Some thoughts

On Sunday as I was listening to our guest speaker he posed some questions that got me thinking about how off base our thoughts are sometimes. The question was “What keeps people from living out the love of God?” Some of the answers were fear, selfishness, peer pressures, distractions or pride. This is something that affects us all and yet our reasons are so little in comparison to the benefits we gain from living out God’s love for us and others. God has promised us peace and joy that are beyond understanding. Doesn’t that alone outweigh the things that hold us back? What happens often is that we haven’t experienced the peace and joy of God in our lives so we don’t believe that it actually exists. Try this, pray and ask God for His peace and joy to be evident in your life.

The earth is filled with His glory

Isaiah 6:3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."

This is a picture from God’s throne room with the angels crying out about the God they serve. They were recognizing that first of all that God is holy. Not just a little holy or very holy but completely and totally holy. God is perfect and we cannot even comprehend how perfect He is in our limited minds. Yet God is holy, holy, holy. This is why we should be concerned about how we approach a holy God. We should approach this God in the way that He commands and with reverent fear. Not fear of punishment but fear of disappointing Him.

Then the angels go on to point out what is obvious to them but sometimes what I think we miss. The whole earth is full of His glory. We miss seeing God’s glory in all of creation and even in each other because we tend to focus on what is wrong and not what is right. We think about how things need to change or that seems to be out of sync. Yet we are commanded to think about the good things around us. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” These things bring about God’s glory and reflect it so that we can see it. Take some time today to contemplate God’s glory around you.

Let the earth be filled

Psalms 72:19 Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.

David called for the whole earth to be filled with the glory of God. He had a grasp on what it meant to experience God’s glory. David wrote this Psalm at the end of his life. Imagine a world where we all experience each and every day and in ever thing we do it is full of God’s glory. This was David’s prayer and should be ours; to see God’s glory fill the earth. It would change everything. It would change your relationships, your job and your family. We have the opportunity to live each day for God’s glory and in our own small way help to bring the glory of God throughout the whole earth. Live today for the glory of God.

God's Will (part 5)

God guides us at times through the circumstances of this life. One of my favorite songs has a line that says step by step you will lead me. God has led me often one step at a time. It seems as when I complete one step He opens up the door or gives direction for the next step. Rarely have I seen more than one step ahead in my life. God has called me to follow Him. Not to know all that will happen or what to do in every circumstance. If I knew all those things I wouldn’t need any faith to walk day by day. At times in our lives God will close doors or open them. I recently heard someone say if God closes a door he opens a window somewhere. But God also asks us at times to persevere through our circumstances. At times what seems like an open door is really temptation to not follow God’s direction and leading. We must always go back to His word for confirmation.

God's Will (part 4)

God has placed us within a body of believers called the church. God uses people in the church to speak and counsel one another in God’s will. All throughout scripture we are taught to seek counsel from those who know God’s word and have shown that they put it into practice. God puts people into your life to help you along that path to know and serve Him better. They may see things that God is doing in your life that you cannot because you are too close to the situation. They may have the counsel of God that you need. The problem comes when we put what others say, their advice which may or may not line up with God’s word ahead of seeking God directly. We can run to friends for help but we must also seek the one who knows all things. Daily time in God’s word is always needed to be able to discern whether what someone shares with us is from God or not. It also helps us to help others who God has put in out place.

God's Will (part 3)

God shows us His will at times through what most of us know as common sense. God has given us a mind and expects us to us it when we are determining His will and direction for our lives. When you go to look for a new job you don’t just go for any job but you take time to determine your strengths and abilities and then look for jobs that will best use those abilities that God has gifted you with. Use your understanding and knowledge to grasp God’s will and direction. Just realize this; our common sense is corrupted by the sin nature. So it may seem like common sense that when someone wrongs you that you get back at them, this is not acceptable in God’s eyes and is prohibited in His word. We still need to submit to the Bible as the final authority.

God's Will (part 2)

God speaks to us through His word but sometime He also uses other things to guide us. When we are in prayer and seeking God’s direction He sometimes speaks through the Holy Spirit. He may do this by giving you a new thought, a strong impression about something or someone or even through a feeling. God may give you a strong desire to do a certain task or take on a role that you never would have thought of on your own. Sometimes God guides us through dreams or visions. He even uses angels or speaks out loud from time to time. We must not forget that this guidance must line up with all of God’s word. The Holy Spirit will not guide you to do something that is contrary to God’s revealed word in the Bible. Always check and recheck what you hear with what is written.

God's Will (part 1)

God reveals His will of command through His word. The Bible is God’s final authority when it comes to deciding whether something is God’s will or not. As we immerse ourselves in the Bible we will begin to have our minds renewed and even transformed from thinking one way to another. I was recently talking to someone about this topic and they have done a lot of study on how the brain works. He shared that they are beginning to find that when you change how you think about something it actually begins to change how your brain works. Meditating, studying, immersing ourselves in God’s words will change how you think, what you believe and how you act and feel. So take time each day to put the word into your thoughts. Listen to it on cd or from the internet. Read it. Listen to good teaching about the Bible. Spend time with God asking Him to help you understand what He is saying to you this day.

Continued thoughts about our words

Isaiah 6:1-5 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

Isaiah saw God. He saw the sovereign of all the nations and of the entire universe seated on His throne. Moses who God spoke to as a friend speaks to a friends wasn’t able to see God and yet here is Isaiah in God’s presence. Look at Isaiah’s reaction to being in the presence of God, the holy, holy, holy one.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

Isaiah knew what his core problem was when he came face to face with God. It wasn’t his thoughts or his actions but look at what he says. Isaiah cries out, woe to me, I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips. He knew that his speech, what came out of his heart is what was wrong with him and what made him so opposite of a holy, holy, holy God.

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

The cure for Isaiah’s unclean lips? It was a coal that was too hot for even that angel to pick up to come and sear Isaiah’s lips, burning away what was unclean in him. This was a radical fix for Isaiah and is something we need to pray that God would do spiritually in our lives. That God would take a coal from His altar and sear our lips so that we are no longer guilty of being people with unclean lips.

The Tongue - James 3:2-12 (Part 5)

James 3:9-12 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.


How can this be? It is like the question: “do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” said to kids who say things that would cause anyone to look at them twice. We praise God and curse men with the same tongue. Doesn’t this sadden you? But James is getting at something here. We have been made new. We have been born again. No longer should our heart be full of vile things but of the God things of God. So why do we speak evil? Does it show that our hearts have not been cleansed or that we are not walking by God’s Spirit? It should wake us up when we speak wrongly that our heart is connected to the wrong source and to repent and make a change. Don’t be a worthless salt spring that no one can find life in but connect your heart and therefore your words to the life giving spring that comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

The Tongue - James 3:2-12 (Part 4)

James 3:7-8 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

We have a lot of power and skill in this world yet no one has yet found a way to tame the tongue. Some take a vow of silence but that doesn’t cure what is in their hearts. Jesus told us our mouth speaks what is in our hearts. It reflects what we truly believe.

The Tongue - James 3:2-12 (Part 3)

James 3:5-6 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. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

The tongue is a small part of who we are yet it has great power. Who hasn’t made great boasts about who they will become or what they have already done? But just as a forest fire starts with one spark the tongue can set off a conflagration that will cause massive destruction not only in relationships but even in the physical world. Your tongue has the same power as the ships rudder. It will steer your life for better or for worse.

The Tongue - James 3:2-12 (Part 2)

James 3:3-4 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

It takes something small and seemingly insignificant to turn such a large animal as a house or even a ship. We can make these powerful animals go where we desire. We can steer a ship that weighs hundreds of tons with just a relatively small rudder. Wars have been started with just the exchange of words. We fight and argue because of one small part of our body.

The Tongue - James 3:2-12 (Part 1)

James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

Our words betray us. The things that come out of our mouth when we are angry or upset or think that no one is around will one day be known by all. This is a sobering thought. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV) 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." We stand or fall by our words. Does it make you stop and think before you open your mouth? It should.