Why Is Your Heart So Heavy?

Why Is Your Heart So Heavy?

Ezekiel 11:19
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

If you are not careful you can allow the circumstances of life to turn your heart into stone. When you look at some people, you can see the wear and tear of life on their faces but for others it’s not that obvious because they carry it in their hearts.

You know people with heavy hearts by how they act in relationships. They can’t love like they used to because they’ve been hurt so much. They can’t trust like they used to because they’ve been betrayed. It’s hard for them to believe in anything or anybody because they’ve been disillusioned. There is heaviness about them.

We don’t have to be stuck with a heavy heart; we can get a heart transplant. The old folks used to say that Jesus is a heart fixer and a mind regulator. If we allow Jesus to take away the stuff that has been plaguing our minds and trust our hearts to him, he’s able to fix them both. Jesus is the only one that can take away our heavy heart.

1. I will give them an undivided heart. A lot of times we split our allegiance to God with something else. Jesus warned that you cannot love two Gods; i.e. God and money. We have to give full allegiance to God and stop dividing our Love for him to other things or people

2. I will put a new Sprit within them. When we are not connected to God we get the wrong spirit. When we are connected to Jesus the Holy Spirit thrives in us. The fruits of the Spirit are love, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self control.

3. I will make their hearts soft. Jesus is able to take our calloused, abused hearts and regenerate them with the Holy Spirit to where they are soft again. God can teach us how to love, trust, and believe again.

Dear God,

Make my heart soft today. Help me to be sensitive to the needs of others and open to your voice. Renew the right Spirit within me so that I can reflect your love to others.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Don't Let It Die

Finish your Deeds

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. ~ Revelation 3:2

Wake up everybody, no more sleepin' in bed. No more backward thinkin', time for thinkin ahead The world has changed so very much from what it used to be, so there is so much hatred war an' poverty. Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way. Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say. 'Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands, when you teach the children teach 'em the very best you can. –Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

In this song, “Wake Up,” Teddy Pendergrass beckons all of us to wake up to the needs of a hurting world. He specifically addresses teachers and doctors. The song talks about how Education and Healthcare are failing the people of the world. It seems the more the world changes the more it stays the same. This song was written in 1975 but feels like it could be sung in 2012 with the same sense of urgency because our deeds are unfinished. Our Educational and Healthcare systems have failed us. It’s time for us to Wake up and strengthen that which remains and is about to die.

There is a new movie coming out called, “Won’t back Down” which portrays two women, one a teacher and another a mother, who fight against the school system to take over a failing school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvYPxZpstkE


The movie shows us that ordinary people can wake up and strengthen that which is about to die and fulfill their purpose in doing good deeds. What did God put on your heart when you woke up this morning?

In order for us to be fulfilled in Life we need to:

1. Wake up. We need to rise from a place of non-consciousness and be aware of what’s going on in our world. We can’t be so caught up in our own self pity that we fail to see the greater needs of other people in the world. God put us here for a reason and there is something he needs us to do.
2. Strengthen what is about to die. Look around you today; there is something or somebody barely holding on. You have the power to bring life back to it. God has given you resurrection power to speak life back into that which is dying.
3. Complete your deeds. Jesus tells us, “I have found your deeds unfinished.” Every believer has an assignment and you must complete it before you leave this earth. Let no good deed go undone.

Dear God,

Help me to awaken this morning with a sense of urgency. I’m ready to finish my deeds and not let my assignment go incomplete. If it is within my power to do a good deed today, show me what it is so that I may complete what you’ve given me to do.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Bad Night, Good Morning

Bad Night, Good Morning

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift my soul. Psalm 143:3

Have you ever had a night where it seemed that the day would never come? Or maybe you’ve had a night where you wish the day didn’t come. If you are not careful the worries of the night will wrap themselves around you and try to constrict the hope of a new day right out of your spirit. If anybody knew what it was like to have a “bad night,” it was David. He had many nights like this when he was estranged from his wife, isolated from his family, on the run from “friend-a-mies” (enemies disguised as friends), living in sub-standard conditions; David had some bad nights.
We all have had some bad nights where we worried about bills, had a fall out with loved ones, body battling with sickness, mind racing with thoughts; it’s enough to make you want to give up in the night. It’s in the night when thoughts get the loudest, it’s in the night when your fear seems to take over, it’s in the night where tempers rage, and it’s in the night when hope seems to disappear but the good news is that morning has to come.

Psalm 30:5
New International Version (NIV)
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
After a bad night David talked to God in the morning:

1. Let the morning bring me a Word of your unfailing Love. Even when other people write you off, God keeps loving you and hoping you will finally get in sync with his will for your life. I think God sends light every morning saying to himself, “I hope my child gets it this morning, because I love them so much.” You made it through the night that means God loves you and he still has something for you to do.
2. We have to put our trust back in God to handle whatever we faced in the night. When you’ve exhausted all options and your flesh is depleted of solutions, you have to trust God to do the rest. In the morning, you have to make up your mind to trust God again.
3. We have to ask God for direction. God show me the way to go. After a bad night you can become disoriented from sleep deprivation but God is the one who will guide you when you don’t know where you are going.
4. We have to lift our Soul up to God. If you are not careful your physical circumstances will cause your Soul to start sagging. You can become depressed when you should be looking up.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5
Dear God,

I had a long night but I’m looking forward to a good morning. Thank you for not staying angry with me but you met me with your unfailing love. Mend my relationships, forgive my sins, clarify my focus, replenish my strength, and restore the Joy of my salvation. Thank you God, I decree and declare it’s going to be a Good Morning.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

Don't Be Skurred!!!

Don’t Be Scared!

I John 4:18
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in Love.

I was watching the movie, “Life” starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence on TV last night. Even though it was a comedy there was a serious scene where the actor playing a gay inmate is facing his fear of being released. Ironically, he is the same one who told Martin Lawrence’s character the infamous words “Don’t be skurred (scared)!” Now here he is afraid to go face his family with the fact that he has been living as a gay man during his time in prison. He tells Eddie Murphy’s character, ‘My mama won’t accept me like this.” He takes off his scarf and takes out running for the gun line. Everyone yells for him to stop but we all know what he’s doing. He’s committing suicide because his fear over rode his love. He was supposed to be set free from prison but he kills himself out of fear.

We cannot live our lives in fear or else we put ourselves in Prison for life. We need to know that:

1. There is no Fear in Love. How can we fear the People we love? Because we allow the fear of punishment or rejection to override the Love in our relationship with God and others. When there is unconditional love people ought not be afraid to face the truth of who they are or the situation at hand. If you are in a relationship where you are fearful then it is not a love relationship.
2. Perfect love drives out fear. When we Love people with the Love of God it drives out their fear and releases them to be honest with their feelings. Some people would rather stay in prison for life or die before they face their truth out of fear of punishment. When we Love people with the Love of God it should free them. God’s desire is that no one would perish but that all would be saved.
3. The one who fears is not made perfect in Love. God perfects us in Love. God sends loving correction to his children. He does not pounce on us when we do wrong but he whispers to us to come back home. When we overcome our fear of God’s judgment and embrace his Love we will have no fear.

Dear God,

Help us to Lead and live out of Love and not fear. It is much more productive to be Loved than it is to be feared. Teach us to Fear you in the sense of Respect but not to avoid your Love out of the Fear of Judgment. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but the fulfillment of wisdom is the acceptance of your Love as evidenced by what you did through Jesus on Calvary’s cross. Thank you for the Love that you showed through Jesus for us. There is no greater Love than this, a man who would lay down his life for a friend. That’s Love and I’m not scared anymore.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I Can't Keep Doing THis

I John 3:9

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

It’s hard to stay clean in a dirty place, yet that is our challenge as Christians. Faced with so many temptations and challenges it’s almost inevitable that we will sin and fall short of the Glory of God but we can’t stay there in that place failure.

When I get lost driving in a new place using my GPS, the lady’s voice comes across my speaker system and says, “Recalculating” and she will not let me keep going in the wrong direction. In life, we will occasionally miss our exit but God’s voice will get us back on track.

When we are born again, God puts his word or his seed in us. That seed begins to grow through study, prayer, and obedience. It becomes our moral compass. When we get off track he guides us back in the right direction. The bible says, “anyone born of God cannot go on sinning. “ This does not mean that guide takes away our free choice. It means that even when we mess up the seed reminds us that we missed our exit and:

1. Your peace will be disturbed. When we sin against God we will not experience the peace of God that transcends all human understanding because of the fracture in our relationship with God.
2. Your conscience will be bothered. Hiding sin in your life is like hiding a fugitive in your house. You won’t be able to rest.
3. Your movement will cease. Like the man in Psalm 1 who sins against God, we go from walking, to standing, to sitting. Sin halts your movement.
4. You can ultimately die. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.
5. You can recalculate and repent. When you miss your exit the voice tells you, “Make a legal U-Turn up ahead.” Repent means to turn and go the other direction, a legal U-Turn. God allows us to do that when we miss our exit.

Dear God

I repent of my sins and I’m turning around to head in the Right Direction. Thank you for helping me when I got off track. I’m heading in a New Direction from the inside out.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Why I Think Stevie J is a Fool

Hold what you got!

I John 2:24
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

I saw something that really disturbed me on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, Stevie J. had on a T-shirt that said, “I am God” as he sat in between his baby’s mother and girlfriend with a smug, sinister grin proclaiming, “I’m in control of this situation because both of them are on my bus.” What disturbed me more than his stupidity and arrogance was the fact that he really believes he’s God and the message he’s sending to so many other young people about the sovereignty of God the delusion that we are our own gods. We have lost our respect and fear of God.

Psalm 53[a](A)
1 The fool(B) says in his heart,
“There is no God.”(C)
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven(D)
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,(E)
any who seek God.(F)
3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.(G)

In this age of fading reverence for God, we as believers, in God and Jesus Christ must hold on to what we heard in the beginning. In the beginning, God said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, you shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3). We’ve got to hold on to the belief in the Holiness of God and not put anything or anybody, not even ourselves in his place. We make ourselves God when we live life by our rules and not God’s. We make ourselves God when lose humility and sight of the true and living God who liberated us from death. It’s time for us to Wake up!

The devil is deceiving us through all of the dysfunctional lies disguised as reality TV which is really the indoctrination of Satan and the pedagogy of the oppressor to perpetrate the ignorance of the captive camouflaged as entertainment. If we are going to hold on to what we have and turn a generation back to the true and living God we have to do what it says in Revelation 3:2-3:

Revelation 3:2-3
New International Version (NIV)2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.(A) But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,(B) and you will not know at what time(C) I will come to you.

Dear God,

Thank you for the Wakeup call! We will not allow the enemy to drag down a generation on our watch. It’s only so much foolishness we can take until righteous indignation takes over. Strengthen your Holy Spirit in me so that I can overcome the agenda of Satan. I’m holding on to your unchanging hand and when you see me slipping don’t let go of mine.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

I Need to See You in the Light

I John 1:7

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

In the movie Sparkle, Sister and her Sistahs have a chance at a record deal with Columbia Records. The manager from Columbia is so excited to see them perform at the Night Club but he had one more request before signing them to a record deal. He asked their manager to see them in the light of day.

The next day they show up in the office and they are exposed with their attitudes, addictions, and appearance. The record executive said, “This is why I needed to see them in the light of day, things look different in the light.”

If we are going to receive promotion, God always needs to see us in the light of the day before he feels comfortable exalting us. A lot of things are exposed when we walk in the light of day that cannot readily be seen in the dark. Makeup can hide a lot in the dark that can be revealed in the light. Sometimes, you can hide behind your performance on stage at night but something else shows up in the light of daytime conversation. We need to walk in the light.

Jesus is the light that shines on us and in us. When we have fellowship with Jesus, He is able to heal us from what has damaged us in the dark. The light is not anything we should avoid but instead we grow in the light and then we are able to glow in the dark. But if we hide in the dark, we will not grow in the light.

Here’s how we are promoted to the next level in our living:

1. Walk in the light. This has to do with our lifestyle. Our lifestyle must be congruent with what we portray on the stage. If our life is not together behind the scenes it will only expose itself quicker when we walk in the light of day. Our nightlife will either promote us or expose us in the light. It is better for us if we consistently live in such a way that there is nothing that will embarrass us in the daylight.
2. We have fellowship with one another. There must be unity with one another. In Sparkle, as long as the three sisters were in fellowship they were a strong unit and their gifts made room for them. When they allowed a satanic character to disrupt their fellowship that is when things started falling apart. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
3. The blood of Jesus purifies us for our sins. Sin is when we miss the mark of the standard by which God wants us to live by. The blood of Jesus will purify us from the damage done in the darkness. Whether it is our attitudes, our addictions, or our appearance, the blood of Jesus had the ability to cleanse and heal us from the inside out.

Dear God,

Help us to walk in the Light so that we can overcome the damage done in the darkness. Forgive us and heal us by the blood of Jesus. God help us to walk consistently in line with your will for our lives so that we will not embarrass you in the daylight of opportunity. Walk with us Jesus and keep us in the path of righteousness for your name's sake.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

What is Truth?

John 18:38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked, with that he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.

Jesus said, "I am the way, truth, and the life; no man can come to the Father unless he come through me." The Urban dictionary describes "the truth" as the greatest or most postive form it is possible for a person or thing to be. If we want to know who God is then Jesus is "the Truth." His teaching are the truth.  When we know the truth, that is, have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will know the truth and the Truth will set us free.

The reason we are not free is because of our own reasoning. In our limited thinking, we try to create a reality using our finite ability to reason without the assistance of God. We take pieces of truth to create our own reality. We should really call these reality shows, "delusions of grandeur,' because they are full of people who have no sense of reality or truth.

When Jesus was arrested and brought in front of Pilate, he questioned Jesus about being a King.Jesus and asked Pilate whose reality was that, his or one that someone gave him. Jesus then revealed to Pilate that he was a King and those that are on the side of truth listen to him. Pilate wanted to know, "What is truth?" It's a deep question that can't be answered in two or three sentences but let me suggest what it is not:

Truth is not our opinion. There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end leads to death. Proverbs 14:12

Truth is not injustice. Evil men do not undertand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. Proverbs 28:5

Truth cannot be hidden.  What you do in the dark will come to the light. Matthew 10:27

Truth does not harm us but it can hurt us. 2 Corinthians 7:9

Truth is not duplicitous. The old folks used to say, "be who you are not who you ain't". Ephesians 4:22-25

Truth is not sugar-coating. The truth is saying what people need to hear not what they want to hear. Ephesians 4:15

Dear God,

Help me to be True to myself. Guide me into a relationship with the Truth so I can be totally free from self-deception and self-destruction.  Thank you for setting me free!

In Jesus Name,
Amen

I Can't Shut Up!

I Can’t Shut Up!

Jeremiah 20:9

New International Version (NIV)

9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

There are always some people who wish you would just shut up, not because you are saying anything wrong but because they don’t care to hear the truth. When people are comfortable living a lifestyle that does not line up with God’s standard the truth of God’s word makes them uncomfortable. God’s word will also make believers uncomfortable when we refuse to share the truth when we know deep down they need the truth.

In this politically correct world where people are growing more and more aggravated toward absolute truth it is becoming more and more tempting to just shut up. When you share God’s word sometimes you are antagonized as some archaic, judgmental, irrelevant unwanted guest. There are times when you just want to keep God’s word to yourself and go somewhere by yourself.

Jeremiah, one of God’s prophets was trying to warn Israel and Judah of their pending destruction due to their disobedience to God. Instead of listening they beat and imprisoned Jeremiah. Upon his release Jeremiah told God that he had deceived him in being a messenger and he wasn’t going to share God’s word anymore. When Jeremiah tried to shut up, here’s what happened:

1. Heart Burn. If I say I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name, his word is in my heart like fire. When we see something that is not right in the world and God’s word is in our hearts we will experience heart burn when we don’t speak to it. Your heart will ache over injustice and you can’t shut up when you see it.

2. A feeling in your bones. You get to a point in your life where you can no longer deny what you feel to be true. Repressing God’s word can become depressing and you can feel it in your bones when life doesn’t match up to what you know to be true. It’s only a matter of time before something breaks.

3. I am weary of holding it in, I cannot…shut up. As much as you want to, you cannot shut up when God’s word is in you. God’s word cannot be contained. If we refuse to say something for God, the rocks will cry out.

Today, open your mouth and be obedient to what God told you to say. Speak truth in Love. Don’t Shut up. You can’t!

Dear God,

Use me as a messenger of your truth. As unpopular as it may be, your word is still able to set the captives free. Free me from the fear of being unpopular and help me to know the Truth and speak the Truth, so the Truth will set us all free.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I Can't Do It Without Him

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

In order for us to be fruitful, we must be “rootful.” We must be connected to the source of our fruitfulness. God is the source and the strength of our life. When we abide in him, life will begin to flow through us. There is so much that God can do through us if we would only abide in him.

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” We must be connected to Christ in order for our lives to be fruitful. What’s even more crucial is that to remain productive/fruitful, God will cut off unproductive branches and even productive branches so that you will be even more productive. In our estimation, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” but in God’s infinite understanding he believes, ‘If it’s fruitful I may need to cut it so that it can be even more fruitful.’ God wants to take us from good to great but we must abide in him.

Definition of ABIDE
transitive verb
1
: to wait for : await
a: to endure without yielding : withstand b: to bear patiently : tolerate
: to accept without objection
intransitive verb
: to remain stable or fixed in a state
2
: to continue in a place : sojourn — abid·ernoun — abide by
: to conform to
: to acquiesce in

In order to be Fruitful we must abide in God and let him

1. Cut off dead or unproductive branches. If something is not working in your life quit trying to hold on to it.
2. Prune you after you’ve been successful. We want to hold on to yesterday’s press clippings and God is trying to push you into tomorrow’s possibilities. Sometimes, he has to cut you away from yesterday’s connections to reach out to your potential for greater.
3. Graft you into his will and his way. Lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him.

Dear God,

Keep me connected to you. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Today, I will be fruitful because I’m connected and abiding in Jesus.

In Jesus name,

Amen

What's Holding You Back?

What’s holding you back?

John 11:44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

God has delivered so many of us from death through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. He has given us new life, but there is something restricting our movement. Jesus has called us forward but our steps are restricted for one reason or the other. There’s no doubt that Jesus gave us new life but there is the reality of some physical restrictions. What is it that is holding you back?

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead he had already been processed for burial and he had been in the grave four days. Many of us have already been left for dead. People have written us off without realizing that Jesus is about ready to speak life into our situation. Some people don’t believe that you can recover from what you’ve been through. In fact, the people warned Jesus not to roll back the stone of the cave that Lazarus was buried in because they feared the body had decomposed, after all, he had been in there for four days. By this time, he was stinking. It does not matter how long you’ve been in a situation if Jesus is there to raise you back to life.

Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb. The dead man comes out of the tomb walking. Jesus then tells the people to take off his grave clothes. Lazarus’ grave clothes were binding sheets that had been wrapped around his dead body. They usually wrapped herbs and spices in the garments to help in the decomposition. Jesus told them to take them off because he couldn’t walk right.

There are some things that are restricting you that you wore when you were dead in your sins that you must remove when Jesus calls you out. There are some things you used to wear to camouflage the fact that you were decomposing. Now that you are alive again you don’t need to hide your stink. When Jesus gives you new life you:

1. Need to make sure your outside matches your inside. 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4

2. Need to put off old ways of thinking. Romans 12:2
New King James Version (NKJV)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

3. Need to let go of guilt and shame. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

4. Need to get rid of old habits. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Roman 6:4

Dear God,

Help me to take off everything that would hinder me from walking the way you would have me to walk. Clothe me in Righteousness and remove anything that would restrict me from my new freedom. Order my steps and lead me in paths of righteousness for your name's sake, Walk with me Lord, Walk with me.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

I Am With You

Jeremiah 1:19 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

I was working out with my trainer this morning and it was pretty intense. After about the fourth set, I noticed his hands were on the bar I was pulling. He said, "I'm not helping you. I'm just here for safety. You're doing the work". Even though I was tired I got strength in knowing that somebody was there in case the load got too heavy or I experienced danger. In order for me to get stronger and get the results I was looking for I had to do the work but the comfort came in knowing that he was there.

God told Jeremiah the same thing, I am with you. They will fight against you, but I'm here. God was straight up with Jeremiah about the fact that he would experience resistance because of the word he had to deliver to an obstinate people. Jeremiah already had some reservations because he felt like he was too young but God reminds him that he would be a present help in the time of trouble.

God doesn't always do the lifting or the fighting for us but he's there. The only way we really get stronger is that we have to do the work. The promise is that we are going to win but the process is that we are going to have to fight. He's there.

Whatever it is that you are facing just know that God is with you. God promises Jeremiah three things:

1. His Prediction. They will not overcome you. God will not put more on you than you can bear. What you are facing will not win.

2. His Presence. In God's Presence there is fullness of Joy. His presence gives us power!

3. His protection. God says that when the weight gets too heavy he will step in and help us defeat our enemies. Your enemy might be sickness. Your enemy might be antagonism at the work place. Your enemy might be poor economic conditions but God promises his protection.

God is with us.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

God's Got Me in a Mess!

God’s got me in a mess

John 9:3
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned", said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Everybody wants to know whose fault it is when you find yourself in a mess. Was it you or somebody else? There are some things that happen that are outside our control and we have no idea why they happened. I’d like to submit to you another alternative…God may be the one behind this mess!

When the disciples come across a man born blind begging by the roadside they asked Jesus who sinned this man or his parents? Jesus said neither one of them did anything to cause this but it happened that God might get some Glory out of your life.

The other day I watched Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorious make his Olympic debut as he advanced to the 400 meter semifinals without legs. Not many people who were born without fibulas and whose legs were amputated below the knee at 11 months would be able to stand in front of you and tell you about life’s blessings and be completely sincere but Oscar can.

Jesus put some mud on the blind man’s eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Jesus created a mess before he blessed him. Really it was a mess on top of a mess. The test in your life is this, can you still do what God told you to do in the midst of your mess? Can you stop feeling sorry for yourself long enough to go on to do the impossible?

The blind man did and came back seeing. Oscar did and went to the Olympics. You can and become more than an overcomer through Jesus Christ who gives you strength. God will bless you in your mess!

Dear God,

Use my mess to bless me. I’m through feeling sorry for myself and I’m ready for you to give me back my vision and help me win this race.

In Jesus name,
Amen

You Are Not Condemned!

John 8:10-11 Jesus straigtened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemened you?" "No no, sir," she said, "Then neither do I condemn you." Jesus declared, "Go and leave your life of sin."

We have all done something we regretted.  It has haunted our conscience and to make matters worse some people know you did it.  When we have messed up it's enough to make us feel like life is over but the good news is that the only one that can condemn you is Jesus and he doesn't condemn you.

When this Woman was caught in adultery, her accusers made her stand up in a crowded room in front of Jesus. They wanted to humiliate her and kill her.  There are some people who get no greater satisfaction then wanting to see you fail and die.  The only problem is that they dragged this woman to the wrong person to be condemned.

They asked Jesus what his opinion about the law was. They were really trying to trap him in his words. "The Law says she should be stoned to death. What do you say?" Jesus said, "The one who has no sins let him be the first one to throw a stone." They all left the room starting with the oldest to the youngest. Jesus will remove everybody that wanted to see you fail out of your way!

Jesus then asked the woman caught in adultery, "Is there anyone left to condemn you?" She said, "No one my lord." He said, "Neither do I condemn you, go and leave your life of sin."

As a response to Jesus' love and forgiveness for our sins, we should leave our life of sin. That is, we should leave our life of intentionality of doing what we know to be wrong. God's grace ought to make us want to stop doing what is hurting him and killing us.  We don't have to walk around plauged by guilt anymore. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Dear God,
Thank you for setting me free from being a slave to sin.  There are those who would love to see me fail but you are the one who helps me succeed.  Thank you for giving me new life!

In Jesus Name,

Amen