Sef-will

Dec 28^th Oswald.

………………………………………………………………………….To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.  I read this and can’t help but wonder about myself.  How many times I refuse to be converted.  I am a fallen man but at the same time I am a son of the most high God.  Sometimes I get up in the morning and like who I see and sometimes I don’t like who I see.  Yesterday’s devotion from Oswald really nailed me as well.         Dec 27^th.  Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.   I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.  So I am really chewing on this one…. What does it look like to get alone with the almighty and fight the battle before Him?   I think I have done this, but am I fooling myself into thinking I have?  What does it look like?  ON my knees in prayer or sitting silent and just listening.  My battles with jealousy, lust and selfishness are always at the forefront.  I am sincerely, passionately trying to not sin, but I keep sinning.  I am at the point where I am fixated on trying not to sin.  It is like a vicious cycle the keeps repeating itself.  It is not working.  I somehow need to get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret place.  It is time for revelation; do I have the patience to wait for the answer?

Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.  His good, pleasing and perfect will.  Romans 12:2

 

Who's will?

“You must be born again” (John 3:7  so don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’) This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.  Oswald.

Having said that,   Yesterday during men’s group I heard a nugget which was a revelation giving to one of the men in the group about Philippians 4:13 I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].Amp

For myself ……. I have always thought I can do this because I walk with Jesus.  I can beat this because I walk with Jesus.  This temptation I can beat,   because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  I think walking with Jesus and being in His will can be two different things.

The revelation is for all this to work ….. You need to be in his will….. That is where the strength comes from.  Not my will but yours.  Be born again, follow Him, and be in His will.

So whose will are you in?  Remember, you are redeemed walk in it and believe it.  Today is good day and God is not done with you yet.

Merry Christmas

The little dog pt. 5 all dogs go to Heaven.

 

As I lay on the floor the other morning petting my sick dog (knowing I am going to have to put her down) my heart is breaking.  I have come to love this little dog.  I say out loud “I love this little dog”  I hear a voice in my head say “as much as you love this little dog that is how much I love you”  I know that it is supposed to be comforting but it was not.  It does not change the fact that I did hear the Lord.  So there is a level of comfort there I am just grieving too much to see it right now.   If you read the other stories about Pin Pin or Penny you know she had been an abused dog and we gave her a good home for two and half years.  We had our ups and downs but she was a good dog.  She devolved what we feel was cancer and she had tumors all over and some were big as 25 cent gumballs.  She was in a lot of pain.  So we made the heartbreaking decision to have her go to heaven yesterday at 4:30.  It was gut wrenching.  She had all her wits about her and the enemy wants me to feel like I killed a perfectly good dog.  I know what the truth is. 

The sign at the Vet’s office said.

Heaven is where all the dogs that you loved will meet you with wagging tails. 

So it is very lonely in my office this morning where my Pin Pin would lay at my feet.

Romans 15:

¹³ I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This  is a post from a women who just got off a Heart Quest.  To good not to share.

 When does temptation generally come?

 

Answer- Often after great times of blessing!

 When Jesus began His public ministry, He went to be baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. The Heavenly Father proudly said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Then temptation came.

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted.

After the dove came the devil.

It usually works that way in our lives as well. After the blessing comes the trial. The two often go hand in hand. Don’t be surprised if temptation comes to you, for instance, right after God speaks to you in church or in a time of devotion.

Times of attack often come after mountaintop experiences. Jesus was on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. Once again God said, “This is my beloved Son; hear Him!” After they came down from the mountain.  (Scripture is not clear how long after words they came in contact with the demon possessed child, but it appears to be soon.)  The  man with a demon-possessed child was waiting.

Know this- Whenever God speaks, the devil will be there to oppose.

The enemy knows your guard may be down after God has spoken or blessed.

 

History tells us that when Hitler invaded the European nations during the early years of World War 2,

in almost every situation, he attacked on a weekend. Hitler knew the various parliaments would not be in session, making it more difficult to react swiftly to an invasion.

The same happened to Israel on Yom Kipper 1973. On the Day of Atonement, a national holiday, the holiest day to the Jewish people, their enemies Egypt and Syria attacked.

In the same way, our enemy the devil waits for the opportune time to attack. He waits for that moment when we are the most vulnerable. It may be when we think we are the strongest.

We may have reached what we think are “great heights” in our spiritual life. We may feel that we would never fall to base temptation and sin. We may even boast of it to others.

Watch out, because you’re just painting a bull’s-eye on your chest.

 

The Bible says,  1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

 

Aa I read this I can relate big time.  Some of my biggest struggles have come after the mountain top experience.  It has happened so many times that often I have thought I am not going to do that anymore because I hate what comes after words.  That is wrong thinking.  That is stinking thinking.  There have been times that I have actually bragged about how well I am doing then fall within the next few days.  I remember that I say “it has been so long since I did  ………..”  I was speaking with my wife the other day about this very thing.  I said the next time someone asks me about who long has it been I am going to say I have not today.  There is no future in the past!

 
It does not matter how long I have not used drugs,  how long I have gone without overeating,  how long I have not seen any porn.  You only have today!

 Jeremiah 9:24

24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord (NASB)

I was the judge and jury

James 4:12 (NIV) 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

We all do it.  We are all judge, jury.  I am guilty.  I get so tired of this.  I think I got this judging beat and then it raises its ugly head again.  I received a phone call the other day telling me about some decisions that someone else had made concerning me.  I really upset me!  What happened after that was worse.  In my mind I decided why this person did what they did.  I know this person very well.  It does not matter how well though …. I do not know there heart,   only the Lord knows that.  The phone call was Thursday afternoon, by Thursday night I was so upset it affected my wife and my sleep.  I went to bed angry which is a no no.  I woke up worse.  So mad I could not pray, did not want to pray.  Doesn’t this person get it????  Don’t they understand????  Don’t they understand the decisions they are making are not right????  Oh yeah …. The decisions are affecting me.  All this time ……… this person had no idea the free fall I was in ….. How mad I was.   I assigned a motive to this person’s actions without ever talking to him.  JUDGMENT.    I am tired …..  Tired of this person that tries to live in me.  Friday I wrote a letter to three men that I respect very much.  Hoping for some sort of solution.  All day Friday I waited for a response…..nothing from them but plenty from the Lord.  Go figure…… by the end of the day I knew what needed to be done.  When does a deceived person know he is deceived?  I kept hearing that over and over.  I had been duped.  The cesspool (my depravity) I was walking in smelled very bad.   It was time to do what was right.  It was time to do Matthew 5:23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, (Or I have something against them) Kevin Added.   24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.  I had men’s group Saturday morning.   At one point we talked about this very thing.  In my mind I hear …. It is so easy to tell others about judgment yet that is exactly what you have been doing.  Practice what you preach.  I left there broken but relieved.  I called this person and we talked for 30 minutes.  Everything thing I had assumed was totally wrong and I was set free.  There was a reason for every decision that he made.  Guess what?   None of it had anything to do with me.

The truth is......... I caused every bit of the pain I was in.  I could see what was happening but for some reason I could not stop it.  The kicker is this ….. Because of what I did I chose to suffer.  Once that process began then the enemy came in and started to twist things even more.

This was not an attack in the beginning but it sure turned into a full fledged assault in the middle of it all.

Thank you Jesus for being in my corner.

Be Blessed Kevin

Adversity

Yesterday, Isaiah 30:20 says   ²⁰ though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink………………………

 Today I am reading and come to 2 Corinthians 17 for our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

It is comforting to know that my troubles are small and won’t last very long.  It is cool that my reading this morning is a tag off of yesterday.  You can’t plan this stuff.  So as I sit here and ponder the last part where it says “won’t last very long” That could actually mean a couple of years which is not very long if you live to be 80.  It could also mean a couple of days as well.  It is all in the Lord’s timing not mine.  Since we are just a mist in His eyes ……………

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

So after all of the above … I think it is safe to say that if you are going through some crap.  No one knows how long it will last but it will produce a glory that will outweigh and outlast anything you could imagine.  That is a good thing!

Be blessed today and walk as Sons and Daughters of the King

Wait for Him

Isaiah 30:18-20 (NLT)
¹⁸ So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. ¹⁹ O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. ²⁰ Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.   ²¹ Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.

So I am reading this morning and I am reminded that I need to wait for Him.  Some many times I don’t want to wait.  I want the situation that I am in to go away and the sooner the better.  I will catch myself getting in the Lord’s way instead of waiting for Him.  The lie is I Know better than you.   (anyone had that train of thought lately?) That kind of thinking gets me in trouble every time.  What is that Kind of thinking called?

The next part is the comfort knowing that as He brings me into adversity and suffering He will reveal the teacher to me and with my ears and his voice I will hear “this is the way you should go”  but only if I wait for Him and not get ahead of the one who leads.

I am listening to a song called Pursuit and the song just wrecks me.  All I keep hearing is “I will pursue you,  I will pursue your presence!”  I have to think Just like I heard the other day If I am glorifying Him in everything I do it is the same as pursing him in everything I do.  Just where I have been the last three to four weeks. 

Be blessed this day and wait for Him!

Do you Glorify Him?

John 17:1 After Jesus said this; he looked toward heaven and prayed:  “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  I have been watching a lot of Jesus Culture since I have been back from serving on quest.  It has really been Powerful.  Last night I was watching Encounter 2013.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAzZV0LU4nw

I think I heard one of the simplest messages I have ever heard.  It starts at the 58.35 minute mark and goes about 6 minutes.  He talks about making our walk with Jesus simple.  WE as man try to make it hard.  The truth is that whatever you do glorify Jesus.  Wherever you work glorify Jesus.  How you eat glorify Jesus, When you drive glorify Jesus.  When you go to the store Glorify Jesus.  When you get up and go to bed glorify Jesus.  Whatever career you choose, doesn’t matter if the Lord brought you the job or if it is something you chose, Glorify Jesus.  If everything that you do glorifies Jesus, your actions, reactions, words and your thoughts it will all be good.  Doesn’t mean you won’t have trials

Every thought, every action, everything I do,   I want my life to Glorify Jesus.  It is really that simple.  I am sure I have heard something along those lines before.  Last night it made so much since.  I am in a different place now

Lord, Today I want everything about me and what I do to glorify you.

I will pursue you,

I will pursue Your presence.

 

Ecc 4:9-10

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.

I am very grateful for the men in my life.  They sharpen me (As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another) I have three men that speak into me on a regular basis and each one has his own gifts.  I always get a little different take on an issue but always centered on the same theme …… Jesus.  The key is they have permission to speak truth to me and vice versa.  Everybody has stuff, marriage issues, kids, eating, porn, and lust, you name it they are all the same in the eyes of the Lord.
You can’t do life by yourself ….. You might think you can, but you can’t.   If you believe that you can do life by yourself then you are walking in Pride.  What comes before pride?  Destruction!  (That tastes good doesn’t it)!   If you are not meeting with a couple of men that you do life with you are in trouble.  I am not talking about a men’s group where you can fly under the radar but two or three that you can get deep with.   It is a form of accountability.   If you are meeting with a larger group of men then good for you.  That is a start.   .  Most of you that read this have been on quest and you know the importance….. There is strength in numbers.  Matthew 18:20 for where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Does it get any better? 

If you live out in the sticks then you find someone or you will become that stick and shrivel up and die.

You have to have men that you can confess to.  Anyone read James lately?  James 5:16 confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

What do you need to confess?  Who are you doing life with?

Be Blessed today!

 

God's Silence

John 6:35 (NKJV)  ³⁵ And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst

One of my favorite devotions from Oswald Chambers is called “God’s Silence --- Then What?”
So many times I hear from people,  I just don’t hear God.  I pray and pray and I don’t hear Him.  I ask Him questions and I don’t get an answer.  I am in trouble please help me! I believe most of the time the problem is with you.   He is answering ………… just not the way you want.   There lies the rub.  This devo was a game changer for me.  What it did for me is show me that just because I ask the lord a question doesn’t mean I will get an audible answer in my mind every single time

Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, “I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead” (see Matthew 7:9). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the “bread of life” (John 6:35).

A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, “I know that God has heard me.” His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.

When I read this devo the first time it released me from thinking that I had to hear God on everything.  Knowing that if I don’t hear Him specifically that is okay, because I know He is answering my prayer anyway.  Hope this makes sense.  What gets me is when I will hear the Lord when I am not praying.  Specifically when I am getting ready to do something wrong “sin” and then I have a choice …. Listen and obey or walk in rebellion.   You know what I mean.

Walk as Son’s and Daughter’s today

The Battle continues

The battle continues …………. 1 Peter 5: 8 be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Sunday morning I am listening to a Robert Morris sermon online called “Beware of the Chaldeans”    He speaks of a story about wolves and he says”  When wolves seem most casual and innocent, even interesting to watch,  they are studying you, sizing you up for the attack.  The more indifferent they seem the more serious the danger.  They are preparing for the pack attack.  The more comfortable they appear the more deadly they are.”  So I am thinking about this and contemplating what he is saying.  The reason I am saying this is because my computer is the pack of wolves.  

As the sermon wraps up I start thinking about a worship leader from several years ago.  Her name was (*&^%$#***(((%) I am not going to give her name because I do not want anyone to stumble.  When I looked her up on Google I chose to look her up by Google images.  I turns out that a porn star has the same name so all of these porn images came on the screen.  SNEAK ATTACK!  It took me about three seconds and I deleted the screen.

The key to this thwarted attack is this.  I had already had my mind made up and I was guarded.

If you don’t make up your mind then your un-made mind will un-make you.

I am free today!

Where is sin?  It is always crouching outside your door.    So you going to open that door or keep it shut!

Genesis 4:7  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."

The Attack and the Victory

2 Corinthians 10:4 the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The Lord showed me several years ago that the reason I struggle with sin (namely porn and lust) is because I don’t use all of the tools he has provided me with.  What are the tools?  Worship, prayer, the word, relationships and one more 2 Cor. 10:5. 

Yesterday as I was sitting at my desk working,   it came on me.  The want the need however you want to look at it.  I was on the road for a big fall.  How did I get there?  Sneak attack,  I was not doing anything wrong.   In my mind it was a blatant attack by the enemy.  All of the sudden the images and thoughts were there.  I will give the enemy credit for this one.

I was terrified.  I know who I am and I am not that person anymore.   I sent out a text to my wife and a friend to pray.  Neither could talk.  I had worship playing in the back ground.  I begin to pray and quote scripture and I read in the word.  I did 2 Cor 10:5.  I took the thoughts captive.  What happened next was extraordinary.  I laid back in my chair and turned up the worship music.  I got still and just worshiped Him.  I don’t know how much time went by …. Not long maybe 7 minutes.  I knew it was over.   I opened my eyes and the attack was over and the feelings I had were gone and they did not come back.  I went on the rest of the day and remained at my desk and finished my work. 

Thank you Jesus!

I did them all Worship, the word, prayer, relationships and 2 cor. 10:5

Radical obedience always precedes the miraculous.

I believe

Your cross bigger than your joy?

“Name”   “There are certain things that exists in your heart that you may never discover unless you push yourself hard enough to find it”  from “Think Differently”  The Lord really spoke to me about this Quote.

He showed me that there are areas where I am afraid to go deep because I want to avoid the pain.   “NICE I thought”   I am not digging deep enough.  This does not necessary mean it is a bad thing in my heart it could be something good as well.  I have to dig though.  I just got back off of Quest that is where I found the quote.  It was in my quest journal from 2010.  I thought about this the whole time I was on the event.  The big thing happened when I got back.  The normal has been that I am so emotionally, spiritually and physically whipped that I will fall to porn in some form or fashion.  NOT THIS TIME!

This week I am free and walking as a son.  Something that impacted the biggest was the quote I heard.

“Is your joy bigger than your cross?” 

I cannot get that out of my mind.  The Lord has shown me that the battle that I have,   has been bigger than my Joy.  So right now I get it …… I get it.  I get it so much I am in tears.  Lord I repent from not trusting you.  I was supposed to go to the FTS Warrior breakfast this morning.  I just felt I was supposed to stay home and write and now I know why.

Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  As a man Jesus walked with joy to the cross. 

I cannot tell you how many times I have read this scripture or for the matter all of Hebrews 12:1-4 …..  This just jacks me up right now.  In my mind I am just derailed about this…. The joy knowing where He is going….. The obedience that He is walking in. 

All this time my Cross … MY CROSS has been bigger than my joy.

I looked up Google images of Demons two days ago to get a visual of what I have been letting enter into my body.  It literally scared the crap out of me.  You think I am joking?  Google demons and just think about that the next time to try to manipulate someone or look at porn or choose to have an affair.  I think you get the point. 
So my question to you is this.  That one thing that you still struggle with.  Is your joy bigger than your cross? (the cross is anything … lying, lust, porn, adultery,  idolatry, pride to name a few.)

Hebrews 12:1   Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,   2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

 

 

In your presence Lord there is peace and joy

 

 

Trust the Lord

John 14.1 Don’t let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust also in me.   NLT

John chapters 14-17 are so rich and full.  They are my favorites.  John 14.1 always comes at the right time.  I have to remind myself that when my heart is troubled,   I do not trust the Lord with that particular circumstance.  When my heart is troubled,  the majority of the time I want to control the situation and not give it to the Lord.  I am afraid that if I let God make the choice it will not be the choice I would make.  What do we call it when we think we can do a better job than the Lord? 

It is my opinion that if you are miserable right now about something then you are not giving it to the Lord and trusting Him.  Is this not what this life is about when you are a follower of Jesus?  Trusting? You are not going to ask if you do not trust.  If you trust then you will have Joy. 

So the questions today are,   do you trust Jesus in the situation that you are in?  Or do you want to be in control? If you want to be in control,

 How is that working for you so far?

John 16:23-24
“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.NKJV

Judgment and surrender

When you surrender your opinion it will give you the opportunity to see things in another way.  I am not speaking for everyone but a lot of us will hold on to our point of view.  I think we could call that pride, don’t you think.  We want to be RIGHT!  We have invested a lot emotionally and repenting means admitting that we were wrong.  Quote:  We say we want to see the truth, but we are not willing to suffer the risk of being wrong.  Now we have an irreconcilable difference.  At this point, a revelation from God will have no effect on us.    (I love this part)  A revelation from God is not necessarily Him showing us something new, a revelation is simply what we see when we are flexible enough to change our mental/ emotional position about an issue and look at it from a different point of view.  God doesn’t show us something He previously kept hidden; we see something He wanted to show us all along.   

Matthew 5:8
blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  NKJV    Keep your heart pure from Judgment and you will see the Lord……. That is an awesome thing

 

Let go of your predetermined ideas and you may see a lot of hurtful events differently. 

Remember, this is only how I see it, I must see it from another position to overcome this offense

Example:  Yesterday I had an appointment at 2:30.   I got to the street at 2:15 to be early.  I could not find the house with two GPS’s this street was four miles long.  I drove up and down this street several times and could not find the house.  I was getting very mad.  I had no phone number only email...  to make a long story short.  45 minutes I wasted.   She emailed me after I emailed her.  I was on my way back to FTW.  I was mad.  She gave me the wrong address.  During our phone conversation I told I could not find 721 Lantana.  She said we don’t live on lantana.  I was stunned.  I said you sent me the address in the email.  She said I did send you the address but it was 721 Browning.  I wrote down the wrong address.  IT WAS ALL MY FAULT.  I had to totally admit that it was all my mistake.  I was wound up tighter than Dick’s hat band.  So in essence the moment I surrendered I saw it in a different way.  All the PAIN I caused myself went away.

I had also judged her big time in another way.  It took her 30 minutes to call me from my first email.  In my mind I am thinking “what the crap is going on with this lady” well when I got there, I found out that she had been consumed with her 3 year old special needs child.  That is why she did not respond immediately to me second email.  Can you say passing judgment again?

Kevin

 

God of my World!

Control starts with judgment  Matthew 7:4
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?NIV  I never thought of this before but 9 times out of 10 I bet the plank is judgment. 

 “judgment is the pathway to personal idolatry."  When we impose our judgments on people it causes them to bow to our will.  If you are the god of your world then most likely you are under a lot of stress.  If you are the person in your home that imposes change through control, then you are the one that has to keep the changes in place.  Have you ever had to say “I do everything?”  I can give an example for me.  I am not this way now but I used to be.  It would happen when I would ask a child in my home to do the dishes or take out the trash and they wouldn’t do it in my time frame so I would do it myself and then gripe about having to do it.   Here is the part that really spoke to me.  When we usurp the Lordship of Jesus in the life of another, It is impossible for that person to experience God’s grace, (because we are in the way) which empowers him to make the needed changes.  It is a cycle of failure.  We want our friends to change and family to change, but we end up getting in the way or better yet we are getting in the way of Holy Spirit. 

usurp \yu̇-ˈsərp also -ˈzərp\ vb to take the place of by or as if by force : supplant 〈must not let stock responses based on inherited prejudice usurp careful judgment〉 vi : to seize or exercise authority or possession wrongfully^[1] The definition of usurp is very strong and I never real knew what the word meant                                                                                                                   So what happens next after we get in the way of Holy Spirit? Eventually, people fail to change and when they don’t change then we create new judgments about why they are not changing.  Then those judgments bring more pain and disappointment to our own lives.  When we decide why they are not changing then we reach a verdict and begin our sentencing and then our judgment becomes reality. 

Whew!!!!

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The Critical Eye

The Critical Eye………..  How I see you is a reflection of how I see me.

Proverbs 26:17

You grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business. The Message

I was going back through some writings this morning when I came across this.  As I prepare to go on Quest next week I have to be conscious of this.  The Critical eye that sometimes surfaces with me.

I don’t find myself as critical as I used to be. What I am talking about is referring to our need to find fault in others or to point out their shortcomings.  You know ………. throwing stones. 

 

Nugget:  Just because we see the need in another person does not mean we have the right to invade the individual’s life.  Our first goal should be to love the person and make him or her feel safe while owning his problem.  If people do not feel safe with their problem, they will feel they have to cover it up.  They will not respond positively to our inquisition (on quest this is where we say you have to love them right where they are) we actually force people in to denial by our rejection and condemnation.  Quote from the book  “How to stop the Pain”

 

Nugget:  Just when I think I am getting better I read this.  When I am delivered from a critical eye, I will see people as God see them.  I will always know the Spirit of God can work in them to solve every problem and conquer every obstacle.  You see, our confidence in people is directly related to our confidence in God.  When we see the best in them, they will see, believe, and live the best God has to offer.  Quote from the book

 

Thanks Kevin

James 1:19

I am reading James this morning and this scripture gets me every time. 

 

James 1:19 …………………………………..Be quick to listen , slow to speak and slow to become angry 

 

 I have to think about this all the time.  So I am just sitting here contemplating ….. is this it ?   Then it all came together for me. 

 

When I judge ( I hate admitting this) It is because I don’t listen,  when I judge I speak quickly and when I judge I cause my own pain and become angry.  It is a vicious cycle that happens on occasion.  This was revelation for me this morning.  I have never put the two together until this morning.

 
Thank you Jesus

 Be Blessed today!

 

Kee