Meditation: October 11

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, (2) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” 1 Peter 2:1-2

Things that have the potential of hindering our spiritual growth are to be laid aside. It is not always clear as to how things that may appear so benign can restrict the flow of fellowship with the Spirit of God. He is gentle and so pure that any of the above mentioned have the potential to disrupt the peacefulness and calm that He alone can provide. Feeding on the earnest milk of the Word is the antidote to the poisonous effect of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking. It will convict us when the thought arises in our minds to participate in practices which will hinder His effect upon our lives. One of the evidences that we are born again is that our spirits will know what we so desperately need. We are then able to grow past those things that plagued our souls before we came to know the Lord. As we lay these things aside, the fruit of the Spirit will grow within us. The very character of Christ becomes our character. Those who are born again desire the pure milk, not the polluted, that they may grow into what the Word has promised.

Meditation: October 9

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world…” but now My kingdom is not from here.” John 18:36

Jesus is the King over all the earth, but His authority does not come from among the earth. The political parties and their divides are not the determinants of His allegiance. Nor is He limited and controlled by the popularity polls of a shifting societal opinion. His rule is exclusive to what heaven has ordered and demands. God knows the outcome of every decision that appear to be right but often lack the stability and character to even last beyond even one election year. He allows us to take wild guesses in our attempts to move things forward and afterwards await our request to eventually ask Him what He has always known. His kingdom is not of this world but our references are too often worldly. When we come to understand that the true answers and resolve to our most perplexing questions and problems lie beyond this world, we will begin with Him and end with Him. His kingdom comes to invade our own kingdoms. He superimposes over what we had once established when we yield to Him. Otherwise, all that opposes must be dismantled and be replaced with what He originally had in mind.

Meditation: October 8

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Psalm 45:1

The tongue is engaged as a result of the overflow of the heart. As we meditate on the goodness of the Lord, our speech is not restricted to the thoughts that immediately come to mind. But there is a buildup of thoughts awaiting expression as Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered in her heart all that the Angel of the Lord made known to her. When she finally spoke, the Magnification which was a bursting forth of praise and adoration began to flow from the deepest recesses of her soul. How many times have we had to strain in offering praise when we have not gathered in enough within for the rivers of living water to flow from the innermost portions of our heart? Yet when we silently wait before Him and allow our minds to slowly reflect upon all which He has done, then when we speak, we have more to say than time will allow. We must be swift to hear and slow to speak. In hearing what God has said, His Word must be applied to every part of us. Then our tongues will be employed to recite our composition concerning our King.

Meditation: October 6

“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Lamentations 3:21

The immediate challenges of our day oftentimes cloud our view from seeing the faithfulness of God throughout the years. Living in the immediate alone without any reference to the past will make us feel as if we must take matters into our own hands. God has given us the gift of memory to reflect upon His goodness directed towards us even when all hope seemed to be lost. We are then able to feast through reflection, on His faithfulness. Whatever may appear as an impassable mountain standing before us, God is there with His wisdom and His strength awaiting our request. He will first settle us in our difficulties to know that He has knowledge of our present state. Then He will provide for us the wisdom to see all things from His perspective. If this is one of those obstacles that should not be or is as a test of our faithfulness to Him alone, in time,  we will have provided for us the right answer and resolve. He will keep us in perfect peace if our minds are steadily focused on Him knowing that our God is greater than our circumstances.

Meditation: October 4

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” Hebrews 6:19

The waves of adversity will test the authenticity of our faith. Whether we have placed all our trust in God is proven in trying times. Here we cannot rely upon any other person or thing. We have launched out beyond the banks of secure living and now have placed our lives in the hands of the only One who can safely navigate us through troubled waters. It is the emotions that are first under attack. The mind would consider the safety and security of the harbor. Some would think it would have been much better if they had never launched out into the deep. It is only when we consider the Commissioner of the mission that we may rest assured that none of the things facing us along this journey has taken Him by surprise. He is there to protect us and to build within us something of value far beyond what we are at those moments of conflict able to see. To trust the Lord is to love Him with our minds, wills, and emotions. It is to submit what we would otherwise think or feel to Him in prayer that they may also be governed by His Spirit. He will settle us by showing us that He is with us. He will then remind us that the finished product is of far great value than the process required to arrive.

Meditation: September 24

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. (3) For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” (4) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:2-4

A selfless heart cannot be prefabricated. The fallen nature of man hinders him from becoming altruistic. Yet God is able through one who has yielded himself to Him, do what is pleasing and for the good of his neighbor. Christ died for us. It was not a pleasant experience leading up to His death. But He had us in mind throughout all He had to suffer. The Scripture does not tell us to do whatever is pleasing to our neighbor. That would reduce us to becoming men-pleasers. We must consider what is good for him and do what is best even if it cost us in our efforts in assisting him. The love of God given expression through us will lift him to a level where Christ becomes visible to him. As we seek God for the good of others, expecting nothing in return from them, God’s grace flows freely through us.

Meditation: September 8

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”  John 16:14

The work of the Holy Spirit is to arrest our thoughts and energy and guide them in a new direction. He will give us an understanding of all things that belong to Jesus Christ. Beforehand our thoughts would wander and attach themselves to things that destroy the soul. Before He intervened there existed no passion to pursue Christ because His life to us had no appeal. Some would attempt to redefine Christ’s  life and mission in order to pursue their own passions and goals. Their emptiness remained when the activity ended. There was no lasting effect to their experiences.

There is no contentment unless the Holy Spirit is completely in charge. He will not compete with the pettiness of selfish interests. He is committed to those things that please the Father alone and will not allow anything to get Him sidetracked. What we have learned and received of Christ is clarified and applied to the soul. As the Son did only those things that please the Father, so it is with us who are led of the Holy Spirit. We will sense His grief when our ways sway towards a different path. We will sense His pleasure as we maintain that course that He has prescribed. What a privilege we have to be led by the Holy Spirit! The Eternal reaches down into time in order to envelope the temporal in order to lift mortals to a new place and a new vision. Once we see with the Lord what He has always seen, we no longer wish to entertain ideas beneath the standard now revealed to us. Even when we drift in thought and action, the same Spirit reminds us of who we are. It is the knowledge of Christ that changes us. Once we have been changed, our contentment is with godliness. Those allurements are outside of us and no longer in us. His glory is our good and His pleasure becomes our peace of heart and mind.

Meditation: September 5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Jeremiah 1:5

It was all about God before consideration is given to self. God had a purpose in mind, unknown to us but awaiting us by our Creator. “I knew where you were to fit into My plans.” Self-discovery is the challenge given to each person to consider what God already knows about us. “If any lack wisdom, even that which pertains to self, let him ask God.” Our reasoning can merely draw from what is already known. To observe God’s creation and to see merely through the eyes of others; their experiences and life alone may limit us from knowing what God desire to show us. God is aware of your uniqueness because He made you the way you are. Not to be weird and merely associate with those who different for the sake of standing out in the crowd, but participate in a plan far greater than even our most sophisticated plans could take us. God has a plan for your life .It is His desire to use everything that He has given to you for His glory. His plan is also to remove from you everything planted in you by the enemy of your soul to disqualify you from achieving your predetermined goal. Let Him fill the void and emptiness in your life and complete the task that He has begun.  

Meditation: September 1

“…. they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10

The motive behind one’s action is either truth or pleasure. Throughout our lifetimes we have made decisions on the basis of either of these factors. Usually it is pleasure and if truth can be found in pursuit of it, there is an added bonus. It gives one the sense of being right. The path of least resistance in pursuit of wholeness is a pursuit of pleasure and often requires the compromise of truth. The quest for truth must be deliberate unless a compromised version of it surfaces as a substitute for the real thing. The reason truth alone appears to be so unattractive is because it prohibits the full expression of free will. To follow ones heart is to allow the dictates of the world, the flesh, and the devil to dominate the life of the person. The heart unchanged will by nature violate the laws of God because of the nature of sin dwelling within the heart. “They did not receive the love of the truth,” they had not allowed their hearts to be changed by the Word of Truth. They found pleasure in other things which prohibited them from receiving the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit will make the Truth of God sensible thus bringing one to a place of receiving in the heart what the mind is yet to fully understand. It is saying yes to God before He thoroughly explains what one has agreed to. This is faith in God’s Word to take us where God desires for us to go rather than where we wish for Him to take us. The grace to be saved is the grace to accept God’s Word and to be passionate about it. Then our confidence in Him will position us to understand what is reserved, not for the wise and prudent but for His babes.    

September 2016 Article: “Heavenly Confirmations”

The power of agreement is of vital importance in an environment where so many things are separated and dislocated. It is through agreement that progress is made in life and any other endeavor in which people may be engaged. While this is a biblical principle, it is not always applied towards those things that glorify God. When an agreement is reached, the people are of one mind and purpose, and the momentum set in motion has the potential of enlisting unengaged bystanders and absorbing them into the effort of accomplishing that goal. The erection of the Tower of Babel would have been completed unless God Himself had not intervened. We have seen groups of people come together and organize movements either in defense or defiance of a particular cause. It is especially effective when those in favor take ownership of that cause. Yet the question of rightness and wrongness is yet to be determined. However, a conclusion can easily be reached from the surface. But there are variables that could completely change the equation, and if known, could influence the decision of those who had committed themselves to that end. It was stated, “believe nothing that you hear and half of what you see.”  Even our eyes and ears can be deceived, and it is pride that will cause one to hold on to an opinion when the current information contradicts all that he once believed. If my eyes and ears cannot be completely trusted, then what can I trust and who can I trust? There has to be an absolute from which all other things originate. It must be above all things, yet inclusive of any facts that are known or may be discovered in the future.

It is our agreement with God who has full knowledge of all things that will bring peace on earth and peace within our souls. The frustration of the soul that often leads to violence and rebellion is merely an indication of the disharmony that exists between man’s intent and God’s will. It is not His intention that any would find perfect peace and contentment by any other way. The Holy Spirit rested upon Jesus like a dove after His baptism, thereby indicating the stillness of His soul. He only rests as a dove when there is no turbulence and disquieting within. The announcement from heaven was, “this is My Beloved Son in whom I Am well pleased!” His submission to baptism was more than a mere ceremony. It was His inauguration into the work that led to our salvation. He, through baptism, demonstrated His submission to the will of the Father, and expressed the course in which His life was to take in order to provide the way for all to be rightly related to Him.

Today, as with Jesus, the Lord both affirms us as being His own and confirms that His Presence is currently with us. The voice was not for Jesus, but about Him to others. He knew that He was the Son of God and that His ways pleased the Father, but did others know? Today, God confirms His Word with signs following. We are embarking upon a time when the signs, wonders, and miracles of God will manifest among true believers like never before! Yes, there will always be the counterfeit attempting to disprove the authentic. How can one distinguish the difference between the true and the false? All that is true will lead to the development of character. The confirmation will not just be the demonstrated power of Christ, but His power leading to the character of Christ lived. It will be in Word and in power in the Holy Spirit with much assurance, so you may know what kind of men were among you for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:5) Those who were waiting on the Lord to manifest Himself must come to realize that God had been waiting on them to come into full agreement with Him. When we meet His criteria, He will open Heaven and rain down His Spirit upon all manner of flesh!