Getting in the Way of God’s Spirit

Dr. Mike Life in Christ, Spirit Follower , ,
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Acts7:51 ESV

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Stubbornness, which is a byproduct of pride and a heart that amplifies the self, has been the ruin of many people. As this scripture reveals through Stephen, the first known Christian to die a martyr’s death for Christ, aimed the above quote at the religious leaders of his day.

The problem which he identifies is the same one when dealing with religious and non-religious people today. I group them together because the issue is the same. They both have a hard heart and are convinced that their way is the only way of living a prudent life.

The religious person likes to emphasize the rules, the principles, and the methods. Whatever makes them feel good about themselves must be good for others. If it works for them, it must be good for everyone else. On the other hand, the non-religious person sees through their game playing, but likewise imitates them by throwing out the baby with the bath water. They see the hypocrisy and don’t want anything to do with it. However, instead of focusing on Jesus’ message, they only look at the misdirected fruit of religious people and close their eyes to everything else. Both sides miss the mark of realizing the problem is within them. As one person stated somewhere, ” when we point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointed back at oneself”.

Jesus once stated during a teaching moment, that a person pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). Most of us don’t look for God’s involvement in a situation until after the fact. By then, a difficult situation has become a worldwide crisis. Instead of asking, seeking, and knocking at the beginning of the process, we wait until after we have emptied ourselves with all our effort and resources. Only then do we begin to seek help from God.

However a person who looks past the human condition, who walks in the presence of the Triune God, is generally able to distinguish God’s work from man’s facade of righteousness. The reason is because that is where they came from. It takes one to know one.

The Holy Spirit is always at work. It is the Spirit that gives life (John 6:63). Like the wind, we may not see him, but we see the impact. However, we need to be attuned to him. We need to realize that God has given us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) that allows us to communicate and share in his fellowship. As we walk with Father-Son-Spirit, our harden hearts are displaced with the new heart that opens the pages of God’s universe and allows us entrance into his presence.

So the next time you think you are doing right, stop and ask God for confirmation. You may be pleasantly surprised with an answer that is more favorable for all involved parties. And yes, it is possible that you may not be initially correct. Yet with an open, attentive heart plugged into the Holy Spirit network, revelation in the workings of God has a way to change one’s opinion and worldview quicker than any other method. Or do you want to be known as the person who resists the work of the Holy Spirit?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Earn, Give, Save, Invest, Spend

Dr. Mike Business & Faith ,
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 ESV

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If you are starting out in your career, now is the time to implement a financial formula that works. For most of us who never learned the art and science of financial management, balanced with life’s other more important values, can learn from the success and mistakes of others.

Warren Buffet, the third wealthiest man in the world, began his career by living on 50% of his earnings for over twenty years while investing the difference. John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in his time, used a similar approach to life. My mom and dad, hard workers with only an eighth grade education, exercised a similar formula which allowed them to send two children to a private school, pay off their house in five years, and enjoy retirement debt free.
That formula is simply to live on less than you make while investing the difference. A simple strategy that few in today’s culture are able to discipline themselves to practice. Yet those who practice it, appreciate the results.

The ideal is too find something you either enjoy doing or are good at to earn a livelihood. As the income comes in, the lust is to start spending on everything you desire. Don’t. Instead start by allocating the money from that first paycheck for the important and not desirous needs of your life.

First start by asking God where he wants you to share his income with. Whatever he instructs you, follow through. It most likely will be your local church; yet he may also suggest a para-church ministry or a nonprofit that is doing good work in serving humanity from God’s perspective. Wherever it is, God enjoys a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Start off by giving a percentage that you can do so cheerfully. Some in the church preach the discipline of giving a tithe or ten percent as a starting point. If you can do so cheerfully, do it. If you can give more, do it. If you can only give less, do it. Whatever the amount, I assure you as God transforms your heart, you will become more generous in your giving over time. It is all his anyway. We are only learning to behave as his stewards.

Next, start saving. Whatever % amount you give away for a cause greater than yourself, save the same % amount until you reach 6 months of your annual income. It may take a few years, but when you arrive, you will have reached a point of economic freedom. If anything happens to your job, you have a reserve to fall back on. If an emergency arises, you have assets to fall back on. You don’t have to live by paycheck-to-paycheck in fear any longer because you have an emergency reserve.

After reaching your six month savings plan, start investing. Study and become a student of investment. If you are not adept at investment, than hire a personal planner without an agenda. Let him/her direct you into the instrument that will take your money and let it grow. There is no better way to earn a living than making money from money. That is how the rich live.
But you say by following the above, I will have to deny myself immediate pleasure and desires. Yes. But the fruit will taste better in the long run. Ask Warren Buffet. Ask my parents. Ask those people now in the late season of life who first spent their money without saving if they would do anything different.

The Bible states that the borrower is a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7); that there is profit in all labor (Proverbs 14:23); and God knows how money is best invested (Ecclesiastes 2:24-6) These principles are true today as they were 3,000 years ago when first written. Yes, it takes faith to deny the self now for the potential of a better future. So are you ready to make the faith journey with your economic life? It all starts when you earn, give, save, invest, and then spend.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Three Times

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , , ,
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said,“ My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

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How do you know when you have prayed and received confirmation from God?

There are scriptures that state we should continue to pray and ask and never quit (Matthew 7:7). This is true. Persistence and patience is rewarded by our Lord. Yet when you receive the same specific reply three different times, maybe it’s time to accept the answer.

For example, we don’t know the specifics of Paul’s request (2 Corinthians 12:8) except that it was a pain to his flesh. Some think it may have something to do with his eyes. Others feel it may have been a demon assigned to agitate him. It could have been some chronic ailment that he received as a byproduct of all the shipwrecks and beatings he received during his ministry. What it was doesn’t really matter.

He asked and received the same reply three times. Rather than continue to make requests unto the Lord, he contentedly accepted God’s answer in obedience and faithfully moved forward.

Another example is Jesus Christ himself. On the night he was betrayed (Matthew 26), he spent three hours making three requests with His Father to find another way to fulfill the mission. Yet after the third prayer, He accepted His Father’s answer and the rest is history.

After his resurrection, Jesus met with Peter (John 21) and asked him three times whether or not “He loved Him.” Though this was for Peter’s sake, who previously denied Jesus, now Peter confirms that he loves him.

Peter witnessed the same vision three times (Acts 10) which confirmed the Lord’s decree that all men are included in His work of salvation.

Three identical replies seems to be the number for confirmation. So if you are looking for confirmation from the Lord, you now know when to stop praying and start obeying.

 

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married