And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. – Genesis 11:4-5 KJV

The ones that built the Tower of Babel were in one accord alright but did not consider God at all. They were like so many of people today trying to make a name for themselves. And sad to say but this is how much of the Church world has become. Glorifying self instead of glorifying Jesus.

One indication that we have allowed ourselves to be in bondage to Babylon is that most Christian parents make the following statement to their children; “You can become whatever you want to be!” Sounds good on the outside. We all want our children to become all that they can become. BUT it is not true that they can become what THEY want to be. Each person is designed by the Master with a specific plan for their life! We are to encourage (and lead by example) our children to seek God for each step of their lives. We want to glorify Jesus in each decision that we make and break free from Babylon!

Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing? – Matthew 6:25 AMP

The words of Jesus about worry were powerful! STOP WORRYING! This was not just a suggestion, this was a “order” from our Commander in Chief.

If you are in the Army, do you have an option to obey orders? NO. Failure to obey a general order or command in the military will result in punishment by courts-martial according to Section 892 article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). There is no excuse to disobey orders, period.

For far too long we have approached worry as a “character flaw” to be proud of. It is not a “character flaw” and nothing to be proud of. It is sin! …and has to be dealt with as such. A Christian is to run from sin. Identify it and run the other way.

The answer for worry is to get so full of the Word of God that there is no room at all for worry. Trust God, fill your heart with the Word, watch your words, say what the Word says and worry will be a thing of the past!…at last!

Then Jesus, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit. – Luke 4:1 AMP

There are two things that are necessary in order to be constantly led by the Holy Spirit.

1. Being FULL of the Holy Spirit
2. Giving control of our lives to the Holy Spirit

Jesus did what He did in His ministry on earth because He was filled by the Holy Spirit and controlled by the Holy Spirit. He was led by the Spirit of God because He decided to be. Jesus had a will (this was real obvious in the Garden in the final hours of His life). He had to decide to be baptized by John in the Jordan river. This is also the time that He became filled with the Holy Spirit. After being baptized with the Spirit He then had to give control of Himself to the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit could do His job and lead Jesus to do the Father’s will at all times.

If we desire to be led by the Spirit of God on a continual basis we must be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. This requires us to yield ourselves (spirit, soul and body) to the Holy Spirit. We can think of our will as the remote control for the TV. The TV cannot choose which channel it shows at random. When we bought the TV it became ours and belongs to us. The remote control came with the TV and is used to change the channel. The TV has no control over itself. It serves us.

We need to give the “controls” of our life more and more to the Holy Spirit and get out of control! Hand Him your will and step back waiting for Him to lead.

Will you do it?

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]. 1 John 4:7 AMP

God is love and love comes from (or springs from) God. Without God there is no love. These are absolutes, this is THE TRUTH from the Word of God.

We have weakened the power of love by our nonchalant and overuse use of the word “LOVE”. We love chocolate, cars, vacation, starbuck’s coffee, walking on the beach, sunsets, ice cream, sports teams, (and the list goes on and on)…

We say that we love things that do not have the ability to love us back. Because we use the word love so much we do not have a handle on what we really do love.

The Word of God says that we should love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and strength! (every part of our being!) He is to be Lord and Master of our universe. Then He tells us that we should love people (our neighbor, our brothers, spouse, children, family, friends, co-workers and everyone). People have the ability to love us back. (sidenote: we do not love those that only love us back but everyone that we come in contact with)

We should check up on the way that we use the word LOVE and make sure that we are not overusing it. Instead we should say “like” when we are speaking of an object that we appreciate. Guard your affections and make sure that you are only loving God and people. Begin to use the word love with a new sensitivity of the power in love and new awareness that only God and other people are worth your full affection, attention and admiration!

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT

The love of God manifested through the children of God will transform the Church of God!

“It (love) should be preached from the pulpit until every member of the congregation becomes love conscious, until it would be impossible for them to quarrel or say unkind things to one another.” – E.W. Kenyon

We are ordered to obey the love command by the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. It is not an option but a holy command that when Jesus obeyed it, it allowed God the Father to restore the relationship between Himself and His most prized possession: mankind.

The Church is in the restoration business. Our job is to restore man to God. But we must be living a life of extreme love in order to accomplish the task that we have been given. We must obey the “love command” to a greater extent in order to see the Harvest come in. The Harvest that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 9:38 will only come in to the degree that the Church is living according to the commandment to love each other AS Jesus has loved us. We must get busy focusing on the love command and quit focusing on the things that do not matter.

(1Peter 5:5b) Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Is it any wonder why the subject of submission gets a bad rap? In today’s society of MY rights, MY likes, MY dislikes, me, me, I, I… we still do not understand that life is not all about the big “ME”! God did not create us to be self-seeking and self-serving…these are attributes of Satan. Thinking only about yourself and considering everything that everybody has done to you or not done for you will lead you to a life of loneliness and bitterness.

The more that you perform constant self-examinations on all your hurts, pains and fears, the more that you draw into yourself and put up walls between you and everyone else. Like the Word says “God Himself resists the proud”.

To submit to God means to quit looking at what God can do for you and begin doing what God has told you to do by obeying His leadership. Pride is the opposite of submission. “I deserve better”, “if only they cared about me…”, “after all that I have done for you…” – these phrases reveal the heart of someone that is in pride. It is not recognized as pride because it is masqueraded with hurt and “weakness”. God cannot help someone in the middle of a “pity party”. He can only give grace to someone that submits themselves to Him and His Word to the point that they are willing to admit fault, receive instruction and then change.

Have you noticed how easy it is for everyone in the world to blame everyone else in the world for their problems? Indications of a proud heart…

The humble and submitted heart is the one that is doing the Word in every way. Obeying God, loving people (and not demanding from them). Love is not touchy, fretful, rude…it does not take any account of any wrong done to it…it doesn’t try to get it’s way.

Submission is not bondage, but true freedom!

For the others all seek [to advance] their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). – Phillipians 2:21 (AMP)

How obvious is it that we live in a self-seeking, self-absorbed society? People are racing at the speed of sound to “get all they can out of life” under the guise of enjoyment and working desperately to make a name for themselves. Ever think about the phrase “name for yourself”? We are called by His Name to lift up His Name!

Jesus must become greater in our lives than we are. He must become the central focus in our lives and when He does the people that are looking at us will see Him shining so brightly that they will glorify our Heavenly Father (Matt. 5:16) … (not glorify us!).

Marketing has become the way of life in this generation. We market absolutely everything! (including water and oxygen!) We market ourselves and are in competition with ourselves to our own detriment. Whatever happened to “preferring one another before ourselves”? Or have we taken that out of “our version” of the Bible…? (Just a thought…)

Who are you promoting today? Do people glorify you or do they glorify God because of you? Our Father is expecting us to act like Jesus and when we do our interests become secondary and His interests become primary. We begin to look more like Him and in turn we are able to accomplish more of His will than our own. After all, isn’t that what it is all about? Not our will but His will be done in our lives? How are we measuring up?

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him – Col. 3:9-10 NKJV

OLD MAN vs. NEW MAN…you choose.

We have the responsibility to walk (live) according to the Word of God and act like Jesus. We can say that we are “trying”…but how hard are we trying?

To grow up into Jesus is to change the way that we act, think and speak. We have the power (and the responsibility) to change for ourselves. No one can make you change and no one can change for you. You decide when and if you are going to change.

Our disadvantage is that we live in a society of convenience where we do the least amount possible and expect the greatest result. We want all the shortcuts and we want them right now!

Real and lasting change is not based on convenience, it is based on the how much of the Word of God we are putting to practice in our lives. We must determine that we will do whatever the Word says for us to do as quickly as we see it in the Word! To change we have to change, period. How much have you changed lately?

Proverbs 29:20

(AMP) Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a [self-confident] fool than for him.

(BBE) Have you seen a man who is quick with his tongue? There is more hope for a foolish man than for him.

(CEV) There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

(GW) Have you met a person who is quick to answer? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

(NKJV) Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

One problem that everyone of us deals with is OUR TONGUE. The book of James talks a lot about the power of the tongue and the fact that what we say will direct our lives. (Read James for a great source of help in this area!)

We should practice the discipline of thinking before speaking but in a lot of instances we are way too quick to speak without thinking. Someone said, “make sure that your words are sweet because you will eat them”, and this is true.

If you have been too hasty to speak in the past just determine today that you will begin to “bite your tongue” (for the count of 10) before you say anything. Instead of talking so much learn how to ask other people questions and listen to what they say. Learning how to listen is the cure for talking too much. Don’t be a fool, hold your peace, bite your tongue and enjoy the results.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. – Acts 2:42 (KJV)

We all have the opportunity everyday to quit, run and hide. BUT we must continue steadfastly!

Continue in: 1) The Word – Read, study and meditate the Word of God as much as you can daily. 2) Fellowship – Get involved in a local church where iron sharpens iron and your church family can exhort you. 3) Breaking of bread – Receive communion – the Lord’s Supper – regularly, at home and at church. 4) Pray – without ceasing and before you do anything. Give yourself to prayer, listen to the voice of God.

It is our job to continue. To continue steadfastly means to make a choice to do what you know to do. God can only give you the strength to do what you have determined in your heart to do and then begin to move toward it. Don’t sit down in the mully grubs and whine and complain, get up, dust yourself off and get moving! Re-focus, re-fuel and get moving towards all that God has for you! Jer. 29:11 You can do more than you ever thought you could do but you must CONTINUE!