Thursday, January 30, 2014

What would it take to move you?

01/30/2014

Yesterday I was reading in the book of Acts and was struck by this question the Holy Spirit put on my heart.
Acts 20;22-24 (KJV)  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there.  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.  But none of these things move me, neither do count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

The KJV can sometimes have a lesser impact because of the style of writing....I want it to hit home with you so I am including the same text as written in the Living Bible.

And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistible by the Holy Spirit, not knowing what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.  But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus- the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.


WOW!  This is powerful and there are many lessons to learn in these few verses.  Let me share with you what the Holy Spirit shared with me.

1.)  Paul's mind was made up-   Prior to sharing what the Holy Spirit shared with him, concerning what awaited him,  Paul states "I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit.  and not our intentions.  It is wise to have your convictions settled prior to facing the moment of decision, that fork in the road.  When we are in a crisis, we tend to make emotional decisions instead of decisions based on the wisdom of God.

  2.)  Paul states he was constrained by the Holy Spirit or, as in the KJV, bound in the Spirit.  Paul was fully submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  When we submit to the Holy Spirit, we follow His path, not our own.  I don't know what was going through Paul's mind, but looking at the character of the Apostle Paul in many other situations, and the words used here, I doubt that Paul considered any other option.  I was thinking that when we are "bound" to something, we are dependent on someone else, are we not? If my hands and feet are bound then I must depend on someone else to transport me where I need to go, to carry out basic everyday tasks.  (If you have ever had broken legs or arms then you have experienced dependence in some degree.  When we are bound in the Spirit, then we are dependent upon the Spirit for every need.

3.)  Paul was not moved (detoured) by the words of the Holy Spirit "in every city, imprisonment and afflictions await me."  I hope I could pass such a test.  We often look for detours to get us out of a tough situation.  If there is too much traffic we seek a detour around it, we delay medical tests or avoid them all together because we know what awaits us (i.e. a colonoscopy!  :).  We avoid certain people because we don't want to talk to them.  This is our human nature, if there is a way out, we will find it.  Now, that is not all bad- but do you see my point?  If the Holy Spirit delivered the news to us that He delivered to Paul, would we be steadfast, unmovable?

4.)  Paul did not count his life of any value or precious to himself. -  We see them theme throughout the other books of the Bible that were written by Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Paul is not speaking of a self esteem issue, when he says he does not count his life of any value.  Instead he understands that when He became a Christian, he died to self.  In Galatians 2:29 Paul states the following:

I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

5.)  Paul looked at things through an eternal perspective- Paul ends these verses by sharing what was driving him to go, in spite of what lied ahead.  In verse 24 he states that he wants to finish the course and the ministry that was given to him by God.  Paul wanted to finish well.  Paul also understood that his mission was not of his own doing, but rather this ministry was given to him by God.  It wasn't his mission to decide if he would go, or any other decision.  Rather, he obeyed his Master, the One who gave him the mission.


America is living in dark days right now.  Christians are having their freedoms taken from them in record speed.  We must be prepared.  Paul said in vs 24 "But none of these things (the afflictions and imprisonments) move me.  What would it take to move us.  Let's stand steadfast in our convictions, submitted to the Holy Spirit and have an eternal perspective that we might stand firm even in the toughest of times and finish the race hearing our Master say "Well done" !

I Corinthians 15:58- Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.



To God be the glory!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Who are YOU??

January 29, 2014

First of all, let me say LONG TIME NO POST!!  I have wanted to but I have been so busy and my health does not always permit me to do all that I would like to do- However, I praise God that the blog is still being read on a daily basis by various folks in various countries around the world! To God be the Glory.

Yesterday I was reading my Bible and something struck me that I wanted to write about today- so let's jump in!

I think we all frequently answer the question "who are you?"  "what do you do?"  I am quick to answer that question with "I am in the medical profession"  and you probably do that same, answering the question with explaining your profession.

As I was reading my Bible, I was, once again, struck with how the Apostles answered such a question.  Friend, you and I would be wise to consider exactly how we identify ourselves.

Let's go to Scripture:


John called himself "The Voice"- He was a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way (John 1:23)

The Apostle Paul identified himself at the start of his letters as follows:

Romans 1:1- "Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, Separated unto the gospel of God"

I Corinthians 1:1- "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother."

II Corinthians 1:1- " Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth."

Galatians 1:1- "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ,) and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead"

Ephesians 1:1- "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."

Phillipians 1:1-" Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons."

Colossians 1:1-" Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother."

I Timothy 1:1- "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope."

II Timothy 1:1- "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus."

Titus 1:1- "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness."

Philemon 1:1- "Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer."

James introduced himself like this:

  James 1:1  "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..."

Peter introduced himself like this:

I Peter 1:1- " Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia."

II Peter 1:1- "  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Jude introduced himself like this:

Jude 1- "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called."

If you are a Christian then your primary identification, your primary occupation is as described above!  We are called to be a servant, servants to those who have obtained like precious faith,  we are called to be followers  or "apostles" or Jesus Christ, we are called to be Separated unto the Gospel,

When we come to the understanding that this is our primary occupation then we will carry that out in our worldly occupations. If you are a waitress, you will not just a "server" but a Servant!

If you are a Nurse, you will be a servant to your patients and their families.

If you are a business person- you will conduct your business in a Christ like manner, as you understand who it is you work for.

If you are a stay at home mom- (the most difficult of occupations! :) ) you will be a godly parent and be a Servant of Jesus Christ in your parenting while also teaching your children how to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ- Our Employer, our Boss is Jesus Christ.  When we are mistreated by our earthly employer, we must remember that our Heavenly Father is well aware, He is fair and just and He will handle the mistreatment if we remain faithful to our calling to be a servant, to be an apostle.

We must never lose sight of who we are.  It is overwhelming when I take the time to ponder on who I am in Christ- I am identified with the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe.  I will never be separated from Him.  I have 24/7 access to the Throne of God.

What happens to our heart, our lives, when we understand who we are and allow that to play out in every area of our life here on earth.

1.)  We will be more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives-  When we walk in the path that God has called us and strive to live out all that He has given us and asks of us, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will enable us to do this.  He is our Counselor.  Our ears will be more attentive to His workings and also our heart will be softer to the process of correction and convicting.

2.)  We will experience less discouragement.-  Our employers will let us down, our 8 hour days may become 10 hour days as we are called to meet deadlines, or take on added responsibility.  We will never get laid off or fired from God.  He will never hand us that pink slip and wish us "lots of luck" on our job search.  God will never approach us and say He has run out of resources and can no longer use us- there is no unemployment line when employed by God!

3.)  We will function with eternal values/consequences in mind.- Everything on this earth is temporal.  All of it will vanish away and have no eternal value.  The only eternal thing on this earth is the human soul.  The human soul will spend eternity in one of two places- heaven or hell.  Therefore, we must walk in a way that would help to draw others into a relationship or renewed relationship with Jesus Christ.

4.) We will remain humble-We have nothing to boast about.  We are no more important to God as the next soul.  We are not who we are due to any effort on our part.  We must never lose sight of the  reason, the One responsible for our awesome identity.  It is tempting to take credit for any achievement, as if our "spirituality" has anything to do with being a Servant, a fellow laborer.  All we did was accept the invitation- God did all the rest when He sent His Son to come to earth for the sole purpose of dying on a cross and resurrecting on the third day!  As the old hymn says:  Forbid it Lord that I should boast"  (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)

5.)  We will understand to whom we are servants-  Look at whom the Apostles were servants-They served God, the  saints AND the strangers!!  I believe when we serve Christ, serving the saints and strangers will follow.

6.)  We will better understand the Separated life we are called by God to lead-  This is a separation from the evil of this day.


Let us understand who we are, whose we are, and live a life that is worthy of our calling!

I will try to be more consistent with blogging!  It is something that helps me and hopefully encourages and blesses you!


To God be the Glory