Living Fountains
Daily DevotionArchive for April 17, 2011
The tall pines
Image via Wikipedia
As I was lying under the tall pines I began to think about Gods creation; and these words came to my mind. The trees in the fields will clap their hands. All of a sudden I released myself in praise and it was as if I was rejoicing with the…… trees. The wind all of a sudden began to blow through the trees and it whispered through the valley. It was beautiful and magnificant. I pondered on the idea that even though all the trees seemed to look alike they were all different, not one tree was identical. We as individuals may all seem alike but we are unique and different, each having our own quality of character, etc. Today let us join together and release what we are individually. In what God has so graciously created us into. Remember this “God dances on the tree tops that worship him”. Just a thought.
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New Wine
Image via Wikipedia
As I look to Moses and find he represented the old covenant I realize that as we grow in Christ our image and traditional ways of belief will fade away as well. This doesn’t settle well with some, and I can understand why. To empty out of something that has
sustained us for so long; makes it hard to conceive that there can be any other way. However I believe even Moses may have knew that a new wine would be pored and the old traditions would not be able to contain the glory of the coming king. I have learned to continually empty out the old as God pours in the new. And you know something? Moses has become a humbled friend to me. He has taught me the art of change and the need to follow the one I call Jehova .
2 Cor 3 12-18
Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains un-lifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
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Faith Works
If we have faith we should be working it. James 2 v18 says; “Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” In verse 26 it says: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
I understand there are a lot of views of faith and its application however today I want to touch on a simple aspect of faith. One day, as I was talking with a group of guys about faith; one of the guys mentioned that everyday he would run up to a busy intersection and then just before approaching into the street he would close his eyes and believe that God wouldn’t allow him to be run over by oncoming traffic. Not good. So often we put ourselves in the line of fire in order to prove to others and ourselves that we are full of faith. This type of testing only proves that we are full of something else. LOL. It wasn’t his faith that kept him alive and protected him from being run over. It was God’s grace intervening for someone who was stupid. I am glad to say that since then, he has grown up and realized how stupid it was. As young Christians we always believed God for everything and as we look back we realize the Lord definitely moved and provided in mysterious ways for us and still does; however, at some point in our walk something changed. Our expectations of always being catered to by the Lord seemed to have a twist. It becomes an eye opener when the father says “hey its time for you to apply what I have taught you.” We begin to hear the Father saying “get it yourself and grow up” as most of us parents can understand oh so well. When that happens most of us want to know where did Papa and Mama Grace go too? LOL
Hebrews 11 -1 says: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. One simple truth when applying faith is the alignment our faith with Gods plans. God’s promises are “worked” in our lives and we need to understand that it is a work in progress, even though we may not be able to see the fulfillment; we can know in hope it will be done according to his will not ours. We can have the confidence that he will complete that work. Many of us have faith to believe in things not yet seen such as finances, health, and other areas of our lives that need a touch from God. However, many of us never see the fulfillment aspect of faith. It is crucial to understand that God’s word is the hope of change to our circumstances or current position in life. Let’s take look at a couple of examples. We can face many financial difficulties that can range from the wealthiest to the poorest individuals. Some of us spend and spend until it’s all dried up. Then we call on God to bless us financially. Where faith is applied, is in the hope that God’s word will bring change or transformation to our minds so we can get a better understanding of stewardship. God doesn’t grow money on a tree in the back yard. LOL. He works it in us to change our habits and our ability to manage our lives and our finances. This is the time frame of substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Once we realize the Lord is more interested in our hearts and its motives, we can then get a better understanding of the faith works principal. We as believers should always welcome the hand of God in bringing us to a place of stewardship in every aspect of our lives. Once we are aligned with Him then the inheritance and blessings of God will be beyond measure and overflowing.
According to Matthew 6-21 it says: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We need to be mindful of our hearts and it position in relationship to God first, finances, health, and other needs second. We should realize God will first align our hearts with himself and then secondly cause us to gain the knowledge of stewardship over those areas that are in need. Paul was content with wherever he was as long as it was where the Lord wanted him. As Paul we need to look to God for the answers of whatever we are applying faith too. Most likely it will be fulfilled by something that is changed in our perspective or motive. We have all at some point in our life pressed in and allowed God to change our mindset thus resulting in successful businesses, financial freedom, better health, and healed relationships, etc. This is a testimony that our hearts should always seek first the kingdom of Heaven. By doing so, these other things will fall into place because you will find you have changed. The lottery, inheritance, or robbing a bank is not the answer for financial freedom nor is ignoring or hiding from someone we may have ought against going to heal bad relationships and make them go away. It is by applying or working our faith and believing that a change of heart and attitude will make a lasting difference. Otherwise, we could find ourselves further down the road, right back where we started from asking God and believing in “dead faith” to resolve our shortfalls. I still rely on God and those who are willing to teach me ways in which to steward my finances, relationships, and other areas in my life because I know that will bring me more in line with what God favors. So today, let’s apply faith by working our faith and know the change will come as we become changed because faith works. Become a “Joseph” who God shall cause to be added unto in every aspect of our lives. Just a thought!
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Pursue what God approves of:
Pursue what God approves of:
A godly life
Faith
Love
Endurance
Gentleness
A godly life brings huge profits to us who are content with what we have. We didn’t bring anything into the world, and we can’t take anything out of it. As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied. What happens is our lives get focused on getting rich which usually produces tendencies to keep falling into temptation. We can become trapped by many harmful desires which drown us in destruction and ultimately bring ruin. Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. This doesn’t mean that those who have money are evil. It comes down to where your heart is at. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief. As the servants of God we must avoid these things. Our focus should be set on pursuing what God approves of: a godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. We must fight the good fight for the Christian faith. We must take hold of the everlasting life to which we where called. This brings a testimony to others of what is pleasing in the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony in front of the authorities such as Pilot, The mandate is insistent that, until our Lord Jesus Christ appears, that we obey this command completely. Then we cannot be blamed for doing anything wrong “God is the blessed and only ruler”. He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords”. Honor and power belong to him forever. So as we pursue what God approves lets do so knowing that all we do is a witness unto him that we are the sons and daughters of his good pleasure. We claim on our currency “In God We Trust”. Let’s always be watchful that our hearts and lives aren’t wrapped up in pursuing currency and or monetary possessions as the God in which we trust. Just a thought…
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