"Who Knows Who?"

"And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?".  Mark 4:41

The disciples had spent much time with Jesus.  Daily they watched Him heal the crowds of their various illnesses.  They had seen Him raise the dead and cast out demons.  They had heard His teachings.  They had received revelation from Him.  Peter even professed that He was the Son of God.  But now they wondered "who He was" after seeing Him demonstrate power over the raging sea.  Evidently, they knew Him, but they didn't really know Him.  They knew who He was, but they didn't really know who He was.

When all is said and done, when we come to the very end, when eternity comes, when we stand in the Judgment, it won't matter if we knew Him, it won't matter how much we think we knew Him, it won't matter how much we knew about Him, it won't matter what we saw Him do and heard preached about Him.  The only thing that will matter is whether He knows you are not.  You can say you know Him, but does He know you.  "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity". (Matthew 7:23)

The disciples asked a good question, but they needed to seek to find out the answer.  Once they found the answer (He is the Son of God- the Savior of the world), they then needed to ask another question-- since He is the Son of God, does He know me?  You may think you know Him.  You may think you know a lot about Him.  You may think you know all there is to know about Him.  But the most important thing you need to be finding out is-- does He know you? 

Have a great day.  It isn't whether you know Jesus, it is whether He knows you that matters.  
 

"Renovation"

"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

The verse above says to renew our minds.  We often think that means to just think about the Word of God.  It does but it means so much more than that.  The word for renew also means renovate. 

When something is being renovated, there is a process that takes place.  The old is being removed and the new is replacing it.  In renewing our minds, we have to renovate them-- tear out and replace.

If I were renovating my kitchen, I would not pull out all the cabinets and just leave it like that-- I have only started the renovation process.  I have to replace the old torn out cabinets with new ones, or my kitchen would remain empty and uncompleted.

Jesus talked about this principle-- when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man and walks around in the dry places then decides to go back to the house he came out of and finds it empty, he goes and gets seven other spirits and inhabits it again. (Matthew 12) How could he do that?  The house was empty.  Nothing had been put back in it.  The renovation was not complete.

You can't just get rid of the "bad" and not replace it with the "good".  You can't just "not think" worldly thoughts.  You have to replace them with "godly" thoughts.  It has to be "renovated"-- restored to a good condition; renewed; revived.  You do this first by surrendering your life to the Lord.  Then you have to "cast down imaginations" (your old way of thinking).  Next, you have to replace those thoughts with God's Word.  The verse says to be transformed.  Isn't that what a renovation does?  I watch those home improvement shows on television and when they renovate a room or a house, the appearance is totally transformed-- it doesn't even look the same. 

We have to be renovated until we no longer look the same because we have been transformed.  This happens as we take out the old and replace it with the new.  In other words, we have to die to self and let the Lord live through us.

Have a great day.  Are you being renovated? 

"Hiding The Word"

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  Psalm 119:11

Occasionally, I will "hide" money in my wallet.  I put it in an inconspicuous place and then "forget" about it-- I hide it from myself, so I won't be tempted to spend it.  That way when I have an emergency and need it, I will have a few dollars on hand.  (I know other people who do the same.)

The verse above says that we should do the same with the Word of God.  We should "hide" it.  God's word needs to be hid in our hearts, not so that we will not use it, but so that when we need it it will be there.  It has been a relief to remember I had those few dollars stuck back (hid) when I found myself in a situation where I needed them.  They saved me a lot of embarrassment, got me out of what could have been a bad situation, and came to my rescue.  Had they not been "hid" in my wallet, the outcome of the situation would have been different.

If the word of God is not hidden in our hearts, when we need it in order to make it through a situation-- or an emergency-- we are facing, we won't have it.  We won't have an answer to face the problem with.  We won't have the wisdom, grace, peace and everything else the word provides for us when we need it.  In short, we won't have what we need when the need arises and won't know what to do about it either.

Have a great day.  Don't just read the word of God, hide the Word of God in your heart so that when you need it, it will be there to help you.  

"Limitations On God"

"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died".  John 11:21

Martha believed Jesus could heal her brother while he was alive but wasn't able to do anything after he died.  She put limitations on Jesus.  We do the same thing.  We believe Jesus can do this but not that.  We believe He can heal this disease but not that disease.  We believe He can work in this situation but not in that one.  We believe He can handle the little problems but not the big ones.  We believe He can multiply what is already there but can't provide when there is nothing to work with. 

Why do we put limitations on the Lord?  The main reason is because we don't really know who He is.  We have placed Him on the same level of just another man.  We look at Him like we look at everyone else and each other.  We think about Him the way we think about everyone else.  We think He is a mere mortal.  We think He is limited in what He can do.  We don't really believe that He is God who can do the impossible.  We don't really believe He is all powerful.  If we did, what might we be doing differently? 

Would we go to Him as the first resort instead of the last one like we usually do?  Would we believe Him for greater things?  Would our faith be stronger?  The truth is that He is God!  He is not a mortal, or another man.  He has always been and will always be.  He has no beginning and no end.  He is more than able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.  He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omni-present.  At His name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord.  At the sound of His voice demons tremble and flee.  By His word all things were created-- visible and invisible.  All power and authority in heaven and earth belongs to Him.  He speaks and the winds obey.  He speaks and the fire is quenched.  He speaks and the mountains are brought low.  He speaks and the sea rolls back.  All of nature-- fire, sea, wind-- knows how powerful He is.  Why don't we? 

Have a great day.  The Lord is not like us.  He is the Creator; we are the creation.  So, stop limiting Him and making Him like everyone else.       

"Revive Us Again"

"O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy".  Habakkuk 3:2

We talk about revival.  We pray for revival.  We see the need for revival.  But we miss the object to whom revival is directed.  Revival is not for the world.  It is for the church/body of Christ.  The word revive means:  to restore to life, regain life, give new strength or energy to.  The world is dead in trespasses and sins.  They must first be "born-again" and receive life.  The church, however, has already received life- it is made up of the "living".  Therefore, you can only revive (restore life) what once was alive but is now either dead or dying. 

When you were "born-again" (brought to life), the Lord began a good work in you.  Through the course of time, because of situations you have gone through, because of neglect, whatever the reason, that work that He started in you, those works that He once did through you, have been "dying"-- they are not as evident as they once were. 

I believe He is asking you today-- What do you want revived in your life?  What work do you want revived?  Perhaps you need the joy of your salvation revived.  Maybe it is a gift of the Spirit that hasn't operated in your life in a while.  It could be that you need a hunger and thirst for the Word of God to be revived in your life.  Maybe you aren't as spiritually discerning as you were once and you need it revived.  It could be your faith needs to be revived.  Whatever it is, ask the Lord to revive it.  He is desiring to finish what He begun in you.  He is desiring that you walk in abundant and full spiritual life.  He is desiring that you-- in every and all areas-- come back to life (be revived).

Have a great day.  The Lord wants to revive you and revive what He once begun in you. 

John 5:4; Philippians 1:6