Complacency will kill you.

There’s such a danger in being complacent. Jesus warned about this: And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. (Mat 13:14-15)

It’s not that God doesn’t want to heal them, the people can’t be bothered to ask for it. Sadly, I understand some part of this. It takes a mental effort to press into the Spirit and see what God has to offer. I have to want it and sometimes I’m just too tired.

But that’s where the danger creeps in. When we can’t be bothered about the things of God because we’re required to understand what may not be clearly spelled out, it’s too easy to pass. And then we lose out. We never receive what is our to have. Our hearts grow dull and we stop hearing the voice of God. Very, very dangerous.

Never allow complacency to get a foothold in your life. You can’t afford it.

Love is the foundation of the kingdom of God.

What does this mean, Love  believes all things? (1Cor 13:7) Does it sound to you like being stupid? You know you can’t believe everything, because there are people out there who lie. Why would you purposely believe a lie?

To be honest, this passage puzzles me, but I do believe it has some meaning in not doubting everything you hear. We don’t want to be taken advantage of, so we doubt what we cannot see, taste, or prove.

That’s a problem, because the things of the spirit can’t always been seen, tasted or proven. That’s what faith is all about. Jesus said it’s ok to be taken advantage of. If someone wants your sweater, give them your coat too. If they slap your face, let them. You don’t have to defend yourself.

We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. It’s ok to be submissive when our hearts belong to Jesus. He sees and knows. If you accept someone in love and they betray you, He sees it. You don’t have to defend yourself. God will do that. It’s your responsibility to love. Love bears all things. Love is awesome. It will take you through situations that would make you crazy otherwise.

It’s ok to believe. God wants you to. He’ll take care of it if it turns out to be messed up. Just love.

What does your faith do for you?

What is the reality of your faith? Is it a set of rules that keep you from doing bad things? Is it an obligation you fulfill for your mother/spouse/friend? Is it a tradition or ritual that you automatically follow? Does it do anything for you? Seriously think about this. If what you believe as a core value does not actually affect your life, then be honest.

Your faith should lead you straight to the heart of God. Living in the kingdom of God should change you profoundly. It should heal you of physical and emotional wounds. It should fill your life with blessing and the power of God to heal and bless others.

Your relationship with God should be two-way. You should talk to Him and He should talk to you. It’s all God’s great plan to have a people of relationship so He can be intimate in our lives. He’s here to give us hope and destiny for our future and practical help for our needs today.

If you are not actually living in the kingdom of God, you can. Ask Jesus to be your Savior. Confess your sins to Him and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit. Then listen with your heart when you pray. He has so much to do for you. This is a faith that can give meaning to your life.

Are you the kind of person who needs to see things for yourself before you believe? Do you distrust the testimony of others if you were not there personally to experience it? It’s hard to have faith like that. In fact, that’s the opposite of faith. That’s called doubt and unbelief.

Jesus said: Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (Mat 29:29) Faith is about believing what you can’t see. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom 10:17) Faith comes by hearing, not seeing.

Five loaves and two fishes should do it.

Will you believe or not? Is God who He said He is? Yes? Then all the miracles of the Bible are true. And since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the same capacity for miracles is true today. What do you need? Five loaves and two fish should do it. That is, the same God who provided for lunch for five thousand hungry souls can do what ever you need Him to do today. All you have to do is believe.

We make things so complicated, but God said, just believe. Try it. See what happens. Is it any harder to feed five thousand people or answer your prayer? A miracle is a miracle, and it’s all easy to God.

The angels already came to announce that God is with us.

Wouldn’t it be perfect if God sent angels to us to announce His presence and tell us all the things we need to know? Then we could nod and say, “That’s what I’m talking about! Finally, God is letting me know He’s for real!” We could really put our trust in Him, if we could see a sign with our own eyes. We all want the writing on the wall to make things perfectly clear.

The thing is, God already did that. The angels did come and announce His presence with us, and He did tell us very clearly what we need to do. He’s not going to do it again. The fact is, we are responsible for the message He already gave.

And the writing on the wall? The only time that happened, it was not a pretty message. (Dan 5:27) God has already promised to be everything that you need Him to be. All you have to do it take Him at His word. He is God, so He can’t lie. If there’s a problem, it’s with your faith, not His promise.

What will it take for you to believe Him? It’s going to take you finally letting go of the flimsy control you think you have. Give it all to God and let Him show you how it really works. There is blessing in that trust to protect you so He can be everything you need.

The gate is narrow, but not impossible to get through.

You’ve been warned. Jesus said it up front: Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mat 7:14) He came to bring salvation, not a path of rose petals. The path is tricky to follow,  and only those who stay with it will find the salvation He promised.

Why is the road so hard? Two reasons. 1. Our nature is selfish. We live to satisfy our own desires. We can’t help it, we’re born to think of ourselves first. And it’s a very strong desire to save ourselves and satisfy our own wants.

2. We have an enemy who lives to see us fail. Since he lost his place in heaven, satan’s only thought is how to hurt God by hurting us. He works against us in every single place he can. Those areas where we actually feel good about giving to other people come under attack so it gets harder to do than it should.

The gate to salvation becomes very narrow indeed, because God calls us to be selfless. It goes against our own desires, and the work the enemy presses against us. Only putting everything in God’s hands gives us the strength and courage we need to follow Him as we should. Daily prayer, daily commitment to the One who loves us best, will fill us with all we need to rise up in blessing to those around us. It may take effort, but it’s not impossible.

Do you have a reality of God? Is God as real to you as your morning coffee? So real that there isn’t any doubt and all your thoughts and decisions are shaped by how real He is? Me neither. But I wish that was true.

While I sat back and contemplated God, I had a picture of an angel appearing in front of me. How would I react to that? That’s the kind of thing that would shake up your theology. I could just see the angel looking at me in frustration and asking, “What are you doing!” As if I hadn’t been aware of God enough to value Him in my life as I should.

I want a greater reality of God.

I could imagine that an angel appearing in front of me would change my life forever. I would see and know the presence of God first hand. But Jesus said, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29) We don’t need an angel to convince us of God’s love and power in our lives. That’s what the Holy Spirit is for.

But He makes me hungry to know Him more. And the good news of that is: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. (Mat 5:6) I’m ready to be filled.

Give us this day our daily bread.

We are instructed to ask for our daily bread. Like manna, it’s a daily request. Are your hours being cut back at work? Is there a layoff on the horizon? Do the kids need shoes? Your daily bread is everything that you need to live — your income, your home, your car, etc.

Trust God to take care of it. If the layoff comes, relax. That’s what faith is all about. If you knew what God knows, you wouldn’t need to have faith. But God doesn’t operate like that. He wants our dependence to be on Him all the time. God promised to take care of you if you trust Him.

That trust is wrapped up in the command to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then everything you need will come to you. That means that you have to ask for all things of God in your life — forgiveness, grace, peace, love. Those things must be more important to you than where the money comes from.

Trust God and relax. He’s got you covered, but that covering only works if you look to Him first. Asking God for help and then stressing about it is not faith. Just believe. It’s going to be ok.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.

As much as we love the power of God’s love, there is another message that takes a little maturity to fully receive. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5: 10)

I’m not sure that means being thrown to the lions, but it can definitely be deadly even today. Christians in many parts of the world are not only persecuted, but killed for their faith. That is the kind of faith that God is looking for, even if your life is not on the line.

In light of our brothers and sisters being martyred for what they believe, can we even handle a little harassment? For many of us, it’s not even harassment, it may be a little ridicule, or even silent judgement. We’re so sensitive to needing acceptance, that it’s too easy to hide our faith in case we’re not included in the crowd.

And what if you are harassed? What if you are openly ridiculed or judged? Would that change what you believe? Would that change who God is? Would it matter? No one is saying it’s easy being openly judged, but if you know the truth of God, then you have a very firm foundation to stand on. No matter what, the truth will set you free, and that is awesome.

It’s time to celebrate! Jesus won it for you.

There’s a great quote by Bill Johnson in his book. A Life of Miracles, “And since Jesus has all authority, that leaves none for the devil. The all that Jesus possesses has been handed over to us.” None for the devil because it’s all yours! He has nooo authority.

So when the devil walks around like a roaring lion, he’s doing everything he can to scare you because he knows, if you don’t, that you don’t have to put up with him. If he can make you doubt at all, he wins. If he can make you scared, he wins. If he can get you frustrated with God’s timing, he wins.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s very clever at using all the tools at his disposal, but it’s just smoke and mirrors. You have authority. All of it. All you have to do is say no. No to fear. No to doubt, No to frustration, anger, resentment, poverty, pain. Anything that comes from the hands of the enemy can be blessed and turned around.

Satan doesn’t have any power over you unless you give it to him. You get to win, not only for yourself, but for everyone that you pray for. It’s what Jesus died for. Receive that authority with great thanks and use it.