Thermometer or Thermostat?

Many homes have thermometers, both inside and out.  Outside thermometers are usually in the shade, whereas  central heat/air conditioning units have an indoor thermometers with their thermostats.  Both indoor and outdoor thermometers serve the same function: to measure actual temperature at any given moment.  Thermostats, however, allow occupants to change the surrounding temperature from what is to what is desired-either higher or lower. I have never seen an outside thermostat. If it's 90 degrees in the shade where you live it will remain that way, until weather changes raise or lower the temperature.  As I write this, the outside temperature is 69 degrees at noon, which is great for the middle of May.  For an Oklahoma July or August? Just wishful thinking.

Inside, however, we can change the existing temperature to be either warmer or cooler, depending upon personal preference. We do this by setting our thermostat to the desired temperature, up or down. Thermostats direct the air conditioner or heater to come on, thereby producing a change in temperature-either warmer or cooler. Thank God for working thermostats!

Our tongues can be either a thermometer or a thermostat, telling the way things are (thermometer) or declaring the desired result (thermostat). Telling things the way they are results in things remaining the same, or changing without your permission. Calling for change in your situation demands making a change in your words. From what is to what you desire. From the way things are to the way you want them to be based, of course, on the promises of God's Word.

Perhaps  you're in a situation that needs changing. Whether it's your health, finances, job situation, relationships, or your walk with God, it can change. But as long as you talk about just what is things won't change. Like that thermometer, your words will be an indicator of what is. On the other hand, beginning to speak what God's Word says about your situation will initiate change in your life. Your tongue will be like that thermostat, demanding your circumstances change from what is to what's promised to you by God, in His Word.

Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Are your words declaring what is or what's desired? What are you doing to see your circumstance change? How has reading this post helped? Who can you share this post with, to see change in someone else's life?

Error or Heir?

How do you see yourself? Not in the mirror, but before God. Are you constantly seeing your mistakes, faults, and shortcomings that you've come to see yourself as a mistake of God? On the other hand, have you taken the time to read the Bible for yourself, to find that you're one of God's children, precious in His sight? In your eyes, are you an error or heir of God?

An error is a mistake, failing, shortcoming-something that falls short of what's correct. An heir, on the other hand, is one who is legally entitled to the property of another, according to the terms of a will. There are many instances where someone was treated as an error, only to find out that that individual was, in reality, an heir to property and means beyond imagination. More often than not, simple ignorance of the truth prevented that dear person from partaking of what rightfully belonged to him/her.

So it is with our lives. We choose to see ourselves in light of our mistakes or in light of what God says about us. Will we live according to our experiences or dare to act like who we are in God's sight?

Error or heir? The Bible, in Romans 8:17, tells us that Christians are heirs of God. Not errors, but heirs. God said that about everyone who believes on Jesus Christ as Lord. Being an heir of God has nothing to do with gender, skin color, ethnic background, education, or social status. No, being an heir has everything to do with what Jesus did for us: paying the penalty for our sins with His Blood, then defeating Satan in Hell to liberate our lives from poverty, sickness, and sin forever.

We're now free to enjoy God's abundant goodness in our lives-spiritually, physically, financially, and materially. As heirs of God what He's provided for us is ours because Jesus isn't dead-He's alive!

How about you? Do you see yourself as an error or an heir? What are you doing with your inheritance? Have you dared to believe that you are, indeed, an heir of God?

Keep coming back to this site for more truths on who you are and what you have as a Christan. Let us know how these posts are being a blessing to you. We're here for you.

Is Your Angel Busy or Bored?

Angels are real. Jesus Himself said that children have their own angels, which children don't lose when they grow up. Hollywood has its own theology, portraying angels as earning wings (It's A Wonderful Life), being on probation (Highway to Heaven), or being nearly human (Touched By An Angel). Our knowledge of angels should be based on God's Word. What are angels? According to Hebrews 1:14 angels are ministering spirits sent to minister for those who are Christians those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Some want to know what angels look like, or how they get from one place to another. I'm more interested in what they say and do, aren't you?

Angels bring answers to prayer. In Daniel 10:12 an angel brought answers to Daniel's prayers concerning the children of Israel's future.  Psalm 103:20 says that angels hearken to the voice of God's Word. What does this mean? It means that when God's Word is voiced angels obey what those spoken words are and bring them to pass. It doesn't matter who's doing the saying-a preacher, child, teenager, or God Himself-angels are focused on bringing what they hear to pass without regard to age, gender, education, or any other external factor. A three-year old speaking God's Word in faith concerning healing or finances, will have a busier angel than an adult doubting the promises of God.

A doubting Christan's angel would like to stay busy bringing God's Word to pass, but angels don't respond to doubt (the devil and his cohorts do). Picture someone's angel sitting around bored , with nothing to do. Why? Because that someone is either ignorant of or refuses to speak God's Word. On the other hand, a person with just a little bit of faith can keep his or her angel busy, continually obeying God's Word that's coming out that person's mouth.

Is your angel busy or bored? Is your angel continually, occasionally, or never obeying God's Word concerning you and your life? How often are you declaring what God says about you: spiritually, physically, financially, and materially? If you want to keep your angel busy, keep voicing God's Word's concerning His promises and provision to and for you, and your family.

How's your angel doing? If bored, get it-and keep it-busy. If busy keep it that way. You can't wear an angel out. If necessary angels will get reinforcements, as was done for Daniel.

Is your angel busy or bored? What answers are you expecting from God, through the ministering spirits sent by God to minister for you?

Why Tithe? (The missing story)

First, my apology for not including this with the previous post, Why Tithe? (part 2). That being said the following story actually took place years ago It involves two business partners whose business was in the red. While neither man was saved, each man's wife was and attended church faithfully. Somehow the two men heard about tithing-perhaps from their wives-and decided to try it. The decision was made for the business to tithe, the reasoning being they had nothing to lose. The tithe was divided between the two partners; half to the church where one man's wife attended, half to the church where the other man's wife went. Again, neither man was a believer; they were seeing whether this tithing "thing" would work. Perhaps they figured they had nothing to lose.

God meets people where they're at. These businessmen were at a point of desperation regarding their business finances, willing to put what little they had heard to the test. Within 90 days of faithfully tithing, these two men's business was out of the red and into the black. I know for a fact that one of the men ( I'll call him Sam) did become a Christian.

How do I know this? I had the privilege of meeting Sam years after this happened, enjoying a friendship with him and his wife that lasted for over 20 years. I had heard the story I just related, then found out that it involved Sam and his business partner. Sam wound up getting saved and serving God until he went to Heaven, over 50 years after this event I just related took place.

Why am I sharing this true story? To illustrate that laws work, regardless of whether you believe them or not. The natural law of gravity will work for anyone. The same is true for the spiritual law of tithing. If tithing will work for a sinner how much more should it work for believers, those who have put their trust in God, through His Son, Jesus Christ?

What did you get out of reading this true account of tithing working in someone's life and business?

Can you see how it pays-financially and otherwise-to honor God with your finances?

Share how this post has been a blessing to you, then share it with others.

Why Tithe? (part 2)

Today I want to talk about where to tithe. The answer is really pretty simple: tithe where you are being fed. Naturally speaking you don't eat at Sonic, then pay at McDonald's .It's the same spiritually  Who's your pastor? Where are you going to receive the Word, serve, and fellowship with people of similar interests? Go where you are challenged to grow up in Christ, In a previous post (Who's Your Pastor?) I stated that everyone needs a pastor, period. If you don't have one, ask God to show you where you can get involved, through prayer, giving, and service. There's a place for everyone, including you. So the tithe gets paid through the church where you're being fed spiritual things on a regular, consistent basis. Offerings may also go to support the local church as well as reputable ministries.

Since most pastors are on a salary, set by a board of some kind, most pastors have little-if any-control over how much they make.  Pastors are usually underpaid. For what most pastors do the secular world would likely pay much more. What pastors do is beyond a job. It's a calling, often involving sacrifice on the part of the pastor, spouse, and children.

My wife and have traveled in ministry, usually staying in the pastor's home. As most of the works were pioneered by the pastor and his family, no one I preached for was living "high on the hog". Thank God for pastors who are willing to pay "dues" and loving congregations who faithfully tithe as an act of worship through their church. It's a winning combination, that God always blesses.

If the church is not in a position to support their pastor, he and/or his wife gets a job to provide for their family. This is often true in pioneering a new work: it takes time for the finances to grow to where the pastor and his family can be fully supported.

Your tithe is important to your church and pastor, for all the right reasons. As everyone honors God with their tithes and offerings God's work will get done-and everyone will be blessed.

Are you one of those who faithfully tithes? If not, where is God leading you to "hook up"?

What have you learned today about tithing that you didn't know before? How, when, and where can you apply what you've learned?

Why Tithe? (Part 1)

"Why tithe?". This question has been probably been asked of most pastors-including myself-since Bible times. The question of tithing has been discussed, debated, even divided churches over this subject. Today's post may or may not persuade the non-tither to change; however that's not my purpose. My purpose today is to give some open, practical reasons for tithing. Let's start with this: Tithing is for our benefit, not God's. God doesn't need money; He owns it all. As the late Corrie ten Boom once said: "God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and all the potatoes underneath them. Heaven has a street of see-through gold (Revelation 21;21). God doesn't need your money-no matter how much you make.

Your church, however, needs money to accomplish the plan God has given to the pastor. It costs money to have a place to meet. It costs money to run utilities. Volunteers can do only so much. Utility companies , on the other hand, want real money to provide gas, electricity, water, and telephone service. Things like insurance, property maintenance, and supplies add up. Since God isn't raining money out of Heaven, money for operating costs is going to come the old-fashioned way: through people. People like you and me honoring God with our hearts, mouths, and wallets/purses.

What is the tithe? The tithe means "tenth", the first 10% of your income. Tithing is like gravity: it'll work for anybody. Tithing is mentioned throughout the Old Testament, the Gospels, and Hebrews 7:8. Abraham tithed 430 years before it was part of the Law. Hebrews was written to Christians, not Jews. Are you tithing? If not, then are you really trusting God with your finances?

Where should one tithe? Tomorrow we'll talk about where to tithe. No places will be named;  just a look at what the Bible says about the subject. Plus a true story of tithing you don't want to miss.

If you tithe, how much has faithfully tithing benefited you? Your family?

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about tithing, but just hasn't made the decision to do so?