Tag: Blessed

Dangerously desensitized

Who are we really fooling? Do we think we can excuse our selfish motives or claim we misunderstood? We have allowed ourselves to indulge so much in the world, that we have become dangerously desensitized, and now, we deceive ourselves, so expertly and habitually, that the enemy left on vacation weeks ago and we didn’t notice he was gone.


Matthew 25:31-46 NLT — “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”


We are so selfishly unselfish. We stopped needing the enemies’ help, talking us into being less compassionate, humble, kind, merciful, understanding, forgiving, and self-sacrificing a long time ago. And misery loves company, so when one of us starts feeling convicted about our behavior, we just call each other and talk it out until we feel like the victim again.  Then we feel better and justified as we hang up the phone. All the while, the enemy is lying on the beach, drinking Pina coladas,  laughing at us, while patting himself on the back.
Sadly no matter how I try to excuse it before Father God, no matter the reasons or alibis I might come up with, the whole truth is, every single reason, alibi and excuse is undeniably hollow, void of any substance, the echo of words come back to me sending chills of knowing down my spine.


Father, God has done absolutely everything there is to do. He has been more than merciful, patient, and forgiving. And as if that alone wasn’t enough, He went even farther, He Himself did all the work, strategically putting everything into motion. He himself took on all liabilities, all the work, all the suffering, pain, and every single consequence that He neither earned or deserved upon Himself.
He did all this without expecting anything in return. Loving each and every one of us, His most prized creations, both at our worst and in our best. He made every way possible open up in order that if we, His creation, wanted to love Him back, decide to seek Him with gratitude for all He has already done, the opportunity is open to us.


After giving up His heavenly dwelling and coming to us as the Son of man, healing, teaching, serving, and loving on us, He literally took 39 lashes, leaving Him physically unrecognizable He took all the spit, jokes, and ugliness of those about to crucify Him. Then He died upon a cross, went down into hades, all in our place, therefore breaking down the barriers between Him and His creation. He also left us the instructions on how to reach Him. He left no stone unturned, no T un-crossed, no I un-dotted. All we need to do is respond by accepting His grace,  His sacrifice,  His love. 


There is no way to twist it, maneuver around it, or argue with it.  There is absolutely no excuse if we choose not to read His word, and instead of seeking Him,  thankful for His Goodness, we selfishly live to please our own perception of needs and desires. 


We can claim fatigue, personality hiccups,  old age, being busy, falling asleep, the dog ate our Bible, even that we find it hard to understand, but the question still remains.  Are we living a worldly perceived safe, comfortable life, seeking what the world deems is necessary?  Spending our time going to the best schools, collecting degrees, buying big houses,  driving fancy cars, climbing ladders of success, seeking our piece, our place, our own stature and happiness? 


Our perfectly normal, busy lifestyle leaves us having little to no time left to seek out a lonely widow needing only a conversation, a Lil orphan boy needing only to know he’s not alone, or a homeless woman hungry, cold and scared, just wanting to not be forgotten,  by the world. 
We are so busy seeking the best for ourselves in a life that lasts not even a millisecond in eternity instead of the best for ourselves in our eternal life.  
Have we conformed to the world? We seem to give our attention to the things of this world, leaving so little time, if any at all, for Father God and seeking His Will. 


Romans 12:2 NLT — Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.


When you arrive in heaven and stand before the Lord, you will not be rewarded for what you received. You will only be rewarded for what you have given. – Dr. Charles F Stanley

 
Until next time, may God bless you and keep you as you seek Him with your whole heart. 


Experiencing supernatural

Everyone seems to be in agreement that experiencing a miracle from God is rightfully called a supernatural experience. A divine appointment. Everyone, that is, but me.

I just can’t go along with this logic. I do admit it sounds so right that some might say it’s common sense. And yet, again, I still must disagree.

The way I see it is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit God-created us in His image with the intent to walk with us, talk with us, and have a real personal one on one relationship with us.

He desires fellowship with us and wants us to be merciful, gracious and kind givers so he can spoil us beyond our wildest imagination. In doing so He still requires that our character will remain humble, peaceful and filled with the love of Yeshua even as we’re being spoiled.

He wants to laugh with us, cry with us, dance with us, sing with us, joke with us, dine with us, and travel to see all the wonders He created in this world for us, with us.

He really wants to see us smile with genuine Thanksgiving.

We have the same desire within us, for Him. We long for, and some of us search our whole lives for, this connection with our heavenly Abba, Father.

When we say yes and receive His Spirit inside us, through the Sacrificial blood of Yeshua, we no longer need to search.

Connected to God we are home. Walking with God, experiencing miracles, is where we are meant to be, where we belong and long to be and to me, that’s, the most natural place to be and way to live.

Seems to me, that to walk apart from God is more supernatural and walking with Him is natural. That’s just my humble opinion.

Until next time may God-bless you and keep you as you seek Him with your whole heart.

Warrior Words

I think about the word of God. He said let there be,
and it was. And now thousands of years later, it still is.

Then I think of
the Psalms. Most were written by David, before and after he was king. His words
still have power today, thousands of years later, to change and touch lives.

When David was
just a boy tending the family sheep and he would sing songs to Father God, I
don’t think he had any inkling that those very songs would be a witness to
people thousands of years into the future.

I’m willing to bet most biblical characters never
thought Father God would be using things they have said and done to help reproach,
teach, inspire and encourage us today.

Who am I to think my words will somehow go unnoticed?
Maybe Father God intends to use my gossip session as a lesson of what not to
do, a few hundred years from now.

Matthew 15:18-19 NLT — But the words you
speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

Think of our words as warriors we send out into the
world. They are unstoppable once uttered. Once they are loose there is no way
to change our minds and call them back. These warriors go out with mission and
purpose and they don’t rest or sleep and they never tire. There are two tribes
of warriors we all have available to us in endless numbers. The white warriors
and the gray warriors. Every single word we give voice to and speak out is
activation of either the white warriors or the grey warriors.

Once uttered the white warriors will go out to spread goodness,
kindness, gentleness, peace, patience, joy, forbearance, self-control, faithfulness
and love. The gray warriors will go out spreading gossip, division, hate,
anger, lies, intent on killing, stealing and destroying.

No matter what, one or the other, white or grey, are
attached to every single word we utter or give voice to. The possibility of empty
words containing no warriors at all doesn’t exist. Even empty words we choose
to say that have no emotion or meaning behind them whatsoever, still contain either
white or grey warriors. So no matter what if we choose to speak we release
warriors. We either utter life giving
words or words that will end up being a curse upon somebody else or even
ourselves.

James 1:26 NLT — If you claim to be
religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your
religion is worthless.

Our words are very, very powerful! Although
we are told this over and over in God’s Word, we still speak so carelessly. We
allow words to slip from our lips, choosing to stay blind to what we create for
our own reality, and blessing or hurt we speak over those around us.

Proverbs 29:20 NLT — There is more hope for
a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

The enemy deceives us with the lie, “sticks and stones,
may break my bones, but your words can’t ever hurt me.”

Scripture tells us opposite.

The truth is, sticks and stones, have less chance of breaking
my bones, than your words, that are sure to curse me.

I had a few physical fights with girls I went to school
with when I was young. Thinking back, I cannot remember any physical pain or injuries
I may have obtained from those altercations. I can however, remember all the mean things girls in school
would say about me, as if they were just said yesterday.

Words that have emotion behind them, good or bad, gray
or white, have more power to cause what they’re bent out to cause such as, good
or bad, hurt or help, division or unity, destroy or encourage, hate or love.

Proverbs 21:23 NLT — Watch your tongue and
keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.

When our words come from reaction to something or
someone, we, by reacting, open a door to the enemy. The enemy then takes over
and manages our reality. As long as the enemy can keep us reactive and speaking
emotionally, we cannot elevate spiritually because our words keep us in
bondage.

If however we choose to practice self-control and decidedly
bite our tongue, choosing not to react, we maintain control of our own reality.
We also, as we hold our tongue and remain self controlled, realize we had the
means of spiritual growth, all along. We also start to see the floodgates of
blessings open up, as we choose our words carefully.

Proverbs
18:20-21 KJV — A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth;
and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. Death and life are in the
power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

We have to
understand, we don’t get to choose if our words hurt or help others just
because of how we meant them. No matter if we think someone should discern our
meaning or not, wont stop them from feeling the way our words made them feel. We
cant dismiss our responsibility for the effects our words have by saying we
didn’t mean it like that. This includes the words we utter about ourselves. We
say things like, I always lose, I’m just clumsy, I’m not good at that, etc.
Etc. We barely notice we are living the very things we allow ourselves to speak
out. Whether we like it or not our words every single one that comes from our
mouth has power to do either good or harm.

Proverbs 12:13-14 NLT — The wicked are
trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble. Wise words bring
many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.

James 3:5-10 NLT — In the same way, the
tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a
great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of
wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire,
for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals,
birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and
evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and
sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so
blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers
and sisters, this is not right!

Friends, the words we speak have a power we can’t seem
to truly imagine. None the less whether
we can imagine their power or not, wont
change the power they possess or the consequences, of our carelessness, in
which we speak them.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you, as you
seek Him with your whole heart.