Galatians 1:10-12

^10-12Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:10-12 MSG)

We talk all the time about how it is much better to receive revelation from Holy Spirit than from a man. I have been receiving revelation from the Lord for the last two weeks that is really death blowing my mind. The crazy thing about it all is how much it flies in the face of alot of what I have been taught or have believed from tradition, which is to say what comes from false religion or legalism. It was amazing to me to watch again this last week as a man who has grown up in church and taught Sunday School for 20 years and is recognized in his community as a “good Christian man” receives the revelation from Holy Spirit that he does not have a relationship with Jesus. All those years, it was just an emotional, religious, and ultimately worthless experience up until the point of redemption.

Enjoying Yourself?

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25  ”A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?”

Tonight I read Ecclesiastes 1 and 2, it’s interesting to say the least. In chapter 1 the author talks about how meaningless wisdom is, that there is nothing new under the sun, verse 18 says “the more knowledge, the more grief.” Chapter 2 he begins by talking about the great wealth he has built up in property and posessions, also livestock and slaves. He says that he denied himself nothing. Towards the end he gets kind of bitter, but then he tells of the important thing. Verses 24-25. The cool thing that I saw in this is that  it doesn’t matter what I do, for work or pleasure unless I am keeping God forefront in my life. “Without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Papa is the only one who gives me enjoyment, whether I’m a janitor or a CEO, Papa is the one who gives me enjoyment.

God IS Good

Tonight was just a glorious night.  We went to life group and God just showed up, and it wasn’t really what He did in the physical but in the spiritual that made it so good.  My wife and I left the group tonight so blessed and at peace knowing that everything went just like it was suppose to go.  My wife stepped out into God’s favor and spoke words that only Holy Spirit could have gave her and it blessed my heart.  It excited me to see her walk as the women God created her to be.  My time spent with Papa today was not really about me but about my wife, and that meant even more to me.  I was just really proud of her. 

Father I thank You for what You are doing in Rita’s life, and I thank You that I get to be a part of it.

Free Indeed (John 8:36)

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, NIV)

How does this happen? How am I free “indeed”?

Our enemy is relentless (1 Peter 5:8). He is continually at us. He is the master deceiver. John 8:44 tells us his native tongue is falsehood. That is who he is. So every morning when we wake up, our enemy is looking for some deception for us to grab hold of; some falsehood of who we are; some fallacy saying that who we WERE is who we ARE; some cock-and-bull story about some bondage we’ll never shake, some addiction we’ll never kick, some fear we’ll never be rid of. ALL OF IT LIES.

Jesus said “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus said it. So I ask again… “How?” Enter Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20, NASB)

Check this out. If I am dead. What power does anyone hold over me? What power does any thing hold over me? What power does any addiction, any fear, any bondage hold over me? None. If I am no longer alive, then I have no more worries to haunt me, no more fears to paralyze me, no more rights to be stepped on, no more expectations to be let down, no more LIES to BELIEVE.

That, my friend, is good news.

Wind and Waves pt. 2

I am still studying on wind and waves through Mk 4, 6 and 8 and the other Gospels with these stories in them.  I am learning more and more about what the wind and waves look like.  I have attributed to much to the enemy when God is the one doing it.  I try to cast things out and off and away and quiet things that the Lord is doing.  I am looking at distinguishing the different winds as well.  Some of the winds God quieted and calmed, others He payed no attention to.  Some winds were not good, others are.  Heb. 1:7 makes the wind sound good but Eph. 4, Mt. 7 and Lk 8 make the wind sounds bad or at least a contributing factor of bad.  What wind is good and what is bad?  How do I distinguish between the 2?  Do I even worry about any of it and focus any attention on it at all?

Knowing God’s Promise

Reading Genesis 26:12-35 today.  In this story, Isaac’s men keep digging wells and the Philistines (who have said they won’t harm Isaac or his family) keep claiming them.  So, Isaac moves on.  He doesn’t fight them or argue, he simply moves to another location and digs another well.  He keeps moving and digging until no one else claims them.  And then it says in verse 24 “And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.””  What struck me was that in Genesis 26:2-5 God had said pretty much the same thing.  I also imagine that Abraham had told Isaac that God had promised these things as well.  So Isaac knew this yet, God kept telling him.

It is clear to me that Isaac knew God was going to bless him.  Why else would you walk away from the water that you had just found?  Only a man who understood that God was his provider would do such a thing.  Isaac did not need the water that the Philistines were taking.  He knew that God would provide more.  There is much freedom and relaxation when you know that God has made promises to you and you make choices and decisions based upon that knowledge.

Still, God comes to him and tels him what he already knows.  Now, the Bible doesn’t say this, but I imagine that Isaac might have become discouraged at times, or might have had the tendency to become discouraged.  We know his dad liked to take matters into his own hands fromt time to time.  God, simply shows up and continues to tell him, to reiterate and reinforce the knowledge that he will be blessed.

It is a good thing when Papa continues to tell us things.  It helps us to stay focused and not get distracted by the other noise around us.