Must Grow...

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY…“Be on guard so that you will not be carried away…and lose your own secure footing. Rather you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” ~II Peter 3:17-18
MUST GROW…Developing our spiritual lives often gets over-ran by other things jamming our schedules. Financial concerns, family schedules, house clean-up or fix-up’s, on and on the urgent things call. We get moving at such a fast pace that slowing down to the speed of God feels awkward. To pull out our Bibles, and get into a meditative mood to listen to the soft voice of Christ is exactly the opposite of everything else we do during the week. But it’s exactly what we need the most. The above verse reminds us that this growth is too important to be done with our ‘leftover’ time. There are things and influences and people and ideas that look so right, but actually lure us away from Christ’s directions. These things carry people away every day and cause good people to lose their solid Christ-stance. According to the Barna research group, 53,000 Americans stop attending church every week, never to return. That’s alarming. Anyone can be lured away from Christ’s best plans. We must grow! Our growth occurs in two ways, ‘Grace’ and ‘knowledge’. We need to know the mind of Christ to follow Christ. But we need to feel the grace of Christ to stay courageous as we walk where He walks. We must know Him AND we must be moved by Him. WE MUST GROW! ~verlon

Overpowered...

OVERPOWERED…The voice of temptation can sure get loud at times, can’t it. How many times have we simply been overwhelmed by that voice, and yielded to the sheer force of it’s strength? It happens. Perhaps we need to look at where this voice gets its power…
“God spoke to Cain; why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce, its out to get you, you’ve got to master it.” ~Gen. 4:6-7
We learn a lot from Eve’s temptation story. And here her first born son is again a battle with temptation. There is a lesson in that alone, in that every generation must face temptations voice. Here’s how it went down with Cain. God had made it clear how He wanted to be worshipped. Cain’s younger brother Abel did exactly what God wanted, but Cain wanted to worship in his ‘own way’. God wasn’t quite as fulfilled by Cain’s worship, as He was Abel’s. This irritated Cain deeply. And herein is the lesson. The verse above captures the exact moment where a door opened for temptations voice to flare up with power in Cain’s inner thought-life. Look closely at the words above, this voice was now strong enough to entrap Cain…to actually pounce on him. And that’s in fact exactly what happened. Within days, it spoke such evil into Cain’s mind that killing his brother actually seemed like a good idea. Wow! Temptation has been flaring up into power through the ages for the same reason. Doing things ‘our way’ is still how we become OVERPOWERED! ~verlon

No Longer...

NO LONGER…It’s an amazing thing to step back and see how you are changing. There is a percentage of people that are dedicated laggards and aren’t changing much. But for those who wake up each day looking for the leadership of Christ, more change is occurring then they probably realize.
“…your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the
flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.”
~I Peter 4:4
One of the great way we can tell we are becoming more Christ-like is looking at what’s dropping off of us. All of us enter our lives with destructive things at work. For some it’s obvious like alcoholism or a violent temper. But for others it could be more subtle…like a stubborn will hidden beneath a sweet smile. Either one of these leads a person to destruction. And that’s only naming a couple of the hundreds of ways we wreck our lives. But the person who wakes up each day asking the Spirit of Christ to live large from within them…things start to soften…downward habits start to fall off. And those around them who aren’t finding such progress in their lives become jealous and start throwing jabs. These are actually positive symptoms of a life that’s improving. In fact, scripture instructs us to revel in this kind of persecution, because it speaks well of our alignment with Christ. Our life is not measured by how much money we are making or how much fun we’re having after work…but by how much more we are becoming like Christ. All other metrics are indelibly flawed. I have a question for you, “what’s falling off”? [not a question to ask a leper, btw]. But what destructive habits, blatant outward ones or subtle inward ones, are falling away? Take some time today to pause and notice them. If you see your growth has stalled…be done with that today. But if you see that you’re interested in some lesser things NO LONGER…Give thanks. ~verlon

Breath of Life...

BREATH OF LIFE…We seldom think about our origins. We all know the biological nature of reproduction, but how often do we think about what God to actually make us come alive?
“God formed man out of the dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The man came alive…a living soul.” ~Gen. 2:7
I can’t imagine what it would have been like to witness the creator at work. Especially when it came to His favorite project…US! At first, God formed the body out of dirt. That’s no small feat. But it lay there motionless and lifeless. What God did next fascinates me. He breathed into the human-form’s nostrils…and Adam came alive! God didn’t do that for anything else in all creation. But for us, He bent down and breathed His own air…His own essence…into us. And because He is “life” by His very definition, we ingested “life” into our very person. Have you thought about the implications of this Divine act? Not only did God form us, but He breathed His very essence into the very center of us. Wow! You and I are closer to God, and His very breath, than our fallen-ness allows us to see. Whether we see it always or not, there is a very intimate closeness with the living God. No wonder He wants us back so badly when we’ve wandered away. Without us, His very breath is wisps away. And without Him, we can’t even breathe. And the mystery is this…He continues to breathe into us the BREATH OF LIFE! ~verlon

Self Promotion...

SELF PROMOTION…All of us probably know someone who is a self promoter. They’re kind of hard to be around for any length of time aren’t they. There’s an old southern saying when speaking of the self-promoter… “if you could buy that guy for what he’s worth, and sell him for what he think’s he’s worth, you’d be a millionaire”! Here’s an interesting snapshot from scripture…
“During his lifetime, Absalom had built a monument to himself in the Kings valley…” ~2 Samuel 18:18
Absalom was an arrogant man who felt his way was better than everyone elses. He was one of King David’s sons, born into privilege, handsome with long wavy hair & accustomed to getting his way on everything. While David was a great leader, he didn’t work as hard at leading his son’s to do what was right. Absaloms life reads like a spoiled child who never grew up. He burned Joab’s field to get his attention; he killed his brother Amnon; he sat by the city gates befriending all the people who were at odds with his father, the king; he subtly stole the hearts of the people & forced his father out as king; he set up tents on the top of the palace roof & slept with his fathers wives in full view of the people…you get the point. He truly believed that he was better than everyone else …and his perspectives were simply higher. Self-promotion flowed so naturally out of him that he saw nothing wrong with building a monument to himself in the valley of Kings, though he wasn’t a king. Self promoters never see their sickness…or how they sicken those around them. Interesting isn’t it. Nor do they see the thick barrier between themselves & the voice of Christ. Hearing & responding to the voice of Christ is an exercise in humility. We will never hear the voice of Christ clearly as we are gazing upon our own monuments of achievement. We will only hear Christ as we are gazing upon His monument… …THE CROSS! ~verlon

The Different World...

THE DIFFERENT WORLD…It is almost incomprehendible how different the visible world is from Christ’s world. And it’s amazing we’ve been invited to live in that world. These worlds are sooooo completely opposite in sooooo many ways. This verse explains it well….
“Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires…He
called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.” ~I Peter 1:14; 2:9
Ours is a world of darkness. Christ’s world is one of light…Wonderful Light! This verse is not speaking of heaven, it’s speaking of a way to live in the present. Without Christ’s insight and wisdom, we grope around as though it were pitch black. But when we invite Christ to live within our person He starts breathing insight into us and the lights start pouring into us. We now have enough light to read ourselves well. We now have enough light to read others well. We even have enough light to read what’s going on in the world around us. The contrast is as shocking as going from pitch black to total light. I had that experience this morning in fact, when I turned on the bathroom light after being asleep for 7 hours. WOW! My retina’s were freakin! That’s what the Christ difference is like. It’s shocking to have that much vision! But what a wonderful thing to see that well. And yet, we can slip back into our dark habits. In fact it’s likely that we will drift back to doing the things that are only to desire-based living. Why do we do that? How can we experience the wonderful world of light, then slip back into groping around for ways to please ourselves? It’s a fascinating study in human nature isn’t it. But for this reason we find many warning in scriptures to patrol that border in our lives. Christ doesn’t want us going back to groping. We are called to something better…the wonderful world of light…THE DIFFERENT WORLD! ~verlon

The Joyful...

THE JOYFUL…We are on the threshold of Christmas, where we will be hearing the word ‘joyful’ often. “Joyful, joyful we adore thee…” and “this child will be a joy to the many…”. This helps us to understand the source of joy…and it isn’t something that we expresses as part of our typical array of human emotions. Joy is a divine gift. God implanted His joy when Jesus came to earth in several ways. But He has generously served that divine gift at many, many other times…
“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their
hearts.” ~Psalm 119:1-2
We are more accustomed to happiness, than joy. Happiness is what we feel when there has been a positive happening…thus happiness. It’s attached directly to a good event or circumstance. Joy on the other hand is a divine implantation into the human soul. And it occurs at different times altogether. It is initiated by God, and experienced by man. In the above verse we see a couple times when we can expect to experience the joy of the Lord pour into our hearts. When we are expressing integrity, following the voice of our conscience even when it’s a disadvantage for us to be that honest or fulfill that promise…We become strangely joyful. It’s the Fathers way of saying He is proud of us. Also, when we work hard at searching for God’s leadership and robustly follow the direction He reveals…we become strangely joyful too. That joy communicates to us that we are on the right track…even if it initially looks a little bumpy. There is joy on the journey…when we are on the right journey. Many people are looking for the next good happening so they can feel happiness. The new car, the new job, the million bucks. But for us, the followers of Christ, we are fueled by something better than happenstance. We are…THE JOYFUL! ~verlon

The Menu of Grace...

THE MENU OF GRACE…Christianity offers so much that it takes a long time just to know what’s on the menu. Beyond that, it takes a life-time to learn how to actually embrace such large and deep favors as Christ gives. I like the verses that list the menu and how to grab it. Here’s one…
“Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy?
You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders
of the church to come and pray over you…and if you have committed any
sins, you will be forgiven.” ~James 5:13-15
What menu items do you see in this verse? How are these menu items embraced? The answers to these questions are important and worth meditating upon. We are so forever stuck in the world we can see, that we struggle to apprehend the world we can’t see. However, this unseeing world of Christ is all around us and in us and every bit as real as the see-able world. To engage Christ’s world, our spiritual curiosity must be present, our hearts must be bold and our faith must be exercised and strong and engaged. Such a person will know how to grab the menu of grace for themselves and others. The Lord’s table is open for one and all. He longs for us as His friends and family to eat long and large at His table. He then longs for us to walk out and offer it to others who don’t know it exists or where it is or how to eat of it. It’s the greatest secret in the universe…THE MENU OF GRACE! ~verlon

A Purifying Effect...

A PURIFYING EFFECT…It seems to go without saying that any religion in which humans are involved it is probably diluted. And that covers all religions. Christianity too has its lesser moments. It doesn’t take long for someone to bring up ‘the crusades’ when wanting to find fault with Christian history. Our ability to shipwreck the wonderful gift of Christ has proved itself, hasn’t it. For me, that then leaves a question, how can we purify ourselves so we don’t dilute Christ? Here’s a surprising answer…
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” ~James 1:27
Most in Christian circles don’t realize how vital it is to pay attention to those who are ‘without’. It’s not only vital to them that they get our help, it’s vital to us that we have a repeating expression that actually cleanses us. Confession is good for the soul, but reaching our to help another in need does way more for our soul and alignment to Christ than we commonly imagine. James called it ‘pure religion’. That actually sounds pretty good to me. And it’s a lesson the church is re-learning in this decade. It’s indeed time to learn the cleansing that occurs when we reach out to the marginalized. God built it into the universe for just such a reason. Jesus phrased it this way, “you will always have the poor among you”, as though it was a necessary part of the big picture. We truly need to reach out to others. It has A PURIFYING EFFECT. ~verlon

God-ness and Bold-ness...

GOD-NESS & BOLD-NESS…No, I didn’t misspell the word ‘God-ness’. The typical term is Godliness…which is short for God-like-ness. It’s applications are varied and many. What I want to focus on today is God-full-ness. An inward saturation…if you will. Many people think about God…but are they full of God? Some enjoy His influence in their lives…but are they full of God? Still others pray to Him often…but again do they sense the affect of being full of God?
“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the Godly are as
bold as lions.” ~Proverbs 28:1
One of the grand affects of being full of God is…significant boldness. We often hold an image in our minds of the ornery old cuss who is drunk half the time, pushes ladies down in the street, scares children and laughs at danger. We surmise that toughened shell of a person is afraid of nothing. When in fact, that man is more riddled with fear than most. The tough persona is an effort to try to feel fearless…to compensate for the real fear. But it never works to deal with fear from the outside. Fear is soul deep. Trying to address it from the personality level is fruitless. The drunken rough-neck isn’t the fearless one…it’s the person who is filled with God that is fearless. I love the phrase, ‘bold as lions’. What a picture. Has anyone ever scared a lion? Lions have the physical strength and speed to dominate all other creatures…AND THEY KNOW IT! Try to scare a lion, and they just look at you like they’re bored. Try to intimidate a lion, and they look back with true intimidation. They don’t have a flee instinct…only a chase instinct. And these are the creatures we are likened to…when we are full of God. Christ lives inside of us…and He simply doesn’t know how to run. The flee nature is non-existent in Divinity. And in some incredible way…we can actually feel that indomitable spirit flowing from inside of us…from Christ Himself. We are the Boldest of the Bold! Do you know it? ~verlon

Never Abandoned...

NEVER ABANDONED…We sure live in interesting days. We are watching wages drop, while prices continue to soar. With every news cycle comes another American company or industry announcing that it’s on the verge of toppling. This last month, its another bank. Where is this all going to go? For those who walk with Christ, is there some kind of a safety net beneath us? Well, actually yes. You just can’t separate God from who He is. And one of His undeniable identities is…THE PROVIDER!
“Don’t love money, be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, I will
never fail you. I will never abandon you. So we can say with confidence,
The Lord is my helper so I will have no fear.” ~Hebrews 13:5-6
The person who loves money can’t handle touch financial times. By nature we come to rely on what we love. So the person that loves money, is relying upon it. Days like we are facing are extremely unstable for people who are relying on money. There is something so much greater to rely upon than money…The faithfulness of God! God’s support doesn’t go in and out like the waves of the sea. He shows up every day…watches over our lives every day…provides for us every day…supplements us every day…every day…every day. He is our daily provider, and that’s something we can take to the bank…every day. Many are waking up this morning feeling abandoned by their money. Their confidence is rocked, and they don’t know who is going to craft a ‘bail out’ for them. They are afraid. But for the person who never wove a reliance on money into the foundation of their hope…this day is no different than two years ago when Seattle was booming. God is as faithful today as He was then. No abandonment …no fear…still seeing solid reasons for confidence…still receiving daily help… just like always! Do you need a new reliance today? ~verlon

The Real You...

THE REAL YOU…There are many different versions of us that show up in the average week. At work we might be a focused business mind. Then a couple hours later, we put on our evening persona and are laughing and telling jokes while at dinner with friends. Then on the weekend, we shift into ‘slug’ mode and stay in our sweats until noon drinking coffee. Then of course come Sunday it’s the natural thing to put on our ‘spiritual cloak’ and check in with the Big Guy! With all of these different versions showing up…who is the real you? Do you even know? Do you know how to tell? Here’s some help from scripture…
“As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person”.
~Proverbs 27:19
We are not the sum of our intelligence, as some propose. Neither are we the sum of our negative history, as some feel trapped in. However, if you we want a good read on who we really are…look at what’s flowing out of our hearts. By this I don’t mean our intentions. Some people measure themselves by their intentions and are frustrated that the world measures them only by their actions. But it’s our actions that reveal out hearts…the telltale of the real us. So what is flowing out of our hearts? Is there a desire to be with and work with Christ? Is there an eye for the needs in others around us present? Are we willing to take some of our needed money and time to lift someone else up? Truthfully, there are many people who don’t even know what is trying to come out of their hearts. They are so cerebral that the soft voice of wisdom is seldom heard. They can go through an entire week responding only to what their minds have lined up next in their schedule. The real them is…“occupied”! Who they are is… “distracted”! They don’t know their heart. They haven’t listened for a while. What a great thing for anyone to stop and ask, “so what is my heart saying?” The answer to that question is…THE REAL YOU! ~verlon

Readiness Thinking...

READINESS THINKING…We understand the idea of readiness. We get ready for work, ready for vacation, ready to go the gym. We get ready to go out to dinner, ready to go to bed, even get ready to get out of a chair. Every time we have another cup of coffee in the morning, we are getting ready(emotionally) to get ready(physically). I think it would be interesting to know what percentage of our day is spent getting ready for something. It’s possible we spend more time getting ready than actually doing what we’re getting ready for. I wonder if we apply ‘readiness thinking’ to our spiritual lives? Or do we consider spirituality a ‘whatever happens’ thing. Here’s a good nudge for us…
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to
the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down…and let us
run with endurance the race God has set before us.” ~Hebrews 12:1
There is a fact we need to revisit occasionally…we are walking a road that millions have walked before us. And as they came down this path they did so with soberness, with reverence, with energy, with sacrifice, with works in their hands…they were ready to walk this road well. We have gotten a bit slothful in our faith, by comparison. This is not my lone assessment…it is the mounting voice I am reading over and over again. I read a book about Christianity every couple weeks. With every one I pick up, here it comes again. Another voice saying, ‘we need to pick up the spiritual pace America’. There has to come a season in our life when we get serious about why we are here. There has to come a time when we choose to break out of the survival cycle…and identify the race God wants us to enter. There has to come a day when we start stripping away the things in our life that keep us from doing well in our called race. There must come an hour when we actually get ready for the race God has entered us into. Many have ran it. Some gave up, Most didn’t. Our turn! ~verlon

He Likes Faith...

HE LIKES FAITH…Every relationship requires us to figure out some things. There are things our friend really doesn’t like. So for the sake of the relationship, we will tend to avoid that list. There are some things they really like. So if we’re a good friend, we’ll start weaving those likes into our life. This is what makes a friendship thrive. That exact dynamic exists in our relationship with God. Some view God as a force. Like electricity. They reason that as soon as they figure out the God thing, they are good to go. But God is not a force. He has a personality. He has certain likes and dislikes. He really likes the kind of things that build us, & the brothers and sisters around us. He really doesn’t like things that degrade us & our brothers and sisters. There is one thing however that would have to go down as one of His favorites…
“And it is impossible to please God without Faith”. ~Hebrews 11:6
God is immeasurably pleased when He see’s His sons and daughters trusting Him even though He hasn’t showed up yet. For whatever reason, God finds great joy when He feels that His kids have that kind of confidence in Him. Not only is He proud of us because we have developed a depth about us that measures life by more than what’s visible, but our confidence in Him is very esteeming and reveals the kind of soul-deep friendship He has with us. On a more practical note, Life is about seasons…and timing…and ripening. Jesus told the parable about the farmer that plows, then plants, then waters, then waits. Finally, after many long days, the harvest is here. Our lives have these kind of seasons too. Just as the farmer doesn’t expect harvest during the days of plowing…we shouldn’t expect God to bring harvest, out of season. God will always work with the seasons of our maturity, the seasons of our spiritual growth, even the seasons of our trial and error. If God isn’t dumping a harvest on us, it’s because He’s reading our seasons. Can we find faith to wait for the day of reward? ~verlon

Valiant...

VALIANT…I like the notion that its possible to become a noble and strong person. But it’s not something that many people hold as a part of their self-identity. I suppose it harkens too much back to the days of knights & war-hero’s for many to think it’s something they should expect to show up in their lives. Would you be surprised that valor and being a valiant person is actually one of the foundational promises of the gospel? And that it’s been heralded through time as something God wants to do in us?
“With God we shall do valiantly…” ~Psalm 108:13
God is our father, and He wants all of us as His offspring to do very well on the earth. The problem this verse doesn’t become more of a reality is our human tendency to venture out on our own and with ourselves in the drivers seat. The DNA of the fall still resides in us all. These self-impulses spring up so often, that even for the diligent, sooner or later one gets through and undermines the valor God was working into our nature. This is the very reason that we must have a very active and daily salvation. When one of those self-impulse initiatives shows up, its time to confess it bluntly and trust our Savior to wash it out of our mind, heart and soul. Then in an instant, we are back on the path to valor again. In fact, we are back in God’s hands for him to work greatness into our lives just like He planned. We should be a people that expects God to cause us to do noble and strong and noteworthy things. It shouldn’t be a surprise when someone says of us that we are VALIANT! ~verlon

A Welcomed Rebuke...

A WELCOMED REBUKE…Some people are not correctable. They don’t have enough inward strength to be wrong about anything. They somehow feel they are a zero if any imperfections ever surface. But the path to adulthood requires us to come to terms with the fact that we are flawed and imperfect and it’s O.K.! Mature people know they are going to cross the line of insensitivity occasionally, and when it happens, they apologize, fix it and move on in good relations. That’s life at it’s best. But there is yet another level in this arena that can be taken by those who are spiritually motivated. It’s has to do with actually inviting and warmly welcoming the direct honesty of friends…
“An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend
are better than many kisses from an enemy”. ~Proverbs 27:5-6
This takes a level of soul strength to be sure…but for the person that sets up this kind of accountability for themselves…their future of Christ-like formation is very, very, very bright. This requires the right mixture of humility and strength. Humble enough to accept their flaws…strong enough to have it talked about openly. Jesus talked about this by His occasional use of the word “meekness”, the gospels. Meekness means ‘humility with strength’. For people who are worried more about their reputations…the appearance of their perfection…this kind of strength never develops. But for the person who is seeking Christ-like-ness with great fervor, this ‘meekness’ starts to form quite naturally. Thus they are able to invite the straight stuff about their imperfections. They have the strength to embrace their failures. They become “rebuke-able”. The ‘soul-weak’ person enjoys flattery…even from people who don’t have their best interest in mind. But the ‘soul-meek’ person, actually prefers the wounds of a friend. So the probing question…CAN YOU WELCOME A REBUKE FROM A FRIEND?
~Verlon

Look Back...

LOOK BACK…History is a potent thing. However, many of us look back into our history wrongly. Some are so rooted in their history that they can’t make needed changes. Some are so affected by regrets in their history, they can’t be effective today. Some give history so much power, that they see it as a negative predictor of their future. Still others hold such an exaggerated and nostalgic feeling about a part of their past that they are riddled by discontentment now. Yes, some people are limited by history. But there are those who have learned to use history as an empowerment. This is wise…
“Those who are wise…will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.”
~Psalm 107:43
Wise people see something in their history that others overlook. They see the unfailing love of the Lord. In fact, they look for it intentionally when they need encouragement. We all face impossibilities in this life…times when the need is greater than our resources. Oft times is money, sometimes health, and other times it’s relational pain…God forbid the times when it’s all three at once. Unfortunately, even that happens. At these times, one of our great recourses is to look back to the other seasons in our history when the seas were rough, and we were seriously outmatched. How did the unfailing love of the Lord show up then? He did show up, didn’t He! He did get you through to this point, didn’t He! Yes there was pain but He showed up with relief, didn’t He! It’s these remembrances from our past that breathes strength into our present. It’s these realizations that makes our future secure…even though it doesn’t look good now. This is what the wise know…its what the wise do. They stroll back through history and revisit all God’s show-up moments. Then they rest in the knowledge…that after all of His unfailing attention in their past…it’s unlikely that He’d decide to pull a ‘no-show’ now. That’s just not Him. ~Verlon

The Secret To Life-Change...

THE SECRET TO LIFE-CHANGE…Sometimes we just get tired of ourselves, don’t we. This tiredness shows up in many forms. Sometimes it’s irritability and blaming others. Often it’s depression and pessimism. Occasionally it’s venturing into some form of abuse. But what’s going on down deep is…we are just completely done with ourselves. There is a undercurrent of self-blame beneath many surface feelings and behaviors. Upon this realization, life-change is possible. But how do we reinvent something as basic as ‘me’?
“Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and
a new spirit”. ~Ezekiel 18:31
I love this verse. I think we need it’s wisdom in a very deep way during turn-around moments. For us to create life-change, we first have to come to terms with what got us to this irritating spot. We have to admit the real reason we have become tired of ourselves. It’s rebellion. Rebellion is as simple as wanting our own way rather than God’s way. Following that instinct was fun for a season…then it began to sour…then the souring turned to loathing…and now you simply despise yourself. It was rebellion that started the negative slide…it always is. So the road back up starts when we stop blaming things without…and start admitting what emerged from within us that created this mess. We need to hear our own lips say, “I have rebellion in my heart”! That’s key to any turn-around. in fact, that’s the great secret to a new chapter. Once we identify rebellion, confess it, and remove it…the rest is surprisingly easier. In the absence of rebellion, a new heart and a new spirit is actually “find-able”. That was the impossible part before, we couldn’t even see a new way. All we saw was more of ‘me’…‘mine’…‘my way’. But once rebellion is cleared…a new vision will emerge. A God-path will start to look good. A new voice will call to you…a new desire will form in you. Welcome to the first steps of life-change. ~Verlon

Desires...

DESIRES…Human desire is an interesting thing. Desires are powerful beyond words. They have the ability to mask themselves as noble things. They have a tendency to pork-belly themselves to otherwise right actions. And, they are in all of us. No human being on earth doesn’t have to manage potent…wrong…ill-timed …and self-serving…DESIRES. The nation of Israel had their bouts…
“In the wilderness their desires ran wild…so He gave them what they
asked for”. ~Psalm 106:14-15
It’s an intriguing thing how much our desires can affect our spiritual walk. Here the people of Israel were in the wilderness and you’d think they would be removed from the temptations common to civilization. But no! Even in the wilderness their desires for better food, for better shade, for better stability swept in like an evil wind. It’s also important to note that their desires flared up…‘ran wild’. That is common to human nature, too. Sometimes our desires are quite dormant. Then for no apparent reason and in an unexpected time…they spring to life with a ‘want-power’ that literally overwhelms us. Suddenly God’s people wanted what they wanted. Miracles of the red sea aside, they cried, “WE WANT!” It sprung up quickly and spread from person to person. Now here is where things get a bit scary. They actually wanted so long and so loud that God finally gave them what they were demanding. I don’t know about you, but down deep, on some very spiritual level I wish He wouldn’t do that. I wish that no matter how big a fit I pitch, that He would hold me to what was right. But that would be, for him, turning humankind into a puppet. And that is one thing He won’t do. When He made us in His image, He gave us with our own sovereignty. Thus we are free to choose His leading…and scarily so…we are free to follow our desires right to destruction, if we want to. “Oh Lord, teach me to want what you want, way more than anything else. Please!” ~Verlon

Represented...

REPRESENTED…Where is Christ standing? Simple question. But it has deep implications. Some view Christ as in heaven and they must make a distant appeal to Him for help. Others view Christ as only involved in important things and they must interrupt Him with their problems. Still others view Christ as a friend of the Holy, and beings they can see imperfections in themselves that somewhat excludes them. Where is Christ standing in your life? Here’s an interesting verse…
“Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!” ~Lamentations 3:58
If you’ll look around the courtroom of your life, you’ll see something interesting. Christ is standing at the table WITH YOU! You are already represented in your struggle for justice and freedom! You don’t need to jockey to get good representation for the issues pressing against you…you already have it! Christ went on retainer for you before you were born. Getting Him to take up your case has never been your problem. Trusting His way of handling your case… probably has been your problem. But navigating the issues of life and eternity is way out of your league. We all need someone to stand up for us and plead our case, don’t we! There are so many voices trying to advantage themselves at our expense. Some voices are external in the form of selfish people. Other voices are internal in the form of self-destructive instincts. Whatever the angle, we all need someone to step into our lives and PLEAD OUR CASE! So I ask again, where is Christ standing in your life? He’s standing right next to you…facing your accuser with you! You don’t have to scramble to get His attention…you got it! You don’t have to clean up your life first…that’s why He’s there! You don’t have to petition heaven to send Him…He’s already at the table with you petitioning heaven on your behalf! Get it straight…Christ is your lawyer…He is already pleading your case…Let Him fight for you…You are already represented!
~Verlon

Courage & Confidence Required...

COURAGE & CONFIDENCE REQUIRED…It’s a good thing that courage and confidence is a choice. Many people act as if courage is a personality trait that some have and others don’t…and they’re not one of the bold ones. So they drift through life in a weak fashion. But we need to probe deeper into the truth of Christ. Because He lives within us…and because He is called the lion of Judah for a reason…and because He welcomes us to ‘let Him out’…we can express courage and confidence whenever He does! That’s an overlooked truth, isn’t it! Here’s a verse on the topic…
“We are God’s house, IF we keep our courage and remain confident in our
hope in Christ!” ~Hebrews 2:16-18
So often we read the Bible through personal eyes only. We forget that the majority of scripture is written to the plural body of Christ! He addresses us as a body of listeners because He expects us to live that way. None of us are to navigate our life on our own. And yet that is the prime ‘modus operandi’ for most. We truly need to get over that. But in the verse above notice the word “IF”. It means that courage and confidence is required if “God’s house” is going to keep functioning like “God’s house”! Without a fresh vision of the courage and confidence of Christ emerging from within us…we start to wilt. And we lose something great. We lose the punchy nature of what God wants His house to be. So here is a charge to all of us. Lets get a good look at the courageous Christ that lives within us… and let’s then choose to be characterized by that courage… and let’s bring that courage and join it with our brothers and sisters in the ‘God Family’ we are called to be in..,and let’s collectively express that ‘Christ-Courage’ and ‘Christ-Confidence’ until sacrifice becomes easy…and impossible becomes normal! WE ARE GOD’S HOUSE! ~Verlon