God's Voice Calls Us

Jesus calls us to himself.  He has good things in store for us, but we'll never know it unless we answer His invitation for fellowship. 

He calls us to repentance:

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet,  They shall be as white as snow;  Though they are red like crimson,  They shall be as wool.

He call calls to give us instruction:

Isaiah 55:3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

And He calls us to rest: Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

He's calls us into fellowship:
John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.    

The question is, will you answer the call?


Revelation 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Walkin' the Talk

We have heard it said many times that actions speak louder than words, and also that we should preach 100% of the time, only 10% with our mouths. And here is another good one, “Our walk talks louder than our talk talks!”

We live in a society that says, “If it feels good do it!”

We are constantly being bombarded with the thought that it doesn’t matter what other people think just as long as we are happy.

But it does matter. Others are indeed watching.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 in the same way let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I have to ask myself, “What are my actions saying?”

Galatians 5:13 for you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

I Corinthians 8:9 but you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.

Romans 12:2 don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Prayer: Lord please help me to walk my talk!

The Voice

As a new believer in Jesus I was drawn to other believers. But it wasn't long before I found myself  baffled by some of the conversations. Very often I would hear someone say, "The Lord said....", or "The Lord told me..."  I was so puzzled.  How could Jesus, who is in heaven speak to these people?
Could He, would He speak to me? Indeed He would! But it took me a long time to find out how to hear that precious voice for myself. I remember talking to my pastor, (at that time), and telling her," I want to hear Jesus speak to me.  I mean directly to me, like He does to these other people." Her reply was very simple. "Sister Mary Jane read your Bible." My response was, "I know I need to read my Bible but that's not what I mean." I guess in my mind I was looking for something really supernatural.

First we have to understand something. God speaks to us through His word. If you have ever been around someone from a foreign land, unless you speak their language, their words make no sense at all!  Think of it this way, God's language is His word.

Fortunately I got hooked up with a friend who truly did disciple me.  She taught me the importance of Bible Study, (II Timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And scripture memory, (Psalms 119:11 Thy word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee.) 



Prayer: Lord teach us Your Word so we can hear Your voice. In Jesus' name amen.

 

*John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

*John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Spiritual Hinderances and Doctrines of Devils

We live in a microwave society. Our technology is growing exponentially.We can "google" anything and within seconds find the answers we are looking for. Or can we?

We live in an age where there are many different ideas and philosophies. But as believer's in Christ shouldn't we delve a little deeper before we subscribe to some of these ideas?

I have followed the trails of many of these ideas and their origins and believe they are very clever but do not have godly roots.  I won't mention any websites or names of inspirational quotes.

I leave you with this:

Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

I Timothy 4:1Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

I John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

We can certainly find an instant internet fix for information, but... is it the truth?

You decide.

Peacemakers

Matthew 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

I noticed something in this passage. It is the term peacemaker and not peacekeeper.

It is just common sense that one can not keep something that has not been made. Right?

When we are in a situation of unrest, strife, and anything that disturbs peace we need to recognize it for what it is.  It is warfare and a perfect opportunity to see God's mighty hand at work!

So how do we make peace?
Try this delicious recipe!

Ingredients:
Praise and Prayer: (Psalms 116:1 I love the LORD because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.)
Fruit of the Holy Spirit: (Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,)
The Word of God:  (Psalms 119:11 Thy Word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee.)
Godly words and thoughts: (Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,  O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
Gentle speech: (Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.)


Then give it a taste!
Psalms 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Be Careful!

Jesus said that unless we came to the kingdom as a little child we could not enter. *

I learned this song as a child in Sunday school. The words are very simple and yet relevant:

Oh be careful little eyes what you see!  Oh be careful little eyes what you see! For the Father up above is looking down with love, so be careful little eyes what you see!

Oh be careful little ears what you hear! Oh be careful little ears what you hear! For the Father up above is looking down with love, so be careful little ears what you hear!

Oh be careful little mouth what you say!  Oh be careful little mouth what you say! For the Father up above is looking down with love, so be careful little mouth what you say!

If this song was good enough for a child, it’s good enough for me!

 

*Luke 18:17I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

* But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

 

The Father's Thoughts

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the LORD. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

 

Don't you ever struggle with ungodly thoughts?  I do. But they are just thoughts. Right? One of the things the Lord hates are hearts with wicked imaginations (Proverbs 6:18).

 

We all know that Satan is the tempter. But he can not read our minds.  He can put a thought in front of us but it is up to us whether or not to entertain it!

 

On the other hand the Father is Omniscient.  He knows everything. In Psalms 139: 2 we can see that He knows our thoughts.

 

His thoughts are higher than ours. His ways are higher than our ways.

 

Let this be our prayer: Psalms 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Who Do You Look Like?

How many times have we heard the expression, "His father sure can't deny him!"?

And although generally we think of  "deny" as a word." I think there is more to it.

We are identified by our last name, resemblance and even deeper, our dna.


In Matthew 10:32-33  Jesus says,“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.


We often hear or even call ourselves, Christians. But the term, "Christian" wasn't used until later in the book of Acts. This happened when large crowds of people were becoming. "believers".

The believer's didn't call themselves Christians, they were "identified" by their behavior.

Easton's Bible dictionary says this:

Christian:

the name given by the Greeks or Romans, probably in reproach, to the followers of Jesus. It was first used at Antioch. The names by which the disciples were known among themselves were "brethren," "the faithful," "elect," "saints," "believers." But as distinguishing them from the multitude without, the name "Christian" came into use, and was universally accepted. This name occurs but three times in the New Testament (Act 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:16).

 

Paul teaches us that we are to be "imitators" of Christ. (Or behave like Jesus.) Ephesians 5:1 and that in the latter times there would be people that have a form (resemblance) of godliness but really weren't godly at all.

In II Timothy 3:5, .... having a form of godliness but denying its power. (To make them godly.)

 

 

Jesus said in John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

In other words love is a part of our Christian dna.

 

So... who do you look like!

Spiritual Warfare and Kingdom Conduct

II Corinthians 10:4-5   For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,


As believers, we all go through trials. Even people who are not believer's in Christ face trials. But we have a wonderful savior, who loves us and will never abandon us.

Our trials can come in many ways. Some are physical infirmities, some are with strong temptations and addictions. But it has been my experience that most of my trials are with people and emotions.

Believers are constantly in spiritual warfare situations. Many times we try to handle things in our own way without even thinking about praying over the situation. We don't stop and think that these battles are really on a spiritual level. And our first response is  generally of the flesh. Self-pity, feelings of overwhelming temptation, and despair. Mine is usually anger and I want to give full vent to it!

But Kingdom Conduct  works differently. And it begins with loving the Lord with your heart, mind, soul and strength. We are to pray without ceasing. That is difficult and likely something we will not conquer this side of Heaven, but we must try!

When faced with a conflict, we need to take one of those quick moments and pray. "Lord help me.  I need to have the mind of Christ over this!"  Remember Jesus is always with you! That is loving the Lord with your heart and emotions.

Then your Kingdom Conduct kicks in and it starts with the Holy Spirit bringing the Word to your mind. He will bring to your mind attributes of godly conduct. For example, "love is gentle, it doesn't demand it's own way." or "the wisdom from above is first peaceful." I find a lot of "reminders" come from the book of Proverbs, and usually has something to say about my words. Proverbs 15:1 has come to my rescue, (my breastplate of righteousness and behavior) many times. "A soft answer turns away anger but harsh words stir up strife."

We can not have kingdom conduct without spiritual weapons. And when it comes right down to it... the whole armor is the Word of God.

 Ephesians 6:1-9 Deal specifically with conduct.
Verses 10-18 Give a complete description of our armor.

Here are the highlights:
Our strength comes from the Lord and our trust in Him.
Our armor gives us the strength to withstand the attacks of evil.
We need the belt of truth which is the Word and that belt holds everything together.
The preparation of the shoes equals prayer.
The shield of faith is what we use to parry the jabs to our emotions.
The breastplate of righteousness is our behavior. It protects from without and within.
(It does that by keeping our conduct in line with the word.)
The helmet is the word that is in our mind.
The sword of the spirit, the Word is how we are able to apply it.

Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! (Mark 12:30)
Love never fails!

 

Godly Intercession

James 3:17   But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Did you ever find yourself praying  for some one because you saw a need in their life?  You were sincerely praying with discernment. Jesus sees a pure heart, and the Holy Spirit begins to intercede with you.  Your prayer begins to change. You begin to pray that "we" instead of "they",  might have help in that area as well. After all, if you are praying with goodness and purity, don't you want some of that too?

That is pure intercession without partiality or hypocrisy.


Lord, as we live our lives and intercede for others, grant us pure hearts and help us to yield to the Holy Spirit, as we pray. In your Name, Amen

  
Ps. 133:1How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!

Loving the Lord With All of Our Strength

Mark 12:30‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

A short review:
Loving the Lord with our heart is what we feel.
Loving the Lord with our soul is what we do.
Loving the Lord with our mind is what we know.

Loving the Lord with our strength is  little different.

When you think of the word "strength" what is the first thing you think of? Is it a weight lifter? Do you think of a protector?  Do you think of a soldier? An army?

Each one of those demonstrate an aspect of strength.

In our text, Mark 12:30 the definition for strength is ability, force, strength and might.

How does that apply to loving the Lord with our strength? The best way I can explain it, is with our ability our... strength. But it isn't all physical strength. It is spiritual and mental strength as well.

We know that physical strength comes from exercise, diet, discipline. Right? 

You may ask how do we get spiritually and mentally strong?

Spend time in the Word! Jesus is the Word~  John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

As you spend time with the Lord and learning His word, the word in your mind, will affect your emotions and will teach what to do according to your strength and ability!


Ephesians 6:10 Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power!
Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Loving the Lord With All of Our Mind

Loving the Lord with all of our mind is used similarly with the heart and the soul. The heart relating mostly to the emotions and feelings, the soul dealing more with the will. But loving the Lord with our mind is where it all begins.

The mind can be defined as thinking , reasoning, understanding,  and intelligence.
Intelligence is the ability to learn and understand.


Before you can have a feeling you must have a thought, or reason.For example. Let's say Sam just spilled something on the floor you just mopped. Your reasoning kicked in, you became angry and said something.  It happens so quickly we might not even see it happening.

1) You reasoned... the mind.
2) You got angry... the heart
3) You said something... the soul.

We can we can see then how important it is to love the Lord with our minds.


How do we love the Lord with our mind?   By spending time with the Lord through prayer and study. He wants us to talk to Him and He wants to talk to us!


 Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

 

Mark 12:30  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

Loving the Lord With All of Our Soul

As in yesterday's lesson we learned that the heart, soul and mind are used interchangeably. The heart emphasizing the realm of feelings and emotions. In loving the Lord with our soul, the emphasis is on the will, or the doing part.
Mark 12:30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

In the Old Testament God says, "I will" many times. Every time it is used to show an action. God was going to do something!*
(Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.)

In the New Testament Jesus said "I will" also indicating that he was going to do something.
(Matthew 8:3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.)

When Satan tempted Jesus, he gave him a proposition. "If you will...." Indicating a choice had to be made.(Matthew 4:9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”)

The soul is the place where emotions turn into actions. It is the place where moral decisions are made.

How do we love the Lord with our soul? We have to make a conscious decision. We make that decision based on what we know and how we feel about what we know. And then we act on it.


What will you do?

Joshua  24:15.“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Loving The Lord With All Our Heart

 Mark 12:30  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

The heart, soul and mind are used interchangeably. But the emphasis on the "heart"  is that of the center or seat of spiritual life;  and fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors.

So basically we can say the heart is the or place of our emotions/feelings.*
It's that place where we think it before we do it?

So  how do we love the Lord with our "heart"?

We love the Lord with our feelings by giving the feelings to him in prayer. Even  one of those quick little prayers.

It goes something like this: Lord I'm angry at "So and So." What they have done hurts me and makes me angry. But I give that feeling to you and I ask that you would give the mind of Christ.

And then do not dwell on it.
John 14:1 Remember the Lord said for us to "Not let our hearts be troubled..."
And also 
Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.


Be blest!