2 Corinthians 10.5

I walked in victory yesterday. I was at my father-in-laws yesterday afternoon working on his unprotected computer. What I mean is, on my personal computer I have an internet filter to prevent inappropriate material from being accessed. Steve's computer does not have this. So there I am working on getting his email and office working when he says that he has to leave for about an hour. I was terrified. I know my flesh very well. As soon as he said that, I heard the enemy say (perfect you can look at whatever you want) so I had a choice, I could get up and walk away or I could kick the enemy's ass. I did not call anyone, but what I did was take that thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,NKJV You see, the Lord had me call a man who lives in Michigan ( At the time I did not know it was the Lord, I called to just say hi) and we talked about this very thing as I sat in Steve's driveway. He reminded me about 2 Corinthians 10.5. The whole time I was there in front of the computer the enemy continued to accuse me. I know who I am and yesterday I walked it out. I am broken right now and I don't even know why, but I know it is God. Thank You Jesus

I leave you with this, 2 Corinthians 10.5 works for everything; it works on anything that comes against you that is not of God. The other area of my life that the enemy has come against me is with my Daughter Nichole. When she got pregnant at the age of 16, every dream and expectation I had was smashed to hell. One day when I was beating myself up … thinking, where did I go wrong raising her? The Lord gave me a word … a promise on June 22, 2008 at 8:30 pm, I was reading in Proverbs 22, verse 6 leaped off the page. All of you with children know this scripture.
Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.NLT. As soon as I read that I heard the Holy Spirit say "Patience Kevin …… Nichole is not older yet" I have had peace ever since. It gets better … on down I came to this verse Proverbs 22:19 I am teaching you today—yes, you— so you will trust in the Lord.NLT I hear "trust me and my promise" so now when the enemy tries to accuse me about Nichole, I take that thought captive as well

 
 

 

The Email

I have been going through a little email battle with a company that I get a little men's devotional magazine from. I finally got frustrated enough that I sent him an email, (the editor) Tired of being frustrated.  Cancel my subscription please.  Not my individual but the group.  I will send a check immediately for the remaining balance.
It is interesting here because you never know when God is going to show up. (I think I wrote about this a few days ago) Here is what he responded back with. I am so very sorry about your frustration. I am also saddened that the men in your circle of influence who were served by Men of Integrity will no longer receive our spiritual encouragement and challenge. Please do accept my sincere apologies. We really do try our best to serve our customers, and it is we deep regrets that we have not been able to serve you.
So I just sat there and stared at the email for a while and then wrote a response. Here is what I said. I have started a men's group in my home that is not affiliated with a church it is only affiliated with Jesus.  I am not with the other group anymore.  All I wanted was to drop my subscription down to 10 instead of 20 and I could not figure out how to do that on the website.  Don't sweat it, the men in this group don't even know. 

Here is what I know.  That Jesus said in Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."NKJV

So you see all is not lost.  Emails suck because you don't hear the tone of the individual on the other end.  I am not mad; it is just easier to cancel than to keep going back and forth.  I think the Men of Integrity magazine is awesome and I have been reading it for four years.  In fact I have some missing copies.  What can I do to get the missing copies?  Do you have some back issues that you would sell?

You know as I read my email to you and ponder this whole thing ,  Holy Spirit just showed up and got my attention, and I just realized that I have not shown you any grace and certainly not the grace that my Father shows me.  For that I am sorry, will you forgive me.  Will you drop my subscription to 10 instead of 20?  Can you do that? 

 

So here is the deal, do I/we show the same grace to friends, family, businesses, whoever we interact with the same amount of grace that our Father shows us? Or do we pick and choose who we give grace too? Let's go one more ….. Do you Love unconditionally or do you have standards that you go by and you pick and choose.

Kevin

 

 

 

 

 

Mark 10.21

I had someone tell me the other day "you need to be careful and don't make his problem your problem" the rich young ruler asked Jesus "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."NASB95. Here is the part that gets me, the ruler asked and Jesus told him what to do. So what did the ruler do? He walked away sad, because he had much property. So what did Jesus do? It is not what did Jesus do, it is what he didn't do. He didn't do anything. He didn't run after the ruler and say HEY! Didn't you hear what I said? I said you needed to sell all of your stuff and follow me. He didn't call him up 3 days later and ask him again if he sold his stuff. He didn't call him up 3 weeks later and ask him if he sold his stuff. He just ……walked…… away.

Another instance in is where Jesus is talking to Peter. John 21:22-23
Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me." So the rumor spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn't die. But that isn't what Jesus said at all. He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"NLT So many times we want what is the best for other people and Jesus says "What is that to You?" Jesus knows what is best and sometimes we just have to get out of his way and let him deal with someone the way he sees fit not the way we see it. Jesus wants us to follow Him and He will work out the details.

Kevin

 

Matthew 6.6

Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

So is that what you do? I mean really? Is that what you do? When was the last time you got quiet? I mean really quiet? This is what it looks like to me; you get up in the morning or late at night and you get quiet. You don't open up your bible; you don't get on your knees and pray. You just get quiet. You quiet your mind and you sit and listen. For me that looks like sitting in my favorite chair in my office and closing my eyes and try to think of things of God. It is a very difficult thing for me to do. To get quiet and not be distracted. Matthew 6.6 says when you pray, go to the closet (secret place) and shut the door and when your Heavenly Father sees what you have done in secret He will reward you in the open. For those of you that have young kids or grandkids this is what that looks like. Do you remember the last time that little child just came over and crawled up in your lap and didn't say anything but was just quiet, (maybe fell asleep) and what did you do? You held this child and just loved on that child. You might even have whispered something over that child. You most assuredly spoke a blessing over that child. That is what it looks like. You go to the secret place and leave all of your cares, crap or whatever you want to call it outside, and close the door. You crawl up in your Fathers lap and let Him speak to you and you don't say anything in return, you just listen. I promise you when you do this; it is an incredible experience, very peaceful.

Kevin

Nehemiah 2

I am putting a bid together for a kitchen remodel. It would be my first full blown kitchen remodel. New cabinets, appliances, paint and tile. I received an email from the customer about the scope of work and they approved it. Now I can give them the numbers without so many money changes. So I prayed about how much I should make on it, how much profit. I had a number in my mind.

So I did a little bible roulette and I opened up my bible to Nehemiah 2. 9 through 12 and I didn't know what they were talking about. So I went back to the beginning of Chpt 2 and read. When I got to the end of verse 8 that is when it just jumped off the page at me and that was really cool and I got total peace about what I am charging and feel I will get the job.

 

 

 

Nehemiah 2:8
And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself." And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.NLT

Isaiah 55.9

I often times sit around and wonder about the crap that I am sitting in. You know … sometimes you just have to flush the toilet. I know this sounds vulgar, but we are talking depravity here … your cesspool. Have you smelled yours lately? I have noticed over the last few days … since last Wednesday that I have been on a somewhat downward spiral until last night. The other thing I have noticed is that I have caused my own issues. I heard a message on TV and God spoke through a circumstance. It is so easy to miss God when our minds are closed. I didn't really want to watch Joel Osteen because "REALLY" he kind of annoys me with all of his blinking. I kept watching though and he started to get my attention and then I realized that I really didn't want to hear the Lord that way. I wanted to hear him my way and I almost missed him. How many times do we get stuck in old traditions and then we miss what God is saying? We put God in a box.

Be open to what God is saying no matter what circumstance you are in. God speaks to us right now as if we are already what He has called us to be. Not where we are right now.

Isaiah 55:9
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.NKJV

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 11.26-28

1 Corinthians 11:26-28
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. I don't know about you but this is saying every time you eat remember … do you? I have to say that I don't take communion every time I sit down to eat …. But I think about it almost every time. So is that my conscience or Holy Spirit? 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. So what does it mean to partake in an unworthy manner? What does that look like? 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.NASB95

dok·im·ad·zo/] v. From 1384; TDNT 2:255; TDNTA 181; GK 1507 and 1508; 23 occurrences; AV translates as "prove" 10 times, "try" four times, "approve" three times, "discern" twice, "allow" twice, "like" once, and "examine" once. 1 to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals. 2 to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy. So here is my question….. When you examine, what are you examining? What does it say above in the definition? To Approve, deem worthy. Guess what? You are approved and you are worthy! Why? Because you are a son of the living God. The goal is to look inward and to look at the cross of Christ and what His blood purchased, His sacrifice makes us approved. The world teaches us to look at our hearts and to ask "What's wrong with me? Paul says to examine yourself for approval. Look into your heart to find what brings you approval (quote chpt. 28) The only thing that qualifies us before God is the finished work of Jesus. Amen!

Kevin

James 5.16

The fear of Judgment …. A nasty place to be, an easy place to be. The Lord does not sit up there and decide to leave you or forsake you for something we did, but He hurts because of what we are doing to ourselves, whatever that may be. So many times we will confess our sin to the Lord but we will not confess to one another like it says in James 5:16 therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.NIV You have to get to a point where you can confess to one another without the fear of being judged. Many times it is the fear of being judged that makes us not want to confess. Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.NIV

So confess your sin and walk free or keep it to yourself and be bound up. So the question is this: have you confessed to the Lord but not to your brother? If that is the case, then do what needs to be done and don't give the enemy any ground by keeping your mouth shut. If you are fessed up, then more power to you. Amen

Be Free

 

So we will better know you

 

Lord, sometimes we cannot help the way we think.

That really does stink.

You know what, that is okay.

Look to the clouds and pray.

 

Sometimes Lord, we cannot explain

The way we truly feel.

Sometimes we are in so much pain

Nothing seems real.

 

Everything You do God, is so calculated

So why does life sometimes feel so complicated.

He speaks to us in prayer that is how we communicate.

He always gives us something to contemplate.

 

The Lord instills in us confidence

The Lord in our lives is not a coincidence.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to get us out of our stalemate.

He tells us that whatever we do, please do not deviate.

 

The Lord is talking about our walk.

He says, "spread my word when you talk."

Some people will not listen, that is okay.

Those that do not listen get their names and pray.

 

 

 

By kevin gwyn

ÓCopyrighted 4/17/2002

 

 

 

The rest of the Story

The rest of the Story: Darrin Hufford is the man in the story. He is the author of several books. This story comes from the book I just finished called "The Misunderstood God".

A young married couple had asked him to stop by their house and minister to the young lady who was living with them. They said she was demon possessed. They were going to be with him but they had to go out of town at the last minute so he had to go alone. This made him very nervous. He had actually been training for a while about deliverance. So he got prayed up and when arrived at the house he even drove around the house seven times. He put anointing oil on his hands so when he shook the girls hand he would scare the demons but to his amazement nothing happened. So he sat down with the young lady and she begins to explain to him that the demon in her spoke to her all the time and that she knew his name. That is when he said, can I pray with you? she said, yes but you cannot use the J-word (Jesus). That was paralyzing to the author! It would be like training a soldier in the use of a weapon and then stripping him of it moments before battle. How are you supposed to cast out demons without using the name of Jesus? So what did he do? He pleaded the blood, rebuked the demon and called down the blessings, but nothing happened. He said he was dead in the water and felt like a traveling snake oil salesman at the end of his bag of tricks.

So he sat there with her for more than two hours feeling embarrassed and emotional spent. While sitting there thinking about what else he could do, he caught a glimpse of the little girl. She had not slept in days. He saw a little girl consumed in fear that she could barely sit still. It was in that moment that his heart broke for her as if she was his own child. He got up and walked across the room and took her into his arms and held her tightly. Everything in inside of him melted and he cried with her as he held her. That moment that young lady was set free. Her name was Joy. And she had reclaimed her Joy in his arms. He learned that day that tricks are for kids. Though he was stripped of using Jesus' name, He found that if he became Jesus to her all the power of the universe was at my fingertips. It was love that sat her free. From the day forward the author says that his entire ministry was built on the foundational truth that God is Love and that it is more important to be Jesus with skin on than to just say His name. God is Love and nothing else. God gave us the Golden rule. Do unto others as you would them do unto you. The golden rule is for God as well….. Not just us.

John 15:17
These things I command you, that you love one another.NKJV

The J - Word

I have something for you to think about. You get a phone call from someone who asks you to go over to a friend of theirs to minister to the individual. They tell you this individual has demons hanging off of them like bats! This individual is expecting you. When you arrive this person answers the door and invites you in. You see that this individual is somewhat scared but you do not know what this person is scared of. You begin to ask questions and then you ask if you could pray for this individual and this individual says yes you may, but I have to ask you that you not say the

J – word (Jesus) when you pray for me. What are you going to do?

This is just something to chew on.

Kevin

Forgive

Proverbs 24:29
Don't say to anyone, "I'll get back at you for what you did to me. I'll make you pay for what you did!" The Message

Ephesians 4:31-32
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.The Message

So you have a choice today, You can walk in forgiveness or not. I choose to walk in forgiveness for the man who stole my wife from me 9 years ago. I can choose to get mad at him and he will not even know it, but my life will be measurable. That sounds like fun doesn't it. Matthew 12:31-32
"There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit,
(This part right here really made me think)
you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives. The Message
Matthew 18:21-22
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. The Message Forgiveness to me is this "Lord when "blank" stands before you on judgment day please forgive him for what He did to me" Then pray a blessing over this person even if he is deceased. Do you think for a moment that there are occasions when I would like to go back in time and get my revenge for what my ex wife's husband did? There have been times, but I immediately take that thought captive to Christ. When the anger and bitterness start to take root you have a choice, You can pull it up right then and stop and take it captive or you can dwell on it which is fertilizing the root. It is your choice.

Who do you need to forgive today? Quit living in the past. There is no future in the past. Be Blessed and Highly favored

Remember, if you have not forgave then you have been turned over to the tormentors. How is that working for you?

Proverbs 14. 12-16

Change……… don't we love that word. For a lot of us, change is more than we want to deal with, because it means looking into our heart. It means that we may have to admit …..Oh My Gosh, I am wrong! So many times we value being right more than we value our relationship. A lot of times when that happens we move on to another relationship, until it happens again. A lot of times when people speak into our lives we think it as judgment when really all it is meaningful input. So many times we are not aware that we are going the opposite direction of God's wisdom. You must ask Holy Spirit!

Proverbs 14:12-16
there's a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak. A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace. The gullible believe anything they're told; the prudent sift and weigh every word. The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless. The Message

 

Quote: So don't reject those who have been faithful just because you don't like their input. When you find yourselves being defensive or reactionary, ask yourself why you are so resistant. Sometimes it good to listen to people with whom you disagree, just to get another perspective. The wise learn by instruction; the slow learn by correction; the foolish learn by consequences; and the selfish never learn. Listen, learn, grow …. And stop the pain.

 

Be blessed and Highly Favored today! You are a Son!

 

Anyone read James lately?

James 1:19
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.NLT

1 Corinthians 4:5

Who are you listening to? What voice or are there many voices that you are listening to? For me, often times I will seek wise counsel among Godly men and women and those are the many voices I hear. What I often find is this; if you talk to enough people you will get a split answer. Some will say go left and some will say go right. Does that ever happen to you? Often times we forget to ask Holy Spirit. We get so caught up in what is going on that we just forget. I think if we ask enough people we will eventually get the answer we are looking for and then we will ask Holy Spirit to "bless" our decision that we made without Him. Just something I have been chewing on today. I pray that you find favor in Him today. Kevin

1 Corinthians 4:5
So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God. The Message

Job 40.8

 

Have you Judged God lately?

Job 40:8
Will you also annul (set aside and render void) my judgment? Will you condemn Me [your God], that you may [appear] righteous and justified? AMP

Job 40:8
"Do you presume to tell me what I'm doing wrong? Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint? The Message

 

Do you create a concept of God that justifies your life experiences. What I mean is so many times we recreate God in our own image instead of seeing Him the way scripture says who He is. We want God to see the experiences in our lives the way we want him to see them.

 

Quote: When we begin to ask "why" in regard to God, we enter into judgment about Him. God has told us all we need to know about Him in His word. He sent Jesus, who modeled all that He is. We should be able to look at the life of Jesus and understand God. But we don't – we look to our experiences and ask" Why did this happen to me?" "why did God let that happen"

 

So here is the big question, are you judging God and asking him to bless your life in the same sentence? The rest of the passage below

 

Job 40:9-14
Do you have an arm like my arm? Can you shout in thunder the way I can? Go ahead, show your stuff. Let's see what you're made of, what you can do. Unleash your outrage. Target the arrogant and lay them flat. Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees. Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them! Dig a mass grave and dump them in it— faceless corpses in an unmarked grave. I'll gladly step aside and hand things over to you— you can surely save yourself with no help from me! The Message

 

 

Proverbs 15.5

Who are you? Do you learn from instruction, or do you choose to learn the hard way. Holy Spirit in Proverbs says 15:5 Only a fool despises a parent's discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise. NLT Proverbs 17:10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.NLT The majority of the pain in our lives comes simply because we will not listen. In the proverb above, the fool's only hope of learning is when he has to face the consequences of his own actions. Think about that for a moment ………. How many times have you sought out advice, or someone spoke into you, only to find that you felt you knew better than they did. So you chose to do it your own way and it was wrong or it did not work and it cost you dearly. Then the thought comes in your head "I guess I should have listened." That is always fun listening to that little voice.

So here is my question, Has someone spoken into you lately or you sought out Godly counsel on a mater? Then you chose to do it your way? This isn't Burger King you know. How did that work for you?

Be Blessed and Highly favored today

If you will ask

This is something I read this morning from the book "If You will ask" by Oswald Chambers. The book is about prayer. Below is something out of chapter 3

 

 

If we struggle in prayer it is because the enemy is gaining ground. If prayer is simple to us, it is because we have the victory. There is no such thing as a holiday for the beating of your heart. If there is, the grave comes next. And there is no such thing as a moral or spiritual holiday. If we attempt to take a holiday, the next time we want to pray it is a struggle because the enemy has gained a victory all round, darkness has come down and spiritual wickedness in high placeshas enfolded us. If we have to fight, it is because we have disobeyed; we ought to more than conquerors.

". . . and having done all, to stand"— a mental state as regards confidence, no panic. What is it puts us into a panic? The devil is a bully, but he cannot stand for a second before God. When we stand in the armor of God he pays no attention to us, but if we tackle the devil in our own strength we are done for. If we stand in God's armor with the strength and courage of God, he cannot gain one inch of way, and the position of prayer is held, as far as we are concerned, untouched by his wiles. Confidence in the natural world is self-reliance, in the spiritual world it is God-reliance. We run away when we have not been practicing, when we have not been doing anything in private, then when there is a new onslaught of the wiles of the devilwe lose heart instantly. Instead of standing we scuttle, and others have to fill the gap until we are sufficiently ashamed to come back. We cannot stand against the wiles of the devil by our wits. The devil only comes along the lines that God understands, not along the lines we understand, and the only way we can be prepared for him is to do what God tells us, stand complete in His armor, indwelt by His Spirit, in complete obedience to Him. We have not to wait for some great onslaught of the enemy, he is here all the time and he is wily. The secret of the sacred struggle for prayer lies in the fact that we must stand in the armor of God, practicing what God would have us do, then we can hold the position of prayer against all the attacks of the devil.

If we are struggling in prayer it is because the wiles of the enemy are getting the upper hand, and we must look for the cause of it in the lack of discipline in ourselves. There are some things we have not been strenuously practicing—we used to pray in the morning, do we now? We used to commune with God over the Bible, do we now? We used to be in contact with God wherever we went, are we now? Put on the whole armor of Godand keep continuously practicing, and then the wiles of the devilcannot get you unawares.

 

Proverbs 27.17

Being judgmental really makes me want to hurl sometimes. Case in point, I had to call someone yesterday to see if he was going on an event, to serve with me. He had not responded to any of my emails, so I had to call him. When I asked him why he had responded to my email, he responded with "I don't get online" I thought "okay" so I asked "how to you read the men's emails?" He responded louder and more sternly "I don't get online!" It really pissed me off the way he was talking to me. Then he said "Mike Chaney knows that" I said "I am sorry, but Chaney failed to mention to me that you did not get online." Now I am starting to get annoyed. (In my mind I am wondering if I am being Judgmental or is this guy being a jerk). What he failed to mention was that his daughter kept him up to date on the emails. He also said he had responded to Michael so he felt he didn't need to respond to me. That annoyed me as well. What I had to do was be super nice to him. He bowed up then I bowed up. So I had to make myself be nice so I could end the conversation on a good note. Which, that is what happened. Does this phone call still bother me…? Somewhat, but I am working through it. Here is what really got me. So I talked to a friend of mine who served with this man and he said that the individual that I am referring to is one of the nicest persons he knows. So now I have to really think about my tone with Him and did I start it?

When I told my wife this story she looked at me and said "that is what you do to me" I said "what" She said, "I will ask you a question and you will give me an answer, but I don't understand your answer, So I ask you the question again and you get louder and give me the same answer thinking that I will understand because you are louder and annoyed that I did not understand you the first time."

As Iron sharpens iron, so one wife sharpens a husband.

 

Proverbs 27.17 "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another:

Who are you?

When you look in the mirror, who do you see looking back? Do you see a Son? Romans 8:15
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"NASB95. Or are you judging yourself? When you see yourself in any other form other than what God sees you, you a creating a big problem for yourself.

Romans 6:10-11
When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.NLT

Romans 6:11
Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.AMP why do we as a people have such a hard time with believing who God says we are? This is how God sees us. He does not see the sin…….. He sees us!

 

Quote: You may say "Yes, but I have all sorts of problems. This can't be true about me." That's the problem you don't consider God's opinion to be real; therefore, you will never experience His version of reality. You will only experience what you consider to be true.

 

When you get to the point where you believe this verse you will be free from all other judgments, including the harshest ones of them all. The ones where you judge yourself. I assure you that I have not gotten there YET! But I am close.

 

So the next time you stand in the mirror are you going to believe what you see? Or who the Lord says you are?

 

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.NASB95

 

Isaiah 42.9

Isaiah 42:9
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."NASB95

 

The Lord gave this to me Thursday morning and when I think back at what has transpired over the last week it is pretty awesome. I know my Dad knows the Lord, I know that my uncle Stanley knows the Lord. I know that my mom is proud of the man I have become. My renewed relationship with my two cousins Holly and Poppy. (Something that the enemy stole from me over 45 years ago has been restored) I have a renewed passion to reach out to my family and stay connected to them. To know there kids.

 

So here is the big question and my challenge to you. Is there a family member that you have lost touch with. That one family member that the only time you would see this person is at a funeral.

 

Stop what your doing right now and ask Holy Spirit who that person or persons are. That name is who you need to call today and say hello too.

 

Kevin

My Grandfather

Hello All, I have not blogged in a while and that is because I went on Quest last Tuesday and I got back Sunday evening. I relaxed for a while, repacked and left for Amarillo Monday morning. You see, my grandfather passed away Thursday afternoon. I found out Thursday evening. I had already said my farewell's in May. I knew then that was the last time I was going to see him. It was still hard though. What I got to do though when I got to Amarillo was minister to my uncles, my brother and dad and that was good. I look back and I can see where the Lord prepared me in May, So that when the time came of my Grandfathers passing, I would be strong and able to minister to my family. At the graveside service I just stood there as My uncle cried on my shoulder and I prayed in his ear and held him, Then my other uncle cried on my shoulder and I held him prayed in his ear and my brother cried on my shoulder and I held him and prayed in his ear, and then my dad. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to be me. That was huge and that was yesterday. There is more that happened this morning. Two things actually happened. First, Kelly and I met with the preacher of my parent's church who is leaving to go to another church in Philly. I went there for one reason, but it turned out to be for something else. (God likes to play those games) This makes me cry just typing this. I brought up the fact that I thought my dad was not saved and he assured me that he was, He has been praying with him for 11 years. The bottom line is …… I judged my dad's heart, because he would not talk to me about Jesus the way I thought he should. He is saved and I have peace about it. This next thing is just as big as the first. Jeff said that my mom is very proud of the man I have become. He spoke of the Joy that she has when she talks about the transformation she has seen in me over the years. I just started crying. I did not know how bad I needed to hear that until I heard it. It was like my mom was talking through Jeff. Thank you Jesus for my mom and dad, I Love You

Kevin                                     2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.NASB95 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it. The Message

I am stressing

 

I am stressing. I am leaving to serve on Quest today I am walking out the door at 10.30. I got into the word and this is what He said.

 

Psalm 34:14-15
Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.NASB95

 

I am feeling very unsettled, but at the same time it is a good word for me. Thank You Jesus

My number is 817-683-4319. If you feel that you have an encouraging word for me ….. text me.

That would be awesome

 

It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free!

 

Kevin

 

Peculiar People

Most of us a very familiar with this passage: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.NIV
Quote from Chpt 18. The motivating principle that sets us free is Love. Only when God's love motivates everything we do will we actually experience freedom from judgment.
Jesus died so we could be free. Free from what? Free from sin, judgment, free from rejection and walking in offense. He has actually freed us from more things than I can list. You have to remember what 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:KJV Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; and the Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself, above all the nations on the earth.AMP Titus 2:14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.KJV this means we are free from the judgment of other people Deuteronomy 26:18
And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; KJV⁵ Exodus 19:6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: ⁶ And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.KJV
So as peculiar people we don't live by the world's standards. We are members of the Kingdom of God. There are times when we put so much emphasis on what we are free from , that we forget what we are free to do and that is to Love unconditionally and not judge or receive judgment from others. To walk in that freedom has everything to do with how we treat people. Meaning we should not treat people based on who we think they are. It should have everything to do with who we are in Christ.

 

Kevin

Love languages

Interesting thing today. My wife sent me a quiz to take on the internet. The Five Love Languages

For years I have thought that my love language was Words of Affirmation. Well I now know that it is not. It is Physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, receiving gifts and acts of service last. That was an eye opener. Anyway I have noticed that I touch my wife a lot and I like to spend time with her. A lot of times we tend to do our love language to our spouse. So what is yours?

Take the test

http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/

What is church?

What is church? Pause a second and ask yourself that question? To me, church is relationships

Remember, opinions expressed in this blog are no necessarily those of the management. (I read that somewhere. It sounds good anyway) my wife and I have not been in side of a church to listen to a church service in months. We have however, listened to many services on line and that is good. Here what it has done for us. It has forced us both and mainly my wife to seek out relationships that are not Church related or Fellowship of the Sword related, but Jesus related. That is the KEY! You know, it is one thing to not go to church and to isolate yourselves from the outside world. That is not what we do. We seek relationships. Isn't that what Church is about? Relationships? Our church is outside of the Church walls. We help people, we minister to people and we get ministered to. We had church in our house last night for almost two hours. It was awesome! We had church in our house last Monday night for almost three hours. It was Awesome! Three weeks ago Kelly had a Halley Joy show (that was church) and I got to listen and minister to a young lady. I got to hear her healed heart and hear someone who is in Love with Jesus and that ministered to me.

What does scripture say about church?
Hebrews 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.KJV
Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.NLT

so We are in a season right now and that is okay. I can tell you that in the last six months, my wife and I have grown a lot in our walks with the Lord. You may wonder do we tithe, absolutely we tithe. We have been tithing to FTS and to Elevate Him. We have also been helping her parents. Matthew 19:19
'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"NKJV Let me be the first to admit that we have church wounds that we are working through. Some of these wounds have been self inflicted and we realize that. Some are not self inflicted. So I leave you with this I do not advocate you not going to Church. What I am saying is that Kelly and I are in a season. I know a lot of people read this blog so if you are not going to church then I hope you are seeking Jesus relationships and are meeting with people and talking Jesus on a regular basis and if you are not then my prayer is that you will. Amen? Don't allow yourself to be isolated or the enemy will pick you off.

Be blessed today

Kevin

1 John 4:18

Freedom from Justification Chpt 18

 

1 John 4:17-18
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. The Message

 

^1 John 4:17-18 ^ Love has been perfected among us in this: that ^vwe may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ^18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ^19 ^wWe love ³Him because He first loved us. NKJV

1 John 4:18 We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; His perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us. The Living Bible

Basically what I am getting out this is when we walk this type of Love out. The love of the Father. It puts us in a position where we don't react to people. What we do instead is respond in love. So the question is this: if you know and feel that God loves you. Do you react in love when something happens in a relationship that you are in or do you judge that person and cause your own pain? I know for me right now it is a process. I actually believe that sometimes I pick and choose who I will love and who I will judge. I am getting better though.

Kevin

The wise will inherit honor

Proverbs 11.30
The wise will inherit honor, But fools display dishonor.NASB95

As I have read this book, it has amazed me how often we assume (ass of u me) or try to figure out why someone did what they did. We or I judge their Heart. I have learned to deal only with the facts. That is wisdom! The bible tells us to judge the fruit. Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls. NASB95. Matthew 7:20"So then, you will know them by their fruits.NASB95 I have to tell you, now that I have recognized my issue. "Why did you do that?" Life is so much easier. Do you realize when you say "Why did you do that?" You are actually saying "What you do doesn't really matter as long as you reason is good enough." What you need to be saying is "What did you do?" So you have a choice. When someone pulls out in front of you two things happen, you either get angry and pass judgment or……… you forgive immediately. If someone is rude to you or me then we once again have a choice. You can get angry, fantasize, imagine or pass judgment. Or choose to forgive or communicate with this person. We all know Matthew 18:15-16
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'NKJV know where does it say go to your brother and ask him "why?" It says, show him his fault.

Be Blessed today

 

 

 

Matthew 5.8

Chapter 11 still. This has been a very good chapter. I talked about surrendering our opinion before you can see something 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 hurtfull events differently.

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

 

Kevin

Luke 15.7

Chapter 11, back to the Preacher story. Let's just say for grins you chose not to go back to the preacher and tell him what happened. What I mean is you never approached him without judgment and told him how it made you feel, so you could actually work it out and find out what really happened. What you did was carry this for months, or years. Every time you tell the story it gets worse, because you never remember what actually happened, you just remember how it made you feel. You have actually left the church and are going to a new church, where you are telling the story again. Now you are in exaggeration mode. The last time you told the story, you remembered how it made you feel; the last time you remembered telling it. What a vicious cycle. There has to be a point where you say "Enough"

"You must be willing to surrender your opinion before you can see it another way" quote from book

The bible calls this repentance:

repentance, a word covering several biblical ideas that range from regret to changing one's mind or behavior so as to bring about a moral or ethical conversion.

Luke 15:7
In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!NLT

 

Kevin

Measured to you

I am still in chapter 11. "How I see it is not how it is; it is just how I see it. " That phrase has been rattling around in my head for some time now. Have you ever caused your own pain? Have you ever been at church and you passed the preacher in the hallway and said hello? He walked right passed you and he did not even acknowledge you? (Actually it could have been anyone) so then you are walking and then you begin to wonder "why" he did not say anything to you. You wonder "if he knew how much I tithed he would have said something or if he cared about the congregation or me he would have said something. As a matter of fact I don't think he even likes me. I am going to quit tithing. I have been going to church here for years. I don't think he has every liked me. All that negative self talk. You are even driving down the road talking to the preacher that hurt you that is NOT EVEN IN THE CAR!!!!!!! Oh my gosh. You have passed judgment on the preacher , attached the "why" and added significance to the other issues that you have conjured up in your judgment. All this comes from attaching the "why". Little did you know that the preacher had just got through dealing with a life or death situation and was just not paying attention to you. So you passed judgment and now you are offended, you have caused yourself all this pain. And on top of all of that now you are going around telling people how the preacher hurt you. So now, based on your Judgment, it is measured back to you as pain and rejection and you're offended

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.NKJV

Another test

Another test came my way. I did not score very well, but after a while I passed the test. What happen is I had asked someone to do something for me and this person said "yeah okay will see". After today "yeah okay will see" can mean several different things I found out. Three weeks have gone by and this person told me today that he didn't feel lead to do what I asked him. I have to tell you it really pissed me off. As I began to work through this I began to see where I had attached a "why" to his decision and when I did that it then had significance. So goes the Judgment again I recognized it quicker and was able to work through it faster. I actually made a couple of phone calls to two brothers. One who is also reading the same book.

I have finished the book and now I am on my second time through it. Chpt. Eleven is where I am tonight. I just so happens that today's nugget is exactly what happened today, go figure.
Quote from the book. "How I see it is not how it is; it is just how I see it." Reality is distorted by our perception. What I perceived today as reality was not reality at all but what I thought was reality. I had a revelation this evening with my wife. What I have and still learning is this; Most of us are very judgmental and we don't even know it, because it is our nature. I am so not alone in this. It is so prevalent that someone had to write a book about it. This is how easy it is to judge. I walked into Home Depot this evening and saw a cashier. She was covered in tattoos. The first thought that came to my mind was (Let's just say it was not good) She was actually very pretty … just had tattoos. For all I know she has been saved for years and leads a youth group. This is a whole new way of thinking and retraining of the mind. I believe if you have the mind of Christ and Love the sinner and hate the sin this will go away

1 Corinthians 13:3-7
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything, Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best, never looks back,

But keeps going to the end. The Message

 

And I say LOVE does not JUDGE!

Kevin

Matthew Seven.4

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.

God of my world is the name of this chapter. One part in this chapter that really struck out to me is where he says "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 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!!!!

Knowing the Boundaries

Knowing the boundaries. If I don't know me, it is impossible for me to know you.

For me, boundaries are tough and I have crossed over them many times. I find for myself that when I operate within boundaries in relationships I tend to stay out of trouble. Someone once said, "The difference between a pest and a welcomed guest is an invitation." I will give you an example. How many times has something happened in a relationship say your wife where she says "I don't want to talk about that right now and you keep pushing the issue. You have crossed the boundary in to area where you were not invited. I can't tell you how many times in my early days of marriage did d I do that to Kelly and all it did was make her shutdown even more and make me angrier. I was the uninvited pest.

God's word tells us how to communicate effectively. Speak truth in Love because truth spoken out of love is religion and that is ugly. We often times see someone and we feel that we need to speak into them and we might not have the relationship built yet but we cross that boundary and unintentionally push them a way instead of building trust first. It is just like selling a car or anything for that matter. No one is going to buy from you until you have built a repore with them and you are not going to buy anything from anyone who says "Can I help you" But you will if the person builds a relationship with you first.

Nugget: We must realize that every time we violate any principles of communication, we reduce the effectiveness of our message. Ignoring the principles sends a message to the person with whom we wish to communicate that says, "You are of no value." Rarely do people reject real communication. It is our rude, ill equipped, condemning, or negative approach to communication that people reject. When we value people, we put forth the effort necessary to communicate in a way that will be acceptable and effective.
Truth in Love

My mom is in Keller and once again she just pops up unannounced and sends me an email saying maybe we can get together. This is old and I am tired of it. It still hurts I have lived here for seven years and she has only stopped by to see us one time for a couple of hours on her way to do something else. What irritates me this time is the fact that I talked to her on the phone last Friday and she didn't even tell me she was coming down. I just don't get it. So let me give you an example of me being judgmental here and how it could affect me and then my wife

I think she comes down here unannounced so she doesn't have to make any long term plans with me. I am not her favorite. MY walk with the Lord is over the top so in her eyes I make her uncomfortable. When she comes to Keller it is all about her and her cousin and it doesn't matter if she sees me or my family. She comes unannounced knowing that I will be busy and can't see her. (Just like the last two times she came to Keller.) That way it will not interfere with her time with her cousin. When my wife called me yesterday and read me the email from my Mom …….. II have to tell you I judged and I got pissed. I don't even want to see her. But she is making an effort so I will accommodate, but I still don't like. So when I judge my mom and attach the why I have now cause my own pain and that affects my wife.

Kevin

The Critical Eye

My wife told me tonight that she is seeing a difference in me and how I talk about people. What I mean is this. Have you ever read an email to your wife or told a story but you say it the way you think that person meant it. Just like reading an email. The person who typed it could be typing with a nice tone but because you felt it meant something else (you judged) you read it with maybe a hint of sarcasm in your voice. Or maybe you got really loud. We tend to put our own voice on it. I really hate it when I do that, but I am getting better. My critical eye is getting healed. This leads me to Chpt 8 in the book.

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 don't find myself as critical as I used to be. The chapter 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

 

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. Qoute from the book

 

Thanks Kevin

Matthew 7.3

Matthew 7:3
And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?NKJV

I had a guy tell me one time ….. He said God; please show me the log in my eye so I can see the speck in my brother's eye. Things are changing in me. I am seeing more and more situations where I would normally make judgments and now I do not. The truth is I did not even know I was doing it and nobody else did either. If they did then they did not say anything to me. Or better yet they did not know I was doing it either so they could not say anything, I had someone tell me today that this person had a good heart. The first thing that came to my mind was "how does he know what kind of heart he has?" We think that is not judging, but it is. What if he had said that person has a bad heart? We most likely would have thought that he is being judgmental. Only the Lord can judge the heart. Not man.

I just had a thought, when I go on Quest to serve it is very important to stay out of the Lord's way. I think I do a good job at that. Most of the time we will say "what is Holy Spirit saying or ask what does Holy Spirit say. It is so much easier to stay out of His way on an event than in real life back home. I say all that to say this. I sometimes get frustrated with people when I try to help them when in reality I am trying to fix them. The best thing that I can do is what I do on Quest. Stay out of the LORD'S way. The best way that I can lead someone in to a Godly transformation is to model that for them. Jesus with Skin on ….mercy, grace, love, and acceptance. Whew! Oh it gets better .. So if we are to be Jesus with skin on then that means that we want to be like God …. Right? The problem is in our concept of God (From the book)
you see, you become like the god you believe in. The voice of condemnation that you hear in your heart is not the enemy or God but it is self-criticism. Something I never thought about, that the book touches on is this. If we are experiencing condemnation in our hearts then we can't help but express condemnation to the world around us. If we feel love and acceptance we will give love and acceptance.
The last half of Matthew 10.8 says "Freely you have received, freely give" One of the reasons people do not give the love of God is freely is that they have never freely received it. So here is the big nugget out of this chapter for me.
Accepting the reality of God's love for me delivers me from the need to find fault in others. My sense of security is now the product of a relationship with God in my heart. As I relate to God from my heart and experience the empowerment of love and acceptance, I will be more apt to model that Love to other. I also will point others to God in their instead of pointing to their behavior. Now I can love you instead of blame you. Thanks for reading, Kevin

James 5.12

The Saga continues and then ends. Amen

I got on the Job this morning around 7:30 and I waited patiently for my cabinets to arrive and they did not. I called the cabinet shop and talked to the man who had been helping me and he said they were built but that was all he could tell me. He said he would talk to the owner and call me back. After about 30 to 40 minutes I called back and the owner answered. We had a very pleasant conversation and my cabinets arrived around 11.30 and they were installed. We had more issues but the owner did what he needed to do to fix the situation. I was nice and so was he. I did what I said I was going to do. There were some other issues but they all got fixed. I ended up going back to the cabinet shop this afternoon to pick a piece of material they forgot. They handled it right on the spot and did not charge me. I told the owner I was still going to continue to do business with his company and I also told the other gentleman that he was forgiven for his bo boos and everything is back to normal. It was a learning experience for me. It is all good

The nugget today is this "when we judge, we are no longer motivated by our hearts, the wisdom of God's word, the voice of God in our hearts, or the love of God in our hearts. Instead, we are led by our attempts to be the God of our own world. And this limits us to the wisdom of our judgments.

Being free form judgment allows your yes to be yes and your no to be no. Has anyone read James lately? James 5:12
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment.NKJV

There are many things we can do and say without passing judgment----- and one of the most gracious things we can ever do is give a person the opportunity to establish a new track record

Thanks Kevin

Another test comes my way

Another test comes my way. I am in the middle of a Kitchen remodel. I have been planning the schedule for weeks. Finalized the schedule Monday or so I thought. The cabinets were supposed to be installed Wednesday morning then Wednesday afternoon and then this morning (Thursday). I finally had to go down to the cabinet shop to find out what is going on. The man who was actually in charge of my job dropped the ball. I have to say I was pissed … to the point of cutting off my nose in spite of my face. This is where I bring in the first nugget of wisdom from the book.

Nugget: All it takes to break free from the destructive cycle of judgment is to refuse to judge, to refuse to attach significance to the actions of others. When another person's actions affect you negatively, simply ask if there is a problem. Don't assume, and don't attach significance. When you can learn to observe rather than judge, you can stop the pain before it becomes suffering.

So what happened? By the cabinets not getting installed it through everything I had scheduled into a mess. Nevertheless it all worked out and the customers are happy. Cabinets will be installed in the morning and the rest of the granite will be installed Monday afternoon. I wanted to be mad at this man, but that is what he is …. A man, enough said. The first time I met him he recognized my FTS hat and he wants to go on a Quest. What Kind of man would I be if I let him have it? He knows he screwed up and it was not just my job either. So I will email him and call him to tell him that he is forgiven

I have to tell you at one point today or twice maybe three times I was ready to end this business relationship, but I am not. At this time this is where I was adding significance to the judgment I was handing down and I could see it and it was ugly. I am sowing into this business, the owner is lost and I have giving him a bible…. A Spanish bible. I will not let the enemy divide this relationship because there is freedom on the horizon. So I will continue in this relationship even if something happens tomorrow, because will any of this matter ten years from now …. No.

Matthew 7:17-20
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit.
So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.NLT

 

They will indentify me by my actions and they will know I am a man of integrity.

Amen!

Tough day

Tough day,

I got to experience this judgment crap first hand. I had set up an appointment to have my Daughter Rebekah's truck to be worked on at Christian Brothers Automotive, but Rachel my oldest daughter who had a bad experience with CBA decided that she would take the truck somewhere else. That pissed me off! What she did was wrong. I assessed that she did this out of disrespect of me and my authority of my household. I judged her motives without talking to her first. So all day I did the negative self talk thing. You know how that goes. "I can't believe she did that to me" " who does she think she is" "I am the one who bought that truck not her" Maybe since she took matters into her own hands she should pay for the repair herself"

Oh it gets better …………… I judged my wife as well. I just assumed she didn't back me up when talking to Rachel. There were a lot of other things I thought as well. My point is, by the time I got home I was made at Rachel, mad at Rebekah's and mad at my wife. I had an attitude and I brought it all on myself.

Self inflicted pain. All of the negative self talk, I am not good enough at being a dad a husband. I had myself worked up into frenzy and my precious wife received the brunt of it.

After we talked it over and I vented and found out all the details and how she did defend me, I felt like a complete idiot. Why? Because I fell into the trap of judgment and attaching a "WHY" and significance to the issue at hand today. I reaped what I sowed and it sucked crap.

I learned this evening that I had to be willing to surrender my opinion before I was able to move forward or see it from the other side. My wife's side.

Thanks Kevin

A little nugget out of the chapter "fixing you is killing me"

People who are focused on their faults never escape those faults.

Matthew 7.1

Matthew 7:1

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.NKJV

 

Matthew 7:1-2
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.The Message

 

 

I have noticed that as I read this book I am very judgmental ………. Of everything. Now that I recognize it, I can head it off, but it is still difficult. I see it for what it is. I see areas of my life where I had no idea that I was being judgmental. An example would be this: Have you ever thought or said to someone "I know why you did this" that is being judgmental , You or me do not know why someone did what they did.

So how many times do we Judge God? ……………. Think about that statement for a moment.

You have circumstances that have happened in your life and you would tell yourself or better yet convince yourself that God brought or allowed these things into our lives for some purpose. Of course, subjectively determining that purpose would cause us to decide WHY God allowed it. In other words we would have to judge God. I don't know about you but that just doesn't taste well. I have often wondered myself WHY God allowed something in my life not realizing that I was being judgmental of the Lord.

Thanks for reading

Kevin

Jeremiah 17.9

 

I am reading in a book that is very good. I am actually going to write several little nuggets that the Lord is keying on me in this book. The parts that I have underlined that are significant to me. I have also found that when I go back and read chapters that I have already read. I find new nuggets. This book is about a whole new way of thinking. Thank you Lord

 

Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; who can know it?

NKJV

 

Nugget 1. One of the things that really jumped out at me was how the author puts a different twist on Jeremiah 17.9 He says "God is the only one who can truly know the heart. When people assume to know why, then their reactions are not based on reality; they are based on judgment. That judgment causes confusion, pain, and loss. My added thought is when we add this judgment then the depravity starts to swirl around as well.

 

Nugget 2. The moment you attempt to determine "WHY" another is doing what he or she is doing, you have giving it significance. Keep in mind that nothing has the power to hurt you until you attach significance to it. Another's person actions are only as significant to you as the judgments you pass on them. The judgment you make is based on your decision about why that person did what he did. The degree of pain or insult you experience from the actions of another is based solely on the judgment you pass. And the judgment you pass is your assumption of why he did what he did.

 

Now keep in mind that these two nuggets come out of the first 22 pages that I have read. I am over have way through this book. It is my opinion that this is one of the best books I have every read next to The Bait of Satan and the Bible of course. This book is really speaking to me and Kelly. It is a whole new way of thinking for me and her. I have never realized or gave it much thought that when people judge me that I might actually believe their judgment. Or when I judge somebody that they might believe what I have judged about them. It is a lot deeper than that.

 

Kevin

 

 

 

 

Ezekiel 8

As I have read several versions of this passage the one that really spoke to me was this one out of the message. I have been here before. The whole passage is about Idolatry, this version actually refers to Asherah the sex goddess that makes God so angry. What really got me was the last part of this passage.

 

8:18b They fill the country with violence and now provoke me even further with their obscene gestures. That's it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I'm not listening.

 

What I am seeing here is this. Idolatry, a warning to stop this now

 

Ezekiel 8:1-18
In the sixth year, in the sixth month and the fifth day, while I was sitting at home meeting with the leaders of Judah, it happened that the hand of my Master, God, gripped me. When I looked, I was astonished. What I saw looked like a man—from the waist down like fire and from the waist up like highly burnished bronze. He reached out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair. The Spirit swept me high in the air and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple's inside court where the image of the sex goddess that makes God so angry had been set up. Right before me was the Glory of the God of Israel, exactly like the vision I had seen out on the plain. He said to me, "Son of man, look north." I looked north and saw it: Just north of the entrance loomed the altar of the sex goddess, Asherah, that makes God so angry. Then he said, "Son of man, do you see what they're doing? Outrageous obscenities! And doing them right here! It's enough to drive me right out of my own Temple. But you're going to see worse yet." He brought me to the door of the Temple court. I looked and saw a gaping hole in the wall. He said, "Son of man, dig through the wall." I dug through the wall and came upon a door. He said, "Now walk through the door and take a look at the obscenities they're engaging in." I entered and looked. I couldn't believe my eyes: Painted all over the walls were pictures of reptiles and animals and monsters—the whole pantheon of Egyptian gods and goddesses—being worshiped by Israel. In the middle of the room were seventy of the leaders of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in the middle. Each held his censer with the incense rising in a fragrant cloud. He said, "Son of man, do you see what the elders are doing here in the dark, each one before his favorite god-picture? They tell themselves, 'God doesn't see us. God has forsaken the country.' " Then he said, "You're going to see worse yet." He took me to the entrance at the north gate of the Temple of God. I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz, the Babylonian fertility god. He said, "Have you gotten an eyeful, son of man? You're going to see worse yet." Finally, he took me to the inside court of the Temple of God. There between the porch and the altar were about twenty-five men. Their backs were to God's Temple. They were facing east, bowing in worship to the sun. He said, "Have you seen enough, son of man? Isn't it bad enough that Judah engages in these outrageous obscenities? They fill the country with violence and now provoke me even further with their obscene gestures. That's it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I'm not listening."The Message