FORWARD!

Ok, I am just going to start typing because I have been thinking about writing this last entry for 2014 for weeks now.  There has been so much on my mind!  Everything from the holiday blues, family relationships (that’s big), work expectations in the new year, and finally to what is God going to do in the New Year!!!!  I know I am not alone.  Probably anyone who is reading this will have had at least one of these thoughts over the past several weeks.  To what degree you have them depends on many factors. Some of these thoughts deal with the past, others with what is going on today, and finally the rest with the future.  Thankfully we have choices on how to deal with these thoughts. 

I don’t know about you, but because of Love, I always look to see what God says I should be focusing on.  In one of my favorite books of the bible, Isaiah, we receive some guidance with our thoughts:

Isaiah 43¹⁸ “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. ¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

See what we need, what the “world” needs is hope! (1 Corinth 13:13) We find that in the hope provider, the joy bringer, the life giver, the power deliverer….Jesus.  So God says forget about all that other stuff and watch me work in your life.  Watch me work through you.  Watch as your faith pleases me to action. 

As Isaiah asks, have you not sensed that God has already begun to work?  Can you not see God moving all around you?

So as you end 2014 and by grace enter 2015, I hope you move FORWARD with hope forgetting all that is past and becoming excited about the God who makes all things NEW!  Amen. 

Walk & Not Faint

Isaiah 40²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, ³¹ but those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

I love Isaiah 40, it is action packed with power, promise and truth.  “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Isaiah asks.  If you hadn’t heard before, Isaiah 40 breaks it down for us.  One of the truths in this passage of scripture that perplexed me for many years, is the end of verse 31 “they shall walk and not faint”.  This portion of the scripture came alive to me, after I had walked a few years with the Lord.  See I am a runner, and if I think about fainting, it would be because I was running too long and too hard….but that is in the physical.  One thing we learn spiritually as a child of God, is that in order to live a life of faith pleasing to the Lord, we must walk with Him.  This race of endurance is not a sprint, some say it is a marathon, but for me it has been more like a combination of a sprint, a run & a lot of walking.  We have to walk in the Spirit.  We can’t sprint, unless it is the season to do so.  Sometimes it feels like a marathon because it takes so long to get to the finish line of a promise from God.  But the hardest times for me in my Christian walk have been the steady pace of not going to fast & not going to slow.  It has been walking with my eyes focused on Christ, and not what is going on around me or even inside me.  It has been in these times that I have felt like fainting, but Christ has empowered me to just take one more step, trust Him a little further, and to hold on just a little longer.  It is the day-to-day monotony, waiting for a change that can wear us out. 

We the children of God can become weary of the troubles of this world, the failings of humans, and trying to do things in our own strength.  But I propose to you today as Isaiah did thousands of years ago, have you not known, have you not heard of the God, my God:

…The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

As we walk together, being empowered by the Holy Spirit, let us be comforted by His love so that we will not faint, if we WAIT on the Lord.  Hallelujah and Amen.

Let Love Choose Your Friends

I was reading a devotional today that spoke about friendship and the ability to trust others for it.  That is a poor summary, because it was a very powerful devotional from Girlfriends in God.  Well of course it made me examine my life and friendships.  As I read it, the Spirit kept bringing out for me the word TRUST.  So I went to the word of God for further guidance, because like many of you, I have been hurt in my life by so-called friends.  My question to myself and to you is, “was it really just their fault that I got hurt?”  So let’s examine some scripture:

Proverbs 18:²⁴ A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NKJV)

²⁴ There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. (NLT)

²⁴ Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. The Message

I used all three versions of the same scripture, because each breaks down how friendship can be.  Can you relate?  What stands out to me in all three is how we have to be a friend first, and then also how the friendship is brought to a familial sense….a brother (or sister). Now look at these verses:

Proverbs 12:²⁶ The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray. (NKJV)

²⁶ The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. (NLT)

²⁶ A good person survives misfortune, but a wicked life invites disaster. The Message

Now we see how the Word says that we have to choose friends carefully.  Verse 26 also shows us that if we choose wrong, or a wicked person, we will be led astray and have disaster invited into our lives.  That is deep.  The word of God brings such clarity for every aspect of our lives.  God loves us so much that He will give us wisdom to choose the right friends.  These friends should be our brothers and sisters in Christ, in the family of God.  Even within the family of God, the body of Christ, we have to use wisdom and be guided by the Holy Spirit.  Friends give grace, encourage one another, and provide good advice from the word of God.  Are you a friend?  By the love and friendship of God, we can be a good friend and choose our friends wisely. 

Thank you Lord Jesus that you love us, know us and care even about who our friends are.  Lord help us to choose wisely those we invite into our lives.  Thank you for always being the friend we need most. Amen. 

Are you Divergent?

I finally watched this movie called Divergent.  I previously watched a program that was talking about genetics and abnormalities.  They made a reference to superheroes like Spiderman who is different because he is genetically mixed with spider, or wolfman who is mixed with a wolf.  These are “deemed” superheroes, and most people look up to that.  In this program that is said to be dangerous, moving away from God’s order.  They also referenced this movie Divergent.  So I am watching it and noticing things in reference to the Word of God, as I always do.

In the movie, they divide the “of age” children into Factions which represent different orders in society.  These factions are man-made and are used to keep order in a brand new society.  You are to conform to your label and be a good member of your faction…faction over family (blood).  I see a biblical parallel to this.  We as the “born again” of the Spirit don’t fit into society, because we live in this world but are not of it.  We don’t easily fit a label, and tend to stand out in our thinking.  In the movie Divergent, these divergent don’t think like everyone else and are feared.  They also handle fear differently than their faction.  This is the main biblical parallel I see, how we as children of God handle fear.  When the divergent is faced with fear in the movie, she says “this is not real” and moves past the fear.  We are to do the same.  For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.  So when we see fear, we face it, call it what it is and say Lord my faith in You says no weapon formed against me shall prosper.  Lord my faith in you says that you will protect and strengthen me.  So I don’t mind being different or diverging from what this world says I should be, I am different, peculiar.  There is no fear in Love.  So how about you?

2 Timothy 1:⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV

Painful Exposure

John 3²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (NKJV)

Read John 3:18-21

I was reading this passage in multiple versions this morning, and as the Word usually does, it challenged me in my Christian walk.  Ok, I have accepted and believed that Jesus is the Son of God, so I am good….right? (v18)  Also in v19 it talks about condemnation, but Romans 8:1 says there is “no condemnation in Christ Jesus…”.  So here is the kicker for us Christians, we are not condemned, but we sometimes don’t allow God’s light into ALL areas of our lives.  We could be walking as “Children of the Light” and even being an effective witness for Christ in most areas of our lives, but there is one pesky area we keep in the dark….safe from being exposed, we think.  I know what some of mine have been, and you probably know what yours are, but maybe not.  Read the Message version of the same passage:

19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”  (MSG)

Wow, around verse 20 they use the word practice, which means you are working to get better at it.  Then it brings out the reasons why you might not know that area of your life is in darkness…due to denial and illusion.  Christians can sin as long as we are in this flesh, but even our future sins are forgiven when we ask Jesus for it.  The problem is when we are practicing a sin in denial, under the illusion that we are getting away with it and it is not “really” a sin.  Eventually either God is going to take us through “a painful exposure” (v20), or we can be turned over to a reprobate mind (Romans1:28).  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit by trying to please myself over pleasing God.  I want the Lord to show me where I am in denial or under a false illusion.

Prayer:  Lord I know my faith pleases you.  Please give me the ability to see things clearly so all my deeds will be pleasing to you and done in the light of your Love.  Amen. 

Why Don't I Listen......

I love God.  Usually when I am at work and I can't get a parking spot close to the building when I first get there, I will go move my car later right before I teach my night class that does not let out until 10 pm.  Well on this particular day I had on my mind to go get some Mapco coffee and grab a sandwich, but something was telling me to just move the car and go back in. Being Wanda, I went to get the coffee & sandwich.  smile. The whole way I am trying to figure out why I am being convicted to not leave campus...should I not spend any money....do I not really need the sandwich?  All of that instead of just listening to my conviction & trusting God.
Well when I get back to my office, someone was waiting on me who I had planned to go eat with before class.  I had totally forgotten. Why don't I listen.  I knew it was the Holy Spirit...why not just trust God instead of trying to figure it out myself.  God is so awesome and faithful, when we don't remember He does, and we should just trust Him.  Amen.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

A Case Study

Read Colossians 9:9-23

Reading the Message version of the bible is awesome at times when I have been so used to reading from the KJV or the NKJV.  From the passage below verse 21 says that we “are a case study of what He does”.  You and I are being studied to see what God does! 

In my profession, the computer field, when companies create a new product and businesses run them in their environment, they can be made into a case study.  So if Microsoft wants to find out how Word is working at Business XYZ, they will do a case study to see how well Word is working in their business environment.  Other business read these case studies to see if they want to use Word in their business based on how well it worked for Business XYZ. 

In the same way God our creator uses us as a case study for how well His creation who call on the name of Jesus work in this world. If others see us as Christians working together on one accord, loving others, they might want to see what Jesus is all about and use Him in their life.  Verses 15 – 16 talk about how we are all created in Christ Jesus and find our purpose in Him.  So if we are representing what it looks like to be “fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies” (v20), then those in the world who are God’s creation, but not yet His child through accepting Christ Jesus, might want to try Jesus. 

If we who are re-gened and made new in Christ Jesus “stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message” (v.23), then we will fulfill God’s commission to be a witness for Him to the world.  We are being studied everyday of our lives.  People watch our character, our actions & reactions, and how we love our neighbor.  If someone wrote a case study about you and how well you work in this world, would others want you as a product (the evidence of God’s grace & mercy working powerfully in your life)?  Would they want to try what you have? 

Prayer:  Jesus help us walk through this life being a proper representative of what you can do when we call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.  Amen.