Character Matters

A solid foundation for life is established by our character. Ponder that a moment. If you really think about it—many of life’s issues are weighed and measured by our character—it determines the paths we take and the choices we make. Consequently, it also determines the choices and opinions of other people in regard to us and our life.

Character defined as:  A combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing. Distinguishing quality and characteristic; moral force, ethical quality and integrity of a person.

Excellent character sustains the blessings in our life. I have this concept I call the “sieve theory.” It unfolds as this—God in His goodness continually pours blessings on us—His children. If our character is weak then our ability to possess, preserve and sustain these blessing is inept. A character of poor quality resembles a sieve. Unfortunately, questionable character rots the bottom out of our life and sadly, blessings fall straight through.

How many times has God blessed us with a relationship, a job, money or an opportunity where unstable character ruined all our probabilities?

The sieve theory has operated in my life more times than I choose to count or remember!

A great way to excel in good character is to notice the word nature in the definition of the word character. The definition says “A combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person.” Our nature is who we are fundamentally—at our core. Have you ever heard someone say “That’s just the way I am” this statement is in reference to the nature of a person.

One of the things I love about knowing God is the exchange He has made available to us at the cross. Exchanging our nature with Jesus’ nature is one of the first and most ongoing actions we as disciples of Christ partake in.

No matter who we are, where we come from or what we have been through—our nature does not have to stay the same. We have the amazing privilege to shed off our old nature and take on the nature of Christ. This is the essence of true Christianity—you have got to love this—how fortunate we are!

Having a house full of young adults is very interesting—we are at the stage where some are interested in finding a spouse. When it comes to my children finding a spouse, I never thought it would be such a huge process! But being on this end—where I’m a concerned parent whose been married for 31 years—knowing the intricate workings of marriage—and the sieve theory—it’s a big deal! Why? Because what we want from our kids before they marry is excellent and solid character. And the character we are looking for in a mate is nothing less than blameless and unwavering.

Fortunately, God has set my heart at ease. He’s done this by showing me that the most important character trait that we are expecting in our children and in a mate for them—is not necessarily a virtue—but what we are looking for is—how much they know and love God.

For a heart truly relinquished and sold out to God, His will and His purposes, will possess all the godly and moral character traits one could ever ask for. A person with this conviction will continually exchange their nature for God’s nature.

Thank God—all the world’s problems are solved—all we have to do is be Christ Like!

Please be encouraged to know and love God with all your heart and soul, in doing so you can’t help but to throw off your old sinful nature and take on the character of Christ.

Ephesians 4:21-23

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

1 Peter 1:3-8

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Skillful Living 101—18 Our Strong Tower

A life that is lived skillfully would most definitely be a life lived in God’s presence.

Proverbs 18:10, describes God as a strong tower where the righteous run in and are safe. I love how compassionate and loving God is, that He provides a place where we can find refuge and peace. This refuge is not just any old place—no, our place of security is in the very presence of God.

One way to understanding God’s presence is to see it as a shelter, a fortress and a hiding place. A dwelling—where our life is hidden in God, not that we necessarily hide from life, but an actual place where we live life.

Colossians 2:3 says

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Proverbs—the book of skillful living, is all about setting our mind on things above and not on the things of the earth. Living a life hidden with Christ in God, helps us to rise above earthy circumstances—rise above trivial—setting our heart and soul on the most important—the things of God.

A good way to remain diligent in living skillfully—thus setting our mind on things above is to make living in God’s presence our daily objective. In doing so we must grab a hold of His Word—making it our source of nourishment.

In Proverbs 18, we find a myriad of good advice and nourishment. Granted the whole chapter is beneficial but we will look at six main points, found in verses 10, 15, 19, 21, 22 and 24.

Verse 10—“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

• The righteous make God their refuge
• God is our help

Verse 15—“The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

• A sensible person esteems knowledge
• To set our mind on things above, we must pursue biblical knowledge
• The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge

Verse 19—“A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

• An offended person, whether they be right or wrong, is harder to talk to, and work things out with, than a fortified city
• It’s better to pray and wait—rather than argue with an offended person
• Remember offence is a choice—we must keep our heart free of offence

Verse 21—“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

• Our words will bring life our death to those on whom they fall
• If we love gossip and slander, we will reap its rewards
• We need to make habit of speaking life into people and situations
• Controlling our tongue is a heart issue

Verse 22—“He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.”

• A spouse is a blessing from the Lord
•  We have to be good stewards of God’s blessings

Verse 23—“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

• First be a friend
• Faithfulness is priceless

Skillful Living Tools

• Make it your daily objective to live in God’s presence
• Learn to know God’s presence as a shelter, refuge, a fortress and a hiding place
• Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth
• Grab a hold of God’s Word—making it your source of nourishment.
• To set our mind on things above, we must pursue biblical knowledge
• It’s better to pray and wait— rather than argue with an offended person
• Death and life are in the power of the tongue
• Make habit of speaking life into people and situations
• Treat your spouse good—they are a blessing from God
• A faithful friend is priceless

Please be encouraged to seek God as your strong tower and place of refuge—here your heart can settle and be at peace.

Read and apply all of Proverbs 18 and please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

 

 

Skillful Living 101—14 Upright

If you’ve read the Bible for any length of time, you’ve no doubt come across the word upright. A huge component to living skillfully, is to ascertain uprightness. I know it can seem as an out dated expression or concept, but truthfully, living uprightly is key to relationship with God and to blessings.

The attributes of the upright are: Integrity, blameless, prudent, virtue, honor, morality, truth, reliability, decency, discrete, honest and righteousness.

Two character traits of an upright person are wisdom, and understanding. The book of Proverbs is drenched with instruction on being wise and acquiring understanding.

Everyone with any sense—desires to navigate through life skillfully. Remember—the book of Proverbs is our guide for skillful living. A firm grasp on uprightness will assist us in living wisely.

One way to look at uprightness is to see it as freedom. Leviticus 26:13 says,

I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.

The burden of bondage causes us to slump over with heaviness, worry, condemnation and shame. Freedom looses us to stand upright, both in our stature and in our heart and soul.

Almost all of Proverbs 14 has to do with walking uprightly, but I will highlight just a few (or more) significant verses, using NKJV and The Message.

Verse 1, “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.”
This is huge and one of my favorites (being a woman and all). If we are not in unity and submission with God and His will, as well as with our husbands, we—with our own hands demolish our family! Careful ladies!

Verse 2—“He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.”
The Message version reiterates this verse very frankly. “An honest life shows respect for God; a degenerate life is a slap in his face.” Ouch!

Verse 3—“In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.”

Verse 9—“Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor.”
Upright people have a hard time sinning—God’s favor, is their reward.

Verse 10—“The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish.”

Verse 12 & 13—“There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.”

Verse 25—“Souls are saved by truthful witness and betrayed by the spread of lies.”

Verse 29—“Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.”

Verse 30—“A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.”
One way to attain good health is to align your heart with God’s.

Verse 33—“Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known.”

Maybe you’re wondering—how do I live uprightly? How do I get wisdom and understanding? These are not stupid questions!

First, start with sincerely asking God—if we seek Him we will find Him. Seeking God means to wholeheartedly go after Him.

Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

Next, if you’re seriously seeking Him, expect that He will answer and show you His will. When He does—deny yourself and obey His directives.

A lot of the time God keeps silent because He knows we won’t listen and do what He tells us, that’s why we must seek Him diligently. If we want to be wise and have understanding thus live uprightly—the first wise step is to listen and obey.

Proverbs 1:28-29
When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.  For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear (obey) the Lord.

Changing our lifestyle is not always easy and change has to start on the inside. In seeking God first, we can be confident that He will take care of all the things we are concerned about. (Matt. 6:33)

Please be encouraged to ask God to help you live your life uprightly, you will not regret it—there are many rewards for upright living!

Skillful Living Tools

• To live skillfully—ascertain uprightness
• Understand that living uprightly is freedom
• Build your home with wisdom—don’t tear it apart with un-submissiveness
• The home and family of the upright will flourish
• Respect and honor God by living an honest life
• Be slow to anger
• The first step in being wise—is to listen and obey
• Remember change starts on the inside

Please share with those who need to live skillfully!

Check out the Skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page!

Not Ordinary

Mary the mother of Jesus was just a simple ordinary person with an everyday life—just like you and me. But was she really—simple, ordinary, average? Are you? Maybe in the worlds eyes, but not so in God’s.

I’ve been looking through the archives of my blogs for something to repost while I’m on vacation and stopped at these three very short blogs about Mary. I am always captivated by the way God used her. It gives me hope, that God would use me to do the impossible!

I combined all three with the scripture reference at the end. Read and enjoy. Marvel at how God used Mary and dream of the possibilities of how He will use you!

Blog One:  When the angel spoke to Mary informing her that she would conceive a child, she responded in wonder. How could this happen, since she had never been with a man?

The angel told her “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you.”

Basically what happened to Mary was the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and impregnated her with Jesus.

Everyone, no matter our relationship with God, can know Him more—know Him deeper still.

I want to encourage you to invite God Most High to come upon you—allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to overshadow you. Allow Him to implant yet another degree of Jesus—the gift of love and life in you.

Blog Two:  The angel greets Mary, telling her “Rejoice highly favored one.” Then in response to her alarm he says to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Next he enlightens her;  she will conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her and bring forth a son who will reign and be called the Son of God. And that’s not all, he relays the message that her relative who is well past child bearing age has conceived as well.

She was just informed of impossibilities. In the natural we would see these as nothing but impossible—but in the supernatural we can view any impossibility as possible.

I love thinking about Mary. At this point in her life she’s a young, unmarried virgin, being told she is going to be the mother of Jesus, Savior of the world. What was she thinking? Did she view the angel’s words as impossible? Or did God choose her because she had deep unwavering faith?

Mary found favor with God. His eye was on her, He chose her; bestowing on her the highest honor given to a human being. Jesus the Son of God would take residence in her womb. She would give birth to, nurture and raise God’s very own Son. It was unprecedented. How could this be possible?

Gabriel the angel assures her, “With God nothing will be impossible.”

Everyday the Holy Spirit of God wants to fill our human heart and rule our human soul. Everyday God asks us to do the impossible.

When He looks to us, what will He find? Will He find deep unwavering faith as He found in Mary?

Everyday God wants us to conceive or give birth to a miracle in our life, will we say it’s impossible? Or will we believe the angel’s words—”With God nothing is impossible”

Mary’s impossible was first: not to be afraid. Second: realize she was favored by God. Third: understand that no matter how controversal or difficult her situation got, God was bestowing a gift on her. And last but not least she had to exercise her faith and believe God—the One who loved her—the One whom she loved and trusted—to do the impossible for her—not just for a day but for a life time.

What impossibility are you facing? What does God want you to conceive or give birth to?

No matter your circumstance, remember:

*Do not be afraid
*You are favored by God
*God has gifted you
*Exercise your faith—believe God—the One who loves you—the one who you trust and love—to do the impossible for you!

For with God nothing will be impossible!

Blog Three:  Gabriel’s eloquent words unfold before Mary, painting for her a picture of God’s beautifully detailed, master plan. A designed arrangement that embraced her world. Plans foretold long before she ever took her first breath. Plans that would rearrange her life forever.

How did Mary respond?

How would you respond?

Her response causes my heart to marvel—yearning for the same simple trust and pure faith in God.

Savor the words of a selfless girl…“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

Mary responded with a sincere, yes Lord. Let your will be done in me as You desire. No reasoning just, yes Lord.

Let us carry the humble posture of Mary the Mother of our Savior. May the same sweet words be on our heart as well as our lips…yes Lord…”Let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:26-38 “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! ”But when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

Skillful Living 101—8 Wisdom’s Excellence

The Excellence of Wisdom

Wisdom, insight and understanding sound their request. Let all who have a heart to hear—pay attention to the excellence of wisdom.

What is the excellence of wisdom? Nothing less than Christ.

As we read Proverbs 8, it’s as Christ Himself is calling to the very core of our being, saying listen—my words are plain, give ear to understanding, use good judgment, do not be foolish, but embrace Me—behold wisdom and live.

Wisdom’s value is priceless, of more worth than gold, silver and precious jewels.

What do you desire most? Proverbs 8:11 shamelessly states, nothing we desire can compare with wisdom. That’s a huge declaration, one to ponder.

Take that which is of greatest desire to you, feel its worth—and know that the scripture says wisdom is of greater value.

Be stirred to make an exchange with God—that which you desire, for that which God desires for you—Christ the excellence of wisdom and the fruit of His righteousness.

Proverbs 8:17-18 coincides with Matthew 6:33, they pronounce;

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness.”

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

It really is simple, but most difficult for our flesh; seek Him first and He adds all things, according to His will, to you. Our human mind wants to reason how can this simple daily choice of seeking God first help me?

Listen…wisdom is calling…instructing us to choose to seek Him first.
Hear with faith…tune your spiritual ears.

Proverbs 8:19 articulates that the profit of choosing Him first is superior over any other choice.

“My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.”

Verse 34 offers a nugget of truth on seeking Him—that will change your life.  It says, watch daily at His gates and wait at His door post.

Watch for the Lord—wait for Him, He will come. Jesus is the wisdom of God, He fills every need—every day!

If you want blessings, favor and life from the Lord, simply keep His ways, hear His instruction and make your heart His home.

Proverbs 8:33-36 “Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

Be encouraged to read Proverbs 8 with the perspective of wisdom being Christ—it will bless you!

Check out the skillful Living Tool Box (updated weekly) at the top of this page.

Skillful Living Tools:

• Ask for the revelation of Christ as the wisdom of God
• Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
• Keep His ways
• Listen to instruction and be wise
• Watch and wait for the Lord

Favor Ain’t Fair

I’ve been pondering a statement one of my sons made; He said “Favor aint fair.” What’s fascinating about favor is that it gives us an advantage. I like to think of God’s favor as—a doorman at an exquisite hotel—we walk up and the doorman, no questions asked—flings the door wide open.

Last weekend we were at a high school hockey tournament, where our son Parker and his team were battling it out for the Idaho State Championship title. Before each game as we traveled from our hotel to the ice rink, we prayed for Parker and the team.

On the first day as we were praying for agility, foresight and favor for Parker, I had this knowing that we had found favor with God. He was going to meet Parker and empower him to play the best hockey he ever has. I couldn’t stop smiling. Just then my other son says “Favor ain’t fair.” I had the same sentiment, those who call on God have an advantage—I almost felt sorry for the other teams!

Finding favor is translated as: special benefits or blessings.

Excitement and this sense of overwhelming love and favor filled my heart. I knew God was with my son and that He would favor him and help him.

Sure enough, Parker played the best five hockey games of his life! Actually his whole team played amazing—and earned the Idaho State Championship title.

I know it’s just a high school game, and I pray for favor quite often. But through this experience I grasped the favor concept as never before, seeing God’s favor as an advantage. Not in a smug way, rather in a manner that causes my heart to swell with warmth and gratitude for God’s remarkable love.

God’s favor isn’t the kind of thing we brag about, as if we are better than others—no, we brag about how awesome our God is! We are not favored because we are so great, and God owes us a favor, but because our God is so great, kind and loving.

Proverbs 16:15, “When the King smiles, there is life; his favor refreshes like a spring rain.”

The benefits of God’s favor are endless. My heart is so full of admiration for God, not because I’m highly favored but because His favor shows me yet again how much He loves me.

Please be encouraged to marvel at God’s favor as you bathe in His love.

Psalm 31:16,  “Let your favor shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me.”,