I’ve learned this about obeying God:  You do what’s right even when you don’t feel like it.

You keep standing when you want to sit.

You keep fighting when you feel like surrendering.

You go by what you know, not what you feel.

You walk by faith and not by sight.

You trust God when your emotions lie to you and tell you that He’s the one to blame.

You hang onto Him even when you feel like letting go.

You believe what He says when you have zero evidence backing it up.

Tags: Bible, fighting, giving up, God, God's Word, letting go, obey God, surrendering

When I came home from Cambodia, I wouldn’t have thought for one second that I was a Pharisee.  If anything, I was the one that had it together.  I’d been away for five months and not once during that time did I butt heads with someone.  I got along with people.  I liked people.  And they seemed to like me.  So if anyone was in the wrong, it had be my parents.  And I couldn’t wait for them to see it.  I couldn’t wait for them to start treating me like I deserved to be treated.

Tags: family, hard love, Jesus, loving when it hurts, Pharisees, real love, tough love, worthwhile

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. -Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, Matthew 23:27

Because the name “Pharisee” sounds so old and out-dated and old-fashioned, I never thought much about the prospect of such people being alive today.  Weren’t those the kind of people who wore long robes and tried to fulfill long lists of religious rules and regulations?  I didn’t personally know anyone like that.  Maybe those people existed in dusty old Catholic cathedrals, but I was charismatic.  I had to be the furthest thing from a Pharisee.  There was no tradition in my church.  No list of rules to fulfill.  We just loved Jesus and wanted to be like Him.  What was Pharisaical about that?

Tags: God, hyprocrite, Jesus, love, Matthew 23:27, Pharisee, real love, whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones

That should be at the top of every Christian’s to-do list.  Learn to argue.  Yes, argue.

I dare you to sit still for one minute — or even 15 seconds — and count how many times a lie comes into your mind.  Sure, you may not realize it’s a lie.  Perhaps the lies that will bombard your mind during that one-minute or 15-second interval are lies you’ve believed your entire life.  But if you can’t find them in God’s Word, they’re lies.  And lies are nothing more than satan’s arguments against the truth.

Tags: argue, God, Jesus Christ, Jesus in the wilderness, lies, satan, talk back, truth

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe.  Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Proverbs 4:25-27

Real-life application to follow.

Tags: fix your eyes, look straight ahead, Proverbs 4:25-27, sidetracked

How long do we fight?

Until we see the victory.

Not a moment sooner.

There’s no such thing as: “Well maybe it’s just not God’s will for me to have victory in this area.”  Get that lie out of your mind.  If it’s not it in God’s Word, you have no business believing it.

But what we do once we’ve seen the victory?

Keep standing.

Don’t sit down and take your comfy seat in the crowd.  Keep standing.

Tags: Ephesians 6:13, fight, God, Jesus, stand, Victory, what now

I’m sorry for the unreasonably long delay between parts 4 and 5.  If you want to look back on the other parts, here are the links:

Part 1 - What it Takes to Stand Before Kings

Part 2 - Do You Have What it Takes?

Part 3 - How Bad Do You Want It?

Part 4 - Waiting Won’t Kill You

———————————————————————

Tags: Daniel, David, do the right thing, Esther, integrity, Joseph

Before Daniel even met King Nebuchadnezzar, he underwent three years of training.  The Bible doesn’t tell us much about what on during that time.  The Bible seems to have a habit of sparing us those details.  When Esther was brought to the palace, before she even met the king, she went through 6 months of training.  How about Joseph?  He waited in prison for years before he was brought to the palace.  Or think about David, who was anointed to be king but spent the next several years being chased through the wilderness by the reigning king who wanted him dead.  And then there’s Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior, who spent 30 years on this earth during which time we know next to nothing of what went on.

Tags: Daniel, David, Esther, Jesus, Joseph, waiting, worth the wait

It doesn’t get any more clear than this:

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Tags: Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, get your house in order, Jesus' return, return to the LORD

The lush green grass feels crisp and cool beneath your feet.  The short, green stalks have just been cut and their fresh scent fills your nostrils and makes it way into your heart.  There is a newness about this evening.  Promise hangs heavy in the warm night air.

For months you have been making your bed on this grass.  You have been waiting and waiting and waiting.  Day after day, the frigidness of the ground paralyzed you in place.  You searched for warmth and couldn’t find it.  Then, as the freezing days became less and less frequent, you stood on brown, shriveled grass waiting for life to spring forth.  You begged the season to change.  When it didn’t, you laid down and stared at the sky as warm tears trickled from your eyes.  What about the promise? you wondered.  Did I not hear it correctly?

Tags: come away, God, God's voice, it's time, run to Him, song of solomon