When was the last time you prayed for courage?
1 Samuel 23:3,4 But David's men said to him, "Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?" Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."
On a daily basis, I hear about followers of Christ being persecuted simply for sharing Jesus with others. These reports create the impression that it’s getting more difficult to share the gospel with others without intimidation from others.
Yet at the same time, I have never been encouraged more by others to share my faith. At my workplace, I keep a bible out (inconspicuously) and have Christian music softly playing on the radio. And since I have started this policy, I receive positive feedback several times a week, a couple of inquiries as well, and I have yet to hear one complaint or negative comment!
I have come to the conclusion the following:
1. People of the United States of America and Canada are still primarily Christian. At the very least, they are not strongly anti-Christian. If they are not, they are curious enough to ask.
2. The media (regardless of political persuasion) is overplaying an anti Christian message to the point where we believe it, thus sending us and our faith unnecessarily into a prayer closet. Sure, there are atheist groups out there that will give you some grief, but even they can and will be polite about it. And you can always stop.
3. People want to hear about God. If you publicly display your faith, the curious and the inquisitive will ask you questions, for which you should have a ready reply. Even if the reply is, “I can’t explain it, all I know is when I put Christ first in my life, everything goes all right! I know someone who can answer your questions, though”. You can post these questions in the Christian FB groups will surely get you some answers. (Warning: you may get multiple opinions. Three theologians usually means four opinions.)
Fear not! The Lord will be with you whenever you do the Lord’s work. The Holy Spirit will be with you and guide your words. (Mark 13:11) And Christ said he will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). One thing I have learned is when you are worried about what others will think about you and your faith in Christ, lift up a simple prayer for courage to the Lord
November 14, 2011
November 11, 2011
Jesus Calls All - 13
1Thessalonians 5:16,17 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.
What happens when we pray? We communicate with God. We talk to him, make requests from Him for ourselves, family, friends or anyone we know that has a need.
God also talks to us. It is during this quiet time you may get to actually hear Him, in a still soft voice (I Kings 19:12) He will tell you what outrageous, crazy and often very basic and simple things He needs you to do.
You may like it. You may not. But go against it and you will regret it. Change your stinkin thinkin, do it anyway, rejoycing all the while, and you may find a new skill or talent (as in spiritual gift) you didn’t have before. Cooolllllll!!!
Pray while you wake up, eat, get ready for work, during the commute, at your workplace, at lunch, while you fight with your kids (this gets very interesting!), while winding down at night, and even as you go to sleep. Impossible? Yes, but perfection is not required. The more you succeed at this; however, the more you will actually find your day goes better, your job performance improves, your kids will not get the best of you, and overall, you are a much happier person!
The more you rejoice in the Lord, the more you pray and give praise, and the more you rejoice in the Lord!
What happens when we pray? We communicate with God. We talk to him, make requests from Him for ourselves, family, friends or anyone we know that has a need.
God also talks to us. It is during this quiet time you may get to actually hear Him, in a still soft voice (I Kings 19:12) He will tell you what outrageous, crazy and often very basic and simple things He needs you to do.
You may like it. You may not. But go against it and you will regret it. Change your stinkin thinkin, do it anyway, rejoycing all the while, and you may find a new skill or talent (as in spiritual gift) you didn’t have before. Cooolllllll!!!
Pray while you wake up, eat, get ready for work, during the commute, at your workplace, at lunch, while you fight with your kids (this gets very interesting!), while winding down at night, and even as you go to sleep. Impossible? Yes, but perfection is not required. The more you succeed at this; however, the more you will actually find your day goes better, your job performance improves, your kids will not get the best of you, and overall, you are a much happier person!
The more you rejoice in the Lord, the more you pray and give praise, and the more you rejoice in the Lord!
November 9, 2011
Jesus Calls All - 73
The price of compromise with God’s principles?
Rev. 2:14-16 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Compromise dilutes integrity. Politicians, in their attempt to pass legislation, bribe one another and will make concessions to the legislation being considered. This was originally designed to assure any bad laws would not get passed. Instead, today the result is good bills are diluted and become bad, and bad bills become even worse.
When a business or individual compromises their standards, the world tags them as a “hypocrite” and shuns them. We are furious with the leadership of Enron, Worldcom, the financial industry, and a host of other institutions and corporations who have profited from corporate welfare when they don’t even deserve to exist any longer. All have lost their integrity.
Compromise tolerates sin. Later, it endorses, and then later embraces. Drugs, violence in entertainment and sex, for example; once considered taboo, are now acceptable in society. The result is a global civilization becoming more self centered, more violent, and more apathetic.
Compromise dilutes your relationship with God. God wants all of you: hook line and sinker; lock stock and barrel. He doesn’t want you one day a week, or a few hours one day a week. He wants you 24/7/365. (And 366 days next year!) Yes you have a job and other responsibilities. Take God with you! Jesus would love to spend your workday with you, and the Holy Spirit will guide you and help you say and do the things that will help your day go better for you. You will most definitely strengthen your relationship with God.
Compromise caused the early Israelites to accept the teachings and idols of their neighbors, resulting in the weakening and eventual fall of Israel. Compromise enabled Balak ( mentioned above), King of Midian, to invite the Israelites to commit adultery with the Midianites. As a result, a plague destroyed 24,000 Israelites. (Numbers 25).
Where have you sacrificed your integrity for convenience? Where have you compromised your standards: with your work, your family, or with God? Reestablishing integrity is not an easy process. Your peers will find your repentance, “hard to believe” at first, but will later appreciate the change as they trust you more and more. Remember those with the strongest integrity are the ones who have the most value in the workplace, as well as with God. They are the ones who have the respect of others.
Rev. 2:14-16 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
Compromise dilutes integrity. Politicians, in their attempt to pass legislation, bribe one another and will make concessions to the legislation being considered. This was originally designed to assure any bad laws would not get passed. Instead, today the result is good bills are diluted and become bad, and bad bills become even worse.
When a business or individual compromises their standards, the world tags them as a “hypocrite” and shuns them. We are furious with the leadership of Enron, Worldcom, the financial industry, and a host of other institutions and corporations who have profited from corporate welfare when they don’t even deserve to exist any longer. All have lost their integrity.
Compromise tolerates sin. Later, it endorses, and then later embraces. Drugs, violence in entertainment and sex, for example; once considered taboo, are now acceptable in society. The result is a global civilization becoming more self centered, more violent, and more apathetic.
Compromise dilutes your relationship with God. God wants all of you: hook line and sinker; lock stock and barrel. He doesn’t want you one day a week, or a few hours one day a week. He wants you 24/7/365. (And 366 days next year!) Yes you have a job and other responsibilities. Take God with you! Jesus would love to spend your workday with you, and the Holy Spirit will guide you and help you say and do the things that will help your day go better for you. You will most definitely strengthen your relationship with God.
Compromise caused the early Israelites to accept the teachings and idols of their neighbors, resulting in the weakening and eventual fall of Israel. Compromise enabled Balak ( mentioned above), King of Midian, to invite the Israelites to commit adultery with the Midianites. As a result, a plague destroyed 24,000 Israelites. (Numbers 25).
Where have you sacrificed your integrity for convenience? Where have you compromised your standards: with your work, your family, or with God? Reestablishing integrity is not an easy process. Your peers will find your repentance, “hard to believe” at first, but will later appreciate the change as they trust you more and more. Remember those with the strongest integrity are the ones who have the most value in the workplace, as well as with God. They are the ones who have the respect of others.
November 6, 2011
Jesus Calls All - 72
Philippians 4:11,12 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Having personally gone from owning a successful, growing business to bankruptcy in less than 6 months back in 2008; having been homeless as well as a landlord; having no certainty as to where my next meal will come from and having a well stocked pantry, I have learned to appreciate every situation I am in. Even the impoverished ones, for I know God will meet my needs, although usually at the last minute. You see, God likes to work on my greatest flaw, a lack of patience, whenever He can.
Most of us are fortunate to be fully employed, and are content with their standard of living. A few of us are unemployed or underemployed; yet by the grace of God can make ends meet. Maybe these people are not content, but in this case, a lack of contentment should serve as a motivator for them to push forward and excel, hopefully to the glory of God.
Then, you have the “occupy” crowd. This is a relatively small group of self proclaimed victims who have a wide assortment of gripes and have received a huge amount of publicity from a mostly sympathetic media. Meanwhile, videos of violence by these protesters can be found on the internet, with over 1000 (and growing) “victims” arrested as of this post. In addition, claims of support for them from labor unions, communists and anti American Muslim groups and even our own executive government are circulating across the internet. Since the media is ignoring these claims, no one has any idea as to their accuracy. Indeed, the love for one another is growing cold, as Jesus said it would.
You may not have everything you want, but do you have everything you need? This is what contentment brings about. Sure, you may still pursue greater things - to have more - to save, invest, play and of course give away to those less fortunate, but when Jesus is your life and your love, everything else becomes irrelevant.
And this is what the “occupy” protesters need to know.
Having personally gone from owning a successful, growing business to bankruptcy in less than 6 months back in 2008; having been homeless as well as a landlord; having no certainty as to where my next meal will come from and having a well stocked pantry, I have learned to appreciate every situation I am in. Even the impoverished ones, for I know God will meet my needs, although usually at the last minute. You see, God likes to work on my greatest flaw, a lack of patience, whenever He can.
Most of us are fortunate to be fully employed, and are content with their standard of living. A few of us are unemployed or underemployed; yet by the grace of God can make ends meet. Maybe these people are not content, but in this case, a lack of contentment should serve as a motivator for them to push forward and excel, hopefully to the glory of God.
Then, you have the “occupy” crowd. This is a relatively small group of self proclaimed victims who have a wide assortment of gripes and have received a huge amount of publicity from a mostly sympathetic media. Meanwhile, videos of violence by these protesters can be found on the internet, with over 1000 (and growing) “victims” arrested as of this post. In addition, claims of support for them from labor unions, communists and anti American Muslim groups and even our own executive government are circulating across the internet. Since the media is ignoring these claims, no one has any idea as to their accuracy. Indeed, the love for one another is growing cold, as Jesus said it would.
You may not have everything you want, but do you have everything you need? This is what contentment brings about. Sure, you may still pursue greater things - to have more - to save, invest, play and of course give away to those less fortunate, but when Jesus is your life and your love, everything else becomes irrelevant.
And this is what the “occupy” protesters need to know.
November 1, 2011
Jesus Calls All - 12
You may not know God, but God knows you.
Psalm 139:1-3 You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
He knows our strengths and your weaknesses; our likes and dislikes; our (past present future) successes and failures. And He uses them all to His glory.
God gets it. That’s why when we are weak in ourselves, we are stong in Him. It’s why we can do the very things we dislike doing, and actually find ourselves discovering great joy in them, when God is with us. And our failures don’t get us down, for even when bad stuff happens, God does work for the good for us who love him (Romans 8:28).
So, when you are feeling beat up, knocked down, and you are wallowing in your own sinfull nature, don’t give up. Talk to that great psychologist, coach, mentor and our best friend, Jesus. The Holy Spirit will help you get up, dust yourself off, and get you back in that spiritual fight we all face.
Psalm 139:1-3 You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
He knows our strengths and your weaknesses; our likes and dislikes; our (past present future) successes and failures. And He uses them all to His glory.
God gets it. That’s why when we are weak in ourselves, we are stong in Him. It’s why we can do the very things we dislike doing, and actually find ourselves discovering great joy in them, when God is with us. And our failures don’t get us down, for even when bad stuff happens, God does work for the good for us who love him (Romans 8:28).
So, when you are feeling beat up, knocked down, and you are wallowing in your own sinfull nature, don’t give up. Talk to that great psychologist, coach, mentor and our best friend, Jesus. The Holy Spirit will help you get up, dust yourself off, and get you back in that spiritual fight we all face.
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