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.
Instead of making A nation great The political Blame-game will make People learn to hate.
Words that are unkind Pollute the mind And the heart Of those who say them And those who hear them. It’s better to find Ways to say Words that are aligned With encouragement, Hope and optimism.
Hope is found by looking beyond political blame. I don’t want politicians to fight for me. I want them to set aside ideology and work together to make our country better. Perhaps our nation would be greater if Americans would see each other as fellow citizens with differing political views and not as opposing sides.
People like to use the argument that Jesus got angry to try to justify their anger and abusive language. The Bible says “Be angry and sin not. Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.” I see many people on Facebook who say they are Christians but repeatedly hold on to their anger and insult people day after day. They seem to have allowed anger and rudeness to take control of their life.
If Christ is in you, you are a house of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit. Be an open house. Refuse to allow wrongful thoughts, feelings, and desires to hide and work inside of you. Walk humbly in the light.
The athletes I respect the most are inner athletes — those who compete against and overcome the inner agonies that try to torment them with the bondage of discouragement, moral defeat, and heart-breaking despair. I admire the ones who go beyond their pain and train until they gain the great victory of inner peace and joy.
When the ancient Israelites were being held in cruel bondage in Egypt, they groaned and cried out to God because of their slavery. God heard their cry for help and responded with His concern and supernatural action. He took a humbled group of slaves and surrounded them with marvelous demonstrations of the power and greatness of His presence. (See Exodus 2:23-25.)
I woke up today with this thought on in my heart (about “thoughts and prayers”): To let people know that you’re praying for them is one way to show them that you care. Prayer is much more than mere human thoughts. Heart-felt prayer is a cry of compassion and concern that comes from deep within you. It is to humbly and sincerely plead with the Engineer of all that exists to do good on someone’s behalf.
Let the curriculum of circumstances that circumvents you now create a deep craving for God in your heart until your slavery and painful circumstances cause you to begin to continually groan and cry out to Him. Let that curriculum train, empower, and prepare you to always yearn for, hear, surrender to, follow, and obey the risen Jesus.
There is a thief about. He and his cohorts work together as a cartel. They operate under cover and many people don’t even believe they exist. They love to steal, to kill, and to destroy. The thief’s name is Satan. He is known as the devil. (John 10:10.)
There is a powerful way to overcome the thief and his torment and destruction. It is through the presence and power of the One known as the Lamb of God. His name is Jesus, the Christ. He is the God-man, the Creator in human flesh.
The devil and his demons are invisible, non-physical beings. They have no physical power. Their power is the influence they have over human beings. They use lies, accusations, guilt, shame, worry, fears, insecurity, depression, self-righteousness, pride, lust, greed, jealousy, anger, hatred, rebellion, suspicion, doubt, and many other weapons to tempt, torment, and manipulate human beings into destructive thought, words, and actions that steal our peace, kill our hope, and abandon us to the inner prison of quiet desperation and lingering despair.
There is a way you can overcome that cruel cartel. Revelation 12:11, says: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.”
–The blood of the Lamb: Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice for your sins. Your sins are the things that you are thinking, saying, and doing (or have been in the past) that separate you from heart-to-heart connection and deep daily intimacy with the living God. The blood of Jesus (the Lamb of God) isn’t just a religious idea. It’s a powerful weapon. Here’s how you can use it to overcome the guilt and shame that Satan puts on you:
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him (God), and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:6-9.)
–The word of their testimony: A testimony is a verbal telling of how the risen Jesus became real to you — of how you were transformed from darkness to light — how you once were blind but now you see. It declares how you lived before you met Jesus, the way you met Him, and how your life is different now.
To share the Good News about Jesus, it’s necessary to use words! If you will frequently testify how Jesus became real to you and about the things that you have seen and heard Jesus do in and through you, you will overcome the devil and help other people to overcome him.
I believe that almost every church has at least a few people in attendance who have personally experienced the risen Jesus as alive and real. However, the members of the congregation don’t know about those people’s encounter with and transformation by the risen Jesus, because they have been trained to sit in silence and not to testify. It’s time to obey the Bible. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” (Psalm 10:2.) Testify about how you were born again and testify about the other things that Jesus has done and is doing in and through your life. Start today and overcome the devil and his torment and temptations.
Here’s the short version of how I got saved form the devil’s darkness and brought into Christ’s light. I was an agnostic college freshman. I sensed that there was more to life than our physical existence, but I I was stuck in darkness and couldn’t see any convincing evidence of that. A classmate kept inviting me to a weekly meeting that he called “Dorm Devotion.” I wasn’t interested, but he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I finally attended in order to get him stop pestering me.
I heard something in that meeting that I had never heard before — people talking about Jesus Christ like He is real, alive, present, and working in their lives. As they testified something happened inside of me. I suddenly became aware that Jesus is alive and with me. As if a switch had been switched, I could feel myself being changed from deep within me. Ever since that moment, I’ve been filled with the awareness of Christ in me and hungry to follow and obey Him and to know Him better and better.
My Salvation Testimony
–Not loving your life (abandoning self-focus): “Love not their lives unto death,” doesn’t mean that you have to physically die for your faith in Christ. It means that you abandon self-focus — that you die to your thoughts, feelings, and desires and replace them with daily obedience to the living Jesus.
I am the most miserable when I ask myself if I am happy? And when I focus on myself. I am the happiest when I forget about myself and focus on other people and on the presence and activity of the living, resurrected Jesus. You will be too. Try it and see.
Let God work in you the way that He worked in and through Jochebed, a Hebrew slave in Egypt. God used Jochebed to save her infant son from the Pharoah’s order of death for all newborn Hebrew boys. Here’s how she trusted in and relied on the Lord to save her son. She made a basket that would float by covering it with tar. Then Jochebed had her daughter put the newborn baby in the basket-boat and release him to float down the Nile River.
Soon the slave baby (condemned to death) was drawn out of the Nile River by the Pharoah’s daughter and into membership in the royal family with all its benefits. The Pharoah’s daughter named the baby Moses, which means “draw out.”
At 40 Moses was drawn out of great political power, wealth, and fame, and into the obscurity of the desert. At 80 he was drawn out of obscurity and into the impossible task of freeing the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. However, Moses was able to supernaturally speak for God, demonstrate phenomenal nation-wide miracles, and to draw out the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the glorious presence of God that set Mount Sinai on fire. That fire from God shined on Moses’ face so brightly that people wanted him to cover it up.
We humans have been covering up and avoiding God’s glory ever since. We look for human glory instead of God’s. But the opportunity to behold God’s glory wasn’t limited to Mount Sinai. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” –2 Corinthians 3:14.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Now is the time for Christ-followers to “Behold the Lamb of God,” to be personally and directly led from within by the Spirit throughout each day, and to radiate Christ’s presence and reality so that we can draw people out of the darkness and into the Light of the World! Now is the time for Christ-followers to be drawn out of routine religion and into Spirit-led awakening!
You may not remember Moses’ mother’s name, Jochebed. In Hebrew it means “the glory of the Lord.”
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” –Ephesians 3:20. Let the God of Moses work in you and draw you out of everything that hinders His Spirt from releasing His glory in and through you!
God gives people free will. He doesn’t force us to behave a certain way. Instead, He demonstrates His love to us and asks us to follow and obey Him voluntarily.
People who claim to love God need to respect people’s free will and not try to force or coerce adults into behaving the way they want them to by insulting, bullying, or holding a grudge against them. Some laws are necessary, but if a society tries to legislate against more and more behavior, it will eventually become totalitarian. Christ-followers are told to use love instead of coercion to influence people’s behavior — to speak the truth (not unproven speculation, opinion, theories, or accusations) in love.
I don’t want politicians to fight for me. I want them to set aside ideology and work together to make our country better.
The most important choice for Christians isn’t a political choice. It’s to choose to daily demonstrate the kindness, love, and other qualities that are produced as the fruit of God’s Spirit — “Christ in you” — (no matter what other people say or do). It is to obey Jesus’ commands to “Love your enemies,” and “Bless those who curse you.”
Christians need more Than talks on theology Or political ideology. We need to rely on And demonstrate The reality Of “Christ in you, The hope of glory.”
A personality trait that always raises a red flag with me is peoples’ tendency to make unproven, prideful accusations. This is rampant nowadays, especially in politics.
Too many people who say they are Christians are stating their unproven opinions and accusations as if they are facts. That’s the way to deception. Jesus said that many false prophets are coming. Don’t believe their unproven allegations! Put your hope in the risen Jesus, not in people who trash other people because they don’t like their political positions.
American politics has become like a wrestling show, with both candidates desperately taking turns slamming each other down and fiercely describing how evil the other one is. (What if they are both correct in their evaluation of each other?)
Because there is evil in all human beings and power tends to bring the worst of it out, the American government was set up in 3 branches so that no one person (or group of people) can have total power and control. Divided government can be frustrating, but it sure beats having all the power in the hands of one individual. Instead of “fighting” each other, America needs the people in power to find ways to peacefully work together. If you want one party to forcefully impose its will on the other, you are working against the foundational American concept of the separation of power.
I live in Nashville, Tennessee. The most miles I’ve traveled from away from home was on a trip I took to India. I volunteered in that nation for three months and it was an amazing experience. However, the furthest I have ever traveled from my American home was my journey from darkness to light.
I was an agnostic college freshman. I sensed that there was more to life than our physical existence, but I I was stuck in darkness and couldn’t see any convincing evidence of that. A classmate kept inviting me to a weekly meeting that he called “Dorm Devotion.” I wasn’t interested, but he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I finally attended in order to get him stop pestering me.
I heard something in that meeting that I had never heard before — people talking about Jesus Christ like He is real, alive, present, and working in their lives. As they testified something happened inside of me. I suddenly became aware that Jesus is alive and with me. As if a switch had been switched, I could feel myself being changed from deep within me. Ever since that moment, I’ve been filled with the awareness of Christ in me and hungry to follow and obey Him and to know Him better and better.
Genesis 3:5 (Life-Plan B) / Revelation 12:11 (Life-Plan A)
Satan’s plan Is disguised As a blessing, Wrapped up in The self-focus Of self-defining The nature of Good and evil, So that people Will replace The desires of God With their own desires And be forever Separated from God’s Tree of Life. But God’s plan Is that the blood Of Jesus Christ Will renew your life So that Christ Will live in you As you tell The glorious story Of how Jesus Has set you free From sin and self-focus.
When the risen Jesus becomes real in your life and you rely on His blood to continually remove your guilt and shame, you feel so wonderful that you can’t help telling people about what He has done and is doing in you. Then the more you testify about Jesus the more excited you get about Him and the freer you are from the bondage of self-focus. Isn’t it time that you open the door of your heart and let the living Jesus moment by moment align your life with His plan? (See Revelation 3:20.)
Rely on Christ alone, The Cornerstone. Sing His song As you go along. Let Him help you, Protect you, And support you. Let Him put His desires In your heart And align you With what He requires. Live in full reliance On His presence And daily surrender To His will So you can Overflow with The joyful thrill Of the victory Of Christ in you The hope of glory.
Go beyond acquiring Mere head knowledge About Jesus. Let your life acknowledge His reality through All your words and steps, The way you walk, The way you talk. Demonstrate His presence Continually at work In and through you In all you say and do!
When people think That they know What they don't know, They put on a show Of overconfidence. When they know That they know What they know, They speak the truth In love and With the humility Of compassionate confidence.
We don’t need a lecture about love. We need to care deeply about each other.
We don’t need an explanation of what joy is. We need to enjoy life.
We don’t need to be preached to about peace. We need to stop fighting one another.
We don’t need to be told to be patient. We need to wait on the Lord.
We don’t need a discourse on kindness. We need to be nice to people.
We don’t need a teaching about goodness. We need to celebrate the goodness of God.
We don’t need to hear the definition of faithfulness. We need to demonstrate faith in and daily reliance on the risen Jesus.
We don’t need a message about gentleness. We need to handle life with gratitude and great care.
We don’t need a sermon about self-control. We need to obey the risen Jesus instead of our feelings, desires, and opinions.
Christians don’t need to study or memorize the 9 aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. We need to demonstrate them in our daily life.
Information about God is insufficient. Christians desperately need the conscious awareness of God!
Too many Christians want sermons about the presents of Jesus without His presence. Too many churches want to keep teaching information about God week after week after week, while neglecting to make people aware of the presence, power, and reality of the living Jesus. Because of that many Christians are “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7.) The risen Jesus is the truth! If you don’t know Him and daily live in His presence, all the Bible knowledge in the world won’t show you the truth!
Information-based Christianity leads to comfortable religious pride. However, faith that is based on the presence, power, and reality of the risen Jesus produces a never-ending inner spiritual fountain of the life of Jesus flowing out of a person like rivers of living water. When I see that, it brings a tear to my eye.
Demonstrating the love, presence, and forgiveness of the living Jesus is a much more effective way to change the world than by insulting people who you disagree with politically. Try it and see!
My greatest moments of joy and self-contentment are moments of self-unawareness. The best self-help isn’t self-expression. It’s self-denial that avoids self-inflicted pain.
Self-focus isn’t self-care. It’s self-entanglement. Self-indulgence leads to the self-reproach of self-inflicted guilt.
Self-will will keep you imprisoned in self-driven desires. Humbling yourself will release you from your self-locked cell.If self-attention was a good thing people wouldn’t want to self-medicate to get their mind off of their self-narrative.
Without self-restraint of self-attention and self-pity, negative thoughts and desires will lead to self-afflicted fear and insecurity. Lack of self-control leads to self-torment and self-destructive beliefs and behaviors.
Self-promotion leads to devotion to the false god of pride. Your self-doubt is a wakeup call to rely on God instead of on yourself. Self-love goes nowhere. It stays stuck in orbit around self-centeredness but receiving Christ’s love launches people far beyond the gravitational pull of self-concern.
Self-absorption is self-abuse. Peace and joy come through self-forgetfulness that gets swept up in the awe of God.The greater my self-awareness the more I realize my selfishness and my desperate need for Jesus.
Self-righteousness is self-deception. We humans all need the humble self-correction that’s called repentance.
Self-satisfaction isn’t found by self-seeking but by seeking first the kingdom (inner government) of God with all your heart. The way to true self-esteem is full self-surrender to the risen Jesus.
Self-justification can never talk away guilt. Self-forgiveness without God’s forgiveness is meaningless.Base your self-worth on Christ’s forgiveness and love for you, not on your love for yourself or your self-forgiveness.
Focusing on the Word of God and the presence of the risen Jesus needs to be greater than our focus on self. God wants to show us more. Will we let Him, even if it goes against our self-consumed desires, feelings, and opinions?
My wife and I can sometimes fall into self-indulgence, like we did with “MegaTacos” at a mall in San Jose, Costa Rica. (See why I need to keep blogging?)
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Fill Your Mind and Your Heart With Hope 