May 26, 2014              LOVE  INCREASING  AND  ABOUNDING

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 “..may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts unblamable as to holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”

Without realizing it, we so easily live our lives in the routine, on a plateau so to speak. The call in these verses is to be increasing and abounding in our love for one another. Do not be satisfied with the level of love we have had in the past nor of the level of love we have today. Love can and should grow. We know that God is love and His love is infinite. God has “shed His love abroad in our hearts” and now we can share that love with others. Not only should our love be increasing for our family and friends, but it should be increasing for all men. That may be a stretch, but remember that we are not limited to human love, but our resource of love comes from God and God loves even the unlovely-and so can we. If our love is increasing, then we will be “unblamable in holiness” when Jesus comes again. Perhaps it would be good to read I Corinthians 13 and be reminded of what God’s love looks like in action. We live in a day where for the most part, many are living to please themselves. If there has ever been a time when God’s love needs to be demonstrated, it is today. So, lets us make sure our love increases and abounds-even when others may be un-lovely. By doing so, we will be pleasing our Father. Jesus demonstrated love when He died for the unlovely. God has equipped us to express His love---go do it today!

Blessings,

Buddy

 

May 11, 2014                                                                                        Hostages  Set  Free             

When a hostage is set free or when a prisoner of war is set free, it is indeed a time of rejoicing and celebration and a time of being thankful. The same can be said when one is set free from addictions, fear, insecurity or other bondages that can hold one hostage. Being held a hostage is something no one desires. I suspect that there are many, even among professing Christians, that are being held hostage. In a real sense, all of the issues we deal with such as anger, gossip, doubt, unforgivness, bitterness, depression, rejection, apathy, loneliness, addictions of all sorts, financial bondage, etc., are areas that can hold us hostage. God put in mankind a desire to be free. The great news of the gospel is that Jesus came into enemy territory and set the captives (hostages) free! The root of all the issues mentioned above is sin and Jesus laid the axe to the root of sin. Before Jesus came, all were in bondage to sin and darkness and Satan held sway over us. Being set free is a major theme in scripture. Colossians 2:13-15 reads: “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  May we as believers, see to it that we live in the freedom that Christ accomplished for us.

Blessings,

Buddy

May 9, 2014                                                                                                KEEP  SEEKING

Colossians is a book that is full of great instruction and encouragement. Colossians 1:9-10 reads: “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;…”  This is a powerful prayer that Paul prayed for believers and we can claim this prayer for our lives. The idea of being filled with the knowledge of His will in wisdom and understanding and increasing in the knowledge of God is awesome to say the least. As I have often said, coming to know God, having wisdom and understanding and coming to know our true identity does not happen automatically but comes as a result of having a heart that desires to know God. Desire alone is not always enough. There is a “seeking” process for us to be about if we are to gain in our knowledge of God. God has said that if we seek Him first, we will find Him. There is no formula for seeking, but it involves reading and meditating on scriptures, praying, implementing and expressing what we are learning, being a part of the body of believers (the Church),  and being attentive to the Holy Spirit within you. We must remember that according to verse 13 in this same chapter, we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and have been transferred to His Kingdom. Are we conscience of the fact that we have been transferred?  Let us not forget for one moment that we now are now living in and doing business in God’s Kingdom and we have an eternal destiny and we have been given a new identity. Now, we can find life even in what used to be mundane. We are no longer subject to the domain of darkness; rather, we are light in a dark world. As someone said, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” The world is a dark place and your light is needed!

Blessings,

Buddy

Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men is such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

May 10, 2014                                                                                       

We all have things in the past or in the present that we regret. How we handle regrets and disappointments has a huge impact on our lives. Often, some of the bad choices we made in the past can cause us to have a sense of shame and guilt. The good news for us is that God has made provision for us and all of our failures, sins and bad choices. Let me say before I go any further; sometime we have to live with results of our actions, for example; if you commit murder, you will spend time behind bars. Back to the good news, God’s provisions are more than sufficient even when we have to live with the results of our choices. Thank God for forgiving us for all of our sins. Jesus came and died for us so that we could be forgiven. Also, we could have made bad choices that were not necessarily a sin, just a bad choice. Again, God’s grace and work in our life is sufficient. God can and does use failures and mistakes for good if we are walking in fellowship with Him. Whether it is sins we have committed or just bad decisions, we can make a decision not to look back.  (I might add that in some cases the Holy Spirit in you might lead you to make restitution or ask forgiveness from the person you wronged. I am reminded of the scripture where Jesus tells the man to leave his offering at the alter and go ask forgiveness.)  The Apostle Paul had a lot of things in his past that he could regret, but Paul did not live a life of regrets. In Philippians 3:12-13 we read: “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” Embracing forgiveness is essential. Being aware of the fact that God has made us new creations is also essential. Through the blood that Jesus shed on our behalf, we have been made as “white as show” and He remembers our sins no more.

Blessings,

Buddy

“Let us be more affected by our future than by our past.”  Peter Parris

May 4, 2014                                                                                GROWTH:  A  LIFETIME  CALL

The fact that we are new creations with new minds, new hearts and new spirits, does not negate the call for and the need for spiritual growth. Growth does not come without desire, effort and energy. The good news is that the more we come to know God, the more desire we have to grow in Him and into His likeness. I know that we all have some “bad days” when things just don’t seem to go our way, etc. and circumstances are not what we desire. Life on planet earth will see to it that we will have opportunity to be discouraged. This is where the “rubber meets the road” as the old timers would say. Even in the tough times or in the “blahs” time, we must choose to pay attention to our growth; to make the investment, to put forth the effort and if need be, re-ignite the desire to grow spiritually. (I just thought of a new song I heard the week titled “We Must Fight the Good Fight”; a good reminder.) I don’t think that we can stay on a level plain spiritually very long; either we are growing or we are headed to luke-warmness. As our eyes are being opened to see God as He is, we will want to see more of Him and we will not want to “plateau” in our relationship with Him. As hinted above, there will be those days when there is a need to “renew our minds” and a time to “draw near to Him”, but the life track that we are on needs to be that of growth. There are a couple of no-brainers on what brings about growth. The study and reading of God’s Word is absolutely foundational. The Word is THE written revelation of God! A second foundation is that of application. Putting into action what we are learning, or giving expression to what we are learning is what it’s all about.  To have a head knowledge of scripture but live life that contradicts scripture is a travesty. It’s not about acquiring knowledge, but about a transformed life, becoming more like Him. If we find that other things in life compete with knowing God, then we most likely have not seen Him as He really is. When we begin to see Him, all of the other aspects of life fall into their proper place and we find “life” in all we do. My encouragement to us is to put the call to spiritual growth on the front burner no matter the circumstances. I can promise that we will find blessings.

1 Peter 2:2-3: “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”

Ephesians 4:13: “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the measure of the statue which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

11 Timothy 2:15: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Quote: “The Christian life is not a negation of life”.

Blessings,

Buddy