The Wrench

                                                                                                                       

Aloha Dearest Family,

                You notice water coming from a big leak in your house and, upon careful search, you find yourself standing in front of this leaking pipe. So, you ask God to fix it and suddenly in your arms appears this perfect plumber’s wrench which is made by the company called, “Works Every Time.” The wrench is nestled in your arms like a cherished baby after you prayed and asked God to fix the leak.

            You continue to stand in front of the leak with the wrench in your arms watching the gushing water destroy your floor and leaking to the floor below and destroying everything in its path. The walls are buckling, the floors are warping, yet you stand in front of the leak not using the tools God gave you and save your home. One twist of the pipe that God gave you will stop the damage. Yet for some reason, you stare and contemplate the destructive leaking pipe. You even ask yourself, “Why and how could this happen to me? I even prayed about this.” You’ve even switched arms because the wrench made by the “Works Every Time” company is getting heavy in your other arm. You’re too busy thinking about the problem that you don’t notice the solution that’s always been there.

            At times our minds can be like this leaking pipe. If not controlled it can cause damage and destruction to our lives. Too many Christians live each day letting their minds free to wander into areas it should not go and places that will not profit. If left unchecked, soon they begin to think destructive thoughts that they use to construct unstable walls of thinking that in time will start to crumble. When this happens, then they might ask God for help. But God is saying, “Child, I have already given you the words that bring peace. They are found in My Word.”  You’ve probably heard these words in church, your parents taught them to you, you’ve seen them in greeting cards and even seen them when you read Christian devotionals. You’ve probably even encouraged others with the thoughts of God. So, what’s wrong here? Why aren’t you seeing a change from doubt, worry and fear to shouts of victory and deliverance, to God’s peace that settles into your heart mind and soul? How can I experience God’s endless peace?

     If you want to tap into God’s resources and find solutions, here are some questions you need to ask yourself

•          When you read that God has given us the victory in I Corinthians 15:57, do you believe it? “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

•          When you look at the verse that says, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts…” (Colossians 3:15), do you stop paying attention to the negatives bombarding you from the world and let God’s thoughts replace the negatives?

•          How much time do you give to God every day? How often and how long are these times devoted to God?

•          When you ask God for something in prayer, do you expect results? I John 5:14 and 15 states that He gives us our petitions.

        “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” God ALWAYS answers prayer. Meaning - use the wrench.

•          This may be the most important reason why the leak continues. We read the Bible but we don’t make a conscious effort to believe it. A simple rule – if God said it, you better believe it. He is all that is true and good. The more time we spend with God in prayer and reading His Word, the more confident we will become that God is able to help us when we need him.

Troubles will come to Christian and non-Christian alike. But because God has promised us peace, we can rely upon these promises and not allow these troubles to steal our joy.

“The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11)          

"Thou (God) will keep him (me) in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee (God), because he trusts in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. (Isaiah 26:3 and 4)

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

God has already given us the keys to overcome and be victorious in any situation. He does not want us to lack one single thing. He is always there with us and working for our behalf. Why? Because He so deeply loves us and He calls us His children.

                                                                Love Always, Ray

                “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” (Proverbs 3:1 and 2) 

 

Our Continuing City

                                                                                                                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

                The other day I started singing the words of an old hymn we used to sing in our Bible fellowships back home. Maybe some of you know it.

               

“This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through

                My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.

                The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door

                And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

 

I love this old song. This got me thinking about Abraham. God told him to pack up, leave his home and go into the land of Canaan. Here he would be a sojourner, a wanderer in this land; to live life as a nomad. God promised him that He would greatly prosper him and make him the father of many nations. God further told him that, although the land that he was passing through was not his, God promised it to Abraham’s descendants after him. This is why they called it the Promised Land.

               

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10)

 

God showed Abraham a vision of a city that God would build. A heavenly city. This is what gave him the strength and courage to keep going; the hope that one day he would see this city. After him his children and grandchildren also shared this vision.

 

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

 

Not only were they looking forward to God’s promise that one day they would inherit the land, but that one day they would see this heavenly city.

 

“Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:16)

 

God not only showed Abraham a vision of a heavenly kingdom, but He also taught him about the coming Messiah who would rule this kingdom forever. This hope brought Abraham great joy through his life. The Messiah himself, Jesus Christ said of Abraham,

 

                “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56 NIV)

               

                Abraham didn’t live to see the days of the Messiah but he looked forward to seeing it and rejoiced in it. Furthermore, all of the great men in the Old Testament had the same hope living in them. For they looked forward to seeing the days of the Messiah and that great city, but this promise was never fulfilled in their lifetime. 

 

                “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” (Hebrews 11:39)

 

               For us, Jesus the Messiah has come more than 2,000 years ago. This part of God’s promise has come to pass. Now we all are waiting for God’s promise of a heavenly city where there awaits for us a wonderful celebration.

 

                “Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,..” (Hebrews 12:22 and 23 Christian Standard Bible)

 

This is our future and we will certainly see it. This will be a day of great joy and celebration. But until that day, we patiently wait for it for we see it afar off. This is our hope and this is why we can sing,

This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.

                                                                Love Always, Ray

 

                “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)  

Living the Holy Life

                                                                                                                           

Aloha Dearest Family,

                A man once asked me, “How can I do a great work for God?” Maybe you have asked this same thing. To answer this question we need to first learn about sanctification.
               
                “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, we have been sanctified. This rather “religious” sounding word simply means “set apart”. God has set us apart from the rest of the world. He has purified us and made us holy. This is not because of anything that WE have done. We were made holy because of the holy spirit that now dwells within us (Romans 15:16). Because we have been given holy spirit, we are spiritually set apart from anything defiled, common or unclean.

                Now for the hard part. Because God has made us holy, we are to live holy.
                               
    “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:16)

This sounds like an impossible task. But it starts with simply choosing what kind of outside sources (things of this world) we are going to allow to influence us. This can be a challenge because we are constantly bombarded daily by TV, radio, music, the internet, YouTube, etc… As Christians we should choose Godly sources and not worldly sources (many of these worldly sources are very devilish). The challenge is to not let the world contaminate our thinking patterns. This brings up a story.

                A father was raising three teenaged daughters and he had always taught them about the importance of staying away from bad influences in life. One day his daughters came to him and told him that they were going to see a certain movie. He already knew that this movie was rated R and that it contained bad language, adult situations and some brief nudity. When he raised these concerns to his daughters, they told him that, yes, the film did contain these elements – but only a little bit. After much contemplation, the father decided to let his daughters go to see this movie.
                When they came home, he invited them into the kitchen where he had just baked a pan of brownies. They were very excited about this sweet treat as their father gave them each a piece. As they were about to bite into their brownies, he said, “oh, by the way, I put a little dog poop in these brownies. But it’s ok, I only put in a little bit.” Horrified, not one of his daughters took a bite. Why not? Because the brownies were contaminated. In this same way God wants us to not be contaminated by the evil influences found in the world. He made us holy-not let us BE holy.
Romans 12:2 encourages us to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing our minds to God’s Word.” 

                Getting back to the man’s question I told you about earlier. I posed him a question of my own. I asked him, “What are you doing that is preparing you for what God requires?” He looked at me like I was speaking Latin. 

     God wants to work with each one of us to accomplish great things. But if we are not spending time in God’s Word, praying, giving, and if we are continuing to be influenced by the world, God will be limited in His ability to work with us. God is ready – but we may not be. On the other hand, If we choose to live the holy life by meditating on God’s Word, learning to hear His voice and staying uncontaminated by the world, we will then be “fit for the master’s use.”

     “So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” (II Timothy 2:21 Christian Standard Bible)

 Lastly, to do the works that please God, it may be necessary to watch who we associate with. It is difficult to life a holy life if we are surrounded by those who we are not like-minded with. Unbelievers will not have the same goals that we do. Remember, God has set us apart from the rest of the world. He wants us to be separate.

 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? (the devil) Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?.. Therefore, "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.” (II Corinthians 6:14, 15 ad 17a NIV) 

 These keys will help us live a holy life that is pleasing to God. A life that we were meant to live.

    Love Always, Ray

 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” (New King James Version 119:9)