Awake At 30

Be The Spark Sometimes we as a people need a spark to set aflame the spirit within so we'll arise and take the battle to the enemy. Consider with me the following two examples of this: Jonathan with his armor bearer (1Sam.14) - struck down 20 Philistines in about half an acre of space; rallied the Israelites to arise from their hiding places and pursue the the Philistines to war with them  -- the actions of Jonathan and his armor bearer resulted from their faith in God; their actions stirred a nation to fight against their oppressors. David (1Sam.17) - went to war with, and struck down, the champion of the Philistines (Goliath) as the Israelites and their king hid themselves in the mountains and caves. His actions resulted in the defeat of the Philistines' champion and the further defeat and routing of the Philistine army. These are the actions of one who has faith in God and the courage to do what is needed...someone who is willing to step out and face the enemy head-on.

Addressing The #BlackLivesMatter Movement Gen.1:26-31 "...Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." God created us. To say that one "race" is better than another or deserves more dignity, respect, attention, or benefit to life is to speak against the God who made us. Man can make a mess of things, I get that (just read the next several chapters of Genesis for proof of that), but to say that one segment of people matter more than another because of real or perceived wrong perpetrated upon another is ludicrous. I am white and I don't apologize for it. Why, because I'm a racist? No, b

Spoken Word God's word is a spoken word, always has been and always will be.  Let's take a quick walk through Scripture and see this laid out: God, by His word, spoke into existence all Creation ( Gen.1 ) God speaking directly to the fathers (Gen.3-50) God's speaking of His law to Moses on Sinai and guiding His people through the wilderness (Exodus-Deuteronomy) God speaking to and through the prophets; God's prophets speaking to His people ( the rest of the Old Testament ) God coming in form of man, Jesus Christ "the Word", and speaking unto man ( Jn.1 ) God's word to be heard, which builds faith and demands response, and to be continually spread by all who believe and obey it ( Rom.10; Matt.28:18-20 ) God directing that salvation come via the "foolishness" of preaching  ( 1Cor.1:18-25) God directing what our manner of speech is to be as His children (Jms.3; 1Pet.4:11; Eph.4:29) Friend, don't you see, God's wor

Make Up Your Mind “...Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh.24:14-15) Choose for yourselves whom you will serve... Joshua draws the line in the sand and calls upon the people to quit wavering and make a decision. If you're going to serve the Lord, serve Him! If you're going to make the foolish decision to not serve Him then make it, quit passing yourself off as one of His people and then not serving Him. Joshua is calling for whole-hearted service, not just lip-service. This would require all they had. What Joshua is not saying is that the people should feel free to just do whatever they want, serve idols or God, no big deal. He wants them to decide to follow the Lord, but only if they're truly serio

Tell Us "... [the people came] and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.” Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you. So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.” (Jer.42:2-6) After some days the Lord reveals to Jeremiah what he is to say and he tells the pe

Light Dwells With Him "Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him..." ( Dan.2:20-22 ) These truths stand even today. Our God is in control of all and His word endures forever. He has surely revealed deep and secret things through His word and we have the opportunity and privilege to learn and obey the word of our God ( 2Tim.3:16-17; 2Tim.2:15) . Only our Lord knows what truly lies in the darkness, for He knows and sees all, and because of the evil that seeks to prey upon us, He gives us His light. This light, the light of His Son, shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it ( Jn.1:1-9 ). Evil forces of life seek to grab us, wrestle us down, snatch

Training Harder Phil.3:12-14 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Some days are easier, or perhaps more manageable, than others; at other times it's a constant fight to just keep our heads above the proverbial water. Our growth can be a painful endeavor as far as this life is concerned. We, at times, have to push ourselves even harder than is normal to do what's right and grow as Christians in our individual lives, as well as our normal growth in other ways as humans. These struggles hurt, they test our resolve, they cause us to see what we're made of; but most importantly, they are opportunities to s

Competition "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for  an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one  who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." (1Cor.9:24-27) Discipline. Competition. Strength. I relate to what Paul says here in a number of ways. One of those ways is the experience of one of my greatest challenges physically: competitive powerlifting. Tapping in to the mindset I had in my competition days is one that I've tried to chase at various times in my life. It was one of incredible focus, purpose, and determination. No weight too great, no sacrifice in diet too much that I couldn't let go in order tha

Driving through thick fog can be challenging, even scary at times. When the fog is so thick you can hardly see the road, you really have to keep your eyes open and body alert. There is a reason we turn our lights on when there's fog - 1) so we can navigate 2) so other drivers can see us. If we don't have our lights on, then we're putting ourselves in danger, as well as others. We can't control what the other drivers do, but we can control our own decisions. Perhaps you've already seen the parallels to our lives as Christians. The Lord tells us that as His children that we are to do the following: * Shine our lights (Matt.5:14-16; Phil.2:14-15) * Be alert and watchful (1Pet.5:8-9; Eph.5:15-16) * Control our own actions (Jer.10:23; Ps.119:101-106)  * Navigate through the darkness and fog of life by the illumination of Jesus Christ (Eph.5:8-14) * The road we travel is narrow and few find it (Matt.7:13-14) Consider the consequence if we fail to