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Choppin With A Dull Axe

February 20, 2017 by Joey Hughes 2 Comments

We’ve heard it said many times… “Your praise is your weapon!”

I’ve been around weapons all my life. I grew up going hunting and learning how to use weapons.

One of the most important things to learn about weapons is how to maintain them. You have to know the things that can damage your weapon. There are certain things which can render a weapon completely ineffective and useless.

The same is true for our spiritual weapon known as praise. There are certain things that can render our praise ineffective. They mainly are made up of our attitudes and the ways we think. Here are a few of them.

First, a pharisaical or haughty spirit. We know that Proverbs 16:18 says that Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. The pharisees of Jesus’ day were so educated and religious, they couldn’t see what God was doing right in front of them (Matt 21:1-16, Luke 19:37-40).

Second, the attitudes of frustration and despair. We see this when we look at Job’s wife (Job 1:29, 2:9-10). She and her husband had known the joy of living under the blessing of God, but when things took a turn for the worse, she allowed her frustration and despair to take her to a place of turning her back on the very God whose blessing she had known.

Third, the fear of humiliation (self consciousness). When King David brought the Ark back into its proper place, he danced with “all his might” before the Lord. The Bible tells us in 2 Sam 6:12-23 that his wife, Michal, got furious with him and even made fun of him because of the way he acted. In essence, she was embarrassed at how he had presented himself.

Let’s examine ourselves today and be sure that our weapon of spiritual warfare; our praise, is not hindered by any of these attitudes. I know what it’s like to chop wood with a dull axe. It’s no fun and it’s not very productive. I’d much rather swing a sharp axe. I’d also rather lift a sharp, effective praise so that God can make his habitation in my life.

What are some other things you can think of that will leave the “axe” of our praise dull?

Your comments are welcome…

Filed Under: Christianity 101, Discussions, Worship 101 Tagged With: Better Life, character, christianity, encouragement, Praise and Worship

Motivation VS Inspiration

January 24, 2017 by Joey Hughes Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Christianity 101 Tagged With: Better Life, character, encouragement, Inspiration, Motivation

What The World Needs Now…

October 17, 2013 by Joey Hughes Leave a Comment

In Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 19, God says to us; “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”

Over the last few weeks we’ve watched our government in turmoil. Back and forth across the aisle go the accusations. Taunts of corruption, mistrust, lies, and all manner of ill will.

During this I heard church people say things like; “We just need to be united as a nation and stand for what is right!” “We need to love each other!” “We need God back in our nation!” I heard every “Christian” cliche you could imagine. FaceBook was ablaze with posts like this “Share if you believe God can save our nation.” or “Hit ‘Like’ if you believe God is still in control.” and there were soooo many more, I just don’t have time to list them all.

It seems that when things are going wrong outside the church, we have all the answers and we have no problem shouting to the world that the answer to bad government, poverty, hate, and everything else is God and His love.

This past weekend, we in the church world learned that another of our own has run into a difficult season. Everyone knows to whom and to what I refer, so I will not name names or divulge details. No need for that. But I must say, I am absolutely amazed and confounded at what ensued shortly after the news broke.

The rocks began to fly! Back and forth across media went the accusations. Taunts of corruption, mistrust, lies, and all manner of ill will.

WAIT… That sounds like… (anyone seeing a pattern here?)

The old song says “What the world needs now, Is love, sweet love, It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
What the world needs now, Is love, sweet love, No, not just for some but for everyone.”

I believe we get this so wrong sometimes. No one would argue with me that the world needs to “be loved” or know that God loves them, but I believe that what will really change the world is when the world begins to see a group of people who will not shoot their own wounded (like the world does).

Jesus said, in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Can we change the world? Yes, I believe we can, but it will only happen when we decide to lay down our offenses, hurts, differences of opinion, and differences in taste and style and begin to show the Love of God to the world, not only by Loving those outside our ranks, but by loving those within our ranks who have done us wrong or who have failed to meet certain standards.

I believe God has set a choice before us “Life or Death, Blessing or Cursing.” It’s our choice. Will we speak life or death. Will we bless or curse?

The world is waiting…

Your comments are welcomed.

Filed Under: Christianity 101, Discussions, Leadership 101 Tagged With: Better Life, character, christianity, discussions, Leadership

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