spiritual – Page 4 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: March 3

“For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; (8) but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” Hebrews 6:7-8

What we have experienced and participated in with God is not merely for ourselves. He allows us to experience His goodness in order to provide healing for others. Either we will bear healing herbs for wounded, restless, and reckless souls, or we bear thorns and briers to further wound them. The deepest wound is wielded by sword-handlers who are unskilled in spiritual warfare. They cannot effectively interpret God’s grace in ways to benefit the wayward. We have been enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. Therefore, we are the ones that are to bear herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated. The fruit of our lives is for those who wish to know the Source and purpose for our being alive. Then, we are able to live our lives as a blessing to others and a praise unto the Lord.

09 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: February 9

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”Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Hebrews 10:22

We are invited to come closer to God as we meet the conditions of spiritual intimacy. His blessings are as the result of our moving in His direction. Many may attempt to confiscate the benefits without the relationship, but God will test the purity of our hearts. He knows when true love is the motive of our actions, and His Spirit will give witness that we are in agreement with Him. Then we can boldly approach the throne of grace and obtain mercy to find the grace to help in the time of need. Assurance of faith is a blessing reserved for the pure in heart. As we are being purified by the Holy Spirit, our passions will continue to conform to His will. We will want what He wants for us when we have been drawn to the place where He abides.

03 Jan 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: January 3

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“I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense.” Psalm. 16:2(MSG)

To reason is a virtue. Through reasoning we embrace the truths applied to our hearts with a renewed mind and emblazoned hope. Those who have meditated upon the Word have arrived at conclusions that are vastly different from those who merely compare the spiritual to the natural. It is the reasoning that is limited to what is known, or merely natural that will lead to a great impasse. Our minds alone cannot grasp the origin of the creation of all things. Neither can we figure out their proper use and truest meaning. Only God is able to guide us into the deep mysteries that would raise even deeper questions than otherwise would be asked. However, the journey on which we are led will reveal to us His Majesty and Glory. We cannot help but worship the One who knows and reveals secret things to His children that the wise and prudent are not privy to. None of His wisdom is sensible void of knowing Him. As we pursue Him, the knowledge of His will for all things becomes sensible. Without Him, nothing makes sense.

01 Jan 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: January 1

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“Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year.” Exodus 40:2-3

The Tabernacle is the dwelling-place of God. What will be God’s position in your life this year? This is the time to consider what priority He is to occupy. Discard what would be distractions and placing in position reminders of who God is and what He has done throughout the previous year. Each utensil had to be in order. Everything had to be in their proper place because God was to tabernacle among His people. Decisions must be made early and maintained throughout the year. Many will be making New Year’s resolutions in light of areas in need of discipline. The spiritual disciplines will affect the soul and spirit. They alone have eternal value. Arrange the disciplines of your heart to seek the Lord as never before. It is His desire to express a degree of love unknown to you in your present state. When the alignment is complete, He will suddenly come into His dwelling-place to inhabit that space reserved exclusively for Him.

01 Dec 0Comments 0Likes

December 2016 Article: “He Was Born for This”

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We are compelled to face life’s greatest challenges. To provide an answer to age old and new questions that will arise out of controversy. Our lives are lived in search of meaning and our values are determined by how we interpret the meaning of life. It is both quietly and overtly expressed by unsuspecting people who are drifting through life allowing circumstances to define them. The ever-changing world squeezes them into the mold of modernity. They become whatever others are becoming—neutralizing their wills by popular opinions and paralyzing their minds by the prevailing ideas of the times.

Jesus came to change concepts and to modify the established order by transforming it into a thing of beauty (“He makes all things beautiful in its own time.”) And fortunately, Christ came to usher in a new season of change and restore all things to their original purpose.
God, who made all things, is the One who assigns meaning to His creation. But the question is, what is God like? Even though he was described through the prophets and His personality was demonstrated through their lifestyles, that was merely a glimpse into the reality of God and the full display of His glory. Their attempts fell short of expressing His life and pointed us in the direction of His acts and ways. His Person, by the intimate expressions of His love, were only implied and not expressed. So many have settled for implications and never shared that intimate fellowship provided through Jesus Christ. What Adam had lost in Eden is more than one could imagine—hearing His voice daily and being acquainted with His Perpetual Presence.

The Fallen needed restoration, but who can measure the distance of the fall? A fallen world adapted its condition as its current reality. Bloodshed penetrates the soil rather than circulates through the veins, and reduces the meaning of life to personal survival than kingdom and cultural advancement. How could I wish for what I had never experienced? Sadly, the cry for spiritual union lies deep within the soul.
Within his soul, the son of the slave carries the marks of his ancestors under the mastery of slave owners. He must overcome the daily pain from the established patterns that restrict his current motion. While his DNA contains the genetic code of a bloodline that is inclusive of past experiences, his bloodline did not begin merely two or three centuries ago. It can be traced in creation and established in Adam. Thankfully, the blood of Jesus purges us from our former sins and the effect of sin in our lives. His life promises the necessity of a New Beginning, for Christ came for this very purpose: old things are passed away and behold, all things have become new! He allows the newness to be made evident for all to see! Behold; look at how new you have become because of Jesus Christ!

You become a part of the change that is necessary for all humanity. As Christ came to change the order, the order is changed because of you and not despite you. People do what they do as result of what they know. Jesus’s prayer on the Cross was, “forgive them for the know not what they do.” Their ignorance is driving their actions and leading them to self-destruction. He was born for this and now He offer the New Birth that you might be born again for this! In Christ, the believer participates with God in reconciling all things back to God’s original meaning. Your true purpose for living is hidden in Christ. Politics, education, economic prosperity, or no other means is capable of accomplishing what Christ alone can do through those who allow Him to be Himself in them. Spiritual maturity is reaching a level of understanding of God’s original intent. These are the sons of God being led to glory. They can then more fully express the will of the Father. May earth receive her King that His Kingdom may be established in the hearts of mankind.

23 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 23

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” Titus 2:11-12

God has dispensed from Heaven an abundance of His grace. Where sin and spiritual blindness abounded, only what one had grown accustomed to was known. Grace came to teach us that our old nature must be denied. How could one ever be freed from what he once defended because it defined him? It is the grace that has appeared in order to show us that a new life was possible. When it came on the scene, it opened our eyes to know that heaven’s order should become earth’s greatest dream. The slave can at least see freedom in order for freedom to be desired. That desire for something beyond our current patterns of living is responded to and then we are empowered to aim higher above level of ungodly and worldly lusts. Each day we will embrace all the more God’s standard of righteousness thus rising above our own. It is because of the grace that has appeared that produces the salvation that we so desperately need.

21 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 21

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”These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:13

All that is called wisdom may be lacking the potency to change one’s life for the better. There is practical wisdom that may assist in one coping or even managing what is already there. But for a permanent change to occur there has to be the instructions in wisdom that comes from above. Wisdom that comes from above has no earthly references. Nothing can be compared to the depth and wealth of spiritual things. These are the intangibles that affect all that is seen, heard, or experienced. The teacher is the Holy Spirit Himself. He instructs the heart so that it embraces what would otherwise be foolishness to those who think they already have the answers. He first must raise new questions and spiritual inquiries are made. Without the hunger and thirst for righteousness, God’s standard for living, even His Word will be reduced to what is manageable by man. Because the Holy Spirit has dealt deeply within the heart, there is the pursuit for wisdom that God will never ignore. He gives it liberally and does not reprimand the individual making the request. He walks in the wisdom of God and is over time, transformed into becoming a living expression of it.

13 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: November 13

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“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthews 7:21

Is ours a works salvation that qualifies us for heaven or a faith that translates into efforts that are pleasing to God? Many have believed that no evidence is necessary among the professors of religion. The right language without evidence may be impressive but does not possess the power to preserve one’s life for all eternity. In this life we are transformed into willing servants of the Lord. When His life enters into our souls, we wish to know what pleases Him that we may do what we have been enabled by His Spirit to know. The prideful would merely wish to parade around with knowledge left unapplied. They are held responsible even though they never tapped into the power that could have been used for the continuance of the works of Jesus Christ on the earth. Their professing Him as Lord is a signal to the powers that be of that they are equipped and skilled for spiritual battle. When we enter into His kingdom, the power that resides there reaches the earth through us to confirm our subjection to His Lordship.

01 Nov 0Comments 0Likes

November 2016 Article: “Your Call and Your Election”

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The collective choices of a generation clearly reflect its sentiments. The way that people think at any given time is expressed through their voice by vote. If there are pockets of resistance or individuals who disagree with society’s direction, it serves only as an indication to the level of desperation that influences our need for change. The loss and lack of influence by those who possess the right position create a vacuum to be filled by opposing views that challenge their stance and contradict their position. When personal preferences are not questioned in the light of spiritual authority and absolute truth, every position taken can be justified in one’s own eyes. The spin on the argument in defense of the decision to go the wrong way, even though it may be convincing, only widens the gap away from civility and points towards barbarism. When intellectualism is added to the mix, the result is a sophisticated way of saying nothing well and becoming so broadminded that life itself has lost its meaning.

Thank God for the availability of choices. We are forced to make choices every day, and each momentary choice leads to our final destiny. The question is, where are we headed? How do we expect to get there? Who can tell us if we are on the right track? Throughout the Scriptures, we read of individuals and people groups choosing between two or more options. The consequences of their decisions are clearly revealed as an example and warning to this generation. Yet so many treat life as if historical facts are meaningless and the only thing that matters is how they presently feel. Choices either lead to an open door of opportunities or a closed prison door of slavery.

You have been given the privilege to choose because you were chosen for a purpose and a cause that extends beyond what you currently see. The initial call is Jesus Christ calling you to Himself. Then, out of your entering into right relationship with Him, you are enabled to see and understand life from an altogether different perspective. His everlasting Kingdom becomes your priority, and in time, every decision is measured from the basis of its eternal worth.

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; (11) for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11

You have been called to elect or choose what God has chosen for you. He has placed before you the options of life and death. It is not death immediate but rather the paths that either lead to life or lead to death. Your children and preceding generations will follow the path that you pave for them. The trends and values of our day will eventually become legalized and institutionalized so that our children will grow up in an environment based upon the pace that you have set. You are voting for more than a president, a congressman, or a senator. You are voting, even before you visit the polling place, by the decisions you are making right now. Who are you voting for with your life? Things can turn around and be different but it requires individuals who will first listen to the call of God. To elect is to choose or to make a choice. Neutrality is also a choice—more specifically, it is a choice not to choose. Then it leaves choices to others to make for us. Your destiny is then guided by chance and not choice. Today, ask God to reveal to you the things that He has chosen for your life, and allow His choice for you to become your choice for yourself.

24 Oct 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: October 24

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” Philippians 4:11

When there is a convergence of our state and our contentment, evidence of spiritual maturity is made manifest. There is a steadiness in the life of the individual that lives on that level of confidence knowing that God is not limited to circumstances. The contentment that Paul speaks of is not inactive contentment. He participates with God in what He is doing. If something is lacking, he is confident that God will provide. If he has an abundance, he know that God as provided. The credit is given to God for blessings received and his dependency on God alone to meet his need settles him down and frees him from anxieties. Yet no condition can hinder God from doing through him what has been assigned. His earlier years were more than likely more frantic. He had to learn how to yield to the Holy Spirit in all things. The rush of life accomplished very little and oftentimes would make matters worse. He learned to wait on the Lord and to be patient. The virtue of faith and patience produced a living hope that God is able to supply his every need according to His riches in glory. Our needs are no different. He must reveal both our deepest need and His supply. He will grant us what we need if we are aware of our most pressing need to know Him. Then we can be content with godliness.

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