Category Archives: Blog

Life In The Kingdom Of God

Love is the foundation of the kingdom of God.

Love is the foundation of the kingdom of God.

When you read about the kingdom of God and ask God to show you His heart, you begin to see a world far different from we’ve been raised to live in. We’d like to think that we get saved by believing that Jesus died for our sins and that He will make everything better for us. Then we get angry because we still have to deal with our life, and accuse God of not caring when nothing really changes. What are we doing wrong?

Well, are we doing what the scripture says to do? Are we loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind? Take a minute and think about that. We need to be sold out to God. He must be number one in our life, above our family, our work, and our personal dreams. If He is not, then we will never see the blessings of His promise.

Work this out first. Confess to Him if you have not loved Him heart, soul, and mind. This is the foundation from which your eternity will be based. And the wonderful part is that once you turn your heart to loving God, you won’t be able to get enough of Him. You will always want more, because once you get a glimpse of His glory and beauty, you’ll be ruined for life. That’s step one.

Step two is loving other people. This is really the hard part. People hurt us. People can be mean, forgetful, sarcastic. The first time we are hurt by someone else, walls go up to prevent that from happening again. Automatically, we are prevented from loving them because there’s a wall in the way. Jesus said to love them as much as you love yourself.

Confess your unforgiveness. Ask God to help you love the way you need to. Ask God to let you see how much He loves other people. It will change your perspective, like looking through proper lenses for the first time. It will take work. Practice putting others first. Practice being kind. Ask the Holy Spirit to release His kindness, patience, and grace in your life. All His gifts are available, so use them.

That’s it. Love God and love people. Don’t allow walls to go up. If you get hurt, take it to Jesus and give it to Him. He’ll take care of it. Just love back. Live like that and you’ll start to see life in the kingdom of God from heaven’s point of view and blessings will flow to you.

Another post on the kingdom: Salvation = Transformation

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart
  • The Kingdom of God

The Love Of God Is Beyond Our Understanding

God's love is greater than you realize.

God’s love is greater than you realize.

God’s love for us is magnificent— as in brilliant, glorious, majestic, splendid, surpassingly good, superior. His love for us is so far above our understanding that we constantly undervalue it. If we truly understood how much He loves us, we’d be overwhelmed.

The Father’s love for us is massive. He gave His Son to die for our sins. And it was for love that Jesus sacrificed Himself. I try and try to comprehend that amount of love and I just can’t. What ever I can imagine is so far short of what it must be that I just have to accept that His love is beyond my capacity to fully grasp.

In today’s culture, where so many people feel disenfranchised and forgotten, it’s an amazing and wonderful thing to know that God loves us with such great love. We are truly, deeply loved. If you can accept that and feel that in your soul, it will change you. You will never feel alone or unappreciated again. And if you can love other people with the Father’s heart, you are smack in the middle of what the Kingdom of God is all about.

God’s plan to save us and care for us comes from His magnificent love. Just try and figure out how big that is. I dare you.

Another post on the love of God: The True Meaning of Love

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

  • Enjoying God

There Are No Second Class Citizens In Heaven

You are a royal son or daughter of the great King.

You are a royal son or daughter of the great King.

God does not have grandchildren and there are no second class citizens in heaven. Salvation through Christ makes us sons and daughters adopted into His family. That makes us royals. The fact that you may not feel like it, does not alter the reality of it.

How would you live if you knew you were the royal son or daughter of the greatest King ever to live? The position comes with some perks and lots of responsibility. The perks are all the blessings of heaven. That’s a major perk. Plus, Jesus has given us His name to use. That’s more power than you can imagine.

But what will you do with this position? You are responsible to represent your Father to the world, to be His heart, to do His works. That’s why Jesus has allowed us to use His name, so we can heal the sick and deliver people from bondage.  Can you imagine this world if every son and daughter of the King lived out of that royal mindset? If all of us used the authority we’ve been given to rescue people who need our help? It would be an amazing place to live.

It’s time to start living like we’re supposed to. We’ve got a world to change.

Another post on being an heir to Christ. Learn To Live Like An Heir

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart
  • We interrupt your regularly scheduled program…

Everyone Is Gifted In Something

God has given everyone something to be good at.

God has given everyone something to be good at.

God made everyone unique and awesome. We all have talents and skills, gifts to work in some area. Stop it. I can hear you from here. Yes, you do too have talents and gifts. You can do things that I can’t, and I can do things that you can’t. Don’t assume that your gifts have to be spiritual in nature. You have those as well—all the gifts of the Spirit, but what God put in you is unique.

We assume that our gifts must have to do with some kind of ministry. I don’t believe that they do. What if you are a great dog trainer? What if you are a fantastic cook? A math wiz? A master gardener? God isn’t just interested in what happens on Sunday morning. He’s interested in every area of our lives.

I believe that God gives us special talents to make us good at what we do, regardless of it being “spiritual” or not. Don’t dismiss your talents because there’s not a ministry for what you do. A gift is a gift and God has given you talents that you can excel in, so excel away and thank Him for what you have. What if you don’t  know what your area of gifting is yet? Try things that sound interesting and see what happens.

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

You Have A Job In The Body Of Christ

You have a job to do in the body of Christ.

You have a job to do in the body of Christ.

Everyone has a place in the body of Christ. Everyone. And if you are not functioning in your place, then part of the body isn’t working. Just think about any body part that stopped working for you—you’d feel it. Imagine if most of your body wasn’t working. It would be a bad situation. Unfortunately, that is a picture of the church today.

I know you have a job. I know you have a family. I know you’re really busy. And? God has not called you to anything He has not equipped you for. You are completely able to do everything that you are meant to do.

Don’t assume that you have to go into ministry. Maybe you are supposed to raise up the next Moses or David. Maybe you are to help fund a missions project. Maybe you need to talk to your neighbor about healing, then pray for healing.

Whenever a body part sits idle, the rest of the body works in stress mode. It’s not natural. We all need to be working together to do the work of the church. You have a place and a function. And when you act in it, you release the kingdom of God everywhere you go. So, get going!

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

The Holy Spirit Is Your Best Friend

The Holy Spirit is your very best friend.

The Holy Spirit is your very best friend.

The Holy Spirit is your best friend because He knows you better than you know yourself. You may have false ideas about your looks, your talents, or your prospects. You view the world through a filter based on how you’ve been hurt in the past. You use the same filter on yourself. The Holy Spirit knows the real you.

He knows what wounds you’ve carried and why. He knows all the times you tried to do the right thing and got shot down for it. He also knows when you never tried, when you let your anger get the best of you, and when you just gave up. But He loves you wildly anyway.

He is the essence of patience. He is forgiving and comforting. And best of all, He knows everything! Learn to chat with Him, and you get instant access to everything you need to know. He may lead you to the answers in ways you don’t expect, but you can trust Him when you need to.

The Holy Spirit knows exactly what you love and will point you to special blessings, just like a father kneeling down and pointing to something with a small child. He wants to make sure you see what He’s up to. He loves you and is the best friend in the world.

Another post on the Holy Spirit: What Is The Holy Spirit?

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart
  • Walking in the Holy Spirit

Daily Conversations With God Because God Is Always With Us

We can have daily conversations with God.

We can have daily conversations with God.

The easy part living life as a child of God is that He is always with us. It’s the amazing aspect of salvation–God actually puts His Spirit in us. God, who made all things put Himself inside us, to be part of us, in us, is with us all the time. We can have daily conversations with Him.

And it has nothing to do with how we feel in the morning. He does not require us to be cheerful. He does not require us to feel “holy”. He doesn’t care if we did something stupid. He is always with us.

Our requirement is to acknowledge Him. He’s always waiting for us to turn to Him. When we realize that we’ve done something stupid or wrong, all we have to do is talk to Him, tell Him we’re sorry, and ask for help to not do it again.

But the best part is listening to what He wants to say to us. He has the best ideas. He has a plan for our lives and we need to be sensitive to what He really wants us to do. We need to be aware that God really wants to talk to us.

Living with God in us means having an ongoing conversation. It’s a dialog that will never stop through eternity.

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

Our Disobedience Robs Other People

Our disobedience affects other people.

God allows us to learn from our mistakes.

Sometimes we learn to obey God at the expense of other people. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a valuable lesson if we chose to learn from it. I had such a lesson yesterday.

I ran out during my lunch time to do errands and stopped at a fast food restaurant to pick up a quick bite. On my way through the parking lot, I saw a man walking awkwardly to his car. There seemed be something wrong with his hip alignment, because his walk way tilted dramatically.

I felt that I should have offered to pray for his healing, but I didn’t. My head was on lunch. I was in a hurry. I felt badly for the man, but I didn’t take time to obey.

I felt great conviction as I left. I realized that God could have healed someone and changed his life, but I didn’t give Him the opportunity. God impressed on me how much He loved that man and my schedule got in the way of healing.

I am filled with gratitude that God forgives when we confess our sins. I now have the mindset to consider working through God’s love and how it will affect other people. My schedule is irrelevant.  My awkwardness at offering prayer does not compare to how the person’s life can be changed. I’m just sorry that I learned this at that man’s expense.

Another post on obedience: Fear Of Man Is Obeying The Enemy

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

 

Start Believing The Truth Of The Bible

Don't allow the enemy to make your doubt the truth of the Bible.

Start believing the plain truth of the Bible.

There has always been division in the Christian world about what is true and what isn’t. The first test should always be, is it supported in the Bible? That makes sense, but what if it is clearly in the Bible and you still don’t believe it? That’s an obvious indication of believing the enemy and not God.

What did Satan whisper in the garden? Did God really say? He makes you second guess what is clearly written. Jesus said we should be doing greater works than He did. We haven’t been doing them because we’ve  believed the lie that we’re not supposed to.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (Jhn 14:12)

Could He make it any plainer? We’re supposed to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons. Yes, demons. They didn’t go away. We are called to be disciples of Christ. That means, doing what He did.

Start believing the truth of what the Bible says and start living it. It’s a whole new world of excitement and breakthrough. If you’re not in the middle of it, you’re missing out. If you love me, keep my commandments. (Jhn 14:15)

Another post on living the truth: Stop Listening To The Lies

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart

 

Steps For Finding Peace For Today

Fear is the favorite weapon of the enemy.

Rebuke fear and claim your peace

Did you know that nearly all physical and mental issues we suffer with stem from fear and stress in our lives? I wish I had an actual statistic to show how startling this is. Fear is the enemy’s number one weapon. We worry about everything, and then we suffer for it.

Fear is not God’s plan for us. Peace is His promise. We are meant to live in rest, fully trusting that God is in charge. It’s not easy. We’re so comfortable with our stress, that we don’t even realize how sinful it is.

Here are some steps to help live in peace:

  • Fear not.
  • Get your fresh manna from God every day.
  • Stop worrying about tomorrow. Deal with today.
  • Think about the angelic forces ready to act on your faith.
  • Fear not.
  • Do your best, and let God do the rest.
  • Fear not.
  • Speak peace to the storm.
  • Go to God first, He’ll take care of everything you need.
  • Fear not.
  • Look for joy.
  • Release peace in your workplace, at home, at school, etc.
  • Know that God is always with you. Always.
  • Take a breath and relax.
  • Be at peace.
  • Rest

It will take discipline. Recognize when you are starting to stress and remember that it’s a weapon of the enemy. Rebuke it. Claim your peace. Even in the middle of a hectic day, tell yourself, Return to your rest, o my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. (Psa 116:7)

Another post on finding peace: Speak Peace To The Storm

 

Read the first chapter of my book Crucible Heart