"He Is In You"

"....I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5b

Just a reminder this morning for someone who is feeling "alone" (where God is concerned). You are feeling like God has left you. You feel as if He has abandoned you in your time of need. It seems as though He has led you into a situation and now He is nowhere to be found. You feel like you are facing it alone.

Be encouraged, He has not left you. He is still there. He is watching over the situation, and He is right there with you. While the Israelites were waiting to be freed from Egyptian bondage, it seemed as if God had left them, but He was there. When Daniel was in the lion's den, where was God? He was there. When the three Hebrews were in the fiery furnace, it looked as if the Lord had abandoned them, but He had not. He was right there with them in the fire.

He doesn't run out on us in our time of need, or anytime. He said He would "never" leave us. And when He used the word never, He meant never. His presence never leaves us because when we are born again, His presence takes us residency within us. Our bodies become His temple-- dwelling place. His presence doesn't just come upon us, it doesn't just come and walk beside us, or come to hold our hands during difficulties, His presence is living in us. So take heart this morning, He hasn't, and He won't leave you, because He is in you.

Have a great day. The Lord's presence won't leave you because His presence is in you.

For further reading:
John 14:17
Daniel 3:24,25
1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19
Matthew 28:20

"Who Will You Blame?"

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." James 1:14

Our biggest problem is not everyone else-- it is the person who is looking back at us when we look in the mirror.

We want to blame everyone else for our bad behavior, sour attitude and mistakes. We want to shift the blame to someone else instead of taking responsibility for what we do. The mantra of mankind seems to be- "it is not my fault." Nothing is ever "our fault". We can commit a crime, but it wasn't our fault. We can cheat on our spouse, but it wasn't our fault.

You notice that I didn't say this was a Western attitude or the attitude of a particular culture or of one generation, but of mankind. It's because this attitude of blaming everyone else started all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed God because they chose to eat from the tree that the Lord had told them not to eat of.

I know that there are some situations where it really isn't our fault. Someone actually did something to us or against us. We sometimes find ourselves in situations that are beyond our control. I am not talking about that. I am talking about those who make excuse for what they did by trying to shift the blame to others. Is that you? Are you constantly excusing your bad attitude by blaming the actions of others for it? Are you indulging in wrong practices but protest that it isn't your fault? Are you one of those who justify the wrong that you are doing because you were treated wrong growing up?

The root of this problem is selfishness. We do what we do because we are selfish and self-centered. We make these wrong choices out of selfish desires. Everything is about me and what makes me happy or makes me feel good. Which takes us back to our opening sentence-- you are your biggest problem-- because you want what you want, when you want it and how you want it. And if you don't get it, then you make wrong choices and cannot justifiably blame anyone else for it.

So really we have no excuse, other than, we did what we wanted/chose to do. The only hope for that kind of attitude is to "die to self" and let someone else live life through you-- that someone else is Jesus. When we are alive in Him, He is living His life through us. He has no excuses for bad behavior, because He never has bad behavior. So the real key to overcoming the problem that is staring back at us in the mirror is to allow Jesus to take full ownership of our lives. When He does, He will bring a transformation in us. We will then walk in the truth, which means we will take responsibility for our own actions and not try to blame someone else.

Have a great day. Who are you blaming for what you are doing?

For further reading:
Genesis 3
Matthew 16:24
Galatians 2:20

"What Is Your Boast In?"

"My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad." Psalm 34:2

I have watched, and been in, services that when the speaker starts talking about how those in attendance never should have made it this far because of the people who were against them, the people who tried to destroy them, the people who conspired against them, the people who tried to kill them. They never should have made it, but they did and are still here. When this is said, the congregation seems to "go wild". It is as if they are "reveling" in what was "done to them". Please don't misunderstand what I am going to say, we should be rejoicing in the fact that the Lord brought us through and that by His help and grace we did make it- they didn't kill us, the enemy didn't destroy us, we may have been knocked down but we are still here and we are still standing. But should we really be boasting about what was "done to us"... or what was "done for us"?

The part that should make us come up out of our seat, the part that should make us jump for joy, the part that should make us shout the loudest is when Jesus is exalted. It's when He is magnified, and when He is given the honor and glory for what was accomplished in your life. He brought us through. He caused us to live and not die. He put strength in us to endure. He gave us peace of mind so that we didn't go insane. It was His shield of protection around us that guarded us. It was His standard that was raised against the enemy on our behalf. The only reason you and I are still here is because God is for us and He did not let the enemy have his way against us.  That's how we made it through the things that were done to us and the things that we went through. You and I didn't make it through it by ourselves-- by our own strength, ability or anything else we possess. We made it through soley by the grace of God!!!

So, what are you boasting about? The fact that you have been tried, rejected and mistreated? (You know we humans tend to take the things that we have gone through and wear them like some badge of honor for all to see. We want the attention to be on "us"- that's human nature.) We need to get past that. Our boast needs to be in the Lord. We should spend more time, more energy and more resources on telling others how the LORD brought us through the situation than we do on telling what we went through. Yes, let others know that you have been through the "fire" and through the "storm", but don't stay there, let them know how the Lord delivered you from both. You know, David didn't go on and on about the bear and the lion that came against him. He didn't "camp out" in that story. He told the king that he had faced a bear and a lion and how God delivered him from them both and that the Lord would do the same thing with the giant. His boast was not in the attacks against him, but in His God. Where is your boast?

Have a great day. Don't boast about your situation, boast about the God who brought you through it.

For further reading:
Psalm 34:1,17,19; 103:1,2; 18:47-49; 144:10; 97:10

"My Preference Or His Will"

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

"And be not conformed to this world". How do we conform to this world? According to the scripture above it comes through your thought process. What we think does matter. Like it has been said, "Where the mind goes, the man follows". You are what you think, and you will do what you think and dwell on in your thoughts.

The thinking of the world is "preference". To those in the world it is all about "me", which includes doing what I prefer to do instead of what I should do. This influence would try to cause us to do the same-- choose what we prefer over kingdom principals, choose what we want instead of what God wants, choose our will above God's will, choose what is acceptable to us instead of to God.

Choosing according to your own preference instead of according to the will of God, will always lead you downward instead of upward. It will always lead you into darkness and away from the light. It will always lead you into a place of confusion, discouragement and depression instead of into a place of peace and rest.

When we choose our own preference instead of God's preference and will, we are saying that we know better for ourselves than God does. We deceive ourselves if we think that. David chose to follow the lust of his flesh and commit adultery with Bathsheba instead of following God's word. He preferred to gratify the desire of his sensual appetite over the desire of God. He certainly didn't do the best thing for himself. He suffered and so did his family for his choice to do what he preferred at that moment.

How do we stop choosing our own preferences and start choosing God's will? The answer is also given in the verse above- renew your mind. Renew it with God's word. Renew it through praise and worship. Fill it with God's thoughts and His preference. Hide His word in your heart. Choose to apply it to your life. Stop allowing the world's influence into your thoughts. You do this by turning off the television when programs that would "indoctrinate" you with the world's philosophies are on. You stop listening to music that "preaches a message" that only builds your selfish desires. The more you remove the "worldly" influence from your thoughts and replace it with "God's" influence the less you will be conformed to this world, and the less you will put your preference above God's preference in your life.

Have a great day. Conformity to this world means that you put your own preference above God's will.

For further reading:
Proverbs 23:7
Philippians 4:8
2 Corinthians 10:5; 4:4
Ephesians 2:1-3; 5:1-10

"Tiny Prayers To A Great Big God"

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."  Ephesians 3:20

I read this quote yesterday and it really spoke to me so I want to share it with you this morning. "Why do so many Christians pray such tiny prayers when their God is so big?" --Watchman Nee

Does that describe you? Have you paid attention to the type of prayers you pray? Are your prayers for small things? Are your prayers for God to bless you with "just enough"? Or are your prayers for "big" things? Do you pray that He only takes the pain away or that He heals you? Do you pray for just a piece of bread or for your daily bread? Are you praying for one person's salvation or for the whole family?

I think that the type of prayers we pray reflect the way we see our God. I also think that we forget Who it really is that we are praying to. Like the brother said in the quote above-- God is so big. Have we forgotten that?

The God that we are praying to is the One who created the universe, who measures it by the width of His hand, who calls each star by name. We are talking about the God who fed five thousand plus people with a few little loaves of bread and pieces of fish. He fed them until they were all full. He did not ration the meal out to only one piece of fish and one piece of bread each. We are talking about the God who fed the entire nation of Israel (millions of people) everyday while they were in the wilderness for forty years. This is the same God who multiplied the meal and oil for the widow during the famine. He is also the same God who filled every vessel a widow had in the house, not just one. This is the same God who has blessings to give that we don't even have room enough to receive them all. He is the same God who wants to daily load us with benefits. He is the same God who healed the blind, the lame, the deaf, the leper and raised the dead.

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) We often pray according to the size of our need, not according to size of His riches. We pray for a cup full when He has oceans full. We pray for a little when He has a lot. We pray to barely get by while He has an abundance. We pray for just a small touch when He wants to fill us. We ask for a portion of the need when He wants to meet it all.

Take time to examine your prayers. Are your prayers in proportion to who God is, or to the way you perceive Him to be?

Have a great day. Are you praying tiny prayers to a great big God? The prayers you pray reflect your perception of God.

For further reading:
Psalm 2:8; 68:19
John 10:10
Matthew 14:20; 12:15
Isaiah 40:12, 25,26
2 Kings 4:1-6
1 Kings 17:14
Jeremiah 33:3