Friday, December 18, 2009

Revive the Spirit

I had a good day with devotion on intercession and a heart for God. My wife and I went to a park and hiked. I took the above picture. But after the hike I did not seem to be active spiritually. Though I did watch a youtube video on George Muller. And the day before I listened to an mp3 sermon on James Hudson Taylor.

So it was 2 days in a row that I watched and listened about men who lived by faith and not by direct income. Not there is something wrong with working for a living. We are told to do that in the Bible. Ephesians 5:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:10

But I want to live by faith in what I do. These 2 men went through testing as they lived by faith. So I went over the list of verses I had written in my Bible on testing. I came to getting drunk is dissipation. Ephesians 5:18 I went to the dictionary because dissipation is not a word I would use. Dissipation is a waste. When we do something that is a waste we are quenching the Spirit of God.

Watching football was what I did last night. I don't think watching football is a sin. I don't think hobbies or activities for fun are a sin. But they are not productive for me in living for Christ. It says in Hebrews 12:1 to lay aside the encumbrance that would keep us from following Christ.

In my endeavor to follow Christ, I ask in prayer what should I be doing at each opportunity. Last night I felt watching football would be good. And afterwards, still being out of it spiritually, (PS my team lost) I asked how does one become revived in the spirit?

I ask the question, do we revive the spirit by pampering the flesh?

1. Lay aside the things of dissipation.
2. Be revived according to the Word of God. Psalm 119:25, Psalm 119:32; Psalm 119:37, Psalm 119:40, Psalm 119:50, Psalm 119:107, Psalm 119:154, Psalm 119:156, Psalm 119:159
3. Review past studies; IE hygrade the Bible. Read and go over in the Bible what God has shown you in the past.
4. Matthew 4:4 We live because of what God speaks to us. Prayer and quietness before God allows us to hear Him, as we go over the Scriptures.
5. Put on a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Isaiah 61:3
6. Humble your heart before God; Isaiah 57:15; James 4:6,7; James 4:8,9,10

2 Chronicles 16:9 God will show himself strong to those whose heart is completely His. God tests us and when our heart is pure He will show Himself strong on our behalf.

If I am able to revive my spirit by pampering the flesh, is it my spirit that is revived or is it my flesh/soul? If I am revived by pampering the flesh, am I doing works for God in my strength?

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Bible Reading Markoff Chart for 2010

HISTORY
Genesis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Exodus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 32 33 34
Numbers 11 12 13 14 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 25
Deuteronomy 8 9 10 11 29 30 31 34
Josh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Judges 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Ruth 1 2 3 4
1 Samuel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 35 26 27 28 29 30 31
2 Samuel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24
1 Kings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
2 Kings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1 Chronicles 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 28 29
2 Chronicles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Ezra 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Nehemiah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Ester 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LAW / GENEALOGY
Exodus 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 35 36 37 38 39 40
Leviticus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 18 19 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Deuteronomy 4 5 6 7 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
1 Chronicles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 23 24 25 26 27

PSALMS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150


POETIC
Exodus 15 Deut 32 33 2 Sam 22-23:7 1 Cron 16:8-36
Job 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
Proverbs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Ecclesiastes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Song of Solomon 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

PROPHETS
Isaiah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
Jeremiah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Lamentations 1 2 3 4 5
Ezekiel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
Daniel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Hosea 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Joel 1 2 3 Amos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Obadiah 1 1 Jonah 1 2 3 4
Micah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nahum 1 2 3 Habakkuk 1 2 3
Zephaniah 1 2 3 Haggai 1 2
Zechariah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Malachi 1 2 3 4
Revelation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

GOSPELS / ACTS
Matthew 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Luke 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
John 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Acts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

ROMANS – JUDE
Romans 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1 Corinthians 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
2 Corinthians 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Galatians 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ephesians 1 2 3 4 5 6
Philippians 1 2 3 4 Colossians 1 2 3 4
1 Thessalonians 1 2 3 4 5 2 Thessalonians 1 2 3
1 Timothy 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 Timothy 1 2 3 4
Titus 1 2 3 Philemon 1
Hebrews 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
James 1 2 3 4 5 1 Peter 1 2 3 4 5 2 Peter 1 2 3
1 John 1 2 3 4 5 2 John 1 3 John 1 Jude 1

1 Chapter a day = about 3 years 3 months
2 Chapters a day = 1 year 7 ½ months
3 Chapters a day = 1 year and one month
4 Chapters a day = under 10 months
5 Chapters a day = under 8 months
10 Chapters a day = just under 4 months
in my Bible 38 pages a day = 1 month
The Bible has 66 books, 1189 chapters , 31,173 verses and 807,361 words.
At 200 words a minute you can read the Bible in 68 hours
Read 2 ch OT; 2 ch NT 1 ch Psalms daily = OT once NT twice Psalms twice.
I read these 7 categories in concurrent cycles. Romans Jude much faster than the Law.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Preach the Gospel to the Blind and Lost


I was thinking about salvation and how God works with us to bring people to repentance and enter into His kingdom. When I read Acts 26:16-18 this gave me an answer of how we can preach to the lost when the god of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelieving. 2 Corinthians 4:3,4

Paul is able to open their eyes Acts 26:16-18 to make a choice for Jesus. All that was given to Paul is given to us for we are asked to follow his example. Philippians 3:17 If we were not given what Paul was given then we would not be able to do what we are asked to do! We can also ask for grace and mercy to accomplish what is needed. Hebrews 4:16 There is no limit to what God will give. Ephesians 3:20 All of God's resources are available to those who believe according to the purpose of God. John 14:14 And it is God's will that all come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 So the ball is in our court. Are we going to live for the purpose of God or just please ourselves?

How can they believe with out a preacher? Romans 10:14 As we go and preach we are opening their eyes. People have the choice of accepting the gospel or rejecting it. Romans 10:16

Unfortunately Satan understands the power of the Word of God. He waits to snatch the word immediately after it is heard. Luke 8:12 This can be counteracted by our prayer in spiritual warfare.Psalm 24:7-10

We can reason with the lost about their sin and the consequences of ignoring the offer of salvation. Isaiah 1:18-20 Explaining God's love for them may open the eyes of their heart to receive and believe. John 1:12 I think reasoning with people instead of just saying they are lost and condemned would be more effective.

Since Satan is a defeated foe Luke 10:18,19 as we walk in the light we can express our victory and bind the enemy in prayer. Matthew 18:18, Psalm 2:8,9

Reaching out to the lost is not my natural choice. But it's God choice. I want to follow God not my flesh and I want to walk in the Spirit. Romans 8:6 So I continue to pray that I will follow God's leading and lead the lost to salvation. I want to reject my comfort zone and embrace the leading of the Spirit. But there is a time to stop praying and go. Exodus 14:15

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Walk in the Spirit not the Flesh


Romans 8:6-15
Romans 8:6-11
We set our minds on the things of the Spirit to have life. Christians have the Spirit in them which was given at salvation. Eph 1:13 As we follow the leading of the Spirit and not the desires of the flesh we have spiritual life.

Romans 8:12-14
To live by the Spirit is to make no provision for the flesh (Rom 13:14) and to put to death the deeds, desires, wants, wishes of the flesh.
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14

verse 15 is the first step of this life of the Spirit. God is our Father and we can call Him Abba, Daddy.

The Lord's prayer starts out with, “Our Father which art in heaven. Prayer to God is the beginning the middle and the end of spiritual life. Life flows from this interaction. We can't deny our flesh if there is nothing to replace it with. Now people do deny it in action but not in thought. Sometimes people can deny both action and thought and not live in the Spirit but they are not happy. Joy comes from the flow of the Spirit. And they are unfruitful because life flows from the Spirit not ideas or rules.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

A W Tozer

I have been listening to A W Tozer on mp3

Here is a link to 400+ sermons

He always seems to try to bring the listener to a deeper walk with Jesus.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Unanswered Prayer



Ps 66:18
“If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear; “

We can not on the one hand have sin in as a purpose and on the other hand ask God and expect Him to answer. We are followers of Christ. We are following what Jesus taught. If on the other hand we decide to reject what He taught how can we at that point expect God to honor our request?

The basis of Christian walk is humble belief in what God has given.

1 John 3:20-22
20in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

An honest heart before God and reading the Bible with an open heart will show us if we are walking in the light of God or not.

Isa 59:2
“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. “

Sin separates us from God. In the Lord's prayer we ask forgiveness for our sin and are forgiven because of the promise of 1 John 1:9. But if we do not repent of our sin then there is a separation and our sins are not forgiven. The blood will wash away our sins and as we ask forgiveness we are cleansed by the blood.
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin (John 16:9)

Ezekiel 14:3
"Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity Should I be consulted by them at all?”

What is an idol? Something I worship instead of God. Western world worships personal peace and affluence. I want to give up my personal peace to reach out to others.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Booze

My 19 year old son called me from Baltimore at a wedding reception and asked if it was OK to drink beer. I told him I could not anymore tell him what to do.

He said that he respected my opinion and whanted to know what I thought. I told him no don't drink.

Later I sent him this PM on face book:

I was asleep on the couch when you called. I needed to be woken up.

The issue of booze.

I can't tell you in the long run anymore what to do. The decision is yours.

My thinking on booze is this. You may reject my reasoning but it did not come without seeing many people ruined because of booze.

I think that it is of no use to drink booze. Name me an on fire Christian that is leading others to saving faith in Christ that drinks! Now maybe you know people but in my experience I do not know any.

There is the issue of the flesh Romans 8:5. Booze is of the flesh. It is of the world. 1 Jn 2:15-17

To just have a rule not to drink is of no use. Col 2:20-23

But to have a mindset to not live according to the ways of the world so that you can be a light to the lost, will work. Romans 8:6

Have you ever heard of people that gathered to pray for the lost and brought a bottle of booze to pass around while they were praying?

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Jesus Habit of Prayer and Prayers



Jesus Habit of Prayer and Prayers

Luke 6:12 Prayed all night
Matthew 14:23 Sent crowds away, went alone to mountain to pray.
Luke 5:16 Jesus would often slip away to the wilderness to pray.
Luke 9:18 While He was praying alone
Luke 9:28 went to the mountain to pray with the 3
Luke 9:29 while He was praying His appearance became different.
Mark 1:35 Early morning while it was still dark He got up and left the house and prayed in a secluded place.
Luke 3:21 While He was prayi8ng heaven opened.
Mark 6:46 After bidding them farewell He left for the mountain to pray.
Luke 22:41-44 wrestle in prayer before the cross. Garden of Gethsemane
John 17 all High Priestly prayer
Luke 4:1,2 40 days in the wilderness
John 11:41,42 prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead
Luke 22:31,32 described prayer for Peter.
Matthew 6:9-13 Lord's prayer outline
John 12:27,28 A pre garden of Gethsemane prayer
Luke 23:34 forgiveness prayer from the cross
Mark 15:34 A prayer of desperation from the cross
Luke 23:46 A finality prayer from the cross
Luke 11:1 Jesus prayer in in a certain place

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Have Initiative

I was reading 2 Cor 6:1
"And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--"
"Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.. . . ."
NASB

We work together with Christ. Is it possible that Christ will work with us as well as us working with Him? I am thinking that doing things for God will have Him working along with us. As we are in union with Christ we can take the initiative.

It is important for people to have initiative in doing things for God. Otherwise you are stuck.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Updates



I found an explanation of the Full Gospel at Cho's website.

I have put some mp3 sermons on my website Water From the Rock.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Always Be Ready to Witness


1 Peter 3:15
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

Here is the verse that shows me God wants us to always be ready to share the gospel. It can be done alone or with groups, planned or unplanned. 1 Peter 3:15 talks about responding to a question but I will present other Scriptures that discuss other ways of witnessing.

What does it mean to sanctify Christ as Lord? To put His purposes first and to give up in things in your life which get in the way of making Christ Lord.


Jude 3
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Now that we are always to be ready to share the hope, we are also to contend earnestly for the faith. Now this verse does not ask us to do it all the time but it does imply we use the information we have learned and experienced to contend for the faith. Contending for the faith implies that we reason with others that disagree. Yes we are to do it in love and gentleness, but love does not ignore the glaring blindness the non-Christian is arguing with.

2 Timothy 4:2
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Preach the word in season and out of season. What is out of season? It is when people don't want to hear the topic. To preach something to someone that does not want to hear is hard. But it is what is commanded by God in this verse. One of the needs for Christian workers is to be prayed up. To have our heart pliable and humble. Then as we speak for Him we have that sweet spirit that will increase the chance that people will be able to listen to us.

Be ready and willing to preach out of season. I am reminded of Luke 12 which states to be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight. Being dressed in readiness and being ready to preach go hand in hand. We need a heart to listening for God.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

There is power in the gospel of Christ. It is not just intellectual ideas. God's spirit can break through a heart with His light. Being not ashamed has 2 elements. One we know that it has power and will penetrate the heart of a sinner to bring them to repentance. And 2 we have consecrated our hearts to serve God and not ourself. So what others think of us is no problem.

A note on consecration: for me this comes at times through fasting and prayer. I am not easily persuaded in the goodness of sharing the gospel. My choice is to hike in the park not to talk to people. So I need to spend time on my knees before I go out and share the gospel. This is good because I don't have any ability in myself to trust in myself. I must trust the spirit in my heart.

Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. “

One of the ways of sharing the gospel is to do good works before the world and they will see your love and be willing to listen to what you have to say. This ties in with James 3 that also says we should not spout out wisdom but show it by our works.

That is not to say we are not to share the gospel with others without works but works many times will open a door that would be closed otherwise.

Prov 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls.

One of the proofs of wisdom is winning souls. People talk a good talk but do they walk the walk that the Bible explains. Witnessing is a seeking for wisdom. If we have knowledge without love we are arrogant. To know the Bible without winning souls I would say is moving towards arrogance especially if we are not on our knees for the softening of our heart to find the move of the spirit to lead people on the road to an everlasting hell to the way of salvation. Why do I say this so strongly? Because if someone is on the way to hell and we don't attempt to share the way of life with them we do not have any love for them. Without love we become arrogant. 1 Cor 8:1

If we are not arrogant we are asleep. If we are asleep spiritually then we are open to attack from the enemy. An on fire Christian will have winning souls as a priority.

Lord I don't want to be arrogant or asleep. Let me be awake in you and seeking you for the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Pray Without Ceasing #2



Whether we are weak or strong we need to pray.

We need to pray until peace comes. Phil 4:6-9

We need to pray till the answer comes Luke 18:1f

We need to pray till Jesus comes. John 6:21 - The answer to our life
is Jesus being with us.

We need to pray till the Holy Spirit comes. Acts 1:8

We need to pray Luke 6:29 - We are only being religious if what we do
is not based on belief in Jesus.

Prayer is the expression of reliance on God and not our self.

To ignore prayer is to ignore God.

We need to pray till the rain of the Spirit comes - Elijah

We need to pray till the light comes to see in the spirit. Elisha and
the armies surrounding him.

We need to pray for the right attitude. Phil 2:5

Believing prayer is the life blood of the Spirit.

God is a creator and He wants us to be creators by His direction.
Romans 4:17,18 God calls into being that which does not exist.
Abraham praying for a son.

Christ backs up our believing prayers in heaven. Heb 3:1

Believing prayer must have action. - Moses before the Red sea and the
hordes of the Egyptians coming from behind. Ex 14:15 "Then the LORD
said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel
to go forward."

Sunday, May 3, 2009

A Life Lived in the Presence of God


This is my 8th post on things we should always be doing. All of them are impossible without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. For years I would consider it ridiculous to attempt to live according to these instructions. Yet God does not put these instructions in the Bible to be ignored. I don't consider failure to be discouraging. I just refocus and move forward.

Now I have to be honest here. I sometimes am discouraged. But 1 John 1:9 is put there for spiritual life to be restarted. If I am only going to live according to what is possible than why would I pray for God to change things? God wants us to look for His supernatural intervention in this fallen world.

“Psalm 16:8 “I have set the LORD continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Psalm 25:15 “My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
for He will pluck my feet out of the net.”

Set the Lord continually before me.
I see this as a life lived in the presence of God.

Here is an example that the Lord brought to my attention a while back. I had a job where the leader did not come around often to see what I was doing. So I became lax and did not do my work as I should have. It was a counseling job. One day as I was chatting with my coworkers it occurred to me, how would I be acting if Jesus showed up? I knew I would be more diligent in doing my work if Jesus was there.

In reality Jesus was there, I was just not conscious of it. Jesus is with us now, whether we are aware of it or not. He sees our heart and our attitude as well as our actions.

What is the value of knowing this? Yes it will keep us on our toes, but with the proper attitude being awake spiritually is a much more fulfilling way to live than being naive or ignoring God. I can be aware of what is going on around me not just in the 3 dimensions, but also spiritually.

Colossians 3:4
“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

This could be referring to the 2nd coming or in our spiritual understanding in the present. Using the meaning in the present:
Keeping Jesus before us, as we walk through the day, we will be with Him (spiritually) in heaven in glory. The glory is the place of God's power. The power flows from the glory of the Father. Romans 6:4 So when we are with Jesus in glory we are with Him in power.

As we sit with Jesus at the right hand of the Father we rule with Jesus.
Psalm 110:2 “The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
Jesus rules and now He asks us to rule. Matt 28:18,19 All authority has been given to Jesus therefore go and make disciples.

Be awake.
Listen to the voice of the Spirit constantly.
Also be aware that Satan will try to knock us off course.
Jesus is our friend and will guide us as we look to Him for help.

The book “The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence is a good book on this discipline.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Always Abounding In the Work of the Lord.



1 Corinthians 15:58
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in (B)the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

The work of the Lord is the result of faith hopefully, not just doing good to been see by others.

Love is the foundation of Christianity. God is love and we are to love God and others. Love is not primarily a feeling but is practical. And our works flow from the love we have for God and others.

Our prayers and the answers we request from God are based on our works . John 15:16 says that our works (fruit) are to remain as a condition for answered prayer.

Our learning is not just for knowledge but also to pass on this vital knowledge to others.

Learning is not only intellectual but is also learned through example. Again love is the basis and to learn is not to understand but to love with deeds.

Do we study to learn or do we study to love. Our purpose is love and what we do always should be evaluated in the end product of love for God and others.

We can't love God if we don't love other's for how can we love a God who we can't see if we don't love those who we do see?

Love is the basis to understanding. If we do not love we can't see because we are blinded by our unchristian behavior. There is no ability to understand Christian principles when there is no love. 1 John 2:10,11

Jesus led by example not just by lecture. Our works come from following the examples of those who have gone before us in faith. We are taught love by doing things for others as our leaders show us by example how they love others.

Paul said, we are to follow his example as we see the outcome of his faith.

Our works are not in vain!!!

What we do for Jesus is what will last. What we do for ourselves will perish. There is a testing of our life. The things that come through the fire will pass the things that are burned will be lost. What will pass the test? It is what is done for Jesus not for show.

We do things for Jesus as we are led in the Spirit. This is faith. Faith produces strength. And will pass through the fire unharmed.

Our works for Jesus, our works of faith are not just busy work.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Take Every Thought Captive to the Obedience of Christ


2 Corinthians 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God,
and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Destroying fortresses by:
No speculation about what will happen.
All thoughts are captive to Jesus.
Reject what the world says against God.
Obedience.

We are not our own and our thoughts are not our own either. If I am going to war in the spirit I need to watch what I think and say at all times.

When there comes a desire to complain, I must reject that complaint and speak what Christ has me to speak not what I want to speak.

I have no right to speculate on what will happen especially according to my experience or others. I am to hold fast to the promise of God. If I confess the promise of God instead of my experience or others, there is the hope of fruit in the spirit.

When the world laughs at me when I hope in Christ I am to not pay attention to the world but pay attention to the Word of God.

My purpose is not to go along to get along, but to live by faith in Christ Jesus.

I am not to walk the road of least resistance but on the highway of holiness.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Let My Light Shine


Let my light shine Lk 12:35

We are to be lights for Jesus. But we can't shine if we don't have contact with our Lord Jesus Christ,

How do we shine?

Do works before men that they can see your good works. The key is to have light to shine. Our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. A yieldness to Christ will prepare our heart to give up our self will and willingness to follow as Jesus leads.

Praise in the midst of trials is a light that shines. Because we then are not self centered but Christ centered.

A yieldness to prayer is a light. Why?

Because it says we are not adequate in yourself to have anything come from ourself. Prayer states that we are dependent on Jesus.

Our light shines if we can speak the word to people in a timely situation.

Our light shines as we represent Christ. If we represent ourself we only give out darkness.

When we love others we are giving out light. if we don't love others we have no light to give.

When there is light darkness leaves. To shine the light of Christ is to show love to others. Faith operates through love. God gives us faith to love others.

Yield your heart to Christ to love others. As your heart is cleansed you will be able to love and then you will be able to shine light.

Be directed by love. If there is no love go back to Jesus and wait before Him and receive love for others. Then go in faith to shine forth the light, love, faith from Jesus.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Rejoice Always #2


I was thinking, why is God good?

Is it because I have a wife and kids with a job, house, car, health, good hobbies, and extended family with investments and savings?

How would a Christian who was persecuted for his faith say God is good? He would not have said what I said above. Nothing of this world would have a hold on him. But a vibrant Christian who had been persecuted for his faith would still say, God is good. Why?

God is good because of the benefits of eternal life. We have the hope of eternal life. We have the joy of salvation. We have peace in our hearts. We have the direction of the Holy Spirit. We have fellowship with the believers. We have the purpose of life to live by faith. We have the excitement of serving God and seeing Him work. We have the peace that comes from the Word of God. Our sins have been forgiven. We are friends with God. We have the expectation of what will He do next.

God is good. Psalm 136 - His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Meditate on the Word Day and Night

Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."

The Bible is the life knowledge of Christianity. Without knowledge we will perish.

Job 36:12
"But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge."

Faith is built by hearing the Word of God and without hearing the word of God life in the Spirit would be very hard. God gives us manna each day just as He gave it to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt. So also in our walk with God we need to go and pick the manna from God that is in the Bible.

There is a danger that we will forget Jesus while studying the Word. John 5:39,40 If we have an open heart for the truth from God we will see the error of our ways and return to Jesus and not just be a student of ideas.

Christians are known by the Love they have for others. Not by the knowledge of the Bible. Let the Bible energize you to serve others. Follow the teachings of the Bible to reach out to a brother in need. Know that God will strongly support those whose heart is completely His. When we are following His teachings and looking to Him for help we can rest assured that Jesus will come to our aid.

It is meditating on the Word of God that allows the ideas of the Bible to go from our head to our heart. Learning an idea is the easy part. Having that idea to become part of our soul and spirit is not as easy. Meditation allows Jesus to speak to us and show us the spiritual applications of the Bible.

When we love God's laws we will be considering them all the time. We will pick up the Bible in the morning and refer to it at lunch and read it some more after supper.

Memorization is a good way to have the Bible in our mind so that we can go over it from time to time throughout the day as we are able. Sometimes I set out to memorize a passage. Other times after reading it over and over it starts to come to me when I am not directly thinking about it.

The Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance all that we have heard. Therefore it is important to be reading the Bible and listening to teachings from the Bible. Then the Holy Spirit will have a lot to work with.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. Col. 3:16 To read and meditate on the Scriptures continually will enrich our life.

There is a cost to majoring on the Bible. Things have to be given up to free up time to meditate on the Bible. But look back and consider what you have done in the past year or two. What was worth the time and what was a waste? I will guess that time spent in the Bible was productive and time spent watching TV was not.

Are we dead to the things of the world. We can't be a friend of God and be a friend of the world at the same time.

James 4:4
"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Lord help us to give up our personal peace and affluence to find your ways.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Rejoice Always

"Rejoice always." 1 Thes 5:16

I remember a time when a Bible teacher said that he did not understand why we should rejoice in trials that James 1:2-4 talks about. And down through the years many people have ignored this Scripture. I don't think many people have an understanding of rejoicing always.

But here in 1 Thessalonians it says we are to rejoice always. James 1 says to give thanks in everything. With our heart set on this world we will be hard pressed to rejoice in disasters. 1 John 2:15 says that if we love the world the love of the Father is not in us. I have come to realize that I have a lot of love for the world. Life is good in America. Even if I lost my job and had to move to a smaller house life would still be good here on earth.

But the question before me is what am I doing for Jesus. And am I willing to pay the price to continue doing things for Jesus? I just had a $700 car repair bill. Was I rejoicing in that? No. But I now give thanks for the car and the money to pay for the car. Why did I not give thanks at first? Because I am holding on to my money and not looking to God for my supply!

I know when I stop and think about it that God is the source of my supply. But it is not from my gut reaction. That is where I want to live. I want to look instantly to God when life does not go just as I would want. Lord help me to live always with You as my source. Thank you Jesus. Thank you for helping and teaching me.

God wants us to live with an attitude of thanksgiving no matter what life brings. That does not mean we won't cry or feel pain. But it does mean that it is not of this world that our needs are met but it comes from the Kingdom of God.

"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil 1:21 I want to have this verse as a reality in my life. To live for Jesus and not for my personal peace and affluence.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Pray Without Ceasing

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thes. 5:17

When I run across something in the Bible that seems impossible it seems to be ignored. I don't think that was God's intention. We should at least consider what God is saying to us. God would not tell us to do something if we sere not capable of doing it.

I think we should at least consider what Jesus is telling us here in 1 Thes. 5. What would it take to pray without ceasing? For me it is a deep need. If we are praying for the things God has for us then there may be a continual prayer going up to God.

When we pray according to the direction of God and His leading in our life there is a faith because of that direction and as we pray for God to fulfill the direction that He has shown us we come to realize the need for God. As we see our complete dependence on God we come to rely on Him more and more by prayer.

Life brings many things in our way. For one prayer without stopping is tiring. It is only in great need that we come to God on a continual basis. Our needs are met through a prayer of faith.

God wants us to live by faith. Heb 11:6 and I can't pray with urgency and continually unless I have a great need.

Putting the 2 together God wants us to step out in faith and then pray like crazy for the answer.

Is this really what God wants? Does He want us to live in this urgency and expectancy? Does He want us to live in this spiritual struggle?

Phil 4:6,7 God also wants us not to be anxious and to trust in Him. It takes a lot of prayer to rest in what He has promised when the need is great. We can't enter into the rest of God until we pray through the problem and come to rest in His goodness.

2 Cor 10:3-5 Warfare is needed to counteract the doubt that will come back to us from time to time. This continual prayer and warfare will go on until the problem is resolved.

Isa 62:6,7 On your wall O Jerusalem I have appointed watchman. All day and all night they will not keep silent. You who remind the Lord take no rest for yourself and give Him no rest until He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Don't live in your personal peace and affluence. Live in expectation of God doing great things on your behalf. Then you will pray.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Spiritual Revelation

Revelation of who Jesus is, was, will be.
Does spiritual strength come by knowledge or by revelation?

Knowing what it says vs. believing what it says. The parable of the treasure in a field. Matthew 13:44 It is not what we know intellectually that matters or will change you or others. It is what you experience. It is what you can testify to.

Are we willing to buy the field where the treasure is? It will cost but if you know for a fact there was treasure in a field you would sell all you had to get that field.

Christianity is not understanding but action. Are we willing to act? It will cost but O the preciousness of the purchase.

Are we willing to pay the price for the treasurer? Or do we just like to teach talk and know about the treasurer?

If you believe you won't be troubled about it but will trust it.

There is no doubt when there is revelation. Revelation is the assurance of the truth of God. It comes from the Spirit. Knowledge is understanding in our mind. Revelation is understanding in our heart. What we know in our mind will not withstand the testing of life. What we know in our heart will withstand tests. God wants to find out what is in our heart that is why He tests us.

Works of wood hay and stubble are head knowledge and will be burned by the tests of fire. Works that are of gold, silver and bronze can withstand the tests of fire.

Purifying fire will cause us to grow in the Spirit allowing us to do things for God. Satan is trying to knock us off course and will be able to as we rely on what we know in our mind. When we move into a deeper understanding of the things of God by revelation we are not knocked off or our purpose because it is in our heart.

Jesus and the Father will come to us as we learn to live from our heart and not our mind. Revelation 3:14-22 is the letter to Laodicea. It is a letter of a call to repentance. It is a repentance of self sufficiency and reliance on life from God by purging our hearts by fire. We can buy spiritual things resulting from this purging. After we go through this Jesus comes to us and asks to fellowship with us. When we have this fellowship we are able to walk according to the will of God and not follow our fleshly desires.

Our fleshly desires have a pull on our mind and it is only as we set our mind on the Spirit will we be able to walk in the Spirit.

The lack of peace with the knowledge means there is no revelation. What do we do?

Don't ignore the doubt. If there is troubling in your heart. If there is doubt then deal with it.

Do we doubt the treasure is worth the cost? Don't ignore that. Pray over it and ponder the promises that God has given to us.

Phil 4:6-9 Pray; gain a place of peace. Then focus on what
god has promised and not fear. Dwell on the things of God.

Practice:
what you have learned.
what you have received.
what you have heard.
what you have seen.

Consider the lets throughout the Bible.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in the Father and Jesus.

John 14:26,27 Let not your heart be troubled.
Don't allow trouble to enter you heart. Fill it with the word of God.

PS 68:11 Let God arise.
How do we let Him arise?
V4 Build a highway of praise; confession and prayer and expectation.

Concentration, deep thought, introspection, pondering, quiet time, reflection, rumination, self-examination, meditation. This is what is needed to gain revelation from God. It is what gives assurance of the promises of God.

Live in expectation of the moving of God. Zeph 1:12

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Eye Salve

Revelation 3:18
Buy from Me eye salve to anoint your eyes that you may see.

Eph 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.

Enlightenment is our understanding but this verse is talking more than that, it's referring to revelation. Because its not just in our mind but in our heart.

We make life decisions with our hearts desire not from our intellect. So our enlightened understanding of our heart will allow us to make spiritual decisions. This is why we need to see with our heart not just with our mind.

We can be knocked off of our purpose if what we are doing something from only our mind. But we can't be knocked off our purpose, if it is coming from the heart.

We love with our heart. And love is able to go through trials to gain the prize. 1 Cor 13 When our hearts enlightened we are moving in love. When our hearts enlightened according to the hope of God's calling we are moving in power in the right direction.

The power comes as we move in love with sight (knowledge in our heart), according to the will of God for us. Why? Because faith works through love.

There is power in faith apart from the love of Christ. And it is according to God's general will. It may not be what God would have us do at that time. When faith and love are together, they are effective for the advancement of the kingdom.

Faith without love:
1 Cor 13
Matt 7:22,23
Matt 25:41-45

Our hearts are sensitive and can only be committed to one basic purpose at a time. "Can't serve God and money"
We either have our mind on the flesh or the Spirit.

Riches from a spiritual awareness are based on a commitment to Christ that transcends our personal peace and affluence. When we seek personal peace and affluence above reaching out to others we negate the spirit. We have set the mind of the flesh above the purposes of God. Or to put it another way, our personal peace and affluence is more important than pleasing God.

When we put our mind on the spirit, we invite by default not on purpose, opposition from man and our spiritual enemy Satan because we are moving to gain and bear fruit for Jesus. We enter a struggle for the minds and hearts of the souls of men. We are able to have power with others as we powerfully use faith and love to teach and encourage

Peace of God comes from the trails the world throws at us when we are saturated in the Word of God and the love for God.

Peace without trials in the world is being naive.

The people in Habakkuk's day had peace because they were naive. Habakkuk had peace because of his love and trust for God.

Devastation was coming and the people were blasted out of their naive understanding of life, when the Chadians marched through the land.

Habakkuk's life was on the rock but the people had built their life on the sand. Matt. 7:24-27

Here are some Scriptures dealing with spiritual eyes.
Acts 26:18 open eyes to turn from darkness to light
darkness – light
dominion of Satan – God
light of God brings salvation
Light of God brings inheritance.

Isaiah 35:5 help others to see by encouragement
Isaiah 42:7 called, hold, appoint to open eyes
Isaiah 42:16 lead the blind
Eph 5:8 walk in the light
Col 1:13 in kingdom of light.
1 Pt 2:9 chosen, priest, holy, not our own, proclaim light.

Our inheritance is involved in moving in what God has called us to Eph 2:10
We buy eye salve for our hearts eyes, by humbling ourselves to yield to God's will. Having a willingness to respond to God and not hold onto our personal peace and affluence. This eye salve gives us a willingness to accept and believe God's word.

With Eye salve we choose to follow Jesus over our personal peace and affluence.
We choose the spirit over the flesh.

Our hard heart is softened as we yield to Jesus and accept His yoke Matt 11:28-30 We put off our desires I.E. take up our cross of purpose and obedience. Choosing to follow Christ instead of the pleasures of the world.

Some would still question this acceptance of hardship. Let me give you an example which may help you understand the purpose of trials in a Christians life.

Example of the bicycle
In riding a bicycle I need to eat to have the fuel to ride. But eating by itself is not enough. Eating gives me the fuel to burn. But I gain strength by riding not by eating. It is the same with our eyes of our heart. Understanding is the fuel and serving from our heart is the riding. We need understanding and obedience of service to gain strength.
Riding is love with power and food is the fuel of knowledge.

Serving brings hardship. Any work will have opposition. God wants us to serve Him with in the midst of trials, with rejoicing this is where the power lies.


Let us not just understand what is God's will let us serve with love

Monday, February 2, 2009

Rejoice in all Attempts to Preach the Gospel

Philippians 1:18 “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, “

In my discipline of guarding my mouth, this verse shows complaining about how church is done, or how the gospel is preached is not right.

Paul made a decision which he emphasized that he will rejoice in the preaching of the gospel.

I will do the same thing. I will rejoice that the gospel is preached in each church. I will rejoice that the gospel is preached on TV,. I will rejoice that the what I have to do is to add to the work Christ is doing.

Now maybe I have an insight to an approach. That does not make others wrong unless they are directly contrary to Scriptural teaching. It is that God reaches to people in different approaches.

The test is: Is Jesus magnified?

Complaining does not magnify Jesus. Point to Jesus and be a light.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test? “
We are to test to see if we are in the faith. If we aren't magnifying Christ but speaking against Christian teaching we are not expressing faith. Heb 3:1 says Jesus is the high priest of our confession. If we are not confessing what Jesus wants then our words are not productive. If we work with Jesus I.E. led by the holy Spirit in what God is doing we can create life as we speak.

That is not to say we should stick our heads in the sand and ignore problems. But idle complaints are useless. Our concerns should be brought to prayer. Phil 4:6f

That way we can take the devils attempt to destroy and make life out of it.

Monday, January 12, 2009

What do I use to Buy from God?

Rev 3:18 Buy gold from God.

What do I have to offer God? What may I use to purchase gold, clothes and eye slave from Him?

My life consists of time, money people, and talents.
Keep in mind that even when I have an abundance my life does not consist of possessions. Luke 12:15
What do I have that God wants? God wants my heart. If He has that, He will have my attention, service, obedience, prayers. possessions, repentant heart and a life of following Jesus.

So the short answer of what currency I use to buy from God, is to give Him my heart. The currency of God's kingdom is love.

How do I give Jesus my heart in love? Salvation is the short answer. But salvation is not just a confession but a life. Eternal life starts at salvation. Life is more than birth. To live in this salvation is to live in the eternal life, which God has for me.

In buying from God I must learn not only ask God to meet my needs but also come to Him willingly to serve as He directs. As I come to Him, I will receive direction which brings faith to my spirit. Faith is the means by which I am able to please God. Faith comes from a relationship with Him. Faith alone is not enough. Faith united with love for God will be effective in God's kingdom.

I have struggled in obeying God's direction. It sometimes means I need to cut things out of my life to give room for what God wants me to do. If I have been purchased by God. (Jesus purchased me with His own blood. Acts 20:28) I am not my own. So to live in reality and not rebellion is to submit to God and do what He has prepared for me. I am coming to understand life in the spirit, is not as a duty, but a life lived in love to Jesus.

Part of my work is to believe. Part of my work is to love. Part of my work is to pray. Part of my work is to act in faith.
Live for the purpose of Jesus and not mine. Follow Jesus. Is it what He did or what He said and says? I think its all three. I am to follow the example of those who go before me, that produce a Godly outcome. I should follow Jesus both in what He has written and what He guides by the Holy Spirit. And His life style. I should consider it by the direction of the Holy Sprint.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Revelation 3:18

I have been meditating on Revelation 3:17,18

"Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see."

My meditation is accomplished by writing Bible studies.

I was working on this last year and was led to finish it.

There are 10 points to v. 18

#God advises us
#buy from God
#buy gold
#refined by fire
#become rich
#buy white garments
#clothe yourself
#cover shame of nakedness
#buy eye salve to anoint eyes
#eyes to see


#God advises us
If Jesus advises us to do something, it would make sense to follow that advice.
The Bible is God's advice to man. Study to show yourself approved. 1 Tim Listen to God and He will give you what is good to eat. Isa 55

I am looking into this verse because of the tendency of my life to mirror the aspect of being lukewarm. I don't want to be lukewarm, I desire to follow God fully. If that entails a complete life change than so be it. I desire to be a follower of Jesus and not just a also ran Christian that doesn't do anything but the expected.

I will put more of these on as I finish them.