"Aholic"

"I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)" 1 Corinthians 16:15

 We have all heard the words alcoholic, workaholic and shopaholic. "Aholic" is a suffix added to a word that denotes a person that is addicted to something. Have you ever heard of a "fleshaholic"? Are you one?

 

We were all born "flesaholics"-- catering to our flesh, living by it, being ruled by it, under submission to it, addicted to its lusts. A person who is an "aholic" of any kind, is drawn to whatever it is they are addicted to; they crave it; they give themselves to it completely. Alcoholics are drawn to alcohol; workaholics are drawn to work; shopaholics are drawn to shopping. Fleshaholics are drawn to the works of the flesh-- jealousy, sexual immorality, lustful pleasures, drunkenness, wild parties, envy, anger, selfish ambition, etc. (Galatians 5:19-21) 

 

When we come to Jesus Christ for salvation, He breaks addictions. He is the Great Deliverer. He delivers from the power of sin- breaking its hold over us. He delivers from the power of addiction- destroying its power. He delivers from the power of our flesh over us- setting us free from walking after its desires. He changes our nature and our desire and makes us a new person. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 

Once we come to Jesus and give our lives to follow Him, He delivers us from following after the lust of our flesh and changes our lives. We begin to walk in a different direction. We are no longer addicted to our fleshly desires, but to following and walking after the Spirit. Our desire changes from fulfilling the lust of the flesh, to fulfilling the desires of the Spirit. We no longer crave the lust of the flesh, but pursue after the things of God-- love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:21,22) You might could say we are now- "Christ-aholics"-- consumed with, being drawn to, following after Him and in short "addicted" (giving ourselves completely consecrated) to Him. 

 

Have a great day. Are you a "fleshaholic"?

"Life Is A Hard Taskmaster"

"For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity." Ecclesiastes 2:22,23 

Life is a hard taskmaster. It is not easy, it is hard. It brings sorrow, pain, troubles, distress, hurt, difficulties and vexation of heart. Life wasn't intended to be like this, and it wasn't before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. But because of sin, life can be a struggle. Sickness, suffering, hate, broken relationships, violence all came as a result. We now have to labor to make a living. We now have to wrestle with disease and sickness. We now have pain in childbirth. We have prison systems, courts of law, medical facilities, psychiatric wards to help make life at least bearable. 

 

Life itself may be a hard taskmaster-- hard and always keeping you "down"-- but God is not. Even in the midst of a "cursed world" of pain and misery, He is the Giver of life-- abundant life. This is why life doesn't destroy us as Christians. Life may happen, but God's love and grace sees us through it. He counteracts life. Pain may come in life, but God gives comfort. Weakness may hit us, but He gives us His strength. We may find ourselves in ashes, but He gives beauty. Life hits us with sorrow and mourning, but He gives us the oil of joy. Heaviness of heart comes to weight us down, but He provides us with the garment of praise. 

 

Don't think it strange when fiery trials try you, that is just life. Don't be shaken when affliction hits, afflictions are part of life. Don't get discouraged when tribulations come, in this world we will have them. But through it all, remember the words of Jesus, the Giver of abundant life. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He is not a hard taskmaster, and He will give you rest, peace, joy, hope, strength and victory to live in a burden laden world that tries to beat you up. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." This is why we can live in this world and overcome it instead of it overcoming us.

 

Have a great day. Life is a hard taskmaster, but Jesus gives us abundant life to overcome it and walk in peace and victory. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 11:28

John 10:10; 16:33

1 Peter 4:12

Isaiah 61:3

 

"Who Is God?"

"And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14 

When God showed Himself to Moses and told him to go to Egypt to bring deliverance to the children of Israel, Moses asked the Lord, "What should I tell them your name is when they ask?" (verse 13) God said to tell them it is "I Am That I Am". In that "name" was wrapped up the fullness of who God is-- His nature, His character and what He does. He alone bears this name. 

 

I like to think about who God is and sometimes I use the alphabet to remind me. God is everything from A to Z and all that is in between.

 

Alpha

Beautiful

Creator

Deliverer

Eternal One

Father In Heaven

God

Holy

Indescribable

Just

King of kings

Lord of lords

Master

Never ending

Omnipotent

Powerful

Quick

Redeemer

Savior

Truth

Unique

Victorious

Way

X Extraordinary

Yahweh

Zeal

 

Perhaps you may want to do this yourself. This list barely scrapes the surface of who this Amazingly Wonderful God is. 

 

Have a great day. God is everything from A to Z.

 

For further reading:

Exodus 3:13-15

"Vain Repetition

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." Matthew 6:7

When you go to God in prayer, do you find yourself repeating the same thing over and over to Him again? I have thought about this when I lift up my praise to Him in prayer. I find myself repeating the same thing again and again. But just because we repeat the same thing over and over doesn't necessarily mean it is "vain" repetition. It can be repetitive but not vain. 

 

Vain repetition is when we just babble using a bunch of idle words-- we are saying a lot but saying nothing. Vain repetition is when we aren't even giving thought to what we are saying. We are saying it just to hear ourselves talk. 

 

When you start praising the Lord, you can't help but be repetitious because there are only so many words in our vocabulary that we can use to describe Him. He is so great and we are so limited in our ability to articulate who He is. He is the indescribable God-- therefore, we "run out of words" and have to start repeating ourselves. Even the host of heaven is at a loss and are repetitious as well. They sit around His throne crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy" over and over and over again. 

 

When you pray to the Lord or when you praise Him, it is all right to be repetitious, but it is not all right to do it in a vain manner just to hear yourself talk or think that He is going to hear you because you are speaking so much. If you have to keep repeating yourself because you are at a loss for words, then repeat yourself and don't let the enemy stop you because you think it is vain repetition.

 

Have a great day. It is all right to be repetitious in your praise to God because there are only so many words that we have to describe Him. Just don't use vain repetition. 

 

For further reading:

Revelation 4:8

"The Altar Of Prayer"

"I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word." Psalm 119:58 

I wonder what we in the modern-day church know about entreating God and praying with our whole heart? We tend to pray what I call "microwave prayers". Prayers that are "thrown up" to God to get our immediate need met. We don't know much about "tarrying" and "waiting" upon the Lord. We also tend to pray "brownie point" prayers. Prayers that are half-hearted and "just enough" so that we can say we have "done our duty" of prayer.

 

The Psalmist entreated God's favor with his whole heart. Jesus often prayed all night. Jacob wrestled with the angel until he blessed him. David fasted and prayed until he got word that the child he was praying for was dead. Jeremiah prayed for a word from the Lord for ten days before God answered him. We think we have really done something if we pray for ten minutes. And once we have prayed for ten minutes we expect God to have already answered and if He delays we get discouraged, frustrated and angry with Him. 

 

We need to learn how to go back to the altar and PRAY! I know we are to pray without ceasing (wherever we are) and there are times when we cry out to God and He answers immediately. But it wouldn't hurt us to have some calloused knees for a change because we have been on them praying to the Lord. When was the last time you knelt before the "altar" (presence) of God and prayed until you knew you had heard from heaven? Many times we walk in assumption instead of faith because we haven't prayed until we have truly heard God's answer. 

 

There is no set "form" or set "length" of time that we should pray. But the half-hearted, ten minute, on the go prayer we have been doing is not working. (That is evident by what we see happening in our world around us and in the state of the church.) As I already said we need to learn how to go to the altar and pray and stay there until we have heard from God. 

 

Have a great day. Revive and restore the altar of prayer in your life. 

 

For further reading:

2 Chronicles 7:14