I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
My favorite word is every word that God speaks to my heart. These are the latest words that came into my heart. I believe that they are from Him.
Come to Jesus with your heart humble, open, hungry and honest like a little child’s, so that He and His Father can supernaturally reveal His never-ending presence, power, and reality to you. Let your heart be drawn into and remain constantly yoked to Christ like a pair of oxen pulling a loaded wagon. Then you will discover that having Jesus always walking with you and working within you will cause you to see your burden as a light affliction that is producing eternal glory in and through you. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
As you daily take Christ’s yoke of gentleness and lowliness upon you and learn from Him through ongoing direct personal revelation you will find true inner peace in your soul. Live your life consistently yoked heart-to-heart with the risen Jesus because when He is ignored the Holy Spirit is quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and religion becomes nothing more than an empty and powerless outward form of godliness. (2 Timothy 3:5)
For God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10) it must begin inside of human hearts that are so solidly yoked to Jesus that He is able to transform people’s thinking and behavior to align with God’s desires. Will you allow God the Holy Spirit to yoke all of your thoughts, feelings, desires, and behaviors to the living Jesus?
Day and night my plans and schedule are simple. I long for and pursue one thing. Like the ancient King David my heart cries out: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him . . .” (Psalm 27:4)
When Jesus is truly present, His authority, Lordship, and reign as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is at hand. He has brought the kingdom (the inner government) of heaven near to us. (Matthew 4:17) Will you strive (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) to always surrender to, submit to, and obey Christ as your Ruler and Absolute Master — as your Lord and your God? (John 20:28) Will you freely allow King Jesus to step-by-step remove you from the dominion of inner darkness and bring you into full alignment with His kingdom (His inner government)? (Colossians 1:13)
If you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, behold the Lamb of God, (John 1:29) continually fix your eyes on the risen Jesus, (Hebrews 12:2) and become a daily demonstration of the presence, power, (1 Corinthians 2:4) and fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) of God the Holy Spirit. In everything you think, say, and do follow and obey the inner leading of God the Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
Never stop seeking Jesus! The world is full of pleasure-seekers, comfort-seekers, and power-seekers, but Christ-seekers are hard to find. Consistently be one both now and forever! (Matthew 6:33)
Is it possible for Jesus to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons through you? Yes! Do the above and you will begin to see and experience miracles both in and through your life.
Casual, lukewarm Christianity raises a red flag with me. Why? Because of what Jesus said in Revelation 3:16: “Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Jesus preaches. The kingdom of God is right here right now! Wake up and passionately seek as your first priority to be ruled and governed within by King Jesus day-and-night. (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus teaches. Christ-seekers listen to His voice and follow Him. (John 10:27) Christ-seekers receive direct revelation from God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-13) They receive access to the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) Christ-seekers are taught by God to love one another. (1 Thessalonians 4:9) Jesus-first seekers hear the words of God. (John 8:47) They are taught (John 14:26) and led by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
Jesus heals. Jesus is seeker-sensitive and seeker-friendly. Continually seek as your first priority to align your will and your desires with King Jesus and everything else in your life will begin to make sense and fall into place. (Matthew 6:33) Let your weariness, pain, and disappointment draw you to Christ and He will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28) Wake up and become a radically committed Christ-seeker.
Christ-seekers are not self-seeking. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) They’re self-denying, daily-cross-bearing Christ-followers. (Luke 9:23) True Christ-followers are Christ-seekers, not merely Christ-inquirers. They’re deeply passionate about staying focused on the risen Jesus. They’re not just occasionally curious about Him.
“Seeking” is a powerful concept in the Bible. It involves actively and passionately pursuing the kingdom (the inner government) of God, the presence and will of the Lord and King Jesus, and His righteousness (right-living). (Matthew 6:33) Seeking God requires intention, attention, and persistence.
To seek first God’s kingdom, begin to consistently pray like ancient King David did: “O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water.” (Psalm 63:1) King David testified: “I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalm 34-4-6)
God rewards people who earnestly and diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) He shines His light in the heart of a Christ-seeker. (2 Corinthians 4:6) Wake up! “Seek and you shall find.” (Matthew 7:7)
When some of Christ’s followers went to His tomb, two angles said to them: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!” (Luke 24:5-6) Jesus is not entombed in history or in religion. He doesn’t stay there. He has risen and is now present everywhere. (Matthew 28:20) Seek Christ’s presence wherever you are and wherever you go.
Matthew 8 — Christ-Seekers Experience Amazing Words, Amazing Faith, and Amazing Miracles
In Matthew 6 Jesus says to make seeking the kingdom of God your first priority–the passion of your life. (6:33) In Matthew 8 we see seekers seeking Jesus.
Seeker 1 (a leper condemned unclean and untouchable by society) says: “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (8:2)
Jesus reaches out and touches this person who society says should never be touched. Then He says: “I am willing. Be clean!” Seeker 1 is immediately healed of leprosy and uncleanness. (8:3)
Seeker 2 says: “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” (8:6)
Jesus says: “Shall I come and heal him?” (8:7)
Seeker 2 says: “Lord, I do not deserve to have You come under my roof. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” (8:8)
Jesus is amazed and says to the crowd gathered around Him: “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (8:10)
Turning directly to Seeker 2 Jesus says: “Let it be done just as you believed it would.” Seeker 2’s servant is healed at that very moment. (8:13)
Many seekers bring demonized people to Jesus. Jesus drives out the evil spirits with a word and heals those who are sick. This fulfills God’s word that was spoken and written centuries earlier by Isaiah the prophet: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (8:16-17)
Seeker 3 says: “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” (8:19)
Jesus says: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” (8:20)
Seeker 4 says: “Lord, first let me go and burry my father.” (8:21)
Jesus says: “Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead.” (8:22)
Jesus disciples follow Him into a boat. While they are crossing the Sea of Galilee a furious storm comes up and waves are sweeping over the boat. Jesus is asleep but fear turns His disciples into passionate seekers, and they wake Him up saying: “We’re going to drown.” (8:23-26)
Jesus says to His disciples: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He rebukes the storm and the waves and suddenly it is completely calm. (8:26)
Christ’s disciples are amazed and say: “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him?” (8:27)
On the other side of the lake two demonized men meet Jesus. They shout: “What do you want with us, Son of God? . . . If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” A large heard of pigs is feeding nearby. (8:30-31)
Jesus says: “Go!” (8:32)
The demons come out of the two men and enter the pigs. The whole heard rushes into the Sea of Galilee and drowns. The pig keepers run away and tell the local town about what happened. The townspeople go out to find Jesus, but they aren’t true seekers. Instead of seeking for Christ to stay, they beg Him to go away. (8:32-34)
Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Do you want Him to stay with you, (Hebrews 13:5) to live in you, (Colossians 1:27) to be your Lord and your God, (John 20:28) and to rule and lead you by His Spirit? (Romans 8:14) Or do you want Him to go away and let you do things your own way?
First things first. As inspirational as many athletes are, they don’t receive my first respect. That goes to The King. I strive to see eye to eye with Him.
In the Sermon on the Mount King Jesus (Revelation 19:16) used the word “first’ twice. First He said to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Second, He said to “First take the plank out of your own eye.” (Matthew 7:5) Matthew sums up Christ’s message by saying that Jesus preached “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) To repent is to take the plank out of your own eye. “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” means that the will of God and His inner government is available to those who will seek it as their first priority.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus asked God the Father: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) He said to keep seeking God’s kingdom (God’s will) as the first purpose of your life. (Matthew 6:33) The more you will humbly, sincerely, and persistently knock on God’s door, the closer you will get to His inner kingdom and His will in your daily life. (James 4:6)
Which way will you go? Will you continually seek and passionately pursue the narrow gate and road that leads to life? (Matthew 7:13-14) Or will you casually drift along the broad road that leads to destruction? The risen Jesus is the narrow gate! (John 10:7)
Be very careful because Jesus warned of false prophets who look like sheep “but inwardly are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Jesus said that you can recognize false prophets by their fruit. (Matthew 7:16) If a preacher, teacher, or leader doesn’t bear the “good fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) he is a false prophet. (Matthew 7:19-20) It’s not enough to say “Lord, Lord!” Christ followers are called to actually obey the living Jesus and do the will of God. (Matthew 7:21-28)
Fortunately, Jesus, the gate to the kingdom of God, is ready to live inside of you, (Colossians 1:27) empower you, (Acts 1:8) and continually lead you by His Spirit. (Romans 8:28) Never stop seeking King Jesus and His inner government of your life with “all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”? (Matthew 22:37) Always keep the risen Jesus first and center in your daily focus.
Some people think I am crazy for trusting so much in Jesus. Here are the people who I think are crazy. People who trust distracted drivers in parking lots not to accidently hit them when they step right in front of their moving vehicles while focusing on their phone. Stop, look, and listen.
I relax by pursuing inner peace. I was an anxious child and as long as I can remember I have hungered for and pursued inner peace. At an early age I began resisting negative thoughts and driving them out of my mind. I’ve worked hard to focus on the good things in my life. I’ve sought to avoid negative emotions and to embrace positive ones. As I got older, I began reading and trying to apply self-help books. (I eventually became a full-time motivational speaker.)
My pursuit of inner peace took a giant step forward when as a college freshman I encountered and surrendered my life to the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. As I began to seek first the kingdom (inner government) of God in my life the Holy Spirit begin to produce more and more peace in me. The more peace I felt, the more I wanted and the more I pursued a closer relationship with Christ.
People don’t seek what they think they already have. If you think your driver’s license is in your pocket, you won’t seek it, but if you think it’s lost you’ll turn your house upside down searching for it. If you think the kingdom of God is something you have already fully experienced, then you won’t hunt for it. It won’t be your first priority to seek it day and night. (Matthew 6:33)
Christianity is about pursuing the kingdom of God as your number one passion in life by hungering and thirsting for righteousness. (Matthew 5:6) It focuses on pressing towards and fulfilling God’s high calling on your life. (Philippians 3:14) It’s all about drawing closer and closer to God. (James 4:8)
Seeking first the kingdom of God is about setting your heart on and pursuing “things above.” (Colossians 3:1) It involves searching for the Lord “with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) It’s about fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7) It’s about fixing our eyes on Jesus and running with endurance the race that God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
True Christianity is about offering your body as a living sacrifice, being continually transformed by the renewing of your mind, and not conforming to the lifestyles of this world. (Romans 12:1-2) It’s about wanting intimacy with the living God more than you hunger for and crave food. (Job 23:12) It’s about letting “the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another.” (Colossians 3:16) It’s about ridding yourself “of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.” (1 Peter 2:1) It’s about constantly seeking to “lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)
Are you seeking first the kingdom (the inner government) of God? When people are governed by the inner kingdom of God they think, act, and live differently than the people around them.
There’s a word I’ll never give up. I love the sound of it. It thrills my heart and fills me with hope, encouragement, and peace. That word is the English translation of an ancient name. It’s Jesus. I ponder, say, pray, write, and post His name day and night. Why? Because I love Him because He first loved me. Jesus Christ is my best friend — a present reality who makes the impossible possible in my day-to-day life.
Matthew 5 shows how the impossible Christian life can become the normal Christian life. Christ-dependency replaces impossibility with Christ’s ability. That’s the process that the Bible calls sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)
To let God’s inner government (His Kingdom) rule and reign inside of us we must set aside our pride and allow God the Holy Spirit to show us our poverty of spirit so that He can be our constant inner guide. (Matthew 5:3) Then we begin to mourn over our inability to fully obey God, and we continually look to Him for forgiveness, comfort, power, and inner healing. (Matthew 5:4) We become meek and moldable to the Spirit’s inner influence. (Matthew 5:5) We hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness. (Matthew 5:6) We show mercy to others and God’s mercy fills us. (Matthew 5:7) Our heart is purified by Christ’s presence and power, and we begin to see God as a present-moment reality instead of as religiosity. (Matthew 5:8) We begin to demonstrate God’s presence and peace wherever we go and are called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Our Spirit-led lifestyle makes many people uncomfortable (Romans 8:14) and they begin to persecute us, insult us, and falsely speak against us because of our love for and obedience to the risen Jesus. (Matthew 5:10-11) That’s how people treated the Old Testament prophets so we can rejoice and be glad that we are following in their footsteps. (Matthew 5:12)
When we through total Christ-dependency embrace the impossible Christian life as our normal way of life we become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s vital that we don’t allow persecution to cause us to lose our saltiness or hide our inner light. Instead, we need to openly shine our light by living a radiant lifestyle so that others can see our Spirit-led behavior and glorify God. (Matthew 5:13-16) The Sermon on the Mount is Christ’s call to daily depend on the Lord so that we can continually experience the impossible sanctified Christian life and mount up with wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31) through our constant surrendering to Christ in us the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
When Christ-dependency was replaced by pastor-dependency Christianity stopped relying on the presence and power of the risen Jesus and began instead to rely on human effort and human knowledge. Jesus is too often celebrated as “Savior” (an unconditional free ticket to Heaven someday) but rejected as “Lord” (the absolute Ruler, Head, and Master in daily life).
A series of two questions impacted my life more than all the other questions I have ever been asked. I wasn’t asked those two questions by a human being or by AI. They seemed to come from nowhere. One day they just popped into my mind.
The first was: “If you were born a Hindu, what would you be today?” The next one was: “Why do you think you’re a Christian?” As I thought about those two questions, I realized that my religion was based on nothing more than where I was born and raised. I was only a birthright Christian, not a true one. That led me to reject Christianity and its teachings and to become an agnostic. It led me to the place that I could encounter the risen Jesus Christ without religious indoctrination. The rest is history and testimony!
Grudges grind away at the mind and eat up the heart. Plainly put, grudges are painful. They cause much more pain to the person who holds them than they do to the people they are being held against. Nonetheless, our human pride makes it very tempting to cling to and carry around the heavy burden of grudge holding.
The Bible calls a grudge “a root of bitterness” and says that it “grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:15) Observe the life of a bitter person and you will see the truth of those statements. The good news is that the temptation to hold a grudge, like any other temptation, can be fought and overcome. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Tempting thoughts Can be fought And they ought To be. In Matthew Chapter four Jesus shows How He fought Tempting thoughts. He brought The written Word of God Into play By quoting What it has To say Until the Temptations Went away. (Matthew 4:1-11)
Jesus taught Repentance: Align with The kingdom And the will Of God. Have you sought First of all To be caught In God’s will and kingdom? Hear Christ’s call! (Matthew 4:17, 19, & 23)
Loneliness is a form of homesickness, of being far from home whether that distance is physical, relational, or emotional. There is hope for homesick people. An ancient hermit came out of hiding to announce that hope to the world. His name is John the Baptist.
John’s message was to tell people to get out of God’s way and make room for Him to work in and through you. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” (Matthew 3:3) Later Jesus Christ confirmed John’s message when He told His followers, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
John the Baptist also said to, “Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) Jesus confirmed that by saying, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44)
Then John told how we humans can produce good fruit. He said that Jesus will, “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11) This Spirit baptism isn’t just a dip into religion. It’s never-ending saturation that always produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as long as people don’t quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) Jesus put it this way: “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4)
King David wrote: “Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— He is the King of glory.” Psalm 24:9-10 Here’s the challenge of Christianity: Stay ever saturated with Christ and allow Him to continually abide, rule, and reign within you as your Lord and God (John 20:28) and “hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Welcome home!
Home is housed in the heart. Home is close relationships. Home is kindness. Home is caring family. Home is dear friends. Home is true community. Home is belonging. Home is tender compassion. Home is a heavenly atmosphere. Home is forgiveness. Home is encouragement. Home is companionship. Home is great joy. Home is inner healing. Your heart can hear home calling. Jesus is waiting for you. He wants to tell you: "Welcome home."
When politics disrupts the unity of the Spirit between Christ-followers it is far from home!
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Fill Your Mind and Your Heart With Hope 