Who are you... in His Word?

Who are you… in His Word? -29-17

Gideon was awakened and called a Mighty Man of Valor, what would you do if God suddenly woke you up and told you He had a plan for you to save your country/ people from bondage? Would you jump up and say “Okay God! Let’s do this!” or would you do like Gideon and stammer and ask; “Who me? You have got to be mixed up, I’m the lowliest one in my family and in my tribe my family is the lowest of the low… surely you are mistaken?”

 ¹² The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”¹³ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” ¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire Family!”¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” Judges 6:12-16

We laugh, and question Gideon when we read the story and think to ourselves; how could a man question God? Yet we do it ourselves. We question His thinking when we are asked to step out in faith and give an offering at church because we think we know more than He does about our finances.

We question just what the Word is really saying when it tells us to go and tell everyone the story of Jesus. And sometimes we even question what He was thinking when we were called to be at a certain church, or a certain ministry.

“You must be mistaken, I can’t do that Lord”. He must mean someone else or something else. We want to walk with the Lord but not have to step out of our comfort zones right?

A longer time ago than I like to admit my husband and I were looking at the options of moving back to Washington or staying in California. Crazy that I would think of this as an option that I did not want but I chose Washington.  I wanted to be near my family, and I had plans! I wanted to buy some land and have a ranch and camp for kids who could not afford to go to camp! When we were asked to stay on then as Children’s Pastoral staff I knew it was something that would be fun, but I didn’t want to live that far from my family and I had plans! One day while we were on our way to church I had the occasion to hear a thought from God, “You are being a Jonah”! I was going to run off to the fish-Washington; instead of staying in California, which was my Nineveh. Well maybe some of you are thinking how on earth can you complain about sunshine and beach weather?  I knew it would be okay but I also wanted my way; but I gave in to God because I did not want to be a Jonah. In obedience to God, we served as Children’s Pastors for a couple of years, then worked in various other ministries and areas of worship in obedience to our God.  The funny thing is it didn’t happen all at once it happened over time, I have come to realize that there were things we did that no one would have done the same. There were actually people we reached, my family and I, that we would not have reached, comforted, served had we gone back to Washington.

My husband is a mighty man of valor. He was in the military, and as today is Memorial Day I want to thank him and the other people out there who answered the call to arms for us that we in the US of America can say we live in a free country and can eat too much, and play too hard. We can also worship and live where we choose, or rather where God chooses for us to live! Even if he had not been in the Persian Gulf Wars I still would think he was a mighty man of valor because he has several times just since I knew him put God’s plans above what he may like to do. When he was on the USS John A More he had a motto; Never Give In on one of his shirts. I think it was the ships motto but it’s also scriptural! He uses that in his daily gardening, working his regular job and raising his family, he doesn’t give in to pain, stress or tiredness he just keeps going. He does so many great things all the time to benefit others; I could not list them all.

To me he is very much a Gideon personality because he does not see himself as that Mighty Man of Valor, He sees himself as a simple man who lives his life as he sees fit in God’s eyes.

Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 Corinthians 4:1

That is how we need to be to live in this world. We need to be strong in the guidance of the Lord and follow through on things in our lives that produce the strength in Christ to keep on going no matter what is going on in our lives; we need to trust that God knows what to do, that He is the Truth in our lives and He will direct us where to go.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you today for those whom you have called, both to serve us in the military as well as those who serve us in the Church today. Bless all the warriors out there doing battle for the salvation of our lives, and the deliverance of our will into your hands. Help us to hear your voice today; in Jesus name, amen,

Suggested Reading Judges 6:1-40, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Corinthians 10:1-18.

Running in Freedom- In His Word 5-22-17

Running in Freedom In His Word

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

We live in freedom but we do not act like it do we? We walk through life with a burden on our backs, burdens of work, of finances, of piles of ‘to do ‘lists. Worrying about what we should do today and what to do tomorrow to be sure tomorrow after that exists; how we want to do it all; but we forget that we are to walk in freedom.

So what does it mean to walk in freedom?

We are told In His word that we are free, if so then we are free to do what we want, correct?

And if we are free to do what we want does that mean that we can break the laws of God and man? No! It means we are free from doing those things. We are free to live with a clean slate.

Being free through Christ means that we have been reset to a point where we do not have to carry the burdens on our backs but instead we can give them to Jesus and let Him crush them into sand. We are also free from sin, or our sinful human nature. In reality if you are in Christ you have no right to say “ I am only human” as an excuse for sinning because if you are truly in Christ you have the Holy Spirit part of God in you.

Would we want to sin if it means we would drag Jesus right along with us?

 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

So we do not need to sin, we are free from sin.

 Do not  let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.  Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.  Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Romans 6:13-15

Even what we eat is not a sin to us, as long as we eat within reason. As long as we do not become gluttonous, because gluttony is a sin, but we can be free from that by learning the right living suggestions in the Word of God. If we have a problem with over eating we can ask God to help us to stop the problem for us.

(But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.  It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it? 1 Corinthians 10:20-30

When we accepted Christ as our Savior, or agreed to make Him Lord of our lives it gave us instant freedom from whatever would be a problem to us. Now it does not make life perfect but it does show us what we can do!

Also when we turn to the Lord we can talk straight to Him when we have a temptation and ask Him to help us out of it because He has given us freedom to do so. We no longer have to go to a priest to ask forgiveness or offer up sacrifices to gain freedom from our sins.

But just because we are cleaned up does not mean we can go back to the dung from which we came. Some people when they have gotten clean and sober, accept Christ and think that it is okay now for them to walk back in the muddy roads they were on before and that they will not be tempted. I believe that you should not go back to the muck and the mire once it has been taken from you.

 

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

The Veil is taken away from the Holy of Holies and we can see God face to face. I don’t know about you but I want to use my freedom for good! Free to live my life acceptable to God!

I don’t want to go back to where I have been but I want to move on ahead, forward in my walk with Christ. I do not want to pick up that burden and carry it again, I want to jump and run and be free!

I wrote a poem back in high school about running free. It claimed "I want to run until I’m free, ‘till this whole world is far from me…” it went on to describe how I wanted to be free to love, free to like, free to live with people who felt the same way. Funny thing is I did not know I was looking for Jesus then, but now that I know Him, and follow His directions in His Word I am finding that all those things are things He gives me!

God gave us a new life in Christ and in doing so He directed us to His Word as a guide book. We are free to not read it if we do not want, but personally I want to read it, I want to pray to Him, I want to listen for His still small voice. I want to run with Him!

Both spiritually and physically I want to run with Jesus today.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Freedom to live each day according to Your will in our lives. Help us to walk in the paths you have for each of us, in Jesus name, amen.

Suggested Reading: Galatians 2:1-21, Romans 6;1-23, and 2 Corinthians 3:1-18.

TeresaWilson.com: Are you Delighting in the Truth- In His Word?

TeresaWilson.com: Are you Delighting in the Truth- In His Word?: Are you Delighting in Truth in His Word ? 5-15-17 Do you think about the songs you sing in  your church, or on the radio? Do you s...

Are you Delighting in the Truth- In His Word?

Are you Delighting in Truth in His Word ? 5-15-17

Do you think about the songs you sing in 

your church, or on the radio? Do you sing what you mean and mean what you sing? Or is it just a catchy tune and fun to do?

I can’t get enough time with the Lord lately it seems, I try to spend time walking and talking, reading and praying but it never seems to be enough to keep my heart calm, my mind from wandering to the next item on my list and rarely enough peace to pass the turmoil of life around me.  In church this week we sang a song that said we can’t get enough of God our Savior, and I could really relate to that, but then again it made me think; is it God I can’t get enough of or the rest of the ‘stuff’ I just listed?  What do I want from God?

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4

Can I honestly say I am trusting in the Lord and doing good? I do not always ‘do good’, but I do desire to feed on His faithfulness!

There is an old Chorus we used to sing that went something like this; “I delight to do your will O’Lord, I delight to do Your will… and to walk with thee is not grievous to me I delight to do your will…  This is my heart’s desire today is to do His will in all that I do. This includes when I sing praise and worship songs; they are sung as unto the Lord so I sing them from my heart in spirit and in truth.

For they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:22-24

When we worship we must give over our selfish desires of ‘fun church worship service’ and really enter in to prayer and worship otherwise we are only half there. If I lift my hands just because the worship leader says to, I am not worshiping in spirit and in truth. I am worshiping in the flesh, though obedient to the leadership I am not truly worshiping unless I feel lead to lift my hands in worship and praise Him from my heart as well.

It is my desire to worship in truth; to lift my hands because I truly want to, to think of Him and His goodness, to seek His face not the face of the one next to me or the person on the platform; when I worship Him in truth, all else will fade away.

Our attitudes can influence us so easily as well; then we are not worshiping in Spirit and in truth. We need to put aside the things that hinder us; the people, the volume, the type of music we hear; and focus on Jesus, seek His face in worship.

Our lives are a tool of worship as well, when we walk according to His will, doing what He would have us do instead of what is comfortable to us or what looks like fun, then we are worshiping Him in spirit and in truth as well!

Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference because we get caught up in the experience of those around us and get excited without having our own ‘encounter with the Holy Spirit’; unless we have a personal knowledge, hands on, in His face kind of relationship with God then we are just along for the ride.

When start to worship we should pray;

Lord let me be an instrument unto thee, and instrument of praise! Let me worship You in all that I do. Let me lead by example let those around me see my worship of you. Let them see that I am following Your lead.

I don’t mean that we should be putting on a show, but when we enter in to true worship the younger Christians around you will see you worshiping, though our focus is not on this; we must know that we are leading them. If we are just 

dancing for the fun of it then we are not being a good example. If we are living life for our selves and not for the will of God in our lives then we are not worshiping in truth. We are fooling ourselves if we think this is true.

True worship is living a life for God to get the glory in all that we do; as unto the Lord.

Let’s try this week to focus on being truthful with ourselves, to look up in the Word and find the things we need to know that will strengthen our resolve to walk closer to Jesus and to live a life of worship unto Him.

 Let’s look for the keys to the kingdom and walk in His will as we study the Bible , our Word of God.

Then as we walk it out, we will be worshiping in truth, and as we fellowship with Him via the Holy Spirit within is we will be worshiping in Spirit and in truth!

Thank You heavenly Father for allowing Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us and guide us in worship. Help us to mean what we say, sing and live that we may live in Truth. In Jesus name, amen.

Suggested Reading: Psalm 37:1-40, John 4:1-54, and Psalm 40:1-17

Watch your mouth! What are you saying? In His Word 5-8-17

Watch your mouth! What are you saying? In His Word 5-8-17

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:5-6

The Word of God tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue; so we should watch our mouths!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21

Sure we mostly hear these scriptures when referring to bad words we should not say and even gossip but what about the good things?

What about those good and perfect words we speak, right, I know we do not have perfect words come out of our mouth most of the time. Occasionally though we can figure it out and present ourselves with words that mean something or inspire something good in the person we are talking to.

We know that we are supposed to speak the truth in love, and sometimes when we talk its not so loving. We get caught up in the moment and yell at one another, or grumble and complain to ourselves; but is it really to ourselves? God is with us wherever we go. We have taught this to children in Sunday school class all the time but like many childhood lessons we adults tend to forget what we are supposed to do is act out the truth. In other words we need to behave like a Christian. We need to walk the walk that we believe is the inspired Word of God. Which means if we are shouting or grumbling, we are not doing what God wants. We need to remember that truth that Jesus is with us and will never leave us nor forsake us and as such He is there when we choose to do the wrong thing we are dragging Him into it with us.

“Gee, that’s a heavy thing for a Monday morning Teresa! Do you mean we have to think before we speak?” 

I laugh at myself because I have one of those brains that forgets to send the ‘all stop’ notice and my mouth goes on rambling by itself sometimes. I love to speak, and since it is my calling to “Speak and to teach and to preach to all people of all walks of life and all ages...” well it is not always a bad thing that I love to talk! What is not good is when I allow my mouth to run off without my brain.  I mean that is a silly thought, but when we ramble sometimes it can take on a whole different conversation than what we started with if we do not keep our mouths in check. 

We have to keep focused on the topic at hand and be sure and remind ourselves that we are always in the presence of the Lord.

God gave us mouths, and He gave us words to speak, so just as we have been given purpose in life our bodies, our mouths have a purpose to follow a well. We need to remember to do the work of an evangelist; if that is our calling. Use our mouth for good not harm; no matter what we are talking about or whom we are speaking to we need to remember that we are to walk as Jesus walked and let our speech be as appropriate as it can be so that someone around us who hears will not have cause for stumbling.

Our words can be a stumbling block for someone, they can even cause someone to fall off a cliff in life and be damaged for life. A simple word spoken correctly can change their lives for good, a poorly spoken word can cause someone to give up on life and God all together.

 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:11-16

It is true that what we put in our minds is what will come out of our mouth, even if we try to leave our brains at the door.

If you are watching shows that cuss a lot, do not be so surprised when you cuss. If you are watching a show that makes you lust after the flesh, don’t be so surprised when you start thinking indecent thoughts. What you put in your mind is what will come out of your mouth.

It works both ways, good and bad go in, the more you put in that is good stuff the more good stuff that comes out of your mouth.

I can say when I am in ‘writer mode’ thinking of the Word of God and how to best portray the ideas it gives me I am thinking with a much more pure heart and mind. But when I go out into the world from here and open my mind and ears up to the harmful words of the world I am often not as calm. But when I am in the Word more, the more I am the calmer I am in situations I cannot control but try to.

 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:17-24

So if we have put on the new man, and take the time to read each day as often as we can and pray each day and as often as we can then we can say we have renewed our mind. If it is true that we have renewed our mind then we should speak the clean, fresh words that God has put there for us.

Let’s work harder to put in the Word and less of the world. Let’s make it our goal this week to pay attention to what words are around us and what words come out of our mouths. Then add in more Bible Words and see what happens with how we conquer the battle of the tongue. 

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to keep our hearts and minds clean with Your Word and prayer, help us to listen to the right things when we go out into the world each day and to keep our focus pure and on Your purpose for our lives, in Jesus name, amen.

Suggested reading: Ephesians 4:1-32, Philippians 3:1-21, Romans 15:1-33, and 2 Corinthians 4:1-14

TeresaWilson.com: What are you doing? In His Word-5-1-17

TeresaWilson.com: What are you doing? In His Word-5-1-17: What are you doing? In His Word-5-1-17 Are you a doer of the Word? Are you walking in faith? Are you humbly bowing before your God and...

What are you doing? In His Word-5-1-17

What are you doing? In His Word-5-1-17

Are you a doer of the Word? Are you walking in faith? Are you humbly bowing before your God and listening for His still small voice?

Nehemiah listened, and realized a completed Jerusalem wall was actually something he could achieve; with a little help! In Nehemiah 1-3 we can read about the event that got things moving. First he realized the need, second he went to God,  thirdly he went to the king and fourth he went to the people and got them on task. The Israelites of Judah worked together in little teams as it were and build separate sections of the wall. It took quite a while of course but they completed it. They all worked together to achieve God’s plan to rebuild the wall. Why was it His plan? Probably because the other nations saw them rebuilding and how they worked together and realized their God was working with them.

When we as Christians work together for good people sit up and take notice as well. It is kind of cool that people know that with God all things are possible and no one I going to stand against us, even if they try.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 KJV

We need to ask ourselves; “Am I diligently seeking God for what I should do each day?”     

Nehemiah diligently sought the proper channels to do the will of God in building the wall.

He repented before the Lord and not only for himself but for the entire nation of Judah, Israel. He helped them to realize they needed to get rid of the sin in their lives and get back on track for God!

What is your wall? Is there a ‘thing’ that God has called you to do that you are putting off because you think its to hard, or that no one will listen? Get over yourself! It is not about you, it is about fulfilling God’s purpose in your life!

Listen and obey the Word of God, study to show yourself approved, remember? This is not approved by the world, or its people, but by God and God alone. So don’t study your Bible just to please the people who expect it from you but study it to please God. Follow the reading plan He has put before you for His purpose.

  So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. James 1:21-23

Build a wall of scripture; read the Word, write it out or just sit there an think about what you read; but remind yourself of the good God given Word that builds up your fortification. Be fortified in your life, in your work life, in your home life in your social life; study the Word. When Israel rebuilt the wall they did it properly, they created mortar and brick and stuck it together strongly, not with Elmer’s’ school glue. They took time to make it strong, they took time to do it right. When we do our daily reads we need to read to be strong. Read for edification. When we pray we need to pray strong, ask God for strength, thank Him for guidance, hope, peace, healing and whatever else we can think of. Ask Him to direct our paths so that we may continue to have faith and trust Him to keep us strong in our resolve to follow His virtues, His Word. We can’t do it alone, just as Nehemiah could not rebuild the whole wall by himself alone; He needed to have team work. Read it for yourself this week.

 

So ask  yourself;

What does God want from me?

Where does God want me to go?

How can He help me achieve this plan?

Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Psalm 119:34

Talk to God about it; He will answer you if you seek Him with all your heart.

Then go out there and do it! Get the thing done. It may seem futile at first but like Nehemiah, if you begin the project the people you need to get it done will come along side and help.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t try to figure things in your own knowledge but trust Him to direct you to the wisdom of His purpose in your life. The world we live in is crazy distracting, but we can take the time to focus on God and His Word and in that time we can find peace, hope and guidance for each day. Then we can go out and be ‘doers of the Word’.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Your Word that you have given us to learn from and to glean from and to go out do life from the guidance you give us there. Help us to walk in Your Word each day and to walk in Your promises and guidance as you direct us to go; in Jesus name, amen.

Suggested reading Nehemiah 1:1-11, Nehemiah 2:1-20, Nehemiah 3:1-32, James 1:1-27 and Hebrew 11:1-40.