Galatians 2.20

Galatians 2:20

 

 

Galatians 2:20  "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

I wanted to tag on to yesterday.  What I wrote yesterday and the questions I posed were more for the unbeliever that you would come into contact with or maybe the believer who is not secure in who he/she is in Christ than a believer ..   The truth is if you are living this resurrected life then people don’t have to ask you the questions, they see it.   They come to you for answers, prayer or when they are in a crisis situation.  Why?  Because they see the Jesus in you.  They want to be around you.  They want what you have.

Thanks Chuck for the reminder.

Are you an Imitator?

1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Question?  In the last week how many people have come up to you and asked you to give a reason for the hope that you have?   If the answer is no, why do you think that is?  What about in the last month?  Year?  For me as much as I walk this out I have not had many ask me.  I think in the last year the number is zero.  I don’t know if I have every had anyone come up to me and say.  Why are you so happy?  Why do you have so much peace?  How come you never get offended?

I believe this is a reality check.   Do people have a reason to come up to you and ask you those questions?    What is the deal with you?   Why are you different?    When was the last time someone said to you “I want what you got!”  I have to tell you that as long as I have been walking this walk I don’t believe I have heard that spoken to me.  Maybe I have and don’t remember.  I believe if you are walking this out and you are an imitator of God a full imitator of God not partial.  Then this will happen.  The reason I believe this is because if you are an imitator of God then you are oozing love and people will see that.  They will hear it in your voice.  They will see it in your eyes.   They will see it in your actions.  Your fruit will be good. 

Ephesians 5  (NASB)Be Imitators of God 5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;  and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 

Be on the alert

1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.   

Texting and driving and email.    

Look around … you see the Lord everywhere and he is apparent everywhere.   Look for the enemy … he is everywhere also but hidden.   Waiting for you to take the bait.   I have a bad habit of texting, driving and checking my email.   I would like to think I am very good at it.  (oh wait I am good at,  that is scary)  I find myself getting mad at people when I see them doing the very thing I do.   Go figure!   I use hands free, but it is still a distraction.   I have had a few close calls.   You know curbs, a mailbox the usual, I am sure you can relate.  We all receive warnings or wake up calls in this area and we heed them for a little while and then for the most part we are back to doing what we do on a regular basis again …. Right?  The other day I had an accident.  I pulled out of 7-11 on a two lane road heading north bound.  There was oncoming traffic and they were traveling southbound.   No sooner had I got up to speed (30mph) when a spare tire (fully air up on a rim)  came flying out of the back of this pickup truck and I was the bull’s-eye.  I could not go right nor left.   I think I had all but two seconds if that to react.  It took about two hops in the air about five feet tall I think.  I locked my truck up and was able to come to a complete stop before the tire hit my truck (3500.00 damages) had I been checking my phone or texting I probably would have taken that tire through my windshield and I would have been moving.    I said I had two seconds but it was probably less.  That was Monday, Tuesday in men’s group someone  posed the question “Do you think the Lord was trying to show you something?”   I said with a little exasperation “I don’t know!”    Then I heard it.   It was a wakeup call   ….. A warning, however you want to look at it about texting and driving.   It was very clear.  I have become way too comfortable with texting and driving.   So now I pull over to take care of business.

So the question is this.  Do you think you got it together with your driving that you can text?  If you do then I have news for you …… You don’t!   Be safe and be blessed

Kevin

Running the race

Two in a row after nothing for over a month …..hmmm.  I am driving around yesterday   when this scripture pops in my mind.  Galatians 5:7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸ That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.   What I heard was …. You were running hard what changed?  So I looked it up.  I have been going through the motions.  You know just praying a little, going to men’s group.  Just doing the best I can ……. Knowing in my heart I was not doing what I am passionate about,   which is the Lord.  So I asked when did this start?  I hear “when you put your dog down last December.”   That just broke my heart.   The truth is I miss my dog.  The part where I got deceived was when the death occurred.   I was taken out of my daily routine and I didn’t realize it until yesterday.  It showed me that I was relying on something else to help me in my walk with the Lord.   That sounds funny but don’t know how to make it sound right … go figure.  When the one thing I was depending on was gone I didn’t run to Him.  I grieved but maybe without his help,  I don’t remember.   I am starting to see a pattern where I run to myself instead of the one who leads and that has to stop… today.

So if you are going through something and you are not sure ……. but feel like you are distant from the Lord.  You felt like you were running the race so well and then something just changed.   Look to your past.  We all know there is no future in the past, but there very well could be some freedom.

Kevin

Unbelief

So I have been really chewing on something for the last few days.  I have been thinking about something that my counselor said to me.   We were talking about my unbelief that I have when it comes to being delivered from lust..   We talked about how often I feel like I have turned this over to the Lord yet sometimes I have or want to go back to the vomit someway or another.   Many times I struggle with who God says I am …. Not often but sometimes.  She said something to me (and I feel it was from the Lord)

She said,  Maybe in this area you don’t believe who God says he is.   Well I had to just sit there and ponder that statement.   I have heard it spoken the other way, but not in the way she put it.  So I have been praying and asking  “Lord help me with my un belief!”  Help me to believe who you say you are!  Mark 9-23,24  Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,^[ all things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Kevin

Below was written on March 1^st, 2014

This is what I got in my time with the Lord Saturday morning down at the ranch.  I went down to the ranch to work on the dishwasher (fixed I might add) and a couple of MW ovens.  I also took down a new B-Bcue grill.  I was reading my usually Oswald chambers when in the middle I heard Jeremiah 16.   That was random.  (we all know the Lord is not random)

Jeremiah 16:¹⁷ I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. ^[1]They cannot hope to hide from me. ¹⁸ I will double their punishment for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and have filled my territory with their evil deeds.” ^[2]
Now here is how I read it.  Jeremiah 16:¹⁷ I am watching YOU closely, and I see every sin. ^[3]YOU cannot hope to hide from me. ¹⁸ I will double your punishment for all of YOUR sins, because you have defiled my land with lifeless images of LUST and have filled my territory WHICH IS YOUR home with your evil deeds.” 

Well needless to say that is not what I was expecting this morning when I asked for a word for my wife!  I got this instead.   When I was reading about Judah’s coming punishment, I was thinking…… where is this going?  I am not getting much out of this.  Then I got slapped right in the face and it hurt.  The truth is when I am looking at things that I am not supposed to be looking at, doesn’t matter where I am, computer, store, restaurant or alone with my thoughts,  you know the visual rolodex.   I just never get the sense that the Lord is hovering over my shoulder watching me.  I understand what scripture says, but I think you know what I mean.  So I’m just there and pondered what I had just read…. I just stared at my bible for what seemed an eternity.   Normally when I get a scripture like that, I stop reading.  This time I felt a nudge to continue on.  So glad I did.

Whenever there is a wounding word from the Lord, it is a good hurt.  What came next though was better.  Jeremiah 16: ¹⁹ Lord, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! ………………..²¹ The Lord says, “Now I will show them my power; now I will show them my might. At last they will know and understand that I am the Lord.

¹⁹ Lord, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in MY day of trouble! ………………..²¹ The Lord says, “Now I will show YOU my power; now I will show YOU my might. At last YOU will know and understand that I am the Lord.  Then I hear this. that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. ^[4]  The end of Jer. 9:24

^{Almost two hours with the Lord that morning …}….. priceless with tears.   That He would love me in spite of me!

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Cut off his ear.

John 18:8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”^{[a]  10} Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)  ¹¹ Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

So even after Peter heard Jesus give himself up and heard Him say (If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled) the guards let them go.   That was not good enough for Peter.  He had to draw his sword and take it one step further.    So what I get from this is Peter heard the Lord and didn’t like what He said and so He thought that his way was better.  Peter’s way could have actually killed that soldier.

I just had to pause and  think about the times that I have heard the Lord and thought …..Nah I better do it this way because I want these results.   I will have better control over what happens.   Then what happens?  What you thought you had control of now is actually out of control and you are wishing that you had obeyed in the first place.

So the question is “Have you heard the Lord and are you doing it His way or are you chopping off someone’s ear?

Have a great day today!

Prove to the world that you are my disciples

John 13:45  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples    When I woke I hear John 14 and then this morning my devotion takes me to John 13 so I start in John 13.  When I get to verse 45 I hear  “you have to love everyone….. you can’t pick and choose. “  That is good but at the same time I once again get revealed my shortcomings.    (which is good)   When I go on Quest to serve I have learned to love you right where you are at.  I need the attitude to carry over into my real life in the real world.  It is like everything else in my life.  There are days I walk in victory in that area and then there are days I do not.  I am a work in progress.   I desire more of Him and less of me.   More of Him means less judgment on my part.

When you see that person today where it feels un natural to love him and you want to judge.  Then buy his lunch or his coke at the 7-11.   Smile and say have a great day.   Bless your waitress or waiter,  don’t just tip.   You will know what to do.  Be Jesus with skin on.

Have an Awesome day!

2 Timothy 4

2 Timothy 4:16 at my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

This morning my devo took me to 2 Timothy 4.  As I was reading this morning it made me think about the times when I am going through stuff and I feel like I am all alone.  Maybe I am alone.  Even though I have many friends I am not letting them in so they don’t know.  There are times I believe when it is just you and the Lord.  You have to rely on Him and not your friends to get through whatever you are going through.  That usually for me is when I get a revelation from the Lord.  I think so many times we want to hear what everyone has to say because we don’t like what we are hearing from the Lord.  We forget that radical obedience always precedes the miraculous.  If we just stay the course and trust what we are hearing, we will be delivered.  18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  If I didn’t know better I would say this is a promise.  So whatever you are going through today ………. Trust Him and He will rescue you from every evil attack.

What I had to go through two days ago was very hard.  I heard the Lord back in December but I thought I knew better.   (Radical dis- obedience always precedes mistakes.)  So I rebelled for 7 weeks not fun and caused me a lot of heart ache.   I had to let someone go from my company.  Someone I deeply care for.  It was one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make in a long time.  I knew it was right though because as soon as I said I cannot work you anymore I felt instant peace.  My heart still hurts though.  I know the Lord has a bigger purpose and once again I do not understand.  I will someday.

Bless you today and walk as sons and daughters

Obedience

Radical obedience always precedes the miraculous. 

⁴ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  ⁵ But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. Luke 5:4-6

How many times have we heard the Lord and balked at His request?  Simon did but he still obeyed.   Look what happened.  They caught so much fish there nets were breaking.  Radical obedience always precedes the miraculous! 

 That is the key……. Hear and obey or is it trust and obey?  Here is the deal.  We all hear the Lord, but it is a matter of doing what He says.  Think back for a moment how many times we have chosen not to obey and everything messes up.  Think back for a moment how many times you have obeyed and powerful things happen in your life.

What is the Lord calling you to do today?  Have you done it?

HAVE YOU DONE IT?

Below is one of my favorite readings from Oswald Chambers on obedience.

We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again. 

 All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. Don’t say, “I suppose I will understand these things someday!” You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the “wise and prudent.” “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17).

 

Game Changer

Was not planning to write this morning,  That was my plan though.  What I wrote the other day was a game changer.  The only thing I can explain is I got it out and into the light.  Confession of sin is a powerful thing.  You have heard it said that the consequences of sin are bigger than the sin itself.   I say the confession of sin is even more powerful than the sin itself.  Nothing stops the enemy faster than confession and getting it into the open and in the light.  Once in the light the enemy has no control.  As I am reading this morning my devotion took me to Isaiah 49, but the nugget came in chpt 50.  I normally just read one chapter but felt this morning I needed to read 50 as well.  .  Isaiah 50:4 “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.  He awakens me morning by morning; He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.  ⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.  I receive this word that a new season is coming.  That I would say “YES” I trust you and I don’t have to understand.
For three and half weeks I have men nervous and not excited about leaving to go on quest.  Today I am fired up, fessed up and ready to go.
Isaiah 50:10  ^{……………………………………………………}
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.

Isaiah 55.8

It has been a while since I have written anything.  It has been a long seasons it seems.  I have been some what going through a rough patch.  There have been good days and not so good days.  I could say I have had to make myself be in the word and make myself pray, make myself be still.  Hate that those things need to be a struggle.  They usually are not.  I am sure some of you can relate.

This is from part of an email I sent to the men I walk with “.  As I told Scott yesterday “I need to get my heart back” not sure if that is correct, but it is what sounds the most logical.  It is hard to pin point exactly what is going on.  I have a great marriage for the most part. (We have our stuff just like everyone else does) A successful business, Friends that love me.  A nice truck (HA) and I just feel like sitting down and having a good cry, but not sure what I want to cry about.  After reading an email from Coach to me,   I tear up.  I believe, I feel, I know, however you want to slice it.  I am not trusting the Lord on some level.  I know you either trust him or you don’t.  So I am excited but nervous about this Quest.  We leave next Tuesday,  I don’t feel like I am beating myself up so there is no stick.  This morning as I am praying in my driveway I am asking for understanding in an area that has been bothering me.  While I am asking I hear “you don’t need to understand”   I hear that over my thoughts.   I quickly said,   “Yes I do” In my spirit I know that the answer is “no you don’t.”  That is when the scripture came to me “my ways are not your ways.”  So why do I want to argue?  I know it was Holy Spirit ……. I know it was.  It is all about trusting the Lord and not having to understand why things happen the way they do.  I don’t like that.  Just being honest.   (can you say want to be in control?) (can you say pride… my way is better)

Isaiah 55:8 (NKJV)  ⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.   

Here is a scenario for you.  Why is it so easy to trust man than the Lord?  You fly in a jet that is man-made 32000 feet in the air trusting that it is not going to crash.  You ride in a gondola that has you suspended 1300 feet above the rocky terrain.  Are you praying the whole time that the 1 inch cable doesn’t snap?  No you just get on and ride and not give it another thought.  On the jet you take a nap, but if you need to put a loved one in the hands of the Lord I think for some of us that is a different ballgame.  I could go on and on but I think you get my point. 

Bless you today,  If nothing changes then nothing changes.

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!