Proven Character

Romans 5

Peace and Joy

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^a]">[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^b]">[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we^c]">[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Sometimes things happen to me and I have no idea why. And I stress, and I fear. But I am learning that suffering produces perseverance, which in turn produces character, and proven character brings hope.

I know that the Lord is interested in proven character while many are simply interested in gifts. Gifts will always be important, but God is interested in our characters.

Where there is no way, make a way. Where there is fear,
create peace. Where there is peace, create new beginnings.
Where there are new beginnings, create joy. Where there is
joy, create intimacy. And where there is intimacy, create more
intimacy.

We don't know where we've been. We don't know where we are.
We don't know where we're going without You. We don't know
where we're going without You.

Fiery Furnace

The three replied to the king, "We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the furnace, the God we serve is
able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand. But even if He does not, and He requires us to walk with Him through the fire, we want you to know,
O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

This should be our common response to anything that comes our way in this life. Even if we are thrown into the fiery furnace
of affliction and suffering, God is able to save us from is, and even use it for our good and His glory.

I've recently been experiencing some kind of confusing, fiery furnaces. Even in the midst of it, I understand that the Lord
is in control, He's on the throne, and He's interceding for me! Hope in the Lord and in His great mercy! His ways are above
of, and so His thoughts! Let His kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is up in Heaven!

NOAH

PM Netanyahu

Yesterday Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu made a moving speech in front
of the UN council, speaking up and against Iran's Ahmadinejad's statements
regarding the Holocaust.

http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=7169

He Loves You!

We must all understand that this is a race of faith! And what is faith? Faith is the substance of things not seen, and the

evidence of things hoped for. By faith we understand everything that we have in the Lord Jesus! By faith we can clearly see

Him sitting in the heavens above all principalities and powers. By faith we have the victory! It is important to always remember

that the victory has already been won! It just needs to be displayed on the earth now.

Runners, as Paul points out, go into 'strict' training to compete in their field. We, too, as believers, are to

go into strict training as we run the race that has been set out for us. This strict training comes only by the work

of the Holy Spirit of God within us. As we obey the prodding, the leading, the guidance of the Holy Spirit within us,

we go from 'glory to glory', and from one place on the race track to another. And each glory gets us closer to our finish line!

God has specifically created a race for each and every unique individual. He knows what we need, what we lack, who we are

now, and who we will become.

Another huge part of our 'crown' upon finishing our race, is the people who will come to know the Lord Jesus because of our

lives devoted to His service. People are so important to the Lord, he loves each and every one of us without measure. The Father's

love for us is one of the greatest treasures that we can ever know in this life. One of the greatest treasures in this life is the

ability to love and cherish others.

Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Galatians 5:13-15 (in Context) Galatians 5 (Whole Chapter)

What a great kingdom mystery! It is so common, yet so overlooked today. The whole entirety of the law of God

can be summed up in this one command: "Love..." Love is everything, for God is love. And when we abide in love,

we are truly abiding in God, for God is love. To love God is to obey His Holy Spirit. And to obey His Holy Spirit,

is to be one with Him, to be united with Him. It may be a hard saying, but in essence, to love is to be one with the

Lord and His nature. To love is to obey. And as I once wrote in a song, 'To love is to die!' And what greater sacrifice

can one make than to lay down his life for the Lord and others.

1 John 4:11-13 (New International Version)

¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

501. 1 John 4:8
     Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
     1 John 4:7-9 (in Context) 1 John 4 (Whole Chapter)

These are extremely profound mysteries which are contained within the Word of God, yet many people

miss them because they are so simple. Remember what we are exhorted in 2 Corinthians 11:3:

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 (in Context) 2 Corinthians 11 (Whole Chapter)

The Christian life is simple. Yet many make it confusing by various means. The simplest way to

not get confused about something is to remember your purpose and direction.


Earlier we talked about loving God and walking according to His Holy Spirit, being united with Him. However,

in order to fully obey the Lord and His calling on our lives, we must understand the cross. Each and every one

of us has a cross specifically designed for each and every one of us. The cross means death; death to self, death

to the world, death to the flesh.


The cross is difficult to explain. It is a mystery. The cross is the means by which God brought the world back

into unity with Him. The cross is the means by which we are reconciled to our God. The Lord Jesus states that

whoever wants to follow Him and do His will must take up their cross and follow Him. In other words, what the Lord

is saying, is, if you want to follow him, you must be willing to die.

1. John 12:24
   Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
   John 12:23-25 (in Context) John 12 (Whole Chapter)
   

The cross can be tied into many things. But one of the things the cross is tied into is our thought life:

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (King James Version)

⁴(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

⁵Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

⁶And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

The mind is an amazing thing. It is apart of who we are. We are all mind, body, and spirit. Though we are

Spirit filled, and focused on our spiritual side, our mind is of tremendous importance in our walk in the Lord.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (King James Version)

²²That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

²³And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

²⁴And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Our minds are spiritual. We make decisions with our minds. Though our minds are apart of the soul (mind, will, emotion),

what we think and believe are huge in how we will live our lives. Our minds must be renewed by the Holy Spirit. Anything

that is contrary to the nature of the Lord must be replaced by His loving, life-giving thoughts. Whatever we believe in that

is not in line with His thoughts and ways is what is called deception.


For many years I had a battle within my own mind. I would battle with great anger and frustration. I would battle with

fleshly thoughts. I would battle condemnation. This battle continues to this day, but the Lord slowly is giving me the

mind of Christ, His Son, so that I may be a son of the kingdom, going about the Father's business.


Did you know that each and every one of us are called to do our Father's business? And by business, I mean to

do His will in the earth. But in order to do His will in the earth, we must prove to be faithful. And the only way that

we are going to fulfill our destiny is to be conformed into the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We are living

in the last days according to the book of Joel. The Spirit of the Lord is being poured out 'upon all flesh' as prophecied.

Joel 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joel 2:27-29 (in Context) Joel 2 (Whole Chapter)

These are the days of miracles and wonders! God has much planned for each and every one of us, but to truly tap into

what He has to offer and share with us, we must be connected to Him through the Holy Spirit.


And so how does one connect with the Holy Spirit? You must be able to trust God and not yourself. Listen to what

the Scripture says about those that trust the Lord with all of their heart:


Psalm 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Psalm 18:29-31 (in Context) Psalm 18 (Whole Chapter)

Psalm 32:10
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Psalm 32:9-11 (in Context) Psalm 32 (Whole Chapter)

There are great riches in trusting in the Lord. When we trust in the Lord, we are asserting that we do not have all of

the answers ourselves.


The way that we start to walk in the mind of Christ is to be led by the Holy Spirit and to die to ourselves through His cross. It has

been well said that there are two sides to the cross, in spirit there are. One side of the cross is death and termination. The other

side of the cross is glory and resurrection power. It is the second side of the cross that the Lord Jesus wants us to walk in (the glory

and resurrection side!) However, in order to walk in His power and His resurrection life, we must learn to die to our old man, who still

is within us, even though he is slowly fading from the picture.



It is important to understand who our 'old man' really is. The old man is otherwise known as 'the flesh' or our uncrucified nature. When

we live according to our flesh, we will die. When we walk according to the Spirit of the Lord, we experience freedom, joy, and liberty. The

Scripture says that where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty. As we listen to the voice of the Lord and obey, we experience more and more

freedom in the Lord. As we listen more and more to our flesh, then we experience more and more bondage and corruption in this world.



The old man does not have to go on living another day. Today can be the day that he dies. Right now. Our part in putting our old men

to death is simply in obeying the Lord's command to take up our crosses. Again, taking up our crosses means giving up everything in order

to pursue the Lord, in all His glory.


What's wonderful about the Christian life is that we get to experience Christ everyday! He is with us always, and He never leaves us as

promised. Wherever you are in your journey with the Lord, just know that He loves you, and that He knows everything about you, and that

He desires intimate fellowship with you today! If you believe that you are out of sync with the Lord and His purposes for your life, just stop

right now and ask Him to come in and take over. Ask Him to come and walk with you, and talk with you, and share His heart with you. It's

why he died, and why he lives now! He loves you!

Where I Was

It's where I was
Not necessarily
Where I'm headed

It's where I am
Not necessarily where I'll be
Tomorrow

TIME

Surely time slips away. Time is short. Everything in this life
tends NOT TO LAST.

We are eternal. We who follow the Lord have the Holy Spirit
living within us. When we abide in the presence of the Lord, a part
of us is outside of the time/space continuum. We have left the
world with all its anxieties and troubles, though we cannot avoid
suffering.

Time was made for man, and not man for time. Time can serve us.
Let me give an example. Whenever I look at the clock I am inspired.
I am inspired because I know that the journey I am on with the Lord
will never end. I know that this is a journey that will last forever.

Allow the clock to inspire you, and not pull you down, as you seek
His presence continually...

Note to a Friend

The media is a joke for the most part. We should be looking to the Lord for our guidance, to let us know what the real news is. The more we look at the Lord, the clearer we get to the real ruth. And with media, truth is relevant, and they usually come with spin and slant stories. This is because there is a veil that is over the media's face. What they see, which is not always important, is what they try and make others see. But what they 'see' isn't always a reality, or even sometimes worthy of reporting.

However, the media does do some good. We need the news, and we need reporters. They're not all evil. Let's encourage the good ones, and recognize those who we can go without.

Well, hope that helped ease your pain. And yes, there are much more important issues than that of Kanye West and his outbursts. But that's American culture for you.

Good to see you again!

Maybe you can come down again sometime.

http://www.humantrafficking.org/links/83
(Karina, keep praying into this. The Lord is anxious to hear your prayers. There is so much power in just one prayer! Pray in faith that this is going to end. And keep your eyes on Him to guide you as you pray about this issue!)

His Great Love

What are you doing right now? Where are you in life? Are you happy?
Sad? Confused? Joyful? Where are you?

NO matter where you are, or what you're up against, just know that
God is FOR YOU. He is for you in this life, and in the one to come. There
is nothing that can separate you from His great love for you, never forget
that.

For in the Lord, you live, and move, and have your being. He died for you,
he rose again for you, and he prays for your situation, even now. There is
nothing that is able to separate you from Him and His great love.

Has something happened to you that you think has ruined everything. Just
know that God is the God of possibility. There is nothing that is too hard for him.
If you don't have the faith for that, it's ok, just take it as a fact. He is able
to work all things for the GOOD to those THAT LOVE HIM, and are Called.
And if you don't know Him, or care to know him, no matter who you are or where
you are right now, just know that He's calling out to you now to get to know Him,
and to ask Him whatever you'd like to ask. There's no question to hard, or too silly
for Him.

He loves you.

Facebook

I've been doing alot of thinking about...FACEBOOK! Yes, Facebook.

This thing is so huge. I don't know, what do you think? For the most part, it's ok.
A time waster, perhaps. A stalker playground, maybe.

But I suppose it's just as good as bad as anything else is out there on the internet.

What I mean to say is, Facebook is extremely popular, even with all the widgets
contained within it. Even though now your parents can access it, as well as high school
students, Facebook is extremely popular. And I suppose it will be for a while now.

Where do you see Facebook headed in the future? Up, down, stagnation nation?

The Ways of God

Recently I've been seeking out the Lord on some things. I've been asking
Him to allow me to hear His voice clearly. I've been asking Him to help me
to understand Who He really is.

Most of all, He has revealed His grace and His love to me. It's hard to describe
just how much the Lord loves each and every one of us. Each one of us is so
valuable in His sight. He esteems us so highly.

I think right now of those who say that God is cruel because of such atrocities
as the holocaust, or war, or abortion, or other such cruelties. My answer to that
would be that man makes mistakes. People mess up. From the very beginning,
God gave man a choice to obey or disobey Him. This was in the Garden of Eden.

God said to Adam, 'You can eat of any tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge
of Good and Evil you must not eat, lest you die.' And so there was the one 'rule', per se,
that Adam had in the garden. He had a choice to obey or disobey God. And we all
know that he chose to disobey God rather than tend the garden as he was given to do.

Because of Adam's disobedience, death entered into the world. And with that act of
disobedience came man's estrangement from God.

But that is why Jesus came. He came to restore what was lost in the Garden.
He came to 'seek and to save that which was lost', which was man's relationship
with God. Jesus had the choice to obey or disobey in His lifetime on earth, but He
was faithful, faithful even to death upon a cross. And in that act of sacrifice, He reconciled
the world to Himself, through His blood. The Word says that there is life in the blood.
So quite literally, the Life of God, or the blood of God, has the power to utterly save
all those who put their trust in the sacrifice of Christ. It is as simple as believing, believing
with the heart, the whole heart, in sincerity.

God longs to have a wonderful relationship with us. But it is only when we see how much
we need Him, and how far He went to save us, when we see that He truly is a God who
seeks us out, no matter what it takes.

A Test

Just a test.