JOHNATHAN EDWARDS

My brother Jonathan Bissig wrote this today and I had to share. I really wish I had this Jonathan Edwards quote this past Sunday. May we be people filled with grace towards others.

I am not one to normally post lengthy things..but heard this today in light of so many Christians using social media to say I am right and what you believe is wrong…hope this helps..THIS

“Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins and shortcomings with bitterness, with laughter and levity, and an air of contempt.

But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity.

Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart.

The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies.

But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.

― Jonathan Edwards

“Nothing sets a Christian so much out of the devil’s reach than humility.”

WHEN YOU HAVE CABLE TV

DirectTV has some thought provoking commercials which paint a great picture of the negative outcomes for subscribing to cable.

One of the spots begins with a cable subscriber who is on hold with a customer service representative at a call center.

“When your cable company keeps you on hold, you get angry. When you get angry, you go blow off steam,” the narrator says, as the subscriber is then shown playing racquetball. “When you go blow off steam, accidents happen,” he says as the subscriber is hit in the eye by a racquetball. The ad continues with the subscriber being given an eye patch, and he is later challenged to a fight. “When you get an eye patch, people think you’re tough. When people think you’re tough, people want to see how tough. When people want to see how tough, you wake up in a roadside ditch.

Don’t wake up in a roadside ditch. Get rid of cable and upgrade to DirecTV.”

With that in mind….

I was reading in Acts 7 this morning about the trial and stoning of Stephen. Stephen was a man who God was using to do some great things and the religious leaders became upset with him and brought him before the Sanhedrin on fabricated and exaggerated charges. (The Sanhedrin was the supreme court and legislative body in Judea; made up of older, religious leaders.)

In a nutshell, when it was Stephen’s turn to speak, he laid out a very thorough, complete and clear case of God’s people receiving the Law of Moses and then refusing to obey it. Stephen underscored what he was saying in verse 39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.”

Knowing the law, the bible..is one thing.

Knowing the law, the bible and obeying and applying is another.

Knowing God’s Word (only) is just knowledge, remember even Satan knows the Word. But obeying and applying requires the Holy Sprit and produces wisdom and life.

The religious people of the bible knew the Law, and where even revered for it. But they were clueless as far as it’s application and their heart always focused on Egypt, thus missing Jesus.

Stephen then brought the issue into the present day for his listeners in verse 51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! … 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Of course as soon as he spoke these words the religious men grabbed Stephen and killed him. Wow!

These men where so entrenched in the law and into their beliefs that they were completely missing what God was doing right in front of them.

Friends, my heart was torn this morning in prayer as I asked the Holy Spirit to examine my heart, show me areas where I have not applied and obeyed God’s Word. Where I have rejected the Holy Spirit and become stiff-necked.

It was ugly.

We miss the fresh move of God’s Holy Spirit (and all that comes with it) when we live our lives in such a way and I don’t want to be that person.

With that in mind:

When we resist the Holy Spirit, we fail to apply and obey God’s Word.

When we fail to apply and obey God’s Word, we become religious and stiff-necked.

When we become religious and stiff-necked, we miss God’s the fresh move of his Holy Spirit.

When we miss the fresh move of God, we run from pillar to post never finding happiness, joy, fulfillment, satisfaction and ultimately find death.

Don’t run from pillar to post never finding happiness, joy, fulfillment and satisfaction and ultimately finding death….allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in our lives today.

ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE

Life has a way of throwing us some pretty serious curveballs.

Actually, it has a way of dragging us through what seems like Category 5 hurricane!

Over the weekend one of my devotions came from Acts 27 where we find the Apostle Paul being taken to Rome, on a ship as a prisoner to appeal his case before Caesar. The devotion was about standing before important people. It was good, but I had a different take-home on the story:

As he began his journey the bible tells us Paul found himself on a ship with 275 prisoners, in the middle of a hurricane and the ship was making no progress, as a matter of fact the ship was being “driven.”

Does that sound like your life today?
Is your life being driven by outside forces?
Is your job steering your life?
Are your family, kids, relationships, finances or health dominating your existence…forcing you in directions you hadn’t planned?

Life has away of doing all of that.

The story continues with those on the ship doing all they could do to save the ship. They secured the ship with ropes, threw equipment overboard and then they even tossed the cargo into the sea.

Desperate people can do unthinkable and regrettable things in difficult times.

They were doing all they could do, but it just wasn’t enough. Ever feel that way?

Even though the storm continued to rage, eventually Paul and all on board made it safely to land but only after following very specific instructions that we can employ into our lives today:

1. Steer by the Holy Spirit, not by your circumstances or senses!
Feelings will only lead you into more difficulty and hardship. For these guys, not following the Holy Spirit would have led to their death. This is always make or break!

Remember the ship was being driven, even though they had dropped a sea anchor. Friend, you may be anchored, but that does not make you immune to being overcome and driven out of control.

It may make perfect sense at the time, but trust me, the Holy Spirit knows what is best long-haul.

2. Eat something!
Nourish your soul, mind and body. Stay fueled up! This will give you strength and help you remain sharp, steady and focused. One of the first things we fail to do during difficulty is taking care of ourselves.

3. Stay with the ship!
Quitting is the easy way out. God told Paul to make sure no one left the ship. Bailing is always a reaction and is usually led by fear or paranoia.
Staying within a community assures us of support, safety and needed encouragement. We need support during fearful and uncertain times while we are waiting on the Lord to work on our behalf.

4. Build a fire!
Once they ran aground they found shelter and built a fire. This is huge!! You have to have something inside you that burns white hot, deep within your soul that keeps you moving forward! Rekindle your passion, your vision, your dream! Fan those flames until they are white hot roaring, then burn bright, strong and deliberate!

5. Shake off the snake-bites of life!
The bible says while Paul was putting a log on the fire, a snake came out and attached itself to his hand.

What did Paul do? Shook it off into the fire.

What would I do? Scream like a little girl!

You’re going to get bit, especially when rebuilding your fire! Shake it off and forget it. It will always be painful and personal. Shake it off.

This is an amazing story that a blog doesn’t give justice to.

The bible says that Paul was obedient, he survived the storm, the hardship, saved all who were with him and then went and ministered to and brought healing to the father of a on important official on the island, who was on his death bed.

Our circumstances we go through are to build trust in God and others. To deepen us. Not so much for our undoing, but for our growing.
And they always lead to blessing those around us.
Five simple things to consider today.

Five simple things that will carry us through…no matter how strong the storm may blow.

Michele and I are praying for you today!