Where is Your Focus?

February 10, 2023February 16, 2023 / The WheatandTares

If you’ve not read The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, I encourage you to pick up a copy. It is a phenomenal fiction from the perspective of a “strong” demon writing letters to another “weaker” demon, his nephew in training, about their assignment to a Christian and their antics and schemes to keep that Christian from serving their Enemy, God.

It is such an intriguing concept and high can shed many incredible truths on our purpose and plan as Christians to impact God’s kingdoms and the purpose and plans of the enemy to keep us that very purpose. It really is a great read, even if you are not a person of faith or have no concept of the “Christian life.”

This excerpt impacted me greatly as I read it, and it describes perfectly what we are seeing in our modern culture. So many are focused on people they don’t know or with whom they have no interaction on a daily basis, but find it easy to shout blame, find fault and constantly point fingers for the demise of our society.

We are all tempted daily to become distracted by the news, social media, or even “word on the street” as we search for someone to blame for the chaos. When we all should be looking inward at our own hearts, our own attitudes, our own thoughts that ought to be bringing conviction for change.

Not one of us who live on this green earth are able to say, “I am without sin.” By no means, can one of us claim perfection in our actions, our words, or even in our thoughts. We are no better than the most wretched among us. We all are born into sin, are tempted by sin, and are pursued by sin our entire lives.

The only difference between me and the one who receives a death sentence of eternal sin is that I have confessed my sin to the One who can forgive. I have surrendered my life to the One who created me and the boy One who can save me from myself. I have committed my life to His will rather than my own.

That is the only difference.

And that makes ALL the difference.

And that difference is FOR ALL.

This difference can be possessed BY ALL.

So, let us all stop being distracted by the accusations, the lies, and the enticing scheme to keep our eyes averted from truth.

Let us all begin to look inward and find the wrong and seek to find the One who can make it right.

And only then, can we begin to rightly “fix” the world around us.

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Psalm 51:1-6

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51:7-11

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Psalm 51:12-17

Comfort of Living

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Each of us have a level of comfort in which we desire to live.

Each of us have a “redline.” You know.

That fuzzy little imaginary stroke that isn’t really there until you throttle it.

That line where everything is pressing in, and you literally feel like you’re going to go insane.

Each one of us have a degree of comfort in which we are willing to live.

At what level you are willing to live and of which learn to fly, there will be your leadership.

At which degree you have settled in and of which refuse to move, there will be your demotion.

Comfort can bring pleasure.

Comfort can bring complacency.

Comfort can bring static.

Too much comfort can bring cessation.

Where will you abide?

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branchthat bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:2

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
1 Timothy 1:6-7

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:1-7

Flush It

January 6, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Start this new year by flushing those things you don’t need.

Flush the anger. Flush the pain.

Flush negative thinking and self degradation.

Flush laziness, apathy and procrastination.

Let it all flow away from you and embrace those things that are best.

Embrace love. Embrace peace. Embrace joy.

Embrace positive thoughts and self evaluation.

Embrace determination, tenacity and advancement.

Let it consume you and propel you to a better tomorrow, a higher mountain top.

The valleys may come. The storms may rage.

But if you are pressing forward toward the best ahead, you can learn to dance in the rain.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14

What’s Your Filter?

January 5, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Everybody’s got a filter.

You hear through that filter.

You see through that filter.

Your perspective is guided, cleared and clouded by that filter.

You can choose to allow your filter to be filled with your pain or your victory.

You can choose to create your filter to be filled with good things or evil.

Th choice is yours.

Choose today for 2023.

Choose well.

Extra Note: I love coffee, but it’s not a great filter filler for my life. 😉😂

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

Time Like the Tide

January 3, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Time is like the tide.

It never stops.

It’s always moving forward.

It waits for no man.

It pauses for no woman.

It can bring peace or chaos, but you can choose.

You can plan and prepare, or you can simply let it roll on in.

But it will not be stopped.

It can catch you unaware, or you can come ready.

The choice is yours.

What will you do?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
James 4:13-17

What Will You Do With It?

January 1, 2023January 2, 2023 / The WheatandTares

This year you have been given is important.

The minutes are like a precious gem.

It’s rare and of much value, never to be seen again.

What will you do with it?

What will you make amends?

The clock will keep on ticking.

Time will never end.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Happy New Year’s Eve!

December 31, 2022January 7, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Make the most of today and enjoy it!

Glance back at yesterday and recognize it.

Don’t wallow in regrets, but correct, repent and make amends.

Look forward to tomorrow and acknowledge it.

Don’t jump ahead in what could be, but plan, pray, and prepare.

And live today. Be present. Be attentive. Be engaged.

Savor and reflect. Cherish and embrace.

Today is for the taking and the making.

Don’t miss it.

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Matthew 6:25-27

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34

New Year’s is Coming!

December 30, 2022December 27, 2022 / The WheatandTares

Can you believe 2023 is almost upon us?

The new year is nipping at our heels.

Looking back, I search for the value of what I have done.

Is it worthy? Is it useful? Is it enough?

Every season at this time, I question my intentions.

I begin analyzing and questioning.

Were my plans well executed or were they wasted?

Were the goals fulfilled and throughly accomplished?

The questions begin to flow like a river until I almost feel overwhelmed with the gravity of the search.

But then, I remember. Then, I recollect.

It’s not a competition. It’s not a race to defeat.

Tomorrow is a new day, and today is still here for the catch.

Make the best of this moment, and make a point to create the rest even better.

It’s not about perfection. It’s not about the ideal.

It’s about integrity, sincerity and virtue.

It’s about determination, perseverance and fortitude.

Let’s make the most of right now and work towards a great time to come.

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Be You, Not Them

December 29, 2022 / The WheatandTares

There is such a push in modern culture to do the same things, wear the same things.

There is such a demand to be the same as everyone else, compare and correlate.

If you are a follower of Christ, He never designed for this pattern.

Look at His disciples. Look at His creation.

Peter and John seemed to be polar opposites.

Snowflakes and raindrops are never identical.

He called you to be you, tempered by His Spirit, molded by His Son.

Find yourself in His design. Find yourself in His plan.

You’ll be amazed at what you discover.

You’ll be overwhelmed by what you reclaim.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2