Hide or Seek

Today's verse is:

“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:2-3 ESV)

We live in a culture where things are too easily obtained. We don't have to look very far or very hard to find ways to get things that we didn't work hard for. Most of the time it's because we are in a culture of "I need it now". Gone are the days of saving up & working hard to buy something then realizing after we have worked hard enough & saved enough we realize we didn't really need it anyway.

We are an instant gratification culture & I think that bleeds over to our walk with God. We think that just because we pray every once in awhile & open our bible after a convicting message that our prayers should always be answered. That our lives should be easy going & that we should be able to live a care free life. I mean come on, I'm saved right. Why shouldn't my life have all those things.

Look at the second part of that verse,

"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."

Hearing Gods voice doesn't come with an occasional prayer or reading a verse every once in awhile. Can God speak whenever he wants? Of course he's God but it takes a persistent prayer life, taking time to be still and listen & digging into the word daily to draw near to God. We can have an easy going life when we can refer to scriptures that say things like:

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:34 ESV)

Or

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

& countless more. When you know the word you can pull from them to give you to comfort and a knowledge that everything will be ok. Many people have "drive-through Christianity" where you just get what you want and move on until your hungry again and the process repeats. Or people who call the bible "the owners manual". I know people have their reasons for that phrase but the only reason I don't like referring to the bible as an "owners manual" is that I don't sit down every night & pull out my Kitchen Aide Mixer manual and have an enjoyable read and really learn my mixer. I only pull it out when there is something wrong that I have tried to fix on my own & couldn't so I had to refer to my owners manual.

The bible shouldn't be a supplement to our life, it should be the foundation. The same with prayer & quiet time. We need to start our day with God putting all our trust in him & know that he can work all things for good for those who love him & are called. We also need to be still. Be still & know that he is God. Be still & listen. Sometimes we focus to much on asking for stuff, we forget to listen to God telling us we don't really need those things to be happy.

I pray that we seek God daily & are praying without ceasing. I believe that is the only way we will be able to learn about the great and hidden things that we have not known that God is trying to tell us.

Grace & Peace
Ben

The GIANT Must Fall!

The Giant Must Fall

Why do we run?

Not the physical running to get in shape but the running away from things we feel we can’t defeat. When an obstacle comes against us we use our human understanding and past experiences to judge whether or not we can face the GIANT before us and win.

Think of the not so kid friendly story of David and Goliath. Do you think that David was ever scared? Do you think that David had a time of self-doubt? Do you think David ever wanted to run away to a safer place? Sure, he was human. But he knew that if God had called him to this battlefield He would equip him with the proper tools to combat the enemy. See the Israelite army had man made shields and armor but knew that they would be no match for the Philistine GIANT that awaited them. We are the same way. We all put on the worldly armor that we think will help us defeat our GIANT. We put up false fronts to make others think we have it all together. We hide behind self-pleasure, self-satisfaction and the approval of others to make us feel safe or at least better than someone else. If we are honest, most of the time our situations make us feel inadequate, unworthy, depressed and unable to take on that struggle and that’s exactly what the enemy wants. To let our defenses down and accept defeat. David was given worldly armor and found it burdensome and too much of a weight to carry. He had all the worldly odds against him but made the Wise Decision to trust God and walk burden free into the battle and found victory

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So what’s the Giant in your life and what wise decisions should you be making?

In our own human understanding, it would be easier to run away to a safer, more comfortable place where we know the outcome.  But what is God is calling you to do in your situation? What needs to be done to defeat your GIANT?

end a relationship, get counseling, cancel your internet, cut up your credit cards, take another job, stop flirting with your co-worker, put down the bottle, seek help from a friend, quit gossiping, seek God’s approval and not the approval of others, pray more, listen more, read the bible more, be more humble, more loving, more caring, more compassionate, see the good in others.

The list could go on and on but we must come to the realization that we all have GIANTS. What are you going to do about yours?

In my opinion, I would want to face the giant before me knowing that God is by my side and has what is best for me. Is that easy? Of course not!  Safe, comfortable decisions are easy to make with our own minds but Wise Decisions are made when we first seek the creator of us and our futures. Let’s be wise and go into every battle with the guaranteed victory in Jesus!!

THE GIANT MUST FALL!! So make the Wise Decision and seek God before the battle begins and you can guarantee the end result will be victory.

New Year

With a New Year comes new goals and resolutions.  Some people love to make resolutions and can last for a few months before going back to their old ways. Some people don't make resolutions so they don't fail in keeping them.  The problem with both of those options is we are relying on our own abilities, will power & strength.  Instead we should be going to The Creator, the one who knit us together in our mothers womb.  The one who has the power to change our hearts and give us the Holy Spirit who works in and through us.  The supernatural strength comes from the Holy Spirit but one must truly surrender ALL to Him!!  So lets start with the one who knows you better than you know you and let Him be your motivation & strength.

Philippians 4:3 - I can do ALL things through Him who gives me strength.

God First, Me Second

Grace & Peace
Ben

SIDETRACKED

Why is it so easy to get sidetracked?

LIFE.....

Life gets in the way.  It gets in the way because we make it our priority to schedule our life with things WE want to do.  Why? Because we are human.  Its our human nature to make sure the things that make us happy, fulfilled, accomplished & wanted take priority. We want to fill our lives with things that we think make a difference.  What I have found in life is when I start with ME, life gets overwhelming. I get sidetracked into thinking that I am doing all of these things in this gamed called life for God when in fact is ME doing and wanting God to come and bless my efforts.  Can God take my works and bless them? Of course, he is GOD, but is that whats wise?

Why not start with God and have Him set my schedule.  Wake up to God and say "what do YOU want me to do today, who should I talk to, how should I present myself in this situation or that situation.  When we start with God we can know that all decisions, schedules and life in general are being used to further the Kingdom here on earth.

LIFE GETS NEW PURPOSE.

My challenge is to not let life get in the way but let God guide your life so the WAY is clear and has purpose.

Grace & Peace
Ben

A Focused Mind

As my 10K run approaches, I have to get my mind focused on the task that is before me. I have been super busy this week with a cold on top of it all. I need to take this evening to relax and focus my mind and body for tomorrow.

I think as our walk with Christ goes we get super busy with life and sometimes get spiritually & physically exhausted. The interesting part is that sometimes we are super busy with good things like volunteering @ church or playing on a worship team or community outreach, etc...... We need to make sure we take time for a sabbath. My pastor said this Sunday that "you can do more in 6 days with a Sabbath than 7 days without". Take a day to do something that feeds your spirit. Take a hike or go to the park or just chill @ home in your pajamas or run a 10K. The interesting thing is when I run, it's not the most fun thing to do but I can totally check out of reality. Gives me time to focus on my life and thank God for all He has done for me.

My challenge is that you take some time for a Sabbath!!

Grace & Peace
Ben

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Spiritually & Physically Fit

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

I think sometimes we read certain scriptures and understand it but don't fully commit to it. We try and find ways to "fulfill" the scripture the best way it fits into our lifestyle and go on with our life. I think the Holy Spirit wants us to fully commit mind, body & spirit.

In 1 Corinthians we read that we are to honor our body because it is a temple for the Holy Spirit. I always though I was doing well with this until I finally fully committed and realized that our physical health is a very large part of the puzzle. As I began running, eating healthy and loosing weight, my walk with Christ has grown more than before. I have realized that the only way for me to overcome an unhealthy lifestyle was to allow the Holy Spirit, who is dwelling in my temple, to supernaturally give me the willpower to overcome temptations and help me persevere through things. Sometimes on a long run, the only thing that got me through was quoting scripture and focusing on the glory of God!

If you are wondering what is missing in your Christian walk, it may just be a discipline in the area of physical fitness & healthy eating. Give it try. What do you have to lose? You will feel better & have a closer connection with the Holy Spirit.

Grace & Peace
Ben


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ungrateful Christians (two words that should never be used together)

I know we all have our days when we are in a bad mood and do things we wouldn't normally do or say things we wouldn't normally say. But when it happens 3 days in a row, there is an attitude problem. We as Christians are called to a higher standard especially when you are in a leadership position. It saddens my heart when people can be so ungrateful when someone has been doing everything they can to help make things accommodating and comfortable. 

I pray that WE can look past the petty things in life. 

It's easy for us to find something to complain about. When things are inconvenient for us, things are not going our way or someone has a different opinion than you. We need to pick our battles wisely and be grateful that we are alive, breathing, loved by a God who has every right to deny His love based on our actions towards Him but yet He still loves us unconditionally!

Let's be a people who are known by our actions and words and show Gods love to all we come in contact with!

Grace and Peace
Ben