Archives for October 2006

Given October 27, 2006
The Word of God is true and, as Christians, we base our faith on it. However, there are some things in God’s Word that we sometimes say, “but…”.

How about this? “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24“. “Yes, Jesus, I’m healed by your stripes, but…..”.

Or this? “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Phillipians 4:6, (NLT)“. “Yeah, Jesus, I know you said not to worry, but….”.

And this? “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:19“. “I know, but I lost my job and we’re in a recession, and ….”. Are you getting the picture?

There’s a period at the end of each of those verses which means, “STOP”, no BUTS. We need to stop there and receive what God says. Too many times we’ve not stopped at that stop sign and gone out into traffic and crashed. Think about it.

If this revelation or any of the past ones have been helpful to you, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you. Be blessed!

Given October 19, 2006
It was homecoming week at one of the schools I work in and they had hung a banner above the front entrance that stated, “Not In Our House!” A stark warning to their opponent on Friday night that nobody was coming in to their territory and doing them any harm!

When I saw that, it made me think of our opponent, the devil, and how he and his team tries to come into our “house” every day and do us harm. I’m reminded that we have the authority, in Jesus’ name, to kick him out! “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19“.

As Christians, we should be using the tools, knowledge, and skills made available to us to keep the enemy out of our business. The Word of God along with the name of Jesus will do it. “Yes, because God‘s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. Psalms 91:9-10“, (The Message). I say, “Devil, not in my house! In the name of Jesus, GET OUT!” “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7“

Given July 26, 2006
On this bright summer morning during my prayer time, I asked the Holy Spirit to go on “auto pilot” today and control me. The Holy Spirit is always in me and is a pretty powerful person so I figured it’d be good to have Him in control.

The answer I got was, “No, the Boss won’t allow that. He wants you in control.” And I knew what He meant. The Holy Spirit was given as a helper not a controller; ” But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:20“. The Holy Spirit is there to help me live a victorious life not live it for me.

That’s the thing about God, He will not force Himself on anyone. He wants us to make the decision to follow Him THEN He will do all these wonderful things for us. And He sent the Holy Spirit to help us; to remind us of what God said and to teach us how to live a righteous life.

If we’ll just listen!

Given September 27, 2006
One of the schools I work in as an Instructional Technology guy had a poster on a door with a cute puppy and the caption, “Pick of the litter”. As I saw that, the “still, small voice” inside me said, “You’re the pick of my litter.” I thought, “Wow, thank you God!”

That made me perk up to be reminded that God loves ME and He picked ME. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. John 15:16“. I’m special!

And, as I look at the little kids in that school, I know they’re the “pick of the litter” too. “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, Psalms 139:14“. And the teachers, custodians, cooks, and everybody else have been chosen as well. But many of them will never, “bear fruit” because they don’t know they’re the, “Pick of the litter”. I must tell them.

Given September 20, 2006
I remember, as a kid, the weeks leading up to our summer vacation. The excitement that would build as my younger brother and I would imagine the wonderful things that were coming. Then, the night before we were to leave, we could hardly sleep. It was the same at Christmas. How grand it was to have something wonderful to look forward to!

You know, I found that, in my present life, if I’ve got something coming up that is pleasant; something that I can look forward to, it makes the humdrum, even the bad stuff pass more easily. As Christians, don’t we have something to look forward to?

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 2: 17-18“. The vacations, Christmas, and even the big snow forcast that would cause us to miss shcool, (I still get excited about that), all are temporary. But Heaven and the unimaginable glory that awaits us there is eternal! Now that’s something to look forward to!

As I grow older, in my mid-fifties, I notice I’m “looking forward” more than I did when I was younger. I guess that’s natural. But it does seem to make this “vapor” of time here on earth more bearable. “For our citizenship is in Heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phillipians 3:20“. It’s gonna be good!