You have no plans for this July 4^th Weekend? Why not experience a vacation at America’s Keswick? Never been to America’s Keswick? Then why not try us out and get 50% off on your stay.  Dr. Tony Hart is our weekend Bible teacher. Conference begins Thursday at 3:00 PM and concludes with noon meal on Sunday, July 6th.

Call 1-800-453-7942 

Reflection on Nehemiah Leadership

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps, strengthens us, and never abandons us. He is a true friend. Saint Teresa of Avila

Nehemiah lived during an interesting era in Jewish history. He is in captivity to the Persian King Axterzee while his Jewish counterparts were struggling because of a breech in their security, the wall. Like a good leader, Nehemiah first responds, “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4) Next, Nehemiah demonstrates that he had his priorities in order; after God, he addresses the chain of command. He respects the Persian king and asks to assist in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall, and the king granted the request. Good leaders respect their leaders, and Nehemiah’s character was evident in the king’s positive response.

Nehemiah demonstrates wisdom in the process to rectify the situation. Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls (counting the cost) before he proceeds. He prays constantly inviting God to lead them in this endeavor. He communicates well with his team. For instance, when opposition arose he told half to work, while the other half to guard for the resistance. He doesn’t dictate; he inspires His team, “So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind (Heart) to work.” (Nehemiah 4:6) Nehemiah illustrates fairness, godliness, generosity, participation, morality and many other leadership qualities.

The results,

“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”

Good leadership produces positive outcomes, and furthermore this type of leadership was as effective then as it is today. Juan Mendez serves full-time at America’s Keswick and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 32-35

Think About This:Nothing is so trying to nature as suspense between a faint hope and a mighty fear; but we must have faith as to the extent of our trials, as in all else. Our sensitiveness makes us often disposed to fancy that we are tried beyond our strength; but we really know neither our strength to endure nor the nature of God’s trials. Only He who knows both these, and every turn of the hearts which He has made, knows how to deal out a due proportion. Let us leave it all to Him, and be content to bear in silence.Francois Fenelon

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

 

You Can’t Get There from Here

“To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night.” Psalm 92:2

When someone asks me for driving directions to Keswick my first question to them is “where are you coming from”? I suppose I could tell them where we are with a street address but even when you enter a destination on Map Quest it will have ask you your present position.

And so it goes with us, in order for me to move forward it’s always good to figure out where I am. It seems to me that God has a unique way of navigating us through life. At the end of the day if I can find myself declaring to Him “Your faithfulness every night”, I am finding myself positioned in trusting Him.

This Psalm is titled “A Song for the Sabbath day”, he tells us “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High”. It’s interesting that the Psalmist in verse two states he is “declaring” God’s lovingkindness in the morning. How often when I find myself focusing on God in the morning that my day will end up declaring His faithfulness at night. I take rest when I can relate to the writer and the fact that it’s not until I make it to the end of my day that I can declare the faithfulness of God. I know that God is always faithful, however to experience His faithfulness as our destination, it works well when our starting point is declaring His lovingkindness in the morning.

Sure you can proclaim God to be faithful without a thought of Him in the morning after a long and weary day when you lay your head down. The difference in a “safe and sound” journey is recognizing the lovingkindness of God before you start. It’s like getting to where you’re going without direction. For me, in order to walk in a way that ensures my position it has to start with a declaration of God’s lovingkindness. That word literally means to show mercy with kindness because of His love, to have God incline His ear to our hearts.

If you’re heading out this morning enter into your Map Quest the starting point of declaring God’s lovingkindness, otherwise expecting a peace-filled day without recognizing that, you may get a message of “You can’t get there from here”. Amen!  Rob Russomano serves full-time at America’s Keswick and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 26-31

Think About This:Any theology that does not lead to song is, at a fundamental level, a flawed theology. —J.I. Packer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

No Private Closets

God’s desire for His children is that they be wholly set apart for Him. “Every cooking pot in Jerusalem … will be holy to the Lord” (Zechariah 14:21). God must not be confined to Sundays, quiet times, or deeper life conferences. He is the God of the every day, the kitchen as well as the sanctuary, the golf course as well as the altar. Similarly, in my life there can be no private closets to which the Lord has no access. It I make a separation between my God and my business. I am making a sorry mistake.

I must not repeat Saul’s mistake of keeping pan of God’s property for myself (1 Samuel 15:9). The sanctification must be whole, complete, even down to the “pots and pans” of the kitchen. I cannot “Lord, save my soul, but leave my mind and heart alone.” I cannot offer Him my spirit but retain the full right to use my body as I wish. I cannot seat Jesus in the parlor of my life but shut Him out of my study, my family room, or my bedroom.

Paul prayed for the Thessalonian believers: “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). That is all of us, complete and entire! F. B. Meyer kept the key of one closet in his life that was off limits to God. Not until he surrendered the key did he have peace, and not until the closet was cleansed did he have power.

God wants to become very personal with me. He wants to socialize with me, “eating and drinking” with me, as Jesus did with the people. He wants to make every area of my life “awesome,” as He made Bethel for Jacob (Genesis 28:17).

He wants to be the Master of my thoughts as well as my emotions, instincts, and even my subconscious. When He becomes all that, my life will become radiant with His abounding presence. Evans, W. Glyn (1989-11-08). Daily With the King: A Devotional for Self-Discipleship (Kindle Locations 3512-3530). Moody Publishers

God’s timing in speaking to my heart is always amazing. When I read this devotional this weekend it was a timely affirmation for me. God used my dear wife, Jan, to bring to my attention some “closet” issues that I needed to look at. While I know it was very hard, it was very necessary. If we are willing guys, God often speaks to us through our wives. I don’t want any closets in my life. – Dr. Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 21-25

Think About This:Your past sins do not define you! Your painful scars do not define you. Your present sufferings do not define you. They are just shards of brokenness that God will use to lovingly refine your beauty.

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

In His Steps

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2: 21 NIV

In the early 20th century, Charles Sheldon wrote a book, In His Steps. It is considered a classic and continues to be a best-seller . The story involves a pastor and some of his people who decide to ask the question “What would Jesus do?” They then made the commitment to walk “in His steps” for a full year.

Charles Sheldon drew inspiration for his novel from 1 Peter 2: 21, To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. He understood that the Lord Jesus Christ is our example and that our calling as Christians is to walk as He walked.

In May, 2010, I had the privilege of making my first trip to Israel. During the trip our group visited Bethsaida, an archeological site undergoing continued excavation. One section of the excavation offered us the opportunity to walk a stone pathway certified as first century. It sits right at the opening of the gate to the city, meaning that anyone who entered the city had to walk this path. Both archeologists and biblical scholars agree that Jesus certainly would have walked on the stones our group encountered. I literally walked in Jesus’ steps!

That experience is unforgettable. In fact, I use a picture of those stones as the wallpaper for my computer. They are the first things I see when I turn on my computer each day. Another experience is even more unforgettable. In July, 1962, I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. I became His follower, and I received the instruction to “walk in His steps.” The steps I am to follow are not stones in Bethsaida. Rather, they are the teachings He gives us in the gospels. I am to live as He lived in obedience to His Father.

All of us who follow Jesus have the same responsibility. We are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to live out the simple instructions of the Sermon on the Mount, no matter how difficult doing so may seem . By the transforming work of God’s Spirit, Jesus calls us to live out His character, to love as He loved. Peter had it right! Jesus left us the example, and we’re to follow “in His steps.” Rev. John Strain is a contributor for Real Victory Real Life Volumes 1 & 2 and speaks frequently at the Colony of Mercy Chapel.

Keswick, America’s  (2012-12-13). Real Victory for Real Life Volume 2 (Kindle Locations 6384-6410).  . Kindle Edition.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalms 1-8

Think About This:The best part of the race is the finish. Keep your focus, determination, and integrity so you finish well!

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

Saved To Rest…To Serve  Part 1

“And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.”  Exodus 31:12-13 (ESV)

I have a question I would like to ask you all this morning…What would spending just one Sabbath day with Jesus be like? I ask the same question to my Colony brothers and sisters at our recent reunion and the answer that stuck out the most was “restful”. And that is how it should be after all, the secular world uses the Sabbath day, or Sunday, as a day of supposed rest. I am old enough to remember “Blue Laws” but young enough to watch that not be enforced much, to maybe even outta existence now. It’s sad but the Sabbath day isn’t what the Sabbath day was meant to be. Jesus knew how to spend the Sabbath day but before I go there let’s start with a brief examination of the Sabbath from YHVH’s position.

Open your Bibles to Exodus 31:12-18 and read it (if you don’t you may be able to follow this) YHVH is repeating what He said in Exodus 20:8 about keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest.  But in these verses He is being very absolute about things.There is a penalty for not observing the Sabbath isn’t there? Defile/Profane it and die! Make SHABATH filthy and tarnished or show it contempt and irreverence, give it no rest…BE PUT TO DEATH! Pretty drastic. In verse 13 He reminds the nation of Israel that there is a token of the covenant between them, of His being their God and they, His people. In verse 15 the term is “rest that is holy to the LORD.”

Watchman Nee had this to say about “rest that is holy to the LORD”…”The seventh day became the Sabbath of God; it was God’s rest. But what of Adam? Where did he stand in relation to that rest of God? Adam, we are clearly told, was created on the sixth day. Clearly, then, he had no part in those first six days of work, for he came into being only at their end. God’s seventh day was, in fact, Adam’s first. Whereas God worked six days and then enjoyed his Sabbath rest, Adam began his life with the Sabbath; for God works before He rests, while man must enter into God’s rest, and then alone can he work.”

And since that first design of rest got compromised way back in The Garden, YHVH is intentional that His creation will rest. If you look at Numbers 15:32-36 a man was stoned to death for just gathering sticks. In Ezekiel 23:36-49 we can read where the reverence for the Sabbath was just tossed away. There were two sisters, Oholah and Ohoilbah, and in Scripture God calls the elder sister a whore and says that younger is far worse. Now this story about the sisters are really a parable about Samaria and Jerusalem but for what they did it’s no wonder that YHVH would have these people exiled into a land that was not their own, to be ruled over by a people that weren’t of their heritage, and then after a period of time send them into their land after it had been destroyed and left for dead. God’s people should count their blessings that there wasn’t another Flood to wipe them out.

However…It would be between this time and the time when the iron fist of The Roman Empire arrived on the scene that more laws were enacted to enforce or better yet burden Gods children…the nation of Israel.  In my next Freedom Fighter we’ll begin to see what a Sabbath day in the life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth would look like. But in the meantime ponder what you see as a Sabbath day. Is yours “restful” or is it full of Wal-Mart shopping like mine can get. Is it putting gas in the mower, the Phillies on the tube, burgers on the grill or is coming to a Sabbath rest. A day where worship is the only thing on the “Honey-do” list. Amen? – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and is a weekly Freedom Fighter blogger

Daily Bible Reading: Malachi 1-4

Think About This:“It is not that we work for God, but that he works for us. God gives us our position of rest. He brings His Son’s finished work and presents it to us, and then He says to us, “Please sit”.—Watchman Nee

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

What does true Friendship look like?

Friendships today are being defined differently since the increased use of social media. Social media has provided plenty of resources and positive benefits; however, we can lose the intimacy that comes with proper friendship, if we put all trust in the world of the internet. The Word of God defines friendship in many passages of scripture. Let take a little journey.

The characteristics of a friend are very diverse, and detailed according to the proverbs. In summary, proverbs dialogues about a man that refrains from gossip, but having a passion to remain pure in heart, and in deed, as well as having a gentleness in his spirit. A friend should follow the Lord’s directions, demonstrating unconditional love, and charity. Friends, should not avoiding accountability, but sharpening each other as ‘Iron sharpens Iron.’ I believe the proverbs are encouraging us to value truth, and to be available for one another. The proverbs also challenge us to be generous, faithful, mindful, and respectful to our neighbors. The more I read this, the more I realize that these are the type of friends I need in my life, moreover this is the kind of friend I long to be.

Jesus says,

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12, 13)

Reality, it is impossible to love the way Jesus love, as He humbly laid His life down for humanity. However, it does not mean that we cannot work hard at building healthy friendships as well as, serving each other with charity. News flash! Your brother or sister in Christ is not the enemy. Christ and his disciples had unity that was governed by the law of love; Jesus sets the example for us to follow in loving one another. Juan Mendez is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and serves full-time at America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Zechariah 8-14

Think About This:The proud man has no God, the envious man has no neighbour, the angry man has not himself.B Hall

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

Fellowship Barometer 

“Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”1st Corinthians 12:31

I believe that God uses fellowship to show us what we’re made of, we hang with those that will deliver or fill the need we’re seeking.  I remember one of the first signs of spiritual maturity was the people I could fellowship with. It was as if all the terms of engagement for the company I kept were different. I began to develop a tolerance for people that in the past I wouldn’t be associated with. People who now had a common interest with me.

First of all I’m a New York fan, and to be around all you Philly fans, forget about it.

I had pet peeves that if people did certain things, that was it, you’re done.

Pet peeves, what is a pet peeve? Those things that annoy you, that push your buttons.  An intolerance that causes you to lose it.  Fill in the blank; I hate those people that…..

Well, there are just some things that I’ve got a discontentment about.

I know that 1Ti 6:6 tells us that “godliness with contentment is great gain”.

I believe that God gives us a discontentment towards things that He wants us to do something about, a Holy discontent, and pet peeves don’t qualify. First we must be able to get along. To work with each other, to believe in the common goal and the mission that with the unity of the Holy Spirit and the unity of one another so we could accomplish great things. We should examine ourselves, first of all how is your fellowship with one another.

If we’re willing to take care of the sin in our life or as one Chaplain put it “keep short accounts”, God can use us.

Luke tells us in the 6^th chapter “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye”.

 

We see a lot of people today doing things that, although they have a good motive, the action is in the flesh and the outcome is not at all how God intended. Sometimes our strong conviction or discontentment outside the perimeters of how God wants us to handle it causes more harm than good. Some of our protests and bans on certain things show how hypocritical and judgmental we are. I recall a spokesperson confronting a protester about the Ten Commandments and prayer not being in public schools. He asked, “Do you have them in your house and do you pray in your house every day?” Paul says in 1^st Corinthians 5 “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside”? Now I’m not saying we should stand for what’s right but until we get chapter 13 of 1^st Corinthians down we need be careful.

“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). If we are going to win the lost to Christ we’re going to have to do a better job at working and getting along with one another. Amen! – Rob Russomano is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and serves full-time at America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Zechariah 1-7

Think About This: Grace finds us beggars but leaves us debtors. —Augustus Toplady

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

Harnessing Our Emotions

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Welcome to this new week of Freedom Fighter teachings. Today I am sharing a classic chapter from one of my favorite “old” devotionals, Daily with the King by Dr. Glynn Evans:

As a disciple of Jesus Christ I must come to terms with my emotions. The usual image of a saint is one who has disintegrated his emotions, but it is better to visualize him as one who has harnessed his emotions. The Bible tells us to crucify the “flesh,” not the emotions (Galatians 5:24). On the other hand, unless emotions are controlled, they may run from sensuality to depression.

The biblical sequence is clear: my emotions are to be controlled by my disposition of “mind,” and my disposition must be controlled by my will. When Paul said, “Let this mind be in you” (Philippians 2:5, KJV), he was not speaking of Jesus’ brain, but His way of thinking, His disposition. If Christ is alive in me, it follows that His way of thinking is alive in me; therefore, all I need to do is to turn my will over to Him, and consequently His disposition begins to appear in my life.

If allowed to run free, my emotions can lead me into danger. That is because emotions do not make moral choices. I can fall in love with a sinner as well as a saint; I can fear God as well as Satan. Unless my emotions are disciplined and prevented from going too far, I can expect a pack of troubles. A true disciple is—not emotionless, nor is he unemotional; he simply has learned when to let his emotions run and how far.

If I do not rule my emotions, they will rule me. Whenever fear, love, hate, prejudice, or any other emotion dominates me, I become a neurotic. My victory lies in forcibly denying my emotions any preeminence by an act of the will. I must keep putting the reins of my life into the hands of Jesus Christ so that I may “will one will” with Him at all times. Total surrender to Christ is total control of my life, including the emotional side of me, which so much needs His mastery (Romans 12:1–2).

What are the areas of your emotional that are controlling you vs. the Holy Spirit controlling them? Think about it. — Dr. Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’ s Keswick

Evans, W. Glyn (1989-11-08). Daily With the King: A Devotional for Self-Discipleship (Kindle Locations 3376-3391). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Daily Bible Reading: Zephaniah 1-3; Habakkuk 1-3

Think About This:God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24

Nothing We Do for God is Pointless

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth… so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty… (Isaiah 55: 10-11 NIV)

As a pastor in England, I’ve been doing high school assemblies for twenty years. The religious education teacher sets a theme for each week. The whole school gathers at the start of each day. After a bunch of notices, someone does sort of a “pep talk” on that theme. Twelve times each year that person is me. It isn’t a Christian school. Evolution and all other religions are taught. The students are as full of sin as most teens are. Less than 1% of people in Europe attend any church at all. It’s just that some traditions run very deep and because the school was founded centuries ago by the Church of England, some things stay in place.

So basically I get to preach for 8 minutes to hundreds of students and teachers who are nowhere near Christian. It’s a bit daunting, but I love it. I try to make it fun, but in the end, I want them to know Jesus and I make the Gospel very clear. I have dozens of great testimonies. There’s the funeral I did for a man who died of alcohol-related illness. His son was impressed with me and asked his mom if she would get me to do the funeral. There’s the young man who stopped me in a shop to tell me that he had become a Christian and that it was my talks that had opened his eyes years ago. There’s the teacher named Rose who started coming to our church, got saved, and is still with us. And there are works in progress. One teacher that I always felt didn’t like me, maybe because she’s gay, or maybe because I’m always holding up the Bible, was crying. I asked her if she was all right. She said that she had something in her eye. I told her that I would pray for her eye, and as I was walking away she said, “OK, your assemblies always get to me.”

Preparing these talks or standing very alone with the Word of God in your hands and on your lips isn’t an easy thing to do, but I am committed to doing it because God has promised that it will never be a “void” thing. It will never be “pointless.” God has His reasons. Would you be prepared to do the same today? I don’t expect you to have the same kind of opportunities that I do. But I know that God loves every soul that He’s ever created and that His desire is that no one would perish but that all would come to repentance. He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And I know that today someone will cross your path, and you’ll have an opportunity to say one simple thing. It may be as easy as “God bless you.” Or as profound as an invitation to heaven. Just remember that it’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance and that we love God because we came to understand that He first loved us. His Word will not return to Him empty. Think of it as rain. And of how God is going to use it to water the earth. Rev. Chris Thompson is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and pastors Enderby Chapel in Leicester, England

Keswick, America’s  (2012-12-13). Real Victory for Real Life Volume 2 (Kindle Locations 6199-6225).  . Kindle Edition.

Daily Bible Reading: Jonah 1-4

Think About This:That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy. Jonathan Swift

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior.  My God is my rock.  I can run to him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender and my place of safety. The Lord saves me from those who want to harm me. 2 Samuel 22:2-3

The Armored Cup

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Matthew 23:25-26 (ESV)

As our Tuesday night get together was getting intense, I wanted us to stop a take a moment with my Starbucks coffee mug. Jak and Amy, along with my wife Kathy, took it in stride and let me have the floor. All though my mug had been recently taken out of the dishwasher there was scuff marks on the outside of it from being used by me. The dishwasher in my house doesn’t always get this mug 100 percent clean, so every once in a while there is grit stuck on the sides of the inside of my Starbucks mug. So here was my point at that moment. Do you want to appear to be a Christian or do you want to be a Christian?

Jesus hammers the Pharisees during His 7 Woe’s dialogue in both Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel account. They were spending so much time making themselves appear so put together well that they never once thought about their spiritual standing with YHVH. They were content to rest on being “Abraham’s Children” and since they were leaders in the Jewish community it was more than enough to stand before people and say that the world around them hadn’t defiled them because of their perceived position with El Elyon. Jesus calls these men “Hypocrites” (actors) and instructed them to clean their insides out first then their outside, that the world sees, will be clean. I call what the Pharisees do in this case as “being plastic” and plastic people are a drag!!!

So it doesn’t matter how clean my Starbucks coffee mug is on the outside (you can’t pour coffee into the outside of a mug can you) I will drink what is poured inside. And if that has grit in it my Starbucks coffee won’t be right and I won’t want it no matter how much Starbucks has a reputation for being a good coffee. YHVH will do the same to us when He wants to have what’s on the inside of us. If we are gritty or lukewarm, no matter what our reputation for good, He is spitting us out of His mouth. Case closed right? Well it wasn’t until my drive into work when I got hit with something else…the armor!!

 

We all know about the Full Armor of God don’t we?  It is meant to put on when going out into a world and encourages us to STAND against the enemy. Well, if we aren’t exactly wanting that armor to get all dirtied up then what is it protecting? Who is really wearing that armor? What’s inside that helmet; what’s behind that breastplate; who is wearing those shoes and more importantly what kind of person really is holding that sword of the Spirit? If what is inside of a Pharisaical Starbucks coffee mug is inside that Armor of God then that armor stands for nothing good. Woe to you Pharisees and Scribes indeed.

So here is the crux of a Starbucks freshly baked muffin…if you can’t wear something that has a use in entirety then it is eternally useless, period. It doesn’t matter how pretty the outside of our Christian existence is, if the inside of it is flawed and never being cleaned out and refilled, then its lukewarm and gritty and deserves to spit out by The Almighty, period. And I, myself, fall short in this everyday but I am told there is no quitting in the race…only finishing. That means “winning” aint’ important either, just finish well, that’s all. I just think I could do it in style…perhaps an armored plated Starbucks coffee mug to commemorate the event? We’ll see if YHVH shares my sense of flair when I cross the finish line. Amen? – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and is a weekly Freedom Fighter blogger

Daily Bible Reading: Amos 6-9

Think About This:“In the work of God today things are so constituted that we have no need to rely upon God. But the Lord’s verdict upon all such work is uncompromising: “Apart from me ye can do nothing.” Such work as man can do apart from is wood, hay, stubble, and the test of fire will prove it so. For divine work can only be done with divine power, and that power is to be found in the Lord Jesus alone.”—Watchman Nee

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior.  My God is my rock.  I can run to him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender and my place of safety. The Lord saves me from those who want to harm me. 2 Samuel 22:2-3