“All of Me,”

 Oh, Heavenly Father, in Your Word I see myself as one loved by You. Help me reflect daily based on all of me not just a limited amount, as well as on Your love to others in all I do and say. In Jesus' Name.When it's all said and done, there's usually more said than done. How do you try to see to it that you do what you “whispered” what you were going to do? 

God is “spirit” (John 4:24) and as such has no physical or material form. This characteristic of God has always been difficult for me to understand. We have a spirit linked to a physical body and are closely tied to the material world. But we run into a problem when we try to measure God; we find He is immaterial and therefore immeasurable. He is infinite in every way. God resists quantification and will not submit to our attempts to scrutinize Him, classify Him, and decipher Him.

It seemed like yesterday as a freshman in college, where my first real mentor, tutor was speaking a language to me that really stood out in my cognizance, like a pipe dream. But was I listening? He said to me, you want to be different, treat your academics, your spiritual being like your athletic life; but how do we actually live up to it? On campus, I had deep bonds with people who helped me develop my athletic game. Teammates had my back. Coaches pushed me with slogans, “one heart beat” the pig got up and walked away poem”. Suddenly, you look at yourself in a mirror for a variety of reasons, all of which ... make you continue to response with,how big isGod? "What Do Others See?".

As a recruit I had heard that saying from most schools on that engaging footprint of soil. But the hullabaloo that was said, “it is not the school who creates great student athletes, but it’s you who should hold yourself to a higher standard” didn’t resonate to me; but dare to be different did.

I started taking things extremely seriously, I thought, before everything. It is an easy path to go down, but not a very enjoyable one or even challenging. Being dedicated to the little gods(sin) was the easy way out, yet the path that often many takes. The question is what about the big God? Very big guy; as the immature child in me could just as easily laugh at this truth-seeker question with confusion, in this area of perception verses reality?

 More than that, the God that is transcendent; He is so “other” that we can never fully understand Him. At the same time, we are made in His image, and He loves us (genesis 1:27; John 3:16). 

So here I was, getting ready with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, being brought to a saving faith reflection saying,” Being a Christian child how do you feel in this sinful pouring rain”? Change that song to the following:

^“Sing to the Lord a new song;    sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name;    proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.” Psalm 96:1-3

“But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like”. James 1:22-24

Have you look at yourself in a mirror for a variety of reasons, all of which have something to do with your personal appearance, “You use mirrors to shave and put on make-up. You look into a mirror to be sure the image you present is the image you want others to see and finally we look into a mirror going away, forgetting what you look like, resulting into a mirror that accomplishes nothing.

James 1:22-24 says the same is true of looking into the "mirror" of God's Word. By hearing the Word of God, James says, you see what you are like. Looking into the mirror of God's Word should help you do your best, that is, present the image that you should present to other people as a Christian. If, however, you look into the mirror of God's Word and forget what you looked like, you will probably not make a good appearance to others either.

To make a good appearance to others as a child of God, James says it's not enough to just look into the mirror of God's Word—i.e. to be only a hearer of that Word. You must also remember what you looked like so that you can make a good appearance before others as a doer of God's Word. To be a doer of the Word means to put your faith into action, showing others how Jesus' life and teaching are visible in your life. When people see you as one of God's children, you will look like His Son, even as we are daily more and more conformed to the image of our Savior (see Romans 8:28-30). How do you think hearing the Word and not doing it leads to one being deceived? Plagued by sin as we are, how do we become consistent doers of the Word?

As you can see, it's important to look into God's mirror and to examine yourself in the light of God's Word regularly. This exercise is maximized, too, when we read and meditate on Scripture in a way that digs deeply into the texts themselves. Paul knew this was true for Timothy when he told him to give his all when spending time in God's Word: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

God's Word shows us who we are. It reveals the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and gives us the Person (Jesus) we should try to show others in the mirror of our lives.

 God Bless You and This Ministry!

Acts 17:1-15

“Fear and Trust Make Idols”

 Ultimately, the answer to this question is “sin.” It is the sin nature of man that causes us to worship modern idols, all of which are, in reality, forms of self-worship. The temptation to worship ourselves in various ways is a powerful temptation indeed. In fact, it is so powerful that only those who belong to Christ and have the Holy Spirit within them can possibly hope to resist the temptation of modern idolatry. Even then, resisting the worship of idols is a lifelong battle that is part of the Christian life (Ephesians 6:11; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3. 

Numb with shock and disbelief, the “I” inwardly would like to take a moment with silent, drink a cup of coffee full of my past perception of life in conjunction with a taste of coffee cream reality. In the midst ofmy idols seeking solace from the hardships of life along with the turmoil presented in our world. The things of this world will never fully satisfy the human heart. They were never meant to. The sinful things deceive me and ultimately lead only to death Romans 6:23). Often as I sing, my words shout out, “Should we embrace it as a badge of honor and a privilege that we, like the apostles, have "been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for his Name?

That was the morning after everything changed, the morning after having a conversation with my college mentor about, faith and how we could reset the diversity and inclusion conversation. During my whole youthful life, I walked a thousand miles up against more implicit bias specific to my race and to be honest, I had built up a lot of anger. At the time, I didn’t realize how it had affected my beliefs, growth and living a godly life in Christ Jesus 

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This is when with the help from the Holy Spirit and fellow brothers who reached out to my broken heart changed my attitude; joining Jesus moment to an open heart, mind with one person at a time. I started singing, Hallelujah to the Lord!  My camouflaged sinful attitudes started on a path of Love and I stopped (over-time) being occupied with anger; a song based on injustice grounded on the pigmentation. My view began to be a big deal leading me to be all about” ME’”, pure hateful sin.

Why do people create hero worship of fear? Why might they risk their lives to rescue them using a mask that of appearance that stands a spiritual dilemma. Everyone lives with fear. 

We do not know when the next quake will strike, when the next war will rage, what painful disease will overtake us, or the day of our death. These and other fears drive us to search for security. What compel you to look for help in your hour of need. Can we worship something or someone more powerful than ourselves? 

The describes about idols by Paul in Romans 1:23 sounds pretty foolish. The next step down on this ladder of unrighteousness is that we begin to worship the creation instead of the Creator. We refuse to give God credit and instead we honor created things. That’s not right. As Paul describes this idol worship, we trade the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal people and animals.

In other words, God has revealed Himself by what He has made as a glorious and eternal being. We should see this in the beauty of creation (Psalm 19:1). How could He who made that not be a glorious being Himself? Look at how long creation has gone on and on beyond the lifespan of men. How could He who made that not have an existence longer than everything that exists? 

Humanity, however, having rejected the creator God, creates our own, lesser versions of the mortal things HE has made, and we worship those. We worship our pale version of the creation instead of the creator of it all. God does not show partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), and neither should we. James 2:4 describes those who discriminate as “judges with evil thoughts.” Instead, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (James 2:8). 

 Understanding the good things of this world are gifts from God, meant to be enjoyed with a thankful heart, in submission to Him and for His glory. But when the gift replaces the Giver or the created replaces the Creator in our lives, we have fallen into idolatry. And no idol can infuse our lives with meaning or worth or give us eternal hope. As Solomon beautifully conveys in the book of Ecclesiastes, apart from a right relationship with God, life is futile. We were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and designed to worship and glorify Him as He alone is worthy of our worship. God has placed “eternity in man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and a relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to fulfill this longing for eternal life. All of our idolatrous pursuits will leave us empty, unsatisfied, and, ultimately, on the broad road that most people take, the one that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).

Understanding contemporary idols can help us to understand why they prove to be such a powerful temptation. An idol can be anything we place ahead of God in our lives, anything that takes God’s place in our hearts, such as possessions, careers, relationships, hobbies, sports, entertainment, goals, greed, addictions to alcohol/drugs/gambling/pornography, etc. Some of the things we idolize are clearly sinful. But many of the things we idolize can be very good, such as relationships or careers. Yet Scripture tells us that, whatever we do, we are to “do it all for the glory of God” (1Corinthians 10:31) and that we are to serve God only (Deuteronomy 6:13; Luke 16:13). Unfortunately, God is often shoved out of the way as we zealously pursue our idols. Worse yet, the significant amount of time we often spend in these idolatrous pursuits leaves us with little or no time to spend with the Lord.

God’s Word is given to guide and protect us, as well as to bring Him glory. 

As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“The Fall from Knowledge”

 To “know” something is to perceive it or to be aware of it. So, my inquiry, is it clear that the knowledge of God is the most valuable knowledge a human being can possess? Or simply being aware of God’s existence is sufficient? Can that knowledge of God be required to encompass the deep appreciation for a relationship with Him?

For the Christian, knowledge implies a relationship. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” John 10:14. He also told His disciples, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32. By contrast, Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews, “You do not know [my Father]”. Therefore, to know Christ is to have faith in Him, to follow Him, to have a relationship with Him, to love and be loved by Him.

Over the years I think that most peoples, beliefs do not rest on a power to perceive, what is not evident with the average mind. My song,” a Spiritualdiscernment” is the ability to tell the difference between truth and error. It is indispensable to having wisdom. But the Old Testament bears witness to the fall from knowledge. Countless, truthful and faithful people have been mistakenly led to believe that it is utterly impossible for a child of God to fall from the grace of God. Early in the Bible we read about people continuing to worship God after the fall into sin (Cain and Abel Genesis 4:1-5, Noah, Genesis 6:7-10; Melchizedek, Genesis 14:18-20) 

You see as we look at creation, we should recognize the beauty of its order and our responses are ones of sincere worship for the creator. But because of our sinful nature we make up our own religion, ignore God’s order, abuse ourselves and our neighbors; revealing that we have not read the obvious truths of God in the order of the universe. Truth ignored today with excuse’s?

Jesus taught that some would receive the word with joy and believe for a while, but in a time of testing would fall away (Lk. 8:13). He announced that some branches — disciples — would be pruned from Him — as the vine — and be burned (Jn. 15:1-6).

 Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” What was it that Israel did not know, and why was that lack of knowledge so dangerous?

 It’s important to note the structure of the verse: “rejected knowledge” is parallel to “forgotten the law.” This fits the context of the opening verse of the chapter, which states that Israel failed to acknowledge the LORD as their God (Hosea 4:1). The people did not simply lack knowledge; they actively rejected it. Humm, which emphasizes Israel’s lack of knowledge was not mere ignorance, but active sin against God. Do we continue to do that today? 

I remember as an immature Christian making a superhero of some of my prominent Christian family members, friends, leaders, elders, or even pastors; remembering as I entered the church, thinking, laboring under the delusion, that I had arrived in heaven already! Boy was I wrong.It was a tremendous shock when this tender young sinner myself, on this faith journey as a milk toast saint, to learn that not everyone in the Lord’s church is honest and good; not prepared for the perception of reality!All people are utterly corrupt and “without excuse” before God’s judgment (Genesis 6:5; Romans 1:20) “There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing disloyalty; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” The people were only ignorant of the Law because they actively ignored it.

I for one idealize that person to the point of near perfection. To many times my hero failed, it destroyed the faith of the one who I admired and put doubt in my trust for God. I needed to seek that knowledge of the Lamb and the worthy of “His” name. 

It certainly is not sinful to have great respect and confidence in good colleagues and family. But in the final analysis, one’s trust must be in God Almighty and in His Son, Jesus Christ! They will never do wrong. They will never disappoint us (Heb. 13:5). As we join Jesus on his missions, is to follow Christ’s call:helping a believer believe, think, sharing the gospel with the lost world through God’s wisdom and strength.

The Bible commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together but to use that time for encouraging one another in love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). It tells us to confess our faults to one another James 5:16). In the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, we are told that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). There is strength in numbers (Ecclesiastes 4:11-12). 

The coming of Jesus Christ illustrates God’s love to the fullest degree. Jesus died for the sins of all people, offering every person the opportunity to come to faith in Him John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9. To those who do believe, Jesus is “wisdom from God” 1 Corinthians 1:30. Because of Christ, there is no need for anyone ever again to be “destroyed from a lack of knowledge.”

Surely, it is to the advantage of all of us to learn those areas of weakness which can precipitate apostasy.

Not a single person is beyond the possibility of falling (1 Cor. 10:12). We must be diligent to support our souls against failing the grace of God. And we must learn to give back in assisting each other on the road to heaven.

That is why as Christian we must do to develop spiritually discernment. We must know the authentic so well that, when the false appears, we can recognize it. By knowing and obeying the Word of God, we will be “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” We will know God’s character and will. This is the heart of spiritual discernment – being able to distinguish the voice of the world from the voice of God, to have a sense that “this is right” or “this is wrong.” Spiritual discernment fends off temptation and allows us to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” Romans 12-9. 

God strengthen us to this end.

God Bless You and This Ministry!