Friday, July 8, 2011

Resurrected Life

John 14:20
On that day you will realize that I am in my father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Jesus had just promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would be with them. He promised this after relaying the news once again that they wouldn't see him for some time. Jesus was coming to the end of his physical ministry and time with the disciples. But it's in this statement that he reveals the resurrection and it would be at that they understood why Jesus came. Quite frankly, there are many in the pews but some need to witness a resurrection in their own lives before they believe that Jesus is present. How much more does Jesus have to show you before you believe? Is that some must feel the wounds of Jesus before they believe the presence of the Holy Spirit and how he operates in truth? What will it take before one starts listening and viewing with new eyes? What will it take before one allows the Holy Spirit to be the guide? Jesus promised the presence of the Holy Spirit. He's there alright but we've been turning a deaf ear. Let us know longer have a deaf ear and blind eye and let us accept his presence in our lives.

P.S. Remember, if you live in the DC/MD area you can obtain a copy of Get Your JOY In The Morning from John 3:16 Christian Bookstore in Lanham, MD otherwise it can be ordered at any online bookstore or special ordered via Borders, Books-A-Million, Family Christian, Cokesbury and Barnes and Noble.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

House of Cards or Brick

Proverbs 12:3
A man cannot be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

How did you get what you have? King Solomon said it so plainly. It doesn't matter how much the wicked may seem to have at the moment, eventually, they will lose it all. A wicked man is one who does not follow God. If a wicked man obtains what they have in an incorrect manner, it will be the same way in which they lose it. One who obtains anything based on God's will it cannot be snatched. Put in the easiest of terms, this is the law of reaping and sowing. Whether one believes in God or not, God set this law in motion and it's universal. Whatever one puts out, one will get in return. What God has for you is for you but if God didn't intend for someone to have something and it's obtained through means that are not of him, it won't be long before it's gone. It may not happen this year, next year or even the year after that, but it will happen. And when it's gone it cannot be obtained again if it wasn't of God. Anyone who builds a house with a deck of cards knows it's unstable and will eventually fall. So it is with anything one attempts to build through ways that are not of God. But a righteous man, one who loves God and desires to follow him, who obtains anything the correct way and in accordance to God's will cannot be uprooted. It's the house made of brick that cannot be easily toppled. Which would you rather have, the house of cards or house of brick?

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Not What You Were Expecting

John 18:5b-6
"I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)
6When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus was approached by the guards sent to arrest him and Judas who was to identify him. But as it turned out Jesus was didn't look at all to be what the guards expected. According to the NIV Study Bible, Jesus looked very majestic and powerful. Jesus looked more of his true identify as he was ready to  fulfill his purpose. The guards were expecting someone other than who they saw and the surprise caused them to show respect.

Has someone's impression of you been one way only to find that when coming into your presence or vice versa, the imagined impression was not correct? Like the guards, we sometimes assume that the people will encounter will be one way but quite a surprise, their appearance is different. And it may not be in the physical nature that their presence is different but their character or even essence is either stronger or weaker than we thought. Like the guards, the surprise causes re-evaluation. The re-evaluation may be good or bad but either way, the assumption must be taken off the table because the realness is in complete view. Are you exactly what someone was expecting? Was someone what you were expecting? Has the Lord shown you what you need to see as was the case of the guards?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

More Than Words

Proverbs 12:18
Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Words are more than words. As the wisdom filled King Solomon noted,words are piercing like a sword. We don't always think about it but if the Word of God is a sword for dividing truth and untruth, God called the world into being with words, then one can rightly determine that words are very powerful. When we speak to one another if it's with attitude other than love, then it will hurt. Truth sometimes hurts anyway but we usually don't want to hear it but when someone is is cruel with words, it leaves a nasty taste. One thing we must recognize is if it doesn't feel good when done to us, why then do it to someone else? We don't always think before we speak. We have a tendency put things out in the universe but they can never be taken back.. The wheels are set in motion whether it's a person's reaction to the words or the lack there of. But one who is wise knows that words cannot be changed and will seek to provide encouragement.

What you say is more than words, it can lift or break a spirit. And once a spirit is broken by your words, God has to be the clean up man.