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!

Given September 25, 2006

We’ve all felt pressure in our lives. Sometime pressure comes from things we’ve committed to, from too many things we’ve said “yes” to. Pressure can come from family, work, or even church obligations and duties. We can feel pressure that comes from bad choices we’ve made. People in our lives can pressure us and, yes, we put pressure on ourselves to perform to a certain level. This pressure can build up and almost feels like it’s going to cave us in! So how do we handle it when we feel the weight of that pressure bearing down on us? You may be feeling it right now!

Might I suggest you look at it this way. In an airplane, many safeguards are in place to equalize air pressure. If the pressure outside is too great, it causes problems inside. The inside pressure has to be equalized so there’s no problems. The pressure inside of you is the Holy Spirit and your faith. If the pressure outside of you is too great, it causes problems inside. You have to equalize the pressure from within.

The Bible says, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1:20“. When you feel the pressures of life pressing in on you, build up your faith by praying in the Spirit. Paul told Timothy, “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee…2Timothy 1:6“.

Pray in the Spirit, stir up the gift of the Holy Spirit which is in you, increase the “pressure” inside of you and the forces from outside will be overcome!