Super Powers

"We saw the new super hero movie. It is a bit disturbing how much they quote scripture and misapply the Word. They have a form of godliness yet deny its power. So sad that all the answers and greater power than any superhero are right in front of them and they don't even care or recognize it."

As a kid I loved comic books. So much so that whenever I made any money from mowing my grandmother's lawn I would immediately ride my bike to the comic store and spend it on the latest copies of all my favorites. It wasn't until I grew in the Lord and understood more of the things of God that I really saw how many spiritual things are hidden in these books. Eventually I made the choice to stop reading the comic books and even burned my whole collection in four small barbecues (but that is a story for another time). 

Now these same spiritual messages are being woven into the movies that are being produced. There are spiritual themes and raging wars between good and evil. I enjoy a good action flick with explosions and well won victory. What gets to me is the exaltation of evil and the err when it comes to God's truth. 

As much as we can imagine when it comes to power and ability it still pales in comparison to the power and ability of God. The movies make these super heroes and the bad guys they protect the world from look like they are in an exalted position but none of them come close to the exalted position Jesus has at the right hand of the Father. They will never come close! 

In John 19 Jesus is face to face with Pilate. During the encounter Pilate tells Jesus that he has the power to set him free or to send him to be crucified. Jesus' response is so powerful that I have to pause and take it in when I read it. He responds by saying that Pilate would have no power unless it was given from above. Wow! We think we are so great and mighty but the only reason we are anything is because of God's sovereign plan. 

The truth is that only God is powerful. Only Jesus is exalted. Only the Holy Spirit is worth being in awe of. When we try to substitute any other it will be out of place and rob us of the true blessing of what is real. So go have fun at the movies and enjoy a good story and some awesome special effects but be sure to have more fun in church praising the God who is over all. 

How have you experienced the power of God in your life? 

How Much Do You Want it?

"I gave an altar call right away and a bunch of people came forward. The service went on and at the announcements I was thinking about how to tell the people if they missed the first altar call to come and talk to the prayer teams when God told me to give them another altar call. I thought"But I only have five minutes left!“ And He responded "So, give them an altar call.” I gave the quickest altar call I ever did. It reminded me of a radio broadcast invitation for salvation. Eighteen people responded! Ten showed up but I think some were repeats and realized they had already done what we were doing. Still, ten people needed that altar call. God would spare a city for those ten. He would certainly leave the ninety nine and go after the one. At home the Lord spoke to me about a double portion. We can have it if we want it. We have to want it. We have to ask for it. And we have to stick in there to receive it. Once you get it you have to walk in it, or, use it."

Whatever we want in life, after we have settled the issue of if it is God's will, we can have. The question we all have to answer is; "How much do you want it?" The answer to this question will determine if you get what you want. 

As a pastor my life's work is to help people on their journey with God. From birth to death I work with people in all stages of life. Primarily I want to see people start their new life by being born again. Every time we have a church service there will be an altar call. I pray and seek after God for people to respond when we give the invitation. 

On morning I woke up before my alarm and had the thought to go back to sleep. As I closed my eyes I heard God whisper in my spirit, "How bad do you want it?" I knew exactly what He was talking about when I heard the question. How bad did I want to see my prayers answered for people to respond tot he call for salvation? How bad did I want to see them grow? How bad did I want our church to grow? I responded by getting up and going to prayer and preparation for the day. 

It is the same for anything we want in life. How bad do you want to grow? How bad do you want a great marriage? How bad do you want your kids to grow up right? How bad do you want to prosper in business? The answer will determine what your next move should be. 

Once you know how bad you want it then prove it with your life. Prove it to yourself, to God and to those around you. Spend the time you need to working at what is important. Work at it without getting distracted. The longer you stick with it the more progress you will make until you eventually achieve your goal. 

It sounds easy but, like with all things that truly matter, will take a lifetime. I don't know that this side of heaven we will ever say we have arrived when it comes to building a marriage or family or with our spiritual growth. We can always be growing and attaining greater heights. If you really want it, whatever it is, you will be in it for the long haul. And chances are if you stay after it you will not only get it but it will be wonderful. 

The Heart Test

"1 Chronicles 29:17 near the beginning of the verse says that the Lord tests the heart and has pleasure in uprightness. This is obviously an uprightness of heart. It is not only in the outward appearance of being good but in the recesses of the heart where no one can see except the Lord Himself. Am I pure of heart? All things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom I have to do! What will He find when He looks in me? Will it be uprightness of heart? Will it please Him?"

These questions should be asked daily. The reason is that we are exposed to the pollutants of the world daily. Between the influences of the flesh, the world and the devil we are exposed to a lot! It can be overwhelming. 

The good news is that when we are upright in our hearts we can make it through. Psalm 7:10 says that God is our defense and saves the upright in heart. We can't lose when God is protecting us. 

How do we develop uprightness of heart? First of all we have to commit ourselves to the Lord's work in the heart. It starts at the point of salvation and goes on into our spiritual walk with God. We have to also guard our hearts. Jesus talked about light and darkness going in to the body through the lamp of the eye. Obviously there is more than just a physical thing going on here. We walk by faith and not by sight. So what we 'see' is very important. What are we dwelling on in our thought life? How many ungodly influences are we listening to? These are the influences that can darken our hearts. 

Instead of being influenced by the world, the flesh and the devil allow yourself to be led by God. The Bible tells us to look unto Jesus. That looking to Jesus implies that you look away from everything else in order to focus the whole of your attention to one thing. Jesus has to be your one thing. When you focus on Him you will listen to His voice, see what He is doing and do the same and you will catch His heart; an upright heart. 

Take the spiritual heart test today and ask those tough questions. As you find the results make the changes necessary to have an upright heart. God's pleasure will be on you and you will have Him as your defense! 

The Treasury of Prayer

"Quite an imagery from Spurgeon: let every believer cast his mite into the treasury of prayer. We ought to give it our all in prayer. Everything we have. Our fellowship in prayer is with the Father. I have been with people who I know didn't want to be with me. How much more does the Father know!?"

In desperate times we need to be desperate in our prayers. Desperate for God to move. Desperate to hear God's voice. Desperate to see change in our world. 

Too often prayer is a last resort if at all. We go through life saying we have fellowship with the Father and yet don't speak to Him about our lives. We are to pray without ceasing. That doesn't mean that all you ever do is pray. Rather it means that you keep the lines of communication open with God all day long every day. 

We ought to remind ourselves that God is with us everywhere we go. How rude not to talk to someone you get up with in the morning and go to bed with at night! Sure there are times to sit and be quiet and not say anything. But relationships that are healthy have communication. We listen to God and we speak to God. It is a two way street. 

Take some time right now to connect with God through prayer. Don't let 'amen' be like ending a phone call. Leave the line open and talk to God as you go throughout your day. In desperation cast all you have into the treasury of prayer. 

I would love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share how you keep after your passion in prayer. 

Undying and Incorruptible

"Ephesians 6:24 in the Amplified Bible says "Grace be to all those who love the Lord with an undying and incorruptible love." Our love must grow by the grace of God to be able to be like His love for us. Undying, it cannot be quenched by deep waters, blown out by the mighty winds or put out for lack of oxygen. It also will be incorruptible. It will never be tainted or grow weak or tarnished. It cannot be perverted or grow less brilliant in its quality."

The greatest love stories of our day do not compare with the lavish love God has poured out on us. We look at His expression of love and the triumph of love and cannot be anything but humbled and driven to love God back. How could we not?  

Here we see in this passage that the grace of God is given to those who love the Lord with a certain kind of love; undying and incorruptible. It seems that in our human ability this is impossible. With God though all things are possible. 

When we truly have been saved we are forever grateful. A grateful and forgiven heart is one that is not easily swayed. Our love for God will be undying because we have been saved from sin and Hell and our only response is love. 

When we truly have been saved we won't be corrupted by this world. The things that try to get us off track will be nonsense to us. Our focus will be our God. Nothing can take our gaze away from Him nor can we be tarnished in our thinking towards Him. 

When we love like this then grace will be given. Gods ability will be upon us. The power to succeed in life will be granted. We all need that. It starts with love, His love, and then our love to Him. 

Please share any comments below. 

A Double Portion

"A couple of thoughts from the Word: 1 Chronicles 16:37 “as every day's work required.”

There is a required work for today. God has a prescribed way to do life. When we follow His plan we fulfill His purpose. There are requirements. We must carry them out and be careful to fulfill all that He desires the way He desires.

1 Chronicles 16:43 David returned to bless his own house.

David had just brought the ark to Jerusalem and erected a tent for it. There has been great celebration. It wasn't enough for him to bless Jerusalem or the people that he led as King. He now would take what he had home and bless his house. God would have us to bless our families, spouse, children, even the neighbors and strangers that come around. If they will receive it. David's wife despised her husband dancing and she ended up not having children. In other words David was on his way to bless and when she rejected David and his blessing she in turn received a curse."

Is it possible to get more than one revelation from the scripture in one day? Absolutely. Sometimes I think we (or I if this is old news to you) over complicate things. Let's take hearing from God. We (I) get the idea that in order to hear from God you have to be in deep prayer for hours, sweating and tired, maybe crying a bit too, and then when you have fulfilled your pious duty of praying to God He will respond. 

Foolish. And not so. 

God can speak whenever He wants. He can also use different means to get the message to us. 

That is not to say that sweating, crying, lengthy prayer is bad. I've had some good prayers like that. Not too often though. 

What I am really saying is that these lengthy arduous prayers are not the requirement of hearing from God. You do have to be listening. 

We can help the process by being in a constant state of listening. When you are ready to hear from God and have spiritual eyes and ears open then when God speaks you will hear him. Didn't Jesus say "My sheep know my voice...?" He sure did! If you are His sheep then you don't have to worry about missing out. He will speak to you. You have to be ready to hear. 

All throughout your day God will take moments and make them communication. I have heard God's voice in prayer, through His word in the scriptures, from pastors while the preach, in conversation with others and in every day activities. God will take an experience and make it a parable for your life. 

Just recently I was watching a movie and God used it to teach me about the power of His word and at the same time gave me a tool to teach others with the gospel. What a great God He is! 

In our life it should be normal and expected to hear from God multiple times every day. If you haven't heard his voice recently it may be that you aren't listening or aren't doing what He says. It is time to change that. Live in obedience, open your eyes and your ears and most of all your heart to hear from God. He wants to speak to you today...multiple times. 

Was there ever a unique way God spoke to you?

Getting it Right

"From the Word: For because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.” (‭I Chronicles‬ ‭15‬:‭13‬ NKJV) King David recognized that the outbreak of the Lord when Uzzah was driving the cart and put his hand out to steady the ark was because they were not doing what God wanted the way He wanted them to. There is a proper order in life and in our approach to God. Nature shows us proper order. There is a proper family, church and social order. When we try to do these things out of order and say we are doing what God wants we lack the wisdom of doing it the way He wants and displease the Lord."

God knows how life should work. He is the Author of life after all. Doesn't it make sense that we should listen to how He would have us to do life? 

We make two mistakes when it comes to getting directions. Either we don't get any direction or we get the wrong direction. 

Without getting any direction the auto pilot of our flesh will take over. The flesh will go where it pleases. I don't think I need to tell you where we end up when this happens. We could trade shameful stories about what happens when the flesh takes over. A quick study of the letters to the church will also show more of where the flesh wants to go. 

When we get fed up of going only where he flesh wants the natural place to turn is to people. Family and friends or coworkers are easily accessible and some are even happy to help. No matter how well meaning and knowledgeable they may be unless they are sending us to the Word of God they will often give bad or wrong directions. Some of what they say may be good or might even get you through to something better than the flesh. But just because it is better doesn't mean it is right. In the end a wrong direction will get you to the wrong place. So we wander. 

A lot of mistakes and pain in our wandering will send us to God for direction. Now we have what King David called the proper order. Life works when we have the proper order. We won't follow the flesh or wander in the opinions of well meaning people. Most importantly we will have God working for us and not against us. That is called blessing by the way. 

If you have been getting the wrong direction take some time to pray and seek God for direction. Read scriptures that deal with your situation and start putting things in the proper order. 

I would love be to hear any testimonies of how life worked out when you found out what God's directions were. Feel free to post in the comments.