Food Enzymes

Digesting His Word:  Taking it in with understanding; being able to break down the meaning and take in the nutrients of it so that we actually use the Word as our food for living in REALITY.  Then, we can be victorious the in way that He intends.  We can overcome the world by faith.

Consider the way we could overcome if we would digest and take in the nutrients of these verses:

“Blessed is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity…”

“In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength.”

Psalm 94:12, 13 and Isaiah 30:15

Read your Bible, pray.  Meditate on what you read.  Meditation comes naturally if you seriously read His Word.  Food enzymes.

Fire Under Us

 

We have to face it; we really don't perform our best unless there is pressure, born of necessity, being exerted on us.  Necessity, competition, disciplinary pressure and those in the arena of life that are looking on, press us to perform better.  The hopelessness of the circumstances of daily life press on us in an unrelenting way.

Without these pressures, our pride takes over and we are not driven to dependence on HIM.

It's fear of the fire under us all that drove me to into His arms.

Gateway to Life (2)

The movie theater shooting in Colorado is now a world famous event.  A title to a later news article states, "His Gun Jammed".  There's Psalm 76:10 again.  This time, the restrain aspect of the verse jumps out.  The testimony of the Lord's own has been manifesting itself in the aftermath of the shooting to again prove that even this is another gateway to life.

Again, we wring our hands over the evil behavior of man while the Lord already knew what would happen and has restrained it, girded and armed Himself with it.

"Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; the remainder of wrath shall You restrain and gird and arm Yourself with it."  Psalm 76:10 Amp

Restoring

Many of us have a built-in desire to restore; to fix it, and leave it better than it was before:  Maybe, adding some creative touches of our own.

God is the Master of this art.  We might have His program installed in us to restore, but He is the One who will - and does - make all things new.

He Owns the Night

"The day is Yours, the night also is Yours..."  Psalm 74:16

Yes, He made the day and He made the night.  Between the hours of 12 noon and 3 pm, there was night-darkness over the land while He "muscled up" under the load of sin and our sins - as well as God's holy judgement.  Only He could triumph in this and He did.

"He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." John 19:30

 ...They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—that He has done it [that it is finished]! Psalm 22:31

“I will sing to the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!"
“Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power;
Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces."  Exodus 15, (The Song of Moses)

As you walk through the darkness of night or the darkness that you see in broad daylight in this world-turned-evil, you can be thrilled to know that He owns the night.

Exploring Karma

Being confronted by a rating system based on (Good) or (Bad) "Karma", I'm forced to think about what this means and how it affects others.  The conclusion quickly becomes apparent:  Karma is someone else's opinion on how good or bad you are.

In a world where "good" is beginning to mean the loss of liberty, and "good" means using perverse sexual activity as a basis for marriage, etc., it's difficult to see how a Karma rating system can be valid; unless the word "karma" is used as a symbolic label.

In fact, the only way to have a meaningful concept of karma, there must be a judge who is pure, unaffected by change and societal whims.  This judge must be aloof from the blowing winds of cultural opinion and must know true goodness and, I daresay, true holiness.

Such an One exists.  How is your "karma" with Him?

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Col. 2:8

The Culture of Stress

 

We are trained, from our youth, to be in a certain mode of operation; the mode of always working our way up from insufficiency, coming from behind, fighting back from past failure or about to fall into it.  It usually starts in school and flourishes in the business world.  It even becomes an undercurrent in our gatherings as believers.

Why do we buy into that?  That's quite different from the REALITY that we are in the middle of God's plan and are walking with Him right where He would have us.  He is always working with us and in us and He doesn't fail at His work.

Why do we teach our kids the same thing?  Deep down inside, the kids know better.  Deep down inside, we forgot.

What do we think it means when God's Word says, "I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you."

and

"[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves]..."

 

The culture of stress is ever present and always seeking to shoulder in to our lives.  We don't have to participate and we don't have to teach it or share it with others.

Cannot Fail This School

 

"No believer in Christ enters God's school and comes out a failure."

We can keep this in mind as an encouragement; despite how we, and others, fail at various small and large things in life.  We WON'T fail the most important thing.  HE won't let us.