The Old and The New

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. John 2:9-10 KJV

In my last entry I was writing about the difference between living by religious rules and regulations and true relationship with Christ. I thought it was interesting in John 2:9 when Jesus turned the water into wine and the wine was taken to the governor of the feast. When the governor tasted the new wine he said, “This is the good stuff!”The Pharisees and the religious leaders were a picture of those who, “tasted the old.” They had chosen to live by rules and regulations. Remember, they were the ones who were always giving Jesus trouble. In Matthew chapter twelve they told Jesus that His disciples were picking the corn in the field on the Sabbath and that was not acceptable. They considered the disciples actions to be work which was not allowed on the Sabbath. Jesus reminded them of what David and his men did when he was hungry. They went into the Holy place and ate the consecrated bread that they were not supposed to eat. 

 One of the things I like about the scriptures is that there is enough there to shake things up to where you can’t put God in a box. Basically what Jesus was saying is that the bread David ate was not allotted for him to eat. It was wrong for him to do that. Then Jesus told them that He was Lord of the Sabbath and He can do whatever He wants to. Jesus shook up the box on them! 

  There’s all kind of issues where people put God in a box. For example, the subject of women Bible teachers is one where people try to put God in a box. They take a couple of scriptures and say this and that, but God will put His anointing on who ever He pleases.

God leaves enough throughout the scriptures that shows He is going to accomplish His purpose in whatever way He chooses. If you want to be confined to the old, you can have things however you think they ought to be. You’ll just be doing whatever it is without God’s anointing on it. 

  In the sermon on the mount in Matthew Chapter 5 Jesus talked about the old and the new. He said, “The old has said, thou shalt not murder, the new has said, if you have anger in your heart you have murdered in your heart.” The old dealt with the outward appearance of unrighteousness. Jesus introduced a new thing when He talked about the motives of the heart. 

 When the lawyer came to Jesus he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him, “What does the law say?” The lawyer could have said, thou shall not do this or that. He didn’t say that though, he replied, “Thou must love the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. He knew that God was talking about the issues of the heart. Then the lawyer asked him, “Okay, if I’m supposed to love my neighbor, who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, how a man was robbed and beaten and left for dead. The religious leader and the priest both passed him by and did nothing. It was the Samaritan, the one who was willing to lay down his life who did the right thing and truly loved his neighbor. 

  We can use religious talk and pray and read the scriptures but the gospel is about laying down your life. It’s easy to lay down your life for those who are laying down their lives for you. It’s easy for me to lay down my life for my wife when she is baking me chocolate chip cookies. I can’t wait to do wonderful things for her then. When she’s not meeting my expectations or is an obstacle to the things I want her to do, that’s when it’s difficult to lay your life down. 

The crux of the gospel is the cross. It’s one thing to talk about it but the reality comes in our day to day life. The reality comes when we are not getting our way or when we are spending time with someone we don’t enjoy spending time with. God says, “I want to use you to display what love really is.” 

Love is the giving up of yourself and your rights. 

You and I will never do that until we first believe the love that God has for us. 

One point I always come back to is John chapter 13 when Jesus washes the disciples feet. Knowing the very reason that God the Father sent Him he laid aside His garment and washed their feet. He didn’t have to prove anything or tell them He was Lord. Because he knew God’s love for Him and knew who He was, He was able to lay down His life for them without looking for anything in return. 

In every one of our relationships if we are not not looking for the approval of others, we can genuinely lay down our lives for others. 

They’ll be no hook in it and no hidden motives, no grumbling or complaints because we are convinced of God’s love for us. We are convinced of His sovereignty and that He is not playing games with our lives. 

  God tried to convince the children of Israel of His love but their hearts were always looking back to where they came from. Wherever you’ve come from, if your heart is still bent on going back to where you came from, you’ll be given every opportunity to do so. 

  I spoke to one man in the prison recently who said he was a prayer warrior and fasted often but God had not proven Himself to him. He said he was ready to walk away from God. I think he was waiting for me to beg him not to go. I didn’t, I told him if there is still something back there that you are looking for, go ahead. Because you’re always going to be looking back. That’s living in the Valley of Decision where you haven’t come to the end of yourself yet. 

  As for my life, I’ve burned those bridges long ago. We all are going through hardships and difficulties. That’s how God’s love is tested and tried in us. Even when the circumstances of life are difficult and you’re in loneliness and despair, where are you going to go? We’ll never have peace in this world apart from the Lord. There will always be difficulties and that’s how we are going to see Jesus in our lives as we move from glory to glory. The further I go, the harder the trials are going to get but I’ll be stronger and they won’t seem like anything to me.

  I say the new is better than the old. I don’t want to live by rules and regulations, I want to live by relationship. That is eating from the tree of life at every moment of the day. It’s calling on the Lord and asking Him, “Open up yourself to me and show me how to do this.”

for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:13-14

For further study today, consider my podcast. You can stream it here:

Listen on iTunes by clicking here

Listen on Stitcher by clicking here

Rules or Relationship?

And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.” And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

Luke 5:33-39 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The practice of fasting is established throughout the scriptures. In the time in which Jesus walked the Earth, the religious Pharisees fasted two or three days a week. Jesus exposed their hearts when He told them that they only fasted to be seen by men. Their religious act of fasting did nothing to bring to their hearts a revelation of who Jesus really was. There was a prophetess by the name of Anna who spent forty years fasting and praying in the temple for the reconciliation of Israel. 

When Joseph and Mary brought in the baby Jesus, she received a revelation of who He was in her heart. 

  So you can see there were two different types of fasting taking place with two different motivations and ultimately two different outcomes. Jesus told the Pharisees that they had missed the day in which He had visited them and their religious activities had done nothing to soften their heart towards Him. He exposed to them that they love their traditions and acts of worship more than they love God himself. 

  Think about it, we can have a church program or ministry that we love more than Him. The Lord reminded me recently as I went on a fast of the scripture, Isaiah 58, the fast that God chooses. He spoke to my heart that it’s easier for me to fast for a short season than to live a “fasted” life. It’s easier for me to bring my body into subjection for a few days than to live differently on a daily basis. Bringing our flesh under subjection to the Spirit man day by day is much more challenging. 

The judgement against the people of God in the book of Jeremiah was that they would not obey God’s voice. 

    Thinking back to Luke chapter 5 where Jesus talked about the wine and the wine skins is eye opening. God is not looking to reform us, He wants to make us new creations. If your trying to reform your life by religion eventually the “new wine,” in the “old bottle,” will burst. The two are just not going to fit together. Your life is not going to fit until you let the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, put the old man to death. You have to make a choice to let Him do a new work in you. 

We would rather live by precepts, rules and regulations than relationship with God. 

  In the book of Genesis there were two trees in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil worked off of rules and principles, such as, do this, don’t do that. The tree of life operates in the moment, hearing the Spirit of God as you make decisions. 

   Living in relationship instead of rules brings peace and rest. Listen for God’s voice and don’t confine Him to a rule. Stop and really listen to what He is saying to you. Begin to depend upon relationship, living by the Spirit. Cultivate in your heart, your relationship with the Lord. 

    The Children of Israel knew God’s acts but Moses knew His ways because there was a relationship there. We are learning to hear His voice and be sensitive to it. God’s heartbeat from Genesis to Revelation has been for the purpose of having relationship with you. The very thing that would separate you from Him, sin, he took upon Himself. He made a way for you through you through the cross, to be able to boldly come to His throne of grace. 

      Stop and reflect upon this amazing truth and choose today within yourself, a heart of thanksgiving.

“I am my beloved’s,
And his desire is for me.

           Song of Solomon 7:10

For further study, consider our podcast. You can stream it here:

download it from iTunes
listen on our podcast page

Behold!

Behold, He who keeps Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:4

  There are, “beholds,” all through scripture as we study God’s word, but when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he made an unforgettable statement. “Behold,” give attention to this...”This is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” 

When God was speaking to the Apostle John, 

  He said, “Behold, (give attention to this), Lo, I come quickly.” 

   Are we choosing in the midst of what we see to say, “Behold, the Lamb of God!"?  Have we chosen not to give in to discouragement and despair? 

We don’t live by sight, we live by faith. Whenever we move into a place of discouragement or despair we have taken our eyes off of Jesus. We have let the situation and circumstances steal our courage to believe. 

 Do you know what it means to be discouraged? It means your courage has been taken from you.

 I know that God is good and because of that I know He has a purpose in what we are walking through. If we will look to Him as the eyes of a servant look to their masters, He will be faithful to show us the way. 

Jesus not only wants to instruct us, He wants to make Himself known to us. Remember, one of His names is Emmanuel, “God with us,” in our circumstances.

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Isaiah 40:26-28 King James Version (KJV)

The greatest builder of faith is not answered prayers, it’s the process of waiting.


For further study, enjoy the full message on our podcast, you can stream it here:

Listen to our podcast on iTunes.









By Andy Brink,
Photo by Luca Dugaro on Unsplash  via the  Over app.

The Gatekeeper

Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23

I want you to know, the most precious possession you have is your heart. Every day there are messages seeking to get root and ground in your life. 

Your mind is the gatekeeper of your heart. Lust, for example....you make a choice when you let that into your life. 

We must all choose whether or not thoughts of anger, resentment or jealousy, are allowed to run through our minds and even guide our decisions. 

When the gatekeeper is defending your heart you will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. As those thoughts come into your head you can respond with, “I don’t receive it.” Then stop thinking about it, like changing the channel on your television set. You can replace the negative thoughts with an encouraging scripture. 

Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 1st Peter 1:4

   One little private thought, a resentment against someone who really did wrong you and before you realize it, you’re chained to years of bitterness. One day you find yourself physically ill from a stronghold of refusing to forgive. 

  Or maybe you ignore an inner nudge telling you not to share some gossip about someone. In a moment you speak careless words that divide friends or break up relationships. You find yourself bound up in guilt, regret and shame for using careless words.

  Maybe the enemy speaks words of self condemnation or discouragement and you receive those thoughts as your own. Suddenly you are critical of yourself and depressed because you are receiving lies about yourself and others. These thoughts change the course of your day and even affect your interaction with God and with those around you.

All of a sudden the enemy brings a lustful image into your mind and a voice says, “it’s okay, it’s just a thought...” but what it doesn’t tell you, is that it wants to control your life. 

Once you give place to the enemy, these thoughts won’t stop showing up on the view screen of your mind. I can’t tell you how many men have told me that they thought getting married would deal with the lusts of their minds. They find themselves stuck in pornography even though they’re married to good women who love them. 

The powers of darkness start off by saying, “Just give me a little place in your life,” and then all of a sudden they say, “Now I’m here and I’m not leaving.”

 That’s why Jesus said, “Guard your heart,” because you’ve got to become active, engaged in the battle of life. 

You’ve got to cry out, “Lord help me! Because the thoughts of my mind have gone over my head.” 

Ask him to help you to turn away from the lies and to change. Spend time with the Lord in intimate communion and renew your mind with His Word. There’s going to be falling down and getting up but God will teach you to fight the good fight of faith. 

He will teach you how to resist these wrong thoughts and avoid temptations. 

  As you keep your mind stayed upon the Lord He will cause you to think upon good things and to not allow evil thoughts in your mind. 

The end result will be the true pleasures of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. There will be a priceless change for the better in your life as your mind is renewed and your conscience made clean.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Romans 12:2

For further study, consider our podcast. You can stream it here-

Moving Forward

   I remember many years ago,    when we first started off in prison ministry we would hold three to four day seminars. We held open meetings in the big sanctuary and then we would break up into groups in the classrooms and have smaller meetings. In one such meeting I can recall seeing a guy who looked different. He didn’t seem to fit in there. As he gave his testimony we found out that he was actually a fighter pilot. He was stationed in Hawaii and went on leave to see his family for his birthday. 

  When his plane landed back in the states he was surprised to see that his family was not waiting for him as they usually would be. Someone came up to him and told him his family had been in an accident and he needed to get to the hospital immediately. When he got there, his wife and his oldest daughter had already died and his youngest daughter died in his arms. 

   Basically what had happened was that a local judge had been drinking and driving and ran a stop sign and hit his family. So the pilot went through the normal legal proceedings but the judge received a slap on the wrist and nothing really happened to him.

  He couldn’t believe such a miscarriage of justice and bitterness began to work within him. So he found out where the judge was, at a golf course and put on his dress whites and confronted him. He looked him in the eye and told him, “I am the man whose family you killed.” 

The judge was shocked at the confrontation and became enraged, cursing at the pilot and telling him to leave immediately. All he wanted was a sincere apology from the judge but when that didn’t happen, he went to his Jeep and got his gun. He shot the judge three times and although he didn’t kill him, he caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. 

 The pilot ended up in prison and several years into his sentence the judge wrote him a sincere letter of apology, explaining that he had become a christian. He asked the pilot to please forgive him for what he did to his family. The pilot had such bitterness of heart that he set the letter aside and couldn’t write him back. He kept putting it off and putting it off. 

  At that time, the seminar we were having was about forgiveness and I could tell the whole time that he was wrestling with something in his heart. 

As the meetings progressed he stood up and shared his story and said that he had chosen to forgive the judge as hard as it was. He said he had written him a letter the night before telling him he had forgiven him. At that moment, a new journey opened up in his life. He obeyed God’s call to forgive as difficult as it was for him and left that place of bitterness of soul. He took the first step to freedom from the bondage of resentment.

The key is obedience to God’s word!

  What is it that God is dealing with in your life? Maybe it’s an issue of forgiveness and you know it’s in your heart. Maybe you’re wondering why your life is so dry. Perhaps you’re questioning why God isn’t moving in your life like He is in the lives of others. 

Get quiet before the Lord and cry out for His guidance and direction. Faith will happen as you obey what God is saying to you. Your faith will continue to grow as you take that first step and move forward. When you move from hearing the word to being a doer of the word, you will be walking in liberty and freedom. 

“as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.

Ezekiel 33:30-31 NASB

For further study consider this audio message on YouTube:

The Mystery of Leaven

            Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.They are leading you into futility;They speak a vision of their own imagination,Not from the mouth of the Lord. “They keep saying to those who despise Me,‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”'; and as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say,'Calamity will not come upon you.'

                                                                                                  Jeremiah 23:16-17

        The Prophet Jeremiah, in this verse, is warning the people that the priests among them are giving people a message of peace, while they are walking in the stubbornness of their own hearts. It's amazing to me that over the years I have talked to people within the church who are literally practicing fornication or other immorality, who say to me, "I have peace."

Jeremiah was telling the people not to listen to people in leadership who say you can live immorally and have peace with God. He said, "Don't heed them," and "Don't give attention to them." Why would he say that? So many today are preaching sermons and messages by the thousands that tell us it's okay to live as we please, why listen to Jeremiah? It's simple friends....Jeremiah knew there is a judgement to come and every man will stand before God and give an account of his life. Stop and think about that for a moment. "Yeah, I have heard all that stuff Andy but how do we know that?" 

     

Ecclesiastes 11 says...

   Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. 

Enjoy your life but keep in mind you will give an account to God.

Chapter twelve of the same book says;

be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

    Believe me, i'm for you as you read this, when I tell you the truth, that every one of us will give account of their lives to God. In this day and age there are messages preached on every subject but many of them do not give attention to the state of your heart. The Bible says, "a little leaven will leaven the whole lump." Using the analogy of making bread, the word is telling us that a little sin can permeate our lives until it destroys us. 

   We can see this example clearly in the life of David the Psalmist, the man after God's own heart. In 2nd Samuel, chapter eleven, there came one moment in David's life where he decided not to go into battle with his armies. Then the next moment when he looked from the rooftop of his palace and saw a woman bathing. Then the next moment when he had her brought to his chambers. Then in the next moment he stepped across the line and accomplished his lust for her. 

      Then the next moment he had to find a way to hide that act so he brought her husband Uriah, a righteous and Godly man, to his palace. The next moment he decides he has to find a way to have Uriah killed. In the next moment, he kills the man by having him sent to the front lines of the battle, unprotected by the other soldiers. There came a moment in David's life where what seemed like the smallest thought, the smallest piece of leaven permeated his life and consumed him. All of a sudden, Nathan the prophet comes with a loud strong word to wake up David's dull conscience. 

    I want to encourage you today to examine your heart and be true to yourself. WAKE UP, and deal with the sin in your life before it takes over. Today, don't harden your heart, God wants to get your attention! It's not about who you are in the church service or Bible study it's about what you are when your guard is down and you are being who you really are. When you're at work or leisure time when the Pastor and your Christian friends aren't around. Jesus said to believers, it just takes a little leaven to affect your whole lives! You have to deal with it today or one day what's in your heart will come out and be exposed to the whole congregation. How do you deal with it? Repent. Cry out to God for help and take steps to protect your life from it. Eliminate habits and patterns from your life that bring compromise or expose you to areas of temptation. If David had been engaged in the battle with his armies he would not have been on that roof top and exposed himself to temptation. 

      I want to remind you when the Word is talking about leaven, it's talking about in the church. Our hearts are born with the nature of sin, no one had to teach us to lie, steal, take advantage or manipulate. Those things are natural to our hearts. When we become believers, when we surrender all to Him, God is bringing about change in our lives. He's trying to cut the umbilical cord that ties us to this world. You can't be changed as long as you entertain the leaven of this world in your heart. That's what God is bringing attention to. WE must purge wickedness and malice from our hearts by getting a hold of God's word and letting it bear good fruit in our lives.

 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?  Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.     
1st Corinthians 5:6-8

For further study today, consider listening to our podcast. You can stream it here:

             

Listen to our podcast on iTunes.
Download the MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing "save as" from the right-click menu.

The Hem of His Garment

       I can't speak for everyone else but I can speak of this for me, I know that God is good. I'm convinced of it. When circumstances change in our lives many pray a prayer of spiritual warfare against the enemy. Over the years having read the book of Jeremiah many times, Jeremiah asserts that God is in control.

It is God who sent enemies because they are the servants of His indignation. So our problem is never with the enemy, oftentimes it's with God. The Lord is able to speak a word and change everything for the better in our situation. So the first thing we can do is examine our hearts to see if there is sin going on in our lives.

If in fact God is chastising us, repent. Cry out to God for forgiveness and to give you clean hands and a pure heart.

If not and you are experiencing a season of difficulty or sorrow, If you put your eyes upon Him you'll find in every tragedy, the fingerprint of God. The times when righteousness was perfected in my life was always in the time of tears. I've had to grab hold of the hem of His garment.

Whether you like it or not, it is through suffering that we learn righteousness! Our prayer in those times is for God to be gracious to us. Years ago I was was talking with a good friend whose wife was stricken with cancer and I'll never forget he said to me, "Andy, I know that God is able to heal my wife, But whether he does or not, we still belong to Him."

That reminded me of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were to be cast into the fiery furnace. They acknowledged that God was able to deliver them but even if He did not, they still belonged to Him. They would not bow to the king's golden statue. If you find yourself today in a difficult place and it seems like God has forgotten you, know that He hasn't. Put your eyes upon Him like a servant with their eyes upon their master. In the place of prayer, take hold of the hem of His garment and trust in Him.

The LORD is Good, A strong hold in the day of trouble; And He knoweth them that trust in Him. Nahum 1:7 (KJV)

The Fallen Tree

A dear friend of mine, Ron Walker, who passed away years ago, was one of the men of God that the Lord put in my life. I remember he was a vibrant part of my journey, growing up as a young christian. One day we were walking in a forest and there was a tree that had fallen over nearby. Ron paused and looked at me and said, "Andy, what do you see when you look at this fallen tree? What is God showing you about it?"

   I looked at it and replied, "It's just a tree that's fallen over." He shook his head and said, "No, I mean, what is God teaching you about it and what do you see beyond the obvious?"

Looking more carefully this time I said, "It appears to have died and fallen over." He smiled and said, "Andy, there was a time when this tree stood upright, tall and proud. Maybe families would come and have a picnic under it's shade. Children would find joy climbing in it's branches. All along though, there was a disease inside it. It was slowly rotting away from within, day by day being consumed until one day it snapped. People probably talked about how the tree they had once enjoyed had fallen. Then as they began to look inside, they could see it had been rotting away for a long time."

As I look back at that talk we had, I can't help but reflect upon the reality of truth in that analogy that I have seen in so many peoples lives. Oftentimes in our journey the danger is in the little things that consume us from within over time. Small compromises with sin and darkness until before we know it, we are being destroyed from within. The destruction that seems to come suddenly in peoples lives had been working in them already for a long time.

    If you find yourself in such a place, begin to cry out to the Lord with a simple prayer of repentance. Begin to take thoughts captive and ask the Lord to help you as make better choices for your spiritual well being.

   Do all you can to safeguard your life from compromise and to encourage yourself in the Lord and in His word.

     As you agree with God and keep coming to the light, God will bless your efforts because He is for you in this journey. Even the simplest prayer and smallest steps in the right direction can keep your feet on the path of a healthy walk with Christ.

Watch over your heart with all diligence,For from it flow the springs of life.Proverbs 4:23 NASB

For further study, consider my podcast, you can stream it or download it here:

Look at Your Way in the Valley

Know thy way in the valley.

Jeremiah 2:23

The Prophet, the mouthpiece of God was speaking to the children of Israel with a solemn message. “You’ve lost your way,” and he encouraged them to , “Look at your way in the valley!”

The Valley was the place of squeezing, the place of trial and difficulty. The Prophet was asking them to examine their hearts in the midst of their trial. You can take an orange and squeeze it and get fresh, sweet, orange juice. Everyone you give it to will be refreshed and enjoy it. Then you could take a lemon and paint it orange and give it the same look but when you squeeze it, you definitely won’t get any orange juice. 

We can say what we want but it’s in the valleys that we get squeezed. You find out quickly what’s inside your heart. I want you to know something it took me twenty years to figure out. When God shows us something in our hearts that is not like him, He is never saying, “Shame on you.”

Sometimes you examine difficult scriptures and it’s hard to receive because you receive them as rejection. When you realize that God already knows what’s in your heart and is not threatened by it, you can agree with God and He can bring about a change in you.

 The end result of this journey is becoming convinced of His love for us. Our being conformed to the nature and character of Jesus Christ is accomplished as we journey through those valley places always choosing to, “come to the light.”

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

2 Corinthians 4:17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)


For further study, you can stream my podcast here:

We Are Not a People Without Hope

Today I stopped to visit an old friend who shared with me how a co-worker of his is going through some cancer issues. He had never experienced being close to someone who was going through such a difficult trial.

Having driven this friend to the hospital to get Cancer treatments and watching her go through so much, he admitted that he was feeling depressed.

I sat down beside him and explained that as a minister, I find myself surrounded by the reality of dying and death all the time.

I told him that these things are reminders that we are not here on this earth forever. It’s only depressing to us when we can’t embrace that.

The amazing truth is that as believers in Christ, we are being prepared to step out of this world and into eternity. This is our great hope that one day we will be free of the constraints of this earthen shell. When we leave this world we will be suddenly immersed in the height, width, length and depth of the love of God. 

   Rejoice today because this is what we were created for before the foundation of the world!

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For deeper study, consider our podcast, you can stream it here: