It’s all good

Read Acts 13:13-43

“And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” (Acts 13: 32-33 HCSB)

The Bible is a ginormous book, and yes I just said ginormous, my blog I’ll type what I want , its got somewhere around 800,000 words. It’s divided into two major sections, the Old Testament, and the New Testament.

The Old Testament is the biggest portion in the area of about 75% of the Bible’s total content–and yet it is many times ignored by Christians today.

But in this passage and even before in the Book of Acts, we seen the importance of the Old Testament.

Before Stephen was executed (Acts 7), he went over the majority of Old Testament story, jumped headlong into the way back machine beginning with Abraham. Now in this chapter, Paul is doing the same thing starting with the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt.

Why is the Old Testament important? Because it all links back to Jesus. On the road to the village of Emmaus, just after His resurrection, Jesus walked up to some of his disciples and laid out in great detail for them just how all of the Old Testament pointed to Him (see Luke 24:27).

So please, please, please do not get caught up thinking only the New Testament is important just because it has stories of Jesus’ life here on earth and about Christian living, because the entire Bible is about Jesus and about what He did for us sinners on the cross.

~Lonnie~

Integrity Man!

After some time his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”
But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me [here] my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:7-9 HCSB)

Joseph is a superhero of the faith!

This story is one of my most favorite examples of integrity in the entire bible. Come on guys, let be serious for a second, if one of the most beautiful and desirable women in your town came on to you like that, what would you do? Never mind, you don’t have to answer that.

Well if you read on the bible tells what Joseph did, he said NO, and then again, and again and again… He even took a moment to point out a few things about why he said no, he says look lady, your husband, my boss, has entrusted me with his entire household. I am the top dog here, the only thing that I don’t control is you… Then he goes on to the real issue, how could he do this thing to God… Not his master, not her, but God. That’s the root of the issue, when we sin it’s against God. You know, I bet David knew this story, and I wonder if it came to mind when he wrote Psalm 51, when he said

Against You-You alone-I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight.
So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51:4 HCSB)

But back to Joseph, it didn’t end there, she kept on, and on, and eventually one day she even grabbed him and tried to drag him into her bed(sin has a way of doing that you know, dragging us down). And he did what should serve as our example of what to do when sin forces its way into our lives, RUN AWAY!

Not that may not be your typical superhero response but that’s what happened. And besides, superheroes of the faith a often a bit… well… out of the ordinary.

But the point is that when Joseph was faced with a very real temptation he ran away, he got far away. And that’s what we should do as well, don’t think that “oh it’s no big deal, I can manage this, it’s not a problem for me”. Because it is a problem for you, no matter how strong you think you are if you are continually leaving yourself exposed to sin, one day it will overtake you. So the best this to do is run away from the sins.

But lets ask this, Why didn’t Joseph sleep with her? No one would ever know about it, right? Wrong! Joseph would know, and more importantly God would know. And to sleep around outside of marriage was a sin against God. So even in this big ole’ temptation, even with no one else around, Joseph held fast to his integrity in order to please His God.

Now, I’d like to tell you that things were just super duper afterwards for Joseph because he stood up for what was right, But that isn’t true. Well, the woman who tried to seduce Joseph accused him of trying to rape her, falsely I might add. As a result, Joseph ended up in prison. How’s that for a reward! You do what’s right and you’re tossed in jail.

But even in prison, “the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed” (Genesis 39:23, ESV).

But in the end you have to do what is right, no matter what. God will take care of the situation for His good purpose.

This is part 1 of superheroes of the faith. If you enjoyed it please leave a comment and forward this to your friends… Plus answer this for me if you would, who is your favorite “SuperHero” of the faith?

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Its ok to be bizarre!

Acts 21:37-22:2

As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”  “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.  “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?”   Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”   After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic.  “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”   When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

Paul was an uncommon man, distinctive, exceptional, and lets just admit it, kinda bizarre.

It’s not like he was a superhero, he was not “divine”(although he was divinely appointed), but he was not all too unlike the rest of us.  He was, at the end of the day, a normal person who experienced all the same pitfalls and troubles the rest of us have to deal with.

It’s just that he was more of an uncommon man, an unusual conglomeration of talent, personality, experience and spiritual gifts that made him into the man that God chose to do some amazing work for Him.

I the passage we learn that Paul speaks fluently several languages, of course Hebrew(he is a Jew after all) but also Greek(Roman citizen you know) and Aramaic( the “common” language of the people) .

This surprised the roman commander and the crowd that wanted to lynch him.

Paul identified himself as a Jew and citizen of Tarsus, a pretty significant city of the day.  Showing he was Jewish but had grown up in a wider world.  We’ve also learned from other passages that he was highly educated, a top student of one of the big religious leaders of the day, and he knew the Jewish law inside and out from the scriptures.

In Acts 22 Paul tells his story the same way a lawyer or prosecutor would lay out his case before the courts.  Paul was very eloquent and ready to speak at any time to anyone from governors and soldiers, to intellectuals and common people alike, from the courts of kings to river banks and even prisons.

Some of his capabilities we natural talent, part of being the person God made him to be, other parts were direct interventions by the Holy Spirit of God and gifts given to him once he submitted himself to Christ Jesus.  But all of his abilities were purposed by the Holy Spirit to complete the work that God had set before him, and all of his gifts grew stronger as he continued to serve without fear and speak boldly the word of God.

Paul was definitely an unusual man, there has never been another person like him.  But don’t let that keep you from working for God, just because you may not be like Paul.

God created you with unique talents and has given you different gifts to help you carry out the work and the plan that he has for you.

In fact God has given you a specific set of skills and spiritual gifts and even allowed you to find yourself in certain situations so that you, like Paul, can serve Him, speak up for Him, and obey Him.

Now those who know me personally know I’m not a huge sports nut by any means but I’m gonna end with this quote from Tony Dungy, “In a common world, becoming an uncommon man begins by cultivating uncommon character.”

So how will you cultivate yours?

Lonnie

What does your character look like?

You know I named this blog for a very important passage, at least I think it is, in  1 Timothy 4:12 Paul writes “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity”.  Today I was thinking about the last part of this verse, “set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity”.  Paul was writing to Timothy about keeping your character clean, we first hear about Timothy in Acts 16,”Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.  The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him” He was already a fellow of good character to begin with well prior to the writing of 1 Timothy.  So how do you get a good reputation? By speaking, and doing. You see, a good reputation doesn’t come around all accidental like, it takes work, it takes making decisions that are honorable and good. Every good choice you make adds to it, but every time you misstep tears it down a bit. Timothy was chosen to walk with Paul and spread the truth of Jesus, because he had a good reputation, good character, and was well spoken of, something that he would not have been able to do if it were otherwise. Now I full well know that you and I are not going to be perfect, we are going to misstep, were going to say some things out of character, and do some things too, but if your working on building your character the right way then hopefully you can overcome the mistakes. Just remember we all makes mistakes, don’t let that stop you from still trying, and following Jesus.

 

Here are a few other passages about Timothy’s character and good reputation:        “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (Philippians 2:22, ESV).  ”That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:17, ESV).  And as you read in Acts 16:2, it says, “He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.”

 

So have you thought about what your character says about you, whats your reputation say? Does it say that your a follower of Jesus? Think about it,  becoming a person of good character,  a person who lives a consistent, God-honoring life, that’s someone who gives honor to God. Yes you may make a mistake now and again but don’t let the mistakes rule your life.

God’s gonna take care of me…

Well first let me apologize, I haven’t posted anything in a few months, but I have been thinking lately about something and figured I would go on a type it out.

Let me preface this by saying if you have heard this story before, well then I’m impressed because i figure that most of my friends will have no idea who this is. I was just listening to Jerry Clower a few minutes ago and couldn’t help cracking up, one of my most favorite stories of his was “Gods gonna take care of me…”.  I’m going to try to recount the story as best I can and then I’ll get into why I’m talking about it.

Well years ago there was an old man down in Mississippi sitting on his front porch watching flood waters rising in his front yard, the water was getting deep now and was lapping up on his porch as a civil defense boat pulled up, the man in the boat yelled over to the man on the porch, said mister, the waters getting deep, the dams about to bust when it does its gonna flood your whole house, get in the boat with me and you’ll be safe. The man replied “No, Gods gonna take care of me”. A few hours later as the man is sitting on the edge of his roof one of his neighbors comes by in a row boat, “the dams bust waters just pouring out now, get in the boat with me if you want to survive”.  The man replied “No, Gods gonna take care of me”. Later on just before sundown a rescue helicopter noticed the man standing up on top of his chimney and they threw down a rope with a life preserver attached and yelled “grab hold of the rope if you want to live”  The man replied, yelling over the roar of the helicopter “No, Gods gonna take care of me”. well now the man drowned in the flood and in heaven the man is standing before God and says, “God, you said you were gonna take care of me, now I’m dead. What happened?”.  The Lord looked down at the man and said “You dummy, I sent you two boats and a helicopter…”

How many times have you done that in your life? I know I have, just waiting, and waiting on God to do something. All the while He’s working in our life and we just don’t pay attention. One thing I want to make clear, God is always working. He knows what He’s doing. He has a masterful plan in place right now working out in the background of your life. Let me give you and example that we talked about in Sunday school last week, from the Book of Esther, Esther became the Queen Persia and saved the entirety of the Jewish people because God put a set of circumstances in motion. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, was sitting at the Kings gate and overhead a couple people plotting to kill the king, well Mordecai, could have just sat back and said, I don’t care, this kings not really that nice of a fellow, who cares if someone kills him, but he didn’t. Mordecai told Esther, who was at this point the queen and she reported it to the king and he was saved. Now I’m not gonna tell the whole story, read the Book of Esther, its not that long of a book and definitely worth the read. But that circumstance led to the turn of events that save everyone when the king remembered that he had not yet rewarded Mordecai after he had saved the kings life. Just the simple act of doing the right thing after hearing the plot led to the salvation of the Jewish people. The king heard the appeal from Esther after having already signed a decree ordering there death. God has a plan for you and me just like He did for them, and we just have to play our part, now don’t just sit back and expect some miraculous thing to happen, he does work that way some times but more often that not he works through the circumstances that come up in our daily lives, God saved the people from destruction in Persia, not by sending a host of angels, but by putting Mordecai in the right place at the right time to overhear the right conversation. Just like He has now saved the entirety of the human race, not by coming as a conquering king, but as a suffering servant He wrapped himself in human form, came, tought, bled and died so that we can have eternal life. Now its up to you, what will you do with what you know. Just remember that it is our responsibility to pay attention to what God is doing in our lives so we done miss the boats or helicopters he sends our way.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Don’t be a Lemming!!

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.  How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 HCSB)

 

Do you remember a game called “Lemmings”?  It was this goofy little game from a few years ago where you had to lead a heard of lemmings home safely.  Lemmings are famous little rodents know for following each other, even over a cliff.

I would be willing to bet that none of the folks listening to Jesus though about lemmings as He was speaking, but these little rat-like creatures perfectly illustrate what Jesus was talking about,

Basically, Jesus is telling us “Follow Me and not the crowd if you want to get to Heaven. Don’t be a lemming!”

You know nowadays it’s pretty easy to see how people get confused about Heaven.  Lots of people think if your good enough you’ll  get there.  Watching TV will get you a myriad of opinions on the matter, some will even tell you there’s no Heaven or Hell and that this is all you get.

 

But Jesus has something to say on the matter, He says there is a way to Heaven, but you have to look for it.  You wont find it just running around like a lemming following the crowd, cause theyre about to run off a cliff and dont even know it.

 

You’ll only find Heaven by stopping and looking at Jesus.  He alone is the way, the truth and the life.

 

 

Me? Gifted?… FourTwelve Devotional 1/12/11

Read Passage: Luke 19:11-27

 

 

“‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.” Luke 19:26 HCSB

 

DO you ever think that some people have more than their fair share of blessings? It seems they have that extra measure of everything:  good looks, charm, brains, talent . You could be  thinking, I don’t have any amazing qualities, and actually, I’m kinda boring.

 

Well, hold up a minute. Before you think you’ve got nothing to offer, look at what Jesus says about the gifts He’s given everyone us and what happens when we waste them.

 

Like the king in the story, Jesus expects us to use our talents and gifting for good. The king didn’t say how he wanted them to  invest the money; he just said to do it. Jesus gives us the opportunity to develop our own abilities, but as He lays out through this illustration, He won’t give more to the one who lets his God-given talent shrivel up and die.

 

“Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God” 1 Peter 4:10 HCSB

 

Did you get that? The gifts are given to every believer, and it’s not so we can think we’re just the best thing since sliced bread. The primary reason is to point people back to God.

 

So what has God gifted you with? Maybe you’re a awesome encourager or your the best at listening. You might be gifted as a speaker or leader. If your mind is drawing a blank, ask God to reveal your gifts and then get ready to jump into the pool. God hasn’t made anyone boring.

You can’t waste this year!

These are some notes i took from a sermon I (Cathy) heard last night. I hope you get something out of it.

Mark 2:18-22

Basically out with the old and in with the new.
* You would not put new wine into old wine skins.
* In order to really appreciate life, you need to have aches and pains.
* Your life is a gift.
* There is no need in going into a new season of life with an old mind. (Again back to the wine skins)
* You need to clean out the closets of your mind.
* Satan has tied up your mind with stress, worry, fear, aggravation, etc.
* You have the mind of Christ, so you can get out of anything.
* THIS IS YOUR YEAR TO STRETCH!
* What are you going to do with the time you have left?
* You can’t renew your mind if the closets of your mind hold onto all the garbage and won’t let go.
* When you are renewing your mind and getting old stuff out, you have to be careful. Because a lot of the things you are doing, you are doing because of the environment you came from.
* Stop arguing with people who are accusing you of changing.
* This year I do not want to be MANipulated. I want to be GODipulated.

A few points to help you get through the year,

1. Anticipate problems. – They will come.
*. Constantly looking for problems will keep you from moving ahead.
* Only systematic timing will give you long term success.
2. Conserve your energy. – Avoiding things that are counter-productive to where God wants to move in your life and what He wants to do.
* Why go into battle if there is nothing to win?
* Stop living for now and start living for the future.
3. Consider the cost. – Putting yourself out there will cost something.
* If your dreams are easy to achieve, they are not worth going after.
* Transformation is always costly.
4. Sameness between actions and ambitions.
* Is what you are doing getting you closer to what you want to do 5 years from now?
* Avoidance is NOT a strategy.
Habakuk 2:2
“write the vision and make it plain”

* Transformation is intentional.
* Because opportunities are good does not mean they are from God.
5. Move into the vision (birthing) position. – Your job on Earth is to birth what God put in you when the foundations of the world were laid down.
* Without a vision, people perish.
* You have to have it in you before you can get it out of you.
* If your vision does not involve planning then it is too small.
* Keep the END in mind.
* You will become what you associate with. If you associate with alcoholics and drug addicts, you will eventually become one of them.
* Get out of your comfort zone.
* Where you are right now, is not where you are going.

MAKE 2011 YOUR YEAR TO ARISE.

FourTwelve Devotional for 1/2/2011

Nic at night ? :)

You know there was once this guy named Nicodemus, he was a Pharisee back in the days of Jesus. Well not everyone knows what a Pharisee was so here is a little history, They were the ruling “elders” of the Jewish religion, and not always the most caring or sympathetic, the were more concerned with there “religion” than any relationship even one with GOD. They took themselves way to seriously and did take GOD seriously enough. But anyways I’m getting of subject, Nicodemus was one of them, the “elite” shall we say, the educated, the snobs. No anyone like that? But one thing he had was curiosity. So one night he came to Jesus and said

“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Now first of he just did one of the most amazing things any on them had ever done, recognized the power of Jesus. Many of them never did that even though they had spent there entire life reading the scriptures about Jesus. To which Jesus replied

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Now this kinda confused Nicodemus because he could not quite grasp this concept, now obviously nobody is going to be physically born again and go back into his mothers womb, which is why he said

“How can a man be born when he is old?” …”Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Now Jesus answered saying, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

So the concept here is that we must be born of the spirit and of flesh. Everyone has been born of flesh but now you must also be born of the spirit.

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?

Now let me stop there for a second, like I said earlier Nicodemus was a religious leader of the day, he knew the scriptures like the back of his hand. But that was just it he only knew the words they said not the meaning behind them, you can teach a parrot to talk but that doesn’t mean he knows what he said. Same thing here, he knew what it said but the meaning eluded him and many others of the day and still many more today. But Jesus went on.

I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Now right there is a reference of Jesus knowing his fate, he knew what was about to happen to him. He knew he would be lifted up on the cross for all the world to see, and to save people be doing so just like the bronze snake that moses had affixed to a staff that when people looked upon it they were healed from deadly snake bites.

Jesus Said “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Now I know that many of the people out there are living in darkness, I know this because I did too. But I have seen the light and have come out of the darkness. Jesus clearly said that men love the darkness and hate the light but what about you, you just read this and now you have a choice to make. Die in darkness or live in light, Jesus is the light, He came into this world to save us from the darkness that we were born into. He doesn’t want to condemn us but He will let us condemn ourselves. So again i have to ask you were do you want to stand, there is no gray area here, no shady spot in between light and dark, its either one or the other. Total darkness or full SONlight. Your call will you take the step… if you’ve read my blog’s before then you know how they always end with the sinners prayer.. if you feel like your totally lost in darkness today with no hope let me tell you this there is a light at the end of the tunnel, His name is Jesus. You don’t have to be perfect to come to him. Just willing to admit to what you’ve done and ask for his help to get out of it… He will step in and take care of the rest

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

If you just prayed that prayer then welcome to the family of GOD… AND ALL GODS PEOPLE SAID “AMEN’