Walking With Jesus

When Embarrassment Becomes Opportunity

“A third time He asked him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, ‘Lord, you know everything. You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Then feed My sheep.” (John 21:17 NLT)

It’s interesting to me that one of the last times Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection was, in the Gospel of Luke, reminiscent of the day He called Peter and John to follow Him. They had fished all night and caught nothing, but at Jesus’ command they lowered their nets that resulted in them catching many fish. Immediately they left the fish and began following the Lord. It was a similar scene after Jesus’ resurrection.

Apparently, the disciples didn’t expect to see Jesus, but after they caught so many fish, John told Peter that it was the Lord, so Peter immediately jumped into the water and headed to shore. I can’t help but believe he had to get some things off his chest related to his denial of the Lord. We’re not privy to the conversation they had in the few moments before the other disciples showed up, but I want to believe the Lord assured Peter of His love and forgiveness.

That may be why Peter seemed so taken aback when Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. Imagine Peter’s embarrassment. Can you see him squirming? Can you see what’s going through Peter’s mind: “Lord, why didn’t you ask me this when we were alone? Why do you need to embarrass me in front of my friends? I know I messed up, but do you need to rub it in?”

Has the Lord ever allowed you to be embarrassed in front of your friends, family, or colleagues? In my first pastorate I was on the State Board for our governing body, so I volunteered for our church to host one of our quarterly meetings. I had forgotten that the host pastor was asked to give a brief message, so I wasn’t prepared.

If you know me, you know I don’t do “extemporaneous.” I get nervous enough when I’m prepared, so when I was asked to speak, the only thing that came to mind was an illustration from a message I’d heard from a prominent pastor years before. But within the first few words I realized that many in the audience must have heard that same message, but I was committed, so I persevered to a very embarrassing end.

What bothered me most about that incident wasn’t just my own embarrassment, but the fact that my lack of preparedness was an embarrassment to the Lord and to my church. It’s hard to admit to yourself when you’ve blown it, but gratefully, the Lord wouldn’t let me blow it off. Rather, He used it to teach me a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Some things I learned in an article I read by Janel Breitentstein hopefully will help us better know how to handle those embarrassing moments. First, consider for whom you have the most concern, yourself or the other party, whether a person, or in my case, a group of people. Another valid question is: “What’s beneath my embarrassment?” Am I the source of my embarrassment or is someone else to blame? If it’s someone else, how will I handle overcoming my feelings of disappointment or anger in that person or persons?”

Janel concluded her article by writing: “Like any other conflict, embarrassment is an opportunity: to love each other better, act and grow to be like Jesus, and honor Him even when you haven’t been.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Seeing Ourselves with Sober Judgment

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3 NLT)

Have you ever worked so hard or run so long you were exhausted to the point you couldn’t rest? This is part of the message of the above verse – don’t wear yourselves out in God’s service to the point you have nothing left.

The people I know who love Jesus the most aren’t likely to see themselves as better than they are. It’s more likely they’ll push themselves harder to get more done, not to honor themselves, but Jesus. They’re the kind of people I admire, yet, don’t often see them after a long, hard day when their exhaustion leaves little for themselves or their family.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

Writer Janel Breitenstein wrote: “I love to ignore my own capacity. Sometimes it’s the natural outcome of a large view of me and a small view of God. But too often, people in my innermost circle must ante up for my lack of discernment and courage to draw the line, to think too highly of myself rather than with sober judgment (Romans 12:3).

My husband’s words from years ago still ricochet in my brain: ‘Sometimes your overcommitment affects how the gospel—Jesus’ love—is played out in our home.’ I love less well, and with less joy. Sometimes I’m asking, ‘What if I don’t do this?’ Instead of, ‘What might God desire if I said no?’ Rarely do we hold other believers accountable for the fourth commandment: To rest, to Sabbath. What could our marriages be with a little more headspace? Enjoyment of God? Capacity for emotional engagement? Rest?”

Good questions! Questions with which we should wrestle, not only for ourselves, but for our family members and brothers and sisters with whom we labor for the Lord. Admittedly, some have a much greater capacity to serve longer and work harder than I do in this stage of my life, but we owe it to our friends and loved ones to watch their back when they are clearly pushing the proverbial “envelope.”

What are some signs we’re living on the edge? Pushing harder and longer than we have the capacity to push? Often, for me, it’s I zone out, withdraw, find little solace in the presence of others. I want to be left alone, not necessarily to rest or relax, but to have a “pity party.” I get so wrapped up in myself there’s little or no room for anyone else.

How about you? What does exhaustion look like for you? And I’m not referring simply to physical exhaustion. Sometimes what robs me of my energy is my emotional, mental, and/or spiritual investments. Seeing ourselves with sober judgment means measuring our capacity to live and love like Jesus by accurately measuring our “service” tank. What does that mean?

It means being aware of the people or things that most quickly drain us. There are things we love to do and people with whom we love to share our time, but there are also chores that drain us physically and people who drain us emotionally. But here’s the kicker, we have to help each other, because the truth is, we aren’t always the best one to gauge how much we can tolerate. That’s why we need each other to watch our backs.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are We Forgetting Something?

“Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot His many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against Him at the Red Sea. Even so, He saved them – to defend the honor of His name and to demonstrate His mighty power…Yet how quickly they forgot what He had done! They wouldn’t wait for His counsel!” (Psalm 106:7-8, 13 NLT)

As I age my mind seems to be giving me a very selective memory. I can remember a lot of things I’d like to forget, but I find myself forgetting what I really need and desire to remember. That’s unfortunate when it comes to not remembering where I parked my car, but it’s tragic when I don’t remember the goodness of God.

Rick Warren writes: “Instead of forgetting, you need to remember God’s promises. There are more than 7,000 of them in the Bible. Whenever you have a problem, find a promise like 2 Timothy 2:13: ‘Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us . . . and he will always carry out his promises to us’ (TLB). God’s promises are always greater than the problems you’re facing!

If God hasn’t fulfilled a promise in your life, it could be because he’s waiting on you. He’s waiting on you to learn to not fear, not fret, not faint, not forget. He wants to develop you before he delivers you. God could do things immediately—but he’s working on a larger agenda. The delays that come in your life do not destroy God’s purpose. They fulfill God’s purpose in your life.

Psalm 103:2 (NLT) says: “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me.” Trusting the Lord to care for us, guide, equip, and provide for us is, at least for me, a helpful reminder that regardless of what I’m dealing with, in any area of my life, the Lord has my back.

Trust essentially invalidates doubt or despair. Understanding that God’s clock keeps perfect time, gives me patience as I wait. If I don’t have something, I must not need it. Revelation often comes on the heels of patiently waiting. When I fail to feed my mind on positive promises that I’ve clearly seen God fulfill in my life, I too quickly jump to wrong conclusions in my present circumstances.

We’re quick to criticize the children of Israel who right on the heels of their deliverance from Egypt, were begging God to let them go back to their slavery, but we do the same thing. We beg God for a new apartment, house, car, or many other things we “have to have,” only to blame God for allowing us to be under the burden of the payment for our new idol.

Every morning, I marvel at the beauty of God’s creation. The picture above is my view from the front of my house. The sun is shining brightly most mornings, and in Spring there’s still snow on Mt. Charleston, which is only an hour away. I praise the Lord for the gift of my wife, kids, granddaughter, neighbors, and the wonderful church of which I’m a part.

My list of blessings and praises far outweigh the few things with which I wrestle as I age. I can’t wait to get to heaven, but I don’t want to miss the Lord’s lavish care of me in the interim. And folks, this is far more than “positive thinking,” it’s gratitude for the gift of God’s holy presence in me and working every second of every day for me.

If you’re not giving thanks, not only for all your heavenly Father is providing for you, but simply for who He is, you’re seriously forgetting something vital.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Vicious But Not Victorious

“When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, ‘Lord, even the demons obey us when we use Your name!’ ‘Yes,” He told them, ‘I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.’” (Luke 10:17-20 NLT)

The seventy-two, whom Jesus had sent out, went to the areas Jesus planned to visit, so, quite naturally, they were very excited about the exercise of the power Jesus had given them, as we would be as well. But notice the Lord’s response (above), while not dampening their enthusiasm, cautioned them to rejoice for the right reason. How like us to get excited about what WE do, even realizing we have no power of our own, it just feels good when the home team wins.

William Barclay wrote: “It will always remain true that a man’s greatest glory is not what he has done but what God has done for him. It might well be claimed that the discovery of the use of chloroform saved the world more pain than any other single medical discovery. Once someone asked Sir James Simpson, who pioneered its use, ‘What do you regard as your greatest discovery?’ expecting the answer, ‘Chloroform.’ But Simpson answered, ‘My greatest discovery was that Jesus Christ is my Saviour.’

Even the greatest man can say in the presence of God only, ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy Cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress; Helpless, look to thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die.’ Pride bars from heaven; humility is the passport to the presence of God.”

Satan is a vicious foe, but the only victories he can win are those we allow. In some respects, he’s like a shadow. He can loom large and frightening, but he scurries away like a frightened pup in the powerful presence of the Light, who is Jesus. We live so far below our means when we buckle under Satan’s glare. Like the disciples we celebrate our victories, failing to realize we would not have those victories if we weren’t filled with the Spirit of our Savior.

Knowing our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, not because of us, but Him, should enable us to see more clearly two very vital things. First, we have no power in and of ourselves, and we have no limitations when we tap that vital resource. In our mind’s it’s a huge thing for Jesus to save a soul, and it is, but we serve a God who spoke the heavens into existence.

When I pray for my neighbors, I don’t simply pray for each person in each house, I pray for the salvation of each member of their families and each person in their spheres of influence. I pray for an unprecedented outpouring of God’s Holy Presence that will revolutionize my city. I’m praying that Las Vegas, Nevada will no longer be called “Sin City,” but “Son City!”

He may call me home before that happens, but I don’t have a single doubt that it will. By faith I know that each of my children and their spouses will be in heaven. And please understand, it has nothing to do with the size of my faith, it’s only and always based on the limitless power of my Savior, the Lord Jesus!

Friend, I don’t know that with which you wrestle, but I know the One you need to run to for deliverance, peace, and eternal joy. He’s as close as the air you breathe. Reach out to Him with childlike faith and believe He’ll do for you what is impossible for you to do for yourself. He’s the Victor who never fails.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Sticks and Stones

“’Teacher,’ they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?’” (John 8:4 NLT)

It’s unlikely that any of us have been caught in the “act of adultery,” except perhaps in our mind, but we’ve all been tempted, as were those in the story in John 8, to seek to shift the blame of sin to someone else. It can be a spouse, parent, child, classmate, co-worker, neighbor, or friend, it often turns out to be anyone who happens to be available on whom we can project our own guilt and shame.

Many are aware of the childhood jingle that says: “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never harm me.” I hope you’re also aware that that’s a lie. Words can cripple us in ways like no other, but they can also heal. Think of Jesus’ words to the woman in the above scenario: “Neither do I (condemn you). Go and sin no more.”

Lisa Lakey shed light on this subject when she wrote in a Family Life devotional: “’Of course you did.’ The words slid between my slippery lips before I could stop them. And I saw the subtle change in my husband’s look as I wished I could retract those four small words. But I couldn’t. And let’s be real. It wasn’t the first time (maybe that week even).

That whole ‘sticks and stones’ rhyme from childhood doesn’t work in the adult world. Words, indeed, can hurt us. That day, my husband had made a small confession to an action he had done without much thought. But it added more work on my swelling to-do list. But what I did was worse. Because mine wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. He made a confession; I placed a judgment. Yet it wasn’t on what he did as much as on his character. Because there’s always the implied we don’t say. Of course you did. That’s who you are.”

The men holding the stones in John chapter 8 weren’t any less sinners than the woman whom they now accused, but she was more vulnerable and less able to defend herself. Aren’t you glad Jesus steps in to defend us when we can’t (or won’t) defend ourselves? I’ve used hurtful words that I’ve regretted, as have you, but thank the Lord for forgiveness and second chances.

Forgiveness is a gift that keeps on giving when we offer and receive it in its proper, intended context. Do you believe the woman “caught in the very act of adultery” ever sinned again? She very likely did, but my guess is she didn’t very often let Jesus out of her sight. She was forgiven, and that’s not something sinners should take lightly.

When I was forgiven by Jesus the first time, I was only 15 years old, but it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my young shoulders. Think what you will, but my life was forever changed on that day. Have I sinned since then? Ashamedly and with deep regret – yes, I’ve sinned, but I also, on that evening in 1963, met a Savior who has never forgotten or forsaken me.

That’s the beauty of Jesus, when He gives you His word, He always keeps it. He told me on that April evening many years ago that He would never leave me or forsake me, and He hasn’t. Even though I’ve sinned in ways I find it difficult to forgive myself, He’s never, not once, ever reminded me of how badly I messed up. And do you know what else? He loves you just as much as He loves me (He has no favorites)!

Do you know Him? If you don’t, please don’t wait another second to give your life to Him. The only thing you’ll regret is not doing it sooner. Go to Ron Hutchcraft’s Bridge to God and make sure your sins are forgiven and you’ve met Jesus.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Law of the Harvest

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10 NLT)

I’m not a gardener by any means, but my wife and I have done a lot of planting, mostly flowers, yard plants, and small trees. There are a few things you learn quickly. First, seeds don’t become plants or flowers overnight. We prepare the soil, then there is a period of waiting while you water, weed, and do your best to keep the ground free of anything that would hinder that seed from producing the intended result.

It’s fun waiting for the first signs of life, then every Spring waiting to see which of the plants survived the winter and are flowering and the trees budding. It’s a process that takes time and effort, but one that pays very rich dividends as your yard comes to life in such beautiful ways.

On many levels it’s like that in our life as a believer. There are seasons of “planting,” beginning from the moment the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our heart. Then, as the Lord seeks to build us up in Him, He plants new ideas, disciplines us, and weans us from wrong motives, attitudes, or behaviors that are clearly not Christlike.

The same principle is true in prayer. Pastor Rick Warren writes: “This is the law of the harvest: There is always a delay between sowing and reaping. You plant in one season, and you reap in another. God wants to see if you’re going to keep cultivating, planting, and sowing. If he sees consistency in your life, then the harvest will come. But it won’t come immediately, because if it did, there would be no chance for your character to grow or for your faith to stretch. Luke 18:1 tells us that we ‘must always pray and never lose heart’” (PHILLIPS).

Praying can seem monotonous and repetitive when praying for the same person(s) or things repeatedly, but on some levels it’s not unlike watering the ground where you’ve planted seeds. You may not see anything for days, weeks, months or in some cases, at least as it relates to prayer, years. I remember going to the altar nearly every Sunday morning to pray for my lost parents.

There was an old saint who would come out of the choir to pray with me. His name was Les Moore. He worked with my dad, and he knew why I was praying. For months we agreed in prayer that the Lord would move on my mom and dad’s heart and draw them to Himself.

Then one Sunday they came to church with me, and it wasn’t many Sundays after that that they knelt together at an altar of prayer and gave their lives to Jesus. They followed the Lord in water baptism and remained faithful until the Lord called them home. James MacDonald wrote: “Every good thing God wants to give to you comes through faith.”

I realize that some who read these blog posts have been praying for years, as have I, for their child(ren), grandchildren, parents, husband, wife, co-worker, neighbor, and on and on it goes – the people in our spheres of influence who need to yield their life and allegiance to Jesus. Don’t despair man of God! Don’t despair woman of God! God is hearing you and is using your faithful prayers to build faith in you in ways you may not realize until that day you stand before your Lord in heaven.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Do You Feel Like a Fraud? (Part 2)

“Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, ‘You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?’” (Acts 13:9-10 NLT)

Sadly, there are times in each of our lives when we pervert “the true ways of the Lord” by not being authentic about what we know to be true about Jesus. Because we’re not perfect, not only in our walk with the Lord, but in most every area of our lives, it’s easy to pretend. At times we try to pretend we know more than we do or act in ways that seek to draw attention to ourselves rather than point others to Jesus.

May I be honest? There are times I just don’t want to be around people I perceive as more spiritual than myself. It’s not, but in my mind, it seems it’s a competition, like I’m trying to be better than I think I am. Why would I do that? As I understand my own heart, I do it to protect the truth from being revealed. What truth? That I’m never going to be as good as I want to be, that as hard as I try, I’ll always fall short.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

And here’s the kicker – on many levels that’s 100% okay! As a Jesus follower our goal isn’t just to be good, it’s to be obedient. Do you remember how quickly the disciples scattered when Jesus was betrayed? It’s as if after three years of walking side-by-side with Jesus, hanging on His every word, all they could think about was saving their own skin. And yes, in retrospect, it’s very likely a good thing they did.

How do you think they felt? How would you have felt? In your heart and mind, you believed whatever happened you would NEVER turn your back on Jesus, yet every one of them ran away. But here’s the miracle, at least as I see it – they reconvened, stayed together, and waited.

Sometimes, perhaps especially, when we fail to live up to all we thought we were, or, at least, what we’d hoped we were, it’s as if we’ve run away to save our own skin. Rather than face the difficulties we’re having within, we retreat to a place, if only in our minds, where we can feel safe. And the irony to me is that Jesus meets us there.

He walks through the closed, locked doors of our mind to remind us He will never leave us. I’m learning that to our Savior, there’s nothing we can do that is so bad He won’t still love us, embrace us, forgive us. There are times I can feel the tears forming as I realize how small I am, how crippled my spirit can be, and how big and powerful and loving my Savior is.

We’re not frauds because we fail, we’re frauds when we think we can be all we want to be for Jesus without Him. Oswald Chambers wrote: “The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.”

Even as believers we too often believe we can work our way into a right standing with the Father, believing our good works will surely be a pleasing and acceptable offering to Him. In an effort to overcome the weakness revealed in our failure to live up to the standards we have established in our mind, we want to work harder. Then the Lord reminded me of 1 Samuel 15:22: “What is more pleasing to the Lord; your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams (our good works).”

Frauds pretend to be something they’re not. Servants of Christ repent, seek forgiveness, and move forward in obedient surrender to their Master.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Do You Feel Like a Fraud?

“There was a lot of grumbling about Him among the crowds. Some argued, ‘He’s a good man,’ but others said, ‘He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.’” (John 7:12 NLT)

Does it surprise you that there were those in Jesus’ day who thought He was a fraud? Do you ever feel like a fraud? There are times I do. Are there times you really have to work at being “good?” Yeh, I get it, me too. But I’m comforted to know that a fraud is an imposter, someone who deliberately poses to be someone or something they’re not. My heart longs to be more like Jesus but catch me in the wrong moment and you won’t see Jesus at all. Why is that?

Satan is a fraud, a deceiver, someone who claims to be the giver of great opportunities filled with fun and adventure, but ultimately lead to despair, heartache, and emptiness. He paints pictures of beauty, wealth, power, and prestige – and don’t get me wrong, he delivers on all of that. But sadly, that’s not the end of the story.

If we stand before Jesus at the end of our life and all we have to show for it are the trinkets of this world, we’re among all people most to be pitied. Wealth and possessions aren’t the doorway to heaven, only Jesus. He’s the Treasure, not the things of this world. Life is hard and we need balance if we’re going to make more than a living.

It takes deliberate effort to build a life, and there are times it’s hard to look in the mirror and ask with a straight face: “For whom am I living – Jesus or me?” One of hardest places for me to be like Jesus is in my marriage. There are days I don’t even like living with me, I can’t imagine how hard it is for my wife. And the sad truth is, I’m not sure what to do about it.

I love what Family Life writer, Lisa Lakey wrote: “We especially feel this way with our marital struggles, right? It’s more personal. We think if we let others see what’s really going on at home, they’ll look at us differently. Judge us even. If they only knew … nope. That’s too vulnerable. Ever feel that way? Let me offer some comforting advice: Let it go.

No one has a perfect marriage. Not me, not you. Not even the couple in the pew across from yours holding hands during worship. I repeat: no one. So you’re not a fraud if you are working on your marriage. You’re not a fraud if you desperately want things to get better, but just don’t know how. And you’re not a fraud if your marriage is going through some icy patches. Let go of the guilt of not already being in a healthy place. Trust God to work in you and through you to get there.”

Sometimes there’s a thin line between authenticity and being a fraud. Pretending to be someone you’re not to make you look better in someone else’s eyes, even your spouse, is fraudulent! Especially if we’re pretending to be closer to Jesus than we know we are. But here’s the truth – we’re not perfect and won’t be this side of heaven.

Does that mean we just “go with the flow” and not care how we come across? After all, the reasoning goes, “I’m a work in progress!” Yes, that’s true, but it doesn’t give us the right to hide behind obnoxious behavior that we clearly know is not like Jesus would have us live.

Let’s look at this further in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Learning to Love God

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6 NLT)

My sense is that even if we know this command when we first respond to Christ’s invitation to love and serve Him, we really don’t have a clue as to how to obey it. How do you do ANYTHING with your whole heart, soul, and strength?

In the original language the words in the verse above are almost interchangeable. The word translated “heart” can also be translated “soul.” And the word for “soul” can also be translated “heart.” I’m not a Hebrew scholar by any means but think about the word “love” in the English language. We use the same word when referring to ice cream, puppies/kittens, sports, traveling, the ocean, nature, or our spouse.

So, how do we love anything with our whole being? Think about the avenues through which we can offer our love. We can love with our mind, our emotions, our spirit, and our body. And how can we give visibility to the love we have in our heart, mind, soul, or body? We think about what we love, we feel deeply about what we love, our inner self burns with passion for that which we love, and our body becomes the vehicle whereby we pursue what we love.

What might those things look like? Let’s say I “love” cars (automobiles). As a child I begin to collect model cars. I build kits of different kinds of cars. I save my money to buy them, to buy paint, glue, and whatever else I need to put them together. I begin to differentiate which ones are my favorites, so, I buy more of that type of car, or I paint them with more care. I showcase my favorite cars and protect them from being damaged. As I grow older, I shift my fascination with model cars to real cars.

The point is, we spend time, money, energy, effort on the things we “love.” Loving God is no different. Ultimately, the thing or things we love captivate us and demand our heart, mind, soul, and strength, or we find something else that does. The irony of loving God is we want to love Him, but we also want to love our sin. We want to pursue God, but we also want to pursue what tempts us.

Jackie Hill Perry wrote: “I love God more than what I am tempted by.” To love God with all our heart, soul, and strength demands we make decisions regarding how we think, what we allow to feed our soul, and how we invest our body. What you think about comes about, so, if we’re going to think godly thoughts, we must feed our minds on things that are God-honoring, and spirit uplifting.

That’s the destructive nature of addictive behaviors. One minute we think it’s “under control,” until someone finds out, and we swear we’re done with it. That’s when we learn we didn’t have a destructive habit, it had us. It doesn’t matter our habit of choice, it can be porn, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex, swearing, or any other demonic means the devil uses to entrap us.

Ultimately, what controls our mind will control every other area of our life. That’s why reading and memorizing Scripture is so critical. We can’t hope to act right if we can’t learn to think right. We must train our eyes and ears to reverence the Lord Jesus in such a way that when we see or hear something that isn’t wholesome and God honoring, we immediately redirect our mind and heart to focus on Jesus.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Remember Whose You Are

“Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” (Matthew 6:8 NLT)

*Please drink deeply from the depths of the Living Water offered in these timely words of Sylvia Gunter. Used with permission. Blessings, Ed)

I don’t know your story and you don’t know mine, but we share a common theme. We are driven by the search for true identity, a desire to be understood and appreciated for who we are. We have a longing to seek out something more. Those are not evil desires. God gave us the desire to seek the essence of who He created us to be, so that He can fulfill it. He created the thirst so we can enjoy Him, the Living Water. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and energy looking everywhere else for that fulfillment.

My heart sinks as I see the areas in my life where I have chosen to find identity in my own broken cisterns, rather than drinking from the Living Water. When I truly see God for who He is what seemed like such a good source of legitimacy suddenly pales in comparison to true legitimacy found in God.

That is why it is critical to meditate on the truths of who God is and who we are in Him until it sinks down deep into our spirit, soul, and body. John Calvin wrote in The Institutes Of The Christian Religion, “It now remains to pour into the heart itself what the mind has absorbed. For the Word of God is not received by faith if it fills the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart.” Calvin is urging us to drink deeply of the Living Water of who He is and what we have because of who He is:

He is Jehovah-Jireh (provider).

Genesis 22:14 Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.

You can be sure He sees and knows your every need.

Matthew 6:8 Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

He is Jehovah-Rophe (healer).

Exodus 15:26 I am the LORD, who heals you.

You are being renewed.

Isaiah 40:31 … those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength…

He is Jehovah-Shalom (peace).

Judges 6:24 … and called it The LORD is Peace.

You have life and peace.

Romans 8:6 … to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

He is Jehovah-Nissi (banner).

Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.

You are led in Christ’s triumph.

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…

He is Jehovah-Rohi (shepherd).

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd…

You are His well-tended sheep.

Psalm 100:3 We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

He is Jehovah-Tsidkenu (righteousness).

Jeremiah 23:6 This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

You are free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

He is Jehovah-Shammah (God who is there, Eze. 48:35)

Matthew 28:20 Surely I am with you always…

You are continually with God.

Psalm 73:23 Yet I am always with you…

Stop and allow these truths to sink deep into your spirit. You may “know” these Scriptural facts, but now really receive their truth deeply in your spirit where your legitimacy, identity, significance, and birthright are defined by God.

Remember whose you are… and who you are in Him!

*Taken from Revealing The Treasures, an A-to-Z list of 455 pairs of Scripture revealing who God is and who you are in Him. Click here to order your own copy

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For an archive of past devotionals,www.thefathersbusiness.com