Thanksgiving...

As the leaves continue to fall, the foliage brings us all delight. Such a beautiful sight it is to see, and smells to smell. The crisp air brings smiles to our faces as we look around us and see all the many blessings bestowed upon us. When every plate is set, when the turkey is being carved, when you look around the table and see friends and family who have always been there through the good and the bad. When you laugh so hard it hurts, when your conversations are logged away in your memories forever. When everyone is seated, you pause and thank the one who did it all.
What a beautiful holiday. A day completely set apart for thanking the Lord for ALL the wonderful blesssings He bestows upon us all. We all have so much to be thankful for, down to the very air we breathe. This thanksgiving, we must all remember the true meaning...to be thankful. It is as simple as that. So wherever you are I pray that you will have a very happy thanksgiving indeed. There is so very much to be thankful for, as you look around you and reflect on all the blessings in your life, be sure to recignize the Lord is the one who showers those blessings on us. May the joys of the seasons warm your heart and may the Lord truly bless you this thanksgiving.

Attached is a link to a song called "Thankful" by Josh Groban. May it touch your heart as it has touched mine.
Happy thanksgiving!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2M0GQOgYGg

And remember! "Every good and perfect thing is from above" God bless!

The Silversmith Of Our Souls

How are we to deal with trials? What is the purpose for such calamities? Often when we are faced with trials we feel sorry for ourselves, wishing life was not so hard on us. Then we remember, the Lord commands us to be content, so we say to ourselves “I am content”, but we do not act it out. We usually shake it off and ignore the command, then continue with the pity party we have amerced ourselves in. What we practice, is what we believe, the rest is nothing but religious talk. Saying we are content will accomplish nothing if we do not live it out. Lately I have not been living out true contentment on the inside, but recently the Lord has convicted me of that. He has showed me the purpose for calamities, and shown me what I was really supposed to be doing.

The Lord uses trials for many reasons; one of the reasons is to continually refine us. We are imperfect vessels that He is constantly refining to His image. He does so by (purposefully) placing us in the furnace of testing. Though the process is often painful, it will result in being more precious than we can comprehend. The process of refining is not a one time thing; it is a continual process that will only cease when we stand face to face with the King of kings. 

Joseph was clearly placed into the fiery furnace of testing. He was betrayed by his brothers, sold as a slave, falsely accused, and thrown into prison. Life was not looking bright for Joseph. After all that had happened to him, we would not have blamed him if he had spent every moment weeping in despair. We would not be surprised if he had held a national pity party in his honor, but it is how he responded to the furnace that is incredible. He worshiped God in prison, and the men around him saw it. He chose to glorify God in the midst of the furnace. He was tested, and he succeeded. Because he succeeded the Lord brought him into a place of abundance. He brought him out of prison and appointed him ruler over the most powerful empire in the world. He was able to provide food for his family, who would have starved in the famine, as well as everyone else. What Satan meant for evil, God used for good. At one point the same brothers who had betrayed him were standing face to face with him. At that point he had the power to kill them, but instead he forgave them. Joseph was placed in the fiery furnace of testing, and he succeeded. Because he succeeded, God brought him into a place of abundance!

God uses trials to transform us!

What if we are currently in the midst of a trial and have not been dealing with it properly and are just at this very moment realizing it? What are we to do? We are to repent immediately and worship God. Though it is painful, the result is precious.

Look at Job for example; he was faced with an agonizing trial. How did he respond? He immediately fell down and worshiped God! God placed him in the furnace of testing and he succeeded, and because he succeeded, God brought him into a place of abundance!

We are to respond as Job and Joseph responded. We are to worship God in the midst of our trials, and He will bring us into a place of abundance! He continues to refine us over and over, to transform us into His image. He will do so until we see His face. Let us praise Him in the times of pain and in the times of joy. For He is the silversmith of our souls!

            “For You O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver

             Is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on

             Our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads;

              We went through fire and through water; But You brought us

               Out to rich fulfillment.” ~Psalm 66:10-12

Rivers Of Living Water

                          John 7:37 tells us "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."

            The world offers us warm, dirty water "come drink this water" more like "come drink this mud!" Though we may not see it, we all have drunk of these dirty waters.  But what are these waters?  These waters are anything that the world offers.  For example, you may love to play an instrument, you drink from that everyday, but you will always thirst and it will never satisfy.  Or maybe you drink from sports and you put all your time and effort into that sport and expect by the end of the day to be satisfied, but you'll end up thirsting again.  Perhaps you drink from a friend or family member expecting everything instead of drinking from the Lord. You will end up disappointed in your friend or family member for not providing you with everything you expected, and as a result you will end up thirsting again.  Maybe you drink from music, movies, books, video games etc... when have you drunk from these things and not come back empty and thirsty?  

            Imagine yourself on a blazing hot summer day and someone offers you a cup of warm, muddy lake water. Then someone else offers you a cup of clear, ice cold water.  Which will you choose?  It is pretty much obvious now isn't it?  If your smart you'll take the nice cool water and after you drink of it you will be satisfied and refreshed.  You will come drink of this water daily to keep you healthy and refreshed. The sad thing is, most people grab the warm dirty cup without hesitation.  After they gulp it down they usually feel disgusting, they thirst for something better but they never drink of it.  After drinking of this water everyday they end up dying as a result of the infected water.  

            We look at this picture and say to ourselves "who in their right mind would be so clueless as to drink of that infestation?"  But we see it around us everyday, and often drink of it ourselves. The filthy cup represents your sin, are you disgusted when you drink from it?  There are two wells which you are drinking from: The worlds infected water, or the pure refreshing springs of eternal life from the Lord.           There is no compromise, no well in between, you are drinking from one well, which is it?
Often "Christians" take John 7:37 and only apply the first part "come".  They can come all they want, they can even come all the way face to face with Jesus, but they do not drink.  Why don't they drink? In order to do so they must turn their back on this world to turn to Jesus.  They must drop everything and walk.  Most people don't want to make that sacrifice. They come and stand face to face with Jesus and listen to Him say "come and drink" they hear and apply the "come" then they turn their backs on Him and go back to the comforts and dirty waters of this world. They hide behind the fact that they have "come" but ignore the fact that they must "drink".  

            John 7:38: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  Jesus is referring to those who have come and drank. "He who believes in me",  He is talking about believers.  He uses this picture as an example for the believers position in Christ. The believer is to "come and drink" daily and as a result; out of the believers heart will flow rivers of living water. Do you see that?  Christ will be shown in the believers life!  "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" those rivers will flow out of the believers heart into his life!  The world will see those rivers, the world will want to drink from those rivers.  Believers do not "come and drink" just once.  Believers keep coming and keep drinking of these waters daily, to keep themselves healthy and refreshed. There are two cups being offered to you, which will you choose?  Keep coming, keep drinking.  This is what it means to come and drink of Jesus Christ.

The Race Of Action

"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." ~James 1:22-25.
You would say it is foolish for a man to die of hunger with bread in his hands. You might also say that a man with tools in his hands doing no wok, is also foolish. Yet how many times in life are we ourselves like that man? We learn of so much scripture knowledge, yet do not apply it. We pick up the tools often, but do no work. What good is scripture if we do not apply it to our lives? It is like a man who looks face to face with his very own being in the mirror, then walks away, forgetting what he looked like. He looks and he leaves, and eventually forgets what he saw. If you do not do something that needs to be done when you see it, it may never get done at all. Often a sermon is gone on a monday. It is sad, yet true. On Sunday we go to the mirror, but when Monday comes our way, we walk away from the mirror; forgetting what we saw. You see...The mirror shows our spiritual blemishes. It shows of the imperfections and ugliness in our lives, and that ugliness is sin. The mirror exposes our sins. Some choose to fix the problem immediately, others run from it. It is not complete when we walk away from the mirror prematurely. Picture a man shaving in front of the mirror, then he gets distracted by something else, and ends up running his errands with half of his beard on one side, and the other half left bare. It would look; incomplete. At that point it would have been better if he had avoided shaving altogether. The point is this, we must come to the mirror (or the word of God) with an attitude that says; "Lord expose my ugliness and make me beautiful." When you look into the word of God and keep looking with perserverance you will benefit from it. Often we think that if we listen to a sermon, we are doing our "spiritual duty." The blessing is not in the hearing, but in the doing. Satan could care less if we memorize verses. He cares when we live them out. Obedience longs with the depths of the heart to do what is right. Some have been content to hear and not apply, but as Christians, we choose to examine ourselves in the mirror and let God expose our imperfections so that He can cure us and shape us, and make us more like Him. The application of truth transforms a life!
So the real question is this...what are YOU going to do about it? When you hear the word of God, are you going to let it change you?
With swift feet, let us run to put His word into action!

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin was a remarkable woman. She was able to see the world in ways that no one else could. She was diagnosed with autism at age four. The doctors recommended that she be put into an institution. If it hadn’t been for her family, her friends, and her teachers, who pushed her to go against the system, then she would have gone along living in frustration, being told she would never measure up to anyone even being told she would never speak. She rebelled against the low expectations given to her by the world, and led an incredible life.

She had a love for animals and desired to treat them with compassion by making their lives easier and more humane. She could relate to their frustration, by helping them, she helped herself. She was constantly ridiculed by her peers and ignored by her co-workers, yet she kept on fighting and eventually awed each and every one of them with her special gifts. She completely transformed the cattle industry, earned her masters in “mooing” and published some incredible articles.

Although she was given low expectations by this world, she transformed them into a great future by completely disregarding them. She learned the meaning and value of life that is found in God alone. She was extremely brilliant and was generous enough to share her brilliance with this world.

After reading all that, you would never guess that she would be autistic, and why exactly is that? Perhaps it is because we are given our expectations by this world and usually never venture out of them. Instead we decide to remain in our comfort zones, hardly ever using our full God-given potential. Temple Grandin heard the expectations given to her, but she chose to ignore them. She chose to live out the great expectations given to her by God. She acknowledged the fact that she would always be autistic, she knew she would never be cured, yet she accepted that fact knowing that even being autistic she could go on living joyfully.

As a result, she helped families and children dealing with autism, by speaking out and saying that her life was living proof that it truly is possible to go against the system and use their differences to make a difference!

Temple Grandin was a very special individual, I believe she was blessed with autism. She was ablt to see the world like no one else could. She truly had a gift and chose to use that gift in incredible, encouraging, and inspiring ways!  

Standing Strong

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." ~James 1:2-4~
The bond that ties a woman or a man to God is the bond of love. Not just a relationship that is selfish saying "as long as I get what I want, I'll stick around", but a true bond that can endure any trial. And if one does not have that bond of love with Christ, it will be shown after the result of a trial.
We are told in James 1:2-4, that when faced with trials we are to be joyful. This means to be content whatever the circumstance. Because we have that bond of love with Christ, we can be content. Knowing it won't always be easy, but at the same time with the assurance and truth that He will always take care of us.
When you exercise your muscles you will get stronger and stronger. Sometimes it isn't easy, but we know that the more we exercise our muscles the stronger we become over time-correct? Well that is exactly what we find in James 1:2-4. When we are faced with spiritual trials we are actually building spiritual muscles. When a believer is faced with a trial he or she spends more time than usual praying, studying scriptures, and asking others to pray for them. And through this he or she is building their faith and becoming more and more steadfast.
When faced with trials, know that it is a test. After the test you are able to see if your faith is genuine or not. If you are not in a trial at the moment, know that you must be preparing for one. Because the trials will come, so we as believers must prepare for the battle, by emercing ourselves in scripture, never ceasing to pray and spreading the gospel to others. Putting on the full armor of God.
Often you hear tragic stories of individuals who claimed to be believers, but when faced with a trial abandoned the faith alltogether and became angry with God. We see through those stories that their faith was not really genuine. They didn't get what they wanted so they turned from God.
It is not possible to loose salvation through a trial. If your name is written in the lamb's book of life, it cannot be erased. If you have genuine salvation it will show. You cannot loose it.
When true believers go through trials they actually come out stronger! That may sound a bit strange, but it is good news!
Christ went from pain to joy for us, should we do anything less?

Speaking Out On Abortion

I hope that by reading this article you can furthur understand how to defend yourself in the pro-life/pro-choice arguement. Not so that you can appear witty and make the pro-choice individual look rediculous, but to change minds and help others understand the importance of this issue. By changing minds we can do our part in saving lives. (This and prayer) Abortion is a serious issue, countless lives are being lost. Children are dying. We must not be silent. We have been given a voice, and we must speak for those who have not.

When the topic comes up we are not to shake it off, we are to be bold and humbly help others to understand the truth about abortion. Here are a few simple arguements that are extremely helpful and completely neccisary.
I am going to use two names that represent two different worldviews. Lets say Sue is from the Pro-life point of view, and Jackie is from the pro-choice point of view.
Jackie begins the arguement: "The fetus is nothing but a blob of tissue. It is not a person."
Sue: "The law of biogenisis states that two living organisms produce after their own kind. Can two birds produce a fish? Can two cats produce a dog? No of coures not. Biologically humans can only produce humans, so the fetus is in fact a human."
Jackie: "Okay maybe its technically a human but its not a person."
Sue: "Whats the difference between a human and a person? Have you ever seen a person that isn't a human? What do they look like?"
Usually that arguement will end there.
Or there is the more detailed arguement which is called the "SLED". It is easy to bring up in a pro-life/pro-choice arguemnt and it gets right down to the point. The "SLED" method is quite simple and I highly recomend that you do your best to remember it.
Sue begins this arguement: "I am going to use something called the 'SLED' after going through four of these facts and argueing them, we can then decide if the fetus is a person or not. Agreed?"
Jackie: "Agreed."
Sue: "Alright, the sled stands for, four points; Size, Level of Developement, Enviroment, and Dependency. Lets begin with Size. Is Labron James more of a person than Salena Gomez just based on size?"
Jackie: "Well no of course not."
Sue: "Then we have established that size cannot determine whether someone is a person or not a person, correct?"
Jackie: "Correct."
Sue: "Alright then lets move on to Level of developement. Is a six year old girl "not a person" just because she is not as developed as a sixteen year old girl?"
Jackie: "Well no."
Sue: "Then Level of developement does not tell us that the fetus is not a person. Lets move on to Enviroment. Is a newborn baby a person?"
Jackie: "Well of course it is."
Sue: "Alright then, how does a simple transition from inside the womb to outside the womb determine if the fetus is a person or not? Can a simple geography fact determine if someone is a person or not?"
Jackie: "Well no, I suppose not."
Sue: "Alright then lets move on to dependency. Is a sick individual "not a person" just based on the fact that he or she depends on their medication?"
Jackie: "No."
Sue: "Then how does the fact that the fetus depends on its mother, make it 'not a person'?"
Jakie: "Well it doesn't"
Sue: "We have gone through all four of these things; Size, Level of developement, Enviroment, and Dependency and all four of these prove the unborn to be a person."
The pro-life/pro-choice arguement will inevitebly come down to one question: "what is it?" If you can make the listener understand what the fetus is (a person) then you will most likely win the arguement. The purpose of this arguement is not merely winning or loosing, it is a matter of right and wrong, changing minds, and saving lives.

I incourage you to click on this link below. I came across this video on youtube. It is a twelve year old girl who speaks out on the issue of abortion. She argues her point beautifully and by the time it is over it will have you saying "wow" and passing it on.
Abortion is murder, it must end. We may not be able to end it alone, but together we can. Individually we are tiny drops, but together we can form a flood. Do your part in stopping abortion by speaking out, changing minds, and by the incredible power of prayer. Look at this twelve year old girl for example, just think of how many minds she has changed just by speaking out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNynhu-noiw

Singing In The Rain!

Often in life we trust God when we see sunshine, but in what way do we react when it rains? Do we let the gloomy skies take over? Do we match the gray clouds? Most of the time we make ourselves believe we have no choice, when it rains we instantly pull out an umbrella and let our smiles turn to a frown. When it rains we focus on the fact that it isn't sunny, we aren't content and don't trust God. Scripture tells us to be content whatever the circumstances. Scripture constantly reminds us to trust God. When it is sunny blue skies we do, but as soon as that blue turns to gray, we turn from sunshine to rain.
Do you ever see those people that always look so...sunny? As if their oblivious to the fact that it is raining. Why are they like that? Does it ever rain in their lives? It rains in everyone's lives, rain is a natural part of life. Then what makes them so sunny? Its the way they choose to deal with the rain. While most people pull out their umbrella's and push through the crowds, there are some who trust God in the rain. They splash in puddles and dance around. They are not afraid to get wet. They know the storm won't kill them, so they choose to make the best of it. I heard a quote once that applies to this topic very well; "the happiest people don't neccisarily have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything." Who are these people you may ask? These are people who trust in God whatever the circumstances. These are people who make the best of the storms, by singing in the rain!

Living Sacrifices

 

 

Our Bodies a living sacrifice:


“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” ~Romans 12:1-2.

These are some powerful verses that we must not take lightly or Passover without a thought. It is crucial to be certain we understand the word of God, not just read it over. For once we fully understand it; we are then able to fully live it.

In verse one Paul says “I beseech you”, “beseech” literally means to beg. Then he goes on further and says “brethren”, referring to brothers and sisters in Christ. So he starts out making it clear to whom he is speaking (us) the believers. Then he goes on to say why. “By the mercies of God.” Romans Chapters one to eleven tells us of all the mercies of God. Romans chapter twelve is basically a summary. So of all those glorious mercies shown to us (in chapters one to eleven) Paul makes it clear to us that it is our “reasonable service” to present our bodies as living sacrifices. After all the mercies performed to us by God, it is (and should be) a reflex for the believer to do so. So Paul is basically shaking us saying “wake up! Look at all the mercies God has shown you! It’s your reasonable service to present yourselves as living sacrifices!”

So when we do present our bodies as living sacrifices, then what? Should we get a gold star from God? Certainly not! It is our “reasonable service”, it is expected, and it should be a reflex. Paul is begging us to wake up and realize these truths.

How are we to present our bodies as living sacrifices? “Holy, acceptable to God.” Back in that culture when they were to make (animal) sacrifices, they took the spotless animal. So when we daily bring our bodies as living sacrifices, they are to be acceptable to God. We are not to insult Him by bringing ourselves daily unclean and unacceptable. Look back with me to that culture. One would have to make themselves presentable in order to see the king. In the same manner we are to be presentable when we come before the King of kings.

What is a living sacrifice? It is literally a sacrifice that is living. God is no longer commanding dead animal sacrifices; He is commanding real alive humans. What we find in verse two helps us to further understand this, “and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In our world today even the church is being conformed to the ways of the world. Just to be clear-when we say “the world” it means the system. We are not to be conformed into this evil system. The issue is, the church does its best to conform to the evil ways of the system. The church continues to accept the ways of the world. For instance, the church now accepts homosexuality; divorce… the list goes on. By accepting these things they justify their sin-they try to at least. By forming their own views and saying God loves homosexuals, they are insulting God saying that God loves sin. But if God is a righteous God, and loves righteousness, He cannot love sin, He hates sin. And that is something our culture seems to be forgetting. These are only examples, there are far more that it would take far too long to name. The church today is far too often conforming to the image of this world, when they should be conforming to the image of God. When we become Christians God transforms us. Salvation is a turning point from being “conformed” by this world, and a daily walk in the direction of being “transformed” by God.

What areas need to be transformed? Every area, every inch, but for the sake of time I will only name a few; Mind, body, and soul. “By the renewing of your mind.” Did you know the sins of the mind are just as serious, if not worse, then those performed outwardly? In God’s eyes sin is sin, in any way shape or form. The sins of the mind are what we often take lightly; we must realize the danger in them is quite great. Our thought life must be Christ centered as well. We must maintain a pure mind. Body. We are to present our “bodies” as living sacrifices. The body is what operates the soul. In everything we use our bodies for; they are to bring honor and glory to God. One area could be dress. What we put on our bodies must honor God, not the body itself. Dress is not the only area; I have only used it as an example. Soul. As I stated above, the body is what operates the soul, so who you are on the inside will be shown on the outside.

Now, will any of this be easy? Absolutely not, but Christianity is not meant to be easy. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices will be difficult. “God is the LORD, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the alter” ~Psalm 118:27

Its interesting how much alike this passage is to Romans 12:1-2. It starts out by saying what God has done for us; “God is the LORD, and He has given us light.” Then it goes right into the command “Bind the sacrifice with cords.” Scripture often repeats itself to continually remind us of its importance. Another thing out of this picture is struggle. Picture that for just a moment. An animal struggling for survival, they had to bind it down. The lust of the flesh, the sins of the mind, will struggle for survival, but we must fight back with every breath in us and bind them to the alter.

We are to daily present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, for of all the mercies God has shown us, it is our reasonable service.