The Father wants to make your life better…for others!

I read an article about a doctor who deals with people’s chronic physical pain. And, after much research, decided to work on his own pain through changing his diet.

Guess what? It worked! He saw a significant reduction in his own pain levels.

When asked why he made those changes, he said, “I did it for my patients. I wanted them to see that these changes could work for them as well.”

Wow. He changed for others! Let that sink in. He changed his diet, which meant his lifestyle, all for the sake of others.

Jesus did the exact same thing. He came in human form, quite a change don’t you think? He did that because He believed we were worth His time and effort. He came not to make His own life better, but ours.

Who in your world is worth allowing the Spirit to change your life? You could be the example of how change can also be possible for them and be the springboard they need to move closer to the Father.

By the way, you’ll also benefit from the change. You will get closer to the Father as well.

Transitions bring pain now, gain later.

The book of Samuel is being read in today’s synagogues around the world. A good question arises, “Why another book? I mean, Samuel was the last judge. Why not include him in the book of Judges and Saul and David in the book of Kings?”

When you think about it, Samuel is a transitional book. It is the bridge from one period or phase of Israel’s history to the next phase. Transition.

And it was a messy transition, too. Samuel was a great prophet, but a lousy father. So the country asked for a king. Problem. The king God had in mind, David, was still a boy shepherd who needed more preparation time.

In the meantime, Israel’s first king, Saul, caused all kinds of messes, some that weren’t cleaned up until Esther became a Persian Queen.

Life transitions are never easy. We all go through them. Think about this for a moment. Each step is a transition from one place to another. Isn’t interesting that Scripture talks about our relationship with God as a walk? Transition.

Our walks with Christ were never meant to be stagnant, but dynamic. We can fear these transitions and stay stuck in our old way of thinking/choosing. Or, we can embrace them and allow the Spirit to change in and hope to our lives.

The world is quite possibly entering into another big messy transition with the war in Israel. Will they see hope or fear in our eyes? Prayerfully, it will be hope.

It’s hard to be church without contributing to it.

I can’t count how many times (unless I take my shoes off, of course) when being with the church grew my faith because we gathered together.

It’s either been someone being hospitable, singing or playing a song, sharing a scripture or something they learned from the Word, giving praise, telling how the Lord worked in their life, passing on a word from the Lord, praying, confessing a sin, asking for prayer, or in a multiple of other ways.

The Spirit has used them all to deepen my love for and steepen my faith in Jesus.

Sure, we can be blessed by listening to music, watching a service or listening to a podcast. This makes us a healthy consumer, but not necessarily a healthy believer.

Think about this for a moment. There is no armor of God for your back. So, who has yours? You simply can’t know or see everything. Yes, we have the Spirit; but it is the Spirit who gives gifts that can only be used in another person’s life.

Times are coming when healthy consumerism will fail you. There will be days when meeting face to face will be the main or maybe the only way to maintain a healthy growing faith.

You have something others need and they have something you need to grow in Jesus. The persecuted/contributing church knows this truth. Do you? Be a contributor, not a consumer.

Prepare for change when miracles come.

God prooved over and over again to the people of Israel that He is God. It took ten miraculous signs and wonders to humble the world’s super, Egypt, to get that message across. Yet, they were not ready for change as they consistently wanted to go back to their old lifestyle. Are we the same?

After leaving Egypt, they set up camp next to a water source. Wonderful, right? Nope. They had the Egyptian army on one side and water on the other. What did they do? Complained. Do we?

The LORD got them through that one, only to let them run out of water to see what they would do. Instead of being changed, they grumbled. Do we?

God got them through that one, only to let them run out of food – bread and meat. Instead of growing in their faith in the LORD, they whined. Do we?

Joshua and Caleb were changed. Are you and I? Jesus died and rose from the grave (miracle) not to be celebrated once a year with great spectacles (entertainment), but to transform our lives with every choice we make today.

God is not in the entertainment business! He doesn’t do miracles for our oohs and aahhs. He does them in order to change our lives through greater faith in Him. Need a miracle? First ask yourself, “Am I ready to be changed?” If not, don’t expect one.

God can get water from a rock and bread from dew. Yet, it’s not about the water or the bread, but about the God who provided them and changing your life because of them.

We live in very “interesting” times. Those around you need to see your changed life, not entertainment. They need to see real hope, not hear oohs and aahhs. Pray for the miracles and the changed lives that will come because of them, starting with you and me.

“Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, praise is to the child of God.” Spurgeon

When do you praise the Lord, before or after He’s changed your life? Yes.

Yes? Praise is not just about when victories come. It’s also about praising Him in the midst of the struggles that lead to those victories.

Last week was particularly hellacious for me, literally. The attacks were almost comical when I stopped to think about them. I had a project that needed to be done by a certain date, which meant I needed to access a certain program. I couldn’t access it on my laptop but I could with a mobile device even though I used the same login and password! Seriously?!

It was stressing me out. Yet, His word says to praise Him in order to get my focus straight. He will bring victory in the present just as He had in the past. Thus, praising not only takes place after a victory comes, but in the midst of the struggle leading to the victory as well.

The Father is God. Period. The Father’s plans always come about. Period. He is the same today as He was yesterday. Period.

Therefore, I stressed out because my focused was messed up. I was in the midst of the struggle when my wife pointed this out. Ouch! She was right, though.

I needed to praise Him because His plans are always accomplished. And sometimes, His plan is to simply get me to praise Him in the midst of the struggle so I can also praise Him after it comes.

Take a step of faith. Remember what He has done in the past and praise Him for it in the present. It’s the best time to start if you want peace rather than stress.