| "So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy." I Peter 1:13-16 (The Message Bible)
�Soooooo,� interesting little word here, meaning, taking into consideration all that has gone on before and because of it this is what I want you to do. My mind went immediately to�.well what has gone on before this? His readership is �to exiles scattered to the four winds,� Vs 1. Have you ever felt like an exile�alone�banished from former existence�never to return�isolated�removed from your friends and family. And to make it worse, scattered by persecution; not an act of your choice, but a random scattering. Right away in the Spirit most of us can identify with those feelings. There are times when we all feel isolated�persecuted�removed from friends and family. Because of some act or person we have found ourselves outside the flock and we all know what happens to sheep outside the flock. But Peter being an awesome shepherd of the people, identifying with these feelings of isolation goes on to say��Not one is missing, not one is forgotten. God the Father has His eye on each of you.� vs. 2 This is what a good shepherd does; he reassures the sheep in their situation that God has everything in control�even though it seems like everything is out of control�.He has not forgotten you, not one of you�.is out of the watchful eye of the Father. Let us never forget that Jesus went after the one. It is because of His act of redemption through His shed blood you are the one He has come after. You may feel... isolated. You may feel... rejected. You may feel... discouraged. You may even feel... condemned, because of your situation. BUT THAT IS NOT YOUR REALITY. This is your reality� Father God has His eye on you and He loves you with an everlasting love. This book is written so that those who are exiled or isolated will survive and thrive in their circumstances in spite of being scattered to the four winds. Not one of us is missing in action! Not one of us is forgotten! God the Father has his eye on each of you, �and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus.� Vs 2 �Soooooooo, roll up your sleeves,� It is time to take action! I am reminded of the movie, Sister Act, when Whoopi Goldberg sees the condition of the church and the impact it has on the community and decides to make a change. Here is what I am saying�roll up your sleeves like she did�it is time for things to change� There is work to be done! James reminds us that �faith without works is dead!� No one ever said the Christian life was easy. Where does change start; IN THE MIND. First conceived is the thought. Then the action follows by faith. �Sooooooo, roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear,� I remember my grandfather teaching me to drive in an old stick shift�he made me go up every little hill and mountain he could find until he was sure I had the hang of it. (In fact I was on that same hill last night) He said working a car was all about knowing what gear to put it in to get it to do what you wanted. Peter says lets get your mind in gear, let�s control it and not let it control us. Prepare yourselves to run more smoothly the race set before you. It all starts in the mind set. �The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace; the mind set on the flesh is death.� Do you really want to die out there isolated in exile? If you want life and peace then you will learn to put the Spirit over your thoughts. Gear up, its time for a change. �Sooooooo, roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives.� Let�s open our car up and let it run full throttle with the wind. We have a purpose�we want to be ready to receive with openness and joy the gift of Jesus Christ. Open up! Don�t close your mind off to receiving from the Lord. All things are possible in Him. I don�t care where you are�or what your circumstances are�.He is there to give you the gift of Himself. Do you want this? Again, we are back to a mindset. We pray for revival�we pray for rain�but we don�t bring our umbrellas, because we don�t really believe that revival is at hand. God help our unbelief. He is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to prepare ourselves�we have been too long in the back forty�licking our wounds� settling into our aloneness. �Sooooooo, roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing� Uh oh. Now here is where the rubber really meets the road, gear down some, take this in, and don�t be lazy. Another word for lazy is slothful�another word for slothful�is depressed! I am not speaking to any of you what I have not spoken to myself, believe me. No one has a tendency to feel isolated more than myself. When I found out that slothfulness meant depressed in the Bible�I took a long second look at my aloneness. Do I want that confession to come out of my mouth again�..no! The thoughts become action; we must learn to put our minds in gear at the appropriate times to get the most out of our lives. Our minds are the battlefields. Just because we are out there, does not mean that we allow ourselves the privilege of returning to the �old tapes.� It is so easy to just let ourselves go and get slothful and yes, depressed. Our mind goes to�pity me�who cares anyway. This is honesty, this is self and it stinketh. This is the mindset on the flesh is death. I don�t care what your circumstance is or how you got out there, exiled�separated and alone�but that does not give any of us the right to do whatever we feel. Our feelings will do us in every time. Nobody knows that better than me. �Soooooo roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now.� And here is the crux of the matter�we have been taught a better way. We have not always been out here�isolated�exiled. We have been taught by the divine hand of God and we know to go back to the old ways is death to our spirit. We know what is right. We are fat cats at receiving the word of God, we have listened for years and years and years and been fed well�and still we get lazy�slothful�.depressed. Uh oh we just geared down again. When you are out on the highway of life�traveling in your car and you start to go up those hills and around those sharp curves it is necessary sometimes to gear down�everything is not at full throttle in the highest gear. The Lord is telling us it is time to gear again� It is time to press in� Take a closer look� Prepare our hearts to receive Him afresh! We know there is a better way� We have tasted of it� We will not be content... UNTIL... WE HAVE THE FULLNESS OF GOD! He is not going to take us back�there is new road ahead. Rethink your mindset�you will not even begin to imagine the glories of the road ahead with Him. Has He ever failed you before when you surrendered yourself to Him. No!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Emphatically, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life,� Don�t forget who your Father is. I am reminded of Daniel in exile�a young teen�but so in tune with the Spirit of the Lord that he would not accept the food from the king�s table. He ate what the Spirit told him to eat�.and he became healthier and wiser than all those who were fed from the table of the king. Let it be so with us Lord. Peter speaks the good confession over us�obedient children. I can see him now�even repeating himself�you are obedient children�you are being drawn by the Father�pulled unto Himself�shaped by His hand. Who can come lest he be drawn or pulled? But you, you always listen for the Father�s call�.and if you do that�your life will reflect His glory. You are in the Potter�s Hands�let Him mold you�let Him shape you. Hear the call�you are obedient. No matter where you are�scattered to the four winds�or alone in your apartment�sitting in a room full of people, yet alone�isolated by finances�grieving over the loss of a friend or family member�look up! He is your Father and He loves you�let Him shape your life. Have you done such a great job of it? �So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.� Let Him bring back your energy and renew your strength as the eagles. Let Him restore the �passion� in your life. Let Him put your car back out on the road again full throttle�take the land! Let him set your heart on fire! Let Him set you as a city on a hilltop for all to see�a place of refuge for those who are still lost and exiled. Let Him restore your purpose! Let Him fill your days with the glory of His Presence. Step by step, moment by moment�glory to glory let Him transform you by the renewing of your mind. Throw open your doors the King of Glory is about to come in again! What does it mean to be blazing with holiness? Change your mindset�and you will see? PUT YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT and others will see that there is a difference in the way you live and act and communicate. You are alive with the Spirit of the Living God, set apart for His service. You are a peculiar people, a holy priesthood, and a company of the committed dedicated to His service and there will be a NEW FIRE IN YOUR SOUL "So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, and be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy." I Peter 1:13-16 (The Message Bible) Holy means set apart or separated unto God; not separated unto ourselves. Jesus was holy or set apart for the sole purposes of God the Father. He did nothing unless He saw the Father do it first. We are separated or holy in that same sense. We do what we have seen Jesus do�because He is in us. We in ourselves are not holy�but because of His righteousness in us we are deemed holy. We are the �set apart ones.� We are the ones that have accepted the call and been drawn into a place of glory with Him�not separated to die, but separated to newness of life!!!!!!!!!! -revdlj |
| k |
| Spirit Filled Christian Women Empowered by the Word of God |
| W.A.I.T. |
| Meditations 2006 |
 |
 |
| S |
| S |
| j |
 |
| S |
| S |
| S |
| j |
|
| Are You Gearing Up! |
 |
 |
 |
| Teachings |
 |
| "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:11-13 (New American Standard Bible) |
| "I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes." Psalm 119:99 |
| "And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." I Cor. 12:28 |
| k |
| k |
| "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1 |
| k |
| " But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them�bringing swift destruction on themselves." II Peter 2:1-3 |
| k |
| k |
| For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. II Tim. 4:3 |
| k |
| "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Hebrews 5:11-13. |
| k |
 |