GOD'S TRANSFORMING WORK

We had a friend over that we have not seen in about 5 years. During that absence in our lives she has been saved. It is amazing to see the transformation that God does in a persons life. We asked her what brought her to repentance and her answer was great. She said that she truly understood how sinful she was and what it meant to have a broken and contrite heart before God.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

It was such a sweet reminder to me that God does not despise a person that is broken over their sin, repents, and puts their trust in HIM alone. I continue to deal with my pride and at times I forget this simple verse and the Lord causes me to repent as He uses His Word and other believers in my life to expose my sin to me. Lord Jesus please don't ever stop doing this sanctifying work in my life. Lord cause me to continue to be broken over my sin - Lord I have rebelled against you and the result of this rebelling is my sins of commission and omission that are offenses against You and Your ownership of me. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me, keeping me saved, and the promise that You will finish the work You have started in my life.

Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

I was thinking today of relationships I have had and still have of people that has shown me much grace in dealing with me. I have sinned against many people in my life through my words and actions and still have received grace from these folks to forgive me and love me regardless of my immaturity. I think of all the regrets in this area that I have had in the past of not having a forgiving heart toward others and even viewing them a certain way and not allowing them to change. I would hate for others to put me in a box and keep me there even though I continue to mature and become more like Christ. Lord Jesus - thank YOU that YOU don't do that to me. I want to Learn from YOUR example to have a heart that does not hold onto offenses done against me.

Let's all live without regrets and if you are holding onto stuff that should have been forgiven long ago - seek those folks out that you have had these attitudes toward and seek their forgiveness. Unity in the Body of Christ is paramount to our Christian life.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

THANKSGIVING

It is interesting that in general most people complain all year long but then a National Holiday calls us all to be thankful and then there are numerous facebook posts about how thankful we are. Well this is a great reminder for all of us to be thankful all year long regardless of our circumstances. I know for me personally that one of my businesses has been hit very hard because of the economy and it would be very easy for me to worry and be anxious but that would be sin. I am taking the right actions I need to and be responsible with what God has given me but the bottom line is that God has given me exactly what HE wants me to have not only financially but in everything.

Psalm 7:17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."

Giving thanks is a determined exercise by us that is a discipline. Just think about the most important thing you have to be thankful for - the fact that Jesus Christ (God Himself) lowered Himself and took the form of man to redeem man from His sins and to input His Righteousness (applying His perfect fulfillment of God's requirements for you to be saved) to you. Think about it - He does not redeemed the fallen angels but He did that for those He has CHOSEN TO SAVE - Yes make no mistake my friend - YOU DID NOT CHOOSE GOD - HE CHOSE YOU. Now that is something to be thankful for if you are one of HIS. If you are apart from Christ - today is the day to repent of your sins and stop putting your trust in your works and put all your trust in Christ and HIM ALONE.

Have a great thanksgiving but don't stop giving thanks all year long.

ALL TALK NO WALK DOES NOT WORK

Hebrews 13:15-16

"Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. 16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

It is all over the Scriptures. That is right - obedience to the Lord is the evidence of a transformed life. How did we as a Church ever get to a place that so many deny this clear teaching from God's Word? In our zeal to see people saved we end up watering down the Gospel to make it more pleasing - shame on us for disparaging God's Word in that manner.

It is so easy to say with your lips you love the Lord but actions must follow what you say with your mouth. Try telling your Spouse that you love them and then let your actions be rude, inconsiderate, abusive, neglect etc... and then ask them if they really think you love them. Are you out of your mind? NO WAY WILL THEY THINK YOU REALLY LOVE THEM. Then why do you think it would be any different with our Lord Jesus Christ?

Please listen - I am not teaching perfectionism which if you believe that false doctrine it is a sad day for you. Perfectionism just relabels sin as mistakes - which then I guess you dont have to repent of - THAT IS FALSE TEACHING. The Believer still sins after he or she is saved but that sin becomes less and less as the obedience to the Lord becomes greater and greater. It is called progressive sanctification - simply put - becoming more like Jesus every day.

So here is the way God grows us - We repent of our sins - putting our trust in HIS Work not our own for our salvation, We study HIS Word - the HOLY SPIRIT (who lives in every true Christian) takes that WORD applies it to our lives and brings fruit out of our lives (Gal. 5).

If fruit of the Spirit is absent in your life then you MUST examine yourself and see if you are in the faith. My prayer for each of you is that you are not self deceived and on a broad road that only takes you to hell.

ARE YOU TRULY A CHRISTIAN?

It is sad to me to see people on Facebook and other social media venues that call themselves Christians and yet just from what is on their accounts you have to question where they really are at. And then to see other professing believers that are their friends not calling them to repentance at all just adds to the condemnation of both. Matthew 7:20 "So then, you will know them by their fruits." The fruit of the world is a loose living, vulgarity, courseness, and self pleasure just to name a few. It saddens me to see people that call themselves Christians living a life of sexual sin and self pleasure and then are offended when you question if they are a Christian or not. Unfortunately the Church is not far removed from the World. WAKE UP CHURCH - We are to be diffferent, holy in ALL AREAS of our lives. A life void of obedience to Christ is a Christless life. If you are a true believer first examine your life and make sure you are not in a habitual sin and then call your professing brothers and sisters around you to repentance and holiness. Let sin be kept far from you and dont give the devil opportunity to sift you.

HERE IS THE KILLER

What a title for a blog entry but there is a killer on the run and the killer is out to try to destroy us. It is none other than PRIDE.

Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

This was the downfall of Satan - he was proud and wanted to be God. He thought too highly of himself. I am amazed at the Christians that think the worldly teaching of a "low self esteem" is Biblical. Folks - it is pride - no one and I mean no one has a low self esteem - the Bible says we all think too highly of ourselves. We are all prideful. Oh wait a minute I met someone once that said they were not prideful - what a prideful statement :).

Really look at your life and see where that non mortified pride is lingering - get out the Sword of the Spirit (the Scriptures) and go to work at killing your pride. God has given you every ability you have so how can you take credit for anything that is remotely good or some ability you have?? Don't rob Him of His glory by thinking highly of yourself. I still maintain that the only thing I can take credit for is my sin - everything else is God's grace.

A DISCIPLINED LIFE

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

I was reading this morning and came upon this passage. My first thought was - "Sure this is the way it is supposed to be - we need to be workers". But then I thought about it a bit more and the fact is we live in a society that diminishes work habits and for that matter - it really diminishes being disciplined in your life. We are told to just do what we want to do. I am sorrowed over where our people are - not outside the Church but even inside the church. I see young men that continue to be boys rather than men. Same goes with the women too.

An undisciplined life does not just manifest itself in work but in every part of our lives. I struggle with being disciplined in my life for sure. I must kill my lazy tendencies and be diligent in my studying of the Word, then taking that Word and applying it (yes this takes discipline). I struggle with being disciplined in my eating and exercise. So believe me I have not arrived but am striving to obey these commands in this passage.

If you really start being disciplined in your study of the Word I do believe you will find yourself being more disciplined in other areas of your life. Let us commit to praying for each other in this area as we strive to bring GOD GLORY in ALL AREAS of our lives.

WHERE DID I GO??

It has been a while since I posted anything but I have been staying busy. Brad, Lisa Guest, and myself are just finishing the No Greater Love Couples devotional Book that will be coming out in March to a Christian bookstore near you. We have also had some great meetings with ministries about the movie and it really exciting to see what God will do with all this.

In the process of working on the Devotional book it really was used in my life to change me to become more like Christ. Anytime you are intensely in God's Word you can expect to be changed. I will try to get back to posting regularly now that this deadline is almost met.

Let me just encourage you to be in the Word EVERYDAY - it must be your priority. A Bibleless Christian is an oxymoron. I hope you are encouraged by God's goodness and mercy to you today - Thank Him for all He does for you.

DO NO WRONG

2 Corinthians 13:7 Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we should appear unapproved.

I was meditating on this verse this morning and it struck me that here the Apostle Paul reveals his heart once again as he expresses his desire to see his spiritual children at Corinth growing in Grace. The implication of doing no wrong would mean a proactive desire to do what is right. The Scriptures give us our absolutes of how we are to live out our lives in Christ. It does not matter that even the Church as a whole diminishes those absolutes - regardless we are to strive for holiness. Paul here in this passage is more concerned that the Corinth believer is exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit than he is about his own reputation. Here brings up another point - are we more concerned about our reputation with others than we are about our holiness before our Lord Jesus Christ? Am I more concerned about what people think of me at Church, work and my social situations than I am about being truly holy?

We need to be praying for each other for holiness. We must have the heart of Paul in this area of care for each other. Let us not put on a facade of holiness when we are at Church or anywhere else - are you a flip flopping person - flip from "Christian" to a "non Christian" depending on who you are with? My dear Lord Please make me holy and consistent every minute of my days. Let me not be a hypocrite. Lord please give grace to my brothers and sisters everywhere to live out their lives in holiness - doing no wrong but rather doing righteous works to YOUR glory.

TRIP TO NASHVILLE AND LITTLE ROCK

Well it has been a crazy 36 hours since I left LA. I went to Nashville with Brad Silverman and met with Propeller, Big Idea (Veggie Tales), and Thomas Nelson. We are down here in the South working on the ministry stuff for the No Greater Love DVD release in January. We had a great day after taking a redeye from LA to Nashville. Got alot of stuff done in the plans for ministry of the film. Discussed the Devotional book that we will be coming out with in March through Thomas Nelson also. Then went to Nashville airport to find out flights were being delayed to Little Rock via Atlanta. So we decided to drive the five hours to Little Rock with Dan Merrill from Propeller. Now it is 12:33 AM on Friday and I have been up since Wed. at 6 AM so needless to say I am very tired. Tomorrow we meet with Family Life Today and do a couple of radio interviews for the film and also discuss plans for FLT's involvment in the release of No Greater Love. We had a great time on the ride and it was a super time of fellowship. Now off to bed :).

PRIDE

I have been counseling several people this past week and one of the glaring issues in their life is Pride. It is so good to be practicing the One Anothers in Scripture because it changes me too. I am as prideful as any one and by God's grace over the years He has continued to do the work of sanctification in my life to kill my pride.

James 4:1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

What a great passage that I cannot begin to unpack in this entry. This should be the passage that is in our forefront as we deal with other. This passage is NOT to unbelievers - this passage is ADDRESSED to believers. The problems I have had with people almost always comes back to my pride. Here is the rub - we don't see our pride when we are being prideful. I did not see how prideful I was for years until I saw someone else that was almost exactly like me. I saw the pride in that person and realized I had a log in my eye. I all to often still end up being a prideful man but I desire to not be that man and truly live in the later part of this passage. I realize I am a wretched sinner - no good in me - so what do I have to be prideful about? Nothing. Any ability or gift is exactly that - a gift from God - so if it is all from God how can I take pride in it - oh - wait a minute I can take pride in it and rob Jesus Christ of His glory. May that never be. I hope God continues to humble us all.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

The Fruit of the Spirit is a much discussed topic among Christians. The Apostle Paul in the letter to the Galatians is dealing with what our salvation is built upon. The Church at Galatia had received Paul and the Gospel with open arms as he taught them over a period of time. But then the false teachers came in calling the people back to the law to earn their salvation. Paul confronts the Church and calls them to abandon their wrong thinking that they must be under the law again. He then lays out what it means to walk in the Spirit - he contrasts the deeds of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice in this above passage that Paul says those that "practice" these things. A Christian can fall into some of these sins but it will not be the characterizing pattern of their life. Paul is showing three areas of our lives that the flesh manifests itself in: Sex (immorality, impurity, sensuality), relegion (idolatry, sorcery) and our relationships (enmities, strife, Jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying). These are areas of our lives that we must examine to see where we truly are at with the Lord.

Here now is the contrast to the deeds of the flesh:

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

These are the marks of a Christian walking in the Spirit. Each of the fruits mentioned above are outward signs to others that we are truly walking in the Spirit. If someone says - I am walking in the Spirit - but is devoid of outward love, joy, peace etc... then they are not being honest with themselves. A good barometer is to ask a fellow Christian that really knows you if they see these fruits outwardly in your life. It is a command to walk in the Spirit but someone may say - well how do I walk in the Spirit? Here is the key question to answer. First it starts with confession of our sin to our Lord. Is there unrepentant sin in your life? Repent of that sin right now and go and repent to those you have sinned against. Second - Is your life characterized with a pursuit of Christ? Are you walking with Him on a daily basis as Adam walked in the cool of the day with our Lord in the Garden? Are you having daily time in the Word and time in prayer? Are you just going through the motions or is there a real heart desire of hunger in your soul to commune with the Lord? These are just a few questions to ask yourselves as you look at what it means to "walk in the Spirit".

Too many words

Proverbs 10:19 - "When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise." This verse is one that convicts me over and over as I blow it so many times. The book of James talks about taming the tongue also. Oh how I desire to be a Godly man in my speech but I do sin in that area due to not heeding these truths. Proverbs 25:11 - "Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances." Now here is what I am striving for. This verse gives such a wonderful picture of how our words can be pleasant. This does not mean that we disregard the Word of God and not speak truth but rather we be a messenger of truth that does not get in the way. I pray that the message is heard and not the messenger. Please pray for me to continue to grow in HIS Grace in this area.

God's goodness to all HIS Creation

God has a common grace that is extended to all of HIS creation. This is shown in several ways but one that I was pondering today was in the restraining of our sinful desires. He restrains ALL of us - believers and unbelievers - in not letting us go as far as we would like. For the unbeliever this is accomplished through the inward works of the law being written on every human beings heart (Romans 2:15). The next way He restrains evil is by the outward societal restraints of government and community. As a society becomes more and more Godless so goes the restraining of evil. God gives over people and nations to their sin and withdraws the restraining Holy Spirit from that society. As believers we are used by God to restrain evil in a society but what if we are becoming just like the society - can we truly have any impact on our society? Read and think about Matthew 5:13-16.

Christ atoning work for sinners

Here is a thought I had this morning in my Bible study time. Jesus Christ was on a human level being defeated by Satan and at the same time was giving Satan his greatest defeat in triumphing over sin. What an amazing truth to ponder today as we give praise to Christ for HIS work on the cross that paid for my sins. A debt that was so insurmountable for me to ever pay. 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." This is one of the clearest passages in Scripture of our justification. Where can I boast, where can I take credit or where can I add anything to this great and glorious work of Christ? I lift my voice and heart to HIS GLORY.