Our giants

We all have giants in our lives. What might seem mighty and overwhelming to me might not be a big deal to you. Or what is oppressing to you I couldn't even imaging how to handle it. 

As individual as we are, so aren't our giants. That said, it doesn't mean you or I are the only ones on the face of God's green earth that have gone through the struggles we have -unique yes, but same in nature yes also. 

I think of what Paul wrote; For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:29, 30 NIV)

None of us are immune to struggles and our fair fight with our giants. How we handle them do differ. Where do you find refuge? Is it in running? What are you running from? Your giant? Or are you running into the only arms long enough to rescue you?

We not only have a Savior who calms the storms of life, but in Christ we “have an anchor” that securely positions us permanently in a safe harbor (Heb. 6:19). 

What position do we find ourselves in? A position of praise? Not for what we struggle against but for who God is.

I want to live a life full of the presence of God. The life of Christ being birthed in and through me as I'm being made more and more in the likeness of Christ. That's the job of the Holy Spirit to bring Christ alive in the hearts of his believers. 

We have a promise in God's word!

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. (Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV)

Let us go to His Word and take hold of the promises Christ died to give us!

Gift of Desperation

Gift of Desperation - Just saying it gives me that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach...

and yet when you understand you'll find it's a treasure chest of fine jewels! 

That is - being desperate for God, clinging to Christ, moved by the Holy Spirit. I need to wake up each morning letting God know and reminding myself how desperate I am for Him. I don't want to waste one moment without Him. Forever I want to be thankful that He is right there all the time. I want to walk in the fullness of His presence in my life. Living in the reality that nothing I can ever do or not do will ever be able to separate me from His love. (see Romans 8:38-39)

It's too easy for us to look at our past or the thing we did a minute ago and get stuck in a pit of regret. We all seek freedom it's a desire we all have, but how many times do we look to ourselves or something or someone else as our source of freedom? Only God can bring us true freedom, a freedom that lasts. 

Romans 6:16-18 NIV states, "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

I like the way The Message reads this passage, "You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!"

We all have our "Lower Story" but God has an "Upper Story" and to find out what that is and walk in it we must come to a place where we are desperate for God. Our freedom is gained only when we lay our lives at the feet of Christ, realize the chains that have held us captive are only broken by the blood of Christ, receive the forgiveness that only He can give and live our life in the fullness of His Spirit which comes when we receive the gift of desperation.

Our freedom is free for us but cost Jesus His life!

Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see.
Corrie ten Boom

God with us!

Immanuel ~ God with us

This past week I have heard the name Immanuel numerous times, from the whispers of God, to written word or song. Everywhere I would turn I would hear Immanuel. 

What a precious reminder for the child of God - that He is with us, not just at Christmas time but all the time.  He never leaves us or forsakes us. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior His precious Holy Spirit comes and lives in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in His believers through the Holy Spirit and it's His job to magnify Jesus in our lives. Because of this intimate relationship we have access to God anywhere and anytime, we are not alone because God chooses to come and live within us.

So many times we only hear God referred to as Immanuel at Christmas. But Immanuel - God with us isn't just a name to pull out of the basement or attic like we do our Christmas decorations. It's a guarantee from the moment we ask Jesus to come into our lives and be Lord, He is with us. Having a good day and you feel God at work in your life He's there - have a bad day and you feel overwhelmed by the things of this world He's there. Our job is to seek Him, listen to Him, operate with Him and in doing so we will experience Him.

Share Your Dream #Dreamshare

My dream is to open a coffee shop near our local college campus which will serve coffees from around the world. I would like to learn how to prepare the coffee from our international students who are here studying. My dream is for open doors and a place to experience life outside the box we live in. A place to serve and be served so to speak, having merchandise available for sale which would benefit people from around the world who are taking the steps to create and better there lives, then use the proceeds to pour back into others to provide hope of a better life.

Now - Share Your Dream!

World Vision Share My Dream

The sneaky creeper!

We have a little area along side our garage in the backyard where I have a flowerbed with a major design flaw. When the garage was built the owners at the time poured a concrete approach and connected it to a sidewalk which leads up to the house. Along side of the garage they laid white rock down a 5 foot strip leading to the back of the garage. In the center of this strip I put in a flowerbed to bring some color to the area. When I stand at the kitchen sink and look out the window I look upon the side of our garage so you can see why I would want something nice to look at while doing the dishes - after all a person has to have some joy out of doing the dishes besides just getting them clean.

Instead of laying rock it would have been so nice for the grass to grow to the edge of the garage at least you could mow the grass, we can't mow this area due to the rock or one could have just continued pouring the concrete to make a nice little pad around the side to connect it all together. You see this is where the sneaky creeper comes in...

It's official name is: Creeping Spurge eww... the name alone makes you have to lower your voice and say it slow C R E E E E P I N G   S P U U R R G E

This is what it looks like!

It grows low to the ground and it's seeds spread like crazy. You don't know where one begins and the other end. Before I knew it you couldn't see any of the white rock around my flowerbed or the inside of my flowerbed because it had been taking over by THE SNEAKY CREEPER!!!!!!!

One good thing about this weed is once you can get to the main root you can pull it out. As I was looking for the name of this CREEPER I discovered the experts say it's easier to pull the weed out by the roots if you wet the ground and hand pull the weed out and stay on top of it. The roots can grow down in the ground up to 2 feet!! WOW! I wish I would have know the experts secret before I was outside pulling these up best I could this morning as the heat of the day was starting to rise. Once I pulled one I couldn't stop, I was actually seeing ground again, yeah what a good sign. I couldn't plant anything beautiful until these weeds were gone. Please don't think I'm dramatic here but honest. Every time I would look out there and instead of seeing something beautiful I was seeing nothing but weeds. Oh the frustration and constant reminder!

God can use anything and this morning he used CREEPING SPURGE to teach me a lesson. Isn't this how our lives can look at times? Over ran with weeds? 

We need the Master Gardener - God!

Jesus tells us in John 15:1 I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. 

When we don't have an intimate relationship with Jesus who is the true vine our source and giver of life and live a life yielded to the Father - gardener, we are over run with weeds. We need God to pour out his life giving water then allow Him to tenderly take hold of the weedy roots in our lives and gently remove them. Beloved, God loves us so much he doesn't want to leave us weedy and over ran. 

He sent us Jesus to make a way. 

Isaiah 53:5-6 But he (Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Step back with me into my yard for a moment. Remember the rock bed? Yes, it's rock but it's broken which allows the weeds to grow up. Sin is our broken relationship with God, we need Jesus who was crushed and took upon himself our punishment. This Jesus is our ROCK! Our SOLID ROCK!

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! 

Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! 

2 Samuel 22:47 NIV 

Click hear & take a moment to listen to the words. Is Christ your Solid Rock?

In the heat of the battle

Have you ever tried to hold water in your hands? As quickly as it's poured in, it can just as quickly flow out. How often does God pour out life giving water and without our quick response to drink it in - it's gone? I'm guilty of putting things off or not responding when I should and then the moment is gone. 

Let me rephrase that, I'm guilty of putting God off. Plainly said, I ask and ask for God to speak then at times when He does I'm quick to not listen or not identify it's Him and go on. Then that sinking in your stomach feeling happens and you can't help but grown from the pit of your being ohhhh-awwww. God forgive me, thank you for loving me so much to not leave me there but grow me from it. 

I can't help but think of Gideon, God gives him a promise I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together. Aren't we all like Gideon? The next thing he does is ask God for a sign that it is really him talking. Beloveds, I'm not saying we should haphazardly listen to every voice we hear. There a lots of voices speaking that we should not listen to, God tells us to have discernment. That's why it's so important for us to have an intimate relationship with God and rely on His Spirit to guide us. We have to fully rely on God as our source and His spoken word (Rhema) will always line up with his written word (Logos). 

Back to Gideon - We pick back up in Judges 7 through the process of the promise God gave to Gideon, God continues to peel away the number of fighting men from Gideon. We don't get very far in chapter 7 verse 2 God tells him, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength saved her..." For God to get the glory in our battles there are times when He sifts people away from us. God instructs Gideon to take the men down to the water and to separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink (verses 5-6) God reduced the fighting number from 32,000 to 300, with a group this small there would be no doubt that this was a God sized victory. The 300 were willing to lap the water but knelt down to drink it, which put them in a strategic position to still be on guard ready to battle. 

Hold on... have you been there? Are you there now? There is a battle before you and God starts peeling away the support? The job? The friends? Those who committed to be with you till the end? You feel abandoned, rejected you name it, an emotional mad house. A place where your emotions get the best of you and you are ruled by them. The void seems ever so deep and yet never full. A place of desperation, oh but if you have found yourself there what a gift that can be when we allow ourselves to go there. You see Gideon could have jumped onto that emotional roller coaster but he didn't. He stayed connected with God and he was obedient to the directions God gave. No matter what path you find your self on, when we totally abandon ourselves and submit to the work of God in our lives He gets the glory. 

Don't expect it will come in man made form - glory that is. God's ways are so far above anything we could ever ask or think. He tells us to give when we don't have, step out of the boat when there is water all around. For Gideon he thinned out his support, Gideon's response? He trusted God, he got up and went when God told him to go, he overhead a man tell of a dream he had and was encouraged (verses 9-15) and his response? He worshiped God. 

In my opinion the most bizarre part of this story is when Gideon returns to the camp of Israel and tells everyone to "get up the Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands" he divides the 300 men into 3 groups and places trumpets and empty jars in their hands with torches inside. Gideon tells them "watch me and follow my lead and do exactly as I do". They proceed to blow their trumpets and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon" they blow their trumpets and brake the jars with their hands taking the torches in their left hand and holding their right hands the trumpets they began to blow and shouted "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon" and held their position around the camp. And what happened? The Lord caused the Midianite men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. 

I have to be honest, as I sit here and type I want to run to my kitchen find an empty Mason jar, stick a candle in it and call the school to have my son bring home his trumpet and go and have me a time running towards my enemy!

But I can't, I have to be willing to bend my knee to the Almighty God and drink of His river of life. I must pick up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. And incline my ear to hear His voice. Then I must go and do what it is He has called me to do and I must be the person He has created me to be. I must not be afraid when darkness comes near or when the enemy unleashes an attack. 

The words of Gideon are a foreshadow of Christ, "watch me and follow my lead and do exactly as I do". Jesus gave up His life for us. 

Our response should be,

 God, through the work of your son Jesus and by the power of your precious Holy Spirit come and sit upon the throne of my life because that is a place only you can fill.

Storms of Life

What is your response to disappointment? 

Disappointment is a fact, how we respond to it is another matter. In all honesty I tend to respond in the flesh instead of being led by the Spirit of God living inside me. I want to have a passion (desire for or devotion) to seek the eyes of Jesus, to take the time to sit at his feet and listen to him. But I have a tendency to let my emotions take over instead of allowing the Lord of Lords and King of Kings reign. 

It's only in Jesus that we can find serenity - Webster defines serenity as: clear and free of storms or unpleasant change. Change - could that be the root cause of our disappointment? We have a certain expectation or mind set and then something happens and what we thought was going to be isn't and that requires change. 

Are we being lord of our lives? Makes me think of Judges 21: 25 - In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. The bible tells us storms come. How can we have serenity then? How can we be clear and free of storms? There is only one way and His name is Jesus. What does the word of God say to us about storms?

Job 40:6 - He speaks to us in the storm

Psalms 107:29 - He stills the storm

Isaiah 25:4 - He is a shelter in the storm

Jeremiah 23:19 - He releases His wrath in the storm

Zechariah 9:14 - He marches in the storm

Matthew 8:24 - He sleeps in the storm

Luke 8:24 - He rebukes the storm

Storms rage all around us, no one is exempt from them. But as children of God we have a promise found in Isaiah 54:11-17 NIV - O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate! I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from sapphire. I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems, and your walls of precious stones. I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace. You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace, and terror will not come near. If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat. I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy. But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken.

What God says goes and we need God built walls and He must be at the center of our lives. We are born into a sin sick world and only Jesus can save us. Sin simply means to miss the mark, whether breaking God's law or living independent of God, it's sin. If Jesus isn't Lord of your life stop right now, don't waste one more minute. Repent of your sin, ask Him to come into your life and be Lord, for it's only in Jesus that we can be saved. Whether we realize it or not we bow our knee to all sorts of things and as a result our walls are destroyed. There will be a day when every knee will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord. Will you be doing that with a joyful heart full of thanksgiving because of the price He paid for you on the cross? 

God cares for you. Exodus 4:31 - And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. Our response to His great love and care is to worship the One True God the only one worthy of our praise. 

I recently was at a Cody James concert and heard one of his new songs titled "Right Here Waiting". As he sung one of the verses I closed my eyes and the below picture came to my mind. "Are you needing rest, are you heavy burden, cause I am right here waiting, I've been here all along, my arms have been wide open for you've been called and chosen"

The Spirit of God reminded me of this picture, it hung on the wall in our church where I grew up. He was there for me as a child, it was in this same room where we celebrated our wedding reception and where we gathered the day we celebrated the life of my Father when he passed away.

You see He's been here all along, waiting. How will we respond?

If you notice there isn't a door knob in the picture. Jesus stands at the door of our hearts knocking are we willing to answer and let him come in?



Cody James Ministries: http://codyjames.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCodyJamesGang