That harsh environment may be due to:
-The company’s policies or decisions you don’t agree with.
-Your boss is hard to work for on many levels.
-Your co-workers or customers are harsh and unpleasant.
-The equipment or tools you have to use are old and antiquated, or not the best for the job, and you’re expected to produce more with them.

Most of us have dark adjectives to describe those aspects of our work environment and that can make going to work a challenge at best.  We Christians then struggle with accepting these challenges, often questioning God or even think of quitting or looking for something else. We pray that God would change the environment or move us to a better job.

But what if our perspective was wrong. Could we even fathom that God has us in our job in that environment on purpose? Is it possible what needs to change isn’t the company, co-workers, customers, or tools, but us?!   If you want your situation to improve, in a way God approves, we have two podcasts you need to listen to. They’re complete with practical advice and Bible references covering 10 items you should start working on NOW:

• God loves you
• God is in charge
• God works in seasons
• God places authority
• You are God’s representative
• Jesus is your ultimate boss
• God has your back
• God teaches you patience
• God tests you
• Work is hard, but God is good

Click on the podcast links to the right, or listen on your normal podcast player, including Spotify and iTunes by clicking below.

The post How To Work In A Harsh Environment appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

-When you’re late for work or an appointment, that’s the only time you get behind a slow person.
-When you only have 5 minutes to run into the store for milk, that’s the time there is one checker (who is the slowest person on the planet) and 10 people in line at the self-checkout.
-Your spark plug socket sticks to your newly installed spark plug, but not your ratchet extension so you can’t get it back out.
-You travel in early spring to the Southern Utah desert for mountain biking in the much-needed sun, but it rains and snows the whole time you’re there (“unprecedented weather” the locals say).
-You are the only one left in the shop to load the Customer’s truck, and the banding on the last pallet breaks, spilling all its contents all over the floor.
-Your rented rototiller runs out of fuel 5 minutes before you are done, and 10 minutes before you have to have it back.
-Check-out time is 11:00 am at your RV park, and at 10:55 you discover RV slideouts won’t come in.
-Your car gets a flat tire at the center of a long bridge with no shoulder or room to pull over.
-I was actually at Arby’s one day for lunch, and just as I ordered my Beef and Cheddar, they ran out of roast beef! How does Arby’s run out of roast beef??!!  That’s like Mcdonald’s running out of fries…oh wait, that’s happened to me also!

“Why do these things always happen to me?” We ask that but don’t expect an answer. Well, there actually is an answer: they are allowed by God to teach us patience and perfect us.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4

In this scripture passage, we are told to count it all joy, which means it’s a choice. The word “count” means to consider or to evaluate. Then, we are told to be joyous about the situation! Wow, that’s the opposite of what we normally do.

The word “trials” means something that tests us. External occurrences that break the pattern of peace, comfort, or happiness. Trials are something negatively different than we expected.

These trials test our faith. Faith is the calm assurance that what God is doing or allowing is best for us. It says I trust God and His truth, and I cling to His promises. Remember Romans 8:28? “Faith” in this James context means “I choose to not let this situation rob me of the joy I have, and is only a test to see how I respond. It is a test to teach me patience.”

The more patience you have, the less effect those trials have on you. Patience is a sign of maturity. The more mature you are, the better you can handle life’s little (and large) trials. I think the older we get, the more we need patience (endurance or perseverance are similar terms) because the “trials” seem to be bigger and harder to deal with as we age.

The more patient we are, the closer to perfect we become. The term “perfect” and “complete” in the James passage does not mean sinless, but fully able to handle what comes our way. It means to be stable and steady, a very desirable character quality.  We do that by trusting Christ and relying on His presence and strength. We do that by endeavoring to be more like Jesus, more specifically His character traits.

The Bible tells us that we find hope and strength when trials come when we run to God “for refuge” Hebrews 6:18. It describes that hope as a sure and steadfast “anchor of the soul” that fixes itself in the solid reality of God’s power, loving knowledgeable care, His presence in us, and His trustworthy faithfulness Hebrews 6:19.

Did you catch the word picture in that passage? Anchor for the soul. Think of a ship that is at anchor during a fierce storm. Yes the seas and wind are raging, but the ship is safely anchored to bedrock, which is God.

Patience is actually one of those traits severely lacking in today’s society. Do you agree?  How about the statement “Patience is absent in a godless society”?

Do you also then see that if we Christians have and show patience, others may see us a different…in a good way? They may ask about that, which gives you an opportunity to share the Gospel with them, as 1 Peter 3:15 says.

Just think of your reaction when some “trial” jumps in front of you…do you “fly off the handle” or “fly the bird”? Or do you truly say “it’s all good”. Do you say “Oh No!” or say “This will be interesting, I trust you God!” Which is a more mature response, and which one is a better witness for Christ?

The post Be Patient appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

2nd Peter chapter 1 is a powerful chapter on your growth as a Christian and gives us 5 specific steps to being a victorious hero during troubled times and how to stand up strong in an age of immoral leaders or false teachers.

The 5 steps from 2nd Peter are your MINDSET (vs. 1-4), the TOOLS you have from God (vs. 5-9), PRACTICE (vs. 10-11), REMINDERS (vs. 12-15), and FACTS THAT GIVE CONFIDENCE (vs. 16-21).

Below are the three videos covering all 5 steps to being a mature Christian who is useful to our Lord, and can burst into Heaven victorious like a Hero:

If your Pastor or church would like me to present this series, please contact me here.

The post Christian Growth and Victory appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7

Paul uses word pictures to explain what he means by walking IN HIM:

1. A tree is rooted once, and is there for all its life, so it is very important where that tree is rooted and the quality of the nourishment it will receive for its life. (Where are you rooted? Is it in faith in Jesus?) Are you rooted in a good Bible-teaching church? Are you involved in that church, using the gifts God gave you to enhance others in that church? You should, it’s part of being “rooted”.
2. Rooted also means to be continually growing, which we get from the verb “walk”. We are to continually grow “in Him”. Eph. 3:17-19 says this also. Are you a stronger, more mature Christian now than you were a year ago? How about a year from now? Rooted means growing and maturing.
3. Rooted and grounded or established in the faith. Other passages in the Bible use a building foundation as a similar metaphor, and who is the cornerstone of our foundation? See Matthew 21:42 and especially Ephesians 2:20-21 “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.“
4. A correctly rooted tree will produce fruit in its season. (Psalm 1:3) John 15 is about Jesus’ teaching on being fruitful and connected to Him is how you are. Jesus also said true Christians are known by their fruit. Being rooted in Him is imperative to being fruitful.
5. As you have been taught. Many of us have been taught from the Bible, and thank God that in our country, home schooling and Christian schools are options, so our kids can have the opportunity to be taught (rooted and established) in a biblical world view and foundation.
6. Abounding like a river with plentiful water, even overflowing. See also John 4:10-14 and John 7: 37-39 Jesus said in John 10:10 He has come so you may have a full and abundant life. Do others see your full and abundant life filled with joy? (and ask you about it). Being rooted helps that.

The sequential, and continual Rooting, building, establishing, and then abounding in sound doctrine is a great lesson for what God wants from us when He calls us His.

There is one more requirement Paul tells us when we walk IN HIM: The Colossians 2:6-7 sentence ends with it. It almost seems out of place, but the more you think about it, the more appropriate it is, and maybe is the key to the whole passage: “…with thanksgiving.”  We all know that word. We celebrate a holiday in November from this word. The Greek word Paul used here is eucharistia and we get the word Eucharist from it meaning gratitude; actually “grateful language to God, as an act of worship.” -Strong’s G2170

Rooting, building, establishing, and then abounding in sound biblical doctrine, as a way of Christian living, is a GRATEFUL ACT OF WORSHIP COMMUNICATED TO GOD.

This spring, let’s renew our commitment to rooting, building, establishing, and abounding IN HIM, and be grateful for it!

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I couldn’t find the word “overcomer” in the dictionary, and when I type it into Microsoft Word, it gets that squiggly red underline, you know, the computer version of the finger wag when you typed a no-no. So I will invent the word, stick my flag in it, and claim it for myself and for all who want to be one!

Sorry, I’m probably overreacting, but rightly so, since this “new” word is the noun version of the words “overcome”, or “overcomes”, which are used throughout the Bible in over 30 different passages, many of which were spoken by Jesus with a very strong meaning. Additionally, this “new” word excites me because my life has been filled with troubles, tribulations, and suffering, and God has taught me how to be an overcomer!  If you want to also be an overcomer, read on…you will be glad you did!

One day I was needing encouragement to face and overcome an issue, so I read each passage in the Bible where the word “overcome(s)” occurs. The more I read, the more excited I became about the word, and the more I wanted it to be the goal of my life. I wanted to be the noun version of “overcome” (person, place, or thing)…an OVERCOMER. So here is what I learned, and I hope as a Christian, you WANT to be an overcomer too!

Here are a few passages where this word has special meaning:

• Jesus said in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus is an overcomer of the troubles and tribulations of the world. Romans 8:29 tells us we Christians are to be more and more like Jesus, so then I want to overcome the troubles this world has also, and to have His peace He mentioned too. Scripture tells us we are in the world, but not of the world. That’s a strange concept, but as you mature as a Christian, it becomes more and more realistic to you, and you actually have some comfort in that. So we will have troubles and tribulations that are just part of living in this world. However, even though they will come to us, if we are in Christ, we can overcome them because Jesus did. (And He had worse troubles and tribulations than we ever will have). As an overcomer in Christ, we can have peace. Even in and through those troubled times. Yes, we can.

• John recorded Jesus using the word “overcome” in the above John 16:33 passage, and I can’t help but think it was a word that made a big impact on him, and he never forgot it. Many years later, John used that word several times when he wrote the book of 1 John, where he used it to describe true Christians and what can be overcome. One of those is in 1 John 2:13 “I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.“ John says that to be an overcomer, you have to overcome the wicked one: Satan, the devil, the wicked one, the thief, the father of lies, the great deceiver, the enemy, whatever the description, you can have victory over him in Christ. John recorded something Jesus said in John 10:10 that the theif does not come except to steal your possessions, to kill your plans and you, and to destroy you. With that type of adversary, it is great to know that through Jesus, we can overcome him, and that is exactly what John said in 1 John 4:4: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

• John mentioned another in 1 John 5:4-6 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ:” This tells us who can be an overcomer, and what the requirement is: You believe on the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and believe in all that He came and did (which takes faith). That is why John mentions water and blood. He is very eloquently and succinctly stating that you have to be repentant of your sins and that they are washed away by Jesus’ blood like water. It is also, and please make sure you get this: an emphatic statement of the deity of Jesus. He refers to Jesus’ baptism (water) and death (blood), and infers His resurrection by the term “this is He” referring to Immanuel, “God with us”.

(Want to learn more about FAITH? Improve your faith by listening HERE and listen to “The Faith Museum” by clicking HERE)

• But, taking a step back and looking at that passage as a whole, to be an overcomer you have to pass a test: You have to prove that your belief in Jesus is real, you have to put action to your words, or to walk the talk. The test has four parts, and you only get the “merit badge” and call yourself an overcomer if you pass all four:

1. You have to pass the doctrinal test of truth. 1 John 5:1-5 has God’s truth mixed throughout but the main truth is that you believe Jesus is the Messiah the Old Testament predicted and pointed to. It says you have to believe who Jesus is and continue in your faith in Him.
2. You have to pass the social test of love. Verses 1 and 2 tell that you have to love God, and love other people. If you love God, you will also love those who also love Him. This love is shown by how you love them, and 1 Corinthians 13 tells you how. Also, you demonstrate that you love God by the third test:
3. You have to pass the moral test of obedience. Keeping God’s commandments is how you show you love Him (John 14:15). If you truly believe in Jesus, then He is Lord of your life. If He is Lord of your life, you demonstrate that by obeying Him. John mentions obeying is not hard, He is not a cosmic kill-joy, or a mean boss, but His commandments are not burdensome (verse 3), they are for our own good. Since God loves us, and we love Him, then we trust that He knows what is best for us and will work together all circumstances for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28), and that is the essence of being an overcomer!
4. You have to pass the test of faith. Verse 4 says to be victorious over the things of this world we have to maintain our faith. James 1 says that various trials will come to us (temptations, troubles, hardships, suffering, etc.) and one of the main reasons they come is to test our faith. In fact, James says that we are to count it joy when trials come because it is to test our faith. It is sort of like God saying “If you say you have faith in me, I want to see how you handle this trial…” The word “faith” has two sub words embedded it it: hope and trust in God. Faith is our firm belief in the unseen, and for the Christian, that is our hope in God’s love for us and His plan for us, and that we trust Him and His wisdom that He will work out His plan in and for us. This is interesting too: Hebrews 11:6 says without faith, it is impossible please God…and don’t we all want to please the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists?!  Here is some hope too: 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not allow a temptation to come to you that you and Him together cannot bear. He will also provide a way out, if you look to Him. An overcomer maintains enduring faith, hope, and trust in God no matter the circumstance.

• I mentioned that you only get the “merit badge” of being an overcomer if you pass all four of those tests. That is a very flippant comment, because there really is much more that you receive than just a “merit badge”. With that in mind, the most intriguing use of the word comes from Jesus again (recorded by John again) in Jesus’ seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus uses the word “overcomes” seven different times. Each time, the person who overcomes, gets a reward:

“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” … “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” … “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it” … “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—“ … “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” … “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” … “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Doesn’t that make you want to be an overcomer?!

• The last time the word is found in the Bible is one of my favorites: Revelation 21:7 where God is talking: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” There are three promises there, and the first and last ones are huge! An overcomer will inherit all things, and will be God’s son. Picture yourself for a minute as an orphan that has just been adopted, and your new dad is the owner of a huge estate with land and buildings and creeks and trees and lots of expensive things. Your dad puts his arm around you and says “all of this is yours, my son, it is your inheritance!” THAT is what God promises to an Overcomer, inheritance of His riches in Heaven…Wow!

Do you feel victorious as a Christian? Or, do you have issues you need to overcome?
Do you, as James chapter 1 says: “count it all joy” when various trials come? Or, do you get upset, discouraged and downtrodden?
Are you, as Joshua chapter 1 says: “strong and courageous” in the LORD? Or, are you weak and scared, trying to be self reliant?

What needs to be “overcome” is different in each person, but usually involves one or more of these: sin, pride, doubt, fear, worry, laziness, apathy, you love things in the world more than you love God, self-centeredness instead of Christ-centeredness. Take a little life evaluation and see if Jesus would call you an “overcomer”. If not, I suggest you identify one or two areas that you need to overcome, and concentrate on that. Study what the Bible says about that issue (maybe do a Google search of “Scripture passages about _____”) and ask Jesus to help you face it, and overcome it. Start tomorrow morning!

Remember, to be good at overcoming issues in your life, you have to first make sure you pass the doctrinal test of truth, the social test of love, the moral test of obedience, and the trials test of enduring faith, hope, and trust in God.

Then my friend, you will BE AN OVERCOMER!

The post How To Be An Overcomer appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

However, what they do on Sunday doesn’t seem to translate to Monday, Tuesday, etc. They long to do something “meaningful for Jesus”, but feel stuck in their job. That’s wrong. Christians can make their job, any job, AND EVEN RETIREMENT their ministry and make an impact for Christ.

In our world today, Christians have the greatest opportunity in history to show Jesus to others or even share the gospel. People in the world are clamoring for truth, joy, peace, and hope. AND WE CHRISTIANS HAVE THOSE! They are found in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. We just need to figure out how to connect people to Him.

You don’t have to be a “Bible thumper” or hold a Bible study at lunchtime at your job (although those would be nice), you just have to work like Jesus, so others could see Him through you. How do you do that? How do you work “biblically, as Jesus”? I have developed a seminar teaching you how to be Jesus’ representative at your job, at every job, ask your church to host this seminar:

Below is a 30 minute video of a talk I gave at Montana Bible College on how to do just that, with parts of the seminar! Contact me if you would like more information on doing a college chapel service or hosting the seminar!

The post Your Job as A Ministry? appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

Psalm 37 has been a game-changer during tough times in my business and in life. It starts with these 3 words “Do not fret”, and ends with these 3 words “trust in God!” and in between are 18 specific practical things you can do to make sure of both of those.

I delivered this message as a 4-week series of sermons at Mountain View Bible Church in LaVerkin, UT.

There are 150 Psalms (which in Greek means “plucking of strings”) and are organized into 5 “books”. The main theme of each Psalm is we live in a horizontal or temporal reality we see around us, which can affect us, but we need to focus more on the vertical or transcendent reality that God is in charge. We have no reason to let the horizontal things effect us negatively such as worry, fear, anxieties, nor have those cause us frustration which is called “fretting”. That’s because of the vertical reality we so often forget.

The other more simpler theme of Psalms is “Life is hard, but God is good.”

Psalm 37 tells us in the first 3 verses

“Don’t get hot & bothered, or jealously sucked in by unrighteous people or events that are deteriorating around you. God will soon handle those people or events, you are to confidently trust Him.”

Here is a link to this first, foundational sermon on Psalms 37:

Next, we start with the first three of the 18 practical things you can do to not fret and trust in God All of these are from Psalm 37:3:

• Trust in the LORD
  Trust is an action word, and a choice, you have to make an effort to do it. You decide to intentionally place yourself, your confidence & security in the sovereign, powerful hands of God. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus is telling you to trust God.
  Trust is given, not earned. You do not tell God you will trust Him when He has earned your trust, that places you above God. Also, if you do that, what criteria to you use to keep score, and at what point do you say “OK, that’s enough, you have earned my trust”? God doesn’t like that arrangement.
• Trust is another word for faith. Hebrews 1:1 gives us a great definision of faith and Hebrews 11:6 tells us it is impossible to please God without faith. I’m sure you want to please God, especially since the latter part of that verse promeses God will reward your faith!
  I have learned that I will never know all about God or why He does or allows some things, but I gave Him my trust over 50 years ago when I really didn’t know much…but I said “God, what I do know…I’m going with that…” And He has rewarded me with so many blessings it blows my mind!
• And do good. See 1 Timothy 6:17-19 Doing good is putting blue jeans on your faith and going to work, or doing life. Good works is “righteous behavior” and is simply living like Jesus would, and good works just seems to come out. Doing good is not “works” we have to do to be saved, or be in good standing with God, but a saved life demonstrated by the character traits of Jesus others see in us.
  Live an inspiring life to the fullest, devoid of the weight of religious legalism, living fervently in spirit, zealous for doing good, not because you have to, but because you want to, with fullness and confidence from the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and His promises. 
• Dwell where God has you. Psalm16:5 says God gives you your portion in your cup, and maintains your lot. What you have and where you are is because God thinks it’s best for you.
  The grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence, it’s greenest where you fertilize and water it. Learning to be content where God has you and finding ways to glorify Him there is your cup.
• Feed on His faithfulness. Feed means to draw nourishment from, gain strength from, and have stamina with the basic needs to operate. The original Hebrew word is patured where a Shepherd would lead the sheep to get food safely, and do you know who the Good Shepherd is???Jesus!. The word “faithfulness” is the same word as “verily” or “truthfully” and you will recall when Jesus wanted to make sure people understood something, He would always say “Verily, Verily I say to you”. or “Truly, truly…” To Feed on His Faithfulness is actually 2 words in the original Hebrew that say “Truly Pastured”. Oh, in Revelation 19:11, Jesus is called “Faithful and True”!
  Keep track of how God has answered your prayers in the past, or helped you through a tough time in the past, and put that in your pantry…then when similar harships come, you can take that out of the pantry and “feed on His faithfulness” because you know God is the same yesterday as He is today as He will be tomorrow. You can gain strength and nourishment from that.
  
  Who or what are you being fed from?

Next on this fun day of 2-22-22 and it’s Twosday! We add several more practical things you can do to not fret and trust God:

• Delight yourself in the LORD. He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 Delight and love are connected. The Hebrew word for “delight” is “awnag” and it means delightfully soft and delicate, and that goes well with Merriam Webster’s Dictionary meaning of “delight” as “A high degree of gratification or pleasure”
  You have to give some effort to being happy, peaceful, and content in the LORD, when stuff around you is pushing you to the opposite. YOU have to step up to the plate and say to your self “I will delight in pleasing God and find my jjoy in HIM only, and not let those things around me dictate my happiness.
  This one is right after “Feed on His faithfulness” which is where we can see God is faithful and trustworthy and we can count on Him, not our circumstances.
• Commit your way to the LORD, trust Him, He will bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5 The word “Commit” means to roll with it and go. I like to think it means in football terms “pick up the ball and run toward the endzone, God will block for you.”
  “Your Way” is really cool, because it literally means “what you want to do”. When you delight yourself in the LORD, your desires will line up with God’s desires, and then He promises to make them happen!
  That is further proven by the word “it” in verse 5 where you are to trust Him and He will bring “it” to pass. What is “it”? You decide! Your way is it! What desires did He place on your heart?! That is probably “it”!
  By the way, there is one Hebrew word for the phrase “He shall bring it to pass”, the word “awsaw” and means “a Worker who performs or makes happen, a legislator.” Wow, God says He will be that for you and your desires or your way!
• Rest in the LORD & wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7 These two take self-discipline. They take a conscious effort to do them, but guess what…they are a command to do so, much like one of the 10 commandments to rest one day a week. This one is saying do all you can do, in the alotted time (such as your 40 hour work week) and trust God for the rest.
  This also is saying God’s timing is probably different (longer) than your timing. So wait on God’t timing and don’t fret when your timing is sooner than His. Waiting is what you do between God’s promises and His fulfillment of them.
  God’s timing is usually not our timing, don’t be controlled by your timing. Trust God, and don’t fret about that.
• Don’t fret because others prosper or don’t get caught. Psalm 37:7b Don’t be concerned about others, you deal with you and God. Especially if illeagal or immoral acts don’t seem to get punished. God is the God of Justice (making sure bad people get caught and justice is served.) You’re not that God, so don’t concern yourself beyond what you can do about it.  Let God do His job.
  Also, don’t fret because God’s timing of vengeance and justice isn’t as quick as you think it should be. Tell God about what you saw, heard, or though, and ask Him to handle it. Then let it go, don’t fret about it anymore.
  Fretting only causes harm it says in the end of verse 8. It is a waste of time, takes you away from serving God, and it harms your Christian walk, reputation, relationships, and your health.

• Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Don’t get angry, don’t get mad, and forget about (forsake) getting revenge, don’t resort to wrath which means vengeful outrage.
  If you do those, they are kind of the opposite of “turn the other cheek” as Jesus asked of us in Matthew 5:39 doesn’t it.
  So we’re not to “get even” when offended, and refrain from forcing Justice. “Vengeance is mine” says the Lord in Romans 12:19, He is allowed to have wrath, we’re not. 
  Oh, notice in Psalm 37:10 it says when you trust God to handle those bad things or people, you forget the issue or the people causing the issue.  So much so, that there will come a time and you will go “Hey, I wonder whatever happened to…  and you will try to find out, and it’s all gone, done, “It shall be no more” the end of verse 10 says.
  

• Don’t worry, God will handle it. Psalm 37: 9-10The command to not worry, is the most given command in the Bible (over 50 times) and in Matthew 6 Jesus said to stop worrying 4 times in one paragraph. He knows we tend to worry, but tells us to stop it!
• Be meek (humble) and delight in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11 Meek does not mean weak, it means humility. Delighting in the abundance of peace is what we are all aiming for. We can have it, through the Prince of Peace, Jesus. He said “Peace I give you, not as the world gives, mine is better!”
• Be content and satisfied with what you have. Do you believe you can be content and satisfied right now? Is true happiness (Joy) and peace found in the next better thing? (maybe a little bit, but it’s not lasting, nor very deep).  Is there stress in being dissatisfied with what you have? (Yep) Do you believe what you have is by God’s loving design? (You should)
  In Philippians 4:11 Paul, who was in prison for 4 years, said he didn’t have any needs, and he LEARNED to be content. Wow! How much material stuff did he have then?
  Psalm 16:5 and Proverbs 16:33 say God gives you your portion, and fills your cup, and deals out your lot. Yes, God is in charge of what you have, and the cards of life you are dealt.
  It’s OK to work hard for something, or for more, and to ask God for more our better, but it is NOT okay for that to consume you, not disappoint you, or make you fret.

Contentment is the mature Christian word for fully trusting in God.

• God upholds you and your days are known by Him. Psalm 37: 17-18 This reminds me of someone giving a helping hand to someone else. And God does that too, He gives you a helping hand, and holds you up.
  That word “upholds” is the same word as “helper” to mean a board to prop up a branch on a tree that is getting weak or heavy with fruit. Also, and this is really cool: When Jesus left us to go to Heaven, He said He would send a “Helper” to guide us to His truth and to help us. (The Holy Spirit).
  
  “Your days are known by God” means he knows what you are doing and going through, when you are tired, old, needing some help, and He helps you.  He intimately knows you and your situation. He feels your tiredness and pain, and wants to be part of it with you, holding your hand, propping you up as you work or go through difficulties. Fretting is reduced then when you trust Him and His helping hand.

• Show mercy to others, be generous to them. Psalm 37:21 Showing mercy means give grace to people. Don’t be an unsolicited critic.  You don’t need to point out their faults, or that you know better than they do. Mercy means also to show compassion, sympathy, or empathy.  That reduces fretting.  That also goes hand in hand with being generous.
  Giving of your time and resources, as 1 John 3:16-19 tells us Christ’s love is giving to others what they need. Fretting is reduced when we are generous and donate.
• Follow God’s purpose for you. Psalm 37:23 God delights in your steps and your way. Did you notice that?! God is delighted when you do what you want when it’s lined up with what He wants.

• Wait on the LORD and keep His way. Psalm 37:34 Waiting patiently for God is what we do between His promises and Him fulfilling those promises.
  What is “His way”? well, there are 18 of them in this blog post and sermon series.

• Live blameless and upright and enjoy peace. Psalm 37:37 That verse says “Mark a blameless and upright person, they will enjoy peace.” Mark means to take notice, it also means to put a hedge of protection around them. You are famous to God, and He will protect you as a security guard is for famous people. And what do you get?? PEACE!

• Be strong in the LORD and the power of His might. Psalm 37: 39-40 Is God powerful?   Then why fret?  Does God help you?  Then why fret? Is God your deliverer?  Then why fret?

The bookends of Do not fret and trust in God, and 18 nuggets of David’s hard-earned wisdom in between them tell us how. The key is our vertical focus more than the horizontal influence. 

Psalm 37 is here by God’s influence to help YOU And you get to know HIM.

It’s a proven strategy to follow and is the best way to get through this difficult life…
Help in the struggles and
Deliverance from the bad things. 

The post Do Not Fret…Trust In God appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

The Blue Jeans Christian Weekly Podcast is doing a series on how to be strong, and I am also teaching on the topic at Mountain View Bible Church in LaVerkin, UT. Here are the YouTube videos of that teaching:

The post How To Be Strong In The Lord appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

I have such a note underneath my keyboard in my office. On that note is four Scripture verses every Christian worker should know. I pull it out just before a difficult phone call or when trouble is looming.

Bad things happen to us all, it’s a part of life. In fact, Jesus promised us in John 16:33 we will have trouble in this life, but told us to look to Him, He has overcome them all.

Here are the four verses that should give you strength, courage, and ultimately allow God to prove Himself awesome to you by honoring His promises. They even test and grow your faith:

1. Psalm 31:24 which is tied to Psalm 31:19 and occurs 20 times in the Old Testament, is seen first in Joshua chapter 1 where God told Joshua (who was just informed he would be taking over as leader of the Israelites because Moses just died) to be strong and of good courage.
   I actually use this as a test of my faith and of God’s promises by saying: “I will be of good courage, God will strengthen my heart, my hope is in the LORD”.
2. Psalm 112:7 “A righteous man does not fear bad news, his heart is steadfast, trusting the LORD”. I am righteous in the eyes of God because of what Jesus did for me on the cross, which I accept. Therefore I can trust God that He has everything under control, and whatever happens to me has passed God’s approval, and I also know He will work out everything for my good and for His glory, which is His promise in Romans 8:28.
3. Psalm 37:3 (I know, my note says 34, but it’s 37) says to “feed on His faithfulness”. God has demonstrated to me countless times over my life that I can trust Him, He is faithful to me, and to His own Word and promises. And, since God is the same yesterday, as today, as tomorrow Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 I can rest assured that how He got me through troubles in the past (and worked them out for good) He will do the same today and tomorrow too. I gain strength and nourishment from that verse just as food does, hence the word “feed on His faithfulness”.
4. Psalm 34:19 “Many are the troubles of the righteous, but God delivers them from them all.” Again, we are righteous thanks to Jesus, and since God is powerful to deliver Jesus out of death on the cross, He can deliver me out of the looming trouble. Oh, the hardship is real, but the outcome will be good, He promised us that.

This blog post is also a podcast episode, so click on the podcast tab above and listen to this while you are working, driving, or exercising. May you be strengthened by these 4 verses, and make your own note of encouragement to have at your fingertips. (Feel free to right-click on the picture above and “save photo as” to your computer or phone)

The post 4 Encouraging Verses For Your Job appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.

Scripture is also like a plumb line (Amos 7:7-9) where Jesus being the Word of God is the measurement and source of reliability, depth, and especially what is straight and true.

Recent episodes of the Blue Jeans Christian weekly podcast have been a series on how to study the Bible, and why you should. Here is a link to each episode to date, including how to listen and subscribe using your favorite player:

How to Read and Study the Bible

Reading vs Studying The Bible And Why You Should

What You Get Studying The Bible. Are There Errors & Contradictions?

The Noble Elite Study Scripture And You Can Too. Also 2 potholes when studying the Bible

How To Get the Most Out of Studying Gods Word and Dynamic Observations.

Lies We Tend To Believe About The Bible

The next podcast episode on November 17, 2020 will be about the 4 Gospels and some cool things about each. Knowing these will help you study them! There is a spreadsheet of the cool things, and feel free to view or download and even print it by clicking HERE!

The post How To Study Scripture. Insights Into The Four Gospels appeared first on The Blue Jeans Christian.