Author: Gnethaway

Blameless in His sight….

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

praying-man

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.  ~1Peter 3:14~

Peter is writing to the church, the believers about some very real stuff that was going on within the church, how men were turning back to their old ways. He is speaking about how they call themselves Christians, called to live a HOLY life yet they returned to their own vomit. He is writing about their end, when Jesus comes back on the day of judgement. It’s really pointed speech that is salted with deep truths.

Then we get to verse 14 and it says “So, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen……” What does this have to do with us? How does this relate to our lives? Well EVERYTHING!!! In chapter 1 Peter speaks about ….(I would suggest reading this book)

a. Growing in our faith –

b. Living a Godly life ~

c. Knowing Him, be productive, useful.

d. Knowing and paying attention to the Scriptures

He says all these things and then ends it with “Do these things, AND you will never fall away” verse 10

We get to the end of the book after reading how to remain “in Him” and what will happen to those who fall away, and he says “while you are waiting make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are PURE and BLAMELESS in His sight”

Gentlemen, check yourself and ALLOW your brothers to speak into your life….

It is very easy to slip back into our old life…. never forget THE OLD MAN IS DEAD and only YOU can resurrect him. Also remember this, if you slide back into your old life you take with you your family!!!!

Now go out and have an EPIC day today

Love is….

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.~1 Cor. 13:4-7

heart-bible1

Everyone knows this “love” chapter, even those who do not even believe that God is real. It is used at most weddings and quoted all of the time. And this word is TRUTH…but this love is not the same love that you have for your dog, or chocolate, or golf, or well I think you get it. There are 4 types of Love…

  1. Storge—empathy bond

  2. Philia—friend bond

  3. Eros—erotic bond

  4. Agape—unconditional ‘God’ love

In the English language we have the word “love” and that covers it all, in the Greek language there are different words for different types of love. In the world today just through music, movies, TV and social media we have really lost the meaning of LOVE, we have made it cheap, meaningless, and sometimes very dirty. But then there is “pure love” and that only comes from God’s heart.

All four of these kinds of love create perfect, balanced, pure and holy love. Men usually think in terms of “eros” love and confuse the others. So men, let me say this to you… without God’s perfect, pure and holy love in your heart, it is impossible to love your wife in perfect love, you will usually determine your love by only one area. Learn about His love and learn how to love Him first and foremost. Once your understand, once you fall in love with Jesus, once you understand His love for you, once your heart is filled, and the MOMENT He is more important to you than your wife, it is at that moment that your will be able to love your wife with the love of God and YES that includes “EROS” love. In fact if your wife is love by you through the love of the Father you will be shocked in what happens.

This is a struggle most men have in their life, in their marriage and in their walk with the Lord…. why? Because we are MEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allow me to be very candid with you, if you are not satisfied with your wife, marriage, and all the issues try this. Take 30 days and refrain from sexual activity with your wife. For those 30 days on a daily BASIS ask God to show you LOVE, how to LOVE, why to LOVE, and to help you fall in HOLY LOVE WITH YOUR SPOUSE, PLEAD with Him, go DEEP into the Word daily, make it a journey and lastly, DO NOT DO it to make your wife happy, but to change your heart. I know some men get weird when they say “fall in love with Jesus” but in the end that is what your entire life boils down to.

Now go out and have an EPIC day today

….as Jesus

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. ~Eph. 5:25-27~

bible

Most men know this verse or at least this concept in Scripture, most men would say that we are to love your wife as Jesus loved the church and He died for the church. But it’s really so much deeper than that even though it’s hard to get much deeper than dying for someone. LOL the truth is sometime we feel that if we died to prove our love it would be easier.

Jesus gave himself all-in to the church, why? “ He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and with out spot or wrinkle” verse 27 – washed BY the cleansing of God’s Word!! I often as a young man wonder what that actually means…. “wash with the Word”

A husband should most definitely take the initiative to seek and establish for his wife a healthy, spiritual, home/marriage/family environment that helps her to cultivate her own sanctification via the leadership of Christ. He (the husband) can’t do anything to add to her salvation (that’s impossible) or to make her more sanctified (he doesn’t have that authority). As her protector, he should see that the evils and temptations of the world doesn’t enter into his home and corrupt him or his wife and family. He should see to it by helping her with her daily routine that she has adequate time for her own personal Bible study and prayer and they should have a husband-wife study time. He should lead by example in modeling Christ in his home.

Christ was a servant – as well as a Savior to the church. It’s from the heart of a servant that a husband will see to it that his wife is protected from evil and has opportunities for spiritual growth. He is to view his role as head from the perspective of Christ or else he will not be effectively leading his wife into being holy and blameless.

And last I would like to leave you with this thought, where is Jesus now? He sits at the right hand of the Father INTERCEDING day and night for the church!!! Men are you praying for your wife in private? In most marriages the wife is in her prayer closet praying for her husband. Where is your prayer closet? How much time do you spend praying for her? Going to God on her behalf?

Now go out and have an EPIC day today!!!!

Iron Sharpens Iron

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

As iron sharpens iron,
    so a friend sharpens a friend.~Prov 27:17

iron-sharpens-iron

As men we get the lone ranger attitude at times, we love the Lord but we don’t need anyone in our business, don’t need other men knowing our stuff, our problems, our weaknesses. A few problems arise in our lives when we end up in this place, first we just open our self up to the attack of the enemy, you know the one who is out to KILL YOU!!! Destroy your life, your marriage, your relations with God. Secondly when we do have problems with our marriage of others around us, we go to other men and “complain” about it and when we do this it is just pouring death into an already bad situation. Instead of getting your brothers to pray for your marriage you wife, your children they end up with anger, contempt, and a negative view of that person.

As brothers in the Lord we are called to uplift one another, to pray for one another and to hold one another accountable in ALL area’s of life. Here is a truth that we all need to hear, know and walk in……. Your marriage will only be as strong as you are, your church will only be as strong as the men of the church, your workplace, the city your live in, the state you live in, and well I could take this out a lot further. IF the men of God would ever get a hold of this and become what they are created to be, take the role God has created them for the WORLD would be turned upside down. IRON SHARPENS IRON plain and simple.

Have a man or men in your life that will sharpen you in your secret places!! And have a man or men in your life that you will help sharpen!

I can tell you after walking with the Lord for 35 years, being in ministry for over 23 years I have had TWO men that took that role on with me and I will always be indebted to them. But that’s IT, I have gone many seasons with nobody. When it comes to accountability the men of God really have dropped the ball. It starts with YOU!!! Are you in?

Have an EPIC day today boys.

Love God with all your SOUL…

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

When I started out with this it was fueled by my word for this year “REAL” as I prayed I heard the Lord speak this Scripture

‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ~ Luke 10:27

I wrote last week about loving God with all your heart…. today I will begin with Love the Lord your God with all your SOUL….

get-real

So the question I ask is “how do I love God with all my soul”? This is a huge question. In my last blog I wrote about loving God with all our heart, while loving the Lord with all our heart has to do with affection, love the Lord with all our soul has to do with devotion.

The biblical definition for soul means life, personality, the inner self and our identity. It’s were we make our decisions and choices and ultimately decide our lifestyle and behavior.

To love the Lord with all of your soul means to love Him in the way you live, in the choices you make and in the behavior and lifestyle you adopt.

LOVE THE LORE WITH ALL YOUR SOUL BY PURSUING A LIFE OF HUMILITY IN ATTITUDES AND SPEECH.

When Jesus is our Great Treasure then our affections are captured. This is how we love God with all of our heart…. When our affections are captured then choices become god-centered and a lifestyle of humility.

LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR SOUL BY MAKING GODLY CHOICES.

We do what we value!! If we treasure our relationship with the Lord our choices will simply mirror the Treasure. Choices flow from what we treasure most!

LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR SOUL BY PURSUING OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD.

We live by every Word that proceed from the mouth of God, we are tangibly expressing our love for the Lord.

Now go out and have an EPIC day today

Get Real…. Loving the Lord with ALL your heart…

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

fire

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart……”

I don’t want to live a “normal” or passive life, but like all people I want to be filled with excitement. I want my heart to be consumed, on fire for something. God put this desire in every person, just think about all the different things people sink their lives, their time, their energy… from hobbies to interest to relationships.

I want to be captivated just like anyone else in this world. Here Jesus lays down the MOST IMPORTANT commandment for mankind and He starts our with loving the Lord with ALL of your heart…..

So if we are told to Love the Lord with all of our hearts that we should pursue it’s meaning. What does it mean to love God with all our hears and how do we go about doing it?

1. UNDERSTAND THAT OUR AFFECTIONS DETERMIN OUR DEVOTION

To determine where our affections actually lie, we have to discern what occupies our time, what motivates our actions, what shapes our dreams and what comprises their reward. Affections wait to be captured. They long to cling to someone or something. Wherever these affections are found so will our hearts be.

2. UNDERSTAND THAT OUR AFFECTIONS FOLLOW WHAT WE TREASURE.

The devotion of our hearts is determined by wherever we find value as our greatest treasure. Matt. 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be.” Jesus just gave us the answer on how to love God with all our hearts. The HEART loves what it treasures!! The treasure comes FIRST and the heart comes SECOND.

For the heart to love Jesus completely, it has to treasure Him supremely. Our affections are the outcome of what we treasure. When we truly encounter the Lord in His glory and worth, loving Him with all our hearts will be the end result.

3. THE GOAL IS TO MAKE JESUS YOUR GREATEST TREASURE.

Jesus was the treasure of Paul’s life…NOTHING else mattered compared to gaining Christ.

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ~ Phil. 3:8

8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, Eph. 3:8

The glory of Jesus is so amazing and so satisfying that once discovered, all else pales in comparison. When we divert our attention away for the Lord, our love will begin to grow cold. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. It’s true in our personal lives as well as in the church.

4. SPEND TIME WITH THE LORD….

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2Cor 4:6-7

ONLY through the persistent gave on the face of the Lord and His glory does the light pierce our hearts — the same lights the keep the Seraphim consumed before His throne….

8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’[a]

who was, and is, and is to come.” Rev. 4:8

This is my heart!!! This is my GOAL in my life!! This is what is important!!!

Now go out and have an EPIC day today.

 

And God says….REAL

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

worship

My word this year from the Lord is “REAL” ya I know kind of a strange word to get, to be honest I’m not sure of everything that He means by this word. I know it’s to “be real, or get real” before God and man in ALL aspects of my life. This is FOR ME!

As I was praying about this a scripture came to mind……

‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ~ Luke 10:27

To love Him with with our HEART – SOUL – STRENGTH – MIND and then Love your neighbor as yourself….I am going to take each area and break it down on how to “Get Real”  in our heart, soul, strength and mind.

Keep your eyes open as I write and post about these things…..I must say I feel as though I know the answers to these, I feel like I have them down pretty well and I try to practice them daily in my life…..haha and as I write that last statement the Lord gently and joyfully nudged me with a sweet little whisper “pride son pride” lol

So I am off and running to see and hear what He wants to show me.

Now go out and have an EPIC day today

I Love….

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

love-god commandments

I will speak of your statutes before kings
    and will not be put to shame,
for I delight in your commands
    because I love them.
I reach out for your commands, which I love,
    that I may meditate on your decrees.

Psalms 119:45-48

Usually soon as we become a Christian we hear that we need to love God and obey his commands (Word) and that is such a big set up for failure, shame, hidden sin, and a relationship with the Lord that is weak and always up and down if we are not taught “how to Love God, how to obey Him”

Here he writes that he delights in God’s commands, he reaches out for God’s commands….. I don’t know about you but that sure was not me for so many years on my walk with the Lord. For many years I was up and down, in and out, and had so many things that I tried to hide from Him and all those church people around me.

So how is it possible to live in a way that you LOVE God’s commands? The writer says he reaches out for them, he meditates on them… bottom line KNOWING them. Most people only know what they are told about God’s commands and decrees, but I want to tell you to dig into them, study them and soon as you go deeper and deeper you will find the very heart of God, and once you find the heart of someone that’s when you fall in love with them. IF you fall in love with the Lord you WILL FALL IN LOVE with His commands!! You will find strength in His word, boldness in His word (I will not be put to shame).

These three little verses hold much power and truth. As always KNOW HIS WORD, study His Word and soon you will find yourself a God follower with a clean heart and clean hands.

Now go out and have an EPIC day today!!!

In All Things

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

my-comforter

 My comfort in my suffering is this:
    Your promise preserves my life.~Psalm 119:50

No matter what I go through His promise is the one thing I hold on to. He promises to preserve my life. I have confidence in His word, I have confidence in His promises, I have confidence in my relationship with Jesus. Because of this confidence I can find comfort in my suffering! AMEN!!

The word “preserve” means:

pre·servedpre·serv·ing

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction :  protect

  3. 2 a :  to keep alive, intact, or free from decay b :  maintain

  4. 3 a :  to keep or save from decomposition b :  to can, pickle, or similarly prepare for future use

  5. 4 :  to keep up and reserve for personal or special use

Oh man do I love this!! God protects me, He maintains me, He keeps me fresh and my favorite is He keeps reserved for personal or special use!!!

My prayer today is USE ME!!!!

Now go out and have an EPIC day today.

Give Me Strength…..

/ Gnethaway / Leave a comment

Strength

My soul is weary with sorrow;
    strengthen me according to your word. ~ Psalm 119:28

There are so many things in this world that makes our soul weary. Relationships, family at times, finances, job situations, a death of a loved one, school, our health, just living life can bring us a weary soul and much sorrow.

Some turn to alcohol, drugs etc to just get some relief and not have to think about things, others turn to counselors or psychiatrist, others turn to reading self help books, others turn to some other type of addiction just trying to get some relief and some peace. Some end up bitter and angry all the time, some lash out at others and some even just drop out of society….it’s life and it happens.

And God says He will and can strengthen us with His Word. His word is LIFE, His word is POWER, His word is STRENGTH. How is this so? The words on the page become alive through the power of the Holy Spirit. Reading and knowing the Word is the most important thing you can do as a God follower. It is your strength, your wisdom, your life.

Now go read the Word of God… take your time….chew on it…meditate on it…. and have an EPIC day today.