Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I WILL NEVER LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY THE SAME AGAIN



In studying the book of Romans, specifically chapter 4, a rather huge revelation was made clear to me; it starts with understanding just how great Abraham’s faith was. Abraham was about 100 years old when God promised to him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. (Genesis 15:6) Later in Genesis 17, Abraham’s name changes and he is told he will have countless descendants and be the father of many nations.
Here is this guy who is 100 years old and his wife who is about 90 years old and the God of the universe is telling him that he will have a son and countless descendants. They have just lived through many years of being barren and have undoubtedly started to believe that having children was not going to happen. Now, I don’t know about menopause in those days but certainly it is very conceivable that Sarah had already gone through menopause and her body was not capable of producing an offspring. I think of my brief few years of secondary infertility and have a small idea of what it was that Sarah and Abraham must have felt. You feel hopeless but Abraham’s faith is greater than this hopelessness.
Abraham believes God when he tells him he is going to have a son, an heir and descendants numerous as the stars. Despite their very old age and the years of living with being barren; despite the fact that Sarah's body is very likely beyond capable of having a baby. Abraham believes what the Lord tells him is true and he has faith that God is faithful in his promise to him. 
But the real revelation is that I am one of those stars. My faith in Jesus has made me righteous in the presence of our holy God. Abraham is the father of faith. He demonstrated to us what faith is, preparing us to believe in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus makes us a part of Abraham’s descendants. We are one of those countless stars in the sky. 
Abraham’s descendants will continue to grow as each new believer accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior by faith alone. New stars are being made each day that a new believer is born again. We are part of a rather ginormous family; that is the part that is so awesome.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Patience is a gift we always have to call upon

Romans Romans 12:12 Rejoice in our confident  hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 

I was reading these verses and my initial reaction to be patient in trouble was that is not so easy. I have a misbelief or lie that I am believing that being patient can be easier, depending on the situation. But isn't the Spirit of God living in me? The Spirit that gives me patience is always there so the truth is I can always be patient in times of trouble no matter what the circumstances may be. The first part of this verse sets you up for this truth. Rejoice in our confident hope. We always have the capability to wait on the Lord and the best action plan is to keep our focus on the hope that we can be confident in rather than on the negative things that Satan is trying to plant within us. Fight the battle and always be rejoicing in the hope that Jesus has already given us! We have to acknowledge this fruit within us and accept this gift from the Holy Spirit. When we do this everyday, we can be patient in all circumstances.
Lord, how forgetful I am of the gifts you have given me. Help me to acknowledge and praise you for these gifts everyday. Let the fruit of the Spirit pour out of me in all circumstances. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

What Is Your Power Source?



It is amazing the power we have within us called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like a generator. Most of us don’t have a generator but it is a power supply that people get as a back-up to the current power supply they already have. Generators are used in place of the normal power supply that you use. However, they do not automatically go on unless, of course, in my lack of complete knowledge on generators there are some that you can program to come on when your regular power source goes off. In any case, YOU have to make the choice to turn on the generator. Spiritually speaking, our regular power source is our own attempts to be God. This power source is based on a lie that Satan planted in Eve way back in the Garden of Eden and has been planted within all of us. Read Genesis 3: 1-6 to discover those first lies that Satan planted within us. He makes us question God and lies to us making us believe that we can be like God.  How many of us have heard this kind of self-talk and/or talk spoken by others: “I can do it on my own”, “I can do it by myself”, “I don’t need help”, “I’ve got this”, “I know what I am doing”. You may have your own statement you can add to this list. These are all lies we tell ourselves which are supposed to give us the power we need but when our power source is based on a lie the consequences will reflect this. Suppose I am a teacher and one of my students is having problems dealing with anger. As teachers, we often rely on the techniques we have learned on the job or in our education regarding teaching but as followers of Christ, we have to be cautious of what we are teaching. Teaching based on a lie will not ultimately help teach this student about how to handle his anger in ways pleasing to God. As a teacher, we, too, are to utilize the alternate power source given to us by God when we chose to believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s power is within us but it is a power that we need to call upon. It is the power that we need to learn to use in all circumstances throughout our lives because it is the power based on the Truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth told to us in John 14:16. So our choice each day and every moment in that day is to make the choice to turn on the generator, go to the Holy Spirit.  As it says in Zechariah 4:6 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord Almighty. So, if we use the power of the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth, you will be led to the truth. What are the truths that will overcome those self-powered statements above: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”, “I cannot do it on my own but the Lord is always with me to lead me and give me wisdom”, “The Lord is my helper. Your power works best in my weakness”, “I don’t have this but when I put you before me, you will lead me”. Look within the Word of God for more truth that will overcome the lies that Satan puts in us. Share these truths with others that we may all become more aware of the power source we should be relying on, the Spirit of Truth.

**Journaling inspired by Jesus Calling by Sarah Young-October 4 and the Spirit of Truth.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Pulling the Weeds



I came up with this analogy based on the idea of reflective journaling which has you look over your day and question where improvement is needed and praise where improvement was made. What weeds did you pull and did you pull them totally out. The analogy is of our soul being like a garden and like any garden, it needs to be tended to each day. The weeds of negative thinking have to be pulled out so that new seeds can be planted and grow. Weed pulling is not as simply as you think. You have to get to the roots and pull them out as well, otherwise, they will grow back.