Facts of the Matter

Good Morning!

By:

• Hurried busy activity?
• Inner striving for perfection?
• Fastidious attention to standards of performance?

this is not god’s way:

“Don’t be [morbidly exacting and externally] righteous overmuch, neither strive to make yourself [pretentiously appear] overwise – why should you [get puffed up and] destroy yourself [with presumptuous self-sufficiency]?”  (Ecc. 7:16 – Amplified)

Someone has said, “Woe to the nervous activity of those of little faith.”

Jesus’ life was characterized by restful determination in accomplishing the work of God.  Never in a hurry, He was poised, natural…purposeful.

And so it should be with us:  “There remains…a…rest for the people of God.” (Heb. 4:9)

The real work of God is done behind the scenes during private times of reflection upon His word, worship, intercession, and pondering His eternal purposes. Then, sensing and moving with the inner prompting of the Spirit.

Gutzon Borglum commented, “When I carve a statue, it is very simple.  I merely cut away the pieces that don’t belong there and the statue itself presently comes into view.  It was there all the time.”

The life of Jesus Christ waits within us to find full expression through us in accomplishing His work.  We can nervously hammer away at getting Him out…or we can rest as He cuts “away the pieces that don’t belong there.”

“For  it is God who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.”  (Phil. 2:13 – Phillips Translation)

My prayer is that you are having a great week!

Good Morning!

In II Peter 1: 5 we are admonished to apply “all DILIGENCE” toward the achieving of “MORAL EXCELLENCE…”

May I ask you a QUESTION?  “Do those with whom you keep company perceive you to be a person of  moral excellence?”

MORAL EXCELLENCE in II Peter 1:5 conveys the idea of:

• Manly vigorous action
• Energy in the exercise of your faith
• Moral power
• Vigor of soul

By contrast:

• Hebrews 6:11 talks about being spiritually “sluggish
• Ephesians 5:14 talks about being spiritually “sleepy“
• Revelation 3:15 talks about being spiritually “lukewarm“

William Barklay reminds us that, “Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ.  Faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ.”

One of Christ’s demands is the daily application of DILIGENCE in the application of MORAL EXCELLENCE to life.

Perhaps the parable of the 10 virgins is helpful here. God provided the flame and expected the virgins to provide the oil. A joint effort. It is important to understand that the generosity of God does not absolve us from intense personal effort.

Again…let me ask the QUESTION:  “As others view your walk with Christ, do they perceive you to be spiritually sluggish,  sleepy,  and lukewarm?   Or do they see you as a person of action, energy, power, and vigor in the living out of your faith”?

Diligence may be the key that unlocks the door to MORAL EXCELLENCE.

My prayer is that you are having a great week!

Good Morning!

Definition-wise it has the idea of:

• “Persistent application to one’s work or duty”
• “To pursue with persevering, painstaking effort“

My guess is that anyone around your operation who lacks these qualities has been handed their W-2 form and ushered toward the exit.

So why is it that in the spiritual realm we often allow ourselves the luxury of a lackadaisical approach to our faith?

The Scriptures grant us no such slack:

“Above all that you guard, watch over your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the sources of life.”  (Pro. 4:23 – Berkeley Translation)

“Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life…”  (Deut. 4:9)

“Be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”  (II Pet. 3:14 KJ)

It was through Christ’s death on the cross that our salvation was won.

It is through our DILIGENT pursuit to know God that the doors are opened for us to experience all the riches in Christ Jesus now available to us.

My challenge to you is to bring the same DILIGENCE into your spiritual  life that you exercise in your professional life!

My prayer is that you are having a great week!

Good Morning!

Hours before His betrayal, Jesus knew full well that the twelve disciples would soon slink away like cowards in their denial of Him.  Yet it was to them He said, “I have earnestly desired to eat…with you.”  (Lk. 22:15)

And this is His desire with you today:  Intimacy…Communion.

As you progress through this day the most significant task before you will not be:

–  Clinching a “deal”

–  Picking up another client

–  Resolving another personnel problem

 As important as these challenges may be, they pale in comparison to your calling of intimate communion with Christ:

 “God is faithful through whom you were called into the fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ.”  (I Cor. 1:9)

Here is how Jesus put it:

“It is the man who shares my life and in whose life I share who proves fruitful, for the plain fact is that apart from me you can do nothing at all.”  (Jn. 15:5 Phillips)

God’s singular objective at the cross was to make our fellowship with the Lord Jesus a continual, moment by moment reality.

Today, let us resolve that nothing in which we are engaged will rob us of that inner relationship with him. after all, that is our calling.

My prayer is that you are having a great week!