Strength Training

Jesus, in telling his disciples how to pray said…and give us our daily bread.  To most people in the United States today this does not reach us, we  in most cases live our entire life and never have to concern ourselves with where our next meal will come from, or if we will get one at all. When we say we have no food in our house, what we mean is that there is nothing we feel like eating at that time and so we go out to eat or go to the store without giving it a second thought.  The Bible is eternal truth, because it is God’s Word and therefore its words present us with much more than any other bound collection of pages with words authored by men or women regardless of their intellect or foresight.  The Bible has God qualities in it by that I mean that its application is unending throughout the world to every person in every culture as long as men and women inhabit this terrestrial sphere.   Additionally, its truth is multi-layered, there the face value of eternal truth in the words you read, and then as you meditate on it like a diamond, the revealing light from it shines into areas of our life bringing, conviction, blessing, insight and wisdom.  Often times a Bible verse we’ve read many times over the span of years, when read today will by the Holy Spirit’s Power thrill our hearts, or pierce our heart with conviction, amaze us with the awesomeness of God’s love.  

  

If we call ourselves a Christ follower, redeemed by his act of obedience and grace on the Cross of Calvary; as a child of the king, we must ask ourselves, having the freedom to choose, why would I choose to not partake from the King’s table daily.  We must ask ourselves why would I not put a priority on being fed from the Word of our Eternal, Self Existent God.  Years ago I often asked my high school Sunday school class who would be willing to take a dare? The dare was to, in the next week to spend the same number of minutes eating as they had spent reading the word of God in the previous week.  Amazingly, I never had any takers?   A simple lesson but to the point.

Friendship takes time.  The old adage of it takes being a friend to have a friend holds even today.  God is ready every moment of every day to be our friend, to listen to our joys, and hear us relate our struggles and sorrows.  Even more He, the God of the universe is Eveready to answer our prayers to reveal the plan that He has for our lives.  It just takes us unwrapping ourselves from ourselves, our control and the microcosm of our world, our self-centeredness.  Being a friend is about showing interest in that other person,  giving priority to spending time with them,  giving of the time and resources that we have to invest in them.  Communicating value is part of friendship, in the relationship we can have with our Heavenly Father that communication of value is called worship.

God desires that we move beyond friendship in our relationship with Him.  Did you ever stop to think how many times Jesus uses wedding in parables, the wedding feasts and ceremonies in relationship to our relationship with him?  His first miracle was at the wedding at Cana.  Twenty-two times through the four gospels, not a coincidence this is a significant fact.    Jesus said that we, individual people who believe in him, and are being made into his likeness, the body of Christ are his bride.    Today, many people get married without an intimate knowledge of their groom or bride.  We know that he knows us intimately, whether we invite him to know us and search our hearts as King David did, or not.  He does desire that we know him intimately and spend time with Him.  Spend time with him.  Think about this model if your spouse said I’m going to give you from 3:00 to 3:30PM everyday to communicate with me but the rest of my day is too full, I’m too busy to be interrupted with your needs and questions, I’ve set this time aside for you and you alone.  One day you race home from work, but traffic was heavy and you pull in the drive way at 3:28 – you rush in the house and your spouse looks at you as the clock on the mantel chimes - You say wow it was a crazy day I so look forward to talking with you, your spouse says sorry you’re times up you’ll have to wait till tomorrow. Not intimacy!

Take a good look at your life, the fruit of the Spirit in your life, the desire to do the Father’s will,  you’re schedule being able to be cleared to serve others, sacrificing what you have, doing with less to benefit others.  Sharing the greatest gift of all time in the message of the Cross. 

Being Strong is about being sure that we are well nourished by His Word and His Spirit.   Being Strong is about giving up what we hold on to as our own.  Being Strong is about being steadfast in holding to His Eternal Truth.  Being Strong is sharing the gifts our Father has given us with others, time, resources, the Word that they might know Him.  Being Strong is doing what we were created for in His Plan, daily growing in relationship with Him and sharing the gift He provided through His Son at the Cross of Calvary.    That’s it, sorry no DVD, the whole story is set in a myriad of times with numerous people like you and me who rebelled and wanted to live life their way – but were drawn gently into Him by His compassion and love; no 13 easy payments – there was only one payment for all our sin for all time and it has been paid in full.   

DELTA FORCE

                What do you think when you hear that term?

                Some think about covert military operations (black ops type scenarios)

             Wikipedia says Delta is the 9^th letter in the Greek alphabet

                In the realm of mathematics delta is the variant between the low and high value in a data set.

With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him.  Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God  re-mould your minds from within, so that you prove in practice that the Plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.   Romans 12: 1-2 Philips

This passage gives us information on the concept in the spiritual realm and how it can be applied to us as individual spiritual beings.  Delta is the difference between the base value of flesh and the glorifying aspect of the Holy Spirit in control of our lives.  There is a DELTA FORCE living in us as believers in Christ, it is a matter of whom we choose to put in control.  The Delta in us is the variant between who we are/were as born in the flesh, living in the darkness and who we become after our Spiritual re-birth. 

                Ultimately, we come into a place where the desire for intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, is the driving force in our life and directs our journey (our Christian walk).  This cannot be a part of our life or a part that we put on, on select days, or a certain times it is our life 24x7.  Our choosing to look for and live in God’s Will instead of fulfilling our desires, choosing our will and direction for our lives and in day to day decisions is the pivotal point of our lives.  When we, in exercising our free will, choose to lay our lives on the altar and allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to consume our flesh and its desires and make our lives a pleasing gift to our Holy God.  

So… the operative question how does this happen? How can I get from where I am to this place?

You were created to be in relationship with the Father and do His will.  As a believer your God has given you His very best and that is all you need.  You only need to live in the relationship that Christ death and resurrection has provided for you. See Colossians 2:7-15

Address any sin that you have not repented of, ask for forgiveness, and receive that forgiveness.

As a believer, you must fuel the Holy Spirit in you, reading the word will do that, when you read it expectantly, believing that God’s word is eternal truth and each time you read there is application in what you read for your life.   Communicate to your Heavenly Father that it is your heart’s desire to know Him, to hear His voice and to know the direction He has in His plan for your life.

Spend time, in a quiet place with Him.  You don’t need to say a word, just be still before Him.  During this time it is quieting for us to think about passages of scripture, think about the magnificence of our God, His creation and the beauty of all of it.  The wonder of all that He has made that it would leave no question in the minds of men and women as to the awesomeness of our God. Use your imagination that is part of why He gave it to us to enhance our worship of Him.

Ask to know His will for you.  Do you believe that He desires to have relationship with you His creation, that His will is the perfect fulfillment of your life? Think about this, read Psalm 139, He is God, self existing, creator of time and all physical matter, He is beyond time He directs all of the events of mankind.  You are His creation, His child; the one paid for with the life of His Son, Jesus Christ.  He is perfect; all that He made was perfect… He said it is good.  See Genesis 1 & 2.  Even though we live in a fallen world, His plan for our lives is perfect.  It is the only way in which we will find the true fulfillment of our desires, not our fleshly desires, but our desires as a child of His Kingdom.

Stumbling block on our Journey –

Not responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Do you have a habit that is offensive to the Father that is sin!  Holding a grudge, rage, unforgiveness, apathy etc etc. maybe this looks like anger with another driver that you feel compelled to vent on.  Maybe this is unforgiveness of a family member, a friend or a co-worker, maybe your Pastor.  Pray He will gladly make it clear to you if your desire is to truly repent of the behavior, and CHANGE.  Too many Christians today think repenting is saying “I’m sorry – till the next time and the cycle starts again and change… no that’s too hard that would take effort that would require me putting to death that sinful behavior.  Exactly, that is what He desires, that is what the Holy Spirit’s role is to cause us to want to change, and to have the desire to make the right decisions.  Don’t believe it; just ask Him next time you are in prayer.

DON’T SPEND ANOTHER DAY WITHOUT LISTENING/RESPONDING TO HIM

– THE HOLY SPIRIT-

GOD’S DELTA FORCE FOR YOUR LIFE!

Perspective

What is seen in a work of art, whatever the media, painting, sculpture, weaving, or even creation is a matter of where we are.  As an art student I remember being taught the basics of perspective in creating a work, all lines went to a vanishing point, as the creator of the work I got to choose that point. Whether center, left, right, high or low; where that vanishing point is in the work determines where the viewer feels like they are in relation to the subject matter in the work. 

I would suggest that in our journey, moment to moment, day to day, our Heavenly Father continually gives us the opportunity to choose our perspective on the circumstances, relationships, and situations where we find ourselves. The perspective of our life situation at this moment is determined by in large by our spiritual bent.  By spiritual bent I mean  what mind course do we follow in thinking, as we take in circumstances, relationships and situations that present themselves to us.  What is our world view?  If you would say you have a Christian world view, and the tenants of the New Testament were the scorecard how many exemptions would you take.  In other words as you came across items,  for example those that Paul  mentioned to the church in Colossia, in Colossians 3, would you agree with those items and Paul’s perspective.  Or, would you think some things don’t apply because this is a different age?

I  would suggest that Christ created each day with its own vanishing point, as does each week, month, year and ultimately each life.  What we see, how we see it will determine how we respond.  How we view the purpose of the time we have will determine what compass we choose, if any to guide us possibly to a place where we have a different perspective.  

Timing is everything

God's timing is perfect. Kairos, the appointed time in the purpose of God", the time when God acts.  I mentioned what keeps us as Kingdom men from trusting God with our inner most needs.  It seems this trust issue is a significant barrier for many men.  God gave a word this week, through the message presented by a Pastor and a Teacher in bringing the Word from Hebrews 11.  Simply, trusting God first is the way to knowing God and having that deeper relationship, that so many Christian authors, Pastors and scholars, write, speak and preach on. What He has put in us is a part of Himself, at creation, His moral code and a desire to have a relationship with Him.  Although every human being has a sense of right and wrong wired in them, due to the fall in the garden of Eden, there is something lacking, a hole that people strive to find something that fits.  Many search throughout their life, attempting to quench that desire, what Blaise Pascal referred to as a God shaped vacuum,  Once we acknowledge our sin, confess it, and purpose with God's help through the Holy Spirit to change our life and live in obedience out of love for Him and accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins. God's way back to that relationship with Him that we all crave is only by the Cross of Calvary.  When we trust Him for our salvation, we've trusted Him for the eternal life with him, that He planned for us from the beginning.- Celebrate the Gift He has given us out of His abundant Love and Grace..Worship Him! 

Spiritual Hunger

Last Saturday, me and a couple of buddies started a journey through Satisfy Your Soul - Dr. Bruce Demarest.  As we started to talk it was apparent in our individual walks with Christ, this far,  that we all either currently are, or have been in places where we have to acknowledge the stirring of the Holy Spirit within us.  Being in a place where we crave Him, wanting to be closer, and not knowing what stands between us (if anything) and how to close the gap is challenging.  As we launch into this study, we've purposed to ask believers and non-believers in the next couple of weeks, about their life perspective on spirituality. We've also purposed ourselves to look inward and identify what prevents us from trusting God to satisfy our innermost needs.