Action vs results, DO/AND

Philippians 4: 6 - 7 DO not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. AND the Peace of god, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV). 

Take note of these words:

1. anxious means uneasiness, fearful, or worried. 

2. Petition is the gathering together on common ground. When people want to conquer or resolve an issue they find those that are like-minded and come together to express or show their agreement. The Google definition is a formal written request typically one signed by many people appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause. The King James version uses the word supplication instead of petition. Supplication means the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. 

3. Present means to give or show. 

4. Transcend means to be or go beyond the range or limits of.

Read the verse again and substitute the meanings for the actual words.

Verse 6 tells you what to do(action) and then verse 7 tells you what will happen(result). When we take our situations to God the peace of God comes to perform. This peace works by transcending all understanding or going beyond all understanding. The way that it does this is by guarding your heart and your mind. However it has a certain power behind it and that is in Christ Jesus.

Whatever you are going through, whatever it looks like, whatever you have done or failed to do, whatever you need to stop or start, do not get stuck in it. Bring everything to God. Talk to him about it first. Tell him what you want, how you feel, release that thing to him, and come into agreement with his will for you. Then thank him for being a place of refuge, a place of safety and comfort. You must believe and trust him to do better than you asked him to. In the middle of chaos you will have peace that you can't even explain, because God will keep your heart and mind, but it is only through Christ Jesus! Do you know him(Jesus)? He is waiting for you to receive his gift of salvation, freedom from your sins. Receive him today by asking him to forgive you of your sins and believe that he died for you. Don't try to make sense of it. It's not supposed to make sense. It's supposed to make you different.

Highway to Hell

 Many people miss out on who God is and his gift because they do not want to submit, answer, or be accountable to anyone. Everything is their way or the highway. They think God is a tyrant or dictator, which if he was they would not have free will. God is not demanding but loving, forgiving. He wants to be your God, father, protector, provider, and healer. Everything that you need He wants to supply. He wants you to be like him and follow his ways {And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23}. Jesus is the example. God is not about do as I say not as I do. He is a do as I do God. 

Like a father to a child you can see some of the father's ways in the child, some good some bad. No matter how many times the father says do as I say not as I do, the child learns from the father's ways. God does not want to ruin your life. He wants to make it better. {For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9} 

God never fussed or cussed, pouted or belittled us. He loves us but not because of what we do. He loves us because he created us. Only God has the right to say, 'after all I've done this is how you treat me?'.  We, in our selfishness, treat each other like everyone owes us and we owe no one. This is not God's way. Let's not forget we will all stand before God someday. Will he say to you well done my good and faithful servant or depart from me I never knew you. Choose life, choose love, choose God's way, choose Jesus cause our way is the highway to hell. 

Be Made New.

Your mind and spirit has to be renewed, made new in order to grow in the newness of Christ. {Romans 12:2, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.}

 Otherwise you crumble under the weight of the newness in Jesus Christ by letting your old ways keep you from expanding with it. Thereby the new knowledge is wasted and it does not benefit you or others. {Matthew 9:17, Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.}

Food for thought, our daily bread.

Mature Responsibility

It's time to grow up. It is time to stop relying on other people to get us to a higher place in god. God is God all by himself. Anyone that speaks for God is only an instrument. If people lead you astray woe to them, but it is not their negligence alone. We have a choice. We can believe a person, pastor, preacher, minister, friend, mama, dad, teacher. We can believe what they say or we can put in the work, research, study, and seek for ourselves. Take responsibility for your own relationship with God the Father.

 As a child we were all at a place of ignorance and relied on someone else to help guide us, clothe us, and teach us, but at some point we grew to do for ourselves(1 Corinthians 13:11). Even if someone tried to keep us dependent on them we still have the ability to break free and make our own choices. You have your own mind. God should be our only dependency and we should teach our children and other people the same, because people in their flesh will always let each other down. God never fails or disappoints. We only perceive his ways with misunderstanding(Isaiah 55:8-9). 

Learn and grow, then teach others to get to that place where they can do the same. We all should be ever learning, not stuck waiting for someone else to tell us what word to read or when to praise. A child cannot stay a baby and drink only milk all their lives(Hebrews 5:12-14, For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. KJV) 

We as believers need to progress in Christ. Don't stop at just being saved. Dig deeper into God and His word. Press pass just being saved and getting by(Philippians 3:14). Seek the kingdom and your role in it, (Matthew 6:33). It's time to mature in Christ and be responsible for your own life and soul salvation.

 I hope you are checking the scripture references. This blog is to help you grow so you must do your own search. Those who are hungry will learn to feed themselves and be filled(Matthew 5:6). Those satisfied with just getting by will not lift the fork to their mouth even when it is next to their hand(Proverbs 19:24, A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again). Which one are you?

 I pray you are blessed and that you are growing and maturing in the word of God and living a life like Jesus Christ. God bless you in Jesus name. Blessings on blessings 🙏

Words matter

 Our nation, our world is in disarray due to constant, senseless violence. I often wonder how people can be so careless with their weapons, their guns. What we fail to realize is the same carelessness is coming from our very lips. We have the power to speak life and to speak death, Proverbs 18:21. A word, one word, can be just as deadly and dangerous as a bullet. It can leave someone in critical condition and even cause death. Though it may not be a physical death, but death to someone's soul, to their spirit, or to their well-being. So be mindful of what you're speaking. Do you have Grace upon your lips? Col 4:6 - Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man[KJV]. 

Jesus said he requires Mercy more than sacrifice. Find out what that means, Matthew 9:13. The life that you live is not just about you. If you are alive it is your responsibility to think of others, to love your neighbor as you love yourself,  Matthew 22:39. It is time for people and especially God's children, those who have chosen to follow Christ, those who have chosen to believe in Christ, it's time to do as He did. If he had chosen to be selfish we would be in a terrible state at this day and time because he would not have gotten on the cross. He chose to give up his will so that God's will could be done, Luke 22:42. What can you give up today that will allow someone else to flourish? 

Seek the kingdom of God. It's not enough just to say you believe because you can believe and then go on with your own selfish life, James 1:22-27. Oh, to take up your cross and follow Jesus requires action on our part. It requires us to be mindful of whether we're speaking life or speaking death. There are things we need to speak death to but get godly wisdom and in all your getting get understanding, to know God's will, Proverbs 4:7. B o B, Blessings on Blessings.

Speak to it

Speak to it and watch God move through his word in your words. There are several places in the Bible that show how powerful words are. God himself spoke everything into its very existence (Genesis 1:3-26), except for one thing. Comment if you know the exception. 

Words have a cause and effect in our lives. This includes not speaking. God told Moses to speak to a rock and out of his frustration he hit it, twice before it produced what God promised, Numbers 20:1-13. I wonder what the outcome would have been had he followed God's instructions. Communication is very important and when God says speak his purpose is always greater than our own. Proverbs 25:11 says a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver, meditate on that.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof, Proverbs 18:21. God told Ezekiel to prophesy and say to some dry bones, "hear the word of the Lord!" And every word Ezekiel spoke the Lord made happen, Ezekiel 37. Then Jesus in Matthew 21:19 spoke to a fig tree that quickly withered away and died. Being questioned about it Jesus said this, "verily I say unto you, if you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done." This confirms the power behind words (maybe you should read it again Matt.21:19). One of the greatest and most well-known examples of the power of speaking is when Jesus called forth Lazarus from death back to life in John 11:43. 

We must be careful what and when we speak and more careful about our belief in what we speak. 2 Corinthians 4:3, I believe therefore have I spoken. We will answer for every idle word, Matthew 12:36. So speak with purpose and may Grace always be on your lips, Colossians 4:6. No matter what seek God first, then speak to it. Blessings!

Am I my brother's keeper?

Be careful of tempting your brothers and sisters. See Galatians 6:1. Everyone has their own opinion about what is okay to watch or do as a Christian. The Bible says keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life, Proverbs 4:23. If the elements of sin is; the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life(1John 2:16), why are we not turning away from those things? We get consumed with TV shows filled with all those characteristics. We are drawn to drama, sex, and witchcraft. Then we expose others in our life to sinful things and don't think twice about it. I know I can get sucked into a TV show about sex, lies, and fighting. I tried to keep my distance but sometimes I walk in the house and someone is watching something that catches my attention and before long it pulls me in. How often are we tempting other people by being insensitive to the distraction of sinful elements? Just because we can watch TV does not mean we should. I have to be careful what I watch because I used to struggle with impure sexual desires. We may see TV is entertainment but it also plants seeds. I love a good movie with action or romance but if there are scenes that cause me to have sexual thoughts that was a movie I should  not have indulged in. Read it again, the elements of sin are; 1. lust of the eye, first you like what you see, 2. lust of the flesh, then your flesh wants it, 3. pride of life, deciding you deserve it or you alone can handle it. When a seed is planted the seed dies and something else grows in its place that is way bigger than the seed and takes over then produces other seeds. I said all this to say be careful little eyes what you see, say, hear, and do because you never know who you may be causing to fall into sin. I may be able to handle a glass of wine, but that doesn't mean I should drink around or with everyone. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. We are our "brother's" keeper, Galatians 6:1.