Fantastic Friday #880 - Precepts

Precepts

27 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts,
that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me and teach me your law. Psalm 119:27-29

Do we sometimes find that God's precepts are hard to digest or decipher? We can get caught up in our work and life and get distracted from the direction that God wants us to go, and this can have some consequences. I find myself at times questioning the precept that is laid in front of me, and that is my first mistake. We should never question the direction, but should ask a different question. How can I accomplish this direction that you have given me? Usually these precepts cannot be done on your own, they may require other people to hold you accountable, or they may require great introspection of your life and your current path. The enemy will be deceitful with you and tell you that you don't need to follow that path, and there are easier ways. We should all know right now that God creates these directions for us to learn and rely on Him for guidance. Keep the precepts and meditate on what He has done in your life. It will make the direction much smoother if you ask the right question, for help.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #879 - Chance

Chance

9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:9-10

I have to admit, I like games of chance and gambling. It is probably not something that I should be proclaiming when I should be encouraging on these Fridays. For some reason there is an excitement and anticipation that comes from playing these games of chance. It got me thinking this week that God has not left our lives to chance. He has given us a hope and purpose for our lives, as long as we take steps to follow him. It was not by chance that he created this earth for us, or that laid down his plans for Christ to die for us. There is no room for chance in our lives when following Christ, we either accept the path God has outlined for us or fall into a life of chance where there is no reward. Don't be confused about faith and hope vs. chance. People who live by faith and hope have Christ's example to relate to and people who live by chance are hoping for a reward for doing nothing but playing a game. God doesn't play games and we should know that when we follow Him, our lives are no longer a game of chance.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #878 - Steps

Steps

10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside. Job 23:10-11

Steps are very important in anything we do, if we miss or forget a step, it could have drastic consequences. When putting together legos, if you miss a step, the lego project might not look as you intended. I often think about the steps I take daily when I go walking in the mornings in the dark, if I take one wrong step then it could be disastrous for me and the dogs. God has made a plan for us with steps for us to follow for us to come closer to Him. Following his commands and direction are some of the ways that we can live out our lives in the manner He wishes for us. If we leave steps out or only follow the directions and commands that we want, that could create multiple issues for us including keeping us distant from Him. God doesn't distance himself from us, we distance ourselves from Him. We need to remember following in His steps can keep us close and we should avoid turning aside.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #877 - Fervent

Fervent

23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
25 Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
for seven abominations fill their hearts. Proverbs 26:23-25

Fervent is a word that can be used in both a positive and a negative manner. The main meaning is having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm. As the scripture notes, the enemy uses people with evil in their heart to disguise who they really are with a passionate intensity that some people cannot ignore. These speech charmers can distract us so much from the message we need to hear, that we can fall into their trap with enthusiasm and excitement. I have seen this work in the past in many individuals who get so passionate about what they think is a path following Christ but they separate themselves from what is right and true. Sometimes the intensity we are feeling is the enemy and his tools that deceive us into thinking their way is the right way. How do you avoid this type of enemy? Well the first step is to pray, not just a conversation with God, but a fervent respectful prayer of protection from these types of people. God knows your heart, but He also wants to hear the words leave your mouth or mind. Knowing that you have a way to escape the fervent lips of evil and enter into the fervent love of God, I know that this kind of prayer works. So, pray fervently, pray carefully, pray with enthusiasm and let the Lord guide your daily walk.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #876 - Idols

Idols

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. Exodus 20:22-23

I am sure we have all heard people talk about idols in their lives, maybe possessions that you have that you focus on so much that they can pull you away from the important things, including God being at the top of that list. What is an idol in today's world? Webster defines it as an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed. God defines it differently as you can see in verse 23, and we should pay attention to His use of the word gods. These little gods can easily take our focus off God and His teachings, and they can also drive us down paths where our pursuits are wholly what the world tells us we need. Have you ever thought of time being an idol? I know I like my time, whether it be me sitting in silence or focusing on myself. We need to look at time as not being something we can control overall , but we can be open to letting people have our time. I spent a lot of time this weekend with people I had not seen in several years, and I made every effort to spend those moments with many of those friends and colleagues. It was an enjoyable few days, but it was not my time that I was sharing, it was their time they were sharing with me. My time wasn't important because I did not place my needs above their needs. If we viewed our time as something for someone else, we wouldn't idolize our own time so much and what we want. We all need our time with God and sometimes our alone periods, but relationships are where we grow and learn. Time is valuable and we need to take advantage of it every chance we get.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #875 - Gentle

Gentle

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13

In today's society it seems there are an abundance of instances where people are not gentle with each other. They are yelling, not listening, and being rude, and that is just the beginning. Maybe social media has heightened our awareness of some of this, but each day I see where situations could be diffused with a simple gentle conversation. The problem comes when people don't know how to communicate in a calm and respectful way. Each day I write emails to people, and sometimes I really have to think about the words I use so that the email is not taken the wrong way. I hated the times when we worked from home, because I could not read the body language of the person I was speaking to. Now that we are back at work, I am very intentional about meeting with people in person so that the communication is not misinterpreted, and solutions can be worked through gently. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times that I get fired up and am not gentle, but those are the times when I need to take a moment to pause and speak clearly and intelligently, and when I do, in the end I feel different. I feel like I have made an impact and not just because of what I say, but how I say it. I learned this week that an email I sent two months ago did not sit well with someone, and now I know why at the time. I know the reason because it was so much easier to communicate with them face-to-face in a gentle manner this week. Take a moment to think about how God communicates with you. It isn't with a loud thunderous voice, but one of a gentle, still small voice. If you remember that, you can listen for that and it will help you listen and communicate with others.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #874 - Deep

Deep

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10

Do you go into "Deep" thought during your day, week or regularly? My deep thoughts can sometimes leak into the thoughts about the mind of God and creation. I can sometimes get myself so worked up about what is next and what happened before, that I tend to think too much about the unknown deep thoughts of God and His plan. This scripture makes me think of a question, what does it take to really Love Him. Of course I know that I love Him because He is my creator and Father in Heaven, but do I honestly sit down each day and tell Him I truly Love Him? Instead of focusing too much on the deep thoughts of God, I should probably be thanking Him and telling Him how much I love Him and all He has done for me to prepare for my present and future. I should focus on the spirit and not the enemy driving me away from listening to the spirit. I know that deep down inside of me there is something that pulls me into what I need to be focusing on. We need to deeply look and listen for God's influence in our lives and the deep things of God will be revealed at the right time.

Have a great weekend.

Matt