Month: December 2023

Guard | Protecting the Significant

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Guarding is strong.  Guarding is powerful.  Guarding is beautiful because it says what I have in me is valuable space.  Trivial things and those who tarnish or bring unbeneficial substances are not welcome here.

The sacred is alive in you (1 John 4:4) and it must be cherished and protected at all costs.  The Bible encourages us to, “Be sober, be vigilant…” (1 Peter 5:8).  Being vigilant means I must take a proactive approach to the value in me and be very attentive to the things that seek to drain and damage it.

Many distractions come in life with its very definition meaning to steal your focus and direction from what is truly important.  These distractions stand against the foundation of what one considers significant.   

But to truly treasure what’s in you is to truly treat it like the jewel that it is and stand guard against all who would try to misappropriate her value.  “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” Jesus warned His followers (John 10:10a).  So, the responsibility lies within each of us to be aware and never stop protecting the beauty He offers – “abundant life” (John 10:10b). 

Would it be profitable to move one’s feet from the position on the watchtower even for just a moment while an enemy creeps in unawares?

No.  It would not only be unprofitable, but it could be dangerous.  A foe is a foe and nothing else.  His purpose is to stop your advancement while Christ is accelerating you up to go forward.  But if you are slowed and your progress hindered due to a personal refusal to stand watch, then what of the treasure within?  Will it be used to its maximum usefulness, or will it, through neglect and lack of vigilance, dwindle and waste away?

The beauty within… the value within calls us to stand guard and to treasure and protect the significant.

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Enough to Satisfy! | Words to Live By

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The cross, and what Jesus did on the cross, is enough to satisfy and uphold the demands of God’s righteousness against the sin and sinners of today, yesterday, and forevermore.  Nothing else is needed.  It has already been proven that nothing else will do:

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:12-14

At the time of His death, all sin, past, present, and future, were placed upon our Savior as He hung on that cross.  It’s what one does with the revelation of the cross for their own life that makes all the difference. 

Relentless!

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Peter, one who walked with Jesus and walked on water, knew the value of the faith he believed and carried in his heart.  He had a deep concern that others would know this value too and refused to let anything stop him from passing it on.

He writes in 2 Peter 1:15, “Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance,” because for people like Peter, Paul, and the others that carried this holy message, facing death, suffering, and hardship due to the ministry was not a surprise.  It’s as if they knew it was part of the package of following Christ (see 2 Peter 2:14; compare 1 Peter 4:12, 13). 

Rather than let the thought of what they would face deter their faith or cause them to shrink back, they used it as a propelling place, putting even more fervency in the work of the ministry while they had time.

What about us?  For some, when things get hard, it pushes a stop button on any progress gained.  But what if we, with the same zeal and enthusiasm as they, refused to let the hard places stop our mission?  What would happen if we, like a woman in the process of a painful birthing experience, continued to push through it all to receive the reward at the end?

There is power in the push!  We are called to be relentless in our faith – not backing down, not easing up.  We have the goal of heaven before us, and as those working as “joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) in this Kingdom work, we want to help and assist as many as possible to find their way to this faith.

That cannot happen if we stop or if we let the thought of what could happen hinder our progress.

We must adopt the mindset of the apostle Paul and say for ourselves, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 3:14).  This is a forward march that refuses to lessen the pace, instead the stride is intensified knowing the prize is ahead.  The work continues with valiant efforts for the benefit of others.

Continue the push.  Be relentless.  None of what we go through or do for Christ will be in vain.  “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord,” (1 Corinthians 15:58). 

Our faith is of premium value.  Nothing can compare to what we have in Christ.  Refuse to back down.  Refuse to step aside from the ministry God has laid on your life.  Others are depending on you to keep pushing forward – to be relentless.

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:39

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Words to Live By | Go and Do Likewise

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𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗡:

𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬’ 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: “Which of these three….was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?”

𝐌𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞: “He that showed mercy on him.”

𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬’ 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝: “Go and do likewise!”. (Luke 10:36-37).

God Can Use Your Life

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How often have we gone through a mental checklist to compare ourselves with others or even the lives we see represented in the pages of Scripture? “If I were more like so-and-so, then I would be able to do _________ like they did.”

While our living can be inspired positively by others and we can learn mighty lessons through their stories, in the end their story and your story is written with God’s purpose for that particular life in mind. While Daniel is noted for his wisdom, his obedience, and altogether good character, when it came time to do what no one in history was able to do, tell another’s dream and give the interpretation, Daniel readily made it known that, “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart,” Daniel 2:30, emphasis added.

While all these good character traits put Daniel in a better position to be used by God in this fashion, Daniel, himself, recognized that it was not because of anything he had done, nor did he count himself more special than anyone else. He saw himself as the present vessel of that time that God chose to use for His divine purposes.

I feel like a lot of modern-day Christians are designing their own purposes for their lives and expecting God to put His stamp of approval on it. But when we read the lives represented in the Bible, that just was not the case. Peoples lives were often “interrrupted” by the call of God on their lives. Gideon was threshing wheat. Peter and the boys were out fishing. Samson’s mother was minding her business when an angelic being appeared to her. David was tending sheep. And Mary and Joseph’s plan for a normal betrothal period definitely did not go as they had planned. Even regarding the priesthood we see that, “No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,” Hebrews 5:4, emphasis added.

Individual’s callings are just that, callings. Certain people have certain appointments on their lives that may not look or operate as others do. Lives are meant to inspire us but we may not be able to completely replicate their story and experience exactly in our own lives. That was their story. We appreciate that we witnessed it or that it was recorded in history for us to glean God-truths from to help us build our faith.

But when Jesus states, “Without me ye can do nothing,” John 15:5, that’s exactly what He means. True wisdom recognizes this truth and lives daily before Him, measuring their course in this world by His Word. From that, as a potter with his vessel, we are molded, shaped, and used as the Master sees fit according to His holy purposes.

Live right. Yes.

Follow the Word. Yes.

Obey His calling. Yes.

Keep your character in check. Yes.

Walk in faith. Yes, and more.

But don’t get discouraged if your story looks different than another’s. As long as your living is pleasing in the eyes of God, that’s all that matters. And you can celebrate who you are, as the apostle Paul did himself in recognizing this truth: “By the grace of God I am what I am…” 1 Corinthians 15:10.

Who knows how your “right now” story is inspiring others. Daniel or other Bible characters probably couldn’t fathom us still being inspired by their stories thousands of years later. But, here we are.

You may not be interpreting dreams, healing the sick, or some other phenomenal feat – but I just want to encourage you to keep living for God. His purpose for you may look different than others but that does not take away from the fact that you are still here with a divine assignment on your life.

I may never walk on water, bring down Goliath with a stone, sleep in comfort on a pillow of lions, or take a stroll through fiery flames without being touched, but that doesn’t mean my life and your life isn’t touching someone else. Our daily, mundane, routine, unexciting, and unpopular living is not in vain. For if I only inspire one of my grandbabies (although I desire all) to follow the Lord, is this not a great treasure reaped from an “ordinary” life?

God can use your life right where you are at! Just live for Him. That is all Daniel ever wanted to do. He wasn’t seeking glory for himself or popularity. He simply recognized he was a vessel and it had nothing to do with him being better than any other in any sense of the word. God used him where he was at and God can use you, too.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” – Psalm 138:8

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” – Proverbs 19:21

“Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12

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