Want to know the secret to be blessed in what you do? ...

It's simple; Be a 'doer of the Word'. You can't go wrong.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. - James 1:22-25

Psalm 8

When I contemplate the Majesty of the heavens and the vastness and complexity of Your creation,
I'm in awe that You should consider and desire intimacy with me;
That you would make me in Your image and then place Your Spirit in me.
Not to possess or dominate me but to be my Comforter and Guide when I seek You.
And, to have given me power and dominion far exceeding my ability to comprehend.
How majestic is Your name throughout the earth!

Peter Do You Love Me?

What do you think when you ask a man if he loves you and he responds, you know I have affection for you? Doesn't it break your heart?
That was one of Jesus' last moments to Peter.

Peter, Do you love (agapas) me? Lord I'm affectionate (philō) to you.
Peter, Do you love (agapas) me? Lord, I'm affectionate (philō) to you.
Peter, Are you affectionate (philō) to me? Peter was ashamed, and said Lord, you know all things, you know I am affectionate (philō) for you.
Peter you dork! He just raised from the dead and wanted to hang out with you! Share your heart! Tell the Lord you love him more than life!

Drives me nuts!

Elijah was one cool cat!

"Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

There is power in your public proclamation of faith. Are you believing for the supernatural manifestation of God's power? Proclaim it from the mountain top. What's the worst that could happen, you may be humbled. What's the best that could happen, Fire from the sky, and all who heard you fell on their faces and came to the Lord.

Elijah was one cool cat!

2 Samuel 24 : What is your offering to God today?

When an angel of the Lord told King David to build an alter at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, Araunah offered to give all he had to his king.
Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing."
An offering to God is a sacrifice that must cost you something. Something dear to you that you give to the Lord; Time, Money, Pleasure, etc.
What is your offering to God today?
How about giving an hour and a half to the Lord tonight and meeting me at Faith Builders Church? You will never participate in worship and listen to the Word and then regret it, wishing you would have stayed home and watched TV. Fellowship, worship, and the Word are the fundamentals that your spirit needs and cries out for.

Thoughts on Sin

Lately, God's led me to meditate on and study one of my least favorite books of the Bible. It's full of all kinds of stuff I get excited about and then there's the stuff that so unsettling it makes you want to flip the page. 1 John.

“If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation of our sins; and not ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Wow! Fantastic! Praise God!

But what do you do with the following verse?

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Or

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Or

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The suspected author of this Epistle was John. It was believed to be written later in his life to be read to mature believers in Christian churches. So it is to us, specifically. Many people breeze through these verses and say, “well I don’t steal, kill, hit my wife, thank God that’s not talking about me”. But how about these sins?
Neglecting seeking God will all your heart and time.
Loving everyone (even the ones that hate and violate you).
Pride and self-centeredness.
It’s all sin, and in God’s eyes all the same.
Woof! Contemplate that!

Some have said, myself included, “Oh that, yeah I probably shouldn’t have done or said that. But it didn’t hurt anyone, and God has forgiven me.” God says that we despise Him when we make a conscience decision to do what we know isn’t right. 2 Sam 12:10 Even though it wasn’t directed at the Lord, we despise him. That’s heavy on me.
When we listen to that dirty joke instead of walking away, it Despises Him.
When we don’t open the Bible but zone out watching garbage on TV, it Despises Him.
When we don’t want to put out the effort to believe for your headache to go away and you just pop an Advil because it is easy, it Despises Him.
When we’re tired and we stay home on a Wednesday night instead of coming to fellowship with other believers and support your pastor, it Despises Him.
When you feel that urge in your spirit to pray for someone and you don’t, it Despises Him.
Heavy!

“Repent (change) from failing to do what you know is right.” And John says if you fail to meet the mark, Jesus is our advocate and that believers have eternity in Him, but my heart drops when I read that He is not in us when we mess up, or that we don't know him if we do. Jesus defined eternal life as "That we may know or have personal intimacy with the Father and Jesus". And John says if we knew Him, we wouldn't have missed it in the first place. I don't have revelation about this entirely, but I know that I want to KNOW THE FATHER and CHRIST JESUS. And I definitely want Jesus to know me. If this doesn't lay heavy on you, you are better man than I.

“Not everyone who keeps saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn’t we?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil!’”

Heavy! Thank God for Grace and that there is an advocate in Jesus with the Father, but you can't just ignore this. It came straight from the lips of Jesus, and this time not even in a riddle, it is pretty clear cut! We can't lay down our grace card and believe there is no consequence for sin.
If you are mature in Christ and still continue to do what you know is wrong, you need to question how well you know Christ and consider if He really knows you. Ouch! That's smarts!

Want to know the best kept secret to always having more than enough?

Want to know the best kept secret to always having more than enough?
This wasn't shared with me in high school, college or through decades in the corporate world.
My brother shared it with me when I was almost penniless and up to my neck in debt, and it changed my life forever.
"Give, privately and with a joyful heart, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your lap. For with the same measure that you measure it shall be measured to you again."
Give your money.
Give your time.
Give your affection.
Give of yourself.
Sacrifice, of whatever you have. Your sacrifice is like a seed, and when planted in the kingdom of God, it will multiply and reap a great harvest; to you personally and in ways unfathomable.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, to be honored by men.
I tell you the truth, if you do, you have received their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."