Truth Consequences

by

0

Proverbs 12:8 KJV A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

Truth has consequences.   They are good.  Truth takes us where we need to go.
Philosophers and students of the mind and emotion tell me it is okay because it is my personality.  Is it? Is it okay to allow my personality, my inborn human nature dominance?  Truth says, “No”.
The old man, the hidden man, must change to conform to truth exposure. 
Correction,  rebuke,  adjustment, tuning, and calibration with God’s truth brings right alignment of the consequences of my life.

image

Clear Thinking

by

0

image

Most weeks, I teach a class on thinking.  Tonight we are back in session. By altering our attitudes and beliefs and premises and promises, we alter our behaviour.  A subtle change at the core of being effects feelings, thoughts, and behavior.

Yesterday was a big modifier. Prayer interrupted some lives and set them on a different course.  Music and worship shifted others.  A movie modified a few more. Teaching worked.  Small group discussion engaged.  Covered dish conversation caused growth.  Many means influence our thoughts.

Tonight it is all those again in class with the sons and daughters of Gainesville.  Many are sent to us by the courts. They look for a new hope and a a new life. The Spirit of God is able.

A young woman recently released from drug rehab came into the lot yesterday.  Unlike most, she did not ask for $. She wanted hope and healing. She wept as we prayed.  God intervened.  As long as I kept my head stuck through Mississippi’s truck window, we kept audience.  Some thoughts got to her.  Some hope intersected.

On Facebook we grew 10 new families and hundreds engaged with devotions.  Secular radio touches thousands a day.

Via text, the word went out to some 200 in OKC and this Texoma I35 corridor.

In a classroom in Marietta, an auditorium in Gainesville, over FB, secular radio, in the parking lot, at Starbucks and  McDonalds, in a meeting room, and windshield time in my car, people had thoughts strengthened and straightened with God’s word.

Oh well, another day dawns.  The are 4000 waiting for an email devotion.  Thoughts drive action.  Words drive thought.   Jesus should drive words for the righteous.

The Prayer Has A Life: What Happened Next

by

0

One of the stops this week in my journey was the weekly breakfast of a county Chamber of Commerce in Texas.  Community Transformation Initiative is active in the area doing Life Skills and Parenting and 1-1 counseling.  Each person gets 2 minutes to speak.  Lawyers, doctors, mechanics, marketers, resorts, bankers, the county attorney, and this  community transformation/business/minister person share.  I usually give a quick story and a smile and sit down.  Something different happened this week.

Here’s the story I shared and what happened next:

In 2004, our Information Technology team was designated as number one best place to work in IT by Computerworld magazine.  That is a Super Bowl moment.  We out ranked Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and hundreds of thousands of other businesses.

As one of a handful of directors on that team, it was moment of personal pride and accomplishment.  I keep telling myself I’m going to have a ring made.  Every day and every year is not the same.

During an annual review with our CIO one year I felt defeated.  That year was okay, but nothing outstanding.  As I discussed my feelings of struggle with John, the number one CIO of the number one team, he looked at me and said, “Phil, you will find during your toughest times, you grow the most.”  He was less concerned about  the areas I directed and managed than he was about me.  That attitude is part of what made us number one.

After the story was shared, the prayer was shared.

As I finished the prayer, the Chamber of Commerce breakfast group spontaneously and loudly said “Amen.”

More people on social media are responding to this prayer than anything I’ve every posted. I pray it over you. I pray it “Amens” in your life.

 May the gentle breath of God’s Spirit lift you, friend, beyond your problems.

May the forceful shaking of His power break barriers that hinder.

May the excitement of His love impassion you, friend, with joy.

May you find Him waiting in your path with answers.
www.evotions.org

Talking the Positive. Facing the Endless Challenges.

by

0

Dad's University logo cropAt Dad’s University, we are gearing for a big Fall of changed lives. The power to change a life, a family, a neighborhood, a community, a state, a nation lies in our hands. Take 3 minutes and watch the video. Get a 3 min video update here.
Talking The Positive: Facing the Endless Challenge
Psalm 84:5 -7 adapted – What a joy is waiting for those who draw strength from the LORD and have set their minds on a journey to God’s heart and home. When their path takes them through a Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of fresh springs. After the pain and dryness, a season of blessing and rain will cover with favored love, hope, and faith. Strength will be stronger and you will appear before God’s heart and home a new person.
Life presents endless challenge. Many of those blips cause tears and tears. A tear drips and a tear scars. After a while, the scars become calloused and drudge ensues. Even a wet tear won’t soften the stiff heart torn by trauma.
A wise mentor once looked at me in a troublesome time. The prior year seemed to give no growth in our joint business endeavors. With years of experience, he looked at me and said, “Phil, you will find you have grown the most in the hardest times.” He was concerned more about my growth than $ performance. The $ performance would come. And it did come.
Other partners have not been so kind. Focus on greed and immediate gains leads many to live in the calloused world of paining others. It becomes more and more the American environment of discompassionate, inconsiderate, legalistic work and life.
In the coffee shop, my head was drooped over the study of Psalm 90,91, and 92. Really, personal time was all I wanted. From across the corner, a most painful look kept staring at me. The woman was obviously in deep distress. She was frozen and immoveable.
With a breath of prayer, I relinquished my personal time and said a quick prayer, “Father if there is a word of encouragement I can give, enable me. I really want to wallow in my own pain for a moment, but I sense You have another on this path this morning and wish me to be available.”
As I lifted my head, she looked directly at me and asked what I was studying. In conversation, she opened her journey and talked about her divorce, deep depression, hermitage for the last two years, and hope she could find a new life.
“I would just like to find peace.”
The pain was immense. In Psalm 90 there is a prayer that a season of blessing would come as tall as a season of pain was deep, that the season of blessing would be as long as the season of loss. She found some relief in that prayer and after 30 minutes, she left for the next assignment of her day and I finished my study.
A fresh spring of joy welled up in me. A joy I had not felt for some time bubbled in my soul. The surprising result of drying the tears of a stranger and speaking positive, faith-life was healing waters for me. God touches us in the valley.
The Father promises that we prosper in strength, faith, hope, love, courage, joy, goodness, and contented living when we focus on making the journey to His heart and home. Regardless of the “others”, we receive refreshing spring waters from under and rain waters from over of courage and blessing. We will be overtaken and encased in His touch.
Let’s Pray: Father, it is Your Heart and Home to which I journey. Keep me on the sure-footed path. When pain pummels, keep me on the sure-footed path. When tears stream from my face, keep me on the sure-footed path. When tears rip away tender flesh, keep me on the sure-footed path. Cause the fresh spring waters to bubble up from underneath when I can see no way forward. Cause the refreshing rains to pour over me when I have lived in heat and hurt for a season. Stir faith in me. Let me look to You and not to circumstance.

Need A Quiet Moment, Friend?

by

0

Isaiah 8:18 Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me.
As a businessman and community leader, I spend countless hours seeking audience with people. It is a tough and thankless task.
Jesus presents us to His Father as a gift. He makes it easy to get into the very throneroom of God. Through tremendous sacrifice, He opened a path for us into the presence of the holiest God. Then He takes us by the hand and walks us up to the Creator of All and presents us.
There is nothing we can do to earn that presentation. It is a gift to us received in Him.
That simple knowledge comforts me. The ability to quiet myself and know I don’t have to earn anything consoles me. I can rest in His acceptance and favor.
Friend, there is rest for you. There is favor for you.
Father, accept my friend alongside Your Son, Jesus. What a joy to know You will receive us. The Master of All opens His inner office to allow us entrance and audience. That is huge. Thanks, Father.

Meet Jesus : Unrelenting

by

0

Matthew 8:18: Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. 19: And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20: And Jesus saith unto him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

21: And another of his disciples said unto him, “Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.” 22: But Jesus said unto him, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”

Excuse Me: Our human tendency is for excuses.  The opportunities of the moment are quickly passed by for the excuses of a lifetime.  One wanted comforts and a secure destination.  Another wanted to seal the family fortune and let the past generation find finality.  Jesus wanted them that day.  Jesus wants those who will go where there is no promise of a comfortable destination.  Jesus wants those who will go and let the prior generation either come along or resolve life on their own.  Jesus is unrelentingly in motion toward heaven.

 Garbage Man: At breakfast one morning a friend looked into the eyes of another friend.  Piercingly, he declared, “You are the garbage man!”  They had been discussing activities in the community.  The one was talking about going into hard places and developing and disciplining people in this gospel lifestyle.  His friend saw a thread.  The thread was finding struggling situations and bringing those to fruitful fields with tenacity and insight and time and effort.   The thread was taking what others reject and bringing it to full fruit.

 No Throw Aways: Taking what others would throw away and applying strong action is something many avoid.  Jesus embraced it.  It is His  daily bread and unrelenting task.  It meant not having a home at times as most would not follow Him into the hard spots or welcome Him when he came out smelling like a portion of mankind with which they were unfamiliar.  What is not ours and is not familiar looks and smells like garbage.  I remember working in nurseries as a young parent.  Changing my child’s diaper was easy.  Changing the diaper of a friend’s child was horrid.  The smell was unfamiliar.  At times, I would lean over a trash can in case I could not handle it and my stomach might revolt. 

Minister to Minister: This month, be a special blessing to some minister.  For the most part they are “garbage men”.  They take our hurts and pains and help us through to new light and life.  They could use a lift this clergy appreciation month.

 ACT!  Release an excuse that has been keeping you from full commitment to Jesus call on your life.  Think about how you would live if you had no financial attachments or no expectations of tomorrow’s fortune.

 PRAY!  Father, I am so weak.  My strength is small in the challenge of adversity.  Jesus came with no guantees of comfort or family or home.  He thought it not something to be grasped to be resident with You as King of the Universe in heaven.  He left throne and comfort to live among men.  Help me have  His way in me.

 

Meet Jesus : Unswayable

by

0

Matthew 8:16: When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

 Unstoppable: The unstoppable, unswayable nature of Jesus challenges my thoughts.  His persistence in the face of challenge is incredible.  Think about this situation.  He had just had a hard day, found Peter’s mother-in-law sick, settled down for a meal and relaxing with friends, and then the someone raps on the door.  “Jesus, come out quickly there is a mob of sick, demonized, bleeding, open-wounded, moaning people out here who want to see you.” 

 How would you respond?

 He healed all that were sick.  He cast out the spirits with His word. 

 ACT!  The next calendar challenge that comes to you, stop and take care of the interruption for the other person immediately.  See what happens.

 PRAY! Father, I want to be able to have the presence of mind of Jesus.  How incredible that He could stop at anytime and concentrate totally on the one pressing need in front of Him.  Teach me, Father.  Teach me to be ever able and ever present for people in need.

 

Meet Jesus : Family Love

by

0

Matthew 8:14: And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. 15: And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

Family: For all of us there are those special people we call family.  They may or may not be blood family.  They are special.  They are family.  For Jesus, Peter and anyone special to Peter became family.  This was Peter’s mother-in-law that moved the compassionate hand of God.  There is no hesitation in these verses.  It appears that Jesus went right to Peter’s mother-in-law.  Immediately, He healed family.

Family Followup: A new person came across the pastor’s path that week.  She was new to town and visiting church with her boyfriend.  On a follow up phone call, he found she had been sick for two days.  While getting acquainted a little more, he gently led into prayer.  The presence of God was sweet.  She needed that family touch.

 ACT!  Got family?  Maybe someone in your extended family or friend’s family is ailing in heart or mind or body.  Reach out a hand of friendship to them in prayer.  Let them know.

 PRAY!  Father of health and life.  I bring my family of friends before Your throne.  Take them into Your protection and love.  Take them into Your healing presence.  Bring them great joy today in You in Jesus.

 

He Gets You!

by

0

Dear friend, you are on my heart this morning as I pray through Psalm 73. In this psalm, Asaph struggles to understand how those that ignore God prosper while some who diligently pursue Him struggle. In verse 21 there is an angst recorded. Maybe you’ve been here. I’ll write it out in my style.

My heart grieves. My mind is distraught and confused. So disturbing is this moment, I thrash and yell like a caged animal looking for a way out. I pace and banter within my own mind. I just don’t get it. But I never quit looking to You. Somehow, I know You will get me through this moment. I’ll get it. I just have to stay with You. I’ll get it. You will get me there. You will get me where I need to go.

Really, where else would I go. Who do I have in heaven except You? Is there anyone on this planet to whom I could turn besides You? You are my strength, redeemer, friend, confidant, power, enablement, and friend. You get me when no one else gets me. You get it. You will get me there. You will get me where I need to go.

When I fail and question and just sit back and think about it, where could I go? And right now, I am tired. My mind and will and emotions are spent. You are my strength, my peace, my portion, my life, and the end of every search. You get it. You get me. You will get me there. You will get me where I need to go.
In the end of it all, I will find myself next to You and You next to me and that is really all I need.
So I pray this morning, friend, that you get it. If there is an angst you don’t understand, I pray you thrash it out with an understanding God. He’ll get you there. He gets you.

Happy Father’s Day

by

0

sarynandpopaFather’s Day comes with mixed emotions. Some have great fathers and some have fathers absent in body or mind or emotion. Some have lost their fathers to divorce or death or disease. Some struggle to know how to be a father. It is certainly a hard task.
Be encouraged today that God, the heavenly Father, is committed to you. He will see you through life as only the best father can. Earthly fathers will fail us, but He is always with us. He is committed to love you, believe in you, forgive you, encourage you, and stand beside you. He will see you through.
Happy Father’s Day to every dad on the job out there.
Happy Father’s Day to the heavenly Father.
He will see you through, friend.