Encouraged by God's Word

Archive for December, 2009

Hello Friends,

Kids are funny, especially mine. My middle child Sydney has a number of sayings she likes to use on a regular basis but there’s one that really cracks me up.

Every time someone does something that’s a little more than expected, she says “they be doin’ too much”. Or if she does something and I purposely overreact to it, you can be sure you’ll hear her say “Daddy, you be doin’ too much.”

Now if the truth be told, I’m not really doin’ too much. My daughter always feels that way and she feels as though there is only a certain level of effort that needs to be put into certain things.

Anything over that as far as she’s concerned, is “doin’ too much”.

When it comes to the things of God is there ever a time when we are “doin’ too much”? Or should I ask are you doing enough?

Colossians 3:23 says And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

To do something heartily means to do it with all sincerity; with zest or gusto. It means to be enthusiastic or to be over enjoyed.

And because God is so good to us, everything we do for Him should be done heartily. We should never half step when it comes to doing something for Him. When our creator is involved, there is no way we can over do it.

Now some of us do good on a regular basis but what is your motivation? I would suspect we do it to please men when the word clearly states that whatever we do should be unto the Lord. God should be our daily focus, not man!

Why? Because He’s been too good to us not to acknowledge Him. The words we speak, the actions we take, the thoughts we have, all should be for Him. We should be excited and enthusiastic no matter what.

So the next time you do something for God, go for it and know you won’t be “doin’ too much”.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

I have to take this time to admit something to everyone. I am a fake! I’m an imposter, perpetrator, pretender and a fraud.

That’s right, God called me out and said that I was fakin’ the funk.

Now I know what some of you all are thinking. “I knew this dude wasn’t writing these inspirational words every week. I remember him from back in the day and he was a no good …”. Well I hate to disappoint you but that’s not what I’m talking about. I actually sit down and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit come up with these wonderful words of encouragement. So there!

Now back to my point.

I’ve gone to God a number of times and asked Him for His help because I was struggling in different areas of my life. God told me that I wasn’t really struggling in everything. He said I was fakin’ like I was struggling. He revealed to me that in order for there to be a struggle, there must be one force going against another and in my case, that wasn’t always true.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a struggle as to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition.

When times became difficult for me I didn’t put up a strenuous or violent effort to overcome it. I went with the flow and because I knew what I was doing was wrong, I considered myself struggling with the issue.

Proverbs 22:5 says In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them.

You see, I wasn’t guarding my soul from the thorns and snares. I was walking the same path of the wicked and as a result, I was coming up short. I thought I was struggling but in reality I was willingly walking in sin. I was fake struggling.

Those people who are really fighting and putting forth the effort to overcome sin and not making it easy, are the ones who are really struggling.

But the rest of us who are lying to ourselves by saying we’re trying to make it or we’re trying to overcome, we need to stop lying because we’re fooling no one but ourselves and God knows it.

I was making provisions for my sin so I wasn’t really struggling at all. What about you? Are you making it easy to sin and then saying you’re struggling when you mess up? Let’s be honest with ourselves and address the real issues. Only then will we be able to be victorious.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

At times we all face ch

allenges in our life and many times we just want to throw in the towel. We feel overburdened with all that we are going through and it just doesn’t seem worth the effort.

Your struggles are so bad that when you hear about others who are going through their struggles, it’s hard for you to be concerned about them because you’re trying to maintain yourself. You don’t want to be selfish it’s just that it’s hard for you to give of yourself when you don’t have much of you left to give.

You feel beat up, broken down, depressed, stressed and whipped. All you want to do is quit and stop fighting. You want to give up.

Giving up is so tempting because it’s easy but we must realize that God did not design us to be quitters. He designed us to be able to accomplish everything we put our minds to.

Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God says that with Him we can do everything. Nothing is impossible if we depend on Him.

1 Corinthians 15:58 says Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Continue to press on, be persistent and be consistent in the things of God. Know that there is a purpose to everything that you do.

Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Whatever your problem is, God is your protection and He is your place of safety. He is the force that is there to help you overcome. He is ALWAYS there for you.

Isaiah 40:29 says He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

When you are feeling weak and fragile, God will give you strength to make it. Your power to make it comes from Him and not from yourself.

So no matter what you’re facing, you can make it. You can overcome with the power of God. Don’t quit, don’t stop, don’t concede, don’t give in, don’t forfeit…

Don’t Give Up!

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

How many times have you heard someone use the phrase “deep in sin”?  What is “deep in sin”? Are there really different levels of sin and if so, how many are there? If I get too deep in sin is there a penalty worse than regular sin?

Is there a point of no return when it comes to being deep in sin? Does God terminate you once you’ve gone too deep in sin?

I try to do right and live holy but I do mess up a lot so I need to know. I don’t want to be so far gone that God can’t help me out of the “deepness”.

When I hear the term “deep in sin”, I believe people are referring to someone who is living in sin and not trying to get out of the sin. These are people who have no desire to escape the sin that they’re in.

Most of the time you hear this phrase is when one person is referring to how bad someone else is doing compared to themselves. They’re usually putting down the other person as if they are good or at least not as bad as the other person.

John 8:7 says So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

No one has the authority to judge another’s sinful acts. The bible is clear that because we all have sin in our lives, we have no right to punish others for their sins.

When it comes to sin, my sin is no worse than your sin and vice versa. Sin is sin! It doesn’ t ma

tter what it is, if it is a sin, then it is a sin.

We as individuals should never be in a position where we think we can judge others and punish them for their sins when we have our own to deal with. Instead we should be in a position to lift others up and help them out of their sinful situations and this can be as simple as speaking life into their situation or leading by example.

So the next time you wish to call someone out for the sin they are committing as being worse then yours, don’t do it? Understand that you are no better than someone else and then proceed to help them out of their situation.

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!

Hello Friends,

What is that one thing that really scares you? What or who do you fear? Is it a person, place or thing? Is it a thought or a feeling? What about a decision you recently made or situation you’re in? Could it be a past experience?

It’s natural for humans to have fears. The problem is how we deal with our fears. Do we run away from them or do we confront them face to face? There are many things that people are afraid of and that can be terrifying.

If you ask most people how to deal with fears they’ll tell you that fear is something that you shouldn’t let control you. They’ll say things like “face your fears”, “conquer your fears” or “take on your fears”. The goal is to overcome those fears and not let them control or disable you.

But what if I told you fear could be a good thing.

Proverbs 19:23 says The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil.

See, I told you fear could be a good thing. This type of fear can lead to life, satisfaction and no presence of evil.

Now most people think of fear as being afraid of something or someone but what God is saying here is to have a reverential awe of Him. God doesn’t want us walking around being scared of Him. All He wants us to do is to give Him the respect He deserves.

And how do we respect God? One way we do it is by looking at the first Commandment. It states that we should “have no other gods before Him”.

What could be our other gods you ask? It can be anything that consumes your time and energy. Those things that keep you from getting closer to God. Those things that may not be sinful BUT because you place a higher value on them than you time with God, they become another god.

Some years ago I had a neighbor who got up on a Saturday morning and he started washing and detailing his car at 8:00am and didn’t finish until 6:00pm. He spent more time on his car than most people do on their jobs. Washing your car isn’t sinful but he made the car his god on that day.

Think about the things that you’re consumed with. What is the one (or many) thing that you can’t get enough of and you make time for it because it’s your top priority? If it ain’t Jesus then you have another god(s) before Him.

Again, we should fear God as in reverencing Him because of who He is and what He has done for us but we should not be scared and live in fear. The bible is clear that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!