Saturday, March 28, 2009

Fire Baptizer

Matthew 3:11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Be ready for change when you meet Jesus. John gets us focused in our preparation. Meeting Jesus can make you different from the inside out. He brings the Holy Spirit and fire to pour over you and change you. Think of it this way. It is like having chemical fire on the inside (the Holy Spirit) and liquid fire on the outside (the Holy Spirit). However, the real you is strengthened not burned. The stuff that is between you and Him will be cleansed.

Conflict is one of those baptizers in the Holy Spirit. We want to avoid it, yet it is the right thing. God used conflict to cause us to dig deeper into understanding of relationships and life. The deeper we dig, the stronger we become. In talking to a leader, it struck me to provoke him that leaders love resolving conflict. They don’t love the conflict or the anger and frustration that may accompany it. They do love the process of resolution and the end result. Through conflict we are baptized in Holy Spirit fire. He strengthens our resolve and our ability to move ahead. He causes us to face hard items that need to be removed. It is one way He baptizes us with fire.

ACT!
Pick an item that needs to be burned away in your life. Put it in front of Him for handling.

PRAY! Father, I am not afraid of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. I await continually meeting with Jesus to be continually cleansed. Let Your faithful and just character enter into my life as I confess my sin before You. Forgive me and cleanse me from all ways that are unlike You.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Fruit Inspector

Matthew 3: 7: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

John's preparatory help is worth really reviewing. Fruit inspection is worth our time. Fruit inspection should best be done by us. Fruit inspection should best be done on us. John noted some tough untended stuff in these leaders. They were standing in the way of others meeting Jesus with their bad fruit. Hopefully, we do enough personal inspection that God doesn't have to resort to outside help to get our attention.

Integrity is a big issue in the Christian church. Do we do what we do the same when no one is looking and when everyone is looking? Are we a consistent and congruent person in Christian behavior? Those are fruit inspections the world is doing daily around us. Do we stand up to the inspection?

Tough situations on the job are great inspections of fruit. The daily testings in the marketplace in our interactions are real and purposeful on God’s part. He brings them to find us out. He brings them to allow others to see our real fruit. When the fruit is sweet in the sour moments, people want what we have. The Inspector can be seen by others in us.

ACT! Take a little time to inspect and prune. What in your life is preventing someone from seeing the real Jesus inside of you? Can you cut it off?

PRAY! Father, when I meet Jesus, He is so gentle, yet so true to the point. Help me to be honest before You. Help me inspecting my attitudes and life. Help me be a preparer of the way to Jesus. Enable me like John. Remove from me hindrances to the way. I open myself to Your Holy Spirit for inspection and pruning. Bring forth fruits that display the results of repentance.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Receive

Matthew 3: 4: And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5: Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6: And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

When we prepare ourselves to prepare others to meet Jesus, they will come. We need to be ready to receive them. John was focused in his preparation even down to the way he dressed and what he ate and where they could find him. Maybe a little readiness to receive could increase helping others meet Jesus.

A workplace situation accentuated this dramatically to me. After hiring a new staff, member, he was given special accommodation to work at home in replacement for going on his prior planned honeymoon. This cause quite a stir among staff, who thought it was unfair to them. Maybe, if I had taken the time to communicate the arrangements to some key colleagues there would not have been as much gossip. That little bit of extra work on my part to receive him the way he came and prepare other colleagues could have gone a long way and prevented me from having to do cleanup communications and clarifications post-gossip.

ACT! Are you ready to receive? Can people find you? Do they know you are ready? Put out a signal today. Maybe drop a hint to someone that there is forgiveness at your door in Jesus.

PRAY!
Holy Father, help me think about my personal holiness in You. Help me prepare myself internally so others will see You externally. Overshadow my inadequacy with Your love so that others can come to Jesus through me.