Author: admin

“If I had just looked a split-second longer!” That is what I said to Barbara as I related how I backed into the path of an on-coming vehicle. At this location, I normally park in the parking lot beside the building, the reason being so I can pull out in the street going forward. This morning, I chose to park in an angular parking space along the street. When I got in the car to back out, I looked over my right shoulder down the street for any on-coming traffic, and with none in view, I proceeded to back out. Boom! In that moment, as it occurred, I thought, “I’m being hit by a car. I can’t believe this is happening! But it is! I’ve backed out in front of a car!” Well, I pulled back up into the parking space and shut the engine off and jumped out to check on the other driver. He was opening the door as I approached the vehicle, and I asked him if he was okay. He said he was shaken up. I apologized that I did not see him, explaining to him that I looked down the street, and apparently at the very instant he was in my blind spot. A 2008 Forerunner has about a foot wide roof support at the middle side window and about an eight- or ten-inch roof support on the right rear corner. At the instant I looked, the low-riding little car was hidden behind one of those supports or behind the sidewall of my car itself. The crash was a total surprise. I came away from the incident with a very practical lesson for me and for all. Jesus said to watch and pray lest you fall into temptation (“experience of evil, adversity”—Mark 14:38). He did not say to glance and pray. To watch is to hold a gaze on the situation and check it out thoroughly to make sure of what is going on. It is to really pay attention. In eternal spiritual matters, we don’t need to just give it a good religious glance then do our thing. We need to consider if we might have any “blind spots” in our life, so that things might not really be as they seem. Blind spots can cause unexpected crashes. We need to hold our gaze on our life in the light of the Word of God to see where we really stand with God. A religious blind spot of believing in God and Jesus Christ without having love and devotion to God and love toward our neighbor is a killer. If we have no love for the Word of God, we might be looking down life’s road without seeing the on-coming traffic. Sometimes we make bad choices, we follow the flesh, and we mess up. Sometimes we position ourselves to get blind-sided. We don’t stop driving just because we have an accident. Keep learning, repenting, making changes, and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Menu

Coming through North Little Rock, a group of us family members decided to stop in at The Black Bear Diner in North Little Rock. I had never been there and discovered this to be an excellent choice for eating out. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. As I looked over the menu, I saw they offered a huckleberry milkshake or malt. “How unique!” I thought. I had hardly even thought about huckleberries since I was a kid, much less to find them offered on a menu. When I was a kid, Dad would take us out to open areas in the woods to pick huckleberries. They are sort of like a wild, smaller version of a blueberry. I remember we would come out of the woods with a Mrs. Tucker’s Shortening bucket full of blueberries, and with a body covered in chiggers. I remember seriously considering if the pleasure of eating the berries was worth the misery of the chigger bites. It worked out best if you just keep scratching while you enjoyed the pie or jam or whatever the huckleberries were made into. Back to the Black Bear Diner; I had a salmon dinner, which was good, and I sampled a bite of steak offered from another person at the table. It was thin-sliced and seasoned with garlic and some other herb or spice, and it, too, was uniquely delicious. So, I had never seen huckleberry offered on a menu, and I don’t think I had ever had steak with garlic and whatever herb on it. I determined we would have to make a return trip to sample some other items from their menu with their generous portions. When you find something good, it does not take a lot of effort to share it with others. After sixty years of being with the Lord, I have become convinced that the reason so many “Christians” do not freely share the Lord is because they have never really partaken of His love, forgiveness, healing and infilling with life and power. Reality: we can have religion without a relationship. Relationship comes with understanding combined with total commitment and surrender. My wife has this saying: You can sit in a hen house for twenty years, but that does not make you a chicken. Powerless religion stems from no personal relationship. We can be good but not truly connected with God. Connection with God comes by understanding our heart condition before God, and understanding that what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross is the only thing that makes us right with God. When we see this, and we turn to Him, surrendering our life to Him, surrendering our goodness and our badness to Him, we experience a change of heart. We become a partaker of the menu, not just an observer. When we become a partaker of the spiritual bread and wine of Jesus Christ, we realize how good it is, and we overflow, telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Menu

Believing God is a calm, joyful, confident knowing and expectation of Him performing in your life, and in the lives of others, that which is already accomplished by Jesus Christ His Son. Believing God is based on knowing the heart of the Father to do good to all, bringing about reconciliation, restoration, healing and provision in every way.

“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Psalms 145: 8-9

“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry, The Lord looseth the prisoners: the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: the Lord loveth the righteous: the Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” Psalms 146: 5-9

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is asking, declaring and operating in the Spirit to manifestly bring about that which is in the heart of the Father.

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is based on the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father has exalted Jesus Christ His Son so that every knee of sin, self, sickness and satanic oppression should bow to Him in heaven and in earth and under the earth, all to the glory of God the Father, who is greater than all.

Believing God in prayer and in ministry is operating in the anointing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (the anointed One and His anointing), all to the glory of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ.

John 13: 16; John 14: 28; Ephesians 4: 6; Philippians 2: 9-11; 1 John 2: 27

Menu

Every version of the Bible makes its own unique contribution. Unique to the King James Version of the Bible is the phrase “faith of the Son of God.” When we run references on “faith” in the New Testament, we can see that we have been given the faith of Jesus Christ as a gift. Just as we refer to the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to us as a gift, and the love of God is a gift imparted to us by the Holy Spirit, we can also know that we have been given the gift of the faith of the Son of God.

I encourage you to read the references listed below in the KJV Bible, and let the Holy Spirit confirm this truth in your life. By putting these scriptures together, we can see that the phrase “the faith” refers to the personal faith of Jesus Christ. It is not just the body of truth that men have put together and call it “the faith.” By believing the Word concerning the truth that we have been given the faith of the Son of God, we can exercise great boldness in our prayers and in our ministry to others. Acts 3: 6-7

Beyond just looking at a particular version of the Bible, we can go back to the beginning and see Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” That means Adam and Eve had God’s life, God’s love, God’s righteousness and God’s faith. They were created in the image of God with the purpose of having dominion to rule and reign on the earth in righteousness. Genesis 1: 26-28

Paul taught by the inspiration of the Spirit that we are a new creation in Christ. Old things are passed away and all things have become new. He taught that the old man of sin was nailed to the cross with the death of Jesus, and we have been given the gift of righteousness by which we have dominion to reign in life. Romans 5: 5, 17; Romans 6

We have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We also need to know we have been given His faith by which to live and operate, unto His fruitfulness. Didn’t He say that if we believe, we will do the same works He did and greater? Romans 5: 5, 17; John 14: 12-14

Why is it important to understand and believe that we have been given the faith of the Son of God? So we will stop trying to believe, and just rest, and believe that we have His faith and operate accordingly. We are to understand that in Christ we never lack faith, His faith never fails, and we can be very bold in His faith. Acts 3: 6-7; Hebrews 4

You say, “Well, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Yes! So! Hear God’s Word! It says you have the faith of the Son of God! Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:22

Peter taught that by virtue of the new birth we have obtained the precious faith of the Son of God, and we are to add good character to that faith. 1 Peter 1: 23; 2 Peter 1: 1-11

Jude said we can build up ourselves on our most holy faith and keep ourselves in the love of God by praying in the Holy Ghost. By this, we can reach out with compassion to some people making a difference, and with others we can “save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.” As a born-again, new creation of God in Christ, we are to believe the Word that says we have been given the faith of the Son of God and think and act and operate accordingly. Jude 1: 20-23

Mark 11: 22 “Have faith in God” the margin reads “Have the faith of God”

Acts 3: 16 “the faith which is by him” the margin reads [the faith] “comes through Jesus”

Romans 3: 22 “which is by faith of Jesus Christ” unto and upon all them that believe

Romans 12: 3 “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”

1 Corinthians 16: 13 “stand fast in the faith…like men, be strong”

Galatians 2: 20 “I live by the faith of the Son of God”

Galatians 3: 22 the promise “by faith of Jesus Christ…given to them that believe.”

Ephesians 2: 8-9 “faith…not of yourselves…it is the gift of God.”

Ephesians 4: 5, 7, 13 “one faith” “the gift” “the faith”

Philippians 1: 27 “striving together for the faith of the gospel”

Philippians 3: 9 “righteousness…through the faith of Christ”

Colossians 1: 23 “continue in the faith grounded and settled”

Colossians 2: 12 “through the faith of the operation of God”

1 Timothy 1: 14 “grace…with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus”

1 Timothy 3: 13 “great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus”

1 Timothy 6: 10, 21 “erred from the faith” ”erred concerning the faith”

2 Timothy 1: 13 “Hold fast…in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus”

2 Timothy 3: 8 / 4: 7 “reprobate concerning the faith” / “I have kept the faith”

Titus 1: 1, 4, 13 “the faith of God’s elect” “the common faith” “sound in the faith”

Titus 2: 2 “men…sound in faith”

James 2: 1 “have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ…with respect of persons”

1 Peter 5: 8-9 “the devil…whom resist steadfast in the faith”

2 Peter 1: 1, 5 “have obtained like precious faith” “add to your faith”

Jude 1: 3, 20 “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”

“building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost”

         

Menu

The present trend of gray automobiles fascinates me. Colors, that in times past were reserved for the primer coat before the finish coat of a paint job, are now the trendy fashion color. Primer and gray painter’s putty were always colors that you knew would be covered up with a “pretty” color. So, who is to say what color is “pretty” and another color is “ugly”? It is all in personal perception, and personal perception is determined by one’s personal tutoring and experiences. What we are taught is what we walk. Negative influences impart negative perceptions. Positive influences impart positive perceptions. Life is fluid. Truth is absolute. Perceptions we have are true to us, but the next person’s perceptions are also true to them. The variables of life can leave us reeling with a deeply wrinkled brow and a scratching of the head. There might seem to be no absolutes—but there are. Another thing that requires my own personal adjustment is a metal roof on residence. For most of my life I have associated metal roofs with commercial buildings. The trend of houses having metal roofs has been going on for several years. I still must adjust my inward responses when I see a metal roof on a house. Because of the years of seeing houses with asphalt shingles and commercial buildings with metal roofs, to this day, somehow to me, a metal roof on a house “just does not look right.” It’s crazy. They look great! They are durable. But I recognize that I have a “prejudice,” a “pre-disposed idea,” of how certain roofs should look for certain buildings, at least in my brain. Maybe all that is just me. I don’t know. But I do know that our human outlook and attitudes are largely shaped by how we are taught and by our experiences and by our environment. This same type thing exists and operates in the spiritual realm, in the kingdom of God. How we are taught, or not taught, what we have experienced, or not experienced—these things along with our environment influences us greatly. This influence is either according to truth or only a part-truth. This is why it serves us well to come before the Lord and lay everything we have been taught, and all we have experienced, and all our environment—to lay it all down at His feet. Then, with our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, allow Him to teach us His Word and His Way in Christ, the Spirit-anointed Jesus, as our Lord and Guide. Our perceptions and experiences might be in shades of gray with pre-formed ideas. But God’s Word and God’s Ways are absolute, established in “black and white.” The Way of God is embodied in the Spirit-anointed person of the Lord Jesus. To follow Him is to follow the absolute truth. Knowing Him intimately gives us God’s perspective in this life and in death with God’s way, God’s truth, and God’s life.

Menu

Thirteen and a half years ago, I rescued two little five-week-old pups from an eight-foot-deep dry well that was under an old house. The owner of the pups insisted that I keep them, which I did, thinking I would give them away the next day. They became part of the family. I named them Waylon and Willy. Sparing the details, on July 3 we lost Willy. It was not sickness. It was sudden and instant. He is now resting in his own little place of all pets loved. He is survived by his brother Waylon, me, Barbara, and a host of kids and grandkids and friends who have enjoyed his company. There are many things I could write about Willy. I have written about the two boys often over the years. There are many lessons that have been learned from their lives. We become attached to our pets, and when we lose them, we feel the loss. I certainly feel the loss. I have enjoyed that little boy every day for over thirteen years. Waylon feels the loss. He and his brother have never been separated throughout their whole life except for two times that I remember, and that was in a vet’s office in two separate cages overnight. So, I am now working with Waylon to help him get over the loss. He is overcoming, as am I. I have been a daily, watchful care-giver for those little guys every day and every step of the way—always looking, watching and listening, to make sure everything is okay. So, to lose one is an adjustment. In all my memories, there are two things that stand out in the pictures in my mind. One was how proud Willy was for us to walk together. That little head would be held high, slightly tilted back, and he would literally prance along with a slight swagger from side-to-side. He loved it for me to walk with him. The other thing I see before me is how he loved to lay down and rest near me with his chin resting on the ground, his belly flat on the ground with his legs flat on the ground. His two hind legs would be extended back flat on the ground. In this, he wanted to be touching me at my feet or at some point. Walking in my presence and resting at my feet touching my person—this is the overriding memory I have of Willy. He leaves us with a lesson: (1) It is a privilege to walk with the Lord Jesus, who is the Lord over all. (2) The Lord will take care of us as we walk with Him, and we can rest in His love being connected with Him. Six simple words can connect us to Jesus Christ to walk with Him and rest in His love. “God forgive me. God help me.” Six words takes us from the pit of destruction to the palace of His peace and eternal presence.

Menu

When my four kids were growing up, we took a trip to the bowling alley. My youngest daughter, Samantha, was at the age that if you placed a bowling ball in her arms, it was all she could do to hold it up. She was very hesitant to come out to the bowling lane. After much persuasion and coaxing, she finally consented, and in an abashed manner she came to me out on the floor. With her standing at the line of the lane, I gently placed the lightest bowling ball available in her young arms. Holding the ball, and with encouraging instructions, as she just stood there, she purposely dropped the ball to the floor for her “roll.” The ball, engaging with the slight slant of the bowling lane, slowly began to roll toward the standing pins at the other end of the lane. And, slow was the name of this game. It took forever for the ball to roll to the other end of the lane. First, I was amazed that it stayed in the middle of the lane (better than I could do!). Then, as it approached the pins, I was thinking, “Boy! That ball is going just right! Could it be that…” And as I continued to watch, I saw that ball gently nudge the front pins over, all in very slow motion, with each pin slowly and gently pushing against the other in domino fashion until every last pin fell over. That little girl made a strike the very first “roll” of her young life! Of course, she was applauded greatly and repeatedly, with her carrying the expression in her abashed innocence, “Well, that’s what I was ‘sposed to do, wasn’t it?” In Zechariah 4: 6 it tells us the “house of the Lord” is built not by the might and power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord. The “house of the Lord” consists of people who know and follow the Lord. It takes the Spirit of God in and upon us for us to accomplish God’s work in the earth. Jesus demonstrated that it was by the Spirit. The early church demonstrated that it was by the Spirit. Once the people were filled with the Spirit and “rolled” in that power, three thousand souls were saved. Signs and wonders were performed in the ministry. Healings flowed like a river. Later, five thousand more people were converted to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, going from being good Jews, to followers of Jesus. It did not depend on the strength and ability of the people in themselves. It did not depend on extensive religious and theological education. It did not depend on slick and polished programs. The power was inherent in the ball itself—the power is in the Spirit Himself. The key is to receive the ball and drop it to the floor. Receive the Spirit. Then, turn Him loose. Allow Him to have His way in our life and ministry.

Menu

It is amazing how things can stick in your mind and be an influence in your life throughout your life. When I was a kid, I got this little book about karate. I was going to study that book and be invincible. I remember thinking that once I mastered karate, I could fearlessly defend myself in any situation. In my young, naive mind I would be able to right all wrongs when it came to any future fights. Well, in the midst of all that mental kid hoopla, I did learn something from my exposure to karate that has stuck with me all these years. I was reminded of it yesterday when I was getting a piece of watermelon out of the refrigerator. I had the piece of watermelon in my left hand over the kitchen sink, and a fly lit on top of my thumb on the hand holding the watermelon. In that pristine moment, my lesson that I took from my early karate self-training came bursting back into my memory. One thing I had learned from the book I read was to focus on the target in view. I felt the focus in my mind gathering all its awesome force like a laser beam burning on the fly. With the focus in place in a second, my right hand shot onto my left thumb with lightning speed. In the next moment my trophy lay in the bottom of the kitchen sink, not moving—lifeless. My training from yesteryear had triumphed! (Pretty good for a vintage seventy-four-year-old, huh!) Well, here is a lesson for us. A lot of times there are things that happen to us, things that we learn, and attitudes and concepts that we pick up along the way, especially from the younger time of our life, that affects our life the rest of our life. It is great when these things, attitudes and concepts are positive. For that we can be thankful. But, a lot of times these things are negative, and they have a negative impact on our life. One value of spending time in the Word of God and prayer is that it allows God to reveal these negative influences on us so that we can be freed of them. Negative influence brings negative results. With open honesty before God and being willing to “own up” to whatever He shows us, we can repent, we can turn from the operation of those negative influences and renounce them. Having done that, we can then ask the Lord to cleanse us and fill us with His Spirit. His Spirit brings the positive life and liberty of Jesus Christ in us and through us. One of the main things about the Spirit of God is that He bring liberty. He liberates us from fears, inhibitions, attitudes and concepts that hold us back from accomplishing in life that which we were made to accomplish. The Spirit of God in Christ Jesus brings abundant life. Focus. Kill the fly.

Menu

We all have our idiosyncrasies, the little things we do that are unique to each of us. My wife, Barbara, tells the story of a preacher back in the days when most all preachers wore ties. He had the habit of pulling on his tie while preaching. I would imagine that once he got wound up, and the more fervently he preached, the more frequently and the more forcefully he pulled on his tie. He must have had a different kind of knot rather than a regular tie knot, plus, the tie he was wearing was probably of a narrow design made of a coarse material. The story goes that as he preached, with his frequent pulls on the tie, the tighter it noosed around his neck. In time, the man was having a hard time breathing, until he finally began choking. With that, his attempts to loosen his tie failed. He was now standing before the congregation struggling for breath. He was already short of breath due to his fervent preaching, and now, the more he struggled to loosen his tie, the less breath he had left. In a few moments it became evident to all that the man was in a life-or-death struggle, and something had to be done very quickly. One of the faithful quickly came forward and brandished a sharp pocket knife. With a deft move of the blade, the strangle-hold tie was cut from around the preacher’s neck, and he gladly found his breath again.  Thank God for the quick reactions of the brotherhood! It would have been embarrassing to read the headlines, Preacher Dies from Self-Strangulation in the Pulpit. The article would start out, “The people thought he went out in the Spirit; but he lay there and died.” We all have our quirps! We all have things in our lives that are less than perfect. God might deal with us about our “things,” but one thing for sure, God will use us even if we have these things in our life that are less than perfect. When it becomes evident that we need to change some things, then most certainly that is exactly what we are to do—change them! But God will use us as we are. As we give ourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ day-by-day, what needs to be changed will be known to us, one way or the other. We trust His faithfulness to fulfill His purpose in our lives. As we yield, totally surrendering unto His Lordship in our life, we will know the things in our life that need to be changed. I think our preacher friend figured out that he needed to get away from that little habit he carried in his preaching. Maybe he needed to learn a different knot, or wear a different texture of material for a tie. Bottom line: God will use us as we are; and we are to be open to change for Him to use us even more.

Menu

The production of “David” by the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, Missouri proved to be very rewarding. If expecting a good show, you will not be disappointed. It is performed with excellence. The story is brought to life with personal lessons applied by the Spirit of God, which for me, brought tears of gratitude for God’s goodness and faithfulness to His Word. When the music fills the auditorium with the actors all over the building singing about the Lord being our Shepherd, it is like you are sitting in the halls of heaven where the praise never ceases. The show was very educational to me. I have been reading and studying God’s Word for about sixty years, and it never stood out to me there were other giants slain other than Goliath (2 Samuel 21: 15-22). That was one of those things in the Word that I just read over and never caught its significance. It is easy to do that. But when the Spirit of God brings your attention to it, it can be life-changing. I saw that God raises up a giant-slayer to make the way for others to become giant-slayers. David serves as a type of Christ, who is THE “giant-slayer.” The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated how to do it and gave others hands-on training so they could do it. He then poured the same Spirit with which He was anointed out upon the church with the Word of promise—your sons and daughters will prophesy with signs and wonders so that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2: 16-21). The outworking of that outpouring was then demonstrated throughout the book of Acts. This is the pattern the church is to follow. Jesus is the original giant-slayer for the church. He put away sin, defeated the devil, and he gave the promise of the outpouring of His Spirit with supernatural power. This is not something to just read over. This is something we each are to personally experience. Jesus said believers would do the same works He did and more (John 14: 12-14). The early church demonstrated this. There has been a remnant throughout the ages who believed and did it. Now is the time for sons and daughters to receive the outpouring of God’s Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ and rise up and “just do it” in the name of the Lord. This is not a particular denominational belief or experience. This is Bible. It has been there all the time. With our religious glasses on, we can just read over it and receive nothing from it. When we remove our religious glasses and our religious “Saul’s armor,” and we just take the sling of the Spirit of God with the stone of the Word of God, by faith in God, we can bring down the giants. The warriors of David, inspired by the Spirit of God, fought the giants and won. This is for the church today.

Menu