He Is Patient With You

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,

as some understand slowness.

He is patient with you,

not wanting anyone to perish,

but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3.9

I love a good brisket...juicy, tender, mouth watering...in fact, we just had some for Father's Day last weekend! Do you know how The Executive Chef (My Amazing Mother) cooked the brisket? She cooked it with patience. She did not throw it in the microwave. She wanted it to turn out for the best, so she was wise and displayed patience.

God wants us to turn out for the best...He has plans for us...He wants to unleash us for His service. But to do that, we must develop...So when we think God is taking His time to get us to be the people He wants us to be and to take us to the places where we can Serve Him most, we must not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day...

What we think is slow, God views as patience.

In Summary:

Better to be patient than powerful. ~Proverbs 16.32~

This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. ~ Habakkuk 2.3 ~

God Resides In Faith

"God resides in Faith... He "hides" in Faith."

Jentezen Franklin

In his sermon, "Destiny," which I mentioned in the last post, Jentezen Franklin talks about the fact that if we want to see God in our lives, then we must find Him where He resides. So many times we have probably thought, "God, where are you hiding?"

God is "hiding" in faith...God does not do comfortable. God does not do the "easy" life. If we want to know where God is, if we want to receive His power, then we must be stretched...we must take a step of courage and do something that requires faith...

...now I'm talking about stupidity, I'm not talking about doing something crazy, even The Bible says to count the cost (Luke 14.28), but the Lord tells us in Hebrews 11.6 the following:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

A few points to wrap up:

1. God wants us to be content (Philippians 4.11-13), but God does not want us to be comfortable (Hebrews 11.1)

2. To please God we must have faith and be Holy

3. Discerning God's Will:

• Are we living a chair-rocking, lazy-boy-lemonade-sipping-all is cozy life? Then we are probably not on an assignment from God.

• Are we being stretched in our faith to the point where we let loose and take a leap of faith, so much to the point that if God does not come through than we are through? Then I can almost guarantee we are on an assignment from God...

4. If Jesus was stretched out on a cross, then I want to stretch my faith. Through Christ, we have the power to face anything! (Phil 4.13)

God wants us where we trust Him most. He wants us to hold on to Him for dear life. If we want to see God then we must live a life of adventure and find Him residing in Faith! By finding God in Faith, we discover who He calls us to be!

"If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God,

"I'll get you out of any trouble.

I'll give you the best of care

if you'll only get to know and trust me.

~ From Psalm 91.14-16 ~

Hear And Believe

"We must "hear The Word of God" and then we must "believe what we hear."

These are two points that Jentezen Franklin makes in his awesome Holy Spirit filled podcast about our 'Destiny.' In response to this, I would like to post Psalm 119.1-8 below in reference to our destiny with God.

Do you feel God pulling you in a certain direction but your mind has not caught up with your soul in order to know exactly what to do? Well stay on The Path God has put you on...be persistent...stay in constant communication with God and follow His directions...do your best to find Him...He will give you the ultimate prescription to life:

Psalm 119.1-8 MSG
1 You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.

2 You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
doing your best to find him.

3 That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;
you walk straight along the road he set.

4 You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
now you expect us to live it.

5 Oh, that my steps might be steady,
keeping to the course you set;

6 Then I’d never have any regrets
in comparing my life with your counsel.

7 I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.

8 I’m going to do what you tell me to do;
don’t ever walk off and leave me.

Hear what God says, and then believe what you hear.

Focus

Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive
until I return, what is that to you?

As for you, follow me.”

John 21:22

We must focus on God's calling for our life and not worry about comparing ourselves to others. God has a specific calling for you and for me. Go and complete down to the last detail what He has called you to do.

For example, here is how Jesus puts it in relation to The Calling God had for His Life:

Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. John 4.34

Are you hungry? Allow the food that keeps you going, to be the food of doing God's Will for your life, finishing the work He has started in you.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to

live a life worthy
of the calling you have received.
Ephesians 4:1

Five Stones

Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:40

In his "One Prayer" message, Jentezen Franklin spoke on the title "God Is Able." Cool thought about the David vs Goliath story. From the above Scripture, you can see how God provided David with FIVE smooth stones.

David only needed one.

God gave David Five Stones. Jesus gave 5000 people enough food to eat and even had 12 baskets of left overs from only FIVE loaves of barley and Two pieces of fish.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4.19

"Go, and the LORD be with you."

The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear

will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

1 Samuel 17:37

Remember God's past blessings to give you hope in His future Power!

The Principle of The Path

The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,

but fools keep going and get into trouble.
Proverbs 27:12

Albert Einstein once said, "Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them. Well that is what The Wisdom of Proverbs teaches us in Proverbs 27:12.

Andy Stanley talks about it in his podcast entitled, Destinations. In Destinations, Andy points out the amazing principle from Proverbs that he has coined, "The Principle of The Path."

One quote sums it up, in which Andy states,

"Direction, not intention, determines destination."

Where Are You Headed?
Look at your life, your relationships, your finances, your health, your decisions, etc. Look at where they are headed, not necessarily where they are. You may have the best of intentions, but it is your direction that will determine your destination. It's like heading down the interstate. If you want to go to Florida but you are headed to Detroit, even if you have the best intentions, you will still end up in Detroit because you are on the wrong path. Where are you headed?



The Path and The Second Law of Thermodynamics
The Lord tells us that the wise see danger and avoid it. This goes right in line with one of the laws that governs our universe, The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Here are a few examples of the law...

Ice Cream melts, iron rusts, apples turn brown, things get dirty, etc. Left alone, situations get worse. But through action things get better.

Well so many times we say the following:

"I know I'm headed down the wrong path, but things will get better."

" I know I need to save more money instead of spending so much, but things will get better."

" I know my relationships are moving farther apart, but things will get better."

" I know I am gaining weight, drinking too much, telling too many lies, but things will get better."

Saying things like that is like saying the ice cream will somehow spontaneously re-freeze on its own without any action on our part.

4 Words
Here are four words to think about that Stanley mentions in part of his series.

Action. Sacrifice. Embarrassment. Relief.

In order to see danger and avoid it, we must take ACTION. Action will require SACRIFICE, which may cause some EMBARRASSMENT. But in the end, we will be full of RELIEF.

Noah took action. It required Sacrifice. He was probably embarrassed to be building a boat when the weather was beautiful. But what a relief that He listened to God, saw danger, and avoided it.

Become Wise By Walking With Whe Wise

Become wise by walking with the wise;

hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces
~ Proverbs 13:20 ~

A few days ago I read a great article about Tyrese Gibson (singer, model, actor, and star of Transformers. He worked his tail off to achieve success. Then he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. He lost his motivation, gained weight, and the downward spiral was on...

But then one day he ran into another actor, Will Smith, who told him this:

"The five people you spend most of your time with will dictate how far your life and career will go. Slobs will make you a slob."

That's all it took. Tyrese began listening to Will Smith, started hanging around more positive influences, turned his life back around, and the rest is history. This parallels the wisdom we receive from Proverbs. We must have a circle of influence where we push others to achieve their best and where they push us to achieve our best.

Are the people you hang around pulling you down because they are afraid to stand up? And what about you...are you encouraging and influencing them in positive ways? Take a quick inventory and do some evaluations. You can determine their influence on you and your influence on them simply by looking at the "fruit" that everyone is producing...it is either ripe or rotten.... Are you better or worse because of their presence? Are they better or worse because of your presence?

Think for a moment by how we learn best...we model those we want to be like and then insert our own gifts to the mix...For instance, the disciples "did life" with Jesus. They walked with Him on a daily basis. Resident physicians follow and walk side-by-side with the Attending Physician to learn everything about medicine/surgery, etc. Athletes, musicians, artist, business people, etc train with the best, work with the best, live with the best.

I love how Jesus puts in Matthew 11.28:

Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

One last note, Erwin McManus writes in his book, "Seizing Your Divine Moments," the following about the power of influence, and how influence is contagious:“People who are influential pass on what they have like the flu. They’ll sneeze all over you...We pass on not just who we are, but who we genuinely desire to become.

Escape quickly from the company of fools;

they're a waste of your time, a waste of your words.
Proverbs 14:7

Humanity As A Crutch

I hear a statement that we all say sometimes, something like, "I am only human, I can't help but sin." I've heard some people describe themselves as "sinners" thinking that it's humble to say so.

It may sound humble, but in all reality, I think it's a dishonor to God, it's a slap in the face to Jesus, and it's an escape from The Holy Spirit to think of ourselves only as sinners.

Jesus tells the woman in John 8.11, "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

Why would Jesus tell her not to sin, if he thought it would be impossible for her to do so because of her humanity?

I think we use our humanity, our less than perfect mentality, as a crutch in order to avoid being Holy. Or maybe we even use our humanity as a way to rationalize our sin, so that we can do things we know we should not do, and then justify them by saying we are only human...

Look: When Jesus walked on the earth as God incarnate, He was 100% human...And at the same time He was also 100% God. So to say we are in sin is to say that we are less than human and that means we are separated from God.

Now, sin does occur as a result of humanity, and that is why we need Christ as our Savior to purify us of our sins and to make us right with God. But the story does not end there.

I may sin because I am human, but I don't have to sin because I am human...

...to continue to use humanity as a crutch or an excuse to sin must stop.

Think of it in terms of food and exercise. To say we will sin and then all we have to do is confess and repent is like saying you can pig out on junk food and empty calories and then just go run it off...That is living in mediocrity.

So instead of sinning and then having to repent and confess, I would rather spend my energy on begging for The Holy Spirit to consume me...our bodies are The Temple of The Holy Spirit...we should plead and beg for The Holy Spirit to reside in us and to make us holy.

We become what we set our focus on...

The great Michelangelo said it well, The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.

Jesus calls us to Be Holy...He did not say, you are human, you will sin, so don't worry about it. (1 Peter 1.15-16)

In leading his people through the Jordan, Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."(Joshua 3.5)

To be 'consecrated' is to Be Holy, to be set apart. He knew if they wanted God to do amazing things, miracles among them, then they must be holy and without sin.

Final thought: Jesus said, "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7.14) ...I want to be on the road that leads to life. That will not happen if I only think of my self as a sinner.

Listen, Jesus gave His life for us in ways that the human mind can not fully comprehend. We can understand the torture He went through to a certain degree, but I don't think any of us can actually put a grip on the pain and exhaustion He experienced. But what we can realize is that it was absolutely excruciating. Why? Because He took on the sins of the world so that we would not have to sin!

I will not dishonor The Crucified Christ by only thinking of myself as a sinner. I will thank Him that I am healed through His stripes and then do everything I can to live in His Victory!

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy;
without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14

So What!

Read a cool article the other night...it was about the U.S. Woman's Softball team and how they incorporated Navy SEAL training to prepare them to win the Gold Medal...specifically the utilization of "Rugged Mental Conditioning."

They latched onto a few phrases they learned from the training that they continued to use throughout the Olympic Games...One of my favorites is:

"So What."

As the softball team and the SEALS went through their training, the woman of the softball team would routinely hear the Instructor's say, "So What," if one of the SEALS was complaining of being in the ocean for 24 hours straight or undergoing intense training to unbearable measures.

Unbearable Measures
I would love to have the mind of Christ as He was being so brutally tortured to unbearable measures. The flogging...the dehydration...the sleep deprivation...the shouldering of the cross up a hill...the crucifixion...

With each flogging, I can just about picture Him saying, "So What!" I can picture him taking the nails through His wrists and feet, feeling the pain and the agony, but saying "So What!" I can picture Him internalizing, "By My stripes, they will be healed!" How and Why could Jesus be so brutally tortured? Because Jesus had a purpose. He had a mission. He came to do The Will of God. Nothing would stop Him!

Jesus in His own way said "So What" and became the Savior of The World!

The SEALS say "So What" and become protectors of our nation.

The U.S. Softball Team said "So What" and brought respect and honor to our country.

Power From Within
The Holy Spirit lives with in us. We are The Temple of The Holy Spirit. And as Christian taught me, The Holy Spirit's Power with in us overpowers the external pressures outside of us. So we to can overcome any adversity and say "So What" and live the Victory that Christ calls us to live!

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,
because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:4