbeliever's, enjoy our company or does our words cause them to look forward to our leaving? These are all questions we must ask ourselves, because just as the early church lived in a crooked and perverse generation, so do we. People are seeing and listening to us, other Christians and those of unbelief, what do we sound like to them? Are we giving them reason to find fault with us? The scripture in Philippians says: "that we should become blameless, harmless, without fault." So this is who we are to be and the opposite is one who complains and disputes.

1 Peter 3:10 For "He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit."

Psalm 39:1 I said "I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will refrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me."

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 & 18 we are told to rejoice always and in everything be thankful. When we find ourselves complaining and stirring up discord among the brethren we are doing the work of our enemy, pawns in his hands. Before we can go to Part B we must understand that if we are to be the light we must guard the words of our lips. In fact Isaiah said how could he speak the words of God when he was a man of unclean lips. As a Christian we should want others to see Jesus in us and not allow the words we speak dim the light of Christ in us.

PRESSING FORWARD PART B

Ecclesiastes 7:10 Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

The second point we want to look at is "fear of God". Now I can with certainty tell you there is a healthy fear of God, which will draw you to Him and there is an unhealthy fear of God which will cause you to run from Him.

A healthy fear sees the Awesomeness of God, sees His power, His grace, His mercy, His love and seeing ourselves compared to Him we realize how much we fall short and how much we need Him, for we are nothing without Him. This fear will produce a reverence for God and a love an adoration for who He is, it will produce a desire to learn more of Him, to seek His presence, a desire to please Him and move us to worship.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever. 

But what about an unhealthy fear? This of God foes not see His grace, His mercy or His love; it can only see He is a holy and just God who will bring judgment on the wicked. They cannot see hope for themselves because tormenting fear has paralyzed them from seeing God as He truly is. Jesus spoke a parable about talents read for yourselves Matthew 25:14-30 I am going to write only two verses. In the parable a man traveled to a far country and as he left he gave talents to his servants. Let stop here a moment this is not about money it is about each of us are born with God given talents and abilities,  these are not spiritual gifts but what He has given us to use to bring Him glory and to help us to fulfill the purpose He has for us. In the parable each servant used and multiplied their talents except one servant. This servant was given one talent and buried it away and did not use it. Here is his reason for burying his talent.

Matthew 25:24-25 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours."

Do you see the unhealthy fear? Another example is from my own story. When I was 9 years old my father died. Not understanding death, God, or heaven, I became angry and fearful, refusing to go back to church and saying "I hate God, because He killed my daddy and I was afraid He was going to kill me." And so this not understanding and no one explaining kept me terrified of God and running from Him until I was 27 years old. I am thankful that though I have run from God more than once in my life I now run to Him.

One more word Trembling, when I looked up the meaning it said to shake with fear or shake with excitement. 

There is a balance in everything, yes we through Jesus Christ, have the confidence to come boldly before His throne of grace, we have been called friends of God not based on our performance but based on what Jesus did for us, we have access through prayer to talk to God and listen to His still small voice speaking with us, we can talk to Him about everything and we can sob with Him over our circumstances but in all of this we must never forget He is a sovereign God, all knowing, all powerful, ever present God. To take our relationship so casually would be very foolish. A casual relationship says I can go my own way and visit as it pleases me. But we are in an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe, a God who desires to be in every aspect of our lives, not just on Sunday perhaps Wednesday or when trouble comes. He is with us through the good and the bad times, He is God and He never changes. Think about the awesomeness of God and the power He holds, then remember He loves you, He holds onto you and He will not leave you nor forsake you. What a God we serve.

Planning to finish up chapter 2 next week. Hope you enjoy the new blog format it is simple and will be easy to use.

PRESSING FORWARD

Today we look in chapter 2 picking up in verse 12:

Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but how much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.

Lets really look at these two verses and see what God is saying to us. First of all what it is not saying, 

1. It is not saying salvation is by works

2. Nor are we to be afraid of God.

I like how Paul words the first part that they always obeyed and not just when he was around. What did they obey?

According to Acts 2:42 they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. True and sound doctrine, teaches that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, lived a sinless life, went to the cross to satisfy the wrath of God for sin and reconcile man with God, that on the third day He rose from the grave, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for His bride, teaches He is the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but by Him, and just as He left He is coming again. This is doctrinal truth of what the church is founded on, that Jesus Christ is both the head of the church and the Chief Cornerstone. From this we are to have sound teaching that keeps us aligned with who Jesus is, who God the Father is and who the Holy Spirit is.

I like how Paul says they obeyed even in his absence. Some people are great people pleasers, they have an appearance of worship and are right there with the Amen yet it is only when certain pastors and teachers are around. In reality they are not genuine and act one way in church service and another way when they leave. As followers of Christ we are to wholly follow Christ everywhere we go and with whoever we are around. We can not wear Jesus at church and put Him in the closet when we go to work, go for recreation, go shopping or go to vote., Jesus Christ should be with us always in all things, we should be allowing the Holy Spirit within us to guide us in our words and our actions.

Work out our own salvation ; if it is not salvation by works then what is it? Lets look at a few more verses in Philippians to help us see this.

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching toward those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

PRESS: to advance forward vigorously, to apply pressure.

Paul begins to say that though he ( and we) has not reached the place he pressing forward for, he continues moving forward forgetting the past and reaching forward to those things that are ahead. This growing with Christ, called sanctification, it not allowing our past dictate our present nor allow us not to move forward to what Jesus has for us. Allowing ourselves to regret the past, or hold on to what use to be will hinder our walk with Jesus. This walk is working out our own salvation

OUR BEHAVIORAL HOLINESS

Today I am going to continue with the same focus as last weeks session, but we are going to look at what is called "Behavioral Holiness". Beginning with the same scriptures in Philippians:

Philippians 1: 9-11 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:27 only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel

Last week we looked at our position of holiness, a position not based on our merit, our accomplishments but on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Today we are going to look at our lifestyle and how we live, what we say, how we behave reflects who we believe in. When the unbeliever sees us what do they see? The world or Jesus? Though we are not perfect, we are to reflect the light of Christ to all we come in contact with. The light of Christ is hard to see in someone who is filled with more darkness than Holy Spirit. 

There is a biblical principle of "putting off and putting on". This is an ongoing process known in the church as sanctification, a process that may look different in different people, we do not all mature at the same time, and we must be very careful not to compare ourselves with others and others with ourselves. This process happens the more we renew our minds with the word of God. Now renewing does not mean gaining more knowledge, this renewing takes that knowledge with understanding and transforms us to be more like Christ. Too often Christians remain babes in Christ because they do not spend time in His word and they do not put off and put on. Let's look at some scriptures.

Colossians 3:8-10 But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.

I suggest you open your word and read all of Colossians chapter 3.

Romans 6:11-12 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Jesus died that the power of sin would no longer have control over us. Since we have been set free from the bondage and slavery of sin, our lifestyle, our words, our thought life, our actions should no longer reflect the sin nature we once had, but the new nature will now be evident in our lives. The evidence of this new nature is called fruit. Which we read in Philippians 1:11 called fruits of righteousness.

Romans 6:21-22 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

In Philippians 1:27 it says let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ is the good news, Christ the Son of God has come, He came to reconcile us to God the Father and give us eternal life, that life began the moment we were born again into the family of God. So the question we must ask ourselves, "Does my conduct reflect the One who came to give me eternal life?" Or "Am I still living life controlled by my old nature?"

1 Peter 1:14-16 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance,  but as He who called you is holy, also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.

1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself,  just as He is pure.

Again I am not proclaiming "perfection" I am declaring a daily transformation of our lives. As we pursue God we also should pursue a godly lifestyle. So many other scriptures that talk about putting off the works of the flesh, submitting unto God and resisting the devil, walking in the spirit and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.  Looking back at Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 33:13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity he has committed, he shall die.

Just as we must know that our righteousness cannot bring us salvation, we must also understand each day we make a decision "Today I will live my life pleasing God."

One more verse in Ezekiel that really spoke to me; how often have we said "God that's not fair!" Years ago and maybe last week (Smiling) I have said "God, that's just not fair, they seem to get by doing things, you never let me get by with." Yet, look at this verse:

Ezekiel 33:17 Yet the children of your people say,"The way of the LORD is not fair." But it is their way which is not fair.

God is just and He deals with us without partiality of persons yet with each of us He deals in our areas that He is removing and transforming. So at times in our finite minds it appears not fair. My own life example:

Before I became a Christian I had a filthy mouth, curse words would roll off my tongue without any hesitation.  When I became a Christian the first book I read was the book of James and chapter 3 leaped off the page at me and I noticed the first difference I saw in me was God touched my tongue and cleaned up my mouth. I began to do some teaching nothing major, then twelve years later out of anger over my failed marriage I began to run from God and what came back in my life was the filthy mouth. Then when I came back to the Lord in repentance, once more He touched my tongue and cleaned up my mouth, and I began to teach. As I would hear other Christians language I would say "Lord, why do they get by with it and I didn't?" That takes me back to a verse I had not paid close attention to as a new Christian, but it explains a lot.

James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

There it was, God had given me the gift of teaching, and my mouth could not bring forth both fresh and bitter water.  For me to be used of God as He intended, to hear Him and speak His truth He had to touch my unclean lips as He did with Isaiah so I might be able to use my voice to bring Him glory.

In Ephesians 5:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

In the verse 26 we are told we are sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word. This cleansing also becomes part of our responsibility not God's.

Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready.

Next week we look at chapter 2 in Philippians. Have a blessed week