Month: August 2016

I opened my Face Book yesterday to be greeted by someone who was criticizing a pastor of a church because of the wealth he possessed. This individual called the pastor a “business con man.” It is obvious the person writing the post did not agree with how this pastor declared the truth of God’s Word. Perhaps he also did not agree that any pastor should have much of the material things of this world. It could also be said that this person allowed his eyes and ears to deceive him because he never bothered to learn that this pastor does not take a salary from his church. His money comes from other sources. This individual just assumed the money came from the pockets of all the poor people who sacrifice so this pastor can live with abundance.

There are several things which need to be identified in a society in which a significant number of people look down on anyone who has worked to become successful. This is especially true of those who feel entitled to be handed what others worked diligently to achieve. The first is that judgment of others does not please God. Jesus commanded in Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. {2} For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” You will reap what you sow.

Second, you don’t know what you don’t know. Do not assume you do know just because you have heard less than first hand information that something is true. Who you listen to is an important basic principle to keep in mind. Do due diligence to find the truth rather than act out of ignorance. Be careful what you do say, even as you learn the truth, because God does not view gossip as appropriate behaviour. The power of life and death is in your words and each person is accountable for what they say about others.

Third, there is great value in understanding the importance of what Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 7:12 and following through on it. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Fourth, think about your intentions before you speak or act. What are you seeking to accomplish? Will the result produce negative or positive benefits for everyone involved? Are you uplifting and encouraging others by what you do, or are you dragging them down, belittling them? The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. {9} Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

When people come to the place of living life with wisdom they are demonstrating the fact they know an important principle which is reflected through unconscious competence. Your real intentions and motives will come to the surface for all to see by how you live your life. Truly successful people do not put others down to make themselves look better. God knows your heart. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 20:11, “Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.”

Live your life to its full potential. Demonstrate the power of love in who you are and all you do and say.

Today’s article is designed to plant some seed thoughts. Three of the Gospel writers mention an event which took place at the moment of Jesus’ death on the Cross of Calvary. Matthew’s record declares in Matthew 27:50-51, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. {51} At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.” What is the significance of the temple curtain being torn from top to bottom and why is it important to us today?

This curtain was likely about 60 feet high and made of a material which could not be easily torn. It separated the most holy portion of the temple, which was considered the location of God’s presence, from the rest of the temple area. Only the high priest entered the most holy place once a year and that was to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people. The tearing of the curtain, top to bottom, indicated an act of God declaring the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross, not only to put an end to the Old Testament sacrificial system, but also providing the opportunity for people to come directly to God through Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, {6} who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.” The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote in 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. {15} For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. {16} Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

There have been specific sacred locations on this planet where God met personally with people. Moses met God on Mount Horeb. The temple was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem. There are specific architectural structures (cathedrals and churches) built around the world on energy ley lines which have increased connectivity between places in this world and beyond. This is not the time to go into the science of ley lines, I leave that for you to explore if you are interested. My point here is there are locations where we can connect more easily to the presence of God.

When the temple in Jerusalem was built, God chose it as a location where His presence abided. Consider what took place after the crucifixion of Jesus when the curtain was torn. The Apostle Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” With the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary, with the tearing of the curtain in the temple, now the place where God chooses to abide is within His people. Every person who makes a choice to accept the benefit, “the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8), provided by Jesus Christ, has immediate and direct access to the Sovereign Creator and Source of all. It is important for us to acknowledge, it is about honouring God, not just the principles which He has put in place with creation. AND it is through our bodies, the abode of our spirit and His Spirit that this honouring is to take place.

When you “know” this information and apply it into your daily life, using techniques like the six step process of “The One Command,” you come to the realization that prayer is more than a recitation in thought or word of some hopes, dreams or desires. You have the ability to actually come to the place where your spirit communes with the Spirit of God and where answers are generated in the quantum field of potentiality. They are then manifested in this physical world as answered prayer.

The wall of separation between God and ourselves no longer exists for those who will follow the recipe to make the connection. John recorded the words of Jesus in John 14:6-7, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. {7} If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’”

The way to living life to its full potential is to know and communicate with the Creator and Source of all that is.

I want to tell you a story of an amazing woman, who by God’s grace, is a living example of what it means to be more than an over-comer. Born premature and the first born to teenage parents, she was not expected to live. Her head was misshaped and oversized for her body. As she began to grow it was discovered one of her legs was longer than the other. This would result in surgery to slow the growth of the longer leg, but she was told she would need a lift on her shoe to balance out the difference for the rest of her life. Hearing loss would impact her speech so there was a slight lisp in her voice.

Once in school, the teachers repeatedly declared she would never achieve much in life and recommended an educational tract that was more in line with her limited abilities. Her mother fought hard to keep her in regular classes through the years. Significance amounts of school were missed due not only to her own health challenges, but also due to the health challenges of a mother who went through 13 pregnancies. Since her father was a long distance truck driver, an alcoholic and an unfaithful husband, this little girl took on the responsibilities of helping to take care of her four other siblings who survived birth.

Entering her teens she began to develop bouts of migraine headaches. In her later teens she developed severe planters warts on both feet which doctors unsuccessfully attempted to burn off and cut out multiple times. These persisted into her early twenties.

Married at age twenty she worked as a legal secretary heading up a branch office of a major legal firm helping to pay the expenses for her husband’s education. Yes, she overcame whatever negative predictions about her educational abilities.

Becoming pregnant in her mid twenties initiated almost two decades of severe, almost continuous migraine pain which impaired her ability to see at times and affected movement in the left side of her body. Doctors were powerless to find anything to help or to track down the causes. During this time, this woman became a pioneer home educating mother of two of her own children and later two children from a single parent home which the school system deemed uneducable. She authored two books, wrote numerous magazine articles and became a leading home education consultant. Her journey involved speaking to parents in several Canadian provinces and U.S. states in Home Schooling conferences. She also started a home school curriculum company that has been in operation for more than twenty years.

Relief from the migraines came in 1989, the same year her mother died suddenly of a brain aneurism. It was only a few years later, when the doctor gave her the news her husband had multiple sclerosis. One day he had taken the dog for a walk up the street and was barely able to make the short distance home. He soon could not even button his own shirt. In that moment, she made a decision, since the medical profession had never had any answers for her health challenges, it was likely they would have nothing to offer her husband. So she began to research alternative options. She was tenacious in her search for answers.

By God’s grace and mercy and her persistence, her husband was cured of his MS and now almost twenty five years later continues to live an active and completely normal lifestyle.

In her late fifties this woman began taking online university courses towards the goal of becoming an ordained minister. She finished all the courses she needed with a grade point average of 4.0 averaging more than 95% for all her subjects. So much for those predictions about her being uneducable.

God has blessed and guided her life in so many ways down through the years. Her legs are the same length now and she does not need any lifts on her shoes. She came back from a situation about four years ago where she was shuffling with a cane to get around. Since that time she walks normally and has not used a cane since.

If this story was being told by this amazing woman she would tell you, “if I can do it, so can you!!” AND, in fact this is what my amazing wife, Maxine, does tell people. Never settle for being a victim. Be an over-comer and live your life to the full.

Have you ever set something down and then not remembered where you put it? At this point it is a search for that which is yet to be found. A challenge to you! The next time this happens, pay attention to your self talk. What do you say when this happens? Are you negative or positive about yourself and the situation? What do you declare about the thing you are looking for? Are you positive or negative about its recovery?

You do know that in almost every situation the item is right where you put it down, right? Occasionally someone else may have moved it, but not often. You are the one who is responsible for its location and when you think about it, most times it is right in view. The issue for you is you have just not looked in the right place, yet. In fact, if you want to hide something, place it in plain view because most people will not see it there. Your eyes and ears will often deceive you. How many times have you solicited the help of someone in your search and when they look in a certain place you say, “Oh, I’ve already looked there” and they say, “Is this what you are looking for?” It was in plain view. You looked and did not see it.

Jesus addressed this situation with the words He spoke. In fact Luke records for us His words in Luke 8:8, Jesus called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Then in verse 10, “He said, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’” These words are sandwiched between the telling of the parable of the sower and the interpretation of this parable to His disciples.

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God are hidden from those who will not search for, or whose teachability index is low, because they think they already know everything there is to know. What most people don’t know, is their actions demonstrate whether they truly do know, or don’t know and the result is available for everyone to see, if they know what to look for.

So how will you respond to the words of Jesus? What level of priority do you give to the universal principles found in the Scriptures? Are you a “Tire Kicker” or “Toe Dipper” or are you “All In?” It is a matter of the choices you will make in response to the who you really believe Jesus to be. Billy Graham often speaks about “a moment of decision” which changes outcomes in life. This moment just might be that moment for you.

There was a man who faced many situations and challenges in his life which he turned into opportunities. He lived in a world where political turmoil and war was a part of life. As a young man he was taken prisoner and exiled to a foreign country. Once there, he was given an opportunity to be trained as a leader only to face a choice between his faith in God or a less than positive result. Through his ability to think creatively he found a solution which maintained the integrity of both options and the people involved.

His advancement in political influence continued over the years as he faithfully served both God and four different despots from three different empires as conquering nations took control of the land where he lived. Over the years this individual put his faith and obedience to God first and lived his life with the highest level of integrity in everything he did. In fact when those who were jealous of him looked for ways to discredit him the result was, “Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God’” (Daniel 6:5).

Everyone is running in the marathon called life. All along this journey we have the opportunity to make choices which reflect our thoughts, beliefs and heart intentions. These things impact the words we speak and the actions we take creating the outcomes we experience. Daniel had many opportunities to experience problems and very bad difficulties and in each of these moments he chose to see an opportunity which would bring about a better result.

In your marathon of life, are you looking for the good in everything which comes your way? Are you running to complete the race and win the prize? Are you willing to live with integrity and demonstrate a faith that is persistent all the way to the end? The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. {8} Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

On this day I want to give special recognition to someone who has persevered for 45 years in faithfully demonstrating love, patience and integrity with me. Happy 45^th Anniversary to my wonderful wife, Maxine. May the marathon together continue for a life time yet to be.