Occasionally I say something that someone thinks is worth hearing. These are the times I believe the Holy Spirit gives illumination, revelation or inspiration. My prayer is that something you read here might encourage, uplift, strengthen. comfort or bring confirmation to your heart.  Greg

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◊ If one is to “give” something, it is presumed that he “has” something to give. Witness Peter and John arriving at the Gate Beautiful. An ancient story, yet the characters remain with us, a Man in Need, Penniless Apostles, and an Unseen Resource. The answer and solution is in the Word. The answer and solution IS the Word, and The Word is Jesus. The only Thing, then, is Jesus.  "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."  "But what I do have," that's the question that beckons our response; that's the question the Man in Need awaits resolution.

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◊ The Character and Nature of God – His glory – that’s what we’re after. That’s the Golden Ring. That’s the Thing: The One Thing and the Only Thing. And the representation of the glory is the Word Incarnate, even Jesus.

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◊ We have sung it into our memories: “To be like Jesus, all I ask, to be like Him” – If we were to be like Jesus, where would be our doubt, our unbelief? If we were to be like Jesus, where would be our trouble, our pain, our sorrows, our failure?

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◊ Leadership is more about DOING than KNOWING. Knowledge is important and necessary, but knowledge without action is powerless. It is when knowledge becomes endeavor that power flows.

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◊ In the crucible; at the moment of truth, the leader steps forward, without regard to his reputation or his life or what others may think and he takes the reigns of leadership in his hands, and touching the neck of the horse of his followers and not striking, not beating, not whipping his mount, he gently wills men to go forward, and because of who he is more than what he is, men follow because they know in their hearts, “our Leader has willed it.”

This is the true bond that allows leadership to function. Without this bond of fellowship, a leader is only a taskmaster and a prison guard. And this bond of fellowship is created in the nursery of action, of boldness, of vision and of heart.

Where does one go to get these things? One must first die to himself, to his ambitions, his desires, his needs so that he may live for others and for higher purposes.

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◊ Allow me to give you the dictionary-generated definitions of the word “hype.” The first and most common is “Exaggerated or extravagant claims made especially in advertising or promotional material: “It is pure hype, a gigantic PR job.”

Along the way to finding this definition I was surprised that the above was listed as a secondary definition: Yet this had always been my own personal definition of “hype.” The first definition is this, “A hypodermic injection, syringe, or needle” and “To stimulate with or as if with a hypodermic injection: “hyped the country up to a purposeless pitch.”

I’ve never considered “hype” as an abbreviation for “hypodermic” but it does make perfect sense – and it makes sense in the context of my suggestion – Hope-filled, desperate people, Christian people, people with spiritual life and spiritual desire want to know if there is any word from the Lord. And those with spiritual “hypodermic needles” are everywhere available to give us an “injection” that often makes us feel good for the moment, but leaves us empty and unfulfilled when the prophetic injection is itself unfulfilled.  The degree of Hope will determine the ability for Hype to have its way. So let us guard our hearts and hope only in the Lord, because only in Him will we never be disappointed.

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◊ It truly is amazing how little the average Christian thinks of himself: Feelings of insignificance; that he is an unnoticed, unnecessary appendage of the church are rampant in the Body of Christ. It is no wonder that the church is often ineffective and immobilized. And the answer to the dilemma? It is simply to recognize that God has called each of us – He has called YOU to become His child, His son or daughter; that He has called and equipped you to co-labor together, to collaborate with Him in the great enterprise of the salvation of the human soul.

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Psalm 139: Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

◊The most important understanding of life, the most critical thing, beyond education, financial gain, luck, scholarship or career is this: When one day you stand before your Creator and are asked what you did with the life that was given you, what will you say?

Multitudes can say they raised families, were loyal to the company, they made money, had friendships, impressed neighbors, but none of these things will matter when there is only you, God and Eternity. On that day, the only things that will matter are these: What did you do with Jesus, and what did you do with the life He gave you?

The strongest thing I believe in is destiny; that each human is meant for greatness. Few ever realize their destiny and so live mediocre, average, common lives, and die without ever having truly lived.

If life has taught me anything, I have learned this: You can achieve whatever you decide in your heart to do. You can do and become whatever you desire to do or be. If God is in it, what one can do, another can do.

And here is the thing the devil desperately does not want you ever to know: As you were born with heart, lungs, hands and eyes, you were born with a destiny and a purpose, pre-determined in the counsels of heaven. God intends that you discover and live that destiny and purpose while you are alive on this planet.
 

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◊ Preachers and churches talk about the Word of God as though it were a hammer designed to smash failing mankind. They talk about the Word with curious glee as though God commissioned its writing like some attorneys write contracts, designed to trap and ensnare those who violate the slightest agreement.

But God’s word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path. God’s word is Life; it brings liberty, not bondage.  Jesus is the Word and He came to set the captive free. He sent His word and healed them. No wonder the Shepherd-King of Israel could shout "O How I love Your law" – because the Law of God, the Word of God is the revelation of the Son, even Jesus, the pure and perfect reflection of the Father.

Don't shrink from the law: It’s the law that conquers sin, it’s the law that overrules Satan’s strategies, it's the law that reveals heart and passion, the purpose of God for us, His creation and the apple of His eye.

. . . to be continued