by admin | Mar 14, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Politics, Relationship Not Religion!
Well, I am the one who blew it. One act of Christian failure is so painful, especially when it involves a principal you try to live by. I have been so caught up in the political rhetoric of who did what and when, that I just teamed up with the enemy to be an accuser with a capital A. Not because I changed or added to the message but because I was so judgmental of the person involved.
Absolutely I am required to look at the behavior and the platform of those who are in office and those who are running for office. But there is that one little verse–well, maybe several hundred–about not judging others, not running to evil, especially not to lie about others.
I sent out an email to personal friends about someone in office, believing that the email I received was true. Well, it was not! It was about a person already in office and it did sound like the person, from what I have heard. I have known for years when I receive something of that kind, there are steps I should take.
The Bible says, It is the goodness of God that brings one to repentance! It is down dog awful hard to be the goodness of God while accusing and condemning another person. The steps I have learned and practice (when I am not in a fog bank of stupid) are:
First forgive the person, (not necessarily the behavior) John 20:23
Second, ask God for the grace to cleanse me of all judgment of that person’s character and nature; since that is God’s business and not mine.
Third, ask the Holy Spirit to draw them into the Divine wisdom, mercy and grace that they need to become men and women of God in their position, what ever that may be.
Fourth, I ask God to bless them in the area of behavior that is not in line with His will and ways.
Fifth, I ask the Holy Spirit to release the Spirit of Prophecy (of Jesus) in their presence.
Six, I bind the forces of darkness, deaf and dumb spirits, spirits of lust and greed not to interfere. I declare there will be no retaliation against me, my family, property or finances for these prayers.
Seven, I thank the Holy Spirit, Jesus and my Heavenly Father for all they have done and are doing! Then rejoice!
Of course there are times to sign petitions, to go to congress, to protest, to boycott; absolutely stand for the things of God. But, always with prayer beforehand, committing the way unto God and believing for His favor–without condemning individuals.
I have learned how easy it is to curse a person with my words, or condemn them with my opinions. Curses always boom-a-rang on those who make them, and condemnation creates anger, bitterness and hostility. And how am I doing with all of this? I’m a work in progress, and the more I share, the better I become.
The good that has come out of my rinky-dink mistake is that the Lord has put on my heart to start a prayer campaign for the candidates, starting the week after Easter until the election. One candidate and family per week! Think of the power of all that prayer in agreement!
So, my hope is, that you will join with me as we make a difference in the lives of those courageous enough to run for office and put themselves in the gladiator arena of the media and public opinion.
Was this ‘sin’ so awful? There are no major or minor sins in the Kingdom of God, just plain ole’ sin– a better get it right mistake. I am so grateful for the ones I can find and change, God help us for the ones we don’t see.
Just when I think I have enough to do, the Lord has another idea, and I stepped right into this one. I am grateful for that, the friend who called me on the error and very grateful to the Lord that He will use what the enemy meant for evil to energize and create good!
by admin | Feb 29, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Relationship Not Religion!, Uncategorized
Some one commented to me about working with another person in their office that they were so ‘controlling’ and everything had to be perfect. That atmosphere is difficult for those around a person driven to make things right.
There is such a subtle difference between striving to make things right and having a spirit of excellence. There is also a difference between taking control of a situation and assuming the role to lead, and demanding in a dictatorial way.
Many years ago (I love to relate this story because it has impacted all of my life and I so want the experience to help others.) after fasting and praying, the Lord told me I had never loved Him, I loved what is right. I was devastated and cried buckets of tears as the truth of what He said went into my heart and soul. At the same time I felt His overwhelming love, and I had an enormous desire to change–the difference between conviction and guilt.
As we strive and work to make things perfect it is like a hungry dragon chained to our very being, that never can get enough. The more we do the more the dragon requires. He becomes our pet dragon; his name is frustration. Often he invites friends to join him and they are anger, guilt and despair. We did not invite them but we house them in ignorance of our fundamental need to accept who we are.
Major problem with that, is, we must know who we are. And, who truly lives inside of us. It is not the dragon of perfection, but the Lord of Glory. The one who desires to bring life and love to all He does. How the Holy Spirit must cringe as we overshadow His brightness with the darkness of our lust and our need to be right.
The reason and result that causes this is the mind that is conditioned by the pain and misunderstanding in the past. When we seek to control so it is because we don’t want to be hurt again. We seek to make things right so that we will be OK. This striving for perfection doesn’t give time to be healed and to soak in the acceptance of our Heavenly Father.
Once we have invited Jesus into our heart, and begin to renew our mind with His love and His ways (His pathways to prosper and succeed) the Holy Spirit will begin to bring forth in us, a spirit of excellence. It is not His Spirit but our spirit full of a desire to reflect the very best because we want to Glorify God in all we do. We must already know that as a child of God, as we were reconciled to the Father through the death of His Son, we are accepted, loved, cherished, forgiven and worthy.
When we truly know, our spirit will kill the dragon and our purpose will be full of desire not fear of failure. The dragon does not go down easily but he is no match for the power of the Holy Spirit when we give Him His way in our life. And, if we fail we quickly repent….change the way we think seeking the wisdom for our life the Father wants us to have. When we fail we must know that the failure did not change our status with our Heavenly Father, He still loves us and desires each of us in His Kingdom forever!
The striving urgency of being perfect is a need to be healed; and a spirit of excellence is a passion to reflect the Holy Spirit within. One brings fatigue and pain, the other brings purpose and rest in the sufficiency of God.
Those in our family, our friends, our workplace who are feeding a dragon need our love, our declaration to the dragon that they are part of the Kingdom of God and he and his friends must go. We smile, let the person be right, pray and trust the Holy Spirit to draw them into the place, where He can give them all they will ever need for purpose and excellence. We can’t do it alone, the Holy Spirit is very, very good at what He does and we have the privilege of sharing in that for His Glory and our Joy!
by admin | Feb 28, 2008 | Jesus Talk, Kingdom Comments, Relationship Not Religion!
So many times we struggle with the Will of God for our lives. I am grieved when I see Christians almost in pain as they search for the Will of God in a situation or for direction. At those times it seems the harder we try the more illusive the answers become.
One of the most liberating things I leaned in study of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, the Greek word Will often means desire. Because the aim and personal purpose of my life is to know the heart of my Heavenly Father, He graciously gives me insights from time to time. I have found passion is the pathway to His heart!
The word desire was one of those precious gems the Holy Spirit put in my heart and revelation for how that applied to my life. If I believe that God’s Will is only one way, and that I must find it or fail, there is great stress over my life, my decisions. If I think and believe that if I violate His Will I have sinned against the Father, I am an open door for guilt and shame.
When I learned this I looked up the words and marked most of them in my Bible (New Testament) so I would not forget. There are several places where the Will of God is absolute; whatever is indicated will take place regardless of what we do or not do.
But where the word will is desire, it took on a whole new meaning for me. For instance out of the goodness of His Heart our Heavenly Father has a ‘desire’ that all would choose to invite Jesus into their heart and be relational for eternity. The desires of His Heart are for our protection and well being always! So as I read the verses with the word Will and substitute desire and read it again, I see the love God has for me and/or His effort to protect me.
Sometimes we seem to forget the power we have in ‘free will’ and our decisions and the decisions of others that determine our destiny. If we line up our desires (our free will) with the desires of God’s heart–we will both be happy!
God’s determined Will is daunting and seems like a law and tends to make us think legalistically instead of relationally. Fear of not doing the Willof God puts confusion in our mind, and makes it even harder to make good decisions. A Holy fear of God is a reverential respect for Him and awe of Him, not terror or dread.
When we sin, do something that is contrary to the desires of God’s heart, He is always there to forgive us and start us all over again. Sin is doing anything contrary to the will or desires of God that will hurt us or others. Getting to know the Father, asking to know, really know His heart is so beneficial and productive. As we experience Him we can share with others.
As we receive (and that too takes a decision on our part) the love of the Father in our life, we have greater capacity to love others. If we were not loved by our earthly father it is even harder to trust our Heavenly Father. I personally had a foster father and several step-fathers. All of them (fortunately) loved me, but left me, through no fault of their own. But it left me with fears and doubts about trusting my Heavenly Father.
I had to renew my mind (through repentance of not receiving, asking for the grace to receive and to renew my mind about all the Bible says about the love of God) to how much He really does love me. I am not too sure of my performance in life, but very sure of His Grace (unmerited love and favor) on my behalf, that I can rest in Him, knowing He will not forsake or leave me, (once I have invited Jesus into my heart) or give up on me in my darkest hours.
I just love to inject the word ‘desire’ in scriptures about God’s will, and see the joy it brings to my heart. That is a confirmation from the Holy Spirit! Desire just screams kindness, mercy and love! That is the Will of God, that we know His goodness, walk and talk and have our being in Him!
