And the Promise is.......

When we are referring to the promise of Abraham, we can see that God promised him that his descendants would inherit the Promised land. We are descendants of his in a faith sense. He believed God, and had faith that He would do what He said. We are to believe God also. We are to know way down deep in our knower, that God will honor what He has promised. We just have to have the FAITH to receive it. That means knowing that the promise is coming, and not doubting.

I believe Jesus spoke a little of the promise made to Abraham in the sermon on the mount. He said, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5) We have many, many, many promises in the bible that we need to have a knowledge of so that we can receive them.

What's the Promise

We hear about the Father of our Faith, Abraham. We hear about the promise/covenant that God established with Him. We hear that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness(right standing with God). We hear that we can share/inherit the promise as children of Abraham. The question I have is......

What is the Promise???????

What are we inheriting? The common question of today would be, "Whats in it for me?".

Plese examine, think, meditate and come to a conclusion on what the "Promise" is.

Tomorrow, we will examine the "Promise". Let me know what you think the "Promise" is.

A teen Jesus

Ever wonder what Jesus was like as a teenager? Some speculate that He may have walked around turning people into frogs. I DOUBT IT. The first evidence of Him performing miracles was not until the Holy Spirit came upon Him at baptism. But, the Bible does give us an idea of what His teen years were like.

I says that Jesus grew in strength and knowledge.(Luke 2:52) Wow, there is so much we can learn from just those few words. Many teens today have trouble staying connected. They spend a whole lot of time, money, and energy trying to stay trendy, when they really should just be growing in strength and knowledge of God.

We all want to grow closer to God, but we rarely crack open the Good Book during the week. He has provided us a letter so that we can get to know Him better. We pray for His presence and guidance in our lives, but we often forget to read the directions.

Be like Jesus today, and grow in strength and knowledge.....

Great Idea.....

We all have great ideas. But, great ideas can sometime prove to be devastating to others. I am challenging myself today to do as the Word says, and take every thought captive. If it lines up with what God says, then I may let it out.

We should strive for God ideas. To get these, we have to have a daily, hourly relationship with Him. We have to be so familiar with His Word, and His voice, that we don't miss these God ideas.

Ask Him today to reveal those dreams/ideas to you today.

Are you a Leader?????

You say that you would rather follow than lead. Many people just don't want to "own" the responsibility that comes with being a leader. They think "if I fail, it may cost me my job, or my family, or someone's life, or money, or....." the list goes on and on. I can relate, when we try to do things in the natural, (by our own power, without involving God), there is a lot of added, un needed pressure. But, when we are doing the things that He has called us to do, then we have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead at work in us, helping us to complete the good works that He has set forth for us.

I would be willing to bet that everyone reading this is a leader to someone. Stop and think, if you have children, you are a leader, if you help coach a little league team, you are a leader, if you have a younger sibling, you are a leader, if you have nieces and nephews, you are a leader.

So it is settled, we are all leaders in some fashion. Now, the most important part, STOP saying things like, "I'm not smart enough, I'm not good enough, No one will listen to me, I can't talk well enough". Those are lies straight from the enemy. When Moses was called by God, he said "I can't speak well enough", God responded by reminding Moses of Who made is mouth.

If you will step out in faith, seeking to glorify the Father, the Bible says that our works will prosper. That means if we have the right motives (that would be to glorify God and not ourselves) then whatever we do will be a success.

Live out your DASH

I have talked about this before, but I am going to hit on it again. Think about your headstone, Mine for instance will read something like this
William R. Stapleton, Jr.
Loved by many, Missed by All
July 2, 1979-July 2, 2070

The important part here, is the dash. You know, the things you do between the time you are born and the day you die. What will people remember about your "dash"? We are supposed walk by faith, and not by sight. That means, in the natural, we may think that we are going in the wrong direction, or we aren't going anywhere.

However, when we walk by faith, we just line up our steps and words with what God has already said about us, and start moving forward.

Live out you Dash, give your loved ones something special to remember you by.

What Rock????

In Matthew 16, Jesus makes the comment that "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it." He had just asked Peter "who do you say I am?". Peter replied "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God".

Many people believe that Peter is the "rock" that Jesus is speaking of. However, if you examine the Greek, Peter was translated from petros, which means "some small rocks". But, in this passage, petra is the word that was used. Petra means a large boulder.

I would challenge you to wonder and think if Jesus could have been saying that He would build His church upon Himself, the Rock of Ages, rather than Peter who is just a smaller rock who would be used to help build the church.

There is a prominent denomination today who believe that the lineage of Peter continue to giude and direct the entire denomination. However, I would submit that we should build our faith on "The Rock", Jesus Christ.

Anyone Tired?

We are all aware of the fast paced, hurried society we live in. We all seem to be pulled in 10 different directions all at once. Sometimes rest is the best thing when a person is tired. I know I always love to get a good nap in.


Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11 that if we come to him, we will find rest."Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I think that the key to this is coming and allowing Him to change our way of thinking. We are told that we should be "transformed" by the renewing of our mind.

Allow Him to purge all the thoughts, ideas, pre-cincieved notions of what our schedules should look like, completely out of your mind. Then, slow down and listen to the schedule God would like you to keep.

Tax Day

Today is the dreaded (for most people), 15th of April. That means, if you haven't sent in your previous years tax return, you have until midnight. We as Christians are commanded to be good servants/citizens. We were told by Jesus to "pay Cesar what belongs to Cesar".

In this case, the disciples were asking if they should pay taxes. Jesus asked whose picture was on the coin/money of their time. They replied, Cesar. Jesus then said, Well, give to Cesar, what is Cesar's and give to God what is God's. It is easy to see that our money belongs to the United States of America. It is plasterd all over it.

But, what is God's? Well, I would submit that "WE" are God's. We are to present ourselves, our lives, our bodies, our stuff, our homes, our cars, our talents, our abilities to God as a living sacrifice. Everything we are and have, we are to present to God as a "sacrifice". That means we are to give up our desires and allow His desires for us to be realized.

Ask Him today to "live through you". That means that He is in control, and you are just a willing vessel. Hold on, and get ready for the ride of your life.

Bow the Knee...

Yesterday at The Landing Community Church, we presented "Bow the Knee". A musical drama depicting the journey of a Roman Centurian. A Centurian was a leader in the Roman army. He was assigned to a legion, which some say contained nearly 12,000 men. A Centurian was one of the upper leaders of a legion.

This paricular Centurian had a couple of servants, one of which was healed from his death bed, and the other had secretly became a follower of Jesus Christ. During the drama, the Centurian saw and experienced the life, miracles, death, and ressurection of our Savior.

By the end of the presentation, after the Centurian crucified our Savior, he decided that he had been comitted to the wrong lord for many many years. The Centurian turned from the life he had known to follow the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Today, I would like to ask the same question that the Centurian asked, "Who will you bow to my friend?" The bible tells us that "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jeus as Lord." I hope that we can do that willingly now, rather than at Judgement Day.

Actions vs Consequences

Have you thought about the fact that we can all choose our actions, but not our consequences. You see, we all know that we are able to choose what we do, who we do it with, and where we do it. We choose to wear our seatbelts, drive too fast, run a red light. The list continues on with drinking or not, smoking or not, gambling or not, etc, etc, etc. We all know that we choose our actions. Most often, we aren't even forced into our decision.

However, we can't choose our consequences. There are principles/laws in place, most of the time, we aren't even aware of them. For instance, due to the law of gravity, if we throw an object into the air, it comes back down. Due to laws of physics, if we throw an object at a wall, the force is absorbed by both objects, and even transferred from one object to another.

There are also spiritual laws in place. For instance, the law of sowing and reaping says that He who sows generously will also reap generously, but he who sows sparingly, will reap sparingly. There is a principle at work with forgiveness. We are told that we will be forgiven with the same measure that we forgive others.

The point is, choose your actions with a knowledge of the consequences. Most of us are living with the consequences of some action that we comitted some time ago.

Choose your actions wisely.

Parenting 101

Ephesians Chapter 6 gives us instruction on how to treat our children. "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." What in the world does exasperate mean?

Exasperate: to irritate or provoke to a high degree; annoy extremely. I think in modern terms, it could be "to wear someone out by picking on his or her petty shortcomings".

I think as parents we HAVE to allow our kids the opportunity to learn from their failures. We have to teach and encourage them to become independent, self-thinking members of society. Why do we feel like we can't let them attempt some things on their own? Is it over protection? Or, is it that we may have to "re-do" something that they mess up?

Whatever the case, our job as parents is to provide, protect, and guide our children. We have to let go of the leash, and allow them to practice some of the things we have taught them.

What to say?

How often do we find ourselves chomping at the bit with something to say. I know I find myself sometimes in a conversation with someone, but unable to concentrate on what that person is saying due to the thoughts about what I am going to say next taking over my mind. Why do I do that? We were given two ears and one mouth for a reason; so that we can listen twice as much as we talk.

I encourage you to read James 1 today. Towards the end of the chapter, we are left with perhaps some of the best advice in all of the bible. We are told to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Wow, what would our world be like if we actually followed those three steps.

Stop a listen today......

Is there an Absolute Truth?????

Absolutely, there is. I will tell you about Him at the end of today's post. Many people today believe that the bible is open to personal interpretation. That infers that the bible is only true relative to the person interpreting it.

However, if you recall that Jesus said in John chapter 14 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well." Therefore, I would submit that all churches are teaching "the truth" as long as they are keeping Jesus Christ in the center.

We have all been raised in a society that belittles and rags churches and people of different denominations. But, if you recall the people that Jesus reached out to, he never withdrew himself from anyone, especially not those who weren't raised like He was. The one instance that could be argued was when He left His hometown of Nazareth because of the unbelief of the citizens there. But most every where else He went, He Loved the un-lovely, and Cared for the un-caring, and Healed the Hurting.

It is important to remember that with every miracle recorded in the bible, the receiver of the miracle always had to act in obedience to receive the miracle.

I pray that we can all be Obedient to the call that God has placed on our lives.