Prayer changes things!!

A few days before all the ruckus hit about the Starbucks coffee cups, a friend informed me of it and asked me what I thought.  I told her that it didn’t matter to me.  This is a coffee shop that by no means has ever professed to be a Christian company.  I said what would bother me more is if a Christian company deliberately took Christmas out of advertisement, etc to appease the masses.

 

We’re not dealing with the flesh, we’re dealing with spirits.  There are good spirits, angels… and bad spirits, demons and power and principalities.  When we deal with people, this is what we’re dealing with.  Ephesians 6:12   I wasn’t trying to demonize anyone, but rather trying to make a point.

 

Why should we expect a “non-believing company” to follow Christian teaching?  We shouldn’t.  To expect companies to be “Christian” when they’re not Christian is sort of like legalism.  When Christians…NO… “Christians” attack others for not upholding our traditions of celebrating the birth of our Savior, aren’t they being legalistic?  It’s like telling someone that they need to clean up their life before they approach God.  NONE of us can clean ourselves up.  Isaiah 64:6  Only God can clean us and make us white as snow.  Isaiah 1:18  A non Christian company trying to appeal to the Christian community is no more a Christian company than a person sitting in a garage is a car.  It doesn’t work that way.  And, for the life of me, I wonder just how long it’s going to take the church to understand this?

 

If we want to win the lost to the Lord, we have to make ourselves available for the Lord to work through us.  That…is a sacrifice.  We have to walk along side people, loving them, maybe even while they’re still in sin.  We need to be Jesus to them with the hope of winning them to the Kingdom of God.  Love never fails.  Have we forgotten where we’ve come from?  Have we forgotten that Jesus walked along side us, loving us even while we were sinners?  Aren’t we supposed to be Jesus to others?

 

This supposed lashing out of Christians against Starbucks is ridiculous.  And, I’ve heard a lot of people running their mouths about this.  Some are against the “plain red cup.” And, some are so “spiritually superior” that they say they don’t even know a Christian who is so selfish to speak that way.

 

Prayer!!

 

Prayer changes things!!

 

When are we, as the Church, going to understand that prayer is the answer?

 

I have to tell you that it doesn’t bother me to drink my coffee out of a plain red cup.  I visit Starbucks nearly every day.  I do enjoy the coffee, but anyone who knows me, knows that this is where my ministry is.  I will continue to have my coffee here until the Lord leads me elsewhere.  God sends us to the lost and the broken because it’s His will that all would be saved.  2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4  Are we too good to reach out to the lost and broken?  If we are, I wonder if we’ve truly had a Christian conversion…or perhaps one is just “playing church?”

 

Think about it folks.  Pray about it.  Ask God how He would react to this “red cup,” and then ask yourself how you should really respond.

 

If we want to change the world for the Kingdom of God, it’s not by legalistic ruling.  It will happen by being the hands and feet of Jesus…loving our neighbor as ourselves.   

He is God. We are not.

My sheep know my voice. They hear me and they follow me.  Matthew 10:27

 

We don’t get to decide who God is. He is who He is, like it or not, simply because, He is God.  We are not.  Exodus 3:14

 

You see, we have the freedom to choose Him…or not. He is God. We are not. We are broken, hurting sinful people who need repentance of sin and submission to God.  We need Jesus. When we truly and fully choose Him, we abandon our ways and want to choose Him and His ways. When we truly and fully choose His ways, we don’t knowingly refuse to follow Him. We learn to give up our will and make His will our will.  We crucify our flesh.

 

He is God.  We are not.

 

His truths are far beyond the “truths” of man.  Man’s own “man made, shaped, and formed” knowledge gets in the way of God’s wisdom.  1 Corinthians 3:19  says,

 

“The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.”

 

Pray for those who cannot/choose not to see Him for who He is.  Choose to love instead of choosing to hate and/or separate.  The veil that hasn’t been removed is what keeps people from seeing Him and His ways.  Pray that God will remove the veil from the eyes of unbelievers.  Pray that hearts will be softened.  God has given us all the opportunity to come to Him.  He has given us all a measure of faith. Romans 12:3   It’s a matter of choice for each of us…not just a few of us…each and every one of us.  We have to choose to set our faith in motion. Choose to repent of our sin and follow Jesus fully.  Choose to love people who are still in sin the way Jesus loved us while we were still in sin. Romans 5:8

 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

 

Knowing what sin is and clinging to Him to overcome that sin is following Him, whatever the sin may be. (e.g., gossip, overeating, alcoholism, the occult, witch craft, lying, drugs, cheating, fornication, adultery, homosexual behavior, murder and the list goes on)  We cling to Jesus; trust that He will see us through to overcome whatever sin(s) we need to get rid of in our lives to be more like Him. We don’t wallow in it.  Knowing what sin is and knowingly choosing to wallow in it is not following Him.  We cannot wallow in sin and cry, “God’s grace.”  That is man’s way, not God’s way.  It’s one thing to sin and ask forgiveness while continuing with God to overcome an issue. It’s completely another to knowingly continue in sin without repentance. There is a definite difference.  Don’t choose denial, or bury your head in the sand, or cover your eyes from the truth.  Those are not legitimate reasons.

 

You see, we don’t get to set the parameters. God did that once and for all.    Job 38-42:2 ,     Ephesians 1:3-5  We can change our worldly laws to suit our sinful desires, and believe that “all is well”…but...

 

Don’t allow yourself to be deceived.

 

His silence does not equal His approval.

 

Justice will prevail…sooner or later…it will prevail.

 

I’m only a woman. A woman with very little education, compared to “worldly standards.” I don’t and won’t pretend to know the mind of God.  But, I wonder if His lack of immediate action is kindness and mercy on His part…giving us more than ample time to correct the error of our wandering ways?

 

Again…He is God.  We are not.  His ways are sovereign.

 

Not all who claim to know Him will make it to Heaven.  Matthew 7:20-23  Anyone can call themselves a Christian.  That doesn’t mean that they are.  Only God knows our hearts, but He did say there are ways to discern.  The true mark of a Christian is one who lives a life of submission to God, one who has the evidence of the fruits of the spirit.  Ephesians 5,         Matthew 7:15-20   Don’t allow yourself to be deceived.  His silence does not equal His approval. He loves His children unconditionally.  His children are those who repent of sin, take up their cross and follow Him…daily…not just on Sunday…not just when life throws you a curve ball…daily.  We must choose Him.

For those who are truly seeking His ways, His grace is sufficient.  2 Corinthians 12:9  His grace is not a license to sin…period…never has been…never will be.  A true follower of Christ is consistently working to be like Him. Philippians 2:12 

 

Doing what you want continually and crying “grace,” simply put, is rebellion.

 

Don’t allow yourself to be deceived.

 

Again…He set the parameters.

 

He is God.  We are not.

 

Yes, God loves us and His will is that all would come to Him for salvation.   1 Timothy 2:1-4  But, He forces no one to submit to Him.  That is not love.  Love is a choice.  Either you choose to love Him or you don’t. We are free to choose whatever we want.  But…remember this; we are not free from the consequences of our choices, whether good consequences or bad consequences.  It’s totally our choice.

 

We hold the key in our hand.  There are two doors set before us.  One has Jesus waiting for us, beckoning us to join Him.  This doorway and path leading onward is very narrow and not easily traversed.  The only way to continue on this path is with the guidance of Jesus.  It leads to our Heavenly Father.  On the other hand, the other door is easy to walk through.  It’s wide…easy to access the other side…no rules with an “anything goes” attitude.  And, it all looks fantastic from this side. But it leads to eternity in hell.  Don’t allow yourself to be deceived.

 

You see, we choose.  Either way, we choose.  Life on this earth is but a vapor compared to eternity.  James 4:14

 

Eternity is a long time.

 

Choose wisely.

Be a cheerful giver!

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.  2 Corinthians 9:7

Many years ago I was mentoring someone who was having all sorts of difficulty in their life.  This person was a Christian and struggling in many areas, finances being one of them.  I helped them to get a schedule for their bills lined up with their pay periods, taught them how to balance their checking account and encouraged them to keep up with it. 

As we were working through all of these things, suddenly this person angrily blurted out that they were tithing and they were sick of tithing because they weren’t seeing a dime of increase from their giving.  I was shocked!  At that point I asked a few questions and then went on to tell them that they might as well stop giving anything.  They looked at me very perplexed.  I went on to explain that God wants us to be cheerful in our giving.  If we cannot do what He has asked us to do with a cheerful heart, we may as well not do it at all. 

In the Old Testament (Malachi 3:6-12), God commands us to give the first ten percent of our gain to the storehouse.  But, the New Testament doesn’t give a specific amount to give.  One example that Jesus used is of the widow giving two mites in Mark 12:41-44.  Even though she had given less than those who were wealthy, she had given all that she had and given it cheerfully and without show.  I believe that Jesus wants us to give with a cheerful heart.  If we give what we have purposed in our heart, but do it grudgingly, we’re not giving freely or with a cheerful heart.  Cheerful obedience is the key.

God doesn’t need our money or things.  Everything in this world is His.  What we have in our personal possession are things that God allows us to have.  It’s our job to be good stewards of what he has allowed in our possession.  Be generous with your time, things, finances, etc.  I remember a time when I felt like the Lord was challenging me to be more generous with my time.  It’s not just finances that we should be generous with.  It’s our lives we should be generous with.  I see myself as being nothing without Jesus Christ.  All I have, all I am I owe to Him and I can never repay Him for His generosity towards me. 

I encourage us all to be generous givers of all that we have to offer…and to be cheerful givers.  That’s what the Lord asks of us.     

So...I find myself frustrated with...

So...I find myself frustrated with others from time to time.  Then I ask myself, why?  Well, because they’re not doing what I think they should.  Hmmm…then I ask myself…what am I not doing that God wants me to do and is probably waiting for me to do?  Yikes!!  Hello!!

You know if we have given our lives to follow Jesus, we are all on a different place on the same path.  Just because we “get” or understand something now doesn’t mean that everyone else around us will get it at the same time we do.  In fact, if we’re honest with ourselves, we probably aren’t getting something that they understand. 

We’re all unique individuals and God has a time and place for understanding the things that He wants us to understand as individuals.  And…He is supremely patient in waiting for us to come to the understanding that He wants us to have.  Oh, how grateful I am for His grace and mercy for me!!

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17 

We need to be who God made us to be and not compare ourselves to others…or hold them to our expectations!  As we interact with others, just simply being who we are in Christ will cause us to sharpen one another.  That’s the work of the Holy Spirit…not us.

So, cut yourself and others some slack.  Take care of yourself.  Focus on being who you are in Christ.  Leave the rest to God.  I’m sure He’s got it all under control!  J

In Paula Deen's situation...

 

The last few days the hot topic has been about Paula Deen.  I read today where someone said that no grace had been extended to her and how folks don’t understand God’s grace.  Well, I have to agree that many folks don’t understand God’s grace, but I don’t agree that it’s our place to decide whether or not grace has been extended to her or not.  There’s no way we can know the full extent of what has happened to cause this storm.

In my own life, I have sowed and reaped good things and bad things.  It’s life!  I’m an imperfect human just like everyone else who has ever walked this planet, except Jesus, of course.  I have had to be a part of reaping things that were not good because I was a part of a family/group that had sown badly.  No, it’s not fair…and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that there have been days I have struggled with the idea that I felt like I was paying for someone else’s bad sowing.  But, the reality is…God is sovereign…period!!  He has a purpose for all things and it’s not for me to question his sovereignty. (Trust me, I have reaped plenty of my own sowing from poor choices, too!)

And yet some might say; where is God’s grace in all of this?  Maybe we/whomever should just be let off the hook because of God’s grace? I could easily ask these questions in the situations I’ve been in where I wasn’t the one doing the sowing, but…I won’t.  The reason is because I see God’s grace everywhere in these situations in my own life!  My question is; who are we to determine where God’s grace ends and where it begins?  I can easily see that if it weren’t for God’s grace, things could be a lot worse than they are now in my life/family…but it’s not!  I know God’s grace is here…but I truly don’t know the extent…beginning and ending of it.  Nor is it for me to question the sovereignty of God.  I trust that He knows best.


I also know from my own experiences that I’ve extended a tremendous amount of grace to folks who have abused it.  At some point, we all have to make a decision that we’re not going to be a door mat.

 

In Paula Deen’s situation, I feel badly that she’s having a rough go of it now.  But I also feel badly for those who have been the recipient of harsh words spoken to them by her.  It’s a bad situation all around.  There is no winner in this.  But this I do know; And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 

Sometimes, reaping what we’ve sown is not easy.  But, it’s what we learn from it and how we apply it to our future sowing that either makes us a better person or in our stupidity or ignorance, keeps us continuing on the same path.  It’s our choice. 

Just because you stand for what you believe...

Just because you stand for what you believe doesn’t mean you don’t love sinners.  Speak the truth in love, love the sinner. 

If you’re a Christian, persecution comes with the territory to a greater or lesser degree depending upon where in the world you live.  If we stand up for the truth of what God says about living a moral life, we’re persecuted. 

When Jesus told the Pharisees that whoever was without sin to cast the first stone, He was defending a woman who had been caught in adultery.  Jesus then spoke to the woman and told her to go and sin no more.  He spoke the truth to her in that she shouldn’t commit the sin of adultery any longer.  He was loving and kind to her.  He didn’t shy away from speaking the truth to her in love nor did He condemn her or, being the only One without sin, He didn’t stone her.

This is how we should, as Christians, handle similar situations.  In the times that we live in now, it seems that we can say that we’ve nearly seen it all…there’s nothing new under the sun.  There are some crazy things going on in our world and when we need to stand up for the truth, we need to speak the truth in love.  In 1 Corinthians it says that if we speak with tongues of men or angels but we don’t have love, we are like a clanging gong or cymbal.  Annoying!!  Speak the truth in love, but know that not everyone is going to like what you have to say.  Persecution is everywhere and should be anticipated.  Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.   Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.   But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” John 15:18-22

Don’t condone sin.  Speak the truth in love.  Know that we will be persecuted.  Remember that God is with us.  His grace is sufficient to get us through all things!

His Grace Is Sufficient!

I have to tell you, I had been a Christian for quite some time before I fully understood what God’s grace was.  We sing and talk about it all the time, but until the Lord removes the veil, it’s difficult to understand just “what” it is.

I remember being a part of leadership in a group that was headed out to a function.  Man, I Did. Not. Want. to be a part of it!  But I knew that it was something that the Lord wanted me to do.  I remember that day.  I dragged my feet all day long putting off preparation for it.  I even thought…maybe I can get out of it at the last moment.  You know, maybe, just maybe I had been wrong in thinking that the Lord wanted me there.  Well, I prayed early in the day, ‘Lord, if you want me to be a part of this, I pray that You will give me the grace to get through it.’  So, as the time drew near and I made my move to prepare for the evening…suddenly my outlook began to change.  Long story short, I found myself in the middle of the evening, not only having a great time, but being one of the "instigators of funness!”  It was then that I realized how amazing God’s grace is. 

His grace “fills in,” so to speak, for us when there is nothing that we can do to make situations better for ourselves.  The Holy Spirit fills the “gap” from where we are to where we need to be.  It’s totally and completely supernatural…something that we are completely incapable of doing for ourselves…just like Salvation! 

You see, when Jesus gave up His life on the cross, took our sin, shame, sickness, disease, etc, He bridged the gap between God and all mankind.  He is grace.  Bridging that gap is something that no man can or ever will be able to do.  Jesus did it…once and for all!  He then sent the Person of the Spirit of God to be our Helper after His resurrection. The Holy Spirit supernaturally “helps us”…or “fills in the gap” when  we are incapable of doing something on our own.  A! MAZ! ING!!

Remember to call on the Lord always when help is needed.  He is always here for us and will never fail us.  His grace IS sufficient!!