We Are What We Eat

Why are you reading this, you are such an idiot, wasting your time, don't you have anything better to do today? You continue to be a bump on a log, idle hands are a devils tool....

Does that make you want to read anymore of this blog? My point is not to make you stop reading this, but to cause you to consider the harsh words we speak and how they affect others. The saying goes we are what we eat, but have you ever considered we are just what we hear as well.

The bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." How did my first sentence make you feel? It hurts to hear harsh things, how are we talking to the people around us, are we building them up, are we encouraging them?
Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

If we are constantly tearing them down, are our words of encouragement ever heard? Is our voice like a loud gong, drowning out the very support we offer? 1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." Does love tear people down, or does it encourage them in the ways of truth? We are to encourage one another, build each other up, teach each other through love. Are we doing this in our kids, in our marriage, in our relationships?

Yes we are to discipline, but if we are not disciplining in love are we doing anything other then causing anger and hurt. We can handle bad behavior in many ways, but how does the Bible talk about dealing with things?

Hebrews 12:11 "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

Proverbs 12:1 "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid."

Hebrews 12:5-6 "And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

God does not just call us to lead, but also to follow. We lead by example, we may have to speak harsh words, but doing it in love is where God calls us to walk. He knew what we would go through and He knows what we will need to deal with. He is teaching us each day, are we hearing Him? He talks to us in a still small voice, are we listening for it?

Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."

My question I must ask myself, is am I replicating a Godly love? Am I speaking truth or am I being lost in the ways of the world?

Lord guide me today, let me hear Your voice. Allow my words be the meditations of my heart, may I speak not out of anger, but out of love, may I encourage and through the encouragement be a tool for you, may the words of discipline, be not to destroy, but to build up as You have built me up. May I be what You call me to be, moment by moment and surrendering all to You. 

Still Small Voice

God speaks to us in a still small voice (most of the time), are you listening?

I didn't want to hear God for the majority of my life, I wanted what I wanted and when I wanted it. It wasn't about what God was saying, it was about what I wanted. I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat it all. I ran my own life, I ran away from God, I ran away from what He wanted for me. I reacted, I shut Him out, because I didn't want to hear what He was saying to me. I did my own thing and in doing my own thing I caused a lot of hurt and pain. I said what I wanted to say, I did it my way and I found out my way was not God's way.

I have talked a lot about my struggles and the hard points of my life. I have spent time going over where I was, but God was faithful through it all. He brought me to where I am today, He continues to make me. I have found that I need to allow Him time to speak to me, that I need to be willing to have a heart of prayer, a heart of thanksgiving, a heart surrendered to His will.

Do you talk with God more then just at meal time? Do you sit in silence to soaking His love in? Prayer is not just for one time each day, it is having a heart that is open to hearing God. Are you just reaching Him when there is trouble? It is time to change your prayer to not just in the hard, but in all the times. Our minds are complex tools, but do we use them to there full potential? I think we are at constant change and God is teaching us through it all, are we listening?

Today I want to challenge you, instead of talking with God when it is best for you, talk with God in it all. When you are in your car, when you are sitting at your desk, or just sitting. Thank Him for the sun, thank Him for the storms, thank Him in all things. We are so busy, we have forgotten how to pray. If you find your mind constantly thinking, then you can pray more and more. Stop thinking prayer is about being on your knees and start realizing that Jesus is closer then your best friend, He wants to hear from you in all situations, He is right there with you. Talk to Him, just as your thoughts are in your head, He is right there with you. Take the time to thank Him, be intentional in your time you talk with God.

Lord, let me be intentional in talking with you, let me sit and hear you, let me listen to Your still small voice, let me start allowing You to work in me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and allow me to be the person I need to be with You. Let the thoughts in my head become fewer, so that You Lord can become more. Let me allow You to change me not just for today, but every moment of each day. Let me see what You have for me in this time. Let the channel be open between me and You daily. Thank You for showing me this and allow me to be more like You.

Refining

Each day I am reminded just how easy it is to lose sight of all God is doing. He continues to change me, to make me more of who He wants me to be, the man of God, the husband, father and step father. I can get lost in the drama, the negative and lose sight of just what God is doing.

I know I have talked on this a lot, I have talked about changing our perspective and it is easier said then done. I have said it many times before, that things worth doing are not always easy. Easy things come and go, but the struggles build character, it builds me, teaches me areas in which I thought I could do it on my own, but then I falter and lose my way. It is throwing all my cares on God, it is thanking even in the circumstances, it is allowing Him to change me. I can't change me, but I can allow Him to change me. He continues to show me areas in my life I need to allow Him to work and in doing so He is purifying me. I could say it is to hard, it is to difficult to allow Him to change me, but then I will be right back where I started. Through the changing He is purifying me through the refining fire.

Refining a fine metal takes work, it takes turning up the heat to extract different metals, because different things heat up at different temperatures. In my life, I spent a lot of time being how I was being and some of those are a very dense metal, God is turning up the heat to refine those impurities out of me. He says anything is possible and even when the temperature is hot, He is right there with me, He is making me the man of God I am and He can make you who He wants you to be. We walk by faith and not by sight, it might not be clear why He is doing what He is doing, but be thankful even in the hard and watch how He can change your perspective, watch how He can refine you too.

Don't give up if it is getting to hot, be thankful, because God is making you, He is changing you and that He said there is no limit to where He can take you if you allow Him to make you new every single moment. From Glory to Glory He is changing me.

But remember just as God is turning up the heat and refining you, the devil is right there trying to extinguish the fire. He is reminding you of your past, he is bring situations into your life to steal the very thing that God is doing. Stand strong and stand firm in allowing God, thank God in all things and remember each day to put on the full armor of God and remind the devil he will not win. God will have the victory.

Take a stand against the hold of the devil, make a choice to walk in victory. Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" Allow God to hold the victory over the areas in your life that the devil has a foothold. Take a stand and chose freedom, chose God.

A daily prayer:

Lord God, I praise and worship You for who You are, what You have done for me in Christ Jesus, and for all that I have in Christ.

By faith:

• I put on the belt of truth and choose to believe and stand in the truth of Your Word. Help me to completely live Your Word today …. 
• I put on the breastplate of righteousness by claiming my right standing with You through the blood of Jesus Christ. I reject all lies from the evil one. Help me to live a righteous life, consistent with the righteousness I have in You …. 
• I put on the shoes of the Gospel of peace. Open doors for me to share Jesus with others. Give me compassion and boldness for lost people …. 
• I take up the shield of faith by trusting in You and Your Word in all that I do today. Help me to respond to any attacks with the truth of Your Word … 
• I put on the helmet of salvation by filling my thoughts with the truths of all I have as a child of God. Help me to take every thought captive and make it obey Christ…. 
• I take up the sword of the Spirit. Throughout this day, bring to my mind any Scriptures I need for spiritual battle … 
• Fill me with Your Holy Spirit in order to believe, feel, and act as You would have me. Thank you that I can stand firm in the victory Christ has won for me.

Amen

Freedom God offers, who are you listening to?

Is it time for a new perspective today?