Future Embarrassment….

For all those that jump on the bandwagon with support for organizations that spring up from social events, please read the following proverb. Without researching the origins, funding sources, and mission statements, you’re setting yourself up for future embarrassment; something your pride might not be able to handle.

2 Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. Proverbs 19:2

Caught Up In The Moment….

Why do we forget this? Why is it so easy to get caught up in the moment, focusing on ourselves? How is it possible to forget, or lose sight of Who is in Charge? God is sovereign. He is in control. He knows the outcome of our problems. He knows the beginning and the ending. Human beings have a knack for putting themselves above God. I know, I do it. When this happens stress, anxiety, depression, are few examples of what creeps in. Sadly, no amount of medication will solve the problem, but only prolong it. God is the Answer for the world’s problem. He is also the Answer for this problem too. When we focus solely on ourselves, we don’t see God working through it all. It’s not until we seek Him out in the mist of it all, that we experience the peace and comfort that’s talked about so much in the NT. If we work on our relationship with God all the time, these stressful times won’t seem so bad because we can focus on His promises, and His abilities to help us through them. He is the only One that can help us take the focus off of ourselves, our problems, and infuse us with the only remedy, HOPE. He will never disappoint, never. Get right with God. Seek Him in good and bad times. Your life will be more steady, even when great storms arise, because He is an immovable refuge and fortress. Hezekiah got this message loud and clear when Isaiah told him about King Sennacherib’s bold speech defiling the God of Israel.

22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?Against whom have you raised your voiceand lifted your eyes in pride?Against the Holy One of Israel!23 By your messengersyou have ridiculed the Lord.And you have said,“With my many chariotsI have ascended the heights of the mountains,the utmost heights of Lebanon.I have cut down its tallest cedars,the choicest of its junipers.I have reached its remotest parts,the finest of its forests.24 I have dug wells in foreign landsand drunk the water there.With the soles of my feetI have dried up all the streams of Egypt.” 25 “ ‘Have you not heard?Long ago I ordained it.In days of old I planned it;now I have brought it to pass,that you have turned fortified citiesinto piles of stone.26 Their people, drained of power,are dismayed and put to shame.They are like plants in the field,like tender green shoots,like grass sprouting on the roof,scorched before it grows up. 27 “ ‘But I know where you areand when you come and goand how you rage against me.28 Because you rage against meand because your insolence has reached my ears,I will put my hook in your noseand my bit in your mouth,and I will make you returnby the way you came.’ 2 Kings 19:22-28

God’s Timing…

God’s timing is everything. If the woman from Shunem walked in before the king, at any other moment in time than this, she wouldn’t have been granted her request. But since the king was asking about Elisha’s miracles, and she shows up at the time Gehazi is telling the story about her son, the king granted her request. How often do we not wait on God’s timing? Or how often do we wait on God’s timing when He already expects us to act? God’s timing matters. We have to be connected to Him in order to know what time it really is.

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” 2 The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.3 At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. 4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” 5 Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” 2 Kings 8:1-6

Show The World What It Can’t Give….

The one thing people fail to explain or even demonstrate to unbelievers is the peace Jesus gives. What He gives the world cannot give or explain. It’s something all believers have, yet most, take for granted. Acknowledge to God today this unrealized peace that He grants us daily. Then show the world what It can’t give, the peace of Christ.

27 “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

Not Looking For Him…

The main reason why people reject God is because they are not looking for Him to begin with. How can you embrace Jesus if you don’t recognize Him when He right in front of you? The reason people aren’t looking is because they see no need for Him, when they do what they want to do. It’s not until something happens to turn their focus off of themselves that people are more willing to open the knock at the door. It’s just that simple. Are you looking for Him?

He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:17a

Common Sense Is No Longer Common…

Does this scripture verse sound like some people in America today? They will present points in arguments then when they have to defend those points, they can’t. The name-calling starts, and anger escalates. Violence usually follows. There's no middle ground there's no agree to disagree. There's no "I see your point". Out of no where comes non-sense. Disagreement means war to a fool. The best way to deal with a fool is to disengage and walk away the second you identify one. Common sense is no longer common. Hold on to it.

1 Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense. 2 Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. Proverbs 18:1-2

Proof Of Being A True, Authentic Christian…

What proves to the world that we are God’s children? LOVE. Love is what proves to the world that God is real. If we are not loving people, the world will never see convicting or convincing evidence of God’s existence. Sure, nature proves God is real, but it’s LOVE that proves His desire for a personal relationship with us. Love is consistent, it does the hard things. Love doesn’t demand it’s own way. It always gives a choice. And it always speaks truth no matter what the stakes are. Love is the proof of being a true, authentic Christian. You will know us by our LOVE. LOVE IS PERSONAL WITH GOD. Is this kind of LOVE in you?

34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.” John 13:34-35