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It’s Not How You Start

“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Ecclesiastes 7:8

A lot of the time, we get stuck on our past. We get caught up on how we started the race when we should be focusing on how we finish the race. If we start the race strong but fail to finish, our strong start means nothing. It’s like the old story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare started the race as the champion, but his pride caused him to take too many detours, and he lost the race.

While the tortoise started slow and patient, all thought he would surely lose, but he had his eye on the finish line and won. Here’s my point, sometimes we start on the losing end, but that doesn’t matter, for every sin we’ve committed has been whipped clean by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit, we have been transformed into a new creation. The old has passed away, and the new has come. So be encouraged today because your past is behind you, and your future is in front of you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Finish Strong.

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The Tortoise and the Hare

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Who Do You Seek To Please?

“16 But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” ~ Matthew 11:16-19

A lot of the time, we strive to get approval from the world. We change how we think and act, what we believe and say just to fit the ever-changing image set by the world. Why do we strive for approval from the world when we will never be good enough for the world. As soon as we fit the mold, they will change it. If they ask for apples and you give them apples, they will say they want oranges.

As a child, my favorite Musical was Cats, and one of my favorite songs was Rum Tum Tugger. The world is like Rum Tum Tugger because no matter what you give him, no matter what you do, he isn’t satisfied.

The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat
If you offer me pheasant, I’d rather have grouse

If you put me in a house, I would much prefer a flat
If you put me in a flat, then I’d rather have a house
If you set me on a mouse, then I only want a rat
If you set me on a rat, then I’d rather chase a mouse

That’s what we are trying to satisfy nowadays, a Rum Tum Tugger. We seek approval from a world that doesn’t give approval. A world that doesn’t want you to be happy but wants you to chase an unattainable goal. We will jump through hoops and run through obstacle courses just to try to please the world when we have God who sets a standard, tells us what it is, tells us how to achieve it, and gives us all the tools we need to achieve, as well as lending a helping hand when we need it.

Why do we seek after things that will never satisfy us and will never bring us joy? At the end of the day, no matter what the world says, it will never be satisfied or happy with who you are, so don’t seek to please it. Seek to please God because His standards don’t change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Please God.

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Turn The Other Cheek

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” ~ Proverbs 15:1

Pride is a stronghold that can only be broken by humility. Humility can only come through the Holy Spirit, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Pride causes you to feel small, weak, stupid, taken advantage of, etc. But is all of that true? Pride causes unnecessary arguments and strife, which in turn causes stress. Stress can take years off of your life, for what reason? Feeling the need to defend yourself? What good is defending yourself if it makes you sick?

Pride isn’t a problem, just because Jesus wanted us to be weak. He knew the heavy burden that comes with pride. Turning the other cheek isn’t easy, but it will help you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Don’t allow pride to control your life. Take the first step towards a pride free life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Turn The Other Cheek.

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Do You Know Jesus?

“24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” ~ Jeremiah 9:24

I recall the time when I was in the army, and one of my fellow soldiers invited me to go to church with him. The car was packed with his church friends as they squeezed over to let us in. We hadn’t even cleared the parking lot when I felt attacked by these Bible-thumpers with the invasive questions. “Do you know Jesus?” “Do you know Jesus?”

Of course, I did. Rude. I went to Sunday School every Sunday morning as a child. I even received little paper awards for not missing a Sunday all month. I took part in the Christmas programs. I even went to an all-day meeting once; on my own accord, I might add. Of course, I know Jesus.

Well, if truth be told, I really didn’t know Him. I only knew about Him. And He didn’t know me. For the Scripture says that He will say to those on His left, depart from me, I never knew you. Knowing Jesus as your personal Savior is a whole lot different than knowing about Him. You may know who the President of the United States is, but you don’t know him in the sense of having a relationship with him. That’s how many of us are. We know of Jesus. We grew up in church. Sang in the choir, but we’re currently spiritually asleep, lacking a personal, intimate relationship with God. Leaving us with an impression of who we think He might be, who we want Him to be, or who the world tells us He is.

If you’re planning to spend eternity with someone, I suggest you get to know them, just as you would get to know your future spouse. Know their likes and dislikes. What makes them happy and what angers them. What they like to talk about and their favorite things. God is no different. He desires to be known by His people, and He will reveal Himself to those who diligently seek Him. But how do you seek? Read/study your Bible. Pray continually. Spend time in worship. Don’t just have an outward appearance of a relationship with God, only to have no connection to Him on the inside. Go for something more than an outward appearance. Go for a true relationship with Jesus.

Be blessed and stay blessed.

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Don’t Be Religious

“1 Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” ~ Isaiah 59:1-2

A lot of the time, we pray to God, but there’s no answer. We go to church religiously, but there’s no Spiritual renewal. And when trouble comes, and we can’t hold on, we blame God. Praying to God doesn’t make you saved; even Satan talks to God. Going to church doesn’t make you saved; even demons go to church. When we get saved but don’t hold to the commands of Jesus, we fall asleep Spiritually.

God didn’t turn away from us. His hand didn’t shorten. His ear didn’t go deaf. But our sin that we refused to give up separated us from God. When we pray with hearts filled with sin, it’s like talking to someone but covering your face with a pillow; they can’t hear you or understand you. We separate ourselves from God but keep up a religious front as if that will justify the sins we’ve grown accustomed to and can’t live without.

Going to church doesn’t save you, praying doesn’t save you either, but combining those things with righteousness and living your life as Christ lived His will. Look at your life; is it a religious front? Or is it Spirit-filled?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be Religious.

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The Days of Noah

“On that very day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons entered the ark…The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.” ~ Genesis 7:13,16

According to Scripture, Noah was a preacher of righteousness, and he preached to his generation. But the flood, something they had never heard of before, took a long time in coming. I’m sure there were some people who downright did not believe. Likewise, there were those who believed, but since it took such a long time in coming, 100 years, they began to doubt or got sidetracked with life, as usual, until the door was shut and the rain began to fall. Does any of that sound a little bit familiar?

We are promised another great event, the Second Coming of the LORD. The door is now open, salvation is freely offered, but it appears to be taking a long time in coming, just like the flood. Everyone is busy with business as usual and personal activities. We don’t have time to go to church or to have a real relationship with God, but one day the door of grace will be closed by God Himself, and no one will be able to open it.

Parents and children alike will be left on the outside banging on the door begging for mercy, at least for their children, just like in the flood. The only difference is, Noah was warned against water; we are warned against fire and brimstone. Don’t get caught up in everyday life and the pleasures of this Earth thinking that you will always have tomorrow to get right with God. Get right with God today, for tomorrow, the door may be shut, and it be too late.

My Heavenly Father, help us to take seriously Your soon appearance and help us to love our children enough to get them ready so that they can have a choice to choose life. Open our eyes to see the traps set before us and realize our own mortality, and consider the question, “Where will I spend eternity?” Revive our land and heal Your people, bring water to our dry and thirsty souls. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Be Love

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:8‭-‬13

We often get caught up in the desire of the wicked to be punished, but what does that get us? Why do we seem to take pleasure in others being punished as if they deserve it more than we do? We were sinners, just like them. We deserve Hell just like them. It was only the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ that separated us from them. Yet, we still feel a satisfaction in the wrath of God. Why? We lack love.

Love has escaped our languages. Our theologies. Our culture. And our daily lives. What good is it to be a great prophet, preacher, teacher, athlete, policeman, firefighter, parent, etc., if you don’t have love? Without love, we have nothing. We can have the faith to move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead, but what are we if we don’t love? We are the representatives of God Almighty, and God is love. So strive today to be LOVE to everyone.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Love.

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Following Jesus: Evangelize

“19 And He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” ~ Matthew 4:19

In part 1 of ‘Following Jesus’, I asked a question, “Could it mean to follow Jesus is to do what Jesus did?” Then I noted the two things that Jesus did the most; pray and evangelize. Every day Jesus was either in the Temple preaching and teaching or going from town to town preaching and teaching. Jesus said to follow Him, and He will make us fishers of men. In other words, He will help us to evangelize. How do we evangelize?

Jesus tells His disciples in Acts 1:8 that they will be His witnesses. And that’s the key. We have to witness. But how do we witness? All we have to do is to tell someone what Jesus has done for us. Jesus told the demoniac in Luke 8:39 to go home and tell how much God had done for him. The result was, the next time Jesus was in town, all the people came out to see Him. There is no right way or no wrong way to witness. All you have to do is tell how you use to be and how Jesus has changed your life for the better. It’s not your job to convict; that is the Holy Spirit’s job. Your job is to tell how much the LORD has done for you.

So, let me be clear because I know a lot of Christians don’t like to evangelize. They don’t like to talk about Jesus outside of Church, but how would we win the world to Christ if we don’t? The world tells us to be quiet; it is not politically correct to speak that name. Well, Peter and John were told that same thing. They were even beaten, thrown into prison, and yelled at, but they replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God” (Acts 4:19). In other words, Peter and John were saying, “This is our only responsibility, our act of worship. This is what we are called to do, and we don’t want to be found not doing what we are supposed to be doing when our Savior comes again.”

Let me tell you if you want to see God’s glory; if you want to hear from Jesus, you must do these two things. You have to pray, and you have to witness. You will never see miracles until you begin to witness, and you will never be the most effective witness until you engage in prayer.

Father, give us the desire to witness. Give us the boldness and the confidence to witness. LORD direct us to the person You would have us witness to today. Let us not miss the divine appointment You have set for us. We want to be found doing what You have commanded us to be doing when You return. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Following Jesus: Prayer

“19And He said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” ~ Matthew 4:19

Could it mean to follow Jesus is to do what Jesus did? And the two things that Jesus did the most were: pray and evangelize. Notice what Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” When we follow someone, we essentially walk in their footsteps. Today we will take a closer look at prayer. Why we Christians find every excuse not to pray is beyond me. We let secular thoughts invade our prayer time, we let to-do-lists cut our time with God short, and the list goes on and on.

So what exactly is prayer? In a nutshell, it’s a two-way communication with God. It’s the time we spend with Him to pour out our hurts, our needs, our anxieties, our dreams, and our hopes. It is the time when we seek out direction for our lives. David, the man of God, had his whole family (his wives, his children, and all his possessions) stolen by the enemy. Our first instinct is to go after them. David’s first instinct, after weeping and mourning his loss, was to ask God for direction. “And David inquired of the LORD, ‘Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?’ (1 Sam 30:8a). And David got a clear answer. “He (God) answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue’” (1 Sam 30:b).

This was not a fluke. Why, such a clear and definitive answer? David described himself as a man of prayer in Psalm 109:4. This was a way of life for him, not something he did only out of desperation. So, how do we get started? First, we find a place of prayer. Second, we set a time of prayer. Most pastors say that if you’re not a morning person, then set your time of prayer to night time. I’m not here to agree with the logic or wisdom in that, or the lack thereof.

What I’m saying is, Jesus got up early in the morning; before the sun came up, He was found to be in prayer. David declares in Psalms 3:5 that God will hear his voice in the morning. Could it be that we would rather schedule our time around our own likes and dislikes and our own schedules instead of scheduling around God’s desire? God wants our first of everything; I believe that includes the first of our day. Instead, we give it to the espresso machine or the coffee maker. But either way, begin with prayer at the time suitable for you, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into growth from there.

Father, give us a desire for prayer, and with the desire, teach us to pray. Help us not to let the enemy distract us from the time we should be spending with you. LORD, teach us to listen to Your voice, that we might get direction. And help us not to give up but to be diligent and consistent in prayer. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Walk Into The Room

“You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.” ~ Haggai 1:6-7

The people of Israel were more concerned with their own lives, their own homes, their own success more than they cared about the Temple, or God, or His will, or His Kingdom. Why does this matter? They put themselves above God; in doing so, they separated themselves from God. In doing so, they walked away from God. By walking away from God, they walked away from His blessing. They were no longer receiving the blessings that God had bestowed upon them. Their success began to dwindle because they walked away from God.

We still do this today. Church takes a back seat to sports, sleep, family time. Prayer takes a back seat to T.V., books, videogames. God takes a back seat to our lives. We remove ourselves from His presence and still expect the blessings that come from being in His presence, from being in His will. We pray and don’t get a response because we’ve walked away from Him. It’s like walking out of a room, closing the door, and walking down the stairs while talking and then blaming the person you’ve locked in the room for not responding. God can’t hear you unless you’re in the room with Him. Unless you’re in His presence, God can’t move in your life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk Into The Room.

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