What Is Your Will In Christ?

"Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before. So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the LORD came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”" 1 Samuel 3:7-10 (NLT) Whatever people may say, be assured that God's still speaking to people. He loves the people that He's created and wants to be involved in their lives - to make both them and their lives better and to share a relationship with them. But what does God sound like when He speaks? Would we hear Him if He spoke to us? Would we recognize Him if He came near? God spoke much to Elijah... "“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” t...

"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable."   Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT) I continue to find it disheartening that so many people take issue today with what God has said and has given us so invaluably in scripture. The fact that they do says something ominous about the current state of society.  Among those people there are some that have taken on themselves the authority to divide scripture into two categories - determining for themselves what to believe and apparently casting the rest as error as though there is some that's not to be believed. For them I pose a terrifying quandary: If you've decided that you can disbelieve some of it, how can you know that you can count on any of it...

"We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone." Psalm 33:20-22 (NLT) If you're truly God's child, take a moment to ponder my questions... With all that's happening in the world to put our peace to the test, to shake our confidence and to attempt to inject worry toward our hidden concerns, isn't it good to know that above and through it all, we have a shelter for our protection and an access to an endless source of provision? Is there anything more calming to the soul, more strengthening to the spirit, or over-all refreshing than for us to find ourselves wrapped in the surrounding presence of our God's Holy Spirit? Is anyone a more worthy defense and protection for us - an undefeatable and conquering champion, than the God who reigns omnipotent and supreme over everything that exists? In all of our lives and even ...

"The LORD says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name."" Isaiah 65:1 (NLT) Wherever we live, we live in a sick nation, an ill society and among a broken people. The big question I find so compelling to answer while men argue politics, fight for position and possession, and even counter each other contentiously and obsessively over what God Himself has said...                                   ...is why? The answer's not hidden. It's not sealed away in some dark vault left under an impenetrable guard. It's been in front of us the whole time, emblazoned forever in the permanence of eternity as a moment that God's patience was tried sorely by His very own creation, because...                   ...We've forgotten who God ...

We often stop to think about our own circumstances - our own wants and needs. Our own desires are continually within a hairs breadth of our current thinking... How often though, do we give any thought to what Jesus wants - to what He's allowed Himself to desire with a costly passion? Do those thoughts guide the response to Him that we're living out? When Jesus began His ministry in human form on earth it was with the desire to please His Father. He knew what He wanted and He already knew beforehand what it would cost Him. The price was very high, but wrapped up in that desire to please His Father was another desire also - because what the Father loves with such passion, the Son loves passionately as well.  As Jesus ministered to the people that came to hear Him along with the others that He encountered during those 3 years of His adult ministry, He demonstrated His love for His Father by His obedience, but He also demonstrated the love that He had for people. It was and is a ge...

Easter is once again approaching and as usual my thoughts about it drive me deeper - beyond my normal desire to touch the reality of what Christ has done, not only for me, but for all that will come to Him. A part of that for me springs from an advantage of not only having read what the bible says, but in having studied the history and culture of the people and time surrounding Christ's feet touching the earth in human form. Delving into that reality makes me long even more to find deeper intimacy with the God who sent His only Son to spare the likes of me... because He loves me and you so much. It creates a desire to reach past the concerns of this life, to pierce the veil of humanity and touch the eternal reality - the heart of the God who created us. The quotation of one of the most popular verses in scripture often leaves out a a couple of following verses that are key to finding that intimacy with Father God. That verse is Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the thoughts that I t...

This is not for everyone, but to those that it speaks to... To people still sitting on the outside - those without the understanding or the experience of true relationship with the God of heaven, much of what I've said in the past from this small, pitiful soap box must sound like utter foolishness and maybe even pure fantasy. For them I'm sorry... not for what I've said... but for them - for what they're missing. The beauty, the passion, the freedom and the majesty escapes them. I settled on a phrase a long time ago that relates to the difficulty that some of those people that I've mentioned above struggle with and among them you would sadly find some who call themselves Christian. That phrase goes like this: "A world that must see in order to believe will never experience what must first be believed in order to be seen." To have the humility and faith to take God at His word - to believe unshakably that what He's said is true, begins to open a door to...

There's a whimsical song from the early 1960s about a young man who had trouble in the romance department, so he went to see a gypsy. The gypsy in the song knew exactly what to do and mixed him up a bottle of Love Potion #9. In the song, that potion made him start kissing everything in sight and as you might imagine, it didn't end well for him when he came upon a police officer... It was a humorous musical offering, but the interest in real love and the desire for romance in a relationship has been an enduring one. Over time, the songs, books and movies written about stories that involved love, love letters and communication that lead to romance are almost innumerable. So many relationships alleged to be matches "made in heaven" and so many other stories of love unrequited and broken hearts. They're interesting to so many in part because being truly in love with someone is a powerful thing and something that seems to fill a part of an inherant need in us. Of cours...

  The nation known as the United States Of America has always been a mixing bowl - a potential recipient to a presented confluence of ideas and ideology.  The sieve that was once used to filter out those potential ingredients that bore the possibility to pollute the recipe for the safe pursuit of life, liberty, justice and happiness at the forming of our nation was a set of principles agreed to by those present as the Constitution and Bill of Rights were formulated and finalized. Those principles were considered inviolate and critical to the survival of the new society over the long intentioned life of the nation and were necessary for the fruitful and peaceful lives of its citizenry. Those principles became the backbone of a nation - those principles, however many may argue, ... were biblical. The United States of America has never been perfect - but then no nation on earth, populated by the imperfections of imperfect men has ever been. It's intentions at its beginning though...

Being unchained - loose from restrictive bonds and possible confining attachments might sound like a "good" thing and in certain applications which might seem appropriate for the use of those words, it might be. But mankind has proven repeatedly and seemingly endlessly, that for him, how we use freedom... can be a really bad thing. We're witnessing the reward of generations largely taught to disregard and disrespect the platitudes of bygone eras. So many people are operating without the constraints of a moral code or the confining barriers of social etiquette and the results - the product of such unleashed and degenerate lifestyles focusing on self gratifying thought and freewheeling conduct are evident on such a large scale that the future, when thoughtfully considered and remaining unchanged, should be obvious and more than deeply concerning. The trend today appears to be toward a popular distancing from anything of the past and the history of hard learned lessons that ...

In this age when so many talk without honor or substance, the value of much talk is diminished to be near worthless. So, let our actions in this life bear witness to speak of our convictions for us - without direct conversation - until such time that the beauty of Jesus' character demonstrated through us draws them near to inquire who He is.... J.H. Talk, talk, talk, - that's what talking heads do... ... We're incessantly bombarded with opporunities to be swayed by diatribe, innuendo and attention grabbing pitches. They're talking on tv, radio, the internet and in print and talking is what they get paid to do. It's their job - work in return for money used to pay their bills and support their lifestyles. And when it comes to what they choose to talk about in order to progress in their employment and enrich their own lives, the scarier, more graphic, obscene, or concerning they can be to in order to catch your interest, the more money and power over the air they can ...

This season that we set aside as a special time to remember and celebrate Christ's birth is a struggle for some...  Many things have passed in the lives of each of us over time and some of those things as we pause to consider them, might also give us pause to grieve or question God - maybe only secretly in the deepest recesses of our hearts. While some may find only cause for joy, wonder and excitement, there will be others suffering the weight of loss, loneliness and sadness. While some will be able to focus on the wonderful gift of God's grace and sacrifice to redeem men to Himself, others will be wrestling with guilt, addictions and anxiety. For those suffering or just struggling through life, there may hang a single question separating them from the God that they wish they could embrace fully, leaving them distanced if only somewhat, from the spirit of joy and peace that should reign at Christmas. That question - "God, why?" Some of t he possible answers to what m...

Essential Meaning of privileg e 1 : a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others.  - Merriam-Webster Privilege is a word of sudden social notoriety. It's used much more commonly in the world of popular worldly conversation today. It's become a word sparking some divisive conversation. It's been used to carry accusation, intended to bring shame and regret, and has ignited anger for some. But putting aside the worldly conversational value of the word, I'd like to call attention to the value of that word in a realm outside of the cauldron of mankind's arguments and divisiveness. As Christ followers, we have privilege that we need not be ashamed of because God's made the rights and benefits that He offers available to all of mankind - regardless of their current race, color or creed. But even though we carry a wealth of privilege, it's sadly true that we may not clearly recognize the full value of it in our daily lives, much less take full a...

Sacrilegious : committing or characterized by sacrilege : having or showing a lack of proper respect for a sacred person, place, or object.  - Merriam-Webster Dictionary This is long, but my passion regarding this subject has long tired my patience. Sacrilege ... it's an uncommon word in our day, but one that could unfortunately be applied almost endlessly ... even among some professing Christians. It's a word whose meaning may bring a sober reckoning on the day of the Lord's accounting - the day that He'll do justice to His own reputation and divine majesty. And if we're not concerned about committing the meaning of that word now, ... we will be then - when we can't change what we could have done differently when we had the chance. The world we're living in is in many cases unkind to the truth - not recognizing or perhaps just not accepting that the truth the world may revile actually holds it's future destiny. And  I can't avoid being troubled by c...