Blessings Await the Right Choices!

James 1:12-15

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.  When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

From the very beginning, we see blame shifting is a natural, human tendency. In Genesis 3:12-13, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit off the tree of knowledge of good & evil, the Lord confronts them and they make excuses instead of owning up to their sin. Eve says, "the spent deceived me" and Adam not only blames Eve, but also God..."the woman You gave me..."

Friend, you and I will never overcome our sin until we own up to it. We will never experience victory until we accept responsibility. God is NEVER at fault for our sin. Often times, we think "well, if He had just made the circumstances a little easier to bare, then I wouldn't have sinned." Wrong!

Don't blame God! God DOES NOT tempt; He tests. Testing challenges us to grow and only produces good results. Tempting is enticement to ensnare & cause harm. Isaiah 6:3, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty..." God cannot be evil. It is not in His nature. 1 John 1:5, "...God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all." God and sin are as opposite as left & right; day & night; life & death... He would never intentionally put you in harms way or set you up to fail. “If that's so, then why have the tree in the garden at all, knowing they'd be tempted by it's fruit & eat it?”...

Great question! Here's the way I see it... The tree was a gift; a test. We are made in the image of God, created differently than all other living things. He created us with the ability to make moral choices. Without the tree being accessible and the ability to choose, we would be no different than an animal; just existing. God wanted more for us than to merely exist. He wants us to live! He chose us and He wanted us to choose Him. He desires to teach us how to live correctly and wants to bless us when we chose to do it His way…the right way!! In Genesis 22:1-2, we see that the Lord tests Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Why would the Lord do that?! We see the reason in verses 16-18. The Lord wanted to bless Abraham abundantly. God was testing his faith and Abraham chose to obey, thus reaping the benefits of following the Lord. What if Abraham had decided against sacrificing his son? He would not have been blessed with countless descendants or become the father of a great nation. The Scriptures probably wouldn’t even have mentioned Abraham had he made a different choice.

If we choose to do the wrong thing, we will suffer the consequences. If we choose to do the right thing, we will enjoy the many blessings that follow! Everything the Lord has done in our lives has been for our good. Granted those things may still be painful for us to endure, but He is GOOD, and good only produces good. He stretches us to strengthen us. Psalm 145:9 says it best, "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made."

Temptation comes from 3 sources: the devil, the world, and our flesh. We are the major source of our own problem. Lust is a desire for anything that God has prohibited. Romans 7:21-25..."So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” The Lord provides you a way to escape…flee…RUN!!  Do not dwell in temptation or you will succumb to its lusts.  Take a look at Joseph in Genesis 39. He was attendant to his Egyptian master and was entrusted with the care of Potiphar’s household & all he owned. Potiphar’s wife started taking a liking to Joseph and threw herself at him numerous times, grabbing him and telling him to sleep with her. You think it was easy for him to continually say “No” to? Doubtful! I think it would be incredibly hard for any man to resist this seductress. And when his “No!” wasn’t good enough for her, he escaped her clutches and ran(v.12)!! He physically ran! If he had remained with her and tried to endure the continual tempting, it eventually would’ve been beyond his ability to bare and he would’ve fallen. Running was the only way he could “endure” the temptation.

You might be wondering, "But if my faith in God has secured a spot for me in heaven, then why can't I live it up here on earth & do whatever I want?" As believers, sin won't damn us to hell, but it can end our lives prematurely. Ezekiel 18:26-27..."If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life."  Consider the end result and all of the bad things that happen when we engage in sin; DEATH of our earthly bodies, which belong to Jesus Christ. Read these passages and notice a trend. James 1:15; 2:12-26; 3:13-4:4; 5:15. We are free from the penalty of sin(eternal death), but not the consequences(earthly death).

Take responsibility for your wrongdoings and hold to this promise, Friends.  1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The first step to overcoming sin is confessing the hold it has on your life. Embrace the goodness of God! Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Our Lord has SO many great things in store for you!! Please let Him teach you how to live so that you may be blessed beyond measure! Psalm 37:5 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Find Joy in Him, Beloved!

The Art of Prayer!

Does praying come easy to you, Friend? Where does it rank on your list of priorities? Do you often find it difficult to pray? Maybe you don't know how to go about it, or maybe you feel so "out of sync" spiritually or guilt ridden that you can't find sufficient words to lay before the Lord. To be honest, I often struggle with my prayer life. Being a pregnant Mama of twin 2 year olds & the wife of a night duty police officer, in our house prayer is defined as a brief blessing on the work day, mealtimes & bedtimes. I confess, I even find it difficult to pray & intercede for people that I love & am responsible for. I used to think, in my faulty way, "If I can't give the Lord my all, then I have nothing to say." Sad...Sad way to think, because I've robbed myself and others the many joys and blessings that come from connecting to the Creator on a daily basis. I come to find that my nothing is everything to the God I serve! Even if  all I have to give at the end of a busy day are mere leftovers, He'll take it and make the moments between us beautiful!

I encourage you to ponder this passage with me & see how it applies to your life. 

The Lost Art of Prayer

"Brothers, pray for us." 1 Thessalonians 5:25

In the hustle and bustle of life today people don't take time to pray. There are laymen who will give their money, but they will not give themselves to prayer. There are plenty of preachers who will preach on the need of revival and the spread of the Kingdom of God. But there are many who will do that without prayer which makes all the preaching worthless. To many people, prayer is out of date; almost a lost art. The greatest benefactor that this age could have is the person who will bring the preachers and the church back to prayer. 

"I want to take time for You, God, because I can't go a day without You."

- The Power of Prayer

Do you agree in seeing prayer as a lost art? Isn't it sad to recognize the slow fade? We've been given a great power and have allowed it to slip away from us unnoticed. I don't know about you, but I'm ashamed of myself. How could I let a priceless treasure escape me? The Lord has given us a way to connect with Him on an intimate level, and so many of us choose to disregard it. Some would say, "I'm not deliberately choosing to disregard it, I just don't think about it." Sorry Friend, but the truth of it is, if your prayer life's not  thriving, it's dying. 

If you're hesitant to pray because you are unsure of how to go about it, let me share a couple of hints with you. Prayer seems to come easier when taking a kneeling position. Humbly bowing before the King always helps put things in proper perspective. Remember the "how to" of prayer by recalling this acronym: 

CAST 

C - Confession - before the Lord can hear your prayers & commune with you, sin must be confessed. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me." Psalm.66:18

A - Adoration - tell your Master how wonderful He is. The Psalms are full of worship & adoration. Recite them aloud to Him! "Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty," Psalm 104:1

S - Supplication - bring your requests to Your Savior. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6

T - Thanksgiving - Thank & praise your Heavenly Father for the wonderful things He has done & is doing. "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." Revelation 11:17

It also brings to mind a simple song that is dear to me; my prayers often end in humming its sweet tune. 

"I cast all my cares upon You.

I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet; 

And anytime I don't know what to do, 

I will cast all my cares upon You."

Prayer should be one of the easiest, most natural things for us as believers to do. Whether by yourself or in a group, we should be striving to lift our voices to the Lord anytime an opportunity presents itself. I encourage you to have courage enough to seize those moments! My prayer for us is that we strive to be prayer warriors and make the art of prayer as natural as breathing. I commit to praying for you, Friend and ask that you do the same for me. 

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith."

2 Thessalonians 1:11

Find Joy in Him, Beloved! 

Shhh! Listen!

"Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29

As you walk with God, He is concerned about the words that come out of your mouth - the things that you share, confess, affirm, and speak into the lives of others. It is a good thing to ask the Holy Spirit to be a guardian of your speech. The Bible tells us that we should be more involved with listening than we are with speaking (James 1:19). It is freeing to know that God doesn't ask you to speak all the time, talk about everything, and have an opinion about everything. God does, however, give you great encouragement to speak things that are good, things that build others up, things that are bathed in grace, and things that come from His heart directly to yours. 

- His Footsteps, My Pathway

"Every time you speak, your mind and heart are on parade." You know, I have been one of the opinion that sharing everything was a good thing because it makes you transparent. However, after meditating on this, I clearly need to readjust my thought process, because I truly believe that if that transparency does not give a clear representation of Christ, than it's best to be silent. Zeno, a Greek Philosopher, puts it like this, "The reason we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may hear more and speak less." The world is full of those who would speak their minds, and we are all prone to doing so. Sadly, if we are not actively surrendering ourselves to the Lord, the things we speak may be corrupt and damaging to others. Matthew 12:34 says, "...the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." 

God's Word on the subject:

- "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." Psalm 139:4

- "And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell." James 3:6

- "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." James 3:5

- "The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:4

- "A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin." Proverbs 26:28

- "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out." Proverbs 10:31

- "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19

- "The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." Proverbs 13:3

- "Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2

- "Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent." Proverbs 17:28

- "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." Proverbs 21:23

- "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." Luke 6:45

- "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

- "For the mind that is set on flesh is hostile to God..." Romans 8:7

- "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." 1 Corinthians 14:15

Dear Friend, I am among the worst of those that prattle on mindlessly, so this challenge is moreso for myself than you.

Challenge: 

1) Shhhhh! "Although the tongue weighs very little, few people are able to hold it." Do not make public speaking a habit. The world does not need to be aware of every defining detail of your being. When you feel you must speak, avoid the word "I", use as few words as possible, be encouraging and make sure that people hear what Jesus Christ has to say through you. May they see your devotion to the Lord and your love of others. We have been given a tongue so that we can make the Word of the Lord a priority. His opinion is all that matters! If they can't see or hear Christ in your speech, they should not be listening to you at all!! 

2) Listen well and often!! "The first step to wisdom is silence; the second is listening." Make a habit of really hearing what others have to say and learn from them; learn about them. When you hear what they have to say, consider carefully if (not when or how) you should respond; always pray before you do. Teach yourself to shut your mouth tight & open your ears wide. Take a lesson from the silent; even those without a voice thrive in relationships! "You can win more friends with your ears than with your mouth."  I'll bet you'd be surprised how much more you can learn about someone, and how much deeper you can go, if you'll practice being mute! What a valuable lesson we'd learn if we only spoke when talked to directly or asked a specific question.

How to speak without words:  It's said that 90% of communication is non-verbal. Consider this. 

"There are many ways that you can speak good things into the lives of others without ever saying a word. You can speak with the "face" of approval, with the "eyes" of understanding, with the "ears" of alertness, with the "smile" of delight, with the "tone" of kindness, with the "spirit" of compassion, with the "heart" of love, with the "hands" of mercy, with the "embrace" of acceptance, with the "handshake" of companionship, with the "glance" of interest, with the "tears" of comfort, with the "nod" of affirmation, and with the "touch" of tenderness."

- His Footsteps, My Pathway

My prayer(s) for us: 

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths." Psalm 25:4 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips." Psalm 141:3

My hope for us: "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; his word was on my tongue." 
2 Samuel 23:2

Find Joy in Him, Beloved!