Daily Devotionals

2010-06-29T02:53:00.000-07:00

WILLING

If God is in control of my life, what does it matter what I do or don't do?

SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
Mark 1:14-20

BIG T's THOUGHT TO PONDER:
On March 13, 2008 I received an invitation that changed my life forever. That invitation came in the form of a physical visit from God, offering me life, a life I could not even begin to imagine. God wasn't exactly on my radar screen back then but I knew at that moment that I needed to follow Him and I called out His Name, Jesus Christ! And he rescued me!

In today’s "Scripture To Consider" Mark tells us that several fishermen received an invitation that changed their lives forever. That invitation came in the form of a call, from a rabbi, a teacher named Jesus, who was just starting out his ministry proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God was near. Jesus was just walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He found four men fishing in the lake and said to them: “Come, follow me.”

As I looked at this verse I though, what a strange thing for a rabbi to do. I don't think that rabbis went around visiting places of business to invite potential disciples to come follow them, just like I don't think the pastors of today go out door-to-door making house calls. If anything it is the eager new Christians who would probably approach an elder or a pastor from their church for the privilege of discipleship and/or studying under their teachings.

But that’s exactly what Jesus did when he issued his invitation to Simon and Andrew, and James and John. In Mark’s Gospel, there was no indication whatsoever that these fishermen had anything special about them that would have caught Jesus’ attention. Those four were just minding their own business when Jesus took the initiative to seek them out and to issue this invitation: “Come, follow me.”

What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. But at first glance, even more strange, even more amazing in my mind, was the fact that when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus’ invitation, verse eighteen says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.” There seemed to be no hesitation on their part. They simply let go of their nets, which were their means of livelihood and symbols of their lifestyle and identity, and followed Jesus. What Simon and Andrew did has always puzzled and intrigued me. No one in his right mind would just let go of everything to follow a teacher, just because he said, “Come, follow me.” Right?

Apparently, Jesus was no ordinary teacher. In the very beginning of his Gospel, Mark had already identified Jesus as the Son of God. While there was nothing special about those fishermen whom Jesus called, there was definitely something very special about Jesus.

For those of you who God has entrusted to operate a business for His glory such as myself, imagine Bill Gates visiting your office with the invitation: “Come, follow me.”

For those who play basketball, imagine Micheal Jordon entering your gym with the invitation, “Come, follow me.”

For you aspiring Hollywood stars, imagine if Tom Cruse or Jennifer Aniston came knocking at your door and said, “Come, follow me.” Imagine the top person from your field or profession coming to you inviting you to come and follow, and I imagine some of you might be tempted to let go of everything and accept this one-in-a-lifetime offer.

Even so, it is hard to imagine how Simon and Andrew could immediately let go of their nets, their only means of livelihood as fishermen, in order to follow Jesus. But that’s not all. In the next verses, Jesus issued the same invitation to James and John, and they not only let go of their nets, but they also left their father Zebedee, left their boat and their hired men to follow Jesus. James and John let go of family ties, let go of possessions and let go of a life of being served in order to answer Jesus’ call.

It’s hard for us to imagine letting go of so many things in order to follow Jesus. We are a people who have been told again and again to “grab all you can” and “you can have it all.” We often don’t know what it’s like to let go and give up some things in order to pursue the best path God has for our lives. Maybe that’s why we overextend ourselves in our work, we overextend our credit limits to accumulate more than we need, and we overextend our schedules and our commitments. Sometimes, it is possible to allow our lifestyles, our possessions, and yes, even our families to become our idols. As Christians, our work, our accumulations, our schedules and our families are not bad things in and of themselves, but when we cannot let them go and when they begin to occupy a higher place than following Jesus, then we may be missing out on a life of discipleship that Christ calls us to live.

I don’t know about you, but in my life, I find that when I’m afraid to let go, many times it is because I fear what will happen when I’m no longer in control of my life. Those who know me know that I’m a planner obsessed with the details. I’m compulsive about details and I always want to prepare for the contingencies, leaving nothing for chance and always with a plan B.

But when Jesus called to invite me to follow him, He was basically asking me to hand over the reigns and full control of my life to Him. The question was, “Was I willing to let go of control and let God be the Lord of my life"

When Jesus invited the four fishermen to “Come, follow me,” Jesus didn’t map out a three-year plan with full benefits and retirement. He did not give many details and the unknowns we endless. Jesus’ invitation was simply a call to journey with Him, to commune with Him daily, to literally follow Him wherever He went-twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week-living the way the He lived, observing and learning from the minute details of the His life, and training to do what He did.

To follow Jesus means the transformation of our lifestyle so that it conforms to the way that Jesus lived His life. Jesus’ invitation is first and foremost a call not to a plan but to himself: “Follow me.“ Jesus’ invitation is secondly a call to a continuous journey with Him rather than a single act toward Him: “Follow me.”

Who among us does not want to live a life of significance? Who among us does not want to live a life of influence that points others to God? Who among us does not want to live a life that will make a lasting, positive impact that carries on long after we’re gone? The truth of the matter is, God has bigger plans for us for the sake of His Kingdom than we could ever dream about. But in order for God’s plans to come into fruition, we must be willing to let go of the nets in our lives and let God have control over our lives. If Simon, Andrew, James and John had not let go of their nets, their fathers, their boats and their servants, and if they had not let God direct their lives, then chances are, I would not be writing this devotion this morning.

The world’s a better place because throughout history, there have been ordinary people who were able to let go and let God. Theologian Leonard Sweet said it well: "The world’s a better place because:"

"Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do arks and animals.”
"David didn’t say, “I don’t do giants.”
"Daniel didn’t say, “I don’t do lion’s dens.”
"Mary didn’t say, “I don’t do virgin births.”
"Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do letters.”
"Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”

This list reads like a Hall of Fame of the heroes of faith. We might think: “There’s no way that I can attain that level.” But Jesus is not calling you to be the next Moses or David or Mary. Jesus only calls you to be the very best you can be. And the Good News is that Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before. Jesus knows what it was like to let go of the status, prestige, and power that was rightly in His possession!

This morning, we are invited to let go and let God. But that’s not all. For if we were to do just those two things, we might be tempted to sit back passively, letting go of everything and letting God do everything. There is one final thing. In response to Jesus’ invitation, Simon and Andrew, James and John, not only let go and let God, but at the end of this passage, Mark tells us that they basically said, “Let’s Go Do This!” and they followed Jesus on a journey of faith.

GOD's TRUTH - PROMISES - INSTRUCTION:
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord"
Psalm 37:23
"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:9
"But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil." Proverbs 1:33
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5
"Thus says the Lord, Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go."
Isaiah 48:17
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way should go; I will guide you with My eye."
Psalm 32:8
"For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death."
Psalm 48:14
"The Lord will guide you continually …”
Isaiah 58:11

Help Us To Let Go Of Our Nets And Follow YOU!

2010-06-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

PRAYER

Am I really supposed to pray at all times? How is that possible?

Scripture To Consider:
"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:18

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."
Colossians 4:2

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I love these verses...for many months after reading in Thessalonians, I ask myself this question - How can anyone pray at all times without ceasing?

One possibility is "popcorn prayers"... A close friend of mine just shoots short spontaneous, brief prayers up to God as a habitual response to every situation he encounters throughout each day. This is good stuff!

As we deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ along this breathtaking journey He has prepared for each of us uniquely and personally, these scriptures seem to come alive and are simple instructions that have to do with setting our minds on the things of above. To simply order our lives around God's desires and teachings so that our life actually becomes a prayer.

This kind of intimacy with Christ doesn't require you to isolate yourself from others or from your daily work routine in order to pray... you can make prayer your life and your life a prayer. While we live in a world full of distractions wickedness and the evil one's snares lurking around each and ever corner of life, it is paramount that we remain focused on our relationship with Jesus, that we stay alert and allow our minds to linger in the presence of Lord without ceasing.

God is our Wise Counselor, we should seek Him first for all things! This means every decision that we make, what we watch, what we listen to, where we spend our time, in our relationships, in and about our finances, in every B.H.A.G. and in every minuscule decision of our life.

Look at it this way, if we never spoke to our spouses or listened to anything they might have to say to us, involved the in any of life's decisions our marriage relationship would quickly deteriorate. It is similar with God, communicating with God through our prayers is what keeps us connected, grounded and distraction free from the lies of Satan.

One of the simplest reasons to spend time in prayer is because the Lord repeatedly instructs us to pray throughout scripture. If we can just cut through the fat - we should be in constant thought, prayer, communication and wrapping God around our minds because our Daddy and Mighty Creator says so! Obedience is the nature by-product of discipleship and He just wants the best for us, so we just need to listen and trust...

He has prepared the way through His Son Jesus Christ, He has prepared the good works for us; He has lit our path and is the lamp to our feet - Now all we have to do is walk in the finished work He has completed by communicating with Him through simple prayer in order that He can point us in the right direction and keep our walk straight.

God's Truth - Promises - Challenges:
"Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation with overpower you. For though the Spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!"
Matthew 26:41

"And then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up."
Luke 18:1

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:18

"Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension."
1 Timothy 2:8

I love this quote from Dr. Stanley:

"We All Tallest And Strongest On Our Knees"

2010-06-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

ATTITUDE

Does God care about my attitude as long as I still do what he asks?

Scripture To Consider:

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:1-5

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

According to the Webster, the word "attitude" means "an internal position or feeling with regard to something else." Other descriptors: "disposition, feeling, mood, opinion, sentiment, temper, tone, perspective, frame of mind, outlook, view, or morale."

As a former Jet Mechanic, I know that airplane pilots often use "attitude" to describe their horizontal relationship with the runway then they land. If their attitude is not aligned properly, the plane will make contact with the ground at the wrong angle and it will cause them to crash.
So it is safe to say that our attitude is our inward disposition toward other things outside of self, such as a person or a circumstances. Just like an airplane, attitude hits the radar whenever you must deal with something other than yourself.
God’s word tells us that when we come to know and trust Jesus Christ, we become a new creation and a part of the new you is the development of a new attitude... our attitude is to become Christ like. Scripture tells us above, that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.
"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24

Bad Attitude:

It's impossible not to see a bad attitude because it is typically on display for all to see in out outwardly demeanor. This can be in our words or actions, such a negativeness, criticalness, rebellion, defiance, impatience, uncooperative, discouragement, independence, arrogance, self-centeredness, rudeness...

As Christians we are instructed to lose these examples of bad attitudes. However, keep in mind, attitudes are inner dispositions of the heart and mind — they are the hidden intentions which will eventually serve as the basis for our actions. In reality, no one else really knows the thoughts of your heart, except you and God! Attitude is something that only you and God can work out — a change which must take place inwardly.
Good Attitude:
My Aunt Lela used to say "your attitude determines your altitude" and she was so right! According to scripture, our attitude toward life, our circumstances and especially toward other people should always be through the lens of Christ Jesus and in alignment with the Word of God.
It's impossible not to see a good attitude because it generally wreaks of positivity, encouragement, love, humility, teachable, cooperative, considerate, selfless, loyal, persevering and so on. Sound like anyone you know?
In the book of Galatians we find the instruction of our Almighty Savior for what a good attitude looks like: "
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

God's Truth - Promises - Challenges:

To God — Our attitude should be reverence, submission, love, trust, humbleness, obedience, worshipful, and prayerful.

(Psa. 111:10, Mark 12:30, John 14:15, Jas. 4:7, 1 Sam. 15:23)

To Our Brother and Sisters — Our attitude should be love, forgiveness, consideration, caring, encouragement, kindness, humility, unselfishness, respectful, and impartial.

(John 13:34-35, 15:12, Rom. 12:10, 13:10, 15:7, Jas. 2:9, Eph. 4:2, 4:32, Col. 3:16, 1 Thes. 5:11, Heb. 3:13, 1 Cor. 13:4-8).

To Our Trials — Our attitude should be patience, thankfulness, persevering, believing.
(Rom. 8:28, Gal. 1:9)

To Our Church — Our attitude should be generous, authentic, respectful, faithful, cooperative, helpful, willingness, dependable, participating, encouraging.

(1 Cor. 10:32, 1 Cor. 14:12, Heb. 2:12)

To Service— Our attitude should be faithfulness, responsibleness, obedience, cooperation, endurance. (Luke 16:10, 1 Cor. 4:2)

To Unfairness — Our attitude should be patience, humility, confident in God’s justice. (Rom. 12:19, Luke 18:7)

To Disappointment or Tragedy — Our attitude should be humility, submission to God, prayerful, confidence in God’s fairness. (Psa. 62:5, Jer. 17:5, Deut. 32:4, Job 13:15, Rom. 8:28)

To the Lost — Our attitude should be compassionate, forgiving, encouraging, helpful, reconciling them to God. (2 Cor. 5:18, 2 Pet. 3:9, Matt. 18:11-14)

To Sin — Our attitude should be uncompromising, unaccepting, intolerant, unsympathetic, yet compassionate and reconciliatory for the repentant. (Matt. 18:8-9, Gal. 6:1)

To Success — Our attitude should be humble, grateful, God-glorifying, not self-exalting or forgetful to God. (Jas. 4:6, 10, Prov. 16:18)

To Misunderstanding — Our attitude should be peacemaking, reconciliatory, patient, forgiving. (Col. 3:13, Matt. 5:9, Phil. 2:14)

Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude - Soar High Today For Jesus!

2010-06-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

DISCIPLINE

Why is God punishing me? Doesn't He love me?

Scripture To Consider:

Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions.

Psalm 94:12

[God said,] "My child, don't make light of the Lord's discipline, and don't give up when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child."

Hebrews 12:5-6

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the Lord reproves Him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom He delights.

Proverbs 3:11-12

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

God disciplines us for our own good, similar to why we discipline our own children. Sometimes God has to get our attention and brings affliction or troubles into our lives to teach us something valuable, something to help us grow and find our way back to Him.

To test our faith, to correct us; to guide us along the lighted path He has provided us in order to give us His wisdom and train us up for the next thing or place He will call us in order that we can "walk in the good works that He has prepared before hand", it says in Ephesians 2:10.

It's really ironic that this mornings subject is about discipline and the affliction that God allows into our life, as this is exactly what my pastor talked about last night. He shared with us some timeless principles on the affliction illustrated in the book of Lamentations 3

1. Affliction should be endured with hope in God's deliverance.

2. Affliction is temporary and should be tempered by compassion and love.

3. God does not delight in our affliction.

4. Affliction can come because of injustice that God sees and does not approve of it.

5. Affliction is always in relationship to God's sovereignty.

6. Affliction can ultimately be brought on because of sin.

7. Affliction should accomplish the greater good of turning God's people back to Him.

When I have trials and troubles in my life, I always turn to several Bible truths and promises of God and He has always given me peace and comfort through them. My memorization verses for this week is a pretty good one to start with.

God's Truth - Promises - Instruction:

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful."

Hebrews 10:23

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

"But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you; When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you."

Isaiah 43:1-2

"The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never ceases, For His compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion, "says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:22-25

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly"

John 10:10

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

James 1:2-3

In the world we will have afflictions and we should grab hold of them as a means of testing our faith and the blessing of strength and endurance. For God is faithful, He has overcome the world and in Him we have peace; He has redeemed us and we are His own children; He will not allow the troubles of this world overcome us; as He will give us everything we need brand new each morning and He will provide it to us abundantly! - We serve a Mighty Loving God!

Ask God Today How You Are Serving Him?

2010-06-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

ONENESS

What does it mean when the Bible talks about a husband and wife being "united into one"?

Scripture To Consider:
The Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."
Ephesians 5:31

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
This is a subject that really had me pondering this morning and what I came to realize is that a successful marriage is impossible without God in it, it just won't work! The key to a successful marriage is a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It isn't until this direct vertical relationship in our life is solid that all the horizontal relationships in our life can become healthy and fruitful.

For more then 16 years, my marriage was all about desires, which would have been fine if they would have been shared desires, wishes and hopes for our life together. Shortly after the honeymoon, they eventually turned into expectations and obligations and when this happened our relationship became all about two "I's".

She wanted things one way and I wanted things another way. It became a debt-debtor relationship where we each felt we owed each other something. Basically, our expectations kept growing and the bar kept getting higher and higher until our so called relationship was no longer a covenant of marriage- it was a performance driven contract and the love that once was, turned into a big bunch of self-centered I, I, I's... Me, Me, Me's... You, You, You's...

What we have learned in our relationship in Jesus, is there is no room for "I", and our marriages are exactly the same way. We are not committed to "the marriage", we are committed to one another. It's relational, it's a covenant, it's about romance and intimacy. It is not compromising, it is not prideful, it is not about "I", or "You", it is about "Us" and "We" - It's a covenant, not a contract.

It is about putting your wives needs and desires before you own. It is about relational flexibility and investing into each other, while growing in Christ oneness. Our marriages were designed to be as three- a husband, a wife and Jesus Christ to be the glue that holds it all together, all working in union and harmony with each other.

Here are (5) relational flexibilities that I have found that are great oneness builders:

1. Stretch your comfort zones. Be willing to go beyond normal for you and do something your mate wants to do that might not be your favorite thing. It illustrates that you're doing it just for your spouse because you care. As we stretch our comfort zone, we'll grow and actually expand our own personal limits.

2. Flex your attitude. Christian God-Centered marriages are all about serving and pleasing each other. Focus on your "partner" role. Developing a servantship attitude is one of the healthiest things we can do for our marriage.

3. Expect the unexpected. A healthy marriage is committed to Jesus Christ, individually and together. That's what Two for One represents. God wants us to take our marriage further than we can dream. Ephesians 3:20 speaks of His being able to do for us "more than all we ask or imagine." Be open to following where He leads us. Unexpected paths lead to unimaginable blessings and I can personally attest to this!

4. Do something unplanned and spontaneous together. It will keep the freshness and excitement in your marriage. If neither of you are spur-of-the-moment people, take turns planning a surprise date for the other. This doesn't have to be expensive, it is the simple pleasures in life that we so often overlook. Sunrises and Sunsets are a good start!

5. Balance your "expecter." Strive for the happy medium between having your expectations for your mate too high and settling for mediocrity. Challenge your mate without demanding perfection. This is a biggy for me- a covenant not a contract!

God's Truth - Promise - Challenge:
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
Colossians 3:12-17

"and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
Matthew 19:5-6

AND NOW ABIDE FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, THESE THREE; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.

2010-06-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

COMPARISONS

How can I stop comparing myself to others?

Scripture To Consider:
Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
James 1:9-11

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think to understand the verse that James has shared with us we have to look at the root of "proud" vs. "humble". As Christians, we are called to lose pride and find humility.

What is prideful? Webster says: arrogant superiority; haughty; self-dignity or value; self-respect; an excessive high opinion of oneself.

What is humble? Webster says: meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude or spirit; not arrogant of prideful; submissive respect; unpretentious or lowly.

My understanding of pride is an inwardly expression in all our actions and in our communications with others. Without sounding prideful, which for me is impossible, I consider myself a former expert on the subject. Wow, now that sounds prideful! Why does pride come so easily to us and humility so difficult?

On the other hand, I consider myself a novice when it comes to humility. It seems to me that humble would be an exact opposite to pride and outwardly centered in our actions and communications with others- someone that is willing to put others before themselves in most every circumstance. Why is humility so difficult for us to obtain?

The funny thing is that I have actually heard people describe themselves as humble and thought to myself, "that was a very prideful description of humble". It is pretty obvious that pride and humility are on opposite spectrum's, just as the world and the Kingdom are separated by eternity.

It is only my opinion, but I believe that we have to look to the perfect source for humility, because humility is an elusive trait that can only come from one source. Where pridefulness of the world is plentiful for the taking, humility isn't something we can train ourselves up in. It comes from knowing the perfect and flawless example of humility - Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of the world.

Humility isn't a circumstance. Although what happens in life can humble us, circumstances by themselves don't create true humility. Humility isn't what happens to us, but what we are becoming and being transformed into. It isn't comprised by what surrounds us, but by what emerges within us. A poor, uneducated person can be proud while a respected, wealthy person may be humble. Humility is an attitude of the heart, affected by circumstances but not defined by them.

I once heard or read a wonderful statement of wisdom that stuck with me regarding humility: "As Christians, we are proud people pursuing humility continually by the grace of God... This is so true!

You know what I realized after (48) years, but not until the moment in time that God divinely allowed me to see it- we don't have to compare ourselves to others if we know who we are in Christ Jesus. Once God has revealed this to us, we no longer have the desire to be like someone else or have what someone else has. We are content, satisfied, fulfilled, and made complete in Christ. We are transformed and blessed with an outwardly desire to put others before ourselves. Pride begins to fade away with the world and humility begins to form its perfect place within us and in preparation for things unseen.

We no longer desire to be conformed by the things we see in the world - pride, greed, self-centeredness, arrogance, independence, but instead we are made to be Christ-centered by setting our minds on the things of above and through the renewing of our minds we are transformed for His greater purpose and glory.

We are children of the King and He has created us as His Masterpiece and Workmanship. God created us independently unique of each other and without comparison! All God asks of us is that we walk in who He created us to be and invest and sow the gifts He blessed us with, into the lives of others who have also been Divinely Created as our brothers and sisters in Christ.

WOW! I love God...

God's Truths, Promises & Instruction:
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
1 John 2:16

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12:2

"You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE; Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time."
1Peter 5:4-6

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."
John 15:12

2010-06-21T01:44:00.000-07:00

WISDOM

How Can I be more receptive to God's wisdom?

Scripture To Consider:
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
James 1:15

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom.
Psalm 111:10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I have been writing this daily devotions for several months now and found myself growing frustrated because I started over complicating what God intended this to be about, the simple love for sharing with others, my perspective of His beautiful and magnificent word; and encouraging others through the challenging life lessons and personal experiences God has blessed me through His testimony and my witness for the past (48) years.

Last Friday God revealed something pretty cool to me as I began to write a devotion about "Remembering" - remembering all of what God has done for us. As I typically have in the past, I pulled resources from the Internet of other perspectives around the world to get my creativity flowing, I began to punch out a witty devotion for the day. Over the last few days I realized that this couldn't be further from what God had originally called me to do that morning God simply said to me to "write"! Write from your heart!

God ask me to share from my heart, my perspective, from the wisdom, testimony, experiences, tribulations and troubles that He has blessed me with, not from the perspective of others, but from His perspective through me. And so with that said this is what our wonderful savior put on my heart this morning:

I love the simplistic instruction that James gives us in the scripture above and it gives me great confidence knowing that God works and gives His wisdom so freely to just ordinary men like you and I. We don't have to be Bible scholars to have and to share the wisdom and understanding of God, we just have to ask for it and be bold enough to stand confident in Christ!

I look at the men and women that Jesus hung around with and the biblical characters of scripture whom who our Father God has used over thousands of years, most of them were just regular John Doe's with regular day-to-day problems in which God decided to do amazing things with and through.

If you need wisdom, ask Him for it!

The way I see it, as Christians we have two basic instructions: Read the Word of God in order to deepen our relationship and walk with Jesus Christ our personal Redeemer and Savior; and through prayer, knocking seeking and asking God who gives generously to all of us, apply the simple instruction of the Living Word of God to our lives.

Reading the Word... Asking God for the wisdom to Apply the Word to our lives! Applying the knowledge that God reveals to us through His Word to our day-to-day actions and attitude is truly the key to life and to an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

James goes on to give some more simple wisdom and basic instruction, he warns us in verse 1:22-25, that if we hear the Word and do not apply it, the Word is useless for shaping our lives. Knowing the Bible without acting on that knowledge will not help us make godly decisions. But if we can be hearers and doers of the Word, giving it feet and putting the Word of God into action in our lives, we will be blessed beyond measure.

How do we prepare for this? This is my thought:

1. Jesus said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God”. Rely on God’s help and the work of the Holy Spirit to succeed. It is all in the trusting, not by the trying of our own strength - Be Confident In Christ!

Luke 18:27

2. “Devote yourselves to prayer”. Pray for wisdom, guidance, success and His perfect will for your life. Our Savior loves us and His greatest joy is when we take time to spend time talking with Him and sharing from our hearts. No matter what it is, just keep it real - Invest Yourself In Christ, He Invested in you!
Colossians 4:2

3. “For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous”. Obey God’s Word, simple instruction and Divine plan for your life. The best teachers are doers, put action to the knowledge He has blessed you with and allow Him to guide you through life - God Guides!
Romans 2:13

4. “Remember this: the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously”. Commit to become familiar with the Bible in order to equip yourself with His simple instructions in order that we can use them to apply to problems, opportunities, or the difficult the decisions we face each day. The results will be worth your time and effort so be bold and courageous - Be Sold-Out and All-In for Jesus!
2 Corinthians 9:6

God's Truth & Promises:

Cry out of insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:3-5

God Guides And Is The Giver Of Wisdom - Just Ask!

2010-06-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

COINCIDENCE

Is God really in control , or are the events of my life just coincidence?

Scripture To Consider:
"I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship."
Exodus 31:3

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit".
1 Corinthians 12:4-8

"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith."
Romans 12:6

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift."

"Therefore it says,"WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."

"Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things."

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Ephesians 4:4-16

"So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the utility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness."

"But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

"Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need."

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4:17-32

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
Ephesians 2:10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
There are No Such Thing as Coincidences! Does any of the truth in the common thread of God's Divine and sovereign Word above sound like it was by accident that we were given specific instruction and purpose for our life? It no accident, or coincidence that you reading this devotional, you were driven here for a reason.

I believe there are no such thing as coincidence, but simply God's Divine Intervention and perfectly preordained plan for each of our lives. He has equipped each of us with specific and independently unique spiritual gifts that He has called us to use in each others life for His glory and greater goodness. As we come together in oneness and common union through the Spirit of God which indwells us and takes up residence within us at the time He calls us and we make a decision to trust and believe in the Almighty Jesus Christ be cause we come to the realization that we were not intended to do life in this fallen, broken, deteriorating world, but our Father has prepared a light for our path, given us the perfect example through Jesus Christ and preordained the good works that He prepared before hand, before He breathed out our DNA and knitted us in our mothers womb!

Coincidence? I ponder not!

God has a purpose for your life. You know it... You can feel it... You were led here by that feeling, by the desire to do more with your life than what you are presently doing. You know and feel, within your soul, that there is more to life than getting up each morning and going to a job that leaves you feeling empty at the end of the week.

You believe that there has to be more to life than working everyday, coming home just to get ready for work the next day so you can start all over again, repeating basically the same thing every day. It's endless and not what your were created to do, you have a meaningful purpose for life just as I now realize I have as well - we all do!

Well, I'm here to tell you that there is more to life. God has created you in His image. He wouldn't have wasted His time on creating something that was useless and we know He doesn't make junk. You, my friend, are very useful; you are incredible and most of you don't even know it, yet!

The world and the things in it can never satisfy the divine calling for what and who God created us to be - we are children of God; we are in complete opposition with the world, a world in which there is not peace to be found, there is only trouble, corruption and wickedness. We were created by Him and for Him by His Divine blueprint for our lives... He wants to do a supernatural extreme makeover in your life and in mine - Jesus overcame the world, He is where we find our peace, He was the One that came to bring life and to bring it abundantly!

We were created for such a time as this and we are all being called to surrender of "self"; to be sold-out for Christ Jesus our Savior, by knowing Him through spending time in His Word; to be submissive to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit; to realize our greater purpose through the discovery, development and deployment of the spiritual gifts which we have been equipped and blessed and then to walk in complete obedience and in oneness with the Spirit of God.

God has already done all the work, now live in who you are in Christ... practice His presence... be willing to utilize the gifts that He has blessed you for His greater glory and honor. Trust that you really are His "Masterpiece or Workmanship" and live out what he is called you to do and know that you will always have all you need to do all He ask of you! The plan for our lives is ordained, preplanned and executed blueprint, a done deal - now walk according to what He has already prepared for us to do!

God's Truths & Promises:
"Made Alive in Christ and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."

"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

"Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity."

"AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

2010-06-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

GOD'S NO

When God says no to my prayers, is he rejecting me?

Scripture To Consider:
"Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life."
Jonah 4:3

"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself!" "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me." And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Have you ever prayed for something fervently... prayed with complete faith... then sat back and waited for God’s answer? Waited for the sovereign Creator of the universe to speak to your heart through the Holy Spirit. You waited…and waited…and waited, until one day you began wondering “Why has God not answered my prayers?” "I wish that God would just stop ignoring me and just answer already!" Many other thoughts are processed through our, minds, some of our own, some from the Holy Spirit and some from the destroyer, deceiver and thief.

Over the last two years and through many trials and BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), God has been saying “no and wait" to me in response to a couple specific prayers that were very critical to hanging on and making it through the storms of life. I have taken great comfort and instruction through these last two years from examples God has given me of other prayers He did not grant and many that were granted in His perfect time and in complete alignment with His sovereign will for my life.

One of the most touching examples of prayers denied is the story of Abraham and Sarah. In the 15th chapter of Genesis, Abraham was promised a heir and a child from his own body. But they had no child because Sarah was barren and both were advanced in years.

Imagine the years of tearful requests that Sarah and Abraham made to the Lord. Try to feel the pain, frustration and loss of hope each month when they realized their prayers had been rejected again. As the months turned into years, the prayers must have grown more and more desperate, for each year as the couple grew older, they knew their chances of having a child grew dimmer.

And yet, after all these years, well past the age of having children, that is the request they continued to make of God. Until one day, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar grew tired of waiting on the Lords promise and so then strategized, devised and executed their own backup plan just in case God's didn't work out. In Genesis chapter 16; with Abraham at the ripe old age of 88 years old, Abraham had a son with Sarah's handmaid Hagar, which was the bi-product of not waiting on the Divine plan of God - obviously this has caused a few cultural and historical ripples over the past few thousand years an had a direct impact on our lives today!

At this point, you may be thinking that this story is a poor example of God’s rejecting a plea, for God granted their prayer in chapter 18, about a decade later with the birth of Isaac. The fact is, Abraham and Sarah almost certainly did not pray for God to wait to give them a child until their old age of 90 and 100 years old, they wanted a child right away and God’s answer to THAT prayer was “NO.”

Even though God had plans for them to ultimately have a son, Abraham and Sarah were unaware of those plans. Yet in the face of years of Divine denial, they were still individuals of faith—people who believed in praying for the desires of their heart and in a God who listened to those prayers. What are some lessons we can learn from this couple?

Like it or not, “no” is an answer, too! Although it is safe to assume that the couple was grieved at receiving this answer, it is apparent that they still viewed God as one attentive to their prayers. Just because God did not grant their prayer, they never gave up on praying. They may have wondered why He did not grant it, but they never confused a negative response for a lack of one. If they had, why would they have persisted in praying?

In fact, sometimes for our own good, or that of others, “no” is the only answer that a loving God would give. Probably all of us can think of prayers in the past which we are very grateful now that God did not grant. When Paul, for example, was discouraged by attempts to be relieved of a thorn of the flesh, as painful as it was, the insults... the distress... the persecution... the trials and troubles that we are all too familiar with in which Paul endured. He prayed to God that the thorn might leave him (2 Corinthians 12:8). God did not grant that prayer. Instead, God said "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness". Do you think Paul regretted God’s “no”?

Perhaps the “no” for which we should be most grateful, though, was in response to a prayer made in a garden one night. As a result of that “no”, one man died so all could live.

God's Truth & Promises:
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Matthew 7:7-11

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Matthew 21:22

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
John 14:13-14

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:7

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."
John 16:23-24

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
James 1:5

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 John 5:14-15

God's Time Not Ours... God's Will Not Ours... Ask, Trust and Wait...

2010-06-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

MIRACLES

Can God really do miraculous things in my life?

Scriptures To Consider:
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31

Moses and the ten plagues against Egypt; Crossing the Red Sea; Joshua and the Fall of Jericho; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are not burnt in the furnace; Daniel not eaten by Lions; Changing water to wine; Calming the storm; Walking on water; Feeding of Five Thousand...

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
A miracle is an unexpected event attributed to the Divine intervention of God. So ponder this!
It is only by the sovereign hand of the Almighty Father God and His Son's loving grace that any of us were saved - this is the greatest miracle of all creation!

No, wait a minute... it's Galatians 2:20 and the indwelling of Holy Spirit what is the greatest miracle! Wait a minute, it's the promise of eternal life with our Creator, that must be the greatest miracle of all creation! What about the second coming of Christ Jesus, the Rapture - this absolutely must be the greatest miracle of Jesus Christ!

Where do we start? How do we even begin to wrap our finite minds around the endlessness of God's miracles in our own personal life? We can not begin to fathom the depth or height of all the miracles of the Master, they have no beginning and they have no end!

New Testament Definitions
Depending on your definition, miracles never happen, or they happen all day long. Using the Bible as our source of evidence, we see amazing occurrences all over its pages. Here are (3) New Testament word indicators that will help clarify the issue:

Dunamis (Power): This word means power, or inherent ability. It describes mighty works originating from a supernatural source, and that cannot be produced by natural agents and means.
An example is, “And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed” (Acts 8:13; 19:11; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 29; Galatians 3:5).
Semeion(Sign): This word is usually translated as a “sign” of divine authority. Luke uses it in the verse just quoted, and John used the word of Jesus, “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples” (John 20:30).
Teras(Wonder): This word usually follows the word, semeion, and means something strange that evokes marvel or amazement.

The three words are used together by Peter, “Men of Israel, listen to these words; Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles (dunamis) and wonders (teras) and signs (semeion) which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).

The greatest miracle of all creation was and is the miracle of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! It was through this miracle that we were given a Savior; that we were made alive in Christ, that we were made alive and new, cleansed and redeemed, bought and paid for... there was no greater miracle in all creation than this!

God's Truth & Promises:
"God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will."
Hebrews 2:4

"If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
John 10:37-38

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
Acts 1:8-11

God's Miracles Are Everlasting, They Are All Around Us... He is Coming Back For His Children!

2010-06-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

VALUE

How should I treat those whom our society devalues?

Scripture To Consider:
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," He said. "Be Healed!"
Mark 1:40-41

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

If we really think about it, we were all just like lepers at one time in a sense, each one of us was still a citizen of this fallen world and captive to the sin of it. The value of a person before coming to God and accepting the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ is just like filthy dirty rags.

"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."
Isaiah 64:6

The value of a person is not found through the good works they do and that which can be seen on the outside. The real value of a person is found on the inside. God does not value us by our outer appearance, by our deformities, or our possible handicaps. None of us are too disgusting or ugly for God's sovereign and loving grace.

God looks beyond our outwardly appearance, past our deformities, through our worldly diseased outer shell and the ugliness of our sins within. Our heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent His beautiful and flawless Son, Jesus Christ to come and touch us... to wash us... to heal us... and to make us new beautiful creations and imitators of Himself.

When you feel ugly and unacceptable or you feel disgusted or repulsed by another, stop and remember the perfect example that God gave us all; how He touched each one of us. Stop and reach out for that ugly and deformed leper that God chooses to put in your path today and allow Jesus to touch them through each one of us today!

God's Truth & Promises:

" Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory."
Romans 15:7

"This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. "
John 15:12

"If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much."
Matthew 5:46

There is no such thing as a unlovable person, God loves all of us!

2010-06-09T03:24:00.000-07:00

WORTH

How does knowing God affect my sense of self-worth?

Scripture To Consider:

A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God.
1 Corinthians 11:7

And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24

Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Romans 12:3

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

We must remember His glorious truth, the same truth that has been in existence since the creation of the world. We were created by the Creator of the universe and in His perfect image and we were by Divine design created with certain Godly characteristics that we must stand in as our basis for our self-worth, our significance, our complete acceptance and our eternal security!

Our self-worth and the worth of all mankind is not based from a fallen world perspective; it is not based on our social status, it is not based on our political views, nor it is not based on our material possessions, our bank balance or annual salary, our achievements, our physical attractiveness or what we do for a living. It is solely determined and based on how we were Divinely created in the image of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world... and God doesn't make junk!

Likewise, degrading your self-concept or thinking less of your self-worth would be like criticizing what God Almighty has created; and this would be in complete disbelief of what God has clearly told us to believe about ourselves and the abilities He blessed each of us.

We must remember that we are His Workmanship, His Masterpieces, His Precious Pearls! Yes, you and I are made in the very image of God but we owe everything we are to Him, this keeps our self-worth and self-concept in a health balance and in alignment with God's Word.

God's Truth and Promises:

We must rest in the truths of who God our Creator says we are; not the lies that the world of Satan would have us believe we are. We can never measure our weigh ourselves by worldly means, the world is contaminated and its measuring devices are distorted and Thousands of years out of calibration by God's Sovereign and Divine Compliance. Use the Eternal and Everlasting God as a means to measure who you are and what your self-worth is!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "I have been bought with a price and I belong to God..."

Colossians 2:9-10 - "I am complete in Christ..."

Philippians 3:20 - "Our citizenship is in heaven..."

Ephesians 1:3-8 - "I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child..."

Colossians 1:13-14 - "I have been redeemed and forgive of all my sins..."

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 - "I have been established, anointed and sealed by God..."

Ephesians 2:6 - "I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm..."

Measure Your Self-Worth By The Truth Of God, Not the Lies Of Satan!

2010-06-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

FIRST STEP

I know what God wants me to do, but how do I find the courage to take that next step?

Scripture To Consider:
So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
Joshua 3:14-16

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
The Israelites had to have been eager after 40 years of wandering aimlessly in the wilderness with what seemed limited and barren resources. God had provided what they had needed, living on the daily manna provided them by the sovereign hand of God. But after 40 years, the lavish abundance and richness of the Land of Canan had to be a sight for sore eyes.

To finally have reached their destiny, the Promised Land, the abundant and rich land of milk and honey! The opportunity to conquer the the people living there and live the peaceful life that had been promised by Moses and Father God finally within their reach. I can only imagine the anticipation and sense of urgency they must have all felt!

God had given Joshua and His chosen people specific instruction on how and by what means to approach the raging banks of the Jordon River and how to successfully get across what must have looked much like reaching one side of the Grand Canyon and being worlds apart from where they wanted to be. That helpless feeling of, "we can't get there from here"!

God gave them specific instructions: In order to get across, the high priests were instructed to take one step into the raging rapids of the Jordan! One step that could leave them 1,000 yards down river and drowned for any of those of you have have white water rafted you know what I am talking about. What if Joshua and the priests would have been too afraid to take the step of faith?

More times than not, it would appear that God provides us no solution to our problems until we trust Him and move forward in obedience by taking that first step we know we should take. What are the Jordan Rivers, Grand Canyons and seemingly impossible obstacles in you life?

In obedience to God, take that first step in faith into the deep water and allow God to guide you to the promises and goodness He has Divinely planned for your life. Be strong and courageous!

God's Truth & Promises:
God will never lead us into a trial, into trouble or into a raging storm of life without carrying us and delivering us through to the other side - Stand strong and be courageous!

"And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.
2 Corinthians 1:10 (NLT)

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed"
Deuteronomy 31:8

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those whose hope is in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint"
Isaiah 40:28-31

Take The Steps Of Faith God Has Called and Equipped You For, He Is Always There To See Us To Safety!

2010-06-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

COMMITMENT

How can I remain focused in my commitment to God?

Scriptures To Consider:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:11-13 (NIV)

And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
Romans 2:16 (NLT)

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
My first thought: We must go directly to our eternal resource, the Creator of all things. Only there can we see the perfected and flawless example of what commitment looks like. Biblical commitment is the Sovereignty of God's Character!

Two extraordinary examples of the character and commitment of the Almighty "I AM", that we will forever have an impossible time getting our finite minds around, are: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son"... John 3:16a "For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, He will not fail you or forsake you"... Deuteronomy 31:6c

By God's Divine Design, we were made to be committed! "So God created man in His own image"... Genesis 1:27a. Our capacity to commit comes through God's Grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - Acts 1:4-8. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13

One commitment we are all called to make: A commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

How can we remain focused in our commitment to God? As we can see, it's all about God! He is the provider of all things, our love; our joy; our peace; our patience; our kindness; our goodness... faithfulness... gentleness... self-control... strength and our wisdom!

Commit to daily prayer:

A simple structure for effective prayer is "A.C.T.S.":

Adoration: Simply acknowledge God for who He is, His greatness and His holiness...
Confession: Confess any sin in your life and ask for deliverance and brokenness...
Thanksgiving: Thank God for all things, His creation, His provision, Our salvation and His answers to your prayers
Supplication: Ask God to supply your needs, ask Him to provide all you need to do all he asks of you...

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
1 Timothy 2:1-6

Commit to reading, meditating, memorizing & internalizing the Word:

Read something from scripture every day and meditate on what God would have you understand from it. "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
Romans 10:17

Commit to serve others:

A great place to begin serving is at home, at work and at church. "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
1 Peter 4:10-11

Commit to trusting your Savior:

This is our most critical commitment and primary focus! It all starts with trusting and surrendering to self and then committing to these other God Breathed instructions for becoming Christ like.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Romans 10:9-10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

God's Truth & Promises:
If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to your mountain, "MOVE!" and it WILL move... and NOTHING will be impossible for YOU!
Matthew 17:20

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34

Love the LORD your God with all your Heart, with all your Soul, with all your Mind and all your Strength!

2010-06-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

MAKING PEACE

What does it look like to live in peace with others?

Scriptures To Consider:
For, The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue
Peter 3:10-11 (NLT)

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Psalm 34:12-13

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think one of the best places to start is in the Beatitudes: Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." We are called to be peacemakers as sons of Christ, it is one of His many indwelling attributes.
Matthew 5:1; 9

James gives us direct and specific reasons why peace is such a great benefit towards our spiritual prosperity and relationship building: "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." Show me a peaceful spirit or peacemaker as James has illustrated and I think we will find Christian maturity more times then not. To be at complete peace in the world, is to be in oneness with the Holy Spirit. I truly believe there is a direct connection between being at peace within yourself and with all the relationships around you; and being in complete union with Christ and I think that peace can start right here while we are still in the world.
James 3:17-18

The four gospels don't make many mentions about peace, but one given on the eve of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is very revealing: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." When we really internalize this verse it brings so much clarity to who is in control of all things, every Divine breath He gives us, each beat of our heart, every pure thought and all goodness that we possess. We have been blessed with the living Spirit of God dwelling within us as believers, why is it so difficult to live out each and every moment of each and every day in complete peace as He instructs us in this verse, right before He gave His live for us?
John 14:27

Jesus gives us insight to unavoidable troubles we are all sure to face while we are here in the world. He gives us an awesome promise of encouragement for the raging storms of life that will prove unbearable, a blanket of truth to wrap ourselves in during the toughest trials we will ever face; and an anchor of hope to bury deep into the immovable and unshakable bedrock of Jesus Christ! He says: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The only place that we can ever find lasting peace is in Christ, this is the peace that is to carry us through our darkest moments in life. We are to count our trials as blessing and to fear not, but to be living examples of the peace we have been given for all the the world to see -this is the essence of our light shining bright... We are called to share it with our family, friends, neighbors, brother's and sister's in Christ and all those He allows to cross our path, by living it - WOW, that's awesome!!!
John 16:33

How glorious it would be to be free of all the burdens of living in this dangerous, unstable, violent world, but as sons of God such is not our lot in life. God has called us to a life that runs in opposition to the majority of this world's practices and attitudes. As such, we are caught not only in the general events and circumstances generated in the world, but also when we directly irritate and anger those close to us by determinedly following God's way.

I have experienced this very irritation and anger by sharing these daily devotionals with some of my own family members, many have opted not to receive it. I could stop sending them all together and believed the lie that satan would have me believe, that there is no value in continuing; or I could choose the live in the peace of Christ in me and stand on His truth; that His Word never comes back void or empty! I choose to have peace and to leave the consequences up to God for those who persecute me for who I am in Christ. I replied to my family members with a letter of love and kindness that they would have never expected to receive from the old man that once lived.

Paul tells us: "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."
Ephesians 2:14-18

Paul goes on to say: "We cannot be right with God unless we are also right with men. Make peace quickly; do not let the sun go down on your wrath." "Hatred is sin, and sin separates us from God."
Ephesians 4:26; 1 John 4:20

Paul also writes in Romans about our peace in Christ Jesus; "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
Romans 5:1-2

God's Truths and Instruction:
When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:7

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11

Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.

2010-05-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

CHURCH

Can I help make my church more attractive to unbelievers?

Scriptures To Consider:
"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find."
Matthew 22:8-9

"Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. "
Acts 2:43

"Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."
Acts 2:46-47

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. "
Acts 4:13

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
When it comes to sharing our faith as Christians, many of us are unsure of how to witness to others. Evangelism, sharing our faith, are an essential parts of fellowship within the Church. As believers in Christ we are all familiar with the "Great Commission" given by Jesus in the book of Matthew.

The Church is the Bride of Christ. We, as the bride, have been left here to prepare for the wedding. Jesus related the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding feast in Matthew 22. He tells us in verses 8 & 9 what the king says.

We must be about the business God has placed before us - to invite others to the Wedding... to introduce others to the love of Christ. Therefore, we must learn effective ways of how to witness.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20

Yet, how many of us live this out in our everyday lives? Whether we call it witnessing, sharing our testimony or evangelism, to many of us it brings fear and nervousness to our heart. It seems to be an overwhelming task which we don't feel equipped to tackle.

In reality this isn't the case though. Jesus has given us a simple command: to share Him with others. Let's learn how to witness!

A friend once told me, "If your neighbor's house was on fire and he was in danger, wouldn't you tell him?" That's just the case here spiritually. Many of our family members, our neighbors, people we meet every day are living a life that will end in destruction unless someone shares the hope of Christ with them.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
1 Peter 3:15

God's Challenge:
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22

Be Bold and Excited, Stand Up for Christ, He is Counting on Us!

2010-05-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

BOLDNESS

When I stand boldly for God, what outcomes can I expect?

Scripture To Consider:

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13

Big T's Thoughts To Ponder:

God ask us to show boldness whether we are serving Him in the marketplace or we are serving Him within the church; whether we are at the golf course or at the gas station; whether we are sitting on an airplane or around the campfire; around our friends or around perfect strangers.

Wherever we are, that is where we are called to be the salt of the earth and to be ready to stand bold as ambassadors for our Lord and Savior.

Webster says boldness is:

The trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger;
Impudent aggressiveness;
The quality of standing out strongly and distinctly

Christlike boldness is an important skill-set for all followers of Christ. It speaks to us about quiet confidence, soldout faithfulness, inner strength, and certainty in our lives. Christian believers are challenged daily, yet we are encouraged to engage God boldly and to find confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

Boldness does not mean that we are to be boisterous, loud, obnoxious or unruly. Rather, God intended boldness as a means of knowing that He is with each of us every day as we wake, at work, at school, at play and as we lay your head to rest. We will know boldness if we abide in Jesus for He abides within us.
John 15:1-8

What does God want us to do with our boldness? I believe that God’s plan is for us to use our boldness to tell others about His glory and goodness. He asks us to:

Use our boldness to receive wisdom from our pastors, mentors and other spiritually gifted believers God puts in our path.
Be confident and have certainty as we read the Word; as we study the Word and as we internalize the Word.
Share your boldness about God with others, believers and non-believers alike.

What is the outcome of my boldness? I believe God expects your boldness and its message to be simple and automatic. Just be yourself and leave the consequences up to God - people will marvel, seeing Christ in you just as they did with Peter and John.

We should remain teachable; do our best always and seek obedience.
Model God’s goodness and grace in our lives under all circumstances.
Praise God daily and thank him for all our many blessings that have come from our boldness in service to Him.
The greatest outcome of our boldness are through the seeds sown and fruit which is yielded: saved souls!

Are you bold for God? Today, start a list of the ways that you are bold for God. If you have difficulty making the list, step away from it for a day and return later in the week to complete your list. Can’t do it? Pray and ask God to show you boldness -Ask, Seek and Knock!

Praise God for giving you the ability to think about boldness. Coming into boldness for God does not happen overnight. Boldness is nurtured in our faith, strengthened by goodness and mercy, then practiced with celebration and honor!

His Truths & Promises:

You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise you Father in Heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have His perfection.

Ephesians 4:13

Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ. Power and glory belong to Him forever and ever.

1 Peter 4:11

Be Bold For The Lord, For He Is Going To Do Great Things Through You!

2010-05-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

TALKING ABOUT IT

Where can I get the confidence to talk to others about God?

Scriptures To Consider:
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
2 Timothy 1:8-9

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Acts 1:8

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
The power, strength, courage and confidence to witness to the good news of Jesus Christ and the good things He has done in our lives doesn't come by our own strength, it comes from our Helper and Guide, the Holy Spirit.

I was recently asked to teach a bible study at my church and I had prepared a wonderful study that I saw Dr. Charles Stanley share on temptation. I had really invested quite a bit of time putting it together and adding my own life experiences to it. Again, I literally stayed up until 2am the night before, making sure everything was just right and that I was perfectly prepared to speak about temptation. It was polished and ready for delivery on Wednesday night!

You have to understand a couple other significant details; regardless of all the polishing and practising, I always seem to lack confidence to get up in front of a crowd and speak about God. Don't ask me way. I can get up in front of thirty senior engineers from NASA and talk about the damaging effects of static electricity, but for some reason I just get as nervous as can be when it comes to speaking about God in front of a crowd of any size.

Well, it was Wednesday night and sure enough I was just a ball of nerves. I had asked a brother from church to help me with the actual delivery of the message on temptation; he agreed to help me. It was just a couple hours before our class and I received a call from my brother letting me know that he won't be able to help me because he was called away on an emergency. Wonderful I thought to myself, now what?

Within a minute or two after the wonderful news that I was on my own, another brother in Christ had called and said that He would like to support me by attending the service, he is also a Pastor. I felt immediately relieved and at ease, asking if he would be willing to help me with my presentation... he agreed. Great!

I made sure that I arrived to the church in plenty of time and I spent the better part of an hour drafting my study outline onto a gigantic white board in our study hall. It was looking good and my confidence was growing moment by moment. My Pastor friend Dave called and ask if I had started, and I explained that the white board was complete and I was feeling pretty darn good about everything. "I'm on my way to the church", he replied!

When Dave arrived, he looked a this white board that had been perfectly crafted, every detail present and the stage was set. He said, "can I be honest with you?" I replied with hesitance, sure... He responded, "you didn't write this study did you?" No, it is a study from Dr. Charles Stanley, I replied... Dave said as he points to the white board, "that isn't you and it certainly doesn't illustrate the passion that you have for Jesus Christ, not the passion I read in your morning devotionals... I think you should scrap it and consider teaching on something else tonight". What? "I can't, I replied!!!" "This is all I have prepared, I just can't do it Dave"

Dave went on to share his reasoning why he thought I should be teaching about what I have passion for, and what I write about each morning in my daily devotionals of encouragement.

I let him know that his idea was wonderful, but he was about a week too late in his recommendation. "There is no possible way I am teaching on anything other than temptation", I replied with some doubt. He kept at me until the point I was wishing: 1). that I wouldn't have ask for his advise; 2). that he would just go away; 3). that a miracle of God would come and I wouldn't have to teach at all.

When my so called friend Pastor Dave began to quote the truths of God's Word, I began to well up inside and I knew at that moment in time I needed to share a different message that night. I also knew that at this juncture, any confidence that I had to teach about temptation was shot and out the window anyway!

It was 5 minutes until show time and Dave just erased my entire white board! My stomach dropped to my knees, satan was giving me every reason to doubt myself and be discouraged... Great, now what I replied? Dave said, "teach from your heart, teach about that book marker you have setting there". The book marker was entitled, "Who I am in Christ"... The group was starting to fill the room and I was a complete and utter mess! I told Dave that I had to take a quick walk outside.

I walked outside and considered jumping in my truck and going anywhere but back into that study hall! Instead I laid across the of hood of my truck and prayed and cried out for the strength, the courage and the words to teach something that would honor and glorify my Father. I remember saying, "God if you don't give me the words right now, I am going to get up there and I am going to be a babbling idiot!"

Let me tell you something. I spoke and taught from a book marker that night and really couldn't begin to exactly tell you what it was I said, but I can witness to the fact that God gave me His immediate strength, His courage; weird sense of peace and calmness! He gave me every single word that came from my mouth, they were surely given to me by the power of the Holy Spirit Himself!

It is my deepest wish that everyone reading this devotion could have a brother or sister in Christ like Dave, who out of pure love and God's goodness saw Christ in me, when I couldn't see the forest through the trees. We are to edify and encourage each other; to challenge and hold each other to a higher standard and to sharpen each other out of Love for the glory of Jesus Christ. Thanks Dave!

It was the most freeing and awesome experience of this journey and I had been blessed with what could only be explained as God's Divine Faithfulness. Paul describes my night perfectly in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, he says:

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

God's Promises:
All that the Father has is mine... I tell you the truth, my Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.
John 16:15, 23-24

Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.
Philippians 4:6

I love the Lord, because He listens to my prayers for help. He paid attention to me, so I will call to Him for help as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2

We Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Us!

2010-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

STANDING FOR GOD

Will God come to my rescue when I stand up for him?

Scriptures To Consider:
In some of my darkest and troubling moments during my journey, I have always held on to this scripture from Isaiah.

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior...
Isaiah 43:2-3

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think that it is human nature to desire avoiding persecution at all costs; it goes completely against the grain of who we are as human beings to stand up against the crowd. It is just our nature to avoid being left out and shunned by the in-crowd, when we can take the path of least resistance and just go with the flow to avoid the pressures of not fitting in, or not being accepted.

Let's face it, we all desire acceptance, this is something that was build into our DNA and from the time we were born we had a need of acceptance. The reality is that we want to be accepted by our family, friends, peers, co-workers and any social grouping we may be involved.

We want to be liked! We hunger for the affection, respect and approval of others around us - at home, at church and at the workplace. Wherever we are, we require and have the desire for acceptance! No one enjoys being embarrassed, humiliated, ridiculed abandoned or persecuted by others, in fact we avoid this like the plague. Bottom line, we just want to go with the flow and fit in somewhere because we don't want to be alone or isolated from others.

Since Christ's ministry here on earth over two thousand years ago, human nature has remained unchanged. We have the same fears today as they had a couple thousand years ago, we have a natural fear of intimidation and persecution.

During the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, people feared to speak about Jesus Christ openly for fear that they would not only be persecuted and considered an outcast, but could possibly be stoned and/or put to death. The Pharisees had threatened to take action against anyone speaking about Jesus Christ.

Probable the most well know examples of denying Jesus Christ was the disciple Peter. Peter had denied Jesus three times for fear of being exposed as an associate, a follower or a disciple of Jesus Christ. His fear of being ridiculed, persecuted, banished from the synagogues, or put to death for being found guilty by association.

True Christianity takes courage! In today's world things are so similar, we are still persecuted for being believers in Christ. In some countries today they are still slaying and putting people to death for being followers of Christ and living by His Word. Even through all the persecution and abandonment, His people, the Body of Christ are growing, standing united and strong in Him. I love the verse I stumbled upon this morning, it says: "We ought to obey God rather than men"!!!
Acts 5:29

Very important truths that should be considered:
(1). Our acceptance is found in Jesus Christ alone; not in the world and not through mankind. In the world we can find temporary acceptance if we can perform to mankind's fallen standards. In Jesus Christ we have eternal acceptance just for showing up and believing; we don't have to perform for our acceptance - we were created in His image and He considers us His Masterpieces!
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
(2). As believers, we don't have to be fearful of witnessing for Jesus Christ for we are not alone, we have been given the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Paul tells us "For God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind"
2 Timothy 1:7

As believers we need to understand that being indwelt by the Holy Spirit doesn't give us instantaneous courage, power and love. We grow in these Godly attributes by yielding to God through listening and abiding in Christ and following the instruction of our Guide and Helper, the Holy Spirit.

If we are going to fight the good fight we must be equipped with the most powerful weapon available to us, this is the Word of God! Knowing, understanding and internalizing the Scriptures allows us to be strong and courageous for Jesus Christ. There is nothing more powerful the the Truths and Promises of Jesus Christ and they prepare us for battle.

John tells us "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love". I am going to be praying for a greater understand and trying to get my head around this verse for a while! I guess John is trying to tell us that in some ways love and fear are enemies with each other and in total opposition. It would appear that Love's closest partner is confidence. When we are completely confident, we do not fear that we can do what is required of us. I guess my problem is that I have not perfected love, and so, I still have fear.
1 John 4:18

Our greatest instruction: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." I think when this actually takes place in us, then and only then can our Love be made perfect, perfect in Christ!
Deuteronomy 6:5

God's Truths:
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (NAS)

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
Psalm 34:17

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
John 9:31

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:39 (NIV)

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

2010-05-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

CHARACTER
What is one of the marks of a person of strong character?

Scriptures To Consider:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26-27

Satan Attacks Job's Character: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and satan also came among them. And the LORD said to satan, “From where do you come?” So satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job 1:6-12

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:3-5

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:3-5

Character of the New Man: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:12-17

Big T's Thoughts To Ponder:
I just love this tread of scripture the Holy Spirit put on my heart this morning, there is nothing greater than the truths and simple instructions of Chirst. Starting in the beginning...

In the beginning God created each of us in His perfect image and likeness! This is amazing and could be a devotional all by itself. He could have given us perfected character right then and there; and He did! Adam and Eve had perfected God given character right from the get-go! The Word doesn't just say that we were created in the image of God, but also in the likeness of God!

Just as it happened in the garden when satan came to kill, steal and destroy Eve's identity, righteous, purity and life itself in it's perfect form, through his tempting lies and deception, he also robbed her of her perfect Godly character. This is a prime illustration of John 10:10 and just how he tried to do the same in the life of Job. But through every trial and repeated attacks from satan Job never compromised his trust and faith in God, he held onto the God given character marks he had been blessed with by our Abba Father.

When we begin to believe and understand scriptures like 2 Corinthians 5:3-5 as truth, we realize it is about being reconciled to God and yet, even more than that, it points us to an amazing privilege we have inherited, yet carrying a great responsibility. Paul indicates that as the members of Christ's church, we are also ambassadors for Him. What an amazing thought!

Paul tells us that anyone who has come to Christ... who has made the decision to trust... anyone who has been baptized into faith in Christ, we are new creations in Jesus Christ and have been reconciled in Christ! While we still live here in the fallen world physically, spiritually we have been adopted in the His new world ruled by the Holy Spirit -Wow! Galatians 2:20 tells us that we have been crucified in Christ and that it is no longer us who live, but Christ who lives in us.

So we were created in His image and likeness as believers, He has taken up residency in us. He has called us His Children... His Workmanship... and His Ambassadors. If all this is true and we know that it is the very essence of truth, we should also know that are character of Christ is being perfected in us with each day of His Divine transforming process.

This brings us to Colossians 3:12-17 and the examples of the character marks we are called to be; Kind, Patient, Meek , Joyful, Peaceful, Merciful, Humble, Forgiving and the greatest character mark of al is loving. When we are obedient to the Holy Spirit and walk in oneness, we are now representatives and ambassadors of Christ and He can use us to fulfill His Will through the gift(s) He has blessed us.

God's Truths:

Paul says in v. 21, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the
righteousness of God. So what is our big takeaway today?

We were given reconciliation, freedom and complete victory over satan's lies...
We have had the ministry of reconciliation committed to us...
We have become the righteousness of God...
We are ambassadors into this world of the most wonderful message ever delivered to mankind and He has entrusted us to share and carry in to all ends of the earth!
We are created in the image and likeness of Christ and share similar character marks...

We are called to be His ambassadors, walk in the character you have been given and share His wonder and amazing news with the world!

2010-05-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

How can I make a difference in the lives of those around me?

Scripture To Consider:
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Romans 12:4-5

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
Romans 12:10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
We talked about Love yesterday's devotional, this is a great start to making a difference in the lives around you; it's actually the foundation and cornerstone to every relationship we will ever have.

I believe that we are to connect with one another and to be intentional about lifting each other up spiritually and encouraging one another in Christ. Connectivity, with each other is the big take away today!

We are the "Body" of Christ, "individually members of one another" as Paul tells us in the scriptures above. Based on these verses in Romans, Paul would make it sound like we actually need each other!

"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." Paul goes on the say in v.14,"For in fact the body is not one member but many." "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?"
I Corinthians 12:12; 12:14; 12:18

"Where would we be" Paul asks. We were created for each other, to love one another, to support one another, to encourage one another to edify and build upon each other in Christ Jesus. We actually Need each other and are to be United together as one in Christ.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and it clearly says that we need each other and by His design we are being called to come together, to be there for each other as a family in time of need, to support each other spiritually, financially and generously giving of the gifts and talents we have been given. I love the culture my pastor is building with the simple instruction of sharing of our time, our talents, our treasures and our touch - this is what investing in others looks like!

I think this is one of the biggest reasons God wants us Christ-Centered and not Self-Centered. When we put self first there never seems to be room for others. I can speak from experience when I say, that I know what self-centered Independence looks like - it's a very lonely place!

I have a friend Larry that helped me with this, by sharing a simple acronym called JOY. He said that it should be considered my priority in how I live my life and the actual order in which I needed to live my life if I wanted to be a Christian that was intentional about Christ.

Jesus: always first in life; in all things said and done...
Others: put others next; start w/ your wife, then kids...
Yourself: put yourself last in all things; be first with Christ...

How can we make a difference in the lives of others around us? Take notice of others, invest in them, develop and grow an authentic relationship in Christ with each of them. By God's Divine design, he is counting on each of us to be intentional about the neighbors that he has put in our path.

God's Promises:
"My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful self. Serve each other with love. The whole law is made complete in this one command: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
Galatians 5:13-14

"Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds".
Hebrews 10:24

"In the same way, younger people should be willing to be under older people. And all of you should be very humble with each other. God is against the proud, but he gives to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

2010-05-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

LOVE

How can I grow in my love for others?

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

To understand how to grow in love for others we must first understand what love is and where does it comes from. My first thought, what does love look like? One of the most beautiful verses in scripture tells us what love looks like and is described by Paul in I Corinthinans 13.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I Corinthians 13:4-8

As I was internalizing this verse, I began to realize that the love being described by Paul wasn't only a beautiful description of what love is and what it is not, but Paul was actually describing someone to us. I started to plug one glorious Word into and throughout this verse and the Word came alive in my heart this morning - "Jesus"!

Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind; Jesus does not not envy; Jesus does not boast; Jesus is not prideful; Jesus is not rude, Jesus is not self-seeking, Jesus is not easily angered, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs; Jesus does not delight in evil, but Jesus rejoices with the truth. Jesus always projects, always, trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. Love never fails...

Jesus is love!

God's Truths:

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I John 4:8

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

I John 4:7; 4:16

A Worldly Perspective:

How does the world define love? Webster says:

(1) : based on a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
(2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers
(3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

First, I don't recommend you trying a Google search on the word "love". Secondly, don't we have it all messed up! "Affection", "Desire", "Feeling", these are all emotional descriptors. Love isn't a feeling and it certainly isn't an emotion, it's relational! We have watered down the word love and perverted it to the point of no longer being able to truly understand what it means to truly love each other and/or to be loved as God intended.

Take note of the common treat in the definition of love from a worldly perspective: "based on". This implies that we love conditionally. In other words we love each other because we are attracted to one another, or because someone makes us feel accepted, or because they fulfill a desire, need or condition we have. The sinful nature of the nature man is to find our acceptance apart from God - This is not love.

We are all guilty of it. How many times have we said or indicated through out actions, "I love you because your beautiful"; "I love you because I enjoy spending time with you"; "I love you because your funny"; "I love you because you complete me", because, because, because... Our love is not only conditional, it is also erratic and build upon sinking sand. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next, and do!

It makes perfect sense, look at the divorce rate in the world today, it's through the roof because we stop loving each other, we "fall out of love". We only fall out of love because we never understood love as God intended us to understand it. It is difficult for us to fully comprehend unconditional love, "till death do us part". In the world this typically means, we can part from each other when the flame goes out; when there's a little adversity in our relationship, or when there's some uncomfortable unpleasantries in life. "Till death do us part" means until which time God brings us home - marriage is a relationship and an eternal covenant with God, it is His love (Jesus Christ), that hold it all together!

Can any of us really comprehend "unconditional" love? God's definition and one of the most wonderful truths found in scripture is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

So God helps us understand love through the act of giving. This wasn't just a thoughtful gesture, a gift or present... God sacrificed His only Son so that whoever would put their faith in Jesus Christ the Son of His love, wouldn't have to spend eternity apart from their Creator. Now this is amazing love!

God Is Love:

While we made the choice to be separated from God through our sinful nature, God loved us so much that He sent Love as a intense personal sacrifice so that we could understand love -unconditional, unmerited, Agape Love for eternity! Another awesome truth that illustrates God's unconditional love is found in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

In both of God's truths above, you'll notice that there are no conditions placed on God's love for us. Nowhere does He say, if you do this... and if you'll act like that... as soon as you get your act together I'll love you. He never said, "I will sacrifice my Son, but you have to promise to love Me in return." Romans 5:8 and John 3:16 are both quite to the contrary - believe and trust!

God's greatest desire is that we understand that His love for us is unconditional; and even when we are unlovable lost souls to this world, He still sent Love, His son Jesus Christ, so that we could have and understand love through His perfect sacrifice. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love.

God's Promise:

It's Unconditional! God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is forever and completely unconditional with no string attached - It's not based on feelings or emotions! He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because He need us or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son to restore that relationship.

Love never fails! And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

2010-05-14T01:25:00.000-07:00

TESTIMONY

What are the ways in which my life can be a testimony for Jesus?

God's Response:
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13

Those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:5-6

Our Takeaway:
Knowing that Peter and John were ordinary men, the council was amazed at what being with Jesus had done for them. No longer were they backward, fearful disciples. Now, through the Holy Spirit, they were courageous and able to boldly share the truth of Jesus with others.

A changed life convinces people of Christ's power. One of your clearest testimonies is the difference others see in your life and attitudes since you believed in Christ.

God's Challenge:
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then, even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will give honor to God when He judges the world.
1 Peter 2:12

Big T's Thought to Ponder:
I have mentioned this before in past devotions and I was reminded of it again this morning. I have never understood why people refer to it as "our testimony". Shouldn't it be called "His Testimony" and our witness or life account of all the wonderful things Jesus Christ is doing in our lives; as He molds us and grows us up, as He transforms our minds and shapes our hearts, and as He pours His understanding and love into each one of our lives, revealing Himself and who He is in each one of us and who we are in Him.
John 15:1-11

Jesus had just performed a miracle in this guys life, a guy that satan had a hold of and Mark tells us that Jesus told him to, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you". I believe "your family" in this context meant, everybody that the man would came in contact with. Shout it to the ends of the earth!
Mark 5:19

This is His testimony for my life.
1 Peter 3:15

For the better part of forty-six years, like the demon possessed man Jesus healed in Mark 5:19, I too allowed satan to control and rule my life. I truly experienced every lustful and perverted pleasure this fallen world had to offer. I was a self-made, self-indulgent, prideful and arrogant entrepreneur; a shell of a man that didn't even have God on the radar screen, yet I had been blessed from head-to-toe. I was as lost and as far away from God as anyone could possibly imagine, never realizing that Jesus was right there all along just waiting and protecting!
Romans 5:8

Even in the midst of the cocaine parties, booze cruises, and the hedonism getaways in far and distant lands, the Lord always had some sort of hedge of protection around me. I tell you the truth, it's truly only by the Grace of God that I am here this morning to witness to any of this.
Ezekiel 33:11; 1 Timothy 1:15-16

I was captured by and in complete bondage to a thirty-six year drug addiction, serious alcoholic binging, and living completely over the edge in what seemed to be an endless pleasure paradox and quest for happiness and fullness of life. I had been blessed by God with a wife that was a saint in comparison; given two beautiful little daughters who rarely saw their daddy and a much older son heading in the wrong direction, never realizing that the little footsteps of a child are sure to follow.
Romans 8:20-21

Consumed and controlled by the all mighty dollar, which there was no shortage of in my life due to a ten-year-old global reach business that God groomed me into. It grew into my personal resource center for all the capital required to live this "successful life style" in which I was consumed by.
1 Timothy 6:10

Consumed to consume, the desire to acquire... This resource center allowed me to live in fancy houses, to drive the flashy cars, drip with gold and diamonds, eat and play at the finest restaurants and country clubs. It allowed me to afford the world travel and frequent Las Vegas getaways disguised as a businessman's busyness.
1 John 2:15-16

By all the standards and values taught and accepted by the fallen world in which we live: work-hard-play-harder mindset, I had truly reached the pinnacle of life, living the American dream! When I had reached the very peak of world success, God finally opened my eyes! It was barren, it was a dead ended road, and it wreaked of death and darkness! This was the night I was rushed to the emergency room, with what I thought was a heart attack.
2 Corinthians 1:4

As I sat in my living room, I felt overtaken and consumed by something I can't fully explain in words, but can only be described as a feeling and sense that life here was over and that I was getting ready to depart from this place. I feared for my life! I screamed for my wife, I huddled down on the floor with my wife and kids- the ones I realized, at that moment, that I truly loved more than life itself. I cried out to God not to take my life and to take care of my family because I knew I wasn't going to make it!

God delivered me to the hospital and I had four days to consider where I was in life and how in the world did I get to such a dark and desperate place. Although there was never any medical explanation of what happened on that dark and fearful night of March 13, 2008, God opened my eyes to reality, gave me hope, stopped the madness and a whole lot more! The only way to describe in words what happened in that hospital over those few days was that God flipped some sort of "Off Switch" inside of me.

From there, God basically laid out a series of events in my life that I can only explain as supernatural and the Divine Plan of Jesus Christ for my life. God had a cure for every disease in my life. When I say disease, I refer to the addictions that are too lengthy to mention; the broken relationships -with my marriage, with my kids and family; my business and the poison I had bred into it and endless other things that I can't begin to list. I want to share a few of His miracles in some sort of chronological order as He began His Divine house cleaning in my life:

"His Off Switch": I was a 3-pack a day smoker, daily pot smoker, cocaine abusing, binge drinker. After March 13, 2008, I never had the slightest desire to do any of these things again; He had set me free and broken the chains of bondage I had been captured by, all for His greater purpose and glory.
Philippians 4:13
"His House Cleaning": Several days after getting out of the hospital, I was sitting at work, and the Holy Spirit called me home to clean house. I went home and cleansed my house of all the worlds temptations. I flushed the contents of my so-called fun box and poured out an entire private stock of gallons upon gallons of satan's assorted pleasures and poisons.
Joshua 24:15b
"Success that Mattered To God": My wife had signed me up for, "Man in the Mirror - Success that matters"- a men's conference, months prior to March 13th. I had no intention of ever going and actually already had an exit strategy orchestrated. The Holy Spirit planted me there that Saturday morning and as I listened to one of the speakers life account of his own out of control and messed up life, I thought to myself, "surely there can't be two of us in this world that have lived this kind of life?" When there was a calling to pray that prayer, I made a second decision for Christ, praying a similar prayer to the prayer I cried out back in March, just to be certain that God heard me.
1 John 5:14-15
"Honesty Is God's Best Policy": After (16) years of marriage, my wife finally popped the question, the one that terrified me! "Have you ever cheated on me?" At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and basically said, "Tony, you have one shot at this- you have lied to everyone in your life for forty-six years; I can clear the slate today and allow the healing to begin, if you'll just be honest for the first time in your life... right now tell her EVERYTHING!" "Everything?" Everything! I knew at that precise moment that I was not only about to lose my wife, I was also going to lose my children. I had some weird kind of peace and decided to just trust God! I cleaned out the closest and shared every dirty little secret of my life that morning- the prostitutes, pornography, mistresses, drug addictions, everything! I didn't hold one thing back and in the process of all my realness, I ripped out my wifes heart. She had no idea of the man she had been married to for the last 16 years, but God knew that she was spiritually strong enough to hear the truth, the truth that would begin to set us both free from the grips and lies of satan.
Colossians 3:5-10
"Weekend to Remember God": Again, in Gods Divine plan, my wife had signed us up for some Christian couples getaway thing at church and again, I had an exit strategy already prepared. Still feeling the wake from the closet cleaning experience just a week prior, the roles were reversed for this weekend outing. I didn't need an exit strategy, I needed a miracle sent from God to convince my wife to go with me to this 'Weekend to Remember' Christian couples getaway! My wife loved the new man that God had been transforming since March 13th , but she hated the old sinful man she thought she once knew. I simply asked her if she would join the new man for a weekend of healing and renewing - leaving all the consequences up to God for a favorable outcome! God truly gave us this weekend- the love letters, the date night on the premier weekend of the movie Fireproof, and a special anonymous book called the "The Love Dare". It was too perfect to be anything other than God's sovereign hand upon us. Our marriage was supernaturally brought into oneness with Christ and it was restored to the eternal covenant we had committed to 16 years prior, but never experienced.
Ephesians 5:25-33; Ephesians 4:16-24; Colossians 3:9-11; Romans 6:6-14
My Resource Center?: God had been completely transforming my life- it was overwhelming to me! There were still so many uncertainties, so many things standing between me and my Savior. God was revealing to me all the poison and corruption that I had built into my company- the resource center that helped fund all the things the old man once desired and the same thing the new man despised! And again, my wonderful wife who was always looking after her husbands best interests, had signed us up for another one of these Christan conferences! It was some Financial Peace gig and a guy named Dave Ramsey. I went just because the guy was a Christian and I remember as I watched Dave on stage, talking about managing the resources that God has entrusted us. He kept giving biblical account to how we are called to be good stewards of the green stuff and that it ALL belonged to God. I was blown away by his teaching about handling personal finances and his sensible action plan for living a debt-free life. At the end of the show, Dave called business owners to the stage and he shared with us his one-week, intensive business seminar in Mexico- one which he would be sharing similar biblical values, but applying them to our business, verses our personal finances in FPU. It was called "EntreLeadership". My wife and I attended the event in Cancun that November and the personal one-on-one time my wife and I had the opportunity to spend with Dave, his wife Sharron, their kids, and his team was beyond awesome; it was a God-given opportunity to be mentored by this man! Dave Ramsey gave me the ingredients and a fundamental launching platform to build a Christian foundation for Ground Zero Electrostatics; to see the commonalities between a static control business and the Kingdom of God. It all sounded pretty weird, but something felt so right.
1 Chronicles 31:11; Isaiah 45:7; Romans 8:28
His Ministry: Dave Ramsey and the EntreLeadership program gave us the cement and rebar to pour a Christian foundation, which has beared much fruit for the Kingdom. He was beginning to reveal to me how Static Control and God fit together and what that looked like. So we had a solid foundation coming together, but we had no framework and not enough intentional Christians call-to-action. That's when a group called C-12 came into my life. It was a complete God thing, with multiple people all non-related to one another, telling me about this C-12 thing. "What is it?" I asked one business consultant from Chicago. "It's a Christan organization made up of local Christian CEO's, presidents and business owners. A group of peer-to-peer accountability partners that meet once a month and act as a board of directors and/or advisors." After about the fourth time God put C-12 in my path, I finally wised up, submitted and joined the group one week later. God had blessed us with the Christian, biblically-based foundation and C-12 was the actual framework- the Christian call-to-action, the wise council, and the conduit that God knew I needed to weather the eminent storms ahead. C-12 was the voice of God's wisdom that helped me realize that Ground Zero wasn't my comany at all- it's God's company! It's the ministry and platform He blessed me with, the one He intended me to use for His glory and Divine purpose for my life! Today anyway...
Psalm 24:1; Haggai 2:8; 1 Chronicles 29:14
Waiting Through The Storms: By allowing God to guide me- through the practicing of His presence and by following and implementing the wise council shared by my brothers in Christ at C-12, He was preparing me for the uncharted waters ahead. Times that would bring the rockiest and most barren terrain imaginable, and rough seas that would make the perfect storm look like child's play. If someone could have given me a glance of my future, I couldn't have conceptually imagined the series of trials and tests that God was about to allow to enter my life.
Isaiah 43:1-3; Romans 12:12; James 1:2; Deuteronomy 31:6
From Hero's to Zero'$: As a company we literally went from Hero's, knocking down $500,000 dollar months to Zero's- clawing to muster up a $30,000 dollar month. This happened overnight and the business was drying up and evaporating before my very eyes. The harder I tried, the worse things became! I had lost 80% of our workforce and our bank reserves had plummeted to the point we couldn't even afford to pay attention. There were many weeks where we couldn't make payroll, even when we could, it was always paid in order of priority from staff to owners. I didn't get it- God had completely consumed me for the past 12 months and I felt like I was walking on clouds; now I was asking myself, "Where did God go and who flipped the off switch on my business?" There laid the problem, "my business". I was still putting the business before God; holding on way too tight and trying way too hard. This process took me from a prideful business owner, to a humble servant, to Kingdom building.
Psalm 57:1; 2 Corinthians 12:9
God's Yoke Revealed: Humility wasn't the only treasure in these trials. At this point in my journey, I plugged myself into every possible bible study and men's group I could find. It wasn't until my redneck cousin Skipper, had shared with me during one of our 4am Bible studies about the "Yoke of Jesus" and trusting verses trying. I hadn't a clue at first, but God laid it on my heart to have a deeper understanding of what this yoke stuff looked like. It wasn't an egg! Once I understood what a yoke was, God revealed His yoke to me. I must say that it felt weird the first day I took the yoke of Christ around my neck. I felt guilty because I was no longer driving the bus, I was just a passenger on the bus! It seemed too easy, I wasn't working nearly hard enough, it just seemed to free me of my burdens. His revolution came to me during quiet time one morning... I was no longer in charge of my life or responsible for finding a solutions to our financial dilemma... He was! I was to just wait patiently on God and trust that He is in control. Trusting vs. trying, now there was a concept that would lead to growing my faith by leaps and bounds. His business, not mine? God's in control, not me? He is my provider and I am His child? Wow! Could it really be all about God? Him guiding and me believing and trusting on God for EVERYTHING? This was and is exactly what it all meant.
Matthew 11:27-28
Trial By Fire: I resigned as CEO and signed on as Servant Leader. I was broke and broken. He had stripped me and His company of everything and then He began to turn up the heat at the office! With lawsuits coming in about one a week, and with collection calls verses sales opportunities at a ratio of 3:1, we were beaten down and feeling hopeless. Paychecks were scarce at best. Commissions were non-exsistant and we were in survival mode and had been for months. Personally, my wife and I had never been happier in this new relationship with Christ. Then He turned up the heat on the homefront! It started with the A.T.M. machine spitting out a white piece of paper verses the green one I had grown accustomed to... "N.S.F.!, what in the world is wrong with this silly machine"? I rushed to work to confirm with my bank that this was just a bad case of fraud or a stolen identity thing. Sure enough, it wasn't the A.T.M. at all, it was another three letter acronym, the I.R.S.! And they had just cleaned us out of our entire savings, my retirement, and every penny in our personal checking account! Things seem to be going from bad to worse and we were being tested to the gills!
1 Peter 5:10; James 1:2; John 16:33; 1 Peter 1:7
Backup Plan: Our corporate attorney called and insisted on a meeting in his office to discuss a strategy to deal with the all-pending lawsuits that required our responses. Our plan was a common secular approach in business when people are under the pressure of the world and don't know where their security comes from - Bankruptcy! Just walk away! What in the world are you waiting for, file already? Our attorney's plan was brilliant and I agreed to the conception of a new corporation in my wife's name, hanging all our creditors out to dry in order to regain control of my life and my business. I should have felt great about this, right? Wrong! I had a pit in my stomach and an uncertain uneasiness, as I thought to myself, "We just crafted a wonderful and well thought out business plan -just be happy in it." I knew that I would feel better if I would go to that downtown Bible study I had been invited to months prior and it was right around the corner. I walked in, introduced myself and they began to show a video about Faith. The story line was Abraham walking with God and God assuring him that He would be blessed with a son and that he would have as many descendants as the stars above. Abraham and Sarah weren't getting any younger and decided to develop their own backup plan with Hagar just in case God's promise didn't work out. I immediately knew at that moment what I had just done and why I had that pit in my stomach. When I left the study, I called my attorney with the news that we were not going to be filing bankruptcy and that we were going to just wait on God to show up and deliver us or move on to other things. I think my attorney wanted to recommend a good psychiatrist to me!
Hebrews 11:1; 1 John 5:4; Psalm 118:6-9
Jesus In-Box: God kept reminding me of George Mueller's contagious statement of faith - "I will always have all I need to do all You have asked of me." Our finance manager and I were sitting in our typical Wednesday morning finance meeting, which never seemed to take much of our time back then. As we finished up in prayer that morning, we were both in tears over the abundance of financial trauma we were experiencing. Then, God put it on my heart to create and add Him to the series of incoming correspondence boxes that I had for all the employees. Since He was our new CEO and there was an empty box at the top, we were obedient to His request. In place of the tears caused by all the financial threats that were pouring into the company on a daily basis, we would simply place any financial threats and/or issues that were impossible for us to wrap our finite minds around, into "the Jesus In-Box" - it was jammed packed! This was about a year ago and today the box is completely empty. The debt is still out there but is being paid back at an accelerated rate as God wills. God has poured His Grace upon all the threats and His Company is getting healthier by the hour.
Matthew 19:26; Proverbs 3:5-6; Mark 11:22-23
Blind Bankers: I can only describe the following as God's Divine plan and another miracle from our Savior. Back in April '08 the bank that holds our max'ed out line-of-credit, called me into the bank for an ambush, I mean a meeting. The meeting wasn't exactly with my banker, it was actually a loan committee and they wanted answers! Their biggest question was, "Do you know why we have asked you here today?", "How in the world are you going to pay us the money you owe us?" , "Anthony, what are you doing to stop the bleeding?" I replied with a bold and excited, "We're praying!" As they all stared at me and then at each other, as if I was from Mars or some other planet, the regional VP replied, "Seriously Anthony." I rebutted, "I am being serious. We pray to begin our day and at the closing of our day. We pray with our customers and vendors alike. We even have bible studies at work." "We have elected God to step in as active CEO and I have backed down as servant leader. We are also working on right-sizing the business. I assured them that we were still the 5 million dollar a year company we were just two years prior and that we would be again. I told them that we were keeping our hands and feet busy for Christ and that I felt confident that we would have a profitable June '09. The regional VP said He was curious to see if my story would carry any weight, despite the fact that they didn't think we would make it the remainder of the month and that we were insolvent. He said he would allow us two months but would pull the plug if there wasn't significant change.
John 15:18-20; Romans 8:35-39; Psalm 27:1
God's Companies Are Resilient: We did end up having a profitable June '09 and by God's good grace, Ground Zero Electrostatics has been profitable every month since. I praise Him that we haven't missed payroll since early Q-1 2009 and at the current rate the Lord is pouring His abundance upon us, we will be a debt free company in Q-4 of 2012. These things can only be explained by the Holy Power of Jesus Christ Almighty. The last word from our banker and I quote, "I wanted to tell you guys how happy I am to see this has all turned around for you. Keep up the effort and keep talking to the man in the sky!!! He seems to have a great impact on all of us!" Our banker has inquired about our Thursday Bible Study on more than one occasion. Praise the Lord for the things He has done and all that He is doing!
Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 6:33
God's In The ESD Business: We have made the decision that once our debt is paid in full, and we are no longer slave to the lender, His company profits will be utilized for Kingdom building opportunities that God puts in our path. He has been doing amazing things through a generosity culture that was adopted in November 2009 and we are watching for every opportunity and the good works in which He has prepared for us beforehand. The old "resource center" that was once used for my personal, worldly pleasures has now been transformed into a profit center for the work of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!
Philippians 4:19; John 19:35 (NIV)

I could have literally rambled on and on for hours longer, sharing endless accounts to all the things Jesus has done in my life over the past twenty-four months. This journey has been amazing in how He has used me and His testimony to lead others to Christ and encourage the hopeless. We serve a star breathing, heart transforming, mind restoring faithful God that is our endless supply of acceptance, love, joy, peace, strength, courage, kindness, goodness, and every attribute that is desirable.

With complete victory and freedom in Christ, and by claiming the inheritance that I have in Jesus through trusting and believing, there is no longer anything I desire in this world in which we live except for the relationships He will develop through me while sharing His good news with the world. I Love You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and Almighty Spirit!

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

2010-05-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

NEIGHBORS

How am I to love my neighbors?

God's Response:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:39

"The Samaritan soothed [the man's] wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. 'If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.'

"Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? Jesus asked. The man replied. "The one who showed him mercy." "Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
Luke 10:34-37

Our Takeaway:
Why did Jesus say to love your neighbor as yourself? Because He knows that our first instinct is to take care of ourselves. If we can just train ourselves to care for others the way we care for ourselves, then we have truly made our neighbors a priority. And caring for others is what love is all about. Every time you show love to your neighbors, God is touching hearts - theirs and yours.

Gods Challenge:
It is good when you obey the royal law as found in Scriptures: "Love your neighbor as yourself"
James 2:8

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think that our "neighbors" may be one of the single most important blessings that Gods give us, really... Think about all the relationships God has given you... All your relationships! We are to give every person that God allows into our path the same amount of love as we do for ourselves - WOW, what does that look like?

My initial thought is, if everyone would just follow this basic instruction from God, this world would be a completely different place, there would be a "Extreme Makeover - Global Edition". It would be as close to heaven as we could ever imagine. We would have no war, we would have no crime, we would have no arguments, no division in the church, there would be no rich verses the poor, good verses evil... everyone would have everything they need or want, we would rally around each other In Christ. Complete oneness and global unity in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.... Awesome!

The author did make a comment that didn't set well with me and I believe it to be one of the reasons we have been unable to accomplish and carry out this simple instruction from our Savior, Jesus Christ. He said that "if we can just train ourselves", here inlays the very core of our problem - We Can't! We have been down this road, we have already tried to train ourselves, this has been our biggest stumbling block, road block, and it is exactly what has gotten us in the mess we have in the world today.

We need to quit trying and start trusting! I'll say it again, we need to quit trying to train ourselves up and to start trusting in Christ Jesus to do the training us up. Why would we ever even consider training or trusting in ourselves after reading the "basic instructions before leaving earth" manual in which has been provided to us. Our Holy Bible clearly states and tells us in John 15, to Abide in yourselves and everything will be wonderful? NO!!! It says to abide in Me... remain in Me... spend time with me... I am the Way, the Truth and the Life... trust in Me... be evenly yoked with Me, my burden is light... you can do all things In Me...

Get off the trying treadmill and get into the trusting in Christ hammock; rest in the finished work of our glorious Savior. We just need to trust and abide in His Word and let Him guide us... shape us... transform us... and love the people that God allows in our path. That means EVERYONE God allows in our path! That means we may be called to love someone today that is unlovable - just allow the love of Christ living in you to get it done - He can and He will do it!

God is love! - God indwells me! - He is a living water, a spring bubbling up in us! Let the love of of Christ Jesus flow through you today and soak all the neighbors put in your path!

2010-05-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

THE BODY OF CHRIST

Does my church really need me?

God's Response:
Eliashib the high priest and the other priests started to rebuild at the Sheep Gate. . . People from the town of Jericho worked next to them, and beyond them was Zaccur son of Imri. . . The Fish Gate was build b the sons of Hassenaah. . . Meremoth son of Uriah and grandson of Hakkoz repaired the next section of wall. Beside him were Meshullam son of Berekiah and grandson of Meshezabel, and then Zadok son of Baana.
Nehemiah 3:1-4

All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

Our Takeaway:
All the citizens of Jerusalem did their part in rebuilding the city wall (see Nehemiah 3). Similarly, the work of the church requires every member's effort in order for the body of Christ to function effectively. The body needs you! Find a place to serve God, and start contributing whatever resources God has given you. Are you doing your part?

God's Challenge:
If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Romans 12:7-8

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Does the church really need us? Not nearly as much as we need the church! The Lord has really been opening my eyes this past week about our spiritual gifts and how important they really are. The Holy Spirit has many functions if I can phrase it like that. One of those functions is to establish in each Christian at least one spiritual gift and for some they are given several gifts. All of us have been blessed with a God given talent of some kind, something we enjoy and excel at.

The reason we hear our pastors preaching about relationships so much is because they are so critically important to the big picture; they are eternal and they are something that we can take with us when we leave here. They support and are the foundation of what joins us all together. Did you know that God wants us all joined united together? He does, He wants us United in Christ as one, we make up the His the Body of Christ, His ambassadors called for a greater purpose.
Colossians 3:16

We are His hands, His feet and His mouth piece or megaphone if you will. Together as we deepen our relationship with Christ, he begins to grow and strengthen all our relationships - our marriage, our relationships with our children, our moms and dads, our neighbors, our co-workers, and and especially the people you go to church with - they are our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ!

If we are called by God to come together as a Body of Believers, the Body of Christ, and we are; and if we all makeup each member of the Body individually, and we do. Then it only stands to reason that it is critical that we are intentional about church; that we are intentional about our relationships, and that we recognize our spiritual gifts and step out in faith to utilize what God has equipped us with. You may be the right hand or the left leg of your of your church and if you're not there, you could be disabling the Body of Christ!

God is counting on each one of us! He wants us to come together as one and united in Him. Does your church need you? They are crippled without you! Don't ignore the gifts that God is counting on you to use for His glory in His Body!

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken"
Ecclesiastes 4:12

2010-05-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

VISION

When God shows me an opportunity for His work in the world, how can I get others to catch the vision?

God's Response:
I said to them, "You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!" Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversations with the King.
Nehemiah 2:17-18

Our Takeaway:
Spiritual revival often begins with one person's vision. Nehemiah had a vision for rebuilding Jerusalem's walls. He shared it with enthusiasm and inspired Jerusalem's leaders to join him.

It's easy to underestimate people and not challenge them with your dreams for God's work in the world. But when God plants and idea in your mind to accomplish something for Him, share that idea with others and trust the Holy Spirit to impress them with similar thoughts. Don't regard yourself as the only one through whom God is working. Often God uses one person to express the vision and others to turn it into reality.

God's Promise:
It's not important who does the planting , or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
1 Corinthians 3:7-8

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
When God shows us an opportunity for His work in the world, we get others to to catch the vision by walking faithfully and obediently in the good works our Father has prepared before hand. We don't initially concern ourselves with others seeing or not seeing the vision, we first need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and stay evenly yoked with Him.

It is for God to open the eyes of those around us, He will allow His light to be brightened through us and He will put the neighbors in our path whom need to be involved. Others will see the vision that Christ has sent us by the fruit that He produces when we are obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and as we walk in the light of the well lit path that He has provided us.
Proverb 3:5-6

I love the underlying message that this devotion carries. Be obedient to the Holy Spirit by acknowledging and sharing the good things that God is doing in your life, (Mark 5:19). Be intentional about the gift(s) He has blessed you with; use them by sharing and sharpening each other and by being vocal about how He is speaking to each of us specifically, hence, allowing God to gather and hand select the team He is going to use to put this portion of His Divine plan into action and fulfill His finished work in all our lives - Fellowship and Kingdom building!
Philippians 2:1-30

I'm reminded of a new small group study I am going to be sharing at my church called, Divine Design-Extreme Makeovers by the Master Craftsman. Basically it is about the extreme makeover that God does in our lives by utilizing the spiritual gift(s) that each of us have been blessed. The study teaches that each believer has been created independently and is a unique type of tool or brush used to paint or mold His masterpiece; He has equipped some of us to be His smaller detail brushes and for some, His trimming and cutting-in brushes. Some are called for His broader or wider brush strokes and yet others, for laying out His special patterns, designs and/ or textures - all types of unique brushes and different tools working together, complimenting each other and creating the common vision or masterpiece for Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:10

When we encourage and inspire others, we put teamwork into action to accomplish the common goals we share in our Savior - Jesus Christ! (Proverbs 27:17)

2010-05-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

FAMILY

How should I prioritize my responsibilities with work, service and family?

God's Response:
Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother, and His mother's sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother standing there beside the disciple He loved, He said to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." And He said to this disciple, "Here is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
John 19:25-27

Those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith.
1 Timothy 5:8

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him
Psalm 127:3

Our Takeaway:
Even when Jesus was dying on the cross, He was concerned about His family. He delegated the responsibility for caring for His mother, Mary, to John.

Your family members are gifts from God, and He wants you to value and care for them. Neither Christian work nor key responsibilities in any other job or position excuse you from caring for your family. What can you do today to show your love to your family?

God Challenge:
Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
Isaiah 58:7-8

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
How should I prioritize my responsibilities with work, service and family? The key word here is prioritize, but there is also a huge missing component in the authors criteria of priorities!

Our first fruits, our very best, our greatest commitment above all others, must be given to God! Can you imaging what life would be like if we were to abandon the Loving Savior of the world - just look around! God wants the first portion of our time. He wants us to prioritize our time around Him and in such a way that He is at the top of our agendas - our priority #1.

Let's start by taking our Sunday's out of the equation for just a minute. Other then Sunday when are we spending time alone with God? How are we spending time with God Monday -Saturday? These should be a few of the priorities that we are intentional about everyday in order to grow towards spiritual maturity:

Quite time... Alone time between just you and your Divine Creator, Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23)
Study time... Learning about Him; learning of His instruction through His Word
Prayer time... Take some time to thank Him and share your heart with Him (Mark 1:35)
Meditation time... Take time to internalize and listen to to God speak to you (Proverbs 8:34)
Memorization time... Calling His Truth and Promises to memory (Psalm 119:9-11)
Action time... Take time to put legs and feet to what the Lord shares with you (Galatians 5:13-14)

The key is being intentional! Next time you set down to plan out your next months calendar of events and begin to portion out and allot your time, consider adopting these relational priorities the best you can:

#1 priority is God; list everywhere on your timeline where you are going to practise the things listed above; make time for Him and give Him your best. #2 priority is your wife or husband; fill in every spot on your calendar where you are going to make time for spending quality time with the mate in which you have been blessed. #3 priority is your children; they desire alone time with us, it is their greatest joy to have our time, time that is allowed specifically for them. #4 priority is work; everywhere you have space left for after you have been intentional about giving your time to priorities 1-3, should be used to prioritize spending time working and utilizing the spiritual gifts which we have been given.

The first time I laid out my time schedule with this mindset, I thought, "this is never going to fly". The second thing I thought was, this is completely opposite of what is acceptable and right by any worldly standard.
Acts 17:11

In the world we have been conditioned to wake up; rush to work; work as long and hard as humanly possible to make the greenbacks sufficient to pay the bills and live the most successful and extravagant life style possible. If we have any time or energy leftover when we get home, we pull up a couch, grab and 10 minute gourmet meal; turn on the television and spend some quality time with our favorite American idols, who done it on CSI or one of those bad housewives. Before you realize it, Saturday rolls around and we're beat down from our exhaustive work week and it's time to just relax and catch our breath, right? Wrong!

We haven't gotten to a our list-of-lists: wanna-do-list, honey-do-list and gotta-do-list. Saturday was just a vapor, it's now Sunday morning and it's time to squeeze in a Sunday church service in order that we may remain in good standings with God and continue to hold onto our spiritual status of - Christians...

God doesn't want to be squeezed into your already busy schedule, He wants to be made part of your busyness! The biggest part! Take time to make time for Him before you do anything else, because if you don't you're just like me - you won't! Not because we don't want to, we just get too busy to take-the-time to make-the-time...
James 4:13-14

Priority and balance are the key factors in making this work. Believe me, He will allow it to work! Invest your time and service in Him first; then in your marriage; then with your children and last but not least, in your work - And then leave all the consequences up to our Divine Creator... You will be amazed by the life altering impact that spending your time in this manner will have on your life.
Psalm 68:19

He is our greatest priority, make Him part of your busyness!

2010-05-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

WISDOM

Can I be wiser?

God's Response:
The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!" Solomon replied, ".... Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know that difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of your?"
1 Kings 3:5-9

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
James 1:5

Our Takeaway:
When given the opportunity to ask God for anything he wanted, Solomon asked God for wisdom... "an understanding heart" - in order to lead God's people well and to make right decisions.

You can ask God for this same wisdom. Notice that Solomon asked for understanding to carry out his job; he didn't ask God to do the job for him. Don't ask God to do for you what He wants to do through you. Instead, ask Him to give you the wisdom to know what He wants you to do and the courage to follow through with it.

God's Promise:
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom
Psalm 110:10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think the key to the wisdom that God has prepared for each one of us can only be fulfilled by spending time with the Master; by seeking Him in all things, and for all things in our daily lives.
Luke 9:23

I believe that each day is made new with exactly what God would have for each one of us and that when we are obedient to His Will for our lives that He equips us with exactly the amount of wisdom, strength, courage, patience, resiliency that we require to carry out the good works that He has prepared for each one of us beforehand. Hence, resulting in a great day of being evenly yoked with Christ to carry out and bear the fruit from the spiritual gifts He has blessed us.
2 Corinthians 9:8

On the flip side of this equation, I think when we are not spending time with... lingering around...abiding in... we allow independence to creep into our lives and that we are shorted the exact amount of what we need to carry out the works that are placed in our paths; He allows us to fail or come up short. When we don't have the sufficient amount of what only God can supply us new each day, we realized our complete dependence on Him again and we begin asking, knocking and seeking His endless supply of resources of all we need to do all He asks.
James 4:13

I guess what I am saying is that independancy leads to insufficiency and Christ dependency leads to an endless supply of all His resources wisdom, strength, courage, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Matthew 7:11

Sufficiency is faith in knowing that God always meets us right were we are and He gives us exactly what we need. It's not necessarily something you can measure...

It's a way of being...
It's a way of seeing...
It's a way of living...

all for the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ in our every moment of our existence.

What does spending time with God look like? There are two key components: His Word and Prayer. Spend time in His Word allowing Him to speak to your heart. Praying without ceasing, spend time thanking Him for all He does in your life and let Him always be on your mind.

2010-05-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

SEEDS

I just try to do whatever makes me happy, so why is my life such a mess?

God's Response:
Don't be misled - you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Galatians 6:7-8

The tongue can bring death or life, those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
Proverbs 18:21

Our Takeaway:
It would certainly be a surprise if you planted corn, and pumpkins can up. It's a natural law that you reap what you sow. Every action has consequences. If you plant seeks of gossip, you will lose the trust of your friends. If you plant seeds only to please your own desires, you'll reap a crop of sorrow, confusion, and possibly even disastrous outcome. If you plant seeds to please God, you'll reap joy and confidence in all circumstances and in the end, everlasting life. What kind of seeds are you planting?

God's Challenge:
I said; "Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your heart, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and shower righteousness upon you".
Hosea 10:12

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Several thoughts on this subject in which I consider myself an expert and not in a prideful way believe me! Unfortunately you wouldn't want to sow the seeds of my old self-reliant, self-centered ways. I understand the question perfectly as it rings so clear as to what the world instructs us to do and who to be if we what to be happy. An it's all about us being happy, right?

The one with the most toys wins...
The only one that's going to make you happy is you...
Money won't buy you happiness, but it's a great down payment on it...
If you want success, you got to go out and take it...
Only the strong survive...
The strong get stronger and the weak get weaker...
Toot your own horn because nobody else is going to to it for you...

Everything the world teaches us directs everything to "Self". We are to seek the world to be self-suffiecient, self-reliant, self-centered, self-seeking, self-gratifying, self-absorbent, self-motivated, self-made; self-righrighteous, self-help, Self-disiplined, self-confidence, self-dependent, self, self, self...

First word of advise if you have a desire to follow God, lose all the words in your vocabulary that begin with "self" and replace them "God", or "Others" All the words above were descriptors for the old man I once was just a couple years ago and I thank God everyday that this man is dead!

Once God helped me to set aside the "I'", "Me" and "Self" and start putting myself last, my life started to become that full, abundant and complete life we all desire. A close brother gave me an acronym that always stuck with me: J.O.Y. (Jesus) fist... (Others) second... (Yourself) last...

We were created by Him and for Him. We have all been created for service and we have all been equipment and blessed by the Holy Spirit with one or more unique spiritual gifts or talents. Sure we can go out in the world and use these talents to do great worldly things and sometimes God allows this to happen, for a while any way. You can even product produce fruit indepentant of God, it's just no worth eating!

John 15:1-11 illustrates this perfectly, these are truths that we need to guide us, not the lies the world would have us believe.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedesser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit". "

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me".

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned".

"If your abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples".

"As the Father love Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be complete".

We are to do everything through the guidance and strength of Jesus Christ and not of our own strength or understanding. Again, we can produce good looking fruit independent of God, but it's plastic and is good for nothing.

Our Creator knows best... So trying harder to be happy isn't even possible, we can only truly find happiness In Christ Jesus, He is the source of our Peace, Joy and Eternal Happiness - The Way, The Truth and The Life....

Let go and let God....

2010-05-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

TROUBLES

If I obey God, will He keep troubles from coming into my life?

God's Response:
The Lord asked satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless - a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil." Satan replied to the Lord, "Yes but Job has good reason to fear God... Reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!" "All right, you may test him," the Lord said to satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So satan left the Lord's presence.
Job 1:8-9; 1:11-12

Our Takeaway:
Job was a model of trust in God and obedience toward Him, yet God permitted satan to attack him in an especially harsh manner. Although God loves us, our faith and obedience do not shelter us from life's calamities. Setbacks, tragedies and sorrows strike Christians and non-Christians alike. But in our troubles, God expects us to express our faith to the world.

How do you respond to your troubles? Do you ask God, "Why me? or do you say "Use me!"

God's Promise:
No one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.
Lamentations 3:31-33

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I like to think that Job was the exception to the rule, perfectly faultless, a righteous man of God, a man after God's own heart, and yet God used him to prove to satan that His servant Job would remain faithful even through some of most impossible trials any human could endure.

I have had people along my journey tell me, "Tony, don't worry, God will never give you more than you can handle". Obviously, taken out of context from (I Corinthians 10:13). It actually reads, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is to common man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it". Were not talking about temptation; we're talking about unbearable, tragic, earth shaking, hold on for your life - is there really a God out there, type troubles!

I can assure you from my own experiences as well as those of close brothers and sisters in Christ, that this verse has absolutely has nothing to do with God testing us or the trials he allows in our life.

God can, will and does put more on your plate then we can endure. Believe that! God warns us straight out in (John 16:33), "In the world you will have trouble" and Paul tells the disciples in (Acts 14:22), "We must endure many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God".

We can't lose sight that the gentle Kingdom of God and the vicious kingdom of darkness are competing for the same territory. We have forgotten that God makes disciples and displays His purposes by pressing His people into shape and refining them in the fire. It can be a violent process we must, can and will endure...

It is human nature to avoid trials and it is Godly nature to persevere through them. They have an indispensable purpose in molding and forming us into the greater image of Christ, who, as we recall, had to suffer like no other. Establishing the Kingdom of God in Christs name was a traumatic event for Him. Entering the Kingdom of God in His name is traumatic for us as well.

One of the problems is that in many of the mega churches we see on television today (businesses), and the messages that they are sharing with the world, is not the truth!

The gospel message is being hazed over by these evangelists who are preaching the message of prosperity and happiness. People are being lured to God because they think that by accepting Christ, He will take all their problems away - If I became a Christian I can escape all the trials and tribulation of this cruel world - Wrong! Unfortunately this is what many Christians are believing today and is the mentality of many... Fist time they have some real hardship is their life they think God has abandoned them; we know this couldn't be further from His truth.

Life isn't going to be a bowl of cherries, it's a hard, cold and wicked world out there and there are no easy streets. Life by His Divine design is experiencing trials, troubles, trauma and the hardships of this fallen world and ultimately enduring them; it's an integral part of His tried by fire sanctification process.

God love us and doesn't particularly want us to endure a life of hell here on earth, if fact He sent His Son Jesus so that we wouldn't have to endure the eternal pains and sufferings of hell. Don't pursue trials, but don't flee from them in a panic, either. God is doing something profound in them, either to shape you or to demonstrate His Kingdom. Patiently let Him...

The truth we can all stand on today is the other half of (John 16:33), that I didn't share earlier, "In the world you will have trouble, but in me you can find peace; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world".

2010-05-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

VALUES

What is a good way to measure how much I value Jesus?

God's Promise:
I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin - a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ had done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Philippians 3:5-8

Our Takeaway:
After Paul had considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he said that it was all "worthless" when compared with the "infinite value" of knowing Christ. This is a profound statement about values: A person's relationship with Christ is more important than everything else.

Knowing Christ should be your ultimate goal. Consider your values. Do you place anything above your relationship with Christ? If your priorities are wrong, what steps will you take to reorder them?

God's Challenge:
When You discipline us for our sins, You consume like a moth what is precious to us. Each of us is but a breath.... Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire you more than anything on earth.
Psalms 39:11; 73:25

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I love the transparent illustration and example Paul has blessed us with above, he says: " I consider all these things as rubbish"... Paul lays down his pride, his good but fleshly works, his very heritage and everything he has ever held close to his heart. He shows his willingness to humble himself and count it all as dung in order to have a healthy and intimate relationship with His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - to walk by the Spirit verses walking in his own flesh.
Philippians 3:4-8

I think the greatest way to measure how much we each value Jesus is to not measure at all, because we will always fall short. But I guess if we have to measure the best way would not be in some simple one line answer and we could start by asking ourselves the greatest question of all: "Do I love the Lord my God with ALL my heart, with ALL my soul, with ALL my mind and with ALL my strength?

Okay, this is why I didn't want to measure, it's like being called out on the carpet or opening that can of worms. So now that we have, let's ask ourselves:

How do I spend the majority of my time?
Where do I spend the majority of my money?
What do I value above all things?
What are my greatest desires in each day and in life?

I'll stop there, but the list could go on and on... I think we can begin to measure how we value Jesus by these few simple questions.

How do I spend the majority of my time? It only took me 46 years (I know, it doesn't take me long), to figure this one out, but I finally realized that Jesus loves to spend time with us! So that's why we go to church on Sunday, right? Wrong! This isn't Gods idea of time... He wants our best... Our first fruits... Of course He enjoys our time on Sunday, but He's also asks for our time and praises on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - He wants all of us all the time!

Full-time employees yield a full-time returns of investment, part-time employees are only capable of yielding a part-time return. Jesus is only interested in full-timers, Kingdom Builders that are yielding a 100% ROI; there is no place for part-timers in Gods Kingdom!

Where do I spend the majority of my money? Again, I was a quick study, it only took me about 47 years to figure out, that money and time typically walk hand and hand with each other... Where we spend our money is more times than not, where we invest our time. A couple thoughts here. First, Jesus doesn't have any interest in your money and contrary to popular belief neither do Gods churches... Secondly, there is no "my money", it is all "His money", He owns it all, every last penny!

You may disagree like I first did, and say Nope! "I earned that money with my own hard work, my own hands and the sweat off of my brow." The truth is, you only were able to earned the money because the Holy Spirit blessed you with one of more Spiritual gifts and God put plenty of opportunity in your path... Besides all this, 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that "we were bought with a price to glorify God"

So if we were bought with a price, and we were... and if God is our creator, and He is... He owns it all, the money, the house, the cars, the boat, the toys, the wife, the kids, you name it he owns it, all of it... yep, every single thing! He owns the cattle on a Thousand hillsides and He has entrusted us with every single thing we have. He loves us and doesn't mind us having nice things, but again He wants our best... Our first fruits... Our hearts, our mind and our souls...

We measure how much we value Jesus by spending time with him; by lingering in his presence and talking with him; by studying and seeking Him in His Word; by practicing His presence everywhere we go, listening and waiting on His answer in all thing...

The value comes with being intentional about Jesus and putting Him first, making Him your highest priority above and beyond all things in life. Allowing Him to be who He is in and through each one of us independently and uniquely. To be a representative for Christ, the ambassador that He created in each one of us when He breathed out our DNA; as He knitted us in our mothers womb and as he counted each hair on our heads.

Measure how much you value our loving Savior Jesus Christ by tracking:

How you're spending your TIME...
Where you're investing your TREASURES...
For whom do you use you're TALENTS...
How do you share you're TOUCH...

The four T's can help you measure how much you value God, use them all for His glory and honor today... We were created for Him and by Him for just a time like now, He is counting on all of us today!

2010-05-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

BELONGING

What are some of the privileges of belonging to God?

God's Response:
Those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again!
Isaiah 16.19

Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are His heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Galatians 3:29

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united to Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

Our Takeaway:
Belonging to God carries so many privileges. It means you are no longer enslaved to sin; you can overcome it. Belonging to God means you can be certain that you can overcome it. Belonging to God means you can be certain that you will rise from the dead, live eternally with God, and received all that God has promised His people in the Bible. Here on earth you can experience peace of heart, comfort Christian friendships and the fulfillment that comes from knowing you are doing what God has created you to do. The privileges of belonging to God are countless, and the more you give yourself to Him, the more you will discover and experience them.

God's Promise:
The eternal God is your refuge, and His everlasting arms are under you.
Deuteronomy 33:27

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Belonging... Scripture tells us in I Corinthians 6:20: "we were bought with a price". It is completely unfathomable to me, the love of Jesus Christ for His creation; that our Father God loved us so intensely that He gave His Son to the Cross in order pay our debt and to draw us back to Him - WOW! We are His creation and His possession and have been bought and paid for in full.

I love the many truths that surrounding us regarding the privileges of us belonging to God. I just want to share a few of these and just spend the morning resting here.

"Privilege" would be an understatement by comparison - if we could took every descriptive word imaginable, or ever spoken from the human languages around the world; and if we could add them all together to create one single all-powerful, all-descriptive word... it couldn't begin to compare or illustrate the blessings that we have inherited in belonging to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!

John 1:12 - We are children of God.
Colossians 2:10 - We are complete in Christ.
Ephesians 2:18 - We have access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 2:20 - God has taken up residency within us.
John 15:15 - We are a friend of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:10 - We are masterpieces of Christ.
Colossians 1:14 - We are redeemed and forgiven in Christ.
Philippians 4:13 - We have the strength of Christ and can do all things.
Ephesians 2:10 - We are his workmanship.
2 Corinthians 6:1 - We are co-workers of God.
Matthew 5:13-14 - We are the salt and light of the earth.
Acts 1:8 - We are personal witness of Christ.
Philippians 3:20 - We are citizens of heaven.
Colossians 3:3 - He are hidden with Christ in God.
Ephesians 1:1 - We are saints.
Ephesians 1:5 - We have been adopted by God.
Romans 8:35-39 - We can not be separated from the love of God.
2 Timothy 1:7 - We have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love.
Ephesians 3:12 - We may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I don't know about you but after reading this list of Gods Truths, I feel elevated about 4 inches off the ground this morning. The beautiful thing is that this list doesn't even begin to explain or represent all the privileges we have in Christ - His love and the gifts and treasures we have In Christ are unimaginable and unmeasurable and beyond human perception.

Our greatest privilege beyond all things and His greatest gift to us, is the direct and intimate relationship He desires with each of us! The relationship He made possible through His shed blood on the Cross; the complete Victory and Freedom He provide for all who will accept His gift!

You are Significant... You are Accepted... and You are Secure In Christ!

2010-04-29T18:10:00.001-07:00

LONELINESS

Am I alone in my stand for God?

God's Response:
Elijah replied, "I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your alters, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
1 Kings 19:10

Our Takeaway:
Elijah thought he was the only person left who was still true to God. Lonely and discouraged, he forgot that others had remained faithful during the nation's wickedness. When you are tempted to think that you are the only one remaining faithful to a task, don't feel sorry for yourself. Self-pity will dilute the good you are doing. You may feel alone right now, but be assured that even if you don't know who they are, others are faithfully obeying God and fulfilling His call for their lives.

God's Challenge:
Since we are surround by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I can't relate to the Elijah and the loneliness and deserted feeling that he is describing in I Kings 19:10. One of the greatest blessings and gifts that Jesus Christ has given me are the neighbors He puts in my path, the daily relationships that He allows to surface and develop on this incredible journey.

When I gave this some thought this morning, I just sat back and praises Him for the relationships in my life and how un-alone I truly am.

Starting with my relationship with my wife, which at one time was broken and empty and now God not only restored it, but He continues to hone it and strengthen us in Him daily. Deeper than strengthening, as he has planted Himself around us and blanketed us with His love and passion, it is as if we are joined together as three. The relationships with my children are blossoming in love, trust and understanding through intentional investment of time, communication and being there to nurture and help them find their way by explaining Gods greatest desires and purpose for our lives.

I am blessed to still have both of my loving parents and three brothers, all of which are beautiful treasures in my life. I was raised with a core value of that "family" is our greatest gift in life and should always come first.

My relationship with my Pastor and church family are joyful beyond measure, constantly developing and growing as time and transparency are invested. There is no other place I would rather be than at my church with my family - our Sundays are our greatest treasure.

The relationships in my men's groups are especially wonderful, C-12, Wednesday Group, Crossroads, my Emmaus Family - Wow... I can't begin to tell you or describe to your how important these relationships are in my life. To have all these brothers in my life is completely overwhelming to me - they give life purpose, they bring me strength and they define what being a man is all about. These men are greater then friends, they are my mentors, they are my confidants, they are encourager's, they are truly one of the greatest blessings in my life... These men are Gods children and together my family and His body.

Again, if real estate is all about localtion...location...location, then God our Heavenly Father is all about relationship...relationship...relationship!

Our greatest gift is each other... The relationships God plants in our life. We have a choice to allow Him to grow and blossom these relationships or to allow them to wither and fade away with time and grow lonely.

Value others... God sees us with the eyes of a Father. He sees our defects, errors, and blemishes. But He also sees our value. What did Jesus know that enabled Him to do what He did? Here's part of the answer, He knew the value of people. He knew that each human being is a treasure. And because He did, people were not a source of stress, but a source of joy.

Galatians 5:13-14: "My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as and excuse to do what pleases your sinful self. Serve each other with love. The whole law is made complete in this one command: Love your neighbor as you love yourself".

Hebrews 10:24: "Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds".

1 Peter 5:5: "In the same way, younger people should be willing to be under older people. And all of you should be very humble with each other. God is against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble."

John 13:1, 4, 5, 15: "Jesus knew His hour had come to leave this world and return to His father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of His love. So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel He had around Him. John 15:13 - "I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done.

In my opinion, this one of the greatest illustrations of a relationship in the eyes of God. The entire scriptures are about relationships so what can be greater?

Take time today to ask God to help you repair, grow and develop all the relationships He has blessed you - Relationships are our greatest gift from Him!

Our greatest gift is a direct relationship with Jesus Christ...

2010-04-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

APPEARANCES

I always feel as if people judge who I am by my image. How does God evaluate who I am?

God's Response:
The lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance of height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Samuel 16:7

As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don't even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove I'm right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.
I Corinthians 4:3-4

The Lord's light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive.
Proverbs 20:27

Our Takeaway:
God judges by faith and character, by what He sees on the inside, not by appearances. And because only God can see what's on the inside, only He can accurately judge people. Most people spend hours each week maintaining their outward appearances; they should spend even more time developing their inner character.

Everyone can see your face, but only God knows what your heart really looks like. What steps are you taking to improve what God sees in your heart?

God's Challenge:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
My thoughts this morning are twofold.

Within a few weeks following my very physical coming to know Jesus experience, an experience in which at that very moment I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that He was the only Way to have life and the have it abundantly, fully and completely! I realized right then He was the purpose for my life, there wasn't even a minuscule of doubt in my mind or heart because after (46) years there was an immediate overwhelming satisfaction, peace and completeness within me - some of you have heard me call it the "off switch". That moment where God made an exchange - empty dead old shell of a man vs. fully alive newly restored man.

As I was saying, just a few weeks after receiving Christ, a brother from church came beside me and began to mentor me and teach me about Jesus Christ, about Biblical instruction and about how we were to act as Christians. He said something I never really understood - "Tony you want to be extremely careful with who you share your testimony with, you don't want to share it with just anybody!"

I never understood this - why? Why would I ever want to be unwilling to share the wonderful blessing and miracles of God and what He had done in my life. This brother said that there are people, people in the world, people in my church and people in my life that would use my testimony against me. That there were people who would judge me for the things that I had done in the past and use them to hurt me in some way.

Three thoughts I have about this: First, I didn't and still don't care what people think about me; I really don't care if they judge me for who I once was because God has given me complete assurance that I am no longer that old man. Secondly, I spent Forty Six years pleasing myself and all those around me, I no longer has a desire to be a manpleaser, but to please only One, the man that saved my life - Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior! Lastly, I really don't consider it "my" testimony, it should be called "His" testimony or "The" testimony. It is the testimony and witness of the blessings and miracles that God has performed in our lives. Why wouldn't we want to share it, shout it and publish it every change we have?
Galatians 2:20; II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:20-24

The second fold of my thought this morning is again relating to appearance, physical and outwardly appearance. I have struggled with my weight most of my life and I have been judged, ridiculed and made fun of because of my obesity. Actually, at some point they classify it as "morbid obesity" when you get to be my size, I guess this means big fat guy plus.

My dad had a saying I never forgot: "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness goes clear to the bone". Outwardly appearance really doesn't matter to God, it is truly the stuff we are made of on the inside that counts! I do have one confession, I am really excited about the new body that the Lord promises us all...

In the "Our Takeaway" segment above it asks us, what steps are we taking to improve our hearts?

Big T's thought regarding us trying to improve ourselves in any-way-shape-or-form, especially our hearts is simple - DON'T! Don't attempt to improve yourself, ask our Glorious Savior take care of this for you! He alone is the only One in the business of Conforming and Transforming of hearts and minds, if we try to do anything on our own we are very likely to make a mess of things. So as the old saying goes, Do Not Attempt This At Home... Apart from Him we can do nothing!
John 15:1-5

"Create in me a clean heart, O god, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence. And do not take Your Hold Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12

How can we be sure that God has changed our hearts? God's Word makes it clear, when our hearts have changed, we experience the love of God. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love," (I John 4:8). Our hearts are changed as the Holy Spirit touches our hearts with God's Word. "The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us," (Romans 5:5)

Allow God to give you a new loving heart today, be blessed!

2010-04-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

ADVERSITY

What is the value of adversity in our lives?

God's Response:
Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies - so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influences on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

By means of their suffering, [God] rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity.
Job 36:15

Our Takeaway:
Although God wants us to enjoy what he has given us while we have the opportunity, we must also realize that adversity can strike at any time. Adversity reminds us that life is short, teaches us to live wisely, and refines our characters. We often learn more about God from difficult times than from easy times.

Do you try to avoid sorrow and suffering at all costs? The Holy Spirit can help you to see your struggles as great opportunities to learn from God.

God's Promise:
Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes.
Isaiah 30:20

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
When we have unwanted adversity walk into our lives, we typically have a lot of questions: "Jesus, why are you allowing these impossible things into my life?" "Lord, why don't you remove this painful circumstance from my life?" "God, why are my prayers taking so long to be answered?" "Heavenly Father, why are difficult people allowed to reap havoc in my life?" And the biggy: "Heavenly Father, why is the devil still allowed to run-a-mock in my life and other lives around me?"

What I have come to realize is that life is tough, issues in all our lives are complex and complicated for many reasons. (1) We live in a fallen world with corruption and evilness lurking around most every corner; (2) We have been given free will to make decisions in our life and we are foulable and imperfect creatures; (3) There is a deceiver, discourager and liar who rules over the temporary world we live; he has many cronies walking the planet with him; their mission is simply to kill, destroy, counterfeit and bring chaos into our lives in order to steal souls through pleasurable deceptions.

My point is that there is no single answer to these questions of adversity, but there is one possibility that we don't often consider: Maybe God allows adversity in our lives to prepare us for a greater purpose... maybe He is conditioning us for future battles through life challenges, ones that remain unseen... and just maybe, all our trials, tribulations and adversities are allowed in order to draw us closer to Him, for dependency In Christ.

If you think about it, we have aways had adversity in our lives. Even as children we had adversity... Yeah maybe it was kid stuff back then, but when troubles came a calling I don't know about you, but I typically ran to my father - my daddy always kept me safe! A natural response when the bogeyman was hiding in your closet or when you had a major wipe-out on your Schwinn bicycle and a bad case of road-rash.

Maybe our crisis' and unbearable moments are allowed to drive us into God's presence, into the loving arms of the Savior Jesus Christ... To run to our Abba Father for the comforting answers to our most painful questions... To bring us peace in our most shaken circumstances... To be our strong tower and refuge when we find ourselves in the fearful storms of life, standing in sinking sand without a solid place to anchor in a world perishing and deteriorating.

Are our adversities be allowed to bring us to a place of Christ dependency in lieu of Self-sufficiency?

God will bring adversity into our lives and perhaps they are hovering right now. Will you allow them to overcome you, or will you run to your loving Father. Will they be your punishment? Or will they refresh you and show you His loving grace? The answer to our adversities may be less a matter of His intent than your response. It all depends on how you choose to see them.

Let the adversities of life drive you into God's presence; let them stir a passion in your heart to know Him more deeply and to worship Him more authentically. Do not flee from your adversities, let them linger long enough to see His mercy fall from heaven in the end.

2010-04-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

FAILURE

How can my failures be opportunities for growth?

God's Response:
A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites.... Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there.... Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor.... And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies.... Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land."
Joshua 7:1; 7:22-26; 8:1

Our Takeaway:
From what happened when Achan sinned, Joshua learned important lessons that you can follow: Confess you sins when God reveals them to you, and when you fail, refocus on God's grace and deal with the problems so you can move on. God wants the cycle of sin, repentance, and forgiveness to strengthen you; the lessons you learn from your failures should make you better able to handle the same situation the next time. You can tell what kind of person you will be by what you do on your second and third attempts.

God's Promise:
No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening - it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
Hebrews 12:11

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
By a world standard we tend to associate "Failure" with personal defeat and/or weakness. We have been trained up by society to believe that if we fail, or should I say when we fail, the world brands us with a capital "L" on our foreheads and we are labeled as losers for life.

In today's culture, success is often judged on the basis of visible accomplishments of such things as wealth and social status, security and strength, public appearance and notoriety, power and influence, physical beauty and talent. Accordingly, failure is judged on the basis of the lack of these things. This perspective is not only distorted beyond measure, it adds an enormous amount of unwanted pressure and stress to our lives and it is all just a huge lie and let me tell you why.

For Forty Six years, I lived a performance driven & performance-for-acceptance based lifestyle and I was good at it! I was in constant fear of any type of failure in my life. Failure wasn't an option for me, I had the mindset that nothing would stand in the way of my success in the world. There was no sale too big or challenging, there was no amount of time that I wasn't willing to invest, there was no sacrifice I wasn't willing to make and no amount of anything I wouldn't risk to have worldly success.

It was a constant struggle and battle that took place both mentally and physically. "If I let up just a little bit then there is a chance for defeat and nonacceptance." And if defeat slipped in, there was an overwhelming opportunity for failure and if I failed, I would be seen by all those looking in as, not worthy... incapable of meeting the mark... couldn't cut the mustard... didn't make the cut... can't run with the big dogs...

Pressure, pressure and more pressure! Complete madness it what it was.

The only way I can explain it with any sense of reality of what it felt like, is to have you imagine driving a Ferrari and having the pedal pushed to the metal (0 -to-160 mph), and not having the option of breaks or bouncing off the sides of the road like the video games - this was real and this was my life. If I crashed and burned, I would lose everything! The business, the confidence and acceptance of my wife, my children, my mother and father, my friends... I loose the house, the cars, the boat, the world travel, the hidden relationships, the addictions, the toy and joys of this completely turned upside down, spiraling out-of-control life I was living... Failure? Not an option, after all what would I do without all this worldly success in my life? Blind, I was completely blind!

All the madness came to a screeching halt when I made the decision to invite Jesus Christ into my life and trust Him to take full control of it; to help me make sense of it all; to help me understand His priorities in my life; to help expose the lies of the world and reveal the truths of the His kingdom and to know the difference between the two; to restore peace and completeness into my life and to show me what success that matters, looks like - God did all this and more!

I am here to witness that I experienced all this world has to offers, all satan's eye candy -all of the notoriety, power, influence, wealth, status, self-indulgences that any person would ever need, want or could handle - worldly success without failure is emptiness without substance or hope.

It is failure that allows us to realize where we get our acceptance from, it isn't from our performance in the world I can assure you. What we do, does not determine who we are! We were all bought and paid for by our creator; Jesus Christ paid the price and In Him we can find our true identity and be confident of our complete acceptance without our performance - He loves us just for showing up! You see, it is who we are in Christ that determines what we do...

He created us, He delivered us, He sustains us, He had all the success on the Cross! He is our success and even when we fail, we are made strong and acceptable In Christ - He is the only One incapable of failure - He is our Way, our Truth and our Life and He loves us unconditionally!

2010-04-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

How can I nourish my spiritual life?

God's Response:

"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," [the Samaritan woman] said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? An besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?" Jesus relied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." "Please, sir," the women said, "give me this water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water."

John 4:11-15

Our Takeaway:

Many spiritual needs parallel physical needs. Just as our bodies hunger and thirst, so do our souls. Our souls need spiritual food and water. The woman at the well confused the two kinds of water, perhaps because no one had ever talked with her about spiritual hunger and thirst before. We would not think of depriving our bodies of food and water when we are hungry and thirsty. Why, then, would we deprive our souls? The living Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, the Bible, can refresh our hungry and thirsty souls.

God's Promise:

Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:35

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

As I read this I was reminded of the old saying, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I think that a similar approach applies to our heart and minds. The fuel that we give them each morning greatly affects the remainder of our day. Think of time spent in God's Word, prayer and meditation as spiritual nourishment for your relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.

[David] began his day with God. In Psalm 63 he describes seeking the Lord early. He woke up ravenous for His creator, hungering and thirsting for His closeness in a morning relationship. After filling the appetite of his soul with the fullness of God, he broke out in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Even as night came he was still thinking about and talking to his Heavenly Father as he laid his head down.

I wrote a week or so ago about "going steady with EDDY", this is key to satisfying our hearts and souls each morning. Just imagine each day filled with the joy and gratitude to Jesus Christ.

I do it earlier that I know anyone in my house is willing to get up for anything, for any reason; I do it daily because if I don't, I know that I won't, even know I have good intentions and want to, time just slips away; I do it diligently because it is just like breakfast, if I don't get it, I can't be satisfied for that day; I do it yielding and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

It is completely possible to have a David type relationship with God when we set apart the beginning of our day to spend with our Savior, listening to Him speak to us through His Word and talking to Him in our prayers. Paul's instruction is clear, that our blessing will be even richer when we stay mindful of God throughout our day and into the night by "praying without ceasing" and by "setting out minds on things of above." - contemplating who He is and how He is working in our lives. Seeking the Lord not only satisfies and fills our empty souls; it also increases our hunger for more of Him.

Colossians 3:2; I Thessalonians 5:17

Do you find it a struggle to set aside time with the Lord each morning? Any habit takes time to develop, so does any worthwhile relationship, it is done in baby steps, not grand overwhelming resolutions. Start today - take 15 minutes just a few days a week to start and watch the Lord begin to satisfy your soul and increase you hunger for Him.

2010-04-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

How does knowing about heaven affect how I live today?

God's Response:
When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days.
Ecclesiastes 11:7-8

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom
Psalm 90:12

Our Takeaway:
Solomon is no dreary pessimist in Ecclesiastes 11:7-8. He encourages us to rejoice in every day but to remember that eternity is far longer than a person's life span. Psalm 90:12 teaches us to remember that life is short and therefore, we ought to make the most of the time we have so that we may use it to become wise. Those who are wise do not think only about the moment and its impact; they consider their actions in light of eternity.

Consider the impact your decisions will have ten years fro now and into eternity. Your earthly life may be short, but you will live with God forever.

God's Promise:
Our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
This world has nothing for me... Paul gives us strong instruction"Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things."
Colossians 3:2

As Christians we set are minds on different things than we once set them on. In our thinking we now realize that this isn't our final place or permanent residence - Heaven is our home!

We exchange the temporal for the eternal, the worthless for the valuable, the profane for the holy and the self for Christ. We no longer pursue darkness, only light. We no longer pursue our reputation, only His. We have been transformed and now stand in a radically different place.

This place is where Christ is! Did you realize that we are with Him? Paul tells us that "We have been raised with Him. We are seated, and He lives in the deepest place in our hearts, where we once stored worldly treasures and desires. It only stands to reason that we would be uncontrollably absorbed in our new dwelling place and in our new life. Not to be consumed with eternal realities would be ridiculously out of touch in light of our new spiritual nature. We would be daydreamers fantasizing about the worthless things we once held on to so tightly and neglecting the unimaginable riches and treasure that await us. It would be like a toad being transformed into a beautiful prince, but still choosing to live in a dirt filthy swamp - It makes no sense!
1 John 2:15-17

Unfortunately, there are so many of us that still think that our residence is here. We have a hard time internalizing a reality we can't see, though it is extremely real. We're tainted by the ways of the world, immersed in false philosophies. We hold on to and harbor the old thoughts of past. This is why Paul instructs the believers of yesterday, who like us, are captivated by false worldly perspectives. Set your minds where Jesus Christ is and where, in fact and truth, we are too!
John 14:23

I know that we have been taught in the world that disciplining our minds in a certain way is brainwashing, a temporary escape from reality. But for us, setting our minds on the things above is an escape into reality. It puts us practically where we are positionally - it renews our minds and puts us where God wants us - With Him!

Heaven is our home, set your minds there!

2010-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

CHARACTER

What is the key to becoming a person of strong character?

God's Response:
The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.
Job 17:19

If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13

Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope and salvation.
Romans 5:4

Our Takeaway:
God is not pleased with spurts of religiosity. Building strong character takes a lifetime of consistent obedience. Heroic spiritual lives are built one obedient act at a time, act upon act, day upon day. Like the bricks in a building, each instance of obedience may seem small at the time, but as those "bricks" pile up, a great wall of strong spiritual character - and a great defense against temptation... will result.

If you want your life to be evidenced by strong character, strive for consistent obedience each day.

God's Challenge:
I will keep on obeying your instructions forever and ever.
Psalm 119:44

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
One of the most beautiful things I am beginning to discover about "abiding in Christ" is that, as we remain In Christ and as we are guided by and through the Holy Spirit to an obedient and submissive state, we become in touch and in union with His Will for our lives . We don't ever have to concern ourselves with developing our own character, because His perfect character will permeate us and flow through us as His finished work is complete in us.
Colossians 2:9-10

Scripture tells us to abide in Christ, just as a branch connects to a vine. Believers who abide in Christ, no longer exist for themselves, but rather live for Him. It seems when we cease striving after righteousness and instead, come into Him and allow Him to live out His life in and through us in this intimate relationship, we become like two branches of one tree- intertwined and as one with each other. It is in this closeness and bond that the strength, love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and all the Divine characteristics that characterize our Savior Jesus Christ, become ours.
John 15:1-17

As we give ourselves completely over to Him, our entire being, and become complete In Christ, He conforms our thoughts to His will and purpose. Our minds and bodies are transformed for service in His Kingdom, "for the good works that were prepared for beforehand".
Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:1-2

Too often, we lose track of who is in complete control of our lives; the one who is our single-source-solution-provider of all things, and who it is that makes us complete-yes even our character is made complete in Him.

2010-04-20T02:01:00.000-07:00

THE WAY

Isn't it a little narrow-minded to say that Jesus is the only way to God?

God's Response:
John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29

[Jesus said,] "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
John 14:6

Our Takeaway:
Some people may argue that to say Jesus is the only way is narrow and unloving. But we aren't claiming it as our own idea. We're only repeating what we find in the Holy Bible. Jesus said He is the way to God the Father. So is this really narrow? Not really. It is actually wide enough for the whole world to come to the Father, if the world chooses to accept Jesus' statement as the truth. Instead of worrying about whether this belief sounds narrow-minded, we should be thankful that Jesus has provided a sure way to God - a way that is open and available to all.

God's Promise:
All of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
Ephesians 2:18

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Narrow-minded in my opinion would be overlooking this amazing truth of life and choosing to believe a lie instead.

I'm just a sinner and even I can't imagine that there was any other way besides by the Cross. How is there a better way than perfection? A good friend of mine explains it something like this: "God said it... I believe it... That's the end of it!"

There was and is no other perfect and Divine Way other than Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb, sacrificing His life on the Cross so that the world could have Life and have it more abundantly.
John 10:10

Jesus wasn't overly excited about the way, but He knew that it was the Will of the Father and He knew that there was NO alternate possibility. We can't fathom the pain and suffering Jesus endured in the beatings, torture and crucifixion itself, let alone taking on the sin of the world.

Every time I consider the reality that He rescued me from myself and the wickedness of this world, I know He is the Way... Every time He answers an impossible prayer, I am remined that He is the Way... Every time I am blessed with the experience of leading another to Him, I am confident that He is the Way... Each morning I read His Truth, I know without a shadow of doubt that He is the Way... Every time I inventory my life and compare the old man to the new, it is incontestable that Jesus Christ is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life!

Jesus is Indisputable!

2010-04-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

GOD'S WORD

How can I be sure my faith won't collapse one day?

God's Response:
I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "a plumb line." The Lord replied, "I will test my people with the plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins."
Amos 7:7-8

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths... Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.
Proverbs 4:10-11, 13

Our Takeaway:
A plumb line is a device that uses gravity to determine vertical straightness. A wall that is not straight will eventually collapse. God wants people to be right with Him. He wants us to deal with the sin that makes us crooked. God's Word is the plumb line that helps us become aware of our sin and gives us wisdom for walking in "straight paths".

How do you measure up to God's Word- His plumb line for you life?

God's Promise:
All Scripture is inspired by God.... It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2 Timothy 3:16

Big T's Thought to Ponder:
Somewhere I once read a wonderful definition of the difference between Hope and Faith and I think it is key to a deeper understanding of the above question regarding how we can be confident that our faith won't collapse someday.

Hope is knowing that God has already done it.
Faith is trusting that God will do it.

Our hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Our hope is in all the truths and miracles that we have read about and seen in the Scriptures. The same hope seen and experienced in our lives and the lives around us, through our answered prayers and through Gods transforming and amazing work in each of us personally. The hope we find in each other's testimonies, the hope we see in His Divine creation as we gaze into the night sky or experience the miracle of child birth every time a new creation is brought into this world.

Our hope is seen all around us - every time we walk outside and take-in a sunrise or sunset, walk alone the beach or just floating down a river. Every time we crack open our Bible and read one of the amazing stories shared from the past. HOPE can be seen everywhere....

Faith comes to us by knowing, trusting, and believing that God is... that God will... and that God can...take care of the unknown and unseen things in our lives. Our faith can only come from Him and should rest in Him alone.

Our faith is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ! The more time we invest, the more we hang around with Jesus - the better we get to know Him and understand Him - the greater our faith becomes.

The deeper and more intimate the relationship, the deeper and more intimate the understanding we begin to have of His attributes and His Love and Grace. He begins to reveal His Greatness to us and through us - His Love, His Joy, His Peace, His Longsuffering; His Goodness and Kindness; His Patience and yes, His Faithfulness...

We begin to have faith in the unseen through our trials and troubles by wrapping ourselves in His promise and by understanding and knowing that He is walking us through our biggest struggles and most overwhelming hurts. The greater our faith in these moments, the more he reveals.

He opens our eyes as we believe and trust. The greater our dependence on Him verses ourselves, the greater our strength in Him. As we abide and remain in Him, He begins to mold us with His beautiful attributes and we start to and inherit these Christlike characteristics.

He is our Strength! His is our Hope! He becomes our Faith because He is our Faith! He opens our eyes as we believe and trust in Him for ALL THINGS....

2010-04-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

WORSHIP

Does it really matter where I worship?

God's Response:

The Lord has rejected His own altar; He despises His own sanctuary. He has given Jerusalem's palace's to her enemies. They shout in the Lord's Temple as though it were a day of celebration.

Lamentations 2:7

[God says,] "I hate all your show and pretense--the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.... Instead, I want to see a mighty floor of justice, and endless river of righteous living."

Amos 5:21, 24

Our Takeaway:

Our place of worship is not as important to God as our pattern of worship. A church building may be beautiful, but if its people don't sincerely follow God, the church will decay from within. The people of Judah, despite their beautiful Temple, had rejected in their daily lives what they proclaimed in their worship rituals. Thus, their worship had turned into a mocking lie.

When you worship, are you merely mouthing words you don't really mean? Do you pray for help you don't really believe it will come? Do you profess a love for God you don't really feel? Earnestly seek God, and catch a fresh vision of His love and care. Then worship Him wholeheartedly--wherever you are.

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

Does it really matter where we worship? Absolutely NOT!

Quite to the contrary. God has no interest in being a part-time Savior to the men and women of the world. His greatest desire in our lives is to have ALL OF US, 100% of the time. Scripture instructs us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you." This doesn't mean that we have to pray without a break; walking around muttering empty prayers throughout our days and nights.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What I think Paul is telling us in the instruction for our lives, is that we can actually live life here on earth walking (6) inches off the ground by abiding in His Spirit! He can accomplish His "prepared beforehand", full/complete life through an intimate, full-time, obedient and submissive relationship with Him - putting Him in the 1st position of our life.

Jesus wants His property back! He wants our whole heart, mind, body and soul on Sundays while fellowshipping and allowing the Holy Spirit to sharpen us through His Church Body. He knows that a Godly relationship requires commitment, one that is SOLD OUT Monday through Sunday... constantly keeping our eye on the prise, Jesus Christ our Loving Savior.

1 Corinthians 6:19 - "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (WOW!)

John 4:23 - "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."

Psalm 99:5 - "Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool - He is holy.

Psalm 29:2 - "Give unto the Lord the glory due to His names; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." I could get carpel tunnel typing out all the truths and promises we have in Christ...

The Risen Savior wants our worship; fellowship; prayingness and uninterrupted attention throughout each day/night. Yes, at work...at home...at the supermarket...at school...the barber... on the golf course...in the theater...at the neighborhood social gathering... everywhere...

Ask the Lord to for brokeness and complere reliance each morning through confession and supplication. Ask the Lord to allow the Holy Spirit to be overflowing with inside us through our submission and desire for His Will. Take-time-to-spend-time; get transparent with Him and share from you heart. Get to know who our Redeemer is.

I call it, "Going steady with E.D.D.Y.".... We are to do it:

Early;
Daily;
Diligently;
Yielding...

We are free In Christ to worship Him wherever & whenever we choose to! Let Him have all of you today!

2010-04-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

MY REDEEMER LIVES

How can I have faith in a God who allows so much tragedy in my life?

God's Response:

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!
Job 19:25-27

Our Takeaway:

At the heart of the book of Job stands his ringing affirmation of confidence: "I know that my Redeemer lives." What tremendous faith Job had, especially in light of the fact that he was unaware of satin's role in his sufferings. Job thought that God had brought all the disasters upon him! Faced with tragedy and even death, Job still expected to see God - and he expected to do so in his body. Although Job struggled with the idea that God was presently against him, he firmly believed that in the end, God would be on his side.

When trouble strikes, can you claim with confidence, "My Redeemer Lives"?

God's Promise:

Our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

1 Timothy 4:10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

The greatest gift we receive to help stretch our faith and reliance in our Redeemer, is to trust and believe in Him unconditionally; to stand confidently and victoriously in the truth and promises Christ provides us for each trial; each trouble and for each impossible moment in our lives.

I love what James says: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."

James 1:2

The only way to grow in faith and confidence in anything, is to get to know it, to study it, understand its boundaries and thresholds and then to trust and believe in it fully. Just observe from the sidelines without any action isn't going to allow for any growth in faith, you must seek it. Matthew 7:7-8

A simple but crewed illustration of trust and belief: is the difference between my truck and my boat. I jump into that Hummer each morning and I know and trust that it's going to start and get me where I need to go without fail - on time, every time. I am confident in this because I have invested time driving it everyday for the last seven years and I know that if follow the manufactures written instruction and I keep gas in it and the oil changed, that it is very dependable and reliable -trustworthy.

My boat on the other hand, I have very little to no trust in, no faith that it is going to start next time I load up the family for a weekend cruise. I just don't invest enough time running it like to do my truck, I have never been intentional about following the proper maintenance instruction, hence my trust in the boat starting or getting my where I need to go, it doubtful at best.

My point being... We can't put our trust and belief in our Redeemer if we don't understand Him through seeking an intimate relationship. We have to be willing to invest our time in developing a deeper understanding of His instruction and purpose for our lives by abiding and lingering in His presence.

Once we become intentional about knowing Him, He will open our eyes to His many truths and promises. We will begin to walk in His Spirit with a trusting and dependent heart; completely equipped to walk through any trial, trouble or impossible circumstance, both faithfully and confidently - for His greater purpose...

Search for the treasures in your trials today, look back and praise your Redeemer for growing your trust and increasing your faith in Him alone.

Daily Devotionals

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

Ephesians 4:22-24

Ephesians 4:22-24

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24