Monday November 29, 2010
Do Not Deny His Image
Read Galatians 4:1; Genesis 1:26-28; I Corinthians 15:49
A man or a woman will never rise above their self-image. The image that you have of yourself will cause you to succeed or fail in life. The image you have of yourself will carry you to the height of success or plunge you into the depths of defeat. It’s not who you are, it’s who you believe you are.
As Christians, it is vital that we see ourselves as God sees us. Some believers struggle with their own image, and fail, for they do not see themselves as God sees them. The Bible says that even though a man is an heir, he is no different than a servant as long as he remains a child and doesn’t recognize who he is. We must grow up spiritually and recognize who we are, and who is our Father. Many believers have a wrong image of themselves. They are living in the past, bound by some negative things others have said about them. Perhaps there have been difficulties in their life that have scarred them emotionally. Because of this, they have not realized who they are in God.
In Genesis 1: 26-28, we read how God created man in His own image and likeness. The word “likeness” refers to God’s nature - in essence, all that He is. When Adam sinned, spiritual death crushed the glory God had originally deposited. For years it lay dormant until Jesus came to provide the way for spiritual rebirth so that the image of God could once again be revealed. Your restoration into God’s image begins at salvation- that’s where the process starts. The Bible declares in I CORINTHIANS 15: 49 - “And as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
The image of Adam was in you because of sin. But after salvation, God began to restore His image and likeness in you. And all you must do is cooperate with God and believe what His Word says about you.
Tuesday November 30, 2010
No Denying
Read Ephesians 1:11-14
We can’t be what we deny. God says that we were saved to be conformed to the image of His Son. God wants us to have our image back and that image is found in a person. If God says we are the image of his Son Jesus and we are being conformed to that likeness then why does the religious world teach us that no one can every be like Him? When we were born again God placed the seal of the Holy Spirit on us to approve of what was and is being done in us. If God says we are conformed to that image let’s believe what He has said.
Chris Vallotton in his book “The Supernatural Ways of Royalty” said in his book when people complement you on your Godliness. They are like someone who compliments a great painting they are complementing the artist and the model. We look at Jesus and we see the perfect image of who we are. If people complement us they are complementing the artist and the model. When people complement us they are giving glory to God and the model Jesus Christ. They are saying you look like Him. God intended us to look like Him. When will we believe that what He says He will do?
The Holy Spirit causes us to look like Him. The Spirit cries out daddy in us. He tells us who we are and who we belong too. He causes us to see the likeness of who we are. We are the Sons of God. The Holy Spirit restores our identity (image).
Wednesday December 01, 2010
Seeing Who You Are
Read Romans 8:14-17; 2 Corinthians 3:18
When we walk like Adam as He did in the garden with God we take on his image. His image in us reflects His likeness to the world around us. We look more like Him as we continue to walk with Him. The Holy Spirit seals the Spirit of the Son in us. When Paul found believers in the city of Ephesus and they did not look like Jesus, His first question was have you received the Holy Spirit sense you believed. If people can’t see His Spirit in you maybe we need to ask for that Spirit. We have been given His Spirit so we can see His likeness. The Holy Spirit reveals Him to us and then reveals Him through us.
The Holy Spirit reveals who you are through the Word of God: In Old Testament times, God commanded that a basin called a “Laver” be placed outside the door to the Tabernacle. The laver was made of reflective material so that each time someone washed in it they saw themselves. The laver is symbolic of the Word of God. As we look into God’s Word and let it cleanse us, we are changed so that the image of God can be reflected through our lives. 2 Corinthians 3: 18 - “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Each time you read the Bible, it becomes a spiritual looking glass where God reveals Himself to you as well as revealing your own spiritual condition. As you act upon the Word, you are progressively changing into that same image.
Thursday December 02, 2010
Who Do You Look Like?
Read John 1:10-13
Baptism is the picture and sign of who God says you are and what He has created you to look like. It speaks to the church and the world of a new image in Christ.
The gospel writers tell us that identity was confirmed from heaven when Jesus was baptized. The only other time that we hear the words “behold my son” is in. This is when the disciples wanted to put Holy men in the same category as the Son of God. We are not to look to men for our image but to Jesus. No matter who the men are they are not the perfect image of God. We are not to be made in the image of men but the image of God. When we set men as those we identify with we deny His image in us. We are created to be like Him and no one else.
Baptism is our identification with Him not to a church, denomination, man or movement. We
are to get our image from Him. God pre-determined before time – begin that we would take on
His Image. As He is in this world so are we.
Friday December 03, 2010
Our Reflection Revealed
Read Colossians 3:10; 2 Peter 1:3
We are revealed by the knowledge of God: Colossians 3: 10 tells us that we are renewed in knowledge after God. Your spirit man is continually renewed as you gain more knowledge about God. In 2 Peter 1: 3 “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Here we learn that everything you need in this life comes through knowing God. He is the source. He is the focus. As you come to know Him, you will realize that His image and likeness dwell within you - the essence of His divine nature.
We are revealed by confessing the Word of God: Confession works only if the Word of God is bubbling out of your soul. Many people have a problem with confession because they are trying to confess from the outside in But even when spiritual babies have God’s Word bubbling in them, that Word halts the enemy in his track: PSALM 8: 1 -2 declares: “O LORD our Lord, haw excellent is Your Name in all the earth! Who has set Your glory above the heavens.
The Weekender December 04, 2010
A Message from Father God
“When I was hungry you gave me meat, when you did my image reflected in you. When I was thirsty you gave me a drink. My image reflected in you. When I was a stranger, you took me in. My image reflected in you. When I was naked, you clothed me. My image reflected in you. When I was sick, you visited me, encouraged me, prayed for my healing and gave me hope. My image reflected in you. When I was in prison you came to me sharing God’s love with me. My image was reflected in you. When I fell by the wayside and didn’t want to live, you told me of God’s great love for me and about His forgiveness and I forgave myself. God’s image reflected in you. Many times I came to you in different colors and sizes. When you walked in love toward the least of these you walked in love toward me. My image reflected in you. When my children are fearful, share faith with them. Shed my light and love on them. Give a smile, give a hug, and give a loving word of encouragement. When discouragement has overcome one of my children, give him the light of hope and the promise of my love and a better tomorrow, for my image reflects in you.
Take care of my little ones as I care for you. See them through my eyes as my image reflects in you. Love doesn’t even know when it has been done wrong when my image reflects in you. Give a cup of cold water in my name, as my image reflects in you. Speak peace to storms and chaos as it reflects in you. Be of good cheer and pass it on. Let the world see my reflection in you. Don’t be weary in doing well for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Be courageous and bold in overcoming for I have overcome the world. Rejoice in the Lord and greet each new day letting my image reflect in you. Do everything as unto the Lord and keep a grateful heart. My image will continually radiate from you.”
November 29, 2010
November 23, 2010
November 22 - 27, 2010
Monday November 22, 2010
Identity Theft
Read Mark 4:15
We hear a lot today about identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. In fact, you or someone you know may have experienced some form of identity theft. The crime takes many forms. Identity thieves may rent an apartment, obtain a credit card, or establish a telephone account in your name. You may not find out about the theft until you review your credit report or a credit card statement and notice charges you didn’t make—or until you’re contacted by a debt collector. Identity theft is serious. While some identity theft victims can resolve their problems quickly, others spend hundreds of dollars and many days repairing damage to their good name and credit record. Some consumers victimized by identity theft may lose out on job opportunities, or be denied loans for education, housing or cars because of negative information on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit. We are asked to be careful and we are asked to by plans that will protect our identity. Why? Because our identity is who we are and it is all that we have.
We find that it is the same in Spirit, as soon as God plants His word in us of who He is and who we are in Him, that the devil comes to steal our identity. Without your identity you are unable to function in the world. Without you knowing your true identity you are lost. One of the ways that the devil steals from us is through tempting us. By tempting and trying to confuse us about our identity he would have us to think that it is God is trying to cause us to fall; but in James 1:14-15 he tells us who the real culprit is (I like Peterson’s translation), Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer (The Message). The devil will make us question God and who and what He is, His Word and who we are in Him. That is why it is imperative that we learn to hear God and recognize His voice when He is calling or speaking to us. When we open ourselves up to relationship with the Father and pursue a relationship with Him that we actually have true protection against IDENTITY THEFT.
Tuesday November 23, 2010
Are You Really Who You Say You Are?
Read John 5:19, 30; 15:5
Eve Just like Jesus was tempted in the area of her identity. The devil’s strategy has never changed. He tempted Jesus with the same thing. The two greatest challenges the devil has ever had are recorded in Genesis 3 and Matthew 4. They involved the temptation of Adam and Eve and of Jesus, the sinless Son of God. In both cases, the rewards of success would be great for the devil, having far reaching consequences. Hence, Satan employed every possible means available in both cases. He appealed to the woman alone; he often seeks to isolate us. He persuaded Eve to sin through the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life. The consequences of Eve's sin were great and gained a definite victory for Satan. The devil also approached Jesus by means of the same three avenues of temptation. However, in Jesus' case, the devil failed. As a result of the devil's failure, there are many advantageous spiritual consequences that potentially and in reality affect all men.
The thing is we must be like Jesus when the devil comes with his temptation, we must know who we are in Christ and we must know The Word. Jesus knew the Word, because He is the Word and when the devil tempted He spoke the Word. He let the devil know where his place was and He let the devil know Who He Was.
Wednesday November 24, 2010
Prove It!
Read Philippians 4:13
The devil says, who is God and did he really say you are the Son of God. The devil tempted Jesus to fulfill a desire by exercising His own personal authority and power independently of God. As we, when we become believers the devil attacks us in very much the same way, the tries to get us to things apart from God. He tells us that we do not need God that we can do things on our own. He is tempting us to be God.
Jesus our example responded in this way when the devil tempted Him; Jesus knew what God was saying to Him in the scriptures and what He has said to me. Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the devil not His own personal authority but they authority of what God has said and is saying. Jesus tells us that He did nothing apart from God and we cannot either.
Thursday November 25, 2010
A Question Of Our Identity
Read 1 John 2:15-17
Satan tried to get Jesus to question God about who He had told Him he was. Satan wants to take our identity. He will try to make us doubt God’s love for us, His Word and who God says we are. The nature of temptation is always the same. The enemy always uses our natural cravings to take our focus away from God and put our focus on ourselves. He always wants us to question our identity. Our Image.
Friday November 26, 2010
What Were You Thinking Eve?
Have you ever thought that Eve being tempted was how she envisioned herself? This all started over an identity “image” crisis. Eve looked at herself and took her focus off the image God gave her. Could Eve have seen herself as second to Adam in God’s eye or that she was somehow inferior because of the position that God had given her? Or did she start seeing herself as second best, different and inferior than Adam? Inferiority destroys us by giving us a false reality of who we really are and how others see us. The reality is that God does not make inferior stuff. Because of feelings of inferiority and low self worth, Eve looked for position and supremacy so she could boast of who she was and what she had. She wanted to feel better about herself and feel accepted. She wanted her own place, not just being a part of a relationship. This is the nature of temptation. Any time we want to separate ourselves from God and each other we get separated from our true identity. Our true identity is found in Christ and in the Body of Christ. Your identity can only be found in him and in those that are connected to Him. God made man in His image and placed him in a place He prepared for him to grow, serve and find significance.
The Weekender November 27, 2010
The Security Of Our Identity
Read Galatians 5:26; Philippians 2:1-4: Luke 14:10-11
Have you ever been insecure? At first I wanted to resist the idea that I was feeling insecure because I knew a lot about my identity in Christ. I knew that I was a child of God, a friend of God and He had placed an awesome responsibility on my life. With that kind of identity, how could I possibly feel insecure? But I did. The truth was, I had hit a humdrum point in my faith walk with God and it triggered insecurity. The longer I sat in front of my computer considering my identity in Christ, the more I began to wonder where my security in Christ fit in, and if there was a difference.
I looked up both words in the dictionary and had to face that my answer was staring back at me. Identity refers to “The condition of being the same as a person or thing described” while security refers to, “The state of being or feeling free from fear, anxiety or doubt.” Well the light bulb came on - that was it. While I understood my identity in Christ, I needed to understand my security in Christ in order to be free from fear and doubt and move to the next level in my faith walk with God. I said a quick prayer asking God to give me something that would help me grow in my security. No sooner had I finished the prayer then a thought popped into my head “Being secure is knowing in my heart and soul who God is, who Jesus is, who I am and being able to put this knowledge to work in His Kingdom and using it to set me free. This thought lead me to discover that I believed in false securities and I had never recognized these as lies from the devil which pulled me away from God.
You know that as we discover, through a deeper revelation of God’s character and unconditional love, that being secure in heart is our rightful position as believers. The key however, is being willing to engage in the battle necessary to maintain our security. Security in heart is our most precious gift from God. But this gift must be battled for and protected because the enemy wants to take it from us. Having a deeper revelation of who God is, and also understanding who we are in God, equips us for the battle. And when we apply the truth of God’s Word daily, we are truly able to fight, win and stand strong in our security.
In a world that often will work to undercut your sense of worth, claim your identity and your destiny from Jesus: you are God’s Beloved.
Identity Theft
Read Mark 4:15
We hear a lot today about identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. In fact, you or someone you know may have experienced some form of identity theft. The crime takes many forms. Identity thieves may rent an apartment, obtain a credit card, or establish a telephone account in your name. You may not find out about the theft until you review your credit report or a credit card statement and notice charges you didn’t make—or until you’re contacted by a debt collector. Identity theft is serious. While some identity theft victims can resolve their problems quickly, others spend hundreds of dollars and many days repairing damage to their good name and credit record. Some consumers victimized by identity theft may lose out on job opportunities, or be denied loans for education, housing or cars because of negative information on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit. We are asked to be careful and we are asked to by plans that will protect our identity. Why? Because our identity is who we are and it is all that we have.
We find that it is the same in Spirit, as soon as God plants His word in us of who He is and who we are in Him, that the devil comes to steal our identity. Without your identity you are unable to function in the world. Without you knowing your true identity you are lost. One of the ways that the devil steals from us is through tempting us. By tempting and trying to confuse us about our identity he would have us to think that it is God is trying to cause us to fall; but in James 1:14-15 he tells us who the real culprit is (I like Peterson’s translation), Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer (The Message). The devil will make us question God and who and what He is, His Word and who we are in Him. That is why it is imperative that we learn to hear God and recognize His voice when He is calling or speaking to us. When we open ourselves up to relationship with the Father and pursue a relationship with Him that we actually have true protection against IDENTITY THEFT.
Tuesday November 23, 2010
Are You Really Who You Say You Are?
Read John 5:19, 30; 15:5
Eve Just like Jesus was tempted in the area of her identity. The devil’s strategy has never changed. He tempted Jesus with the same thing. The two greatest challenges the devil has ever had are recorded in Genesis 3 and Matthew 4. They involved the temptation of Adam and Eve and of Jesus, the sinless Son of God. In both cases, the rewards of success would be great for the devil, having far reaching consequences. Hence, Satan employed every possible means available in both cases. He appealed to the woman alone; he often seeks to isolate us. He persuaded Eve to sin through the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life. The consequences of Eve's sin were great and gained a definite victory for Satan. The devil also approached Jesus by means of the same three avenues of temptation. However, in Jesus' case, the devil failed. As a result of the devil's failure, there are many advantageous spiritual consequences that potentially and in reality affect all men.
The thing is we must be like Jesus when the devil comes with his temptation, we must know who we are in Christ and we must know The Word. Jesus knew the Word, because He is the Word and when the devil tempted He spoke the Word. He let the devil know where his place was and He let the devil know Who He Was.
Wednesday November 24, 2010
Prove It!
Read Philippians 4:13
The devil says, who is God and did he really say you are the Son of God. The devil tempted Jesus to fulfill a desire by exercising His own personal authority and power independently of God. As we, when we become believers the devil attacks us in very much the same way, the tries to get us to things apart from God. He tells us that we do not need God that we can do things on our own. He is tempting us to be God.
Jesus our example responded in this way when the devil tempted Him; Jesus knew what God was saying to Him in the scriptures and what He has said to me. Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the devil not His own personal authority but they authority of what God has said and is saying. Jesus tells us that He did nothing apart from God and we cannot either.
Thursday November 25, 2010
A Question Of Our Identity
Read 1 John 2:15-17
Satan tried to get Jesus to question God about who He had told Him he was. Satan wants to take our identity. He will try to make us doubt God’s love for us, His Word and who God says we are. The nature of temptation is always the same. The enemy always uses our natural cravings to take our focus away from God and put our focus on ourselves. He always wants us to question our identity. Our Image.
Friday November 26, 2010
What Were You Thinking Eve?
Have you ever thought that Eve being tempted was how she envisioned herself? This all started over an identity “image” crisis. Eve looked at herself and took her focus off the image God gave her. Could Eve have seen herself as second to Adam in God’s eye or that she was somehow inferior because of the position that God had given her? Or did she start seeing herself as second best, different and inferior than Adam? Inferiority destroys us by giving us a false reality of who we really are and how others see us. The reality is that God does not make inferior stuff. Because of feelings of inferiority and low self worth, Eve looked for position and supremacy so she could boast of who she was and what she had. She wanted to feel better about herself and feel accepted. She wanted her own place, not just being a part of a relationship. This is the nature of temptation. Any time we want to separate ourselves from God and each other we get separated from our true identity. Our true identity is found in Christ and in the Body of Christ. Your identity can only be found in him and in those that are connected to Him. God made man in His image and placed him in a place He prepared for him to grow, serve and find significance.
The Weekender November 27, 2010
The Security Of Our Identity
Read Galatians 5:26; Philippians 2:1-4: Luke 14:10-11
Have you ever been insecure? At first I wanted to resist the idea that I was feeling insecure because I knew a lot about my identity in Christ. I knew that I was a child of God, a friend of God and He had placed an awesome responsibility on my life. With that kind of identity, how could I possibly feel insecure? But I did. The truth was, I had hit a humdrum point in my faith walk with God and it triggered insecurity. The longer I sat in front of my computer considering my identity in Christ, the more I began to wonder where my security in Christ fit in, and if there was a difference.
I looked up both words in the dictionary and had to face that my answer was staring back at me. Identity refers to “The condition of being the same as a person or thing described” while security refers to, “The state of being or feeling free from fear, anxiety or doubt.” Well the light bulb came on - that was it. While I understood my identity in Christ, I needed to understand my security in Christ in order to be free from fear and doubt and move to the next level in my faith walk with God. I said a quick prayer asking God to give me something that would help me grow in my security. No sooner had I finished the prayer then a thought popped into my head “Being secure is knowing in my heart and soul who God is, who Jesus is, who I am and being able to put this knowledge to work in His Kingdom and using it to set me free. This thought lead me to discover that I believed in false securities and I had never recognized these as lies from the devil which pulled me away from God.
You know that as we discover, through a deeper revelation of God’s character and unconditional love, that being secure in heart is our rightful position as believers. The key however, is being willing to engage in the battle necessary to maintain our security. Security in heart is our most precious gift from God. But this gift must be battled for and protected because the enemy wants to take it from us. Having a deeper revelation of who God is, and also understanding who we are in God, equips us for the battle. And when we apply the truth of God’s Word daily, we are truly able to fight, win and stand strong in our security.
In a world that often will work to undercut your sense of worth, claim your identity and your destiny from Jesus: you are God’s Beloved.
November 15, 2010
November 15 - 20, 2010
Monday November 15, 2010
The Perfect Image Of God
Read Colossians 3:9-10
When we look at Jesus, we see the absolute, beneficial, and relational aspects of the image of God in humanity. First, the absolute aspect is revealed through the way Jesus reflects God’s attributes. He shows us the love of the Father. He shows us God’s mercy. He shows us God’s wrath. He shows us God’s holy anger at injustice. He shows us God’s grace to the sinner. He shows us God’s hatred of hypocrisy. He shows us God’s goodness and His care. Jesus reflected these attributes perfectly. Jesus is the true mirror image of God, since He is both God and man. But even in our fallen state, we can see reflections of God’s character and attributes.
Secondly, the beneficial aspect of the image of God in humanity is seen through Jesus’ actions. Jesus reflects God, not only by who He is, but by what He does. When He calmed the storm, He showed His power over nature and His dominion over the earth (which, was part of the mandate given to Adam). Jesus sought out the lost. He freed those who were held captive to demon possession. He suffered in the place of sinners. He fed thousands on the mountaintop, revealing God’s provision. Jesus perfectly reflected God’s image by what He did. Fallen humanity also reflects God’s image functionally, even though differently than Jesus. Whenever we create something, whether a piece of art or music or a sculpture, we are mirroring the God who created the world out of nothing. When we rule wisely over creation, using its resources with care and avoiding waste, our rule of the earth mirrors the God who is Lord of the universe. When we choose to suffer that others may have comfort, we are imaging the Savior who died, that others may live.
Thirdly, Jesus reflects God relationally. In His relationship to the Father, He is showing us what God is like. In His relationship with the disciples, He is mirroring the patience, love that God has for His children. The way Jesus relates to the Father, to the disciples, and to others shows us a perfect picture of God. We reflect God when we worship Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We reflect God when we love the people He made in His image. God wants us to know about the image He placed in us. Jesus the perfect image of God came to reveal God so that we could see our image.
Tuesday November 16, 2010
Re-Imaged By Jesus
Read Colossians 1:15
The Bible teaches no one has seen God. It also teaches Jesus is the image of Him who is invisible. Why, even Jesus Himself said to His disciples “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father”. God Almighty is too magnificent for mere humans to see and comprehend. So when Jesus Christ was here on earth in human form, he was the representation of God Himself, in a physical way we humans would be able to understand. Jesus was a picture of God’s character. His life was a model for us to follow. Jesus is the perfect image of the father and when we identify with the Lord we take on His image.
Likewise, we Christians are to be representatives of God to the unbelieving world. By choosing to live God’s way instead of our way, we let God’s glory shine out from within. We are not our own, we were purchased by the precious blood of Christ. Now, let our bodies become tools of righteousness used by God for His glory.
When people see you what do they see a representation of God?
Wednesday November 17, 2010
Re-Imaged By The Word
Read Hebrews 10:7; John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1-4)
Everything begins with the word. The Word is the God and the Word brings God’s presence. His presence is in His Word or His Word is in His presence. The Word and God are one. All things are created through the Word. Nothing is made without it. The Word creates faith and faith causes us to proclaim it. We are created in the image of the Word. We are changed into His image as we behold that word and have faith. In the volume of the book it is written of me (Hebrews 10:7) Jesus saw Himself in the scriptures. We can’t know who we are without reading about who Jesus is and what He has said.
The Word of God builds the image of God because it builds faith in us. We should be reading the Word to see what God is saying and doing and what ever God is saying and doing is what we are to say and do. The Word mixed with faith creates in us the image of who God is and who He says we are.
Thursday November 18, 2010
The Holy Spirit Re-Images Us
Read John 6:44; Matthew 16:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10
The Holy Spirit is at work, showing us what Christ has done, and how that makes a difference in what's going on around us. The Spirit's witness to Christ doesn't function like a hypertext link. One doesn't click one's mouse on the Spirit's doings and get taken to the front page of Jesus' Cyber-salvation Web Site. First of all, your mouse-clicking takes more initiative than you can take in restoring your relationship with God (or, in church-talk, it's God's grace in Christ's work on the cross that saves you, not anything you do). Second, the Spirit leads us into Christ's presence and Christ's character, two things that don't pop up on a screen and say 'I'm here'. Then, the Spirit works to get our own Web Site to take on the character that others would recognize as Christ's, for instance, by removing the annoying banner ads for the causes and ideas we're stuck on, or the irritating pop-up windows with our excuses, or the sneaky spy cookies that gather the information we might want to use against others. The Spirit is trying to push this Body of the Scared past their fears into full contact with the rest of reality, especially with other people who are not aware of Christ, or who hear the Name and yawn.
The Holy Spirit works in us to make clear to us what purpose God has in mind for us. The Spirit guides us: through Scripture, through circumstances, through other believers, and through prayer. The Holy Spirit reveals who we really are; He draws us to God, as we come into His presence the Spirit in us draws from the image of God inside us. When this happens our true image can be restored or I should say re-imaged!
Friday November 19, 2010
Re-Imaged By A Covenant Connection
Read Ephesians 4:15-16
We are Re-imaged as we have Covenant Connection with Him and His Body. We can’t grown up into Him without being connected. The same Spirit that draws us to God draws us to each other. God connects us like a magnet connects everything that is magnetized to itself. Plastic Christians will not stick because they are not in covenant with God and want stay with God’s people. We need each other to grow into the image of God. Who are you drawn to and who is drawn to you. We need each other. We can’t have the image and life of God without God flowing through us. The enemy can’t hold on to us just as it could not hold on to Jesus because Jesus had none of the image of the devil in Him. Don’t be a plastic Christian but a magnetic Christian that draws all men to Him.
Are we bringing out the best in those who are around us? Are they bringing out the best in us? We grow as we supply what is needed. How do we make them better by our words, our sacrifice, our gifts and callings our love and acceptance and our covenant connection.
The Weekender November 20, 2010
Re-imaged – Our Identity Found
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18
If you were asked to identify yourself you would probably get out some form of ID. There is bound to be something you carry that describes you –your physical description and probably your relationship to other people or an organization. You might have a driver's license; an employee badge; a debit or credit card; a library card; a union card; military dog tags or a law enforcement officer's badge. Those are but a few of the many types of IDs we take with us almost everywhere we go. My main two are a driver's license and a badge to get into and around the buildings where I work.
One of the greatest fears we people have is that of losing our identity. Identity theft is a common topic in the news these days. It even shows up as an attention getting headline on credit card advertisements. When someone uses our name, account numbers and passwords, they can take everything we own and make life miserable. I don't know how many times I've gone looking for a misplaced purse or billfold after leaving them behind at a restaurant or store. The whole time my stomach was filled with anxiety about what could happen if it was picked up by the "wrong person." On TV and in print, there are advertisements about safeguarding against this kind of theft. Those ads are for services to monitor credit reports –to detect fraud– and for insurance plans –to pay for credit card misuse.
We are Re-imaged as we Do the Work the Father has created us to do. Our identify is found in our work – the world identifies us by our occupation – God reveals his image to us and then reveals it through us by the work He has given us to do. We come into the knowledge of His image as we come into the knowledge of the work; He has given us to do. To come into His image we must have: information, revelation, response (did our hearts not burn within us as He spoke) and transformation. God is looking for His Image. Are you being Re-imaged so God is able to see His image in you? The real you is made in His image.
The Perfect Image Of God
Read Colossians 3:9-10
When we look at Jesus, we see the absolute, beneficial, and relational aspects of the image of God in humanity. First, the absolute aspect is revealed through the way Jesus reflects God’s attributes. He shows us the love of the Father. He shows us God’s mercy. He shows us God’s wrath. He shows us God’s holy anger at injustice. He shows us God’s grace to the sinner. He shows us God’s hatred of hypocrisy. He shows us God’s goodness and His care. Jesus reflected these attributes perfectly. Jesus is the true mirror image of God, since He is both God and man. But even in our fallen state, we can see reflections of God’s character and attributes.
Secondly, the beneficial aspect of the image of God in humanity is seen through Jesus’ actions. Jesus reflects God, not only by who He is, but by what He does. When He calmed the storm, He showed His power over nature and His dominion over the earth (which, was part of the mandate given to Adam). Jesus sought out the lost. He freed those who were held captive to demon possession. He suffered in the place of sinners. He fed thousands on the mountaintop, revealing God’s provision. Jesus perfectly reflected God’s image by what He did. Fallen humanity also reflects God’s image functionally, even though differently than Jesus. Whenever we create something, whether a piece of art or music or a sculpture, we are mirroring the God who created the world out of nothing. When we rule wisely over creation, using its resources with care and avoiding waste, our rule of the earth mirrors the God who is Lord of the universe. When we choose to suffer that others may have comfort, we are imaging the Savior who died, that others may live.
Thirdly, Jesus reflects God relationally. In His relationship to the Father, He is showing us what God is like. In His relationship with the disciples, He is mirroring the patience, love that God has for His children. The way Jesus relates to the Father, to the disciples, and to others shows us a perfect picture of God. We reflect God when we worship Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We reflect God when we love the people He made in His image. God wants us to know about the image He placed in us. Jesus the perfect image of God came to reveal God so that we could see our image.
Tuesday November 16, 2010
Re-Imaged By Jesus
Read Colossians 1:15
The Bible teaches no one has seen God. It also teaches Jesus is the image of Him who is invisible. Why, even Jesus Himself said to His disciples “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father”. God Almighty is too magnificent for mere humans to see and comprehend. So when Jesus Christ was here on earth in human form, he was the representation of God Himself, in a physical way we humans would be able to understand. Jesus was a picture of God’s character. His life was a model for us to follow. Jesus is the perfect image of the father and when we identify with the Lord we take on His image.
Likewise, we Christians are to be representatives of God to the unbelieving world. By choosing to live God’s way instead of our way, we let God’s glory shine out from within. We are not our own, we were purchased by the precious blood of Christ. Now, let our bodies become tools of righteousness used by God for His glory.
When people see you what do they see a representation of God?
Wednesday November 17, 2010
Re-Imaged By The Word
Read Hebrews 10:7; John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1-4)
Everything begins with the word. The Word is the God and the Word brings God’s presence. His presence is in His Word or His Word is in His presence. The Word and God are one. All things are created through the Word. Nothing is made without it. The Word creates faith and faith causes us to proclaim it. We are created in the image of the Word. We are changed into His image as we behold that word and have faith. In the volume of the book it is written of me (Hebrews 10:7) Jesus saw Himself in the scriptures. We can’t know who we are without reading about who Jesus is and what He has said.
The Word of God builds the image of God because it builds faith in us. We should be reading the Word to see what God is saying and doing and what ever God is saying and doing is what we are to say and do. The Word mixed with faith creates in us the image of who God is and who He says we are.
Thursday November 18, 2010
The Holy Spirit Re-Images Us
Read John 6:44; Matthew 16:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10
The Holy Spirit is at work, showing us what Christ has done, and how that makes a difference in what's going on around us. The Spirit's witness to Christ doesn't function like a hypertext link. One doesn't click one's mouse on the Spirit's doings and get taken to the front page of Jesus' Cyber-salvation Web Site. First of all, your mouse-clicking takes more initiative than you can take in restoring your relationship with God (or, in church-talk, it's God's grace in Christ's work on the cross that saves you, not anything you do). Second, the Spirit leads us into Christ's presence and Christ's character, two things that don't pop up on a screen and say 'I'm here'. Then, the Spirit works to get our own Web Site to take on the character that others would recognize as Christ's, for instance, by removing the annoying banner ads for the causes and ideas we're stuck on, or the irritating pop-up windows with our excuses, or the sneaky spy cookies that gather the information we might want to use against others. The Spirit is trying to push this Body of the Scared past their fears into full contact with the rest of reality, especially with other people who are not aware of Christ, or who hear the Name and yawn.
The Holy Spirit works in us to make clear to us what purpose God has in mind for us. The Spirit guides us: through Scripture, through circumstances, through other believers, and through prayer. The Holy Spirit reveals who we really are; He draws us to God, as we come into His presence the Spirit in us draws from the image of God inside us. When this happens our true image can be restored or I should say re-imaged!
Friday November 19, 2010
Re-Imaged By A Covenant Connection
Read Ephesians 4:15-16
We are Re-imaged as we have Covenant Connection with Him and His Body. We can’t grown up into Him without being connected. The same Spirit that draws us to God draws us to each other. God connects us like a magnet connects everything that is magnetized to itself. Plastic Christians will not stick because they are not in covenant with God and want stay with God’s people. We need each other to grow into the image of God. Who are you drawn to and who is drawn to you. We need each other. We can’t have the image and life of God without God flowing through us. The enemy can’t hold on to us just as it could not hold on to Jesus because Jesus had none of the image of the devil in Him. Don’t be a plastic Christian but a magnetic Christian that draws all men to Him.
Are we bringing out the best in those who are around us? Are they bringing out the best in us? We grow as we supply what is needed. How do we make them better by our words, our sacrifice, our gifts and callings our love and acceptance and our covenant connection.
The Weekender November 20, 2010
Re-imaged – Our Identity Found
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18
If you were asked to identify yourself you would probably get out some form of ID. There is bound to be something you carry that describes you –your physical description and probably your relationship to other people or an organization. You might have a driver's license; an employee badge; a debit or credit card; a library card; a union card; military dog tags or a law enforcement officer's badge. Those are but a few of the many types of IDs we take with us almost everywhere we go. My main two are a driver's license and a badge to get into and around the buildings where I work.
One of the greatest fears we people have is that of losing our identity. Identity theft is a common topic in the news these days. It even shows up as an attention getting headline on credit card advertisements. When someone uses our name, account numbers and passwords, they can take everything we own and make life miserable. I don't know how many times I've gone looking for a misplaced purse or billfold after leaving them behind at a restaurant or store. The whole time my stomach was filled with anxiety about what could happen if it was picked up by the "wrong person." On TV and in print, there are advertisements about safeguarding against this kind of theft. Those ads are for services to monitor credit reports –to detect fraud– and for insurance plans –to pay for credit card misuse.
We are Re-imaged as we Do the Work the Father has created us to do. Our identify is found in our work – the world identifies us by our occupation – God reveals his image to us and then reveals it through us by the work He has given us to do. We come into the knowledge of His image as we come into the knowledge of the work; He has given us to do. To come into His image we must have: information, revelation, response (did our hearts not burn within us as He spoke) and transformation. God is looking for His Image. Are you being Re-imaged so God is able to see His image in you? The real you is made in His image.
November 8, 2010
November 08 - 13, 2010
Monday November 08, 2010
Searching For The Image Of God
Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
If our Message is obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won't have to bother believing a Truth they can't see. They're stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we'll ever get. Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. (The Message)
The disciples of Jesus saw His glory. They gazed into His character, which is the character of God. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). When we see Jesus we see the Father. Jesus possessed the fullness of God’s attributes and character in the inward sense. Moreover, He also possessed the fullness of God’s outward, visible glory. When the disciples looked into the face of Jesus they saw the heavenly Father. In His Incarnation Jesus laid the manifestation of His deity aside; for, if He had not, the disciples would not have been able to approach Him. However, Jesus did retain the fullness of God’s glory in the inward sense and disclosed it to His disciples.
Have you looked into the face of Jesus and seen the face of God? It is there we see the glory of God. Are you going through a fiery ordeal? It is here you find your strength not only to endure, but also to triumph to the praise of His glory. Jesus also prayed that we too, would share in Christ’s glory that the Father will be glorified. To some extent we already share in it as we embody the likeness of Jesus Christ. When we embody His character and fruit of the Spirit we possess His glory. Jesus is glorified through us. There is only one way to accomplish that and God gets all the glory. God alone is responsible for the results. As we gaze into the face of Jesus by faith we are being gradually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Today, we glorify Jesus Christ as we show forth His character in our daily lives.
Tuesday November 09, 2010
Distorting The Image Of God
Read Genesis 1:26-27; Revelation 13:14, 15
Imagine you are asked to do something for someone you did not know well. What if a stranger asked you for a ride into town?, or to take a package on a plane? What if you knew the person intimately for many years? You knew their character, their morals, and their motivations? What if the person was your father, mother, wife or husband? We need to trust someone before we can carry out their request. We will only submit when we trust. We only can only trust someone who has our best interest at heart. But many of us have a distorted view of God. The muddy view comes from the same lies as in the Garden of Eden where Satan inferred God had ulterior motives to keep knowledge from man. Satan does not want us to understand how much God loves us. He distorts our view with shame whispering to us the “I am not ___ ” lies–fill in the blank. Adam and Eve believed these lies the Glory of God was removed and they saw their nakedness then ran into the bushes and hid in guilt and shame and rejected God.
When satan whispers the “I am not” lies we should remind him that God is the opposite of “I am not” He is the “I Am.” God loves us so much He made arrangements with His Son and Spirit to provide the way for us. He loves us while we are sinners!
Because of the lies that satan has told us we are searching for an image, unfortunately we are searching for the wrong image. It is time to stop searching for the wrong image. God’s word tells us that if we seek we will find. When Jesus went to the cross the work he completed restored our image, we just have to see ourselves for who we are, sons and daughters created in the image of God.
Wednesday November 10, 2010
Focus On Your True Image
Read Luke 11:9; Revelation 3:21
Stop looking for the wrong image. Our focus is to be on the image of God. Whatever you are looking for you will see. Whatever you are searching for you will find. Whatever you keep going to will open to you. Let’s start searching and looking for the image of God. Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened, ask and you will receive. (Luke 11:9; Revelation 3:2) What and whoever we seek we will find. Whatever door we are knocking on it will be opened to us and who ever we call out to and ask for we will receive from? (Romans 10:12, 14: Acts 9:21).
Whoever’s name you call will come. (Stop calling Jezebel’s name) We respond to our names when we hear them. The devil will respond if you keep mentioning his name. Let’s call on the name of the Lord. Let’s look for Him. Let’s talk about Him and He will show up. Let’s not be on a sin hunt but a God hunt. I’m looking for God in everyone and everything and everywhere. We should be on the offense not defense. (We have the ball let’s move).
Are you on the offense or the defense?
Thursday November 11, 2010
The Right Image…….Jesus!
Read Colossians 1:15-20
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. (The Message)
Are you looking at the Son to see The Father?
Friday November 12, 2010
Are You Blinded?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:4-5
We can’t know who we are and what we have been called to do till we get the right image. We can’t be what we can’t see. We are here to help with the work of the Holy Spirit to let people see what their true image is. (The Father shows his son what his real image is – Luke 15) we are here to show people that their true image has been restored through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. We are here as a restoration team to help people see that their image has already been restored by the one and only Son of God who is the spitting image of the Father. We are like Him. It is time to show people the proper image. Let’s keep looking into the right image.
Are you blinded? Can you see Jesus?
The Weekender November 13, 2010
Look For Him
Read John 14:8-11
Whatever you are searching for you will find. Let’s look for what God is looking for. He has not changed the search He is looking for His image, Adam where are you? Son I’m looking for my image. Jesus is the perfect image of God. This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Image is everything. People are trying to improve their image. Why? Because they will not be satisfied till they see the image of God. Don’t bow down to a false image. Even if you make it after the pattern in your own mind (like Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:3) it will be a false image. Abraham was willing to give up, his God dream for the one he worshiped. Remember what we worship we become like. When God looks at you does He see a reflection of Himself or does He see the world?
We are not looking for flesh but the Christ the new creation. We usually find what we are looking for. What are you looking for the flesh or the Christ?
Searching For The Image Of God
Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
If our Message is obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won't have to bother believing a Truth they can't see. They're stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we'll ever get. Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. (The Message)
The disciples of Jesus saw His glory. They gazed into His character, which is the character of God. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). When we see Jesus we see the Father. Jesus possessed the fullness of God’s attributes and character in the inward sense. Moreover, He also possessed the fullness of God’s outward, visible glory. When the disciples looked into the face of Jesus they saw the heavenly Father. In His Incarnation Jesus laid the manifestation of His deity aside; for, if He had not, the disciples would not have been able to approach Him. However, Jesus did retain the fullness of God’s glory in the inward sense and disclosed it to His disciples.
Have you looked into the face of Jesus and seen the face of God? It is there we see the glory of God. Are you going through a fiery ordeal? It is here you find your strength not only to endure, but also to triumph to the praise of His glory. Jesus also prayed that we too, would share in Christ’s glory that the Father will be glorified. To some extent we already share in it as we embody the likeness of Jesus Christ. When we embody His character and fruit of the Spirit we possess His glory. Jesus is glorified through us. There is only one way to accomplish that and God gets all the glory. God alone is responsible for the results. As we gaze into the face of Jesus by faith we are being gradually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Today, we glorify Jesus Christ as we show forth His character in our daily lives.
Tuesday November 09, 2010
Distorting The Image Of God
Read Genesis 1:26-27; Revelation 13:14, 15
Imagine you are asked to do something for someone you did not know well. What if a stranger asked you for a ride into town?, or to take a package on a plane? What if you knew the person intimately for many years? You knew their character, their morals, and their motivations? What if the person was your father, mother, wife or husband? We need to trust someone before we can carry out their request. We will only submit when we trust. We only can only trust someone who has our best interest at heart. But many of us have a distorted view of God. The muddy view comes from the same lies as in the Garden of Eden where Satan inferred God had ulterior motives to keep knowledge from man. Satan does not want us to understand how much God loves us. He distorts our view with shame whispering to us the “I am not ___ ” lies–fill in the blank. Adam and Eve believed these lies the Glory of God was removed and they saw their nakedness then ran into the bushes and hid in guilt and shame and rejected God.
When satan whispers the “I am not” lies we should remind him that God is the opposite of “I am not” He is the “I Am.” God loves us so much He made arrangements with His Son and Spirit to provide the way for us. He loves us while we are sinners!
Because of the lies that satan has told us we are searching for an image, unfortunately we are searching for the wrong image. It is time to stop searching for the wrong image. God’s word tells us that if we seek we will find. When Jesus went to the cross the work he completed restored our image, we just have to see ourselves for who we are, sons and daughters created in the image of God.
Wednesday November 10, 2010
Focus On Your True Image
Read Luke 11:9; Revelation 3:21
Stop looking for the wrong image. Our focus is to be on the image of God. Whatever you are looking for you will see. Whatever you are searching for you will find. Whatever you keep going to will open to you. Let’s start searching and looking for the image of God. Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened, ask and you will receive. (Luke 11:9; Revelation 3:2) What and whoever we seek we will find. Whatever door we are knocking on it will be opened to us and who ever we call out to and ask for we will receive from? (Romans 10:12, 14: Acts 9:21).
Whoever’s name you call will come. (Stop calling Jezebel’s name) We respond to our names when we hear them. The devil will respond if you keep mentioning his name. Let’s call on the name of the Lord. Let’s look for Him. Let’s talk about Him and He will show up. Let’s not be on a sin hunt but a God hunt. I’m looking for God in everyone and everything and everywhere. We should be on the offense not defense. (We have the ball let’s move).
Are you on the offense or the defense?
Thursday November 11, 2010
The Right Image…….Jesus!
Read Colossians 1:15-20
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. (The Message)
Are you looking at the Son to see The Father?
Friday November 12, 2010
Are You Blinded?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:4-5
We can’t know who we are and what we have been called to do till we get the right image. We can’t be what we can’t see. We are here to help with the work of the Holy Spirit to let people see what their true image is. (The Father shows his son what his real image is – Luke 15) we are here to show people that their true image has been restored through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. We are here as a restoration team to help people see that their image has already been restored by the one and only Son of God who is the spitting image of the Father. We are like Him. It is time to show people the proper image. Let’s keep looking into the right image.
Are you blinded? Can you see Jesus?
The Weekender November 13, 2010
Look For Him
Read John 14:8-11
Whatever you are searching for you will find. Let’s look for what God is looking for. He has not changed the search He is looking for His image, Adam where are you? Son I’m looking for my image. Jesus is the perfect image of God. This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Image is everything. People are trying to improve their image. Why? Because they will not be satisfied till they see the image of God. Don’t bow down to a false image. Even if you make it after the pattern in your own mind (like Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:3) it will be a false image. Abraham was willing to give up, his God dream for the one he worshiped. Remember what we worship we become like. When God looks at you does He see a reflection of Himself or does He see the world?
We are not looking for flesh but the Christ the new creation. We usually find what we are looking for. What are you looking for the flesh or the Christ?
November 1, 2010
November 01 - 06, 2010
Monday November 01, 2010
Look for the plank
Read Matthew 7:2-5
“First cast out the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter from your brother’s eye.” In the end, we are supposed to help our brother remove the splinter from his eye. In fact, that is the purpose of removing the plank from our own eye. There are three parts to this illustration of judging. First, the Lord calls us to notice when we are looking at a splinter in our brother’s eye despite the plank in our own eye. Second, He tells us to cast that plank out of our own eye. And third, He encourages us to use our new clear sight to cast the splinter out of our brother’s eye.
We all have a tendency to focus on the faults of others. And sometimes we see the most faults in the people closest to us – we see the splinters in our brother’s eye. If we know someone very well, we come to see their shortcomings; and because we see these so closely and so often, we can make them out to be larger than they are. We pay inordinate attention to the minor faults – the splinters – in the way our friends and our neighbors see the world, the way they act. Maybe they have a tendency to gossip. Maybe they complain too much about other people. Maybe they don’t seem to take religion seriously.
When we are looking at others from a judgmental place, we are looking at a minor fault from a “huge evil of falsity” in ourselves. There are many kinds of evil intentions and false thoughts that go along with the attitude of judging another person. If we look at another person with contempt, we are in evil from falsity. We are in evil – in contempt, or hatred, or derision, or self-righteousness – from falsity. This is the kind of judging we are forbidden to do. While we can judge a person’s actions to be good or bad, we can’t judge someone else’s motivations – we can’t judge what he is like in his hearts.
We are not supposed to judge – therefore, we shouldn’t acknowledge that anyone else has a splinter in his or her eye. But that’s not what the Lord says. The Lord says, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” We are told that we should try to remove the splinter from our brother’s eye – but first we have to remove the plank from our own. Remove the plank from your own eye. How do you do this? It’s easier said than done, and it can’t be done in an instant. It is a lifelong process. The Lord is talking about the process of self-examination and repentance. If you want to help others remove splinters from their eyes, you have to dig those planks out of your own eye.
Only then can we remove the splinter from our brother’s eye. And we should seek to remove that splinter. Remember, the Lord said, “Judge righteous judgment.” We need to acknowledge that certain things really are harmful – both to society and to the person himself who is doing those harmful things. This is why we lock up criminals: not because we want revenge on them or believe that they are going to hell, but to keep them from harming society, and so they do not hurt their spiritual lives by continuing to act in evil. And if your brother has a splinter in his eye, that splinter is hurting him. If you have shunned the evil of arrogance and contempt, you can see clearly to help him remove that splinter.
Tuesday November 02, 2010
Hurt No One
Read John 12:47-50
If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you." John 12:47-50 (The Message)
The purpose of Jesus’ first mission on earth was not to judge people, but to show them the way to salvation and eternal life. Scripture tells us it is not our place to judge others, but to show them the way. Often we are so quick to jump at the opportunity to judge, the opportunity that we should take is the one that shows our brothers and sisters The Light!
Wednesday November 03, 2010
Overwhelm With Love
Read Philippians 2:1-14
If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering. (Philippians 2:1-14, The Message)
Thursday November 04, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 1)
Philippians 4:1-9
Beliefs are causes. Stop believing what causes worry. Instead, believe that everything contributes to your success and use every experience as a learning experience. Affirm daily that you are a positive and worthwhile person. What you focus on you get. Create your own positive affirmation and use it throughout the day. An example of a positive affirmation is:"I am one with God.
"Take steps to make sure positive changes happen. Select a goal and "act as if it was so". Read your Bible more and strive to develop your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Focus on the positive aspects of your daily life. At the end of each hour or day, review all the things that happened and be thankful for them. Thank God for your blessings. Be happy and supportive for those people you are around. Give honest compliments. Be happy for another's success. Listen to a friend who needs to talk without judging the friend.
Friday November 05, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 2)
Read Colossians 3:12-17
Do not use destructive criticism on anybody, including yourself. Focus on solutions, not problems. Remember that everybody wants to be successful. If they knew another way to act, they would do it. Show them, rather than tell them, a better way to do things. Believe that you truly have the power to change for the better; the Holy Spirit lives in you. Change is an ongoing process.
Your day (your life) will be built on your ability to like yourself and to like others. Help yourself by helping others. Remind yourself who you are in Christ. Do something nice for another person without expecting to receive anything in return. Show your love for others just as Jesus did. Follow your heart. Trust the Holy Spirit. He will guide you towards your heart's desire. When in doubt pray for guidance. Be grateful for your success. Keep a journal so in times of doubt you can look back and see the successes and how God has moved in your life on you
The Weekender November 06, 2010
Living Harmoniously
Read Galatians 2:16, 19-21
Paul was a Jewish theologian. Naturally, he thought about Jesus and his life from that background. And, as you might expect, his ways of looking at things is not always obvious to us. The term justify that he uses in writing to the Galatians may leave us scratching our heads.
A good way to understand the word justify is to see it as harmonize. Our faith in Jesus brings us into harmony with God. Accepting Jesus’ vision of life, what it can be and how we should live it, aligns our will with God’s will. As a result of this harmony we work for the same goal that God works for. The insight of justifying or harmonizing is that having faith is not primarily a state of being. It’s a way of acting. When you first become a Christian is like being chosen for a team or landing a new job that we really want. It’s a neat thing and we can revel in it for a bit. Then we have to focus on the task. We weren’t chosen to boost our egos or to move us into a higher tax bracket. We were chosen because there’s work to be done and we can help accomplish it. What’s the work, we might ask. What God is doing, is the answer. Jesus taught that God is saving the world. And that’s what we’re given faith for: to save the world: to help pull it out of its very real pain and loneliness.
If that sounds both overwhelming and presumptuous, it will help to remember that each of us is just one cog in a very large, divine wheel. But that’s why we’ve been given faith and that’s the task to which we’ve been asked to contribute. What a great idea: let’s live harmoniously!
Look for the plank
Read Matthew 7:2-5
“First cast out the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter from your brother’s eye.” In the end, we are supposed to help our brother remove the splinter from his eye. In fact, that is the purpose of removing the plank from our own eye. There are three parts to this illustration of judging. First, the Lord calls us to notice when we are looking at a splinter in our brother’s eye despite the plank in our own eye. Second, He tells us to cast that plank out of our own eye. And third, He encourages us to use our new clear sight to cast the splinter out of our brother’s eye.
We all have a tendency to focus on the faults of others. And sometimes we see the most faults in the people closest to us – we see the splinters in our brother’s eye. If we know someone very well, we come to see their shortcomings; and because we see these so closely and so often, we can make them out to be larger than they are. We pay inordinate attention to the minor faults – the splinters – in the way our friends and our neighbors see the world, the way they act. Maybe they have a tendency to gossip. Maybe they complain too much about other people. Maybe they don’t seem to take religion seriously.
When we are looking at others from a judgmental place, we are looking at a minor fault from a “huge evil of falsity” in ourselves. There are many kinds of evil intentions and false thoughts that go along with the attitude of judging another person. If we look at another person with contempt, we are in evil from falsity. We are in evil – in contempt, or hatred, or derision, or self-righteousness – from falsity. This is the kind of judging we are forbidden to do. While we can judge a person’s actions to be good or bad, we can’t judge someone else’s motivations – we can’t judge what he is like in his hearts.
We are not supposed to judge – therefore, we shouldn’t acknowledge that anyone else has a splinter in his or her eye. But that’s not what the Lord says. The Lord says, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” We are told that we should try to remove the splinter from our brother’s eye – but first we have to remove the plank from our own. Remove the plank from your own eye. How do you do this? It’s easier said than done, and it can’t be done in an instant. It is a lifelong process. The Lord is talking about the process of self-examination and repentance. If you want to help others remove splinters from their eyes, you have to dig those planks out of your own eye.
Only then can we remove the splinter from our brother’s eye. And we should seek to remove that splinter. Remember, the Lord said, “Judge righteous judgment.” We need to acknowledge that certain things really are harmful – both to society and to the person himself who is doing those harmful things. This is why we lock up criminals: not because we want revenge on them or believe that they are going to hell, but to keep them from harming society, and so they do not hurt their spiritual lives by continuing to act in evil. And if your brother has a splinter in his eye, that splinter is hurting him. If you have shunned the evil of arrogance and contempt, you can see clearly to help him remove that splinter.
Tuesday November 02, 2010
Hurt No One
Read John 12:47-50
If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you." John 12:47-50 (The Message)
The purpose of Jesus’ first mission on earth was not to judge people, but to show them the way to salvation and eternal life. Scripture tells us it is not our place to judge others, but to show them the way. Often we are so quick to jump at the opportunity to judge, the opportunity that we should take is the one that shows our brothers and sisters The Light!
Wednesday November 03, 2010
Overwhelm With Love
Read Philippians 2:1-14
If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering. (Philippians 2:1-14, The Message)
Thursday November 04, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 1)
Philippians 4:1-9
Beliefs are causes. Stop believing what causes worry. Instead, believe that everything contributes to your success and use every experience as a learning experience. Affirm daily that you are a positive and worthwhile person. What you focus on you get. Create your own positive affirmation and use it throughout the day. An example of a positive affirmation is:"I am one with God.
"Take steps to make sure positive changes happen. Select a goal and "act as if it was so". Read your Bible more and strive to develop your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Focus on the positive aspects of your daily life. At the end of each hour or day, review all the things that happened and be thankful for them. Thank God for your blessings. Be happy and supportive for those people you are around. Give honest compliments. Be happy for another's success. Listen to a friend who needs to talk without judging the friend.
Friday November 05, 2010
Focus On The Positive (pt 2)
Read Colossians 3:12-17
Do not use destructive criticism on anybody, including yourself. Focus on solutions, not problems. Remember that everybody wants to be successful. If they knew another way to act, they would do it. Show them, rather than tell them, a better way to do things. Believe that you truly have the power to change for the better; the Holy Spirit lives in you. Change is an ongoing process.
Your day (your life) will be built on your ability to like yourself and to like others. Help yourself by helping others. Remind yourself who you are in Christ. Do something nice for another person without expecting to receive anything in return. Show your love for others just as Jesus did. Follow your heart. Trust the Holy Spirit. He will guide you towards your heart's desire. When in doubt pray for guidance. Be grateful for your success. Keep a journal so in times of doubt you can look back and see the successes and how God has moved in your life on you
The Weekender November 06, 2010
Living Harmoniously
Read Galatians 2:16, 19-21
Paul was a Jewish theologian. Naturally, he thought about Jesus and his life from that background. And, as you might expect, his ways of looking at things is not always obvious to us. The term justify that he uses in writing to the Galatians may leave us scratching our heads.
A good way to understand the word justify is to see it as harmonize. Our faith in Jesus brings us into harmony with God. Accepting Jesus’ vision of life, what it can be and how we should live it, aligns our will with God’s will. As a result of this harmony we work for the same goal that God works for. The insight of justifying or harmonizing is that having faith is not primarily a state of being. It’s a way of acting. When you first become a Christian is like being chosen for a team or landing a new job that we really want. It’s a neat thing and we can revel in it for a bit. Then we have to focus on the task. We weren’t chosen to boost our egos or to move us into a higher tax bracket. We were chosen because there’s work to be done and we can help accomplish it. What’s the work, we might ask. What God is doing, is the answer. Jesus taught that God is saving the world. And that’s what we’re given faith for: to save the world: to help pull it out of its very real pain and loneliness.
If that sounds both overwhelming and presumptuous, it will help to remember that each of us is just one cog in a very large, divine wheel. But that’s why we’ve been given faith and that’s the task to which we’ve been asked to contribute. What a great idea: let’s live harmoniously!
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