The Door

One night I couldn’t sleep, I laid in bed in the darkness tossing and turning, I prayed, I talked with God for a while and yet I couldn’t sleep. I looked toward my room door that was shut and there was an outline of light which was coming from the kitchen light over the stove. I keep this on at night so that I won’t bump into things if I needed to get up. Well, it got me to thinking about something and when I get inspiration I have to get up and write it – so here it is.

A door stands in front of you a sliver of light penetrates the top and side, you wonder what’s on the other side. But then you hear someone say; “if you go through that door blessings are waiting for you”, but before you do, you are also told that “God will require something of you”.  A puzzle look comes over your face, then you ask, “what is it that He will want of me?” You are then told “you must first walk through to know the answer.” Your mind begins to race on what it could be, your blood pressure starts to rise as well as your heart rate. The thought that God would want something of me, was more than you could imagine. What is it that I have that He would want of me? images start to run across your mind, is it my heart, my home, my family, my life, what could it be?

You began pacing back and forth contemplating what it might be. But as soon as you are willing to take that chance and you resolve to go through the door, here comes another voice, the voice of fear, pride, and doubt. “I wouldn’t go through if I were you, He might want more than you’re willing to give up”. You begin to reason this thought, that it makes sense to you and you stop and listen to more “what if He wants all that you have worked hard to achieve, your money, your house, He might even want you to quit your job and do something less attractive”. You begin to ponder how you have worked hard in school, getting your dream job, you have a beautiful new home and a family that depends upon you. The voice begins to say, “you can make this decision later, you have time” and as though the voice was standing right next to you, you turn in the direction and say, “Right, maybe later, after all I’m still young and anyway, I want to enjoy life and all that I have accomplish”. But what you don’t see is that image of that voice smiling a devilish smile and his arms crossed in front of him with a satisfied look, for his goal was accomplished.

How many times have we talked ourselves out of what God has wanted to do in our lives? When we wanted to go left but God was drawing us to the right, because our eyes was more focus looking at the left with all its enticements and goods and choosing our own path. The left, had everything we desired and wanted. Why would we even reason that “our achievements” were greater or better than what God has? Because our minds have been blinded with get rich quick schemes, or have this new body by summer, or buy the newest sports car, build a bigger house, or take a luxury vacation, all the enticements we see people doing and we think this is life at its best.  When our focus is drawn to these things and not God, we have taken our eyes off of Him and put them on things of this world.

When we begin to accept this kind of thinking and reasoning we have come in agreement with the father of lies. His ways of deception are subtle and before you know it, you have dug a deep pit that you can’t climb out of. You’re swimming in debt, the stress of your job has increase, things at home are not going well and now you’re experiencing some physical problems. When we being to turn away from the ways of God and be more accepting of the things of the world, the Word of God has given us a choice, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19).  God does not force anyone to surrender to Him, we are all free to choose life or death, but also understand that “therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else” (Deut.4:39).  God is God no matter where we are or what we think and If we rationalize why we choose death and why we believe the lie instead of the truth, it’s because our hearts have been harden and we believe the lie that we have all the time in the world to make a choice.

 God said, “I command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the Lord your God shall bless you in the land whither you go to possess it” (Deut. 30:16). There are blessings and promises here when we make God our God and obey His Word.  For “…behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22). The next verse deals with the person who feels that they have time to make the decision later on in life “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…” (1 Sam 15: 23).  Rebellion and stubbornness are serious sins which the only fruit that it bears is death. Just as David prayed we too, must pray with repentance “Do not withhold your compassion from me, O LORD. May your mercy and your truth always protect me. Countless evils have surrounded me. My sins have caught up with me so that I can no longer see. They outnumber the hairs on my head. I have lost heart. O LORD, please rescue me! Come quickly to help me, O LORD!” (Ps. 40:11-13 GW)

All our accomplishments that we achieve come from God. Somehow along the line we began to think that “we” are the ones responsible for all that we achieve. Wisdom comes from God; our understanding comes from Him and our gifts and talents also. For “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever: (Psalm 111:10 NASB). Is there a Godly fear among us anymore?  No matter what the world says, we can do nothing without God.  Even the unsaved and the unbelieving are partakers of His grace and mercy “for God is no respecter of persons…That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).  “The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9 NKJ).  In other words, God will wait for you to come back to your right mind, but He won’t wait forever, and before it becomes too late you must make a choice.

Those who would walk through the door have completely resolve to give up everything not just for the blessings but because of the love that has been freely given to us so, “Take diligent heed to…love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all you soul” (Job 22:5; Deut 11:1, 13,22). And because our love for the Father, and the Son is more precious than anything we could ever hold dear. “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love...” (Eph. 3:17 NASB).

 We can’t repay Jesus for what He has done for us, but if it means giving up this whole world and all that we were able to gain here, those who believe – would do it, “and those who use this world as not misusing [it]. For the form of this world is passing away” (1Co 7:31 NKJV).  This world is passing away and as believers, we should not get bogged down too much with the cares of this life, God has given us instructions to “cast all our cares upon Him…” (1 Peter 5:7). We are to trust Him with our whole heart, mind, strength and body.

Consider your choice, look about you and see the numerous blessing already in your life, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).  Now are you willing to walk through that door and give to God whatever He asks of you?

Chosen2Prayer

A Father’s discipline

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Hebrews 12:7-8 (NASB)

It seems funny to me when you hear people say, “I’m grown” as if it’s not noticeable already. But does that mean that everyone else are children?  God sees us as His children, and as such we must endure His chastening from time to time.  Correction is something that grown folks don’t take to kindly too, but we hand out correction to our children, in order to direct them on the right path.  God does the same with His children, we have all had days, even months when at every turn there seems to be a battle waiting to confront us, and there are reasons why we just can’t seem to get ahead of all the troubles. One important thing to remember before I go on, is we can’t live as we please or do what as we please or treat others as we please knowing we are His Children. The seeds that we sow will one day come to full harvest and we will reap what we have sown. God’s Word has given us an answer for our rebellious ways and the reason for our chastisement:

“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His corrections. For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Prov. 3:11,12)

God’s purpose for discipline is when He sees that we are depending upon the worlds way of handling things more than upon Him.  Or that we have become lax in our spiritual walk and our old ways are beginning to pick up strength, like a car going downhill. Teaching is necessary to help us go the way God desires for us and discipline is necessary to render that teaching to be effectual. Correction is mandatory to bring our minds into submission, without which it cannot acquire knowledge. Never reject the procedure or process of God, only humble yourself under His mighty hand.  It is no use trying to rebel, for every act of rebellion against God, is a wound to your own soul.  God will either end you or mend you; the choice is yours.

He loves us and He wants the best for His children. “…we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live? (Heb. 12:9). It is never pleasant to be corrected or discipline by God. But this discipline is a sign of His deep love for each of us. When God corrects us, you must see it as poof of His love.  How we respond to His correction has a lot to say; again we can accept it with resignation, we can accept it with self-pity, we can be angry and resentful toward God or we can accept it gratefully, as this is the appropriate response – the choice is yours.  

“As many as I love, I rebuke: and chasten be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:11)

God is not only a disciplining parent but also a demanding coach who pushes us to our limits and He requires our lives to be discipline. We may not feel strong enough to push on to victory, but as long as we keep following Christ we can draw upon His strength to make it through. Most of our thinking is not all that great and we tend to make choices out of fear, anger, jealousy, spite and so many more emotions that leads us down the path of bad choices, which then leads to more intense correction from the hand of God. Matthew Henry said it best and in a clear and precise way that one cannot miss the true meaning of the scriptures above.

“There is a proneness in believers to grow weary, and to faint under trials and afflictions; this is from the imperfection of grace and the remains of corruption. Christians should not faint under their trials. Though their enemies and persecutors may be instruments to inflict sufferings, yet they are Divine chastisements; their heavenly Father has his hand in all, and his wise end to answer by all. They must not make light of afflictions, and be without feeling under them, for they are the hand and rod of God, and are his rebukes for sin. They must not despond and sink under trials, nor fret and repine (complain), but bear up with faith and patience. God may let others alone in their sins, but he will correct sin in his own children. In this he acts as becomes a father. Our earthly parents sometimes may chasten us, to gratify their passion, rather than to reform our manners. But the Father of our souls never willingly grieves nor afflicts his children. It is always for our profit. Our whole life here is a state of childhood, and imperfect as to spiritual things; therefore, we must submit to the discipline of such a state. When we come to a perfect state, we shall be fully reconciled to all God's chastisement of us now. God's correction is not condemnation; the chastening may be borne with patience, and greatly promote holiness. Let us then learn to consider the afflictions brought on us by the malice of men, as corrections sent by our wise and gracious Father, for our spiritual good.” (Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary)

If truth be told, we bring on God’s chastisement because we persistently ignore His guidance, and insistently take our own path. Even though that still small voice deep within us says not to do that, we turn a deaf ear and proceed down destruction avenue. We should never listen to the voice that goes against the will of God or that puts an uneasy feeling within us. Our faith is not in figuring a way out or listening to the counsel or advice of others, but we must humble ourselves under His hand of judgment. We must look to Him for direction and guidance as children. However, He chooses to bring correction, it is imperative that we keep our faith in the promises of God, we must keep our focus on Him, we must remember how much He loves us, we must repent of our wrong and we must endure chastisement till our hearts are turned and our minds renewed by His Word and by His loving hand. Claim the promises of God, resist the devil who walks about like a roaring lion, and never give him any place in your life.

For God tells us: “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him…”       2 Samuel 7:14-15 (NASB) 

Father, sometimes I don’t understand the “why” of situations that happen in my life and I know that I may have caused much of my own suffering by going and doing what I thought was right, without acknowledging you. I ask your forgiveness for my wrong thinking, I ask your forgiveness for not taking heed to the voice of your Holy Spirit. I ask forgiveness for being foolish to think my way was better than yours. I know that when I am judge I will be chasten of you Lord, that I may not be condemn with this world. For you told me clearly, be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who he receiveth. Thank you Father, for I am your child, for if I endure chastening, I know that you deal with me as your child.

Chosen2Prayer…

Time to come clean...

Sometimes the Word of God can be challenging in this day and time, but if you look at His Word as truth then there is always a purpose and reason for what He has said and what He will do. It comes down to our obedience and willingness to walk the path of truth. We must be willing to accept what God has said, we must be ready to face persecution when it comes, and regardless of the consequences, we must be ready to stand firm and strong on His Word.

We can see that our world has changed and it’s not a change that we can be proud of but rather one that destroys the idea of what a Christian nation looks like.  2 Chronicles 7:14 says “if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways…”  now this is not the world that He is talking to, but HIS people, HIS chosen, HIS called out ones; have our prayers reached heaven or the ceiling in our home? Have we ask God to “search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). 

O God, “if I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; let me be weighted in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity” (Job 31:5-6).  “examine me, O Lord, and prove me: try my reins and my heart” (Ps. 26:2) “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins” (Ps. 7:9). We must put ourselves under the microscope of God and ask ourselves some hard questions, have I been walking the way I should, have I compromise my values or morals just to go along, have I become lazy in my prayer life, do I justify my sins and do I faithfully read and follow my Bible, do I put other things before God?

There are many question, hard questions that we must ask ourselves, but most importantly we must be truthful. You see this is between you and God, there is no one else there but Him and if you can’t be truthful with Him then you are not truthful with yourself. If your condition looks like this then you are in need of repentance: the Word says “…because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” (Rev. 3:16-17).

For thus saith the Lord “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me…He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3: 18,20,22). 

  

NinaJ

Chosen4God

NEWNESS OF LIFE

Eph. 4:24 “An that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

This is such a great point to be in our Spiritual walk, we have “put on the new man…” and this new man has put on bowels of mercies, kindness, and humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness, and love. 

As we are renewing in the spirit of our mind (v23), we are letting go of the wrong attitudes that has held us captive for so long, such as belittling, pride fullness, and vanity, and we are now on the way to choosing God's thoughts. At this point we are no longer walking as the world, where our understanding was darken, or in ignorance, and of blindness of heart.  We have been given a gift a most precious gift when we came under the blood, we now have the Holy Spirit residing within us.  This is the same power that was with Jesus working the many miracles that He did.

Yes, our entire course of life is now flowing in a different direction, we are now “in Christ…old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Cor.5:17).  It is foolish for any man to profess a relationship with Christ while still in the flesh, and while he remains unchanged in heart and life he is still dead in trespasses and sins; only the blood of Jesus can cleans you.  As we put on this new life, righteousness will be manifested and true holiness will will being to be evident in our walk, our ways, our attitudes and our thinking is changing.  As we “…yield your (our) members servants to righteousness unto holiness” (Romans 6:19), for we no longer live to the lust of men but to the will of God (1 Peter 4:2).

 Be bless

Chosen4God

Light bearers…                 

We are called to walk with Him in wholeness; in whole-someness; in holiness. No pains have been spared to make it abundantly obvious that no matter what our culture, society, or time in history, He invites us to walk with Him in dignity, decency, and on a plain above apart from our contemporaries. (Phillip Keller)

There have been many, many great examples given to us in the Bible of those who walked with God.  There is one that we know the least about but he left us an example of what it would be like when we walk with God in complete surrender and it’s Enoch (Gen. 5:22-24).  He was a man whose heart and life exudes a love for God that we can’t begin to comprehend; it says in Hebrews 11:5 “…that he pleased God.” Can anyone say that their walk pleased God as Enoch?  “…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  

We are prone to see from a human standard, we look at the education, the skill set, the intelligence, the financial stance of a person, more than the true part that God considers – the heart.  He does not need to look at the outside or the accomplishments of man, but is the heart humbled, is it one willing to yield completely to His Will.  What did Enoch have that we don’t? There was something so special with Enoch and his walking with God that God took him just like that.  There was something that he possessed that we don’t have or may not yet have reached his level of intimacy as he had with God. 

Another great example would be Abraham, God told him to leave his family and to leave his country as well. Abraham was called of God for a purpose and through him He promised him “…I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). Abraham’s faith and obedience to God were blessing that were passed on to us as believer, for we are of the seed of Abraham and we are also promised the same blessings as Abraham through the covenant, God promised; “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen 17:7).  Did you know that Abraham was 75 years old when he started his walk with God?

At this point in life we would all ready be in our retired state of mind but Abrahams faith was all he had to go on and a promise from God.  He set out across the desert waste to walk with God in explicit faith.  It doesn’t matter how old we are when God calls us just as long as we have a heart filled with obedience and faith in His promises then we can take that first step towards His purpose. Are you willing to obey when God calls you?

I believe Enoch and Abraham had something that we all are seeking and searching for today, but we have yet to obtain it.  I believe that it’s something that goes much deeper than faith, and that there is an intimacy level that is reached with God as we walk with Him all day, everyday – 24/7.  God has to consume our mind, our heart, our soul in such a way that every breath becomes a prayer of praise to Him.  I believe that it’s a level of intimacy that is achieved not in six months nor in a year, but in a life time.

We need to strive in devoting ourselves to be completely saturated in the Word, and our walk must be devoted completely to holiness with the Father.  You see, sin always blocks our vision of God; and holiness is coupled with living in peace where a right relationship with God leads to a right relationship with fellow believers.  Paul tells us this in Hebrew 12:14 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God.”  We must press towards the prize that many which have gone on before us have already obtained (see Phil. 3:12-14).  Holiness in this sense is talking about your consecration and sanctification, for in 1 Thess. 4:3 God commands us to know His will “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” Meaning, we must separate (sanctify) ourselves from all kinds of sexual perversion, and sex sins, all sins of the flesh (see Mark 7:21-23; Gal. 5:19-21) we must know how to possess these vessels (your body) in sanctification and honor. 

This is where the enemy traps many who are striving to walk with God, by using the lust of the eyes then the lust of the flesh and even the pride of life, these are all part of the world and so many have fallen into this trap (1 John 2:16).  Think about this, the mind is the battlefield, the enemy gains access when we allow unclean thoughts to take shape and he gains victory when we choose to act on these thoughts. You see, when darkness (sin) is still present within our minds the enemy has legal right to play havoc in your life, “…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  So where we need to start at is by “Casting down imagination, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ “(2 Cor. 10:5). Until you truly understand that by renewing your mind with the Word of God the enemy will continue his destructive path. 

Let’s stop here and recap, first as you read your Bible you will find that there were many, many good examples that God gives us of those who by walking with God in obedience were able to do great exploits for God. Now don’t think their walk was without problems, stumbling blocks, or hindrances because there were plenty lurking around. There were shouts of despair, moments of darkness, uncertainty, and even persecution, but in the end they found light, love and life, and they found Him to be a friend that will see them through what He has called them to do.  

Enoch and Abraham were just two examples that show us the importance of having a relationship with the Almighty.  Light and darkness cannot walk side by side with each other. You must chose how you want to walk and be faithful to that choice because our enemy, Satan wants to kill you, steal your peace, joy, happiness and destroy your life and your future (John 10:10).  Finally, we must keep our mind renewed in the Word, we must strive to walk in holiness and we must stay separated from the Worlds view of living and believing because "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men" (1Cr 7:23).  So till next time Saints keep walking with God.

Be bless

Chosen4God

Stuck between a rock and a hard place…

When I found this picture it brought back memories where I had found myself at times of my life, either by my doing or my choices.  We all have been “stuck between a rock and hard place” at one time or another and I’m sure many of you have heard this saying before of “being stuck between a rock and a hard place” right? What exactly does this mean? And how does it pertain to our Walking with God?  Well let’s say you have a choice that must be made and if you make the wrong choice the consequences could be more devastating than if you made no decision at all and the decision will affect more than just you. Of course this is just an example but we have all at one time found ourselves in this position. 

When we find ourselves in a situation that requires us to change directions we need to take heed to the path that God is directing us to.  But in our stubbornness and self-will,  for some of the paths we have chosen have lead us where we wish we hadn’t gone because we have made the grand decision to forge our own way.  The Bible tells us that "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein" (Jer 6:16 KJV). We have opted out from the tried and true path to be different, to be unique or to “to be me”.  What we have done then is we have chosen the flesh part of life; we have gone with our own mind set, and remember “…the carnal mind is enmity against God... they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8). How successful has those choices been?

The Word of God is very clear when we choose our own paths, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (Jam 4:4 KJV).  When we are walking with God it should be a time of exhilaration, it should be a time of fulfilling what was commission to us by Christ, to go and heal the sick, to raise the dead, to preach the Word.  Nevertheless the path that we have chosen has been of our own making and choice and the consequences of this are ours to receive.

One thing for sure life has a way of challenging us and forcing us to take a good look at ourselves and as we start to get older our perspective about life changes and choices we’ve made come to mind and we begin to re-evaluate our lives, going back over some of the choices we did make and seeing where we shoulda, coulda and woulda made better choices had we known what we know now.  You must realize now that the past is the past and we can’t reach back to change it or erase it, there are no excuses we can give for the choices of the past.  What we must do now is “press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). 

God is calling us higher, our destiny is not here in this world if you look at Israel they were God’s chosen people and nation, "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." (Deut. 14:2 KJV) yet He never gave up on them even though they tried His patience many times with their idolatrous beliefs, unbelief, their rebellion and stubbornness.  It is imperative to understand that as long as we walk in obedience to His Word, obey His commands and remain humble before Him we, who are called by His name, will reach our eternal home; if we do not faint on the journey we are now on. Getting past the past means knowing that we have been made “…kings and priest and we will reign on earth” (Rev. 5:19) with Christ on day, and even Paul tells us that we are “…heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom.8:17).  Knowing all this we must let the past have no affect on our future neither upon what God says in His Word.

Walking with God means you do not walk alone on this path. You have the blessed Holy Spirit who will be with you forever because Jesus is your Savior.  Whatever the problems we find ourselves facing we can now take them to God in prayer. If you have a minimal prayer life or near non-existent one, you will most definitely develop a stronger and deeper prayer life that will become as easy as breathing.  Your faith level will be tested, your walk will be tried, you will have to deal with detours, roadblocks, stumbling blocks and yes, the enemy himself will be the one behind all of this, but don’t despair or become fearful for you have the “ELOHIM” the God of all creation is with you and He knows already what each of us will face and the victories that will be won in Jesus name.  We will not pass every test but remain faithful and true to God and you will find that your dependence on God will become stronger than a three-fold cord.

Chosen4God