DO You DO The Things You Hate?

Paul said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (Romans 7:18-19)

Hey Gang: Did you know that the Bible is filled with very effective road maps to living truly effective lives? For instance, look at Colossians three and note that Paul gives us a formula for change.

But, before giving us the formula, he sets the prerequisites for implementation and success of this formula in verse one: “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ…”. The principles in the Word are many but keep in mind there are prerequisites to receiving God’s blessings.

Paul goes on and gives us the ‘rest of the story’, “…keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth”.

He then gives us step one to the change process: “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” What a joy there is in knowing that, when we have surrendered our lives to Christ, we are literally hidden with Him and, when He is revealed,  we will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Wow!, Just plain wow!

Now Paul goes on with the prerequisites to being hidden with Him: “…consider your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Is Paul saying that God would like us to die to these things?  No, I believe it goes a lot deeper. Notice Paul’s next words: “For it is because of these things the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience”.

So, young folks, remember the hillbilly adage, “Your gunna get what ya always got, if ya do what ya always did!’ You will make choices today. Will you “put off” those things that offend God and “put on” those things that bring honor and glory to Abba Father? Will you “let God” have full control of your day?

Blessings,

Gramps

Have You Ever Stopped to See A Burning Bush and It Changed Your Life?

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.  So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”  (Ex. 3:2-3). Hey Gang:  One of the neat things about the Word of God is that He gives us different people with different character traits that meet our needs at different times.  I am not one that has ever had a problem with overconfidence or feeling I am superior to anyone. The depression years and growing up in the mountains of Pennsylvania took that out of me. I have often asked God the question, ‘Why did He allow me to be the founder and builder of the Village when there were multitudes of people out there with much greater skills and abilities than I?’ His response was always: “You were willing”.  Does that mean I was always confident that the decisions I was making were the right ones?  In no way! I made so many mistakes along the way, I often wonder how God was able to do anything through me. When most folks think of Moses, they remember his dependence on God and the strength that He maintained throughout his walk with the Lord.  Was He perfect.? No, he lost his cool one day and struck the rock.    Under the circumstances I would have beaten the rock into dust! There were many times when I faced problems and did not have a clue how to solve.  Now it may sound strange, but I believe that was my greatest asset for it made me totally dependent on God to lead and give me the wisdom to do what needed to be done. Notice, when God gave Moses the mission He had for him, Moses was not ecstatic with joy.  His first response, “Who am I  that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”  (vs. 11).  “Who will I say sent me?”  “Lord, I don’t talk so good” “What if they do not believe me”.  Does that sound like a man of confidence?? Why do I like the story of Moses?  Because it removed the feeling that I  had nothing to offer the Lord.  He showed me that my greatest asset to God was my willingness to be used by Him, no matter what the assignment. So, young folks, are you willing to be an Isaiah this morning?  “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  Then say with him, “Here am I, Send Me!” (Is. 6:8).  Are you a “Here am I” kind of person?” or a “Sorry, Lord, sorry, I don’t think I have the ability to do that”.  Keep in mind, God’s promise “I will supply!”  Blessings, Gramps

In The Midst of Miracles

“Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?  Or the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets full you picked up?”  (Matt. 16:9-10).

Hey Gang, warriors of the Branch, I came across this devotion recently and sensed God would have me send some thought from it along to you.  It was written and archived by David Wilkerson and dated June 23, 2011, but David had been killed in an auto accident a month before that date. 

David was a dynamic minister of God, writer of The Cross and the Switchblade and founder of Teen Challenge.    One might think that God would have placed a mantel of protection around him and his family, but such was not the case.  David suffered with cancer at an earlier age as did his wife.  Both were victorious in their battle.  At present his grandson is battling fourth stage pancreatic cancer. 

In the midst of all of these wilderness experiences, David WIlkerson shared the good news that he was living “In the Midst of Miracles’.  As I read of his many trials, I asked myself the question, Would I have had the strength and courage to write such an article? You may be in the midst of a miracle right now and simply do not see it.  It may be that you are waiting for a miracle. You’re discouraged because things seem to be at a standstill. You do not see any evidence of God’s supernatural work on your behalf.

Consider what King David says in Psalm 18: “In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came to his ears.  Then the earth shook and quacked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken…Smoke went up from His nostrils and fire from His mouth devoured…He bowed the heavens also, and came down…The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice…He sent out his arrows, and lightning flashes in abundance” (Psalms 18:6-9, 13-14).   

Keep in mind, none of these things literally happened.  It was something that David saw in his spiritual eyes and that, my friends, is faith- when you believe God has heard your cry and that he hasn’t delayed or isn’t ignoring your petition.  Instead, He quietly began your miracle immediately when you prayed, and even now He’s doing supernatural work on your behalf.  This is truly believing in miracles, His marvelous progressive work in our lives.

King David understood the foundational truth beneath it all: “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19)).  He also declared: “I know why the Lord is doing all this for me.  It’s because he delights in me.”

Sooooo, I truly believe in instantaneous miracles because I have seen them with my own eyes.  God is still working glorious, instant wonders in the world today.   In Matthew 16:9-11 and Mark 8:19-21, Jesus reminds the disciples of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000.  He is asking them and us to take note of His progressive miracles and their role in our own lives today. 

Blessings, 

Gramps

PS God probably brought this to our attention at this time, because we are still in the midst of an unseen miracle – that of complete healing for Gramps.  But we have seen God’s Presence and peace at every turn and many times when just the right thing happened, or people in the right places or opportunities to minister God’s love and grace!  We have not wavered in our trust in Father God and His purpose for our lives.

Happy New Year!! The Choice is Yours!

“And whatsoever you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father thru him.”  Colossians 3:20. “Whatever you do work at it with ALL your heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23

January 3, 2020!!  How many New Year’s resolutions did you make and already break?  Lose weight?  That is often one after the Holidays!  Work harder?  Take more vacation time?  Increase savings?  Less TV or Social Media?  Most of us are not very good at keeping these and give up when we fail to keep them just once

I have a suggestion:  call it life-style change and ask God to help you draw closer to Him   That is far more important and has eternal value!

He is God of second chances – even 3^rd, 4^th … etc. Read Hebrew Chapter 11 where the Fathers of Faith are listed.  Then check out their lives and what got them to this faith. often times it was failure or missing God’s mark.  Then came recognition of need, repentance and forgiveness.

Here are a few of the New Testament heroes:

     Peter, an apostle, often put his foot in his mouth – even denying he knew Jesus.  Luke 26:31-34, but when the Holy Spirit filled him, became a strong leader (69-750.

     Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector who lined his pockets at the expense of his own people.  Then he met Jesus!  And his life was changed.  Luke Chapter 19

     Paul, a very religious man who persecuted those of The Way, met Jesus and was changed 180 degrees. The Book of Acts tell us the rest of the story- how he  traveled and spread the Good News of Jesus’ Love to Asia Minor, even while enduring much persecution from Jews and Romans.

Years ago, I learned three things that established my lifestyle:

      LOVE GOD – I need an active relationship with Him – search His Word and pray.

      LOVE OTHERS – I need an active relationship with Him, Jesus, who is the Living WORD.

He taught us to care for poor, widows and orphans and to love others in word and deed.

      SHARE JESUS – I need to obey the Holy Spirit (with in me) guidance, nudges and leading to walk in the Light and Joy of Jesus.    

Sooo my friends, I would challenge you to include Colossians 3:14-20 as a part of your Lifestyle: “Therefore as God’s Choses…clothe yourselves with compassion (and other fruits of the spirit)…Bare with each other… forgive as the Lord forgave you. And put on love that binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts…be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you….sing and gratitude…. do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus!”

Blessings,

Gma J

PS This New Year will bring some additional lifestyle changes for us, so we will probably only send one blog a week – not promising which day.  Kermit will continue to write and rewrite as he can.  Chemo does some strange things to being able to focus.  I will add as the Lord leads, but as you can tell I have the heart of a teacher, not so much a storyteller.

Prayers believing for God’s healing and restoration are welcome. Our times are in His hands.

Be Strong In the Strength of His Might, Today!

“I do not cease [to pray] for the eyes of your hearts to be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of your calling and what is the wealth of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:16-18).   “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)

Hey Gang:  As you traverse through the day do you look for those wonderful object lessons that God provides for us?  Several days ago I was cutting and splitting some wood in preparation for the coming fuzzy-white-stuff season.  There were several types of wood in the pile, some easy and some more difficult.   I had forgotten about an old elm tree that came down in a recent storm; it was hard as flint.

  I learned very rapidly that if I tried to go at the strength of those pieces, the eight-horse splitter did not have the power to penetrate and split the log.  But, if I studied the piece and looked for the fault line in the log and zeroed in on that weakness, I was able to split the log and, once it was split, the rest of the splitting process became much easier. 

 Throughout the day, each time I ran into a piece of that tough elm tree, God reminded me of Paul's words in Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might".   I have mentioned, in morning messages before, that I am a very weird person - I love to cut the grass.  I get great joy in getting on that noisy machine and making a skillion revolutions around the yard.  Why, because I can sing at the top of my lungs and no one can hear me. I have found that singing brings joy to my heart.  Nehemiah tells me "The joy of the Lord is my Strength".  

Paul continued on in his letter to the Ephesians giving us the formula for living a life of victory and joy: First, and foremost, "put on the full armor or God".  Why?  "So that you can "stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  How many know that when our house is built on the sand, we are like the foolish builder described by Matthew whose house could not stand against the storms?   

 Paul does not leave it there.  He always states the principle he is trying to teach us and then hangs the whys and wherefores on the knobs that follow:  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  (Eph. 6:11-17). 

 Do you agree with me that we are in an evil age when everything that can be shaken is being shaken?   Paul closes his teaching on the importance of having every piece of the armor of God in place with this challenge "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, so stand firm" (vs, 18) 

 An old-salt-country preacher, after reading these words, "Stand firm having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the veil one and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God' (Eph. 6:14-17) said, when all the parts are in place, Satan cannot tell you from Jesus Himself!  

 So, time for me to close this and you to do a quick inventory - make sure you have all the pieces of God’s armor in place.  Why don't you drop what you are doing for a moment or two and join me-  Your eternal life may depend on it.

Blessings, 

Gramps

PS - Most of you know that Gramps was diagnosed with Cancer earlier this year. Chemo affects even the thinking processes, so gramps has not written new blogs for several months.  Fortunately, We had a backlog of ones he had written.  Those of you who know our family will realize this was written some years ago; our grandson is now a College Freshman!  As we begin this New Year, we will continue to rewrite some of the blogs from years ago.  If we have forgotten what they say, so will you.  we will try to post one a week, but some weeks get a bit hectic. 

We continue to pray and believe for God’s complete healing.   Gma