Heart of Flesh

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

From the heart comes the issues of life. The things that really matter to us are born from a heart that is stony or a heart that is made of flesh. A heart of flesh is tender and pliable. A heart that desires to reach out to others and manifest the love of God regardless of color or social economic statues. A heart of flesh understands mercy and knows how to administer grace. It is not jaded by the injustice of life, but seeks to comfort and reach out to those that are hurting. The heart of flesh does not stand in judgement, but stands in place to give a helping hand to those who cry out. God is able to take a harsh and uncaring person with a heart of stone and transform it into a heart of flesh. His grace can change anyone who will humble themselves at the foot of the cross and asked for forgiveness. God wants to change our hearts. 

Crucify the Flesh

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Living the Christian life in this world goes contrary to the fleshly appetite of sinful human desires, in this case, the lust of the flesh. This goes beyond human need for food, shelter, love and self esteem. Such sinful desires are base in unbelief and the aggrandizement of self. Life is center around pleasing and satisfying the wants of the flesh. We are all born with this nature to sin. At some point in our lives we become responsible for the our actions that stem from this nature. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory (pleasing) of God. That is the reason Christ came. To provide a way for this sin to be forgiven. Because Christ died, we can come to Him and lay our burden of sin at the foot of the cross. They who are now in Christ come to see that they now must surrender their life in full consecration to the will of God. The nature of sin has been crucified, put to death, and the Christian no longer are masters to the sin nature. The Holy Spirit comes to the believer, as He did on the day of Pentecost and fills the heart, cleansing and empowering the Christian to walk in the Spirit to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Our lives no longer are dictated by our sin nature, but by the Spirit that dwells within us.

Endure Temptation

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Temptation is experience by all who are made in the image of God. For temptation to exist, one must know the difference between right and wrong. Life is full of choices and some of them have eternal consequence. Having desire in itself is not wrong. We all have human desires that are given to us by God. Our bodies are made in such a way that they seek out ways to be fulfilled and be satisfied. Jesus, the Son of God was drawn away from His own human lust (desire) for food. Satan enticed Him to fulfill that desire in a way that would have been displeasing to His Father. Making the right choice is to endure the temptation to make the wrong choice. The word has promised us that when we are tempted that if we turn to Him, He will give us the ability to say no. The Holy Spirit was sent to us, to purify our hearts, and to endue us with power. Power to resist temptation, power to make the right choice. We are not beyond the ability to fall in sin and yield to temptation. We all are face with choices to make. To them that make the right choice, God will bless and grant the crown of life.

3:50am-10:00pm

A Good Reputation

Phil 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

We value a good reputation. We want people to think well of us. A good name is well guarded from being destroyed. There is good reason to maintain a good reputation among others. Our reputation influences our witness for Christ. It is the perception that others have of us. But our reputation is not who we are. What people think of us does not constitute our character. Following the example of Christ in the way He lived may require us to lay down our reputation and lay down our pride and be what He wants us to be. Jesus was not concern about being great in this world. He came to earth for a purpose, He came to give His life for you and for me, He came to show us how to live a life that is free from the opinions of men. How to walk this life’s journey, living a life of servanthood and humility. As the worldly mind, strives to climb the heights of power and popularity, the mind of Christ seeks not to be seen, but to serve.

Sowing and Reaping

John 4:37 And herein is that saying true, One sows, and another reaps.

It is easy to get discourage sowing the seed of the gospel and not seeing anyone won to Christ by the efforts we make. Weather it is inviting someone to church, or extending the love of God to help someone, God has given all of us a job to do. Ultimately, it is God who gives the increase. Some are given the gift to speak, to engage in conversation to share the grace of God concerning salvation and new life in Christ. Others work hard behind the scenes to show kindness and acts of mercy to people who are not open to preaching, but open to see God’s love demonstrated. Reaping cannot happen without the seed being sowed. If the ground is fertile, the Holy Spirit waters it with conviction. The season for reaping is before us. As we go about planting seed, let us be vigilant to gather the fruit of the harvest for the day draws near and the season will soon be pass.

There is a River

Psalm 46:6 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Walking in the wilderness of the desert of life will dehydrate us spiritually. We can only go so long without water. We become so busy with life and all of its demands that we fail to take time to stop and drink. There is a river that God has provided for us to drink from. If we are going to making it to our destiny, we need to take time each day to drink from the streams that flow from the city of God. From the river, we are able to refill to continue our journey. We need not die of thirst, there is a river that flows from God, water to quench the longings of our soul, water to give us the strength to carry on. Take time to stop, bend down on the banks of the river and take a drink.

Sorrow in this Life

John 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Sorrow is part of life. Emotion of sadness and disappoints are experiences we all have. Jesus recognized that such emotion are inevitable, but He does not want us to live there. There is a tomorrow and there is the promise of the Holy Spirit. When He comes, He will fill our hearts with joy and even tho we will experience sorrow, we can be assure that the Holy Spirit will be there with us and help us through those difficult times. He is our Comforter and in time of need, He will not leave us or forsake us. Yes, Jesus has returned to the Father, but he has sent His Spirit to live with us. One day, Jesus will return to gather all those who love Him. Sorrow on this earth will be gone, and we will live forever in His presence. 

Mountain Experience

Micah 4:2 …Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,…

Mountains are used through out the Bible to demonstrate different aspect of our spiritual experience. When we are at the top of the mountain we rise above the problems of life and can better see the big picture of life. Climbing the mountain is not without its difficulties. Most of the time in life we are living in the plains of this world, or scaling a mountain to get closer to God. It is good to be able to get to the top and bask in the presences of God and see His glory. But, the reality of life is that we don’t live there 24-7. We wake up each morning and go about living our daily life with new challenges and there are times we wonder where God is. And in it comforting to know that even in the valley we can see the extra footprints that appear in the sand.  There is a mountain experience for all of us. Let us not be weary in well doing, let us keep climbing till we have reached the top. 

Fear Them Not

Num. 13:9 neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.

Don’t let a fearful situation keep you from moving forward. We daily face things in our lives that we really don’t want to do. Fear has many faces. The fear of failure, rejections, embarrassment, even the fear of losing our life. In situations were our life is at risk, we obviously want to make sure that we are going forward knowing the will of God. 

His Angels

Psalm 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

To be protected and kept by God is liken to a mother bird who gathers her babies under her wings. The rain and wind may come, but harm is avoided and danger is minimize. God also sends His angels to earth to watch over those who love Him. The goal of angel protection is to keep us from falling away from the path God desires us to follow. He charges His angels to do battle against the demons of hell that are bent to our destruction. There is a spiritual battle be fought in the unseen world of good and evil. Many fantasy novels are written that depict the forces of good and evil being wages in a world mere humans cannot see, but such is not fantasy when it comes to angels and demons. The battle is real and angels are sent in our behalf to keep us from falling to the traps of Satan. It is God’s desire that we stay in the way of righteousness. Angels many times will protect us from physical harm, but this is not the prime purpose or charge of angels. 

Intercession

Ex. 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

There is only one person who can atone for the sin, but the attitude of Moses demonstrated his love for the people of Israel. The eternal consequence of those who bare the burden of sin in their lives weighs heavy on those who know the eternal judgement of God. Intercession for those who are lost in sin without God is to follow the example of Christ when He interceded for those that followed Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed not only for His disciples, but the all who needed their sins forgiven. God desires that we also become intercessor, and pray that whatever the cost, that He would send conviction to the heart of unbelievers. We have a responsibility to pray for those who God has put in our path, those who are under our influence. When interceding we become desperate to see God work in the lives of those around us. Let us not grow weary in well doing, but be persisted in our praying and trust God to bring it to pass.

Servant of All

Mark 10:44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

To be a leader, one must be willing to be led. The kingdom of God is design to be a servanthood citizenship. To be part of this kingdom, one must be willing to put aside their ego and self importance and bend down to “wash the feet” of others. Being great in the kingdom of God is not rising to the top of power and executing orders. Order is part of God’s kingdom, and many things are accomplish when we follow the order of command, but the work of God is accomplished when all in the chain of command are willing to be servants. “Ask of no man anything that you are not willing to do yourself”. Power, prestige, and popularity are all subject to the will of God and willingness to forsake it all to follow Jesus in the way. The way of servanthood and obedience is to follow the call of God to serve others.