Jul 26, 2011

The LORD your GOD!!!!

Have you noticed that just about anywhere you turn in the bible the statement *the LORD your GOD* is there? It is actually found in the bible 144 times. I believe that if it is in there that many times that God is saying something to us about it.

When you find the word LORD completely capitalized it is referring to the word "Jehovah" But, If the word Lord only has the first letter capitalized it means "master*. I am not exactly positive if the second translation is even in the bible but, I do know that every verse I read declares LORD(Jehovah ) your God. but, which ever way you read it or find it written the word your (thy in KJV) is always in lower case letters. That is because God created man, man did not create God. God was and is and always will be , He isn't a creation.  He is omnipotent, He is omnipresent, He is omniscience. God is in control. We exist because it was His desire that we exist.

There is only one true God. The first 7 of the 10 commandments make sure that you aware of this very thing. In Exodus 20:3 and 4 it tells us that we are not to have but, one God. The one true God. Some people say I worship this god or that god , some worship money, position, fame etc. But, GOD says "thou shall have NO other gods before me."

Then there are those who say there is no GOD, or some that even make satan their god. But, it says in Philippians 2:10 *At the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth.* Whether the choose GOD or not they will one day bow before Him acknowledging that He is the one and only true GOD. Mark 12:29 says *The most important commandment is this: Listen O Israel, The LORD our GOD is the one and only LORD.*

God didn't create us to do things our own way. That's called pride. And that's why satan was cast out of heaven. Because he thought he could do things better than God, he thought he was above God.

So the next time you are reading the bible and you happen upon that statement *the LORD your God* stop and thank Him for being your one true God.!

Jul 23, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? The Result- Revival!

                                                   The Result- Revival!
                                                        Psalm 85: 6-9

*Won't you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for He speaks peace to His faithful people. But, let them not return to their foolish ways. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, so our land will be filled with His glory.*
In this scripture we David's heart cry; not just for revival but, for permanent revival.
What is revival and what is it not? Revival is not: a series of meetings planned by man and labeled "revival". It is not: a bunch of hyped up people who go home the same way they came. It is not :evangelism. Though we can have evangelism without revival; true revival always results in evangelism. True revival is: God initiated. It is: a fresh anointing, God doing a new thing, and it is unique. Hearts are truly changed, masses are shaken, the church is renewed. Many are moved to evangelism, many are quicked to learn and teach the word of God, and still others are stirred to social action ( reaching out to the homeless, reaching the lost and helping the forgotten and needy in the community etc.) When real revival comes the whole world will know it. Our worship will come from the heart, and we will know that God desires our holiness.
What will we do with revival when God releases it? Will we just consume it for ourselves, bragging about how big our church or ministry is becoming? Or will we see how many extravagant buildings we can build? Or maybe we will pride ourselves on how many meetings we are attending and how many good feelings we can receive.
We must ask ourselves these questions. Are we ready to receive revival? Many christians are praying for revival but, are we truly prepared for it? Fervent prayers are essential, but we should be asking; are we ready for the commitment it will require?Are we ready to care for and disciple those who are gathered? Are we ready to train and nurture the thousands of new believers that true revival will bring in? Or will we simply leave them to make it on their own? Now is the time for preparation, for training of leaders who will fill the gap when revival comes. Once revival starts,it will be to late. The bible speaks of the early rain and the latter rain, I believe the latter rain refers to the end time revival.
We must have our hearts softened and prepared to receive revival before He will send it. God's word says that we need to break up that hard ground (in our hearts). Perhaps then receive revival in our hearts. Revival must begin within us before it can spread outward to the world.
There have been many revivals in the past. Some great and some not so great. Many of them just dissipated as fast as they came. Why? Because they weren't focused on the harvest or the Lord of the harvest. If revival comes and we merely focus on ourselves it will quickly dissipate. If we keep taking in and never giving anything back we will soon be of no use for anything. In Titus 2:11-13 it says that when real revival comes there is going to be a change on the inside.
How are we going to recognize this revival when it comes? The fruits of revival will show it to be real. Matthew 7: 16 & 20 says " you will know them by their fruits." Whenever Jesus says something more than once we had better pay attention. If we don't see God working in our lives and in our church , then we had better take heed.
In John 15:16 Jesus says that He has chosen us . And for what? To bear fruit that will remain. It is awesome to feel God's power in our midst, but real revival will get us off the floor and out the door taking revival to the world. It will affect our lives and everything we do.
In Proverbs 11:30 we read * The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls* Souls are the harvest and souls saved are the greatest gift we can bring to God. The greatest enemy of revival is being satisfied with where we are.
If we really love the Lord we will want to please Him. So what can we do to please Him? We can bear fruit in every good work.If we are doing the work of God, there is going to be fruit. If there is no good fruit, it is not the work of God, no matter how spiritual it looks.
Many in the church today are running from here to there and back looking for signs and wonders.But, Jesus said that we will know them by their fruits, not by the signs and wonders. Jesus didn't send them out to just heal, He sent them out to preach the kingdom and to make disciples.
Lasting revival can only come when the desire for revival comes from the heart.God created us for a heart to heart relationship with Him and He is searching the for those whose heart desires to fulfill that relationship.
Revival is on the way and God is preparing those who will be a part of it. The whole mission of the church will change as true revival comes. We have a BIG GOD who desires a Big family. When we reach the full potential for which God created us, we reach the heart of God!

Jul 21, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part# 10

                                   We need to take the final instructions of Jesus seriously!
                                                         Matthew 28:18-20

* I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this; I am with you always , even to the end of the age.*

If we are to take the final instructions of Jesus seriously then we must learn to see the world as God sees it. Jesus will not return until the great commission is fulfilled, until the gospel is preached to all nations. It says in Matthew 24:14 * And the good news about the kingdom will be preached through out the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

 How many times have you heard the old saying " you can't take it with you when you die"? Well there is one thing we can take with us to heaven; and that is souls, preferably as many as possible.
 We are often asked this question with the expectation of worldly answers. If you suddenly came into an enormous amount of money; what would you do with it?  But, here is my question for you. As you come into the knowledge of God's word; what should you be doing with it? Those in real poverty are the ones without the knowledge of their Lord and Savior.

In Isaiah 58:8  God says *Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your righteousness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. * So Jesus will go before us and God's glory will guard us from behind.

You may not find many in your neighborhood or your family who are hungry for God, but, there are many who are hungry for Him in other parts of the world. In Isaiah 60:1-3 we see that we have to get up and go. We have to make the first move and bring forth the light of Jesus; then God will bring the nations to us. But not if we sit at home in our comfort zone instead of going out to answer the call.

If you give a man a fish, he will be satisfied until tomorrow when he looks for you to bring him another. But, if you teach him how to fish, then he can feed himself from then on. We are not only called to take the gospel to all nations but, to (teach) make disciples of them also. We see many times when evangelists or missionaries come to our churches and speak that there will be a lot of souls won but, then after they leave many will go back to their old life and the churches won't be anywhere near as full. Why? because they heard the gospel but, were not taught how to become disciples. how to live the christian life.

In Matthew 9:36-38 we see that Jesus had compassion on the people before He did any healing or delivering. What is compassion? It is more than feeling sorry for someone. It is putting yourself in another's shoes and feeling their pain. It is when we pray with compassion that God moves. We must develope a heart of compassion, especially for the lost, if we are to be His disciples. It is the heart of God that we have compassion.

We are to reach the whole world for Jesus, not just the easy areas of it. We can go to our "Judea" or our "Samaria" as missionaries or we can go as refugees. God will send us one way or another. Don't say it can't happen. Remember  Jonah and the big Fish? God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach and Jonah said no and ran away but, God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah up and soon Jonah repented and went to Nineveh. It can happen to us just as in the days of old.

The question is: What will we do as individuals and (or) as a body of believers? Will we take the "great commission" seriously or will we take it as the" great suggestion"?

Jul 20, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part# 9

                                We need to enter into the highest form of worship!
                                                      Romans 12: 1

*Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view  of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.*

True worship should be an individual expression of love and gratitude to God from the heart.
Worship> reverence offered  to a divine being, an act of expressing such reverence, extravagant respect, adoration or devotion.

What are you most devoted to in your life?  Is it the object of your  devotion or adoration or deep respect (worship)? What is the reason for that devotion? God wants to be the complete focus of devotion in our lives.
In Exodus 20:2-3 says* I am the Lord your God..... you shall have no other gods before me.* And in Matthew 4:10  Jesus says *  Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.* So worship is not just a natural instinct, it is a command from God.
True worship requires total commitment of our bodies, mind and spirit. It has nothing to do with religion but, everything to do with having an intimate and profound relationship with God.

To worship in truth we must:
1) Have purity of heart
2) Deal with any sin in our hearts and repent
3) Have a spirit of humility
4) Have a spirit of submission to the will of God
5) Have a spirit of obedience
6) Have a spirit of commitment
7) Have a sense of wonder of who He is and have a sense of awe in His presence
8) Have an awareness of God's presence and be overwhelmed by His majesty
9) Be speechless in His presence and allow Him to speak to us

True worship is not about us, it's all about God. We can not truthfully worship God with sinin our lives or if there is any self-will in our hearts.
Many today are speaking of and looking for revival, but the only real revival will result from a return to obedience. That is what God is looking for from us, His family, His church.
We  can not play with the world and have spiritual blessings at the same time. God warned us from the very beginning to be obedient, and He warned us that blessings or cursings would follow, according to how we respond. Obedience is at the heart of God. If you read throughout the Old Testament you will notice that whenever the Isrealites were obedient to God and His commands , He blessed them and protected them. But, Him they were punished; some died, some were captured into slavery, and they even wandered in the desert for 40 years before they got it right.
Do we really want the favor of God? Obedience is the only way to receive His favor. God is not satisfied with partial obedience, He wants complete and perfect obedience. We often miss a lot of what God has for us because we insists on doing things our own way.
While God promises unlimited blessings to those who obey Him, just the opposite is true of those who don't. Deuteronomy 28: 15-19 says *However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. your basket and kneading trough will be cursed...... You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.*
There is always a terrible price for disobedience. But, obedience brings unlimited blessings.
There are always "If's" to God's promises, we must never ignore them.
God desires that we worship Him in spirit and in truth, and obedience is the highest form of worship. If we are to enter into the highest form of worship then we need to express such a reverant form of respect and adoration and be fully devoted to being totally obedient to God.

Jul 18, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part# 8

                                       We need to understand the kingdom of God!
                                                               Part#8    

Today I am going to share with you the words from the writer of "Reaching  the heart of God" Mac Owen. The way he interprets this subject is much better than I could put into words so I will let him do the speaking today and hope that it touches your spirit as much as it has mine.
Matthew 6:10 says:  *May your kingdom come soon, May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.* While we usually call this the Lord's prayer , it is really the disciple's or believer's prayer. It is for us to pray.
Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God than anything else in the bible. He mentioned it more than 100 times in the gospels alone.He must have felt the kingdom of God was very important for us to understand.If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize how little we know about the kingdom of which Jesus spoke so much.
What is it that Jesus is asking us to pray God's kingdom to come here on earth.  I believe God's heart desire is for His kingdom to be established here on earth and also in earth, (our bodies). What is a kingdom? A kingdom is an absolute rule. The king has absolute power to rule as he pleases, and everyone in that domain is subject to that rule.
Jesus said a few things about His kingdom. He said that it was *not of this world John 18:36*. He also said * The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say," here it is or there it is " because the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21* The word of God refers to this as the heart of man or simply put. our heart. The kingdom of God is the government of God ruling the heart of man.
It is the foundation and fulfillment of our salvation.Yes, Jesus has done it all on the cross; but we need to press in to all He has done for us and become all desires us to be.  Jesus said * Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but, only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew7:21 * If He really truly rules our hearts, we can't help but, want to do His will and come into His kingdom. This is the kingdom that we were told to pray for. But, unlike other kingdoms, it is voluntary; God never forces His rule on anyone.
His plan was not just that we go to heaven when we die. God's plan is that we have a fulfilling relationship  with Him here so that His will can be don here on earth, just as it has always been done in heaven. The kingdom of God is already here. It is our privilege and responsibility to show it to others. The kingdom of God is a lifestyle; it is something spiritual, not physical. That is why no one can see the kingdom unless he is born again. We don't have to die and go to heaven to find God, to talk with Him, or to fellowship with Him. He came from heaven to earth so that we could know Him here. We who are born again are in the kingdom of God now.
The kingdom of God was not only one of the first things that Jesus preached , it was also the last. When we trust in Jesus, He builds into us a portion of each of the characteristics of His character and ability. Wholeness and healing are a part of the kingdom of God. Everything of the kingdom, however will not be " righteousness, peace and joy. " *We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14: 22*
Jesus walked in willing obedience all of His life. When we truly find and enter into the kingdom of God , we too will want to walk in obedience, not because we have to, but like Jesus, it will be because of our love and respect for the Father. We will want to.
In Matthew 21:43 just after telling the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, He warns :* Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will produce it's fruit. * If we don't bear good fruit, that is , spread the gospel and make disciples, He will remove the kingdom from us and we will not enter into all He has prepared for us. In Luke 4:43 Jesus is telling us that His mission on earth. was to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus knew that the gospel had to be preached everywhere. Isn't that exactly what we are called to do? We were never intended to get comfortable in our own little churches and just keep to ourselves. Jesus said that we were to * Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15*
In John 3:3-5 it says:*I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can he be born when he is old ? Nicodemus asked. Surely he can not enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born! Jesus answered, I tell you the truth no one can enter the kingdom of God  unless he is born of water and the Spirit.*You must be born again to see the kingdom, but unless you are born of the Spirit , that is of the Holy Spirit, you can not enter into the kingdom of God. Does He have absolute rule? Does He rule every aspect of your life? Your time? Your money? Your thoughts? Or do you still have a few pockets of resistance? Jesus said * The time has come.... The kingdom of God is near, Mark 1:15* We need to make every effort to come into it's fullness.
His true church is founded on  who Jesus is. When we see Jesus for who he really is and submits to His government, we will enjoy the righteousness, peace and joy which are fruits of the kingdom.
There are 3 basic kingdoms in which we have to deal with. 1) the kingdom of this world.> that is the world's system of doing things. 2) the kingdom of God> which is the absolute rule of God over our lives. 3) the kingdom of self > that is the hardest to deal with. It all boils down to ; are we willing to let God have complete rule of our hearts and lives? It is a continuing battle , self wants to rule.We are guided in all things by God. This is the ultimate of what God wants for us, His prize possession.!

Jul 15, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#7

                                          Examine your heart lest any pride be found!

*The Lord detest the proud; they will surely be punished.* Proverbs 16:5

Pride> conceit, vanity, ego, haughtiness, and self love. Pride leads to rebellion against God.

It was the sin of pride that led Lucifer to rebel against God, resulting in the sin filled, pride dominated world we live in today. Lucifer wanted to be God. He took it to far but, aren't we all a bit like him when we try to do things our own way, without consulting God.  Pride is what Satan used   in the garden of Eden to tempt Eve . It wasn't the taste of the fruit he used but, he appealed to her pride "you will be like God".

If we do not humble ourselves on our own , then God will humble us. Isaiah 2:17 says *And the pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness will be abased (brought down),and the Lord Himself will be exalted that day! When we become proud, we want to trust in our own wisdom and strength. But, God wants our complete dependance on Him.

As much as God hates pride, He loves the humble.

humble > lowly, meek , modest  etc.   Numbers 12:3 says* Now Moses was a very humble man- more humble than any other person on the earth.*

Rabbi Hillel said > Take your seat a little below the one due to you, for it is better to be told "Come up," than to be told "Go down". In the scriptures you will find that God himself shows us the example of true humilty. For example: God revealed himself in a bush to teach us that even the most exalted may be found in the lowliest of places.

In Leviticus 23:27b we see that God insists that each person humble themselves before bringing their offering to the altar and receiving forgiveness.* you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord.*. and verse 29  says * If there is any person who does not humble themselves on this same day, they shall be cut off from their people.*

In Deuteronomy 8:2 it says *Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.* It must have been humbling for them to have to depend on God for everything. But, that is what God desires of us all.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we read a scripture that has been quoted over and over again many times and many places. But, have we really paid much attention to what words we are actually quoting?  We pray constantly for our country to be healed , when just maybe we are missing the key part of that verse. * If my people , which are called by my name, will HUMBLE themselves, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven and heal their land.* If we expect God to heal our country then we need to humble ourselves before we seek his face .

In Micah 6:8  God shows us very clearly what He desires and expects of us. *He has shown you O man , what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.*

We need to examine our hearts , and make sure there is no pride to be found within it.

Jul 14, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#6

                  God wants us to have a true and healthy relationship with others and Himself!


If we are in unhealthy relationships then we can not have a healthy relationship with God. Matthew 5:23 says that if you have anything against your brother or he against you then you are to go and fix it right away because you can not have a  healthy relationship with Him until you do.
If you are in a relationship that is controlling, mean, abusive (verbally or physically) or only caring about getting your own needs met neglecting the needs of others, then you will become an angry, selfish, loveless, greedy person and God doesn't want that for our lives. If you are the receiver of such a relationship then it will cause you to become , bitter, angry, vengeful, distrusting and these qualities will keep you from gain a healthy insight to the relationship that God wants to have with you. These types of relationship leave no room for God to be a part of your life. If you find that you are one or the other of these cases then you need to say this isn't working , let's see what we can do to fix this. You will need to repent of the wrong relationship , ask the other person and God for forgiveness, then you will need to renew your relationship to a healthy more genuine relationship, and finally you will need  to restore your relationship between you , the other person and God to the kind of relationship that God created us to have.God wants us to have healthy, relationships, ones that are built on love, trust, selflessness, honor and respect. This is the kind of relationships that we were created for.

God wants us to accept people and love them as He loves us. When Jesus went to the cross for our sins and salvation did He first ask us to go change who or what we are before He would die for us? No, He loved us right where we are at and died for us anyway. And it is because of this incredibly sacrificial love that we receive salvation and our hearts desire is to do and be all that He desires of us. This is the kind of relationship we were created for.If we can't have a healthy relationship with others then how are we going to have a healthy one with God?

Romans 14:17 says that *The kingdom of heaven is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.* These are the 3 types of relationships that God has created us for:

1) righteousness- The right relationship with God.
2) peace- The right relationship with others.
3) joy- The right relationship with our inner self.

When we have healthy, true relationships with ourselves and others, we will find that our relationship with God will take on a much deeper dimension. In Acts chapter 2 we see how real power came into the church. It was through the relationships of the believers , and it resulted in extra-ordinary growth in the church. We call it REVIVAL!!!

Jul 13, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#5

                                   We must be in unity with all believers!
                                                                Genesis 11:6

*Look, He said, the people are united and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them.*
When we are in unity there is nothing we can not do or accomplish , God said so in His word. This is the very reason that satan's main goal is to cause divisions amongst the body of believers.I believe the same goes for the different churches and faiths, one saying we are of this denomination and another of this one, and yet another saying we are of no denomination we just follow Jesus. We are all of this very same belief in Christ and we all serve the same God so we all need to be in unity instead of allowing satan to cause division and strife amongst us just because of a title our church carries. 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 says it very plainly. *Some say, I am a follower of Paul, while others say, I am a follower of Apollos, and yet others say, I follow Peter, and even then others say, I only follow Christ. Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you?  Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!*We need to be in unity as one body of believers.

In Psalm 133: 1&3b it says * How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony. And there the Lord has pronounced His blessing even life everlasting.*When we are in unity God pours out bountiful blessings, even more than we could ever imagine or hope for.

In John 17:20-23 we see that Jesus prayed for all to be one with each other just as Jesus was one with God.
*I am praying not only for the disciples but, also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one- as you are in me Father, and I am in you.And may they be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me.May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.*

In Acts 2:1 we see that on the day of Pentecost they were all together in unity and then as Peter preached God released the power of the Holy Spirit upon them and 3000 souls were saved and added to the body that very day. Where there is unity among believers there is revival.

If we are to be one in spirit then we must be of the same mind, the same love, and intent on the same goal. We must be in agreement with one another especially concerning spiritual things, and we must have the same love, the love of God. There is no room in the body for division over doctrinal issues. We push non believers away from the church when we all claim to have the answer yet, we all have a different one.

It is unity in God's will that is the key, not unity in man's ideas. God says that real unity comes when we, with the right motivation of heart, unite to achieve His will on earth. That is the desire of God's heart. Only through unity can we come close to reaching the true heart of God.

Jul 12, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#4

                             Part#4 We must be completely sold out to Him!
                                                        Luke 14:26

 * If you want to be my disciple you must hate everyone else by comparison, your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your brothers and your sisters- yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you can not be my disciple.*
I believe the meaning of this verse here is that compared to our love and devotion and commitment to God , all else must be disposable to us, it must mean nothing to us; and yes that even means our own life.

God wants to move us out of our comfort zones.  He wants us to be able to walk away from anything and anyone at anytime when He calls on us.  Luke 18: 29-30 says *I assure you that everyone who has given up house, wife, parents ,children, or brothers and sisters for the sake of the kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over and will have eternal life in the world to come.*

Commitment is a decision that we have to make for ourselves individually. And as we do God wants us to count the cost  of that commitment. He knows that not everyone will be able to a total commitment to become a true disciple. Here are four things that get in our way of making a total commitment.

1) We aren't willing to give up our security.  We have a house, a car , income coming in but, to make a total commitment we would have to be willing to walk away from all that and  fully rely on God to provide a place to sleep and transportation and for all our needs.
2) We aren't willing to give up the cares of this world. Our careers, our everyday routine, our habits,
etc.
3) We are not willing to leave our loved ones behind to serve the Lord. ( this does not refer to married couples as God always call couples to minister together.)
4) We are not willing to give up our lifestyle or possibly even our very life for what we believe in.

What is our commitment level? God wants us to count the cost. That doesn't mean if we feel the cost is to high we say 'no way, this is to much' but, instead it means when we see how much commitment we can give we turn to God and say I want to , please help me with the things that I can not.Mark 9:24 is an example of that very thing. * Lord, I do believe, please help me overcome my unbelief.* Jesus will meet you right where you are at, all you have to do is ask.

We must commit ourselves to taking the step even if it seems foolish and off the wall.  He is always there ready to help us if we fall short but, we need to take that initial step . We must have this commitment within our own heart in order to reach the Heart of God.

God doesn't want a halfway commitment, He wants all or nothing. When we give Him our all He will give us His all. Revelation 3:15-16 says * I know all things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other. But, since you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.* The church is full of lukewarm christians who are not committed to anything. Are we one of them or are we totally sold out for God?

A commitment is a decision that says " I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.
Luke 9:62 says * Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.*

In his book Reaching the heart of God , Mac Owen explains commitment like this. It takes commitment to run a race. When we run a race we do not go out wearing extra clothes and heavy boots. We don't carry extra weight if we are out to win. Yet, look at how many times we take the heavy weight of the cares of this world into our race of commitment. We drag along the load of our ideas, prejudices, and unforgiveness. We bring along our judging, our criticizing, and many other weights of sin and we are still trying to run the race that God has set before us. 

Hebrews 12:1 says * Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down; especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.*

If we have our heart right with God, it can be joy knowing that we are in His will. We must have a heart transplant because, we can not do it on our own. We have to let God change our hearts but, to gain that we have to be totally sold out committed. A decision that only we can make.

God is asking us today: are you really committed to me? Are you ready and willing to do what ever I ask of you? Are you willing to give up all including your own life to answer my call? God wants us to be sure we count the cost before we say yes, and call on Him if we need help.

Jul 11, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#3

                                          We need to have a healthy fear of God!
                                                         Psalm 2:11

                          *Serve the Lord with reverent fear , and rejoice with trembling.*

There is more than one meaning of the word fear. Fear is commonly defines as  terror, anxiety, panic, etc. but, there is also the definition of a reverential awes of someone or something.

Some people think that God is standing over us with a big mallet ready to squash us like bugs if we mess up at all but, that's not the healthy fear that God wants us to have for Him. He wants us to reverence Him  and be awed by His Holiness.

The fear of God leads to obedience not because we have to but, because we want to. God wants us to come to Him with the right motive in our hearts. And that would be because we love Him so much that we desire never to be away from Him, especially due to sin in our lives.

God is after our hearts, He wants our hearts to have the deep respect and knowledge of who He is. Proverbs 1:7 says * The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge*. Proverbs 9:10 says * The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.* Wisdom is the ability to use the knowledge that we have in the right way. All the knowledge in the world is of no use to us if we don't know how to use it properly. Proverbs 14:26 says that in the fear of the Lord we have protection.  So we can see that through the fear of the Lord we gain the knowledge and the wisdom to receive the protection of the Lord.

The Lord promises us so much through out the entire bible if we have a healthy fear ( or if we have a healthy reverence ) of Him.

In Psalm 25:14 it tells us that if we have a healthy fear of the Lord that He will reveal the secrets of His heart to us. Oh how I want to know the heart of God. To have my heart connected with the heart of God is such an awesome thing. Well how do we receive the fear of God? The most understandable way I have read it so far is written by Mac Owen author of the book: Reaching the heart of God.  He says in it> No one can pray and lay hands on you to receive the fear of the Lord. It is something that we have to choose for ourselves.You have to come before Him and make a commitment to fear Him. God made man with a free will and He wants for us to choose to fear Him.

God only wants our best , our purest, not our leftovers. And He wants all of us He doesn't want to share that reverence from us with anyone or anything else. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says *dear friends , let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.*

So in my conclusion of this subject  we see that : God is not a slave master standing over us ready to squash us if we mess up, and He is not some terrifying creature who will devour us for making a mistake.  But, He wants us to have a healthy fear of Him. One of awe and reverence. One that is our best and purest to give.

He has so many promises and blessings that He wants to give us, All is asks of us is a healthy fear of Him.

Jul 9, 2011

Our hearts, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part#2

                                           Do we have the right motivation?
                                               2 Chronicles 16:9
* For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.*

Even though we are to seek God this scripture tells us that when our hearts are right He will also seek us. Matthew 5:48 says * Be perfect , therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.* In this I believe He is not talking about being perfect in actions but, in attitudes. We as humans are going to mess up now and then but, God looks at the motivations of our heart.

Look at Abraham, there were several times mentioned that he really messed up but, God saw the motivations of his heart and made him father to the nation that He loved so dearly. Take a look at David, and Peter and how about Paul. David was an adulterer and took part in a murder, But, it was David who He said was a man after His own heart and chose David's lineage to be the lineage of Jesus. And Peter though he denied Jesus 3 times, God chose him to preach the first sermon on Pentecost day and brought over 3000 souls to Christ. And Paul who persecuted, imprisoned , and took part in the deaths of many christians but, God chose to use him to lead the gentiles into a relationship with Christ. It wasn't because of their actions or who they were , it was because God saw their heart.

God wants a pure heart. Matthew 5:8 says * God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.* So what part of our heart does God want ? God wants our spiritual heart. Our spiritual heart is : our complete inner nature, the part of us that controls our beliefs and our behavior. These are 9 things that make up the spiritual heart. 1) Conscience 2) Courage 3)Desire and affections 4) Emotions 5) Inner man 6) Place of faith 7) Standing with God 8) Thoughts 9) Will . It is a place that only God can fill. We may make a mistake now and then but, if our hearts are right, we will be pleasing to God.

God wants our motives to be right. Test your motives and make sure everything that you do for God that you do because you love Him not for the recognition from others. The bible says that if we don't test our heart that God will. Psalm81:12, Proverbs 17:3, 1 Samuel 16:7

In Proverbs 6:16-19 it tells of 6 things that God hates and if you read them you'll notice they all are sins of the heart. We need a heart transplant. To gain the right motivation of heart we need to ask Jesus into our hearts; if our heart is indwelt by His heart then we will have found the true heart of God.

God wants an honest heart. God wants our thought life to be pure.  Psalm 19:14 says * May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight.*

God's word in our head won't do us a lot of good, but, God's word in our hearts will be our protection. God is more motivated by what we are than what we do.

Hebrews 4:12 says that * For the word of God is living and active, sharper than a double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.* How do we know the motivations of our heart? Judge it from the word of God. That is the only standard to hold it up to.

Jul 8, 2011

Our heart, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart? Part 1

First of all I want to clarify my use of the term *man*. When I use this I am not being gender specific, I am referring to mankind. I know that some will think I should be politically correct and use the term *person* but, I believe that this is the way that God has given me this message this is the way I will use it. All scripture used in these blogs will be from the NASB (New American Standard Bible).

                                 Part #1> The Heart of God!
                                         1 Samuel 13:14b

*the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart* The bible states that David was *a man after God's own heart. Acts 13:22b*  Does God have a heart? Of course He does. In Genesis 6:5-6 it states *The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on earth and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. It is only possible to break a heart if you have one to be broken. Therefore God has a heart.

God created man in His own image but, He gave man freewill. He didn't want robots .  God knew that we would mess up from time to time but, he wanted us to love him enough to repent when we do so, he wanted us to want to please Him of our own freewill.

God wants to have a true heart to heart relationship with us.  And when we get to the point where we don't have to ask what God wants or seek it out in the bible because we know what God wants then our hearts will be in perfect alignment with His.

We can hide whats in our hearts from other people but, God knows our thoughts, our intentions, our very heart. Psalm 44:21 says * God would surely have known it, for He knows the secrets of every heart.* God wants us to be willing to risk everything we have, even our own lives, for Him; just because we love Him.

Quoted from the book ( Reaching the heart of God; the key to revival by: Mac Owen)  he says, If we are to serve God, bring pleasure to Him, we must have a changed heart. It must become our natural desire to choose that which is pleasing to God.

Change my heart O God, make it ever true; Change my heart O God, may it be like you!!!!!

A series that I believe God is leading me to share with you!

 Through prayer and Bible study and of course my inspirations which are #1) my desire to feel the heartbeat of God and #2) a book I have been reading titled *Reaching the heart of God, the key to revival by:Mac Owen* I believe God is leading me to do a series of blogs on this subject.

 With the exception of Sundays ( a day for renewal and rest) I believe there will be at least 10 more blogs but, maybe more we will see what God has in store for us on this subject. 

If you will check back here in a few hours I will have Part one posted.  It will be titled: * Our heart, God's heart; are we a man after God's own heart?* Part one will be the overview of the series and it will be titled * the heart of God*

I look forward to sharing this series with you and my prayer is that it will enrich your life as much as it will mine.


                                                               Cheryl Lee Kraus

Jul 5, 2011

Dwelling in the excellency & holiness of God!

                                        Deuteronomy 33


If we learn to dwell in the holiness and excellency of God we are promised that we will reap all of the benefits of being with Him. Psalm 91:1 says * He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.*   

Here are just a few of those benefits that we are entitled to as we dwell in the holiness and excellency of God.
We are promised that His everlasting arms will hold us up so that we won't stumble and fall. We are promised divine grace  2Corinthians 12:9 says *My grace is sufficient for thee.* We are promised that we will be more than conquerors over our spiritual enemies. Romans 8:37 says 
*In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us* We are promised that all who keep close to God, shall be kept safe by him.We are promised that we will never go hungry. Exodus 3:8 says *And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;*Psalm 37:25 says * I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.* We are promised that if we are ever in danger or in want of any good thing all we have to do is go to God our Father. We are promised that if our hearts are the excellency of holiness, that we are defended by the whole armor of God. We are promised victory over our enemies.We are promised the favor of God to satisfy our soul. And through out the word there are so many more promises for us to abide in. 


So how do we dwell in the excellency and holiness of God?To dwell means to : abide , to remain, to exist, to live as a resident. Holiness means : when attributed to God> His awesomeness , He is above all other, He is transcendent.Excellency means:outstanding or of valuable quality. 


So in essence all God is asking of us is that we exist or live in His awesome outstandingly valuable presence. By being continually in prayer and the living word. Keeping our mind stay on Him. Prayer is conversation with God. So we need to continually through out our days be in conversation with God. We need to do all that we do for the glory of God. We need to  give thanks for everything.  We need to rejoice in the Lord always . And there are many more scriptures that can help us to know how to exist in the holiness and excellency of God. But, we will only find them through reading His living word and communicating with Him.

Jul 2, 2011

God even cares about the little stuff!

*Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into the barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better then they?* Matthew 6:26 KJV

 We tend to talk about the big , mighty and miraculous things that God has done for us. Of the healings and the deliverances, the financial blessings and the mighty way he is using us. And don't get me wrong, those things are amzingly awesome; but we need to take notice that God is in the small stuff as well.

There are times that we call on God for things that are everyday little things and don't even realize that we are doing it. But, God hears us and he is there for us. Have you ever lost your keys and said oh God help me find my keys? Or maybe we stub our toe and we cry out God take this pain away? We don't even notice but, God reminded you where you put your keys or God took away that ache in your toe.  God is there and  answering those little requests and we most of the time don't even realize it or we'll say Ah  I  found my keys, or we think the pain just went away in our toe. No, God heard you and answered your little prayers.

Here are a few of my own examples. After moving back to Springfield I was in need of completely furnishing my house having come from an apartment that was rented completely furnished. I had made up my mind that I wanted certain colors through out my house but, knew that money was tight and for a time frame I would have to make due with what I could get. A woman in our church offered us some living room furniture and when we picked it up it was the exact color of what I had wanted in my house.  God cares so much for each of us that He wants to give us even the simplest desires.

*Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of thine heart.* Psalm 37:4 KJV

Here is another example of how God cares about even the small stuff in our lives. One day I was walking to the school to pick my granddaughter up at the end of her day; and it began to rain. I just said " Lord, I am not asking you to with hold the rain that we so badly need ; but, would you please hold it off long enough for us to get back home?" The rain stopped and within moments of us arriving home the heavens opened up and it poured down it's rain.

God cares about even the small every day things in our lives just as much as he does the mighty and miraculous needs that we have. Take the time to stop and give him thanks for all the little things he does for us.