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| AUGUST 2008 TEACHINGS | ||
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August 2008 Week 4 Prayer Scriptures link to New Living Translation.com AUGUST 2008 Day
1:
Jude 1:24 Spiritual Focus for the Month of
AUGUST
2008:
WEEK4Prayer FOCUS: (Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer List.)
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AUGUST 2008 Week 4 TEACHING Anyone watching the Olympics can’t help but glean a whole new level of respect for its challenges and for those who have walked away with medals. One of the things that make the contests stand out is the fact that there are rather strict standards and regulations in place. We appreciate the victors so much because we realize that not only did they abide by the regulations and often exceed standards of excellence, they also dedicated themselves to a tremendous work ethic. They made sacrifices for something that was really important to them. Those who stood on the podiums while the anthems of their countries played in the background received their medals with dignity and with a joy that was almost inexpressible. They withstood the everyday rigors of becoming a disciplined and accomplished athlete, and at the point of ultimate victory—I grant you that not one of those Olympic medalists feared that someone would run up to them and snatch that medal from their necks. They stood triumphantly and confidently on the grounds that they had done what was necessary to be a winner. They had followed the rules, put in the time and labor, stayed the course, and won! Now in some folk’s mind, an Olympic victory may not be the greatest analogy of the glory that God has in store for the faithful, but it is an earthly conquest that is unmatched by most. It symbolizes the ultimate, and for those of us who have been waiting on a blessing of epic proportion—we can rest assured that basking in that blessing will be just as rewarding as winning an Olympic medal. In the August 2008 Week #2 Teaching we talked about a very foundational scripture that is profoundly integral to our stand in Christ. It is the Gospel of John, Chapter 10, verse10. In it Jesus Christ tells us that he came to this earth to make available a more than abundant life. Diametrically opposed to the mission of Christ, we see in this pivotal verse that the thief’s mission is to heap destruction, death, and devastation upon our lives.
1 Peter 5:8
KJV In the August 2008 Week #3 Teaching we examined 1 Peter 5:8 KJV, which admonishes us to take care and be extremely watchful because our adversary, the devil, combs this earth looking for an opening to get into someone’s life and start all manner of mayhem. The key words in this verse of which you and I must be especially attentive is “seeking whom he may devour”. To seek is to go in search of something. It is to attempt to attain a tangible or intangible object by expending some level of energy looking for it. An experienced thief is a cunning criminal. He wants to take everything of value that you have, but he is much too skilled to walk into a situation of which he is ill-prepared. He first cases the joint. He studies the neighborhood where you live—familiarizes himself with your comings and goings. And after careful scrutiny to discover your most prized possessions, he makes his move. If you can expect this from an experienced thief, imagine the craftiness of a master one. As children of the Most High who are destined for the extraordinary, seated in heavenly places (Eph 2:6), and transferred to a place of highest privilege (Rom 5:2), we need to ask ourselves two very fundamental questions regarding the thief and his shenanigans: #1 “If I have to constantly stand guard against the thief, how do I focus on standing for Christ?” We answered this question in the August 2008 Week #3 Teaching. Question #2 is the one of which we will address our attention now: “If the thief is relentless in his pursuit to reap havoc in this world and on my life, why haven’t they both been destroyed by him?” The thief is indeed relentless in his pursuit to reap havoc in this world and on our lives, and it is incumbent upon each and every one of us to know how to protect our stuff. If the devil could destroy anyone at any time that he chooses, none of us would still be alive. I will venture to say that he would have so turned the world on its ear that those of us living today would not have had any probability of ever being born. And so, in order for the thief to get in and steal, kill, and destroy, first he must look for an opening. You and I must be extremely careful—sober—vigilant, as it says in 1 Peter 5:8 KJV, that we don’t provide one. But the shear fact of the matter is that all of us have holes in our armor, and we ought to make it our life’s work to close them up.
Proverbs 4:23 NLT The holes—the opening exists within our own hearts and minds, that is why God admonishes us in Proverbs 4:23 to guard our hearts above ALL else, because whatever is in our hearts will determine the outcomes of our lives. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 15:11 that "You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do." We are corrupted by the toxic negative thinking that corrodes our hearts. It spews from our mouths and becomes the impetus of our actions. It minimizes our blood-bought guaranteed victory through our Lord and Savior, and replaces it with the toxicity of a victim, defeated mentality. Imagine for one moment that your mind and heart represent a 15 story apartment building. A thief is not going to waste time and energy trying to get to the top floor because he figures that those who live in the penthouse have extra protection. He’s going for the easiest target, the easiest access, which are those who have left themselves exposed on the ground floor. Our adversary is a cunning devil, a master thief who must investigate and see if there’s an opening for him to get in. Now if you’re on the ground floor in your thinking, if you haven’t elevated your mind to accommodate high level, kingdom thoughts that are sculpted from the standard of God’s Word, then you will be easy prey.
Ephesians 1:3 KJV
Ephesians 2:6 KJV You and I have a heavenly view, because that’s where we are positioned. We have a key to the swankiest pad in the building, the penthouse, but it is up to us whether or not we will actually live there. If we do, the Word will inhabit the deep recesses of our hearts and positive affirmations will roll from our lips on every occasion.
Matthew 6:19-21 NLT The Christian should never fear that the thief will get in and steal their most valued possessions, because our most valued possessions ought to be stored in heaven. According to the Words spoken by our blessed savior here in Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT), the thief has no access there. The only way that you can protect your stuff is to lay it up for yourself in a place where he can’t get to it. Not only must you live in the penthouse, where your treasures are well protected, but you’ve got to have “penthouse” thoughts, “penthouse” conversation, and “penthouse” deeds. Now don’t get it twisted and make my usage of the word “penthouse” synonymous with the worldliness of arrogant attitudes or salacious lifestyles. I’m talking about elevating our thoughts and speech to reflect who and whose we are; that is how we keep our armor nice, shiny, and without holes.
Jude 1:24 NLT You don’t have to worry that the bottom will fall out from beneath you. You don’t have to tiptoe about as if something can be snatched from you at any moment. That isn’t the way of the Christian. Our way is to fully comprehend that God’s love can take us wherever we need to be. His love has the power to elevate us, to inspire us, to promote us, to energize us, and to keep us in that place where we are made complete in Jesus Christ.
John 14:2 KJV God is rich. He is rich in mercy. He is rich in grace…rich in everything that can be acquired in the universe. Jesus Christ came to make the vastness of God’s wealth available for all those who want to partake. John 10:10 declares that! The thief wants us to think that there is a limited supply of God’s blessings of which you and I can have access. Why, because that is what he believes. He believes that his access to God’s supply is so limited that he has to take what doesn’t belong to him.
Exodus 20:15 KJV God has told us that stealing goes against the very nature of love. It is not God’s way. He would not have commanded us NOT to steal…and then set us up to be stolen from. My family’s dire need of food is not license to take it from another family. My responsibility is to trust and believe God to provide a way out of no way. He holds me accountable to walk by faith. He has provided a way for us to be fully covered, fully protected, by clothing us in righteousness and making it available for us to walk therein.
Philippians 4:19 NLT We shouldn’t steal because our faith must not be in things, nor the acquisition of them. Our faith must be in the great truth that God will supply all our needs according to His unlimited supply of ALL things. That is where our hearts and minds must be. You see sometimes we slip into that thief mentality. It’s one of the adversary’s greatest tricks—to get us to believe as he believes; that there is a limited supply of blessings and we will not have enough to be more than sufficient. That is a lie from the very depths of hell. This is not the thinking of an ambassador. This is not the thinking of someone who is more than a conqueror, justified and made righteous by faith, and who knows that greater is he that is within them than he that is in the world. This is the thinking of someone who is determined to leave their treasures on the ground floor, unprotected and unguarded.
THE QUESTION "Moving On Up to the Penthouse" by Reverend Fran Times-Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2008. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Sundie Morning Sistas is dedicated to spiritual inspiration and encouragement through the Word of God. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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August 2008 Week 3 Prayer
Scriptures link to AUGUST 2008 Day 1:Ephesians
6:10,11
Spiritual Focus for the Month of
AUGUST
2008:
WEEK3Prayer FOCUS:
(Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer
List.)
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AUGUST 2008 Week 3 TEACHING Those of us who are lovers of mathematics possess great affinity for it because you can prove an equation to its nth degree and it will always be true. It will hold up against any argument and provide the foundation of which future proofs can be made. As fundamental and necessary as mathematics is to our everyday living, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Word of God. Last week we talked about the contrast between the abundant life that Jesus Christ made available, and the destruction that can envelop our lives without him. John 10:10 very clearly lays out this difference and declares the existence of the thief and his mission. If August 2008 Week #2 Teaching is a little foggy in your brain cells, I strongly suggest that you re-read it. It works in tandem with this lesson to build a foundation of understanding that will really blow your socks off. It may very well open the door for more new and exciting revelations, the likes of which you have not experienced heretofore.
1 Peter 5:8
KJV 1 Peter 5:8 admonishes us to be careful and be on watch because our adversary, the devil—the thief, is on a mission to devastate our lives. He is constantly seeking a way to kill, steal, and destroy as it says in John 10:10.
THE QUESTIONS Ephesians 6:10-11 (NLT) makes the answer to question #1 relatively easy. It says 10 A final word: Be strong with the Lord's mighty power. 11 Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. As Christians, we are commanded in Ephesians 6:10-11 (NLT) to “be stong with the Lord’s mighty power.” We do that by putting on God’s armor so that we are able to stand steady and strong when the devil whirls his darts at us. If human strength was enough to stand firm against the thief, then God would not have had to provide us with spiritual armor. He has provided it because we need it. We need it not only to stand firm against the devil, but to also stand as beacons of love and light through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There are only two choices for the Overcomer, either he or she will stand wobbly or stand strong. To be wobbly is to be unsteady; to lack stability. As it relates to our walk with God, most of us would baulk at owning that this word “wobbly” defines any aspect of our relationship with Him. Well, if there are circumstances that are causing us to experience any shakiness in our mental, physical, and emotional resolve—we shouldn’t fix our lips to say that God is putting us through it. We have to get brutally honest and be willing to take a closer look at our stand on His Word. Ephesians 3:20(KJV) says that God is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Most of us don’t have a problem with God doing the “exceeding abundantly” part. We have all the confidence in the world in His power. It’s the “power that worketh in us” part that trips us up. If God has told us to do something, He will not do it for us because He will never, ever overstep our freedom to choose. We have to make a decision and do what is necessary to carry that decision out. We have to give up the baby’s milk and realize that there comes a time when God holds us accountable for measuring up to the standard of His Word. Ephesians 6:12 (NLT) says “12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.” This is not a verse for the faint of heart. It may even cause a few folks to get a little wobbly, but for those who understand the nature of challenge and victory, it’s a call to arms. It’s a cue to bring out the weapons of champions.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (NLT) Not only must we believe in the power of God, but we must have every confidence that it is unleashed from within us as we stand strong in it. We have to know that girding ourselves with the accoutrement He has provided will enable us to exercise His strength from day to day. I’m sure that you have witnessed God move a few mountains on your behalf. Now its time for YOU to speak to it and say “mountain, move out of my way in the name of Jesus Christ!!!” You and I must know who we are, what we’re made of, and what we can do through the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to literally put on the sturdy belt of truth by saturating our minds and hearts with God’s Word. The body armor of righteousness will cover our every move as we live by the example of Jesus Christ. Every step will take us higher and higher as we walk in shoes that are covered with the peace of the gospel, and the shield of faith will ensure that no weapon formed against us will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). Wisdom and knowledge will chase us down when salvation is our helmet, and the sword of the spirit guarantees our victory as we stand guard and bare witness of the matchless Word of God. This is how we can “be strong with the Lord’s mighty power” as it says in Ephesians 6:10, by putting on the armor that God has given us. There’s an old saying that says “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ made the armor of Ephesians 6:13-18 available. If you don’t stand on the Word of God and use your spiritual armor you will fall! You’ll stand wobbly and therefore be defenseless against the attacks of the enemy.
Romans 5:1-11 NLT 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. 4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment. 10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God-all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. It is through God’s Word that you and I came to develop a relationship with Him and to learn of what He accomplished on earth through His son. We trusted His Word, and verse 1 of Romans 5 says “we have been made right in God’s sight” because of it. Now that we have faith and trust in Christ, verse 2 says that you and I stand in a place of highest privilege. We can look down on the challenges of this world as if they were little, tiny darts that will soon disappear as we grow higher and higher in the things of God. We know that facing those darts will help us to endure and become strong, but they are temporary and cannot penetrate our armor. When it seems as though others are progressing even though they haven’t put in a fraction of the work that we have; when it feels like our heart is breaking into a thousand tiny pieces and we don’t think we have the strength to fight on; and when everyone has abandoned us and we don’t have a friend in the world, we need to know that we don’t have to give up and throw in the towel. We can press into God and look towards a closer, more powerful walk with Him. To stand strong is to stand flatfooted, fully persuaded, and completely sold out on the Word of God. You can trust that He has your back, and that He won’t leave you in your time of need. You can trust that He desires the absolute best for you and He will partner with your efforts to acquire it. You can have confidence that there isn’t a second that goes by where He is not helping you to grow and develop into the Christian He knows you can be. God’s Word works with a mathematical precision. It never fails and no matter how you slice it—it comes out true. It is perfect through and through. God backs the promises contained in His Word, and as you stand on those promises you will receive all the rewards of a spiritual champion, on earth and in heaven too! So the answer to question #1 is this, our stand for Christ is a stand against the thief. When we stand firmly anchored in the things of God, you and I don’t have to wonder whether or not the indwelling Holy Spirit is strong enough to get us through the difficulties of life. We don’t have to tiptoe around, always fearing that we are without the hedge of protection and blessings that God’s love provides, but we do have to make a choice—and that choice is whether or not we will stand wobbly or stand strong on His Word! We’ll answer question #2 next week…stay with us! Heavenly Father,
Thank You for blessing
my life to come to know Jesus Christ in the pardon of my sins.
Help me to stand guard by keeping my heart flanked with an attitude
of thankfulness, my mind sharpened on the truth of Your Word, and my mouth
filled with praise for all that You are, and all that I am through Your son
Jesus Christ.
Help my unbelief as I lean on my ability to overcome any situation through
his power. In the extraordinary name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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August 2008 Week 2 Prayer
Scriptures link to AUGUST 2008 Day 1:
1 John 3:23
Spiritual Focus for the Month of
AUGUST
2008:
WEEK2Prayer FOCUS:
(Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer
List.)
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AUGUST 2008
Week 2
TEACHING Your Right to An Abundant Life Growing up, my elders would rarely commit to the success of anything prior to its completion. They would only speculate about their ability to be victorious over a new challenge or task by making the statement “if it be God’s Will”. Their response was one that elicited my reverence for the omnipotence of God, but it was also one that spun doubt and insecurity in my walk with Him. It sounds very pious to bring the notion of God’s intent into our everyday dealings, but we must do so from a place of authority, not ambiguity. For the longest time I viewed most situations as disappointments waiting to happen. And to be quite honest, they were seldom much more than that. I was the queen of negative thinking, and when I was an immature Christian still drinking baby’s milk, God’s grace turned my lemons into lemonade. But as I grew to expect more from my relationship with God and more out of life, lemonade was no longer pleasing to my palate. I was no longer satisfied with what I had. I wanted more of God’s goodies, and His goodies—my personal desires—became the focus of my prayers. To my surprise, my life seemed to take a turn in the wrong direction. Rather than getting what I thought I wanted—it seemed as though I lost everything that was important to me. Was I targeted by God to suffer one catastrophe after another? Was this His way of making me stronger? And if the answer was “yes” to either of these questions—how could I ever be sure whether or not my efforts towards success would be rewarded. Were they purposeful to my Christian journey or were they just a huge waste of time. At one point in my life I was immobilized by these questions. I didn’t know when to move forward, how to do it, or why I should even try. I was as low as I have ever been and stayed that way until the enormity of one single scripture impacted my soul. It can be found in John 10:10 KJV:
John 10:10 KJV This verse lets us know very clearly that we have an enemy—a thief whose prime objective is to steal, kill, and destroy. In contrast, Jesus Christ says that he came to the earth that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. As Christians, we honor a God of love, life, liberty, and light. He is in the “life giving” business. The thief, on the other hand, is in the business of fear, death, bondage, and darkness. And make no mistake about it; the thief is good at what he does and he is constantly seeking a way to gain entrance into our lives. Those of us who truly love our children can attest that seldom does anything in life compare to what they bring to us. We will sacrifice just about anything for their well-being and will go to great lengths to see them happy. Be assured that if we were to muster every ounce of affection and positive energy within our mortal bodies and lavish it on those we love most, it still would not match the depth of God’s love for us. It is an extraordinary love that we feel for our children. This is why God’s sacrifice of His only begotten son is so meaningful. It’s a love that goes beyond even what we experience as parents. There are those for whom the thief is nothing more than a fictional character in the bible. They cannot stretch themselves to be fully persuaded in God’s love which was reflected in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; therefore, they cannot fully believe in God’s archenemy, the thief. Well, Jesus Christ affirms that the thief does in truth exist, and in order to appreciate what an “abundant life” is, we must first understand how it can be stolen from us.
Ephesians 5:8 KJV
Romans 3:22 NLT A few weeks ago we talked a bit about acknowledging our shortcomings before the throne of God. Part of believing wholeheartedly in His love is coming to grips with what and who we were before we believed. We were walking around in darkness. Our eyes were closed to the possibility of a spiritual reality through Christ. Our internal light switch turns on “when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.” We make the choice to accept God’s forgiveness and get plugged into Him through His son. And in this same way, we make the choice to get plugged into the abundant life that his son made available. You cannot do that without a flatfooted, unflinching belief that God wants the best for you. Not trusting in that critical truth is where many of us wane in our spiritual walks. The thief is relentless in his attempts to devastate our lives. Think how much more diligent the Heavenly Father is to bless them. That is the truth of which we must be convinced if abundance is our aim. God adores us. He doesn’t ever want to see us fail, falter, or regress. The very moment we doubt that fact—we will have given the thief a foothold into our worlds. When our backs are against the wall and it seems as though everything is crumbling around us, it may be difficult to have faith that God desires abundance for us. It was hard for me to trust in that during my times of struggle. I said to myself “Why doesn’t God just drop a miracle in my lap…why doesn’t He just fix this thing already?” God wanted me to see that He dropped a miracle in my lap as soon as I believed in His son. The miracle was me! I was the blessing that I was waiting for.
1 John 3:24 NLT If you can trust and believe in the miracle of God’s love through Jesus Christ, then you can trust and believe in what you have through Him. He wants the best for you, and through the Holy Spirit He has given you the best, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.(Colossians 1:27) Approaching life as if it is an accident waiting to happen is not the mentality of someone who walks in the light. We can do better than that. Jesus Christ bought and paid for your right to an abundant life. Through him, you are an OVERCOMER!!! You have everything you need to live victoriously. Our responsibility to ourselves, to God, and to the faith is to live in abundance by learning how to employ the gift that we have been given. Stay with us next week as we delve into how to do just that. Heavenly Father, Thank You for blessing my life to the point where I’m able to stand anchored in Your matchless Word. Help me to honor the gift that You have given me as I also learn to value my worth to the body of Christ. As I walk by the light of Your Word, know that I will not take on a spirit of arrogance, but one of humility and thankfulness for all that You have made me through Your son. Help my unbelief as I lean on my ability to overcome any situation through the power of Christ. In his name I pray. Amen. "Your Right to An Abundant Life!” by Reverend Fran Times-Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2008. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Sundie Morning Sistas is dedicated to spiritual inspiration and encouragement through the Word of God.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©
1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. |
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August 2008 Week 1 Prayer
Scriptures link to AUGUST 2008 Day 1:
Day 2: Day 3: Day 4:
Spiritual Focus for the Month of
AUGUST
2008:
WEEK1Prayer FOCUS:
(Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer
List.)
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AUGUST 2008
Week 1
TEACHING
My friend from Liberia endured unspeakable tragedies before coming to this country as a refugee. Recently he received a phone call from a fellow refugee who, although maintains some degree of normalcy in his new life back in a more peaceful Liberia, still suffers from witnessing the decapitation of his father right before his very eyes. My Liberian friend has shared many stories like this with me, and each time I am amazed that he was able to come through his experiences mentally, and even more so, spiritually in tact. My friend, who for the sake of his anonymity will remain nameless, is a very intelligent man who describes to me in great detail the circumstances of his ordeal. Before meeting him I would have questioned my own constitution to withstand hearing such things. I have even wondered why God allowed this information to fall upon my ears, but I wonder no more. On more than one occasion he has told me of his family’s prestige and honor in Africa. They were pursuers of education and held it in the highest esteem. “In the war…” he says, “my own father, a professor, was killed, and we lost our honor. When I made the decision to become a refugee, my friends would ask me, ‘are you going to leave and lose your honor…are you going to just give up everything without a fight?’ YES! I told them, because I would rather give up everything and still have my life.” Time and time again, God spared him. “…and now,” he said, “I am in this country. I work very hard. I pay my bills; I have a roof over my head and food to eat. And most importantly I can sleep without having to run for my life every night. People say to me, ‘why are you always smiling?’ I tell them because I know that I am blessed. I don’t have a thing in the world to be sad about. I just love the life that God has given me.” Isn’t it something how extreme hardship can bring us to a place of tremendous gratitude? Surely, if anyone has the right to be desponded it would be my friend. And we have nothing like his excuse, yet many of us are toppled, in comparison, by slight emotional or mental discomfort. None of us relish the idea of our horizons of thankfulness being broadened by extreme circumstances of suffering and degradation. Most of us will never witness a time of such severity. Nonetheless, it is essential to our continued spiritual well-being to ensure that the reservoir of thankfulness in our hearts and minds is as deep as my friend’s. Thankfulness is an emotional agreement of your faith. It is the explosion of grateful feelings when a connection between your soul and spirit is made regarding the promises of God. It also provides the platform to seek those promises. Often we witness that connection in others during praise and worship. They hear something in a sermon or teaching that sparks a memory of how our Heavenly Father has brought them out and delivered them in some way, and they cannot contain their emotions of thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6,7 NLT It is easy to become caught up in the emotional side of the state of thankfulness without giving much thought to the other side. Notice that I have used the word “agreement” in my definition of thankfulness. You may not have thought about the state of gratitude in this way, but it is one in which a mutual agreement exists. Verse 7 of Colossians, Chapter 2, admonishes “Let your roots grow down…” “Your roots” belong to YOU! And YOU make the choice as to whether or not to allow them to grow down. Our roots are our hearts and minds, the plug side of the connection. If all systems are “GO!”, when they grow down, they will be met with nourishment from Christ Jesus; the spiritual or socket side of the connection. I use the words “plug” and “socket” because an electrical current and the visual of sparks flying is a very good analogy of what happens when we truly inhabit a spirit of thanksgiving. Stay with me now, and really make sure you get a clear understanding of this because I’m really praying that it will add to your spiritual stature in Christ. Now, you have to ask yourself a question; if your roots are growing down…where is down? Is it down in the valley…down in your heart…down in your soul? No. Verse 7 tells us to let our roots grow down into Jesus Christ. Again, this is a choice. You must intend that your roots are growing in the direction of God’s love, and you must also expect that something will sprout up in return. To examine this further, let’s look at an account in John 9.
John 9:1-11 NLT 3 "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end. 5 But while I am still here in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smoothed the mud over the blind man's eyes. 7 He told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing! 8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, "Is this the same man-that beggar?" 9 Some said he was, and others said, "No, but he surely looks like him!" And the beggar kept saying, "I am the same man!" 10 They asked, "Who healed you? What happened?" 11 He told them, "The man they call Jesus made mud and smoothed it over my eyes and told me, `Go to the pool of Siloam and wash off the mud.' I went and washed, and now I can see!" Here was a man born specifically for the purpose of revealing the power of God in a very unique and healing way. This record in John 9 really brings to light verse 11 of Ephesians 1, which says that we each were “predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”. There is no doubt about it; each of us has a purpose within God’s masterful plan. As the record continues, the Pharisees demanded to see this man who had been miraculously healed by Jesus. They wanted to question him, and when they did he told them exactly what Jesus required him to do in order that he might be healed. The Pharisees didn’t believe his story, so they called in his parents.
John 9:19-23 NLT 20 His parents replied, "We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don't know how he can see or who healed him. He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him." 22 They said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That's why they said, "He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him." Can you imagine such a thing? To have a son who has been blind all of his life and then witness him miraculously receiving sight. The appropriate response would have been to fall all over themselves thanking Jesus Christ for what he had done for their family. Instead they cowered in fear. They made a choice which signified that it was more important to hold on to what they knew than to release it for something exponentially better. Some would say that his parents were being tested…that God wanted to see what they were made of. God already knows what we’re made of; He created us and He knows everything. It is never about God’s need to know something, for nothing can exist without His awareness. It is about His desire that we know ourselves. He wants us to acknowledge our strength, power, and our capacity to demonstrate a God-kind-of-love through the gift that we’ve been given. He desires that we appreciate the transformation from who we use to be to who we are now through Christ. Only then can we be truly anchored in faith. Later in this record the son made a confession of belief in Jesus Christ, but the lasting legacy of his parents is their fear of the Jewish leaders. The difference between him and his parents in John 9 represent two very different scenarios; one of a connection being made and one where it was severed by fear. Fear…sin…same thing. Both will stop you dead in your tracks and cut you off from what you desire most. Colossians 2:7 (NLT) tells us to let our lives overflow with thanksgiving for all God has accomplished through Jesus Christ …for us and in us. “Overflowing” is a bountiful reality of which only “overcomers” can relate. My friend has made a connection to thankfulness that fuels his walk with Christ from day to day. I am so blessed that God allowed me to bear witness of this man’s testimony. I have seen firsthand how it is possible to overcome unimaginable tragedy and garner an even greater walk with God. When you and I make the decision to grow our roots in the right direction, Jesus Christ will hold up his end of the agreement. He will meet us with nourishment for our souls and cause our lives to blossom. There is never any deviation from that promise. Witnessing his faithfulness is cause to celebrate not just a few minutes on one day of the week, but everyday as we become grounded in the things of God. We don’t ever have to worry that we’ll come up short, because Jesus Christ will always meet us when we seek him with our whole hearts. He will nourish our roots as they grow down, and we can’t help but sprout up thankful. Heavenly Father, Please forgive me for the things I have thought, felt, said, and done that were contrary to Your will, and hear me, O’ God, as I make the desires of my heart known before Your throne. Help me, Dear God, to understand the impact of my thoughts, words, and actions on my spirit, and to reroute them so that they line up with Your Word. Show me how to recognize the greatness of the gift that abides within me; help me to design my life in such a way that I am governed by it. I know that You are aware of the circumstances I am facing today. You knew I would face them long before they confronted me. Deepen the well of my understanding so that I may learn the lesson they were fashioned to teach me. And as I learn, meet me in that place of spiritual growth and light, so that I may be filled to overflowing with thanksgiving. I pray these things in the powerful and precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. "Growing Down and Sprouting Up Thankful!” by Reverend Fran Times-Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2008. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! Sundie Morning Sistas is dedicated to spiritual inspiration and encouragement through the Word of God. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. |
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July 2008 Week 4 Prayer
Scriptures link to WEEK 4 Scriptures: Day 1:
Day 2: Day 3: Day 4:
Day 5: Day 6: Day 7:
Spiritual Focus for the Month of JULY
2008:
WEEK4Prayer FOCUS:
(Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer
List.) Scripture Study:
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JULY 2008 Week 4 Teaching:
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Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
New Living Translation.com
WEEK 3 Scriptures:
Day 1: Galatians 6:9-10
Day 2: Proverbs 4:26
Day 3: Ephesians 3:16, 17
Day 4: 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Day 5: Ephesians 1:11-14
Day 6: Isaiah 55:10,11
Day 7: Philippians 1:6
Spiritual Focus for the Month of JULY
2008:
Staying on a purposeful path
WEEK3Prayer FOCUS:
To develop a more generous heart
(Remember to pray for those on the SMS Prayer
List.)
July 2008 Week 3 Prayer
JULY 2008
Week 3 Teaching:
Don’t Give Up….Give!
Although it may not seem so, our lives are supposed to make sense. Good health, good relationships, a good job, a devoted spouse, and plenty of money in the bank are all entitlements of kingdom kids. These things are our birthright. If we are lacking to a significant degree in any of them we need to make it a priority to find out why, and then make it our business to apply corrective actions.
A mental state of confusion has sidetracked many people. It has caused them to get off a purposeful path and live beneath their privilege as children of God. They become impatient with His order and refuse to conquer what they don’t understand. They acquiesce, and then finally retreat to their comfort zones. This is a dangerous course to take. It is the point where many fall off and never get back on; they simply give up! If ever you find yourself leaning in this direction, STOP! Re-assess, and re-group.
Part of the corrective actions of reassessing and regrouping is reminding yourself how uniquely individualized your purpose is. No one can do what you do the way you do it. That is the marvelous thing about God’s plan. He builds our esteem and confidence this way. You see, it isn’t possible for any one person to give us a roadmap of the path you and I must follow. It’s an intimate walk between us and our Heavenly Father.
The intimacy in our relationship with God is predicated on our ability to practically apply His Word. Often, confusion seeps in when we think we’ve done that, but haven’t—and because we haven’t we are left with a feeling of immobility. Our indwelling Holy Spirit is constantly whispering God’s directives…go left here…..go right there…but we cannot see what God wants us to see or hear what He wants us to hear. Our ability to perceive is blocked.
Your responsibility is to get unblocked! God will not do this for you because He will never overstep your free-will. You must literally do those things that nurture the connection between your soul and spirit. Also remember, the deficiency does not exist within your indwelling Holy Spirit. Colossians 2:9,10 NLT says “9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10 and you are complete through your union with Christ…” The indwelling Holy Spirit is the fullness of Jesus Christ within us. It lacks nothing. It is absolutely, unequivocally, and totally sufficient. It is a perfect gift. The deficit lies in our ability to receive its impetus.
We must decrease as the indwelling spirit of God increases. Nurturing your spirit means that YOU are growing IN the spirit--you are doing the internal work of reading His Word, communing with Him through prayer, and most importantly putting your baggage in check. Things like these decrease the agenda of your flesh and promote the one of your spirit, which is to guide you to more of the truth of God’s Word.
GIVE
Giving equals receiving!!! That is one of God’s immutable laws. It works
with a mathematical precision. It works in every aspect of life, and it
works whether or not you choose to believe or operate within it.
Ultimately, some act of giving will get us unblocked.
1Peter 4:10 (NLT) admonishes “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you.” The ways in which we can give to others so that “God’s generosity” can flow through us are too vast to number, but there are three fundamental areas that pretty much encompass this broad spectrum.
The first of those is in the area of tithing. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest lessons that hopefully you and I will learn in our lifetimes, and the act of tithing is the greatest teacher of that lesson.
It is wonderful to hear the proclamation “Jesus is Lord!”, although few of us understand how far reaching and staggering that reality is. A “Lord” is someone to whom one would look up to and cherish. He is worthy of great reverence, respect, and honor. We would look to a Lord for instruction if we wanted to know how to do something in the very best way possible and with the greatest level of detail, because he would leave no detail undone and would do a quality job every single time.
Colossians 2:10 NLT says that Jesus Christ is “…the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.” He is LORD in the greatest sense of the word, and the fantastic thing about him is that he will steer us in the direction that guarantees our highest level of spiritual achievement, if we’ll let him. Allowing him to be Lord over our circumstances means that we let go, remove our hands from the steering wheel, and allow Jesus Christ to do the steering.
It is our responsibility to position ourselves in the path of God’s overflow, but we cannot do that if we are bent on controlling how we are to be blessed. To relinquish that control is a difficult thing for most of us to do. We want to tell God what color, what age, what height, how big, how small. He knows where we need to be and when we need to be there. He knows how to meet our needs while causing us to grow in faith and endurance as well. Trying to confine Him to our restraints shows our lack of faith and it also displays an unwillingness to grow beyond what we know.
Tithing is for our benefit. For many of us, it is the only thing that we will ever do in our lifetimes to profoundly impact the kingdom of God. And we will think of every excuse in the world not to do it, for no other reason than our own lack of faith. Refusing to honor God this way conveys that we have assumed lordship over our purses, and we make our debtors co-conspirators in the deal. “I can’t pay my tithe, I owe too much money…I’ve got to keep a roof over my head and food on my table.” We hold on to our purses as if doing so will extend to us more than the heart of our Great Big Wonderful God! This attitude signals the heavens that our confidence in His ability