Monday ~ April 30, 2012

Monday ~ April 30, 2012

BOREDOM

Boredom has it ever set into your life? Have you ever thought, wow I'm bored? Have you been in the situation of waiting for something and got bored of waiting for it? Boredom, why do I have to be so bored? Do your children always say, "I'm bored, I have nothing to do!" even when their rooms are filled with toys and such?

I recently starting reading a book called, "Because We Love Him ~ Embracing a Life of Holiness" by Clyde Cranford, it was recommended by my Mentor to read. So I start in on it, usually I skim through the FORWARD, PREFACE, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, and INTRODUCTION of a book, but since my Mentor said to read it I thought you know what I'm going to read ever single word, even the copyright page.

I was reminded a couple weeks ago about when I start my devotions and reading of different books that I should ask the Holy Spirit to show me something in there that could better my walk with God. So with out hesitation I did that when I picked up this book, little did I know that starting with the FORWARD I would start getting those "Golden Nuggets" out of it. By the time I got to the INTRODUCTION I was completely shocked by what I was reading. But here in the INTRODUCTION something, actually a word like popped right out of that page. And how it hit me had nothing to do what he was talking about, so I stayed there reading over and over and over again that single word, "BOREDOM". Finally it made sense, I looked at the word and it started to break apart right in front of me, boREDOm. (Boredom is an emotional state experienced during periods lacking activity or when individuals are uninterested in their surroundings.) Right there in the middle of this word is the word REDO, which means the total opposite of boredom. Redo means to remake or do over, to revise or reconstruct, to redecorate or remodel, renovate. WOW!!! That's it! I started looking back at what has been going on in my life, and realized I was in that state of Boredom until God woke me up on December 5, 2011. That's when he said it is time to REDO or renovate my life. 


SO.......


Are you in that stage of boredom? Have you fallen into the trap of being bored? Are you uninterested in your surroundings?


Then it's time to REDO!!! 


Challenge Questions:


What is it that God wants me to do with my life?
Am I what God wants of me?
What does the Bible say to me?
Do I read the Bible like I should?
Do I pray like I should?
Am I saved?


It doesn't matter what you have or are going through God is ready for you to decide to REDO!!


Ephesians 4:17-25

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.20 But ye have not so learned Christ;21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Sunday ~ April 29, 2012

Sunday ~ April 29, 2012

Ezra 7:10

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 

In this series we’ve considered Ezra 7:10 as a model for Christian living in: studying God’s word, living it out and now finally, teaching it. The previous three devotions were probably easy to follow and agree with. Studying Scripture and applying it to your life is a given in most Christian circles. But what about teaching the Bible? You may be thinking that you’ve never been to Bible college and that your calling isn’t to stand in the pulpit and preach. What would this have to do with you? But actually, it has a lot to do with every believer!

We seem to have bought into the notion that teaching from a stage or lecturing in a classroom are the only ways we can teach people. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time remembering what my last instructor taught me in a classroom setting. But, as the parent of 4 kids I do know that I don’t stand in front of them at a whiteboard for a daily lecture; not even close. I spend time with them throughout the day, pointing out colors and numbered objects, teaching them about our world as opportunities arise. When we play games we don’t spend the entire time memorizing the rules either, we play.

As Christians, every one of us is called to teach. This is a vital part of discipleship and is commanded by Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 29:19-20). We are called to study, do and teach what we’ve learned to those we are in relationship with. Just as I teach my kids through our relationship, we are called to teach true, vibrant, biblical Christianity the same way. Jesus didn’t show up, give a six hour lecture and then leave the planet. He grew up on Earth and then spent three years in relationship with the disciples as he taught them. It isn’t a complicated thing to do. Spend time with people and share what Jesus is teaching you in life. Pretty simple, isn’t it?

Ask God to show you someone you can invest in, disciple and teach.

Saturday ~ April 28, 2012

Saturday ~ April 28, 2012

Ezra 7:10

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 

Jesus, in Matthew 15:8, quoted Isaiah saying, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”. The scribes and Pharisees he was speaking of had substituted their own laws for those of God’s, simply giving lip-service to the Lord. We are guilty of the same when our actions do not follow the truth our lips declare we believe. When the way in which we live does not reflect our professed beliefs, I have news for you, we don’t really believe them! It’s like a man talking about the power of gravity but then walking off of a cliff because he didn’t really think he would fall.

When we don’t live out the truth we say we believe in, our faith is dead. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26). The life, the essence is gone from our faith when we don’t live according to it. All our Christianity is in this condition is an empty husk, a mausoleum for our decaying words. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6). It is the Spirit led flow of a believer’s life to “do”, or put into practice, what we learn from Scripture. Be encouraged to live out the truth that we profess.

Ask yourself these questions today and answer honestly both to yourself and the Lord:

• Is there a lack of joy in my Christian walk?
• Do I neglect prayer because I don’t actually believe it does anything?
• Do I neglect the Bible and simply listen to what others have to say about it?
• Do I, like the Pharisees, honor God with my lips but not with my heart or actions?

Friday ~ April 27, 2012

Friday ~ April 27, 2012

Ezra 7:10


For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 

Here in Ezra 7:10 we see we are to "Seek the law of the Lord", what does it mean to seek? It simply means to study God's Word.

The question for me has never been “Why study the Bible?”, but “How do I study the Bible?” There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of books written on this subject of studying The Book, and many of them are tremendously helpful. It has been a tremendous burden on my heart to diligently seek or study what it is that God wants me to know from His Word. So much so that I even have a color-coded highlighting system! And through studying, though I was taking the Bible very seriously, I was approaching it from a misguided understanding of what it was that I was actually studying.

This is what happens when we have a respect for Scripture, but not a right view of it. In my study, careful though it was, I stood over the Bible in interpretive authority. But what I didn’t truly understand was that it is not us who stand above Scripture, rather it is Scripture that stands above us as our authority. When we approach the Old and New Testaments it is crucial to apprehend that, in a sense, we don’t read the Bible, the Bible reads us! The end goal of Scripture is not a purely academic understanding and recitation of God’s living truth but to be both transformed and conformed to it, and our interaction with it should reflect that. When you approach Scripture remember that you are approaching the powerful words of the living God. Meet him in humility.

Thursday ~ April 26, 2012

Thursday ~ April 26, 2012

Ezra 7:10


For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Seek. Do. Teach. This was the verse God used to set the direction for my life on December 5, 2011. I was sitting in my living room, wondering what it was that God wanted from my life while reading my Bible and begging to hear from God. It was one of those days where I did the "open-bless me" days, basically just open the Bible wherever and pray for God to speak to me. So I started to read the Book of Ezra. But it wasn’t until chapter seven, verse ten that those words had life and fire breathed into them. I am convinced, however, that while God spoke to me in a singular way that morning, those words penned so long ago put forth a universal model for Christian living.

There exists a natural flow in a believer’s life from salvation. When God saves us we areawakened to his majesty and Jesus’ beautiful grace, this draws us to him. We have a deep desire to really know him rather than simply knowing about him. We are lovingly convicted of sinful patterns in our lives and repent; that is literally to turn around and go the other way. We’re also possessed of a drive to tell everyone of the transformation in our hearts, minds and lives! This flow, which Ezra summarized wonderfully, should exist in us for our entire lives. We also should “prepare [our] hearts to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and judgements in Israel”.

Purpose yourself to study the Bible, live out its truth and teach others to do the same.

We will be doing a couple day study on the Seek.Do.Teach. spoke about in Ezra

Wednesday ~ April 25, 2012

Wednesday ~ April 25, 2012


Colossians 3:1-17
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Being a new creation in Christ means that you have been renewed. The old sinful person you once were has gone as a result of your being completely renewed through Christ. In fact, the word renew can be defined as "changing into something new and different, something better." That really sums up what renewal in Christ means in that we were remade into something better. For some of us, it may have been quite a struggle to remove the old sinful self and totally renovate our lives. It may continue to be a struggle, but know this: if you stay steadfast in your relationship with God, He will continually work in your life to renew you and rid yourself of the stains of sin that may continually plague you.

Tuesday ~ April 24, 2012

Tuesday ~ April 24, 2012


Luke 5:27-32
27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

God sent His only son Jesus to Earth for primary purpose: to give us new life. In Luke 5:27-32, Jesus rewords His mission this way: "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Christ came so sinners like you and I could have new life through our repentance and His forgiveness. Our lives are forever changed when we repent and seek His forgiveness. Christ's mission is also our mission. We are called to not minister to the righteous, but rather to those who are lost and in need of forgiveness. If you have sincerely repented of your sins and God has forgiven you of those sins, then you have a story to tell to those who need repentance. Your life change can create the same change in the life another. Who do you know that needs to repent and receive God's forgiveness? How can your story of God's forgiveness help someone else come to repentance?

Monday ~ April 23, 2012

Monday ~ April 23, 2012


1 Peter 2:11-25
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Have you ever gotten lost? It can be one of the most frustrating feelings to not know where you are going. In fact, in some situations it can be terrifying. In verse 25, Peter compares us to sheep in that when we were living in sin, we were astray and lost. We didn't know where to go, but after repenting of our sins and receiving God's forgiveness we have returned to the flock that is led by God our shepherd. Where do you keep going astray? Maybe you are striving to stay on God's path, but keep getting sidetracked onto the secondary roads by some sin in your life. Confess that sin to God. Repent of it today and ask God to help you in fully overcoming it.