Discerning Right from Wrong

"Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings 3:9
 
King Solomon was a wise king.  The Bible says that he was the wisest man who lived during that time!  (1 Kings 4:31)  God was pleased that Solomon did not ask for wealth and riches at the beginning of his rule - instead he asked for wisdom to govern God’s people well and to know the difference between right and wrong.

Many times when we are just coming to know God, we are not really aware of sin in our lives.  We may not think a lot about what we do may that may not be good for us.  More often than not, through life experience, the influence of culture, and our upbringing we become desensitized to sin, without us even realizing it. 
 
As we get to know God more and get a revelation of His ways, certain things that were once okay just don’t feel right anymore.  This doesn't mean we're immune to sin - but it means sanctification becomes a part of our walk with Him, leading us to paths of righteousness, or right living.

"He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name." -Ps 23:2 & 3

One of the biggest roadblocks you and I will run into in life is discerning between right and wrong.  I’ve heard it said this way: “Being a Christian has two pillars - one is a relationship with God and righteousness - the other is a non-relationship with wrongdoing.” 

Can you discern right from wrong in your life? Pray today that God will give you a discerning heart and mind, and so that you can be led by the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life.

Personal Re-Programming

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2) 

I spent a lot of time in the early years of my life feeling "less than," and ugly or fat, incompetent, or just plain unworthy of anything good or better than how my life was at the time. There were many attitudes and feelings that I had about God, myself, and other people that simply were not true. It was only through a revelation of God's love and grace, at incremental and pivotal crossroads in my life that my opinions and feelings began to change. And boy did they ever! 

One of the most monumental crossroads happened when I was 17. I call this my "true" salvation experience. This experience with God felt like a warmth that filled my heart, and something; be it faith, love, peace, or whatever mixture of all three changed my perspective just a bit about who God was and what He thought of me. I realized He did really care about me. I realized He was a very personal God - not angry or condescending - but full of love and patience and grace. I realized He cares about everyone this way! 

The experience changed my heart, and made me a different person. It not only changed the way I thought, but through this re-programming, my heart was molded into a different shape. I felt more whole than I had ever felt before. 

My dad says that God uses circumstances in our lives to not only to bring about a habit change, but a nature change. God just doesn't want our minds to think different things - he wants the roots of those habits to be uprooted as well. Then God is able to fill the uprooted void with His love. And then our habits do begin to change, beginning from the inside out. 

What has God re-programmed in you? Have you asked Him to re-program areas of your mind and heart where you may feel inadequate? 

Ask God to help you with those areas where you may need some personal re-programming. He promises to help us through it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

In Everything...

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." -Col 3:17
 
Imagine with me for a moment that every Christian on earth had a revelation of the "in everything" principle. What if we asked ourselves, at every moment, "Is what I'm doing now worshipping God? Does what I do glorify Him?" 

When we see worship as not only the lifting of our hands and voices on Sunday morning, life takes on a whole new meaning. 

Avodah (Ah-voe-dah) is a Hebrew word used in the Bible that has two distinct yet intertwined meanings: work and worship. Colossians confirms this in chapter 3, verses 23 and 24: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ."
 
If we saw everything we did as either an opportunity to worship God, or an opportunity to refuse Him and allow evil into the world, I would hypothesize we might gain a new understanding of what it truly means to be a Christian. 

If we're worshipping God in our work, we're not cheating on the expense reports. If we're worshipping God in school, we're not cheating on a test. And if we're worshipping God in our marriages, we're not cheating on our spouse - we're loving them as Christ loved the church, His people. 

Are you worshipping God... in everything? Pray today that God would give you the strength and courage to serve Him in everything.

From Bad to Best

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."  -1 Peter 5:8
 

Sometimes when I think about the state of our culture, I feel burdened.  When I see or hear about music video with lots of sex and violence and all of the millions of views these videos have on YouTube, it makes my heart heavy.  

"How many people are being led into things that are spiritually dangerous for them?!?" I think.  The artists representing these videos do not care about the spiritual well-being of these millions of viewers, mostly young and impressionable. They do not have an awareness of the spiritual reality of what they are living out when they make these types of videos. (Or maybe they do?) The producers, music executives, and artists mostly care about the bottom dollar - what will sell.  We are always pushing the envelope as a culture with the mentality, "What can we get by with that excites people but doesn't go over the line too much...?" 

But, as Christians, we are called to live out a different example.  We are called to spread the good news of the kingdom, creatively, effectively, and authentically.  How much better could life be if all of us knew the freedom, love, and amazing life we could have in Christ?  Plus, heaven for eternity! 

When I first came to Christ, I came to Him because I realized how bad my life had been.  I was depressed, suicidal, and I hated myself.  But when I received a revelation of His love, I was changed into a different person.  I went from bad to best.  

Are you choosing the best in your life, so you can lead others to the best?  Pray that God would help you in this, so that we would not be swayed by the world, but instead become the people God has called us to be, to renew, restore, and show the best way - the way of redemption through Jesus Christ. 

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." -Romans 12:2
 
When we choose His way, we will discover the best for our lives.

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.

Uproot the Root!

 

Source

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.'" -Exodus 34:6-7

Have you ever had a problem that you simply could not get rid of?  Have you ever had something, whether an emotion, a habit, or a particular thought pattern, no matter how hard you tried, you could rid yourself of it - even after confession and repentance? After we become a Christian and we are “born again” this doesn’t mean that our battle with sin is over.  It simply means that we have become “new in Christ.”  (2 Cor 5:17)  Freedom from sin is a journey, as God reveals what is hidden in our hearts, bringing them to light and into His cleaning power.  (1 John 1:7)

Sometimes we may struggle with something that we've "always" seemed to struggle with. This problem may have had an origin long ago – even before we were born.  We may notice that those in our family struggle with similar issues, or perhaps we never even noticed it was a sin before we became a Christian. But as we walk on our journey, and the Holy Spirit begins to reveal certain things to us that were once okay and are now not as okay anymore, we may realize that something has a hold on our life that shouldn’t.

Once I heard a man speak to a church group about his struggles with sexual sin.  He explained to the audience that infidelity and sexual thoughts were something that he had always struggled with, and he had never known life without these issues.  He kept on going through “sin management”, where he confessed and repented for his actions but would see the same issue rear its ugly head 6 to 8 weeks later.

Eventually, this man received a revelation from the Holy Spirit through reading the scripture that “confession” means to “discover the root” and repent of the root in order to get free.  Since he had no recollection of when the issue began, he realized he was not the one who opened this door to sin initially. Only when he confessed the “genesis” of these issues, where they began from his father and grandfather, was he able to become truly free of their influence.

Are there any issues in your life that you struggle with continuously?  Pray and ask God to show you where they may have their root.  He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us so we can have complete freedom in Him!

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."  -Ephesians 1:7

Pure Vessels

"And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him." -1 John 3:5

Are you a pure vessel? Being committed to be a Christian involves a continual process of sanctification, and even more so if you are a teacher of God's word.  (John 17:19, James 3:1)  Although Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and we continually receive His forgiveness, there are still things He will require of us so that we become complete and more like Him.  (James 1:4)  This most often has to do with issues of our hearts. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life."  -Proverbs 4:23

Recently my husband and I went to a marriage conference and one of the sessions was about transparency.  The couple that was speaking talked about their journey of sanctification, which involved the man getting free from issues of adultery.   This of course caused a lot of strife in their marriage, and even though the man had repented to his wife for those things that had happened long ago, he found himself in "sin management", trying to manage the effects that this spiritual root of sin had on him.

This couple had been invited by a pastor to minister to a group of people at a leadership conference, but before they arrived, they had had an argument.  The man felt convicted that they should not minister to this group of people due to the fact that there was strife in their hearts.  As the pastor introduced him, he told him that they were not prepared to minister, and that their hearts were not pure.  The crowd went completely silent.  After a few moments the pastor held the microphone and repented for times when he and his wife ministered with strife in their hearts.  Ninety percent of the crowd got on their knees to repent and the Holy Spirit ministered to the large crowd for more than an hour.  It was very powerful!

As this couple described what had happened, the woman said that when we minister the truth of the gospel but have strife in our hearts, people can receive a double message:  one of God's truth, but then also of whatever unresolved sin is dwelling in our hearts. 

Are you a pure vessel?  Do you make repentance a regular practice in your life?   Pray that God will reveal and remove anything that may block His grace, light, and power in your life.  His word says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9