Sunday February 27, 2011

The Enemy is Always Lurking

1 Corinthians 10:11

¹² If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

We must always realize the times of some of our greatest vulnerability to the enemy is often when we are the closest to the Lord.  The enemy is so cunning that he places things or opportunities in our path ever so slightly that we may not even notice them at the time.  We can become to confident in our own abilities to realize we should be praying at this moment instead of taking the next step.

We cannot accomplish the Lord's will for our lives without Him in complete control.  Sometimes when we spend so much time with Him we can find ourselves over confident and even cocky.  Both of these are the opening for the enemy to attack.  We must always remember to walk daily with great humility and discernment.  Over confidence in our own abilities to make the right decision is often times disastrous . Our confidence should be in the Lord's promises to never forsake us and Love us unconditionally.  He has told us He will never allow us to experience more than we can bear and has told us He will always give us a way out but the only way to do that is to completely trust Him in all situations and pray constantly for His protection and guidance in our daily walk.  Be CONFIDENT in the Lord in all things and surrender your confidence, your will and your desires at His feet and watch the Lord fill your sails with His glorious power.  This next statement should be all we need to wake each day with and abundance of Hope & Love.

For all of us who have and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior and asked Him to forgive us of our sins and believe he died on the cross and rose from the dead three days later to ascend to the right hand of the Father, remember this:

WE'VE ALREADY WON!

I want to thank all of you for your support and for starting your day with a "Cup of God's Coffee".

Godspeed,

James Boening

Tuesday February 22, 2011

A Call to Listen to God!

Hebrews 12:14-15

¹⁴ Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.  

God has taught us through His scripture and His son that our eternal salvation is a gift, it can't be bought or earned so that no man or woman can boast.  

So often, we find ourselves in the church in a battle between works and faith.  It is very simple to keep straight if we would slow down and let the Lord speak to us and read His word.  

Our eternal salvation is a gift, period.  It's a one time act between you and the Father.  Our works here on earth are part of God's plan for all of His children, each one of us have special gifts given to us out of Love from our heavenly Father.  

The reason God instructs us to WORK at living in peace and Work at living a holy life is not for His benefit but for ours.  God knows if we Work at the things of the Lord we will live a life filled with internal peace, hope and love.  We will live blessed lives by developing our special gifts.

Look at it like this: take an Olympic athlete for example.  everyone of these men and women had a God given gift, the only difference between an Olympic athlete and an average athlete with the same God given gift, boils down to one word, WORK & Sacrifice.

We need to ask ourselves what is my gift from God?  What can I do to Work on making that gift better to serve Him?  What is my calling?  Just like that Olympic athlete, he didn't just wake up one day and try out for the Olympic team.  He or she spent many, many years training to achieve this goal.  It starts with baby steps, conditioning, a plan and a desire that stops at nothing to achieve your goal.  It's no different in our walk with the Lord, if we've accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, our names are written in the Lambs Book of Life.  God wants more for us than just to make the Olympic team, He wants us to finish the race with a gold metal.  He wants great and wonderful things for our lives.  He has given each of us gifts and all the instructions and tools to achieve our gold metal, its up to us to Work and often times make Great Sacrifice to fine tune our Gifts God has given us.

I believe the last part of this verse is taken differently by most and causes the battles between works and faith: for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.  If we believe and trust the Lord, that nothing can pluck us from our Fathers hand and salvation is a Gift and not earned, then the only way that this last part of this verse makes sense is this.  I will paraphrase the words: for those who don't work to be holy, because none are holy or pure of sin, we will not see the Lord in our daily lives.  We will not experience the Lord's presence or see Him revealed on our time here on earth.  It has nothing to do with our salvation.

I want to thank all of you that still log on to read the blog, I have made a commitment to make the time and make some sacrifices to make sure I write more often regardless of my current busy schedule.

Thanks again for starting your day with "God's Cup of Coffee."

Godspeed,

James Boening

     

Sunday February 13, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day

To the second love of my life: 

My wife Leigh Anne,

This is probably not the way you would think to start a writing to your wife on Valentine's Day or any day for that matter.  But I know my wife would have it no other way.  You see, I can't truly love my wife unless she's second, I can't truly care for my wife unless she's second, I can't truly stay committed through thick and thin unless she's second!  As a matter of fact you can't whether the test of time if your wife is the first love of your life.  

Like I said earlier my wife would have it no other way.  She has seen what happens over our 20 years together when I stop putting the first love of my life, first.  She will tell you when we first meet she fell in love with a man that had a deep love affair with someone she also loved.  She would tell you that my love for the this someone was filled in my speech, my walk and in my eyes.  The window to our souls is through our eyes.  She fell in love with this man because she knew that she was second to a love affair that was first.  

Because I loved this someone first, she knew I could love her like no other.  The problem was I didn't always do this.  Because of my wifes love affair with that same someone and always staying faithful to her first love affair, she was the rock when I wasn't, she prayed when I didn't, she was strong when I wasn't and she was able to stand by my side when most would run.  

So, I want my wife to know that she will always be my second love and I will always seek out daily and grow my first love affair with both of our first love affairs: 

OUR LORD & SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!

I LOVE YOU, YOUR HUSBAND,

James!

Wednesday February 3, 2011

Missing In Action!

I want to apologize to all the people that follow the blog daily, for not being able to post over the last couple of days.  I have taken a consultant job in a different state and it has been very difficult to incorporate my quiet mornings of prayer and writing.  I have been praying but not writing.  It may be a little on and off over the next 30 days, but I'm am going to do my best to find the time to post as often as I can.  

Philippians 2:14-16

 ¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you.  Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.  ¹⁶ Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. 

The reason I have chosen this scripture is because I have stepped back into the world of working outside the house.  I immediately found myself surrounded with ungodly people that had no regard for a life of Christ.  From the people at the place of business to the customers walking in the door.  I was put to the test in every form of temptation in an instant.  I felt like an alien from another planet.  My eyes, ears and mind have been made sensitive to the spirit of God; (that I am so thankful for), but found myself a foreigner in the world I live in.  I am thankful for so many opportunities to be a witness to so many, so quickly.  But, I also must recognize how important it is to cover ourselves in the Lord not just daily, but constantly.  I haven't walked upright and righteous or walked in with my bible holding a cross for them to notice there's something different about me.  It has been as simple as lending a helping hand when I didn't have to, smiling all day even in the midst of a mess, not participating when the foul language started flying, not hiding a mistake to the owners when the employees thought I should, giving everybody respect regardless of their title.  I believe that when we  witness for God, He isn't always expecting us to shove our beliefs down someone else's throat, but sometimes do just the opposite.  I think He calls us to live a Godly life with morales, integrity and character regardless of what the world around us is doing.  People are watching and deep down people are attracted to these traits,  whether they posses them or not.  They may not even know why or what is different about you, but I can promise this they know something's different.

As it says in the scripture, we must hold TIGHTLY to the WORD of life, because we live in a world of perverse and crooked people.  Let God shine through you and be that soldier for Christ in today's battle field of Life.  Trust me they're paying attention.

I want to thank all of you for your support and for starting your day with "God's Cup of Coffee".

Godspeed,

James Boening

Monday January 31, 2011

God's Power

Ephesians 1:19-20

¹⁹ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.  This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

I have to rush out this morning, but I want all us to remember God's incredible great power and is always available for those of us that believe in Him.  I hope all of you have a blessed and glorious day.  

I want to thank all of you for your support and starting your day with "God's Cup of Coffee".

Godspeed,

James Boening

Sunday January 30, 2011

Our Actions Are Important

Romans 5:19

¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

What we do and say is so important.  Often times we don't think anyone is watching us or cares about how we may be acting.  Our loved ones, our friends and believe it or not our co-workers are watching.  I had my marriage counselor tell me one day that my charisma and personality would do one of two things for me and others around me.  He said, " You will lead many astray, including yourself or you will lead many to Jesus.  Your going to be a warrior for one of them, (Jesus or the enemy).  You aren't a person that walks down the middle road or is passive about the road your traveling.  And because of these traits that you posses, you will need to always be cautious and protect yourself and set-up boundaries to stay on track and build your relationship with Lord daily.  And remember this next verse because it will stand true, the enemy knows you have the ability to advance his kingdom here on earth.  People will follow you down the road of faith or down the road of destruction."  Luke 11:24-26:

²⁴ “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ ²⁵ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order.  ²⁶ Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

So remember, people are watching and more importantly remember to prepare for a storm or tribulation when the seas are calm and you can think more clearly.  Make sure you build your faith upon the bedrock of Jesus and let your roots run deep.  So when the enemy returns more powerful than before, you do not waiver and your faith in Christ can shine through and carry you from the valley to the mountain top.  Build that intimate relationship with Jesus and don't be nieve and think the enemy won't return.  

I want to thank all of you for your support and for starting your day with "God's Cup of Coffee".     

Godspeed,

James Boening

Saturday January 29, 2011

The Daily Battle of Sin

Romans 7:14-25

¹⁴ So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.  The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  ¹⁵ I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.  ¹⁶ But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  ¹⁷ So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 ¹⁸ And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  ¹⁹ I want to do what is good, but I don’t.  I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  ²⁰ But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

 ²¹ I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  ²² I love God’s law with all my heart.  ²³ But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.  This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  ²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  ²⁵ Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

I have realized the enemy knows each one of our weaknesses for that moment in our life and at that second.  The enemy knows the things we used to battle and the things that we are now ultra sensitive to.  Normally these are not the things he uses to draw us away from God.  He is cunning and creeps back in slowly.  

Yesterday, I wanted to be patient but wasn't.  I didn't want to get angry but did.  It was subtle enough but also big enough to pull me away from sharing Jesus' Love in a perfect opportunity.  I missed an opportunity to show patience and be slow to anger.  I often get frustrated and ask myself why do I do the things I hate?  

Reading this scripture this morning helped me realize that I should continue to hate the things that cause me not to Glorify God, but also remember that it is the sin within my nature that our bodies are a slave to.  This doesn't give us a free pass, not follow God's Law and sin freely.  We all need to pray that the Holy Spirit  within us make us more and more sensitive to the things of this world and let us see with His eyes, hear with His ears, speak with His tongue and think with His mind!  We have all fallen short, but Great Hope and Assurance is and always should be in our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

I want to thank all of you for your support and starting your day with "God's Cup of Coffee".

P.S. Please keep lifting Hailey Dunn and her family up in prayer.

Godspeed,

James Boening