Need A Spiritual Cleanse?

Every time January rolls around, people are rushing to the gyms and workout facilities and buying new warm-ups and making all kinds of plans to lose weight. They are coming in our vitamin store and wanting to get on various programs; wanting to get their physical bodies in shape. Many are wanting cleanses for the entire body; we have beginning cleanses, cleanses for the liver, kidney, parasites, heavy metal cleanses, etc.
Have you ever considered doing a spiritual cleanse? Is this Biblical? Can our spirits need to be cleansed? Let’s see what Paul said to the Corinthians:
2 Cor. 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Paul is talking to born-again believers and is saying that there is a need for their spirits to be cleansed from some filthiness. Have you ever experienced a dirty spirit? Have you ever confessed a sin and felt cleansed? I certainly have, as well as many of my born-again Christian believer friends. As Christians, we can become entangled with sins in our lives and not realize what our trouble is unless we have been equipped by studying God’s Word and knowing what God has said in regards to our spiritual cleansing.
He even says that we have been in captivity or in danger of perishing because of this lack of knowledge:
Isaiah 5:13
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
This knowledge is readily available to us as believers when we can learn to meet certain conditions and obey God’s commandments as He has said. Many of the “promises” of God are wonderful but they require a condition. There is this little word, “if,” that we so often overlook; it is such a short word but has powerful connotations.
If we will do this, then God will do that. When we can discover where these “if’s” are and what the consequences are for not doing them we can learn to be in health. Not only can we recover ourselves from illness but we can learn how to never get sick in the first place. The sin that we harbor and hold on to may very well be the root cause of an illness or the pre-cursor to a illness that if we can recognize it and confess it will keep us well in the days ahead and enrich our relationship with Father God. One of the most common breaches with Father is unforgiveness. Is there any unforgiveness in your life over something that happened many years ago?
I encourage you this time of the year to take an inventory of your spirit; hold it up and see if there be any wicked way in it as did David:
Psalm 51:1-3, 10
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
V. 10: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
If David, who was known as a man after God’s own heart, can realize that he was in need of having his spirit renewed, can we follow his example and be quick to acknowledge our sins and transgressions not only in the January's of our journey here on this earth, but each and every day and every hour of every day be quick to realize when we are in need of our spiritual cleanse.
Blessings,
Charles

Which Boat Are You In?

There is an enormous elephant in the room…i.e. in the Christian world of believers…and no one seems to be paying attention to the beast! Everyone just seems to ignore the fact that there is so much division of “man’s doctrine” concerning the Bible as evidenced by the huge number of various denominations. I think its very funny what the young child said who was just learning to speak, “Mommy, which abomination do we belong to?" What was the child saying? He may have been speaking truth when it comes to issues that cause so much separation and division among believers. This question has plagued me ever since my conversion from being a “church member” to a born-again Christian back in 1972. You see, when I was converted there was tremendous Joy, Peace and Love that came into my life and all at once I saw things differently. I saw people differently. I had compassion and love for people that I had not had before. I found myself giving money to different people to whom I thought were in need of it. Doing things that demonstrated love and compassion that were beyond my normal character and behavior at the time. Their particular “denomination” did not even enter the picture. They were people in need of God’s Love and Mercy and I felt that it was my duty to demonstrate it and it was my pleasure to do so….expecting nothing in return. Understand, even as a church member, I found myself on the road to Hell and had been delivered from that road of destruction all because of Jesus’ sacrifice and I saw Him for the first time; taking all the stripes and bruises on His precious body for my sins. I had been set free and was happy and wanted to share this Truth with everyone I met.
Over the last 34 years of walking with the Lord in various circles of denominations, I have had many wonderful experiences, made some life-long friends but still have this question running through my mind, “Why so much separation and division?”
I have nothing to loose to pose this question; not running for office of any kind, not trying to please anyone but just openly and honestly would like to ask the Body of Christ, “Is it possible for us to come together as believers in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord and fellowship one with another without any prejudice only demonstrating love and respect?”
Here we are as Methodists, Church of Christ, Christian, Baptists, Bible Churches, Catholic, Messianic Jew, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Church of God, “Interdenominational or Non-Denominational” (which have now become a sort of denomination)…just to mention a few…all segmented and with some particular emphasis that brings separation. How did we become so fragmented and divided when we each claim to be following the teachings of Jesus? In our institutes of higher learning and Theological seminaries, somehow, we have been taught things that bring separation and division into one camp or the other, depending upon which institute of higher learning we have attended, and we sincerely believe that we alone have the absolute Truth regarding “Christianity.” Have we become insensitive to the basic teachings of Jesus?

I have just returned from a family reunion of cousins and would like to report on one particular incident that I feel is indicative of true Christianity… All of us “cousins” were in high school about the same time in a very small town. One of the oldest is presently experiencing failing eye sight and is unable to drive and another one is seeing to it that he has all of his needs met…from weekly grocery shopping trips, doctor visits and even down to the personal cutting of his hair…along with all of her other many activities (seeing about her own children, grandchildren, husband, church duties, community, etc.) and by the way, herself, just recently overcoming cancer. Folks, to me, this is true Christianity in action! God bless you Sally!

Can we ever approach each other…with this same sort of attitude of service and concern…regardless of our denomination or beliefs in demonstrating God’s Love?
Have we become pre-occupied with which “denominational boat” we like or don’t like….the one that makes us feel good about ourselves or the one that may even give us consolation and ease our conscience somewhat because we can say, “We have now been to church this week, let’s get on with our lives and see what we can find to entertain us.”

Jesus caught up with Peter on the other side of His resurrection, after Peter had denied Him three times (think about this…this was the man upon whom He was going to build His church) and asked him this question…

John 21:15-17
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Feeding sheep may cause us some inconvenience. It may injure our pride. It will probably cost us time and money. Certainly, it is not about us…i.e. how good we will "look" in doing the feeding (or if our picture was taken) or we were pointed out in some way and given credit for all to see…
Feeding sheep simply involves…feeding and taking care of the sheep's need and demonstrating the Love of God to them...
Thank you, Dear Cousin Sally, for demonstrating God’s Love to another cousin in need!
Blessings, Charles

Oh, I see!... It’s Not About Me!...But Then It Really Is, After All!

A few days ago, as we were shopping in a grocery store there was this young mother who had placed her child in the cart while she proceeded to gather the items she needed. The child, visibly distraught about the mother’s shopping mission, began to exercise her lungs in the whining mode while she was attempting to shop.
Frequently, in an attempt to suppress the noise, she would pick up the child, hold her in her arms, and continue with her shopping. However, the whining just continued, sometimes even louder. I began to wonder what might have been going through the mind of this little girl in the cart. I thought, here she was all at once doing something she did not understand; sitting in this wire basket with no toys at her side. She had been taken away from the toys or the little friends she was playing with and had to do something she had not planned for this particular moment. She did not like it and was letting all those around her know that her immediate plans had been interrupted. She had been perfectly content and comfortable in her previous environment. The outcome of the destiny for her future was now in question and she had become a very unhappy camper about it all.
I began to think, “How many times do we, as selfish, self-centered Christians, much like the child in the shopping cart, start to question our destiny and do the same whining to our Father in our prayers and wonder how can anything good come out of our present circumstance because our plans had either been changed or not come into being as of yet and we are growing somewhat impatient.”
We might even be doing some excessive whining to our Father concerning the present, uncomfortable situation in our lives. We may think that just because we have given our tithe, taught the Sunday school lesson, sung in the choir or possibly even preached the sermon or served in numerous other ways that God should be hearing our prayers and doing something about the situation in our life. What we are saying is, “We have done our duty, performed all of the religious activities, anyway, and now it is time for Father God to do His and why is He not hearing us?”
As a dear brother, Bob Mumford, once said, “We have developed a disease called the “Why’s.”
It is very clear to us that we know what needs to be done in order for His kingdom to come and we are just submitting this need to our Father, who, after all, should hear our prayer… that’s what His Word says, anyway…but, does His Word really say that?
There are some very important parts of His Word that talk about our responsibilities as Christians…so that our prayers can be heard and answered.
Psalm 51:16-17
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
What is a broken spirit? It’s when a spirit has come to the end of itself…where all self-will and self-righteousness and independence have been removed. We’ve come to the end of “our road” and we just simply turn to Him in complete submission and ask for His mercy and pray for forgiveness and repent from having had this sort of an attitude.
This is when we can expect to see God’s hand begin to move…and, I might add, having been on this “road” more than once in my own life, it really does not take all that long for God to move! Some really good things start to happen!


We may even wonder if the Lord even hears us…He may not!

Psalm 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
His Word is saying that because of our independent attitude or self-righteousness, self-centeredness, selfish actions...all this is sin. These iniquities or sins have closed His ear until we repent.
Let’s take another example. Let’s take un-forgiveness. Do we have anyone in our life that we hold un-forgiveness towards?
Do we fully understand what is being said in Mark 11:26?
Mark 11:26
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Let’s take another, let’s talk about being critical…
Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Criticism is very natural to our flesh; however, this accomplishes nothing in our spirits. It is impossible to communicate with our Father when we are being critical. Every time that we tend to be the judge and jury, what happens? I know what happens in me! God will show me areas in my life that are in need of change; however, thanks to the Lord, the Holy Spirit is very gentle. He can convict us without hurting or wounding and never heap any condemnation upon us. He will bring our offense to our attention but will always leave us with a choice; to repent or to resist. When we can realize that we need to repent, victory is on the way!
How are we praying? Are we coming to Father without any form of deceitful cunning? Are we without guile? Do we come to our Heavenly Father with a “prayer list” of what we think needs to be done that day? Do we begin to whine when things don’t work out according to our plans? Do we often pray some really “good” prayers, but the result of the prayer, should it happen, would tend to make us look good in man’s eye ....of course, we would say that it is all for the glory of God! But, would this be our real agenda?
So many times we tend to take God’s place in directing our spiritual journey and we tell Him what needs to be done in order for His kingdom to come and we forget that He is the Potter and we are the clay. His ways are not our ways….He does not change! That means that we have some changing that we need to do. Will it be for our good?
Father God wants to see the very best for us begin to happen according to His plans for our lives. After all, He created us and designed us for His purpose and is in the process of molding us to conform to this design. He will let us continue to feed on “milk” for as long as we want... but He desires so much more…He wants us to feast on the “meat” of His Word.
The Corinthians had problems:
1 Cor. 3:1-3
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Here was the spiritual state of the Hebrew children:
Hebrews 5:11-12
Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
My question is, “Are we open to the possibility that we are also like the Corinthians or the Hebrew Children when it comes to our spiritual food?”
God desires that we be mature Christians:
Hebrews 5:13-14
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Let us all trust Father God for our destiny, knowing that He truly loves us and has our best interest in His mind and knows exactly what areas we need to work on in each of our lives.
Romans 8:28-29
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Praise the Lord; we are among the brethren who are being conformed…

Blessings,

Charles

Panic To Do Or Attempt To Abide?

How do we approach our service to God? Is it with a sense of “panic” because we haven’t had time to make our weekly call to sister so-and-so? Have we come under condemnation by the Devil because we missed seeing someone that was sick in the hospital that we did not know about? It can even include the preparation of our sermon to the flock. It can be many things. Some can be good things but not necessarily God things. Jesus tells us:
John 15:4-7 (KJV) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Chambers asks the question, “Am I allowing my spiritual life to be frittered away, or am I bringing it all to one center-the Atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest in my life? If the one central point, the great exerting influence in my life is the Atonement of the Lord, then every phase of my life will bear fruit for Him.”
The word, atonement, jumped out at me and I did a word search and found that it was mentioned 73 times in the Old Testament and only once in the New Testament. In doing the research in the Old Testament, the word had to do with the definition given in Webster: 1. the reconciliation of God and man through the death of Jesus Christ and 2. Reparation for an offense: satisfaction.
Atonement comes from atone: Web says 1. To make amends 2. Expiate, meaning to give satisfaction for.
The passages in the Old Testament talk about when animal sacrifices were made by the priests for the remission of the sins of the believers in that day.
I thought it strange that this word, atonement, was mentioned only once in the New Testament, however, not strange at all because it was Jesus who was offered for our atonement. It was what we may have considered the meaning to be that caused me to do a little searching.
Romans 5:11 (KJV) And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. [atonement] Greek: katallage (GSN-2643), reconciliation It should not have been translated "atonement" here, as it refers to the removal of enmity and a change to friendship, which is the effect of atonement. Our atonement is available to us if we choose to be reconciled to the Father.
Well, what does this mean? It might be convenient for us to assume that all of our reconciling had been done and that we could just sin as much as we wanted to and because of Jesus’ atonement we would have no need for further confession of our sins after our initial salvation…or it may be… one time long ago… when our parents told us that we were christened as a child and because of that our sins were forever forgiven…we might even become led to believe what our Enemy would like us to believe (we hear this frequently), “It doesn’t matter which group you belong to because after all, we’re all going to the same place anyway.”
Wait a minute, is that what God’s Word says?
John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.Paul says to the Phillipians:
Philip. 2:12 (KJV) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
His Word seems to be saying all the way from Romans to Jude, the issue is sanctification. The messages are of encouragement, yes, but also caution and warning to us. These messages were to Christian believers who were in need of repentance for their sins. The atonement had been provided, however, there was some work that “they” then, and “us” now, need to do in order for us to be able to abide with the Father. He cannot abide with us so long as there is this breach of sin and disobedience in our relationship. We cannot have fellowship with Father if we have un-forgiveness in our heart towards our brother.
This basic instruction was given to us in the Lord’s Prayer:
Matthew 6:9-15 (KJV) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Forgiveness includes giving or receiving REPENTANCE.
When Jesus addressed the 7 churches in Revelations, 5 out of 7 were in need of repentance. Are we any different today?
Could that be why Paul said to the Corinthians in his 2nd letter?
2 Cor. 7:1 (KJV) Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The dearly beloved are the born-again believers that are in need of cleansing their spirits as well as their flesh. Today, as believers, we stand in need of daily sanctification and cleansing. If we think otherwise, we might deceive ourselves:
1 John 1:8 (KJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Daily reconciliation and repentance is vital to developing the relationship and fellowship with the Father that He desires. It is not because He does not want our fellowship. He is the “grace” originator. He constantly seeks our fellowship and relationship. We may not even realize that our fellowship with God has been broken because of our sins. We may have become too busy doing the Lord’s “work,” and He has departed.
Are we still sinners? I know that I am! How do I know this? My un-confessed sin can separate me from my Heavenly Father. We don’t have to be rocket scientists or theologians to know when our spirits are heavy and there is a breach or separation with the Father! Sin causes separation from God…
Isaiah 59:2 (KJV) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Do I repent? Yes, I do. What happens when I repent? I am refreshed with God’s renewed fellowship.
Acts 3:19 (KJV) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
We must be careful not to be deceived because of these un-confessed sins. We may have become blinded by our Enemy:
2 Cor. 4:4 (KJV) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We could have become blinded in our spirit because of unbelief or disappointment in some pastor or spiritual leader that let us down and we are holding un-forgiveness towards him and because of this we are on Satan’s puppet string:
Mark 11:26 (KJV) But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Do you believe this passage? I do, and look forward to having God bring to my remembrance those whom I need to forgive…it may be someone that I had totally forgotten about. Only by the Holy Spirit can God reveal areas in our lives where this forgiveness is needed that caused a separation between us and Him.
God wants reconciliation and has provided for our atonement through Jesus Christ, however, we have a part to play in this fellowship and communication that Father God so wants us to enjoy.
Not only does He want us to be free of any breaches in our relationship with Him but He also wants us to be restorers of the breach between God and man.
Isaiah 58:12 (KJV) And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Let’s be one of these guys, a breach-restorer! Let’s look for any area in our lives where some work of reconciliation with the Father might need to occur. When this time of refreshing comes we will be abiding with the Lord. It can mean that we cease from trying to “do” some work for God, but just abiding with Him and listening to His still, small voice (that never shouts)….we can so easily miss it…we may start to see some wonderful, powerful things begin to happen in our lives.

Where have all the miracles gone? They might be very near. When will we see our children worshiping God? It could be very soon. When will we see our nation take a firm stand for God and His Word and righteous men are in leadership? It could be very soon.
It could be that we might see events described in Luke’s Gospel begin to happen in our lives today. Here, Luke is talking about the birth of John…
Luke 1:17 (KJV) And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
The degree of God’s Power in our lives may very well be dependent on the degree that we are each abiding with the Father in our every thought, deed and action.
Yes, all of these events may be very near and it may well depend upon each one of us and our personal reconciliation to Father God through the daily cleansing of our spirits and flesh…
God is ready to receive us into His Heart of Love from any kind of breach.
If you need repentance, ask and see for yourself!

Blessings,

Charles

Dealer's Choice

“Dealer’s Choice” is a phrase often used by people who play certain card games. It can also be used by others. For example, I go to a certain skin doctor who also uses this phrase. When he is looking at a certain spot or blemish that might be suspicious, he will say, “Dealer’s choice,” which means, “It’s your choice, it’s just “trash” and if you are not leaving for Hollywood anytime soon….well, just leave it alone.”
When we think about the huge number of decisions we make each day, I would ask the question, “Are we the dealer, or are we relying on The Dealer to work in our behalf?”

I’m not talking about just having a “whatever will be will be” sort of attitude about life and just passively waiting on the Lord to come and provide us with our necessities and we are choosing not to go to work at our job because we are too lazy, because He also says in the scriptures, if you don’t work you don’t eat.

What I am talking about is when all things point to our “right” to make a certain decision, i.e. we have the privilege of making the first choice, it could be because of our position or title or “whatever” in the matter and we choose to defer to someone else to make this decision. What happens? Let’s look at what happened to Lot when Abram gave Lot his choice when they separated their flocks and people.
Abram said to Lot in Genesis:
Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley. The whole area was well watered everywhere. (This was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose this land and parted company with Uncle Abram. We all probably know the rest of the story concerning Lot, especially his wife when she looked back. If not, be sure to read it…

Then, Abram stayed in Canaan and in verse 14-17, God said to Abram:
Genesis 13:14-17
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Some folks drift through life and make choices based on the path of least resistance or easy way out or what would be the best for them and their choice is selfish.
God wants us to make our choices based on what would best be an influence for Him and it will probably mean deferring to someone else, although in the natural you know that you can clearly do the job better than they can.
God especially wants us to take the “low road,” the road of humility, the road that will destroy any “pride” we may have entertained because of past accomplishments and always esteem others as better than us.
Will this be a continual battle throughout our Christian walk? It probably will. You see, Satan knows how destructive pride is. Satan has experienced pride and wants to bring as many as he can down with him into eternal Hell.

Here are a few of God’s thoughts about pride:

1 Peter 5:5-6
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Psalm 12:3
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Psalm 40:4
Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Psalm 101:5
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
Proverbs 28:25
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
Proverbs 6:16-17
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

These additional verses might give us some indication as to where we might be on God’s calendar of approaching events:

2 Tim. 3:1-5
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

At the root of all of these characteristics is PRIDE. We want things done our way. Frank’s song, “I did it …MY WAY, “may well have become “our” theme song. However, this song can very easily play us right into the hands of the Devil if we find ourselves being flattered and start to believe the Devil’s lies about how great we are, or how great we think we are based on our accomplishments, yes, even in our own church. It could be the style of car we are driving, the house we live in, our bank account, our clothes and thinking that we are just abundantly blessed beyond measure because we are busy doing “good stuff” but not really being led by Father God.

We can be led around like a puppet on a string and think we are really something special because we have become “man pleasers.” We have created this image or smoke and mirrors sort of picture of ourselves as we want others to believe the image, although it is not really us. We start to believe that this church cannot possibly make it without me. I am so vitally needed. Everyone so admires me. We may have even become pastors or church leaders or holders of some political office and have become the leaders in our community. What has really happened is that we are being led around by the Devil through PRIDE and thinking more highly of ourselves than we should.
The Devil has been defeated. Don’t let him defeat you by his insidious methods. It’s never too late to change if you can but just recognize the enemy. He is not “old slue foot,” he is very intelligent and treacherous and knows just which one of our buttons to push in order to bring us into his captivity. We are warned about this:

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:


Blessings,

Charles

Are We There Yet?

Many years ago, we made a trip to California in a car with our two children. Our daughter was approx 2-3 years old and our son was 4 and ½ years older. I distinctly remember two things about the trip: Our daughter had just learned, “Mary had a little lamb” and then frequently she would ask, “Are we there yet?” Our son would reply, “It’s just over the next hill.”
How many of you know that there are many hills in the vast desert land between Louisiana (our home at the time) and California. These words from our children are forever etched in our memory.

Likewise, our Christian journey can seem somewhat like this experience. Paul says:
2 Cor. 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
When we can learn to cease questioning the length of the trip but just settle in and buckle up for the journey ahead we can truly understand how God changes us through His method of sanctification, which is an answer to the prayer Jesus prayed for us in John 17.
John 17:15-21
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus is praying that we would be sanctified just as He was sanctified. Is this hard to imagine? He says in verse 21 that we may all be one along with the Son and the Father. When we can understand this, we can start to realize some of the areas in our lives that are in need of change.

When we pray the model prayer in Matthew 6:
Matthew 6:9-13
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

In this prayer, we are asking that the Father’s will be done in our lives. We are not asking Him to fulfill our plans for our life. We might be praying, “O Father, please see that You do this for me in this manner at this time and get me this “stuff.” All of your plans seem so logical and “good” according to your will because with this training or this promotion or this recognition or this “whatever,” I can be of such value to the Kingdom of God…don’t count on it! You can count on the Father’s will for your life being done because Jesus asked Him to do it in you when He prayed. Is the Father going to answer this prayer? Youbetcha, He will!

If you find yourself going through a difficult time and things are just not working out and everything is in pieces, then possibly Father God is at work in your life.
The question becomes, “How quick will we be to understand the part of us that is need of change in order to conform to His will being done in our lives?”

In the model prayer, we also pray that the Lord would deliver us from evil and He wants us to continue praying this prayer each day. There must be some evil in us that is in need of deliverance in order for His will to be accomplished. I don’t believe that He wants us to be so much concerned with the external “bogeyman” as He wants us to be concerned with the sin that is within us that is in need of removing such as the sin of unforgiveness, bitterness or resentment with someone, possibly even in our church family.

When we can realize that it is God that is at work and has our best interest in His mind and knows exactly what we need to change in order for us to “Be one with the Son and the Father,” then we can embrace whatever is necessary for us to make the transition and go to the next “Glory” only to be watching for the next “Glory” and realize that neither…”Are we there yet?” nor will we ever be “There” on this planet.

As Paul says,
Philip. 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

Charles

Memories or Mission?

How are we living our lives? Are we living on memories gone by or are we facing each new day as if we were on an exciting adventure with a mission to accomplish?

If we are thinking about the “good old days” when God was doing mighty things and we were attending this church or that church or something in the past. It is so easy for us to think that because the mighty works God did was because we did things in a certain way and because we are presently not doing them the way we did back then that God cannot possibly move and we begin to be critical and start to say, “If only they would do things this way God would do the same mighty works again.”
How many of you know that every time we start to put God in a box….He will break out of the box!

We can have good memories of things gone by and that can be wonderful, however, when we start to plan our lives based on what God did in the past it might prevent us from fulfilling His plan for our life now. Let’s see what Paul said in Philippians 3 when he began with: Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord and went on to give us some warnings and then spoke about himself, how he had by no means reached the final goal but went on to say how he counted all things but loss for the excellencies of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord (please read the entire chapter) and in:
Philip. 3:13-14
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He is forgetting those things (good and bad) that are behind.
Good things: He had accomplished much for the kingdom of God but was not stopping and resting on past victories and memories of the good things but was looking forward with excitement to more sanctification and change as he pursued more knowledge of the Lord.
Bad things: He had been forgiven of all of the things in his past when he persecuted the Christians. He was forgetting those things, as well.

How many times do we have thoughts come to us and accuse us again of our past sins? We do have an adversary, the Devil and his demons, who would like to torment us and remind us and tell us that we are unworthy to be called a Christian and that “who are we” to try to tell anyone about being a Christian because of all of the terrible things in our past. We must realize where this thought is coming from and take it into captivity because it is not coming from God.
2 Cor. 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The knowledge of God tells us that we have been forgiven and that God has forgotten our past sins. The Devil would like to have us believe that we haven’t and would like to render us useless in God’s work.
As we begin to learn God’s Word and know that these negative thoughts are not from Him, but are in fact right from the pit of hell, we simply say to them, “Take a hike and get out of here.”


Here at Robson Ranch when they answer the phone they always say, “It’s a great day at Robson Ranch, “and then proceed with the rest of their greeting. This has made such an impact on me that each morning when I rise to watch the sunrise from my patio I think about that greeting and have started greeting Doris with the same greeting when she gets up. Truly, each day can be filled with excitement and adventure if we can learn to have this continual fellowship with the Lord and learn to listen to him as He gently directs us through the day. He always guides us with “whispers,” never shouts. His guidance is so gentle that we often miss it. Learn His voice, listen to Him, He desires our constant fellowship and wants to pour out blessings on us because He loves us dearly!

Then, we can be free to press forward with excitement for the day ahead of us and know that whatever comes our way, God will be there to lead us and guide us and it will truly be a “Great Day”……………..at wherever we are.

Blessings,

Charles

Comfortable On Your Foundation Of Faith?

So many churches have carpet on the floor, beautiful stained glass windows, pews with plush cushions and music that “soothes the soul” with excellent sound systems and effective lighting that can change the mood at any given time. Have we become comfortable in these surroundings? Is our Sunday morning “experience” based on true fellowship, worship and a hunger for God’s Word or has it become one that is often criticized by us as to whether the “whatever” was pleasing to us?

We are born-again Christians. We have experienced salvation through faith in Jesus as our only Savior and Lord, however, there may be something that is missing in our Christian walk with the Lord. In order to do some thinking about what the Lord may be expecting from us lets look at the following passage taken from 2 Peter:

Living at Robson Ranch, I am able to observe construction as never before as we presently have numerous houses under various stages of construction, as well as our own. What the Lord has shown me is that this passage of scripture is somewhat like the building of a house; the foundation, the framing and electrical, the roof, the sheetrock and windows, the painting and finish out inside and the final touches of making the house a home. Let’s begin:

2 Peter 1:1-8 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He’s saying, “You’ve achieved your salvation through faith, which is your foundation, now there’s something else I want you to do; there are some “additions” that you will need to make to your Christian walk by faith and here they are in this order.

First, there is…Virtue: Virtue is like the framework and electrical work that is vital to support the entire house and make sure that everything is operational and it comes right on top of the foundation of faith. Webster says about virtue, “conforming to a standard of right” and “a particular moral excellence” My question, “Are there any areas in our lives that are in need of virtue?”
Apparently, there were some that were in need of virtue back in Peter’s day and I suspect there are those today….I know that I have experienced a lack of virtue in my own life as I endeavor to pursue the Christian walk. How do I know this? God’s Word has clearly pointed out areas in my life where there was some “adding” that was vital and necessary. These additions involved repentance in many areas of my relationships.

Next, there is…Knowledge: Knowledge can be likened to the addition of the roof, which will protect the inside of the house from any harmful effects of weather that might come along while the rest of the construction takes place. Webster says about knowledge that it is “understanding gained by actual experience” We have much worldly knowledge in our lives that has been obtained through various means but how much knowledge have we achieved based on virtuous living? Do we have the right framework in place and has it been inspected and will it stand up when we want to go on with the construction?
In our seminars, we talk about the difference between wisdom and knowledge and the scriptures given in Proverbs. Knowledge comes from the past and projects into the present and then as a result of having Godly knowledge we can demonstrate wisdom, which projects into the future. We cannot have wisdom without first having knowledge; i.e. the right kind of knowledge that we have gained by living a virtuous life. It is entirely possible to have a roof of worldly knowledge without framework to support it. Can you imagine a house like that? There would be no room to stand up inside.

Next, is…Temperance: Temperance can be associated with the correct amount of sheetrock and trim inside the house; windows placed in the right location…not too many but just the right amount, all placed in strategic areas. All of the right lengths have been carefully measured and cut and put in place for each piece of trim and the windows will correctly fit because much discipline has been used in this phase of building.
Webster says “habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions” On somewhat of a different note, of course, this does not include Blue Bell Ice Cream…(only in my dreams)! Temperance will come after we have gained the knowledge that too much Blue Bell will not be good for us. In the case of Blue Bell, subtracting will accomplish the adding that Peter is talking about!

Moving on …Patience: Patience is like the applying of various coatings and paint that makes both the inside and the outside of the house look beautiful. Each stroke is done with an extreme amount of patience, careful to make all of the colors to blend. Sometimes, it is necessary to completely redo some areas and start over. Have you ever seen an impatient painter? Webster says this about patience, coming from patient, which is “bearing pain or trials without complaint” If only…..this or that or whatever….then such and such or so and so but in any case it is not my responsibility. I am not the blame. I am not in the wrong. It is always someone or something else that is causing my trial or pain to occur in my life.
When we can simply say, “The buck stops here and I accept responsibility and there is repentance that needs to happen in my own life.” “I now realize that I have sinned and that there is a breach in my relationship with the Lord that needs to be repaired. Then, we humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness either from the Lord or from our neighbor and with this continued attitude we are able to demonstrate the patience that he is talking about as we continue building…

Next, is…Godliness: Godliness can resemble when the pre-selected appliances and furniture is put in place within the house. Much care has gone into their selection; the correct wiring is in place and they are all designed to fit and operate accordingly; each having certain requirements, correct voltage, size of the item, etc. Each has a nature of its own and can operate when plans have been made to accommodate it. Godliness simply means living our lives that demonstrates a DIVINE nature in all of our actions and reactions. Is this a challenge for Christians? Most definitely, it is a challenge because what we might have “gotten by” with a few months ago, for example, attending certain movies or watching certain TV programs, no longer sits well with us because we are being changed as we feed on His Word and His Spirit and ingest His Life and Lifestyle into our earthly beings. We cannot grieve the Holy Spirit that is now living within because it pricks the conscience of our human spirit and soul as more and more Godliness is instilled in our lives.

Next, will be…Brotherly kindness: Brotherly kindness is when the house is operational at last. Pies are baking in the oven, great music is being heard all over the house, there is laughter and love and the house is becoming a home. The atmosphere is inviting and it goes without much defining, it just simply means acting friendly and being kind to our Christian brothers. Learning how to get along with our brothers and sisters and letting the bond of unity flourish in all our churches. Being aware of such things as envy and jealousy, strife and competition ….all within the walls of the Christian church! Is this hard to imagine? Probably you have noticed some…in others, of course, not you!
We need to demonstrate this brotherly kindness because it is because this is the only way that the “pagan world” will know that we are Christians …i.e. by our kindness and love towards each other. Paul had a few comments to the Galatians in this regard:
Galatians 5:14-15
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (Notice that this is not a suggestion...also, that he is addressing Christians)

Last, but not least is Charity: Charity is when the house stands out in your neighborhood as a haven for those in need. They know that they can receive unconditional love and respect as if Father were there. Giving of your time as well as your money to someone in need and never expecting anything in return for your act of charity. There is no judgmental behavior coming forth from the house but only love…God’s Love!
All of these additions will most probably necessitate change in our lives. In order to make these changes we will most likely have to develop some new habits. How many have experienced the making of new habits? At first, it is difficult and you have to really discipline yourself and think about what you are doing or not doing as the case may be but then after a while, when your behavior is established, you act or react without thinking because some of these additions are in place in your life and it is then that you will “neither be barren” but will be living the "Lifestyle" that Peter is talking about and bear much fruit.

What do we do next? Realizing that this life is a journey of continued episodes and we will never be completely "white" in our spirit as our Father is, but we can learn to be a lighter shade of "gray" through the lessons that Father teaches us.

As Chambers says, we can set our goal to “MAKE A HABIT OF HAVING NO HABITS “

Blessings,

Charles

Last Sunday's Meal

How was your meal last Sunday? Can you remember what you ate? Were you satisfied physically? Were you satisfied spiritually if you attended church?

We are tripartite beings. We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a physical body.
All three need to be fed and nourished regularly with good wholesome food so that
Paul’s message to us will be accomplished, which is:

1 Thes. 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This sanctification process can happen only if we are being fed the right kind of food in each part of our being.

We can think that we are being fed spiritually, however, if we find ourselves lacking in this area here are three symptoms of malnourishment:

1. We left the services with a “sugar” high and relapsed into an extreme low in all of our relationships; with Father God, ourselves, and each other. The spiritual food was like pop tarts and Twinkies and had no sustaining power. Everyone was jumping and dancing and having a wonderful time and the music was awesome…but it was like a masquerade party where you were given a “smile” mask when you entered and you saw the same people you saw last week and they had on their “smile” masks and everyone did their “greeting thing”…it could have been hugs or handshakes…however everyone seemed to be at arms length and did not really have time to talk to you about issues that were extremely important in your life at the time.

2. It was reminiscent of an “Amway” type of meeting. The speaker was entertaining, informative and there were three excellent points and a very emotional poem at the end but there was still something missing. The same people responded to the altar call and were prayed over for the same thing they came forward to be prayed for last week. You might have been the one praying for them but It was like a scripted event….you reacted in a certain way…they did likewise…but…no one was ever changed for the better.

3. You could have felt that you needed to “do something” at the end of the service, however, there was no invitation given or opportunity for you to respond to the tremendous needs that you were experiencing as a result of God's conviction that was upon you at the time.

If you can relate to either one of these symptoms (there are others) then possibly you need to change your diet. A change of "restaurants" will not necessarily solve the deficit in your spirit if you do not eat regular, nourishing meals each day from His Word between Sundays.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

If you are feeding on God’s Word daily then you will have some life-changing events to occur in all your relationships; with Father God, with yourself and with others...

Jesus said:
Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

From God’s mouth comes the life-changing Word that is vital for our spirit man. If we are not being fed this kind of spiritual food we will experience malnourishment in the depths of our being.

Does your relationship with Father God, yourself or others need some changing? Realize that it is possible for you to not even like yourself and that in itself is totally in disagreement with the Word of God. That alone will hinder all of your relationships and cause you to be in violation of His commandment:
Mark 12:30-31
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

This is not a suggestion but a command from Jesus; we can’t begin to love anyone, especially if we don’t love our self.
Father God really does love us. I pray that you will receive His love right now!

Blessings,

Charles

Audience of One

Are you a leader? Has God placed you in a leadership position? Do you ever find yourself wanting to please your members or constituents so that you can maintain your status, title or position?

You may be a pastor, elder, teacher, doctor, lawyer, or “Indian chief” so to speak, or better yet, a politician.
Are your decisions based on your Christian convictions or have you been “reading the polls “in order to see which way the wind is blowing and make your decision accordingly. This can happen even when serving the Lord!

I recently attended a church where the message went something like this. The pastor was telling about a previous service where there was a call for salvation and at the end of the service one of the regular attendees made this comment, rather jokingly, “every time you start preaching like that, you really bring me under conviction, pastor.” The pastor’s reply was, “well, and then, get saved! It’s only pride that is holding you back.” He was very serious and went on to say, “there’s no telling how many unsaved church members there are.” I would agree wholeheartedly!

If God is saying to pastors to preach about sin and salvation and the pastor is not because of a fear of offending some of the “regulars”, there is a compromise that is occurring that will not benefit either one. The church member will remain unsaved and the pastor will be in sin and rebellion for not obeying God’s command.

There are several fearless pastors, names withheld, who will tell it like it is. There is no compromise whatsoever in their messages. They will let the chips fall where they may. Their ministry is flourishing and you can gather from that, people want to hear the truth. They are tired of namby-pamby half-truths and churches that are nothing more than social clubs where the pastors are under the manipulation and control of a “board” and not God.

I pray that God will raise up fearless men of God that will proclaim the truth in boldness, both from our pulpits and also from our politicians. God’s word, which is truth, will not return void, if proclaimed:
Proverbs 16:7
When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Pastors, politicians, those in leadership positions, you want to be at peace with your enemies? You want everyone to like you? Begin by pleasing the Lord as an audience of one rather than the multitudes. Take an unpopular, politically incorrect, stand for righteousness and God’s Word. Follow your Christian beliefs in your spirit as the Spirit directs you from within your being. Let your convictions be known to all! You might be surprised at the reaction from your members or constituents, i.e. those that really matter. You might find that there are those who will rally with you because what you are saying will bear witness to their own spirit and they will say, “Yes, this direction is exactly the direction we need to go. I’m glad you feel this way too. You have my support.”

REMEMBER THE STORY ABOUT MARY AND HER “AUDIENCE OF ONE”
Luke 10:40-42
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

1."Mary and Martha are representatives of two orders of human character. One was absorbed, preoccupied, abstracted; the other was concentrated and single-hearted. Her own world was the all of Martha; Christ was the first thought with Mary. To Martha life was 'a succession of particular businesses;' to Mary life 'was rather the flow of one spirit.'

The one was a well-meaning, bustling busybody; the other was a reverent disciple, a wistful listener." Paul had such a picture as that of Martha in his mind when he spoke of serving the Lord "without distraction" (1 Cor. 7:35). And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

Pastors, teachers and church leaders …have you ever found yourself “caught” by someone after a service and had this distracting thought coming to you, “you need to get yourself away from this person and get back to the rear of the auditorium so that you can speak to so-and so before they leave the building. They are “important people”…you really want to play golf with that person next week…where do you think this distraction is coming from? It most definitely is not God. What should be our reaction? We should take this thought captive and tell it to “take a hike” and focus on the one sheep that needs our attention, which is an example of yet another audience of one.
Matthew 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Blessings, Charles


1. Easton’s Dictionary

Trapped on the Treadmill?

How many of you have ever been on a treadmill? When you get on, most probably, you start slow and then speed it up so that when you want to get off you either have to jump off or stop it by slowing it down so that you won’t injure yourself or fall.
If it is going real fast and you can’t seem to stop it there is no other choice other than to just jump off and hope for a soft landing.

This just happens to be a Monday morning and after a beautiful, nice weekend with the family you might be starting back to work and find yourself getting back on the “Treadmill of Life” and it is not a pleasurable experience.All at once, everyone is depending on someone else to do a certain job; the dog needs feeding, the kids need to be up and dressed and fed, breakfast needs to be prepared, each parent has a responsibility to be on time for their work, the traffic seems to be building on your route to work, someone has called in sick and they have to be replaced at the last minute, you can’t find your particular “stuff” that you need for the day, the babysitter that you had planned on can’t come or just a plethora of other events. Possibly, you notice your blood pressure starting to rise, your face becomes red, tempers flare with the ones you love the most, and things get completely out of hand.

What is happening? What is going on? Why are we walking on eggshells in our own home? The answer lies in the SPIRITUAL WORLD around us. We have an adversary. The Devil is very real and wants to play havoc with our lives and cause division, turmoil and strife in our families and workplaces.

We are quick to recognize STRESS as part of our lives, in fact, the medical community will attribute many diseases, especially cardiovascular ones, to stress-related causes. They will tell you to “stop being stressed” and charge you $75-$100 for the advice.
Let me give you A MORE EXCELLENT WAY to deal with the stresses of life. That is to realize and recognize that we DO have an enemy.If we are Christians, we have been given power and authority over the Devil. We can tell him to “take a hike” when we realize WHERE the root issues are.

In the case of stress, which is readily identified by the world, the Bible calls it FEAR and it is identified as a spirit.
2 Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Some translations will call it timidity. It is not timidity. Timidity is the fruit of fear.
There is a very real spirit of fear that wants to control and manipulate us like we were a puppet on a string and complete his mission, which is to steal, kill and destroy …..US.
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Be aware of your enemy and realize that you do have authority over him.
Who is the power of God? It is the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you have all the power you need to take authority over the Devil.
Don’t be led down a road that the Devil has prepared. Take the HIGH ROAD. Tell the Devil to “take a hike” out of your life.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Blessings,
Charles

Are We Head Counters or Heart Changers?

One Sunday, after we had attended our fellowship here at the ranch, which met at 8:30A.M. We thought, well, lets just visit a church and see what is happening there since it was too early to go to lunch and we were just sort of hanging out anyway. We were driving around and we saw policemen directing traffic into and out of a church and we said, let’s go here. We had arrived early and we were able to just observe the people coming and going. There were a lot of people attending. There was, however, an elephant in the room that was somewhat glaring to us… No one was carrying a Bible!

No thanks, we said, and just backed our car out as if we were leaving the first service and not coming for the second service and went on down the road. Later on that day, we did find a church where everyone had a Bible in his or her hand.

How do we measure a successful ministry? Do we count the number of people coming and going? Do we even count the number of salvations that year? When Jesus came He drew large crowds and had a wonderful ministry of healing, deliverance and salvation but when He ascended who was it that remained faithful? It was the disciples. Their hearts were forever changed and they made disciples and therefore fulfilled the great commission. (Matthew 28:19-20)

The believers went, not just the preachers, we have no excuse for leaving this commission to just a few preachers when the harvest is so ripe. They made disciples by teaching, not just enrolling them in a church somewhere and baptizing them.
The idea of teaching, however, means more than just enrolling…

Teach comes from the Greek 3101 (Strongs) (mathetes); intransitive to become a pupil; transitive to disciple, i.e. enroll as scholar: - be disciple, instruct, teach.

Teaching comes from the Greek 1321 (Strongs) didasko, a prolonged (causative) form of a primary verb dao (to learn); to teach (in the same broad application): - teach.
The teaching involves a process of a disciple’s heart being changed. Was it successful for the apostles? I believe it was a very successful plan.

Our job as believers is to carry on with the same procedure of seeing converts hearts being forever changed. So many times, we think that just because a person has made a decision to be saved and later baptized that this is all that is necessary and we put them in a position that they are not spiritually ready for. As Oswald Chambers says, “one life wholly devoted to God is more valuable than a hundred whose lives have just been awakened by His Spirit.”

Our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. We are not to save souls but disciple them.

If we try to disciple by being a dictator, which has no option, rather than using the option God gives us, which is an “IF” we will be able to be successful in making disciples with the right motive, our loving Him, and sharing that love with our students.

Blessings, Charles

Trust and Obey

We’ve just returned from a brunch at a neighbor’s house down the street and met some wonderful people who live on our block, and we have been greatly blessed by their welcome into the Robson Community. Their gracious manner and friendly gestures have filled a void in our lives.

Having just gone through all of the moving and the selling of our house and leaving all of our very precious friends at our church into our new community, I have just been amazed at how the Lord has been in control of every little detail and quick to realize and meet our every need.

In my prayer time this morning, I was thanking the Lord for meeting our needs complex as though they seemed to be. He said to me that, really, the Christian life is very simple. He said, “You learn to trust Me and I will be faithful to look out after your interest. When you take over the manipulations, scheduling, figuring things out, organizing and planning of your daily needs…..I just let you do it. When you can trust me I will do it for you!”

“I can do it better than you because I have your best interest in mind for all things because all things do work together for good for those that love the Lord. Do you love me?” I thought, I really do love you Lord but you don’t understand this situation, etc., etc., and then I thought He really does understand all there is to understand. He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

What a revelation! I thought that is really very simple. I trust the Lord and He works in my best interest. All I really need to do is to trust….completely trust….only trust.
How many times do I grieve the Lord for not trusting him in all things, great and small? Sometimes, the small things are often the most difficult to trust Him with.
I am reminded of the passage in John 14:9

[Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? ... how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?]

Here is Phillip…earlier in the same chapter he wanted to see the Father:
v.8, He said, Sir, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.

Phillip was looking for the revelation of some tremendous mystery….but not in the One Whom he knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be…it is now!

Sometimes, we look for God in some cataclysmic event or some manifestation of his presence to His children, as if He would just jump out of the closet and say, “It’s me, God!”

God only manifests himself in His children….other people will see the manifestation and the child of God does not….He was saying, if you know Me….you know the Father….just believe it that I and the Father are one….or you can believe it because of the miracles you have seen.
I thought the Lord must be astounded at how un-simple we are. It is the opinions of our own which make us stupid. When we are simple we are never stupid but are able to discern all the time.

The questions we ask should be like the questions of a child and not the type of questions that would be to insult or hurt the Lord because we do not trust Him.

Earlier in the chapter He said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” When we are allowing anything to perturb our heart we do not truly believe the character of Jesus and are not living up to our belief that He is saying in His Word.

We must get to the point where we can take everything as it comes directly from God…He always guides us in the now.

We must realize that the Lord is here now and that the emancipation is immediate………only trust and obey….as the old hymn says, there is no other way!

Blessings,
Charles