The Weight is Over

Galatians 5:22 (The Living Bible) “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.” 

As the New Year begins, so does the tradition of making New Year resolutions.  What is number one on your list?  If you're like most Americans, it's to shed the extra pounds you gained over the holidays, or last summer, or your "baby weight".  So, what's the plan? 

In Galatians 5:22-25, God shows you how to live a Spirit lead, powerful, supernatural life.  When we are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, everything we need is already on the inside of us.  Regarding eating habits, all the self control you need is already on the inside of you.  Will power and positive thinking can only take us to a certain level, but through the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome in every area of life.  

There you go, “the weight is over”. 

So Much More

I have to say, Romans, chapter 5 has some of the most amazing truths in one portion of scripture.  Four times Paul uses the term "much more" in reference to a believer’s life after the cross…

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him - Verse 9

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many - Verse 15 

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ) - Verse 17 

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: - Verse 20 

God has called you to so much more.  You serve a much more God.  Much more opportunity in life, much more forgiveness toward others, much more favor on your job, much more restoration in your family.  Much more than you ever had before.  Much more than you will ever need.  So much more.

Thank God for My Clogged Drain!

1 Thessalonians 5:17,18 - "Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" 

During this Thanksgiving season, K-Love Radio has been giving listeners an opportunity to share on the air what they are thankful for.  I heard a great story last week after I has just dropped my wife off at work.  You see, she missed a step coming down the stairs a couple of weeks ago and broke a bone in her "driving foot".  Hence, I have become her temporary designated driver. 

I was getting a bit annoyed at all the driving back and forth…until I heard the story from a woman that said, "I'm calling in today to give thanks for my clogged drain".  Huh?  It really got my attention!  She went on to say that for two years she was homeless.  During that time, she declared 2 Samuel 7:1-7, that "no longer will you move from place to place but the Lord will build you your own house".  And He sure did, she now had a home of her own.    

That's a godly perspective folks!  In everything she gave thanks.  When she was homeless, when she was standing on the Word of God, and when she had her own home, clogged drain and all! 

Home "Sick"

Indeed, nearly all people miss something about home when they are away, making homesickness a nearly universal experience.  However, an intense desire to go "back" to a familiar place and time can be very debilitating.  A longing for the "good ol' days" and what "used to be" makes it impossible to look with hope to the future.
 
According to Hebrews 11:15, you follow the direction of your most dominant thought.  You don't go anywhere in the natural that you haven't first gone in your imagination. This can be good or bad, depending on where your mind is taking you.  If you spend your time meditating on God's promises in His Word, by faith you'll move forward and fulfill God's plan and purpose for your life.  If you follow thoughts that want to take you backwards, you will find "constant opportunity to return to it".  You'll be home "sick", instead of enjoying and being content with and trusting in God's goodness and faithfulness in the place He has for you today and every day to come.  

No Trespassing!

Gen 15:11 (The Living Bible) – “Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away”

One Sunday I was dosing off while watching a football game after church, when I heard a commotion in my front yard.  A Pit Bull had gotten loose from one of the neighbor’s fenced in yard, and had wandered onto our property.  He was met face to face with our dog Benny, an oversized Yorkshire Terrier.  I knew that all that dog needed to do was position his jaw a certain way on Benny’s body and things would be quite serious.  On the contrary, it was Benny that had the Pit Bull on the run and was nipping at his tail and chasing him off our property.

In Genesis 15:11, Abram had laid out a sacrifice as a sign and a response to his covenant with Almighty God.  As he did this, some vultures tried to “trespass” on his sacrifice, but Abram “chased” them away!  That’s exactly what we need to do when the devil tries to come on our “property”.  Drive those “vultures” off of what belongs to you through the finished work of the cross.  You do this by exercising your authority through speaking the Word of God over your family, your teenager, your body, your bank account, your thought life and whatever else it might be.  Jesus said, “I have given you power…over all the power of the enemy”!  Declare today, “No Trespassing!”, in Jesus’ name.

Recipe for a Miracle

Acts 8:5,6 "Then Philip [the deacon not the Apostle] went down to the city and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did"

Miracles are awesome, they are for today, they are for each of us, and not just a select few.  What is a miracle?  A miracle is the intervention of God, through a person, in the normal course of nature.  How do miracles happen?  The way I see it, you have to have the right recipe.

First it says in Acts 8:5, Philip, the deacon, not the Apostle…I like that because Philip was simply serving in the church.  If you’re a person who serves, you’re a candidate for "interventions in the regular course of nature".  You don’t have to be a preacher or a famous minister.  Philip cleaned, served, waited on people and he saw miracles that changed a city. 

Here's 3 simple ingredients for a miracle life:

1.    Attitude!  What is your attitude when you have an seemingly insurmountable problem?  Is it "I have a huge problem" or "I have an opportunity for God to come through"?

2.    Look to Jesus for instructions, almost all of the miracles in the Bible involved a human being's participation.

3.    Don't rush!  Learn to wait to hear the voice of God.  Don't move too soon, but don’t be afraid to make a mistake either. 

Like Philip, there is a miracle-lifestyle waiting for you.  God has other's in mind when he called you to your job, your family, your church, your city, so go for it!

Check's in the Mail

Daniel 10:12  "Then said he unto me, fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, Thy words were heard, and I come for thy words".

Years ago when I was in a windows and siding business, after I would make a huge sale, I would stop by the customer's house at scheduled intervals to pick up a check for the job. When they didn't have it ready, I would get a little (okay, a lot) impatient and I would call the customer to check on the check!  Their response, these famous words, "the check's in the mail".

In Daniel chapter 10, it appears that it took three weeks for Daniel's prayer to manifest.  However, in verse 12, the angel of the Lord, said something really powerful and revealing to Daniel.  He said, "For from the first day...thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words".  That tells us that every prayer that's in agreement with God's word is answered instantly. 

It was the prince of Persia that withstood Daniel's prayer (verse 13), for 21 days.  The prayer was answered but the manifestation took time to get there! That's huge, but how come?  Daniel was under the old covenant he didn't have authority to speak "TO" the delay.  Daniel had to wait because he didn't have the authority on the earth that you and I have.

Do you have any "unanswered prayers"?  Don't give up.  If your prayer is in agreement with God's Word, it's on the way, "it's in the mail".  Use your authority and command the answer that rightfully belongs to you, and expect to see it!

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

Ephesians 3:19 - "And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." 

I read a magnificent story from Joseph Prince's book The Power of Right Believing. He tells of a minister from Oregon who was assigned to provide counseling to patients in a state mental illness facility.  When he arrived for duty, he was sent to a padded cell with a large group of deranged, barely clothed people.  The stench of human excrement filled the room.  When he tried to talk with the patients, they responded with groans, moans and demonic-like laughter.  

Then the Holy Spirit prompted him to sit in the middle of the room and sing the familiar children's song, Jesus Loves Me.  For a full hour, he sang, "Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong.  They are weak but He is strong.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  For the Bible tells me so". 

Nothing happened the first day, but he persisted.  For weeks he would sit and sing the same melody, but with greater conviction each time.  "Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  For the Bible tells me so!"  Soon the patients began singing with him, one by one.  By the first month, 36 of the severely ill patients were transferred from the high-dependency ward to a self-care ward.  Within a year, all but two were discharged from the facility.   

No matter what challenges, failures and misdeeds you or I might face, the love of Jesus remains constant.  "Jesus loves me, this I know".  My question to you is, do you know that Jesus loves you?  Do you know how much He loves you?  How can we know?  The Bible tells us so.  So simple, yet so powerful. 

I challenge you, as often as you look in the mirror, say to yourself, "Jesus loves me, this I know.  For the Bible tells me so".  And enjoy the forgiveness, freedom, healing and restoration that comes from truly knowing the love of Christ that passes all knowledge!    

Pole Vaulting and Grace

Mathew 5 21-22 "You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:"

I really enjoyed the summer Olympics.  One of my favorite events to watch is Pole Vaulting.  Can you imagine running full speed down a runway, jamming a flexible pole into a hole in the ground, holding on for dear life, propelling yourself into the air over a 16 or 17 foot bar, and landing on a cushion.  What?!!  In Rio, after many successful vaults, it came down to Sandi Morris of the U.S. and Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece in the Women's Pole Vault.  Stefanidi won the gold because Morris' leg simply brushed the bar 16'3".

In Mathew 5:21-22, Jesus does something very interesting.  He quotes the law from Exodus 20:13 in saying, "Thou shall not kill".  Then, just in case people dismiss this commandment because they wouldn’t even think of killing someone, He actually raises the bar, to show their need for a Savior.

He said, "That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment ".  What?!!  If you're angry with someone, you have broken the law?  Yes, that's what He said.  This was just another way of proving that keeping the law is impossible.  He knew that eventually everyone is going to miss it, brush the bar, and it's going to topple over.

What is the answer?  Grace.  Grace pole vaults you OVER the bar, and gives you what you need to overcome in every area of life.  Even if you have less misses than someone else, according to the law, if you miss it once, you are guilty of the whole law.  Not with grace.  God knew we would miss it, that's why He provided a Savior that would take upon Himself all our sin, past, present and future.  He took what we deserve, and freely gave us what we don't deserve…grace.  And grace sends us soaring!  Enjoy!

You're Not the Only One

1 Kings 19:14 " I, even I, only am left" 

Have you ever felt like you’re the “only one” going through a certain problem or challenge in your life? Have you ever looked around and said to yourself, everyone else seems to doing just fine, what’s wrong with me?  I’m the only one not married wherever I go.  I seem to be the only one living paycheck to paycheck. 

Anytime you’re tempted to start a sentence with "I'm the only one", you need to stop.  What you’re about to say is not true.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun". 

Remember Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, who allowed discouragement and fear to drive him from totally fulfilling his God given purpose.  Even after he had seen fire come down from heaven and consume his sacrifice, and after he singlehandedly killed 850 false prophets with his sword.  He still allowed fear to rule him, which resulted in a series of bad decisions.  

He declared in 1 Kings 19:14, "I, even I only am left".  Well that wasn't even close to being true.  In 1 Kings 19:18, the Lord said, “I have 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed to Baal".  Elijah wasn't the only one, and neither are you.  Others have endured and won, and so will you through Christ.  Wipe “I’m the only” from your vocabulary.  Reject the "I, only I” syndrome.  That's a ploy of the devil to get you to quit.  Be encouraged today, you’re NOT the only one!  You will fulfill your purpose!

Inside-Out Living

Romans 8: 11 “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you"

Have you ever run out of clean socks, and the laundry wasn’t quite finished, so you simply turned a pair of dirty socks inside out and wore them again?  If you haven’t, you ought to try it, works for me!  Just sayin'.

What truly changed my thinking concerning the new covenant of grace, was that under this new covenant, I'm no longer living from the “outside-in”, but I'm living from the “inside-out”. This truth changed my perspective about everything.  Everything I needed was resident on the inside of my born again spirit.  It was just a matter of releasing what I already had, not hoping and waiting for the promises of God to manifest themselves sometime in the future.

Healing is in you now, prosperity is in you now, peace is in you now, freedom is already in you, unlimited resources are already in you. If it’s in Christ, it’s in you, because Christ is in you.  No more outside-in living, but instead inside-out living.  Simply begin to release your faith in the goodness and grace of God, and the finished work of the cross.  Begin to thank God for all that you already have because of the blood of Jesus alone!

Romans 8:11 tells us that the Holy Spirit is "quickening" your physical body, from the inside-out.  To quicken means to give life to, Hallelujah!!  Go ahead, turn your thinking and believing inside-out, and watch provision flow for every area of your life!

Are You Listening to TSN? (the Ten Spies Network)

Deuteronomy 1:28 "Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there."

We need to choose how much time and attention we give the news on TV, radio, internet or any other source.  By nature, the world disproportionally reports more "bad" news than "good" news.  According to what we hear, we might think that this world is the worst it's ever been! 

In Numbers 13, God sent out twelve soldiers to spy out the promised land, and see for themselves the abundance and prosperity that awaited them.  As proof, in verse 23 it says that they cut down a cluster of grapes that was so big it took two men to carry.  Glory to God!  They returned from the promised land after forty days to "report" on what they witnessed.  They said in verse 27, "Surely it flows with milk and honey, this is the fruit".  In other words, the land was full of good things to enjoy.

But then, in verse 28, TSN (the Ten Spies Network) added to the report from their perspective, "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there."  TSN gave every reason why they couldn't possess the promised land.  They focused on all that was wrong, on every obstacle, every challenge, and they concluded this doesn't look easy.

That's the same report we are hearing today..."The earth is falling apart", "the economy stinks", " we're all going to lose our jobs", "the world is in a terrible place".  But there were two other spies that saw the same thing as the other 10 men saw, but reported differently.  In Numbers 13:30, Caleb said four things that that contradicted the TSN report:

 "Lets go up at once".  
We can do this!  Let's go right now! Don't delay!  It's waiting for us!
 
"And possess it".  
Take it!  It's finished!  Done!  Healing, health, prosperity, just take it
 
"We are well able".  
We can handle these situations!  It's not as big as you think!
 
"To overcome it".  
Caleb didn't deny that there would be things to overcome, but in the new covenant of grace it's already overcome for us! 

You are more than a conqueror through the finished work of the cross.  Which would you rather give your time and attention to, TSN or the almost-too-good-to-be-true news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  

Keeping it Wheel

Jeremiah 18:3 - "Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working at the wheel". 

Not too long ago, I had worked a very full day and was truly looking forward to getting home.  I got in my car and started to drive out of the parking lot and heard "thump, thump, thump".  I had a flat tire.  If you've ever had a flat tire you know that it never happens at a convenient time, and this was one of those times.  I was tired, it was late, and I was over an hour from home.  And the thought hit me, "you have to change the tire to get moving".  No matter how much I stared at that tire, it had to be changed, that is if I wanted to get anywhere.

In Jeremiah 18:1-6, the Prophet is speaking about "change".  In verse 3, Jeremiah went down to the potter's house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.  A potter uses two wheels to work the pottery, a lower wheel operated by his feet and an upper wheel to mold the clay.  The word of the Lord in verse 6 says, "Cannot I do with you as this potter?  Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand". 

What is this speaking of?  "Keeping it wheel."  Being ready for change!  Just the same as my car, if I had not changed that tire, I wasn't going anywhere!  How about you?  Where do you want to go?  Do you want to move from where you are?  It's going to require change.  Most people fight change, but you can't have the "new" in your life without it.  "Keeping it wheel" is doing whatever God says to you, no matter how different it seems.  Will you allow yourself to be on the potter's wheel?  Change doesn't happen until you first submit to the change in your heart.  I encourage you to "keep it wheel" and experience God's best for your life.