Spiritual throw-up

Last night a woman in our weekly small group meeting said that when she’s around someone who is being negative  (complaining, angry, vindictive, offensive, slandering, critical, etc.),  she leaves feeling like she been thrown up on spiritually.   It’s like, “Aw man, you threw up on me!  This is disgusting!  Now I have to go home and try to get this off.”

How true.

Christmas Shopping – King James version

I would that I will be forgiven if these gifts arrive not on time.  When I perceived that the Christmas season was nigh, yea even at the door, I immediately gat myself up into my Toyota picketh-up and drave to the marketplace with such haste that I did exceed even the limit of speed set by Ceasar.  Were it not for the grace of God, I would have jostled more than one chariot in the way.

When I arrived at the place of many marketplaces, also called The Mall, behold, there were great multitudes from every tribe, kindred, and nation, too great to be numbered.  Then I enquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up into the mall?  Wilt thou deliver the merchandise into mine hand?”  And the Lord said unto me, “Go up,  for I will doubtless deliver the merchandise into thine hand.”  So I entered, therefore, into the mall, and although the multitudes pressed me sore, I did come out with gifts in my hand.  Then did I lean upon my Toyota picketh-up, and worship.

Weep not for all my labor in writing this lengthy letter, for behold, my secretary didst it.

I spy

Playing ‘I spy’ with my five year old boy on the way to school/work this morning…

Evan: I spy something yellow.

Me: Our car?

Evan: No.  Do you want a hint?

Me: Yes.

Evan: We already passed it.

 

Evan: I spy something that is usually black.

Me/Evan: The road? No.  Roofs? No.  Telephone poles? No.  Cars? No  Motorcycles? Yes.

Me: Did you see a motorcyle?

Evan: No.

What time is it?

When Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, took gifts from Naaman, the Syrian who was healed of leprosy,  Elisha knew what Gehazi had done, and asked him, “Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?”

What time is it?

Romans 13:11-14 The Message  “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”

I need to awake from the sleep of gratifying my flesh, and put on my clothes (Christ), and start walking in the Spirit and in the fruit of the Spirit and in the gifts of the Spirit.

It’s time to WAKE UP!

Our Legacy

Whether they mean to or not, parents hugely affect what the lives of their children will be like.

I was listening to a defensive driving instructor (ok, I have a speeding problem), and he was occasionally throwing in parts of his own life.  His father was a youth pastor.  Sometimes he would throw big parties for the single adults, and they would serve alcohol.  My instructor would be the bartender.  The point of the story was that everyone would spend the night there and not drive while intoxicated.  He later told stories of how much he currently enjoyed drinking at bars till 4am (but not driving).  He also mentioned spending time with his boy, whom he saw a couple of days a week, since the instructor and his wife had divorced.

What I got out of it was that the instructor’s father (apparently a Christian), didn’t leave him a legacy of living for God, but left him a legacy of drinking, which may or may not have resulted in his broken home.  Now the instructor can do the same for his boy.

How powerful are our examples to our children!  How many times have you heard of divorce, alcoholism, abuse, etc. being perpetuated by the next generation.  We need to break the curses we have inherited, and strive to leave a legacy of blessing to our children.

 

Prayer of Blessing

In the last couple of chapters of Deuteronomy and the first chapter of Joshua, there is some good material to pray for God’s blessings on yourself or someone else.

Dear Lord, please give me the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush.  Satisfy me with favor and fill me with the blessing of the Lord.   Do not fail me, nor forsake me.  Make my way prosperous, give me good success, and be with me wherever I go. 

Amen 

Modern Day Proverbs

I would really like to hear any modern proverbs, truisms, etc. that you may have.  Here are some that I’ve picked up over the years:

Hold loosely to the prosperity and the pain.

Hurting people hurt people.

We’re all just a little bit pitiful.

Speak when you have something to say, not when you have to say something.

…and some old favorites that I’m finding to be true:

Truth is stranger than fiction.

If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

…Share yours!

Praise samples

I like to come across places in the Bible where the Spirit of God comes over people, and they begin to praise God for His greatness, His goodness, His sovereignty, and His supremacy.  Here are some samples:

He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.  There is no god with Him: He kills, and He makes alive; He wounds, and He heals: neither is there any that can deliver out of His hand.  For He lifts up His hand to heaven and says, ‘I live forever’.  We have heard of Him with the hearing of the ear: but when our eyes see Him, we abhor ourselves and repent in dust and ashes.  The most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will.  And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and no one can stop His hand, or ask Him what He’s doing.  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour.  He that is mighty has done to me great things, and holy is His Name.  His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.  He has shown strength with His arm and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty and exalted them of low degree.  He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.  He can do everything, and no thought can be hidden from Him.    Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!  For who has known the mind of the Lord?  or who has been His counselor?  Or who has first given to Him, and looked to receive it back.  For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen

Read the Word

Deut 17:14-20

Before it ever ocurred to the Israelites to have a king, God provided instructions on how a king should act.  He should not multiply to himself horses, wives, silver or gold.  And he should write a copy of God’s law and read from it all the days of his life.

What a great example for Christians (we are, after all kings and priests unto our God).  Even if we just read a little of the Bible every day, we’re still in His word, and we can look forward to the following blessings described in Deuteronomy:

We’ll learn to fear God and keep His statutes.

We will have a humble spirit.

God will keep us from taking the wrong path.

God will continue to bless us and our children.

Love Slaves

Deut 15:12, 16, 17     12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.               16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; 
                                         17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever.   And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

When you first come to God, and give Him your life, there is a honeymoon period in which you are inundated with His love and His closeness.  Hardly anyone will leave God during this period.

But if you walk with God long enough, you will invariably come to a desert place, where it’s hard to find God, and it may even seem like He has forsaken you.

This is your “seventh year”.   God has opened the door, and you’re free to go.  This is where God finds out if you really love Him and His house.

When Joshua reached his “seventh year”, he stated, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Job declared, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Moses chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

And Peter simply said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

Choose God in the lean times, and I promise you, later you will “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Deut 8:16  “Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

A good eye

Matthew 6:22  “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

A good eye is one that focuses not on what we don’t have but what we have.  And what we have are many blessings and a God who loves us and will always love us.

dreams and visions

Joel 2.28  “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:”

I’ve never seen a vision, but God did give me a spiritual dream once, about thirty years ago.  I was sitting at a desk, like a school desk, working away, when a ball of colored light came and hit me in the chest.  It didn’t phase me and I continued working at the same pace.  Then another one hit me.  It jarred me.  I continued to work, only now at a slower pace.  Then a third one hit me, and it took all my strength away.  I sat slumped at the desk, doing nothing.  Then I noticed a small ball of white light within me.  It began to grow.  It grew and grew until it completely surrounded and enveloped me.  I woke up praising God for victory!

I’ve never had a specific interpretation of this dream, but over the years it has been a constant encouragement to me and a reminder of ultimate victory in God.

Yehovah-racham (God cares)

Deut 2:7  “…he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness:…”

Be encouraged.  God sees what you’ve been going through.  There will come a day when instead of going in circles, you will walk into a new place, and the time of walking in the wilderness will be over.

The full mantle of motherhood

My prayer this morning for my wife, Judy (who is carrying our second child) is that God will drape her with the full mantle of motherhood, complete with His comfort, strength, blessings, wisdoms, power, and authority.

A thankful heart is a happy heart

I was reminded recently while watching a Veggie Tales cartoon that a thankful heart is a happy heart.  It’s so true.  It doesn’t get any better than being content.  You can’t beat a thankful heart.  And it has nothing to do with what you have or don’t have.  It’s all about attitude, which you can control despite your circumstances.

 I Timothy 6:6     ”But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

The other night, I brought a Whataburger kid’s meal home to my four year old son, Evan.  The toy that came with it was a plastic bowl and spoon for an infant.  I thought it was lame, but when Evan opened it, he said, “This is the best day of my life!”

Then we noticed that the dogs had gotten Evan’s fries off the table, which resulted in, “This is the worst day of my life!”

Life with a four year old.

To know and to go

Numbers 27:5,6 “And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying.” 

When I want to know what God’s will is concerning something, I bring it before the Lord.  Then I listen for Him to speak to me.  I listen to His Word, preachers, saints, dreams, and sometimes coincidences.  I don’t put too much stock in plain coincidences that are not even in context, but if I see or hear something that, taken at face value, hits the nail right on the head, I’ll pay attention to it.

Eventually I reach the place that I know what God’s will is.  Then with His help and strength, I go.

Every time I’ve wondered about His will, he has been gracious and merciful enough to confirm it and to let me know for sure what He wants me to do, and I’m convinced that He will do the same for you.

You’re Beautiful

Numbers 24:5  “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!”

This is how Balaam saw Israel when the Spirit of God came upon him.  This is how God’s people look, in the Spirit.

As a Christian, don’t get discouraged when your walk is not easy.  In your obedience, don’t think of God as an uncaring taskmaster.

Remember that in God’s eyes you’re beautiful, and He dotes over you.

I Hide Myself, I Find Myself in Thee

I look up, and hide my hangups, my attitude, my fallen nature in God. 

And I find a piece of Him that He shares with me: His character, His traits, His nature, His glory.

What a trade, that Jesus Christ makes possible!

Garments

I’ve recently noticed some different strands winding through the Bible.  Today’s strand is ‘garments’. 

Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.  Innocent blood was shed to provide a garment for fallen man. 

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Joseph was clothed with a coat of many colors, indicating the favor of Israel and the favor of God. 

Isaiah 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

An old testament prophecy about the Messiah tells us that He will give to them that mourn, the  “garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”. 

Exodus 39:23 And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.

The robe of Jewish High Priest had one hole in the midst that it should not rend.   

John 19:23,24 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. 

Jesus’ coat is curiously similar to the robe of the High Priest, which is no surprise, for He is our High Priest that ushers us beyond the veil, into the Holiest of Holies. 

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Christians are clothed with Christ, and heirs to God’s promises.