Graceless

What is the purpose of us being on this planet? Why are we supposed to live a law biding life and always follow the rules?  Why can't we just do what makes us feel good and forget about everyone else?  Lets look at life in a Petri Dish for a moment.  Mold and bacteria grow in there because there is something to feed on, and there's enough sweetener or Agar in the dish to allow the micro organisms to flourish.  When the sweetener is gone the organisms die.

Our spiritual life can be just like that too!   We can take on these sweeteners that seem to make us a better person and spiritual person, but in the long run they are spiritual anchors.

Matthew 5:19  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven

That's not the kind of people God wants in Heaven, one's that only feed on sweetener.  God wants people that can flourish on the word of God without the sweeteners, the one's with bravery to withstand the world's taunts for choosing what is right later instead of cheap immediate sweeteners.

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Fear

When you don't know whats' coming next, when you see a facade that looks soo threatening standing in front of you, when others you love and admire are in trouble of some sort, those are some of the times when we experience the greatest amount fear.

So when we hear statements like "Fear the Lord", what goes through your head?  When I was 10 or 12 years old I always thought to myself, "Why do I need to fear Him".  He is a loving God!  So I was confused.  But over the years I've come to realize that if people are living a questionable lifestyle then that fear is a very present factor in their lives and something I've experienced personally.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

So what I've learned is that that "Fear" we are talking about for me personally, is that I fear not doing His will, so I fear the outcome of my wayward thinking and I fear how that will affect my relationship with God.

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Living in the Spirit

It's a hard thing to try and see if your own walk with the Lord is the way it should be.  It's hard to look at yourself when you're always looking away from yourself.  This requires some serious reflection time, a time when nothing else matters except your relationship with God.

God requires that time too, so that He can download what He needs you to hear, the places He needs you to go, and the next task He has for you.  We may be completely unaware of that download and will only realize that it happened when we are in that unusual place and something miraculous happens.  Something that we could have never orchestrated on our own.

1 Corinthians 2:13  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

This is when we are speechless, when we see miraculous events taking place around us but have no control over it or input to make it happen.  That's called living in the spirit.

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Relief

Relief from our personal destructive behaviours only comes after we hit a wall and simply can't do this any longer.  The reasons behind the wall is God giving us the opportunity to stop and look at ourself and see just what we look like to others.  It's not a mean thing, it's just a glimpse of what we need to do next.

Galatians 5:17  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

This is the reason we run into trouble when we are doing things and keeping God at a distance.  When we live like hell and want to do that, then God steps out of the way so we can enjoy ourself . . . .but . . . do we really enjoy the outcome?   If so, then why do we need relief to begin with?

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Truth

Truth they say is completely of your own making, it's something you devise to suit your own purposes. In reality, that is the world's view as the real truth that is hidden in the Bible has far reaching effects into our life and our interactions with others.

However, there are a lot of perspectives on whether the Bible is true and accurate, or is it just a book written by old men with nothing else to do and trying to manipulate us?  Some think the Old Testament and New Testament have no correlation with each other.

Psalm 80:17  Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

The Old Testament carries with it all of the descriptions for the New Testament, just as the whole Bible carries with it the description that our life could take should we make the effort to follow it, or just continue on our merry way and hope that the Bible is not true.

But . . . . what if it is true, right down to the last letter?  Where will we be then if we continue on our merry way?

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Responsibility

What is our responsibility as individuals in our neighborhood and greater community?  Why are we faced with so many challenges in life?  Why does life appear to be so difficult and unpredictable?

No easy answers to some serious questions.  But here's a thought, why not focus on other things rather than the negative things that seem to consume our thinking and energy?  In all actuality that's what we are supposed to do.

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Why waste your time thinking and worrying about garbage most of which you can't do anything about anyway?  Focusing on junk like that can very easily drag you into compulsive and addictive behaviours.  So lets think about things that will help change one of those negatives and gradually others will join in with you...as long as you don't quit in the meantime.

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Memories

Every memorable event in our life is capable of building a beautiful picture book that we can feel good about as we peruse through our past, as long as the events were worthy of a pleasant memory.  But not all memories are pleasant, some are injurious enough to leave scars on your soul, some are so damaging to you that you wind up repeating those injuries on others.

Mark 7:6  "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me".

When you allow bad memories from the past to control your actions today, then Mark 7:6 applies to you.  Twisting the word of God can keep you frozen in a compulsive or addictive pattern that is very hard to break.  

Not reading and studying the Bible is an open ticket to absolutely anything you want, except God's saving Grace.  

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Calling

Most people these days are furthest from spiritual teaching and for the most part lack any real direction in their life.  Oh they know their career choices and retirement needs or their next meal, but spiritually they are dead.  They buy a wooden thing or hang a picture on the wall of an ideology and claim that is their belief system, but truly lack any depth or meaning.

Luke 10:42  "but few things are needed - or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” 

 But 2 verses earlier Martha says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

Mary was absolutely taken by Jesus' teachings and couldn't get enough, whereas Martha was so overwhelmed with protocol that she couldn't stand taking the time to hear Jesus until the deeds were done.   Isn't that like us with our spiritual life most of the time, only talking to God when we are hurt or want something or when we have time? 

Mary realized the urgency in getting that teaching while she could and craved something better in life, while Martha was burdened with obligation and political correctness.

Let me ask this question; if Jesus came to your house only once, would you spend your time trying to please Him through service to Him, or please Him with your undivided adoration towards Him?  It's a difficult mix to find the balance between service and adoration.

Basically, are you the prize or is He?

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Petri Dish

What is the purpose of us being on this planet? Why are we supposed to live a law biding life and always follow the rules?  Why can't we just do what makes us feel good and forget about everyone else?  Lets look at life in a Petri Dish for a moment.  Mold and bacteria grow in there because there is something to feed on, and there's enough sweetener or Agar in the dish to allow the micro organisms to flourish.  When the sweetener is gone the organisms die.

That's not the kind of people God wants in Heaven, one's that only feed on sweetener.  God wants people that can flourish on the word of God without the sweeteners, the one's with bravery to withstand the world's taunts for choosing what is right later instead of cheap immediate sweeteners.

Matthew 5:19  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

You can blindly fall for the fake worldly sweeteners RIGHT NOW and get nothing later, or you can wait for the best Heavenly sweeteners you could ever imagine when you finally meet God IN HEAVEN.

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Protection

We all have grievances and misunderstandings, hurt feelings and heartaches.  That is the way of this world!  The more important question is; what is it we are doing to create those abnormalities and how do we go about correcting that unjust thinking in us and others?  

First off, it is impossible to live in a society and not offend someone at sometime!

Secondly, we can't control what others think about us so all we can do is approach them with the spirit of love and respect.  If they'll let us, we can present our concerns and hopefully alter the way they think about us by giving them a vulnerable piece of us.  It doesn't have to be a juicy tidbit rather  just sharing their effects on us.  If that person has deeper emotional concerns and uses that information against you, then the problem remains, but you are free from condemnation because you tried to correct it!  God likes that!

Prov 2:11  Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

Praying to God first is a way to let God work in other peoples hearts so that when you approach them they have already been thinking about it and the response is usually more receptive or they will avoid you completely due to overwhelming guilt.  Either way, if you spend time praying for others and trying to mend bridges, you have won God's heart.  God protects those who love Him.

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Projection

We all have a past that can haunt us if we let it, but there's another side to this where we can become so over confident because we think we know it all because of what we went through to the point of projecting our biased opinions on others.  This can happen with a traumatic event, our job, raising a family, or anything we become very proficient at.

Projection is the belief that because of what we experienced, then we are the ruling authority.  This may be true but we can unknowingly project all those beliefs on others, even when it doesn't fit the situation surrounding that person.

Hebrews 10:22   let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

This is how False Profits start, but the bigger concern is that we are still sinning by judging others through our own hurts.  All this means is that we haven't let go of our past and haven't accepted the forgiveness that God has granted us.

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Sorrow

If you think about it, sorrow is really only in our mind.  Other people have sorrowful situations that don't really affect us, particularly if we aren't aware of them or their problems.  The only time other peoples sorrow effects us is when we are personally connected to them in some fashion.   We are sorrowful when things don't work out the way we planned which is regret, as well, we hurt when people we love are hurt which is sorrow!  Regret is internal and sorrow should be external!

A two edged sword is sorrow!  The worlds interpretation with no God in it is sooo focused on self that sorrow can overtake us if we are ignorant to its effects.  Our sorrow can be from things we have done or we let others do to us.  The only way we can keep sorrow from consuming us is to face it head on and put it in perspective.  The Bible is clear on how to do that.

2 Corinthians 7:10  "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

That makes it pretty clear!  Empathy for others aside, personal sorrow is a weakness in our thinking and regret means we are aware of it.

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Idolatry

Ever wonder why you think the way you do and get into situations you never thought you would?

Well in reality, an idol is something that steals all your time, uses up your brain power with you trying to get more of it.  It can be anything: our hobbies, striving for money or fame, crime, thought life, addiction, co-dependency where you can't be away from someone, and even things like worshiping the moon.

So let's look at what the 1st commandment is talking about?  Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other God's before me"

The Bible gives us clear instructions on how to live a stress free life, but if we don't take the time to understand that it is there for us to grow with, then we will fall into strange habits and thoughts.

 

Colossians 3:5  "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

I know it sounds easier than doing it because our pride can get in the way!  But I promise that if you do try it you will be rewarded.

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Consistency

Being consistent in our thoughts and actions can be a challenge with our life the way it is right now.  Not knowing that consistency is an important building block in a person's life is one thing, but when you mix shady or questionable behaviour with that confusion, then all hell breaks loose.  There's suddenly no standard, every day is a new concoction of other people's control over our life.  Addictive and compulsive behaviours start and can completely control us .  Then every unstable thing you do becomes your new personality, and people question your validity.

Colossians 1:21  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

When you give your life and all it's quandaries over to Jesus Christ, He sorts out the trash from you and your most valuable attributes.  Our mind is washed clean of our past and He polishes our best features.  Now the biggest concern is for us to avoid the detriments of the past and stay grounded in the word of God.

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Rebellion

Causes us to be taken captive by the negative things we let into our life.  Why do we keep having problems in our life over and over again?  Without God, we have to willfully not do the crazy things we do and constantly fall back into it.  With God's help we give it away and He takes it from us...buuttt... occasionally we choose to go back to the filth we left.  We are supposed to live guilt free once He takes our sinful behaviours away.

Ezekiel 21:24   “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do—because you have done this, you will be taken captive.

Captive by our habits and others who are stronger in their sins than we are in our resistance of it.  That's why we need God in our life. 

Think about how small our stupid habit would look to God who created the world!

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Fruitless

Knowing that we should be clearing out the destructive idols, habits, and thoughts in our life, and not doing it are basically slapping God in the face. Each of us cannot deny that we are prompted consistently to live an upright Godly life.  That some of the things we are doing, we know are wrong, but we do them anyway.  We may even trick ourself into feeling good about our erroneous decisions saying, "I did it my way".   This is fruitless and will not last!

Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

What will happen when it all comes down to the decisions you make on a moment by moment basis?  If you can't see it already, this world is coming to an end!  We will each be held accountable for every decision we made, for every questionable action we committed, and for every person we led astray by ignoring those promptings. 

We don't know the time or the hour when we will face our life of questionable choices, but the time is coming, so give your life to Jesus Christ now.

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Spirit Led

It's easier to convince yourself that you are "led by the spirit" than "not led by the spirit". 

When you think you are being led by the spirit, then you physically have to ponder all the events leading up to a decision you must make.  It's like performing a checklist or following a bunch of laws in order to have something happen.  This can have disastrous results.  This is because the goal is about "me".  You question if God even hears you!

Galatians 5:18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

When you truly are led by the spirit, events happen and have remarkable results, and you wonder how it all took place.  You didn't have to do anything, no checklist, no book of laws, and no real thinking about it.  You just followed a small voice in your head that led you on a good and rightful path.  The goal, as it turns out, was to help someone else.  You walk away dazed yet amazed!

Being Spirit Led is more about acting in the moment, and less about large plans well in advance.

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Thoughts

Our thought life is the GPS for the next action we take.  GPS is wonderful when its accurate and they are getting better all the time.  But we don't have to follow the direction it tells us to take which can land us in difficulty.  Getting through life is much like that, our GPS conscience tells us things and if we ignore it, then we wind up in difficulty.

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

When you say "NO" to everything, you become stuffy, old, and miserable before your time.
When you say "YES" to everything, you become gullible, weak, and exhausted before your time.

God wants you to take everything to Him and find out what thinks.  The Bible is our GPS to get us through life.

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Stumble

Everyone trips up at some point, makes huge mistakes, or goes against wise council.  We then have to pay the price!!  This is especially true with compulsive or addictive behaviors. Slipping back into questionable habits and relationships.  We need to separate ourself from addictive behaviors first.

When you put the trust of your life in the hands of someone who genuinely cares about you, and wants the absolute best for you, life becomes far easier to live.  Just think, if you knew someone like that how relieved you would be.  Someone who could basically snap their fingers and your problems would go away, or at the very least turn your problems into something so small that you forget about them.  His name is Jesus Christ and He is willing to do that for everyone who comes to Him...yes even the worst offenders.

Psalm 37:23-24 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; ²⁴ though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Ask Jesus into your life to lead you.  Try it...I dare you!

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The Principle

Not everyone likes you!  It's hard to take a statement like that if you are continually doing things to try to win people over to accept you.  It's an addictive behaviour that stems from abandonment, or some other childhood detriment, one that's never really been dealt with.  So when we are rejected, then falling back into our choice of poison in life, is easy.  Repeated rejection sets in place the blueprint for our life.  Repeated picking up our bad habit is; just a bad habit of picking up the habit.

Once you realize that some people will accept you, others won't, and still others just don't care because they have enough on their plate, then you can start to expose the root of addiction.

Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

The principle should be; give all your worries to Jesus Christ and stop worshipping the idol of your addiction!  In the long run it doesn't matter if people like you or not, but rather if you trust God.

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