Time In Mexico

I just spent a great week in Mexico visiting churches in the area we lived for many years. It was great to reconnect with our Latin friends and minister to hundreds of people. Actually over 800 strong! There were many salvations, and physical healings that took place. Wonderful times of ministry happened and I returned very encouraged seeing the grace of God continuing to abound in Mexico.

What an encouragement to see all that is taking place. There are many things I could mention and fill up a few pages. It is always great to see peoples lives changed. That never gets old. And even more so was the joy of seeing lasting fruit from our labors over the many years we lived and worked there. Even though I could talk about many things I want to focus on just one.

The one thing that stood out to me (I guess the thing that blessed me more than the rest) happened almost at the end of the trip. It was after seeing all the salvations and healings and ministering to hundreds seeing great results. It was in a breakfast for pastors where I was asked to speak on the last morning of my trip. It was a great time and great food. I believe I was able to help a lot of hurting pastors. What a great time!

But as I finished and we were about to dismiss they let different pastors get up and make announcements for all the churches to hear. The first person got up and before the announcement they began to talk about a time that happened about 1o years ago where I was living and ministering in that city. Her and her husband began coming to some of the services and were greatly helped to the point of their marriage being saved and consequently going on to pastor another church. Presently they are pastoring a successful work in the same city. But God used us to deliver His grace to their lives at a critical moment.

Now the reason this was a highlight for me is because it is easy to see the things we are doing in the present moment but seldom do we see fruit from seed sown in our past. What a joy it was for me to see that God’s grace used us beyond the boundaries we set for ourselves or beyond the sphere of ministry that we believe we have accomplished. It was so moving to hear their testimony. So even though the week was full of good things this one thing made the trip.

Fruit unseen. Fruit beyond expectation. Something lasting and growing. Wow! You know it is so much more fulfilling to see that our lives count for things more permanent than just momentary blessings and great meetings. It’s the stuff that lasts for eternity that makes a difference! All the rest is good but this is better!

Your basic variety of faith

There were five occasions in the book of Matthew where Jesus used the terms "oh you of little faith". All of the five occasions dealt with situations that we live on a daily basis. They were the following:

• worry
• fear
• doubt
• provision
• authority

 

The indication in what Jesus is saying about faith in these different situations is that all of us can have it. We can live believing God in each of these areas. The end result is a much richer life. After all, God has provided all things for us. But we must first believe him. We must have that basic faith of trusting him for the basic things in life. After all worry and doubt and fear are things that just tear us down. They never build our lives. As a matter of fact fear enslaves us. The Bible even speaks of fear as something that torments us. I think we know that to be true. It can actually paralyze you. And prevent you from acting or doing anything in a given situation. The word of God is riddled with God's provision of peace in the place of fear. We need only to trust him on a daily basis. I mean, if you look up phobias, you will find that there is at least one for every day of the year. God wants to set us free from all of those fears through his peace.

 

In the same way worry destroys us from the inside out. How many times have we been stressed out over a situation that we could not change and yet all our worry made no difference at all. The only thing we accomplished through all the worry in that situation was to feel sicker the normal. God cares about us so much more than all the animals that he created. And yet the word of God talks of him keeping his eye on the sparrow. We are worth a lot more than a spare and God wants us to know by trusting him that he will take your us.

 

Doubt is another one of those always present ways of thinking that robs us. The number one tool to combat doubt is the word of God. We must come to a place that we actually believe what the word of God says and act on it. In order to have faith in God we must believe his word is true. Then we must listen to his word and trust him to fulfill it. Unbelief, or doubt, keeps us from enjoying all that God has for us. Take a simple step against doubt in your mind. Instead of repeating the doubts you have with your lips quote the word of God. Sounds very silly and simple. But I guarantee you that it works. The hardest person to convince that the word of God is true is yourself.

So this last week I made a quality decision to write and organize a lot of material that I want to put into written form. I also determined to blog more often and put ink to my thoughts on a more regular basis.
You ask, "how is that working for you?" Glad you asked! Not so well. Why? It seems that the moment I decided to discipline my life in a certain area that work multiplied like never before. (well that might be an exageration but hey this is my blog!)
Doesn't that seem to happen in life all the time? The minute you determine to diet and stop eating certain GREAT foods you get invited and/or are in unavoidable situations where that is all there is to eat! It is inevitable that when we decide to discipline our life in any way that all kinds of obstacles come our way to cause us to fail at it.
So I am writing this to kick back and say that I will carry out what I believe the Lord has put in my heart to do! Why? First of all because when we set out to do something commissioned by our Lord He comes alongside to enable us to get it done. Secondly we make the effort even in the middle of contrary circumstances and find that we are not doing it in our own power but His. But we do need to start.
So many things in life never get accomplish because we are waiting for the right time. When things aren't so hectic, when summer is over, when there are less activities, when, when, when....
I wonder, no I know, that we need to act even in little tiny ways towards those goals and not lose sight of them. So I hope these words help you get focused on what you want to get done. It is helping me just by virtue of writing them. Be blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to go forward and realize more of your dreams and desires than ever before!!

Change Your Course in Life

Jesus didn’t just provide salvation to get into heaven. He provided the power to walk in newness of life and enjoy heaven on earth. We may not think about this very much but many if not all of us walk in bondages of some sort. Many are very subtle.

I am referring more specifically to patterns in life that we repeat over and over again that get us in trouble. Or simply they are things inbred if you will, through our experiences in life which are then mixed with our natural tendencies that create prisons of habitual behavior that keep us from God’s best in our lives.

Ok that was a mouthful. But I think it makes sense. Anyway you look at it we all have baggage. Stuff that inhibits us living a full life. There are fears that we carry that stop us from making decisions that would be beneficial. Sure we don’t always confront our fears but God does and has! There are also things we do over and over again the same way getting the same results: Wrong results, pain inflicting results.  How many times have you thought about things you do and afterward you say to yourself, “why did I get trapped into this again?”. Or am I alone?

I believe as I look at the word of God there is hope to change anything in our life that doesn’t lead us into fuller life and success. God wants us to be successful! So what stops us? Maybe I am just raising the questions more than giving answers to this paradox in life but I do believe the closer we walk with the Lord the more HE will reveal those areas that can be changed.

We make choices. If we are too weak to change the choices we make then we  must learn to find strength in His Word, in Him! There is no other way. Eventually as we lean on Him and choose to serve His righteousness we become free from the past pattern and create a new pattern that brings life and fulfillment to us and others around us. Could it be that simple? Well yes and no. Yes because He has provided everything we need for life and Godliness. No because in order to appropriate everything we need we must act differently following His commands.

We need to obey the Word (hopefully rightly interpreting the word) which may be contrary to what we feel at the moment. It is a choice of our will to walk in the newness of life. It is not enough to talk about it, we must act on it.

Ok so here is a simple example that I hope will help. I remember years ago raising my children that as missionaries we really didn’t have much money except for our needs. Nothing extra. So when we were anywhere in stores, etc. when our children would ask for something we would say we don’t have any money. Well after a while (years) I realized that even if we had money for something we would still say we had no money. It became a pattern. And at times a lie. Well this didn’t help me say what God says about me. It doesn’t say what I want to see as a new reality. That is having more than enough! So we finally had to change our speech. Now we would say simply we are not going to buy that now. Or buy it! But the point is we had to change the way we thought automatically until the new automatic no longer left us talking like we never had anything. And of course the reality of things changed over time.

I trust that helps. Look at yourself in the mirror. Listen to yourself when you say things. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see what you can’t see. Be willing to be discovered by God! And admit you need to change while asking Him to help you. Walk in a  new life! Really!

Where are the Joshua and Caleb

Today as I look around with natural and spiritual eyes I am reminded of two young men that were different than all the others around them. Of course I am speaking of Joshua and Caleb. The word of God says they had a different spirit.

What a statement. The other men, ten to be exact, that traveled with them on the mission to spy out the land felt different about everything that happened. The bible says they came back with an evil report. Well in our minds the report doesn’t warrant evil but to God it was. It was factual in every way but had a defeatist approach in its reporting. While Caleb and Joshua proclaimed ‘we are well able to go up and take the land’ the others according to their report saw themselves as weak and small in comparison to the task.

The only difference really is that Joshua and Caleb believed God and went after the Lord. They were willing to obey everything God had asked them because they KNEW God. Not just a head knowledge but a heart knowledge.

You see we find some characteristics about Joshua through the time that he served Moses. We find Joshua as a general in one place leading the armies to victory as commanded without hesitation. We find that when Moses went up on the mountain to talk with God that Joshua followed as far as he could and waited. We also see that when Moses would go into the tent of meeting to talk with God that Joshua would linger behind in God’s presence.

You see these two young men didn’t follow the tide of everyone around them. They went after God with abandon. They were willing to be counted among the few that stood for something. They walked with conviction and faithfulness to their Lord.

I believe there is a generation that needs to rise up and be counted like these two were. A generation that will not know the God of their fathers but their God. They will make the sacrifices to seek Him with their whole heart and stand upon convictions because of walking with God. Not somebody else's convictions. They will seek the Lord in order to hear His voice and not wait to be bottle fed by others to hear the voice of God. They will be among the few, the chosen. They will find the Lord as they go through life and the hand of God will be strong on them to lead their generation into victory once again.

Where are they? They are here, we just haven’t seen them yet. Maybe you are one of them. Are you going hard after God in spite of the tide of culture pulling you another way? Are you examining the Word and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you? Are you taking time to spend in the presence of God when it is not convenient? Are you following in obedience?

There is a generation that God is calling to and waiting. I am with HIM looking for that generation.

Special Grace

There are times that we need special grace in our Christian walk. And God has provided this special grace through his Holy Spirit that he is sent to us. It is three times the Holy Spirit comes upon us in a supernatural way that we are able to overcome in situations.

 

It is so awesome to know that God puts his presence on this in such a way to carry out tasks that we could not otherwise carry out on our own. As I look through the word of God at some of these special instances it has been refreshing to know that it happens very often. Peter in the first part of the book of acts when he stood up to preach. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God. The disciples came together after being attacked for their preaching and once again in their prayer time it says the Holy Spirit filled them and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 

Stephen was chosen as one of seven in acts chapter 6. And it's interesting to note that the apostles asked the people to choose seven men among them who were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. How do you know someone is full of the Holy Spirit? I think it is more than one thing that distinguishes a person who is full of the Holy Spirit. I think it is a life that shows the fullness of God and it.

 

But still it does say they were known to be full of the Holy Spirit. This means that people recognize the Holy Spirit's fullness in the seven men as opposed to others not having the fullness of the Holy Spirit. So there was a marked difference between people follow the Holy Spirit and people that were not. I think God's Word gives us a simple answer about the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

 

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something that is available to everyone of us just for the asking. He, the Holy Spirit, is available in a greater measure to help us in life. Not that he is not with us from the moment Jesus comes into our hearts. But the idea that we can be full of Holy Spirit even after being saved indicates that there is more that God wants to give to us at special moments of me. That is why we need to ask on a daily basis that he fill us with his Holy Spirit so that we would have the grace to walk through our circumstances. The grace to speak the words that we need to speak, to affect the situations that we live in, to touch the lives that need something from the Lord, etc.

 

After seeing numerous instances of the Holy Spirit coming on different ones with a special fullness it is clear that this is something available for us today. I think all of us know there are moments that we need a supernatural or divine aid in order to overcome what we are facing. That is why we have an opportunity to come to the throne of grace and freely ask for help when we need it. Then we will see the Lord fill us with his Holy Spirit and act through us with his power to accomplish his will and our lives.

How do I get help?

So let’s talk for a minute about getting help from God in our daily lives. Great subject. We all need help. So there is where we start. Recognizing that we need help. Hopefully we are already there. If not just keep living day after day and there will be a time that you are not able to take care of everything that is going on in your life. Or you don’t have an answer for what is happening. Maybe things are happening in your life that are totally out of your control.

In other words you didn’t cause it and have no control over its outcome. Especially at those moments all of us are in need of help. And we cannot do anything to change the situation without outside help. It is out of your hands.

So it is in life that all of us will live moments that we recognize a need for help. Now as Christians this is easy because we know we need God and more so every day. Life is not easy. We need divine intervention throughout our existence.

We ask Him for help. There are many promises in the Word of God that address this basic human need. Lord have mercy on us is a common cry. Daily we look to get closer to Him and be more Christ like in every way. This is a goal in life. It is not only a goal but it is the will of the Father that we be like His Son.

Once again the way we get help is to ask. Now let me focus for just a moment on what I just said. We ask! Nothing more is required. This seems to be something that is so simple yet very profound. Just ask. But I have to do something to get what God has for me. Or there needs to be proof that what I am asking for is mine. Why? Is it biblical to ask something of the Lord that He has already promised and then expect some sign or have to perform for it to be ours? Really? Isn’t it as simple as ‘ask and you shall receive’?

The correct answer of course is that if we ask He is faithful to answer. He will give us what we need. Now specifically if we ask for help God will supply help. Ask for the things He has clearly stated in His Word that He wants to give to us. Don’t hesitate and don’t wait for something spectacular to indicate that He has answered.Trust that He is true to His Word and is answering just as He said He would.