Break Down

A time to break down,..(Eccl. 3:3c)

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down . (Jer.1:10)

If you own a car, the one thing that is discouraging is that someday it will break down.    It, you will be in a vulnerable position and desire for someone to stop and help you get to where you are going.   Actually there are many things in this world that are all subject to breaking down or being broke down.   To list a few :

Technology (TV, Dishwashers, Microwaves, cell phones, etc)

Relationships ( Marriages, children with parents, family members, etc.)

And even with proper maintenance care, you still are subject to experiencing whatever it is malfunctioning or total failure.   Why?  Why if I get reguarly scheduled oil changes and tune-ups, will I still experience a break down?  Why if I do date nights religiously, and we talk open and freely that their still can be a communication break down?  How is it that I can love & train up a child in the way..........and they still depart?   Simply put.....nothing lasts forever in this world.  NOTHING!  Even the best of marriages will come to an end, because death is imminent.  Not just for us living beings but even for our popular technologies.  This entire world is dying, and the quesitons becomes then what do we do?

The truth is....somethings we need to either let break down, or as the LORD spoke to Jeremiah that we have to be the ones to break things down.  Look at, and over you life.....are there some things that are currently distractions or hindering your ability to focus on the family?  Do you have a daily devotion with your wife?  Your children?  How about just between you and GOD?  See there's no difference between my 24hrs and your 24hrs.   No one is afforded "extra time", and it comes down to breaking down your day, and refocusing on doing what is MOST IMPORTANT FIRST!  Jeremiah was sent to extract & break down those things that were barriers to living a worshipful life amongst GOD's people.  

My challenge to each of you is look at what the LORD has placed you in authority over, and pluck up and break (tear) down what it is that is keeping you from fully being the blessing GOD intended for you to be, when He woke you up!  So if you must break down on your knees to surrender...DO IT!  THERE'S NO DAY like today to actually begin to break down and actually.....Love God, Love People!

Heal

A time to heal (Eccl. 3:3b)

¹ When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  (Luke 9:1-2)

I don't need to ask the question have you ever been sick, because this is part of our human frailty.   Whether it's a cold, or surgical recovery there is a humbling contained within being unable to do much simply because the body is weakened.   How about mentally being ill or not well?  You know when you are stressed or bereaving the loss of a loved one, which spills over into your emotional health.  No matter what you've probably experienced times in life where you had to give to time healing well, as well as possibly.....having to help someone else heal.   

Jesus called the disciples together, gave them power to proclaim the kingdom of GOD (via the teaching of the Gospel in word and deed) and to heal the sick.  If you work outside of the home you should know that we work alongside and walk amongst the sick everyday.....but my question to you is WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT? YES YOU!  I may be afforded the luxury by vocation to work in health care where truly I can say I have an opportunity to impact this, but I must tell you.....I don't get to see or touch one patient, not one.   So how do I get to " proclaim the Kingdom of God and heal the sick"?  It's in my attitude with every customer.....internally and externally.     When I answer the phone or I'm face to face with someone with a need....it's all about kindness, communicating that I am blessed (when asked " and how are you") and making sure when they leave my presence the feel better than they did before I received them.

Christ's call on our lives as 21st Century Believers hasn't changed......He's watching to see if as a teacher, software specialist, policeman, entrepreneur, customer service rep, foster parent, Dr., lawyer, nurse, etc.....that are you proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and are you doing your part to help heal the billions of sick people in this world?????   It is in your hands after all.  I pray you consider  your dealings with every person your come in contact with an opportunity to be healed, or help in their need of healing.   Which really...is contained in my signature LGLP (Love God, Love People).

KILL: Really?????

A time to kill (Eccl. 3:3a).

So kill (deaden, ^[a]deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God).

    ⁶It is on account of these [very sins] that the [holy] anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience (those who are obstinately opposed to the divine will),..(Col. 3:5-6 AMP)

Yes, I'm going there.....there is in this HOLY BOOK several instances where GOD has ORDERED HIS PEOPLE to anihilate others for His Glory, and divine purposes.  Just as well as their are instances where people have decided because they want what they want, and are willing to go against GOD and His LAW and take the life of another.   But after the commandments, and after Christ's ressurection DO WE STILL HAVE A NEED TO KILL, is there really a TIME TO KILL? YES!

I'm not going to entertain thoughts regarding military battle, but rather let's talk about the spiritual war that is occuring in and around us DAILY!   Paul told the Colossian church that we need to DO AWAY WITH, KILL the evil desires that work within us.   It's these types of things that are the very reason in James that has us quarreling against each other, our selfishness.  Selfishness and Christians should be an oxymoron.   Take a look at your life, your personal culture you've created in your home.....are their things....that you need to kill?  For some it might be cynical shows, others pornography, some destructive habits or dirty secrets that you are praying that you kids don't pick up.  Here's my rule of thumb as it relates to even entertainment......if my kids can't watch it or listen to it with me........should I really be watching or listenting it?  I'm just saying......not that everything is G, but really people!

The truth is, if we were really truthful and really trying to be more CHRIST LIKE, there are somethings that we should kill in our lives...simply because they don't profit us, nor the BODY OF CHRIST.  I dare you to seriously look at your movie/music library and eliminate whatever CHRIST would enjoy watching or listening to with you.  OR/AND try KILLING PEOPLE with KINDNESS all day.....so much so that you find yourself LOVING, like HE LOVES!   LGLP!

Pluck What's Been Planted

A time to pluck what is planted. (Eccl. 3:2d)

pluck: verb (used with object)

1. to pull off or out from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, feathers, etc.: to pluck feathers from a chicken.

2. to give a pull at; grasp: to pluck someone's sleeve.

3. to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.

4. to pull or move by force (often followed by away, off,  or out ).

 

After Adam and Ever had sinned they had been removed from the Garden of Eden where they had been initially planted.  Their are several scriptural accounts where the people of God were "plucked" out from around their enemies so that they maybe protected from them (Deut. 7) , or so that GOD could destroy their enemies before them.  Their are instances where Christ talked about if our eye or body part offended our attempt to live fully for Him, to pluck (remove  it) Matthew 5 & 18).  There are even times when GOD has used his wrath to pluck out his people (Eze.17, 2Chronicles 7) but no matter what or when GOD has done His plucking it has always been

1) For Our Good and

2) For His Glory!

 

Think back over your life or walk with Christ, and remember when you have been plucked out of a place and/or situation.   Remember when you were at that church, or on that job, or in that relationship, or maybe that area....and GOD miraculously removed you?  Notice GOD is doing the plucking.....He's that Holy, Righteous and Just gardener I mentioned yesterday.  Notice whose not doing the plucking....YOU!  Trust their are times that (such as in Matt. 5 & 18) that you are instructed to remove the things that hinder your ability to fully devote your lives to Christ, BUT all in all GOD is the gardener and many times He will pull, tug, snatch, pluck us up from our roots to transfer us to a new place......so that why....He'd be glorified!  That you'd refocus your efforts on making Him famous.   

 

What's hindering your GLORIFICATION of GOD? Is it the TV, your eyes, your negative environment?   Is it really just YOU?  Your perspective, your complaining, your heart?????   I pray today that you consider why it is GOD has you "planted" where HE has you, and that you would submit yourself to the hands of the Holy Gardener so that He may pluck any weeds that may have grown into your heart, your life, or your worship of Him, so that you may stretch out your roots into where He has planted you, and begin to receive the nutrients that are even in the soil.  Dirt is Dirt, but notice that even in dirt there are the nutrients you need to grow.   So where ever you are, where ever GOD has BLESSED you to be......gather the nutrients needed so that you can Bless GOD and those around you to come to KNOW GOD!  LGLP

A Time to Plant

A time to plant..(Eccl 3:2c).

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. (Gen. 2:8)

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.  (Galatians 6:7)

At Winter Camp 2012 Kyle Howard (one of great Youth Pastors) shed the light on a truth tucked away in John 15 about how God is described as the vinedresser or gardener if you will.   To think about a gardener they do a lot a work.  They are literally on their knees, using their hands to cultivate the soil, and plant what it is they are expecting to grow.  GOD is and has been a "hands on" god as it relates to trying to cultivate our surroundings to nurture us into growing into the people He envisioned us being. 

Think about it...you, each of your were planted into  two people, those two people came together, then you were planted in certain surroundings (good, bad and indifferent -dirt or soil if you will), then you grew roots in that environment; sprouting foliage.   At some point you had to be moved (this may have been a change of school, neighborhood, etc) because it was time, and were replanted again with the hope of growing some more (this could've been a new job, a marriage, etc.) which is always to the Glory of GOD, His desire is and always has been no matter where He's led/planted you is that you'd grow and glorify Him.  He reminded Adam of this when He planted (placed) Him in the garden, that He'd take care of it and even his desire for Adam was to reproduce. (beyond reproduction in the physical sense....do you reproduce Christians(The Great Commission)?)

There is another way of approaching this devotion, and it's contained in the Galatians 6:7 verse as it relates to what are you planting?  Really....I talk to people, I read posts and I am shocked that so many people are discontented with WHERE they work, and I offer wonder....WHAT DO YOU PLANT?  I mean it's quite simple no farmer or gardener plants one thing, and reaps something completely different.  So if you want a wonderfully diverse spiritual fruit bearing work environment.....guess what YOU have to plant?  YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW!!!!!!!

GOD hasn't changed wherever it is He has planted you.....His desire is that you'd grow, glorify Him, and that you'd bear fruit....not for you, but for those He has around you.  Are you, is the question?   What is it that you provide for your family, friends, co-workers, the body of Christ, or are you a weed that chokes out life in the places your are?  No matter how you approach this devotion GOD is the gardener of our hearts, and while you are here (since we were made in His image, with His some of his attributes) He expects you to do some gardening (planting) so that come harvest time HE is Glorified....so you have been given today, and I pray you begin to PLANT seeds that HONOR & GLORIFY HIM!  LGLP

A Time to Die

A time to die (Eccl. 3:2b)

 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (Heb. 9:27)

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  Phil. 1:21

So a few things are certain and two of them are that we all have a birth date, and at some point we will have a death date.   I'm not sure how many funerals you've attended or even when was the last one you attended, but they have a way of making you think about a few questions regarding when you die:

1.  What do I want my funeral to be like?

2.  Who will come? 

3.  Who will care?

4.  Cremation or burial?

5.  What songs do I want sung at my funeral.

6.  Will my life have made a difference?

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is all the same a list that I believe are questions that we ask ourselves as we see friends, family, and acquaintances transition from this life into the next, and the reality starts to become that soon.....this will hit home, or even be you.  So for the purposes of this devotional blog, I wanna focus on question 6...."WILL MY LIFE, MY LIVING HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE?"  The truth is the only way to answer that is in are you making a difference RIGHT NOW?  If we are made in the image of GOD, then there are some attributes/characteristics of His that should be evident in our lives (jobs, marriage, relationships, communities) that just makes life sweeter for others.   YES, our areas of influence should be overwhelmingly better because of our existence.   If you can't say you LOVE & KNOW YOUR neighbors, co-workers, fellow congregants, etc....then how can you say you are making a difference?

I am ending this with Paul's statement to the Phillipian Church, that he saw his dying as a gain.  The only way Paul was able to see this was because of his very reason for living was eternally focused.  He lived with "spreading The Gospel" as being the No. 1 thing on his bucket list....and fulfilled it.  Only living for CHRIST, affords one to say TO DIE IS GAIN....because you do....you really GAIN: ETERNAL PEACE & JOY WITH THE CREATOR GOD and the saints.  So I pray that you start living today with the END in mind.....Loving GOD, and Loving (all) People!

A Time To Be Born

A Time to be Born ( Eccl. 3:2a)

Think back to the day of your birth.   I know you don't remember that day, but dream if you would of what was God's purpose in blessing the world with you?   Why was it that the world that was already populated with people in need of one more person, you?  Surely HE had, and still has a plan for your life.

Ok, maybe that's harder to do, than thinking back to when you gave your life to Christ.  Remember as you crossed your arms over you chest and the pastor, priest, or minister carried you down into the water all of the thoughts and emotions that raced through  your very fabric of " this is what I was created to do"?  This was you being BORN AGAIN, and now you had or have found your purpose......right?

Or maybe neither one of these is your reality....maybe you still are searching for God's purpose for your life because you were born, and felt abandoned by your biological parents.  Or maybe you don't even know this CHRIST I spoke of in paragraph two.   Or maybe you gave you life to Christ, but still are wandering through this NEW LIFE hoping you get this one right.   Wherever you are in this continuum, let me tell you......YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  Believer or Non-Believer Christ GOD is with you.....His purposes for you have not grown stale, like a parent  who loves their child HE LOVES YOU, and has awaken you to this new day.    If you struggle with knowing the WILL OF GOD, let me help you......ask yourself no matter where you are in life these few questions...and I believe this will help you discover are you in GOD's WILL.

1) Am I living for my GLORY or HIS?

2) God has me at _______________________ (insert where you live, where you work, and where you worship) : am I fountain or a drain?

No matter what " GOD's plan for us is to prosper us, not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope." (Jer.24:15) and your birth alone was confirmation that HE has wonderful plan for you to bless us.   I pray today you live out the blessing your life is.  LGLP