Thoughts of a Sinner

2009-07-07T20:16:00.002-04:00

Logos

2009-07-07T20:13:00.002-04:00

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Out of the Heart

2008-12-21T10:46:00.006-05:00

Mat 12:34 Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Jesus states to the Pharisees the mouth speaks what’s in the heart। So, my question is what would this look like? Is it simply curses and foul speech? Would it be someone who speaks angrily to everyone around them? Both of these would be an aspect of this, but what about more subtle things? An example would be the person who, unknowingly, puts themselves first in front of others? Scripture says for us to place others needs in front of our on and in doing this He would meet our needs. What about some one who looks at what others do on the outside instead of searching out why the person is doing what they do? Scripture tells us that God sees what’s inside a mans heart and judges him by it.

There are many such examples I could write here. Hopefully, these are enough to get you to thinking about what comes out of your mouth as well as what is in your mind about others and how you treat them. If my thoughts and actions place me and my needs ahead of others then my heart is speaking clearly about where God ranks in my life. If I spend my days seeking what makes me comfortable instead of what God wants, my heart, again, is stating clearly where God ranks in my life. I challenge you to examine your thoughts and speech to see where God ranks in your life. Seek out those things that would suggest to you that your life is not resembling that of Christ and once you see them, commit them to prayer and continuously watch for them to come up until such a time that you no longer do them.

Make Daddy Proud

2008-11-11T09:19:00.006-05:00

Through out our lives, we strive to make our parents proud of us. Even those of us who are raised by parents who abused us, still long to make them or the person we consider our parent, proud. As a child I always beemed when my dad would tell me I did good at something, and because of that feeling, I strove to do things to make him tell me that more often. "Father" only wishes for our good and for us to choose to love Him instead of ourselves. Shouldn't we want to make Him proud? In making Him proud, we achieve what we all long for in our lives. That is to have a parent who loves us and is proud of us. Why is it then that we call God, our "Father" yet do nothing to make Him proud of us? We seek to please ourselves instead of pleasing Him. I am most guilty of this in my life and how I wish I could say otherwise. Don't you think it is time we begin to try to make "Father" proud with our actions and our lives instead of making our flesh happy and satisfied? I do. I think its time we go back to the beginning and set our sites on the basics of our faith and learn anew how to trust in God for all we need and want and to strive to make a Daddy proud. Are you ready to have a proud Daddy?

2008-08-27T10:58:00.002-04:00

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Discipleship

2007-10-29T19:28:00.000-04:00

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

If we fear death or redicule or even what others think of us because of our walk with Christ then we can not be disciples of Christ.
In order for us to truly walk with christ we must die to ourselves and what the world thinks of us. In doing this we obtain the freedom to speak what “Father” wants spoken. Many people miss what is said to them by the Holy Spirit because of the fear they carry of what others think of them. Some simply ignore what is being said while others openly and willingly disobey what they are told to do or speak. It is time we, as the body of Christ, begin to listen to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us in this hour that we may obtain our freedom and become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Jn 15:18-19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Fences to Freedom

2007-10-05T19:30:00.001-04:00

Many of us grew up in households where we were told how worthless we are or how we would never amount to anything. In response to this we would build fences to protect ourselves from those who hurt us. Later in life as we meet new people and they, not knowing of our fences, cross those boundaries and hurt us. Again we build fences to protect ourselves. We keep building fences till one day no one can reach in to us because of all the wire and hurt we have.

C.S. Lewis talks of giving all of yourself to Christ in his book “Mere Christianity”. My question is how can we give all to Christ if we are hiding behind our fences? The answer is, it is not possible to give it all or in some cases even part of it to Him. Christ wants all we are and all we ever hope to become that He may make us into what He wanted us to be in the first place. In doing this He grants us true joy and peace in all we do and through all of life’s good and bad times. The only way we can obtain this is to begin to climb those fences and take a chance on our hearts running free and beginning to care once again about ourselves and people in more than a what can you do for me fashion. Once we climb those fences and get from behind them we can give all there is of ourselves to Christ and He will give all there is of Himself to us.

Perfect love

2007-09-29T22:20:00.001-04:00

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” Hester Prynne gave birth to a child of an adulterous situation. The child, Pearl, was born and was very healthy and beautiful as most babies are. Her mother dressed her in the finest clothes she could make. Hester, being a seamstress, made the clothes very well. The author goes on to say that there was no way for the baby to be pretty because it was born into a sinful situation and that nothing good could come out of a situation like that. In my own life I can attest to how God can take a sin filled life and transform it into something of beauty and joyful. How He takes a past of sin and wreckage and turns it into His glory.
There are many in churches today, like the crowd in the book, who throw words of stone that kill the spirit instead of words of love that heal. Sin should never be condoned in our churches, but it is our job and responsibility as Christians to love the back slider back into a healthy relationship with Christ and with the body. Scripture says that Satan is the accuser of the brothers. I suggest to you that when we begin to throw words of stone at those who are weak and back slidden we are being used to do Satan’s bidding not God’s. Personally, I think it is time we stop allowing Satan to use us the way we do and become the strong right arm of Christ we are called to be and learn to love people where they are and how they are, instead of expecting perfect actions from them while excusing our own inadequacies. Today we should make a vow before God to love sinners, be they back sliders or totally lost, with the same compassion that Christ does.
I pray one day we can become without spot and wrinkle and be blameless before God so the Son will return. Until that day let Jesus’ words ring true. John 8:7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Living Transparent

2007-09-20T19:46:00.001-04:00

In C.S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce" there are two kinds of people in the book. The people in hell are ghostly and have no substance. They tend to be unhappy and make excuses for not being happy instead of facing reality. The people who are in heaven are solid and filled with joy and compassion. They work hard to convince the ghostly people to stay in heaven and find the joy they seek. The solid people are naked and are perfectly happy being this way. This is a great analogy for how we as Christians should be during each and every day of our lives here on earth. I do not mean we should go without clothes, but we should live our lives as though we had nothing to hide. This is actually shown in scripture as well in the fact that Adam and Eve did not know they were naked until sin entered the world. Gen. 3: 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they ?knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ??loin coverings[1]. Adam and Eve had nothing to hide from one another until they ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Then they hid themselves from God and from each other. If we live our lives completely open and transparent we obtain freedom. The simple fact that there is nothing anyone can hold against us since everyone knows it all anyway shows one of the many ways our honesty and transparency allows our freedom from bondage. James 5:16 Therefore, ?confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ?healed. ?The effective ?prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.[2] If we are not transparent there is no way we will ever be obedient to this passage and in not being obedient to God's word in any part we lose part of the blessing it is to walk with Christ. By being transparent with each other we will know how better to pray for each other and in so doing we can obtain the promise of healing from this passage. Through this healing we find our hearts filled with the joy and love of Christ. Do not allow your blessing of this promise to be withheld because of your own pride or because you are afraid of allowing others to see the real you. Without the real you there is no transparency and without transparency there is no healing.

Laying Down Your Life

2007-09-12T21:19:00.000-04:00

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

What does laying your life down really mean? Is it simply to physically die for someone? I think there is much more to it than that. I think it is more appropriate to say it means to lay down your pride and your reputation and everything you live for in order to help a friend. To me this is truly laying down your life. I wonder what this world would look like if all Gods children started living their lives from this perspective?

Guardians of Truth

2007-08-25T15:35:00.000-04:00

I wonder what the difference would be if we as Gods kids started seeing ourselves as guardians of Gods word? While guarding it finding out what it says for our lives, instead of trying to find out from a selfish stance what Gods word says for me? I think we should begin to look at Gods word as the true gift it is and begin to accept the fact that God has called His people to be guardians of truth, which is His word, instead of always asking what’s in it for me. We can guard the word by allowing the Spirit of God to write it on the tablets of our hearts as He explains it to us. And then repeating it as the Holy Spirit shows us not as our lmited minds can comprehend.

Too Many Minds

2007-08-17T14:37:00.001-04:00

In the movie “The Last Samurai” Tom Cruise is being taught how to fight with a sword and he is told he has too many minds. He is thinking of the sword and the people watching him and of the enemy. He is instructed to only have one mind.

I wonder how many Christians need to heed this same advice when it comes to Christ. We tend to try to pray and worry over money. We attend church thinking of what’s for lunch. We read our bibles and think about work or our spouse and any other number of things. God wants us to have but one mind. The mind of Christ that is stayed upon Him in all things Spiritual as well as material and emotional. Be one minded in your pursuit of God and find the peace and the tranquility that your heart desires.

1Co 2:16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Jesus The Lion

2007-08-16T06:05:00.001-04:00

Jesus The Lion

In this writing I am going to attempt to show the many faces of Jesus but mostly focus on the lion part as described above. To many people today try to portray Christ as a feminine man in many aspects but I am here to show how Jesus was very much a mans man and we need to quit trying to feminize Him.

Many times I hear Jesus portrayed as a meek and humble man, which He was. We know He was loving and caring to the sick and spoke profoundly about taking care of the widows and orphans. But, what about the rest of what scripture says about Jesus? Does it not call Him a lion? Does scripture tell us that he ran people our of the temple

Mat 21:12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

I would dare say this is not the actions of a man who is purely meek and mild but is more like a lion with the fierceness it would take to run that many people out of the temple. Webster’s says this about lions,

Lion
LI'ON, n. [L. leo, leonis, Gr.]

1. A quadruped of the genus Felis, very strong, fierce and rapacious. The largest lions are eight or nine feet in length. The male has a thick head, beset with long bushy hair of a yellowish color. The lion is a native of Africa and the warm climates of Asia. His aspect is noble, his gait stately, and his roar tremendous.

Rev 5:5 and one of the elders *said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."

Hos 5:14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.

I really like the last line of the description of a lion as, to me, it perfectly describes Christ in all He did here, “His aspect is noble, his gait stately, and his roar tremendous.” Jesus was not a man that just walked around and worried over hurting peoples feelings, he was a man that spoke truth at all times and let the Holy Spirit’s conviction deal with each person. This is shown very clearly in Matthew 19:16 – 22. This is the story of the man that came to Christ and ask how he could earn his way to eternal life and Jesus told him to sell everything he owned give it to the poor and come follow me, but the man could not do that because of his love of his possessions. I dare to say this man got his feelings hurt and was very disappointed in the fact he could not earn his way to heaven.

Or maybe a better example of someone getting their feelings hurt would be Peter in Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." Now I dare to say that Peter did not enjoy this statement at all and was probably embarrassed as all the disciples where present and most probably heard Jesus tell him this. And it would be a safe bet that Peter’s feelings where hurt in a big way over this.

Now having shown where Jesus was very much a lion in His walk on earth I want to make it clear that Jesus did everything in love and was not out to make people stumble with the harsh words He did use time to time. His goal, as always, is to get people to open their eyes to the truth of what is and to follow Him in truth instead of in their own perceptions and knowledge. He came that all may know the “Father” and have eternal life as stated in John 3:16 – 17.

I pray through this writing we can return to the knowledge that Jesus was very much a man in all He did and said and was not in anyway feminized as many try to make him out to be today.

Happiness or Joy

2007-08-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

Happiness is based on circumstance and is very fleeting as it comes and goes with the tide. Most people seek happiness through trying to make their circumstances better instead of seeking God to obtain the Joy that He wants to give us all.

Happiness is the selfish pursuit of what I want.....

Joy is the selfless pursuit of what God wants!

In today's society people look to things to make them happy. Some look to a spouse or bf/gf. Some look to work, houses, cars, money and the list goes on. In doing this they are seeking what the world says will make them happy and in so doing are being very selfish in this pursuit. Scripture tells us to seek God first in all things.

Php 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Seeking Gods joy allows us to obtain that which our hearts seek which is the true joy of the King not the fleeting happiness of a circumstance.

Commitment

2007-07-29T23:04:00.001-04:00

Commitment is learning every negative thing there is to know about your spouse and loving them anyway.

In today's society people walk around mistaking infactuation with true love and when they get married and see all the faults they call an attorney. It is a sad thing that people today do not understand commitment because with this mentality they, also, turn to God only when it is convienent to them or they are in trouble. Honor your commitments no matter how bad it hurts to everyone and especially to God.

Num 30:2 "If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Num 30:3 "Also if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by an obligation in her father's house in her youth,
Num 30:4 and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand.

Focus on God

2007-07-29T13:29:00.000-04:00

I wonder how many things we allow to take our focus off God and place it on the things around us? I know I have been very guilty of this in my life especially where women are concerned. For me they took Gods place on the throne of my heart and I focused on them instead of God and in so doing I lost the women as God is a jealous God. I long for nothing more than to keep my focus on God and stop looking at the things going on around me. Scripture tells us so long as we focus on Christ we will have peace and satan wants nothing more then to steal our peace, which means he will do anything and everything to get your focus off God. It is time we keep our focus on God and stop letting satan move it to other things.

Heart of a Man

2007-07-23T09:42:00.000-04:00

Why is it that we judge a man by his appearance instead of what is inside him? this morning I was watching the news and they are talking about how a presidential candidates appearance means so much to his campaigne. I find this is also true in every aspect of life such as when a person is looking for a mate the first thing they do is look for appearance and in many instances today the appearance and infatuation are mistaken for love and many problems ensue after the two are married. It saddens me that we have become so shallow that we gauge a mans worth by what he wears instead of by what he stands for.

Isn't it time that we start gauging our leaders and everyone else based on what they stand for instead of how they appear and what they say?

Depression

2007-07-17T15:02:00.001-04:00

1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."
1Ki 19:3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
1Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
1Ki 19:5 He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, "Arise, eat."
1Ki 19:6 Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
1Ki 19:7 The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you."
1Ki 19:8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
1Ki 19:9 Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
1Ki 19:10 He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
1Ki 19:11 So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
1Ki 19:12 After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
1Ki 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
1Ki 19:14 Then he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
1Ki 19:15 The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;
1Ki 19:16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

Elijah was a fraid of dying! Why, he would be afraid of this after all the miracles God had performed through him is amazingly human. We all have our weaknesses and they will be exploited as often as possible.

Due to the fear Elijah became depressed and wanted to die. He begged God to kill him. Inspite of this depression God used Elijah to teach Elisha and to anoint two kings before he took him by a chariot of fire.

God can use you even in the midst of your depression!

Focus

2007-07-15T17:02:00.000-04:00

Mat 16:20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
Mat 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Mat 16:22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."
Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

What we focus on determines our destination and our actions. If we focus on worldly things or the cares of this world then we will reap the rewards of the world. If we focus on Christ and on "Father" then we gain heaven's blessings and reap the rewards there of. What are you focused on today?

Prayer for Enemy

2007-07-11T08:53:00.000-04:00

Psa 61:6 You will prolong the king's life; His years will be as many generations.
Psa 61:7 He will abide before God forever; Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him.

David prayers for the king to be spared and have a long life even though at this time the king is trying to kill him. In todays society of self before anyone or anything I wonder how many of Gods people actually love their enemies enough to ask God to spare their lives instead of wishing them harm in the depths of their hearts. I know I was guilty of this for a very long time and did not even realize it, but it is now time that Gods people begin to truly show the Love of Christ and the only way to do that is to love the unlovable and that especially means those who mean to do us harm.

Tablets of Your Heart

2007-07-10T11:05:00.000-04:00

Pro 3:3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Truth is Gods word and we need to write His word on the tablets of our hearts that we may stand in the hour of wickedness. It is time we all begin to learn the truths of Gods words in such a way that we live them out in our daily lives. In order to do this we must know Gods word in our hearts and let it grow and mature us until such a time as God deems us ready to attain the calling to which He has called all of us too.

Burdens

2007-07-05T17:35:00.000-04:00

Mat 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Mat 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

1Pe 5:7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

If Jesus' burden is light and ours is heavy and scripture tells us to cast our anxieties on him then why do we walk around bound to our worldly cares? Let go of your burden today and take Jesus' that you may walk in peace and true harmony with Christ.

Why Me?

2007-06-30T13:35:00.000-04:00

Many times I have heard this question and even asked it once or twice myself and the answer is very simple.
2 Cor. 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Many times we go through very huge problems and what seems like insurmountable trials but God promises that none of our pains will ever be wasted. ( This statement from Rick Warren ) Our problems are always used for Glory so long as we can admit we are weak in these areas and need His help in getting over them and then being able to tell others we went through it. People are encouraged by our over coming weakness not by our strengths. Your weakness is your humanity and today we need to start sharing our humanity with others.

True Worship

2007-06-30T13:34:00.002-04:00

John 4:23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
I have always thought of worshipping in Spirit as just that spiritual worship but there is a verse in the Bible that tells us there is more to it than that. Romans 12.
Roman 12:1-2Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.
When we truly offer ourselves as sacrifices to God then we are truly worshiping God in spirit.
Truthful worship is just that. You have to be open and honest with God in order to worship Him and honor Him. People wonder why their prayer lives are not what they should be. 9 times out of 10 this is the reason. They are closed off so they do not get hurt any more thus they are not being honest with God. When we decide to open our hearts and allow God to SHARE our pain and not just tell Him about it then we begin to worship in truth.
How are you worshiping today?? Do you fulfill these two verses of scripture with your worship of God?

The Trap

2007-06-30T13:34:00.001-04:00

It has occurred to me that one of Satan’s biggest traps for Gods people is how others see us. I was seen as nothing but a drunk and drug addict for the majority of my life and in some circles to this day people still see me that way, they do not see what God has made me into. What about the flip side of this. People seeing us as great and special while in our hearts we know we aren’t or think we aren’t. I am certain there are many people out there that can relate to one or both of these. The question is are we strong enough to break free from how the world sees us or do we go on through life believing we are the useless person that others say that we are. Jesus calls us out of the world, which in part, means we are not to go by what the world says we are. That includes Christians who do not see what God sees. God sees us as His children and worthy of His Son dying on a cross for us. Satan does not have the power to undo that in reality, so he tries to undo it in our minds and in our self-esteem. Don’t allow Satan to undo the gift that has been given to me and you.