Tuesday, June 24, 2025

THREE THINGS

 “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph 1:18-19).

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians exhorts believers to experience three important things in their spiritual lives that he experienced personally. As a good mentor, he desires those he is leading to follow his example.

First, God wants you to have the eyes of your heart enlightened in order to know the hope to which He has called you. God has called each of us to a future and a hope. Some do not ever realize the dreams they envision for their lives. Paul prays they will experience this.

Second, God wants you to know there is an inheritance for each believer in Jesus Christ. There are riches to be had – not financial riches – but spiritual riches that are laid up for every saint. As you are faithful to His calling in your life, there will be a reward for your faithfulness.

Third, God desires you to tap into the power that is available to every believer. Paul often exhorted believers not to look at his persuasive words, but the demonstration of the power of God in his life. He wants you to know this same power is available to you. After all, Jesus said we would do even greater works than He did after He sent the Holy Spirit to us.

Pray that God reveals the hope that exists inside of you, be encouraged that there is an inheritance awaiting you, and know that you have power that resides in you that awaits those who exercise their faith to release it.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

JESUS WAS TEMPTED IN 3 AREAS - SO ARE YOU

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1).

Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan! After 40 days of fasting, when Jesus was at his weakest physically, Satan came to Him. He tempted Him in 3 areas where you and I are most tempted. Why would the Father require this? Jesus needed to affirm to Satan who He was and from whom He gained His authority and provision.

1) Our Identity
“‘If You are the Son of
God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give
His angels charge over you,” and, “In their hands they
shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”‘
Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the
LORD your God.'” Jesus understood His identity and refused to
allow Satan to redefine Him. Do not allow Satan to define your
identity from anyone or anything other than God.

2) Our Authority
“Again, the devil took Him
up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him,
‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and
worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” Jesus’ authority
was rooted in doing only what He saw the Father do. He did not use
fleshly authority.

3) Our Source of Provision
“And when He
had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of
God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and
said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”‘”

Today, realize your identity resides in being a son or daughter of your Heavenly Father. Your authority resides in being led by the Holy Spirit. Your provision comes from your Heavenly Father.

Thursday, June 19, 2025

THE STRENGTH OF BROKENNESS

 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength.” – 1 Samuel 2:4

There is an oxymoron throughout the Bible. It says that brokenness is strength. How can this be? How can brokenness be strength? In order to use men and women to their fullest extent, the Lord has to break His servants so that they might have a new kind of strength that is not human in origin. It is a strength in spirit that is born only through brokenness.

Paul was broken on the Damascus road. Peter was broken after Jesus was taken prisoner. Jacob was broken at Peniel. David was broken after his sin with Bathsheba. The list could go on of those the Lord had to break in different ways before they could be used in the Kingdom.

When we are broken, we see the frailty of human strength and come to grips with the reality that we can do nothing in our own strength. Then, new strength emerges that God uses mightily. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Do not fear brokenness, for it may be the missing ingredient to a life that emerges with a new kind of strength and experience not known before. Pray for a broken and contrite heart that God can bless.

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

LEARNING TO STAND

 …”Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today….” – Exodus 14:13

The Israelites had just left 400 years of slavery in Egypt. They had fled to the desert, but they had come to a dead end at the Red Sea. Word reached them that Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was sending his troops to recapture the Israelites. They cried out to their leader Moses, complaining that he had brought them that far only to die in the desert.

Learning when to move and when to stand is the greatest challenge for a workplace believer. We are trained for action. We are not trained to sit idly and wait. We are trained to solve problems, not wait for them to resolve themselves. However, God says there are times to wait. We are to wait until He says go. If we go before He says go, we likely will make our situation worse. If the Israelites had attempted to cross the Red Sea before it parted, they would have drowned. If they had fled north to try to avoid the Egyptians, God would not have moved in a miraculous way. God cannot work on our behalf if we continually try to solve our problems when He has instructed us to stand still. Standing still is sometimes the greatest action we can do, although it is the most difficult thing to do in the Christian walk.

Stand still when He says stand and see the deliverance of the Lord.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

WHEN PLANTING YIELDS NO FRUIT

 “You have planted much, but have harvested little….” – Haggai 1:6

Have you ever worked and worked only to yield very little from your efforts? Such was the case for the workplace believers during the time of the prophet Haggai. Finally, God spoke through the prophet Haggai to inform the people why their efforts were not yielding any fruit. There was a specific reason this was happening.

“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of My house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands” (Haggai 1:9-11).

God had finally had enough. His priorities were not His people’s priorities. So, He withheld in order to get their attention. Zerubbabel was governor of Judah at the time. He was a godly man who sought to do God’s will. He listened as the prophet gave these words; then he responded.

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord (Haggai 1:12).

Sometimes God has to stir up the spirit of one man to initiate needed change. Zerubbabel was that man. Scriptures say, “The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel” (Hag. 1:14). God is stirring up the spirit of a remnant of workplace believers throughout the world today. They are seeing what breaks God’s heart, and they’re responding. Has God placed the spirit of Zerubbabel in you? Are you one who will make a difference for the Kingdom, or are you concerned about building bigger and better barns? The Lord is calling forth His people in these last days to make a difference. Ask Him what He wants to do through you.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

TESTING FOR OBEDIENCE

 “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind” (Ps. 26:2).

Throughout the Old Testament, we see many situations in which God tests His people in order to determine if they will follow Him or follow the systems of this world.

The nation of Israel was tested many times during the 40-year sojourn in the wilderness: “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands” (Deut. 8:2).

You might ask, “Why does God need to test us? Doesn’t He know everything, including what we would do in every situation?” Yes, God knows – but we don’t know ourselves! God doesn’t test us in order to find out something He doesn’t already know. He tests us so that we can learn about ourselves and His love, power and faithfulness.

In Genesis 22, God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah. Isaac was Abraham’s only son by his wife Sarah – the son God had promised to Abraham. By demanding that Isaac be sacrificed, God
seemed to be nullifying His covenant of making a great nation of Abraham. How could God’s promise be fulfilled if Isaac was dead?

God tested Abraham to reveal whether or not Abraham truly trusted His promise. Yes, God knew what Abraham would do, but He wanted Abraham to know as well. So God put Abraham to the test, and Abraham passed. As Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice his own son, God stopped him and provided a sacrificial ram instead.

Every test involves obedience in one way or another. When God tests us, He reveals the true state of our hearts. Are we obedient to His will, or are we self-willed? We might think we know the answer, but we would never truly know unless we were tested.

Saturday, June 7, 2025

YOUR TESTIMONY

 “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.” – John 3:11

Over the last several years I have seen two distinct types of Christian workplace believers. One type enthusiastically teaches their Bible knowledge to others. These people, though they may be genuine in their motive, lack one essential ingredient to being effectively used by God – a testimony. The second type of people I have encountered has a genuine testimony of what God is doing and continues to do in their lives.

This was the case in the early Church. Men and women were able to give powerful testimony of events and experiences that could only be explained as a work of God.

God desires to build a testimony in each of us. Each of us is one of God’s chosen vessels to reflect His power in and through us. When others see this power reflected, they are impacted because they cannot explain that power. God desires to frame your life with experiences designed to reflect the character and nature of Christ. Sometimes these events can be very devastating, but they are designed to reveal His power in and through us.

Every one of us has a testimony. What would others say your testimony is today? Can others see God’s work in your life? Is your testimony one of Bible knowledge only? Are things happening in your life that can only be explained by God? These can be problematic questions for each of us. Ask God to build a testimony of His life in and through you today.