Thanksgiving

Psalm 100:4 -Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Showing thanksgiving and praise should be a daily occurrence in the lives of Christians regardless of our circumstances. Whether in dire need, suffering or in abundance we need to keep Jesus first and foremost in our lives.

Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Today let's celebrate with thanksgiving and praise with our friends and family.

Lord Jesus, I pray for all who read these words. I lift them to You and ask for Your continued work in their life. No matter their circumstances I pray they find peace and comfort in Your presence in their lives. I pray for a renewing of hearts, forgiveness and reconciliation in relationships. Lord as I pray that Your will, will be done in our lives and no matter what we will praise and bring thanksgiving to You. In Jesus's name. Amen!

God is with you.

When you look at the circumstances you are in, are you confident that God is with you?

I know people right now that are going through some of worst times of their lives and I know people going through some of the best times of their lives and many in between. Who is God with? Those suffering or those who appear to be receiving blessing? He is with both.

When I look back on my life during the times I have struggled I've many times cried out to God and asked why He wasn't with me. I perceived that in struggle that He wasn't with me. When I look at some of the best times of my life, I was sure that He was with me.

He is with us always and in every circumstance we face; both good and bad. But we don't act like it...do we? When things are bad we become depressed, angry, we withdraw, we go to those old familiar vices for comfort...instead of relying on God who is right there walking with us.

We were never promised a life without troubles:

John 16:33 - "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

We will have trouble, we will have tough circumstances in this life. If we put our hope, our trust and our confidence in Him, we can find peace during trying times. Finding peace during trouble is the difference between being that shining light on the hill that draws others to you and to Him and being a loud banging gong that pushes others away from you and possibly from Him.

My question for you today: What would somebody in my/your circumstances do if they were absolutely confident that God was with them?

Ephesians 5:25 - Jesus gave us a model of how to treat our wives.

I think that Jesus gave us a model of what our role should be in our marriage and with our family.

Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up to her (emphasis added)

What does that mean? What did Jesus do for us…his church? How did he love his church?

• He loved – unconditionally, no matter what we have done
• He led – He was a great leader
• He taught – He was a great teacher…he invented parables
• He solved problems - He was a master problem solver
• He showed us the path to God – our spiritual leader
• He took responsibility for our sin; not the blame but he shouldered the responsibility
• He forgave us
• And finally He died for us so that we may live

This is the model that Jesus gave us. This is what we are to be for our wife and family; what Jesus was to His church.

In my marriage:

• I have not always loved the way I should love
• I have not led the way I should lead
• I have not taught the way I should teach
• I have not solved problems the right way
• I have not always been the spiritual leader
• I have not always took the responsibility that I should have

My marriage is far from perfect; I don’t know anyone who has that perfect marriage. But we have a model to follow, a blueprint to study and we can keep working on it.

Men what are your priorities?

I think they should be:

1. Jesus – your relationship with God
2. Spouse – your marriage
3. Children
4. Job – providing for the family
5. Ministry – serving, feeding, taking care of His people
6. Everything else

Jesus has to be #1 – If we can’t get this one right, everything else suffers…

Our wives cannot be #1 – and I know for some of us they are; going to our wife for affirmation, confirmation makes them god in our life. Affirmation and confirmation need to come from God. If we give our spouse this power, at some point we will be crushed.

Our kids cannot come before God or our wife – and for some of us they are. Do you put the kid’s schedules ahead of yours…do you skip your study and prayer time with God, do you skip date nights with the wife because of the kids?

Our careers cannot come before God, our wives or our kids – and for some of us it does.

Becoming the man Jesus called us to be in our marriages and in our families mean these are the priorities…And if we follow the model that Jesus gives us...we should be right in line with these priorities.

Stuck in the Middle

Matthew 11:12 - From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it.

Another translation says: "...the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."

My question today is: are you one of these men? Are you grabbing onto and seizing the kingdom of heaven that Jesus who died for us on the cross gave us a right to? Are you crucifying your sin to Jesus daily so you can walk in full glory with your Lord? Have you walked away from the fear of man and boldly into the fear of the Lord? Are you living boldy for Christ being an example worthy of the violent death Jesus suffered on the cross?

Or are you still in that same place you have always been? Are you still making excuses for your sin and not taking responsibility? Do you warm the chair at church or a Warrior at Heart meeting and then walk back into your worldly life and live in fear of being ridiculed, fear of what others might think if you boldly go where your called to go?

I'm guessing most of you are exactly where I am...caught in the middle.

One of my favorite Casting Crowns songs is called "Caught in the Middle". In it Mark Hall the writer defines where we are exactly. The line that haunts me is this one "Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control"

The lyrics to Caught in the Middle:

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

Mark 8:34-38

Mark 8:34-38 - Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

What a passage. There is so much meaning that I know that I don't comprehend it all.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."

He is calling us to crucify our earthly flesh, our earthly desires. Crucify as in to put to death. Death meaning as they exist no more, that they no longer live in us. This would seem to be a single action and when we crucify our flesh; that from that point forward we would no longer have our sinful nature. For me then the question is; have I not fully crucified my earthly flesh? Because I still have my sinful nature. Or is this an action that l must do each and every day? Am I to pick up the cross each and every day and crucify my earthly flesh over and over and over again? Either I am not good at the crucify bit or we are to continually work on it for our entire life.

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

We've all heard and read the first question. I want to focus on the second. What can a man give in exchange for his soul? This is Jesus blowing a huge hole in the whole "works" to be saved doctrine. It doesn't matter how good we think we are, how much time and effort or money we put into the Church, helping the poor, etc... These things do not save our soul. Only the acceptance of the amazing gift of Jesus saves our soul. The "works" we do, the money we give the time and effort...these are the things we do because Jesus saved us. These are the things we do to help promote the gospel so that others can know Jesus as well.

"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Do you water down the gospel, the Word of God because you find it offensive? Are you letting the influence of this world change the meaning of the word of God? Do you think that the adulterous and sinful generation that Jesus talks about is long past? Just look around at the world we live in. If we are watering down the truth, by denying sin is sin, by saying it's ok to do one thing or the other when the Bible is clear...Jesus is and will be ashamed of you when he comes again.

There is only one thing, one person who matters. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Put Him first and foremost in your life, follow his commands; so on that day you will hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Satan's Strongholds

What strong holds are you giving Satan in your life?

• Unforgiven sin?
• Unrepentant sin?
• Withheld forgiveness of a sin/offense committed against you
• Resentment?
• Bitterness?
• Anger towards someone or something?
• Pride?
• Idolatry? Are you putting money, sex, food, hunting, cars, career ahead of God in your life?
• Fear?

All of these things can and will be used against you by Satan. These strongholds allow Satan to bring condemnation against you.

Romans 8:1 - Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

Condemnation comes from Satan not from Jesus.

2 Corinthians 10:4 - The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Through Jesus we can demolish the strongholds that Satan has in our lives. To do it we must give these up to Jesus. We must ask for forgiveness, we must repent of our sin, we must offer forgiveness, we must give up bitterness, resentment, hate and anger. We have to put Jesus first in our lives and worship Him only.

Lord I pray that you would enter our hearts, that you would reveal truth. That you would search our hearts and that you would point out the strongholds we give Satan and show us how to release those through and to You. In the mighty and glorious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Real Husbands? - 1 Peter 3:7

Are you the husband your being called to be?

1 Peter 3:7 - Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Are you being considerate to your wife? All the time? Do you even know what it means to be considerate? The definition I found for considerate is having or showing regard for others and their feelings; being thoughtful. Coming home from work plopping on the chair, turning on the game and expecting dinner to be served to you is not being considerate.

Do you treat your wife with respect? All the time? What do you say about your wife when your with the guys? How do you talk about women in general? Do you honor your wife at all times? Do you know what it means to respect and honor her? Do you look lustfully at other women? Have you looked at pornography lately? Have you abused your wife either physically or mentally?

Does she know or believe that you really love her?

Do you know who's daughter she is? She is God's daughter. Do you think that God likes the way you are treating His daughter? God knows all and sees all...he knows how you treat his daughter. He knows your heart and your intentions.

Did you notice the last few words of the verse? "...so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

Do you think if you are mistreating your wife that God is listening to your prayers? Do you think that if you are not honoring, respecting and being considerate to your wife that God will answer your prayers?

I wonder...

Psalms 37:4

Psalms 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

I really like this Psalm. To know that our Lord loves us such that He would be concerned about the desires of our heart. Howard Thurman said “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

What makes you come alive? Do you really know? Or do you just have an idea but your not real sure? The reason I'm pushing here is that us humans are not very good predictors of what will make us happy, what will make us come alive. To a certain extent we need to experience things in life to find out if they make us come alive or not. We often fall in love with the "idea" of something only later to find we really didn't like that something.

I'm the kind of person who would get so caught up in trying to figure out what makes me come alive, what my hearts desires are; that I would forget about the first part of the verse.

What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord? When I look at these words I see two possible interpretations; that I find delight in the Lord, or that I make myself a delight to the Lord. What does it mean to you?

I looked up the word delight and one of the definitions is "something that gives great pleasure". Does being in the Lord give you great pleasure? If the Lord is looking at your life are you bringing Him great pleasure? I like the idea of this being a two way street. I should both delight in the Lord and what he is doing in my life and want to be a delight to the Lord by how I live my life.

I think that if we focus on "delight yourself in the Lord", the Lord will reveal our true hearts desires in time.

What do you think?

He has a plan. - Jeremiah 29:11-14

Jeremiah 29:11-14 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity."

The LORD has a plan for each and everyone of our lives. The Lord is declaring through Jeremiah that He already knows His plans.

Things to think about:

• Plans to prosper you and not harm you. - Prosper? I wonder what he meant here? One definition I found was simply "to make happy". I think many of us translate "prosper" to our material money. I don't think that is what he had in mind.
• Plans to give you hope and a future. - Is the hope he is talking about Jesus and the future everlasting life?
• Then you will call on me... - Given our sin how can we call on the Father? Only through Jesus.
• You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - What does that look like? How many times in your life have you ever done anything with all your heart?

When I look at times when I've done something with all my heart, there have been other areas in my life that suffered. When the company I work for was a start up, I put my heart into it. I worked whatever hours were needed to get done what needed done. My family suffered for it. When I have put my heart completely into Warrior at Heart, my family and my job have suffered for it. When I put my heart completely into my family...then everything else suffers.

Given these examples in my life and the fact that I want to find a balance in all things...I wonder can I give my heart fully to anyone thing? Maybe the answer to finding balance is really giving my heart fully to the One; the One who can help me with all the rest.

Lord I pray that we can learn to give it all to You so that Your plans in our lives can be fulfilled.