He made all things beautiful!!

He made all things beautiful!!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

My head will not refuse it...

My head will not refuse it…

Courtesy to jupiterimages.com
By Sidharth Mohandas
Some time back, a friend, Robert and I were having some discussions from the Bible. While we were talking, Robert corrected me about something I said. My initial response was to justify myself and to resist what he said. But then even as we were discussing this verse came to both of us:
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. [Psalm 141:5]
I realized that as Robert was correcting me he was anointing my head with oil. But to many of us, being corrected – especially by someone younger than us – is like a defeat. We tend to be “perfectionists” not wanting our faults or sins to be exposed. Many of us get offended when someone points to our faults. We don’t want to accept the fact that we can be on the wrong. And in the process we get into this self-righteous tone, justifying our acts with Scripture.
I recently heard a friend share with me something… her husband was throwing a fit and he justified his bad temper by saying, “Even Jesus got angry and he lambasted the people who were selling things in the temple”. Isn’t that amazing how we can use Scripture to justify our misconducts?
My friends, yielding to discipline and correction are means by which God can impart more of His Spirit to us. Will your head refuse it?
Now, let’s be sensible…don’t we want more of God’s anointing upon our lives? Then let’s be wise and accept correction. It doesn’t matter through whom correction comes… May be it’s through your sibling, or your child, or it could also be through your pastor. Which ever way it is, yield to it.
A fool rejects his father’s discipline, But he who regards reproof is sensible. [Proverbs 15:5]

Book Recommendations

Hello everyone,

These books might be old but I think they are very helpful when dealing with relationships and the heart.  I have read them and I must say they are full of good information.  Let me know if you have read them already and would like to make a comment about its content or if you would just like to discuss what the books are about.

Enjoy,
Nicky


Life Without Strife (How God Can Heal and Restore Troubled Relationships) by Joyce Meyer












Matters of the Heart (Stop Trying to fix the old - Let God give you something new) by Prophetess Juanita Bynum, Ph.D.


                            

Friday, June 24, 2011

What does the Father see in your heart??

Proverbs 21:1-2
The king's hearts is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.


The heart, the motives behind what we do,what we say and even what we believe. The heart reveals what you have been meditating on, listening to and even what you believe in.  You will always be able to trace someone's motives in life by what's happening on the heart surface.  David knew this and that is why he asked the Lord on a regular basis to "create in him a clean heart and a right spirit." Psalms 51:10.  We live in an age where ungodly images are coming at us from every angle and the fight to remain grounded in the Lord has intensified, so the necessity to "GUARD" our heart (motives) is a must. 

Train your heart in the things of God!!!  Give it spiritual exercise by reading and studying the Word of the Lord.  Purpose to remove sin, bad habits, and laziness out of your heart.  You know we hate exercising at times but we KNOW that it does the body good.  The same concept applies with spiritually exercising your heart (motives).  You have to continue in building up the heart (motives) until it becomes a habit.  Remember the Lord sees into the heart behind everything you do.  He can tell whether or not you meant to do it, whether or not you meant to say it and whether or not you wanted to believe it.

  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

So let's exercise our hearts (motives) today, saints.  After all, He is our Father and we should want to make our Daddy happy right?  And no condemnation, if we didn't do it before we can always start RIGHT NOW.  That's what's awesome about our Heavenly Father, he is willing and ready to forgive.  Jesus paid the cost so that forgiveness would be readily available and that we could have access to it. 

Let the Father see goodness and righteousness in your heart!!! 

Until the next time, may the Lord favor you with his goodness and mercy.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Don't forsake the new babes in Christ!!!

Being a christian really is the best thing that has ever happened to me!  Yes, the birth of my children and the milestone of being married over 20 years is wonderful.  But the moment I made the decision to choose Jesus as my "Lord and Savior," there is no feeling on Earth that could compare to that.

My only regrets would be not being discipled by those who were mature christians.  I learned how to be "churchy" but I did not learn how to live holy.  Sure I was always told what I could not do in Christ, but it wasn't until I went on my own spiritual journey with Him that I learned that there is much I can do in Him. 

I think at times we forget that new babes in Christ must be nurtured before they can go out there on their own.  Yes, they have so much excited and joy when first coming to the Lord, but we must remember that they are newborns in Christ and they need to be taught the fundamentals and basic principles of Discipleship! They will need to be bottle fed first, then they will grow to solid food. What it really means to live this life, what you will have to die to, sacrifice, grow in, endure and wait on. 

These are the moments where we are losing so many.  Most times we expect them to be spiritually where we mature Christians are and we are disappointed when they do not meet our expectations (measure).  Here is where we must show compassion, patience and forbearance.  Some of them will still be dirty when they come to the Lord, some will still be broken, some will still curse, some will still lie.  In most will be instant deliverance and there will be times where the deliverance will be a process. However, we are to remember (2 Corinthians 5:17 -- Therefore, if any one is in Christ's, he is a new creation, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.)

That's where we come in, to go through the process with them.  To not give up on them, to teach them how to walk, how to eat God's Word, to stand on their own in Faith.  The Lord is doing a new thing in their lives, but we cannot rush the process.  (Philippians 1:6 -- being confident of this very things, that He that has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.)  The Lord Jesus will complete the work in every believer (especially those new to the Lord) and our position is to work RIGHT ALONG side Him.