In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1 NKJV
 
The day I met Jesus was not very dramatic. The days that followed were incredible. I was at a low point in my life. I was told I needed Jesus. The Spirit of the Lord came over me. I responded to the gospel. I gave my life to Jesus!
 
The first night of my new life God showed me my uncle Joe prayed for me. A few days later the Lord told me I needed to be baptized.
 
The first time I went to church I was caught up in worship. My hands went up. “I belong to my father in heaven” came out of my mouth again and again. It was as if someone else was speaking. I was overcome with peace and joy. A great burden was lifted from my soul! 
 
I began telling people God is alive.
 
God has spoken to me many times over the years. Sometimes He speaks to me in the stillness of the night. Sometimes a word or idea takes center stage in the theater of my mind. Sometimes I am prompted to speak or act. My heart races until I obey.
 
I have often wondered why the Lord would speak to me? Why would He visit me? Why would He bless me? There is only one answer that makes any sense to me. God can do anything He wants anytime He wants!
 
The Lord called me His servant. Why would He do that? It pleases Jesus to love me. It pleases Him to love you! We include the people we love in everything we do. Jesus wants you to be a part of everything He is doing!
 
God is alive. He wants to communicate with you. The Lord wants you to know that He is the God of Heaven and Earth. He can do whatever pleases Him. It pleases Him to have relationship with you. It pleases Jesus to call you His servant.
 
Will you listen for God’s voice today? When He speaks will you respond in faith and obedience? When the Lord calls you to speak will you speak the words He gives you to the people He sends to you? 
 
The Lord is sitting on His throne today. He is high and lifted up. The train of His robe fills creation. His holiness surrounds Him!
 
Isaiah was undone by the holiness of God. He confessed His sin. He stepped out in faith.
 
We all sin. We all fall short of the glory of God. Not all of us are humbled by God’s holiness. All of us are called to serve Jesus. Not all of us submit to the lordship of Christ.
 
Will you surrender your heart and life to Jesus? Will you serve Jesus all the days of your life?
 
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And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. Titus 3:14 NKJV
 
Paul instructs Titus in how Christian leaders should conduct themselves. He lays out the qualifications for church leadership.
 
We get too caught up in the idea of designating some people leaders and others followers. The qualifications for church leaders are guidelines that should be followed by all Christians.
 
The Church does need leaders. Godly leadership should be characterized by service. Jesus told His disciples; “But he who would be greatest among you shall be your servant.” Jesus chastised the leaders of the Gentiles who lord it over people. 
 
The United States Marine Corps trains all Marines to lead. God calls each of us to lead in different ways at different times! 
 
A new believer had questions. He went to someone who knew Jesus longer. His friend said, for God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Or, I don’t know but I’ll find out.
 
Someone will look to you for leadership and guidance. Other people can benefit from your walk of faith. There is someone somewhere you can help train up in the Lord. You do not have to be a Pastor Priest or Theologian to lead people to Jesus!
 
If we are a part of Christ’s Body we should act like the Body of Christ. If we believe the bible is the Word of God we should do what it says!
 
We are not saved by good works. Good works are evidence of Christ working out His good and perfect will in us and through us!
 
God wants to reach out and touch people right where they are. He wants to meet people’s needs regardless of what they are. The Lord wants to show people how much He loves them regardless of what they have done.
 
Jesus wants you to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs and produce fruits of righteousness today!
 
God is restoring His creation one heart one soul and one life at a time. Jesus wants you to join Him in His work. The Lord is calling you to lead His people by serving them!
 
Ask Jesus how you can share His love with someone somewhere today!   
 
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Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16 NKJV
 
The context of this portion of scripture is meeting specific needs. It is not the power of prayer although prayer is mentioned seven times in James 5:13-17. Anyone who is suffering should pray. Anyone who is sick should be anointed with oil and prayed over. 
 
Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. God told him to pray for the rain to stop. It did not rain for three years and six months. The Lord sent Elijah to pray when He was ready to send rain. Elijah obeyed. It rained.
 
Elijah prayed according to God’s will. The Lord answered. God answers when we pray according to His will. There are times when God will not act until we pray. Why did God wait until Elijah prayed before He did what He already determined to do?
 
God sent Elijah to pray publicly so there would be no doubt He was withholding the rain. He wanted to show Israel He is God of the heavens above and the Earth below. The Lord wanted to show Israel He answered when they prayed according to His will.
 
The Lord created us to live in interdependent relationships. God did not send an angel to declare it would not rain. He sent a man to speak to other men. He wants us to make our needs known so we can lift each other up in prayer. 
 
God does not need us to confess our sins to each other so He can forgive them. He does not need us to turn to each other so He can bring healing and restoration into our lives.  He knows everything we have done. Nothing is kept secret from Him.
 
God tells us to confess our sins and make our needs known so we can help each other.  When we pray for someone who is caught in sin we are praying according to God’s will.
 
God wants to set people free from bondage. He wants us to hold each other up in prayer. He wants to use us to meet each other’s needs. 
 
God wants us to help each other walk out our faith. A person who is struggling with sin cannot confess if no one is willing to listen. A person who sits in self righteous judgment cannot pray the effective fervent prayer of righteousness. 
                                                                           
We all struggle with sin. Saying we have no sin is the same as calling God a liar! 
 
Sometimes we just need someone to be open and honest with. We need people who care to pray for us!
 
Love Jesus with all of your heart mind soul and strength. Demonstrate your love for Jesus by loving people!
 
Push every hindrance aside. Pray effectively and fervently for the people you love. Your faith in Jesus makes you righteous in God’s eyes!
 
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Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:10 NKJV
 
God wants us to humble ourselves in His sight. He does not want us to lift ourselves up. If we are to be raised up He will do it.
 
Pride was the sin of Satan. He wanted to be like God.
 
Adam and Eve chose to believe the devil instead of obeying God. The human race and creation itself was affected by that decision. Adam and Eve were deceived but they made a decision to disobey God. Pride was their primary motivation.
 
The serpent told Eve when she ate the fruit her eyes would be opened and she would be like God knowing good and evil. The first man and woman were tempted by a desire to be like God. They wanted to decide the difference between good and evil.
 
Their eyes were opened. They did begin to know good and evil. They gained knowledge. They did not gain wisdom. Wisdom had always been with them.
 
God was with them. They had relationship with Him. Adam walked in the cool of the day with the Lord. He spoke to God. God spoke to Him. If Adam and Eve had questions they could have turned to the Lord.
 
If you have a true desire for wisdom turn to Jesus. He is the personification of wisdom!
 
Adam and Eve received ungodly wisdom because they turned to an ungodly source. The devil convinced them they could receive wisdom apart from God. He convinced them they could meet their own needs! 
 
We were created to live in a dependent relationship with God. He never intended for us to find our own path to wisdom. He did not create us to live in a world that denies Him. The world scoffs and scorns at godly wisdom. People exalt themselves above the truth!
 
God wants us to humble ourselves in His sight so He can lift us up!  
 
Jesus wants us to participate in His ministry. He wants us to join Him as He restores His creation one heart and soul at a time. God wants us to trust Him so we can share in the joy of seeing people brought back into His love and care!
 
Humble yourself in the sight of God. Let Him lift you up. He knows what is best for you.
 
The God of the bible has all the answers you will ever need. Turn to Jesus when you arrive at the crossroads of good and evil. He will guide you along the path that leads to blessing and prosperity. It will be the road less traveled but you will never get lost!
 
Turn to Jesus for the wisdom to make the daily decisions that determine the course of your life. Wisdom is in His right hand. Love is in His heart. And He will be with you!
 
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Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, Because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man will fade away in his pursuits. James 1:9-11 NKJV
 
God is not saying it is better to be poor than rich. The Lord is not encouraging the poor and condemning the rich. He is telling people who have limited resources to rejoice. They will receive an incorruptible inheritance from God.
 
Money comes and goes. Fortunes are won and lost. The American dream is a myth invented by sellers to induce buyers. We are all renters!
 
Our time on earth is very short in the light of eternity. You will live forever, either with Christ in heaven or not, but you will live forever. You cannot take your property with you. You will outlive your current financial status. 
 
Jesus came to break the curse of poverty. Poverty is a curse when it changes who we are in Christ. It is a curse when we live in hopelessness and despair. Poverty is a curse when we allow finances to bring division into the body of Christ.
 
Prosperity can be a curse as well. When we look to resources to meet our needs we deny the Gospel. Everyone sins and falls short of the Glory of God. The rich and the poor will be equally accountable before God!
 
God wants poor people to understand the blessedness of their circumstances. God can use our needs to draw us closer to Him. Our lack of resources highlights our need for Jesus. Poverty is not necessarily a blessing. Living in dependence on the Lord is!
 
God wants wealthy people to live in humility. The Lord gives and takes away. Wealth can be lost or squandered easier than it can be gained. Wealth is not always a blessing. It can be a snare that leads to bondage!
 
I woke up this morning with the word confluence on my mind. The dictionary defines confluence as the place where streams flow together; a gathering and mingling; a flocking together.
 
God loves us. He created us in His image and likeness. He blessed us with the capacity to give and receive love. Jesus wants us to love each other.
 
The Lord wants our lives to flow together. He wants us to gather together regularly. He wants His flock to live in unity. Jesus wants us to mingle gather together and celebrate His love for us!
 
Contentment promotes unity. Lust breeds division. If you learn to be content with what you have God will give you more, more love, more peace and more fellowship!
 
Bless the Lord, your neighbors and the Body of Christ. Be content with what you have!
 
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My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4 NKJV
 
God tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. He is not telling us to enjoy trials. Trials do not produce joy. Our faith in Jesus does!
 
God uses trials to mold us into the people He created us to be. He uses hardship and suffering to form Christ in us. They are evidence of His work in our lives. God wants us to count our trials joy because of the result of the work He is doing in us!
 
I served in the Marine Corps. I had to graduate from boot camp to become a Marine. Boot camp was eleven weeks of trials and hardship. There was nothing joyous about it. The day my father told me how proud he was of me I counted it all joy!
 
If you are suffering through trials pain and hardship today count it all joy. God does not expect you to enjoy it. He wants you to look past it.
 
Jesus has not abandoned you. He is working in your life today!
 
The testing of your faith will produce patience. Let patience produce its perfect work so you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing. 
 
How does patience make us perfect and complete so that we lack nothing? Patience is key to living the Christian life. All of God’s promises will be fulfilled. Not all of them will be fulfilled in this life. We will see the perfection of God’s will in the age to come!
 
The Lord wants us to have an eternal perspective as we journey through life. We are eternal beings. The time we live in our present bodies is a fraction of our eternal existence. This world is not our home. We are citizens of heaven!
 
Men in prison refer to their cells as their “house”. One of the men I worked with refused to call his cell his house. He said it was not his home. He did not want to get comfortable in it. He looked forward to returning to his true home.
         
We are wanderers and strangers in a world that is not our home. We will fall into trials of various kinds. Our faith will be tested. If we trust Jesus the testing of our faith will produce Godly wisdom and patience.
 
Our time on Earth will end. We will move on to our eternal destination. We will live in blessed perfection with our Heavenly Father. Our perfect existence will never end!
 
Trust Jesus today for a perfect future. Your hardship and suffering will end. Your blessings will be eternal. The Lord will turn your trials into testimonies your mourning into gladness and produce patience that will bear fruit through your faith in Jesus!
 
When you graduate into His kingdom your Heavenly Father will be very proud of you!
 
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And it shall be, in that day, Says the Lord, That you will call Me My Husband, And no longer call Me my Master, Hosea 2:16 NKJV
 
God commanded the Prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman. The Lord wanted Hosea to experience the rejection and betrayal He felt. 
 
God chose the children of Israel from among all the nations of the earth. He chose them to be special and set apart to Him. God chose to lavish His love upon them. He wanted to be loved by them.
 
God delivered Israel from bondage to the Egyptians. He provided food and water in the wilderness. He led them on their journey into the Promised Land. He gave them victory over their enemies.
 
Despite the love and care God lavished upon Israel they set their hearts on idols. They worshiped false gods that were not gods at all. They walked away from a set apart relationship with the Lord. They chose to live like the nations surrounding them.
 
God desired to live in intimate relationship with Israel. He desired their adoration love and praise.
 
God declared He would draw the children of Israel back into intimacy with Him. He would forgive them for idolatry. He would forgive them for rejecting and despising His love. God would transform their legalistic rituals into true worship!
 
These verses of scripture were written to people who lived long ago in a foreign land.  They were written for us today.
 
God is speaking to people who set their hearts on idols today. People who allow other things to occupy first place in their hearts. He is speaking to people distracted by trials and hardship. He is speaking to people attracted to things that glitter and shine but have no eternal value. 
 
God desires relationship with us above all things. He will draw us back to Him!
 
The Lord’s mercy and compassion are new every morning. The size and scope of our sins and failures do not matter. God is waiting for us to return to Him. He is waiting for us with a heart of compassion and forgiveness. 
 
If you have strayed from the love of God return to Him. He is waiting for you to seek Him. He is waiting for you to incline your heart to Him. Do not let anything prevent you from entering into covenant relationship with Jesus!
 
Almighty God longs for the day you will look at Him with the eyes of a bride adoring her beloved husband. Jesus longs for the day you will be as faithful to Him as He is to you!
 
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For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14 NKJV
 
Are you facing difficult circumstances? If you are not I am sure you know someone who is. Habakkuk faced the same issues we face today.
 
If God is in control of everything why do bad things happen to good people? God is not offended when we ask questions. Turning to God for answers to our questions is an act of faith.
 
We would not turn to God for answers if we did not believe He is in control of all things. We would not seek His wisdom if we did not believe He knows all things. There would be no confusion if we did not believe God loves us.
 
The Christian life is often described as a fight because it can be a struggle to maintain our faith during difficult circumstances.
 
We must focus on what we know when we are faced with uncertainty.
 
God loves you. He is for you and not against you. He will never turn His back on you. He will never leave you. He will be with you every step of the way as you follow Jesus!
 
Our circumstances do not change God’s character. He is just as faithful in times of trial and turmoil as He is when we stroll along the mountain tops of peace and blessing!
 
Jesus does not expect us to stuff our feelings or pretend all is well when it is not.
 
God wants you to bring everything to Him in prayer. He wants you to be thankful even when you think you do not have much to be thankful for. Our faith will bear fruit. We will spend eternity with Jesus. We will know the reality of unrestrained and unending Joy! 
 
Our trials and suffering will become no more than a distant memory. The old things will pass away. All things will be made new. That includes us. Our perfect glorified bodies will match our spiritual state. We will worship God in the beauty of Holiness!
 
The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. There will be no more crying death or sorrow. We will witness with our own eyes the fruit of our faith in Jesus!
 
Trust the Lord with your trials and hardships. Trust Jesus with your life!
 
The faithful will see the great and mighty works Jesus accomplished in us and through us when His glory is revealed!
 
Set you heart on the glory to come. Follow Jesus. When the earth is filled with the knowledge of His glory as the waters cover the sea you will know you are home!
 
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So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Hebrews 13:6 NKJV
 
God tells us to love each other. He wants us to be hospitable to strangers. He says marriage is good. Sexual intimacy within a marriage is also good. Sex outside of marriage or with a person other than your spouse is not good.
 
The Lord tells us not to be jealous or envious of the things other people have. We should not want more than He gives us. We should be content with what we have. Then God says He will never leave us nor forsake us. 
 
Obedience to God’s commands is a safety net. There is a blessing in store for people who obey His commands. When we love and fear God enough to obey Him no one can harm us because He is with us!
 
Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. We should fear only Him!
 
The Lord sees everything we do before we do it. He can protect us from anyone or anything at any time! 
 
God is not offering us a bribe to do things His way. He is teaching us the blessedness of obeying His commands. He does not need to prove He is large and in charge. He created the universe. He created us. 
 
God’s commands are given to us for a reason. Everything God requires of us is for a specific purpose. God loves you. When He tells you to do something it is because He wants to bless you. He wants to bless other people through you.
 
When God tells you not to do something it is because He wants to protect you from harm and heartache!
 
God is perfect. He does not make mistakes. God’s love for you is perfect. He wants you to experience His perfect love! 
 
God is holy. He wants you to be holy. Holiness is a blessing. Jesus offers you holiness through faith in Him.
 
God is in the process of teaching you to trust Him. He is in the process of teaching you to love Him.
 
Jesus wants you to live without fear because He is helping you. He wants you to live as if no one can harm you because He is with you! 
 
Do not worry about anything any other person can do to you. Give your heart and soul to Jesus. Trust Him with your life. He can take better care of it than you can!
 
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