Home Makeover.

This is in regards to my last post...

Last night I was lying in bed and just thinking over my day and the times spent with God. I began to recall what I had written in my last post when God decided to speak. A key point in the post was that dwelling had a connotation of inhabiting - setting up a home - where God was. God revealed a very powerful and true perspective to me yesterday, it was this: "before all the fancy toys and fixtures that are found in a home can be present, the hard labour has to be finished." All of the nicest houses ever built started off as an empty lot. Then the labourers built the foundations - the most important part- and made the walls, put in the electrical, the plumbing, heating, cooling, and painting. Only then do the luxuries come. The nice faucets, fixtures, couches, chairs, tiles and, tables etc. The same thing applies to your walk with God. Before all the miracles, the fire and glory, is the laying of the foundations, the building up walls and supports, putting in the intricate details. Don't expect the fire to fall if you have no place to put it. Build your house, do it well, no one - even God - wants a poorly built house. I pray today, that we all demolish the old crummy houses we have built. That we have a complete home makeover. If you are well on your way to a great house, I urge you to never loose sight of the prize. Build that house, only great things come with it!

Take a Seat

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
"Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"
1 Chronicles 17:16 (NIV)

Like many people would do, when I first read over this verse I immediately found myself contemplating the humility of David; not realizing I actually missed the greater message. If you have ever read my blog before you will know that humility is an important topic in my writing, but here I found, by the grace of God, something greater. There is one small word that you may have skimmed over, SAT. That one three letter word I believe can actually revolutionize your times with God. When you study what is really being said here you can actually learn the magnitude of this simple action.

When the Jewish people would read this verb their mind would go first to verb to dwell. This word has so many different levels. To start, it simply means to fellowship with; just to be with. But digging deeper we find it to reveal actions like becoming familiar with, to make an acquaintance, to be in unity with, and even one definition is to actually inhabit. The word to dwell refers to a deep level of intimacy in this context.

This is so much deeper than just a casual prayer time, a fifteen minute devotion, or a quick worship time. This action of sitting gives the picture, especially in the Jewish culture, of sitting down for a meal with someone. Have you ever gone out with someone for dinner or a coffee and just sat silently or didn't pay attention to them, didn't listen or didn't take time to grow the relationship? I am quite positive you haven't. When someone goes out for a meal with someone, it is expected that conversation will occur, that a level of connection will be made every time. But even deeper than that, sitting with someone at your own table at home, completely comfortable. The whole idea is to deepen the intimacy level between the two people in great amounts. Inviting someone into your house says that there is a level of vulnerability, and comfort. Letting them pass through the doors into your private area also requires trust. God longs for us to dwell with him in this way, to take to heart the idea of "the meal" when it comes to God. Seriously, taking time for him, just basking in the light of his glory. (anywhere you are, even in your bedroom.)

It says that David WENT and SAT before the Lord. He took the action of going to God than trying to find God. Now get this in your spirit, David went to God. David showed up where God was. Most likely David went to his "prayer closet" and David just dwelt with God. DWELLING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. To build intimacy, to inhabit, literally to build a "house" where God is, takes time. God isn't looking for your 15 minute dates here and there. Ask yourself, have you ever actually "sat" before God? Have you dwelt with God regularly or are you just punching in and out? Everyone knows that to build a good relationship you need communication, you need time spent, you need unity, you need to know the other person. All this is the same for God. Giving God dedicated set apart time just to get to sit with Him as your creator, friend, father, and lover. We sing songs declaring that there is no where else we would rather be, and dare I say, most of us are probably lying. I even see this in me, at times the last place I would think of being is sitting at God's feet just dwelling with him. But this is so crucial. This is something that you NEED to get deep into you, it needs to penetrate into your soul and take root. Let this revolutionize your relationship with Him. Understanding this I believe can take you to that deeper place in God, beyond the surface and into the intimate. Please, take time just to sit with God, time set apart for Him, only Him. Worship, mediate, praise, let Him love on you. Get intimate, and TAKE A SEAT.

The Most Important Thing is You!! ... Seriously

My ministry isn't this blog. My ministry isn't on the streets. My ministry isn't inside of a church. My ministry is ME. Everything I will ever do and everything I am, all depend on my relationship with God. That is my first priority. If I ever want to change the world, I need to spark a change in me. Only when I am close to God can I bring anyone else close to him. The same obviously goes for all of you. No matter where you find yourself, your relationship with God must and always comes first. When we get out priorities out of order everything else gets out of control. It is a simple concept, but it seems with God some of the simplest things are the most important. Your ministry is your relationship, everything comes out of that. Don't get caught up in the mindset that your vocation is your ministry. Changing peoples lives is the overflow of your relationship with God. Don't define ministry by the "work you are doing for the Kingdom". Ministry is not a job it's your life. If you want to have a successful "ministry" trying having a successful relationship. I don't think I can stress this enough, before anything else, marriage, job, money, kids, school, comes your relationship with God. I can see a time when all Christians are changing the lives of everyone they encounter; but that will only happen when we put the focus back on ourselves. I know what your are thinking..."Put focus on ourselves? I thought our focus was the non-Christians?" And that is somewhat true, we do need to have in our minds at all times the concern for the souls of all people, but how could we ever change them if we are so empty and fake? Everything begins with our relationship with God. You will know a healthy tree by its fruit. We know there are fruits of the spirit. Those fruits are produced when we are close to God, always living in tune with his spirit. And by living in tune with Him we will produce influence in others and begin to show God to them. At the beginning of the process is still OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Christians nowadays put more importance on the conversion of others and let their own relationship with God fizzle out. The focus should be first and foremost always advancing our relationship with God. I pray that if you do not already have your priority for yourself that you make it one. And if you already have this as a truth in your life, than I pray you never let this die in you. May you bring God everywhere you go, walking with the Almighty and changing the people you interact with.

Just Some Love..

^"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." 1 John 3: 16 (NIV)

What more really needs to be said about that? Do you operate in the undeniable, indescribable, unmistakable, selfless love that Jesus had?

But I would like to point out what John says here "what love is." John didn't say what parental love is, or what brotherly love is, or what marital love is, etc. John just points out that in ALL forms of love there should be the same underlying concrete principal. Complete selflessness is mandatory. Trust me, I know how difficult this. Ask my family, sometimes I just plain suck at it. But nevertheless is it so important to stress the absolute need for this love. This was more of a thought provoker post. Do you love like Jesus? Would you lay your life down for someone? Even if they do not deserve it, like Jesus did? Look at your life, examine yourself, correct yourself. Start loving the right way...

Wise Joab

^"Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight." 1 Chronicles 19:13 (KJV)

These are the words of Joab the moment before a battle. The Children of Ammon and the Syrians were on the attack against the Israelites; just so you know the context. Joab starts of with an encouraging word, followed by a challenge to act valiantly and finally and most importantly, gives the battle over to God.

I find something very interesting here; Joab never asked that God helps them win. This can lead us in two different directions. First being that Joab had faith in the fact that God was already with them and had won the battle for them already. Or secondly, that Joab had complete trust in God that no matter the outcome he knew that it would be what was good in the eyes of the Lord. Both are very valid thoughts.

When thinking about the first train of thought we can gain courage in the fact that HE HAS ALREADY WON. Therefore there is no reason to worry. We are told that "we are more than conquerors". But than that begs the question why do we feel like we loose still? That we still fail and struggle in our battles? Easy! Joab still had to fight in the battle. Even though he had an understanding that God had already won he still met the opposing army with all the willingness to fight as if God wasn't with him. A lot of people tend to go into a battle with the mindset that God has won so I don't need to fight, but that is horribly wrong. In this story of Joab, he runs out to meet the Syrians, and in the act of taking up his sword and actually fighting the Syrians retreat. The enemy would have never retreated unless Joab took his army to fight. Are you actually fighting? or are you just sitting back doing nothing and expecting a victory? God wants action not laziness disguised as trust.

The second train of thought is one that is just as needed as the first. Joab trusted that no matter the outcome, no matter the circumstance, it would be what is good in the eyes of the Lord. In Romans 8 we find that "all things work together for good". It doesn't say that all things are good, but that God will work all things for good, and we see this in the attitude of Joab. I said earlier that Joab knew no matter how the battle turned out, even in his death, that he trust that God did was was right and good in His eyes. And because of this he didn't have to ask God for the victory, it didn't matter; he knew that no matter what God allowed or did had to happen. He was letting God be the master of the universe, and not expect anything else.

Does what Joab said have a place in your vocabulary? Do you say "and let the Lord do that which is good in His sight."? Or are you trying to have control? Know that God has already won your battles. Know that God still wants you to take action. Know that God does what He sees as good and will work out all things for good. I pray that these principles will become so real to you today.

About Him

1 Chronicles 17 (NIV)

God's Promise to David

¹ After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent."

² Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you."

³ That night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

⁴ "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. ⁵ I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. ⁶ Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" ' ⁷ "Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth. ⁹ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹⁰ and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. " 'I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: ¹¹ When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. ¹⁴ I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.' "

¹⁵ Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

David's Prayer

¹⁶ Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
"Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁷ And as if this were not enough in your sight, O God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men, O LORD God. ¹⁸ "What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, ¹⁹ O LORD. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises. ²⁰ "There is no one like you, O LORD, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. ²¹ And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²² You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God.²³ "And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, ²⁴ so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel's God!' And the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁵ "You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. ²⁶ O LORD, you are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁷ Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever."


Take a look at the two passages. The first is God speaking and the second is David's response. I highlighted a very important part in each. When God spoke He used 'I' a lot. It was all about what God had done or was going to do. God never said that David became king because of what David did, no, God said that HE made David king regardless of anything David did. God emphasized Himself; God has a 'holy arrogance'. The thing is though, that God is allowed to be arrogant, He is perfect, He knows more, He is more powerful, etc. I could go on forever with that one. But what I want to focus on is David's response to God. In his response I highlighted how many times David referred to God, and not himself. Often we pray very selfish prayers. God I need this, God do this for me, God I want a new car. But David's focus was purely God. He, the king, referred to himself as God's servant. David knew that position and power fall flat when dealing with God. It doesn't matter who you are and what you have, standing before God you are just a servant. When David prayed he was selfless, he knew what or who really mattered.

How do you pray? Are you the focus of your prayers or is God? Don't get me wrong, lamenting and being emotional with God are needed. You can be real a broken in your prayers, but are your prayers always about you? Do you praise God for what he has done? Do you lower yourself to lift him higher? Are you aware of all He has done for you? Are you thankful? God is and always will be the most important thing in your life no matter how its going. Just remember who this life is all about. Here's a hint, it's not you.

Just a little something to think about...

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due... (No Matter Who is Around)

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!" 1 Chronicles 16: 8-9 (NKJV)

"Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples." 1 Chronicles 16: 24 (NKJV)

"Give to the LORD the glory due His name;" 1 Chronicles 16: 29 (NKJV)


In the Hebrew language repetition was the method they used to make something they said or wrote important. In the English language we use exclamation points or bold fonts or the raising of our voice etc. In David's song of thanksgiving found here in Chronicles, he repeats the theme of giving credit to God for what He has done 3 times, which is the typical amount of repetition. Thus, we know that he was trying to nail down a point. In the first mention of giving credit to God he says "MAKE KNOWN His deeds among the peoples!". David says to tell others of all that God has done, he says to talk of all his wondrous works. People need to hear what God has done, not what luck has done, or coincidence has done, mother nature, karma, etc. the list goes on. We need to give God credit.

In the second mention David specifically mentions giving God credit among the "heathens" as it is put in the Kings James version:

"Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvelous works among all nations. "

He here again repeats the fact that even those who reject God, those who are from a different land, still need to hear the marvelous works of God. But I would assume the real question we should be asking is why? Why do we need to do this? Why can't we just give our testimony on a Sunday morning and that be good enough?

I don't think God just does stuff because He can, He does stuff for a purpose, He does things because He knows best, He does things so that all men might come to know Him. We know that God's heart is that none should perish. We know that God is a God of blessing and love. And what better testimony to His greatness is what He has done in your life, sometimes your best witness are the acts that God has made in your life. The "heathens" who do not know the greatness of God need to learn about it from the Christians who experience it.

Think of it like this. If I tried to build a jet engine it would be a huge mess. Why? Because I don't have the knowledge of how to build one. I don't know the parts inside of it, or how they fit all together. I would have to learn how to. The same goes for God. How are people going to know God if they don't learn. And I couldn't think of a better way for them to learn then for you, as a Christian, to tell them about God and all that HE does.

God is a God who blesses and cares. who delivers and saves, redeems and sets free. So I leave you with the words of David:

"Give to the LORD the glory due His name."

How about a little Blessing?

"So David did not take the ark with him to the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. Thus the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and the LORD blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had." 1 Chronicles 13: 14-15

We have no record that Obed-edom believed in the God of Israel. It labels him here as a Gittite and they were Philistines, and yet the bible says that the Lord blessed everything in his household for 3 months. The key here is the ark. David was trying to bring the ark back home, but along the way Uzza touched the ark and God struck him down. This made David fear God and he decided he couldn't bring it back yet, so he dropped it off at Obed-edom's house. Why his house? I don't know. Maybe it was along the way, or the event with Uzza happened in front of that house. Either way it doesn't really matter; all that matters here is that where the presence of God was there was blessing also. Regardless of who's house it was, or even if they believed in God or not, wherever the presence of God rested His blessing was there also. But not just blessing in some areas, in ALL areas. In the bible it says "with all he had". Everything Odeb-edom had was blessed, family, work, relationships, everything. Is the presence of God resting with you? And are you, like David, bringing the presence of God to others? Do not take the presence of God for granted, it is something deep and precious. You should always be striving to have the manifest presence of God with you. It brings power and blessing. If you are going through a rough patch ask yourself if you can really say that you know that the presence of God is with you. If it is, there WILL be blessing. In a earlier post I talked about how Moses and the Israelites had taken God for granted and that God told him that:

"The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." Ex. 33:14-15

God made His presence optional, not mandatory. Be careful as you walk through this life not to take His presence for granted; but also strive to be in the abundant blessing of His presence.

Encourage People!!

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad." Proverbs 12:25 (Amplified Bible)

A simple challenge for you today. Be an encourager. The bible says that one encouraging word can make the heart of a man glad. So today be an encourager, everyone loves to be encouraged. This is definitely something I struggle to do, so this is a good challenge for me as well! I pray that you make someones day just a little brighter! Show God's love through your mouth! Be blessed!

I'm sure it will make you feel better too!

Time to Fall

"The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to earth?' "Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD" Obadiah 1:3-4 (NASB)

We have all heard it before; pride is wrong and is a snare. But even more than that it is a reason for God to "bring you down". In Obadiah the Lord is talking about Edom and how the people there feel as though they cannot be beaten. Their hearts are filled with arrogance, and even more, are filled with arrogance when it comes to beating and persecuting God's people. But I love what God says, "I will bring you down.". It makes me want to laugh but also tremble in terror. God humbles the arrogant, that is easy to understand and that is why I want to laugh at God's statement; God will humble them and I already know He will. I get to have that insight when I see those arrogant people, but what terrifies me is that I can be an arrogant person that God will have to humble. And trust me, humbling doesn't feel good at all. It is embarrassing and painful. It feels like a demolition of your soul.

Every once in a while I find myself in those situations. I get humbled and it hurts, but it feels good because you know that God is working on you and that you will be better for it after. And what hurts most is when God uses the people that are close to you when He does this. For me it's usually my mother or girlfriend. The people who aren't afraid to tell you that you suck sometimes. I have come to learn that being open to humility and the trials that bring it is something we all need to be. I think it is actually a good thing to be humbled, right? But even more to look for those opportunities to be humbled as well. Do you know what I'm saying? For example, every so often when my girlfriend and I are just talking we will ask each other what are we doing wrong? Asking each other where can we do better, what have we done to hurt each other. Now if you know me you will know I HATE being wrong. Even at an early age I hated it. But one of the biggest lessons that I have come to learn, and still struggle with, is that fact that I'm not always right. So it hurts when she tells me what I have done wrong. I don't like being wrong but even more I don't like hurting her and hearing that I did humbles me a lot. God and people have shown me this time and time again.

When God exposes your arrogance it is not pretty. It awful and hurtful but beautiful and needed. If you find yourself being like Edom and thinking that your high place is safe, just wait, God will bring you down. Strive for humility, strive to place God first. An easy way to remember this is that at the end of the day one little mistake, one thought, one wrong motive, anything, and you deserve to die. Simply, God is holy and deserves perfection, which you can't give. EVER. So arrogance has no place in your heart, only holiness.

No Fancy Title Just Jeremiah 11:8 [Part 2]

"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not." Jeremiah 11:8 (KJV)

In part one the focus was on the inclining of our ears; taking time to intentionally listen to the whispers of God. Now the focus switches to second part of that sentence: "But walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart."

As kids we all had great imaginations, we created such intricate worlds and stories all within our minds. We created rules and laws, whatever we thought should be allowed was. I remember pretending to be The Mighty Ducks, an old t.v. show my brothers and I loved. We would play it with our best friends in our basement. We had the control room, and the secret base; we had story lines and different events taking place that we all "knew" were happening. In our minds we had invented a world separate from the real one. They only rules were the ones we made up.

People have always said that as you grow up you begin to loose your imagination, but I tend to disagree. We don't loose it, it just moves places. It starts in our head, but moves to our hearts. We begin to think that we can define what the rules are. We tend to believe that our decisions are best. But when we begin to walk in the imagination of our evil hearts we being to go in the opposite direction of God. When we begin to place our way ahead of Gods we have a problem. The bible says over and over that our hearts will lead us wrong, that our heart is deceptive. Our hearts tells us to do what we want, and normally not what God wants.

What is the central word in that first sentence of Jeremiah 11:8? Its 'but'. This word placed in between the two statements shows us a relationship. When they didn't incline their ears they were following the imagination of their evil heart. When you do one you will do the other. If you listen you will follow Gods way; but if you choose your evil heart then you won't be listening to God. I pray that today you will "kill" your hearts imagination; no more of your way but Gods. Destroy it, ruin it, crucify it. Why wait to choose Gods way over your own. It's time to take a stand against yourself. Jesus said that to follow him you must die to yourself.

It's time to die, to find a better way to live.

No Fancy Title Just Jeremiah 11:8 [Part 1]

"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not." Jeremiah 11:8 (KJV)

How many times have we prayed, "Lord open my ears to hear you!"? Have you ever thought that maybe it's not God's job to open your ears? Maybe God is waiting for you to, in fact, open your own ear?

From examining the words of God in Jeremiah we can see that He paints a different picture about listening than what we normally believe. He says that the Israelites did not incline their ears. In studying this verse I found out that the word for 'inclined' in Hebrew actually means to literally turn, to take action; it's a verb. Not only just a verb but a verb that is related to the person to which the ear belongs. Yes, that is sort of a common sense statement, but yet many of us don't actually believe it.

Sometimes God is actually just waiting for us to turn our ears towards Him, to take responsibility. But this opens up a whole other question: how do we intentionally turn our ears toward God? Well the obvious answer that many of us can think of is to read the bible and pray more, and yes you must do these things to develop your relationship with Him. However, I want to focus more on the idea of having to turn your ear, like why would God use an image of an intentional listening. I think it has something to do with the story in 1 Kings 19:

"After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave." 1 Kings 19: 13 (NIV)

After all the big noises and huge displays of power God comes to Elijah in the whisper. Not in the fire, not in the earthquake, but in the quiet whisper. In Psalms it talks about being still and knowing the Lord. You need to quiet yourself to hear the quiet whisper that comes to your ear. It's not that you have ask God to speak any louder, but you need to quiet yourself, quiet the answers you want, quiet your plans and hear the whisper of the Lord. I pray today that you will intentionally turn your ear and listen to the voice of God, He hasn't stopped talking, you're just not tuning in...