about your being SPECIAL (you are ya' know):
In the whole entire world there is NO ONE exactly like you. Oh yes, you may look your Mom or your Dad, or your Brothers and Sisters. But even then, you are not an exact 'replica' of them.
You have your own smile, your own voice, your own laugh, and your fingerprints are uniquely yours.
There is no need to imitate anyone else, you are not an accident, you are created for just such a time as this. There are people that you are able to 'touch' (and/or) influence that no one else is able to do in quite the same way. Plus, they are not able to do the same feats as YOU are able to do.
You are of a 'rare' value, and no one else can accomplish what GOD Himself has for you to do for HIM. You are an INDIVIDUAL.
You're SPECIAL You are who GOD has made you to be.
AND IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU...
IT IS SOLELY ABOUT HIM, HE alone created you,and it is for HIS purposes, for such
a time as this.
about WISDOM for TODAY:
Each of us are going to need WISDOM and true wisdom comes from out of a heart of WORSHIP, and that kind of WORSHIP only comes out of a disciplined obedience towards GODS own heart in this matter. WISDOM is a 'right response' to that disciplined obedience that HE requires. How would HE have us to respond? With a HEART of UNDERSTANDING and LOVE, and that takes WISDOM. Did the terrorists 'act' out of GODLY love, NO, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't. Did the terrorists 'act' out of belief in the Koran, again I must respond with an emphatic NO, no GODLY obedient 'belief would have allowed such behavior in taking another life. It's about WISDOM, and Proverbs 3:13 has this to say, "Happy is the man (generic) who finds WISDOM, and the man who gains UNDERSTANDING" (NKJV). I will say this, that the measure of a man's disciplined obedience, is proportional to the depth, as well as the quality, of his WISDOM. We MUST be submissive to His WILL, in not some, but in ALL matters in life.
about Heart:
"...Thou SHALL love the Lord they God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind.This IS the first commandment..." Matthew 22: 37b, 38
There is a great deal of difference between being a motivator and one that uses, or is manipulator of others, it is the difference (a distinction really) that requires having HEART; it requires having LOVE, having care and consideration for others.
It takes a great deal of HEART for anyone to have any ongoing relationship/s.
It is there, in a relationship, that we are able to reveal our hearts, it's that place
where we are able to share His presence with those we love, it is there, that is where is the presence, of The Living God.
� Knowing and living for God, takes a great deal of heart, a heart for HIM as well as a heart for others.
on GIVING:
Proverbs 3 9-10, immediately comes to mind whenever one speaks on that oft' dreaded word: GIVING.
Most, tend to only think these verses are speaking only about 'tithing' (and that, as being the 'first' of all you produce.) But, in verse 9 it says very plainly, "Honor the Lord with your SUBSTANCE". This not only carries with it, the meaning of that which you are earning right now, but it also means ALL that you may have accumulated along the way. Giving, means just that G I V I N G. But it also means being charitable to others that have no other 'means', such as those in the 'ministry' (as well as, but also, beyond your 'local' church).
Most Christians give with little, or no thought being given to their beneficiaries, yet it says in Proverbs 13:16 "Every prudent (cautious or careful-care full) man deals with knowledge (a full understanding)." and again, back in Proverbs 2:6 it says, "For the Lord gives wisdom and out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
We must not give just out of emotion, but out of a heart for God, whatever the circumstance, it may be a plea, via letter, television of telephone or it may be a 'call' from God Himself.. Certainly your 'local' Church must be a main recipient of each of our times of benevolence, but it MUST also include those ministries who are being attentive to God's 'CALLING', no matter how inconvenient.
Our main motivation MUST be in terms of our individual obedience. It says (again in Proverbs 14:15b), "A prudent man looks to where he is going (he gives thought to his steps-he knows where he is going)."
on SUBMISSION: it is not being under anyone's 'thumb', it is being accountable to another - 'shoulder to shoulder' as in a battle, 'back to back' as it were. As in a community of 'true believers' strengthened by the Spirit of God, not as a law unto ourselves, but doing everything 'as unto the Lord'. As in a true husband and wife relationship, as ordained by, and of, God Himself.
It is wanting the best for one another, this time and for all time. It is a social order created to express the fulness of Christ for such a time as this. As Jesus Christ did on the cross for us, we must give of ourselves for our husbands and our wives, for our friends, and for others, as the need may arise from time to time.
For sure it is almost radical, BUT, it was and is, the very nature of Christ.
You might want to read Ephesians 5:24 more closely. CHRIST is our source, as well as our resource, His authority, IS DECIDELY NOT, expressed in any 'authority' language.
about AUTHORITY...
It has certain responsibilities, without which not one of us could survive. We each have a responsibility to those around us: family and fellow-workers amongst others. Furthermore, we have that responsibilty whether or not we have been given ANY authority.
We all have that authorityin some fashion or another; some use that authority as a 'whip', others use it as a 'lever', still others use it as a 'their identity'.
One thing is for certain, only GOD, with HIS authority and in HIS SOVEREIGNTY dispenses authority, and that to whom HE wills
on EVIL: If one were to look back across the years gone by, across the pages of History, one would find (clear back to The Garden of Eden) the presence of evil. People have asked the question, "Why?" as if to ask that question of God. These days it is no different, "why", we ask, "does God do nothing about evil?" We become impatient with God because we see no results of His 'doing anything'. Why is God
so willing to even tolerate evil; "why" we ask, "does He not destroy evil with one stroke of HIS Mighty hand?" Too many, He may appear to many to be weak; but look at it not as any weakness, but rather His CALL to each of us.
Look at our own plight. If we would ask that same question of our own delinquency, we would 'hem and haw', that 'it is not our fault'. But we (none of us) are as righteous as we may think we are. God's tolerance of evil (even our own) is a not so subtle reminder, that it is HE that is in absolute and in ultimate control of everything, even our feeble attempts to control time itself , is in HIS accordance. We must acknowledge HIS Sovereignty over ALL. It is in HIS timetable, in the Bible it
is written, "Yet a little while." It is not up to us, but solely and wholly, up to HIM.
God's willingness to tolerate evil, is no different than our willingness to tolerate
sin in our own life, "Oh no, I have not sinned." you may say. But our Bible says it, and God sees it differently, it says, "There is NO man (generic man) that sins not." does that include you, does that include me? YES, yes it does. I believe that it is a summons (a'call' if you will) to serve HIM.
What then is bad? I am sorry, but that is not, and should not be the question, rather the question should be, "What is Good." and the answer most certainly must be, that only God is good. That HE should allow, HIS own SON to die in our place, is most certainly an indication of HIS GOODNESS. READ Isaiah 53, who could it possibly be speaking about, there is only one that fits that description.
Won't YOU follow HIM?