Category: II Timothy

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Scenic Byways

Dave and I love to take the back roads when we travel. The view from the interstate leaves us lacking while the roads less travel share a beauty many don’t ever see.

Months ago I reminded you that ALL Scripture is given by the inspiration of God.

“Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 17 The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.” II Timothy 3:16-17 CEV

 

We have the word of God, not to confine and restrain us but to free and expand our potential by making us aware of who we are in Christ. I’m going to challenge you to step off the beaten path of your Bible reading. Remember the verse above says ALL Scripture is given. We each have our favorite books of the Bible – mine is Colossians and then of course, the 4Gospels. I love reading and seeing Jesus in action.

But what about the obscure books like Amos and Obadiah, or Nehemiah and Haggai. Then in the New Testament there are books like Philemon, Titus and Jude – little books that seem to be overlooked for the others. God has a lesson for us in each and every one of these books.

I see the Bible as a highway for life. On that highway there are places to rest, great places to eat, and places to refuel.

There are also the scenic by-ways. Less traveled roads can provide beautiful scenery and introduce us to interesting people and new adventures. There are also many historical markers on the byways. As we read the lesser known books of the prophets in the Old Testament we see how God continued to deliver and restore the nation of Israel time and time again.

Israel would turn from God; be taken into captivity; repent and cry out to God for deliverance and deliverance would come. God’s blessing would flow once again.

How many times do we follow the same path to serve self and not God? We place ourselves under the captivity of worry and fear; selfishness and greed; and then we call out to God and He restores. Nehemiah, the prophet, prayed this

“LORD, God of heaven, you are the great and powerful God. You are the God who keeps his agreement of love with people who love you and obey your commands.” Nehemiah 1:5

Today I encourage you to take a side trip – visit one of the books that you don’t know very well . Let the Holy Spirit be your guide and bring you new revelation from God’s word.

“The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer,
and he helps me stand on the mountains.” Habakkuk 3:19 CEV

Happy Trails!

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A Good Cleaning

I like a clean and tidy house. It’s hard for me to sit and relax when I know that the bathrooms need to be cleaned or I can see dirty floors and dusty furniture.

I’ve always been that way. It’s a part of who I am. My mom kept a tidy house and from what I’ve read, it’s a part of my heritage.

Yesterday I was having a particularly hard time sitting and relaxing because I could see the dust on the floors and the furniture. Dave said it looked ok and wasn’t that bad but it was certainly annoying to me.

I once read a book on a Norwegian family and the woman, who was a bit older than I, told stories about her Mom and her compulsion for cleanliness. At one point in the book she said they moved into a home, it was clean or so she thought but her mother had them scrub the floors just in case the family that had lived there before wasn’t Norwegian and didn’t understand the importance of cleanliness the way they did.

Now I’m not that bad but my husband and children may take umbrage with that last statement. However, cleaning for me isn’t a chore, it’s enjoyable. I am thankful for my home and the things I have in it and want to keep them looking nice and not let them deteriorate or come to disrepair.

And with that confession I’m sure you are wondering how all of this applies to this morning’s devotional. Let me draw the correlation.

I know that the dust seeps in and requires my attention. Then there’s the dog hair and dusty feet or food spills in the kitchen, dirty sinks and smudged windows. It all requires my attention.

I would have a real problem if someone wanted to march through the house with muddy feet or walked through the rooms spilling garbage. More importantly, I would stand up to anyone that wanted to vandalize my home or bring in a bag of snakes and scorpions.

So how do you think the Holy Spirit feels when we let our actions, our words and our activities “dirty up” His home.

“You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that you received from God and that lives in you. You don’t own yourselves. 20 God paid a very high price to make you his. So honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20 ERV

We are a valuable dwelling place – a temple, as it were, for the Holy Spirit to live in. We must not be careless and  allow His home to fall into disarray.

“Now follow the example of the correct teaching I gave you, and let the faith and love of Christ Jesus be your model. 14 You have been trusted with a wonderful treasure. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you.” II Timothy 1:13-14 CEV

As I grow older I realize more each year how important it is that I keep my house clean. There’s no room for dishonesty, no room for bitterness or petty jealousy. I don’t want the garbage of lying, gossip, and criticism spread about and I certainly don’t want my dwelling to be vandalized by immoral living.

So it’s time for a good cleaning! Make the earthly home a place of welcome and comfort for the Holy Spirit.

” And don’t make the Holy Spirit sad. God gave you his Spirit as proof that you belong to him and that he will keep you safe until the day he makes you free. 31 Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. 32 Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.” Ephesians 4:30-32 ERV

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What To Do with Condemning Thoughts

Am I the only one who wakes up at 4:30 am and says “I’m late”?

Just when I was getting ready to condemn myself this Scripture verse came to mind.

“You rise up early, and go to bed late, and work hard for your food, all for nothing. For the Lord gives to His loved ones even while they sleep.” Psalm 127:2 NLV

Thank you Father for giving me the rest I needed and thank you for providing me with your peace where there had been condemnation.

You see I have lived most of my life with the attitude that being late is almost a sin. We used to say that if we weren’t 15 minutes early we were late. Being punctual is a big thing to me and it can be very upsetting to be late.

Now that we’ve dealt with the thing that tried to start my day out wrong let’s look at your day. What type of things bring condemning thoughts to steal your joy?

It might be a failed relationship, an affair, a bankruptcy, a test grade that was lowered than anticipated. Perhaps you are dealing with position failure, you know what I mean, you thought you would be in a better position (whatever it is) at this stage in your life and so you fight feelings of failure.

Let’s look at what God has to say about things that condemn or try to condemn us.

“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. (condemned) 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.” Romans 12:1-2 ERV

Condemning thoughts have a way holding us in a prison of fear. God never intended us to be afraid.

“ For God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of a good mind.” II Timothy 1:7 NLV

When thoughts of self-doubt come- you can’t do it, you’re not good enough, no one wants to be around you, give up now, you’ve failed too many times – we take those thoughts and give them to Jesus. He will replace them with His loving thoughts.

“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”                 II Corinthians 10:3-5 ERV

Still I can hear someone saying “but you don’t know what I’ve done”. True, but God does. Because He knows that we fail in lots of different ways, and that we sin in lots of different ways He tells us to come to Him and to confess what we’ve done and we will find forgiveness and help.

“If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin. ”              I John 1:9 NLV

“With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:16 ERV

And God not only forgives, He forgets. How is that possible, I don’t know, I’m not God. When someone wrongs us and we forgive them we need to be more like God and also try to forget it. We shouldn’t hold them in captivity by reminding them of the wrong they’ve done – we need to free them the same way God does us.

“I will show loving-kindness to them and forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.”  Hebrews 8:12 NLV

“Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ” I Corinthians 13:5 NLV

God’s love is truly amazing! He doesn’t condemn, He covers. He doesn’t criticize, He convicts. His words are never “you awful thing, how could you do something like that” no, He says “you’re better than that, that was wrong, trust me to help you next time and I’ll give you the strength you need not to fail”.

When we do fail and do something again that we have asked forgiveness for He’ll be there to forgive again. Why? Because He loves us!

So what started out as a morning thought of “I’m late”, now what”, has become a reassuring lesson from the Father that I am dearly loved.

“The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.” 18 The Lord has promised: Your sorrow has ended, and you can celebrate.” Zephaniah 3:17-18 CEV

Let God’s love free you from condemning thoughts today!

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Follow Instructions

Those of you who know me personally know I love to bake and cook.

But I have had a few disasters in my kitchen and some of them were from failure to follow instructions.

I remember one time in particular that I was making cinnamon rolls. I had only made them a couple times before so wasn’t very familiar with the process. I had my Mom’s recipe before me and I started in. Step 1 was to prepare the yeast mixture with WARM water but Step 2 was to add HOT water to the shortening, sugar and salt.  I decided that I would save a time and use hot water for both.

Little did I know that hot water will kill yeast. I waited impatiently for the yeast to rise and although it grew a little it didn’t process as it should. Did I stop and start over – No! My attitude was keep going, it will be ok. Suffice it to say the rolls never did rise the way they should and that day I made cinnamon crackers, not cinnamon rolls.

I learned a very valuable lesson about following instructions.

The last few days we have been talking about following the leader. God went to great lengths to give us an instruction manual for life.

“All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17 ERV

We need to follow instructions. Not to conform to some religious list of do’s and don’ts. God’s word comes from the heart of a loving Father who wants to give his children what they need to navigate life victoriously.

It’s so important that we have God’s word as the basis of all we do. It needs to be our foundation so that we are standing firm. It’s our bedrock for life.

“Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, rivers flooded, and winds beat against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on solid rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 CEV

I’m sure everyone of you can recall a time when you didn’t follow instructions and the end result was less than perfect. Mistakes were made, hopefully they were remedied easily but some of them may have been costly.

“These are the proverbs of Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel. 2 They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings. 3 They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair. 4 These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. 5 Even the wise could become wiser by listening to these proverbs. They will gain understanding and learn to solve difficult problems. 6 These sayings will help you understand proverbs, stories with hidden meanings, words of the wise, and other difficult sayings.

7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the Lord, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.” Proverbs 1:1-7 ERV

You’ll be surprised how many mistakes can be avoided by praying and asking God for wisdom before proceeding. I’m not telling you that we will never make mistakes but they will certainly decrease significantly when we take our direction from God’s word.

“ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not trust in your own understanding. 6 Agree with Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. ” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLV

Lord, when I get in a hurry remind me to follow Your instructions. Direct my path. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to follow your lead. AMEN!

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Which Way to Go? Where to Turn?

Finding the proper direction when traveling doesn’t seem to be much of a problem these days. Every phone has a free app that can give us driving directions.

But what about directions for life?

Wouldn’t it be great to know which school to go to, which person to date and marry, the right job to take? Which investment  will give the best return, which house to buy? What doctor or surgeon has the right skills? How should I discipline my kids? Or just the simple things…where do I go for dinner tonight?

What if I told you there is a way to know the right answers? Are you listening? Do you really want to know?

“But God is your teacher, and he will not continue to hide from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “You should go this way. Here is the right way.” Isaiah 30:20-21 ERV

God has always promised to be involved in the details of our lives. He wants to give us direction and with that direction comes success. God had promised the Israelites that He would give them  land. He would show them how to defeat their enemies, where to build their homes and even how to tend their crops.

“But you must be strong and brave about obeying the commands my servant Moses gave you. If you follow his teachings exactly, you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Always remember what is written in that book of law. Speak about that book and study it day and night. Then you can be sure to obey what is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything you do. 9 Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9 ERV

He is wanting to do the same for us! But His instruction is the same.

“ You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child. These Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:15-17 ERV

Trusting God’s word will prepare us for everything in life. It will correct us when we are wrong and direct us to what is right; this isn’t just for our spiritual lives but it’s instruction for every good work.

Now look at what Solomon said. He was professed to be the wisest man who ever lived so his instruction should be worth considering.

“Children, listen to your father’s teaching. Pay attention and you will learn how to learn. 2 The advice I give is good, so don’t ever forget what I teach you.

3 When I was my father’s little boy and my mother’s dear son, 4 my father taught me this: “Pay attention to what I say. Obey my commands and you will have a good life. 5 Try to get wisdom and understanding. Don’t forget my teaching or ignore what I say. 6 Don’t turn away from wisdom, and she will protect you. Love her, and she will keep you safe.

7 “The first step to becoming wise is to look for wisdom, so use everything you have to get understanding. 8 Love wisdom, and she will make you great. Hold on to wisdom, and she will bring you honor. 9 Wisdom will reward you with a crown of honor and glory.”

10 Son, listen to me. Do what I say, and you will live a long time. 11 I am teaching you about wisdom and guiding you on the right path. 12 As you walk on it, you will not step into a trap. Even if you run, you will not trip and fall. 13 Always remember this teaching. Don’t forget it. It is the key to life, so guard it well.” Proverbs 4:1-13 ERV

Practical, sound advice.

The words above were only half of the chapter. Read the final verses in this chapter. Isn’t this what we all want to attain?

“Don’t bend the truth or say things that you know are not right. 25 Keep your eyes on the path, and look straight ahead. 26 Make sure you are going the right way, and nothing will make you fall. 27 Don’t go to the right or to the left, and you will stay away from evil.” Proverbs 4:24-27 ERV

We don’t need to be confused by the sign posts we encounter in life. We have a perfect and infallible GPS, we just need to follow it.

God’s Perfect Scriptures – GPS

 

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Grace & a DQ Blizzard

The other night I was talking with my Mom about grace. I was surprised to learn that she still battles with the concept of God’s grace. You see she was raised in a traditional religious denomination that stressed works and good behavior.

If you didn’t read your Bible often enough, pray enough,  and tithe regularly you weren’t pleasing God. He was unhappy with  you and your relationship with Him was questionable.

God’s grace, on the other hand, is based entirely upon God and His unconditional love for us. We will never be able to do enough or be good enough to earn His love and acceptance. It all comes by grace.

“ All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. 24 They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25-26 God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:23-26 ERV

None of us deserve God’s grace and that’s why grace is grace. God, our Father, gives it freely because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. It was all His plan.

I can hear you asking what’s a blizzard got to do with grace. Glad you asked. My mother loves blizzards and at 94 it’s one of her few true pleasures. That day, while we were out, Dave and I stopped and bought a blizzard for Mom. She hadn’t asked for it, though she often does, and so it was a real surprise treat.

We didn’t have to talk her into taking it. She didn’t stop and evaluate whether she had been “good enough” to receive it. She hadn’t really done anything to “earn” it, we gave it to her because we loved her and knew she would enjoy it.

I used that analogy with her as we talked about grace that evening. Receiving something given in love, something you don’t earn or deserve – it’s called grace! I then told her that I thought she had just given me a topic of my morning devotional and she smiled. She thought it was a good idea.

We all have times we battled with our performance versus God’s grace. That’s a trick of the enemy. We have days that we think we are better than others and so we expect a little more. But in God’s way of thinking each day is the same. He always sees us through what Jesus has done, our justification and relationship are not of our own making.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. 5 And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. 6 And this brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely. He gave us that grace in Christ, the one he loves.

7 In Christ we are made free by his blood sacrifice. We have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace. 8 God gave us that grace fully and freely. With full wisdom and understanding 9 he let us know his secret plan. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ.” Ephesians 1:3-9 ERV

The concept of God’s grace was almost incomprehensible to those in the Bible. The Apostle Paul repeated it again and again. Religion of that day stressed the importance of working to be worthy. Many sacrifices were made to prove devotion and dedication to the gods they served and those sacrifices had to be repeated.

Then Christ came and through His one sacrifice we were saved by God’s grace. That’s the gospel. The word gospel means good news, actually it means nearly too good to be true news. Grace.

“God saved us and chose us to be his holy people, but not because of anything we ourselves did. God saved us and made us his people because that was what he wanted and because of his grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began. ” II Timothy 1:9 ERV

So the next time you are faced with thoughts of your unworthiness to receive God’s love remember the blizzard I gave my Mom. It can in no way compare to the grace that God but it can be a reminder.

“I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace and love with faith to all the brothers and sisters there. 24 God’s grace to all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love that never ends.” Ephesians 6:23-24 ERV

 

 

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Don’t Be a Victim of Identity Theft

I hope you have never been the victim of identity theft. I have some friends who have experienced this horrible violation and it has taken years to correct it. In fact, they still are dealing with issues as a result of it.

Do you know that as Christians many of us have fallen victim to identity theft as well? It’s far more detrimental than what millions experience through the theft of passwords, bank accounts, financial information and credit card fraud.

The Bible tells us that

“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. ” II Corinthians 5:17 ERV

However, we spend a good deal of our time living in the past. We still deal with guilt over our failures and shortcomings. We fight to gain victory over our thoughts of unworthiness or self-loathing. We try to move past those things we are ashamed of but are drawn back by friends, well-intentioned loved ones (?) and our own memories.

Our identity, who we are in Christ, has been stolen.

Our most powerful adversary as believers is not the devil. He was defeated when Jesus rose from the dead and we have been given authority over him and all his evil works. However, our greatest adversary is also our greatest ally – it just depends on how we use it. I’m talking about our minds!

God doesn’t  force us to do things against our will. He won’t force us to accept His wonderful gift of salvation, even if it means we will eventually go to hell, and He won’t force us to accept His blessings that He is giving us in this new life. We must willfully accept all of His provisions for them to work.

How do we move our mind from an adversary to an ally? The answer is simple; it’s by what we consider. Our mind is much like the computer I am using to message with right now. It can only produce on screen or in memory what I input.

It becomes our responsibility to input the correct information. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2

“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”

We let God’s word be our input and then our minds will be renewed.

Consider what God says about us. We are more than conquerors, we are new beings, we are His own children. We’ve been adopted and made join-heirs to His kingdom. We’ve been called to be world overcomers filled with peace, joy and strength. And if that’s not enough then consider what life will be like in heaven and all that Jesus did to provide this for us – if that’s our focus, we won’t have time to be “considering” thoughts that are contrary to God’s way of thinking.

“You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. 3 Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4 Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

It’s imperative that we guard our minds more than we guard our wallets. The damage caused by wrong thinking is more detrimental than loosing our cash. It’s spiritual identity theft.

Thinking like the world thinks will keep us from realizing all the wonderful blessings that God has provided.

“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5

So counteract the world’s influence today and live this

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7

Regain what’s been stolen. Our life in Christ is our true identity!

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Pruning Is Important

Pruning is necessary to the health of every plant. The important thing is to know when and how to prune.

When my flowers are in bloom I am out with my nippers once a week. Sometimes I just remove the dead flowers and leaves and at other times I find it necessary to remove part of a branch that is damaged.

I used to be a vicious pruner. Instead of using a small nipper, I would use the big loppers and before I knew it I had removed 1/2 the plant.

Sad to say but most of the time when I did that I permanently damaged the plant. But God knows how to properly prune so that the branch (us) isn’t damaged.

Yesterday I used the Scripture verses in John 15 where Jesus talks about abiding in the vine. He is the vine, we are the branches and the Father is the one who does the pruning.

“Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch[ of mine that does not produce fruit. He also trims every branch that produces fruit to prepare it to produce even more. 3 You have already been prepared to produce more fruit by the teaching I have given you. 4 Stay joined to me and I will stay joined to you. No branch can produce fruit alone. It must stay connected to the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot produce fruit alone. You must stay joined to me.

5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown out and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. 8 Show that you are my followers by producing much fruit. This will bring honor  to my Father.” John 15:1-8 ERV

The KJV of this passage says “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Vs 7. See it’s the Word…the Word and abiding in the Word, who is Jesus, is what bears fruit in our lives.

Jesus said that we have already been prepared (pruned) by the Word. The Apostle Paul tells us that God’s Word brings correction (pruning) into our lives.

“You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child. These Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:15-17 ERV

God uses the Scriptures to make correction in our lives.  We also have the help of the Holy Spirit, our teacher and counsellor. He will prick our hearts when we do things that are wrong. You know what I’m talking about, that feeling you get and you say “I know I shouldn’t have done/said that”. Ya, that’s the Holy Spirit.

“But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help [a] you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.

8 The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God’s justice and the judgment. 9 The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn’t have faith in me. ” John 16:7-9 CEV

There have been times that I have gone through a dry place and have felt withered and almost dead inside. During those times I didn’t see much of a harvest – just brittle, dry stubble with no signs of life.  I like the growth times much better and yes, I am the one responsible to keep the Word planted in my heart.

However, in the dry and brittle times, I have learned that the life is still there. It’s in the root. Sometimes the dry branches have to be pruned back for the health of the plant. I learned when we first moved into our AZ home not to prune until water has been applied to the root.

We have two large Ocotillos in our yard. They looked dead when we moved in. We decided to give them it a little bit of water and see what would happen. Only 5 days of water, just a little water each day and they begin to flourish.

The KJV of this passage says “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” It’s the Word…the Word and letting God’s Word, who is Jesus, live in us that bears fruit in our lives.

I’m so glad that I didn’t prune the Ocotillo thinking it was all but dead. My pruning would have killed it for sure. I’m also very glad that I’m not responsible for pruning my life or the life of other believers but it’s the Father, the master gardener, who is responsible to prune our lives. He knows when something is dead and He knows exactly where to cut without causing damage. He also knows when all we need is water, the water of His word, and we will flourish once again.

“I will pour water for thirsty people, and streams will flow through the desert. I will pour my Spirit on your children, and I will bless your family. 4 They will sprout like grass in the spring and grow like trees by streams of water.” Isaiah 44:3 ERV

Are you in a dry place? Let God’s Word water your roots and you’ll begin to flourish once again.

Blessings to you all this day.

 

 

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Becoming a Good Soldier

Just yesterday I asked you to imagine that you were there when Jesus healed the leper. In the very next verses we observe a conversation that Jesus had with a captain in the Army. He was a man of rank, deserving of respect. A man who commanded others with authority.

“5 When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6 “Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can’t even move.”

7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I’m not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you that in all of Israel I’ve never found anyone with this much faith!…

13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.”  Right then his servant was healed.” Matthew 8:5-13 CEV

I want you to listen to what the captain said. “Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9 I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”

Just give the order! The captain recognized that Jesus had authority, authority over sickness, he may have heard about the leper that had just been cleansed. If not, he had heard of other miracles of healing that Jesus had done. That’s what brought him to Jesus. The captain was a man who knew that commands were obeyed and not rationalized or debated.

And Jesus marveled at the captain’s faith. He didn’t need Jesus to come and make a big deal about healing his servant, Jesus just needed to speak the Word, give the order, and it would happen.

Do we have that kind of faith in God’s Word? In Psalms 138 it says that God exalts or honors his Word above his name. Isn’t that the way it is today? A person’s name only carries respect and honor if his reputation is good. If he is a man that doesn’t keep his word then it tarnishes his reputation. But when his word is good he has authority.

God’s word has authority to change lives. Why? Because He has never lied, His word has never failed. He rescues, he heals, he saves and he does wonderful things.

“You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the Lord, and he rescued you. 20 By the power of his own word, he healed you and saved you from destruction. 21 You should praise the Lord for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.” Psalm 107:19-21 CEV

A good portion of what happens at boot camp, or so I have been told, is getting the new recruits to follow orders. They are taught to respond to the commands given by those in charge without hesitation. Enlistees rise and go to bed when they’re told; they fall out for formation and march for endless hours. They endure PT and weapons training. They follow commands. Hesitation on the field of battle could result in injury or death and so they submit to training.

“Timothy, you are a son to me. Be strong in the grace that we have because we belong to Christ Jesus. 2 What you have heard me teach publicly you should teach to others. Share these teachings with people you can trust. Then they will be able to teach others these same things. 3 As a good soldier of Christ Jesus, accept your share of the troubles we have. 4 A soldier wants to please his commanding officer, so he does not spend any time on activities that are not a part of his duty.” II Timothy 2:1-4 ERV

I don’t know of anyone who has ever said that boot camp was fun. However, it does bring discipline and respect. The training is a valuable life lesson, learning to trust the Word of your commanding officer.

I think one of the hardest things I have and still experience is giving up my way of thinking for God’s way. In some respects I am still in boot camp and learning to follow orders. Paul mention that Timothy would have his share of troubles as a good soldier. I agree. It’s troubling when friends and family don’t understand why you act the way you do because you are pleasing your commanding officer. It’s troubling when you don’t get hired for a position or get fired from a job because you won’t lie for the boss or fix the books to make sales look better. Those things don’t please our commander-in-chief.

Oh, to have the mindset of our Army captain, “just give the order”.  Here was Jesus order to his disciples and to us:

“ This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love people can show is to die for their friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do.” John 15:12-13 ERV

Lord, I desire to follow your commands today. I will follow Your orders and  please You as my commanding officer.

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Your Defender

We are going to learn how to accept correction from the hand of the Lord and to let the Lord defend us from our enemies. So many times we want to jump right in and defend ourselves in circumstances where we aren’t being treated right. It’s only natural to speak up and defend what’s ours but that’s not always the wisdom God wants us to use. We need to use God’s wisdom when our reputation is being ruined by liars.

“I am your servant, Lord, and you have kept your promise to treat me with kindness. 66 Give me wisdom and good sense. I trust your commands. 67 Once you corrected me for not obeying you, but now I obey. 68 You are kindhearted, and you do good things, so teach me your laws. 69 My reputation is being ruined by conceited liars, but with all my heart I follow your teachings. 70 Those liars have no sense, but I find happiness in your Law. 71 When you corrected me, it did me good because it taught me to study your laws. 72 I would rather obey you than to have a thousand pieces of silver and gold.” Psalm 119:65-72

David mentions twice in this segment that the Lord corrected him and that this correction was a good thing – it brought him back to obeying God’s word and that was more precious than silver or gold.

How does God correct us?

“16 All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. 17 Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17

The Word of God is profitable for correction and instruction. It’s amazing to me how some folks can get so off base and say that the way God corrects is to cause us to lose our job, create financial hardship, make us sick, destroy our marriage, send a tragedy all to teach us something. Rubbish! Now these things happen but they are not a result of God teaching us a lesson. We need to recognize that there is a real enemy, seeking to destroy us. And we also need to recognize that sometimes we bring things on ourselves by being selfish and foolish, but they aren’t a result of God “teaching” us.

There is so much more to be said on correction but time and space limitations move me on.

Now how do we deal with those that criticize, lie and seek to destroy our reputations? David said to keep following and obeying God’s commands.

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell about the wonderful things you have done. 2 You make me happy, so I will rejoice in you. God Most High, I praise your name. 3 My enemies turned to run from you, but they fell and were destroyed. 4 You listened to me from your throne like a good judge, and you decided that I was right.” Psalm 9:1-4ERV

David knew to follow God’s command was to let God be his defender.

“Do the best you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 My friends, don’t try to punish anyone who does wrong to you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. In the Scriptures the Lord says, “I am the one who punishes; I will pay people back.” Romans 12:18-19 ERV

Jesus lived this way – He could have retaliated against His accusers and those who persecuted him but He kept silent on His own behalf and just kept on doing what God had called Him to do – He healed the blind, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, healed the broken hearted and preached the love of God.

Paul was persecuted in nearly even town he entered and his comment was

“13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

He kept his focus – he didn’t get off course but just kept pressing forward in doing what God had called him to do.

Isaiah 54:17 also tells us that “Weapons made to attack you won’t be successful; words spoken against you won’t hurt at all. My servants, Jerusalem is yours!  I, the Lord, promise to bless you with victory.”

When we take time to answer our critics and defend ourselves we are being drawn away from what God has designed us to do. If we enter into the conflict of self-defense we are doing exactly what the enemy wants us to do. We need to learn from David, Isaiah, Jesus, and Paul and when adversary and accusation come – we keep our eyes on Jesus, standing on his Word and we will win the battle!

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