My Attender

I've read this verse many times, and have thought about how glorious it was to have Angels come and attend to Jesus. They ministered to him straight from heavens glory, and they took care of every need he had, coming out of the 40 day fast. I was struck with something different today.

Scripture
Matthew 4:11
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him

Observation
After 40 days and 40 nights of tempting, Jesus needed an "infusion" (to speak) and it came straight from his Fathers throne and glory in the form of angels.

Application

Here's what is different this morning. Jesus was attended by angels. Who am I attended by? And when am I attended? I've never fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The Bible says in John 16 where Jesus is speaking; John 16 7-8 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Jesus continues:

13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Jesus sent me his attender-The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will give me and make known to me what Jesus is. Think about that and read it again. Jesus sent me a Counselor, The Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, so that I would have 1) A Guide, 2)The words of Jesus immediately interpreted and spoken to me, 3)Tell me things about my future and the future, 4)Make the things of Jesus know to me.

So what am I going to do with my Attender today? Am I too busy doing these earthly functions to sit down with my Attender and have him reveal more of Jesus to me? How do I do that? It is through meditation and talking with my Attender. The Bible says in Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. What a keen idea! If I keep the Word of God in my heart, so it does not depart from my mouth, and meditate on all of it, Jesus has told me that he will reveal all things through the Holy Spirit. The question is, will I be a regular attendee with my Attender, or will I only talk and hope the Attender is there when I am in trouble?

Prayer

Father, What a gift you have given me! You have given me Christ the Saviour of my life and then you provided a direct line from Christ for me. You have told me that I will never be alone. You provide all things. My Attender, the Holy Spirit is ready to reveal more of Jesus to me. I open myself up for that, and ask that you would continue your work in me as I metamorphosis from a human trying to be spiritual, into a spirit-led person who just happens to be human. Amen.

Three Times with the Tempter

Scripture
Matthew 4:3-11

3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'[a]"
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[b]"
7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[c]"
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'[d]"
11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Observation

The tempter came after Jesus three times

Application

If the tempter came after the Son of God three times, how many times will he come to us with temptations? I am a Redeemed Son of God, but I am human, subject to temptation and sin. The Lord spoke to me today that this scripture reveals why I need a minute/hourly/daily infusion of God in my life. The tempter is going to come at me a hundred different ways. If he thought he could trip up Christ, the Son of God with three tries; as a human-who has a track record of sinning and giving into temptations-what/when/how will he try on me. I am not going to get caught up in that, but what God is asking me to do is prepare. Be in full gear. Be trained. Be alert. In this book I am reading, Lone Survivor-about Navy SEAL's, the author-the Lone Survivor of an Afghanistan ambush-says that they are trained from the beginning to speak to their partner about ANYTHING that is different/anything funny/anything unsettled because they have to be alert at all times. So how do I do that? More time in study, more time in meditation, more time in prayer. The time in training will reap rewards when the tempter is near.

Prayer

Father, You are my protector. Your word says that you do not tempt anyone, it is only the evil one. Thank you that you have given to me everything I need to defend the tempter. You gave me Jesus, your Spirit, spiritual gifts for discernment and every tool of defense. It is through you that my defense comes, it is through you that I have victory, it is you I praise for it. Amen.

The Tempter

Went to the gym yesterday. Doing something to burn off a couple pounds, keep myself strong to fight off muscle strains/pulls and sickness. I was there about two hours. Do I do the same in my spiritual life, or do I "just don't have enough time"?

Scripture

Matthew 4:3 The temper came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread".

Observation

My mind went lots of different directions when I read this and what I first saw and heard is that "The temper will always come". Warren paraphrased. He came after Jesus, he is going to come after me. My mind quickly went to 1 Peter 5:8 where the bible says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." You know I feel like I am a good person, how will tempted today? Yesterday, in church, the sermon was from Number 11, about a complaining spirit. Maybe today I will be tempted to complain about my "lot", compared to others and not embrace the vast blessings God has lathered me with, maybe I will be jealous about the big boat and Cadillac sitting in my neighbors driveway, maybe I will speak words of strife and discord to a stranger for cutting me off in traffic, etc; my point is that the tempter will always come in one form or another, and the question is, "Am I trained to see the tempter for what he is, am I trained to combat him in hand to hand battle, do I spend more or less time training for the spiritual battle I know is coming then I do at the gym training this physical body which is going to fall apart anyway. Which one gets priority?

Application

1 Timothy 4:7 tells me to "Train Myself". So the practical question is how. How do I train? Just as each person reacts differently to physical training and has a different routine, so it is with spiritual training. What I mean is that if all I do is sit-ups, then there are 100's of other muscles which are being ignored and will weaken. Ask the spiritual trainer what "routine" you should do today, he knows what is going to happen today, and the best way to prepare for it. I may start with "Word Warmups", then move into "Prayer Pumps" and then "Listening Lifting" and then "Praise Pushes" and then "Meditation Muscle Flex". The biggest struggle is getting there. Most people just do not want to go to the gym, and the same is with this training, but it is a must because the tempter is coming. So when I get to the spiritual gym, I need to let my trainer guide me to the machine that will provide me with the strength training for that day/moment.

Prayer

Father, Thank you for the word that gives me warning. You have not left me here without telling me what is going to happen. But not only what is going to happen, but you have given me the tools to overcome the struggles of today. You have given me Jesus, the over comer of all. You have given me your Holy Spirit so you can talk to me. You have asked me to train myself, so I submit myself to you for training. Train me in ways which will strengthen your kingdom here on earth. Train me in ways so that when the tempter comes my way, I will recognize it, know it, understand how to defend against it and give you the praise for providing me with all things.

Ax and Winnowing Fork In Hand

Scripture
John 3:7-12 Amplified

7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming?

8Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];

9And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

10And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11I indeed baptize you [a]in (with) water [b]because of repentance [that is, because of your [c]changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins]. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

12His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.

Observation

John the Baptist is painting a picture of Jesus to the Pharisees and Sadducees(the snakes). His words are NOT, "Jesus is such a nice guy you are really going to like him", "Jesus wants everyone to just get along, so tell him how you guys have done it and I'm sure Jesus will be OK with that". John has told me and the Pharisees that Jesus is coming/has come, to take action/to start a revolution; Jesus is packing an AX and if you are not producing, the AX is going to chop you down and then throw the dead, non-producing tree into a consuming fire(that's new to the Pharisees), if I am not producing fruit-Jesus will create fruit producers out the rocks laying around me, and Jesus is taking his winnowing fork and is going to get after it. Jesus is serious. Can you see the picture of a huge pile of wheat, and Jesus is not overwhelmed by the enormity of the wheat pile, but excited about getting in there and thrashing the wheat with his fork, so he can separate the good wheat from the worthless chaff. Jesus is actively throwing wheat in the air, there's dust/chaff blowing in the wind, separating itself from the good and valuable wheat kernel. And so there is no contamination of the wheat Jesus has worked to separate, he turns to the chaff and burns it with unquenchable fire so that it is completely eliminated.

Application

And I serious about the Gospel of Jesus? Am I carrying an AX, a winnowing fork, am I bold enough to go into a church where church is a hobby/a social event and call it as it is, would I call my acquaintances a brood of vipers because they are living in sin and practicing evil worldly deeds-but say they are Christians? Or do I have an attitude that I don't want to judge anyone, that is God's work..."I'll pray for them". Jesus is the head of the revolution, and I need to follow what my leader is doing. I am not judging people when I tell them what the Bible says about something. The Bible is the final word about all things. Applying this portion of scripture means that I need to know what the Bible says about things. I need knowledge to seriously talk to others about what Jesus said. No one cares what I believe, or will be convicted from my beliefs, but as I tell people about what the Bible says is truth, the Holy Spirit will work through the spoken word. The AX, winnowing fork, boldness....I do have and it is the Bible. I need to continue to be serious about study, so I am capable of seperating truth from lies(winnowing) because the Bible is clear about all things. Study and know.

Prayer

Father, You sent Jesus to start a revolution in the world, to seperate religion and personal beliefs and start relationship with us. You made it clear from the beginning of Jesus ministry that he came to do a mighty work, a work that would divide the proud and arrigant from the humble and seeking, a work that produces fruit and destroys the dross. Thank you for including me in this revolution. This is nothing that I can do, but because you have given me an instruction manual on how I can participate, help me to follow each instruction as it is written. I ask for clarity. And then because I know the manual, I pray that you would put me in front in this revolution. A revolution needs doers. Make me a doer. Thank you that you are a God of action, and I submit myself to you, to use me as you would to call and say things as they are, according to your word. Amen.

Running

Running is good. Keeps the heart rate up, makes the heart strong, builds muscle mass, (it may kill the knees though). But the Bible has something to say about running too.

Scripture

2 John 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Observation

The Bible is saying that if I run ahead of the pack, if I try to lead the race and when I do that, if I don't continue practicing the teaching of Christ I don't have God. What it does not say is that it is wrong to run and lead, because there is nothing wrong with being out front for God. But this scripture is saying that if "I" run out ahead and try to do it all myself; I am now out front and can do this and do that because I can, and don't have the teachings and disciplines that Christ has told me to follow, then I really don't have God.

Application

This reminds of a verse in James, chapter 4 verse 10; Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. My life should have nothing to do with/about me. I don't have to take off on a strong run and try to be first, to lead the race because I want to. It is about humbling myself to the ways of Christ, and the Bible says that I will have both the Father and the Son. So how do I do that? I lay all things at the feet of Jesus. I put down anything that concerns me, put down dreams I have, put down relationships, put it all down. And then Jesus and I will go together on this race.

Prayer

Father, I am so thankful that you have not asked me to run ahead without you. You are my personal life coach, and without you I am nothing. Your word tells me that you will lift me up, that I don't have to try to lead the way. I don't want to lead the way without you. I ask that you would come along side me in this race. I am thankful that you will not out pace me, you will stay beside me with everything that I need, because you are my provider and protector. Amen.

Walking on Air

Scripture

1 John 5:3 This is the love for God; to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

Observation

How awesome is it that the ways of God, what He has outlined for me, the path he has me walking on, the "things" he would have me do are all designed to lighten my daily walk. I will never feel burdened by obeying his word, instead I am free.

Application

Obey the commands of God and live a burdensome free life. What does that look like? How do I put that into practice? Love instead dislike people. Give instead of being selfish. Trust God in all ways instead of trusting the direction "I" think I should go. Avoid places and things of evil and embrace places of praise. As I look throughout the Bible there are commands all over the place. Each one of them is for my good. Each one of them will create a burden free life for me. All I have to do is obey them!

Prayer

Father, Your way is the only way. You have created for me a burden free life. It is me who chooses to pick up the cares of this world and carry the burden. I pray that you would forgive me for thinking my ways are better than obeying what you established. I ask that you would help me obey your commands, every one of them, because you want to carry my concerns and make my way light, like I'm walking on air. Amen.

Atoning Sacrifice

What type of message/ bible study or book did you engage in this week at church or through ITunes, on line or personal study? It seems as if there are many messages and books about me. For example, "How to become a better You", "My best life now", "Finances-God's way" Those might, I say might, make me feel good, but they do nothing for my salvation, and in today's scripture the Bible tells me what is most important.

Scripture

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Observation

Atoning Sacrifice-is that a phrase that I have used or heard this week? No. I heard how "I" could become better. Forget how "I" can make myself better, here's how I get better, because Jesus was sent by God to atone for my sins, so I could have a relationship with him.

Application

If I studied and understood the fullness; the depth and breadth of the atoning of my sins I think that would take up most of my study and church time, and all the things that have to do with me would be light years behind me. In my mind I just heard myself answering a question from a Christian Friend saying, "that God is guiding me, watching out over me, that I am blessed". That is all nice and good about "Me", but what if the next time someone asked me how I was doing my answer was THE most important answer, "I'm loved by God, and Jesus has atoned for all my sins". And what if I not only said that, but lived in a way that demonstrated the Praise and Thankful to Jesus for atoning for every dirty, fretful sin I have committed. That would "Make me a better Me", instead of a 10 step program about things I have to do to be better for God.

Prayer

Father, You alone could bridge the gap between us. You have sent your Son Jesus to atone for every sin I have in my life. I praise you for that. Nothing I do matters. What matters is that I have accepted your gift of Jesus, and the complete cleansing, wiping clean, purified, eternal forgetfulness atonement of my sins that Jesus provided on the cross. Amen.

Homeless Veteran

I'm calloused. I say that about the guy who is standing on the freeway ramp holding a "I'm a homeless veteran sign-God Bless". There may be others who think that that guy is scamming the system, and there have been TV reports that that person actually makes $100's of tax free money a day, and in some ways its not a "bad job". Let's take a look at what the Bible says about that person( the needy).

Scripture

1 John 3:17-18 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

In the Message it says: 16-17 This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 18My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.

Observation

I have been given much, and so when I see a brother and sister in need I need to obey the scripture and engage with them in their need. As I said I've become calloused to the people always begging, and I am only following my own thoughts, and not those of the Spirit.

Application

I have to follow the scripture and when I see a need, allow the Holy Spirit(verse 24) to guide me in how and what way to help my brother/sister, instead of relying on my own thoughts and prejudices about someone in need.

Prayer

Father, you have given to me lavishly. I would ask in my life that you would destroy in me any type of cold shoulder I would make towards the brother and sister, that you created, who are in need. And replace my coldness with the warmth of your love to my brother and sister, and then cause my hands and feet to go into motion. Amen.

I love Spaghetti and Pizza. But it really isn't a true "love". The Bible tells me about a true love, let's take a look.

Scripture

1 John 3:1-2a

1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God.

Observation

There are so many juicy details in this verse that I could sit and savor on. Whatever type of love I know on this earth is a flake of dust compared to the GREAT LOVE God has for me. GREAT LOVE. Let that run around in your head a bit. A sinful man, but God extents His GREAT LOVE to me. I'll take it. And not only that, but he LAVISHES it on me, That means it keeps coming and coming and coming in abundant amounts, there is NO LIMIT. God does have to go drill another well because the first LOVE well ran dry. Now God goes on to call me his Son. I am FAMILY. In the HOUSE. With the proclamation that "that is what we are!!" This world is messed up, because they do not know this Loving God, and they are ever seeking Him in the things of this world, and will not find them. But we are God's family right now.

Application

As family I can talk with my Father, rest with Him and have the faith that because HE has GREAT LOVE for me, that everything in my life is for the good of the HIM/myself/the family. When my mind wants to think otherwise, I need to remember that God's limitless LOVE is constantly poured over my head and lavished constantly on me. The the God of the universe has my best interests in mind, because I am his kid. He would have it no other way because HE loves me. I need to live today like I AM FAMILY, because I am. So what will I do. Maybe I need to lavish love on someone who irritates me when I drive today, lavish love on someone who returns no love, lavish love on the needy/widows/in firmed, lavish love on people in the office who are gossips and haters, or lavish others with a free coffee when you are standing in line, or lavish someone in the grocery line and buy some of the food for them. I have received GREAT LAVISHED LOVE, let's share it with others when we meet.

Prayer

Father, Thank you for the unlimited, endless lavished GREAT LOVE you have for me. I did nothing to deserve it, but you have opened the fire hydrant hose of love on me and it never stops. I ask that you assist me in sharing your GREAT LOVE to a dying world today. Open my eyes to situations so I can show how you GREATLY LOVE me and others. Amen.