Category Archives: Spiritual Discipline

God’s House Plans

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Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it… Psalms 127:1

Gods House PlansGod is the Master Builder and in His kingdom He is building many houses. When He is building a house He draws up the plans, and then He shares the plans with you through a vision or dream. This is how His house plans are delivered to the earth.  If you have a dream that is much larger than anything you could do alone, then there is a good chance that God has revealed one of His house plans to you.  He showed Noah a huge boat and Solomon a massive tabernacle.  Each of these houses was unique and perfectly laid out by God to minister to His people, but He did not show the plans to everyone.   He showed these plans to Noah and Solomon, because they were to ones He chose to build the house.  He could trust them with the plans, because He knew they trusted in Him.

God must be able to trust you to hold the vision and wait on Him for each step. Hold on to the vision, and don’t let time discourage you. The very fact that He gave you the vision indicates that He intends for His house to be built. If the Lord is building the house wait on Him and trust in Him and in time the construction will begin. Always keep in your mind focused on whose house it is.  You are building His house and not your own.

A vision from God is like a fire, and it burns within you and can’t be put out. If there is a fire within you that can not be quenched it is the fire of God. At just the right time He will poke at the embers and the vision will blaze up. Just hold on to the vision, this is the embers, and at just the right time the fire of God will been seen and He will build His house.

A Continuous Flow

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… If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in me out of his inner most being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. John 7:37-38

I began to ponder this morning about the continuous flow of Living Water.  As I read John 7:37-38 I thought; living water is a continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  That is it; that is what I experience daily as I spend time with the Lord.

His love and forgiveness is a “continuous flow” that never stops.  But, is that what others experience when they spend time with me?  I heard the Lord as He spoke in that quiet gentile voice to my heart,  “Can you carry my love and forgiveness to others?  Will you let it flow continuously from you as a river so that people are refreshed by My presence within you.”  My response was: “Yes, Lord!”

I set back and began to fondly think of those people I love; the ones I wanted to share this continuous flow of love and forgiveness.  But, then I thought about people who I no longer have fellowship with.  I began to wonder did the continuous flow apply to these relationships as well.  I heard the Lord gentle say, “Aren’t you glad that even when you were not fellowshipping with Me that My flow of love and forgiveness was still continuous towards you?  Then He said, “What you have freely received freely give them as well.”  I realized very quickly that I needed more of the love of the Lord, because at this point I only have a small creek that runs as far as my close friends and family.

Lord, I want a river, a big river of Living Water; a continuous flow of love and forgiveness that will flow everywhere You send me.

Forgiveness: Clean Out Your Filing Cabinet

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“Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

No matter who you are or how long you have been a Christian, you will still have times when you get hurt and offended.  As a Christian, the goal is to learn how to deal with hurts properly.

Learning to respond instead of reacting is the key.  If you have been hurt in the same way before, then it will be easier to take on the offense and react.  The reaction will be based on a combination of the present hurt and the past hurts as well.  If you have learned to forgive when hurtful things happen instead of being offended, you will be able to respond correctly.  Forgiveness therefore, must become a way of life in order to be able to respond in a Christ-like manner no matter what the situation is.

The problem is that your soul has a filing cabinet where past hurts and offenses are stored that have not been dealt with properly. This is why when someone does something that hurts you; you will suddenly remember how many times they have done the same thing before.

The only way to be free from past hurts is to forgive. Ask the Lord to help you forgive. Forgiveness is releasing the person who hurt you, and releasing your right to hold the offense against them any longer. Forgiveness is not saying that what they did was not wrong; forgiveness is releasing them to God. You will not be free from the pain caused by the offense until you release the offender. Once you forgive them, your filing cabinet will be cleaned out and you can begin to deal with hurts on a daily basis instead of letting things pile up.

Forgiveness is releasing our right to demand payment for sins against us by surrendering to God and letting Him be the judge and jury.

Do You Want to Change?

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“I acknowledge my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid…and thou forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).

Recently, we had ants in our kitchen. We were covered in ants even after we had our house exterminated three times.  What we failed to do was find the main source they were coming from.  Once we discovered it, our ant problem was solved.  It’s the same with sin.  Once we discover the hidden iniquity, the main source, then our sin problem can be solved.

If you are serious about getting rid of the annoying things in your life, you must find the source.  In Nehemiah 9:2-3, Nehemiah told the people of his time that there was a direct correlation between their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

“Then the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers” (Nehemiah 9:2).

Everyone knows to confess their sins, but that is not all that needs to be done. Sin is a representation of something much deeper; it represents an iniquity. We must dig deep to discover iniquities, which are the origin of sins.  Satan wants the main source, the iniquity, to remain hidden.  Iniquity is Satan’s access point to you and your entire family line.

When a sin is brought to your attention, confess the sin and the iniquity where it originated.

Strategic Rapid Fire

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“Perfect love casts out all fear” 1 John 4:18
The greatest weapon we have against the enemy is love.  He sets up camp in people who are fearful of rejection and convinces them that they are not loved. 1 John 4:18 says perfect love will cast out all fear.  From this verse we can gain wisdom of how God intends for the enemy to be defeated.  It is through love that fear is cast out and it is through love that his access points are closed.
So how do you know when the enemy has someone in your family convinced that they are not loved?  It will be very obvious by their words and actions.  You will know it because they will criticize and even crush you with their words, and will do things that seem to be deliberate rejection.  Stand firm; you must remind yourself it is not the person, but the enemy working through them. Pull out the strongest ammo, get ready, aim and rapid fire love towards them.
What I mean by rapid fire is to show them love in various ways all within a few hours of each other.  Like a phone call in the early morning, an encouraging text at lunch, then, invite them for dinner in the evening accompanied by a thoughtful gift.  At dinner find ways to affirm their gifts and abilities and encourage them to use their gifts in creative ways.  After several days of very strategic rapid fire the enemy will be overcome and the family member you thought you had lost will be won.

It’s Time For Truth

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One morning, I overslept.  The sun was already out, shining brightly through the window.  I ran to the garden, and as I ran down the sidewalk I saw that the dew was gone.  I had missed meeting with God.   I immediately had an old thought, a lie I had believed for years.  The lie was: “If I mess up, God will not speak to me.”  To my surprise, when I set down in the swing, I saw one drop of dew on the tip of a leaf.  I reached my hand out and the last pearl of the morning dropped into my hand as the Lord lovingly said, “I have been waiting for you.”

The enemy could not use this lie anymore. God did love me, and He wanted to bless me. The truth I received had finally replaced the lie that if I messed up He would not be the re for me. God’s presence was there.  The lie was exposed and the enemy was defeated.

The enemy plants many lies in our minds. One lie is connected to another like a chain; that’s why one thought leads to another, and then another. If you did not receive affirmation from your father as a child, you may have believed the lie of rejection. “There is something wrong with me” is just one example. If you have this lie, it is hidden away from sight, but is silently working to convince you that you are not good enough. If you struggle with this lie, it must been seen as a lie and not the truth. You must recognize the voice of your enemy and stop listening to him.

Fully receive the truth, deep in your innermost being, that you are deeply loved and fully accepted by God. God is for you, and He accepts you because of who you are, not because of your accomplishments. With this truth deep in your spirit, the motivation for everything you do will change. From this point on, you will serve God because you are accepted and not in order to be accepted.

Each lie has a structure of set behaviors and responses. We are transformed daily by the renewing of our mind. We tear down the old house and replace it with a brand new house full of the promises of God. Every thought that comes from a lie must be replaced with truth if you want to live in peace. Taking one lie at a time and replacing it daily with truth is key. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that if we renew our mind daily, we will not faint when adversity comes.  Today, you can begin to tear down the lies that the enemy has planted in your mind.

Staying on Track

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 “You will show me the path of life.”    Ps. 16:11

I have learned over the past 50 years that staying on track takes self-control and discipline.  Self-control is actually planted in you by the Holy Spirit and is growing inside of you as a fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22

Self- control and self -discipline develop, as you are obedient to the “Still Small Voice of the Lord” on a daily basis.   Set the boundaries that He says to set.  The little things count!  Obedience to the little things is how we learn to be led by God’s Holy Spirit.  What He says no to, do not touch!   He will guide us and give us His counsel.

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me. Psalm 16:7

You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures For with You is the fountain of life.   Psalm    36:9

We drink from the fountain when we are in the presence of God, and this fountain will sustain you in seasons of trouble and drought.  You see now why you must stay close to Him as you are traveling along the Path of Life.  It is not an easy road or a scenic road!  It is narrow and can be very steep and dangerous, so we must not go too close to the edge. That is why we need hind’s feet for the climb.  We need to be living in truth, speaking truth, walking in the way of truth to be safe.

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Mathew 7:14

Since the way is narrow, we must look to God’s Word and gain wisdom on how to set boundaries in our life and safe guards to keep us on the path. We need to listen because sometimes we need guidance, but other times we need warnings, and correction. We actually gain wisdom from mistakes so we will not repeat them. I know where I can’t go.  I have learned where my boundaries are for my safety.

He who keeps instruction is in the way of life.  But he who refuses correction goes astray.  Proverbs 10:17

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.  Proverbs 11:30

In the way of righteousness is life.  Proverbs 12:28

Are We Hurting Our Children?

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“Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet… and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”  (Malachi 4:5-6).

kids are watching us

A model is a smaller version of an item.  A model car is a smaller version of a real car.

Our children are models, a smaller version of us.  They are like mirrors that we can look into and see ourselves.  We demonstrate certain behaviors in front of our children and they act out what they have learned.  Therefore, our children typically become like us.  If we are not careful in how we live our lives, that can be a very painful reality.

Certainly, most parents work hard to raise their children in a way that will honor God.  We certainly hope their lives are filled with joy and happiness, and that as they grow older they will find meaning and purpose in the Lord.

As we are raising and giving discipline to our children, we expect them to listen.  We want them to do what we say.

They may follow our instructions, but unfortunately, they may also do as we do.  They watch us and follow our example.  If there is inconsistencies between our instructions and our actions they will be confused.  Are you showing the example of Christ?

Read Malachi 4:5-6 again.  Look at your children, and then look at who you have modeled your life after.  Ask the Lord for help to make a change.

“Like a sparrow in her flying and a swallow in her wandering, so the curse without a cause cannot come” (Proverbs 26:2).

For a closer look at living in the image of Christ (and raising children) you might find our teaching on Burden Bearing to be interesting.

Examine the Fruit

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“Search me Lord and know my heart, try me and know my ways and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

We can determine the condition of our heart by observing the fruit our life has produced.   To measure fruitfulness, you look over the past season or over the past year and see what has been produced.  In the fall a farmer looks over the previous growing season to determine the condition of the field.  We can also look at the past year of our life and determine the condition of our heart by looking at the harvest.

Jesus taught His disciples that their life should produce fruit – from 60 to 100 per cent.  A fruitful Christian is one that receives God’s Word and the Word that is planted in their heart produces a harvest even up to a 100 fold return.

You may have a Word from God, but if it is not given to another in love, it will not produce a harvest.  This is why the condition our heart is so important and it determines the fruit we produce.  By observing the fruit our life has produced, we can tell what condition our heart is in.

Pray this prayer daily and watch what happens: “Search me Lord and know my heart, try me and know my ways and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

Awaken Your Faith?

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“Aroused by faith, Moses, when he had grown to maturity and became great…” (Hebrews 11:24).

awaken my faithIt is interesting that Moses had to be aroused by faith.  The word “arouse” means to be awakened; to be stirred up and awakened from slumbering.  We can get so consumed and overwhelmed with the struggles of life that we become discouraged to the point that our spirit slumbers, or shuts down and sleeps.

When you give in and are overcome by discouragement, you have a slumbering spirit.  An awakened spirit keeps you focused on what God is doing; even in the midst of trouble, you see the light.  There is so much bad news today that many are overtaken with discouragement.  We need to ask God to awaken our spirit.  All those who are called to be a modern day “Moses” need to wake up.  Those who are called to be a modern day “Elisha” or “David” all need to wake up and take their post.  It is not a time for some to sleep and some to work; it is a time for everyone to wake up and do what they were born to do.  We were born in this time in history for a reason.  It is time for everyone to face this reality and embrace who they are, and what they were called to do (Romans 13:11).

Pray this prayer: “Wake me up Lord – I want to discover my divine calling, and know what I am to do in the work of the Kingdom.”