I believe

Two of the most important words in the whole of the Kingdom of God are, “I believe.”  As believers, all authority has been given us to see people saved, healed and delivered.  Receiving Jesus as Lord and living by the principles that God put in place for us to have releases His blessings and positions us to walk in His authority.  How do we learn about His principles, promises and our position of authority?  All of the answers to this question and countless others are found in one place, the Word of God.  What is the Bible?  As God planned, it is a practical handbook, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Every thing necessary for our moment-by-moment existence is right there for the asking.  Men, inspired by the Spirit of the living God, have shared the events from which we will best learn.  Every word is to inspire us, prepare us, protect and equip us.  God knows the obstacles we will face long before we ever encounter them.  As we study the Word of God and grow to know Him intimately, He will direct our path as how to best handle any adversity that may come our way.  The Word encourages us to study to show ourselves approved and to be ready to give an answer as to why we believe, to be ready in season and out.  Be encouraged today to read the Word of God because it is life itself.

God has a Plan

God has a very specific plan for our lives.  Romans 8:29 confirms that plan, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover, whom He predestined these He also called, these He also justified and whom He justified, He glorified.”  Does that mean that everyone that God has a plan for their lives is actually living that plan? Unfortunately, it does not.  When God created us, His desire was to have fellowship and relationships.  We have the free will to choose to follow the plan and destiny that God has designed especially for us.  What is destiny?  It is getting to our final destination in the Kingdom and accomplishing all that God had planned for us from the very beginning of time.  That means that we have to make the choice to serve our heavenly Father with all of our hearts and to be obedient to the directions He gives us.  It is Jesus Whom is the author and finisher of our faith.  When we choose to adhere to His plans for us, it makes our job as believers so much easier.  It is God in heaven who has begun this good work in us, and it is He Who will complete it.

Get wisdom

“Get wisdom, get understanding.  Do not forget or turn away from the words of my mouth.  Do not forsake her and she will preserve you; love her and she will keep you.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.  And in all of your getting, get understanding.  Exalt her and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her.  She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you.  Hear…and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many.  I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in the right paths, when you walk your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble, take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her for she is your life…give attention to my words; incline your heart to my sayings.  Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it will spring the issues of life.  Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.  Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.  Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.  Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4).

It is God

“…It is…God who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.  We are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed; we are perplexed yet not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed…that grace having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:6-11, 15).  By the Holy Spirit, the manifest glory and power of God lives inside of us.  Power to act in the authority Jesus died for us to have, comes from the word “exousia.”  It means the authority or right to act, ability, privilege, capacity, and delegated authority.  Jesus gave believers all authority to preach, teach, heal and deliver.  That authority is still very much in power today and is just as able and willing to accomplish all of these things through the power of the Blood and the Name of Jesus Christ.   “Exousia” power is yours to take authority over whatever has risen up against you today.  Through the name of Jesus, you can speak to problems and they will be removed.  Whatever it is that is trying to crush you will be crushed as you release the mighty power that has been placed inside of you by the shed Blood of Jesus.  When you release your authority as a believer, that power becomes “dunamis,” energy, power, might, great force, great ability and strength.  It is for His glory and His honor that we, earthly vessels can contain such power and be the instruments that He would use to bring the light of God to a world lost in darkness.

Trust and Obey

There is a wonderful old hymn entitled “Trust and Obey.”  The words sum up everything that the entire Old Testament was trying to tell us.  “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”  Throughout the Bible, God is speaking to us with such encouragement.  Even when we fall short and make mistakes, He lovingly reminds us that trusting Him by being obedient will continue to open the door for His blessings to be poured out on our lives.  It is when we try to make decisions without His clear direction that we tend to yoke ourselves with all of the cares of the world.  Psalm 37:3 assures us that our future is secure when we let God handle even the smallest details of our lives, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”  The word “heart” comes from the Hebrew word “leb.”  Just like in the English language, it is representative of not only our natural heart but also of our intellect, awareness, mind, inner person, inner feelings deepest thoughts and inner self.  God is able to discern what is in our heart and to meet our needs and meet our heart’s desires when we are able to trust in Him to do it and we are obedient to His Word.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

What is grace?

What is grace?  It is Goodness Released At Christ’s Expense.  How amazing is that?  At some point in our lives we have all experienced grace in one form or the other.  However, when you understand what was exacted from Christ for us to have that grace, it becomes overwhelming.  There are so many times during the course of a day that we need an extra measure of grace just to make it through day-to-day living experiences.  Many times we are the ones that are called on to extend grace to someone that may not really deserve it.    Those are EGN situations, Extra Grace Needed.  But are any of us really deserving of what Christ did on the cross for us?  Of course we aren’t.  We all, at some point fall into the Extra Grace Needed category.  We are all sinners and there is not one person that deserved that kind of grace.  God knew that then and He knows it now.  Grace is God’s way of giving us what we don’t deserve and His mercy is not giving us what we do.

God’s rejection of Saul

In the Bible, the story of God’s rejection of Saul in 1 Samuel 15 is one of the hardest stories to read.  From the advantage point of all these many years later it is easy to see where Saul started to get off track.  God had made him king and the adoration of the people convinced him that God had definitely made the correct choice.  He was royalty.  He had a few victories under his belt and the power to make decisions.  He knew God was with him because he had been the least in his family, his family had been the least of the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of Benjamin was the least of all of the tribes of Israel (1 Samuel 9:21).  Surely God had not made a mistake when He picked Saul. Even Samuel, the man of God had confirmed that he was God’s choice to be king of the nation of Israel and anointed his head with oil before the people.  Not surprisingly, Saul maintained as long as he remembered from where God had brought him.  In the early days of being king, he listened diligently to hear God’s voice and he obeyed when God spoke.  However, there came a time when Saul made the fateful choice to listen to his own leading and to what the people wanted him to do.  Each incident involved disobedience concerning the sacrifice.  Twice Saul offered a sacrifice that was not pleasing to God.  First, his impatience caused him to unlawfully offer up what only Samuel has been instructed to do.  Secondly, his pride got the better of him when he made the decision to keep what God had instructed him to destroy.  First Samuel 15:3 indicates the directives were clear to totally destroy the Amalekites and everything they owned.  The spoil was to be a sacrifice to God and was not for Saul or the people to touch.  Instead of obeying the Word of the Lord they kept the best for themselves and decided to give a portion to God as a sacrifice.  Had Saul been obedient his kingdom would have been established forever.  Clearly, as stated in 1 Samuel 15:22, “obedience is better than sacrifice.”  Impatience, peer pressure and pride will cause us to make foolish mistakes, just as they did Saul, if we let them.  When we obey, we choose to give our best and that is what God asks of us.