Daily Devotional April 3 - Let God Work It out For You

 "And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;" 1 Samuel 12:20

Today I want to speak to everyone who is still involved in some way with things that are blatantly ungodly or irresponsible. Your trapped by your circumstances and you've made some verifiable bad choices. You might even be getting deeper in the pit of despair or trouble than you ever imagined. Maybe other than this nemesis in your life everything is going relatively smooth, (you think). But the truth is that if you are involved in something inappropriate or blatantly ungodly, you are negatively affecting your future and those around you. There will not be a good outcome unless you quickly disengage. 

But in this time (that you either brought on yourself or others pushed on to you) you need your heavenly Father. You need what God has to offer. Now is not the time to say, (God wouldn't approve of me or what I am doing so there is no use to go to Him.) It's just not true. In this predicament you need God just as much as when all is well. And you can turn to Him. You can call out to Jesus. You can expect God to move on your behalf straightway. You can talk to God and tell Him your troubles and the difficulty associated with removing yourself from the situation. If you continue to try to fix this on your own (the way you got into it in the first place) you will fail.

I'm with Samuel. Right now, today, in your current condition, don't turn your back on God. God didn't do this to you, but God can and will move on your behalf to work out the details so that you can move forward. "Turn not aside." You cannot hide from God, but you can (because of free will) deny God access to help you through it. Change your mind and let God work it out with you

Daily Devotional April 2 - The Power Within You

 "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,"  Ephesians 3:20

So many of these verses are familiar to us. We have read them and they have become part of our internal library, archived for use as needed. In this familiar verse I want you to take a close look at how God works His will. The scripture makes it clear that God "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." We have come to trust this and we know what it means; that what God has designed is far better than what we could design and that what God gives us is far above our expectations, but have you noticed before that God gives us all this above and beyond "according to the power that worketh in us?"

If the power within you is constantly vacillating and/or you have not made your mind up about where you stand (with God's principles and laws governing the actions revealed through Christian behavior), then the power that worketh within you is limited to the faith you have to bring it to pass and the belief you have that God will do it.

This "power that worketh in us" is the very essence of the relationship between God and man. God designed us to be in constant communication with Him and to co-create according to God's foreknowledge of all things. Your ability to grasp and understand and operate in the the power that God gives you is in direct proportion to your faithfulness to the things of God. "The power that worketh in us" is not a one time static gift of power that God embeds in your soul and you then operate on it despite your commitment to the things of God. It is a developed power that waxes and wanes with your faith and your belief.
You cannot earn it
You cannot get it from another source
You can only receive it by faith and that only through your belief that God gives it
To receive it all you need to open yourself up completely to the power of God
To open yourself completely to the power of God, you need to make available space to receive it
And to make space to receive it you must push something out that makes room for something new
I know the argument; you can take in new without pushing out old, in other words build upon your existing foundation without demolishing any of the old foundation. It's not true. If you put wonderful, powerful, exceeding, above on top of a weak and decomposing foundation, the wonderful, powerful, exceeding, above will become top heavy and topple. God wants your foundation to be pure and to build wonderful, powerful, exceeding, above upon that pure foundation, then when you operate "according to the power that worketh in us" God "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think."

Daily Devotional April 1 - Within You The Essence Of God

 "As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:6-9

Good advice. Whatever you have been taught about Jesus, at least walk under the authority you have. If you have given in to a lesser life than what you have been taught, it's not too late to do something about it. Many of you were taught eternal truths and treat them like they are just another math lesson or biology lesson that you don't think you'll ever need. The youth of today that were brought up in church and think that they have now found another way..., well it's a sad commentary.

Many young people have bought the humanism philosophy that teaches that each of us create and provide for our own destiny, short term and long term. The seeds planted by the unbelieving professors and the feeling of breaking out from their parents hold are too much for them to fight against. Many are allowing their roots to rot. They are pruning the tree at the root and they are pasting on branches, leaves and flowers as if the plant grew up to be a strong tree without any roots. I hear it all the time; many think it is cool to make a multitude of friends and dis their parents. Oh, they will certainly act like they want to see them, but only a teen or young person would fall for such childish tactics, the parents know they are being looked down upon.

The Bible says "beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world..." The word 'spoil' isn't a simple word like we think of today , as in spoiling a child. This word means to go completely and utterly rotten, like compost, i. e., to decompose. "After the rudiments of the world," rudiments are the lowest level, the basest, most common and useless components. This is strong language. What a waste to fall for a false philosophy and fall after the lesser things in life when all along you have within you the very essence of God. You were brought up to believe what God says and now you have supposedly found a better way?

Daily Devotional March 31 - Let There Be Light

 "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Genesis 1:3

This is one of my mother's favorite scriptures. Let's set the record straight. If you can't get through chapter one of Genesis and believe every word don't bother with sunrise service. Way too many people believe portions of the Bible and they claim that they are Christians. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You don't have to know the Bible nor do you have to had read the whole Bible to be saved. God makes it clear in Ephesian 2:8 "For by grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." And in Romans 10:10 the scriptures say, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

But you have to believe what you read.

Back to the verse. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

If you get this verse, the whole Bible will open its volumes to you and you will have entered into a place of knowing with God. Think about light for a moment. It is visible and invisible; it is substance and no substance; it travels at 186,000 miles per second. That means that it takes only 8 minutes for the sun's light to reach the earth. Everything about light is mysterious, but to create light out of no thing...? To speak a word and create light...? That's what I mean, "if you can't get through chapter one of Genesis and believe every word don't bother with sunrise service."

Going to church and participating in religious gatherings is a beautiful thing and I believe everyone should be part of a local church and support it and assist in every way they can, no exceptions. But the Bible was written so you would get to know the God of church. If you don't believe the basics in the first few verses of Genesis, why would you believe any of it? It's all in the same book. God designed you to be infused with Himself and that doesn't happen unless you believe His report of Himself. The Bible is true, all of it and unless you can believe that, how can you be sure you believe any of it? How can you be sure that what you call religion isn't just conditioning? How can you be sure that what you learned isn't just cultural Christianity? NO. You can't be sure unless you believe it all. That's right:
Let there be light

• The parting of the Red Sea
• The Israelites wandering for forty years in what should have been an eight day's journey
• The feeding with manna from heaven
• Jonah in the belly of the big fish
• Daniel in the lion's den
• The virgin birth
• The death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus
• Entertaining angels unawares
• Heaven as a place
• Hell as a place

These aren't allegories, or stories with a hidden meaning. They are what happened and the Bible goes on to fully disclose what is going to happen.

I guarantee you that if you buy into the whole package, the entire Bible and you begin to believe every word that you read, you will find out that life any other way was a waste of your time. Let there be light in your heart.

Daily Devotional march 30 - Let God Work It Out

 "And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;" 1 Samuel 12:20

Today I want to speak to everyone who is still involved in some way with things that are blatantly ungodly or irresponsible. Your trapped by your circumstances and you've made some verifiable bad choices. You might even be getting deeper in the pit of despair or trouble than you ever imagined. Maybe other than this nemesis in your life everything is going relatively smooth, (you think). But the truth is that if you are involved in something inappropriate or blatantly ungodly, you are negatively affecting your future and those around you. There will not be a good outcome unless you quickly disengage. 


But in this time (that you either brought on yourself or others pushed on to you) you need your heavenly Father. You need what God has to offer. Now is not the time to say, (God wouldn't approve of me or what I am doing so there is no use to go to Him.) It's just not true. In this predicament you need God just as much as when all is well. And you can turn to Him. You can call out to Jesus. You can expect God to move on your behalf straightway. You can talk to God and tell Him your troubles and the difficulty associated with removing yourself from the situation. If you continue to try to fix this on your own (the way you got into it in the first place) you will fail.

I'm with Samuel. Right now, today, in your current condition, don't turn your back on God. God didn't do this to you, but God can and will move on your behalf to work out the details so that you can move forward. "Turn not aside." You cannot hide from God, but you can (because of free will) deny God access to help you through it. Change your mind and let God work it out with you.

Daily Devotional march 29 - Whom Do you Follow, The Flesh Or The Spirit?

 "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction." Proverbs 13:3

Look, you think you are a good person and overall you are, but don't disregard the words of wisdom from Solomon. If you are mouthy and have a difficult time expressing your wishes unless you yell or say some demeaning thing, think about the consequences of your actions. The words you speak and the intonation of those words has a lot to say about you as a person.

This is something you can rectify. You have within you power over your own mouth. Do you want to yield to your baser instincts or rise to newer and higher thinking? What you think and what you speak have a great deal to do with who you are and where you are today. But even if you like the way things are and even if it doesn't bother you if you speak abruptly or disrespectfully to your children or your spouse, you might not like the long-term results of such actions.

Your spouse, children and friends were made by God to hear in their hearing every good and worthy word you can muster up. They were designed to respond to the sounds of the indwelling Holy Spirits voice being uttered through a willing vessel. They were designed to be built up and encouraged by the words you speak and the thoughts you think. I know I don't want to be responsible speaking trash into the hearts and minds of those I love.

This is a war between the spirit and the flesh. Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. Your spirit seeks and desires the higher things of God, while you flesh seeks the baser things, the lesser things and ultimately death. Your spirit has within it the vocabulary of God, while your flesh has within it a very limited and sometimes degrading lexicon. Yes this will require some energy and some hard work and some sacrifice, but doesn't everything of value cost something?

Daily Devotional march 28 - You Shall Be Filled

 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."  Matthew 5:6

Filled with what?

• Filled with the understanding of how God operates in the lives of mankind.
• Filled with the internal enlightenment that with God even a morsel is more than having it all without God.
• Filled with the knowledge of the Holy.
• Filled with courage to go through it (whatever 'it' is that is heavy on your soul) as God carefully leads you into that next place.
• Filled with strength to fight against the strong urges to go back to the familiar, go back to the common, go back to those things that once owned you, go back to the things that were or are killing you; strength to break away from any and all substances/things/people that are keeping you from being at peace with God.
• Filled with the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; God within us.
• Filled with humility, the kind that isn't afraid to do something for someone and not get credit.
• Filled with reverence for the Holy things of God.
• Filled with prayer that speaks out requests from the heart, prayers that reflect an understanding that God is a God of miracles, not a genie in a bottle.
• Filled with worship, seeking opportunities to get alone with God on the mountaintop, or somewhere quiet and worshiping God for His Allness, and seeking opportunities to gather together with others and worship God with depth and reverence.
• Filled with love, looking for opportunities to give to others, finding ways to make you spouse happy, (even if things aren't the way you want them to be), looking for ways to say yes to your kids.

Filled with love means you have to give something up for someone else to receive something, like giving up a few seconds in front of the TV when your spouse or children asks a question. Filled with love means being available when you are the 'closest person' to a need and God calls you to go and fill it. It might be inconvenient.

Oh the depths and riches of a relationship with God. Do you hunger and thirst for this kind of relationship with God? If you do God says you will be filled. Try to believe it long enough for God to reveal Himself through/in your current circumstance and fill you up.

Daily Devotional march 27 - Get your Mind In Line With God Thinking

 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Romans 5:1

You can tell if you have been justified by faith, you are at peace with God. What does it mean to be at peace with God? Most of all it means that in your thinking you are not seeing God as an adversary watching you closely to see if you are messing up. It means that when you think of God you think high and lofty thoughts. You think that God is working things out for you. You think that since God has gone before you, you know that even in the circumstance you are in right now (yes, I mean even the unfair situation you are in) God is in full knowledge of and God is working out the passageway through it right now. I said passageway through it because God-thinking requires you to go through it with God, not around it, over it or under it.

Being at peace with God means that when you think of God you think that God knew what He was doing when He set it all in motion and you are completely convinced that God knows what He is doing right now, in your life and those across the world.

Being at peace with God is knowing in your knower that when you go into the presence of God that all that is Holy and perfect awaits you there. You understand that you go into the presence of God with expectations of being changed into a clearer image of God's Son than you were before. You know that being at peace with God is understanding that the moments at hand are for using toward your desired end and that fighting God avails no benefit.
Being at peace with God is sublime. It is undefinable. It can only be learned from being in the presence of God.

Once you recognize that God is on your side and that all of creation was designed for you and that every possible scenario was worked out for you before the earth was even made, you should find time to make it right with God and get in line with His thinking, God-thinking.

Daily Devotional March 26 - Jesus Is The Light

 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Do you believe it? What Jesus is claiming is that many others will come along with great teaching, they might even be prophets or visionaries. They will have pure speech and a fine mind. They will teach what they know from the wisdom they have obtained in their fine finite mind. They might even teach truths that men should live by. They might even teach profound truths and they might direct the people to do good and be at peace with one another. But they are not The Light. That's what makes Jesus different. Jesus is the Light. Jesus doesn't just understand what's going on in the universe. Jesus made it. Jesus walked and lived on earth just like other prophets; Mohammad, Buddha, Vishnu and others, but Mohammad, Buddha, Vishnu and the others did not create the universe.

Jesus came down from the heavens, the others did not. Jesus is alive, the others are not. Jesus is God who came to us, the others are not. Others may have some light, but Jesus is the Light. Any wisdom that others purport to have obtained, they obtained from Jesus. Jesus is the source, the others received from the source.

The others can teach about the Light, but only Jesus is the Light. Others can teach you a great many things, but only Jesus can grant you eternal life. I'm not afraid to learn from others across the world, the great and respected writers, philosophers and prophets, and I gleam from them whatever light they possess, but to look to them as if they were the Light would be foolish, and not profitable and not true. Why not learn from all those who went before us the way it was meant to be, 'Men and women striving for excellence passing on their beliefs from their journey.' But they are not the Light, just a small reflection, if any, of the Light. Jesus is the Light.

Daily Devotional March 25 - Restore Me Oh Lord, Because I Forgot

 "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit." Psalm 51:12

When I forget all that God has done for me and all that God is doing for me, I pray this prayer. There is nothing like the feeling of the free spirit of God running through my veins. I love the feeling of knowing I am in the beloved. I love the feeling of knowing I am forgiven and God sees me as His child. I love knowing that all is well because my God is in charge. I love knowing that when God looks at me He is pleased. Of course not because of what great things I've done, but because of the work that Christ did in me and for me.

But, sometimes I wake up disappointed, worried or anxious, unsure, full of questions and even some doubt lingering like the mountain mist. When I am wise I shake it off with a prayer. I pull myself up and remember what God has taught me and who I am. When I am not wise I continue in this state, sometimes for hours until I am reminded of how totally unimportant so many things are that I have wasted my time, energy and money on.

All that said, I always keep a Bible handy. Just the flip of a page and I am revived. I am brought back into remembrance of the truth and I am reminded of what is real. Of course I sometimes just go outside or look up and say, "Father forgive me for being so petty, I am sorry for not trusting you." Either way I need reminded just like David needed reminded because we are in the flesh. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. Yes I do turn to God to lift me up. Yes I do rely on the scriptures to help remind me of what I forget

Daily Devotional March 24 - Is The Bible Just A Good Book For Grandma?

 "Let no corrupt communication proceed our of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Ephesians 4:29

"This simply makes good sense. The Bible is filled with 'good sense' recommendations and 'must do' commandments. The Bible instructs you how to live and how to have the most success at life, how to advance and how to be a peace in your heart.

It is disturbing though, to see how many Christians really only see the Bible as a good handbook for Grandmas. Many today do not believe the the Bible is an instruction manual for how to live a right life. Many today don't see their lifestyle in a right and wrong view. Relativism is the new bible. What's good for you might not be good for me. What's sin for you might not be sin for me.

It is amazing just how far even the (born-again, blood washed, spirit filled, Holy Ghost, Bible believing, sanctified, justified, double dipped Christians) will go to get and do what they want to. Even if it is a direct command from God not to do a particular thing, they will do it and justify it. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it doesn't work. The creator of the universe put everything in order so that some things work with creation's purpose and some things go against it. Does that mean that if you have a different opinion about a particular subject than God that your opinion will work? Never. Not for the long haul. I know, you think you know best. You think that God is old fashioned and needs to be updated and you are willing to take on the task and believe and promote what God condemns in hopes that God will change His mind, or worse, you think God was wrong in the first place. No. You will find, in due time, that the Word of God is sure and sound and right. You, your friends, others with differing views from God's view will not bring God around.

Many really good people, that would give their shirt off their back, and serve the community and otherwise live a decent life, have a false view about God's purpose and direction for mankind. The Bible says "let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth," not some, not a little, not for a good joke, not because you grew up with other people who do, not because it will win you a laugh, not because you are mad, not because it doesn't matter anyway. No. Just not. It's not just corrupt communication, it's corrupt living too.

I know, you think that doing this or that is OK because after all "I'm not hurting anybody," "it's my own business." God's economy does not work like that. All of life's decisions are tied to a universal truth. Just as physics and biology and chemistry and aeronautics all work all the time, providing for unbelievers and believers with the same results, so does the Word of God. What God spoke was and is true, always. You can buck it for a little while, a long while or even all your life; you can believe it or not, but God's Word has stood tall from the first word to the last breath taken on earth. You really want to be doing what God is blessing and what works all the time and that is found in the Bible. Simple, straight and easily to be understood truth. That's what makes for a good life. That's what works. That's whats right."

Daily Devotional March 23 - Who Is Best Qualified To Teach You About God?

 "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ." Galatians 1:11-12

You will find, during the long walk with Jesus, that much of what builds our internal faith comes from God by way of the indwelling Holy Spirit. God reveals Himself to you more and more as you spend more time with Him. Paul wasn't pontificating when he said what he had learned was not by the minds of men. He was simply stating a statement that any of us can make after we have spent some quantity time with God.

Taught by revelation isn't some new teaching. It has always been the way God reaches man. It's just that revelation doesn't come to the unprepared vessel. If you want more than a cursory experience with God then you will have to invite God into what you are doing. Our pastors, priests and rabbi's do the best they can to convey what they have seen and heard from God. Of course we need them all and we need each other speaking to one another about the love of God. But if your experience is a textbook experience only, there is much about God that you will not encounter.

Even the Bible, was written to reveal God to us, but the Bible is not God. The Bible is representative of all that a man or woman needs to find their place in God's economy and within the pages of scripture are the essential truths that keep us and direct us into agreeable truth. But nothing can compare with the moments with God when God reveals Himself.

Daily Devotional March 22 - To Be Wiser You Must Unlearn Some Things

 "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as a crystal, proceeding, out of the throne of God and the Lamb...And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever." Revelation 22:1, 5

Many people believe that living on the earth is some kind of a training ground for acceptance into heaven. And that if we can survive the brutality of living in a quagmire and sustain ourselves long enough, when we die there is some place magnificent and grand to enter into. They look at life as a testing ground to see if we are worthy of going to heaven. Many believe that if they join this group or that religion or if they are good enough or from the right bloodline, if they make it through this tortuous and unfair life, they will enter into heaven and receive eternal life.

I wish that you would read your Bible and unlearn all the false things that are said and taught about God. The only thing true in the statement above is that there is a place magnificent and grand to enter into. But the rest of it is false assumptions based on unsubstantiated teachings.

Here's how it really is:
Earth is not a training ground, but a very beautiful, God created place that has within it every component necessary for living a wonderful and blessed life. Earth is full of beauty and natural wonders that cannot even be fully understood, because they are also magnificent and grand. I know, in your heart there is much rebellion with this concept. If you are like most people you have seen enough unfairness and irresponsibility and ugliness and meanness and darkness that to compare heaven with earth just doesn't add up. Your right those things won't be in heaven, but the problem with earth is not earth, it's people. God made it perfect. We messed it up.

Earth is not a training ground to see if you will be faithful to God so that you can be assured that you get a ticket into heaven. First of all there is no ticket into heaven. Those who do not love God on this side, and enjoy a relationship with God while on earth, and trust that God is their Savior aren't going to trust God on the other side either. In other words, if you don't like the call to holiness on this side you aren't going to like heaven either. But more than that, heaven is a place that we dwell in, but heaven is not eternal life. Eternal life starts on this side at the moment that you accept the great sacrifice that God made for your redemption.

This eternal life has within it, on this side, a place called Rest, that can be found, understood, apprehended and lived on this side. You are living in eternal life right now. It's not something that you are going to get as you enter the pearly gates and St. Peter or Moses looks at your golden ticket and says, "ticket validated, come on in." You are in before you go, because eternal life is now. I tell you that if you can believe this you will live differently.

Even though heaven is a place, within you lives the essence of what heaven is made of. And to one degree or another you can perpetuate the thinking that nothing can be done about earths pitiful condition or you can think that you can and will, share this eternal life that is within you with others.

• You can think good thoughts toward others. 
• You can pray for others. 
• You can do something extraordinary for others and you don't even have to let them know who did it. 
• You can look at earth and see its beauty. 
• You can visualize living in this paradise, not to make light of the next paradise. You can enter into the Rest of God. 
• You will yourself there, by stopping long enough to sense the presence of God. 

It's true, you will have to turn off the TV, radio, Blackberry, Internet, and beeper, but if you believed that you could enter into a place that was like heaven, wouldn't you maybe give it a try? If you think going to heaven is going to be great, you are right, you can get alone with God and experience the quiet and peace associated with finding His Rest for your soul, right where you are.

Daily Devotional March 21 - Just How Important Is God thinking?

 "And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment: For she said within herself, if I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned about, and when He saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour." Matthew 9:20-22

"She said within herself." If you have ever wondered just how important God thinking might be, here is the center of how our faith works. The mind of God hears the voice of man, whether it is spoken outwardly or just thought inwardly. What we think becomes awfully important in light of this truth.

"She said within herself, if I may but touch His garment , I shall be whole." Whether she was a religious person or not, whether she had read the scriptures or not, what she said within herself was a statement that only faith can generate. At least up unto this time it had not been so, that if you thought in your mind, that if you touched the edge of Jesus's clothes, you would be healed of a disease that you had been suffering from for twelve years. This was the kind of thinking that comes from believing that God is who He says He is. This is the kind of faith that comes from understanding the omnipotence and the omniscience and the holiness of God. This is the kind of faith that is available to every one of us.

If you are not getting this kind of faith-building teaching at your church, at some point in time, it would do you well to think deeper and let God teach you about Himself for a season. It will change your mind. If you are a pastor and you have trouble believing that verses like these are just as potent today as when they were written, you too need to let God teach you about Himself for a season. It would do your congregation more good if you were to take a sabbatical, than to teach the Bible with doubt in your heart. Doubt interrupts the connection between God and man that brings about healing and miracles.

Daily Devotional March 20 - How Well Do You Know Yourself?

 "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Do you know yourself this well? Are you convinced that Christ is life? Do you have the kind of relationship with God that you can say that today you know why things are the way they are...? Does your mission in life start with Jesus said? Paul made this statement which is really a condensed version of his whole life, past, present and future.

• He has found out why he was a Jew.
• He found out why he hated the Christians.
• He found out what it means to have a Damascus Road experience.
• He found out that not all people do what they say they will do.
• He found out that his friends and family might very well betray him.
• He found out that you might get lied about if you profess Jesus.
• He also found out that Jesus provides more to life than just working a job for pay.
• He also found out that within him lived the Spirit of God.
• He found out that those whom he used to kill, now he heals.
• He found out that heaven was a real place with.
• He found out that he was already living in eternal life and that even though to cross over into heaven was an advancement, the work to be done here required someone like himself; a man of faith with deep convictions and the guts to live it out.

For Paul, "to live is Christ."  How about you?

Daily Devotional March 19 - How Many Times Do You Have To Learn The Same Thing?

 "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."  Hebrews 5:12

It's that way across America. So many people have chosen to follow and learn and then once they learn to follow and learn the same things over again. And if anyone gets too deep for them, they bail. They enjoy not knowing what they have already learned. What a shame that we would rather choose to be unlearned in the things of God.

I've known people who never found their place in ministry. Of course they weren't looking either. It is kind of vogue in our country to act religious, but to live shallow. Sorry, but the truth hurts sometimes. God has graced you and I with the greatest teaching this world has ever seen.
If you are not growing in Christ it is because you don't want to. From the storefront ministry to the mega churches, God is teaching. God wants you to get it and then to move forward and be taught deeper truths and to get that too. And then to go real deep and find understanding.

But to be taught the same truths over and over again without growth and change is not the way of God. If that is where you find yourself, do something about it. More than likely it's not the ministry you are under.