James Study Notes Continued/1:3

James 1:3 "...knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."

Our Father uses tests and trials to work patience out of us, and into full view of the public. In another part of the Bible we are told "it is by faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God." (ie. Salvation brings eternal life, but I can't actually prove that to anyone until I have died. Therefore, I am patiently believing and waiting for what I know to be assured.) Patience is required for the actual fulfillment, even though I am already saved.

"The trials or temptations of a Christian are the touchstone of their faith, both in the the strict and comprehensive sense. They put to the proof their trust in God, their belief in what God says, of what God promises." (J. Addison Alexander, D.D.)

"It is reasonable to bear that accident patiently which God sends, since impatience does but entangle us, like the fluttering of a bird in a net, but cannot at all ease our trouble or prevent the accident. It must be run through, and therefore it were better that we compose ourselves to a patient, than to a troubled and miserable suffering." (Jeremy Taylor)

Our Father uses test and trials like training wheels on a bicycle to prepare us for what is coming, what is needed, what is profitable for this life and eternity. That being said, we are going to need these verses to remind us that we have to grow. We don't grow if we become miserable every time God designs a test or trial. God is doing it for our good, and the good of the kingdom, not to hurt us or make us miserable. And we are going to need PATIENCE in this life and the next, I suspect.

to be continued...

James Study Notes Continued/1:2...

James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…”

James is exhorting his brothers to check their attitude when all kinds of strange things come against them in life. Believe it. In this life there will be trouble. There will be trials to test and tempt us. And according to this verse they will come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Our job as Christians is to not get caught up in the “Why is this happening to me?” mindset. Our job is to know that it is okay to be surprised by a situation in life, and to make sure we don’t let our attitude become an add-on obstacle along with the test or trial. I already have to deal with whatever it is, so I don’t want to have to also deal with a negative attitude. That sounds like working harder not smarter.

So, James here reminds us to just be ready. You might ask “Ready for what?” To which I would answer “Ready to count it all joy.” Joy and I can do a lot together. Joy and I can get through almost anything because my heart is glad and my head is clear. Now of course this is not the natural reaction when testing or tempting is going on, that is why we are told to “count it.” To “count it” is to make a conscious decision to not let my feelings take over and start running how I should respond. If my feelings are running the show then I will re-act, and that over time has proven to be unwise for me, to say the least. No, I need to clear the feelings off the table, and respond to whatever I am facing with coolness and truth. Trust me when I say that is going to take forethought and effort on my part. Technically, this verse encourages us to not take our feelings of the table, but instead turn those feelings to joy, which for me is going to take even more effort.

Joy comes from our abiding presence in God. It is a spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joy comes from a living and vibrant relationship with our Father in heaven. Joy comes when I remember how much God loves me and I forget not all His benefits. The Lord promises to go with us through all our trials, and I can’t think of a better companion or reason to be joyful. We will do well to remember that our Father is trying to do a great work in us. He is trying to form and mold us into the image of His dear Son, our Lord Jesus. Forming and molding a living being I am sure is not very easy, especially the way I wiggle and squirm. But it is the highest thing on our Father’s “Honey-do” list today. I have often said to myself and others, “At the end of the day our Father is not as concerned that we all had a wonderful day. His main concern is that we grew today to be more like Jesus.” That might be a revolutionary concept for you. It was for me. I thought when you became a Christian that everything was going to be “pie in the sky” from here on out. Well, I have learned the hard way that is not even close to the truth. I often wonder where I got that idea because it certainly isn’t in the Bible. Don’t get me wrong, we as Christians have our Lord Jesus as our great Advantage, but they who have much will be asked to do much. Part of that "much" is to count it all joy when faced with a trial.

to be continued soon...God Bless You

James Study Notes Continued/1:2

Remember, James is writing to Jewish Christians at this time. There is a very good reason that he led off with “…a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” James was making sure to keep Jesus Christ closely associated with the divinity of God the Father. For most of the Jewish people this was a radically new concept that Jesus was sent from the Father to be as it were the “Face of God.” Jesus is God with skin on Him, and James is making sure they understand that Jesus was fully man and fully God. James goes on to address his letter “To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” This is the reason that scholars believe that the Gentile (non-Jewish people) believers for the most part were not yet a major outbreak in the newly formed religion. Or at least, James being the overseer of the church at Jerusalem wasn’t thinking that this letter would reach many of them since Paul and Peter were ministering the things of God primarily to the Gentiles.

What does he mean “scattered abroad?” Well the scholars have evidence to believe that God had scattered many of the Jews much earlier as a form of punishment for their continual breaking of the covenant with God. But there was still a great multitude by now back in Jerusalem and with their business, social, and religious networks in place from where they had been scattered they were all over the region. This was considered a gift of mercy that God did not allow them to sin their way out of existence, but instead put them in various places to be under hardship so they would turn back to Him in repentance and obedience. That is just the recent geographical history though. As James is writing this letter it is heating up in Jerusalem for Christians. One of the rulers of Rome actually had Jerusalem burned to the ground, and then blamed it on the new sect called “Christianity.” Now imagine what kind of backlash there was against the Christians then. They were hated and despised by most everyone, but this too was God doing for them what they couldn’t do for themselves. They were actually told by Jesus to go into the entire world and preach the gospel, but they had evidently started a “Holy Huddle” and become the “Frozen Chosen” so God sent calamity among them to pressure them out so they could fulfill their assignment to preach Jesus to the ends of the earth. Thus the reason James starts off with verse 2-3 as, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (endurance or perseverance).

More to come soon...

Study Notes on James/Introduction

Study Notes on James

James 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. This James is believed by most scholars to be the half-brother of Jesus. We know that Jesus’ mother was the Virgin Mary, and that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit into her womb. Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph at the time of Jesus’ conception. Mary went on to marry Joseph which made Jesus his step-son. Then Mary and Joseph went on to have children of their own of which James is one of them. It is interesting to note that because of his life spent growing up with Jesus that James did not immediately recognize his half brother Jesus to be the Messiah until after Jesus rose from the dead and sought him out to make sure of his belief in Him as Messiah. Once James saw his half brother Jesus raised from the dead he became a devout believer. He calls himself “a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” A bondservant is not a forced slave at all, but one who lovingly bonds himself to his master which makes him free indeed.

James’ letter is written to Jewish Christians. It is believed to be one of the earliest letters written to the newly formed church because there are no mentions of Gentiles in the writing. James is highly regarded in the Jewish church and was said to hold great influence among the leaders of the non-Christian Jewish church as well as the congregation of newly converted believers to Christ as Savior which is no small task for sure. He was known as James the “Just or righteous one” by the people and highly regarded as a man of inward character and outward piety. As a matter of fact he was allowed in the Holy Place of the Temple and was often found there on his knees praying for the forgiveness of the sins of his people. He also had the nick-name of “camel knees” because they had become so callous and worn from days and days of praying prostrate before the God of heaven.

It was his great influence with the Jewish synagogue leaders who had not converted to Christianity that got him killed as a Martyr for Christ. These leaders mistakenly thought they could have James use his authority and influence to have people stop from believing in Jesus as Messiah. So they gave him a platform to speak to the people about not converting to Jesus, and true to his faith James stood up and boldly declared that Jesus was the Messiah and is now sitting at the right hand of the Power of Majesty on High (God the Father). The Jewish leaders were enraged by what he had done and stoned him to death on the spot while he rolled on to his camel-knees and started praying for the Father to forgive them because they did not know the damage they were doing by stoning the messenger of God. How ironic that the half brother of Jesus who was not convinced of Jesus as the Messiah while he lived as a man on the earth, but was now being stoned to death for his overwhelming conviction of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior even though Jesus was now in heaven.

Make-Up Artists

During the holiday season it is normal for us to gather together with friends and family that we don't see at other times during the year. Unfortunatlely, this is not always as easy as it should be. We as humans tend to be pleasant for the most part (really?), but we all have that certain someone or someones in our life that we just don't prefer to be around. It may be a confrontaion from the past, or that we just don't play pretty together, or that we are socially retarded these days and aren't sure how to patch up an old wound. Our hurts could be driven by pride, insult, or injury. No matter what the deal is if you are a Christian, Jesus has left some pretty explicit instructions as to how we are to handle any relationship in our lives whether good or bad.

Has somone in your past or present caused you some pain? Have you been offended either directly or indirectly (taking on the cause of someone injuring a friend or loved one)? Is there a relationship with a family member, ex-friend, co-worker or workers, neighbor, or spouse that as you read this the Holy Spirit is bringing to your remembrance, so that you and He can re-visit them and make it right? I'll just bet there is. We all have them in our lives. Let's face it, in this world full of selfish people we have all made enemies without even trying to. In Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

Jesus goes on to say "that if you love those who love you what reward have you? Everybody loves those who love them. So the answer is, no reward, for loving those who love you. Jesus wants us to go the extra mile. He wants us as His children and ambassadors of the Kingdom of heaven to love deeply from the center of who we are, whether we get loved back or not. He says that when we do it His way we are most like our Father in heaven, and most like Jesus Himself who died on the Cross for us when we were His enemies. The servant is not above his Master, and in God's word I have never found where God has asked us to do anything that He has not demonstrated for us a thousand times greater.

So remember as you go this week that when it comes to broken relationships our God and Father wants us to become great make-up artists. Life is too short and someones eternal life may depend on seeing Jesus in you. Jesus always makes the first move and so should we, whether we are in the right or not.

Think-Thanks

I had a friend of mine say in a recovery group meeting once, "I used to do drugs to change the way I felt." It was a simple statement that he made, but so profound. There are so many people today who are struggling with so many things. A lot of them know what's bothering them and can't seem to fix it. Many others don't even have a clue to what is making them feel bad. They just know that things aren't right. I too, used to do drugs to change the way I felt. It doesn't have to be drugs. It could be sex, alcohol, adrenaline, co-dependency, food, anger, or a myriad of other mood-changers. You see all these things are just the symptoms of something wrong down deeper in our spirits. They are not the problem, but the problem expressing itself in all these various ways. I came to Christ about 9 years ago, and slowly but surely He started to heal some underlying issues I had and lies I had believed about life and God.

When Christ came into my life a lot of things started to be different as I read His word, and I learned that He died to set me free. I no longer needed to carry heavy burdens in life because He had become my burden-bearer. I didn't have to have it all together at all times because He says "He will never leave me nor forsake me" even when I get all full of myself or pity. Yes, even on the days when I am at my worst He still loves me and you. There is no perfection on this side of heaven, so all you perfectionists just let it go and trust in Him. Quit trying to be perfect, and definitely quit projecting your perfectionistic demands onto others. Poor people, cut them and yourself a break. God loves you and me. He couldn't love you anymore than when He made you, and He will never love you any less no matter how you behave today. That is how He rolls. He is the ultimate people-Person. He is the lover of our souls, and He shouted it to the whole world about 2000 years ago when He came down in the form of a man, lived a righteous, holy life, and then chose on purpose to die that horrible death on the Cross for our sins. Which leads me to why I am writing this blog today.

You see, I have found a better way to change the way I feel these days. If I don't feel right about something today I just take it to the Lord in prayer. I talk with Him honestly and openly about the way I am feeling as He invites us to do throughout the whole of Scripture. The Psalms are full of a loving childs prayers to the God of heaven and earth. The God who knows, who cares, who sees and hears, and answers. Jesus said to His disciples when they asked Him to teach them how to pray, "Pray in this manner, Our Father in heaven..." Wow, do you know how absoulutely revolutionary this statement was back in Jesus' day? Call the God of heaven and earth, "Father?" That could have actually gotten you stoned to death for blaspheming God in those times. But Jesus came to bring into fullness the Old Testament writings, and this is one of the biggest of the full truths. God wants to be our Father. A loving, kind, wonderful Father like none other ever has been or will be on this planet.

So, today as you think about anything good or bad, remember to think, "thanks." If you need to change the way you feel then just start thanking God for all the things throughout your life that have been gifts to you, small or great. Don't hold it in. "Count your blessings one by one..." But don't do it silently. Pour forth out of your mouth the sacrifices of thanksgiving to the Lord who loves you so, and is more than worthy of all our praise. Believe me, after your done you and He will feel much, much better.

The Crown of Joy III

Joy, joy, joy! You might be saying to yourself, "Here we go again with joy." And you would be right. Joy is one of the outstanding marks of a Christian who is actively seeking the God of the Bible. I hope you noticed I didn't say "actively seeking the rules and regulatiions of the Bible." Don't get me wrong, we are to renew our minds with God's word so that we will live that extraordinary life called Christianity, but we don't want to put the cart before the horse. Jesus explained it like this in John 15 when He said "if you love Me then you will keep my commands." You should notice in this verse that the love comes first, and then the obedience to His word flows out of that love.

Have you ever heard the old saying, "Rules without relationship equals rebellion?" Well, there is a lot of truth in that, and Jesus also knows it to be true. Jesus also said in another part of the Scripture, "Those who are forgiven much will love much." Do we really ever consider the holiness of God? His complete hatred for sin in our lives. Do we really ever consider how much just one sin is an attack on God's holiness, and how it stinks in His nostrils? If we did, then we would absolutely be tremendously thankful that He ever decided to love us anyway. We would be absoulutely grateful that even though we were full of sin and running as far as we could and as fast as we could from Him, that He reached out and grabbed us by our belt loop and spun us around to face Him so that He could save us from death, hell, and the grave.

This is what motivates me to love this wonderous Person we call God. That's right Jesus really has gone above and beyond the call of duty when he died that horribly, cruel death on the Cross for our sins. He was completely innocent of any and all sin, yet He chose on purpose to be our substitute and take the penalty of sin and the wrath of God on Himself by which we have the invitation to turn to Him for mercy and forgiveness. I ask you now, "How could we not love the One who did that for us?" I have been forgiven much, and so have you. Have you thanked Him lately for this? Have you been living a life that shows your thankful for this? If you haven't been living a thankful life by obeying His commands then it must be because somewhere, somehow you have let it slip from your memory how much God has done for us, and how absolutely undeserving we were when He did it. Refresh your memory today and let your heart reset your love back on this amazing lover of our souls that we call Jesus.
And as you do, you may also notice that joy, joy, joy will rise up in your spirit also.

God bless you this week as you live out your thankfulness to the Lord by loving Him and loving others.

The Crown of Joy II

Well, how did it go this week? Did you wear your crown of joy? Did it change your week at all? More importantly, did it change the week of anyone around you? I know it did for me and others. I often pray that the Lord will let people see Jesus in me, and you would be surprised at how often people say to me things like, "Man, Devon you are shining today," or "What is with you today? You have got a real glow about you." Let me begin by saying God really does answer prayers, especially when you ask for the reason of His glory. When I walk around with the glow (joy) of the Lord beaming through me it always brings Him glory. My only answer when they comment about the glow is that "it's the joy of the Lord."

In John 14 of our Bibles, Jesus says "He has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven, that He will come for us, and not leave us orphans" (paraphrase). I cannot think of a better reason for joy to spring up in my spirit than this. He goes on to say "He will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you." Galatians 5:22 tells us "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience..." If joy only comes from the Spirit of God, and the world can't see Him or know Him, then the world cannot produce joy. But they sure can recognize how powerful it is in our lives. They sure can see how appealing it is and how potent it is. If they can't then they truly are past blindness and into deadness.

So the key to joy is the Holy Spirit. There is no joy apart from Him who is our connection to Jesus. He is our helper, comforter, and guide for life eternal, and we need to relate to Him daily in a very personal way because He is a very personable God. Talk to Him about everything. Open your heart to Him. Don't hold anything from Him. He is our confidant and keeper, and He is always present, always gentle, always understanding. No matter where your at in life today He is with you, so don't forget to be with Him.

God bless you this week as you spend time with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Remember, He loves you infinitely more than any other, and is always calling you even closer. My advice is follow and joy will come.

The Crown of Joy

Last week I sat down to prepare a message on the topic of joy. It is one of my most favorite subjects because of its powerful influence in my daily life. I spent so many years trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of sin, not realizing that what I was really seeking was this elusive concept called joy. The world doesn't have the ability to produce joy. It can give an alternate substitute called pleasure, but that is nothing compared to real joy. Happiness is not joy either because happiness depends on happenings. It is a circumstantial feeling based on my lot in life at any given time. If things are all going well then I am happy, but if things are not going well then I am unhappy. That's no way for a Christian to go through life.

Fortunately for us we don't have to go through life hoping for favorable circumstances all the time because the truth is that's not going to happen. Living that way can cause a tremendous drain on our souls. I'm not going to live a roller-coaster ride of a life anymore, and I hope you aren't either. Nehemiah 8:10 in our Bibles tells us that "the joy of the Lord is our strength." This implies to me that joy is given to us for spiritual warfare. Yeah, that's right, spiritual warfare. In case you didn't know it you are in the middle of a war in the heavenlies being played out on the earth for the souls of men. And once you become a Christian your soul is no longer in play, but your joy is. If Satan can no longer take you down with him then he will come after your joy because he knows it is contagious and you will attract many others to Christ with it.

You may have noticed that I titled this message "The Crown of Joy." I got that title from the Lord while in meditation over His word. I asked the Lord what joy looked like and this was my very next thought, "The joy of the Lord is like a crown on the head for all to see." I said to myself "How interesting," and then the Lord opened up my understanding of its meaning. If I were to walk into a room crowded full of people wearing a crown, it would immediately draw the attention of everyone around me. They would be pointing at me, whispering to each other, and snickering my way because of the absolute foreignness of the crown on my head. I would obviously stand out in a room full of crownless people. Some of them would be wandering how I got the crown, some of them would really like it and want one of their own, and some of them would be down right jealous. No matter what their reaction the purpose of the crown would be fulfilled, to get them noticing. The same is true about the joy of the Lord in our lives. It is our strength, but is also a magnet to get the attention of others who don't know the Lord, or His joy. Once they see that we have something they don't even in the midst of such a dark and sick world they will thirst for answers. They will have questions, they will come asking, and then we will have an open door to share with them the love of our lives, Jesus.

Tune in next week for the continuation of this message. We will talk about how we get joy, and how we keep it. God bless you all, and don't forget to take with you the crown of joy this week.

Light Show

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

As Christians who are following Jesus we are the only light in the world. The rest of the world is walking in spiritual darkness, and the word says "that they don't even know what is making them stumble." You know that you can see a city up on the top of a hill for miles around it. Especially, at night when it is all lit up. We are supposed to be seen all around our sphere of influence with the light of Christ shining through us. When we as Christians are following Christ we should be so full of the Holy Spirit that we stand out like that city on a hill. When God's love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, and self-control (Galatian's 5:22) are flowing through our lives they ought to be able to see us coming from a mile away. And it is going to either attract or repel them.
Of course, the rest is not up to us, Jesus just says "shine" and the rest of the work will have to be the Spirit's doing.

When Jesus said to let your light shine before men He was talking about good works. He was talking about living an open, sincere, authentic life before all the world to see. Walking in righteousness, holiness, and love with everyone we come across. Reaching out to whoever needs a friend, a need met, a loving hand, or a listening ear. If we will just keep our spiritual ears and eyes open we will hear someone walking in darkness stumble and hit their toe on something that they could not see, but we see clearly. And as they observe us over time, they will notice these kingdom qualities in our lives, and they will glorify our Father who is in heaven and ask us for the reason of the hope that is within us and is so obviously a powerful part of our own blessed lives.

We can't love Jesus without our hearts. I hope and pray that you are not trying to follow a bunch of rules and regulations that you have gotten out of the Bible. That simply will not do. That is called "religion" and Christianity is NOT a religion. Christianity is a relationship with a real Person in a real way. If the commands of Christ have become burdensome in your life it is because you have lost your first Love. Jesus said, "those who love Me will keep my commands." When I love Him first, His commands come easy to me. When I love Him first, He will be with me and strengthen me. When I love Him first, His life and love will flow through me like a bright and shining light for all to see.

Be blessed this week as you love Jesus and let your light shine for His glory.

"Pass the Salt, Please"

Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."

The Lord Jesus has just finished describing the supernatural attributes of kingdom citizens. We call them the "Beattitudes." He has given us the marks of a Christian who is submitted to the will and word of God. Markings like poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for being all these things. I say the marks are supernatural because they cannot be produced naturally. These marks are the outflow of a life fully submitted to God. This is not another "list" for us to check off as we go about our day. This is the Holy Spirit shining through us if we'll let Him.

Our world today is just like their world then. The Bible teaches us that there is nothing new under the sun, and that which has been, will be again. The world is a dead and decaying place because of sin running rampant through it. If it is left to itself it will destroy itself. Our graveyards, hospitals, and prisons are full of the proof that is needed to back this teaching. You don't have to be a Christian or a law abiding citizen with some degree of moral absolutes to see the degradation going on in the world today. There isn't even honor among thieves these days.

The rich are oppressing the poor, and those in the high places are robbing those who are in the lows. Even the governments are running loose with no thought of what their level of corruption is doing to their own nations. For years and years there has been a man of guile signing false documents promising great returns for money being invested (yeah right) by his company. I wonder if as he signed his name to those returns, was he thinking, "I love my last name." His name is Bernie Madeoff and he had just "made-off" with our money again. Billions of dollars are stolen each year all over the world by many others just like him. Is there no shame anymore among people.

Well, as I said before, there is nothing new under the sun and the world is just doing what a world full of sin and without Christ does. So Jesus here in this 13th verse of Matthew's gospel has said to all of us, "you are the salt of the earth..." Go and be the agent of change in the world around you. Go and be the preserving influence of hope, righteousness, and good that will hold back the decay of the world. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven," was His next command soon to follow. And don't worry because I have sent you the Comforter to help you. We cannot do this without the power of the Holy Spirit. God designed it this way.

Remember this week as you go, that you are living in that neighborhood for a reason. You are working at that workplace for a reason. You are involved in that social organization for a reason. You are taking that class for a reason if you are a Christ follower. The reason is to be the salt of the earth. So, pass the salt, please!

Round Trip

Luke 6:38 "Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

These words are written in red letter in my Bible. That means they were spoken by our Lord Jesus. He had just given a wonderful sermon on giving to those who could not possibly pay you back. He was talking about loving the unloveable, doing good to those who have not deserved it, and extending mercy to those who aren't very merciful. What a radical speech he gave. And then right toward the end He starts talking about even more radical generosity. He says, "give and it will be given to you..."

About three months ago while having a conversation with one of my brothers at the church, I learned that there were two men in our congregation who were pulling 6-9 hours a night at a second job to help get their families out of debt. I knew the two guys because we had all just taken a class called, "Financial Peace University." These guys were putting their money where their mouth was, so to speak. I was so encouraged by their commitment to the Lord and debt-freeness, that I was compelled (by the Lord I think) to sow some seed toward their most noble goal of getting financial stability. So the next week I discreetly wrote them a note saying how blessed I was by their efforts, and I included a $50.00 check to each one of them.

Although I am also in debt, I still thought this was a really cool idea and was glad that the Lord had let me do it. I was even more blessed just by the thought of being a small part of helping them attain their dream. It truly is "more blessed to give than to receive." For weeks, every time I would think of them I would get this warm, fuzzy feeling in my spirit and I was completely satisfied with that believe me. It was the right thing to do and the Lord showed me that you can actually set your own spirit free to soar at new heights, just by being generous with others, especially those of the faith.

Well, it has been a few months and I have been praying about getting out of debt myself on a very limited income. I have not been sure how I was going to do it. Don't get me wrong, I know what to do, but the class teaches that you have to start by saving 6-9 months of living expenses before you can begin tackling the debt. The truth is I have no other choice but to take a serious look at my budget, and begin the laborious work of cutting the fat. Just the thought of it is painful, but one thing I have definitely learned in recovery is that "if it sounds hard, do it, and you will probably reap a great reward."

Well, yesterday while standing at the back of the sanctuary, just before the congregation was about to witness a Baptism, the wife of one of those guys walked up and stuck a peice of paper in my bosom. She said, "don't lose it," and walked away. Those words were actually an inside joke, because she had lost the envelope I had asked her to give to her husband which was sealed and carrying the original $50.00 check that I had given. So I had to write them another one. As she sat down, I opened up the peice of paper and, to my astonishment, it was a check for $500.00. Wow, I was shocked to say the least. My jaw hit the floor. And as I contemplated what had just taken place, I heard the Lord speak into my spirit these words. "A hundred of that goes to Me, and let's build on the rest to get you out of debt." Hallelujah! I love it when He does that.

Ecclesiastes 11.1 "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days."

Let me share with you my paraprase of this verse. "Generously give of yourself, your love, your mercy, your hospitality, your good deeds, and your money to the Holy Spirit's leading. And you will find that after many days it has all made a round trip, with blessing, back to you."

To God be the glory this week as you seek to know Him better.

Root Therapy

Hey everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I certainly did. God is so good to us all. I pray that you are experiencing Him to the fullest in this season of your life. He really is amazing, and He really is comfortable to get to know. Speaking of seasons, I have a little something to say about what the Lord has shown me about His work down at the prison.

Most of you probably already know that I am one of the overseers from the Duncanville Church of Christ of three faith-based dorms at the Dawson St. Jail. I also get to teach the Bible in two other dorms that we are not directly responsible for. So that brings our total number of incarcerated men and women that we have a direct influence over to about 200. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ. You could also say that these are our extended family.

With such numbers and so little formal education I sometimes get a little worried about why God chose me for this important position. But true to His love and character the Lord constantly reminds me, by speaking into my spirit, that He is with me and would never leave it all up to me. That we are a team and I am only the minor partner, and as always, I receive great comfort from that to keep moving forward trusting in Him.

As I meditated this week on prison ministry the Lord began to show me that much of what we do is like gardening. The bulk of it is soil, seed, and root work. You see I don't have to have a seminary degree to teach the guys and gals about the love Christ has for them. I don't need a Associates degree to share the basics of God's word, and I don't need ten years experience to show them how to walk in love with their fellow man. I just need to stay close behind Jesus in my own life, and all of that other stuff just seems to naturally flow out of me (and you). That's the way it is in the kingdom. Disciples making disciples, love teaching in love, and truth that ends in proof. All of this flows out of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and is availabled nowhere else.

The Bible teaches us that as Christians "we are to be rooted and grounded in love." So it must be that if I take good care to water and nurture my own roots then I would also be a good candidate to help the Lord water and nurture other roots. We all know what happens if something is wrong with the root system of a plant. It will wither and die. But we also know that if the a plant has a good root system, and plenty of available water, it will grow and flourish and become all that God designed it to be. Thus, we have the reason it is so important to remember that God's love and word are the best root therapy we could ever need. Be healthy and blessed this week as you seek after Him.

Matthew Chapter 5/Study Notes Verses 5-6

5. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The domineering, the aggressive, the harsh, and the tyrannical are often those who attempt to dominate the earth and establish their own little kingdoms. But Jesus says that is the “gentle” who will inherit the earth, looking back to (Psalm 37:9, 11.) People who do not assert themselves over others In order to advance their own causes.

This does not imply weakness, however, for this same term is applied to Jesus, who describes himself as “gentle and humble in heart.” Jesus was not afraid to confront the religious leaders when necessary or to rebuke his own disciples for self-centeredness. He will be strong enough to face the most torturous death possible as he endured the cross. .-The NIV Application Commentary (paraphrase)

…for they will inherit the earth. Jesus exemplifies best what it means to be gentle. It takes tremendous strength to bring others into God’s will, but when that strength is coupled with a selfless nonassertiveness, it produces a gentle person who can patiently endure much to bring about God’s purposes for His people. Such gentle persons “will inherit the earth.” Jesus assumes this gentle posture as He preaches good news, proclaims freedom, and announces the arrival of the Lord’s favor, and blessed are those who do not take offense at His gentle messianic ministry. Ultimately this points to the reign of Christ on this earth, but even now Jesus’ disciples have entered into their spiritual inheritance.-The NIV Application Commentary

6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Just the mention of the words hunger and thirst bring to my mind the thoughts of appetites that must be filled sooner or later or we die. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is that heavenly appetite that needs to see right things done in this earth. I need to see right things coming out of me. I need to have good things coming into me. I need to see that the evil deeds of men are going to stop. I need to know that their deeds will not prosper forever. There is a sense that these good things will prevail in our lives and the lives around us that needs filling.

…for they shall be filled. I will go after food and water with all my being if I don’t have enough. It is true about us all in the natural. There is no promise that we will always attain them though. Here we do have a promise that if we go after the things of God like a starving, dehydratred person we will find His oasis of provision.

Tune Up

Earlier this week, while in prayer, I asked the Lord what He would have me to write about this time around. I felt these two words impressed upon my heart almost immediately after. "Tune Up." I wasn't sure where we were going to go from there until a couple of days later.

Then it came to me on Tuesday while listening to Charles Swindoll on the radio. The very popular pastor was giving a message on discipleship I believe. He started talking about a commentary by AW Tozer that I had heard before years ago somewhere else while listening to the radio. Mr. Tozer had written a passage saying, "If you tune a hundred pianos to the same fork, then those same pianos will naturally be tuned to each other." Now that just makes good tuning sense.

So my thought today is who or what are you tuning too? If you are tuning in to what the rest of our culture is doing trust me when I say there is nothing of substance there. Our culture is lost, blind, and naked to what is really going on in the world around them. They seem to have hearts for trees, dolphins, whales, and the ozone but nothing on two feet I assure you. The love they claim to have is only a very superficial, fickle love at best. And in no way will last past their next encounter with the object of their lusts. Most people these days seem to care about themselves only. The Bible says, "that we are to have no other gods before Him."

Next, there are those whose only concern is money. There continual worry is that they won't have enough. This is a legitimate worry if their god is themselves because they are their own providers and severely limited as gods. They have their antennas tuned in to the economic news and Wall St. bankers which have definitely proven to be a bunch of false prophets and crooks.

Finally, there are those of us who have our recievers set on the Lord Jesus Christ and His word. We are the 100 pianos that will be able to survive and thrive through any storm that the world can blow at us. He is our God, our Provider, and our Guide. Maybe you can remember these words by our Lord Jesus, "seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you." We are not alone in this world. We have a wonderful God and Father to help us in all that we face here on this planet. So this week let's just tune up to His word, and we'll all be on the same page.

Matthew Chapter 5/Study Notes

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Right now on this planet those who are poor in spirit are blessed by God. Right now on this planet you are blessed by God if you know that you don’t have it all together like the proud and rich people think they do. Right now on this planet you are blessed by God if you know that you are a sinner and that there is no way for you to reach heaven without a Savior. This is the true blessed life because God only helps those who know that they need help, and are willing to humble themselves and cry out for it. “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “Whoever comes to me I will by no means turn away,” were statements made by our Lord Jesus. If we are empty ourselves then we can be filled with Jesus. If we empty ourselves we will have room for all htat He has for us.

Blessed are you if this is your whole life’s attitude. It is not just coming to Christ to receive mercy and forgiveness that makes you blessed, but that your entire life’s attitude is that you are poor and needy when it comes to the things of God. Of which He is ready to pour out his blessing, knowledge, gifts of service, and all other favors and graces. The proud in heart are not worthy for such things from God. If I am rich in this worlds goods it is okay as long as I am still poor in spirit.

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven because God is near to the broken hearted and saves such as have a humble and contrite spirit. The kingdom of heaven is open only to the poor in spirit. It will be populated only by those who acknowledge the Savior and love Him to the end. God our Father is merciful and gracious beyond our comprehension, and is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the saving knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. Sadly though, most think they are rich in spirit and can gain heaven by their own good works, which no one ever has or will. Those who are of the high spirit will perish with the kingdoms of this world in which they thought themselves to be so high, but those of the low in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven when the world kingdoms pass away.

4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are you on this planet if you mourn over your sin and the sins of others which placed Christ on the cross. Blessed are you on this planet if you are in that continual state of repentance in which you do not delight in gratifying the lusts of the flesh that war against your soul. Blessed are you on this planet if you really feel the sorrow of others who are struggling with sin and death, looking forward to the time when heaven will relieve all our pain. Our seeds of mourning are hereby ready to produce a harvest of joy, for we will be comforted by the Comforter himself. We will by our mourning draw the Spirit of our God to us, near us, with us. The Holy Spirit is most definitely attracted to those who mourn, and why not, it is He that is most grieved by the sins, sorrows, and deeds of men. For He knows what could have been had sin not been given entrance into the world so who better to comfort us than the One who mourns with us. What sin did to the body of God is an outward sign of what sin does to the heart of God.

“Sorrow the pledge of joy.-Grief, sorrow, pain of heart, mourning is no dividing wall between man and God. The Lord congratulates them that mourn. There is no evil in sorrow. True, it is not an essential good, a good in itself, like love; but it will mingle with any good thing and is even so sided to good that it will open the door of the heart for any good. The happy child runs farther away, the wounded child turns to go home. The weeper sits down close to the gate; The Lord of life draws near to him from within. God does not love sorrow, yet rejoices to see a man sorrowful, because in his sorrow man leaves his heavenward door open, and God can enter to help him. So good a medicine is sorrow, so powerful to slay the moths that infest and devour the human heart, that the Lord is glad to see a man weep. Grief is an ill-favored thing, but she is Love’s child, and her mother loves her.-George Macdonald

Well Named

"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches..." Proverbs 22:1

What's in a name? Is choosing a good name at birth all that is required of us as namers? Or is there more to naming someone than just the choice of a fitting name? The ancients believed that whatever you named a child was pivotal to setting the course of their life. That is true to a point, but I believe it only goes so far because sooner or later it is the character of the person that ultimately tells us if their name is a good one or a bad one.

Let's take my name for instance. Devon is a good name I guess. I kind of like it. It's not your average name, but it's not odd enough to be teased about either. I have had it all my life, and am definitely used to it. But let me tell you that it wasn't a bad name until after I graduated high school. I was popular enough, for me anyway. I made decent grades and played sports. I was a decent kid with no criminal record and a favorable disposition. No one had any complaints about me that I knew of, and I was set to continue on a expected course of normal, successful living.

Unfortunately though, I ran into some problems after graduation as I mistook freedom from parents to mean freedom from all good sense. Yes, I started experimenting with all kinds of vices that I had not been exposed to in my adolescent years and went off the deep end. I started hanging out with the wrong types of people doing the wrong types of things. All of these things were highly addictive and took over my life. Well, let me tell you that after 15 years in the drug culture my name was ruined. You couldn't count on me for anything because I was so absorbed in fulfilling my bad habits that I just couldn't do anything else. Normal was a foreign word to me and my life showed it for sure. As a matter of fact, I had so consistently made wrong choices that that became the new normal for me. I was hurting myself and everyone else around me as riotous living always does.

As a result of these choices my name had become soiled. My name absolutely left a bad taste in my own mouth as well as in the mouths of all those who knew me. The very sight of me coming toward you would conjure up bad feelings and bad thoughts and there was nothing I could do about it. I would actually say that I had done enough. The truth is I knew all of this about myself and hated it, but was by this time powerless to change in my own strength. I knew that I needed a new life and a new name. Thank God, that He is in the business of changing lives which in turn will change names. I mean it, now after giving my life to Christ 9 years ago, I no longer have that problem. God told Abraham, "I will bless you and you will be a blessing, and I will make your name great..." For those of us who know who Abraham is, we already know that God definitely made good on that promise as he is called the "Father of the faith." Well, God is no respecter of persons and will do the same for anyone who calls on the name of the Lord and is saved, provided that they not only love God but also do what He commands.

A good name is to be chosen rather than anything else is my paraphrase of this verse. The great riches is the worldly way of saying, "if I had one wish to be granted, I would choose great riches for myself." Well, I have had great riches that came with a bad name, and when it was all said and done I would have given back all the riches for the good name, but couldn't. I was all alone and didn't have any good, solid relationships with anyone who was good or good for me. I read this in a commentary the other day on a different subject, but think it also applies here, "it is better to be cheerfully welcomed into a hundred homes, than to own a hundred homes and no one comes to visit."

Thus we have the actual meaning behind this verse. Choosing a good name is actually the result of making good and godly choices based on His word. The good name is the result of the good choices. The first and best choice is Jesus Christ. And when we are doers of His word and not just hearers only, we become great and are known by our good name. So this week remember if you choose to follow Jesus in obedience to His word you will be called a Christian, and will have chosen to be well named. By the way, I no longer leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth, especially my Lords. Have a great week.

Follow Jesus, stay humble, serve others, and become great.

Major Event Planner

Hey everyone, I pray you are doing well this week. God our Father is so good to us each and every day. I am amazed at His faithfulness to us and His loving-kindness toward us. We are truly blessed because Jesus is Lord. He is our all in all for those of us who have been forgiven and have received Him as Lord and Savior. I remember well the great day that I turned my life and will over to the care of Christ's control about 9 years ago. It is forever etched in my mind. On that day I changed from a poor destitute sinner, hellbent, and wretched to the core; into a blood bought, blood washed, child of the Most High God. My sins were forgiven and my destiny was changed forever. Now that was quite an event.

Now that I look back on it I can see that all through my life God was pursuing me. Like a hawk pursues its prey, He was stalking my every move. He had a major plan to win my heart and make me His forever. I truly was a formidable foe though. I fought against Him at every turn. Not realizing that it was Him I was fighting, but still fighting Him nonetheless. You know, it's funny how some of us are just so hard headed and rebellious that you just can't tell us anything. Some of us are just so dead set on living our lives in a blaze of glory that it has to take an act of God to wake us up to see where the road we were traveling on was really taking us. It took me along time to figure out that the way I was living wasn't working. Well, maybe I had it figured out, but I didn't know how to make it change direction. Thank God, that He had a plan.

Our Father always has a plan because He is a planner. He planned that before the foundation of the world that we would need a Savior. He planned that His Son Jesus would be that Savior. He planned that after Jesus did His saving work on that cross of Calvary that He would then begin the tedious work of chasing us down with His unstoppable love. The cross of Christ was the biggest of the major events that He planned, but it's not the only one. There are also the many major events that our Father has planned for each of our lives. I'm talking about the day in your life when God finally got a hold of your heart and changed it to run to Him instead of away from him. The day that you began to accept His love and truth. The day that He poured His love all over you and you knew that you were His and that He was yours. I hope you know exactly what I am talking about here. Which leads me to why I am writing this blog today.

Last week on Thursday night I got to be a part of a major event in the life of one of the guys in the Dawson St. Jail. He came into the prison about 9 months ago at age 18. He was young and full of life, but all of it misdirected. At first I couldn't really see how he was going to make it in our faith-based dorm. Everyday when I walked in to the dorm they were lining up to tell me what he had done this time to upset the applecart. I just couldn't help it though, after a while I just had such a great love for this youngster that I probably let him stay longer than he should of. Well, as you can tell after the fourth time we had moved him out for a 30 day suspension and back in again he finally was moved over to another part of the prison. But strangely enough he kept showing up over at the Thursday night inmate led church service. I mean we all loved him with our whole hearts, but he was just so wild. Well, God is faithful and even when we can't see it with our eyes we should know that in our hearts the prayers were starting to work on this young man. I thank God that on this last Thursday night when the altar call was made in a room full of worshippers, that this young, wild, handful of a man came down and gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. We were all so happy, but truly we should have just been patient in our love for him and waited for the major event planner to finish His work of drawing him to Jesus. I hope we remember this week that you can't rush God's work, but if your praying you can trust that He is working. Be blessed.

Psalm 101 Study Notes/Verse 5

5. “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.”

Why will the king destroy the one who secretly slanders his neighbor? We call this gossip. And the Bible strictly forbids it. Gossip is cowardice in its fullness. It is the enemy of everything good. A little gossip can destroy the inner workings of anything it touches. Especially, when it is done in secret, gossip can devastate the one being gossiped about without even the decency to have the offended present to defend their selves. To believe a lie is the first step to the path of destruction. Satan is called the, “father of lies” by the Lord Jesus himself. To secretly slander someone is to traffic with Satan. To secretly slander your neighbor is to be partners with the evil one.
A haughty or proud person is one who is headed for a fall according to the Bible. “God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud.” God actually sets up a line of opposition against anyone who is prideful. And we all know you can’t win when you stand toe to toe with God. A proud person is especially dreadful because they are deceived. They think that they are someone or something that they are not. Pride is exactly what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven to the earth. Now that is quite a fall. The truth be told, it actually has gotten him kicked out of heaven to the “Lake of Fire”, where he will be locked away forever and ever. He is just not there yet. But he will be.
The proud person refuses to be humble and teachable and that is sad, because the truth is that if we don’t remain humble and teachable, God will humble us and teach us anyway and it won’t be near as pleasant as it could’ve of been.

Psalm 101 Study Notes/Verse 4

4. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

This word perverse simply means deviating from what is considered right or good; other definitions are wrong, improper, corrupt, or wicked. I would also like to suggest “mixture” or “contaminated.” After all a half truth is a lie. That is why the mass media controlled by the world system who hates God is so effective. Everything is geared toward pleasing man, not God. In my opinion, television today is the biggest enemy to a good sound spiritual life. It is all about gossip, sex, lies, and the promotion of everything evil. Let’s take that TV show called “Friends” and really think about what it is promoting. Friends are a great thing, if they are godly friends. The Bible encourages us to love deeply and have good friends. But when you watch this show you will see everybody is friendly. They are always smiling and hanging out together. They are always there for each other when a friend is needed. But the truth of it is that they are sleeping around with each other, they are out drinking and carousing, going to parties, the guys are womanizers who can’t control themselves, the women are dating multiple partners, and all on prime time TV. That is PERVERSE according to the word of God. They have mixed the ideas of friendship with sexual activity outside of marriage and all other forms of ungodliness, to the tune of about 30 million or more loyal fans. Would Jesus watch this show? No. And what is really sad is that most Christians today would say that I am being legalistic and a prude. Well, guess what, I like David, say, “a perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.” I welcome the comments against me and others like me, of people who think they know God and actually have no clue who He is and what he demands. Can you believe it, the Bible actually says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and call good evil.” That word “woe” is simply defined as trouble. So we would say it like this, “Trouble to those who call evil good, and call good evil." Now that is serious. By the way, it was the Lord God Almighty who said that.

The verse goes on to say that David will not know wickedness. He will be ignorant to the ways of wicked people because he has vowed to put them away from him. The best way to not know something is to cut it out of your life. We should only know good, and intimately at that. "The wise man sees trouble ahead and changes his course, but the fool keeps on going and is punished." (Proverbs)

Psalm 101 Study Notes/Verse 3

3. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

The king here states, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Why is it that he would make a statement like this? I believe that David knows that what we focus on we will become. We know it too. That’s why we have schools, colleges, training seminars, and post graduate education. If I focus on something long enough I will become that thing. So David is wise in his decision to keep ungodly things from being around him. What are some things that he would consider wicked in his days? Maybe, statues and idols of false gods, magicians, witches or people who use black arts.
To tell you the truth I am having difficulty imagining much else right now, but I’m sure there are other things that were prevalent in his culture and days that would be a hindrance to a godly home and court. But I have no trouble at all imagining what that would mean for us in these days and culture. You see, in David’s time you would have to go out of your way to witness ungodly things if you put them out of your own home, but not in our times. All we have to do is turn on the T.V. and the world will spew its ungodliness right into our homes and minds. Let’s face it; our culture is drunk with sex, violence, alcohol, drugs, food, lies, and greed. Decadence has become the new normal for the masses that do not fear God. And it is so rampant that even we Christians, if we are not careful, will begin to be influenced greatly by it.

God says, “Be holy for I am holy.” Holy, meaning set apart for God’s pleasure, plans, and purposes. The whole world system that I just mentioned is going to be judged by God for its absolute hatred of anything good and godly, so we should not be mixing with their evil deeds. The Lord Jesus Christ died on a cruel cross to bring us God’s forgiveness and mercy, so that we could be free from the shackles of sin, and love and serve Him, eternally blessed forever. Why then would I choose to be involved in the very things that He hates? It just isn’t right to have this attitude about evil. If I were to tell you that I was going to make a batch of brownies, and you saw me go out into the backyard and pickup some dog poop to put into the brownie mix, would you stop me? Well, you would be wise to keep me from mixing the poop with the good ingredients. And if you possess enough wisdom for that scenario then why wouldn’t you apply that same wisdom to spiritual matters? We as Christians are to feed on God’s word. Anything else that exalts itself against the knowledge of God should be cast down immediately and given no room to take root in our lives, grow, and become an influence to our way of living.

Why? Because it is the little foxes that spoil the vine. David goes on to say, “I hate the work of those who fall away.” Why do they fall away? Could it be that they were allowing wicked things to be set before their eyes as David just mentioned? Could it be that they were secretly desiring things that were not godly because they didn’t remove them from their sight? Are we sure that we can control our own passions and lusts, while at the same time letting the objects of those passions and lusts remain in our area. Jesus said, “that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” So I think the answer to that question is no, we cannot control ourselves at all times. That is why Paul tells us in the N.T., “to flee sexual immorality.” To flee is to run for your lives. Why didn’t he say, “It is okay to be around sexy images, just don’t be involved with them?” Could it be because the flesh is not capable to see and avoid the dangers of the powerful allurement of sexual immorality? I believe it is.

Psalm 101 Study Notes/Verse 2

Hello everyone, just as promised, here are my notes on tomorrows CSI-Christ Scene Investigators class on Psalm 101. I hope that you will follow along with us if you can't join us at the church. Wed. nights at 7:00 p.m. in Room 212 if you can. Be blessed.

2. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

Here we have the king setting up a guide post. David knows what is right and true as far as man is concerned. He has spent much time with his God and the laws of the Almighty. He knows that the most needed thing is not just wise talk, wise counsel, but wise action. The upright man does well because he understands his God and His word. Wise action brings wise rewards. A house divided against itself cannot stand. So it must be necessary to walk straight and consistently at it. A wise man also knows that he will need divine help in matters of wisdom both at home and occupation. We also need to remember that up until now David’s homes have most often been caves, clearings in the wilderness, and base camps hidden in the mountains. He is in a transitional phase of his life and seems to want to safeguard against mistakes by inviting the One who got him through all of that to now come and join him here also.

Therefore, we hear David’s plea for God to come and be with him. Not just be in the temple, not just be in the court, but with David personally whether home or throne. We would all do well to implore God to be our friend in all manner of life. I need God to be God, I need God to be Father, but I also need God to be my friend and guide. David here claims that he will walk within his house with a perfect heart. I noticed that the perfect heart doesn’t mean perfectly, but the attitude of honoring God in his home for God’s faithfulness. Where there is a will to please God, there is a God to be pleased. Meaning if I honor God He will never be far from me, but if I choose to disdain His presence, He will certainly give me the room to fail if I wish. God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud.

You Never Know

Galatians 6:9,10 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are the household of faith.

I am so blessed to be able to be used by Jesus to be an influence in the lives of others in the prisons. I'm on vacation this week and let me tell you I needed it. I love sharing God's love with those guys and gals at the prison, but sometimes I think I unknowingly take on to much of their pain without remebering the good things also going in their lives. It can become overwhelming at times, but I have to believe that there is nothing that Jesus can't make good and beneficial if we will join with Him in the process of making all things new. So this is why I am writing this blog today. I just got this letter in the mail the other day from one of the guys that has been transferred to another unit from our men's faith-based dorm, and I would like to share with you what Jesus has done in his life.

"I talked about you in class about a month ago, and told them how I wanted to give up on all that God stuff because I didn't understand it. But you wouldn't let me give up. I even told the class how you helped me to forgive my mother even though she is dead, by writing her a letter and giving it to you. For I still believe Devon that you are a living Angel sent to us by the Lord and noone can tell me different. Websters dictionary says an Angel is an attendant spirit/messenger. You came to us after the death of Greg Lucas, when the whole class was breaking down and pulled us back together and made us stronger than before. Now that is an attendant spirit in the flesh. And to this day I believe that God sent His messenger named Devon Wallace to us. An ex-con who would know what we were going through, not some flyboy who hadn't been where we are..."

I can tell you that it is only by the grace of God that we can make memories like that which turn into letters like this. I was just being me, nothing special. But oh what God can do with a willing vessal. Please remember this week that God only made one of "you" and under the influence of the Holy Spirit you never know how deeply you are being used to effect the lives of others. God bless and don't grow weary your letter is coming.

Psalm 101 Study Notes

Hello everyone, I am starting something new this week. As many of you already know I teach Bible studies at the Dawson St. Jail, but I also teach a Wed. night Bible class called, "CSI-Christ Scene Investigators" at our church. So, what I thought I would do is post my personal notes of preparation as I go. This week we are beginning Psalm 101. I type up alot of my notes, but some of it I leave for discussion. Please allow me some grace for grammar and form since these are just my notes, but please feel free to take in what the Lord shows me. Again this will be an ongoing study and here is what I have for us to start with for tomorrow night.

1. I will sing of mercy and justice to You; to You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

As we saw in Psalm 100 it is good and profitable to sing to the Lord. This is a psalm of King David, and if the king can sing to the Lord how much more can the royal subjects. We can see here that it is the glory of this king to lift up the Lord Most High, who is the King of kings. This Psalm has been entitled, “The godly purposes and resolves of a king,” and “Speculum Regis,” a mirror for kings. Matthew Henry calls it “The Householders Psalm.” “In it David gives us the rules which he laid down for the regulation of his household and court. In this aspect the Psalm has a universal application; for the principles which are good in a palace are good also in a cottage, and the virtues which adorn a peasant’s humble household will increase the luster of a king’s brilliant court.”-commentary

How beautiful it is to fill both home and office with songs to the Lord. How wonderful it is to invite the Lord into the places that we spend the most of our years. The Bible teaches us that the Lord inhabits the praises of His people. We literally attract the Lord with singing. How cool is that?
This Psalm is believed to have been written sometime not to long after Saul’s death and David’s coronation as King of Israel. It makes sense that David would be giving thanks to the Lord because If you will remember David was anointed king as a teenager and had been pretty much running from Saul for the better part of ten or so years while God formed David into a mighty warrior and king. Finally, David is on the throne and ready to start his official duties of uniting and protecting the country, instead of being chased around the wilderness by a madman of a king, Saul. David can now sing of the justice and mercy of God because God, true to His word, has now made good on His promise that David would be king. Many times David was spared in the wilderness from death with godly counsel and maneuvering. And now justice has been served that God has removed Saul from being king by his death in battle. Thus we have this opening line of the poet, “I will sing…”

Look for more next week if you would like to follow along. I pray it will be a blessing to you.

Just Do It

What is happening in your world, or better yet what are you happening too in the world? Is God moving and shaking in the world around you? I believe He is. The real question is are we aware of it and are we involved in it, whatever it is. As Christians, we have been called out of our lives of sin to be agents of change in the army of God. A real force of power to happen too the days and culture we live in. The bible is full of scriptures that tell us to lay down this low-life and pickup Christ’s high-life, a life that is centered on God and others. I am not to think less of myself, but I am to think of myself less.

Let’s face it, most people are out to help only themselves, and I don’t blame them if they don’t know Christ. But sadly enough, this life is not meant to be spent on ourselves. Trust me I tried it for 30 years and I was miserable by the time I even started to get a lick of sense. When I finally did get a taste of living this life for Christ and others I couldn’t be satisfied with anything else. It is true that what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. I believe that the bible refers to this as "sowing and reaping." It is a spiritual law in the earth that even the unbelievers are aware of. They call it “Karma” or “what goes around, comes around”, but God calls it “seed, time, and harvest.”

Our pastor gave a wonderful word of encouragement this morning to the congregation, and I would like to share the verses he used as the guidelines for the life of service to God and others.

Romans 12:9-13 (message translation) “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Now that is sound advice and the secret to living the high-life. Believe me when I tell you that God is happening to our world and wants us to join Him in the cause. There will be no greater reward, no higher honor, than to hear our Lord say, “well done, good and faithful servant, come and enter the joy of the Lord.” So this week be alert, have your radar up and scouring the horizon of your sphere of influence, and if you see a chance to be a blessing, just do it.

Dream Maker

The driving force of my life has become the hope that everyone I meet will get to know Jesus, the real Jesus. I’m not talking about the Jesus that so many people think they know from a less than casual upbringing in spiritual matters. I’m referring to the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus that set aside all the glory of heaven and rolled up His shirt sleeves, so to speak, and took on human flesh to interact with and save His creation. God is Holy. He is not like us, although He has made us like Him. Sin entered into the world through the first man and woman turning their backs on God by disobeying His command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we have been struggling with that knowledge ever since.

Mankind has not the capability to either discern good from evil fully, or the power to carry it out perfectly. So in order to restore the connection that was lost in Adam and Eve’s disobedience we had to have a willing, sin-free sacrifice as a substitute in our place to take our punishment and renew the spiritual bond with God. Thank God, Jesus was willing and able to pay it all for us. The payment was so great that not only are we freed from the guilt of sin, but in God’s grace (that I don’t think I still fully comprehend) we are released to be all that God intended for us to be. We have been set free to be ourselves. You see, God created us individually for His purposes and His pleasure. God is the greatest of all lovers. No one compares to His tender touch, fondness for us, and wildly exciting love. Yes, I said that, because if you are getting to know the real Jesus, the Jesus that always invited people to “come and see” what the Lord will do, then you already know that God is not boring by any means. If you do not know this Jesus it may be because you aren’t joining Him in doing anything.

You may have noticed that I said, “God created us individually for His purposes and plans.” When I said that I more precisely meant that each one of us is one of a kind in a world with billions of people in it. How awesome is that to really ponder? The Bible teaches in Ephesians 1 that before God ever created anything He already knew us. He was dreaming about us and planning for us. Do me a favor and go outside and just tap your foot on the ground for a second. Well that ground was made by God so that you would have something to walk on. Take a deep breath and remember that oxygen is a creation of God to keep us alive on this planet which He also created, but not until after He knew us. Some might say that this is putting the cart before the horse. Well, not if you are the greatest lover in the Universe. God made the creation after his love of the created (us) more like because of His love of us. He dreamed His dream and then worked His plan to make us happen. I’m sure God loves the work of His hands, but I don’t believe that it was much to Him until we arrived on the scene. We are the objects of His affections and He should be the object of ours. The rest of Ephesians 1 goes on to say that it is God’s dream that we be accepted in the Beloved (God’s Family) and holy and blameless before Him in love. His dream is not complete by our birth into this world, but is finally realized when we come to know the real Jesus as Lord and Savior. Finally realized when we are reconnected to Him spiritually and following Him daily. God does not stop there either. He also has a wonderful individual plan for each of our lives and we will never know it unless we know Him, not just about Him. So remember this week as you live, that God wants to do life with you not without you. He is the Dream Maker and we are His dream. God bless us all and thank you Lord Jesus for all that You are and all that You do!

Sick World, Great Physician

Well it was an interesting day today as far as life goes. I woke up this morning ready to see what the Lord had in store for the day, and now that it is almost over I am certainly surprised by how it played out. I got to church on time and enjoyed the service and the message, but still wasn't ready for what was soon to follow. I knew that my new friend Rona Davis, who has her own radio show on 100.7 the Word, called the Freedom Hour at noon on Sundays was interviewing one of my old friends Brooke who now works for Bill Glass Ministries. I love Brooke and have known her since high school and am so glad to see that God has gotten a hold of her life and is making it count for His Glory.

As Brooke shared her story it took me back to those days in an instant and I was consumed with how all of us start out so fresh and innocent when we are young and naive to the ways of the enemy and his tricks and schemes. The bible teaches us "that the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one." I bring this up because when I met Brooke she was young, vibrant, full of life, and a hottie for sure. She was actually a wildcat as far as most of the girls went around our group. So during her testimony I realized why she had jumped out ahead of the others in the race to supposed freedom from the rules of conduct for our age range, and it was because the year before she was dealt a serious wound to the heart. Brooke was a good girl, so to speak, and in a moment of time a jealous girlfriend and an immature ex-boyfriend started some awful rumors about her that turned almost the whole school against her. I am sure it was a devastating blow to Brooke's beautiful little life at that time. It was the eighth grade for her and what was supposed to be a time of enjoying life and making wonderful memories to last forever turned into a knifing point straight to the heart, the very depths of her soul. Now that I am wiser in the ways of world, I see it for what it was, a strategically planned attack by the enemy through young, revenge filled minds to accomplish the purpose of destroying a young lady's life from the onset. Satan's plan is always to strike the deepest from the closest people in our lives if he can, and it is a most effective technique. I am not in any way making excuses for the decisions that were made in her life from that point on, but let's face it, at such a young age, with such a deep wound, who can't see why things in her life started heading the wrong way. She just wasn't equipped to deal with the enormity of the betrayal and turned away from the only One who is, instead of turning to Him. Sound familiar, anyone?

We live in a sick world. Brooke's story is just one of millions, including my own. Satan indeed is "a roaring lion, roaming around seeking whom he may devour." He is busier than ever because he knows his time is short. Please feel free to tune in to http://www.thefreedomhour.com/ and click on "past shows" to here how Brooke's story like so many others changes for the glory of God and the restoration of the real Brooke Pelt Crow. For it is all due to the Great Physician. Thank you Lord Jesus for all that You are and all that You do!
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Oh, Happy Day!

Hey everyone, I hope all of you are well this week. I had a wonderful week down at the prison and a wonderful day yesterday to top it off with. There are many of you who may not know that I am one of the prison ministers for my church the Duncanville Church of Christ. My partner, Stek Steck, and I are just two of many volunteers from all sorts of Christ-centered churches from all over the metroplex who have come together as a collaborative to be agents of change for Jesus down at the Dawson St. Jail in downtown Dallas, TX. We oversee three faith-based dorms. Two of them are for men and one women's dorm and it is a huge blessing to be able to do what we do, day in and day out.

Well, yesterday we got to go and just be guest at an event held by Prison Fellowship Ministry who is one of our partners that are involved with the Re-entry aspect of the collaborative. They help find the ladies who are getting out housing, jobs, mentors, and necessities as well as maintaining relationships ongoing after their release. It was such a blessing to see ladies that I haven't seen since they were incarcerated and students of ours. It was so cool to see them with their kids and families. All of them doiong well and still following Jesus and the many smiles that were in that room, all of which are an amazing testimony to the glory of God and His power to save and change lives. Let me tell you that I needed that this week. God is so good. He always has that just right timing in our lives to unveil His goodness and to give us that little boost we need sometimes just when we need it. You see, I love what I do for Jesus. I get to be very involved in pastoring, mentoring, teaching, and encouraging men and women in the love of the Lord. But let's face it, ministry work is not like building a house, mowing a lawn, or fixing an engine as far as getting to see the finished work. Don't get me wrong I see God working in the lives of people everyday, but I also see that there is so much that needs to still be done.

I guess because I have never been much of a gardener I don't have the patience to wait for things to grow, but I'm getting there now as I daily seek to be used by God to show these guys and gals that Jesus is better. I have to constantly remind myself and others that we are seed sowers and if you know anything about planting seeds it's that you have to give them time to grow. Well, yesterday I got to see some harvest. I really am glad that God is so patient with us because after all He is the ultimate farmer. We are His harvest and I am so thankful for His green thumb. The bible teaches that there is great joy in the presence of the angels at every sinner that repents and turns to God for salvation which is harvest from the seeds of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So thank you Lord for saving us and Oh,Happy Day!

Major Majority

Hello everybody, I am glad to be able to write again today. I'm a little late this week because I was out late last night sharing the word at a prison in Bridgeport. We had a great time of worship and I really enjoyed talking about our life in Christ with the guys that came out to the service. They were pumped and I can honestly tell you that there is no church like prison church. You would have to have been locked up or at least visiting a service to know what that means, but if you haven't that's okay too.

We talked last night about some of the things that God hates. You know, things like pride, envy, jealousy, lust, condemning others, lying, adultery and some other stuff that we as Christians are supposed to hate also. It is so easy for us to know that God has a great plan for our lives and loves us unconditionally, but we sometimes forget that there are a lot of things in this world that God does not approve of in any way, shape, or form. We talked about how sin hurts people and how much damage it does to us and others as well as grieving the heart of God. Jesus said in His word, "that those who love Me are they that keep My commands." When I remember Jesus saying that, two commands come to my mind right away. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and "love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus also said, "that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commands" meaning that love is the total fulfillment of God's law. Love will do no harm to a neighbor and love done in the second mile will bring glory to God and great reward to us.

I heard that on the radio today and it was just what I needed to be reminded that our loving of those who love us is no credit to us. And our doing of good to those who do good to us is no credit to us either because even sinners do the same. No, it has to be in the going of the extra mile that we invade the enemies territory. By that I mean Satan has blinded the minds of the masses to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news that God loves all people and that our sins have been forgiven if we will only turn from them and trust in Christ is sometimes hard to convey unless they see our constant steady love aimed right at them. Most people have been so wounded by others who were selfishly seeking to satisfy their own needs that they have built up walls of mistrust around their hearts to keep from being taken advantage of again. Therefore, sin has got them in a corner and it is our job to show the love of Christ to draw them out into the open where the Christian life is being lived.

In the days when the Romans were in control of the eastern world there was a law that said, "that a Roman soldier at any time could come up to you and drop his 50 lb. backpack and you had to pick it up and carry it one mile in whatever direction he was heading." I think Jesus was alluding to this law when He told His hearers, "if anyone ask you to go with them one mile, then I say go with them two." You see, the first mile is required of us and there is no reward for simply doing what is required. The reward comes when we go the extra mile. Loving people and doing good to them while expecting nothing in return, or even meeting persecution because of it is the highest form of love and only accomplished in the second mile. This kind of love makes people sit up and take notice. This kind of love can even turn an enemy into a friend. I know because it is exactly what Jesus did for us on the Cross. The bible says that, "while we were yet sinners (enemies of God), Christ died for us." Again, here we have God just asking us to do what He has already shown us how to do. He has never asked us to do anything that He Himself hasn't done in full view of the world to see. God always goes the second mile.

In our circle of influence God has sprinkled all around us people who need Him. People who are hard to love. You know who they are. I'm willing to bet when you read that statement their faces just popped into your mind. It's no secret they're in your house, workplace, carpool, and family and they are hard to handle. That's okay though because I'll just bet if you were to ask Jesus, that he would say, " so were you before He got a hold of your heart." So remember this week that we are to hate what God hates and love even to the second mile those that God loves. Oh yeah, if you seem to be outnumbered by the "unlovables" around you, don't worry, you and God are a major majority.

All-Access Pass

Hey everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful day today. I certainly am. I've had some quality time getting prepared for this week down at the prison. I teach classes to about 232 men and women over the course of a week so I always like to prepare on Saturday for most of it. I usually get at least Monday through Wednesday covered and have some built in study time in my schedule during the week for the rest. While I was preparing for my Wednesday Bible class at the church, I found what I wanted to talk about today in the first verse of the first Psalm.

The writer of Psalm 1, believed to be King David, under the influence of the Holy Spirit says, "blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly..." So on hearing that I had to ask myself if that is biblical? Well I believe it is because of other verses like Proverbs 4:23 which states, " guard your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life" and Proverbs 1:5, "a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel." The bible also teaches us that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." So a wise counselor is one who fears the Lord and walks in His ways. Now if I am going to be blessed by not walking in the counsel of ungodly people then I will have to be discerning of who is telling me what. Believe me when I say I want to be blessed. I spent enough of my years not knowing God or about His word and I had the life to prove it. Therefore, I take wise words like these very seriously and will not let the enemy steal any more of my life back by devious counsel and philosophies of destruction.

I came to the conclusion that our Father wants us to limit the flow of information that we take into our minds and hearts. We are supposed to be "guarding" the gateways of entry into our spirits. He has given us this gift of discernment that we are to use and continually be honing for future use. A basic definition for "discern" means to "take apart, investigate, look into." The Latin prefix "dis" means "apart" and the word "cernere" means "to sift." The same Latin word yields the words "dissect" and "discriminate." I must be discriminating at all times about what ideas are being presented to me no matter what the source. Especially if it is an ungodly source which is what I want to discuss with you for a moment.

I have a friend named Rusty down at the prison who also teaches the word of God to men and women and he said it like this the other day to our class. He said, "hey guys, your not going to let the guys in the other dorms around here come into this room where you live and dump their trash all over the floor are you? Then why would you turn on that television set and let the world dump its trash into your minds?" WOW! That kind of hits the nail right on the head. Now that is wise counsel from a wise counselor. You see, counselors come in all shapes and sizes in our culture today. In the days and culture when the Bible was written you had to go out of your way to hear someone sharing their take on the world issues. As a matter of fact there weren't just a whole lot of gathering places except for individual homes, synagogues, marketplaces, and temples of false religions. Nowadays though, all we have to do is turn on the radio, Internet, or pickup a newspaper or magazine, or turn on the boob tube and we have all kinds of lunatics, know-it-alls, and so called experts spouting off worthless wranglings of all sorts about a myriad of subjects. I mean it is unending pure, unadulterated trash and the sad thing is that we open up our lives to it with a push of the button. I know that the entertainment Moguls of this present age do not care about godliness. They only care about one thing, money and lots of it. They use sex to sell everything and the bible teaches us to flee from sexual immorality. They exaggerate and lie about products and their capabilities and fleece unsuspecting (undiscerning) people of their money and dignity when we know that we are to speak truth to our neighbors as well as not stealing from them. I heard an alarming fact the other day that went like this. "If you watch normal (huh!) television for just three hours a day, you will have been exposed to over 14,000 sexually explicit images in one year." My Bible says that we are not to look at a person with lust in our hearts which is adultery. We are being saturated with ungodly counsel coming from ungodly writers, producers, actors, and advertisers who fund the majority of it all for the sake of the all mighty dollar. It is enough! It is sad. They are exactly the ungodly counselors that Psalm 1 is talking about and the horrifying part of it is that we are so entrenched in it that most of you will probably say that "brotherdevon has lost it." Well, that's what some of them say down at the prison too, but I keep preaching the word because that is what I am called to do.

As you can tell this is a subject I feel very strongly about. I know that this world is growing darker and darker. The proof is right there on the screen for everyone who knows God to clearly see. I have made a decision to not sit down and let the world form me into its mold. I have decided to renew my mind with the true godly counselor, the Bible. I'm not going to sit down and watch on T.V. the glorifying of the very sins that nailed our wonderful Savior to the cross. I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me at a great price to Jesus and I'm not going to say to Him as we watch trash on the T.V., "oh it's just entertainment Lord, I would never really do any of it, it's just for fun since I don't have anything else better I could be doing." I pray that you to have discerned that the days are evil and we are to be spending our time wisely, not as fools but as wise children of God. So with that I say to you this week, "please be careful of what your watching and listening to and by all means be sure not to give anyone but Jesus an "All- Access Pass." Faithfully, brotherdevon.

Cross-eyed Part Two

Hey everyone, God bless you this week. I am really not sure how many people are actually reading these blogs, but I enjoy writing them and hope that whoever does tune in is being blessed by what the Lord is sharing with you through my heart. Last week we talked about how viewing everything through the Cross of Christ is the way to make sense of some of the hard things that life seems to throw at us. We talked about all the benefits that we have gained as God's children through our faith in Jesus' suffering and dying that horribly cruel death in our place. Yes, it happened around two thousand years ago, but the Bible teaches us that Jesus had to suffer the penalty for our sins once for all men, which means that He did a thorough job of it. No more sacrifices can be made. There is no need for the Savior to do it again. His last words recorded before He died that day were, "it is finished." Praise God that Jesus did it. He suffered and died in our place. He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Again, that means that whoever places their trust in Jesus and turns from their sins to the merciful Savior will be saved. Now that is something to get excited about. It is just as fresh today as it was then.

The truth of it is though that I don't like to suffer. I never have. As a matter of fact, I go to great lengths sometimes to avoid having to suffer any and all kinds of pain. It is a flaw that I think many of us share. The Bible teaches us that we are to endure suffering patiently as a good soldier of Christ because of our great example in Him. I understand that with my mind, but I'm having trouble getting my body to agree. Maybe you are the same way. I heard a preacher on the radio the other day say, "I wonder how many of us stay awake late at night unable to sleep, tossing and turning over the fact that Jesus had to suffer pain immensely for our sakes?" To my horror, I had to face the truth that I don't think I have. Salvation in Christ didn't cost me anything, but growing in Christ is going to cost me everything. I see now how God's plan is that He took the initiative by suffering for us and now it is our turn to reciprocate by enduring suffering for Him. God has never asked us to do anything that He hasn't already done in multiplication for us. He is not unreasonable in His plan for our growth as His children. He knows what we do not, and that is that through our sufferings we will grow strong and beautiful in full view of the world around us to see. You see, if me and the unbelievers of my circle of influence go through the same sufferings here on earth that everyone goes through, they should notice a difference in the outcome. They should notice that I still have peace, joy and power in the Holy Spirit. They should notice that I have a smile on my face, a spring in my step, and a whistle with my walk no matter what pressure I am under. This is the attitude that brings curiosity to them and glory to God. So when they ask me the reason for the faith that is within me I will have them right where God wants them. Ready to receive the gospel. The Bible teaches us that the present sufferings of this world are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us as saints of God. Basically, the underlying motive has to be God's glory or I won't make it through the suffering. The word of God says that, "because of the joy that was set before Him (Jesus), He endured the shame of the cross..." There is always joy on the other side of all that God calls us to suffer through for His sake. Joy unspeakable, joy everlasting.

So I guess what I am trying to express to us all this week is that even in suffering for good, we need to continue to be "cross-eyed" and realize that we have a part too. May God be glorified and you be blessed this week as we join with Him on this amazing journey through life.