Learning Without Pain

The highest form of learning, and the least expensive, is to learn from others. The lowest form is personal experience. It will always cost you time and opportunity.

One industrialist said, “It’s a shame that people learn from their own mistakes rather than from others. By the time they learn the lessons to be productive, it is time to retire.”

 

Which Will You Choose?

In every situation of sickness and disease we have three witnesses. One of those witnesses is the Word of God. God’s Word is the truth that He speaks about your situation.

The second witness is what your senses are telling you about the symptoms you’re experiencing.  The pain is “declaring” that the sickness and diseases are not healed, the symptoms are still present and that the Word of God is not true.

The third witness we have is the sick person. That sick one has the opportunity to place his or her testimony alongside the Word of God and refuse to take the testimony of the pain or the symptoms—declaring that “by the stripes of Jesus, I AM HEALED!”

Who Am I?

We are not released into freedom until we discover the truth about who we are in Christ. You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free (John 8:32).

The correct answer to this question will change the way you react to other people. It will change negative responses into quiet confidence in the midst of bad news. It will put value in your words that others will recognize even when they don’t understand how you got your wisdom. It will put a backbone in you to stand up to adversity, evil, and all types of temptation when others would compromise.

WHO AM I? Resolving this question will bring all things to your life without costing you your health, integrity or salvation!

Confirm Your Reservation

Jude 1:22-23 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

I am always happy about the benefits of walking with God on this earth, but I’m also very aware that the very best on earth is so temporary that it’s hardly worth mentioning compared to what our real life will be when we drop off this body.

But then—I think of all those who have nothing to look forward to but fire. I can’t think of anything worse, and that also is a motivation to be my best here.

Many want to be in the books of the rich and famous and that’s wonderful. Bravo! But there is only one book that will hold the test of time, and that is the Book of Life. Confirm to yourself that you are in that book, and you will find motivation to enjoy each day.

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Today is the Day!

on the day of salvation, I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.”

When was that day of salvation? Not today, not tomorrow, but two thousand years ago He was nailed to that cross for you. What does that say for us? That that was the acceptable day of salvation. And that day of salvation has never ended, because it was a one-time sacrifice for all people, for all history, and for anyone who would call upon His name!

God Will Provide

Deep in the quiet of the soul, when the sun sets over the last mountain range and the warmth of the day slowly dissipates into cool breezes that chill the sweat from your day’s labor, you hear His voice whisper “I WILL PROVIDE.”

At the end of the day, when the clamor of ideas has quieted and the energy of people’s interaction is spent, you stand alone with only your thoughts and the mission before you. It is in this moment you hear His voice, “I WILL PROVIDE.”

The “how” is in His Hands.

You wake up each morning like a diligent farmer ready to milk the cows, feed the chickens, and plow the fields. You do the natural, and let Him do the “super” so your life has a supernatural flavor to it. Paul’s conviction becomes your conviction when he says, “The Lord shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). You are resting with no evidence, no sign, and no prophetic word. Faith arises in your heart as sure as the sun comes up in the morning. All is well, “I WILL PROVIDE.”

Today you must find your place of rest in Him and in His Word. The days may change. Government may change. The economy may change. But you do not change, knowing that He said, “I WILL PROVIDE.”

Examine your life today. In what areas are you not hearing the Lord say, “I WILL PROVIDE”? Believe, and He will be faithful to His Word.

Live A Life That Supersedes

This life where God has fused us to Himself overrides all the limitations of life in every sphere. This is the same life that Jesus demonstrated for us to live. He came out of heaven and for 3 ½ years showed what God in flesh can do.

Then He remarked, “As the father has sent me, I also send you” (John 20:21 NKJ).

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES NATURE – Have you ever stopped a storm?  Jesus did in a boat when all thought life was lost. He spoke a word and the storm obeyed Him!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES PHYSICS – Have you ever healed an incurable disorder? Jesus did when a woman with an incurable blood disease was healed when her faith drew the power of God out of Him!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES THE LAWS OF DEATH – Have you ever seen the dead rise? Jesus did when He spoke to dead Lazarus and called him out of the tomb!

THIS LIFE SUPERSEDES THE LAW OF GRAVITY – Have you ever lifted what has fallen? The Bible records the story of a young boy who had fallen out a third story window and died. Paul lifted that which had fallen and restored life to the boy!

Can Jesus be the same in you in the 21st century that He was in a Jew in the 1st century? The answer to this big question is what unlocks your limitations!

 

Holy Burned Land

If a brush fire was coming your way as you stood in an open field, there is no way you could out run the fire. What would you do to avoid the flames? The only thing that you could do would be to start another fire and burn an area of land for you to stand on—because burned land cannot be burned twice! You would then have to stand, unmoving, on that scorched land as the brush fire’s flames passed around you.

This is what God has offered. When we stand in Jesus, we stand on sacred, holy ground already burned by the fire of judgment. Jesus took on the sins of the world and has already gone to hell for us. Therefore, the land cannot be burned twice!

I do not want to stand before God as my Judge and be found lacking, so I stand today before Jesus as my Lord. My identity is not just a positive thought of how I would like to be. No, my identity is forever established in heaven as righteous, redeemed, holy, washed, and new—because of Jesus’ finished work here on earth!

 

Ambassadors

In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Paul tells us that we have been called Christ’s ambassadors. What does that do for me? I don’t know if you travel, but I travel a lot and when you cross that national border there’s always a line that says, “Ambassadors.” They get to go through the front line at customs and security, they’re always treated special, and they move through first.

So when I hear him calling me “Ambassador,” I put my shoulders back and stand a little taller! You see, I don’t have to cower and bow my head and look down because I’m a Christian and everybody seems to be against Christians…no! I lift my head high, I put my shoulders back and walk with a spring in my step because I know in Whom I have believed.

And even more, I know the One Who has believed in me. The Apostle John says in 1 John 4:19 that it’s not that we first loved Him, but that He first loved us! Hallelujah!

Equipped to Excel

There is no need to worry about ability, equipment, talent, or a changing world. When we were born into this world we were marvelously designed to handle life on earth. We were gifted with organs to process all the food available. We were given digestion, nerve, respiratory, reproduction, motor skills, balance and equilibrium, as well as an amazing sensory network to gather information on smells, noise, sight, touch, and sound. We also had all this information gathering instantly connected to a giant computer called a brain that no machine can compare to, so instant decisions can be made about the information. Everything to start a wonderful, productive, successful adventure on earth…we get all of it at birth! It just needs to be developed.

What happens at our re-birth? The Bible says that those who believe in the substitution of Jesus Christ, that He became our sin so we could become God’s righteousness, experience a born again reality.

Is it real? What does it do? It IS real and it should equip everyone on earth with the spiritual ability to navigate the challenges we face that our five senses have no answer to.

Growth in your spiritual life will do at least as much as growth in the physical for this world experience, and much more for the world to come.

Enjoy the journey!