Hide or Shine?

Are we too proud to admit our past mistakes? In the past couple of years I have learned that hiding who I was doesn’t help anyone. Admitting the mistakes I’ve made has helped me to heal and realize that even though I may have done bad things, God can still use me for good. Perhaps if I could change the past I would, but I know that the recent past of sharing my journey and how God can turn really bad into good has been awesome to see. If you have an ugly past, instead of hiding it, I would encourage you to use it as a witnessing tool. Find others who are currently struggling where you once were. Share with them how God has changed your life and perhaps they’ll look at you with a glimmer of hope that maybe one day God will do the same for them. In this way you can defeat the lies of the devil in your head telling you that you can’t do anything meaningful just because you fell to the temptations in your path once upon a time. Let God Author your life and watch what wonderful things He’ll do.

1 Peter 1:3-9 Jesus has paid my entrance fee

It will always be about faith in Jesus alone.  That is how you please God.  I fail miserably at times, but I’m thankful the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus is more than enough to cover my short falls.  Man can’t be perfect, that’s why we needed Jesus to do it for us.  When we trust in Him and walk by faith, God is happy with us.  

I love reading the Bible.  Verses like the ones found in this passage give me joy as I know in whom I believe.  I will go where ever He wants to do what ever it is that He wants, because in the end, this is just my temporary home, Heaven is where I truly belong, not because I’ve earned it, but because I was bought by the blood of Christ.  He has paid my entrance fee.

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,   4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,   5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.    6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:   7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:   8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:   9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9

In whom do you trust?  Are you following Jesus by faith, or something else?  The devil will work as long as he’s able to convince you of a lie.  Have you believed the lies of the devil or do you believe the Truth, Jesus and the Word of God found in the Bible?  I believe in God.  Study it and I bet you too will believe.    

James 5:13-18 Prayer

Happy or sad, confident or in a time of stress, prayer is the key. I happen to be swimming in stress the past week or so. It seems everyday brings new challenges to test my faith in God on this “faith journey.” I wish I could say I’ve been perfect through it all and have trusted the Lord 100% every step of the way, but alas I’m an imperfect human and have been struggling. I’ll tell you what helps though, I’ve been comforted along the way by the Holy Spirit, especially when I read my Bible and spend time in prayer. Prayer perhaps above all comforts me as I bring forth my requests to God and confess to Him my faults.

If you’re struggling with anything today, perhaps you too can find comfort by turning to the Lord in prayer. Perhaps God has allowed whatever it is you are facing today for the expressed purpose of getting your attention, so He could draw you close to Him once more. Consider the following passage from the Book of James 5:13-18, “13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect before we talk to Him or after. He expects us to be dependent on Him and to live by faith in Him alone. I pray I will remember that throughout the day, that my life and my circumstances are in His capable hands. God is good and I can trust Him. God is good and you can trust Him too. Put your trust in the Father. He wants to have an intimate relationship with you today, it starts by talking to Him in prayer.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 You can trust the Word of God

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 2 Timothy 3:16. I love knowing that the Bible is the Word of God and that it can help me in so many ways. Jesus is the Rock, the foundation of not only the Church, but my very life. I trust the Bible more than anything. God wrote it. I believe it. You may think I’m crazy for believing it, but what is it that you are really trusting in? If you are believing in anything but the Word of God, perhaps I’m not the crazy one. God who created all Heaven and Earth and the contents in them told us exactly what He wants us to know and that’s more than enough for me.

“16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  2 Timothy 3:16-17

Humility comes when we realize who He is and who we are. God is good. You can trust His Word, especially when you realize that Jesus is the Word according to the Book of John Chapter 1:1, 1:14.

2 Timothy 2:20-26 Vessel of Honor

What kind of vessel are you?  I hope to be one of honor, that is profitable for the Lord.  I hope that my life and my words will be used for His purpose, to attract others to Him, to bring Him the glory and honor He is due.  Without Him I would not be worthy of any respect.  I was a horrible sinner.  I’m still a sinner but because of Jesus, my life is far greater.  The purpose of my life is not about self gratification anymore, it’s about trying to glorify the Father, the Author of my faith.  I love the Bible.  Consider the words found in 2 Timothy 2:20-26, to understand more of my heart this morning.

“20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.   21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.   22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.   23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.   24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,   25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;   26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

I hope the light shines from me, that I keep the glass clean by following the instructions of the Lord from the Bible and the Holy Spirit.  I’m trying to be a vessel of honor, not for my sake, but for His.

1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19 What motivates you?

So what motivates you?  Is it a love of self,  the love of money or the love of God?  I used to love self…but that is not good and got me into heaps of trouble.  Live for God and watch how He blesses you.  Life for me has never been better.  Consider the following Scripture from my devotion time.

“6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.   7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.   8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.   9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.   10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.   11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.   

17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;   18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;   19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”   1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19

It isn’t what we have that is important, it is what motivates us to action.  If we are motivated by our love for something, then we are in trouble.  If however we are motivated to action by our love of God, our faith in Him, then no matter where we are or what else we have, we are safe and sound in the arms of the Lord.  God is in control but He desires your faith.  Give it to Him and watch how He changes your life.

My return from a prodigal son

My testimony is not the same as my return as a prodigal son.  I was saved at the early age of nine.  I purposefully walked away from God as a freshman in college however and didn’t decide to come back until I was in my early thirties.  I did a lot of things I regret now, but I try to use them to help others either avoid or heal from mistakes in their own lives. 

I was a very selfish person, I was unfaithful to my wife in a variety of ways with more than one person, I was a hypocrite, I was a bad father, I was living life in a way to gratify my own lusts of the flesh and didn’t care who or what got in the way, because when I set my mind to a goal I will accomplish it.  I was a Sunday one hour a week Christian meaning I would go to church and for an hour pretend to be godly and since I knew about the Bible I could hang with the best of them, at least well enough to fool everyone in my own mind.  I am a professional salesman and I am good at convincing people of things.

One day in a sermon not long after joining Southern Hills Baptist Church I was listening to Pastor Teis preach a sermon about having faith and moving mountains.  I’d had a mountain in my heart, one I thought was unmovable because of all the sin that had piled up over the ten years of marriage, but one that the Holy Spirit promised me He would help me with if I would simply trust in God and be obedient. I’m not a cowardly man, but I was afraid this mountain was truly too much for anyone, even God to fix.  Nothing is impossible with God however, so later that afternoon I sat down with my wife and began to rip her heart out one revelation after another of my previous lies and infidelity.  I didn’t get through the whole pile of mess that day because it appeared to simply be too much.  I was certain my marriage was over, but I was happy to at least get the charade over.  The healing began that day as the lines of communication between God and I, and her and I began in earnest.  There was still more to tell her at that point, but it would eventually come out a few weeks later as we continued to communicate and heal.  If I could do that part again, I would have let it all out the first time, but hey it was my first time being “completely” honest and it was not fun.

Through it all we got counseling from Pastor Teis and I met personally every week with Pastor Cody (the assistant Pastor at the time) and he helped me work on becoming more godly and my personal walk with the Lord.  God used that deconstruction period of my life to help me remove all the garbage I had willingly allowed in my life, things such as pornography, alcohol, cigarettes,  worldly music, R rated movies and more so I could begin replacing the bad things with prayer, Bible reading, Christian relationship books, and hanging around with other Christians who were honestly trying to walk with God.  It was hard on me at first, but the cost was worth the prize as I liked living honestly for a change.  No more secrets meant I had no more mountain building up.  There was still residual mounds to be cleansed over time, but the mountain wasn’t continuing to grow.  The Lord started to improve my life at home, at work and at church.  I became a leader instead of a loser.

Fast forward a few years and I now have a great marriage.  It happened by design.  I have studied what the Bible teaches about marriage.  I lean on the Lord by reading His Word daily and praying to Him constantly.  I love going to church and spend as much time there as I possibly can.  It is rare that the church is open that you won’t find me there and when I miss I don’t feel right.  I desire to be holy, even though I am still a sinner.  God has changed me.  I have complete faith in Him no matter what I do or the circumstances around me.  I can tell you that the mountain He moved was ridiculous in size and scope.  He is faithful to those who trust in Him.  Now I have a happy marriage, just finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Religion at Liberty and plan on serving Him as a Christian Counselor to help others who have a broken past.  If God can restore the shambled pieces of my life and make a wonderfully glorious mosaic out of it, He can do it for anyone.  God is good, all the time.  He will forgive you of anything if you simply ask Him to.

1st Timothy 2:1-4 Walking in the Light?

We are supposed to pray for our leadership, including those we think aren’t doing a good job. When we act the way the world does, we don’t attract the right attention to the Lord. When we shine the light, the world is surprised by it and is attracted to what the Bible has to say, because they want to know what makes us different. The Lord would have all mankind come to repentance and know Him as Savior. Are we doing our individual job of shining that light? We make an impact one way or another, we either help shine the light or we don’t. Consider the advice given to Timothy by Paul in 1st Timothy 2:1-4, then spend a moment evaluating your actions to see if you might need to make a change moving forward.

“1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

2nd Thessalonians 1:7-12 Do you know Jesus? If not, you have to make a choice!

Do you know Jesus?  If not, you have to make a choice!

“7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,   8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:   9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;   10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.   11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:   12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-12

Heaven and Hell are real, not matter what the sarcastic, smarty pants, philosophical world will try to tell you.  The fact is the only one worthy of believing is God Himself, since He is the Creator of all things and without Him nothing was made according to John 1:3.  You can read about the creation of course in Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

There is an arrogance of people in the world today, perhaps it has always been this way, one that says the Bible isn’t true for xyz reason or if there was a God He wouldn’t fill in the blanks…I am saddened by this type of thinking, because the confidence they have in the lies they have believed will keep them from Heaven.  Hell is real and it will not be fun.  Everything I have read and studied about Heaven in the Bible describes a place of agony and torment.  It is not something to take lightly.  Sin is an abomination to God and He does demand justice for it.

The good news is that Jesus has paid the price freely for those who will receive it, by admitting your sins, repenting of them and asking Him for forgiveness.  By accepting Jesus as Savior you can be separated from the eternal consequences of sin and live forever with God in Heaven.  None of us will ever deserve Heaven, except Jesus, but there will be many like me there, guilty of all kinds of abominations, that were washed away with the blood of Christ.

Do you take it seriously?  Have you considered where you will spend forever once your earthly body fails?  Very rarely do you get a straight opportunity such as this, to consider the Word of God, without a smarty pants trying to tell you to do the cool thing.  Forget being cool, think about not burning forever.  If you are ready to secure a spot in Heaven, which you can do right now, let me know.  I don’t care about how cool you are today, I care about how cool you will be forever, in Heaven with the rest of the unworthy believers made righteous only by the Grace of God.  If you are ready, I’m here to help.  Think about that and make a choice.  

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 Good works are part of Sanctification.

So many times I hear people speaking about good works. I know that good works are important. They however are not what saves a person. There are no good works that can save a man, nor are there any bad works that can keep a man from salvation. Further once someone is saved by the Lord Jesus, there is no way anyone can lose it. Once you are saved, you are saved.

So what about good works? Why should someone who believes in Jesus for salvation do good works? The answer is simple, because we are called to do so. The process of sanctification is one were a sinful man is transformed over time, through obedience to the Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit which dwells inside them, to become more Christ like.

This subject is discussed in several places throughout the New Testament, but one such place was in my devotional reading this morning, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 which says, “3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”

Again for those who are confused about salvation, there are three parts to it according to the Bible. Part one is justification. This happens the moment you accept Jesus as your Savior. At that moment all your sins past-present-future are forgiven, so no matter how you “mess up” you are forgiven by God, because Jesus has already paid the price for your sin. Part two is this process described above, known as sanctification. Sanctification is never complete and will last as long as a believer is alive and being obedient to the Lord. Part three is the final part, which will happen when you receive your new eternal body, the one not affected by sin, called glorification.

If you have yet to complete part one, accepting Jesus as your Savior, I beg you to consider your eternal home. Where will you spend eternity? If you believe Jesus was real and came to the Earth to die for the sins of mankind, but haven’t trusted Him to save you from your sins, I have to ask why? Don’t you know what He is saving you from? Hell and Heaven aren’t fairy tales. They are real places and you will spend forever in one of the two. We earn Hell by default. Doing nothing isn’t a good option. You must believe in Jesus and you must receive Him. Consider the wrath to come Jesus saves us from as described in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, ” And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

If you have been justified by the Son, by trusting in Him for salvation, then you can experience the wonderful gift of sanctification by simply being obedient to the Holy Spirit that dwells inside you. If we are obedient and don’t quench the Spirit by disobeying Him, then He will make us more like Jesus. That my friends is what we should all aspire to. By living for Jesus, being obedient to the Word of God, we can shine the light of Jesus to others, so they too can learn about the Lord and become justified.

In any case, works are important, not for justification, but for obedience and to shine the light of Jesus in a dark world who desperately needs to see it. Are you shining the light today? I hope I am.