ARE YOU READY FOR A  NEW LOOK?

Fashion has always been a mystery to most of us. We look at what the "designers" parade across the runaways of the fashion industry and most of us think, " I would never be caught dead wearing something like that!" The sad part of it all is that we are often prejudged by what we wear...whether good or bad, most of us dress to impress. Thankfully, the apostle Peter had some words of wisdom for us regarding our wardrobe. In 1 Peter 5:5, he writes, "Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another." And you might ask, why is that so important?

At the heart of the temptation in the Garden of Eden, at the heart of human rebellion and the fall of mankind is the foundation of pride. It is the best weapon in the arsenal of the instigator of man. In fact, it has been said on many occasions that pride is at the root of every sin. Is it not pride that tells us to choose our way over the will of God; to pursue the pleasures of this world rather than the treasures of our eternal home; to treat others as though they serve us and our here to make our lives better?

In His Word, God has said in no uncertain terms that "He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  So it is only fitting that Peter should share this fashion tip when it comes to our garments of grace.

He tells us to put on new clothes that show we belong to Jesus and that His Spirit of humility is our foundation for service. We are admonished to cast off our old clothes of selfishness and pride and be adorned in the newness of God's abundant grace. Gone is our gaudiness of pride and self promotion; replaced with the humility of the Kingdom of God and with deference to our Savior and the will of the Father.

When we cast off our pride, it is then that God can clothe us appropriately for His service. We will no longer find ourselves at the center of controversy or consternation because our cloak of humility will not allow such a spectacle to be seen from a child of God. Prideful people feed off of each other and stir up more pride, but the man clothed in humility is honor by his Father and will undermine the whole process.

Peace will exist when God's people are truly clothed in Heaven's humility...so what will you choose to wear today?

Stripped naked of pride...clothed in humility,

WPQ

Poem of the day:

If you seek to serve the Father

Be careful what you wear;

For the world is ever watching

To see if you really care.

Cast off your cloak of pridefulness

And be clothed in humility...

The world may follow Jesus

Because of what they see in you and me!

Ten Life Commandments 

that

 Lead to a Blessed Life!

1)  Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble; rather, it is a "steering wheel" that helps keep you on the right path throughout your journey.

2)  Ever wonder why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large, but the REAR VIEW MIRROW so small?  Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE... So, focus on the road ahead and don't look back! 

3)  Friendship is like a BOOK. It only takes a few minutes to be destroyed in a fire, but it often takes years to write the entire story.

 4) All things in life are temporary.  If they're going well, enjoy them while you can for they will not last forever.  If things are not as they should be, don't worry... that won't last long either.

  5) Old Friends are Gold and new friends are Diamond!  If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold!  Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!

  6) Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, friend; it's just a bend in the road, not the end of the road!"

  7) When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.

 8) A blind person asked St. Anthony:  "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?"  He replied, "Yes, losing your vision!"

 9) When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them. So, when you are safe and happy, remember, often someone has prayed for you.

 10) WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES... it takes away today's PEACE.

If you adhere to these and commit your ways to the Lord, He promises that He will pour out a blessing so great that you will not be able to take it all in...Trust in the Lord and remember this:

Too often when we become complacent in life, we just stop trying! It is then that we must remember...To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

Go today with God as He goes before you and makes the pathway straight!!!!

WPQ

WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

Our world is rocking and reeling and coming at us from all sides. No matter where one might turn these days, something or someone is vying for your eyes, your ears and your pocketbook. So as believers we have one of two choices....succumb to the pressures of this world or trust in the one who saves us and call him...MASTER.

Scripture tells us from the lips of Jesus that NO ONE...ABSOLUTELY, NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS; but I am continually amazed that even in my own life, I try to pull off the impossible.

What do I mean?  Well, as I read in scripture this morning in 2 Peter 2:19a-21, Peter cautions us about becoming enslaved to the wrong master...." for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

What has enslaved you? Is it your job....your family...your kids and all their activities...too much time in front of a TV or computer screen....the list can be and often is endless. It all comes back to a few simple rules....

What you talk about, you think about;

What you think about, you do;

What you do becomes your heart throb;

What your heart beats for becomes your Master.....

Peter warns us to stay focused on Jesus ...for through the knowledge of Him we have

been set free from the corruption of this world; but if we still 'dip our toe in the water of worldly things," we will once again find ourselves enslaved to our former Master and in worse shape than if we had never come to know Jesus at all.

So, what has enslaved you today...and how are you going to deal with it? You can try to overcome it on your own or you can give it over to Jesus who is the OVERCOME and the PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH. He is waiting to be reinstated as the Lord and Master of your Life but He will never force himself upon the throne....

If you must be a slave to something or someone(and I believe we all must), why not make it Jesus....for He cares for you with an EVERLASTING LOVE.

ENSLAVED TO THE ONE TRUE MASTER....FOREVER,

WPQ

Are you a True Worshiper?

There's always a lot of finger-pointing going on whenever people of different faiths assembly in close proximity to one another ...each group wants to accuse the other of a lack of faith and the practice of true worship. The only thing that usually comes out of such encounters is bruised feelings and wounded egos.

Christ dealt with such problems of faith whenever he encountered the religious sects of his time...the Pharisees and the Sadducees always seemed to have some type of perpetuating skirmish or conflict in full riot gear and ready to do battle of who was the true protector of the Jewish faith.

Christ gave his best answer to this perplexing problem in a sit-down interview with the Samaritan woman at the well when he said, "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." John 4:20-24

Jesus made it very clear to her that there was indeed a new way to worship...true worship of God the Father in SPIRIT and TRUTH....but was does that mean? Well, for me it means that we must first get our heart right (our spirit/soul/mind) by coming to the Father and accepting that we can do ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING TO EARN OUR SALVATION; rather we are TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD'S GRACE AND HIS ABUNDANT MERCY  to save us through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our spirit must become one with our Heavenly Father and that can never take place until our sins have been forgiven and our right relationship with God has been restored....we must surrender our desire to "make it on our own" and enter into a new covenant with God...a covenant that replaces our will with our desire to do His will. When this takes place, God breathes His spirit, the Holy Spirit, into us and then we can begin to worship Him as He forever intended.

But what about this TRUTH thing?

Again for me, its very simple...we live out a life of worship in the everyday nitty, gritty of life...when we worship God with our lives in service to Him, we do so in truth. Our very existence takes on the supreme element of truth as we live each day trusting God for our very next breath...our next meal...our next opportunity to share with someone  how our relationship with our Heavenly Father has made all the difference in who we are and in what we are becoming and where we are going.

As a child of his, the truth of the matter is evident in our lifestyle, our choices, our demeanor and our every action....we are HIS and so we worship Him in EVERYTHING....THE GOOD AND THE BAD....and when we are able to do that in a world that is lost and spinning out of control....God's Truth is shown and becomes known.

So next time a crowd of religious wannabes gather and begin to point fingers and take sides....excuse yourself from the impending malay and just stick to the basics of true worship....keep your heart right with God and live in the truth of each moment....now that's TRUE WORSHIP.

Living in the moment ...worshipping with every breath,

WPQ

And the last is.....Blessed Are the Persecuted

There is not a person alive, or deceased for that matter, that has not known ridicule or persecution for their looks, their thoughts or their beliefs...it just comes with the territory of being human. But some of us deal with persecution better than others and some of us totally melt into oblivion when persecution comes knocking at our door.

You see, there is always a payout for persecution..either to our benefit or our demise. Often, we react to persecution based on our value system and what the end game might be. But as Christians, Christ forewarned us that as His followers, we would be PRIME TARGETS for persecution of all kinds. He implored us to "put up treasures in Heaven" and by so doing, ease the pain of persecution.

But what does that mean? Well, you can always tell the difference between a believer who has his feet planted in the world and the one that has firmly planted his feet in the Kingdom to come. Though we all may live in both worlds, we must choose daily where to plant our feet and where to build our treasure. Those who build for the here and now are noticeably shaken when the world is shaken; but the believer who is firmly grounded in Kingdom endeavors, he is able to persevere through any of life's pitfalls or persecutions.

And when does persecutions come? When we are most committed to following the leadership of the Holy Spirit; when we are truly pursuing the ways of righteousness as demonstrated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ...well, you can bank on persecution to come knocking! 

But God has promised us not only deliverance, but a place of deliverance...our eternal home! When we are persecuted, we need only lift our eyes toward Heaven and see that glorious promise;

Blessed are those who are persecuted, for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Persecution, probably more than anything else a believer may face, reveals how eternally focused he may be. It lets him know, in no uncertain terms, the true depth and width and breadth of his faith... and in the midst of that persecution, his faith is purified and built up...stronger and more resilient than he may have ever imagined. It is in the midst of this fiery oven that all the dross is burned away and we can see more clearly what our heart's treasure truly is...a treasure of unspeakable worth!!!

So, do as Paul urged the Corinthians to do in II Cor. 4:8-9, " We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."  

Look to the author and finisher of your faith to accomplish His will and His way in the midst of any persecution, knowing that He is with you always...and He is ALWAYS victorious...and in that promise of the last beatitude is that one day, for we will all be persecuted for the Lord's sake, we will all be home...eternally present in the Kingdom of Heaven.

AMEN and Amen,

WPQ

Poem for the day:

Life is hard; the storm clouds come...

And no one seems to care;

But lift your eyes toward heaven,

See the Savior waiting there.

For He knows the pain and suffering

And the persecution that is near;

But He will draw you close to him

To relieve your pain and fear.

For He has walked this path before

That lead to His great loss;

So if we are to follow Him,

We, too, must bear our cross.

But we will not walk alone;

For He has gone before.

And we shall see Him face to face

When we meet at Heaven's door.

WPQ @August 2015

This is the last post in this series...I will resume new posts the week of September 7th...

Be Blessed, Not Stressed and Give God the Glory!!!!

Blessed are the Peacemakers....It's a Family Trait!

We have all, at one time or another, seen one of those silly sitcoms that has two siblings, two best friends or whatever, clammed up, refusing to talk to the other party because of what he or she did. But, when the hero or heroine of the sitcom gets them in the same room so that they can begin the complicated process of reconciliation...NO ONE CAN REMEMBER WHAT STARTED THE CONFLICT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I think I can speak to the root cause of almost every conflict that mankind has ever known...THE PRIDE OF MAN! It seems that when anyone calls us on the carpet, smudges or soils our reputation or does anything that makes us look less than "perfect"; well, conflict is inevitable!

But it doesn't have to be...not if we seek to be peacemakers, as the sons of God should be. We need to know and understand that deep down, we were created for fellowship...both with our Creator and with each other. And it is conflict that makes that fellowship IMPOSSIBLE!

We cannot avoid conflict; even if we are not the instigator, conflict will come looking for us. Some people are by nature, confrontational; while others, steer clear of any such situation and try to avoid confrontation at all cost. Neither of these approaches make for peaceful living or expanding fellowship.

Jesus called out to those gathered on that hill to be peacemakers...to seek to diffuse any type of volatile entanglement and pursue a relationship of integrity and abundant grace...for grace shown is grace received. If we can show others grace when they say or do despicable things to us; give them the benefit of the doubt when we are wronged or as Christ urged us to do later in Scripture, "to bless those that persecute us and say all manner of evil against us"; well, we are holding our pride down and allowing the Holy Spirit to well up inside of us as a true and bona fide peacemaker. It is true that someone who can "turn the other cheek" is one that is learning to master PRIDE and in so doing, he is a peacemaker that is more concerned with his King's reputation than he is with his own.

And speaking of reputation, there is the promise of God for the peacemaker...Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the SONS OF GOD. Think about that for just a minute...if you are a true son (or daughter) of the Most High, you share the same last name and the same DNA. You are an ambassador for your Father and for all He represents to this lost and dying world...so if you share His name, you can ill afford to blemish that good name by creating or being involved in conflict, whether deemed righteous or not! You must be a PEACEMAKER and live up to the family name...a name above all names that will one day be uttered on the lips of all who have EVER lived...the sweet name of Jesus.

So, be the son of God that you have been called to be and eliminate conflict from your life, as well as your vocabulary. Speak only words that offer encouragement, filled with love, grace and good intentions; for that is your honorable and peaceful response when conflict is brewing. Whenever you do this,

YOU MAKE YOUR FATHER PROUD...AND HE'S THE ONE THAT KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE PRIDE...FOR HE IS THE ONE THAT DESERVES ALL THE GLORY!

Seeking His peace...loving the troublemakers as a son of God,

WPQ

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART...IS THAT YOU?

Purity is one of those words that falls easily from our lips; however, if you were to ask "the person on the street" to describe something that is pure and undefiled in this world, they would probably be permanently stumped and just stand there stammering.

First of all, purity is not an innate quality of mankind...FAR FROM IT! We are sinners and there is no one righteous or pure...NO ONE! In fact, King David's cry of the heart was bold, but quite simple; "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right (steadfast) spirit within me." Psalm 51:10  He knew, as we all do, that we are tainted with misplaced motives and petty agendas...the simple truth; OUR CORRUPTION RUNS DEEP!

Jesus knew the impossibility for us to have a pure heart; so He offered His purity to fill us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit....just as He took on our sins and became sin for us, we can take on His purity and be pure of heart...but it will always be a struggle!

Even with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are constantly bombarded by the Prince of the air to forsake our pure heart and give in to the "dark side" of our humanity.  It is this constant battle to remain pure that often creates the sadness that is seen in the lives of many believers when they fail...but there is a fail-safe plan if we will but trust in Him and remain "steadfast" in our single-minded pursuit to live our lives in the likeness of Christ.

Paul calls it the "renewing of our minds",  but it is really more than that..it is through the surrender of every thought, action and reaction that will help us grow in purity. It is that "steadfast" surrender of our will to a holy and pure God that will help us deflect and deter the arrows of the Deceiver as we solidly and irrevocably invest our lives in the pursuit of God. When we do this: any doubts, misplaced motives or stumbling blocks that rise up, begging us to choose self over sacrifice, will be defeated and the resounding choice, more and more, will be to choose purity over personal pride and preeminence.

Clearly, God knows the frailty of our character and that our human heart is a very fickle thing... for it far too often gives into the voices, screaming in our psyche or the compulsions of our flesh. But, because He loves us, He redeems us and completely saves those who come to Him as a "sinner saved by grace."

We are, at our very BEST, a work in progress; yet to be conformed to our Savior and therefore, incomplete...oh, but God is at work as He calls us out to be holy and pure in heart...to be a steadfast, passionate, faithful seeker and lover of the Savior...but it is a hard and relentless work that only God can accomplish through a surrendered heart, soul and will.

So, are you craving to be more like Jesus...PURE IN HEART...then, God is with you and at work within you... and He has promised that you will see Him in all His Glory; both in this world and in the eternal new world to come.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God...and ALL WILL BE WELL!!!

Pure and steadfast in honoring Him...A WORK IN PROGRESS!

WPQ