Partners for Life

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God,

so that we may know and understand the

[wonderful] things freely given to us by God.”

I Corinthians 2:12

Partnership is defined as:

A relationship between individuals that is only possible by mutual cooperation and responsibility for the achievements of a specified goal.

There are partnerships between individuals in marriage and business for example.

There can be partnerships between nations; NATO would be an example.

But as we have been seeing, there is no more important partnership that can exist than the one between God and man.

Yes indeed, God wants to partner with you!

He wants to partner with you to accomplish all the good plans He has purposed for your life.

What is our part?

Look back to that definition – so you see the part about mutual cooperation and responsibility?

We cooperate with the Holy Spirit and take responsibility for those things He requires of us.

That requires things like faith, trust and perseverance because He sees all things when we cannot.

He may direct us in a way that seems contrary to our good but in the long run is both the necessary and right way to go.

A divine partnership will never, ever lead you astray.

Will you trust Him as your partner?

...So That We May Know and Understand...

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,

but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God,

so that we may know and understand the

[wonderful] things freely given to us by God.”

I Corinthians 2:12

To live beyond natural limits what you need to know is that it will require a healthy partnership with the Holy Spirit.

Apart from Him, there is no true understanding of the blessings and inheritance of God that is ours through Jesus Christ.

We simply are unable to comprehend those things with our natural mind.

That means we will live well below our inheritance when we fail to cultivate an intimate and ever closer relationship with the third person of the trinity.

Certainly, that is not what God intended for us.

It is His desire that we walk in the fullness that has been provided to us.

That is why He gave us His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is more than just a ‘force’ or ‘feeling’.

He is no less God than the Father or the Son and He lives in each of us.

Take a moment and think about the magnitude and impact of that!

The very same one who brooded over the waters at creation now resides in your spirit.

Why would we not want to grow in our relationship with Him?

He is a partner for our good.

He will reveal all the gifts God has lavished on you.

Are you walking in the fullness of Gods’ Spirit today?

Domestic or Divine Partnership?

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”

I Corinthians 6:19

Who do you call on in times of trouble?

Who is at your side in good times or bad?

Do you partner with someone who is limited or limitless?

We certainly need one another; after all God has made us that way.

But there are limitations to what a partnership with man can do.

When you partner with God, there are no limits, no barriers to anything He has called you to do.

Jesus spoke of that partnership to His disciples when He said:

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

The Holy Spirit is a guide, an advocate, a teacher and leader.

Imagine partnering with the Divine!

It is a promise to us that just such a partnership is not only possible, it is expected and desired on Gods’ part.

Will you partner with the Spirit of God today?

Don’t Sit Passively By

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

I remember when my kids were young and they would come home from school upset about a bad grade on a test.  I would then ask if they studied.  Their response would often be no, to which I would reply, “then what did you expect?”

The bible exhorts us to renew our mind.  It is key to living a fruitful, spirit-led life.  However, the renewing of our mind won’t happen by chance.  Scripture repeatedly provides actions that we must take to foster that renewal.  Here are a few examples:

·         Set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:2)

·         Take captive of your thoughts and make them obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

·         Acknowledge me in all your ways (Proverbs 3:6)

·         Put on the new self, which is being renewed (Colossians 3:10)

·         Be sober-minded (I Peter 5:8)

All of the above verses contain an action verb, meaning we have to choose to align our thoughts with God.  Set, take, put on, be, acknowledge – those all represent actions we must take.

We can’t sit passively by.  The world’s influence is too strong.  If we become passive, our thoughts will be overtaken with desires that are contrary to the will of God.

The fruits of a renewed mind under the influence of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

If you were to take a test on how evident those fruits are in your life, how would you score?  If you’re not taking steps to renew your mind, don’t be surprised if you score poorly.

Paul – A Portrait of Perseverance

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”

II Timothy 4:7

As you read through the Book of Acts, or any of Paul’s epistles too, it is impossible to miss his passion and urgency for preaching the Gospel.

He is persecuted and chased out of one town only to immediately go to the synagogue or public square of the next town or city to deliver the same message.

He preached with the same zeal and passion that was once reserved for rounding up and imprisoning his now fellow believers.

He was compelled to preach!

What would stop most of us today never kept Paul from continuing on or, as he would say, running the race and fighting the good fight.

He served Christ fully day in and day out.

His desire to do so does not appear to wane any of the days after he suffered for the message that he carried.

 He would look back near the end of his life and rightly encourage others to carry on with that same passion, zeal and intensity

Let his words ring in your heart today and do the same!

A Prisoner is Set Free – and it’s Not Paul or Silas

“The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.”

Acts 16:27

The 16^th Chapter of the Book of Acts tells the story of Paul and Silas in jail.

As they were worshipping at the midnight hour, suddenly there was a violent earthquake that shook the very foundations of the prison.

Cell doors flew open and shackles miraculously fell off of the prisoners.

But were those the things that caused the jailer to ask:

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

I believe, as powerful and dramatic as the earthquake may have been that was not the reason.

Rather it was the love, care and concern of Paul and Silas when they said to him as he was about to kill himself because he thought all of the prisoners in his charge had escaped:

“Don’t harm yourself, we are all here!”

Love reached a heart that signs and wonders could not reach.

Not one took advantage of their sudden freedom to bolt from that jail.

At that moment, this action touched the jailer far more than any earthquake or other miracle could have.

God’s love has a way of doing that.

Ask the Lord to give you opportunities today to showcase His love for others.

He will delight in using you to do just that!

Jumping on the Bandwagon

“They brought them before the magistrates and said,

“These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

Acts 16:20-21

Maybe the argument posed in the verses above would have more oomph to it if it was true.

Those words above were the accusation made against Paul and Silas.

The results to the two?

They were stripped, beaten and thrown into jail.

False accusations but very real pain for both of them!

What was the truth?

The accusers had lost their lucrative income when an evil spirit was driven out of a girl (through the command of Paul in the Name of Jesus) they had exploited for their own profit.

What they said in accusing Paul and Silas was said in order to get others to rail along with them and against Paul and Silas.

Telling the truth certainly would not have accomplished their goals.

Often the truth is sacrificed in order to fulfill ones’ own desires.

Beware the accusations you embrace against brothers and sisters in Christ.

We must always be cautious and discerning in our judgment.

Don’t be quick to jump on a bandwagon.

It may have been commandeered by those who do not love the truth!

God is Just

“God is not unjust; ...”

Hebrews 6:10

Just four words... “God is not unjust...”

But it is so easy to doubt them.

We see and hear of so many un-justices in our world.

          And we wrongly ascribe to God what man has done.

We convince ourselves, “It must be Gods’ fault.”

We say things like: “Why doesn’t He do something?”

We discount or ignore altogether that He already has.

The Father sent the Son.

And now He sends us...

Not to do over what Jesus has already done...that’s simply not possible by us.

But to carry His message.

It is a message of justice and mercy, a message of hope and of love.

And it is entrusted to you and me.

I want to be a Mary!

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. (Luke 10:39-40)

Sometimes I feel like the bug named Harry in the movie “A Bugs Life.”  If you’re not familiar with the movie, Harry is the bug that gets zapped because he’s so smitten by the beautiful blue light, he can’t resist flying into it.  He’s easily distracted.

I also can be easily distracted by the many things going on around me.  For example, when I sit down to pray or study God’s word, my thoughts often go something like this…. “I really need to clean the gutters…I wonder what’s in the fridge for lunch…I need to organize the garage….”

And many times, if I’m not focused enough, those thoughts will win out and I’ll get up from sitting at Jesus’ feet and walk towards the blue light, only to get zapped by the challenges of life because I didn’t invest the necessary time in allowing God to mold and shape my heart.

Mary was a great example of someone who recognized the importance of positioning herself at the feet of Jesus and not letting distractions pull her away.  What was her secret?  I believe, in part, it was because she recognized the unique opportunity in front of her.  Emmanuel, “God with us,” was in her home and she wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip by.

We have an even greater opportunity than Mary.  Jesus has taken up residence in our heart.  Our spirit lives in union with His.  What a tragedy to let that opportunity slip by because we allow the temporal things of this world to consume our attention.

Our time on earth is short and God has a specific plan and purpose for our lives, but we can’t be effective out in the world, without continually retreating to the feet of Jesus to be taught, transformed, and equipped.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a Mary!

O Happy Day!

“And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:52

What do you suppose the verse above would be immediately preceded by?

Perhaps they had just received some great news or God had wonderfully blessed their efforts?

Nope!

That verse follows a verse that says the disciples had been expelled from the region for preaching Christ.

That would not normally make for joy if your joy were found in pleasing men.

But, as was the case for these disciples, when your joy is in pleasing the Lord then even when you face exclusion or rejection for His sake you can continue to have joy.

That joy is not in the circumstances but in spite of them!

The disciples were not expelled for doing evil like a student who disrespects a teacher and is removed from the classroom.

They were expelled for preaching the truth in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

May your joy today be found in Christ!

Opened and Closed

“When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

Acts 13:12

 

In Acts chapter 13 we find God, through the hands of Paul and the power of the Holy Spirit, both opening and closing eyes.

A false prophet and Jewish sorcerer named Elymas lost his sight when he tried to keep his boss, a Roman Proconsul named Sergius Paulus, from hearing what he had requested Paul and Barnabas to tell him about after he had learned a little of what their message was.

These were the words of Paul to the sorcerer:

“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”

His eyes were closed!

But the proconsul eyes were opened!

He saw what happened and believed.

When the Gospel is preached and when it is active in a place some eyes are shut but some eyes are also opened.

Pray for open hearts, open ears and open eyes when you share the Gospel.  

Are You Planting?

“Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Implicit in the verse above is a warning that we should not fail to work or plan based on what we think might happen!

Life goes on...despite the ominous reports brought in daily by the 24/7 news cycle.

It seems we are bombarded with calamity or distress at every turn.

We should be like the Sons of Issachar of whom it was said:

“...men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do...”

1 Chronicles 12:32

We, too as Children of God, should know the times and the seasons in which we are living.

But our actions should be in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and never a reaction from fear.

Maybe some of you recall the disaster that was supposed to visit us called “Y2K” when the clocks rolled over to the 21^st century and all out computers worldwide were supposed to fail.

Didn’t happen, despite all of the fear and panic that it would!

When all you do is watch the wind or look at the clouds life will rapidly pass you by and instead of declaring: “It is finished” you might instead say:

“Oh no, where did my life go?”

Are you planting in order to reap?

One Size Fits All

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

In the world today, products come in various strengths and sizes.  There’s half strength, full strength, pint size, mini size, kids size, and adult size, to name a few.

But when it comes to the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, there is only one size – full size.

If you are born again, you will never have more of the Holy Spirit in you than you do right now.  There is no junior Holy Spirit.

The problem is, as Christians, we lose sight of the power that resides within us, and instead, we try to live a life pleasing to God in our own feeble strength.

But as we learned last week, God put His spirit within us so that we would obey His laws and do whatever He commands (Ezekiel 36:27).

Don’t pray for a greater measure of the Holy Spirit.  Instead, recognize that the very presence of God has taken up residence in your spirit and wherever you go, He goes with you.  As you partner with Him, He will empower you to live a life of obedience in every way.

If you grab a hold of that truth, it will transform your life.  You will expect victory over sin.  You will expect to see miracles.   You will expect to say “yes” when God calls.  All because of He who lives within you.

As a recap, let’s take a quiz.  On a scale of 1 – 10, how much of the Holy Spirit lives in you?  If you answered 10, congratulations, you answered correctly.

Now go live a life without limitations as God intended.

Easier Said Than Done?

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault,

 just between the two of you.

If they listen to you, you have won them over.”

Matthew 18:15

As a preacher I used to listen to would say to the words above:

“My, my, my, my, my, my!”

The scripture verse above were words from Jesus’ own lips by the way.

But here is how the first part of that verse might read if it reflected how we often behave:

“If my brother or sister sins, I will go and point out their fault, just between me and a couple dozen of my friends...”

Ouch!

That hurt (as the truth often does).

Why do we do that?

Sometimes it’s because we lack the courage to deal with them face-to-face.

Sometimes, its’ simply because we don’t really want to be reconciled and we would rather hold a grudge and just let our anger simmer for a bit.

Whatever the reasons, imagine if we actually behaved according to Jesus’ words?

 How much stronger might our relationship be?

True, some might be offended and not ever speak to you again but you are not responsible for their reaction.

You are responsible for your own behavior.

I am grateful for those in my life who care enough about me to be honest whenever I mess up (and I do that often enough!).

But I also must care enough about them too.

Love sometimes must confront.

When it does, it does not cease to be love.

As you read the Gospels you will find occasions where Jesus spoke words that we might think were quite harsh.

But they were necessary or He would not have spoken them.

This is not a post giving you permission to be cruel with your words.

Rather, I am encouraging you to courageously hear and obey the words of Jesus!

Come What May

“Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.

He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.

“Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.”

Acts 12:7

The first 10 verses of the twelfth chapter of the Book of Acts tells the story of Peter being put into jail for preaching the Gospel and then divinely being led out by an angelic visitor.

We read that account and sometimes can be quick to claim that type of intervention in our own lives.

But I wonder if it might sometimes be an invalid claim on our part.

Are we advancing the Kingdom of God to the same degree that Peter was?

After all, that is what landed him in jail.

Part of me says’ that if I go down this path I am preaching that Gods’ grace is earned but I don’t think this is the case.

God certainly can sovereignly move in our lives to rescue us from situations even when we rightly deserve the consequences.

But Peter did not deserve what happened to him nor did his experience keep him from boldly proclaiming the truth afterwards.  

I think Peter’s role as a leader of the early church and his faithfulness before AND after this rescue was key to this rescue.

Will God sometimes rescue us from struggles, difficulties or even unjust actions?

Yes!

Is His intervention something we will always receive?

No.

Therein lays an opportunity for us.

Rescued or not, will you remain faithful?

May the words of this MercyMe song minister to you:

https://youtu.be/B6fA35Ved-Y

No Further Objections!

“When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Acts 11:18

To their credit, as you read the first 17 verses of Acts chapter eleven, we find that those who criticized Peter had a change of heart (as read above) after hearing Peter’s testimony.

Those circumcised believers could have easily been overtaken by religious zealousness and tradition to continue in opposition to what God had done.

Like an episode of the old Lucy show with Ricky saying:

“Lucy, you have some ‘splainen’ to do!” they confronted Peter.

But they listened and responded as we read in verse 18.

When faced with the truth it says:

“...they had no further objections and praised God...”

We cannot minimize what a huge shift in thinking this was for them.

They had been taught all of their lives thinking that was quite different from what they were now seeing and hearing.

May we each be so willing to respond likewise when God dramatically tips over our apple carts of tradition with His truth!

Pull Up a Seat

“He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”

Acts 10:41

“...by us who ate and drank with Him...”

One characteristic of intimate fellowship between people is that they eat together frequently.  

In church circles we might say that they ‘break bread together’.

As a matter of fact one often hears of people decrying the breakdown of the family by the fact that they do not sit down together for a meal anymore.

It is indicative of more than simply a social engagement where we eat food.

It can be a time of knitting together hearts in common purpose and vision, a time for catching up on the day’s activities or just an unwinding of the stresses

 de jour with those who are special in our lives.

So it is that Peter using the example of those who ate and drank with Jesus after His resurrection to be His witnesses to that same fact.

Have you spent that time with Jesus today?

Have you broken bread with Him in intimate fellowship to catch up with His plans and purposes for your life?

Have you given Him the time to cast vision for your days yet to be walked out serving Him?

Pull up a seat and sit a spell and listen...He wants to share His heart with you today!

God’s Cause and Effect

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command. (Ezekiel 36:27)

The definition of Cause and Effect is “noting a relationship between actions or events where one is the result of the other.”

The above verse is a good example of a cause and effect scenario.  The cause (or event) is God putting His spirit within us.  The effect (or result) is freedom from sin and a fully surrendered heart.

As Christians, we often lose sight of the incredible, universe-creating power that lies within us.  We struggle continually to live a holy life, only to overlook the fact that everything we need to walk in victory over sin lies within us.

The spirit of God doesn’t need our help.  We focus so much on our shortcomings when all we have to do is continually acknowledge His presence within us.  When we get out of the way, we release God to do His purification work in us.

What a privilege to have God’s spirit within us.  There is no greater treasure.  We often dream about God moving now in the same way he did in the Old Testament, but I bet the saints of old would have gladly traded those miracles for the miracle of an indwelling God.  Even the angels in heaven don’t have what we have!

The next time you struggle with sin or struggle to surrender an area of your life to God, remember that God already broke the power of sin and death and He calls your heart His home.  He gave us the precious gift of His spirit so that His cause and effect could be lived out in us.

Encouraging His Children

“He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”

Acts 10:41

In the verse above Peter is telling those of the household of Cornelius about Jesus and whom He appeared to after His resurrection.

I suppose if I had been in charge I would have had Jesus appear to Pilate, Herod, the High Priest and just about as many people as possible after His resurrection.

How about you?

But Gods’ ways are so above all of our understanding.

He appeared to His disciples and His followers.

I cannot think of any unbelievers or skeptics that He appeared to after He rose from the dead (save Thomas’ momentary lapse of faith).

We would probably have orchestrated it differently had we been in charge.

But God knew that the disciples would need the powerful encouragement that Jesus’ victory over death and the grave brought while skeptics would simply look for ways to deny and excuse it away!

After all, some of the most miraculous and spectacular previous works of God (look at the creation of the universe and of man for example) are explained as nothing more than a “big bang” while man was busy descending from apes. There was no reason to believe a resurrected Jesus would have persuaded those who would not be persuaded.

“And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3

The Rule of Law

“Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked,

    but those who heed it resist them.”

Proverbs 28:4

Even in a day when the wicked and lawbreakers are praised there will still be those who keep the law and resist the wicked.

They may not be in the majority but then again the simply having a majority opinion has never been a good bell weather of what the truth is.

We are living in a day in the earth when law breakers and the wicked are the ones being praised and the righteous are held in contempt.

We speak of those who choose to break the law as ‘honorable’.

We have praised lawlessness as something to be regarded as good while attacking the rule of law as evil.

We have called evil good and good evil.

What is evil we ‘rename’ in an effort to make it more palatable and assuage our collective societal conscience.

Those who keep the law are mocked, after all they are the unreasonable, unfair and ‘intolerant’ ones as popular culture portrays them.

We must not build our faith on what others say or do and claim as righteous, but on Gods’ word.

Men can be loud, persuasive and even of late, violent in their threats and activities.

That should never be cause for us to forsake Gods’ law or even mans’ laws when they are built upon the principals of Gods’ word.

Keep On Keeping On

“After many days had gone by,

there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,”

Acts 9:23

“When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.”

Acts 9:26

The early days following Paul’s conversion were not easy ones.

Many times in the Book of Acts Saul has people seeking his life.

Just a couple of examples from his ministry:

In Damascus by the Jews and then after he boldly begins preaching Christ and yet again by the Grecian Jews in Jerusalem after having preached to them and debated with them.

Even the leaders of the Jerusalem church did not warmly receive him at first.

It took all of Barnabas’ persuasiveness to convince them that Saul’s conversion was indeed genuine.

No doubt even after this, given human nature, there were likely still some convinced that he was secretly trying to pretend his conversion in order to trap more.

We should not expect that our own salvation will be met with joy by those we were once a part of but Saul also faced suspicion and doubt from the family he was now part of.

Sometimes even believers may question what God has done in your heart.

Don’t let other people’s doubts or persecutions stop you from walking with the Lord!

Desperation

“Listen to my cry,

    for I am in desperate need;

rescue me from those who pursue me,

    for they are too strong for me.”

Psalm 142:6

 

Most people will never walk on water until their ship sinks.

Before you get too upset with me understand that I include myself in that group.

Funny how much we fear desperation and yet time and time again desperation drew the attention of the Lord.

A woman was desperate enough to push through the crowd just to touch the hem of His garment.

Some men were desperate enough to break up a roof and lower their friend into the room where Jesus was.

Blind Bartimaus was desperate enough to call out to Jesus when others wanted him silent.

In each case their desperation led to acts of faith.

That faith was rewarded.

Perhaps you find yourself in a place of desperation.

It can draw you into greater levels of faith or it can cause fear to cripple you.

Just as He did in the lives of the people mentioned above, He will do for you.

When desperation draws you to a greater place of faith, God is waiting for you on the other side.

Don’t let it drive you to fear, let it draw you to greater faith.