Clear Eyes, Pure Hearts, Can't Lose

"But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:15
 
Sometimes life can make us upset. Sometimes people do things that just aren't right - even people who should know better! Or people may unknowingly do things that frustrate or hurt us, without even realizing it. Still, we have to "guard our hearts" in order not to let these "bitter roots" or feelings resulting from these things contaminate our faith and keep us from God's grace. 

"Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." -Hebrews 12:15
 
It's difficult to let things go when we feel we have a right to be upset. Betrayal by someone close to us is especially hard to overcome. But, anything that anyone does to us doesn't give us the right to any offense, or give us an excuse to lash out - pushing us into our sinful nature. 

"When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." -Galatians 5:19-21 
 
Are you keeping your heart pure and protected? When people do bad things, are you able to respond with grace and forgiveness? Don't let your soul be pushed into spiritual danger due to someone else's wrongdoing or sin.

Don't Touch Dead Things

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." -1 Peter 2:9

In the Old Testament, it was unlawful for priests to do or wear certain things - it would make them unfit for priestly service.  Priests could not touch the dead body of a relative outside of their immediate family, shave or trim their beards, or marry a prostitute or divorced woman.  These rules were even more strict for a high priest, who could not do any of the above, but who also could not leave the sanctuary, tear his clothes, go near the dead body of ANY person, or marry even a widow. (Leviticus 21) The reason for this was that they needed to be sanctified (set apart) for their duties to interceed for the people and offer sacrifices to God in the temple.  This was serious work!

Today, this Old Testament covenant no longer applies, because of the power of Jesus’ precious blood atoning for our sin.  He is our High Priest, and we are the royal priesthood.  However, this does not mean we do not need to also set ourselves apart in sanctification for our own calling. 

This sanctification may mean "not touching dead things" - that is, not bringing up old things from the past that we have already forgiven.  Not holding on to old, "dead" mindsets or behaviors that keep us stuck and in bondage.  It may mean letting go of things that continue to bother us, that bring death to us; it may mean catching ourselves to stop speaking "death" over our lives, situations, or other people around us. "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." -Proverbs 18:21

Are there any dead things in your life that you to stop touching? Pray for God's grace and power to let go of anything dead in your life.

Preparing for Eternity

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”  -Ecc 3:11

Have you ever noticed how much time we spend planning for our education, planning for weddings, or planning for retirement?  And yet, we rarely think about planning or preparing for our eternal lives - and those will last forever! 

We have such a small amount of time on this earth compared with eternity.  We will spend eternity somewhere, but the question is, where, and also, how? 

If we’ve accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior the first question has been answered. However, there is a difference in how each of us will spend our lives in heaven.

The Bible says we will receive rewards in heaven based upon our works and faith during our time here on earth.  (1 Peter 1:17, Matt 24:46 ) This has a lot to do with fulfilling the calling God gave to us, (Luke 12:43, Luke 19:17) taking care of the people around us, taking care of the poor and orphans, (Mark 9:41) (and whether we do this for the applause of men, Matt 6:1), loving our enemies, (Luke 6:35) the persecution we have undergone because of our faith, (Matt 5:12) and living out His word.  (2 John 1:8)

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” -Matthew 5:11-13

Some people think we are physical beings headed for a spiritual place.  But, the reality is, we are spiritual beings living temporarily in a physical place. Are you busy preparing for your reward in heaven? 

A God-Sized Assignment

"When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'" -Judges 6:12

Has God given you a dream or vision that is bigger than you?  All of the major characters in the Bible had a vision that was bigger than them;  such is the case with God-sized assignments, and such was the case with the story of Gideon.

Gideon was far from being a mighty warrior when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, even though the angel said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior".  According to Gideon, he was from the weakest in Manasseh, and the least in his family.  When the angel of the Lord approaching Gideon, he was threshing wheat!

But still, God spoke to Gideon and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?"  (v. 14)

God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.  As such, He requires of us more than we could possibly accomplish in our own strength, putting us in a position that requires our complete faith and trust in Him.  Many times we may fill unqualified, weak, and completely unprepared.  But, the good thing is, God always sees our future potential, not the failures of our past.  He desires to work through us to accomplish His dreams on the earth.

Is God birthing a dream within you that is bigger than you?  Pray for His grace to accomplish that dream, and be open to the steps He might led you to to let that vision or dream come to pass.

Pulling Away from the Crowd

"After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone..."  Matthew 14:23
 
Life really does get crazy sometimes.  TV, radio, text messaging, phone calls, Twitter, Facebook, the Internet - there is so much to keep up with in our post-modern society!

But, every now and again, we need to have time to be "away from the crowd."

Jesus had just finished feeding the crowd of five thousand with just five loaves and two fish. After everybody was fed, Jesus insisted that His disciples get into the boat they were using for travel and head home as He sent away the multitude of five thousand.  It was then that He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray.

It is interesting to note, that, after Jesus' solitary time on the mountain praying, He performed a miracle in which the disciples really recognized that He was the Son of God.  Then the disciples worshiped him. "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed. (v. 33)

It is so essential that we take time aside to spend quiet time to pray and be with our God.   This "inner court" time fuels us for the "outer court" ministry where people can discover that Jesus really is the author of our faith, and He can be the Lord and Savior of their lives.

Have you pulled away from the crowd lately? Set some time aside to be with Him.  Our time with God is the biggest weapon we have against the kingdom of darkness in this day and age.

A Lesson in Chores

Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. -2 Corinthians 12:9

"I'd like for you to load the dishes in this way. This is how the instruction manual says to do it!"

"Oh my gosh, do I seriously have to put the dishes in the dishwasher that way?" I thought. My 19 year old self was fighting what appeared to be pointless detail for something that really was not all that important, in my opinion: dishwasher loading. 

"If you put them in this way, you can fit more in!" said my stepmom. "Ok," I said, keeping a cheerful attitude. After all, they were letting me stay with them until I got back on my feet: I needed to be agreeable! 

A few weeks later I was asked if I could clean the house. "Ok," I said. However, upon careful inspection of my work, it was revealed that I missed a few spots. "Could you go back over this and this?" said my stepmom "Argh," I thought. "This is ridiculous. This attention to detail is really starting to get under my skin!"
 
Looking back I realize that God had a lesson for me in "the details." I am naturally not a very detailed person. But, during that time, God was putting a finger on my lack of detailedness, something He wanted to strengthen in me. I cannot tell you how much this has helped me in life! 

Has God allowed situations in your life to help you with your weaknesses? Let Him work through your weaknesses, so that His purposes can be fulfilled in your life.

Crazy for God

"Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful." -1 Corinthians 1:27

Have you ever felt God tell you to do something unusual? Have you ever heard God speak on something that would happen, but what was spoken has not yet materialized? This somewhat uncomfortable situation happened to many leaders in the Bible; such as Joseph, Abraham, Noah, Joshua, Gideon, and Jesus.

Abraham and Sarah were promised a son- but were very old. Sarah was so old, she even laughed at the idea! (Genesis 18:12) Joseph was thrown into a pit after his dream, long before his dream would ever come to fruition. Joshua walked around Jerico 7 times...I'm sure the sixth time his men wondered what in the world was wrong with him, and Jesus couldn't do miracles in His hometown because there wasn't any faith. (Mark 6:1-6) Gideon had an identity crisis. "How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest, and I am the least!" (Judges 6:15) And when Noah was instructed to build an ark because "a storm was coming that would wipe out the entire earth" (Gen 6:13) we can only imagine what his neighbors must've thought.

Often times there is a big chasm between our reality and the things we are believing God for, but it doesn't mean we should waiver in our belief that it can and will happen. The reality is, if we cling to God, the dreams and the purpose He's given us will materialize, just as they did for Abraham, Joseph, Joshua, Noah, Gideon and Jesus.

Is there a big chasm between your reality and what you're believing God for? Keep believing for His promises to come true. God can work when we work out of obedience and believe.