You're Not Here to Feel Sorry for Yourself

One of the other cornerstone scriptures of my life is Phil 3:12b.NKJV


Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.


When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He "lays hold" of us.  He calls us to His work.  As we begin our walk, He brings us along a path that is designed to 'perfect' or mature our 'calling.'  More often than not, this path could be akin to 'boot camp' for a soldier, which in essence we are.  


Ah, boot camp, I remember it well.  I will tell on myself to illustrate my point.  Those of you who have never been to boot camp in any branch of the service will think I am nuts.  Just ask someone who has been and they could probably confirm what I was thinking.  In the Air Force, the basic training was for six weeks. The sergeant was yelling, regulations for everything and pandemonium was the rule of the day.  It was all so mind-boggling that I was in my third week of training when it dawned on me, "Hey, I only have three more weeks of this harassment and then this confusion will be over." I instantly relaxed and just endured with the happy thought of being finished in a short while.


The situations that Jesus leads us through are often that way.  Our mind gets boggled with the frustration of it all.  We tend to zone out that He is the 'finisher' of our faith and that this problem WILL end.


On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through Jericho.  His mind was on the pain and suffering that He knew awaited Him.  However, He was not so preoccupied with His anguish that He couldn't hear the blind man calling after Him as He passed by.  Jesus took time to bless, minister and bring joy to another life.  He was not passing through Jericho to feel sorry for Himself.  He was on a divine appointment to do what God had 'laid hold of Him for.'


There are divine appointments for us today, also.  Let's not get distracted by our 'boot camp' that we miss an opportunity with our loved ones or those we 'pass by' to be the blessing that God has 'laid hold of us' for.

Dwell on Your Joy Not Your Cross

Heb 12:2 tells us that Jesus found joy in facing and enduring the cross.  The joy that sustained Him was not the looking forward to the pain and the shame.  His joy was in the faithfulness and love of His Father.  He lived His life on earth KNOWING He would face a cross some day.  He also lived His life on earth KNOWING that He would rise again.  He KNEW that He would not stay in the grave.  He KNEW that through His death, burial and resurrection, millions of lives would be set free from the ravages of sin, sickness and poverty.  He KNEW that our enemy would be COMPLETELY destroyed because of His shed blood.

Nehemiah taught the impoverished Hebrews that "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  Jerusalem was in shambles.  Their lives were in shambles.  The enemy could come through the broken walls and steal anything they had.  However, Nehemiah encouraged them with that statement as they endeavored to rebuild the wall. With one hand they rebuilt and with one hand they held their sword in case the enemy tried to come in.  As they looked toward the finished product in their minds, they found the strength and fortitude to endure their temporary hardship.

Whatever ravages of the enemy you are facing right now, child of God, is only temporary.  Get the promise of God firmly fixed in your mind and soul.  Don't dwell on the problem.  As you keep your heart fixed on His promises, you'll find His joy beginning to well up in you.  It is the joy of the Father to see you prosper in all you do.  Let His joy become your joy and the valley will get shorter and shorter and shorter.

Wait Til God Picks Up The Pencil

From Heb 12:2-The Author and Finisher of our Faith

For years, the pencil was in the hands of the Egyptians. On day, God took the pencil out of their hands and began writing a new chapter in the lives of the Hebrews.  It began with the Exodus.

For years, the high priest and religious bigots belittled the good that Jesus did. Then the Romans picked up the pencil.  At the crucifixion, God picked up the pencil and changed history.

One day God will get tired of what hurtful people are writing into our lives.  One day, the God of all Comfort will politely take that pencil from their hands.  No longer will He tolerate their brashness, hatred, envy and cutting remarks.  He will write our history before their very eyes.  The Psalmist David said it like this in the 23rd Psalm.  Even tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (Here we go) Thou preparest a table before me------IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES---

Didn't realize that was there, did you?

The Author and Finisher of Your Faith

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus and not our circumstances.  It describes Him as the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

Number one:  If He is the author of our faith, then He allowed the junk that we are going through right now because He is 'writing' something new into our faith.

He will BEGIN this chapter and then hand the pen over to someone else to write into our lives, just like God allowed the high priests and Pilate to write into Jesus' life.

Number two:  As the finisher of our faith, there WILL come a day when He takes the pen out of our oppressors hands and writes the end of the chapter.  According to Jer. 29:11, God is planning on doing something good for me.  Therefore, I need to rejoice in everything because my challenged faith is anxiously awaiting the end of the chapter.

This has finally dawned on me while writing my books.  Due to time constraints, I sometimes have to leave a chapter before it is finished.  If you read only what was in the chapter at that point, it would be confusing to you.  I have in my mind how I want to finish the chapter as well as how I want to finish the book.  I now understand that the obnoxious that I am going through is not the end of the chapter and is certainly not the end of the book until Jer. 29:11 happens.

My faith looks to the Author until He takes the pen and Finishes what He started.  And that is to do me good.  Live strong today, saints.

Book Review-God's Unlikely Path To Success

God’s Unlikely Path To Success
By Tony Evans

    I should have known that anything by Tony Evans would be good.  I have heard him speak on several occasions and was blessed.  However, I had never heard a sermon or read a book that brought out so much of what my heart really needed to hear.
    My Bible has been my morning companion for many years.  I have no idea how many times I have read it through.  Since reading Tony’s book, several of the stories have taken on new meaning.  Instead of just reading through them as usual, his book has taught me to stop and become more reflective on the heart of God.
    Tony took his time in bringing out character flaws in several of the Bible’s heroes.  I know that it is not the normal that someone would try their best to bring out the ‘ugly’ in people we have normally had in high esteem.  However, Tony masterfully brings out their character traits in a way that made the seem to be more ‘human,’ if you will.
    Suffice it to say, in each one of the Bible characters he chose to expose, I found a little bit of myself in them.  His book was a real mirror to me.  I could see myself in a lot of their actions.  I guess you could say that Tony made these characters come more alive to me.  Very graciously, Tony was, also, able to show God’s Grace and His Mercy as He dealt with them all.  That was probably the best part of his book.  After seeing their faults and failures and how God relentlessly kept after them, I realized that God was still passionately in love with me.  Gratefully, I have been able to pass His heart on to others that I meet.
    I would highly recommend this book to each and every Christian.  You life might not have received as many hard knocks as mine has, but you will glean a lot of insight in how to witness to your fellow man.  You’ll, also, find ways of being more tolerant with him as you patiently wait for the Father to finish dealing with him.
    Harvest House Publishing furnished me with a copy of this book in exchange for my review.  I am very grateful for that opportunity.

It Is More Important To Know Him

     I had a very interesting discussion yesterday, with our UPS driver.  We are both ministers and our conversations generally turn to God and His Word.  He posed a situation to me.  He and his wife have the admirable habit of getting up early enough in the morning to pray and study the Bible together.  At this moment in time, they are working their way through the book of Isaiah.  Of course, some of the passages are harder to understand than others.  His question, what do we do about understanding them?  Should they dig and wrestle until they understand, or just continue reading through?
     I relayed to him that I had been through those struggles many times myself.  There have been times when I have read three chapters and couldn't remember anything that just leaped off the page at me.  There have been other times when I would get stuck on the feast of one or two verses for a couple of weeks.
     Here is my suggestion to him and to all of my readers.  Don't get frustrated with your lack of knowledge of God's Word.  It is important to read it on a daily basis and do your best to memorize it.  However, it is more important to come to know the Author in a more personal way than it is to know His Word.  Why?  Because He wrote it, silly.  
     There are times when I read His Word and come up empty.  However, I always strive to enter His presence and love on Him and let Him love on me.  That's when He is able to bring His Word to me in a more personal way.  My morning devotions become a greater success.  Try it.  You'll like it.

Prayer---Al Qaedo Vows to Return New York City

     Join me in praying for God's intervention in terrorist attacks.

     Father, we boldly declare that Jesus is Lord.  No human, no kingdom, and no demonic force is lord over our lives or this earth.  In accordance to Your Word, we bind those ungodly forces that would seek to destroy mankind now matter where they are.   We plead Your precious blood over this world and ask for Your divine intervention against those whose hearts are set to evil.  We pray for wisdom and understanding for those who have promised to protect us.  Reveal the plots and the hiding places of our enemies.  Bring their evil to nothing.  More than anything, set people in their paths that could lead them to a relationship with You before it's too late.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen