There are a lot of things we do in life that require us to make a distinction between what's important and what is imperative. Imperative simply means, absolutely necessary, required or unavoidable.
In the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke chapter 10, Jesus said concerning Martha...You are worried and bothered about many things, but only a few things are necessary (imperative) really only one, and Mary has chosen the best. Martha was so busy doing the important that she missed the imperative. Pastor Steve Dixon of Christian Life Cathedral in Fayetteville Arkansas tweeted...."Good things are bad things when they keep us from best things". We've all heard the saying, "Good is the enemy of Great"! We can become so distracted by the important that we miss the imperative, but when we take care of the imperative the important gets done with a lot less effort, distraction, worry and fretting. It's important that we discipline our children but it's more imperative that we be good examples. It's important that I attend church but it's more imperative that I attend to my relationship with God. Now, some may feel that attending church IS attending to your relationship with God. I would agree with that only if you aren't depending on "church attendance" as your sole focus in building relationship with God.
A willingness to "change" is imperative to relationship building with God. Only when we choose to embrace change will we go from Good to Great. Only when we choose to embrace change will we Grow in the Knowledge and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.( II Peter 3:18) Perception alone does not create change, decision does. Our conduct in life will change to the degree our attitude changes toward what's important and what's imperative. We've become what we are "today" because of the decisions we made "yesterday"!!
Is it important that you hold that grudge, or is it imperative that you let it go? Is it important that you allow the past to control your life, or is it imperative to forget those things which are behind and reach for those things that are ahead? Is it important that you keep doing the things you've done for 40 years or is it imperative to embrace God's new thing? Change doesn't' come easy, it's not only important that things change but imperative. If we're not careful our past will have a greater pull on us than our future.
God wants to put your life in a forward motion. The Children of Israel came to the banks of the Jordan with a decision. The decision...."Do we want to continue to wander in the wilderness, or do we want to finally cross over this Jordan"? It was imperative that they cross over. Their future was on the other side of this decision. God has fresh revelation for the church just like the fresh manna he provided the Israelites in the wilderness. We can't survive on yesterday's manna, or revelation. We are being presumptuous if we think we can reach people in the 21st century with 20th century revelation. It's imperative that the Love of God and the Fruit of the Spirit be manifested in and through today's Spirit Filled Believer; only then will the Gifts of the Spirit be manifested.
The Imperative: Love the Lord your God and your Neighbor as yourself. Forgive one another. Be at Peace with God, with yourself and with others.
God has an up-to-date word for each of us that will address our current situation and circumstances if we will not allow the important to interfere with the imperative.
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
A Great People with a Great Future
When you consider the tremendous challenges that many people are going through right now in the world it can be difficult to see beyond the pain. In light of the recent tornado destruction in Oklahoma, Kansas and other places it almost seems insensitive to give encouragement. I don't know about you but when I compare my challenges and difficult times to what other people are experiencing it convicts me and brings me to a point of personal introspection. When I begin to give thought to how big God is, I am quickly reminded that I don't even register on the "how important do you think you are" scale!! However, in all of my thought and pondering of how does all of this fit into God's master plan, I read Jeremiah 29:11 and rediscover that I do register on God's "how important do you think you are" scale. When I read where God says...."I know the plans that I have for you, plans for success and not for failure, plans to give you a future and a hope".......I am renewed in my hope for a better day.
Whatever your challenge, pain, disappointment or struggle please know that you are important to God. Please know that you are part of a Great People with a Great Future. In Joshua chapter one God spoke a specific word to his Great People of His plan for their future. He gave them a specific word of "preparation" and "action", it was their time to cross over and take possess of their future. It just might be your time to go ahead and let go of the things that keep you bound to fear and doubt.
In Numbers chapter 13, after 40 days of spying out the land God had promised, the people doubted and became afraid. They ended up wondering in the wilderness 1 year for every day they doubted, thus missing out on God's Great Plan!!! (Please read Numbers chapters 13&14 and see the effects of dwelling on your condition rather than your position.)
I just want to remind you today that you are part of a Great People with a Great Future.
I love the Hope and Call to Action that is found in Isaiah chapter 60:1-3...."Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising".
So, even in a time of destruction, darkness and devastating loss allow God's light to shine through you so others can see the way back to their future!!!!
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Whatever your challenge, pain, disappointment or struggle please know that you are important to God. Please know that you are part of a Great People with a Great Future. In Joshua chapter one God spoke a specific word to his Great People of His plan for their future. He gave them a specific word of "preparation" and "action", it was their time to cross over and take possess of their future. It just might be your time to go ahead and let go of the things that keep you bound to fear and doubt.
In Numbers chapter 13, after 40 days of spying out the land God had promised, the people doubted and became afraid. They ended up wondering in the wilderness 1 year for every day they doubted, thus missing out on God's Great Plan!!! (Please read Numbers chapters 13&14 and see the effects of dwelling on your condition rather than your position.)
I just want to remind you today that you are part of a Great People with a Great Future.
I love the Hope and Call to Action that is found in Isaiah chapter 60:1-3...."Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising".
So, even in a time of destruction, darkness and devastating loss allow God's light to shine through you so others can see the way back to their future!!!!
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Taste Again
Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good....
Some years ago there was a cereal commercial whose punch line was..."taste them again for the first time".....this was a corporate attempt of a long standing traditional cereal maker to entice the public to take another look at their product. The whole idea was to encourage those who had tried the cereal to try them again with a renewed expectation. As we taste of the goodness of God we continue to grow in our desire for more. For many it might be that you need to taste of His goodness again for the first time. The one constant attribute of God is that He is Good!!! His persona, which includes all of His attributes begins with and flows from His Goodness!!!! There is nothing we can do, think or say that changes that fact. When our relationship with God looses its savor it's time to taste Him again for the first time.
If events in the world that seem to come without any explanation as to purpose, respect and value to human life has caused you to doubt the goodness of God I encourage you to "taste him again for the first time".
Some years ago there was a cereal commercial whose punch line was..."taste them again for the first time".....this was a corporate attempt of a long standing traditional cereal maker to entice the public to take another look at their product. The whole idea was to encourage those who had tried the cereal to try them again with a renewed expectation. As we taste of the goodness of God we continue to grow in our desire for more. For many it might be that you need to taste of His goodness again for the first time. The one constant attribute of God is that He is Good!!! His persona, which includes all of His attributes begins with and flows from His Goodness!!!! There is nothing we can do, think or say that changes that fact. When our relationship with God looses its savor it's time to taste Him again for the first time.
If events in the world that seem to come without any explanation as to purpose, respect and value to human life has caused you to doubt the goodness of God I encourage you to "taste him again for the first time".
TASTE HIM AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH.....
- Renewed Understanding.....Our ability of understanding God comes through Holy Spirit revelation. I Corinthians 2:14 a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised, discerned or understood. In verse 11 of this chapter we learn that the thoughts of God are understood by the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Spirit. Then as we look at verse 12 we find that the Holy Spirit helps us know the things freely given to us by God. There are many things that we receive from God that this posting will not have time to list, but let me remind you that when you received Christ you received His Grace, and that is enough!!!!
- Renewed Expectation........When you think of "expectation" you think of Faith and Hope....you think of those things you look forward to. Expectation is looking forward with prospect of something good. When we renew our minds again on the Goodness of God we are then able to live with expectation. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (or evidence) of things hoped for...or things we can expect from God. So, I encourage you to begin again to expect good things from your Father. Just like with the Prodigal Son, the expectation of the law and religion is to be condemned because that's what we deserve; but God's Grace brings out the best robe and celebrates the fact that we are accepted in the Beloved!!
- Renewed Love......In Revelation chapter 2 we find that the church at Ephesus had left their first love. They had put forth a lot of effort with good deeds, perseverance and avoidance of evil, however they needed a renewed taste of love. When our relationship with God is based on anything other than the pure Love that God extends, we miss the mark. So, let's rediscover the Love God has for us and in return we will recover the Love we have for Him!!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Three Important Life Choices
What you See is what you Get is typically how we are taught to perceive life, but perhaps just the opposite would be closer to the truth...."What you Get is what you See"!!! What we get out of life(Or Results) depends a lot on what we choose to think, what we choose to declare and how we choose to conduct ourselves.
Do you live your life on the premise of "I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT" or I'LL SEE IT WHEN I BELIEVE IT"? The former philosophy fosters a pessimistic outlook while the latter fosters an optimistic outlook. What we choose to base our point view on will determine whether we are a pessimist or optimist.
Facts say one thing....Truth says another!! The bible says...."You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free".It didn't say "facts" will make you free, but "truth"!!! In this life we are taught to only believe the facts, but there is something that trumps fact and that is truth. The fact of a matter does not necessarily determine the outcome of a matter. Truth is constant, fact is variable. The factual circumstances of your life may not be good right now but the truth is Jeremiah 29:11...."For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for provision and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope". If we live by the "I'll believe it when I see it" philosophy we may never see it, but if we live our life on "I'll see it when I believe it" we already have the truth of God's promise even though it hasn't materialized.
Check out this incredible passage of scripture and allow it to speak life into your circumstance...II Corinthians 4:16-18....though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (Did you see the fact and truth in that statement? The fact is that this life is corrupt and decaying but the truth is our spirit man is getting better day by day!!!)
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, (Again, the fact is, in this life we will have affliction but the truth is our affliction can work in our favor.) while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal,but the things which are not seen are eternal. (Now, notice the fact here is the things we see now are only gonna last for awhile, but the truth is the things we can't see with our eyes are eternal. So, even though we may be going through difficult times, we don't have to base our future on the difficult. The truth will eventual overcome the facts of our circumstances as long as we choose to believe it even though we don't see it!!!
Three Important Life Choices
1. Take on a New Mind.....In scripture we are instructed to "Let this mind be in your which was also in Christ Jesus". The fruit of your life will be what you choose to think about..... as a man (chooses) to think in his heart, so is he. We are the sum total of our thoughts!! Romans 12:2 gives us a clue in how to transform our life...."Be transformed by the renewing of you mind" Begin to see yourself as a child of God and take on the mental image He has of you. Instead of thinking God is mad at you, think about how much He loved you by giving Jesus Christ to the Cross. Instead of thinking you've blown it and God has it in for you, start thinking about God's Mercy that is new every morning. Instead of thinking you'll never make it start thinking about the way the truth and the life we have in Christ!!!
2. Take on a New Tongue......Life and death is in the power of the tongue, which simply means that what we say about ourselves and others has great impact. Start by changing what you say about yourself. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, we are the Apple of God's eye. What I say about myself should be in accordance with my Position not my Condition. Even though my current condition may be one of need, my position with God according to Ephesians 2:6 is..... an elevated position with Him and seated with Him in Christ Jesus. So, based on this we declare "I am what God says I am, I can do what God says I can do, and I can have what God says I can have". Once we take on a renewed speech about ourselves we can then focus on what we say about others. As long as you have a poor image of yourself it will be very difficult for you to say good things about somebody else.
3. A New Conduct.....In order for our conduct to change we have to first choose to do numbers one and two. I'm not advocating that you can change your behavior and conduct by just thinking it or talking about it. The new way of thinking and speaking that I am talking about is a result of us first taking on the mind of Christ which in turn will affect the way we talk. When we get our Mind Right, and when we get our Tongue Right, our Conduct will get right!!! NEW MIND+NEW THOUGHT+NEW DECLARATION=NEW CONDUCT, which in turn produces NEW RESULTS!!!!!
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Do you live your life on the premise of "I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT" or I'LL SEE IT WHEN I BELIEVE IT"? The former philosophy fosters a pessimistic outlook while the latter fosters an optimistic outlook. What we choose to base our point view on will determine whether we are a pessimist or optimist.
Facts say one thing....Truth says another!! The bible says...."You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free".It didn't say "facts" will make you free, but "truth"!!! In this life we are taught to only believe the facts, but there is something that trumps fact and that is truth. The fact of a matter does not necessarily determine the outcome of a matter. Truth is constant, fact is variable. The factual circumstances of your life may not be good right now but the truth is Jeremiah 29:11...."For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for provision and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope". If we live by the "I'll believe it when I see it" philosophy we may never see it, but if we live our life on "I'll see it when I believe it" we already have the truth of God's promise even though it hasn't materialized.
Check out this incredible passage of scripture and allow it to speak life into your circumstance...II Corinthians 4:16-18....though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. (Did you see the fact and truth in that statement? The fact is that this life is corrupt and decaying but the truth is our spirit man is getting better day by day!!!)
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, (Again, the fact is, in this life we will have affliction but the truth is our affliction can work in our favor.) while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal,but the things which are not seen are eternal. (Now, notice the fact here is the things we see now are only gonna last for awhile, but the truth is the things we can't see with our eyes are eternal. So, even though we may be going through difficult times, we don't have to base our future on the difficult. The truth will eventual overcome the facts of our circumstances as long as we choose to believe it even though we don't see it!!!
Three Important Life Choices
1. Take on a New Mind.....In scripture we are instructed to "Let this mind be in your which was also in Christ Jesus". The fruit of your life will be what you choose to think about..... as a man (chooses) to think in his heart, so is he. We are the sum total of our thoughts!! Romans 12:2 gives us a clue in how to transform our life...."Be transformed by the renewing of you mind" Begin to see yourself as a child of God and take on the mental image He has of you. Instead of thinking God is mad at you, think about how much He loved you by giving Jesus Christ to the Cross. Instead of thinking you've blown it and God has it in for you, start thinking about God's Mercy that is new every morning. Instead of thinking you'll never make it start thinking about the way the truth and the life we have in Christ!!!
2. Take on a New Tongue......Life and death is in the power of the tongue, which simply means that what we say about ourselves and others has great impact. Start by changing what you say about yourself. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, we are the Apple of God's eye. What I say about myself should be in accordance with my Position not my Condition. Even though my current condition may be one of need, my position with God according to Ephesians 2:6 is..... an elevated position with Him and seated with Him in Christ Jesus. So, based on this we declare "I am what God says I am, I can do what God says I can do, and I can have what God says I can have". Once we take on a renewed speech about ourselves we can then focus on what we say about others. As long as you have a poor image of yourself it will be very difficult for you to say good things about somebody else.
3. A New Conduct.....In order for our conduct to change we have to first choose to do numbers one and two. I'm not advocating that you can change your behavior and conduct by just thinking it or talking about it. The new way of thinking and speaking that I am talking about is a result of us first taking on the mind of Christ which in turn will affect the way we talk. When we get our Mind Right, and when we get our Tongue Right, our Conduct will get right!!! NEW MIND+NEW THOUGHT+NEW DECLARATION=NEW CONDUCT, which in turn produces NEW RESULTS!!!!!
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Overcoming Adversity
As I quizzed my 4 year old grandson the other day on the names of his friends who were at school that day I then made up a name, he laughed and responded, "Poppy she isn't even on this planet". I laughed at his funny reference to planets and learned later that they had been studying the planets in class. Later as I recalled my priceless conversation with Asher I thought about his innocence and how life will someday rudely introduce him to trouble, disappointment, unfulfilled expectations, hurt, wounded emotions and all the sordid ugliness that exists on this planet. Grant it at 4 he has already experienced trouble, disappointment, hurt and perhaps unfulfilled expectations when things don't quite go his way, but life has a way of hitting us harder the more aware we become to it's difficult dealings. This is the result of Adam and Eve partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil!
Jesus told us in John 16:33.....in the world (or on this planet) you will have trouble, but take courage, I have overcome the world. In this one scripture Jesus gives us the worst news and the best news. The worst news is that as long as we are on this planet we will have trouble, adversity and opposition. Life here on this planet will constantly be in opposition to our joy, peace, purpose and destiny. Next Jesus gives us a choice....He says..."but take courage". What is the opposite of courage? FEAR!!!
Fear is the offspring of all trouble, adversity and opposition. Fear thrives in worry as adversity comes in to destroy.When adversity comes we have a choice to face it either with courage or fear. So, Jesus was saying, when trouble comes choose to embrace courage rather than fear.
Then Jesus gives us the reason why we can be courageous in the midst of trouble...."I have overcome the world"!! The source of our overcoming is connected to His overcoming while in the world, all the way to the cross.
We are reminded in Hebrews 12:1-2 to run with endurance the race that is set before us. In other words we are instructed and encouraged to live life with determination. In spite of the opposition that is on this planet we can rejoice in the fact that Jesus overcame the opposition of this planet and as long as we are IN Him we overcome as well. Scripture tells us that "We are IN the world but not OF the world"! What a wonderful truth...although we live on this planet we don't have to be defined by all the destructive and negative effects of this planet.
Because Jesus overcame adversity, opposition and trouble I want to leave 4 things we can put into practice when adversity comes our way....
1.See Beyond the Moment......God's purpose always lies beyond the moment.
2.Think Better than the Worse......Change your thinking and you can change your life.
3.Speak the Solution not the Problem......Your words are defining your future.
4.Respond Right to Wrong.......Courage responds with confidence, fear reacts with uncertainty.
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Jesus told us in John 16:33.....in the world (or on this planet) you will have trouble, but take courage, I have overcome the world. In this one scripture Jesus gives us the worst news and the best news. The worst news is that as long as we are on this planet we will have trouble, adversity and opposition. Life here on this planet will constantly be in opposition to our joy, peace, purpose and destiny. Next Jesus gives us a choice....He says..."but take courage". What is the opposite of courage? FEAR!!!
Fear is the offspring of all trouble, adversity and opposition. Fear thrives in worry as adversity comes in to destroy.When adversity comes we have a choice to face it either with courage or fear. So, Jesus was saying, when trouble comes choose to embrace courage rather than fear.
Then Jesus gives us the reason why we can be courageous in the midst of trouble...."I have overcome the world"!! The source of our overcoming is connected to His overcoming while in the world, all the way to the cross.
We are reminded in Hebrews 12:1-2 to run with endurance the race that is set before us. In other words we are instructed and encouraged to live life with determination. In spite of the opposition that is on this planet we can rejoice in the fact that Jesus overcame the opposition of this planet and as long as we are IN Him we overcome as well. Scripture tells us that "We are IN the world but not OF the world"! What a wonderful truth...although we live on this planet we don't have to be defined by all the destructive and negative effects of this planet.
Because Jesus overcame adversity, opposition and trouble I want to leave 4 things we can put into practice when adversity comes our way....
1.See Beyond the Moment......God's purpose always lies beyond the moment.
2.Think Better than the Worse......Change your thinking and you can change your life.
3.Speak the Solution not the Problem......Your words are defining your future.
4.Respond Right to Wrong.......Courage responds with confidence, fear reacts with uncertainty.
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Monday, May 6, 2013
A Thorn In The Flesh
What was Paul's thorn in the flesh? Now, there is much speculation about what Paul's thorn was and I will not attempt to add to the many speculations on "what" Paul's thorn was but just deal with the fact that "in life" there will be thorns that irritate us. The more appropriate question for this posting is...What is your thorn in the flesh? Life has many thorns and can get real prickly and hurtful but through "Grace Alone" you can survive life!!!!
Just like you will find thorns in a beautiful rose bush you will find thorns in the beauty of doing life. Thorns come and go. Your thorn may be a car that only starts when it feels like it, a pet that's not quite house broke, or the neighbors dog that keeps leaving undesirable deposits on the front lawn. Your boss might be a thorn,or the guy who sets in the pod over from you. It might be that your thorn is rejection. Maybe you were betrayed by someone you loved and rejection has a strong grip on your life. Maybe you just can't seem to get your resume' recognized and you feel rejected. Your thorn may be alcohol, prescription drugs or unforgiveness. Good news, II Corinthians 10:3-4 says we do not fight against flesh and blood, and the weapons of our warfare (or doing life) are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. Don't fight the thorns, the more you fight the thorns in your flesh the more hurt and pain you create. Thorns are the people, circumstances, mind-sets, emotions and thoughts that we allow to destroy God's best plans for our life. God's best plan for your life is for it to be productive and peaceful!
Whatever the thorn is in your life today I want to share with you a familiar scripture that will be the scripture theme for the "Grace Alone" blog. We can think of a lot of religious or spiritual exercises we can do in order to help us overcome our thorns but the real truth is, God's Grace is Sufficient!!!!
We find in II Corinthians 12:9 after Paul sought the Lord for relief from his thorn, the Lord said to Paul......"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness". Even our best effort is too weak to produce a lasting effect in our life, but the power of God's Grace is enough. God's grace was perfected through the power of Jesus on the cross. Without going into great detail I want to encourage you today that no matter what you are facing, no matter what thorn, trail, tribulation, or trouble that may surround you today, Faith in God's "Grace Alone" is sufficient. Sufficient means adequate for the purpose, or enough to see you through.
Now, I declare to you that I am a long way off from understanding how God's Grace works but the beauty is we don't have to understand how it works, we just believe that it is enough!!
In my next blog I'll share 4 things we can do to turn Adversity to our Advantage.
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Just like you will find thorns in a beautiful rose bush you will find thorns in the beauty of doing life. Thorns come and go. Your thorn may be a car that only starts when it feels like it, a pet that's not quite house broke, or the neighbors dog that keeps leaving undesirable deposits on the front lawn. Your boss might be a thorn,or the guy who sets in the pod over from you. It might be that your thorn is rejection. Maybe you were betrayed by someone you loved and rejection has a strong grip on your life. Maybe you just can't seem to get your resume' recognized and you feel rejected. Your thorn may be alcohol, prescription drugs or unforgiveness. Good news, II Corinthians 10:3-4 says we do not fight against flesh and blood, and the weapons of our warfare (or doing life) are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. Don't fight the thorns, the more you fight the thorns in your flesh the more hurt and pain you create. Thorns are the people, circumstances, mind-sets, emotions and thoughts that we allow to destroy God's best plans for our life. God's best plan for your life is for it to be productive and peaceful!
Whatever the thorn is in your life today I want to share with you a familiar scripture that will be the scripture theme for the "Grace Alone" blog. We can think of a lot of religious or spiritual exercises we can do in order to help us overcome our thorns but the real truth is, God's Grace is Sufficient!!!!
We find in II Corinthians 12:9 after Paul sought the Lord for relief from his thorn, the Lord said to Paul......"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness". Even our best effort is too weak to produce a lasting effect in our life, but the power of God's Grace is enough. God's grace was perfected through the power of Jesus on the cross. Without going into great detail I want to encourage you today that no matter what you are facing, no matter what thorn, trail, tribulation, or trouble that may surround you today, Faith in God's "Grace Alone" is sufficient. Sufficient means adequate for the purpose, or enough to see you through.
Now, I declare to you that I am a long way off from understanding how God's Grace works but the beauty is we don't have to understand how it works, we just believe that it is enough!!
In my next blog I'll share 4 things we can do to turn Adversity to our Advantage.
Blessings,
Terry Baker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)