When Philippians 4:8 challenged us to think on the right things, the second subject is "honest". Honest, in this setting, speaks to the heart of ones character. It is also referred to "as what is honorable" and "to be revered".
To do the honorable thing is not always the easiest choice. The word "Honest" is not necessarily about not cheating on your taxes, when, obviously, we should render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. There was a day when being "honorable " was a more plenteous trait. But, because the Lord placed special emphasis here in His Word, we should give extra special care to exhibiting what is "Honest" and what is "Honorable".
Life is a test. Everything we go through will reveal something about our character. Need an example?
As Israel wandered in the desert those forty years, at strategic points and places, God revealed Himself to her. At the place of "bitter waters", He was revealed as "The Healer" and so on. The same, of course, was true on Israel's side of the relationship - meaning - their character was revealed too. When things didn't happen as fast as they wanted, their hearts strayed.
So, life is a test to reveal our hearts and thought processes. To be "Honest" or "Honorable" is not just a matter of "what we do", but also "who we are". Selah. Think on these things...
3/17/08
3/10/08
What Are You Thinking About These Days?
Beloved, what are you thinking about these days? Philippians 4:7-9 encourages us to think upon the things that will bring the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The first among the list is: think upon whatsoever is TRUE. Wow! What a dynamic word. Much of the world is seeking for truth and discover what is true. The things that are true and summed up in the following: what is proven to be faithful, consistent, invariable, and rock solid. Sounds like the Lord's character to me!
Not only is He truth, He is true! The Book of Revelation calls the Lord, "Faithful and True." From everlasting to everlasting, our God is dependable and unwavering. "In Him there is no variableness and no shadow of turning" James 1:17 says.
So many things today are undependable. But you and I can depend on the immovable Christ. He is TRUE, and what He says is truth. He, and His Word, has been stood the test of time. His timeless Words are just as true today as it was the day He spoke them. If it's peace you're looking and waiting for, think on these things. Meditate on what is TRUE and Who is TRUE!
The first among the list is: think upon whatsoever is TRUE. Wow! What a dynamic word. Much of the world is seeking for truth and discover what is true. The things that are true and summed up in the following: what is proven to be faithful, consistent, invariable, and rock solid. Sounds like the Lord's character to me!
Not only is He truth, He is true! The Book of Revelation calls the Lord, "Faithful and True." From everlasting to everlasting, our God is dependable and unwavering. "In Him there is no variableness and no shadow of turning" James 1:17 says.
So many things today are undependable. But you and I can depend on the immovable Christ. He is TRUE, and what He says is truth. He, and His Word, has been stood the test of time. His timeless Words are just as true today as it was the day He spoke them. If it's peace you're looking and waiting for, think on these things. Meditate on what is TRUE and Who is TRUE!
3/5/08
Kingdom Relationships (part 5)
A Kingdom Perspective
What would happen if each one of us had a more biblical, kingdom perspective regarding relationships? You know...it is possible. Don't you? As God's Word becomes our relationship compass, we are promised that our lights will perpetually shine brighter and brighter, until the day Jesus returns. Relationships within the Kingdom of God is somewhat of a barometer of sorts to measure Christ's light, especially in the home.
All of us are capable of allowing emotional buttons to be pushed, thereby displaying flesh against flesh; even though we know that we are not to wrestle against flesh and blood. But you know, we can elect not to go there. We can resist Satan's temptation to bring further ruin to godly relationships by immediately submitting to God. We often forget this and get the cart before the horse. If you re-read the scripture, it says, "Submit yourself to God, then resist the devil". Sometimes it is easier to resist than to submit. Huh?
This is because flesh defends it's rights and justifies its wavering position. Part of submitting to God is yielding our right to argue flesh's case before God. After all, we want immediate justice through "getting even". But, of course, this is not God's way. We are to submit our will to His, and, in doing so, He will defends and bring justice (with grace and mercy in mind) to our situation.
God sees the bigger picture, and, especially where two of His children are involved in a squabble, He has to speak truth into both. God will not be convinced that our way of resolving things is right or fair. He will only respond from His righteous perspective. If we really, really trust Him, we should be able to release relationship difficulties into God's hands without hardly any hesitation. Selah!
What would happen if each one of us had a more biblical, kingdom perspective regarding relationships? You know...it is possible. Don't you? As God's Word becomes our relationship compass, we are promised that our lights will perpetually shine brighter and brighter, until the day Jesus returns. Relationships within the Kingdom of God is somewhat of a barometer of sorts to measure Christ's light, especially in the home.
All of us are capable of allowing emotional buttons to be pushed, thereby displaying flesh against flesh; even though we know that we are not to wrestle against flesh and blood. But you know, we can elect not to go there. We can resist Satan's temptation to bring further ruin to godly relationships by immediately submitting to God. We often forget this and get the cart before the horse. If you re-read the scripture, it says, "Submit yourself to God, then resist the devil". Sometimes it is easier to resist than to submit. Huh?
This is because flesh defends it's rights and justifies its wavering position. Part of submitting to God is yielding our right to argue flesh's case before God. After all, we want immediate justice through "getting even". But, of course, this is not God's way. We are to submit our will to His, and, in doing so, He will defends and bring justice (with grace and mercy in mind) to our situation.
God sees the bigger picture, and, especially where two of His children are involved in a squabble, He has to speak truth into both. God will not be convinced that our way of resolving things is right or fair. He will only respond from His righteous perspective. If we really, really trust Him, we should be able to release relationship difficulties into God's hands without hardly any hesitation. Selah!
2/21/08
Kingdom Relationships Part 4
Surely you have noticed how the enemy of our souls works overtime, seeking to ensnare us with the things which most often lead into thinking and acting differently than we were born to do and to be. It seems these snare are found early in life by so many, whose hurts and inner pain derails them time and time again. What an aweful secenerio, but their pain is very real and often almost impossible to see beyond.
Those of us who have expereince varied levels of personal freedom in Christ can testify that there is abundant life to be found. Yet we must acknowledge and seek to help others experience the same freedoms we now enjoy. Like when Jesus announced His purpose for being upon the earth (in Luke 4:18) in the synagogue, our ministry was designed by God to accomplish the same: for He came to set the captive free. Jesus said, "For the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me...to bind up the broken hearted...to set at liberty those who are bruised, etc.
Whatever ministry you find yourself serving in these days, let it be that your vision is set on doing the same as Jesus! The vision is all that matters. The vision is like the motor in your vehicle. It is the drive train...the gears that motivate us to fulfill the concerns of God's heart. We must see what He sees...hear what He hears...and feel what He feels. Jesus wept over His city. When is the last time we did that?
When we finally see Jesus, we will discover for real the eternal value of our involvement in ministry. For in serving others, we are, in deed, serving Him. God's Word admonishes us to "do all unto the Lord". When this happens, rewards are layed up like treasure. There is absolutely no room in the Kingdom of God for self-serving attitudes. The selfless attribute Jesus lived by is in our spiritual DNA. But if we do otherwise, "Well done" may not the words we'll hear when we see the Christ face-to-face. Selah...
Those of us who have expereince varied levels of personal freedom in Christ can testify that there is abundant life to be found. Yet we must acknowledge and seek to help others experience the same freedoms we now enjoy. Like when Jesus announced His purpose for being upon the earth (in Luke 4:18) in the synagogue, our ministry was designed by God to accomplish the same: for He came to set the captive free. Jesus said, "For the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me...to bind up the broken hearted...to set at liberty those who are bruised, etc.
Whatever ministry you find yourself serving in these days, let it be that your vision is set on doing the same as Jesus! The vision is all that matters. The vision is like the motor in your vehicle. It is the drive train...the gears that motivate us to fulfill the concerns of God's heart. We must see what He sees...hear what He hears...and feel what He feels. Jesus wept over His city. When is the last time we did that?
When we finally see Jesus, we will discover for real the eternal value of our involvement in ministry. For in serving others, we are, in deed, serving Him. God's Word admonishes us to "do all unto the Lord". When this happens, rewards are layed up like treasure. There is absolutely no room in the Kingdom of God for self-serving attitudes. The selfless attribute Jesus lived by is in our spiritual DNA. But if we do otherwise, "Well done" may not the words we'll hear when we see the Christ face-to-face. Selah...
2/12/08
Kingdom Relationships (Part 3)
"Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath."
We live in a society where we believe that certain principles within the Word of God are archaic, and therefore we can justify ignoring them. Beneath the surface of Paul's admonition to take special care in family relationships, we'll see a deeper application and consequence. Let me explain.
First of all, there are four (4) stages of anger: anger, wrath, rage and murder. In the Greek language, the phrase "Provoke not your children to wrath", it is explained in the following way: When we push and push and push - to the point of provoking our children, thus cause them to become full of wrath - that level of deep, hurtful emotion causes our children to desire our authority. Why? They think we have the authority to verbally, physically, mentally and abuse them. Our children just don't know that we've actually stepped over the line and violated God's purpose for authority. They want our authority so we'll stop hurting them.
This wrath opens the door for violence, rebellion and the like, because we have overstepped our authority. Rebellion is a sinful, but natural, fight every children will have to conquer. There is certainly no need for us to further complicate matters, by abusing authority. Remember... all authority is delegated. If we violate parameters of authority given to us by the Lord, then we will have to answer to Him for it.
I trust we will reconsider our roles as parents, and find ourselves remaining in the place of correction vs. punishment. If the Lord treated us like some treat their children, none of us would serve Him. The same is true for parenting: our children will not want to follow us if we have presented the wrong picture. Selah!
We live in a society where we believe that certain principles within the Word of God are archaic, and therefore we can justify ignoring them. Beneath the surface of Paul's admonition to take special care in family relationships, we'll see a deeper application and consequence. Let me explain.
First of all, there are four (4) stages of anger: anger, wrath, rage and murder. In the Greek language, the phrase "Provoke not your children to wrath", it is explained in the following way: When we push and push and push - to the point of provoking our children, thus cause them to become full of wrath - that level of deep, hurtful emotion causes our children to desire our authority. Why? They think we have the authority to verbally, physically, mentally and abuse them. Our children just don't know that we've actually stepped over the line and violated God's purpose for authority. They want our authority so we'll stop hurting them.
This wrath opens the door for violence, rebellion and the like, because we have overstepped our authority. Rebellion is a sinful, but natural, fight every children will have to conquer. There is certainly no need for us to further complicate matters, by abusing authority. Remember... all authority is delegated. If we violate parameters of authority given to us by the Lord, then we will have to answer to Him for it.
I trust we will reconsider our roles as parents, and find ourselves remaining in the place of correction vs. punishment. If the Lord treated us like some treat their children, none of us would serve Him. The same is true for parenting: our children will not want to follow us if we have presented the wrong picture. Selah!
1/14/08
Kingdom Relationships (pt. 2)
"Be ye angy and sin not; let not the sun to go down upon your wrath." Ephesians 4:26
Ephesians 4:26 is one of several scriptures we will look at over the next few weeks, as we examine Kingdom relationships. Question: What would cause any Christian to think they could consciously ignore God's Word and still walk in total freedom? But you and I know how easily this can happen. We so easily subdue and suppress anger and other turmoil-like emotions, when God clearly instructs us deal with them before they root in us.
Our expression, "Nip it in the bud", is an horticultural principle. If we "nip it" early on it will be less painful than much later, when there are others roots and feeder branches attached to it. Of course, it is often easy to justify not dealing with uneasy emotions. There can be many reasons why we justify them, but none of them supercede the instructions God gave us in Ephesians 4:26.
Remember this: Whatever we justify, the enemy begins to fortify. Later on, a little thing becomes and giant; a mole hill becomes an mountain. By this time, the enemy has built a strong fortress around our "once little wounded emotion".
Too many walk around injured and in dire need of healing. But the healing cannot begin until after we have asked God to forgive us for any and all willful disobedience. Once this occurs, healing can be ours: sometimes progressively, and occasionally immediate. Whichever the case, let us guard our hearts with all diligence, by not allowing things to go undealt with. You and I will be much better for it. I'd rather see you in the winner's circle, than the wounded circle.
Ephesians 4:26 is one of several scriptures we will look at over the next few weeks, as we examine Kingdom relationships. Question: What would cause any Christian to think they could consciously ignore God's Word and still walk in total freedom? But you and I know how easily this can happen. We so easily subdue and suppress anger and other turmoil-like emotions, when God clearly instructs us deal with them before they root in us.
Our expression, "Nip it in the bud", is an horticultural principle. If we "nip it" early on it will be less painful than much later, when there are others roots and feeder branches attached to it. Of course, it is often easy to justify not dealing with uneasy emotions. There can be many reasons why we justify them, but none of them supercede the instructions God gave us in Ephesians 4:26.
Remember this: Whatever we justify, the enemy begins to fortify. Later on, a little thing becomes and giant; a mole hill becomes an mountain. By this time, the enemy has built a strong fortress around our "once little wounded emotion".
Too many walk around injured and in dire need of healing. But the healing cannot begin until after we have asked God to forgive us for any and all willful disobedience. Once this occurs, healing can be ours: sometimes progressively, and occasionally immediate. Whichever the case, let us guard our hearts with all diligence, by not allowing things to go undealt with. You and I will be much better for it. I'd rather see you in the winner's circle, than the wounded circle.
1/9/08
Kingdom Relationships (pt. 1)
"Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul propers." III John 1:2
It is no doubt that it is God's will for us to be blessed and enjoy this life. And, in almost every denomination, this is thoroughly covered. However, if you take a closer look at the things Jesus emphasized within the kingdom of God, various subjects surrounding the issue of "relationship" were valued much higher. You see, child of God, some of the most unhappiest people in the Kingdom are those who have discovered this.
I begin this New Year with a re-emphasizing relationship. The biggest reason is what is going on in my family's life right now. Let me explain. A close family member was wounded by a pastor: this pastor made some remarks about our family. My close family member tried to discuss the issue with this pastor but it never really workerd out to do so. Hince, what the scriptures warn us against happened: anger, bitterness and sin that further complicates matters.
Such transparency hyas not been encouraged by the many ministry friends we have, but I have determined that the Body of Christ at-large really needs to hear the truth. We tend to apply the Word of God to others more than ourselves. So much emphasis is placed on being blessed - such little emphasis is being placed on obeying the Word of God in area of relationships.
We simply cannot allow hatred and bitterness to creep into our lives and hearts. The result will be cancerous. Others will be affected by our poison.
Over the next weeks, we will spend some time on this valueable subject. Let us determine in our hearts - no, let us covenant together - that we will pursue relationships rightly in 2008. Otherwise, soldiers will be further wounded; your brothers and sisters will miss out on the greatest blessing of all - you and me!
It is no doubt that it is God's will for us to be blessed and enjoy this life. And, in almost every denomination, this is thoroughly covered. However, if you take a closer look at the things Jesus emphasized within the kingdom of God, various subjects surrounding the issue of "relationship" were valued much higher. You see, child of God, some of the most unhappiest people in the Kingdom are those who have discovered this.
I begin this New Year with a re-emphasizing relationship. The biggest reason is what is going on in my family's life right now. Let me explain. A close family member was wounded by a pastor: this pastor made some remarks about our family. My close family member tried to discuss the issue with this pastor but it never really workerd out to do so. Hince, what the scriptures warn us against happened: anger, bitterness and sin that further complicates matters.
Such transparency hyas not been encouraged by the many ministry friends we have, but I have determined that the Body of Christ at-large really needs to hear the truth. We tend to apply the Word of God to others more than ourselves. So much emphasis is placed on being blessed - such little emphasis is being placed on obeying the Word of God in area of relationships.
We simply cannot allow hatred and bitterness to creep into our lives and hearts. The result will be cancerous. Others will be affected by our poison.
Over the next weeks, we will spend some time on this valueable subject. Let us determine in our hearts - no, let us covenant together - that we will pursue relationships rightly in 2008. Otherwise, soldiers will be further wounded; your brothers and sisters will miss out on the greatest blessing of all - you and me!
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