God’s Grace

02/20/201702/19/2017Leave a comment

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. 2 Timothy 1:9

Grace. It has become one of the words we sing about. We use the phrase as a part of our “Christianese.” But has it become just a word that we casually and haphazardly use without grasping its immensity or the depths of its richness in our lives? Welcome to this new week of Freedom Fighters. I am thankful today that you are part of our family. God’s family. A family blessed by and with the grace of God.

I recently read this powerful devotional that hones in on some of the richness of this word grace:

Salvation: You are saved by grace. The forgiveness of your sins, your justification before God, your redemption from the slavery of sin, your deliverance from evil, and your future home in heaven are yours today because of grace.

Sufficiency: Grace enables you to do all God calls you to do today. Success is not based today upon what you can accomplish, but upon what He will do through you. Grace is not about your strength, but about His mighty power working in you, even in the time of your greatest weakness.

Edification: Grace builds you up, lifts you up, and keeps you standing. Grace is heard in the sound of God’s voice speaking over and over into your ear, “I am for you today. I am with you today. I am the source of everything good, everything lovely, everything holy, and everything mighty.”

Hope: Grace assures you of a glorious future and an overwhelming inheritance that is yours in Jesus Christ. Grace leads you on, cheers you on, and moves you on into all that is in God’s heart for you.

Victory: Grace brings to you all that is yours in Christ. You are victorious today because Jesus is the triumphant One. You are more than a conqueror because He has conquered all. You are above all things because all things are under His feet. You reign in life because He reigns—King of kings and Lord of lords.

Abundance: Where sin once abounded, grace abounds even more. Where darkness ruled, grace overruled. Where death held you in cruel bondage, grace brought you into a glorious new freedom. Grace is never poured out to you like raindrops, but like a cascading waterfall.

Purity: Grace is the doorway into the beauty of God’s holiness. Grace is never a license to sin, a freedom to sin, or a cloak for sin. Grace brings us into a life that is greater than what sin could ever offer us. Grace extends the hand that lifts us out of the miry clay, throws the rope that pulls us from the deepest pit, and lights the flame that brings us out of the darkest cave.

Gifting: Gifts that come to you from God are grace gifts. His grace gifts to you will be different than the grace gifts He gives to others. Grace does not play favorites. The gifts that have been given to you from God are the perfect gifts that are needed for you to fulfill His will and His calling in your life. From Today is Your Best Day – Roy Lessin

This ought to leave us speechless! It should cause your heart to soar. It should bring tears to your eyes, and maybe make you fall to your knees in praise and adoration. God’s amazing grace! I trust that this reminder encouraged you today. Don’t take for granted the amazing grace of God.

Rejoice! Pray! Give thanks!

Written by Dr. Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: He has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years, and has three married kids, one that is engaged, and 10 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Gen 24-27 | You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: God enables you to do all that God calls you to do today. – Roy Lessin

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed. Psalm 71:23

Happy New Year

01/02/201701/01/2017Leave a comment

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

2017 has arrived and we are excited to share our new theme for the year. HOW SHALL WE LIVE? This is a great follow-up to last year’s theme of FACING THE FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE.

Most of us have asked the question at some point in our lives, what is God’s will for my life? Pastor Bill Raws, the grandson of our founder, always said that if you want to know God’s will for your life, start be doing with the Word of God tells you is His will.

Our theme verse for the year answers that question. If you want be doing God’s will in your life, here are three things for you to do:

1. Rejoice always. Note that it isn’t just when things are going well, but the implication is that even when things aren’t going my way, I am to rejoice. It’s not sometimes or most times. Paul leaves no wiggle room here for wondering when we are off the hook. Always is pretty clear, right?

That means on the day our new President is inaugurated, if I voted for him, I get to rejoice. If I didn’t vote for him, I still get to rejoice.

2. Pray without ceasing. That is one of my goals for this coming year. I want to be more intentional in praying about everything. We normally pray when there is something big going on around us. But I think what Paul is suggesting here is that we should be praying about anything and everything.

3. In everything give thanks. Note that the text does say that I need to give thanks FOR everything, but IN everything. I think that rejoicing, praying and giving thanks are so linked together. If I am in a terrible spot, I need to rejoice – I need to be constantly praying about that concern/situation – and I am thanking God in the midst of this circumstance because we know that He is going to use this for our God and His greater glory.

So here is what I want to encourage you to do. First of all, memorize these two verses with me this year. Let the Holy Spirit burn this truth into the hard-drive of your mind.

Secondly, I have encouraged our staff to memorize a new verse each week. That’s 52 verses. Here is the link to the verses if you would like to join us. It is an important discipline for us to hide God’s Word in our hearts.

Thirdly, share with the Freedom Fighter team what God is teaching you. We’d love to hear what you are learning.

Fourthly, get one of our new wristbands. It will be a good reminder throughout the day of doing God’s will. Email me your address and I will send one to you (bwelte@americaskeswick.org). Thanks for being a part of the Freedom Fighter blog family. We appreciate you more than you know. Have a blessed 2017.

The Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 1-3 | You can download our 2017 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “When you pray for something and ask “that the Father may be glorified in the Son”, prepare for Him to do what He knows will bring Him the most glory.” ~From Living the Battle Plan

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!” Psalm 40:16

Longing for Real Home

10/21/201610/20/2016Leave a comment

For the story is about hell and heaven, trauma, shame, and finding love—the real Jesus accepting a broken man; and it is about the Father, Son, and Spirit finding us in the far country of our terrible and powerless mythology—to share their life with us. For the truth behind the universe is that God is Father, Son, and Spirit; and the one unflinching purpose of the blessed Trinity is that we would come to taste and feel, to know and experience, the very trinitarian life itself. ~ C. Baxter Kruger

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ~ Paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Romans 7 & 8

Oh beloved, it is true. We long for Home. We long for a place where we belong. And, our whole lives we have been willing to do almost anything to get the sense that we were there. The problem though, is in our thinking that home is simply a place.

Yes, it is a place. And it is more. For the place Which is Home is quite large. It is Alive and It has made eternity His own home. Home is the context of the Life of

G_d. Home is family. Home is a Father and Son, and the Spirit of unity between the Three of Them.

But… back to the thing about us being willing to do almost anything to get the sense we were there…

In our fallen understanding we miss that home is indeed a location, but that that location is larger than the intersection of four dimensions (up/down, left/right, back/forth and time). And in our flat-landed and fleshly view, we try to set down stakes and bring the pleasure of home to ourselves. But, in attempting to draw life towards ourselves, we actually just wall ourselves in.

We do worse than just walling ourselves in. We block the flow, really, of anything good in our lives. As we try to set up our own homesteads, we push life away. And the harder we try, the more we circle the wagons in defeat, the more we feel home slipping away.

Oh… this is not as mystical as it sounds. To get a sense of the comfort of “home,” addicts do it by shoving people away and shoving chemicals into their bodies. We have all been there. Some of you, beloved, are still there. But, it never works.

What to do?

Go Home. It is simpler than we make it.

How?

We are already there… Actually, He is already here.

Can we see it? Read the passage. Jesus made this possible when He condemned sin to death, by His own death. In His infinitely powerful work on the cross, He tore the veil that had confined His presence to a locality in a temple in Jerusalem – and burst out across the entire planet. This symbolic act of tearing a big curtain was made a tangible reality when His Spirit came to stay, at Pentecost, a mere 50 days later.

And, each of us never has to long for home in the way that we have done it in the past. We are Home, when we live in the infinite Spirit. There are no boundaries to His Presence. He is with us wherever we go. There is no place He is not. This is the freedom we have always been looking for before, but always found ourselves in – instead – a trap of our own making.

So, are you longing for real home? Just look away from that point inside of you. That place is just an empty spot that you are trying to make feel like home. And in turning away, realize that the full heart, the sense of wellbeing, and the deep awareness of belonging is something we are drawn into – by being drawn away from a focus on our own self – and put directly onto Him.

Tonight is your night beloved. Time to walk in The Spirit. He is the Home you have been longing for.

Written by Makala Doulos: Makala Doulos is a child of G_d, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, G_d’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 140; Proverbs 21

Daily Quote:

Holiest Trinity, perfect in unity,

Bind in thy love every nation and race;

May we adore thee for time and eternity,

Father, Redeemer, and Spirit of grace.

~Patrick Appleford

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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Hard, but not Difficult

10/20/201610/19/2016Leave a comment

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” ~Genesis 4:7

We have a term in the construction field for labor work especially when it is drudgery, it’s called “Neck Down”. It can be a derogatory term but the meaning is this, stop thinking and work, stop using your head, just use everything from the neck down. Most labor detailed work is not difficult, but it’s hard.

The meaning of difficult I am referring to would be something that is hard to understand or figure out. I think we would all agree that although there are portions of scripture that can be difficult to understand, the basic meanings to living a sanctified life is simple but hard. I know what I should do but it’s not always easy.

When I find myself having to make a choice as to how I am going to act, the battle or conflict begins. There’s the flesh that wants what it wants and it wants it now. Then there’s the Spirit that speaks truth and the conviction that comes with it and leads me towards God. It reminds me of when I was a kid, we used to trade things a lot, whether baseball or football cards, lunches and even sometimes our bikes. The issue always was “am I willing to give up something I have for something I may want”? Am I willing to trade pleasing my Father in Heaven for the fleeting pleasure or comfort of my flesh?

When it comes to our walk with Jesus, He will never give up loving us but I believe our choices can disqualify or we can forfeit the blessings and the peace and joy that comes with obedience. Am I willing to trade sin and pleasure (death) for joy and blessings (life)? For a more complete list see Deuteronomy 29 and 30.

The choice isn’t always about action but sometimes it’s what we don’t do that becomes sin. It’s not difficult to figure out how to witness to someone or resolve a conflict, but it’s hard. And who feels like calling a brother out for sinful behavior? Not me. The problem is James makes it very clear in chapter 4 verse 17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin”.

I have found that even though it is hard and can be very uncomfortable, when our motives are right and God’s word is honored the results are worth it.

So, yes, our walk with the Lord can be hard, but it’s not difficult. Don’t get caught up thinking about not obeying, remember “neck down”.

Written by Rob Russomano: Rob is married to Terri, he is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a full time staff member. He is also available as a speaker of the grace of God with a message of Hope for church events.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 139; Proverbs 20

Daily Quote: Prayer is the link that connects us with God. ~A.B. Simpson

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceedingandeternal weight of glory, ¹⁸while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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The Source of Strength

10/19/201610/18/2016Leave a comment

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,”(2 Timothy 2:1)

John Ortberg declares, “Habits eat willpower for breakfast,” and I can concur. There have been numerous times in my life that I been faced with adversity, and failed miserably. Epic fails; white knuckling through my addiction, failed promises, failed New Years resolutions, one week diets, lack of consistency; you name it, I did it. With enough research, I’m sure that I can discover the answer. Wrong!

Timothy had a strong and wise mentor that knew the source of strength and the channel in which it flowed. Paul was teaching him, through grace, Christ’s strength was infused in him. He was teaching him not to rely on his own wisdom, his own strength, his natural abilities, but be strengthened by grace in Christ Jesus. But Paul didn’t just read or study this type faith, this developed through his experience.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:8,9)

Even the secular world acknowledges that they need a power greater than themselves. That greater power is Jesus, the power in the name of Jesus breaks the chains of bondage plus provides strength for the daily routines of life. Ask me how I know?

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1,2)

Written by Juan Mendez: Juan is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and full-time staff member at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 138; Proverbs 19

Daily Quote: To have God speak to the heart is a majestic experience, an experience that people may miss if they monopolize the conversation and never pause to hear God’s responses. ~Charles Stanley

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding andeternal weight of glory, ¹⁸while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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The Art Of Being Out Gunned | Part Two

10/18/201610/17/2016Leave a comment

“Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” ~Matthew 5:19-20 (NKJV)

I kinda think the reason “The Evangelical Right” is up in arms this particular Election season is that it has watched the slow erosion of Christian values pick up speed. I remember hearing Latin in the Catholic church but that has changed. They say there was prayer in school but by the time I get there it was long gone. The rise of “THE MEGA-CHURCH” has people screaming that ears are only being tickled and a President-Elect used another President’s Bible to be sworn into office. Did he not have his own? Did he use it as a way to bring mockery upon a nation? One can only speculate…the truth really lies in the heart of him who took the oath. Right? And that is where we get ourselves crazy with thoughts of a government that has gone Anti-Christianity for the greater good of its people. We speculate…the end is near.

Well if you are resting your faith in that then you, Christian, are living as if you are out-gunned!! Now hear me out on this but if you have read your Bible, at least to Genesis 3, then you have read where Adam “SURRENDERED” his weapon to our adversary back in The Garden. What weapon you ask? The weapon of “OBEDIENCE” to the will of Him who created all things. Obedience as weapon? Yeah!! How many times I have seen the following verse posted on social media, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV) Sounds like something we should obey, doesn’t it? So what’s the problem?

Well I think the problem is found in the consistency of our obedience or at the very least the maintenance of it. It’s very hard to mix rigidity with flexibility and get something that can stand but Jesus did it and wants us to do likewise but we have to do this within the context of being called sojourners and are in a place that we can’t call home. So you have to pray for Babylon/Rome/America while you live in it. As a fallen people go, living within the topsy-turvy law of the land, that most folks are doing right now, things will bubble up that aren’t of God and those people will fight among themselves to bring about their own sense of righteousness. But we, as a redeemed people go, are called to a standard that says all that matters is the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

That means we have to stay within the obedience of what was taught to us. If we outwardly live like this then those “Thou Shall Not’s” will come out when we do what “Thou Shalt Do”. When the Disciples heard this teaching of Jesus they musta thought all those “LAWS” can fall by the wayside…they were wrong. By being in communion with Jesus (who is in perfect communion with The Father) they were upholding the law. Because they were shown ἀγάπη (agápē) they themselves were to show it or you weren’t in communion with anything but the world around you. So I ask this question…On Election Day are you in communion with YHVH or a political party?

I am hoping American Christianity can see its way through this malaise that we all are living in. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” and yet it has happening in America. So you can’t fault “The Evangelical Right” (the old guard) for trying their darnedest to correct a moral compass that has gonna awry. But it’s be done with the understanding that we need to love our enemies anyway. To not do this is to not be obedient to what you’ve been called to by Christ Himself. If you need to know what making a stand looks like, then ponder on these verses from Esther…

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

“And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” (Esther 4:16b)

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 137; Proverbs 18

Daily Quote: You are but a poor soldier of Christ if you think you can overcome without fighting, and suppose you can have the crown without the conflict.” —John Chrysostom (Archbishop of Constantinople 397-403 A.D.)

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding andeternal weight of glory, ¹⁸while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~2 Corinthians 4:17-18

CLICK HERE to sign-up to receive this devotional via email each morning!

The Art of Being Out-Gunned | Part One

10/11/201610/10/2016Leave a comment

“Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.” ~Matthew 7:21 (NLT)

Autumn has always been the coolest season in my life. Yea,h it may mean that it’s time to put the shorts away and bust out the hoodie, but autumn is hands down the bestest season of them all…in my eyes. Now with that said I have to realize that with everything I think is the bestest comes a slice of the baddest and for this season it’s politicians who want to get elected. What they will say just to be in an office with a title and a paycheck makes me want to pack it up and move to the Northwestern Territories in Canada. Why there you ask? Well they have a non-partisan democracy, there are no political parties there and you can wear a hoodie just about all the time without it ever being an odd thing to do…just sayin’.

Now, I gotta ask this to all of you out there in Christianland…have you all lost your minds? It seems that this coming election has brought out the worst in some of you – and I’m no better in this so don’t think I come out of this discussion squeaky clean – but when I caught myself way too wrapped up in this God sent this lightning bolt through me and it said “How To Love Your Enemies” by Ray Pritchard. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lightning bolt, it was Ray’s pamphlet that came to me via snail mail but it definitely confirmed a thought I have been mediating on. “Do we have an identity crisis going on? Have we all forgotten the teaching Jesus gave on The Mount?”

Open your Bibles to 5th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel 3rd verse. Does it say “Blessed are the Caesar’s, the Herod’s, the Pharisees and the Sadducees”? No it does not, Jesus didn’t come for them and He knew they weren’t seeking Him either. His audience didn’t chant slogans like “ROME FOR ISRAEL” or “MAKE BABYLON GREAT AGAIN”. No one ever said it because it simply wasn’t where their identity was found. And to give my take on it, I don’t see them really finding their identity when they returned from exile. Not everyone comes back so you’ve got a fragmented picture of the once blessed Israel.

The cool thing that Jesus does is exhort the people that have gathered to hear Him preach. It’s a pretty simple scene without much flash but there are people, a multitude of them, hanging on the very Word of God. There are ten specific groups of folks that Jesus encourages but I suspect that a little of those ten are to be found in us from time to time then comes the beginnings of their new identity. “You are the salt of earth…You are the light of the world…You are a city on a hill.” These are simple everyday people being lifted up by Someone who was there at the creation of it all and He’s telling them you are worthy of Kingdom things. There’s going to be more, but the teaching is going to be tough. After all, to whom much is given, much is required…but the yoke of it will be light. Jesus promised that.

As we draw closer to Election Day I will be covering more from three infamous chapters in Matthew’s Gospel, but until next time please remember this…if you say you’re a Christian, then you are a little Christ. That’s your identity. If you are doing what most are doing in their arguments with each other then you are a Republican who says you’re a Christian or you are a Democrat who says you’re a Christian. In either case you have confused your identity with a worldview point. Jesus doesn’t say blessed are the Republicans, the Democrats, the Socialists or the Green Tea Partiers.

Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, those who endure insults hurled at them, those who are persecuted with false account spoken of them all because of Jesus Christ. You are told to “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” I don’t see anywhere in Scripture where my reward is on 600 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington DC. Don’t get me wrong, I want someone running our country making sure Kingdom principles abound…I’m just not gonna dirty up The Cross of Christ getting there. God is control…He alone knows the outcome. Until such a time comes you are to pray for Babylon. Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) is married (Kathy) with two adult children (Kevin and Karen) and has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 130; Proverbs 11

Daily Quote: To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil. More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God, which requires men to sever all connection with their enemies and to pass judgement on them. Jesus, however, takes the law of God in His own hands and expounds its true meaning. The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ~2 Corinthians 4:16

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Do the Best With What You Have

10/07/201610/06/2016Leave a comment

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Colossians 3:17)

I have read somewhere that there was a village in England some years ago that had a town hall with a clock with one hand in the steeple facing the central square. The village did not have enough money to repair it. Some wag suggested, “Well, at least the clock is right twice a day!” But a village philosopher suggested that the message of the clock is, “Do the best with what you have.” That’s good advice.

In a way, that is the story of Simon Peter in the Gospels. Among those who were following the Lord Jesus Christ, none were more colorful than Simon Peter. His story began when his brother, Andrew, brought him to Jesus. When Jesus met him, He said, “You are Simon…and you shall be Peter” (John 1:42). The Greek word for Peter is “rock.” “You are…you shall be.” Hidden within Peter was God-given potential that had not yet surfaced. I suppose Peter thought he could never be anything other than what he was – a fisherman from Galilee. But Jesus saw him differently. “Rocky” would be a good name by which to know him.

So Peter began to follow Jesus and the rough edges began to wear away. One gets the impression that Simon Peter was a strong man who appeared to be given to physical violence as a way of settling personal disputes.

Peter was always stirred and moved by the actions and the words of Jesus. He had his highs and his lows. He confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16) yet a short time later he objected to Jesus saying He must die on a cross (Matt 16:22), but he was so much like we are. He wanted to be so close to Jesus, yet he failed so miserably and so often. We can easily identify with him more than with the other disciples.

The time came when Jesus warned him that he would deny he knew Jesus, not once but three times before the night was over (John 13:38). Peter protested vehemently…yet he did. But his story doesn’t end there. Even before his failure, Jesus gave him hope that recovery would be possible. He was forgiven and restored. His story tells us that we, too, can be transformed by God’s grace. Our past and present need not limit us in our future usefulness for Jesus. Peter wrote two letters about what he had learned. In 1 Peter, he wrote about suffering; in 2 Peter, he wrote about loyalty. What we are today need not be what we shall be tomorrow.

Written by Dr. Donald R. Hubbard: Dr Hubbard is a Bible teacher on Bible Broadcasting Network and frequent speaker at America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 126; Proverbs 7

Daily Quote: “Prayer is not a hard requirement – it is the natural duty of a creature to its creator, the simplest homage that human need can pay to divine liberality.” ~Charles Spurgeon

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁵For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.~2 Corinthians 4:15

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ME ME ME or MINE MINE MINE

10/03/201610/02/2016Leave a comment

“And [Jesus] was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Have you ever stopped to think about how much time we spend thinking about ourselves? Welcome to a new week of Freedom Fighters. I am glad that you are joining me on this journey of walking in victory.

Remember the scene in Finding Nemo when the seagulls converge and start screaming, “Mine, Mine, Mine?”

The concept of dying to self is not one that we hear much about in sermons today. We live in a culture that is bent on meeting our every need. We find ourselves getting in a snit if things don’t go our way. We are living in a day when all that matters is my needs, my desires, my rights. Just listen to the news and watch the commercials.

But Jesus said that if we are going to truly be Christ-followers, we need to learn how to die to self daily, and take up His cross.

This summer I picked up a little card from Pastor Harold Vaughn’s book table. It is called “Dying to Self.”

Listen to this …

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted to suffer for Christ, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any lack of punctuality or any annoyance, when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility … and endure it as Jesus endured it … THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you can see your brother or sister prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstance, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

Are you “ALIVE IN CHRIST” and “DEAD TO SELF?” Or “ALIVE IN SELF” and “DEAD TO CHRIST?”

You need to understand that what I share with you is so often what I am preaching to myself. I really needed that today. What area of your life has God pin-pointed today where you need to DIE TO SELF?

Written by Dr. Bill Welte is President/CEO of America’s Keswick: He has been married to his child sweetheart for 40+ years, and has three married kids, one that is engaged, and 10 amazing grand kids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 122; Proverbs 3

Daily Quote: God will never come to his right unless we are totally reduced to nothing, so that it may be clearly seen that all that is laudable in us comes from elsewhere. John Calvin

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

¹⁵For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.~2 Corinthians 4:15

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The Power in Our Exhaustion

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Thine am I, I was born for thee,
What wouldst thou, Master, make of me?
Give me death or give me life
Give health or give infirmity
Give honor or give obloquy
Give peace profound or daily strife,
Weakness or strength add to my life;
Yes, Lord, my answer still shall be
What wilt thou, Master, have of me?
~Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is

sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 2 Corinthians 12

Oh beloved, it is true. We are tired. And it is not so much because we have worn ourselves out. It is really deeper than this. We never had anything to give in the first place.

We look at the reality of the waste our lives were before. We see the truth. We were doomed. And in this horrible state, He swept in, and filled us with His very Self. Oh, we thought we were big stuff. Our name and position and job and rank and standing all meant so much to us. But, we were empty.

We were shells
We were alone
We were hurting
We were broken
We were waste

And Jesus did not come in and made things a little bit better. No, things actually got much worse for us. He came in and devastated our ability to do anything whatsoever. He crushed every last bit of us out of ourselves. And it was here, that we died. We had exhausted all of our resources, and we came to the very end. We were done.

This is where many people stop with the good news. We understand that we were nothing, and that G_d came in and saved us through His own Son’s life, death, and resurrection. We even understand that our new existence is the result of our being crucified with Him.

But, often, we do not go far enough. We do not understand that the living sacrifice we are has been consumed on the altar. There is nothing left of us. And this, this ongoing news of the death of our old man, is some of the very best of the very good news of The Gospel.

Can we see it? Paul did. Though, we know the end of the story; though we know that Heaven and a life far beyond our comprehension – and even the wildest of our wildest dreams – awaits us, we know that the path to that place in eternity is literally paved by our inability to get there.

Said more simply: it is not just some nice little platitude to say that we are “weak” and god is “stronger.” This is not a cute little phrase we add to the end of our sermons and prayers and conversations.

No, our utter exhaustion, our complete inability, our ongoing death to self in this life, is the only way that the power of G_d becomes real in our lives. And the more real that His power is in our lives, the more amazingly amazing things we are able to do.

However, this total exhaustion of our own resources is more than just a reminder of the infinite power of G_d. It is more than a reminder of our total weakness. This emptiness within creates a burning yearning for what we have always wanted, and only now begun to taste: His Love, and to be as near to Him as possible, forever. And once we have tasted Love and seen it in our lives, we want nothing else… It drives us with a power we never could have ever imagined – even in our wildest dreams.

So, are you tired? Are you worn out beloved? Good. Let Him finish the work of consuming the dross of your old man. Let Him completely exhaust you. Let Him take you to the very end of yourself. For it is there, where the power of Love truly begins.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 122; Proverbs 30

Daily Quote: We contradict the Lord to his face when we say: It is hard, it is difficult; we cannot, we are men; we are encompassed with fragile flesh. O blind madness! O unholy audacity! We charge the God of all knowledge with a twofold ignorance, that he does not seem to know what he has made nor what he has commanded, as though, forgetting the human weakness of which he is himself the author, he imposed laws upon man which he cannot endure. ~Pelagius (c. 354-after 418)

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

⁸We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ~2 Corinthians 4:8-11

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