Obedience is the Key

If we listen and obey God, we are promised many, many blessings from the Bible. This is a truth that I have personally seen happen in my own life, time after time. But the tough part is this; it is a step by step process.

Wouldn't it be great if we could be on step #1 and suddenly jump to step #100, or whatever the final step was. I would love that! But what I have found in my walk with God is that it comes step by step. God tells me to do something and I obey - and that is a step. Then He tells me to do something else and I obey - and I have completed step two. Every step I am moving closer to what God has for me.

However, perhaps I don't like step three - maybe it doesn't sound like something I want to do - so I decide to jump ahead and go to step four, ignoring step three. My friend, you may want to try that, but it won't work. You can't go on until you complete the last thing the Lord told you to do.

Remember the scripture in Philippians 3:14, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He wasn't pressing toward the prize, but toward the 'mark.' The mark is the step. Each time you complete a step, you are closer to what God has promised you in His word. Each time you ignore a step, you come to a standstill.

Let nothing stop you from pursuing God. Let nothing stop you from pressing toward the mark. Don't let anything or anyone stop you from obeying God, step after step.

Often the things that God tells us to do are easy like - "call your friend and encourage her", or "buy that person a meal." Those are easy and we are glad to do them. But there are times that God tells us harder things to do like - "apologize to that person who offended you, even if it's their fault", or "forgive, forget and walk on." These things are not so easy and are the things that cause us to stumble and hold us up from completing that next step. But is it really worth it? Is that thing that you don't really want to do worth stopping you from walking in the promises of God? Is disobeying God worth giving up your blessings or giving up the things you are believing God for? No, absolutely not! Actually, those things that seem difficult, aren't usually as difficult as they seem once they are done - and obedience will take the weight of not obeying off you immediately.

Sometimes God desires that we do things that are not convenient for us ~ I had something like that happen just this weekend. I had family come in unexpectedly from out of town. With it being the holidays, I had a busy weekend planned. But, family is family, and this is my Dad's family and most of you know that my Dad went to be with the Lord a couple years ago. His family from another city was trying to stay in touch with Daddy's girls, so they traveled here. They planned to be here for two days, so I decided I would cook for them on the first day and spend a few hours with them and then they could visit my other sisters the next day.

I cooked and we spent time together and had a great time. As they left, I felt satisfied that I had done all I could to make their visit good. However, just a short time after they left my house, I got a call that let me know that the rest of their plans for that evening hadn't went well ~ and their feelings had gotten hurt in the process. So, I began to ask the Lord what I could do to make their visit good for the rest of the time. I cleared my plans and focused my thoughts on them and their happiness. It wasn't what my flesh wanted to do, I had plans, but I felt it was the 'right thing' to do. The right thing to do may not always be convenient for us. What God would have you do may not always be what you would choose. Sometimes we have to put other people's needs ahead of our own. Sometimes God wants us to sacrifice and sacrifice isn't always easy. But the reward is great. While my weekend didn't go as planned, I have confidence that I did all I could to make it pleasant for others and that alone blesses me. It was what I felt the Lord would have me do. You know sometimes God tells us clearly what to do and sometimes we simply know in our heart the right thing to do.

Perhaps today you feel like you are at a standstill. If so, look and see if you did the last thing that God told you to do. Often we put off obeying God because we have commitments or obligations or maybe we are not sure that we are equipped to do what He is saying. If God is telling you to do something, I can assure you that everything you need to accomplish it is on the inside of you already. Step out there and do it. I also know that sometimes we don't do things because we are afraid, I love what Joyce Meyer says in that case, 'do it afraid.' I have had to do a few things that way this year and really, it's not near as bad as the enemy wants you to think it is.

Step by step, we must obey and follow God, if not, we are often at a standstill and will be unable to move another step forward until we obey the last things He said to do. You can tell if you are on the right track and moving forward by one thing; peace, do you have peace? One day, I was driving home from a meeting far from my home and the Lord spoke this to me, 'go back to where you last heard my voice clearly.' I realized in a moment that I had gotten into fear and made a decision, a wrong decision, and a wrong move. But I turned around and went back to where I missed it and made the right decision and the right move and peace returned. So you see, it is never too late. Even if you feel God has told you to do something and you went the opposite way - you can still go back and reach the mark. He is ever merciful - His mercy is new every morning. He wants you to hit the mark more than you want to. He wants to shower you with blessings more than you want to be showered with them.

Again, whatever God has laid on your heart to do that will bring you to the next step - one step closer to your promise - go ahead, do it. It won't be nearly as hard as you may think - and you get closer and closer to God with each step of obedience. What could be better than that! Remember, the willing and obedient eat the good of the land. Taste and see how good the Lord is today - listen and obey! As you are quick to obey - He will be quick to bless.

A Carefree Christmas

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6)

Can you really have a merry Christmas even when you have a thousand and one pressures bearing down on you? Yes, you can--and you don't have to leave the country to do it. No matter how intense or how trivial the problems are that you're facing right now, you can have the most wonderful, most carefree Christmas season you've ever had in your life; and you can start having it today.

As a believer, you're probably familiar with that scripture that says to be anxious for nothing. But, have you ever taken it seriously enough to put it into action? There's a good chance you haven't because you haven't understood just how dangerous those anxieties are. You probably haven't realized that they're a deadly part of the devil's strategy against you.

That's right. Worry is one of the chief weapons of his warfare. If he can get you to worry about them, he can use the financial pressures and family pressures and scheduling problems that are just a "normal" part of everyday life to weigh you down and drag you into more trouble than you think possible.

Medical science tells us that a high percentage of the people hospitalized in the U.S.A. are there with ailments caused by worry and tension. Yet, a great many believers worry without even thinking about it. They'll worry about being too short or too skinny. They'll stew over this and that and not even realize they've been sinning.

"Sinning, Brother Copeland?"

Yes! For the born-again, Spirit-filled believer who owns a Bible--worrying is a sin. So, even if the Christmas cards are late and 45 people are coming to your house for Christmas dinner, don't worry.

Instead, do what the Bible says to do. Pray, making your request known to God...and praise Him for the answer. Then you'll have peace.

Now, go ahead and have a truly merry Christmas, you carefree thing you!

Scripture Study:  Matthew 6:24-34

 

The Fallacy of Full-Time Christian Work

Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

"I didn't know you were in full-time Christian work," said my close friend as we were driving. "I didn't realize that," she went on. I responded, "Every person who has followed the will of God in their life is in full-time Christian work." God calls some to the mission field, others to be accountants, and others to be advertising executives, and still others to be construction workers. God never made a distinction between sacred and secular. In fact, the Hebrew word avodah is the root word having the same meaning of "work" and "worship." God sees our work as worship.

We have incorrectly elevated the roll of the Christian worker to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a more secular environment. Yet the call to the secular marketplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.

I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into "full-time" service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the business world unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the marketplace.

We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the marketplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today and see your vocation as worship to His glory.

Receive the Lord Today

He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.  Proverbs 29:1 (KJV)

The Lord is merciful. He is reaching out His hand for all to receive Jesus today, not tomorrow. Don't think simply because you are young that means you then have a visa card of life to do whatever you want without consequences. Not true. God is against sin because sin will kill you.

Often reproved means that he's been warned and warned and warned. The Holy Ghost will warn you not to do this, not to go this way, not to be with these people, not to be in this place. He'll keep warning you. As he keeps warning people, there are people who will listen and then there are people who will not. They keep going their own way. Yet God keeps trying to get to them. You may have been rejecting God. God keeps calling for you, and you keep on rejecting him b ecause you want to do what you want to do, the way you want to do it, and still think you're going to get into heaven. Well, the scripture says that he that is often reproved shall be destroyed suddenly without remedy.

Suddenly he will be destroyed, and without remedy. I heard R. W. Schambach talked about how a 15 or 16 year old boy came to a church that he was pastoring. He drove a motorcycle. And the spirit of God moved on him to minister to that young boy and told him, "Son, you need to get saved today; Get saved today." The boy was being drawn by the Holy Ghost and shrugged it off. He said, "I'm not ready yet. I'll do it when I'm ready." He walked on out of that church. He got on his bike heading home. The pavement was wet and he therefore lost control of that bike and wound up in the grill of an 18 wheeler truck. He met eternity suddenly. He wasn't prepared. He thought he had all day.

I submit to you that you don't have all day to decide to follow God. Who are you to tell God to wait? Who are you to tell God, when you're ready? When God calls you, you'd better answer and come. He loves you, and His mercy is out there. So come to Him now while it is called today.

Scripture References: Hebrews 4:1-16; Matthew 11:28-30; John 6:37

What's Wrong with The Golden Compass?

With holiday movie releases just around the corner, we need to be careful what we watch, and what we allow our children to watch. The Golden Compass, set to release this weekend, is being marketed heavily and is gaining a lot of buzz among the general public. When lines between faith and fiction are blurred and when fantasy paints a dark picture—should Christians watch such movies? And more importantly, how might watching these movies affect our children?

Kellie Copeland, daughter of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland and children’s minister at Eagle Mountain International Church, explores this topic in her article titled, The Golden Compass—Pointing Children in the Wrong Direction. Take a few minutes to read what God placed in her heart about what we should and should not consider entertainment. Click here for the full article.

God bless you, and remember…JESUS IS LORD!

Are You Ready for Bigger Things?

"You...enlarged me when I was in distress." Psalm 4:1 AMP

Did you know that the hermit crab looks for a shell that fits him, then lives in it till he outgrows it? At that point he has to scurry along the ocean floor and find a bigger one; it's a process that repeats itself throughout his entire life. Are you clinging to something that no longer fits you, just because it's easy and familiar? David said, "You...freed me when I was hemmed in and enlarged me when I was in distress." To develop and grow spiritually you must be willing to move out of your comfort zone and deal with a little 'distress.'

What worked for you yesterday may not work today. Maybe it's a job you've outgrown, a relationship you need to reexamine or a behavior you need to change. Regardless of what it is, never become so 'settled' that you can't let go and move on when you need to.

Patience and persistence are admirable, but they won't work in situations you've outgrown. Instead of hanging in and trying harder, at certain points you have to stop and ask yourself, "Is this situation good for me?" If you're not sure, ask God for

"an understanding mind [to]...know the difference between...right and...wrong" (1Ki 3:9 TLB).

His Word says,

"If you need wisdom...ask [him], and he will [gladly] give it to you" (Jas 1:5 NLT).

When God says it's time to move on, it's because there's another shell out there that will fit you even better. But you can't take occupancy till you vacate the old one. So how about it - are you ready for bigger things?

Press In

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...." (Colossians 3:16)

Things in this old world aren't getting any better, and in recent times, the Holy Spirit has been speaking an urgent message to my heart. He's been saying, "Press in. Draw into a more intimate relationship with your heavenly Father. If you don't, you won't make it. If you do, you will see more glorious outpourings of God than you can imagine."

That message isn't just for me. It's also for you--and for every other believer on the earth today. We are in the last of the last days of this age. Jesus is coming soon. It's an exciting time, but it's also a dangerous time. Those who don't do what the Spirit says, who don't press into the Lord, are going to go from disaster to disaster. But those who do will defeat the disasters and turn them into glory, in Jesus' Name!

Your first step in drawing closer to God is to realize that you know God first in His Word. Time spent meditating in the New Testament is time spent with Jesus.

Most people don't realize that. So, instead of getting to know the Lord through His Word, they try to know Him through their feelings and that just won't work.

Letting the Word dominate your thinking is to allow the Holy Spirit to have control over your mind. As you do that, your feelings will eventually fall in line.

Remember this: John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. That means, when you spend time in it, you're spending time with Jesus. When His Word is dwelling in you richly, then Jesus is dwelling in you richly too!

Don't go from disaster to disaster. Take those disasters and turn them into glory, in Jesus' Name. Press into Jesus. Press into the Word and you'll make it through these dangerous days just fine!

Scripture Study: John 1:1-14

How to Reduce Stress

• Pray
• Go to bed on time
• Get up early so you can begin your day unrushed
• So no when projects won't fit your schedule or will compromise your mental health
• Delegate tasks to others who are capable
• Simplify & unclutter your life
• Allow extra time to do things and to get places
• Take one day at a time
• Seperate worries from concerns; if a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it and let it go.
• Keep Mouth Shut: this single piece of advise can prevent a lot of trouble

Think on These...

Trust in God with your whole heart, and lean not to your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

For we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18