For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. ~Proverbs 2:10
We should not add Jesus to whatever we are doing like an ingredient in a recipe to justify our actions. We need to be willing to search the scriptures for His truth and change our ways to be like Him.
We can ask God for wisdom and understanding. Jesus should come first and direct the rest of our actions. If this means our actions change, at first it is uncomfortable, and we resist. But if we trust Him fully and let Him lead us, the result is even better than we can imagine.
Our plan of action leads to sin and dissatisfaction. Jesus’ plan & God’s will in our hearts leads us by the Holy Spirit and ultimately His plan for us. Let Him lead the way to the kingdom= JOY!
On the flip side of that coin, just as we should not add Jesus to justify, we also should not leave Him out. Everything in the Old and New Testament points to Christ. This is God’s story of redemption to bring His people to Himself. Scriptures are written for our instruction and the lessons are timeless. (Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:11-12) Cultures come and go but God remains the same throughout the ages and His word still stands today. Christ died to give us eternal life. It is not a secret society; it is an open invitation with eternal significance and our choice has eternal consequences. Thank you, Jesus! Merry Christmas!
For the time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Here is an interesting fact I learned recently in my Western Culture class; do you know where the name ‘marathon’ originated? During the Persian invasion of Greece, a man named Phidippides (fi-DIP-i-deez), was the messenger who ran the 22 plus miles from a town called Marathon to Athens, to tell of the Greek victory over the Persians. (Rawls, 2018)
Since becoming a runner about nine years ago, it has never been my goal to run a marathon. The longest race I have completed was a 10K (6.2 mi.) and the longest run on my own has been 7 miles. These days I do about 2-3 miles each day.
My main goal is to run for my health not to harm it. For me, that is what I would be doing if I trained for a marathon. Finding out I have the first stages of osteoporosis and that running is good for my bones only added to the many beneficial reasons for continuing this sport. I enjoy running and spending that time with God. I do not want to turn it into something I dread. I have learned to listen to my body and give it a day of rest when it needs it; that helps my muscles recover and I feel the difference the next time I run. Besides, this is where a lot of these messages come from…my time with God in nature. I have the time to process, pray and receive. God teaches me a lot, but I realize it is not just for me, so I share it with others in hopes it blesses them as well.
However, when I think about the things God is preparing us for it reminds me that the opposite is true. It is in God’s timing. Most of the time He must remind us it is a marathon, not a sprint. We can celebrate the milestones along the way, remember to take breaks, rest, and enjoy the beauty of the journey. We may not know the end goal of our trainings, but God does. We can slow our pace and take one day at a time.
Our experiences and lessons along the way can be used to help others. Sometimes, we think we know where we are headed only to be shifted in a completely new direction and focus. If we are staying our course, with God as the leader, we can rest assured we will get wherever we are going at just the right time. We should not settle on anything less. It may take a little longer but that is the nature of the marathon.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)
All of us probably have a different view of what the Bible is and how we should use it. I know I have been guilty of saying it is a book of instructions to guide us and show us how to live in this world. While I still believe that to be true, I wonder how others interpreted it. I want to add that it is that and so much more.
Some look at the Bible in two sections, the Old Testament, and the New Testament with lots of little stories in between. I may have been one of those people at one time, but with my new biblical class I am learning so much more about the Bible. (Yes, in case you did not know, I am in school now). God is amazing and full of surprises! Anyway, the Bible is God’s story. From start to finish and all the stories in between, He is the main character. The Bible tells the path God chose to redeem humanity. It is a beautiful love story- God loved us so much and this story tells of His plan to send His Son to save us so we could be in relationship with Him again. Ezekiel tells us that the cross is the ultimate sign act of Jesus profound love. The Bible gives us guidelines on how to be in a relationship with our Heavenly Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and with each other.
We live in a broken world. Because of the sin of one man, Adam, we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We have all fallen short. We will never be good enough to earn our salvation. That also does not give us a license to sin either. (Romans 6) The Good News is because of Jesus we are all saved by His grace. God’s restoration is open to anyone who chooses His plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. We are all on the same sinking ship. What it comes down to is if you will accept the life raft Jesus is offering.
The Bible says we will all be held accountable to God on judgement day for how we live. Sometimes this is a subject we tend to ignore or avoid because we do not want to think about it or simply do not understand it. But I thought Jon Weece did a great job in his sermon recently when he asked, “Do you want to live in fear of that day or trust what Jesus did is enough?” What a sweet message of love and grace that brings us hope.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for, it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1
Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We all know these seasons and probably have a favorite. Most of us would probably say Spring or Fall is their favorite because it is the right temperature, you like when flowers are blooming or maybe the Fall colors take your breath away. Whatever the reason, good or bad, we have a love/hate relationship with them.
Recently, I had a different thought about the four seasons. I believe we also have seasons of life. A spiritual and physical. For the spiritual we could look at it this way:
Fall: We fell into sin (a fallen world)
Winter: Death to self (we realize we should be living for God instead of self)
Spring: New birth (renewed by Christ for a new life)
Summer: Maturity & peace
Now, let us look at our physical seasons:
Spring: We are born
Summer- We mature
Fall- We are aging
Winter- Death
Winter can be like a dry season in our life. But no matter how long we have been in a dry, dark season, God can bring new life and refresh us with living water of the Spirit.
Just like the valley of dry bones, if we listen to the word of the Lord and have faith, He will breathe new life into us. (Ezekiel 37)
Jesus replied, “I assure you no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So, do not be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 NLT)
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. (Eccl. 3:1-2 NLT)
Our prayers and goals are interchangeable. We pray for the goals we want for ourselves. We may not get the answer we think we wanted, but God always gives us something better. We cannot see the bigger picture or the view from His perspective. We are like a mouse in a maze. Our view is only of the wall in front of us. When we come to a roadblock, we can feel discouraged. But looking down over our lives is our Heavenly Father who sees all, knows all, and can guide us to the right path. He can remove the obstacles and place people in our lives to help us along the way.
I heard a minister on the radio who said our prayers need to be specific and measurable. His belief was that if we just ask for a blessing that could come in the form of a problem. Blessings are little problems that keep you from a bigger problem.
That reminded me of a lady I was in a life group with a few years ago. She always told us we need to be specific about what we want in our prayers. She told of a friend who prayed for a husband. In her words, “that is all she got!” I had to laugh about that one.
I believe if we are continually pouring ourselves into the Father, He will pour more into us. The closer our relationship with Him, the more we align our desires to what He wants for us instead of what we think we want. God always knows best and wants the best for us.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we do not know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
(Romans 8:26, NLT)
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted? (John 15:7, NLT)
Have you ever seen an elephant without a trunk? I recently saw this article about a baby elephant that was spotted with just that issue. See video and article here: https://nypost.com/2018/09/07/baby-elephant-without-a-trunk-sparks-concerns-over-its-survival/ This is an elephant’s most vital tool for survival. It uses it to smell, eat, fight off predators, and basically survive.
It made me realize, this is how we are when we try to live life without Jesus- (our most vital tool for survival). We need Jesus to help us fight off the enemy, eat (bread of life), drink, (living water), and survive.
We basically cut off our nose to spite our face when we try to go this life alone. In order to bear spiritual fruit we need to be in communion with Jesus every day. What small steps can we take today to invite Jesus into every part of our lives? I am glad you asked…
Here are a few small things you can implement into your daily routine:
Spend 10 minutes in quiet space (thinking and listening)
Ask God what He wants for you
Prayer time
Read Bible
Start a Bible plan on your phone (I use the YouVersion)
Invest in a good study Bible (I use the NLT study Bible)
Pick up the Bible and open at random asking the Holy Spirit to guide you where to read
Journal anything that sticks out to you
Spend time in nature with God
It does not need to be all at once – you can start small and add things as you go so you do not get overwhelmed.
Listen to his instructions and store them in your heart. (Job 22:22 NLT)
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. (James 1:5 NLT)
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 NLT)
A Greek word meaning: to believe. The verb denotes trust. An action decision to believe in the trustworthiness of a person. It can also signify an ongoing state of belief and the action associated with faith. (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Greek glossary section).
Last week, I lost someone that had only been in my life a short time. But during this time, he made a great impact on my life. My new boss of only 78 days died at a very young age. Although at times, especially early on, the days could be challenging, God used him to help me use my voice to speak up and set some needed boundaries on my time.
My first thought was that I did not know what he believed. I did not have time to share any of my personal testimony with him or ask him anything about himself. But God is now using his death for a purpose in my life- to fuel the fire God placed in my belly to share the truth of Jesus Christ with others. I do not want his death to be in vain. I was deeply saddened over this loss and grieve the shortness of a life with such potential, but will use it to fan into the flames of the gifts God gave me, tell my story, share my testimony with anyone God places in my life that needs to hear it.
God gave me peace with the loss and I know he is in a better place, but it also reminded me of the urgency of telling everyone I love about the intimate relationship that is available to us and what a difference it made in my life. We are all called to share the gospel. We need to be good stewards of our gifts, talents, time, and treasure. If we are unsure of your gifts, let us ask God. Then stop talking and lean in to listen to what He has to say. “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened,” (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007 Matthew 7:8).
We are called to be fishers of people. (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Mark 1:17). Jesus’ last commandment was to go out and make disciples- The Great Commission. (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Matthew 28:19). Life is short, who do you love enough to share the truth? Ask the tough questions, take risks for the sake of the Kingdom. Give God all the glory. Be grateful. Share your faith in love. Galatians 5:3 says, “What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world so much He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. This brings new life. Do you believe this? Do you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what that means for us?
It is not enough just to believe, but we must put our faith into action and follow Christ wholeheartedly. Stop straddling the proverbial fence and go all in. If you are lukewarm, He will spew you out of His mouth. Jesus calls His followers to believe in Him, but also to trust, love and obey Him. Sometimes we have trouble with that word ‘obey’, but it is not the authoritative tyrant kind of obedience He calls us to. It is the type of obedience that a loving Father knows what is best for his little children. He says choose you this day whom you will serve. We can not serve two masters. We have a free will to choose, but there are always consequences to our choices.
When our time is up, do you we want to be found following this world, which is temporary? What do we have to show for our efforts when this world is gone? It is my hope that you choose Jesus because what He offers is an eternity of joy and peace. We are to lay up our treasures in Heaven, (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Matthew 6:20) People like to skirt around the truth and make everyone feel better about the choices they make, but the truth is written in God’s word for us to follow. It is a guide called the Bible. It tells us there will be a judgement day for the choices we make in our lives, but there is redemption through the blood of Jesus, who died for our sins so we can be saved and spend an eternity with Him in glory.
This Good News is be shared – It is my hope that you know Christ as your personal Savior, but if you have any questions about how to accept Jesus in your life or desire an intimate relationship with Him and not sure how or where to start, please reach out to me at angela@faith-ealk-ministries.org.
“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord,” (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, 2 Timothy 1:6-8)
(V9) “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did not do this because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time- to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.”
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and He will give you everything you need.” (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Matthew 6:33)
This is another story through the eyes of the character…thank you for allowing me some liberties in the details of his feelings. The story is based on the biblical account of Moses’ brother Aaron.
Moses older brother, Aaron, was an imperfect leader. Even though he was chosen by God for an honorable position, in his disobedience, he died in the wilderness without seeing the Promised Land. As Moses mouthpiece, he spoke to Israelite leaders on behalf of the Israelites to convince Pharaoh to allow them to leave Egypt. He was also chosen to become Israel’s first high priest.
Taking second fiddle to Moses most of his life, Aaron dreamed of the day he himself could lead the people. At this point he only repeated messages God gave Moses. Aaron sat on a stump, carefully carving each letter of his name on a staff that would represent the tribe of Levi. His thoughts racing, he tried to imagine the staff budding and what that meant for him and his family. If he were chosen, everything would change. This would be a great responsibility. He could feel the palms of his hands begin to sweat, and the tension in his brow became apparent as did his intense grip on the staff. His jaw tightened and then in one extreme exhale of air, he began to relax a bit. He would just have to await until the appointed time.
He delivered the staff to Moses, who took it with the eleven others, representing each ancestral tribe, to the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, and placed them in the Lord’s presence. Then they waited. The next day, when they arrived at the Tabernacle, Moses found that Aaron’s staff not only had buds, but it had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds, (New Living Translation, 1996,2004,2007, Numbers 17:8). You could not ask for a clearer sign. God had shown the people who will oversee the Ark and the staff was placed there permanently as a reminder.
In amazement, Aaron picked up one of the almonds and touched it cautiously with the tip of his tongue for a brief second and then jerked back. It was real. He chuckled under his breath and popped it in his mouth, relieved and nervous at the same time. Although a bit of arrogance crept in at first, he knew this job could not be taken lightly. If Aaron allowed anyone near the sacred objects of the alter, both he and them would die. God also provided for Aaron and his family, by allowing them to receive a portion of the most holy offerings. He had special garments made just for Aaron and his sons that would distinguish him as a priest set apart for the Lord’s service.
Great skill and care went into making the chest piece that Aaron would wear when seeking a decision from God. He would always carry over his heart the objects used to determine the Lord’s will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord. The breastplate held sacred jewels representing the sons of Israel with each name engraved on them like a seal, serving as a reminder that the priest represents the people of Israel.
The four rows of gemstones carefully placed were:
red carnelian, pale green peridot, emerald, blue lapis lazuli
turquoise, white moonstone, orange jacinth, agate
purple amethyst, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper
The weight of the breastplate rested on Aaron’s shoulders as a reminder of the great responsibility given to him by God. But God also provided everything Aaron needed to accomplish his feat and fulfil his purpose. God has always provided for us, even when we cannot see it. He generously bestows knowledge, wisdom, spiritual gifts, talents and fully equips us with everything we need to accomplish our God-given mission.
Aaron’s story leads him in the wilderness, his impatience with the Lord led him to make a golden calf for the people to worship; and his life was ended before seeing the Promised Land because he challenged God. This should stand as a reminder that even though we are chosen by God for a purpose and He equips us for the journey; we are not to worship His creation, but the Creator Himself. Our disobedience makes us miss out on blessings and joy in this life. Our gifts and talents are not to be made idols in our lives, but we are to always look to the One who generously gave us those gifts and give Him all the honor and glory He so richly deserves.
God’s timing is perfect. When we rush it or try to do it by our own efforts and take control, we are edging God out by letting our ego and impatience take first place. But when we surrender all to God, the Creator of all things, who knows all, sees all and has a plan for our lives, we are blessed beyond measure and everything will fall into place, as God designed. We can trust God with the outcome. He has proven to be faithful and saved us from our own destructive behaviors more times than we can count. His faithfulness endures forever. We when are struggling with something, we can ask God what He wants for us; but we must be willing to listen and make the necessary changes. That is not always easy, but it is worth it. Surrendering to God changes lives.
You are a chosen son/daughter of the King. That is not a heavy burden but an honorable mission that brings delight when we allow God to lead us one day at a time and trust Him with the outcome. It will put you out of your comfort zone into unknown territory, but it is a risk worth taking, every time.
The debate of the legitimacy of miracles is nothing new. The word itself is overly used, by many, in the wrong context and it is hard for us to grasp the occurrence of real miracles. In reality, no one completely understands God’s natural process either, we are not meant to fully understand. In explaining the verses in Amos 5:8-9, the NLT study Bible denotes that, “the Lord understands and controls natural processes that seem mysterious to humans.” If we do not understand natural processes how can we understand supernatural events?
If we understood everything perfectly, we would not need to rely on God. His intentions are for us to come to Him for understanding and wisdom. We will not know or understand perfectly until we are with Him in eternity. In all manner of speaking our very existence is a miracle. We weaken its stature when we throw it around in everyday conversation. For instance, we could remark what a miracle it was that we passed an exam. The God we want to portray, in all His glory and power, gives us reason to attest a true miracle comes from divine intervention, although unbelievers will argue otherwise. Some claim they are natural occurrences or hallucinations.
I agree that not all claims of miracles are miracles, but in contrast, the sentiment, “it’s a miracle” has echoed through time on the lips of those whose loved ones survived chronic illness or tragedy. To the ones who experience it firsthand it is nothing short of a miracle and serves as a reminder of God’s love and divine intervention in our lives.
Some find it hard to accept Jesus’ resurrection as reality or even take the Bible seriously and question the legitimacy of it. Let us explore another event in history for a moment. We learned about the Civil War throughout our childhood. We were not there, but we believe it because of the testimony and eyewitness facts from people who were. We may even have family members from previous generations that fought in it or lost loved ones to it, therefore we take the stories past down to us as factual. Not only that, be we know great care was taken in the preserving of these historical events and were written form eyewitness testimonies shortly after their occurrences.
Then why not compare the accounts in the Bible as a historical document that commemorates the life of Jesus, just as we do other historical accounts? In the same regard, there were eyewitnesses to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is not likely the disciples made up the story because they were not expecting Him to die and be risen in the first place. We see in Luke 9:44-45 Jesus telling them once again about His forthcoming death, but they did not know what He meant. They could not understand it and were too afraid to ask. The gospels were consistently representing the disciples as misunderstanding Jesus.
There were also accounts after Jesus’ resurrection, such as improbable disciples who underwent a profound transformation after encountering the risen Jesus. Take Apostle Paul for instance, in Acts 9:1-28, we see the story unfold of a ruthless man with a personal agenda to kill Christians. Literally dragging them out of their homes until Jesus appeared to him. We can see the transformation he went through as he immediately began to preach the gospel. What causes a person to undergo such a transformation or lay his life on the line without a divine intervention?
There were hundreds of other accounts from people who were previously skeptics, who proclaimed to see the resurrected Jesus. The historical reliability of the biblical accounts of Jesus’ resurrection can also be supported by the fact there was an empty tomb. By opening a window to the possibilities that Jesus performed miracles and indeed was resurrected leads to the kind of faith God calls us to have and points to the power of the Kingdom. (Matthew 12:28)
The NLT study Bible also encourages us in Acts 8:5-8, that miracles remind us of the truth that, “nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37). Our faith leads us to believe these events happened which in turn aids us in believing in miracles. Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, if you will, serves as an overview and reminder of the many faithful servants of Christ, whose faith and obedience led to many miracles.
No that is not a snake, but it took both me and my son a second look, after jumping out of its path, to notice that it was only a hair braid. This reminded me about one morning while I was running, I saw a man killing snake on my street. What causes a grown man to whack at a baby snake with a bulb planter?
I believe it is our fear and misunderstanding of the creature that causes us to not like certain animals, insects, reptiles etc. Our hatred stems from misconceptions which leads to fear.
We certainly had way too many snake stories in my childhood. As I reflect on that now I believe we must have had a lot of missed messages and un-addressed misconceptions in our family.
I certainly did not expect to see a snake cross my path while running in my suburban neighborhood and I can understand avoiding it on some levels- but I believe God sent me a message through this one.
All creatures were created with a purpose, even if it’s just because it pleased God, that would be enough. But I feel it is more than that.
In Revelation 4:6-8 we are given a description of four beasts in the center and around the throne. Each covered with eyes, front and back. The first was like a lion; the second was like an ox, the third had a human face and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of them had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out.
Now, if you encountered such a sight or didn’t put this into context, I can see where we might be frightened of such creatures. But just because we do not understand doesn’t mean we have to fear it. God created them and I believe He gave me the meaning of them as follows: They are a complete representation of God’s creation and that He can use them as a channel to bring messages directly from the throne to His little children everywhere.The eyes represent His all-seeing eye, searching the world for anyone willing to listen and pay attention and be open to receive the message.
There may be circumstances where we must take a drastic action against any creature who is causing a threat, but not all are causing anything but misguided fear and panic.
Snake: my interpretation is that they are a symbol of shedding our old life and transforming into a new one. That is certainly not a bad thing in my book.
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