Chasing After the Wind!

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Jesus said to his disciples:

If you love me, you will do as I command.  Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you.

The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don't see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.

I won't leave you like orphans. I will come back to you. In a little while the people of this world won't be able to see me, but you will see me. And because I live, you will live.  Then you will know that I am one with the Father. You will know that you are one with me, and I am one with you.

If you love me, you will do what I have said, and my Father will love you. I will also love you and show you what I am like.

John 14:15-21

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are invisible to the people of this world but not to Christians. We wonder why some men make fun of us for following Jesus. But they cannot see Him and to them we look like we are chasing after the wind!

Then, and this is sad, sometimes men will decide to follow Jesus but they never see Him. So they pretend to see Jesus and just chase after the wind themselves. They see others who do see Jesus and try to copy them in their Christian walk. But they have never seen the Lord for themselves.

The same is true for the Holy Spirit. The world cannot see Him and cannot know Him. Only those who are disciples of Jesus can see and know the Holy Spirit.

So if you are struggling with your Christian life I would ask you this: Do you see Jesus and do you see and know the Holy Spirit? If you do not, then perhaps you are simply pretending to be a follower of Jesus.

Give up the pretense and seriously commit to live each moment of this day according to His will and the leading of the Holy Spirit. When you pretend to be a believer you will also have to pretend to see Jesus!

How to Save a Nation!

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Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!

Look what happened
to the cities of Calneh,
powerful Hamath,
and Gath in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
of those kingdoms?

You are cruel, and you forget
the coming day of judgment.

You rich people lounge around
on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
of your lambs and calves.

You sing foolish songs
to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
just as David used to do.

You drink all the wine you want
and wear expensive perfume,
but you don't care about
the ruin of your nation.

Amos 6:1-6

Do you care about the ruin of your nation? Some think that good laws will bring a nation back from the brink of destruction, but they will not. Remember, laws are simply a reflection of the hearts of the people. Laws are an attempt to prohibit people from doing things that would be bad for the country and its other citizens. If the hearts of the men and women in the country were right before God there would be no need for those laws. No one would do those bad things.

How do you bring a nation back from it's certain demise? The answer is to change the hearts of the people instead of the laws. Until that happens all you have is a contest of voting blocks. One wants the laws to force everyone to live as if they were followers of Jesus Christ. The other wants no laws relating to personal actions at all. But without a sweeping revival across your nation, neither voting block will get what they want. What they will get is a totalitarian government that will control actions not by law, but by force. Self government without self control always ends badly.

Do you want to save your nation? If you do then tell everyone you know about the love of Jesus and what He has done for you and will do for your life if you give yourself to Him! Jesus is the answer to every question and His love burning brightly in the hearts of men will save any nation.

Is Jesus in Your Boat?

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One day, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat, and he said, “Let's cross the lake.” They started out, and while they were sailing across, he went to sleep.

Suddenly a storm struck the lake, and the boat started sinking. They were in danger.

So they went to Jesus and woke him up, “Master, Master! We are about to drown!”

Jesus got up and ordered the wind and waves to stop. They obeyed, and everything was calm.

Then Jesus asked the disciples, “Don't you have any faith?”
But they were frightened and amazed. They said to each other, “Who is this? He can give orders to the wind and the waves, and they obey him!”

Luke 8:22-25

As you sail on the Sea of Life there will be storms that suddenly appear and threaten to destroy you and those you love.

The way to prepare for the storms is not to set your course so that you can certainly avoid all of them. The way to prepare is to make sure that Jesus is in your boat! If Jesus is in your boat you have nothing to fear even if He is asleep!

Don't spend your time studying the weather reports and charting a safe course for your life. Spend your time studying the Word of God and listening to the Holy Spirit direct your steps!

The disciples woke up Jesus and declared that they were all about to drown. But Jesus seems to have said that they could have addressed issue of the storm by faith!

So when a storm strikes your life first check to make sure Jesus is in your boat and then speak to the storm with the faith that God has given you!

If Jesus is with you either the storm will calm and the danger will pass or you will be taken to Heaven to live with Him forever. There is no bad ending to that story!

Check your life today and make sure there is room for Jesus in your boat!

The Great Physician!

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Once again, Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee. A large crowd gathered around him, and he taught them.

As he walked along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting at the place for paying taxes, and Jesus said to him, “Come with me!” So he got up and went with Jesus.

Later, Jesus and his disciples were having dinner at Levi's house.  Many tax collectors and other sinners had become followers of Jesus, and they were also guests at the dinner.

Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees, and they saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors. So they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to be my followers. I came to invite sinners.”

Mark 2:13-17

The tax collectors and other sinners who were eating with Jesus at Levi's house had become followers of Jesus. But when Jesus was accused of eating with tax collectors and sinners He did not say "Oh no you are quite wrong, these are former tax collectors and sinners because they have become my followers!"

The first thing these folks did was to become a Christ follower. The changes that needed to come in their lives would then be woven in by the power of fellowship with Jesus and later the indwelling Holy Spirit.

If you try to clean yourself up so you can become a follower of Jesus you will never come to the point of being "clean enough." Jesus wants you to come to Him and begin to follow in His steps just as you are right now. Change nothing. Come to Jesus and let Him change everything!

Ask Jesus to move your heart to a different place in every way that it needs to be changed.

And when you find someone who has made a wreck of their life and has no hope, invite them to turn their heart to Jesus before they do anything else!

Let the Great Physician do the healing!

Lawyer in Heaven!

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But Jesus will never die, and so he will be a priest forever!   He is forever able to save the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them.

Hebrews 7:24-25

The best way to get a good job is to have someone you know well recommend you for a position.  With the recommendation comes a character assessment that you cannot provide with a simple resume.  When a trusted and qualified person speaks on your behalf the steps to a new job are often easy.

Jesus speaks to God for you.  Years ago Gary S. Paxton wrote a song entitled, “Jesus is My Lawyer in Heaven.” Jesus is your defense attorney and he has never lost a case.  When Jesus pleads for your acquittal the evidence He presents is indisputable.  No other lawyer has ever admitted that his client is guilty, but tells the court that the price for the crime has already been paid!  I can imagine Jesus holding up His hands and showing God the scars. 

Are you still trying to claim that you are innocent before God?  You are not.  The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.  Are you still trying to be good enough to go to Heaven?  Sorry about that one too!  You are like “Humpty Dumpty” who fell off of the wall and you cannot put yourself back together again.  Only God can do that because of the Cross of Christ.

Remember Jesus loves you and wants you to be with Him forever.  Jesus wants you to victoriously finish this life here on earth.  No matter how “messed up” your life is right now, Jesus wants to be your lawyer before the throne of God and an eternally glorious outcome is guaranteed!

Offensive Christianity!

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On another Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, and a man with a paralyzed right hand was there.

Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses kept watching Jesus to see if he would heal the man. They did this because they wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong.

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he told the man to stand up where everyone could see him. And the man stood up.

Then Jesus asked, “On the Sabbath should we do good deeds or evil deeds? Should we save someone's life or destroy it?”

After he had looked around at everyone, he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his bad hand became completely well.

The teachers and the Pharisees were furious and started saying to one another, “What can we do about Jesus?”

Luke 6:6-11

If you live your life like Jesus there will be people who watch you hoping they can accuse you of doing something wrong.  

When Jesus healed the man with the paralyzed hand He knew that the teachers and Pharisees would become angry with Him, but He did it anyway.

The reason they were upset is that Jesus healed the man on a Sabbath day, on which no Jew was supposed to work.  

When God calls you to display His power in the world you will often be aware that there are those who will be upset by it.  Satan wants you to live your Christian life so that no one in the world will be offended.  That simply means that you will not be salt or light for anyone else.

Every day the world is screaming that you should not declare your faith or anything about your faith because it is offensive to the world.  

Remember, if you are not upsetting the world then your light is indeed hidden under a bushel.  It is like a sporting contest.  To win the game you must be "offensive!"

"Lord, as I walk with You today give me something to do for you that will upset Satan!  Amen."

Purify My Language!

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The [Lord] said:
Just wait for the day
when I accuse you nations.
I have decided on a day,
when I will bring together
every nation and kingdom
and punish them all
in my fiery anger.
I will become furious
and destroy the earth.

I will purify each language
and make those languages
acceptable for praising me.
Then, with hearts united,
everyone will serve
only me, the [Lord].

From across the rivers
of Ethiopia,
my scattered people,
my true worshipers,
will bring offerings to me.

When that time comes,
you won't rebel against me
and be put to shame.
I'll do away with those
who are proud and arrogant.
Never will any of them
strut around
on my holy mountain.

But I, the [Lord], won't destroy
any of your people
who are truly humble
and turn to me for safety.

Zephaniah 3:8-12

I knew a man who says he was very accomplished at using "bad language" although I never heard him do it. His testimony is that when he turned his heart to Jesus and was buried with Him his language was purified and he stopped cursing!

It is easy for us to forget that even as there is power in God's Word, there is power in the words that we speak as well. Every friendship is built on the words that are spoken by both people. Of course what you say must be confirmed by what you do, but the words we speak to each other are essential for the relationship to last.

When one person in that relationship begins to speak badly of the other or be ashamed to admit that they are friends then that communion begins to crumble and fall apart.

Has your speech been purified by the Lord? Is every word you utter appropriate for His ears? And when you are with those who don't know Him do you hide your love for Jesus?

"Lord deepen my love for You and give me the courage to let that love be seen by everyone I encounter today. In every conversation I have show me how to lift You up by confessing my love for You. Purify my language so that it will be acceptable for praising You! Amen."