glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men

not about me

I am going through something I have never experienced in my entire life. the devil & his army of demons have been personally attacking me this past week. their primary goal is to sway me from becoming what God has for my life. beyond that the attacks have nothing to do with me at all. I am just the means to attack God Himself. by attacking me the devil is actually attacking the Father.

I have been using Galatians 2:20 quite frequently during the attacks. recently Romans 12:1 - 3 have made an impact; "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

- living sacrifices don't get to pick & choose what happens to them.
- in order to become holy & acceptable I must become a living sacrifice.
- it truly is my reasonable service as Jesus Christ paid for all my sins.
- Christians should only conform to Christ.
- to renew one's mind the Word of God must be implemented.
- God's will is that every child of His do His good, acceptable & perfect will.
- by doing His will, He is going to prove me to see if it still is the forefront of my life.
- upon choosing to become a living sacrifice, I have been shown who I really am in God's eyes.
- the only way I can survive the attacks is to place all my trust, as a living sacrifice, in Jesus.

God is always good and God is always right.

be doing

I Chronicles 22:16b, “Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.”

two commands are presented in this verse; Arise and Be Doing.

if one is ever going to do anything for God they must arise. arise out of the slumber of life. arise out the mundane world. arise out of religion and its traditions. arise anew in Christ in order to be doing. be doing the work of the Father. be doing the life of Christ lived through you. be doing the will of God as told through His Holy Spirit and His Word. be doing what God has called you to do after you have arisen.

the last portion of the passage is implied. once you arise and begin doing, the LORD is with you. He is with you when you arise. He is with you when you begin doing. He is with you while you are doing. He is with you when it is time to lay down the doing & follow Him home.

today’s churches are full of people who have arisen but have never began the doing. little do they know that God Almighty is the same yesterday, today & forever. meaning He only calls you to the doing that He knows you can do through Him.

whatever is on life’s path has already been approved by Him for you. for me. therefore I must arise and be doing.

letting God lead

Numbers 14:1-10a

Vs. 7: “And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.”

The phrase ‘to search it’ means there was a reconnaissance mission to find out how to go forward in God’s will. Prayer & fasting, coupled with saturation of the Word, will bring that to light.

Vs. 8a: “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us.”

‘If the Lord delights’ hinges on God delighting in us while being obedient to His word & will. ‘Then he will bring us’ accompanies the Lord delighting and our obedience, but doesn’t always mean we are to go forward. Sometimes we must be patient & wait right where we are while He brings & gives what He has for us. Though here we see that God’s delight and our obedience is what will bring us into the land of promise. That is God’s plan for our life.

How is this accomplished?

1. When God moves, you move!

Vs. 9a: “Only rebel not ye against the Lord…”

YOU is implied emphatically as the one that should not rebel. If God is moving DON’T stand in the way! A friend of mine once gave the analogy of God being the engineer of a train. Now we have the choice of either being on the tracks or on the train. If we are on the tracks, God will run us over. As we are His children He wants us to obey & if not then we are asking for the chastisement. But if we are on the train then we get the opportunity to experience His blessing of doing His will.

2. While God is moving, don’t fear.

Vs 9b: “neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them…”

This is so cool! He is saying to not be afraid as the people that are in the land already are more afraid of you than you of them! They don’t have a leg to stand on with God and you against them! Amen! Being on God’s side makes it so much easier especially knowing that the moving forward is part of His will.

3. Watch God while you move!

Vs 9d: “and the Lord is with us…”

Keep your eyes glued to the One doing the work. Too many times I tend to focus on what I think I’m doing for God. It is at these times that God politely puts me in my place only to tell me that it isn’t me doing the work. It’s Him working through me in order for Him to get the glory. I’m glad God is merciful enough to remind me gently instead out of vengeance.

4. Willingly move with God.

Vs 24a & b: “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully…”

Moving begins in the heart long before it gets to the feet! If you are ever going to follow God it MUST begin in the heart. The action of your heart is closely linked to all the other areas of your body; mind, eyes, ears, mouth & etc. People say that your heart must be in something in order to do it; though I know many that did something without any part of their heart being involved. It’s the same with following God. If it truly comes from God, it will begin in your heart & then travel throughout thus making it easier to follow with your feet. Hence the prayer & fasting coupled with the Word. The only way to follow God is fully – no half-heartedness!

Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thine ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (bold for emphasis)

my 180

friday, july 24, 2009.

that’s when it happened. my 180. true I had repented and turned many months ago, but that was the day the Father had me realize that the 180 was complete. Psalm 30:2 states, "O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me." I have simply poured my heart out to the Father just like David. I have invited His divine hands to break me, mold me and make me into what He desires. my heart longs after Him. He is my glue.

how did this happen? the Word. the daily diving into the Word (coupled with prayer). Psalm 107:20, "He sent the word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." yes, destructions – i.e. plural. meaning the path I was headed down had more than one snare I could have fallen into. seems King David had more than the one snare of being a whoremonger. if God can heal him why can’t He heal me?

He can only if I allow Him. Psalm 78:41 (this verse will change your life) reads, "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." Scary! they turned back. they chose NOT to obey God fully. they tempted God. they also chose NOT to trust God fully. plus they limited the Holy One of Israel! they had compacted God into this neat little box. set Him on a shelf. and made Him watch them turn and tempt. they only needed Him for one thing. once that was complete, they disregarded Him all together. that one thing was deliverance. Israel was constantly getting into trouble and relying on God to deliver them. but God was big enough to deliver them AND keep them out of trouble so as to break the cycle!

that is my 180. I by no means am perfect. I am not prideful enough to say I can never return or will ever step away from my Saviour. but what I can tell you is that God Almighty has healed me. my thoughts are no longer plagued by my past life, though the devil tries from time to time (I Cor. 6:11). my desires have been transformed by the renewing of my mind (Rom. 12:2). I have willing placed myself, and continually, under God’s microscope (Prov. 1:23). and my greatest fear is to once again hurt my God and my Redeemer. should that be the fear of the Lord, then it is worth fearing (Prov. 2:5).

my God is so big, so strong and so mighty. there’s nothing my God cannot do. so true is that song. He IS strong enough to pull my sinful soul out of destruction. but ALSO strong enough to keep me close to Him. oh let me no longer limit the Holy One! may God receive the glory for what He has and will do with my life!

duh

if only life was this simple. truth is, it could be. you see this label should attached to every baby along with a copy of God's Word before they leave the hospital. that is life's instruction book.

too many times we forget to read the instructions and go off willy-nilly on our own. and we wonder why life is so hard. duh... we forgot to read the instructions!

this is becoming ever more prevelant in my life as I continue to follow my Lord. right now it is in the area of women. true last time I totally messed things up; but I've realized that if God is first BEFORE things start, then I'm headed in the right direction. hence reading the instruction book! I've already decided that should God choose to give me a wife it will only be because she is needed in my ministry and we can perform that ministry more completely together for our Lord. should she not be needed then I am willing to do the minstry alone.

right now, I am testing a certain female that I am interested in at church. the Father, through the Holy Spirit, impressed me to ask her out to soulwinning night... and SHE CAME TO IT. just so you know I'm kinda stoked about it. I will ask her again this Sunday night and it would be nice if she says yes. the Holy Spirit has mentioned to have no expectations just in case she refuses. the Lord MUST be first in this arena should it proceed any farther. if He is not, then any relationship will fail. by placing God first, and reading the instruction manual, it will allow God to have His will in this matter. God must get the glory for my life, including this.

a daughter of Moab

Numbers 25:1, "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab."

this post will be harsh towards me as I have gotten comfortable. not just where I live but also in my walk with the Father.

the Israelites were only miles away from the Promised Land given to them by God. close enough they could smell the milk and honey. yet we read they chose to abide in Shittim. and who dwelt right beside them? none other than the Moabites (descendants of Lot). the bible says they began to commit sexual immorality with the Moabite daughters. how did this start? they abode! they got comfortable in the wilderness! their guard was let down just long enough to allow a pretty Moabite female to step in and lead them astray.

I’m learning that although God has pulled me out of sexual immorality the temptation to be immoral will never go away. no matter where I go as a son of God the devil will always have a daughter right there to tempt me. this time the Father has opened my eyes to this trick of the devil and showed me my acquired liking for a "Moabite" daughter. it is on the fringe but close enough to smell.

it's time to step away from this temptation for two reasons; #1: it could cost me God’s will for my life and #2: see number one. the only way I am able to resist is with the Father’s help. He has promised He will be there, even when I am uncomfortable.

a dying habit

old habits die hard. a true-to-form phrase. I’ve realized that the only way for certain old habits to die is to give them completely over to the Lord.

the children of Israel was commanded not to defile themselves with the customs within the land of Canaan, Leviticus 18:24 & 25. God was going to destroy the Canaanites simply because of their wickedness. He certainly did not want His children partaking nor acquiring any of the soon-to-be-former inhabitant’s customs.

and how did He want His children to remove themselves from these customs? Verse 30, "Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God." it sounds easy enough to keep His ordinance, but that isn’t how you remove yourself. that is found in the last line, "I am the Lord your God."

one can choose to keep God’s commandments. one can choose to not partake in the abominable customs. one can even go so far as to do everything within their power to not defile themselves. but none of that is worth the time and effort if you fail to admit that God is your Lord. choosing to rely on your own strength, and not the Lord’s, will only get you so far away, but not far enough.

last night temptation abounded. and I admit I almost partook of a former custom. so today the Father sat me down and revealed that my will needs to break. God is also my Lord, so my will must conform to His will and His way. I can willfully go either towards Him or away from Him. true this habit is dying but it needs to die in accordance to His will, and not to me just willing to no longer partake in the customs. His will must be complete.

hiding His face

today its been hide and seek. me hiding. God seeking. God hiding. me seeking. its been this spiritual teeter-totter that is making me sick. I didn't have an appetite for lunch and there wasn't much of one for dinner. I am aware of when things are done in the flesh and then in the Spirit. this constant back and forth.

I can say along with David in Psalm 30:7, “LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.”

I know He is allowing me to see this as I must understand I can't get to the mission field of my own accord. not only TO the mission field but the daily path en-route to the mission field! my preaching is too self-illustrated right now to preach in any church. plus He is training me to trust in Him for simple monetary support. both at the same time. these lessons must be learned. I only want God's will so through this we must go.

lead on Oh Great Jehovah, lead on. even if as I follow, my face is hid in your bosom as only there I find support.