"A Good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." Proverbs 22:1a (Amplified)
I don't know if many of us recognize the power of our names. Some may things it happenstance or coincidence that they were named what they were named, and others may know the significance of their name but really may not totally grasp the responsibility that is required to live up to that name.
Jesus carried with Him the name above all names, and the responsibility of His name led him to the cross. I love how Philippians 2 depicts how Jesus assumed the responsibility of His name and because He did it so well God elevated His name to the status no other name could ever have.
So don't for one moment lessen the importance of your name and how it matters in this world, because if you truly knew who you were, then its easy to live the life your meant to live in Christ.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Be Vigilant
"Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset--rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world." 1 Peter 5:8-9
Sun Tzu a great war tactician once said, "In any battle, you must know your enemy and know thyself..." How true do those words ring when it concerns the enemy of mankind (satan). He roams about the earth seeking whom he may devour, in fact, this version emphasizes that He roams about with fierce hunger. He's so anxious to strike us and take us down that he patiently waits for our moment of weakness and attacks. Like any normal lion.
I've heard it said that a lion can sense fear and hesitation, but it can also sense strength and courage. If it senses strength its likely to back down and go away, if by chance it does attack their only way of attack is to pounce... leaving themselves vulnerable to a person eluding them and striking them in the head. In like fashion, Satan has his old tricks be it; pornography, alcohol, drugs, etc... His tricks never change and we know that if we claim the name of Jesus and operate in His strength we can defeat his pounces.
God loves us so much that He gives us a clear warning on how to be overcomers in this world. How not to let the enemy of our soul triumph over us. He tells us to be on alert because this enemy is looking to pounce on us when we least expect it. This passage encourages me to keep my mind and my soul on heavy alert knowing that its just a matter of time before the enemy would want to come after me. I encourage you to live in like fashion.
Sun Tzu a great war tactician once said, "In any battle, you must know your enemy and know thyself..." How true do those words ring when it concerns the enemy of mankind (satan). He roams about the earth seeking whom he may devour, in fact, this version emphasizes that He roams about with fierce hunger. He's so anxious to strike us and take us down that he patiently waits for our moment of weakness and attacks. Like any normal lion.
I've heard it said that a lion can sense fear and hesitation, but it can also sense strength and courage. If it senses strength its likely to back down and go away, if by chance it does attack their only way of attack is to pounce... leaving themselves vulnerable to a person eluding them and striking them in the head. In like fashion, Satan has his old tricks be it; pornography, alcohol, drugs, etc... His tricks never change and we know that if we claim the name of Jesus and operate in His strength we can defeat his pounces.
God loves us so much that He gives us a clear warning on how to be overcomers in this world. How not to let the enemy of our soul triumph over us. He tells us to be on alert because this enemy is looking to pounce on us when we least expect it. This passage encourages me to keep my mind and my soul on heavy alert knowing that its just a matter of time before the enemy would want to come after me. I encourage you to live in like fashion.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Tongue
"And the tongue is a fire. [The tongue is a] world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man's nature), being itself ignited by hell...With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God's likeness!" James 3: 6,9 (Amplified)
Ever said anything you wished you took back as soon as it left your mouth? I know I have several times, and perhaps in my lifetime I'll do it again. It's that ragged tongue, it has such a potential to do marvelous things, but can be equally as destructive. James marveled at this paradox, after all how could something praise God and later curse the very perfect creation of God.
This member of our body is guided by emotion more than any other member of our body. Our brain has a direct link to the tongue and when we feel good or bad we respond in kind. However, because it is linked to the brain it is also the hardest to control, because at times subconscious thoughts emerge and we're not wholly (or consciously) aware of what we speak.
Then what to do? The best way to control it is to realize that we can't. Let our flesh lose the battle that the spirit so desperately desires to win. Begin exercises of praise rather than speaking negativity. The more we practice to speak good then it will be rather difficult to speak evil, or we will feel wrong about it. If we allow God to control our lives most assuredly He'll control our tongue, if not then we become victims of our own inherently wicked desires and the flesh triumphs once again. Prevent this at all costs!
Ever said anything you wished you took back as soon as it left your mouth? I know I have several times, and perhaps in my lifetime I'll do it again. It's that ragged tongue, it has such a potential to do marvelous things, but can be equally as destructive. James marveled at this paradox, after all how could something praise God and later curse the very perfect creation of God.
This member of our body is guided by emotion more than any other member of our body. Our brain has a direct link to the tongue and when we feel good or bad we respond in kind. However, because it is linked to the brain it is also the hardest to control, because at times subconscious thoughts emerge and we're not wholly (or consciously) aware of what we speak.
Then what to do? The best way to control it is to realize that we can't. Let our flesh lose the battle that the spirit so desperately desires to win. Begin exercises of praise rather than speaking negativity. The more we practice to speak good then it will be rather difficult to speak evil, or we will feel wrong about it. If we allow God to control our lives most assuredly He'll control our tongue, if not then we become victims of our own inherently wicked desires and the flesh triumphs once again. Prevent this at all costs!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Forgiven to Forgive
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
What a truly profound yet simple message. A message where God says to us in so many words, "I will totally wipe out all your sins from my memory. That compromising situation where you gave into temptation and failed. That time where you spoke harshly against your brother or sister. Those instances for me are totally forgiven and released from My memory."
This truly amazing level of grace serves as an example for us, a model, if you will, on how we ought to be with others. Yet, sometimes the choices we make run counter to this line of thinking. We choose to hold grudges, or bitterness towards others because of the hurtful things they may have said or done. Or when someone fails in the most simple elements of life we become critical of them and totally judge and condemn them. It's as if we feel like we are better than God because we refuse to do the very thing He does for us.
You can tell a person that has true forgiveness in their lives, because they reflect love in all instances not holding grudges against anyone, always forgiving, always loving. This person refuses to give into gossip, or hate of any sort. More than anything this person reflects what God promises He will do for us in this passage. So the question persists... "Are we going to be for God's ways, or are we going to live as if we are better than Him?" If you remember nothing about this passage...remember this simple fact, that you are forgiven to forgive.
What a truly profound yet simple message. A message where God says to us in so many words, "I will totally wipe out all your sins from my memory. That compromising situation where you gave into temptation and failed. That time where you spoke harshly against your brother or sister. Those instances for me are totally forgiven and released from My memory."
This truly amazing level of grace serves as an example for us, a model, if you will, on how we ought to be with others. Yet, sometimes the choices we make run counter to this line of thinking. We choose to hold grudges, or bitterness towards others because of the hurtful things they may have said or done. Or when someone fails in the most simple elements of life we become critical of them and totally judge and condemn them. It's as if we feel like we are better than God because we refuse to do the very thing He does for us.
You can tell a person that has true forgiveness in their lives, because they reflect love in all instances not holding grudges against anyone, always forgiving, always loving. This person refuses to give into gossip, or hate of any sort. More than anything this person reflects what God promises He will do for us in this passage. So the question persists... "Are we going to be for God's ways, or are we going to live as if we are better than Him?" If you remember nothing about this passage...remember this simple fact, that you are forgiven to forgive.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Never
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)
Moses' final exhortation to the people. It carries with it the spectrum of emotions ranging from melancholy (for he's not the one leading the people to the promised land) to encouragement (because his people are about to embark on a terrific journey with a new regime). Moses is sure of something that this new breed isn't quite familiar with, and he's imparting this wisdom unto them. God will never leave you. Never not ever!
As we that are familiar with this story know, there were several instances in which God could have left this rag tag bunch of wishy washy people, but He never did. Pick your instance; the golden calf, the cursed brook, the rebellion of Korah, and their refusal to enter the land for fear of the giants. Time and again the people that had witnessed the greatest miracles the world has ever known retaliated to a mentality of things being too impossible. I'd imagine the whole time God is shaking His head in disbelief saying, "Really?"
Yet in all this, and in all the anger God had against His people, He never left. Makes me think about all of us who at times really beat ourselves up when we make mistakes. When we stink up the joint with our foul odor of disbelief, especially when we have witnessed great miracles, signs, and wonders in our own lives. I'm sure He sits on his throne and just thinks, "Really?"
However, His love for us is such that He never leaves us. Makes me grateful for a God that doesn't care how many mistakes I make. He'll still love me, and will still deliver me. Oh and by the way, if you didn't know what happened next these people stepped into the promised land and defeated the very giants the generation before feared. That's what happens when never leaving nor forsaking is in the equation.
Moses' final exhortation to the people. It carries with it the spectrum of emotions ranging from melancholy (for he's not the one leading the people to the promised land) to encouragement (because his people are about to embark on a terrific journey with a new regime). Moses is sure of something that this new breed isn't quite familiar with, and he's imparting this wisdom unto them. God will never leave you. Never not ever!
As we that are familiar with this story know, there were several instances in which God could have left this rag tag bunch of wishy washy people, but He never did. Pick your instance; the golden calf, the cursed brook, the rebellion of Korah, and their refusal to enter the land for fear of the giants. Time and again the people that had witnessed the greatest miracles the world has ever known retaliated to a mentality of things being too impossible. I'd imagine the whole time God is shaking His head in disbelief saying, "Really?"
Yet in all this, and in all the anger God had against His people, He never left. Makes me think about all of us who at times really beat ourselves up when we make mistakes. When we stink up the joint with our foul odor of disbelief, especially when we have witnessed great miracles, signs, and wonders in our own lives. I'm sure He sits on his throne and just thinks, "Really?"
However, His love for us is such that He never leaves us. Makes me grateful for a God that doesn't care how many mistakes I make. He'll still love me, and will still deliver me. Oh and by the way, if you didn't know what happened next these people stepped into the promised land and defeated the very giants the generation before feared. That's what happens when never leaving nor forsaking is in the equation.
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Choice
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”- Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
Isn't this a choice we are forced to make everyday? When the world around us presses us for our allegiance who do we choose? Do we choose the temporal pleasures and gain this world affords, or do we choose the invincible, the immeasurable, the eternal?
Joshua was faced with a life-altering mind-numbing choice. But to him the choice was simple. He saw what the world had to offer through the Egyptian experience. He knew what it was like to know when he was getting a meal, and when the workday was over (but the reality of being a slave never changed). Suddenly a man named Moses carrying a word from his God to set His people free rocked his world (a life of freedom away from repressed slavery). Instantly, things that were once certain and predictable changed into the uncertain, and unpredictable. Like never before he was forced to live a life of faith following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
He would see in his journey terrific triumphs that defied logic or reason, and lots of disappointment centered on a lack of faith. When his time came to lead he saw two choices, serving God or living a life of bondage and slavery to the world. For him the choice was oh so simple, yet extremely difficult in application because it stretched him more than anything in his life. We all know what choice he made and as a result he saw the land flowing with milk and honey.
Isn't this a choice we are forced to make everyday? When the world around us presses us for our allegiance who do we choose? Do we choose the temporal pleasures and gain this world affords, or do we choose the invincible, the immeasurable, the eternal?
Joshua was faced with a life-altering mind-numbing choice. But to him the choice was simple. He saw what the world had to offer through the Egyptian experience. He knew what it was like to know when he was getting a meal, and when the workday was over (but the reality of being a slave never changed). Suddenly a man named Moses carrying a word from his God to set His people free rocked his world (a life of freedom away from repressed slavery). Instantly, things that were once certain and predictable changed into the uncertain, and unpredictable. Like never before he was forced to live a life of faith following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
He would see in his journey terrific triumphs that defied logic or reason, and lots of disappointment centered on a lack of faith. When his time came to lead he saw two choices, serving God or living a life of bondage and slavery to the world. For him the choice was oh so simple, yet extremely difficult in application because it stretched him more than anything in his life. We all know what choice he made and as a result he saw the land flowing with milk and honey.
I see little difference between what Joshua faced thousands of years ago and what we face today. We are required to walk by faith and not by sight, believing in the eternal which isn't seen rather than the temporal which is seen. We are faced with the choice to choose the Lord or the world. I know which one I'm choosing, I pray you do as well.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Perfection Through Weakness
"Jesus said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Why is it when trials or adversities come I cower in to a bundle of fear and anxiety? Why is it that I don't see those instances as opportunities to succeed rather than moments to fail? Why is it that my eyes cannot grasp the faith of Paul who says, " I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4:13) Why O Why, O Why? My needs are always met. He's never early, never late, but ALWAYS on time... So then why do I struggle with my belief system when the measure of difficulty is raised higher and higher? All these questions one simple answer... I can't see Him.
"What! you can't see Him?" People may ask. Yeah I can't see Him, or perhaps I choose not to see Him. I'm choosing to focus on my circumstance instead of the answer to my circumstance. If I choose to see Him, I willfully choose to understand that my circumstance is His, and that He is more than capable of handling it. The reason why we are afraid to see Him is because we are inherently afraid to be weak.
In this world we are conditioned to look out for ourselves and handle our situations on our own. God is desiring to "open His hands and satisfy the desire of EVERY living thing." (Psalm 145:16) It takes an act of the will to be weak. To give up fighting for yourself, and embrace the care of a loving God. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and determination to be weak because you operate solely in the realm of faith. But is it worth it? You bet!
Why is it when trials or adversities come I cower in to a bundle of fear and anxiety? Why is it that I don't see those instances as opportunities to succeed rather than moments to fail? Why is it that my eyes cannot grasp the faith of Paul who says, " I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4:13) Why O Why, O Why? My needs are always met. He's never early, never late, but ALWAYS on time... So then why do I struggle with my belief system when the measure of difficulty is raised higher and higher? All these questions one simple answer... I can't see Him.
"What! you can't see Him?" People may ask. Yeah I can't see Him, or perhaps I choose not to see Him. I'm choosing to focus on my circumstance instead of the answer to my circumstance. If I choose to see Him, I willfully choose to understand that my circumstance is His, and that He is more than capable of handling it. The reason why we are afraid to see Him is because we are inherently afraid to be weak.
In this world we are conditioned to look out for ourselves and handle our situations on our own. God is desiring to "open His hands and satisfy the desire of EVERY living thing." (Psalm 145:16) It takes an act of the will to be weak. To give up fighting for yourself, and embrace the care of a loving God. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and determination to be weak because you operate solely in the realm of faith. But is it worth it? You bet!
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