Count it all Joy

"For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow." (James 1:3)

How can we be joyful in the midst of a trial? By remembering that God is at work on His throne to accomplish His purposes. He never allows us to be tested beyond the point of endurance and He always provides us grace to go through the storm and the valley. As someone has said, "Without the storm clouds, there can be no rainbow."

When you said "Yes" to God through Jesus Christ, He went to work to transform your character into Christlikeness. Sometimes when God is chiseling away the stuff that does not honor Him it hurts. But God will bring you through. And it is somewhat easier when we cooperate than when we resist.

I heard this once and I do not know who originated it:
"I walked a mile with pleasure, she chattered all the way,
But I was none the wiser, for all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow, not a word said she,
But, oh the things I learned from her, when sorrow walked with me."

May God bless you today, that you might be a blessing to others.

Praying or Whining?

"But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God." (Daniel 6:10)

Daniel was one of the Hebrews that had been carried into captivity and exile. But God had granted him favor before King Darius, the Mede. Some of the other leaders in Darius court were jealous of Daniel and concocted a scheme to destroy him. They had convinced the king to pass a law that would require people pray only to King Darius, and to violate this would mean being thrown into a den of hungry lions.

Notice in this verse that Daniel did not start something new when the law was passed. He continued in his habit of praying three times a day. Also notice, that even though he was facing a dilemma in his life, his prayers included thanksgiving.

I wonder how many times we pray, "God transform me into Christlikeness, or produce in me the fruit of Your Spirit." Then when God begins to answer our prayers, instead of being thankful, we begin to whine and complain. Often God uses trials, tests of our faith, to stretch us and grow us into the person He desires that we be.

God was with Daniel in the lion's den. He delivered him out of the lions den. But, in Heb. 11 we read of others that were not so fortunate. Can you praise God in a den of hungry lions? Can you praise God if He does not deliver you out of the trouble, but uses it to bring Him glory?

God is working on your character. He may provide for your comfort, but that is not His primary concern. He is far more concerned that we become "Holy" than He is that we remain "Happy" all the time. What is your prayer today?

Be Watchful

"Be careful! Watch out for attacks form the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." (I Peter 5:8, NLT)

If you have ever heard the roaring lion, it is a very intimidating sound. And he lags around the perimeter looking for a straggler, someone in weakened condition. And that is the image of satan.
He absolutely hates God, but he cannot get to God so he attacks God's people. Thus the warning. "Be careful, watch out for."

Often I will hear someone say, "Satan's greatest weapon is..." and they supply their answer. I suspect he employs whatever weapon is appropriate for the circumstance someone is most readily susceptible to at the moment. Sometimes that is discouragement, other times it is distraction, or criticism, or one of his vast arsenal.

If, however, relationships are at the top of God's list of priorities, and they are, it seems satan would often seek to destroy those. We are told in the scripture that the most important commandment is loving God and that the second is about loving others. So it makes sense satan is going to do all he can to destroy our relationships with God and with fellow believers. That is why a passage like Matt. 18 is so important. We must diligently work to restore broken relationships. Jesus told us to love each other as much as He loved us, and He gave His life on a cross for us. That is awesome love. I want to encourage you today to repair all relationships.

Waiting

"And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you...blessed are all they that wait for Him." (Isa. 30:18)

How much difficulty we have waiting. We are used to "fast foods", instant grits, and road runner speed on the internet. "Wait" is not a word that we like to hear. But over and over again we are instructed to "wait on the Lord." But I actually want you to notice something else in this scripture. Did you notice that the Lord waits on us?

We know from the book of Galatians that God sent His Son into the world, "in the fullness of time." That is how God is. He is always exactly on time. He knows the perfect moment. Yes, sometimes He is waiting on us to line up with His will and His plan in surrender of ourselves to Him. But there are other times He is waiting for the perfect time.

Andrew Murray said, "God is a wise husbandman, 'who waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it.' He cannot gather the fruit till it is ripe. He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial, that breaks in showers of blessings, is as needful. Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious."

God is waiting. Will you wait in faith as well?

Healthy Faith

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

There are all kinds of faith. When we begin our faith is much like what we see expressed by Gideon. When God spoke he asked for a sign. He wanted to feel the fleece and see if it was wet. Immature faith requires some physical evidence of personal feeling to confirm its reality.

But then there is faith to endure when God is silent. Jesus had settled the matter in the garden of Gethsemane. He went to the cross and endured because of His incredible faith in the Father, even when He was absolutely silent. In that moment Jesus felt forsaken, but He endured.

There is also faith when the external evidence appears contrary to what you heard from God. After the encounter with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, Elijah told Ahab that it was going to rain. He immediately went into his prayer closet. Seven different times Elijah sent a servant to survey the sky, and for the first 6 he returned to say, "The sky is clear." And yet Elijah persevered and believed what God had promised.

Faith is not blind hope in something we want to happen. Faith is always built on the promises of God's word. What has God said is so? Can you believe God when every bit of the evidence externally is contrary to the promise?

War time Walkie-talkies

"And Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to lose heart."
(Luke 18:1)

John Piper suggests that prayer is a "war-time walkie-talkie". What he means is that God has commissioned us in His army to advance His kingdom. We are in a war against the kingdom of darkness. When Paul near the end of his life he wrote, "I have fought a good fight." He challenged young Timothy, "Fight the good fight of faith."

Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus gave the Great Commission. He said, "Go into all the world and make disciples." And he entrusted to us the marvelous privilege of prayer so that from the front lines of battle, we could have direct access to the commander in chief. So prayer, Piper says, is like a war-time walkie-talkie.

Unfortunately, we have tried to transform it into an intercom of convenience to order more comforts for our lives. Ephesians 6 reminds us to put on the whole armor of God so we can stand in the evil day. That is so we can claim the victory God has given us through Jesus Christ. Having put on the armor of God we are challenged to take up the ministry of prayer, and in our prayers to wield the sword of the Spirit, God's Word.

Let me encourage you to spend quality time in the Word of God each day. Off of your open Bible pray about the war that we are in for God's Kingdom.

We are at War

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand." (Eph. 6:11)

I woke up this morning to the sounds of war. No, I haven't made a trip to Baghdad or to the front lines of Afghanistan. I was sitting in my chair in my bedroom reading the Bible, but hearing the trainees at Fort Jackson taking target practice. They are training for war. Our country is at war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and we are facing serious threats from North Korea and Iran. Our local newspaper did not have any reference to those wars in it today at all. We don't want to be reminded. The week that women laid down their lives for freedom in the streets of Iran, our front page news was focused on our obsession with Michael Jackson. Even Charlie's number one angels death (Farrah Fawcett) faded in comparison in our minds.

The Bible reminds us that we are at war in this world, and that Jesus has called us to be on mission. We are waging war against the kingdom of darkness. The Lord's Prayer is ultimately a war time prayer. We are to pray, "Your Kingdom Come, Your will be Done."

We have been fully armed and equipped with weapons of righteousness according to 2 Cor. 10. We are to be diligent in prayer Ephesians 6 tells us. We are either actively resisting the devil and his forces, or we have already surrendered in this battle.

First Things First

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (Deut. 6:4)

These are the opening words of what Israel came to call the "Shema". It is the central declaration of their faith, and of the Christian faith to in a sense. God declares He is the only true and living God. He is the supreme good and the ultimate One. He alone deserves all of the glory and praise, and our full undivided allegiance.

If I were to stand in the pulpit and church and declare that to the degree that we don't love God foremost in our lives, that is sin; To the degree that loving God is the foremost commandment, if I don't obey that I am committing the greatest sin, no one would likely take offense. They would probably say "Amen" in their hearts if not out loud.

But if I stand up and declare that as Americans in church we are guilty of idolatry. We have substituted false gods for the worship of the one true God, I believe people would argue, if not outloud at least in their heart. Isn't it true, however? Are we not largely a consumer church? Do we not make it all about us? We say its all about God, but is it really?

Take a look at your checkbook and your calendar and see. Where we spend our money tells us what is important to us. How we spend our time tells us what is important to us. Is God in the first place of our lives? I don't mean in our speech, but in our actions. If we say that we love God, if we say that He is first, but our actions don't show it, are we also liars? Are we fooling ourselves? Are we trying to fool others?

You say these are harsh words. Should we not be called back to reexamine our lives? What is the greatest good? What is our number one priority? What is the real guiding principle of your life?

Three Great American Sins

"Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you." (Ps. 67:5, read all of Psalm 67)

Psalm 67 was read annually at the feast of the harvest by the Hebrew people. We know that celebration as Pentecost. And while it celebrates the gathering of a literal physical harvest, ultimately God was talking about the harvesting of the people groups of the world. Bible scholars now understand that "nations" in all of the scripture does not refer to geo-political boundaries like England, or China, or the U.S., but to the "ethne", the people groups of the world, all of them.

This psalms speaks of the greatest good that is described in the Bible, God getting the glory He deserves. And it describes it happening among all of the people groups of the world. John Piper says that the central aim of his life is best summarized this way, "The supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." "The supremacy of God in all things" speaks of appropriate and true worship. "The joy of all peoples" speaks of mission. "Through Jesus Christ" speaks of the only way it can happen.

To the degree that anyone or anything takes God's rightful place in our lives we are guilty of idolatry. So to fail to make God supreme in all things in our lives is to be guilty of idolatry. To the degree that we are not concerned that all peoples give God glory, we are guilty of blasphemy. To the degree that anything deters us from making God famous in all the earth, we are guilty of blasphemy. To think that there is a way other than through Jesus Christ for this to happen, we are guilty of heresy. Surveys of the people sitting in the pews of churches across America today suggest that as many as 57% of those claiming to be evangelical think that someone can worship God through some other source than Christ.

I would suggest based on this that idolatry is the number one sin in America, that blasphemy is a close second. And multitudes of American church goers are either heretical in their belief system, or close. Where do you fit in this?

Faith is the Victory

"And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." (I John 5: 4b)

It is pretty easy to exercise faith when the sun is shining, and our life is filled with beauty and flowers. In fact, it requires very little effort at all. But consider Abraham. The promise had come before he ever left Ur of the Chaldees back in Genesis 12. Yet even in old age, no son as promised. Yet He continue to trust. Consider Job. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." How do you exercise faith after all the calamity he faced?

Consider Jesus hanging on the cross. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" And yet before He died, "Into your hands I entrust My Spirit." What incredible faith does it require? Or is it so simple we overlook it? After all, Jesus said, "Faith the size of a mustard seed."

Romans 10 tells us that "Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God." When God speaks, it is sure as it has already happened. God, who is outside of time and fills all eternity, sees the future in the same way we see yesterday. God's promise is sure and certain.

Fear, someone has said, is the acrostic, "False Evidence Appearing Real." Fear is often our response to what appears to be the circumstances of our lives. But Faith is built on the reality of the promise of God. Faith is as simple as acting on the basis of the Word of God. What has God said in your life? Do you believe Him? Act on God's promises and assurances.

Have Faith in God

"as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations -in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." (Rom. 4:17)
Have you considered the faith of Abraham? God called him to leave his home and ancestors and travel to a place that he would tell him about when he got there? He did not have a Bible to consult or a pastor to talk with. He set out in faith. He had all that mattered, the Word from God.

Then as an old man when it seemed biologically impossible to have a child, he dared to believe the promise of God that He would have a son. He called himself father before there was reality. And then after Isaac had come and was likely a teenage boy, God asked the unthinkable, that he offer him as a sacrifice on the mountain. And yet Abraham knew God was a God who could raise the dead.

Do you dare to believe the Word God's Spirit has spoken to your heart? Can you rely on the scripture and the Holy Spirit no matter what the circumstances? Let me ask you the most important question. Not do you believe in God, but do you believe God? The old hymn calls us to "Have faith in God when your pathway in lonely, He sees and knows all the way you have trod." Will you depend on God today?

Bearing Real Fruit

"The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself." (Mark 4:26-29)

The sower has to scatter the seed. When the harvest is ripe he has to come back and pick the fruit. But the process in between those two events is largely organic. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is organic." The seed grows because it has an inherent life force supplied by God. We can not organize that into our churches. We cannot program that into our churches. We cannot preach that into our churches.

We have to sow the seed and let God produce the fruit. Now there is a real sense in which the Word of God incarnated into our lives makes us the seed. Our daily life in this world tells the story even more than the words we speak. That is why, I think, Jesus says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." We are called to die to self and to follow Christ.

Is it possible that one of the reasons we spend so much time "begging" people to live a Christian life after they get in the church is that they have been converted to "Christianity" but never been regenerated in Christ? If there is no life force in a person, we can preach at them forever and they will never change. We sow the seeds, and we gather the harvest. God, however, must produce the life within.

Do Our Eyes Get in the Way?

"He who has hears to hear it, let him hear." (Matt. 11:15)

"The way that I see it is...." Have you heard those words before? Sometimes in a Sunday School class or Bible study, sometimes around the water cooler. It is a conversation about something in the Bible and everyone has an opinion about the subject.

We all look at things through the "Lens" or "Eyeglasses" of our own experiences, culture, and presuppositions. There are two different ways to read the Bible. You can read it and interpret it through the eyes of your predetermined ideas, experiences and cultural influences. In other words, you can come to the scripture and read it and tell it what it says.

Another way to read it is to try and take off the "Lens" of your own point of view and in a sense close your eyes. Listen. Let the Bible tell you what it says. Hear what God is saying, instead of telling God what He is saying. I am sure that we all want to do it this way, and most of us would deny that we do it the other way. But let me challenge you to pray and ask God to, at least in this sense, close your eyes and open your ears. Listen to God speak. It will bless your life.

Back Then Only

"And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles." (Acts 2:43)

Don't limit yourself to the verse I have placed here. Get out your Bible and read Acts 2-Acts 4 as a minimum. Then I want to ask you to ask this question: Was that just back then? Has God changed how He relates to us? Was the dunamis (power) of God limited to the first century church?

I believe that somehow, at least in America, we have messed church up so badly that we have grieved God's Spirit. I believe that God is the same today, as He was yesterday, and when we get up tomorrow, He will be the same again then. I believe God longs for churches to come to the place of total surrender to Him and such incredible hunger that they storm the gates of heaven in prayer until God moves in power again.

Do we do what we do in church because we have always done that, or do we do what we do because it is a part of God's incredible purpose and plan? Do we have God's heart for the nations?
Let me issue a challenge to anyone reading this. Go back and carefully read the book of Acts onemore time. Ask God as you make your journey through the book to speak to your heart. Ask God to give you His heart for the nations. Be careful; it might change your life.

Creator God or created gods

"because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipoed and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen." (Rom. 1:24)

Surely God is talking about the "heathen" who have never heard and have carved idols out of wood or stone. No way this includes Americans and post-moderns in the 21st century. Let me ask you a question. "Why are you here?" I don't mean why are you in the geographical location you are in, whether it is California, South Carolina, or somewhere in between. Why do you live and breathe and have your being? Why do you exist on planet earth?

The Bible is all His Story. We turn the events of time into history, but it is ultimately all His Story. It is the story of God creating mankind to glorify Him. It is about man's sin and fall, and then God setting in motion a process whereby all the peoples of the world will glorify Him. Consider Psalm 67 as illustrative of that.

Listen to me very carefully. If God is not in the singular position of first place in your life, then you are guilty of worshiping created gods. It could be a job, or a hobby. It could be a person, or a car or house or some other shiny thing. Until God is all to us, we have missed the whole point.

Is God Plowing in Your Life?

"Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?"
(Isa. 28:24)

Yesterday in my blog I spoke of the testing of our faith from James 1. I want to follow that course for a similar result today. I believe that when we say "yes" to Christ as our Lord and Savior, God goes to work to transform us into the image of His Son. (Rom. 8:29)

My wife and I planted a garden this year with corn, tomatoes, okra, beans, watermelon, squash, and cucumbers, among other things. I was very resistant at first. My thoughts were that will be a lot of work, and it will really transform the appearance of our back yard. Most of my two acres is covered in trees and does not grow grass. My backyard has been the exception.

When the tractor began to turn the soil, it had a pungent smell and it wasn't nearly as attractive as the green grass that had been there. But we turned the soil and we planted seed. Then we have had to weed and feed the garden. Today we are enjoying the fruit of our labor, although it is mostly vegetables.

Sometimes God has to put the plow to our lives. It may hurt and it may not look as pretty at first. But God always does that with the view to the harvest. He wants to produce in you and me wonderful fruit of the Spirit. "Help us Father see things more from your perspective."

Testing Our Faith

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that thte testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

James writes and tells us that tests and trials coming our way are designed to work in us God's purpose. WHen we trust Christ to be our Lord and Savior, God goes to work to shape us and mold us into the image of His Son. So James does not say, 'If" trials come, but "when".

God is not so much interested in our comfort as He is our Christlikeness. He is not focused on our happiness as much as our holiness. So James suggests we begin to think differently. When the trials come that are going to be used to shape and mold us, we should "Count it all joy". The original language of the text suggests something of a celebration. "Throw a party", he says. Indeed, cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that God can fulfill His purpose in your life.

Something that helps me is to remember that satan tempts you in order to bring out the worst in you, but God tests you in order to bring out the best. God will never allow greater trials than you can handle. And He will always walk through them with you.

Be a Blessing

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations." (Ps. 67:1-2)

How often have you desired God's blessing in your life? Is it OK to pray that God will bless us? The psalmist prays that. He cried out, "God be gracious to us and bless us." Notice, however, the prayer does not end there. He goes on with a "so that" to his prayer. God blesses us in order that He might get glory throughout all the earth.

From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation God's heart is for all the people's of the world. Every tribe and nation and tongue. Nation in the Bible, by the way, is "ethnos" which is a reference to people groups, not political and governmental borders. God desires that every people group hear His Word and know His glory.

So God blesses us in order that we might bless others. Whenever we hoard God's blessings to ourselves, they rot like the manna in the wilderness when the Israelites gathered too much and tried to keep it to themselves. It is right to pray for God's blessings as long as we desire to be used by Him to bless others.