Author: Steven Bolden

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Are we there yet???

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Gen 50:19 – 21 NIV “19But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”

Have you arrived? Are you in God’s place? Joseph was subjected to great evil in life due to the treachery of his brothers. Yet through it all his heart remained focused on obedience to God. Culminating in him become the most powerful man in Egypt and saving lives. He understood who the footsteps in the sand belonged to and rather than filling his heart with vengeance he allowed God to repay the evil with good.

There will be trials and severe struggle in life. People will do evil things to you. If we take our eyes off God and the plan He has for us (and He does have a plan for everyone) and focus on or repaying the evil we will miss it and get side tracked. Grow through what you go through and you will arrive at God’s place (Romans 8:28-39).

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Gifted (part 2) – Proof Positive

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2 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV)
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Could you give 3 references? When a potential employer asks you for references for a worldly temporal job you could list several. Could you do the same for God’s work?

I wrote in part 1 of this series about how all believers are given a spiritual gift that are to be used in the body of Christ. They are the tools of your ministry.  Believers are to produce work. Work that has spiritual results. Work that is measured in changed lives.

When one says yes to Jesus life no longer is about oneself. You have given up on trying to be god of your life and have surrender to the one true God. God’s work isn’t about producing widgets. God’s work is about seeking and saving that which was lost. He chose to use His church/the body of believers as the means to complete His work. As believers our spiritual resume should be filled with God glorifying references. Can you produce 3 references?

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Gifted

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1 Corinthians 12:7-11

“7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

Hey Believers…still searching for your purpose? Still wondering what on earth are you hear for? Well, it really isn’t a mystery. 1 Corinthians sheds some light on your significance.  There isn’t a need for Rick Warren to put out yet another study on our search for significance.  We have been gifted and we are to use the gifts to teach, edify, strengthen, encourage, guide, and heal. Instantly, upon accepting Christ we are grafted into the body of Christ. Instantly, upon accepting Christ we have been given significance. Instantly, upon accepting Christ we have been portioned the same manifestation of the Spirit as Jesus. In John 16 Jesus tells his disciples it is better that he goes away so he can send the Holy Spirit.  We not only receive the Holy Spirit, instantly upon accepting Christ, but instantly we also receive gifts from the Holy Spirit.  Those gifts are to be used.  Those gifts give us significance.  A butterfly understands it is not a caterpiller anymore and utilizes its gift of flight to pollinate.  Its life is no longer about crawling and consuming for itself. We would be wise to take a lesson from the butterfly and start pollinating.

 

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Beautiful Feet…part 2

DaVinci

 

Acts 8:26-31

26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

The recent events involving Phil Robertson’s comments were beautiful and ugly all at the same time.  Beautiful in that a prominent figure promoted a biblical moral stance yet ugly in the public response to that stance.  In this sound bite culture we live in only part of the message was told in presenting his stance.  Only the first part of I Cor. 6:9-11 was conveyed which I call the warnings.  Verse 11, which is the good news (the hope) was left out leaving a lack of understanding leading to an outcry.

In the subject passage Acts 8:26-31 the eunuch had a lack of understanding. Philip, being led by the Lord, ceased the opportunity to minister to the eunuch and provide a complete picture of the message.  Philip chose to minister yet far too often we/I choose to stand on moral principle and missed the boat.  Just as the eunuch invited Philip to sit with him and explain, the world waits in anticipation for God’s people (Romans 8:19-21) to bring the good news.  They are looking for the beautiful feet…

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Beautiful feet…part 1

DaVinci

 

Acts 8:26-31

26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

When a natural disaster strikes and devastates an area there is an immediate and overwhelming reaction to help and assist.  News reports, PSA’s, blogs, facebook, twitter…all broadcasting the event and regardless of race or social status we help. We donate money, time, and resources to the cause.

Act 8:26-31 is a spiritual picture of this scenario.  The disaster is not of a physical nature but of a spiritual one.  This eunuch is lost and spiritually devastated by sin just as we all are without Jesus’ redemptive gift.  God’s PSA came through an angel to Philip.  Philip heard, responded, and the eunuch was saved.  How many spiritual disasters do we as Christians pass by everyday and don’t respond? I propose that we, myself included, are not tuned into God’s broadcast of the disaster (the Holy Spirit) as much as we are our social media apps.  A tree falling in the wilderness does make a sound but you have to get out of the city to hear it…

Why are we so quick to meet a physical need yet Jesus, whom we are to emulate, teaches in John 4:13-14 that it is the spiritual redemption that brings about true and complete salvation.  You can never truly meet a physical need unless the spiritual need is met. When God created man he first created the body (physical), then breathed life (spirit) into him, and then man became a living soul.  Two parts, both have needs, true ministry is meeting them both.  They don’t call it sweet OR sour chicken…

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The Helper

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John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, ”

When you go to the automotive repair shop the receptionist calls the mechanic to fix your car. When you go the hospital it is the doctor they call to tend to you. In life Jesus says the Helper he sends us is the Spirit of truth.

Hmmm, could it be that Jesus signaled to us that what ails us most is a condition brought on by lies? Lies about who we really are in Christ. Doubt? Doubt about God’s promises around His ability to provide in all areas of our lives.

If God is big enough to trust with our eternity, it would make sense to trust the Helper He has sent us for today…

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Jesus wept. Why don’t I?

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John 11:33-35 (NASB)
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.

I tithe, I give, I serve, I donate to worthy causes. But, I’ve yet to respond to need as Jesus did. I’ve never wept. All the hurting people I pass daily, all the posts on facebook from friends who’ve lost love ones and not one solitary tear. I tease my wife all the time because she is easily moved to tears when faced with someone hurting or in need.  Yet she is the one with the heart like Christ. People’s pain stirs her soul. So much so that she has fashioned her career around helping people. She gets it!

Christ not only came to seek and save the lost but also to heal the brokenhearted. He gave them life. He wept for them. I should to.

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Who’s your daddy???

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My 14 year old looks like me, acts like me, and even has the same mannerisms as I do. God bless her! What’s amazing is that many times I’ve been approached by people I don’t know and have been asked if I was her father!

John 8:19 & 38

19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

38 “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

Could I answer that question like Jesus did?  Am I a reflection of God who has adopted me through the redemptive power of the cross? Do my actions and words give people a glimps of who God is? How many people have come to know God because they have encountered me?

Who would my sphere of influence say my daddy is???

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Trust and obey…

John 2:1-11 NIV

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside

10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

Jesus’ first recorded miracle and the major theme is obedience. The problem was presented to Jesus and then they obeyed his commands. They focused on what He told them to do and He provided over and abundantly. Whatever the need, just present it to God and then go about His work. He will provide and His provision is sweet and complete! His wine is better than our best! Trust and obey…

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You can’t tell me what to do…

I decided to take my laptop outside and enjoy the great weather today while working from home this afternoon. My 10 year old comes outside and the following conversation ensues:

Daughter: “Dad, we want to give the dogs a bath out here.”
Me: “Not right now, I am working and you’ll be too loud.”
Daughter: “IF you want to get out of the house, go sit in the garage. We need to bathe the dogs out here!”

I own this house on paper only…

Romans 11: 33-36 NASB

33 Oh, the depth of the riches [l]both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him [m]that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory [n]forever. Amen.

How often do I interact with God the way my daughter did with me?  God created EVERYTHING, exististed before EXERYONE, yet in my extremely finite wisdom I find myself responding to him as if I know better than He.  I find myself telling Him “no, I’ll invest the money you’ve provided me this way” or “I know you said vengance is yours but I think I got a better way to show that person who’s the boss”.  If only I could grasp the reality that God is author and finisher, the Alpha and Omega.  I am His, He can’t make a mistake, and even in my doubts and dislikes of the path he is directing me in I should just trust and obey.  Oh, the depth of His riches…