Saturday, September 18, 2010

Character Rebirth

Read:

Philippians 2:5

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus
Also:
Philippians 2:15

so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,

We are living in a time of a crooked and corrupt generation. We are living in a time where we need to show forth character and be a light to the world like never before. All the world can see is a plastic type Christianity with no fruit. You see the hype-prosperity message, strange prophecies, and other things that have been going on in the church and this would have shocked great protestant ministers during the great reformation. Martin Luther in the 1500’s would have fallen over in disbelief at how corrupt the protestant movement has gotten off to. He would have placed ninety-five more thesis at the foot of the church. We have tv evangelist’s begging for seeds, asking for mortgage payments so that God will pay off there mortgage payment, and every other ridiculous move that has embarrassed the protestant church. This is not the most popular devotional but it is needed. I’d probably get hung in some churches if I taught this message. But friend, we need a character rebirth like never before. The greek word for attitude in Philippians 2:5 is phroneo, and it means to be like-minded with the same views. Could you imagine Jesus teaching on the sermon of the mount and saying, “For ten dollars I’ll give you my teaching of the sermon on the mount.” Could you imagine Jesus saying, “I’ll pray for you for a whole year with a little love offering of one thousand dollars, and two years for two thousand dollars." This sounds unbelievable, but just go online or watch some of the tv channels and you’ll see this nonsense. I've seen it first hand, and I about fell over when I saw this mess, being so so grieved in my spirit. I know that I’m being a little sarcastic about what would Jesus do, but we need to be lights in the world. How do we get a good attitude and walk in the spirit? By our devotion, prayer, and our faithfulness. You see, the secret to a successful life as a Christian is the success of their secret life in their prayer closet, with such a conviction and inward pure character in their personal life as well. It goes hand in hand with our commitment to the body of Christ and faithfulness in our home church. Character is determined by the inner-life of a person. It reflects either the sinful nature being influenced by the world, or the devine nature influenced by the Holy Spirit. Our character will affect our attitude, our attitude will affect our calling, and our calling will ultimately affect our destiny here on earth. God’s got a destiny and place here on this earth for us, and our character is the foundation for unleashing God’s will in our life. Some of us need a new birth, but many of us need a character rebirth. Let’s be like Jesus and show something to this generation.
By Keith Edwards

Prayer:
Lord, we come to you in your precious name and ask that you search our hearts. Show us if there is anything that is not right, and help us to shine our light to this fallen world. We sit at your feet Jesus in prayer and we ask that we would have the same mind and attitude that you have Lord. Help us Lord to hear your heartbeat as your church and body. We ask this all in your name. Amen.
Posted by Keith at 12:00 AM
1 comments:

Sandy Groom MSW said...
Thank you Keith for your blog.
Our most powerful work begins in our prayer closet -- that quiet place where we spend alone with our mighty God.

It is easy to turn our eyes on those who make a mockery of walking with Jesus; who choose hype over committed faith. In fact, it's easy to become distracted by many things. Yet so important to draw close to the Lord and spend time with him, looking at him and who he is, praising him, crying out to him, loving him, and his Word - the Bible.
He is the one who gives us a character re-birth; he will make us and mold us each day, if we allow him to work in us and through us.
He loves us that much.
Thanks
Sandy Groom at hopeforhurtinghearts.blogspot.com

Friday, September 17, 2010

Cocooned In The Person Of Jesus Christ by Mel Mongomery & Keith Edwards September 17th Devotional

Read:

11 Corinthians 4:4

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

As the last days wind down, with the Unrighteous drawing closer to Satan and to the Anti-Christ in their thinking and affections, what little light they do have grows darker and darker. Every sort of wickedness, lewdness, and dishonesty that used to seem to them to be objectionable, now for some reason, no longer seem so bad. Darkness is becoming normal to them. While darkness is enveloping the Wicked, the exact opposite is occurring with the Righteous. For us also, the Last days are winding down to their ultimate conclusion. We too are going through a metamorphosis. We are cocooned in the person of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit surrounds us and is fulfilling scripture by leading into all truth, teaching us all things, and bringing to our minds all that Christ commanded us (John 14:26) We are not being conformed to the image of this world, but are being transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2). We are going from glory to glory (11Cor. 3:18). Light is normal to us, and we welcome it. We love the one who is the Truth; so naturally, we want to know the truth in all situations. One day, we also shall emerge from our cocoons, but not to give ourselves over totally to evil and rebellion against God as shall the Wicked. When we hear the Last Trumpet, our bodies will be transformed into glorious bodies, and we shall rise to meet the Lord in the air, and ever shall we be with Him (1 Thess. 4:16). In the meantime, as we prepare to receive our King, the light, the truth, holiness, purity, righteousness and all of the other attributes of Christ become more precious and normal to us. There is a deep desire in our hearts to meet our Lord soon, and to be the Church without spot, or blemish, or any such thing, that He desires us to be (Eph. 5:27). He is holy; therefore, we desire to be holy.

Comment by Keith Edwards:


I want to encourage us today to realize that we are cocooned in the person of Christ Jesus. We are enveloped within Him and He within us, and we will one day be totally transformed into a glorious body in Heaven. We are living in a time where the enemy is trying to thwart the gospel and bring the gospel down lower and lower. The bar of Christianity is no longer set where it once was, and the very tactic the enemy uses in these last days is the weapon of doubt and lack of revelation of who we are in Christ. If he can steal that revelation of us being cocooned in His power, then he can stop the flow of hope that we cling on to in these wicked times.

Prayer:

Lord, we ask that you will bring us back to the level we need to be at in You. Help us Lord to reflect Your nature. We desire to know you more as we seek you, Amen.

by Mel Montgomery and Keith Edwards

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Shaking The Salt September 16th Devotional

Read:

Matthew 5:13-15


13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

I can remember back years ago when I worked at this particular place. I was a cell leader and did some worship and teaching at my Father's church he was a pastor at. I was on fire for the things of God, and they all knew my love for God. They probably called me a Jesus freak. I don't know, but I really didn't care. I cared for the things of God more than life itself. There was this one guy I couldn't stand. We will call him John Doe. John had a filthy mouth and loved to drink. I told the Lord, "Lord, this guy will never come to you!" John made me so mad. I would be reading during my lunch break, and he would just cuss and carry on. Months later, John Doe sat down at the table I was at one night, and he had tears streaming down his face. He said, "I want this God you serve!" I couldn't believe it. I had to shake my head and wipe my eyes to see if this was really happening. He was in front of everyone in the lunch area, but it seemed like he didn't even care. His car was in the shop that morning, so I was able to take him home. I led him to the Lord that Sunday morning and he repented of his sins and was washed by the blood of Jesus. He began to weep and cry and you can really tell that it was a true conversion. It gets better. Years down the road, I was at my brother-in law's house, and I asked him how his job was coming along? He worked at the same grocery retail store that I worked at but a different location. He was an assistant store manager and told me that he had a pretty good crew. He said, "There is this one fellow there though that is kinda weird." I asked him about this fellow. He said his name was John Doe. He said that he brings his bible to work every night and talks about Jesus to all of us. Man! you talk about a chill running down my spine. This John Doe is the same exact John Doe that I led to Christ Jesus years past. I said all of that to let us realize that we are the salt of the earth and just remember that there is always somebody watching us. They want to see that what we believe is really real or not. Let's be the salt of this earth, and let's be the reflection of Jesus to a lost and dying world.

Prayer:


Lord we thank you today for your power and salvation. We pray that we would shine forth your light like never before to this generation. Lord we never know sometimes that there is the most unlikely prospect that is studying our every move to see if we really believe what we believe. Help us Lord to be the salt of this earth. Amen.

by Keith Edwards

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Complacency by Seth Swindall Comment by Keith Edwards September 15th Devotional

Complacency 4

Numbness can cause complacency in your life. You can grow cold to what once motivated you. For example, a surgeon, on his first day of surgery, probably has to deal with many emotions and fears. He may even be a little queasy. Over the course of time, though, he is no longer affected by the condition of his patients. He has grown numb to the problems around him and simply performs a robotic task.

Let me give you another personal example. The summer following my junior year of high school I became a lifeguard at the local pool in my hometown. I remember going through the crash course class and having to pass all of the physical and written tests, proving that I, in the case of an emergency, could save a life in trouble. To this day I still remember my first official day of work and my first shift on top of the stand, overlooking the water filled with people whose lives were now in my hands. I was so attentive and focused, keeping count of every head and every person in and out of the pool. I simply knew the moment I became complacent and lost focus a swimmer might go under and drown and I was not going to allow that to happen during my time on the stand. I left that day stressed and worn out from the pressure of having so many lives in my hands. Of course as time progressed through the summer, I became comfortable and more at ease with my responsibilities. I day dreamed a little more, paid more attention to friends, and was more concerned about what was going on after work than who was in the pool. I was growing numb and was not as attentive and focused as I should have been to what was going on around me. (Now, just to clarify…I did a good job and no one ever drown on my watch…I even had the opportunity to save a life. Needless to say I have learned a lot about my Christian life from those couple of summers of life guarding…)

The danger with growing numb is that you can’t feel. You no longer have the ability to sense what is going on around you. I don’t know if your hand, arm, or another part of your body has lost feeling, if so you will understand this idea. Because you can’t feel…you don’t know when you hurt yourself or those around you. Complacency caused from numbness in your own life can do real damage to you, your family, and those around you and the great danger is…you don’t realize it.

The Bible says in Romans 12 (The Message), “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Over time, if we are not careful, we can become numb, desensitized to what is going on around us, and lose focus and our God-given internal drive to make a difference. I don’t know about you, but when I have an arm or leg ‘go to sleep,’ I have to give it a good shake to return blood flow to it so that the sensitivity and feeling can return. Some of our lives need a good shaking to return the flow of God’s Holy Spirit into our lives so that we can again be driven individuals moved by compassion to effectively make a difference in the world around us.

We will get to some of the solutions for complacency once we get through a couple more causes of complacency…stick with us and help us spread the message by sharing via the Facebook & Twitter links below. God bless and please leave your thoughts or questions below…

Pastor Seth

comment by Keith Edwards

Many Christians have become complacent today in this generation we are living in. Haggai the prophet tells the Jews to consider their ways. They have become numb to the voice of God. We have become numb to what we are really here for. The Jews started the rebuilding of the temple by laying the foundation, but after the King stopped the rebuilding by the Samaritans, the Jews got complacent and loss hope of ever completing the temple. They were more concerned about "their" houses, and their lives that the temple of God laid in ruins. Doesn't that sound like us today? We are more concerned about our own lives that we have let a blanket cover the light of Christ from within us. The light is now very dim and as Seth mentioned, "sensitivity and feeling can return. Some of our lives need a good shaking to return the flow of God’s Holy Spirit into our lives so that we can again be driven individuals moved by compassion to effectively make a difference in the world around us." I want to encourage you today to consider your ways. Lets all as living stones do an inventory of our lives. Let's not let the shaking of God that is in the works scare us and keep us in a hopeless situation, but lets let the shaking motivate us to advance God's kingdom, make disciples, and do the works that God wants us to do as the "Body" of Christ. Let's pray.

Prayer:

Lord, we come to you with a serious heart. Forgive us God. forgive us for putting things before you, and not letting that growth by your grace change us. Lord, give us a revelation of hope today. Give us a revelation that you will take care of us as we trust you. You spoke that you were with Moses, Joshua, Paul, and many more, and you are with us today as well. Break the spirit of complacency, and birth in us again your power and your spirit to carry on the great journey of building together as your bride, amen.

by Seth Swindall and Keith Edwards

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Worship Through Revelation September 14th Devotional

Read:

John 4:24

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Today I want us to focus on worship. The Lord wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The definition for truth here in John 4:24 is the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians. We need such a revelation through our worship and adoration to our Lord Jesus Christ. What we focus on through our revelation is the difference between hearing God's voice, and not hearing His voice clearly. In this type of worship will come a strength within us to understand His will for us here in our lifetime. I have found that as I worship the Lord and sit at His feet, there is such a fulfilling of what sometimes we seem to miss in our Christian walk with Him. What are you thinking about in your worship? Have you gotten to a place where you think about all of the things you have done and haven't done as you come to the table of worship? Have you gotten to a place where you think upon the things of God only, instead of seeking His face first and foremost in spirit and in truth. I know I need to get to this place in a deeper way, and it is such a crucial place to be in as we go through this life. Lets bring to the table of worship a revelation of the cross, the blood that was spilled upon the cross, and His resurrection. This attitude of worship will bring forth a mixture of character and integrity within us to produce pure fruit and make disciples.

Prayer:

Lord, we ask for such a revelation of who you are and how you see us today. Let our worship be pure Lord before you, and we desire to find that first love for you increase day by day as we walk this journey with you. We repent Lord for thinking upon the wrong things in our worship. Cleanse us by your blood, and touch our lips by your spirit to speak your truth to a corrupt generation.

by Keith Edwards

Monday, September 13, 2010

There Is A River September 13th Devotional

Read:

Psalms 46:4

“There is a River, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.”

Also Read:


Exodus 47:9

He is the Master of the Healing Stream. Jesus Lives!
“And everything shall Live whither the River cometh.”

There is a River that flows from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible begins and ends with a River. It is an unending stream of Gods’ Life and Power, and it is the River of Life and Healing found only in Jesus Christ. The Apostle John describes for us the wonder of this Healing stream. In Revelation 22:1 the Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse of this Life flowing from the Throne of God. “And he shewed me a pure River of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the River, was the tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” There is something about the touch of Jesus that causes this healing virtue to flow. There is something about the touch of the Saviour that heals, restores, and delivers. Learn the secret of touching Him.
“And when Jesus was come into Peters’ house, He saw his wife’s mother laid, sick of a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.” Matthew 8:14-15.
Great men of God have often spoke of this wonderful Heavenly power. Jesus is Gods’ Healing Stream.

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us unto glory and virtue.” 2 Peter 1:2-3.
It is through the Word that we contact God, and it is through the Word that He contacts us. The Bible is our meeting place with Him and Him with us. It is through the Word that we touch God. It is through the Word that He touches us. The Prophet David wrote, “There is a River, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.” Psalm 46:4.
The Holy Ghost has come to teach us all things. God has given us the revelation of Christ the Healer. Jesus is the Healing stream of Calvary, and He is by your side today. Jesus of Nazareth is the source of all Life. He is the fountain of Wholeness, Health, Peace, and Happiness. He is the Master of the Healing Stream. Jesus Lives!
“And everything shall Live whither the River cometh.” Ezekiel 47:9.

There is a river today that flows from God above, and we can drink of that living water that is eternal. I want to encourage you today to let God quench your thirst today. whatever you are facing, God has all a place of His presence, and we can enter that place today by His precious blood.

Prayer:

Lord, fill our cup as we lift it up. Come and quench this the thirst and dryness we sometimes feel. We need a spiritual drink of your spiritual river, and we need your love to rain upon us as we seek you day by day, Amen.

by Drew Kaylor & Keith Edwards

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Guarding That Deposit September 12th Devotional

Read:


2 timothy 1:13,14

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us

Whenever you have a treasure, there is always a thief. The enemy wants to destroy the word from our mind and soul that we lay down as foundation. Our mind, will, and emotions need to line up with the very Christ within us, and Satan wants nothing more than to totally stop us in our tracks as a believer. These current dark ages we are living in is bringing us to a place where we need to shine the light of Jesus to others like never before, and I feel like God wants us to beware of the enemy today in these dark ages we face. One night at work I was meditating on this scripture, and it seemed like the Lord spoke to my heart about this. He said, " Son, be very careful. Many are watching your every move, and the enemy wants to steal that treasure from you so that you won't be effective to those around you. Guard that word son with extreme caution, and don't let the enemy steal it even for one second. Keep watch!" This is what the Lord wants for you today. I don't know how much of the word you have been storing up in your mind, will, and emotions, but be very careful to guard it with all diligence. The bible also says for us to guard our heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life. Entrusted in the Greek is paratheke, and the definition is a deposit, and used of correct knowledge and pure doctrine of the gospel. Treasure in the Greek is Kalos, and the definition for treasure is beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life. As a living epistle, we need to be the reflection of Christ Jesus and make His name attractive to those who don't have that name. We need to shine forth His truth to those who need truth, and we need to shine forth the love of Christ for those who don't understand or don't know His love. We are carriers of the very attributes of God, and He has made a deposit of all of the attributes in our inner spirit where we have been born again. We are sanctified through spiritual growth, and spiritual foundation is established in our soul. I want to encourage you today to hold on to the word of God with all diligence, and be that light to a dark and deceptive world. Many need to see some of that treasure that has been entrusted to you.

Prayer:


Lord, we ask that you will help us by the help of the Holy Spirit to guard that good treasure that has been deposited in us. Help us to renew our mind to the word, and help us to be that living epistle to those around us, Amen.

by Keith Edwards