FEAR NOT

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” – 2 Timothy 1:7 ^NLT

            2 Timothy is the 2^nd letter the Apostle Paul sent to Timothy, who was to be Paul’s successor after the Apostles death. Timothy was known to be somewhat timid, which explains why Paul forcefully states that God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity. Timothy was the product of a mixed marriage, his father being Greek and his mother being Jewish. He was to spend considerable time attempted to convert Jews to Christianity during his ministry.

            It’s a difficult thing to minister to anyone without thinking about being rejected. Having someone scoff at you or simply tune you out and walk away can be highly discouraging. Depending on your personality and your temperament it could lead to depression. Yes, even Christians can get depressed. It doesn’t make them faithless or less than saved. Depression is a real emotion that affects millions of people in the world today and believers are not exempt.

            Our difficulty in balking at speaking out regarding our faith publically lies in our focusing on the wrong thing. Focus on your circumstances and you will crash and burn every time. Focus on God and you will rise to heights you never knew were possible. This world is dying and has nothing to offer. God has eternity to offer and we have been chosen to deliver the message one way or the other. Tap into God’s power and love and do great things for the kingdom. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.

GENUINE LOVE

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” – 1 John 3:18 ^NLT

            How clearly do your actions show you really love others? How well do you show that the needs of others are more important to you than your own needs? We can tell people we love them all day long, but do they feel loved?

            Far too many people in this world say one thing and do something quite the opposite. I have met many folks that are so self-absorbed that they barely notice anyone else around them. To them life is “all about me”. As Christians we should set the tone, leading by example. We need to love the unlovable among us. Whether believer or not, everyone needs to be loved.       

            I greet many people at work each day. One day I tried an experiment. I waited for them to greet me first and amazingly enough most of the folks I say hello to every day acted like they didn’t even know me. Genuineness is a precious trait to have; yet being disingenuous seems to be far more prevalent. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Encourage and lift up others, don’t ignore them or even worse, tear them down. We are the only Bible some people will ever read. How will we reach them for Christ if they don’t see Christ in us? Walk the talk. Live out your beliefs daily. Show your spouse, your kids, your brothers and sisters in Christ and non-believers that you truly love them because you see them thru the eyes of God. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; www.biblegateway.com.

LIVING A GODLY LIFE

"I have the right to do anything," you say--but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"--but not everything is constructive. – 1 Corinthians 10:23 ^NIV

         Whatever we do that involves our senses has an impact on us either positively or negatively, depending on what we are doing. If we do something that seems innocent enough we must remember that thing that we are looking at, hearing or physically doing will impact us in some way. It may cause us to make a poor decision at a later date. It may or may not encourage or edify us. Just like the Corinthians of Paul’s day, we can do absolutely anything we choose to do but regardless of what we do consequences will always follow.

            It is so very important to fill our minds with that which is godly. The Apostle Paul speaks of this in his letter to the Philippians:

            “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

            And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”  ^{Philippians 4:6-9 NLT}

            This world and our old nature tug at us continuously. Don’t give in to your baser self. Consciously seek to grow in your relationship with the Lord and watch your spiritual life flourish. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: www.biblegateway.com, www.biblehub.com

DO GOOD & SHUN EVIL

“Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” - Proverbs 14:22

Man is inherently evil. Unregenerate man, when given the choice of doing something good (selfless) and doing something bad (selfish), the majority of the time will choose something bad. Man is selfish and self serving. It takes the jolt that the Holy Spirit provides to wake man up to the reality of something greater then themselves.

            It should be noted that when someone does something bad it is normally for that persons benefit, without concern of any fallout to others. Those who do something good typically do it for another person where a blessing is squarely placed on the heart of that other person.           

Those that strive to do good will experience the love and faithfulness of God. The benefits of the person doing evil will be short lived. In the end they will crash and burn to the ground, but those who do good will be blessed beyond measure by their Heavenly Father. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: www.biblegateway.com

LOVE CASTS OUT ALL FEAR

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

                God is not encumbered with human emotions like mortal man. Fear doesn’t exist in God’s realm, but it happens to be prevalent in the world. This is because 1) we are not perfect, being subject to everything the world throws at us; 2) Satan is the Prince of this world and wishes to trip us up.  One way he can accomplish his mission is thru fear.  We, as followers of Christ, must come to the place where we realize once and for all that we have been freed from the power of the devil and are no longer subject to all he has at his disposal. This toothless lion would like nothing better than to trick us into thinking we can do nothing about our fears and all the other things that discourage us. God’s love casts out all fear. We must understand that this isn’t an instantaneous transformation, but rather a progressive development that materializes in your behavior over time.

            If we focus on God’s love we cannot be in fear because they cannot coexist. We will never be perfectly like Christ this side of heaven, but the sooner we start the sooner we will overcome that which is binding us. Since God is the very essence and Christ was the embodiment of love, we are in good company if we walk with them down the pathway of life laid out before you. Fear not; only trust in God. He will do for you all he has promised in his word. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Reformation Study Bible.

GRACE GREATER THAN ALL MY SIN

"My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." –      2 Corinthians 12:9

         God’s grace – favor we can’t earn and definitely do not deserve. It’s favor that comes by association, given freely as a gift.  The Lord is Almighty, while we are not. We are weak by comparison, every one of us. It’s my opinion that the weaker we are, the more God can use us. That’s probably because our ego doesn’t get in the way of God when he is moving. Men pride themselves for having Doctorates in Divinity, yet the first disciples were largely unlearned fishermen. (Except Luke, who was a physician.) In truth all we really need is a willing heart and a penchant for yielding to the Spirit as he ministers to us for us to be effective for the Lord. After nearly 39 years I still don’t have that down, but I haven’t given up.
          Grace leads us to receive the remedy for our gravest need, forgiveness from all our sin. Forgiveness causes our faith to explode and our trust to take hold. Knowing we have a complete do over without strings attached is humbling. We do nothing but accept God on his terms where we stand. Forgiveness lies in the blood of Christ, grace comes from the heart of God. Never make his grace a cheap thing. Without it we’d die in our sins and be separated from God forever! Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller

WE MUST BE CHRIST

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” – Proverbs 17:9 NLT

            There are times in all our lives when loving people is extremely difficult. Human kind in general can be a pretty unlovable group. I have learned thru the years that imitating Christ has a lot to do with what we do NOT say rather than what we DO say. I have also learned that those who shun or make fun of believers in God are often the ones who need unconditional love the most. I’ve learned that there are times when we are done in by friendly fire. The conclusion I have recently come to is that it is godlier to endure the verbal onslaught and love the antagonizer anyway. Every time we forgive, we become a little more like Christ.

            God’s general will for all believers is to allow our character to have an overhaul. We must strive to be like Jesus and Jesus would forgive any and every assault and love that individual anyway. He loves us in spite of ourselves. We are human and will make mistakes. God knows this which is why he says in 1 John 2:1 essentially that it’s God’s desire for us not to sin because of all the teaching we have heard, but if we do sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. We are loved unconditionally in spite of anything we might think, say or do. None of us deserve it, but that is exactly what grace is. Those we are at odds with don’t deserve it either, but remember, we’re not judge and jury … we must be Christ to them. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

1 John 2:1  “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.”