Author: Allen Forte

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Sometimes we don’t have the sense to know we do not have common sense!

Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Job 13:5: Oh, that you would be silent. It would be your wisdom.

I believe we are living in a time where common sense is not so common at all. We don’t have to look very far to find instances of someone doing something that doesn’t make any sense at all. Our political leaders are at odds over the question of requiring identification as a basis for voting in our elections.

Why would this be a question at all? Why does it seem like many of us live with a lack of common sense? God gave Solomon wisdom and knowledge that was uncommon to others at the time.  Why don’t we all have such wisdom and knowledge? Is it a flaw in our creation that some of us seem to have common sense and others do not?

Why will so many of us join protests about things we know nothing about? Can you count the number of stupid decisions and choices you have made in your lifetime? On social media, why do we comment on things said by people we don’t know who don’t know us?

We are drawn to things that are noisy; we are drawn to things that stick out; we are drawn to things that seem wrong; Why is this?

Job 13:5 points out and encourages us to quiet down our lives.  It is in the quiet life that wisdom and common sense can be developed and seen.  It is in the quiet of life that we can learn from the things we learn.  It is in the quiet of life that we can see within ourselves the presence of or the lack of common sense.

But this doesn’t answer the question why are we made the way we are? Proverbs 3:5 even warn and encourages us to trust in the Lord more than to trust in ourselves. Wisdom and knowledge and understanding are available to us all. But not all of us seek it because we are more comfortable living our lives in our own ways.

Common sense is the wisdom to live with the understanding that our own ways of living is not sufficient for us to live the way that is best for us. God does not force us to ask for or to have His wisdom and knowledge because He loves us.  He gives us the freedom to ask for His wisdom and for His knowledge.

Free will is the essence of God’s love for us and the strength of His relationship with us.  God wants us to use our free will to seek His wisdom and His knowledge as we live our lives here on earth.  Solomon freely asked and God gave to him freely.

The reason so many of us do seemingly do not have the sense to know we make no sense in the things we do and say is because we refuse to use our free will to free ourselves from our own wills. God will never force you to be wise and understanding. But He will gladly give you wisdom and understanding when you choose to seek that from Him.

You will know if you have common sense or not when you learn to use your free will to ask the Lord for the thing’s others believe He should force us to have. The Lord will never force you to think the way He does.  But when you ask Him to change your thinking, He will not only do that, but He will deepen His relationship of love with you because you empty yourself of the bonds of living by your own will.

When you use your free will to force yourself to seek what He will never force you to seek, He will bless you with common sense that is uncommon to others.  You will be blessed in how you live and others will be blessed because you are blessed.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. If we are God’s seed, we would reflect God’s character!

John 8:31: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him. “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:42-44:  Jesus said to them.  “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God.” “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. There is no truth in him.” The devil’s character is to twist and deceive us to believe what he wants us to believe and to reject what God wants us to stand on.

Character is the moral and ethical qualities that define who we are. God is Love and God is Truth.  These are several of His moral qualities. These qualities are reflected in how God acts towards us.  If you want to know God’s character, you will find it by understanding the Why and the Because for the things He does.

If we see God doing things to care for the poor, we should understand that God does the things He does because He is a caring God. This is why God does things to care for the poor. Believers should reflect God’s character because we are of His seed. But His character must be produced in us to be reflected by us.

Seeds need soil and nurturing and water to grow. We don’t allow His character to be produced in us because we do not allow our seed to be planted in the soil of His Word. We plant the seed of who we are in the dirt and sand around us when God wants us to be rooted deep in the soil of His word.

If we are His seed, we must live in His Word more than in we live in the word of the world. If we want to reflect that we are His seed, we must love the Lord more than we love anything on earth.

This can be confusing for us today, especially among believers. We have much division of beliefs among those who profess to be believers and even within the church. For instance we have some believers who believe that same sex marriage is ok and that the Lord is ok with same sex marriage. Why would we believe this? Well, because I just said we believe God is love and God is truth so He has to love everyone no matter what they do.

But God describes marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman and not two people of the same sex. The Lord cannot be both okay with and against same sex marriage at the same time. One position must be of the Lord and the other must be of the devil.

But how do we sort this out?  How do we know His position on this and many things like this?  Well, we look at His character. I have learned that satan will never agree with the Lord on anything, especially a moral thing. Satan wants us to believe that God believes what we believe.

But the devil is a liar and there is no truth in him.  And he disguises himself so that we are unable to recognize him or his ways.  That is why we must abide in God’s word. If the Lord is against same sex marriage, satan’s position must be supportive of same sex marriage because he cannot agree with the Lord.

In this case, if we have the character of God produced in us, we will agree with the Lord that same sex marriage is not something the Lord would endorse. But listen carefully. Satan can never take the position that same sex marriage is wrong. Why not?  Because he would be in agreement with God. And remember, he can never take a moral position that is the same as God.

Likewise, we cannot say God is ok with same sex marriage because that would contrary to His Word. And it would mean satan would have to take the position that same sex marriage is wrong.  Satan will never do that.

So now, you have a way to test your position on many of the moral challenges we face today. If you believe God is for a something, satan will have to be against it.  And if you believe God is against a something, then I’m sure you will find that satan will stand for it.

You are the moral seed of the Lord. Abide in His word always.  Allow the tough moral challenges you face to produce the character of God in you.  Then you will know whose seed you are.  And remember, take your position on moral things not just based on your beliefs and your desires to be good.

If God is for a thing, then ask yourself where does satan stand?  If God is against a thing, ask yourself where does satan stand?  Then look at where you stand. You will learn if you stand with the Lord or with the devil.

You and the Lord can agree on a thing.  But you, the Lord and satan can never agree. You will know whose seed you are when you are rooted deeply in His Word and not in the word of the world.

Live A Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Your attitude determines the height or depth of your life!

Matthew 5:1-9: Blessed are the poor in spirit; those who mourn; the meek; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; the merciful; the pure in heart; and the peacemakers.

Isaiah 14:12-14: For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven.  I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the congregation. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.  I will be like the Most High. We are talking about satan’s attitude here.

We commonly refer to Matthew 5:1-9 as the sermon on the mountain.  Jesus taught the people about what we call the beatitudes.  This was one of His first sermons to the multitude of people as He began His ministry.

He had already healed a great many people throughout the land as He approached the day of this teaching.  So the people gathered together to witness more of His miracles.  He chose to do something that would heal more than their sickness.  He chose to deliver a message that would heal their souls.

It is as if He was saying to them:

If you want to be someone in your land; before the eyes of man; in your community; become someone who is noticed for having a quiet needful spirit.  People will respect you.

If you want the world around you to be better and you are doing all that you can to make it better become someone who mourns for the land more than for yourself.  God will comfort you by healing the land.

If you want to be big on earth and have much of what can be had on earth, become someone who seeks little of what earth has to offer.  Then the Lord will give you more of all that is good on earth.

If you want righteousness to reign more than worldliness, become someone who is hungry and thirsty for righteousness to reign around you.  Then the Lord will fill you.

If you want to see a society where there is more mercy than condemnation, become someone who is merciful. Then you will be given mercy.

If you want the world to see more of God and His purity and less of themselves, then become someone who is pure in heart.  Then the Pure God will be seen through your purity.

If you want there to be more peace and less conflict in the world between God’s people and the people of the world, then become someone who is a peacemaker. Then both God and the world will call you sons and children of God.

Isaiah 14:12-14 reminds us that the main reason satan was cast out of heaven was because of His attitude.  It is important to understand. Actually, satan started out as high as anything but his attitude brought him to the lowest point there can be.

Jesus is reminding us that out attitudes determines the altitude of our lives. These are states of being Jesus calls us to be more than He is calling us to do. If you want to be more of anything, have the attitude that you are the least of all things.

Live A Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Our prayers get His actions but our words can get His attention!

Numbers 12:8: “Hear now My words.  If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision. Not so with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My house.  I speak to him face to face, plainly and not in dark sayings.”

Daniel 10:12: Then he said to me. “Do not fear Daniel, for from the first day you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.”

It is because of your words that I have come. In a way the Lord is saying He comes to some of us because we seek something from Him most never seek.  That is the reason He comes to some of us in miraculous ways.

Moses climbed to the top of a mountain to see what was going on with all the smoke he saw from the valley.  When no one else had the courage or the curiosity to do anything, Moses said he would go up the mountain to see what was going on.  God met him there.  Moses had a special place in God’s heart from that time on.

I have come to you because of your words.  That is what the angel said to Daniel.  Daniel had been mourning the state of things for the Jews.  For three weeks he did not eat any of his favorite foods nor any meat nor did he drink any wine.  Daniel sought occasion to get God’s attention.  Daniel wanted to understand what was happening and why. He got it.

Moses and Daniel sought from the Lord that we do not seek.  They didn’t seek healing though many were sick.  They didn’t seek freedom though many were in bondage.  They didn’t seek retribution though many were treated wrongly.

They sought the understanding of the Lord for the things that were happening around them.  They sought to have the Lord’s knowledge and insight about the state of things. They sought something that would be more useful for others than for themselves.

We get the Lord’s undivided attention when we seek Him for His understanding. When things around us do not make any sense, let’s learn to seek Him for understanding.  When things cannot be explained, let’s seek Him for His understanding. When we tell Him we are seeking Him so that we can make His knowledge and understanding our own, He will come to us because of our words.

To get the Lord’s attention the way Moses and Daniel got it, we must learn to approach Him in the way others never do.  Each of them set their hearts to understand. Each of them approached the Lord in humility.  And each revealed the depth of what they didn’t know so that the Lord would fill them with His knowledge and understanding.

It was because of their words that the Lord came to them with knowledge, wisdom and insight that was needed by the people of the world. The Lord hears and answers all our prayers. But searching for Him and for His understanding is different from praying.

When we search for understanding, the Lord hears us as we talk ourselves through trying to understand Him and His ways. This type of conversation is special to the Lord, and it is sure to settle into His attention. 

So, remember, we must always pray and ask the Lord for the things we want.  But learn to add to your praying a disposition of curiosity. There are many things about life we cannot understand without the knowledge and insight and wisdom of the Lord.

Let that become your cry.  To know the unknown; to understand that which cannot be understood; to see what cannot be seen and to hear the unheard so that the world can be blessed by what we didn’t know we needed.

He will come because of your words when your words invite Him to open your understanding to His ways.

Live A Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Listen for what God says, not for what you want to hear.

1 Kings 22:5: Also, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire for the Word of the Lord today.

John 2:5: His mother said to the servants, whatever He says to you, do it.

We must be careful not to speak for the Lord when He does not speak to us. Jehoshaphat was King of Judah.  Ahab was king of Israel.  Israel had fallen away from the Lord.  They did as they pleased.  Judah was still obedient to God.  They did as He commanded.

Jehoshaphat wanted to know if God wanted the two kings to join together to fight against Syria.  They asked 400 prophets from Israel if they should go to war with Syria.  The prophets all said “yes, go up. God will be with you.”  But Jehoshaphat was skeptical.  So, he asked if there was really anyone there who still heard the Word of God.

When God stopped speaking to Israel, they started speaking for Him to themselves. They listened only for what they wanted to hear, not for what God wanted to say. The two kings joined forces and went to battle.  Jehoshaphat lived because he sought the Lord’s desire.  Ahab was killed because he followed his desire.

We do this today, especially when we are faced with what seems like a difficult situation. We set our hearts on our wants before we seek the Lord for His desires for us. We must learn to pray and to listen for what we should say and do, not for what we want to say and do.

Jesus’s mother informed Him that the hosts of the wedding were out of wine. She was not like the Israelites.  She told the servants to do whatever Jesus said to do. Her desire was to hear Him and to accept what He said to do.  He turned water into wine.

Sometimes, we pray for the Lord’s blessings on the things we set our hearts to do even if they are things we know we shouldn’t do. When we do this, it is more likely we will hear what we want to hear than to hear what He really says.

Learn to walk with and to live with the Lord more than to walk ahead of Him and to live with Him as a guest in your life. When you do this, you will hear His voice before you hear your own.

Choose not to worry about the things you face. Whether it is something of the flesh or of the spirit. Learn to stay with the Lord. Then He will choose to fight the battles you face so that you do not have to fight on your own. Allow Him fight for you.

Learn to keep your eyes focused on the Lord more than on your problems. You will come to see the things you face the way He sees what you face. When your eyes are on Him, His eyes will be on the things you face.

Learn to listen for what you ought to say and not for what you want to say. Have nothing that you want to do that is greater than what you ought to do.  When you choose to live by your ought to, you will learn to hear Him before you hear yourself. You will hear what He says about what you want to do.

We live in a world that seemingly wants to be sympathetic to all things and to all people.  To many of us this sounds like something we believe our God would want for us since we all know God is good. But we must be careful never to allow our wants to change what God’s says we ought to be and to do.

If you are going to hear what you want to hear from the Lord, you will almost never hear what you ought to hear from Him. The opinions and views we form about what we want in our flesh will almost always be contrary to the insight God’s give us about how we ought to think about our fleshly wants and desires.

Live A Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Don’t listen to anyone who doesn’t listen to the Lord.

Luke 4:31-32: “Then He went down to Capernaum – and was teaching them – And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority”.

This is a fundamental Truth.  The things God wants us to hear we will find reason to reject.  The things of the world we want to hear God will reject. Jesus had been teaching the people many things, but He was rejected by those in His home of Nazareth.

It is said that all those in the synagogue, were filled with wrath with the things He taught.  They sought to throw Him out of the city to rid themselves of His teachings.  They rejected Jesus and they rejected His teachings.

But Jesus taught then as His word now teaches with the divine backing of God the Father. He teaches not by the authority of man; not by the certification of man; but the by the power; the will; the divine plan of God. God will never stop trying to teach us with the Word that we would reject.

The people rejected that Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, because He was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.  The people didn’t want the people to have hope in anything but the things they taught.

Jesus told them He was there to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to bring sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed.  The people of the synagogue rejected His words because it was counter to their words.

But to those who heard His word, they were astonished.  And we should be astonished too for God teaches of Himself, not of mathematical functions or scientific principles, but of the essence of His truth.  Therein is the authority we should behold; Jesus teaches us of the essence of who He is through His word. He doesn’t teach us about something; He teaches us of something.

We need to be careful where and from whom we receive our teaching.  Luke 4 is telling us it is in Capernaum that we can hear the Truth of the Word of God.  Is what you are being taught delivered to you from Capernaum?  Is it from someone who rambles on about worldly principles and views but they have no real authority behind them?

What the folks at Capernaum learned and what you and I can learn today is that knowledge of natural things; knowledge to run our government; our schools; our homes; all things – all authoritative knowledge comes first through He who teaches with authority.

We are Christ’s home; we are His children; we are His government; we are His all, so there is no real knowledge or authority about anything on earth apart from that found through Him. The question then for you and I is this.  Are we individually people of the city of Capernaum who are taught by Christ to live in Christ by the word of Christ on the power and divine authority on Christ can give?

Be careful that in hearing and learning from places that are not from the Lord that you don’t come to reject the Word of God for the word of man.  The Lord will always reject that which is contrary to Him.  If you listen to the foolishness of the world God will reject your knowledge and count you as one of the many unlearned and misguided by what the world wants.

Be careful who you listen to.  Make sure you accept what God says about what He says so that you are not rejected by Him for what you want Him to believe.  God is not here to have you change what He believes.  He is here to change what we believe.

Live A Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. The more of life’s pleasures you deny yourself, the more pleasure of life you can enjoy.

Mark 6:31: “And Jesus said to them, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while.”

Ephesians 4:22-24: “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

A few years ago, I decided to deny myself the pleasure of an ice-cold Dr Pepper.  I did this for 40 days. Now, I love Dr Peppers.  Everyone who really know me knows that. So, denying myself my favorite drink was no easy thing. After just a few days, I thought my desire to have one would kill me.

It wasn’t easy for me, but I made it through those 40 days of denial. And when I finally had another Dr Pepper, it wasn’t the same as before.  I have not gone back to the way it was before. While I still love a Dr Pepper, my favorite drink is no longer the same to me.

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences in life. You have been able to deny yourself the pleasure of doing or of having something that you enjoyed a lot. I hope that like me, your life is not the same. I was dying to enjoy the pleasure of a Dr Pepper only to find that I could have pleasure in life without it.

Our carnal lives can never be satisfied by the pleasures of life.  The more we want the more we will want.  The more you drink, the more you will drink.  The more you eat, the more you will eat.  Our old life is never being renewed, it is always being strengthened.  There is no rest in our old life.  In our carnality we will die to keep enjoying ourselves while we live.

Jesus knows that life needs rest.  To rest, He knows that we must learn to live a renewed life daily.  He told his disciples to take a break from the work they had been doing.  They needed rest as they left the old life to have new life He offered.

Sometimes we hang onto the old persons of our carnal lives so tightly that we fail to fully put on the new life Christ has for us.  We hang onto the old so we cannot grab hold of the new.  Ephesians 4 is encouraging us to let go of our old selves and of our desires for pleasure so that we can have more of the pleasures available to us.

We must learn there is no pleasure in anger.  There is no pleasure in selfishness.  There is no pleasure in pride.  There is no pleasure in condemnation, in accusation, in having abundance, in gluttony and in many things like these.  The more we allow these pleasures, the less pleasure we will have in life.

If you are dying to enjoy life, you must stop allowing your old life to live each day.  So, learn that the greatest pleasure in life is the one you experience when you deny your old self so a new you can come to life. There is great pleasure to go from corrupt words to words of life, from hate to love, from working deceit to working what is well and good, from having much to giving much and from being unlearned to being taught by the Word of God.

When we continue to live for and to seek pleasures for our lives, nothing about our lives will change. That life will be strengthened. When we find that we are denying ourselves the pleasures of life we will know that the new life is alive and working in us daily.  Nothing changes about the old you; that old person you were yesterday wakes up every new day.

Everything changes about the new you all the time. The same you never returns tomorrow to live again.  A new you wakes up every new day when you allow that new person to live.

Pleasure in life comes to you most assuredly when you die to the pleasure of living your old life.  Are you dying to enjoy life.  Real enjoyment comes only to the new person you can be, never to the person you have always been.

Live a Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Your faith and your belief will bring you understanding that cannot be understood.

Daniel 3:18: “But if not, let be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Hebrews 11:3: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of the things which are visible.”

Three Jewish men had defied an order of the king to worship the king’s god.  The penalty was death by being thrown into a hot furnace. When the king mocked them by asking who would deliver them from his hands, they did not respond to him.

They said God, Whom they served was able to deliver them, but even if He did not, they would not worship any other god. I wonder if we would choose to remain faithful even if the Lord does not answer our prayers the way we want?  We need faithful understanding even if we do not understand our circumstances.

Would you still choose to serve the Lord if He chooses not to heal you or someone you love, if He chooses not to move your mountain, if He does not restore you when you have been accused or condemned, if He seems silent and you don’t hear His voice in your life? Will you still choose to serve Him?

It is by faithful understanding that we can come to understand the impossible. Hebrews is telling us we may not understand the thing we face but our faith brings to us the understanding we need to stay strong in our belief and in our trust.

Sometimes we don’t get the things we want because the Lord wants us to understand the power of faithful understanding. Your faith doesn’t need to see what you ask for, it needs to trust and keep praying a prayer of faith so that the miracle of faith is made visible through the presence of what seems impossible.

So, stand on Lord and on His Word.  Even if your circumstances do not change, remember He promises never to leave you or to forsake you.  Do you have faith like those young men in Daniel? Will you choose to believe what He can do even if He does nothing?

After they were thrown into the furnace, the king went to see what happened to them.  He looked into the furnace and saw four figures – one of them he said – was like the Son of God. The king couldn’t understand what he saw. How could he know what the Son of God looked like?

When it is hard to see or to understand how to get through what we face, our response should be to wait for the miracle of faithful understanding. When it seems like things will overtake you, pray and keep moving ahead knowing that things may not change but that which does not change for you will not change your faith.

Trust the Lord no matter what.  Trust Him when you cannot see.  Trust Him when you are accused. Trust Him when you are weaker than the things that come at you.

Learn to stand strong in your faith.  Scripture tells us to pray always and to ask the Lord for the things we want.  Let’s make sure we do that.  But when it seems like we cannot see a way out of what we face or we won’t get the miracle we need, stand strong and wait. When the impossible seems impossible, the Lord will give you the unimaginable understanding to keep moving you on.

Lord I may not understand what is happening, but I still trust You. You are still working. You are still mightier than anything.  You are still there in my darkest moments so I will send this prayer of faith into the dark because You still see what I cannot see.  You are the second Man in the circumstances where I feel I’m all alone.

Live a Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Knowing about the Lord is not the same as being known by the Lord.

Acts 19:2: “He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So, they said to him, we have not so much has heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

John 14:23: “Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

There was a time as a believer I lived just like I did before I believed. I believed what I knew about the Lord but I didn’t know how to stop living an unbelieving life. I was ignorant. I knew better, but I didn’t know how to be better. How could I become someone I didn’t know when I couldn’t stop being who I was?

The believers in the book of Acts tell Paul, how can we know if we have the Holy Spirit when we don’t know anything about the Holy Spirit?  I was like that.  I didn’t know how to not be the person I was because I didn’t know how to be someone that I wasn’t.

I imagine there are many more people like me. We have difficulty living by anything but our flesh because that is all we will allow ourselves to know. When our relationship with the Lord is built more on our knowledge of Him than on submission to Him, we are slow to understand the Power we can have to live by Him and by His Spirit.

Paul explained to the people in Acts how their belief got them into the arena to watch the game, but their obedience got them into the game so that the Holy Spirit could help them win. Many of us are like this; we can get to a place of belief, but our place of belief doesn’t take us to a place of obedience.  But now you know. We live powerless lives even with the Power of God within us.

A mature believer knows that it is better for the Lord to come into our hearts and for us to come to live out our lives in Him. That is God’s design for us.  To be one in Him rather than to be ourselves with knowledge of Him. It is in Him that we can receive understanding around the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

When we wake up each day and find our lives in the life of Christ, the Holy Spirit will help us to put to death more of the person we were yesterday so that more of the person we should be in Him can live today.  Now you know. Jesus is amazing! Before He was betrayed, He prayed that His disciples and all believers would become one in Christ and God. He wanted us to be unified as one just as He and God are one.

The Lord does not want us to be like the believers in Acts who knew nothing of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t feel like you are living a new life in Christ each day, you probably are not.  If you can remember more of your old life than a new life, more of your old life is probably living than it is dead.  Now you know.

Don’t allow believing to be nothing more than an intellectual understanding that Jesus is our Savior. Life with knowledge of Christ is not the same as Life where Christ has knowledge of you. Believing also means we die to an old life in ourselves as we accept a new life in Christ. To many of us we want to have a life of knowing Him; but when our belief in Him makes us give in to Him, we can have a life where He knows us.

Now you have heard; now you know; now you can let go; now you can have all that the Holy Spirit can help you to have. If you never stop living like you did, you make it difficult to live the way you can with Christ. Now you know; let your life be home to God the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Your life; Their home.

Live a Delivered Life.

Your Moment at the Well

The Lord’s insight. Never give to a man that thing which you should only give to the Lord.

Proverbs 29:25: “The fear of man brings a snare.  But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”

Psalm 27:1: “The Lord is my light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

I have always known but recently I came to understand even more clearly that the Lord never threatens us with harm or to do harm to us. He never says if you don’t do this for Me, I will not do this for you?  The Lord always works to make sure we find Him to be someone whom we can Trust, Believe and Love.

Man is not this way towards us. Man is often the opposite.  He uses his power and position and anything else to make sure that we fear him. Man wants our fear because it is how he controls our actions and behaviors. Sometimes our fear of man teaches us to be overly concerned with what others think about us.

This fear of man and lack of confidence and value in ourselves can trap us and lead us to become anxious, to make poor decisions, or to compromise the values the Lord wants us to live each day. Yes, this is how fearing man can become a snare to us.

The Lord wants us to know that we cannot trust what we fear. So, if we fear man, we certainly should never trust man. Man wants us to fear him not to keep us safe but to keep us fearful. Fear of man keeps man safe from those of us who live by the overwhelming strength of the Lord.

So, Proverbs 29:25 warns us about fearing man. It tells us that we should trust the Lord Who will keep us safe.  Trusting the Lord is how we overcome the fear we may have of man. When we place our trust in God instead of seeking constant approval from people, we find true safety, and freedom, and peace.

You should never give your fear to the man who wants you to be fearful of him. Man may do a lot of things that are unfair and unwarranted. Those things you will have to deal with. But the man who wants you to fear him more than to fear anything else is like the devil. You should never give to a man that type fear.  It is only to be given to the Lord.

You can never trust a man who wants your fear. Such a man only wants your fear.  Trust means you know that you can rely on someone. The man who wants your fear does not want you to rely on him; he wants you to fear relying on anyone or anything else, even yourself.

You can never be saved by the man you fear. The man you fear wants you to always feel unsafe so that you will walk the way he wants you to walk. When you fear man, he keeps you from living free from being fearful and afraid of what man can do to you.

The man who wants your fear may threaten to do many things to you; to harm you; to take your job away from you; to break up your family; to take what you value most. But hold out and do not fear him. He may harm you, but the Lord can heal you; he may take your job, but the Lord has work for you; He may break up your family, but the Lord can restore your family.

Learn to give your fear only to the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of the knowledge and wisdom you need to live a saved life with the Lord. The fear of the Lord brings you to a place where you can believe in the Lord; it brings you to a place where you can have faith in the Lord; it brings you to a place where you can trust the Lord and; it brings you to a place where you can be saved by the Lord.

Live a Delivered Life.