MICROSOFT MARY

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov 3:5- 6).

I travel a lot. One of the greatest modern-day inventions I’ve appreciated most is the GPS system for cars. GPS stands for Global Positioning System, a navigational system tied to a satellite that can pinpoint your location and chart directions to any destination you select. I remember a time when I used one of these when we were in Germany. We were able to program the GPS in English. We began our drive to our destination when a pleasant voice came on: "Turn left in 200 yards." We called our invisible road counselor, Microsoft Mary.
"Could we trust Mary to lead us in the direction we needed to go?" we thought to ourselves. At first, we looked at the map to see if she was correct in her instructions. Soon we were trusting her for every detail. If we needed reassurance, we simply pushed a button to replay the audio instructions. We traveled all over Germany with Microsoft Mary. She brought us to the exact street address. We were amazed how Mary got us around so easily.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help you and I navigate through life.  "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come" (John 16:13-14).
A story is told years ago about the Chinese underground church having to rely on the Holy Spirit to tell them when and where they were to meet. It was too dangerous to announce public meetings. So, each member had to ask the Holy Spirit the time and place. They would all arrive at the same place at the same time.
Is the Holy Spirit active in your work life? Are you asking for His direction to succeed in your work? Microsoft Mary may help us navigate traffic, but Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us navigate life. Ask Him to guide you today.

BECOMING A FOOL

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." - Proverbs 1:7

Marvin Wilson, the author of Our Father Abraham, has written incisively about the various meanings for our word "fool":
In Biblical wisdom literature, the pupils of the sages and mentors are unwise, often termed "fools" (Prov. 1:7) or "simple one" (1:22). In wisdom literature, the different levels of fools - both young and old - are the raw material on which the sages had to work, and they represent the varying degrees of rawness. Perhaps as much as anything else, the term fool is descriptive of an attitude, bent of mind, or direction in life, which needs correcting. The various Hebrew words for fool occur more than a hundred times in the book of Proverbs. [Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 284-286.]
The reference to someone being a fool was not necessarily a negative term. A simple fool, or peti, was a person who made mistakes, but quickly righted them and was restored to fellowship with God and with others. King David was a simple fool, one who made mistakes but kept a repentant heart toward God. This is why God did not turn away from him for his many sins.
The hardened fool, kesil, and ewil, makes mistakes, but never learns from them and will not listen to others. Such people can expect God's reproof to continue and will eat the fruit of their own way (see Prov. 1:31-32). The hardened fool "returns to his own vomit." King Saul was a hardened fool, one who made mistakes and continued in them even after realizing he was wrong. We're going to err in our ways. The question is, once we know we have made a mistake before God, do we make the necessary adjustments that will allow Him to intervene on our behalf? And will we avoid the same course of action in the future? God says that if we do, He will pour out His Spirit on us (see Prov. 1:23). He will make known His words to us.
The third level of fool mentioned in Proverbs is the mocking fool or letz. The mocking fool mocks the things of God. This word means "scoffer" or "scorner." When you encounter cynical people who disregard the things of God, you know these people are "mocking fools."
The fourth level of a fool is the God-denying fool or nabal. This term relates to the morally wicked person who ignores the disgrace he brings on his family and who despises holiness (see Prov. 17:21). This person says, "There is no God." By failing to acknowledge God for who He is, the nabal declares himself to be a "God-denying" fool.
I have found that it is helpful to try to understand if people are teachable. Are they simple fools, those who make mistakes but seek to learn from them? I can work with those people. But if I sense I am working with a hardened fool, I know I should not spend much time on that person. Jesus did not spend much time trying to convince the rich young ruler. He presented the truth, and let him make his decision. Some people must get broken before they can become simple fools. Sometimes it is simply better to let Satan chew on people until the ground is fertile enough to present the truth to them.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

 

Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart (Ps 36:10). Someone once said, "Success is when those who know you the best are those who love you the most." Years ago a man named Jahari developed a self-assessment tool that helps us understand how we relate to others. The Jahari Window helps us realize where we are in our ability to know who we are and for others to know who we are. Real transparency in communication takes place when those we associate with us know who we are after we discover who we really are. See if you can identify what category you might fall among these four: Transparent Life The transparent life is the life we should desire. I know who I am and others know me. There is nothing hidden. I have come to know who I am as an individual and basically, people get what they see in me. Bull-In-The-China Shop This person is blinded to the things that others recognize about him. The solution to becoming a transparent person is to get feedback from those around us about the blind spots in our personality. We must ask for feedback and be willing to respond to their input. Aloof/Hidden Secrets This person lives in a secret world. They don't allow others to know about themselves. They know themselves but are fearful of letting others know. Those around them do not know them either. What do others really know about you? Have you allowed yourself to get close enough to others to share who you really are inside? Hidden Potential This is a combination of Bull-In-A-China Shop and Aloof/Hidden Secrets. It is the saddest of all conditions. These people don't know themselves and others don't know them either. This means both parties have to invest the energy to communicate and get feedback from one another. How about you? Why not take a step to find out who you really are in the eyes of others. It could change your life.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR GIFT

 

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. - 1 Corinthians 12:1 In First Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, the apostle Paul is teaching us about the role of spiritual gifts in the Church. He correlates these gifts to a human body, telling us that each person's gift helps the whole Body of the Church. This is such an important principle for us to learn. I must say I learned this principle regarding my own spiritual gift the hard way. "God will never speak as strongly to you as to someone else," said my mentor to me one day. The statement shocked me. "What in the world do you mean by that?" I argued with him. "Your spiritual gift of administration/leading is one of the most dangerous gifts in the whole Body of Christ. The reason is that you can see the big picture better than anyone else, and you're so task-oriented that you will run people into the ground getting your project completed because you think you see it so clearly. That is why the best friend you could ever have is someone with a prophetic gift to discern whether the big picture you see is actually the picture God is directing. It is the one gift that can almost stand-alone better than any other - at least that is the opinion of the one with that gift." Oh, how I have learned this lesson the hard way! He was so right. There have been many church staff destroyed by a person with the gift of administration. During my years as a salesman, I saw how I stressed out my staff because of the tremendous load I put on them with multiple projects. It was so easy for me because the more balls I had juggling, the better I felt. I was oblivious to how my multi-task personality impacted those around me. Today, I have some special relationships with intercessors and prophetic people whom I depend on for confirmation of direction. I have learned their spiritual gifts of discernment are of great value in determining strategic direction. I have learned that God has placed within each person a spiritual gift that is designed to make the Body of Christ function better for His purposes. When we discover the spiritual gifts God has placed in those around us, we are better able to see the Body function as a real body-totally dependent on one another. Some of us are more sensitive to God's voice because God has gifted us in that way. Others of us are less sensitive because God wants us to depend on others in the Body for their gifts. Find out whom God has placed around you today and discover a new dimension of spiritual productivity.

STRANGE INSTRUCTIONS

 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands (2 John 6).

A distinguished Indian evangelist named Sadhu Chellappa was on a mission trip to a village north of Madras, when in the middle of the night he suddenly sensed God speaking to him: "Leave this house quickly and run away!"
Not exactly a convenient thing to do. But Chellappa was accustomed to accepting even strange instructions from the Lord without debate, so he dressed quickly and ran into the darkness.
After a while, he was in open country. As he passed beneath a large tree, he felt God tell him, "Stay here and start to preach!" Now, even for an experienced evangelist, this was puzzling­­­­­­­­—because there was no one to be seen. Why did God want him to preach to an empty field in the middle of the night? But he stopped under the tree and began to preach the gospel.
Finally, he reached the point at which he called on his unseen listeners to give their lives to Jesus. He was surprised to hear a voice from the top of the tree and see a man climb down, crying. The man tearfully gave his life to Jesus. When Chellappa asked why he was in a tree out in the middle of nowhere, the man admitted, "I came out here to hang myself."[1]
How is your obedience quotient? God calls us to be obedient to that small voice inside that can direct us to sometimes do strange things. Jesus was obedient in ALL things.  "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Rom 5:19). 
God can do exceedingly great things through one man or woman who is willing to be obedient to God’s voice. Ask for His grace today to be obedient to His voice.

[1] James Rutz, Mega Shift, Empowerment Press, Colorado Springs, CO p.4,5 2005

DEEP THINGS

 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light (Job 12:22).

One of the great mysteries of the Kingdom is how God uses the darkest times in our lives to reveal greater depths of understanding of His ways. The only way we can receive these deeper things is to be driven to the depths of darkness. It is here that we discover important truths that He plans to use in our lives and the lives of others.
There is a process God uses to draw us into greater levels of intimacy. The first phase involves a depth of soul experience that causes great pain in our lives. We seek God for deliverance from the incredible emotional pain this causes. Our primary motivation for seeking God is to get out of our pain.
During this time, God meets us in the depths of darkness. We discover that He never left us but is in the midst of the darkness. We develop a new relationship with God. Gradually our motivation turns from removal of pain to love and intimacy with God. This is the place our Heavenly Father desires us to be.
During this season God will make spiritual deposits into your life. Others will be making withdrawals in the future from your life as well. You see, God reveals deep things in the darkness that will be revealed in the light.
If you find yourself in great distress, know that God will bring your deep shadows into the light. The key to your deliverance is becoming satisfied in God. He becomes your all. He is your life. You will know your deliverance is near when your circumstances simply don’t matter to you anymore.
Love the Lord your God with all your soul and see what things He will show you in the deep things of darkness.

SACRIFICING AT WHAT COST

 ..."I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." - 2 Samuel 24:24

One day I was having lunch with a man who had a certain amount of notoriety in his life. After a time of getting to know each other, he said, "How can I help you?" Those words surprised me coming from a man who obviously already had many requirements on his time. My first thought was that I was impressed with the individual. My next thought was to wonder whether it was a genuine offer or just an effort to impress me with his humility and Christian piety. I have since discovered he was sincere.

This encounter reminded me that each of us must be willing to give to others without a motive to get anything in return. It is simply an act of serving others. Jesus said that we must consider others more important than ourselves. When is the last time you did something for another without the motive of getting anything in return?

When King David came to offer a sacrifice and pray for the removal of a plague on Israel, he was given the opportunity to make the sacrifice without the cost of purchasing the sacrificial animals.

But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped (2 Samuel 24:24-25).

David, understanding the principle of giving, said he could not offer anything to God that did not cost him something. Otherwise, it was not a sacrificial gift.

When was the last time you sacrificed for another with no expectation of getting anything in return? We can all give something to others, such as our time, our money, or our expertise. This is real Christianity that models the Spirit of Christ. The next time you meet with someone, why not consider how you might be a blessing to that person. Why not ask, "How can I help you?"