"How God Sees You"

"Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight."  Psalm 18:24

"In His eyesight".  It is about how God sees us.  It is not about how we see ourselves.  It is not about how others see us.  Others saw Gideon as a coward, but God saw him as a mighty man of valor.  Others saw Mary as just a young girl, but God saw her as a highly favored vessel to bear His Son.  Others saw Jacob as a deceiver, but God saw him as a prince.  Joseph's family saw him as a dreamer, but God saw him as a savior of His people.  Some saw Moses as a murderer with a speech problem, but God saw him as a leader.  Christians in the early church saw Saul/Paul as a persecutor, but God saw him as a fit vessel to carry the gospel to the world.  Others saw David as just a shepherd boy (even his family), but God saw a king. 

People may see you as worthless-- you may see yourself as worthless.  Some may see you as never amounting to anything.  Some may see you as just another fanatic.  Some may see you as an ordinary housewife.  Some may see you as too young to do anything for God.  Let me repeat myself-- it is about how God sees us.

God has a plan for each and every one of us.  His plan is not necessarily your plan or someone else's plan for you.  Regardless of how you see yourself, God works with you-- if you'll let Him-- to make you into the person He desires you to be and desires to fulfill His plan through. 

What others saw about each one of the people that were mentioned above was correct in the natural sense and from all physical appearances.  But God sees things differently.  He sees us from His perspective.  He sees us as we shall be.  He sees the finished product of a man or woman, boy or girl, who will surrender themselves to His plan.  He sees us through the righteousness of His own Son.  What He sees, and says, about us/you are more correct than what you or anyone else does. 

Have a great day.  It is about how God sees you that is important. 

"Living For Self"

"And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."  2 Corinthians 5:15

 "That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves."  Do you profess to be a Christian?  Then who are you living for?  Are you living your life for the Lord?  Are you living it for your own self?  They say, "The proof is in the pudding."  The proof of your profession-- whether it is true or not-- is in the way you live your life.  Or better yet, who you live your life for.

Christianity is about living for and to the Lord and dying to self.  It is about being a "living sacrifice".  Jesus' message was "follow Me".  Not "follow self".  It wasn't follow your own lusts, desires, plans, rules and wishes.  It was follow His life, His will, His leading, His guidance and His plan. 

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)  This verse pretty much sums it up.  It is Christ who is living in and through us.  Our lives are to be dead to self and alive in Him.  It is His life that is to be reflected in us.  If not, our profession is not only false, but an injustice to who He is and a hindrance to others.  No wonder people are so confused about Christianity-- they hear one thing and see another.      

So, what are you saying and what are you doing?  Does your life line up with your profession?  Are you dead or alive to self?  Are you letting Him live through you?  Don't you know that you are a temple-- a vessel that He lives and dwells in?  Is He truly living there?  Is it evident that He is living there because He is the One who is being seen?

Have a great day.  Are you living for the Lord or self?  Are you dead to self and alive to Him?

For further reading:
Matthew 16:24
Romans 12:1
1 Corinthians 6:19

"It's Not About The Wheel"

"Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"  Romans 9:21

In order for a potter to make a vessel of any sort, he has to put the clay on the potter's wheel. I heard a minister make the statement that has given me a new understanding of the whole process of being on the potter's wheel.  He said, "It is not about the wheel.  It is about the clay." 

What is the wheel? The wheel is the circumstances, difficulties, trials and problems that we go through.  I thought about the life of Joseph.  His "wheel" was the pit, then it was Potiphar's house, next it was the prison.  But what Joseph was going through was not about the "wheel"-- it wasn't about his trials.  It was about him-- the clay. 

What he faced, the hardships he endured, the betrayal and hatred of his brothers, the imprisonment, slavery, false accusations, were all just the means/wheel to shape him into the vessel he needed to be in order to fulfill God's divine plan for his life. 

The situations he encountered prepared and transformed him into who he needed to be in order to fulfill his destiny.  Without the "wheel" when he came to the palace, he would have been "unfit" to fulfill that role.  Without the shaping, molding and making he went through on the wheel, he would have taken revenge on his brothers when they came to him for help.  He would have been lifted up with pride because the dreams of the wheat, sun and moon bowing down before him was manifested.  He wouldn't have had the wisdom he needed to put the grain aside.  And so on.

I don't know what you might be going through.  Whatever it is, it is a potter's wheel.  Resist the temptation to focus on the "wheel".  Resist the temptation to be consumed, discouraged and anxious about the wheel.  It is not about the wheel.  It is about the clay.  The clay is you.  It is about God making you and transforming you through your situation into the vessel that He has destined you to be.  Clay is not shaped into a vessel until it goes on the potter's wheel.  We don't become a vessel until we go on the potter's wheel either.  It is there that the graces, Fruit of the Spirit and Christ-like character is produced.

Have a great day.  It is not about the potter's wheel; it is about the transformation of the clay into a fit vessel.     

"Love To Tell The Story"

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"  Romans 10:14

As soon as my eyes opened this morning, I began hearing an old hymn playing over and over in my thoughts.  The words were-- "I love to tell the story, will be my theme in glory.  To tell the old, old story, of Jesus and His love."

What do you love to talk about?  We talk about all sorts of things-- the weather, politics, the latest fashions, popular movies, other people, etc.  But do we talk about Jesus and His great love? 

When I first surrendered my life to Jesus, and He became my Savior and Lord, I couldn't wait to tell people about what He had done for me.  I wanted everyone to know.  I wanted to share His love and the story of salvation.  I woke up in the morning praying to be able to tell someone that day about Him and invite them to make Him their Savior.

What has happened to us?  Why aren't we telling it?  Why aren't we sharing this good news?  Why is it the least thing we talk about as Christians?  I dare say that the reason we see people's lives in such a mess-- inside the church and out-- is because we have stopped telling people about Jesus' love and message of salvation.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Jesus, loves you"?  When was the last time you told someone that He loves them? 

When we don't tell, we are withholding hope from people.  When we don't tell, we are keeping from them the way to eternal life.  As the scripture above says, how will they hear if someone doesn't tell them.  We might say that they hear it in church.  When was the last time you heard a message in church about the saving love of Jesus?  We preach about everything else most times but that.  Besides not everyone goes to church.  Jesus left us with a commission to fulfill.  If we aren't telling people the "old, old story, of Jesus and His love", then we aren't fulfilling it.

Have a great day.  Do you love to tell the story about Jesus and His love?

"Freed From Deception"

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."  Isaiah 61:1

When the disciples asked Jesus about what the sign of His coming would be, He answered them, "Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:4,5)  The first sign He told them to be on guard for was deception, namely spiritual deception.  If there ever was a time that there is much spiritual deception it is now.

There are so many religions in the world.  There are so many teachings, each believing that theirs is the true one.  Religious deception is so prevalent in the world.  So, how do we know the truth?  How do we keep from falling prey to deception?  How do we keep from being deceived?  You do that by two ways. 

First-- "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)  "Thy word is truth." (John 17:17)  Knowing God's Word will keep you from deception.  His Word is Truth.  Hiding it in your heart, referring to it daily, living by it, walking in it, comparing what you hear, see and feel to it will keep you from deception.

Secondly-- Pray that you won't be bound by deception.  Pray that you won't fall for the deception, lies, false teachings, cleverly disguised tricks of the enemy, wolves in sheep clothing, the smooth and deceptive words of the angel of light, and anything else that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.  

Jesus came and gave us the truth.  He spoke only the truth.  He was, and still is, The Truth.  He not only told us the truth but opened the prison door to free us from deception.  He provided the way out of the prison of spiritual deception.  He set us free from the bondage of deception.  We don't have to be bound any longer by the lies and deception of the enemy... that prison door has been opened. 

Have a great day.  We don't have to be deceived by the enemy.  Jesus opened the prison door of deception and set us free.