Joshua 6:8-21 Study By: J. Hampton Keathley, III

So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. 9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” 11 So he had the ark of the Lord circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp.12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. 16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 17 Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, areconsecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

   The Preparation
     
          We should not forget that these instructions and the events of this chapter were preceded by a number of things God used to prepare the people to believe and obey Him. Israel had been prepared to trust the Lord by the events of the first chapters and their consecration to the Lord, especially in chapter 5. Luke 16:10 says, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Spiritual preparation is fundamental to our ability to appropriate God’s strength in exchange for our weakness.

The Prioriety Silence

Can you imagine the difficulty of this? Several hundred thousand people marching around the city without a word, not even a whisper! There were the priests with their trumpets, those with the ark, the armed men and then the rest of the people. This may have included the women and children as well. If this was the case, the silence may be even a bigger miracle than the walls falling down!

The passage does not tell us why they were to be silent, but perhaps it illustrates and teaches the principle of being silent before God and just resting in Him. Does any passage come to mind? What about Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Then there is Psalm 46:10:11 which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us …” As this Psalm suggests, the silence teaches us the need to get quiet, to stop our running around that we may rest quietly in Him as we think on Him in the midst of our trials and conquests in life. Our tendency is to gripe and complain to others or seek our comfort from people more than we talk to God and seek our comfort from Him.

The Principle of Obedience through Faith

Regardless how unusual the plan was or how hard it was to carry out, there was explicit obedience. We read in Hebrews 11:30, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down …” In spite of the taunts that were perhaps hurled down at them from the walls as they marched silently around Jericho, they were willing to look foolish and simply rest in the Lord. He was their source of strength.

If we want to overcome our obstacles and testings, we must submit to God’s way by faith:

For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5).

22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord. He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:22-23).

The Principle of Endurance

Joshua’s command in verse 10, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’” shows the people must have understood God’s plan would involve more than one day. Yet, a careful reading of the text also suggest Joshua did not unfold the entire plan at the first, but day by day gave them instructions. Each day they would go out and march silently around the city and then return with nothing happening. The walls were still standing and Jericho had not surrendered. Yet, they did not murmur or complain or question Joshua’s instructions. They simply obeyed day after day until the seventh day when they marched around the city seven times. At the command of Joshua on the seventh day they gave the great shout and the walls came tumbling down by the mighty hand of God. Is it not significant that Hebrews 11:30, which says, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been circled seven days,” is followed in the next chapter, 12:1-2, with a charge to run the race set before us with endurance by looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith? This remind us that the Lord often works slowly. We want immediate deliverance, but the Lord often tests our faith and in the process builds our character and our relationship with Him so we find the Lord to be what we really need.

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

Too often we want immediate solutions and all our needs and wants met so we do not have to wait on the Lord and trust Him. We want to trust in our health, our bank accounts, our position in the community, our reputation, in our talent, education, and abilities. We don’t want to trust the Lord alone.

God's Armor For Us

We are engaged in a spiritual battle-all believers find themselves subject to Satan's attacks because they are no longer on Satan's side. Paul tells us to use every piece of God's armor to resist Satan's attacks and to stand true to God in the midst of those.

Piece of Armor

Belt (girded at your waist)-  is used in Truth

• Satan fights with lies, and sometimes his lies sound like truth; but only believers have God's trust, which can defeat Satan's lies.    

Breastplate- is used in Righteousness

• Satan often attacks our hearts--the seat of our emotions, self-worth, and trust. God's righteousness is the breastplate that protects our hearts and ensures his approval. He approves of us because he loves us and sent his Son to die for us.

Footgear- is used for Readiness to spread the Good News of the Gospel

• Satan wants us to think that telling others the Good News is a worthless and hopeless task-the size of the task is too big and the negative responses are too much to handle. But the footgear God gives us is the motivation to continue to proclaim the true peace that is available in God--news everyone needs to hear

Shield- is used in Faith

• What we see are Satan's attacks in the from of insults, setbacks, and temptations. But the shield of faith protects us from Satan's fiery darts. With god's perspective, we can see beyond our circumstances and know that ultimate victory is ours.   

Helmet- is used in Salvation

• Satan wants to make us doubt God, Jesus, and our salvation. The helmet protects our minds from doubting God's saving work for us.

Sword- is The Spirit, the Word of God

• The sword is the only weapon of offense in this list. There are times when we need to take the offensive against Satan. When we are tempted, we need to trust in the truth of God's Word.                                                

"What Christians Should Do" (A personal study)

What Christians Should Do

Colossians 3:1-17

In this Chapter, Paul explains true Christian behavior-putting on the “new man our new nature” by accepting Jesus Christ and considering our “old man our old earthly nature” dead.

·      We must change not only our moral behavior and character change by letting Jesus Christ live with in us, so that he may continue to shape us into what we should be, which is “that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” according to Romans 12:1.

·      You may be asking yourself, “Holy? Me” Yes a Holy and acceptable. When we offer our body, God intends it to be a holy and acceptable

Living the New Life Not In Carnality but In Christ and The Character of the New Man.

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

·      We must set our sights on the realities of heaven, which means that we must put heaven’s eternal priorities into daily practice. We must focus on the eternal matters and not on the temporal issues. Do not focus on the here and now, but focus on the then and there (eternity).

·      We are told to seek those things which are above, and set our mind on things above. But how do we practically seek and set?

o   By spending time in the Word of God.

o   By spending time in prayer.

o   By spending time with things that build us up in God instead of merely entertaining us.

o   By gathering with others in the Lord.

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

·      V3. Hidden means “concealed and safe”. This is not only a future hope but also a current fact.

·      One thing we must remember is that our service and conduct do not earn our salvation, but they are the result of our salvation.

·      V4 Christ gives us power to live for him now and gives us the hope for the future. We must remember that his return is our hope and expectancy and can happen at any time.

5 Therefore put to death your members, which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

·      The sins mentioned previously are part of the way the world lives, not the way Jesus lives. Every Christian is faced with a question: “Who will identify with, the world or Jesus?” Paul tells us to put to death these 5 things. We should find ourselves dead to sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Now please try and understand that Paul is not against sex, but against its perversion.

·      What is the line between the two?

o   The Bible is clear in celebrating heterosexual, monogamous marriage as the proper situation for sexual fulfillment. As Christian men and women you should be open to true love and to physical intimacy-within the boundaries of a lifelong committed faithful relationship. That is God’s Way! The rest is dangerous, sexual sin and perversion will cause you to turn your eyes away from God. (elaborate, expound on the world today, and do not conform.)

·      V6. These sins invite the wrath of God. Because the world loves this kind of sinful lifestyle. One sin is enough to send anyone to hell. (elaborate on 1 sin, but they are forgiven except one.)

·      V7. In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them: These sins may mark a world in rebellion against God, but they are in the past tense for the Christian.

o   A true Christian cannot be comfortable in habitual sin.

o   Paul says that Christians once walked in these sins. It is possible - though tragic - that these sins should occasionally mark a Christian’s life, but they must not be a Christian’s walk or their manner of living.

8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

·      In 3:9, Paul tells us to rid ourselves of the things that deal with sins of speech, because these are relationship breakers.

·      As Christians we can think of these as “little” sins that are often overlooked.

·      Paul challenges us to be careful with what we say and asks us to bridle our tongue. James 1:26 states “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” No matter how spiritual we are we need to be more effective in controlling our speech. How many times have we “eaten leather” or in Bob’s case put our fit in our mouth.

·      Our tongue is one of the most powerful things we have guys. This is how powerful it is. James 3:6-12 states, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth-fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.”

·      The more notorious sins of Colossians 3:5 are easily seen as incompatible with the nature of Jesus. But these “lesser” sins are also incompatible, so put off these sins also.

10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

·      It almost seems like you a change of clothes, we can almost picture yourself taking off the old and putting on the new man in Jesus.

·      The new man is renewed in knowledge; he is hungry to know what God says in His Word.

·      Remember that if you are a Christian you should act like it. To be a Christian is a straightforward step. You must put rid yourself of all evil practices and immorality, and then commit fully to what Christ teaches.

·      Do not be discouraged though, because this is a lifelong process, the more we know Christ the more we are being changed to be like him. This takes practice, (practice what you preach and obey what you learn); it requires ongoing review (Lord what am I doing that I shouldn’t or what do I need to do that I am not doing), patience (simply waiting for the word to do the work) and concentration, (keep your eyes focused on the Lord).

·      V11 The new man is also part of a family that has an open invitation to join. There is no exclusions or exceptions in God’s family, other than our own free will to not accept that invitation, this family only favors Jesus.

Character of the New Man

In these verses Paul offers us a strategy to help us live for God day by day:

(1) Imitate Christ’s compassionate, forgiving attitude (3:12-13);

(2) Let love guide your life (3:14);

(3) Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart (3:15);

(4) Always be thankful (3:15);

(5) Keep God’s Word in you at all times (3:16);

(6) Live as Jesus Christ representative (3:17).

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

·      Now Paul is asking us to clothe ourselves with mercies, kindness, humility, meekness and longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. These are relationship builders, which we should express to one another as Christians.

·      Remember the criteria Jesus gave regarding how the world could judge His people: By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).

·      Each of these qualities also tells us what it means to live in the nature of Jesus, as Philippians 2:1-11 describes.

·      Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

·      We are told to live forgiving one another, after the pattern of Jesus’ forgiveness towards us.

·      The promise of forgiveness, as with the pattern of Christ’s forgiveness, is not made to the unrepentant, but to those who even show the slightest promise of repentance. Luke 17:3-4 states, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

·      Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection: Love is the summary of all the things described in this passage. Love perfectly fulfills what God requires of us in relationships.

·      And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body: The rule of the peace of God means that peace should characterize the community of God’s people, and that peace is a standard for discerning God’s will.

·      Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: The new man walks in the Word, and in worship with other believers.

·      Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus: The new man lives his life, all his life, for Jesus.

Seeking the Heart of God

Seeking the Heart of God

As Christians we have been very good at bringing the gospel message for people to receive Jesus into a person’s heart. But we have neglected an important part of the gospel and that is about seeking and living in God’s heart. God’s desire is that we would become united with Him. We are to dwell in Him and He in us. …truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3) Fellowship is the Greek word koinonia, which literally means partnership and communion. God desires that our heart becomes one with His heart.

      When we think about having Jesus in our heart we sometimes think of Him as about three inches tall and we sometimes treat Him as such (THE FIST JOKE). People sometimes receive Jesus into their heart and then go on with their same lives instead of living in His life, and serving Jesus for what a wonderful gift that He has given. Some people treat Jesus as a good luck charm and only come to Him when they have a need such as money, a job or any other sort of material possessions or an emergency, when mom or dad are sick, son or daughter are sick. But Jesus desires to live in more than just a part of our heart. He desires to fill our heart and our entire being. Imagine this, there are 7,184,637,500 people on the planet and Jesus, He desires to have His hands in our hands and His feet in our feet so that we will go and do what He desires. He doesn’t split himself up into 7 billion pieces and gives us a little bit of Him daily, but he gives us all of him. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides (lives and remains) in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Only what we do in Christ has eternal value. The chief end of man is to glorify and worship God until the end.  

      Living in Christ and seeking his heart is where you are transformed into a new person. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The revelation of being in Christ changes the way we see ourselves, and really “outs” us into knowing who we are. It is in Christ where His personality is united with our personality and we take on a new personality. We become a new person with a new attitude, new behaviors, new likes, and dislikes. We do not really know who we are until we see our selves in Christ, because our life is hidden in Him. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3) 

      Living in God’s heart is living in His love. Jesus says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:9-11) We live and remain in God’s love and fellowhip by following the commands that Jesus gave all of us. All of God’s commands have to do with love, loving God and loving others.

      When we are walking in God’s love and following His commands we can see His joy manifest in our heart. We then do His commands with pleasure, not because we have too, but because there is no greater joy than the joy that comes from expressing the love of Jesus in our lives and sharing it with others. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3-4) We do God’s commandments because we love Him, if His commandments cause a burden in us while we try and follow them, then our relationship with God is not in love, we are not living in Him, and I am sure that we are not living with Him either.

      We are commanded to love God with all of our heart and other people as our self. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31) When we are living in true love we are living in God.

      It is a good to take a real honest in depth look inside your own heart to see what changes need to be made for the sake of your relationship with God. We must look to see if there is anything in us that will hinder, block or could very well end our relationship with God. As much as it may hurt when God makes our hearts transparent and we see the wickedness that lies before us, we all must depend upon God to make the changes in our hearts that are necessary for us to be more like Him and to continue our fellowship with Him. We even need God to help us in evaluating our own hearts in the light of His word and by His Holy Spirit. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:9-10) 

      Jesus taught that we are defiled by what comes out of our hearts. And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  "All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:20-23) 

      Sin is a heart problem. The actions of sin happen when an evil desire in our heart conceives with a temptation from the outside. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:13-15) Sometimes people have hidden evil desires very deep in their heart and they lay dormant until an outside temptation revives them.  Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart;
 Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me,
 And lead me in the way everlasting.” We must let God search the deepest darkest parts of our hearts and remove anything that is not from Him and replace it with more of Him.

      Remember that Jesus said that the ruler of this world, Satan, had nothing in Him, (John 14:30). In other words there was nothing in Jesus’ heart that Satan could tempt Jesus into doing against the Father’s will. Temptation did come and it comes to people that have a perfect heart toward God, but the temptation does not have much appeal when there is nothing in a person’s heart to connect with the temptation. We must ask the Lord to empty our hearts disconnect from us anything that will cause the enemy to come at us like a roaring lion. We must not leave any loop holes much less any foothold for the enemy to step into.

      The Lord is always looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward Him. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)  This does not mean God is looking for perfect people; rather He is looking for people who are looking toward Him as their hope of a perfect heart. I am sure glad that the Lord is not looking for perfect people, because before Christ we were not perfect and even after Christ we are still not perfect, however, our hearts should be seeking His heart, so that we can become imitators of his attributes.

      God has the ability to change our heart and even give us a new heart that is perfect toward Him. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) 

      The Bible says to delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Many people think that this is a way to get God to give you what you want, I believe that the meaning is deeper than that here is the passage. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. (Psalms 37:4-6)  If you delight yourself in the Lord He then is the desire of your heart, He is the one you long for, He is the reward you seek. What can be greater than the very presence of God? In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:11) 

      I believe that as we delight ourselves in the Lord He will change our desires and give us His desires, (He shall give you the desires of your heart). As we commit our way toward the Lord He will bring us into His righteousness. The Lord can change what we love and hate so that we now love and hate what He loves and hates. Again this shows how we become imitators of God and of all his wonderful attributes.

      God’s word promises that if we deeply desire His righteousness He will fill us with it. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)  The key is your desire. This is a challenging question for many of us here today. How much do you desire God’s righteousness? Are you willing to seek the Lord until He rains righteousness upon you? Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. (Hosea 10:12) 

      Jesus promises to reveal Himself to those who love and obey Him. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21)  A pure heart before God has great reward. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8) 

      We can keep our hearts perfect toward God by asking God to reveal and remove any thing in our heart that would keep us from loving Him with our whole heart. “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.”(Psalms 26:2-3) We know what is in our heart by the things that we think and the words that come out our mouth. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14) 

      What we think about is what is in our heart, and is what we become. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2) Do not let yourself be put into the molding press of this world. The world is just trying to squeeze every ounce of God from your life and remove God from you altogether. The word transformed is the Greek word metamorphoo it is where we get the word metamorphosis from, the word used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

      Another place that this word is used is in (2 Corinthians 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. As we focus our mind and our heart toward God, His Spirit is transforming us. Because when we set our heart toward God He sets His heart toward us.

      Jesus prayed that we would be united with the other members of His body, in Him and in the Father. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)  

Pride Goes Before Destruction

"Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, an not your own lips." Proverbs 27:2

There is one thing that will bring destruction in the life of a believer and that is Pride. This kind of pride is the one that does not lift up honor and glory to God, but lifts up our "self's." When we accept Jesus Christ as our LORD, we begin our walk well, our focus, our path is set on God and we are fully committed to Him. Then without a single warning, pride begins to rise up in our hearts which blinds us from all that God wants us to be. All of a sudden we feel like the foremost expert in all areas and believe we know more than He.

Pride comes in many ways shapes and forms. This is why we must remain cautious and be on guard. We must not open the door to it, not even a crack because the enemy will take advantage of the situation and rush right into our hearts and our thoughts making us think that we are better that what God desires. There is nothing wrong with a healthy self-esteem, but God wants us to learn how to handle pride.

I will admit that this is all true. Even now there have been several times that pride has interrupted the work that God has been trying to do. Trying to find within myself the solutions to many problems, the answers to others' problems, thinking that I know it all. Often times in just explaining a great blessing, whether at work, or in my personal life it turned out to be all about me. Pride slides into my life and builds up thoughts of self-promotions, selfish attitude, refusing to listen to advice from others, lack of submission to authority, and bragging, among many others. 

I realize now that I am no more important than those around me. I may feel that I know more, and can do more, but the bottom line is that God uses every single one of us for His glory. As time goes on and even at this very point of my life, I realize that when we sign up to serve God, we need to gain the right perspective which includes a humble and contrite heart. 

God bless,

Fonz

Wrestling with God

This whole weekend was a wonderful weekend and God was speaking loud and clear. There are many things that we keep to ourselves, that we never speak of. We never voice them or much less share them. These feelings or burdens can weigh us down so bad and wear us out as we walk through our daily lives. We pray that they are taken away, however, often times we tend to replay events to see where we might have gone wrong and try and fix problems.

Being a man, I will admit that I am very practical and want to find a solution to every problem. Many times, I play and replay the problem in my head several times over, day and night and try to see what went wrong and how to find some sort of resolution. However, there are times that there is no solution. It's baffling, I know. Yet, the problem is there, being carried as a burden and making us weary.

Today I wrestled with God, yeah, that's right, I wrestled with him and He won. I am thankful that He won. Today, I opened up and said the things that I was scared to say and share, and let Him know what was inside me. I realized that although I had surrendered myself to him 6 years ago and accepted Him as my LORD and Savior, I was still Lording over many areas of my life. I was still in charge of things. Today that all changed, I no longer want to Lord over anything in my life. I want my LORD and Savior to Lord over, my thoughts, my heart and my life. He totally removed that pain, that hurt, and the anxieties that had me in bondage. I can say now that I am free, and experiencing a whole new phase of my life in Christ.

I am thankful to God for everything that He has done in my life, in His perfect plan for me. No matter the sufferings, no matter the afflictions, God is faithful and has shown me how to be content. I no longer have control of my life, all control has been given to My GOD!

God bless,

Fonz

We share in His Vulnerability

"But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are all witnesses." Acts 3:14-15

It's like oil and water, the word "vulnerability" and "God" should not mix right, they are or should be on complete opposites of the spectrum. We know that God has several attributes such as, being all knowing, all powerful, and omniscient, so why would he be vulnerable at all.

What is vulnerability? The dictionary defines vulnerability as, "capable of being physically or emotionally wounded or hurt." This sounds more of a definition that fits us in our daily lives as we live in this world. We are susceptible to being physically hurt each day with something so simple as stubbing a toe, or even a paper cut. Emotionally, we are all vulnerable, we are often let down many times by some of the closest people near and dear to us. That is human nature, that is why the Word says to never place your faith in man.

But did you know that God all knowing, all powerful, and omniscient, decided to make Himself "vulnerable." Many of you may be thinking, "Fonz, what the heck are you talking about, you have gone off the deep end." Well, believe it or not, it is what He did. He opened up and made Himself vulnerable to His creation by willingly putting Himself in a position to be hut by us both physically and emotionally. Now, we can see how a person can do this, maybe by being in a terrible relationship, where there is physical or emotional abuse. Now I guarantee that any person that goes into a relationship or opens up to somebody does not expect this sort of thing. We all go into relationships openly thinking that things will be well and we often times expose ourselves to much and not keep on guard. We expose our weaknesses and then the enemy uses that to hurt us.

As far as God is concerned we just need to look at the Cross to see this vulnerability, this is where His vulnerability becomes more alive to us. We see how Jesus Christ our Savior submits to being beaten viciously, whipped, slapped, spat on and nailed to a cross. Think about how God's heart broke to see this happening to His son. This shows us a picture of God caring enough for us to send His son to us and becoming vulnerable for us. Ephesians 4:30 talks to us about grieving the Spirit. "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

What is grieving? Grieving is anguish, heartache, woe, misery, sadness, sorrow. We can actually grieve the Holy Spirit by living outside of His will for our lives, for when we live outside the will of the Holy Spirit we are living in disobedience. So what will you do? Will you disregard how God opened Himself? Or will it break our heart to think about knowingly hurting Him anymore than we already have? What is your choice.

God bless,

Fonz