Judas--Wasted potential.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. (Acts 1:20)

Greetings. The word for today is–Don’t waste the potential that’s inside of you. God has given you gifts, skills, and talents. You may ask—What are my gifts? The answer is in God’s word.

The word of God tells us that we have a treasure inside of us. (2 Cor. 4:7) This is good news. When we were born into this world, we carried gifts, skills, and abilities to the table.  Those gifts were enhanced and more were added to us at the new birth. Some who may be reading this may not even realize the precious gift that God has given inside of us.

As we study the life of Judas, he had a couple of gifts in three areas. First, He was talented in administrative duties. Second, he was good in the area of numbers, causing him to be the treasurer of the disciples. Third, he had a talent for business and knew how to close business deals.  

The question to ask is what happened to this talented apostle? He was part of the 12 disciples and was entrusted with the power of God. (Matt 10:1) Somewhere along the line, he got sidetracked. His love for money was his weakness. God had given him many opportunities to repent, but he kept hardening his heart. As we read on, we are going to see how his hardness caused him to lose everything and abort his God-given destiny.   

                                                Your gifts and destiny

Judas forsook his future with God. He was called to be a Bishop and his purpose was to help transform the whole world for the Lord. (Acts 1:20) God could have used his gifts to draw important people to him. ( Prov 18:16) Sadly, this was not to be. Judas fell and his love of money caused him to betray his messiah.

What does this tell us? We have a God-given destiny to fulfill. Don’t abort your future destiny with God. God has put inside of us gifts to help you and others in life. For example, we can see the gift of creating businesses. A gift in that area can help you and your family. It can, also, provide jobs for others. 

Another example is the gift in the area of science and technology. This gift can bring answers to life’s toughest problems. Your gift can be creative and, even, help save lives. All of you reading this post on my blog have a gift. Do you know what it is? God wants to show us our hidden treasures and use us for his glory. 

Prayer–Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me. Lord, show me my gifts, skills, and talents. Help me to use it for your glory. Help me to use it to provide for our needs, family and even bless all the people surrounding me. Help me to pour out all that you have invested in me. Use me as a willing vessel to bring honor and glory to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Pastor's Thoughts- Feb 14, 2015

"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and  in an hour that he is not aware of,  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt 24:44-51)


                      These scriptures have, always, been associated with the rapture. While I would like to teach about this, I was impressed to go with matters of the heart. King David said to the Lord to examine me! (Ps 26:2) Prove me-Try my reins and my heart. When was the last time you went in for a heart checkup? Jesus is the great physician and wants to reveal to us our "Medical" report.
                Our hearts can be our emotions,desires and mind. It is a sad state of affairs that ministers are being snared by pornography. Friends, Satan is after your mind. Why? Because that is where the battle is fought! Jesus knows what we are thinking day by day! If you study the life of Judas, he started on the right foot. God is, not, going to give his power to someone who isn't living right. (Matt 10:1) It is a dangerous thing when you try to cast out a devil and you aren't living right.
                  Judas saw miracles and cast out devils, but something happened along the way. Judas had issues like many of us do. He had a weakness and that was money. The failure to deal with this issue got him into the hands of the enemy and his heart was hardened. (John 13:26-28) All during this time, Jesus was loving Judas. He did not expose nor confront him for his dishonest ways of handling the offerings. He gave him a chance to repent, but he hardened his heart.
                On the other hand, Peter had issues too! Jesus told him that he was going to deny him, but Peter got indignant. When the pressure came, what was in his heart came out. As you read Matt 24:44-51, the unfaithful servant, also, had issues. He was doing everything right but when he noticed that the Lord tarried, he turned to the world. What was in his mind came out and got manifested. Noticed that the Lord called him an evil servant even before he committed those acts of sins. He knows our hearts.
                The word says-YOUR SINS WILL FIND YOU OUT! Ask God to reveal the issues of your heart. Friends, we, all, have issues we need to deal with. Spend time before the presence of the Lord and deal with the issues. Get to the root of it. Dealing with it will help you avoid heartaches in the future.

Don't get sidetracked!

                    " Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that." (Matt 27:3-4)

         It is interesting to see what happened to Judas when he betrayed Jesus. The word says he repented himself. What does that mean? When we talk about repentance, we think that everything is all right and that God will forgive- but that is not true! You can repent to yourself and not to God. You can feel remorseful, terrible, try to do restitution, but not repent before God. That was Judas mistake. He was so remorseful that he refused to forgive himself. What happened? Scriptures recorded that he hung himself. 

          When we sin, don't run from God-RUN TO HIM! Confess it and get it out of the way. If you are bound, ask God to give you the grace to be free. The Holy Spirit is your helper and if you let him, he can help you break any bondage in your life. We need to learn to set proper priorities in our lives!

           The religious leaders were, also, sidetracked in their hatred for Jesus! Here was Judas, remorseful and needing ministry, yet they neglected their calling to minister and left him to his fate. They were not only guilty of the blood of Jesus, but of Judas. Their hatred of Jesus not only enslaved them, but caused spiritual blindness. It blinded them of their priesthood ministry toward Judas. 

               The apostle Paul says that all things are lawful but are not expedient. (I Cor 6:12) Did you know that even a good thing can sidetrack you and cause you to miss out on what God has for you? For example, if you listen to gospel CDs, watch Christian TV and don't have your own personal devotional, it can hurt you. We need to learn how to get a  personal word for our lives and studying the word is the key to learn to hear from God. A good thing can enslave you and before you know it, God has second place instead of being first. In this day, decide to put Jesus first in everything! Doing this will enhance our relationship with him and allow us to enjoy God's best for us! 

Prayer--Lord, help me to set proper priorities in my life. Help me to put you first in all I do. Show me the things that are sidetracking me. I love you, Lord, and desire to hear from you. Help me to be red hot for you so I can honor you in all I do---In Jesus name. Amen!