TO KNOW HIM

The Apostle Paul's chief desire was “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death (Phillipians 3:10) “. The Amplified version of the Bible states it like this: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly],” Being the educated man that he was, Paul knew all about Jesus. He knew all of the old testament prophecies better than pretty much anybody in his time. I can know my husband's name, social security number, birthday, etc. etc., but that doesn't mean I KNOW him. Having knowledge of Jesus wasn't enough for Paul and it shouldn't be for us. He said that he may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him. Knowing God is a continued process. We don't just get to know Him and then it stops there. We must be in constant pursuit of knowing God. This being the age of information with the internet at our fingertips and books on just about every subject, there are a lot of people that know about Jesus, but don't really know Him. You can't know someone by simply reading a book, but you have to spend time with them.

In his book, “The Pursuit of God” A. W. Tozer says, “Self is the Opaque Veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can only be removed by spiritual experience, not mere instruction. As well try to instruct leprosy out of our system.” He spoke of self sins such as self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and many others. These are the hinderances that keep us from truly KNOWING God. We can't be taught into knowing God just like any other relationship, it is developed by investing our hearts and time into Him. Notice I said hearts, sometimes we invest our times, but our minds are distracted by the many outside sources. We must set aside time for God and God only. Working for Him does not count as spending time WITH Him. Serving in your church are great and necessary aspects of the Christian life, but should never be substituted for spending time with God. Even Jesus got away from the crowds to spend time with the Father.  

 

Jesus said, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." (John 6:63).  He also said, "I am come that you may have life and life more abundantly."  (John 10:10).  He is speaking to us and He is speaking to us abundantly, but to know His voice, we must spend time with Him.  The Bible calls Jesus the Word which means one of His chief characteristics is that He wants to speak to us.  He longs for a relationship with us.  Many people say God isn't talking today and He is.  It is just that we are hearing too many other things and the voice of God is being drowned out.  

I encourage every person reading this to go beyond having a knowledge of God and strive to KNOW Him through reading of His Word, worship Him, and getting quiet to hear Him speak.  You say you are busy, but what could be more important that knowing the one who gave it all for you.  

 

Focus on The Lord

Psalm 34:3 says "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together."

What does that mean when it says magnify the Lord?  Are we making Him bigger?  Of course not!  When you looking at something through a magnifying glass it does not get any bigger but it seems like it we are a whole lot closer to it and we see much more detail.  To magnify the Lord is to focus more closely on Him and His characteristics and His love rather than our circumstances. What about the part that says "let us exalt His name together."  Isn't His name already a name above every name? Are we making His name higher.  This is also talking about exalting His name in our own lives.  

So how do we magnify the Lord and exalt His name in our lives? Psalms 34:4 says " I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Notice it didn't say "I sought the Lord and He SAW me."  It says, "He HEARD me."  that means that the psalmist was SAYING something.  We magnify something in ours by what we think about and what we talk about.  The magnifying glass of God is the Word of God.  The Word tells us of all of God characteristics and His love for us.  

The reason you see some people are successful in the things of God and some are not is because of what they are magnifying, focusing on, and exalting.  Are you constantly talking about how someone hurt you or how hard it is to pay your bills or sinful things?  Then those are the things that you are magnifying.  Joshua 1:8 says "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." That is why the psalmist said to magnify the Lord because that is the formula for success: thinking about the Lord, speaking the Word of God out loud, and then, finally doing the Word.  

So, I invite you like the psalmist did to magnify the Lord with me by focusing on the Word of God through speaking it and reading it and also to exalting His name together by praising Him and thanking Him in advance for what He is doing in our lives.  I guarantee if you change your focus from your circumstance to God, He will change your life tremendously.

ATTENTION ALL MINISTERS:

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

My Pastor read this scripture in church today and I cannot stop thinking about it.  It is burning inside of me. This is what I desire for my ministry!  It should be what every minister desires.  Many times, ministers become obssessed with working on the "art" of preaching and they think they are doing something because the people love an emotional preacher.  My question for ministers is: Are people's lives being changed as a result of your preaching.  For example, today as well as many other days, my Pastor strayed away from his notes and preached as if he had been in our living rooms and our phone conversations.  That is because he is led by the Holy Spirit!  I see so many churches where they say the Pastor can preach meaning he is entertaining to listen to, but those people continue to live defeated and in sin. 

Ask yourself, why did I become a minister?  Is it for the attention? It is for money? It is for prestige or power?  If so, GET OUT NOW.  You are not helping people, but you are causing damage.  If the answer to the question is, "I am called by God,"  then make sure you always remember that.  I have seen many ministers rise to the top and fall because they lost focus.  The scripture above should always be the focus of every CALLED BY GOD minister.  We should stay in tuned with the Holy Spirit so that His power can be manifest through us and change lives.  Ephesians 4:11-12And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: If you are called into the ministry, then your purpose is to edify or build up the Body of Christ!!  Ask yourself today is that what you are doing, if not get alone with God and make sure that is what you are called to do and see how He wants you to accomplish it.

 

 

HOW IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP?

Many people say they love Jesus, but often get mad at someone when they quote the Bible to them. That confuses me because in John 1, it says that Jesus and the Word are one and the same. First of all, why are you mad at someone who is simply quoting the Bible. They are not saying it, they are just repeating what God says. Preachers are just reporters reporting what someone said, that someone being God. Christianity is the only religion that is about relationship rather than rituals. God came to this earth to have a relationship with us and then he sent the Holy Spirit to take that to another level.

 

Think about your natural relationships. Those who about about the person honor their wishes, want to spend time with them, and want to tell everyone about that person.

First, let's talk about honoring their wishes. You cannot say you love Jesus if you consistently go against what he says. He said loved Him, you would obey Him. (John 14:15). Secondly, do you spend time with Jesus? One way to do that is prayer. I am not talking about the “lay me down to sleep” kind of prayer, but simply talking to God. The Bible says to pray without stopping. (1 Thessalonians 5:7). That doesn't mean you can't have a job and a normal life, it just means throughout your day, talk to God. Another way to spend time with Jesus is to read, speak, and listen to the Word of God. How are you going to know what a person likes if you don't hear what they have to say? Finally, are you talking about the Jesus that you say you love or are you embarrassed. When you are in love with someone, you can't help but talk about them! Paul said that he was not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power to salvation, deliverance, prosperity and our well-being. If we are not witnessing and telling people how God can change their lives, we really need to examine ourselves. I have had to check my self in this area. If you believe you are lacking boldness, make sure that you are filled with the Holy Spirit and the boldness will be there.

 

The Bible tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in faith. Go over these steps and see how your relationship with Jesus is. If something is out of whack, then change it. If you do, I promise your life will go to another level and you will begin to experience the goodness of God like never before!

Ten PracticalTips

These are just ten practical tips for success that I received in an email at work.  I thought I would share it with you.

Ten Tips

1. Be yourself: cultivate desirable qualities.

2. Be alert: look for opportunities to express yourself.

3. Be positive: determine your goal and the route to it.

4. Be systematic: take one step at a time.

5. Be persistent: hold to your course.

6. Be a worker: work your brain more than your body.

7. Be a student: know your job.

8. Be fair: treat the other man as you would be treated.

9. Be temperate: avoid excess in anything.

10. Be confident: have faith that cannot be weakened.

It's time for you to take control. . . of your emotions!

This post was inspired by a Facebook post by one of my favorite teenagers.  He posted, "No one can drive you crazy.  . . unless you give them the keys."  So true, Shaun!!!  It reminded me of my favorite quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  This quote along with the Bible changed how I view myself.  For years, I allowed people to control how I felt about myself!  My new favorite quote is "A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."  I work in catering and a lot of times business executives will call me at the last minute and ask me to cater an event that they forgot to do.  This used to really stress me out, but I no longer allow it.  Don't get me wrong, I will still do my best to get them what they need because they are good customers, but they or anyone else will not be allowed to stress me out.  My point?? You have control over your own emotions.  No one can "push your buttons" if you don't let them.   They are called YOUR emotions for a reason.  They belong to you. 

From this point on, don't allow people to put you down, make you angry, stress you out, or depress you.  Choose to believe what the Word of God says about you, your life, and your circumstances!  Make a choice today as to whether you are going to be emotion-led or Spirit-led.  Our own emotions will lie to us, but the Spirit of God will never steer us wrong!

Untitled

I just read a post on a popular Christian facebook page that saddens me.  First, a guy posted the salvation plan.  That's great. What disturbed me was the comment by the administrator of the page.  He said if you read that salvation plan that you will have eternal life.  That is a lie from the pits of hell.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we can simply read something and go to heaven.  This made me think of another lie that is circulating around about salvation.  Many are teaching that if you simply believe Jesus was raised from the dead that you will go to heaven.  I hate to break it to you, but Satan believes that and I promise you that Satan is not saved!! 

James 2:18-20 says this "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  So what exactly does this mean? If we give to the poor and try to live a life as a "good person" then we are going to heaven.  Absolutely not.  The works that James is talking about here is described in Acts chapter 2.  It is not saying you have to "work" you way into heaven, but you do have to do the requirements that have been outlined in the Bible. Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. "

Prior to this verse, the people were convicted and asked Peter what they should do.  Be clear on this.  The Bible says if you do not complete these steps, you are not saved.  1.  Believe.  These people were in a believing state when they asked Peter what to do.  2.  Confess.  Romans 10:9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Notice it says, "SHALL BE" or will be.  This is the beginning step. You must keep going.  3. Repent (turn away from your sins.) In other words, don't keep living a life of sin, but stop! 4.  Be baptized.  Many people argue against this.  Jesus did and the Bible clearly states for us to do it.  I don't .really understand what the problem is.  5.  Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:9 says, " Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

I pray that whoever reads this heeds these words. You are not saved by simply believing or even going to church.  Every step is required.  Many people leave out repentance.  If you are still living a life of sin, you are not saved.