Category: obedience

When You Fast

Monday, 10 January, 2011 11:23 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

Jesus said WHEN you fast, not IF you fast.

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. – Matthew 6:16-18 NKJV

Fasting should be as common as giving and praying according to Jesus. Just study Matthew 6. He wants His body to fast. He fasted and it was a part of His lifestyle!

Fasting can be a tough subject for Christians who have never fasted because it deals with the flesh and sacrifice. There are many wrong ideas about fasting that have evolved from many wrong teachings on the subject. The bottom line in fasting is to say NO to your flesh in order to say YES to your spirit and hear from God.

We should be so accustomed to fasting that we are consistently asking the Lord, “do you want me to fast something right now?”. It should be a lifestyle with us. We should live so connected to the Lord that we are willing to give up anything at anytime in order to spend more time in fellowship with Him.

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World Class Worriers

Saturday, 04 September, 2010 08:54 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

Some folks worry with every fiber of their being. “If I don’t worry, who else will?” is their thinking.

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!

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Got Your Ears On?

Tuesday, 31 August, 2010 08:10 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

The phrase in CB land (many moons ago) “Got your ears on?” meant “are you listening?”

“The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.” – John 10:27 AMP

Hearing and listening are two different things. We can hear but at the same time not listen. This is why Jesus said many times, “Verily, verily, I say unto you He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” In modern language He would have been saying, “Hey, you guys listen up, pay attention, because what I am about to tell you is extremely important!” I believe that it was very necessary for Jesus to incite the disciples to listen because we all have mastered the ability to “tune things out”. We become very good at hearing what we want to hear. Teenagers have a problem hearing things like, “Clean your room” and “Do your homework”. Adults often have a problem with instructions such as, “Pick up some milk on the way home” and “please pay the insurance premium by next week.” We hear what we want to hear.

Jesus was saying in the above scripture that in order to follow Him we must first, be His sheep, second, hear what He is saying and lastly, listen to His voice.

Are you listening? and are you following?

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Your Steps Are Ordered

Thursday, 26 August, 2010 10:24 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

“One, two, three, four…left, right, left, right, left.” Walking “in step” with God, being led by the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves in the right place at the right time.

The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]. Psalms 37:23 AMP

God has ordained that we walk in the steps that He gives to us. The prerequisite is that we delight in His way. What exactly is delighting in His way? Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. (His way of being and doing right)

We cannot seek our own good and do what we think is best and then ask Him to direct our steps. We must delight ourselves in His ways first and then our steps can be ordered by Him. We do something and then He does something. There is a man side and a God side to this equation. You do your part and that puts you in a place for God to do His part. (the ball is in our court!)

Before using a GPS unit you must turn the power button on. Once you turn the power button on then it will be able to do it’s job of leading you where you want to go. We turn our power button on when we DRAW NEAR TO GOD. Come into His presence so that He can order your steps. Step 1, step 2, step 3…

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Head Led or Spirit Led?

Monday, 16 August, 2010 06:14 Written by Pastor Bruce 0 Comments

What guidance system are you using today? Is it your head? Or His Spirit?

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

God has provided His Spirit to lead us everyday and in every decision that we must make. Far too often we only depend on our mental ability to make “sound” decisions. Common sense “rules” our life. We must be logical and do things according to some “text book” or our prior training or experience…we think.

When we don’t rely on the Holy Spirit we are left to every other source of guidance. Any other source is totally inferior to the Holy Spirit! He is the Spirit of Truth and will lead us and guide us into all the truth! He knows the future and can lead us in every step that we take BUT we must resolve to move out of our head and into our spirit.

We have to leave the shore of fleshly methods and swim out into the depths of the spirit where God can show us things that we have not seen before. Face it, we are not smart enough to lead ourselves. We need the Leader, the Helper, the Guide to show us the way. He is waiting for us to follow.

Let’s go!

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