Word UnHindered

Opportunity

2010-03-10T07:48:00.000-05:00

"When the day of Pentecost arrived..." (Acts 2:1)

Consider these two questions. What did the disciples do to cause Pentecost to come? Was Pentecost a day that the disciples primarily learned something, or did something?

First, what did the disciples do to cause Pentecost? I believe the answer to that question is, "Absolutely nothing." Jesus told them before His ascension that the Holy Spirit was coming. It was a sovereign act of God in fulfillment of His promise.

Secondly, I believe the disciples primarily did something. Actually, something was done through them. But it was not primarily a learning moment in a classroom. We have too much of that in the American church and not enough action.

For 10 days the disciples waited in prayer. They were asking God to prepare them to maximize the opportunity He would provide. God gives us incredible opportunities to proclaim His message everyday. Are we ready? Have we found time to be alone with God so that He could prepare us? What will you do with the opportunities God gives you today to proclaim His word?

Direction

2010-03-08T07:49:00.002-05:00

"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." (Ps. 119:105)

I memorized that scripture verses many years ago in Vacation Bible School one summer, but find it is still important day by day in my life. Often the Bible describes living as a "walk". So as you walk life's path, what is it that guides your life? Where do you find direction? Many today find their direction from their peer group, or even from television. Others look to Pastor Phil or Pastor Oprah. But God says that we should allow His Word to direct us.

Someone has said, We need to study the Bible so that we can master God's Word. But more importantly, we need to take another step. We need to allow God's Word to master us. In other words, God's word is living (Heb. 4:12) and it speaks directly to our life. And through it God calls for us to make decisions related to obeying Him. So when we read God's Word, we allow it to speak to our hearts, and then we surrender to it to obey.

Prove It

2010-03-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

"Feed my sheep." (John 21)

Three times in John 21 Jesus asks Simon Peter, "Do you love me?" Each time Simon affirms that he does indeed. And each time Jesus then says, "Feed my sheep." It is almost as if Jesus says, "Ok, if you love me, you don't prove it by how loudly you sing, 'O How I love Jesus,' but by obeying me. Feed my sheep."

It is the process that the apostle Paul instructed young Timothy with in 2 Tim. 2:2, "The things you have heard from me among many witnesses, these same things teach to others, who will in turn be able to teach others also." We are not all preachers or teachers, but we are all to be disciples and we are all instructed to make disciples.

Sheep are often stubborn and smelly. They will butt you when you are not looking. They are so dumb that they constantly wander off where they are in great danger. Jesus says, "It is not out of love for sheep that you are to obey me, but out of love for me." Do you love Jesus today? Then prove it. Feed His sheep.

Who or What do you love Most?

2010-03-02T07:34:00.003-05:00

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" (John 21:15)

It is after the Resurrection, and fresh in Peter's memory was the night of his denial of his Lord. But now it is time for restoration and renewal. Jesus and Peter walking alone delve into the most significant of all question. "Simon, I need to know, what is most important in your life? Where is your heart? Are you devoted to me with all of your being? Do you love me more than anyone or anything else?"

This first place love for Jesus is so important than in Rev. 3 we discover that Jesus warns the church at Ephesus if they do not return to their first love, He will remove their lampstand, which is a symbolic way of saying they will cease to be a church. So many people today have a place in their life for Jesus, but it is not the place of pre-eminence. He is resident in them, but He is not allowed to rule as Lord.

Sometimes we are so busy serving God and ministering in the name of Jesus that we forget that the most important matter is this, "Do you love me more than these?" And like Simon Peter, when Jesus presses that issue, we are grieve to be so exposed. "Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'" (Jo. 21:17)

Where are the Aarons and Hurs?

2010-01-16T08:46:00.003-05:00

"Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he wsat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword." (Exodus 17:11-13)

Joshua and the army of Israel were fighting against the Amaleks. Throughout the day they fought the same. The variable in this story is the position of Moses' arms, which represent prayer. When Moses was faithful to stand in the gap in prayer, the Israelites prevailed. When he grew weary and did not, they were being defeated. Aaron and Hur undergird him. They support him. They pray with him.

Prayer is not something we do when we cannot do something else. It is the most important aspect of our work for God. When Jesus said to the disciples in John 14 that He was returning to the Father, He promised them they could do even greater works than He did. But how? He said through prayer. So where are the faithful prayer warriors?

Who's Your Teacher?

2010-01-12T07:48:00.001-05:00

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (John 16:13)

Babies need predigested food, so they nurse on their mother's milk. But how many followers of Christ continue to drink milk that is food predigested by someone else? Who is teaching you the Word of God? Have you considered whether or not you are leaning on other people all the time to digest God's Word for you? If all you every receive is instruction from a pulpit, a Sunday School teacher, a commentary, or a devotional book, then you are still eating like a baby. Don't misunderstand what I am saying. All of these things are helpful, but they should not become our main diet.

God Himself wants to be your teacher through the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God will teach you from the Word of God if you will allow him to, if indeed He lives in you. Why not draw aside today with God, and ask Him to speak to your heart as you open His Word. Why not make that a daily habit in your life.

God bless you as He leads you.

What an Awesome Gift

2010-01-11T08:09:00.003-05:00

"In him (Christ) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." (Eph. 1:13)

The normal Christian experience is that when a person responds to God's offer of eternal life through Christ by faith, God moves into that person's life as the Holy Spirit. By faith we understand that God is one God in three persons. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, are all the one and same God. So understand this. When a person becomes a believer, God comes to live in them. Their body becomes God's temple.

What was impossible through the entire Old Covenant becomes suddenly possible. No longer does someone simply adopt a religion and try and imitate the behavior that God desires. Every world religion offers that. Uniquely, becoming a Christian means that God moves into a person's life and gives them the ability to live the Christ life. Instead of imitation, suddenly the Holy Spirit is reproducing the character in Christ as long as we abide in Him (John 15:5)

Vs. 14 of Ephesians 1 speaks of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our ultimate deliverance in
eternal life. How do you know whether you are a Christian or not? It is not by the externals of things like baptism, or church membership, or doing anything. It is by the witness of God's Spirit in our heart. WOW!. Praise the Lord.

Fruit Happens

2010-01-04T08:06:00.002-05:00

"Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Gal. 5:16

I do not mean to imply by titling this "Fruit Happens" that we are to be lazy or undisciplined. Paul describes two contrasting ways of life. One is a life that is lived by human effort that can at best produce the "works of the flesh". And we can read in this text what a nasty list that is. The other life is one that is lived surrendered to the Spirit of God working in us, so that He can produce His harvest of fruit. Paul tells us that these two lives are diametrically opposed to one another.

In John 14 as Jesus prepared the disciples for His departure, He told them He would send the Holy Spirit to live in them. Can you imagine? No longer would God simply be with them, He would live in them. Every Christian is indwellt by God's Spirit. If you are a believer, God lives in you. The more completely we manage to surrender to Him, the more He manifests His power to enable us to live the life that He created us for. So to use Paul's imagery, "Walk by the Spirit." Our responsibility is to stay vitally connected. If we stay connected, He will produce fruit that glorifies God in our lives.

What If There Were No Christmas

2009-12-25T07:12:00.002-05:00

"Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord." Neh. 8:10

With all the talk of "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" it got me to thinking. What if there were no Christmas? Regardless of the reasons for the choice of dates to celebrate, ultimately Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ. It is the advent of Eternity taking on human flesh. So what if Jesus had never come?

What if God chose not to reveal Himself? What if the Bible ended with the book of Malachi?Allow yourself to take a few moments today in the midst of all the bustle of family and gifts and all that you do on this special day to think about what would be different in our world if Jesus Christ had never come into the world. If God had not chosen to enter into time by taking on human flesh and being born as a baby, then just consider the difference in the world.

Now as you realize how different the world would be, consider how different it is in some places where people have still not heard the Good News that the angels brought to the shepherds. Countless billion remain in the darkness of never having heard the message of Christmas.

I know that Nehemiah's words were about something entirely different, but do they not challenge us? Enjoy what Christmas means. Celebrate the coming of Christ. But consider also your responsibility to help to take the message of peace and hope and joy to those who have nothing prepared today. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.

The Heart of Worship

2009-12-23T07:39:00.002-05:00

"This people draws near to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." (Matt. 15:8)

Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah here to denote that true worship is a matter of the heart and not a matter of words. It is not how loud or enthusiastically we sing on Sunday in church that denotes truth in worship. It is our surrender in obedience on a daily basis.

In I Samuel 15 God tells King Saul to go and destroy King Agag and the Amalekites. The Amalekites had ruthlessly attacked the Israelites as they were wandering in the wilderness. So God had devoted them to destruction. But rather than kill the king and thoroughly destroy all they had, Saul took some trophies. One of his excuses was that he needed sheep to offer in worship. And through the prophet Samuel we have these words, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams."

As Christmas day approaches, let me ask this question again. What will you offer as a gift to this baby born to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God desires your gift of your heart. He desires you worship him in truth, which means in obedience. This Christmas give to Christ your heart in full surrender to Him. Purpose to obey Him in all things.

WOW! Defeat the Enemies Within.

2009-12-18T09:05:00.003-05:00

"Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan." (Judges 3:1)

The book of Joshua was a book of Victories. Much of the book of Judges is a book about defeat. God instructed Israel as they entered Canaan to completely destroy their enemies. But they did not obey. In Judges 2:2 God tells Israel that what they were not willing to do in obedience to Him, He would not do for them.The enemies they failed to destroy absolutely became a constant thorn in their sides and continual snares to their living in Victory.

God has provided for those who are Christians everything that we need for living a Victorious life. Sin is our great enemy, and it conspires against us through the flesh. Whatever we fail to conquer by full surrender to Christ becomes the stronghold in our life from which Satan wages continual war on us. That is why Paul admonishes us in Eph. 4:27 not to give the devil any opportunity in our life.
That is why God has provided for us weapons that are mighty to pull down strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:4).

As we end the year 2009 let me challenge you to take inventory in your life. What enemies remain to be conquered and are thorns in your flesh? Sin addictions. Some little compromise here or there. It could be subtle in form, and we hold on to it. Like the Israelites we will discover those unconquered enemies lead us to spiritual adulteries.

Get alone with God and let Him lead you to deal with the areas of your life that are thorns in your flesh and keeping you from Victorious living. Determine that in 2010 you will live surrendered fully to Christ as Lord of all.

The Wile E Coyote Principle

2009-12-17T08:49:00.005-05:00

"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling." (Prov. 26:27)

As I consider this text, I cannot help but think of Wile E. Coyote. Do you remember him from the Road Runner cartoons, one of my favorites growing up. He was always trying to catch the Road Runner, and yet every evil plan he concocted backfired on him. That coyote was flattened by falling rocks, run over by trucks, and had more dynamite blow up on him that anyone could endure. He was one indestructible coyote, but everything failed.

God's Word says that when we plan for evil toward others, it always catches us instead. I was reading the book of Esther again this morning. A man by the name of Haman was angered because Mordecai the Jew did not show him the honor and respect that he wanted. So he concocted a plan to destroy all of the Jews. But in the providence of God, Esther whom Mordecai had raised had become Queen. She had gained the King's favor, and she brought about a reversal of fortune for Haman. The gallows that Haman had built to hang Mordecai became his own death instrument.

We need to remember to always do good and to please the Lord. God said, "Vengeance is mine." I think one of the reasons we are hesitant to leave things in God's hands is that we think God will treat those whom we are upset with the same way that He has treated us. We are afraid that He will show them mercy. Aren't you glad that God did not give you what you deserved?

Merry Christmas

2009-12-16T07:52:00.003-05:00

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light - a light that wil shine on all sho live in the land where death casts its shadow. " (Isaiah 9:2)

These words are spoken through Isaiah the prophet about 750 years before Jesus Christ would be born. It is a promise that God is going to bring light to people who have lived in the darkness of death because of sin. It is the promise that God is going to bring life and peace and hope where there has been none. And we discover in v. 6 that this light is going to come in the form of a "son" to be given.

The promise is that this "son" will establish the Kingdom of God and that there will ultimately be no end to His rule. It is an incredible promise. This one along with many others were prophecies that were fulfilled when a baby was born of a virgin named Mary in the city of Bethlehem, now nearly 2000 years ago.

It doesn't matter if they change the name to "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings". Ultimately Christmas is all about the Christ who came and dwellt among us, as John tells us in the first chapter of His Gospel. We don't have records in a courthouse of the exact date that Jesus was born, but we know that He came in the humblest of ways. He came to save us from our sins. He came to save us from death. He came to be our Savior. "And His name will be called Jesus."

The Invitation of Christmas

2009-12-15T07:44:00.004-05:00

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." (Ps. 37:5)

When we talk about the matter of faith, there are all kinds of words that we use. We talk about believing which is an act of the mind, I believe. (A little play on the words, lol.) This verse in psalms refers to making a commitment, which is an act of our will. It is a choice that we make. Indeed life is all about choices. We can make our choices, we are free to do so. What we cannot do is choose the consequences of those choices. The choice to commit to Christ, is an act of faith with eternal benefits.

"Trust in Him" is the language of the heart. It is deeper than the mind and intellect. We ultimately determine in our will because the truth has made its way into our heart, not the blood pumping organ, but the control center of our life. The writer of Proverbs challenges us to "Trust in the Lord" with all of our heart.

Christmas is all about God's incredible love. He chose to send His Son into the world to be born of the flesh, a little baby humbling entering the world in Bethlehem some 2000 years or so ago. God invites us to believe that story. But He also invites us to allow the truth of that story to get into our hearts and lead us to make a choice. A choice to trust in God through Jesus Christ with all of our being. Christmas is an invitation by God to faith. And listen to this awesome promise. "Whoever calls on the Lord, will be saved." (Rom. 10:13)

Overcoming Sin

2009-12-10T08:28:00.004-05:00

"I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (Ps. 119:11)

The Bible calls us to live lives that are blameless. We are not ever sinless while we remain in our flesh, but we should sin less. God is at work in the life of every true believer to transform them into the image of Christ. Although Jesus Christ was tempted in every way that we are, He never sinned.

One of the disciplines of the life of a maturing believer that gives help in overcoming sin is "storing up" God's Word in our heart. The King James Version calls it "Hiding" God's Word in our hearts. How do we do that? We must memorize the scripture. We memorize it and we meditate on it. We study it and seek to comprehend its truth. As we have memorized it, the Holy Spirit will use it in our lives to overcome temptation. So when the psalmist asked, "How can a young man cleanse his ways?" in Ps. 119:9, he answers his own question in v. 11.
"I have stored up Your Word in my heart."

Heb. 4:12 tells us that God's Word is a living Word, sharper than even a two edged sword. The Word really comes to life in us when we have committed it to memory. Start with important verses to your life. Write them on 3 x 5 cards that you can carry everywhere you go. Review the verses on coffee breaks, or at red lights. Commit God's Word to Your heart today.

Is Heaven a Quiet Place?

2009-12-09T07:50:00.002-05:00

"saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb'". (Rev. 5:12)

It is amazing to me that everyone says they want to go to heaven when they die. I haven't met anyone that genuinely said, "I prefer the alternative." But what is heaven really like? The old Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life" says that every time we hear a bell ring, some angel has gotten their wings. The implication is that people who die and go to heaven eventually can become angels. But the Bible teaches that angels are created beings separate from humans, and that people never become gods or angels, or anything other than human.

Heaven must be a loud place. When John opened the windows of heaven in the Revelation and let us look in, he described the activity of heaven in Rev. 4 and 5. All around the throne of God are gathered the myriads of angels, which means huge numbers that are staggering. And all of the elders and saints, being the redeemed of all ages. So multitudes of angels and people, and they are all praising God. The sheer volume of people would create a loud chorus of praise, but our scripture above says they say with a "loud voice."

That is interesting to me because of what I sometimes hear in church. On one Sunday, one person came up and said the music was too loud today. And yet another asked, "Why have you turned the volume down, it seems we lost some energy." How can both be true on the same day? Have we forgotten it is not about us anyway? One person who complained of it being too loud one day was wearing hearing aids. Couldn't you just turn them down?

So if heaven is not a quiet place, are you going to put in for a transfer?

Give Him Your Heart

2009-12-08T07:55:00.002-05:00

"present your bodies a living sacrifice,...which is your spiritual worship." (Rom 12:1-2)

The psalmist reminds us that "the earth is the Lord's and all it contains." (Ps. 24:1) We often speak of what to give someone who has everything. That is really true when it comes to God. We read that God loved us so much that He gave His one and only unique Son, Jesus Christ to be our Savior. When we sense the gratitude that comes from comprehending that, we want to give Him something as a love offering. But God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Every inch of this ever expanding universe is all His. So what can we give to God?

For 11 chapters in the book of Romans, the apostle Paul has described the incredible mercies and grace that God has shown to us. He turns a corner, so to speak, in 12:1 with the word "therefore". And He emphatically declares, "present your bodies a living sacrifice." A modern way to say that would be, Give yourself completely to God, once for all. Would you examine your life this Christmas season? Have you surrendered yourself to God completely? If not, why not? If not before, how about right now? Give Him Your heart.

What Will You Give?

2009-12-07T07:40:00.001-05:00

"Therefore, because of God's incredible mercy, I urge you to give to Him..."

These words mark the turning point in one of Paul's great writings in the New Testament. Some of you recognize them and know exactly where they are. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. But have you considered what gift you will give to Jesus Christ this Christmas?

This Sunday I will preach the second message in our new series, "The Cradle that Rocked the World." The message is entitled, "Christmas is For-giving." The drummer boy raised the question in the song, what gift can I give that is fit for a king. The magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. But in reality, God owns everything in this universe, so what do you give someone who has everything? There really is one appropriate gift. Will you give it?

You Are Invited

2009-12-03T08:11:00.003-05:00

"invite to the wedding feast as many as you can find." (Matt. 22:9)

Jesus came into the world that first Christmas when He took on human flesh and was born of the virgin Mary. We often speak of the Incarnation, which is a theological word for "clothed in flesh". Jesus Christ who is God became a man. Often the Bible speaks of Jesus as the bridegroom and the people of Christ, the church, as the Bride.

When Jesus comes again the second time and gathers His children home, Matt. 22 tells us that there is a great wedding feast. It is a great celebration; a party. Everyone is invited. In this story in Matt. 22, the groom walks through the wedding hall and finds one who is not properly clothed, and he has to leave. All are invited, but only those clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ will attend. Only those who have by faith received God's gift of eternal life.

Christmas is an invitation by God to the wedding feast. In order to go, however, you must have the proper wedding attire. As John wrote in his Gospel, "He came unto His own, but His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God." You have been invited. Have you received God's gift of the proper attire for the party by receiving Jesus Christ as Your Lord?

Must We Suffer?

2009-12-02T07:37:00.001-05:00

"Perfect through suffering" (Heb. 2:10)

Austin Phelps wrote, "Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity...To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation."

We are often reminded that God is far more concerned with our holiness than with our happiness. The moment that we said "Yes" to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God went to work through the Holy Spirit to transform us into His image. Just as diamonds are forged from coal by pressure, so also much of our transformation comes from the suffering that we encounter in this world which is hostile to God. So we are told in the Bible not to be surprised by the "fiery trials' that we encounter. We are told to rejoice when we face tests. God is up to something purposeful.

Today, why not seek His face, and allow Him to change you by determining to obey His Word. If we say "yes" each time God speaks to us, it is a much easier process.

Do you Seek great things?

2009-12-01T07:36:00.004-05:00

"And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go." (Jer. 5:25)

The Bible teaches that the closer we get to the end of time, the more difficult it will become to live the Christian life. There is no promise of safety and deliverance from trouble given with the call to follow Christ. So what is the promise that is given to Jeremiah when God says, "I will give you your life as a prize of war...?" It means, I believe, that God will deliver us from the destroyer. Nothing can happen in our lives that is not a part of the will of God. Sometimes God's will leads us into a lion's den. Sometimes it leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. Sometimes it leads us into a fiery furnace. Because of who are enemy is (the false god of this world, satan), we will always find ourselves in the presence of the enemy and of conflict in spiritual warfare.

When you study the heroes of the faith through the Bible, you discover that they dwellt in the presence of the enemy because they dwellt in the presence of God. As long as we seek to follow Christ, we will be going in the opposite direction from the enemy, which means we are going to run headlong into him. That is why the scripture says we should not be surprised at the fiery trial. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer, we are assured by God's Word. So do not seek great things for yourself. Seek God's Kingdom first and foremost in your life.

"ZERO" Tolerance

2009-11-30T08:06:00.002-05:00

"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls." (Luke 11:17)

I suppose a significant portion of Americans would credit Abraham Lincoln with those words from his famous speech, but it is actually Jesus who said that. It was in response to the thought of some among the crowd who had seen Him cast out demons who suggested it was by the power of Beelzebub that He did those things. Jesus says, Even satan is smart enough to know better than to be divided against himself.

As nearly as I can tell, the church is the only group of people that will schedule a monthly meeting to fight with one another. Worse than those brawls are the critical, divisive, and unfruitful words spoken in the halls, in the parking lots, over the telephones, and along chat lines of Christian people and church congregations.

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians he said, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (4:29). In fact, the failure to obey that opens the door to two problems for the church according to Paul. It grieves the Holy Spirit, so the church loses its source of power, and It gives the devil an
opportunity to work. It is time we recognize and PRACTICE a Zero tolerance of divisiveness among the people of God.

Come Ye Thankful People Come

2009-11-25T10:37:00.003-05:00

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with prasie. Give thanks to Him, bless His name." (Ps. 100:4)

God is great, and God is good. He has all power and authority and He has good intentions toward us. Once we realize that, how can we do anything but give thanks? 'Nuff Said.

Give Thanks

2009-11-24T06:45:00.001-05:00

"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the FAther in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
(Eph. 5:20)

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers, he said, "In everything give thanks." (I Thes. 5:18). But here, it seems he takes it a step farther when he says we are to be thankful FOR all things. There are many things in our daily lives for which we do not naturally want to give thanks. Heartaches, challenges, problems, difficulties, all types of disappointments come our way. How do we give thanks?

Paul gives this statement as a part of his description of the Spirit filled life. Apart from abiding in Christ, apart from full surrender to Him, apart from living with the Holy Spirit in control, it is impossible to do anything the New Testament tells us is descriptive of the believer's life. Our lives are not lived out by imitating Jesus, the "what would Jesus do" approach. Our lives are lived by surrendering to Him and allowing Him through the Holy Spirit to reproduce Himself in us.

As we look toward a day of Thanksgiving this week, let me challenge you to acknowledge God's sovereignty by not only giving thanks for all of your blessings, but for the difficulties and sorrows as well. I believe that by giving thanks in and for all things we release God's power to work more completely in our lives. Let's practice Thanksliving, not just a day of thanksgiving.

Consider it Joy

2009-11-23T08:33:00.003-05:00

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." (James 1:2)

Those are difficult and challenging words. We have to remember that God is not focused in this world on making us Happy, but is in the business of making us Holy. When Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers he said, "Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." (Eph. 1:4) God's purpose is to transform us into Christ-likeness, once we have become believers, thus restoring the image of God with which we were originally created.

It is important to remember that James also said, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one." (1:13) God tests us to bring out the best in us. He expects His children to pass the test. He has equipped us to pass the test.

And even though we are tempted to evil by Satan to bring out the worst in us, God has promised to never allow us to be tempted beyond the point that we are able to say "No!" ( I Cor. 10:13). Another incredibly wonderful promise is in I John 2:2 that reminds us that when we stumble and sin, we have an Advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

So how do you rejoice and throw a party when you face trials? You remember that God trusted you enough to allow this test. He believes you have what it takes. And you remember that God's purpose toward you is good. He is perfecting you in the image of Christ.

Wait

2009-11-20T07:06:00.004-05:00

"Blessed is he who waits..." (Daniel 12:12a)

Perhaps nothing in our lives is as hard as waiting on God. But as Rick Warren reminded us in 40 Days of Purpose, God is not so much interested in our happiness as in our holiness. He is in the process of transforming us into Christ-likeness, restoring the image of God marred by the fall of sin. When you find yourself facing difficulties, bring your cares to God. Cry out to Him on the basis of the promises in His Word, and then wait. God will always be right on time. He doesn't operate on our schedule, but on His.

David said, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;" (Ps. 37:7). The answer to the need in your life does not lie in what you can figure out or work out on your own. It rests in God. He is Sovereign and He is in control. And as I wrote in the blog yesterday, He is Great and He is Good. That means He has all the power and He has good intentions toward you.

When you struggle with the present, rehearse in your mind what God has done for you in the past. If you have any doubts about God's intentions, remember that He loved you so much He let His only begotten Son die in your place on Calvary's cross and there bear the weight and burden of your sins.

So today, Wait on the Lord.

God is Great and God is Good

2009-11-19T07:50:00.004-05:00

"Power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord belongs steadfast love." (Ps. 62:11b-12a)

One of the very first prayers that I learned as a child was for meal time, and we prayed, "God is great, God is good." That is essentially what this passage of scripture says. "Power belongs to God," affirms the reality, God is indeed great. He is so great that one name does not describe Him. He is so great that the vast expanse of the universe cannot contain Him. He is without limit. And He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond anything we can conceive or think. (Eph. 3:20). God is Great. He is able to do anything that He desires. There is nothing too difficult for God.

If that was the end of the conversation, we might have a problem. Someone who has all power would be greatly dangerous if they did not have good intentions toward us. But the Psalmist says, not only is God great in that all power belongs to Him, He is also good, because steadfast love belongs to His nature as well. God's intentions toward us are good.

Jeremiah said it this way, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." God is love according to the Bible. He loves because of who He is, not because we merit or deserve to be loved. God is not only great, He is good.

The book of Lamentations says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (3:22-23)

God Loves You

2009-11-18T07:54:00.002-05:00

"God is love." (I John 4:8)

All my life I have been told, "God loves you." Now I don't know about you, but I don't have much trouble believing that God loves you. My problem has been, how could God love me. I live with me. I know all the bad things that I have done in my life. How could God possibly love me? Maybe you have struggled with that from time to time as well.

God's love for us is not based on how lovable we are. If it was, we would all be in serious trouble. But the Bible says that God is love. It does not teach that He just loves. His very essence is love. He loves because of who He is, not because of who we are. His love is not dependent on our merit. It has nothing to do with what we deserve. It is all about who God is.

We cannot experience God's love apart from Jesus Christ. God loves everyone, and He desires that everyone experience His love. But I John also teaches that "God is light". That means that in His essence He is also holy and just. God's holy nature and His love intersect at the cross. One the cross, Jesus Christ paid the sin debt we owed and could not pay. By satisfying the justice of God, He is able to mediate love to us.

So yes God loves you and He loves me. We cannot do anything to make Him love us more, nor can we cause Him to love us less. We can experience God's love today, by coming to God through Jesus Christ.

WOW!

2009-11-17T07:42:00.002-05:00

"An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue." (Prov. 17:4)

Wow. When I read a verse like that I get the distinct impression that God is as displeased with people listening to gossip, backbiting, tales and discouraging words as He is with those who are doing the talking. We sometimes think we are innocent if we are not the one spreading the story. But we are just as guilty for listening.

If I am only to speak words of praise to God, witness to the world, and encouragement to believers, then God must expect me to only listen to the same. When we participate in listening, we are joining in league with satan as he seeks to divide the body of Christ. Today, determine to repent of all the times you have listened to discouraging and degrading words about others. Determine that you are going to stop it. When someone calls, or writes, or stops you along the way to say things that are inappropriate, challenge them to stop and get it right with others.

Jesus said in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that a kingdom divided against itself will not stand. How can we impact a lost and dying world unless our words are filled with kindness and grace? Today, ask yourself if you are a participant by listening. Let God change this about His people. Amen.

Is God Enough?

2009-11-16T07:46:00.003-05:00

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)

Paul declares the sufficiency of God in his life when he notes that three times he prayed that God would remove the thorn in his flesh, and God chose not to answer what he had asked. Paul declares that he would boast in his wekaness because God would get the glory.

These are not sentimental words. He says, "For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." What do you say? Does everything have to go your way for you to praise the Lord, or can you rejoice in the difficult circumstances that come your way?

Consider Job. When life fell apart, he said, "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Consider Jacob. It is the night before he anticipates a reunion with his brother Esau, and he was afraid. But in the difficulty of hard circumstances closing in on him, he was able to lay hold of God in a way that he never had before. Over and over in the Bible, we discover that it is in the difficulties of life that people discover God's sufficiency.

Is God enough in your life today? Can you give thanks for the difficulties that come, honestly? Are you content to know Him better? Can you say, no matter what, "Blessed be the name of the Lord?"

Can God Count On You

2009-11-13T07:13:00.003-05:00

"For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." (Gen. 18:19)

The book of Lamentations reminds us, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (3:22-23) Because we know that God is faithful, and that He never changes, we can rely on Him, we can trust Him to do what He has said.

The question, however, is can God rely on us. He chose Abraham because He knew His heart was faithful. God knew that He could rely on Abraham to do what He called him to do. God tested him and tried him, but He found Abraham to be a faithful man. God could ultimately fulfill the promises that He made to Abraham, because Abraham proved faithful.

Can God rely on you? Can He rely on me? Will we be found faithful in all that He has entrusted to us so that He can fulfill His promises? Be faithful today.

There is Only One

2009-11-12T08:25:00.003-05:00

There is..."One Lord." Eph. 4:5

Sometimes I hear people say, "My Jesus" does such and such, or "the Jesus I know" is this way or that way, as if there are many different Jesuses. However, there is only one unique Jesus Christ.Other times I hear people say, "I am going to make Jesus Lord". Listen, He is Lord, you and I don't make Him that.

Paul writes here in Eph. 4 that Jesus Christ is unique. Ultimately He is unique in His person. He is 100% God, and He is 100% man; He is the God-man, Christ Jesus. He is God, and in Bethlehem He takes on human flesh being born of the Virgin Mary. Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us that He is the final Word from God. There is no additional revelation of truth.

Jesus Christ is unique in relationship to His work. In order to pay the penaly of all the sins of all the people who would call on Him, it took an eternal person to die. Only God could fit the need. When Isaac asked his father Abraham, "Where is the lamb?" Abraham said, "God will provide Himself."
That is exactly what He did. He gave Himself to die in our place.

Finally, Jesus Christ is unique in His relationship to us. Those who come to Him as Savior also surrender to Him as Lord. He is Lord of all. He owns us because He bought us out of our sin debt. He brought us out of the Kingdom of darkness and qualified us to be citizens in a heavenly Kingdom.

Jesus Christ is unique. He alone is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Have you surrendered to His Lordship daily in your life?

Walking? Or just Talking.

2009-11-11T07:51:00.003-05:00

"walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called..." (Eph.4:1)

Already I have suggested that in this chapter where Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, and thus God to all of us, he is telling us here that our life should match the name we wear. If we are going to take the name of Christian, which is ultimately the name of Jesus Christ, then we are to walk worthy of that name. In other words, we should be living so closely connected to Him that day by day we are growing in Christ-likeness.

Day to day living is often described as a "walk" in the Bible. So the question I want to raise is, are we just talking a good talk without seeking to live what we say, or are we day by day surrendering ourselves to Him and being transformed to live like Jesus. It is not a matter of imitating Christ. It is a matter of being so vitally connected to Him that He reproduces His life in us.

In Ephesians 4 that walk is directed by living in unity within the Body of Christ. As I look around, I see so many Christians out of fellowship with the Body of Christ and I wonder if Jesus is not saddened that we have neglected His bride. Why are we claiming to be part of the Body, and yet acting in isolation as though the members of the body don't need each other? Pray for God to ignite a fresh passion in the hearts of believers to come together in unity.

One Faith

2009-11-10T08:01:00.003-05:00

"One Faith" (Eph. 4:5)

The heart of Jesus' prayer in John 17 is for the Unity of His Church. Paul in Ephesians 4 tells us this unity is produced by the Holy Spirit, but we are to be careful not to grieve the Spirit and to not give the devil any opportunity by maintaining the unity. He instructs us to do that by paying particularly close attention to what we say.

In Eph. 4:4-6 there are 7 different "Ones" that form the basis of our unity. We have already seen that there is only One Body, the corporate universal church, and there is One Holy Spirit that breathes life into that body. And we are united around our common hope of the incredible inheritance we have in Christ and which God has guaranteed in our lives by the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday we noted the fourth "One" which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is also one faith. That is the body of common belief that comprises orthodox doctrine. Yes, there are many things that we can debate and be divided over in interpretation, but the essence of the Scripture, particularly the Gospel is not debateable. There is only one way to become a follower of Jesus Christ. There is only one basic body of truth that comprises the core of faith.

One Lord

2009-11-09T07:43:00.004-05:00

"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism" (Eph. 4:5)

This is the second trilogy of the seven "ones" that Paul describes as constituting the basis of our unity in the Church. The first three focused on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and these focus on the ministry of Jesus Christ.

As Peter stood on the day of Pentecost and delivered the first evangelistic message in Acts 2, he said, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." (v. 36). The Bible tells us that one day every knee will bow and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The Word of God says, "There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

Some suggest that it is absurd to think that there is only one way to gain eternal life as Christians claim. I heard David Jeremiah say, "The last time I check there is only one way to get into this world. If there is only one way to gain physical life, why are we surprised that there is only one way to gain eternal."

Maybe we should be less arrogant in the way we behave as Christians. Maybe we should be more loving. Maybe when we are acting in the unity of the Spirit. But the message of God is Good News for all peoples, and we do not need to be ashamed to declare there is "One Lord, One faith, and One baptism."

Too Hard for God?

2009-11-06T06:57:00.003-05:00

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen. 18:14)

When the messenger of God told Abraham that Sarai would have a child, even though biologically it was no longer possible for her to bear children at her age, she laughed. The messenger said, "Why did she laugh? Is anything too difficult for the Lord to do?"

A couple of weeks ago I sat in a counseling session with someone, and an observer said, 'Don't fool yourself. That person will never change." Not too long before that, I was explaining the cost of a mission trip to West Africa, and the person said, "I could never afford that." A pastor lamenting the hardness of the hearts of his church whined, "This church will never do anything for the Kingdom of God." Consider the times you may have expressed similar thoughts to the difficulty or the seeming impossibility of your situation. Ask yourself this question, and be sincerely honest in your thoughts. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

Has God changed? As the scriptures suggest, "Are His eyes dimmed that He cannot see, or His arms shortened that He can no longer reach into your situation? Or has God changed. Maybe He doesn't care." Satan will whisper anything in your ear that will cause you to doubt. But remember when these thoughts come, the enemy is a liar.

Paul reminds us in Eph. 3:20 that God can do exceeding abundantly beyond anything that we could ever imagine, or ask for in our prayers. How big is your God?

Hear Jesus' Voice

2009-11-05T08:19:00.004-05:00

"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27)

Jesus says that one of the characteristics of those who are genuine Christians is they are able to hear and discern His voice. As you know, in the Bible to hear means more than to receive the audio in a way that it is transmitted to the brain as sound. It means to take it in and put it into practice. However, if there is any doubt of that, Jesus goes on to say that His sheep also follow Him. That statement clearly declares that it is characteristic of Christians to do what Jesus says to do.

One of the primary sources of the "Voice of Jesus" is His written Word. Whenever the Bible speaks, God speaks. Every single word of the Scripture is inspired of God. The Bible is not like any other book. It is not man's words about God. It is not the most noble literature ever written, although there is an element of truth in that comment. It is the very Word of God. We do not have the luxury of picking and choosing the passages we like. It is all written for our edification.

So let me ask you a hard question. Are you willing to do anything that God tells you to do? Are you seeking to bring your life into absolute obedience to the Voice of Christ? Keep in mind that when that little voice in your head is contradictory to the Bible, it is not the voice of Christ. God never contradicts Himself. We are to obey all of the Bible, the hard parts included.

No Hope to New Hope

2009-11-04T07:48:00.003-05:00

"remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope..." (Eph. 2:12)

Every genuine follower of Jesus Christ needs to daily remember there was a time that we were separated from God because of our sin, and lost for eternity, and deserving of a devil's hell. Paul describes that as a time in our life when we had no hope.

Ephesians describes in the first three chapters so many incredible things that God has done for us through Christ. He has reconciled us to Himself. He has redeemed us from our sins. He has made us to be partakers of all His covenant promises. He has also given to us the Holy Spirit who guarantees our transformation into Christlikeness, and who guarantees our eventual triumph in glory when we are eternally with God. So, now, we have incredible hope. Again, hope in the Bible is not wishful thinking, but a certain assurance of the glory of our future with Christ.

Whatever trials and difficulties you may face today, whatever tests of your faith come, rest in the incredible promises of God made accessible to us through what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. Thank God for blessing you with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places through Christ. (Eph. 1:3)

An Incredible Hope

2009-11-02T07:36:00.003-05:00

"just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call." (Eph. 4:4b)

New Testament hope is not like a worldly hope which is little more than wishful thinking. NT hope is based on the promises of God and it is absolutely assured. It is hope because it is not yet fulfilled, not because there is any possibility that it will not occur. The "hope" that we have is described in all of chapters 1 to 3 as Paul lays out before us what God has done for us through Jesus Christ and what He is going to continue to do.

If you really want to make this hope come alive, take these first three chapters and place your name in the place of the "you" and "us" pronouns. If you are a Christian all of these statements are true of your life. For example, beginning in 1:3, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed Brad in Christ before the foundation of the world, that Brad should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined Brad for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, etc.'

Go through and put your name in these verses and then pray these verses back to God. The more we cooperate with God's Spirit, the more quickly we are transformed into Christ-likeness by the renewal of our minds through the Holy Spirit's regenerating and transforming work.

The Body takes Orders from the Head

2009-10-30T07:07:00.003-04:00

"Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." (Eph. 4:15-16)

Throughout Ephesians 4 we are called to unity in the body of Christ. But this is not an external unity that can be programmed. Vs. 3 reminds us that it is "The unity of the Holy Spirit." Much of the chapter is devoted to telling us how we as individual members of the body, the church, can maintain the unity of the Spirit. Even though it is a gift from the Holy Spirit, we learn in v. 30 that we can grieve the Holy Spirit and destroy the unity. When there is no unity, God will not manifest His Presence in power and the church will be rendered cripple.

In the verses here, we are told that Christ is the head of the body, and it is in submission to Him that the church functions properly. It occurs to me that the way to maintain unity, which is described in all of this chapter as dealing with our relationships to one another, is to be sure as individual members of the body we are in submission to the Lordship of Christ. If Christ directs moment by moment each of our lives we will not have a problem relating to each other in love. But when we push Christ aside, we become self centered and problems begin. If you are not getting along with someone, look and see if Christ is in charge in your own life first.

Someone said, "It is never all your fault, and it is always some your fault." That is a pretty good reminder of all of our sinful natures and the need to be humble and willing to make corrections to any wrong relationships. It is worth it. When the church body is one, it grows in grace and love. That is what this text promises.

The Unity

2009-10-28T07:36:00.003-04:00

"Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. 4:3)

It is important to notice in this passage of scripture that Paul writes about "the" unity and not "a" unity. The unity is produced by the Holy Spirit. It is a precious gift and it is a unity that happens inwardly among the members of the church, which Paul describes as the body of Christ. The responsibility that the individuals members of the body have is to "keep the unity" or maintain the unity. It is a word that means to guard diligently.

So how do we do that? Paul says in v. 1, "Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called." In other words, he says, live up to the name that Christ has given you. Be who He has enabled you to be in the new life He has given to you. Two of the characteristics of that new life are given to us in v. 2, where he says we are to walk in humility and gentleness. Those qualities will equip us to do what he says in the rest of that verse; "making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." (NLT)

Then Paul begins a list of seven "ones" that unite us; "One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all." The mission statement of our church is "Believe, Belong, and Become." I think we do pretty good in comprehending the first and the last part of that. We are called to believe in Christ, and to become like Him. We are living in a time, however, where people spend a lot of time church hopping and church shopping. We have lost sight of the concept of membership. Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 all speak of these same concepts. We are members one of another.

Another metaphor used by Paul is to describe the church as the "bride of Christ." When we fail to make a commitment to the Body of Christ, we spend our lives dating Christ instead of being married to Him. Get connected today. By the way, if you find a perfect church with a perfect pastor, and perfect membership, don't join that church. You will likely mess it up.

I'm Just Saying.

2009-10-27T07:07:00.003-04:00

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (Eph. 4:29)

I find it hard to often quote Mark Twain because he could be such a profane man. Once, however, he said, 'It is not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me, but rather the parts I do understand." Certainly there are some difficult words in the Scriptures that challenge us in every dimension of our lives.

Perhaps we need to look again at the power of our words. The old adage, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," just isn't true. Words bring a blessing or a curse to those who hear them. And notice this Word from God in Ephesians that only gives us permission to speak (or for that matter write) words that give grace. It seems to me then we should only speak words that bring glory to God, bring a witness to the lost, or build up another Christian in faith.

And we are instructed to be sure that they bring grace to everyone who hears, not just someone we would speak directly to or about. Satan must jump and dance for joy when God's children speak words that hurt and accuse. When we speak words other than words of grace, we do satan's work for him. God help us speak words that minister grace to everyone.

New Life

2009-10-23T07:09:00.002-04:00

Read Colossians 3:1-17

Here is a question: Are you living up to the quality of life that Jesus Christ died on the cross to give you? Many Christians settle for the fact they are going to heaven when they die. But Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life abundantly." (John 10:10). The problem is our old nature, our flesh, and the sins that we have not dealt with. As the old puritan writer John Owens once said, 'You will either be killing sin, or sin will be killing you."

Paul makes a basic assumption at the beginning of this text. That assumption is that the reader is already a follower of Jesus Christ. Because that is true, a person is hidden in Christ, and therefore raised with Him to live a new kind of life.

So Paul says, "Set your hearts on things above." Then he says, "Set your minds on things above."
Your heart is your affection, and your mind is your attention. So set both on Christ. And he says, "Put to death the old patterns of behavior that were yours before Christ." In fact like a suit of clothes, take off the old dirty and ragged clothing for the new clothing in Christ.

Christ died to give you the kind of life that He lived. Are you living beneath your position?

Are You Kidding Me?

2009-10-21T08:08:00.004-04:00

"But Annanias answered, 'Lord I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." Acts 9:13-14)

As I was growing up, there was a TV sitcom about a rich white man who adopted to African American children. The oldest was named "Willard" and the younger brother would look at him with a strange look sometimes and say, "What 'chu talkin bout Willard?" When God told Annanias to go and visit Saul who had just had an encounter with Jesus, I can imagine him saying, "What 'chu talkin' bout Lord?"

Saul had consented to Stephen's stoning and had been a part of persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem. Now he was on his way to Damascus to torment the believers there. His reputation had preceded him. Annanias said, "I have heard about him. I am afraid."

God is an incredible God and He delights in transforming some of the most unlikely people, like you and me. We need to see the power of God at work and say, "Praise the Lord" instead of "Are you kidding me?" Is there anything too difficult for God? Can you transform a murderer like Paul into a Missionary? Absolutely. And He can transform dirty sinners like us into delightful saints for His glory.

A Blinding Moment

2009-10-20T07:51:00.002-04:00

"Now as he went on his way, he approached Damscus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him." (Acts 9:3)

Sometimes I hear people say, 'If I have an experience like Paul, if Jesus appears to me in a blinding light, then I will become a believer. I will follow Christ." That is an admission that there is something that could happen in their life that would produce faith. My challenge to people like that is, just pray. Ask God to make Himself known to you in a convincing manner.God is creative and it seems to me in the Bible He appears to each person in a way that is unique to them. To the woman at the well He spoke of living water; to Nicodemus He spoke of being born again; to Simon Peter, it was follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. Jesus may not appear to you in a blinding light, but if you are open to truth He will make Himself known.

Saul had witnessed the death of Stephen. He had seen the peace on his face as he was being stoned. He had heard Stephen declare God's glory. No doubt these thoughts stayed with him in the days to come. And it is not long after that Jesus appears. Amazingly God takes this murderous Pharisee and makes him an apostle of grace. What does God desire to do with you?

Who Does God Choose to Use?

2009-10-19T08:22:00.003-04:00

"And Saul approved of his execution." (Acts 8:1)

In the last couple of weeks we have noticed God call and choose to use a man named Abram. He was a pagan in an idolatrous society, but his heart longed for the one true God. And yet we see him as a liar, an adulterer and a man that acts in his own flesh in spite of the promises of God. God uses a sinful broken man.

We have seen God call and use Jacob, who was a liar, a cheat. We see him as a man filled with fear and stubborn. And yet God uses Him as well. We read often about the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Last week we saw God taken stubborn, hard-headed Simon and change him into Peter. He is a man we see constantly up and down and yet always growing. We come away from these and realize that God uses people just like us.

In Acts 1 we are introduced to the man who would be known to us as Paul. He is standing by watching and approving of the execution of Stephen, the first recorded martyr. It is on the road to Damascus to persecute and perhaps even murder christians that Paul comes into contact with the risen Christ. Again, we see God chooses and uses imperfect people like us.

He calls them out of their sin. He transforms them into trophies of grace, and He will do the same with us, if we will let Him. Praise God, He isn't finished with any of us yet.

Now You Are

2009-10-15T07:58:00.003-04:00

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." (Matt. 16:18)

There is a play on words in the original language here. The name Peter means "small rock", or pebble. It is a greater "rock" that Jesus speaks of building His church on. It is the recognition that He is the Christ. It is the element of faith that discovers, finally, the truth about Jesus. You recall, in John 1, Jesus had said, "You are Simon, you will be Peter."

That is how Jesus is in our lives. He sees us not so much for who we are, but for who He can make us. And that transformation becomes when we realize who He is and allow Him to be Lord in us. It is not instantaneous, but rather a journey. One of the incredible things is to trace Peter through the New Testament and watch His journey as God changes him. Much like the signs on the side of the road that say, "Under Construction". When we surrender to Christ, for the rest of our journey in this world, we are under construction.

Simon came to represent who he was in the old nature. Peter represents who He is becoming in Christ. And those two natures, the old and new surface from time to time in our observations of this man. He is so much like us. We can take great joy in the fact that if God could use a broken and flawed fisherman like Peter, He can also use us.

What's Your Name?

2009-10-13T08:01:00.004-04:00

"'So you are Simon, the Son of John? You shall be called Cephas.'(which means Peter." (John 1:42)

Andrew was there when John the Baptist declared of Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God." Andrew wanted to know more and followed Jesus. Once he was convinced that this was the Messiah, he went and found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. In fact, everytime we encounter Andrew in the NT, he is bringing someone to Jesus. When Simon met Jesus for the first time, the Lord declared his future potential.

Who were you as you first met Jesus? All of us are sinners separated from God. But if someone used one word to describe you before you followed Jesus, what would they name you? The amazing thing is that in a moment Jesus unlocked all the potential that God had created in this man Simon. He said, "You will be." I believe that is the Lord's way with every person He encounters. He sees us not so much for what we are, but for what we can become under His transforming power.

As you consider your life, how will you finish the course? If someone were to write a name on your tombstone if life ended today, what would they name you? What would you like for everyone to remember about you? Who has God designed you ultimately to be? Surrender to the potential in God's transforming power in your life today.

"What's Your Back-Up Plan?"

2009-10-08T07:49:00.003-04:00

"...with him he took a present for his brother Esau." (Gen. 32:13)

Jacob was headed home, but he was afraid. He had a promise from God for his welfare and safety, but Jacob's men had said, 'Esau is coming and he has 400 men with him.' And the scripture had said, 'Jacob was greatly afraid.' Jacob had tricked his brother out of his birthright, and the Bible records that Esau had promised to kill Jacob.

Jacob had an incredible time of prayer in 32:9-12. But now, just in case God doesn't come through, he puts his own back-up plan in motion. Just in case God cannot handle the situation. So how often do we do the same thing? We come to God in prayer, turn it all over to Him, and then plan out what we will do, 'just in case'.

Are you trusting God with all of your heart? As Prov. 3:5-6 says, Are you doing that without leaning to your own understanding? How often do we affirm in a worship service or in our Quiet Times that we need to lean wholly on God only to turn right around and put our own plan in motion? Maybe we don't think God works fast enough? Maybe we think He is too busy to be bothered with our need?

Sometimes God tells us to make plans. But when He has promised to act and told us to wait on Him, it is simply a lack of faith on our part that we put our own plan in motion. The opposite of faith is most typically expressed as fear. Don't let your fears keep you from trusting God?

Do you need God again?

2009-10-07T10:15:00.003-04:00

"God appeared to Jacob again." (Gen. 35:9)

Jacob had come to a time in his life when he needed his fire rekindled, his faith rejuvenated, and his family reclaimed for God. Every person's spiritual life is like a hinge. It can get rusty if you do not keep it well oiled. Oil in the Bible is often a symbol of the Holy Spirit. To keep our spiritual life well oiled, we need to be diligent to seek God's Presence.

In Genesis 35 God tells Jacob to return to Bethel, the place where he had first really encountered the God of his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. "Bethel" means "house of God." Geographically, the place that Jacob had named "Bethel" was a place of spiritual awakening for him. And God tells Jacob to dwell there. (35:1)

What was necessary for Jacob is necessary in our lives. We need to dwell in the place where God is. We need to be sure that every day we encounter God in our lives by taking time in devotion to seek His Presence. Sometimes because everything is going well in our lives, we ignore God. We don't get up one day and say, "I will walk away from God today." Instead, we get in a hurry one day and we skip our Quiet Time with God, and soon it becomes regular for us to miss. And gradually we drift away from God.

Could it be today you need God again? Do you need to rekindle the devotional fire? Do you long for the fresh oil of God's Spirit? Maybe it is time to return to "Bethel".

"What's in a Name? A Lot.

2009-10-06T07:44:00.003-04:00

"And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin." (Gen. 35:18)

Fast forward in Jacob's life to the death of his wife Rachel. There was no one on earth that Jacob loved more than Rachel. You remember when her father had tricked him by giving him her older sister Leah after seven years of servitude to him, he willingly worked seven more for Rachel. He dearly loved her. And her dying request was that their son be named "Ben-oni", but Jacob refused. What in the world would cause Jacob to deny his beloved's dying request?

Could it be that Jacob well understood the power of a name? He had probably fought often during his childhood as others made fun of his name. He was called "a cheat". Look at his life and notice how many times he had lived up to that name. Tricking his brother out of his birthright. Tricking his father to bless him instead of Esau.

Ben-oni means 'son of my sorrow' and Jacob well knew the power of the name and did not want his son growing up under that label. So instead he named him "Benjamin" which means 'son of the right hand," a far nobler name.

Sometimes we say, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' But that is simply not true. Words have in them the power of life and death the writer of Proverbs declared. So what is in a name? The power to determine a life. When a person takes the name Christian because they choose to follow Jesus, we should understand the power of that name. It is the name above every other name, the Bible says. If it is genuine and real faith, the power of the name Christian is the power of a transformed life.

What's in a Name?

2009-10-05T08:14:00.002-04:00

"When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb." (Gen. 25:24)

Isaac and Rebekah's first children were Esau and Jacob. As you remember, Esau was born first, but as he came out, his twin brother was holding onto his heel. They named the second born, Jacob, which means "he cheats". All through his early years Jacob struggled with his name, a cheater, a supplanter, a trickster. I wonder how many people live their lives under a label that shapes them to be what they become.

So what is in a name? Chances are you never considered naming your daughter, Jezebel, or your son, Judas. It is amazing how a name conjures up certain images. If I say, "Bill Gates" you think, money. If I say, "Mel Gibson" you think actor. If I say, "Adolph Hitler" you think, evil. If I say, "Albert Einstein" you think genius. Just a name, but it conjures up certain images.

The first encounter we see of Jacob and Esau is as young men, Esau comes in from hunting famished. Jacob is cooking a pot of stew, and he tricks his brother into selling his birthright. Living up to his name from the start. What is your name? What does it mean?

Do you bear the name "Christian"? What does that mean? As the people of the world around you see you, and know that you testify of knowing Christ, can they see the resemblance between Him and you?

2009-09-30T07:36:00.003-04:00

"And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai." (Genesis 16:2)

Surely listening to your wife is a good thing. It is, unless her voice is contrary to God's Word. And in this case, Abram and Sarai were old and God had promised Abram a male heir that would make him the father and source of blessing to many nations (people groups). Abram was impatient and tired of waiting on God and so he and Sarai decided to help God out a little.

Is there anything harder than waiting on God? Maybe living with the consequences is harder. But it is certainly difficult to wait on God. Psalm 37:7a says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;" In other words come before God in the solitude of prayer and seek His will, and when you discover God's will wait on Him to act in your life in the way that He has promised. Be patient. God is always right on time.

No sooner does Hagar bear Abram a son than problems develop between the two wives. Go figure. And in Abram's life God is strangely silent and quiet for the next 13 years. Maybe God is waiting on Abram to die completely to self and to realize the sin of taking matters into his own hands.

Waiting on God does not mean inactivity. But it does mean not trying to do what only God can do.
What is God doing in your life today? Is He quiet? Does He seem to delay? Wait patiently for Him and place your trust and complete confidence in whatever He has promised. He will act right on time.

A Bad Choice

2009-09-29T07:36:00.003-04:00

"Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land." (Gen. 12:10)

What is missing in this text is an instruction from God to go to Egypt. Abram took it upon himself to solve a problem he was facing, that of hunger. This is the man who had left everything to blindly follow God, and yet now when confronted with a test, he acts in the flesh.

We are free to make our choices. Everyday we are confronted with choices that test our Christian faith and character. But while we are free to make our choices, we are not free to determine the consequences of those choices. Abram and Sarai determine to lie when they arrive in Egypt, and at the very least it destroys their opportunity to witness to Pharaoh. In fact, this ungodly ruler of Egypt acts with more integrity than our couple of faith.

Later, when they go back to the place God had led them, Abram and his nephew Lot divide and go two directions because of their large resources of livestock and the need for abundant grazing land. Abram gives Lot a choice, and Lot pitches his tent toward Sodom. Sodom reminds Lot of Egypt, and the compromise of Abram now becomes the compromise of Lot, and soon it would have disastrous consequences in his life. Lot would eventually move into Sodom and become a leader in that wicked community. When God destroys Sodom, Lot escapes because of the prayers of his uncle, but he loses his wife in the process. And the day before he was willing to give his daughters to immoral people.

Be aware that every choice has a consequence. It is important that we trust in God with all of our hearts and make the right choices.

God's Call

2009-09-28T07:14:00.003-04:00

"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." (Gen. 12:1)

When God called Abram to follow Him, He did not provide much information. He doesn't tell Him where He is going, or much about what He will do. God does promise to bless Him and make Him a blessing to the nations of the earth. But that is about it. The remarkable thing is that Abram responds the way he does. "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him." (Gen. 12:4).
Consider how much time we spend arguing with God. "Where are we going Lord? What are we going to do when we get there? Tell me your plan and I will get back to You on whether I want to do it or not?" And yet the call of Jesus on our lives is simply, "Come follow me." We can struggle with the decision of obedience everyday, or we can surrender fully once and for all. The first option creates a great deal of turmoil in our lives, and the second brings peace and joy.
This week we are going to focus on the life of Abraham, formerly Abram, until God changes his name. What's in a Name? Consider how often God changes a person's name as He changes the person's life. God is all about transformation. When you say "yes" to God, He sets in motion a lifetime of transformation as He recreates you in the image of His Son. It is the restoration of what was lost when sin came into the world.
God is about so much more than simply saving your soul from an eternity in hell. He is all about transforming you for His incredible glory.

Satan is Defeated

2009-09-08T07:50:00.003-04:00

"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." (Luke 10:18)

It is popular to talk about spiritual warfare today, but it is unfortunate that there are many misconceptions. The other day I heard a man say, "Satan is almost as powerful as God." While he is more powerful than you and me as natural men and women, he is no match for God. Satan is a created being, a fallen angel. God cast him out of heaven by simply speaking a word. Christ defeated Satan's power hold over us at the cross, and one day will cast him into the lake of fire. Satan is neither omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient, as is God.

In fact, Job 1 teaches us that God is sovereign and that Satan cannot get to us without God's permission. So the real question when we encounter spiritual warfare is not what is Satan trying to do, but why is God allowing this in my life at this time. What is it that God is doing? We know that Satan tempts us in order to bring out the worst in us, but God allows us to be tested in order to refine us and bring out the best.

James reminds us to "Submit to God and then resist the devil." The verb tense is continual action. Literally, keep on submitting to God, keep on resisting the devil, and then he will flee. God has provided every Christian all that they need to overcome the enemy. Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might.

The Power of Words

2009-09-07T09:45:00.003-04:00

"With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." (James 3:1-12)

How powerful is the nature of the words we speak. The writer of Proverbs said that it is so powerful that life and death are both in the power of the tongue. James says that the one who can control their speech is able to master every other aspect of life as well.

Consider that when you speak to someone, you have the opportunity to bring a blessing in their life for a day, and you have the ability to bring disaster. Think of the harm done by parents in careless words to their children. Think of the blessing of someone who has encouraged you along the way.

Today consider the encouragement of the scripture to be quick to hear and slow to speak. And then when you speak, consider the privilege of encouragement to another person and the blessing of praise to God. My mom used to say, "If you cannot say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
That is probably good advice.

Good News for Bad Times

2009-09-05T09:14:00.004-04:00

"...He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we might ask or think." (Eph. 3:20)

For many their Christian faith is reduced to platitudes and nice ways of thinking. But if you take your faith seriously and believe that the Word of God is absolutely true, God is described as a God who is able. What is He able to do? Actually, anything that He chooses to do. And Paul says to the Ephesians more than we are able to ask in prayer, and more than we can even imagine.

God provided for over a million of His people as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They called in "manna" which literally means "what is it." But God provided for them daily, and only enough for each day so they would depend upon Him. God's economy is never in a recession. He is able to provide what we need daily, if we trust completely in Him.

Elijah, the prophet, in I Kings 17, was depending on God beside a brook where the ravens were feeding him. But the brook dried up. God took him to a widow lady who was down to her last bit of ingredients to prepare a meal for her son and herself. Elijah told her to feed him first, and she stepped out in faith. Because of her obedience, she discovered a never ending supply. God has not promised us everything we want, but when we fully surrender to Him in obedience, He has promised us everything that we need.

My hope is built on nothing less than..... How would you answer that? Is your hope in congress or the president? Is it in Republicans or democrats to save the economy? Is your hope in a 401 K plan that has decreased tremendously over the last months? Or is your hope in the God who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond what you might ask or think?

In the Belly of the Ship

2009-09-04T07:00:00.003-04:00

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
(1 Cor. 4:1)

The church in Corinth was choosing sides over their favorite leader. One said, "I like Peter best, he was with Jesus." Another said, "I like Paul, he is a great church planter." And yet another said, "I prefer Apollos, he can really preach." So Paul writes to the church and says, all of us are simply servants and stewards. While he speaks in this case specifically of leaders, it is true of every Christian.

The word for "servant' here is unique. It was a word used to describe the person who was a slave in the belly of a Roman ship, rowing at the orders of a master. Paul says that we are simply "under-rowers" with Christ as our master. Our responsibility is to simply obey.

The word "steward" describes a person who does not own anything but manages the affairs of someone else. We are stewards of the "sacred secrets" of God that have been revealed through the ages, but are made clear in Jesus Christ.

So Paul says each one of us are given ministries from God that relate to communicating the truth of God through Jesus Christ to the people groups of the world. We are not compared to one another, but we are judged by God based on our faithfulness to obey Him. The question is, "have we done the very best we could with what God has given us to do and with the resources He has entrusted to us to do it?"

The Shout of Faith

2009-09-02T07:43:00.003-04:00

"...all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat..." Joshua 6:5

In this story it is not the marching around the walls of Jericho that bring them down. It is not the "shout of faith" that brings down the walls. The walls come down because of the might and power of the living God. However, if the people had not shouted with a great shout, the walls of the city would not have fallen. It is an act of obedience. It is the exercise of faith in the promise of God.

God had not said, "I will give you the city", but "I have given you the city." Faith is always built on God's Word. His promises are certain. But most of them are conditioned upon the exercise of our faith. So true is this that the writer of Hebrews recorded this incident this way, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days."

What promises are important to your life today? What is going on that leads you to the Word of God and calls on you to exercise faith and thus to shout in victory? God cannot lie, and He loves you with a never failing love. His promises are certain. All of the inheritance of the Christian life is ours through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.

Talk is Cheap

2009-09-01T07:37:00.003-04:00

"This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me." (Matt. 15:8)

The incident that prompted these Words from Jesus was a concern by the Pharisees about men's tradition as opposed to God's desires. The disciples had not performed the ritualistic hand cleaning before eating. Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah in this comment. He goes on to say, "in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

Stop for a moment and think about the reality of our worship. How often do we associate it with a place and a style of a service. In fact, too often we confuse the priorities of God. We substitute a worship service for worship in service. (Roman 12:1-2). How much of what we do is the traditions of men as opposed to what God desires.

When Saul acted very presumptuously to offer a sacrifice to God without a priest, the prophet delivered the message of God that obedience was more important than sacrifice. How often are we guilty of giving lip service to God instead of true worship? Isn't our ultimate act of worship found in obeying? I think so.

Got Vision?

2009-08-31T07:35:00.004-04:00

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Prov. 29:18)

The Hebrew word is "chazown" and it occurs about 34 times in the Old Testament. It is not a matter of a personal dream that represents your "pet" project, or favorite aspect of ministry. This word for "vision" includes the concept of divine revelation. It is a "God-give" vision. It is being able to seek God to the point that He communicates His vision for your life, or for your ministry.

The word "perish" is the word "unbridled." Without divine revelation people stumble over themselves, or they go about without God's direction, without restraint. So the question is, have you had a divinely given vision that directs your life. I am not talking about something so mystical that it is abnormal or unusual. I am talking about prayerfully seeking God until He communicates clearly His vision to you.

Certainly it is going to be consistent with the Bible. Throughout the scripture our call is to glorify God by making Him supreme in every aspect of our lives, and then transferring that to every people of the world through mission and evangelism. Occasionally someone will say, "God hasn't called me". But I think if you double check, the Great Commission was given to every Christian, not to a select handful of professionals.

What You Look at Determines Outcome

2009-08-28T06:59:00.004-04:00

"But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully..." (Numbers 14:24)

All week long I have focused your attention in this blog on the story of the children of Israel coming to the edge of the Promised Land. God had promised to give it to them. But they had to exercise the faith to enter in. Ten spies saw giants. But Caleb saw God.

When you take your eyes off of God you develop a "grasshopper complex". Ten spies essentially called God a liar and doubted His ability to keep His promise. Caleb had a heart to obey and he obeyed fully. Partial obedience is the same as disobedience, and so is delayed obedience.

The promised land is a picture of the abundant Christian life. No doubt there are giants in your life. They may be financial giants. They may be health giants, or even relationship giants. Keep your eyes on God, because none of the giants you face are a match for Him. Trust the promises of His word and invest your life in obedience.

God Size It

2009-08-27T07:57:00.003-04:00

"we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers." (Numbers 13:33)

One of the great failures of the people of God in the Old Testament comes when they arrive at the edge of the Promised Land. God tells Moses to send visionaries into the land to come back and report to the people. Leaders are people who can see God's future for His people and explain it to people living today. But the majority of these spies that went into the Promised Land came back and the Bible says they spread a bad report.

The people of Israel failed to understand that anything God asks us to do will require His help. One of the greatest problems in the American Church today is that we suffer from the same "grasshopper complex" that plagued Israel. We are adopting "man-size" programs. We are doing what we know that we can do with our resources and abilities rather than choosing to obey God and attempt "God-size" visions.

The apostle Paul warned the church in Corinth not to make the same mistake as these Israelites.
He says, "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction..." (I Cor. 10:11). We do not have to repeat their mistakes. Yes, there are almost always giants occupying the land of Promise that God sets before us. That is because He wants us to trust Him so that in the end, He gets all the glory, not us. "Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and do not lean to your own understanding." (Prov. 3:5-6)

Let's Go Back

2009-08-26T08:04:00.004-04:00

"The whole congregatin said to them (Moses and Aaron), 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, would that we had died in this wilderness." (Numbers 14:2)

The people of God had seen Him do incredible miracles to deliver them from slavery in Egypt. They had witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharoah's mighty army. They had come to the edge of the Promised Land. God had promised that He would give it to them. But ten of the spies came back and spread a bad report about the giants in the land.

Now God's people would rather go back into slavery and bondage. Now they would rather die under the cruel taskmasters of Egypt. Now they are grumbling and complaining against God's chosen leaders. When they were suffering in Egypt they had enough faith to let God lead them out. But now, they do not have enough faith to enter into God's promise.

Egypt represents the bondage of sin. The wilderness represents a carnal life, a life lived less than what God desires. Canaan represents the victorious abundant life, not heaven. How many Christians do not have enough faith to enter into God's promised Victory in their daily lives? How many would rather return to the bondage of sin and the cruelty of the satanic taskmasters? Will you trust God to not only bring you out of the sin of your past, but into the Victory He desires for your future?

Faith, Giants, and Opportunity

2009-08-25T08:18:00.003-04:00

"we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers..." (Numbers 13:33)

God had brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and led them to the edge of the Promised Land.
He told Moses to send some visionaries into the land to see what He was preparing to give them. He promised them a wonderful life in Canaan. Twelve men, potential visionary leaders, were sent ahead to come back and tell the people about the promise of God.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever noticed how many times something good that God has promised requires either overcoming giants or overtaking a mountain? God has said in His word, (Heb. 11:6) that we cannot please Him without faith. Faith requires attempting things that require us to depend on God. If it was easy, it wouldn't require faith. Faith is not blind presumption, but absolute dependence on God's promise.

The men sent to spy out Canaan and came back and said, "the land is everything that God has promised. But we discovered something God forgot to mention. There are giants there. And when we looked at them, in our own eyes we saw ourselves as grasshoppers." Faith is not trusting in what we can do. Faith does not depend on us being able to overcome the giants in our own strength. Faith requires us depending only on God. Faith understands the giants might be bigger than we are, but they are not bigger than God.

Promised land living requires that we trust God, no matter how great the obstacles in our way. Ten spies brought a bad report and brought shame to God's people. Two men were men of faith. The majority is often, maybe most often, wrong. God's people are never encouraged to live by voting a majority opinion in the Bible. They are always challenged to follow the Word of God. God is the only majority that matters.

Have a blessed day.

Transforming Weeping into Strength

2009-08-24T07:29:00.004-04:00

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;" (Ps. 84:5-6)

The psalmist has declared, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts." He has affirmed the declaration of his heart to be joy in the Lord. And in v. 5 he speaks of passing through the Valley of Baca, which means the valley of weeping. I f you have not passed through that valley lately, you will likely sometime soon. It is a valley we all walk through in this world from time to time. When you pass through those dark places of life, where do you draw your strength? Some folks have tried meditation, and others have turned to alcohol or drugs. Some seek solace in other people or in the business of their lives. But real strength is found in the Lord.

To build the highways to heaven in your heart requires the discipline of time spent with God during the days we are not in the valley. Habits that are formed in moments of light will care us through the dark times.That is why the psalmist is quick to note here that he would rather spend one day in the courts of God than a thousand anywhere else. He notes that the very thirsting of his soul is to be with God.

God desires that time with you. Sometimes if we ignore Him, He may allow the valleys of weeping in our lives to get our attention. Will you draw near to Him today? Will you seek Him with a whole heart?

Don't miss this. God desires that when we go through the valleys of weeping, that we transform them into springs of life for others that will pass that way. Your story will help someone else if you can share that you found victory in Christ.

The Magic Kingdom of Jesus

2009-08-19T08:19:00.003-04:00

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matt. 6:24)

Jesus does not say that it is difficult to serve the one true God and the god of money, He said it is impossible. and yet in the US we have equated material wealth with the blessing of God, and we have become so confused about what is actually the American dream and the Christian reality that most don't see any conflict of interest at all.

Jesus said, "It is only possible to be devoted to one god. So, which is it. God or money?" We love shiny things. New cars, new houses, bigger cars, bigger houses, new clothes. So true is this that the average American spends $1.20 for every $1.00 that they make. Proverbs says that the "borrower is the slave of the lender."

This summer my family and I visited the Magic Kingdom of Disney. There were big crowds, but no sense of community. There was a thrill available at every turn, but no commitment to significance. It was a fun time, but not a thing worthy of our devotion. But how like Disney World have we made our churches. Reggie McNeal says we have created "Six Flags Over Jesus". We have transformed churches into one stop worship malls where we can pick from a smorgas board of options and never really surrender our lives to Jesus. As surely as Jesus stood knocking at the door of the church in Ephesus, Rev. 3:20, He must desire that we let Him back into the churches of America. Would He be as angry as He was when He overturned the tables in the temple in Mark 11? Does He need to remind us, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for the nations."

Prayer Requires Faith

2009-08-18T07:24:00.005-04:00

"As the Lord God lives..." (I Kings 17:1)

Those were the first words that the prophet Elijah spoke to the wicked King Ahab as he prepared to tell him that it would not rain in Israel until he said so. Elijah was convinced of the reality of the one true and living God. In fact, faith begins with the confidence that the opening words of the Bible are true.
"In the beginning, God..." If you believe in the reality of the living God, the rest is downhill from there.

James 5 tells us that Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain for 3 1/2 years. When Elijah stood before Ahab again, he pointed out that the rain had been withheld because of the wickedness the king had led God's people into. You remember in I Kings 18 there was the real show down between the prophets of Baal and Elijah, and God had responded with fire that consumed the offering.

Here is what I want you to see. Elijah then told Ahab to get ready because "there is the sound of the abundance of rain."The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. The sun was shining bright. All of the evidence suggested 'no rain'. But Elijah's eyes were not on the sky, but on God. Elijah began to pray, and six times he had sent a servant to look, and the sky was as clear as it could be. But the seventh time, it says, "Behold a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea."

When you pray for rain, can you hear the sound of its coming, even when the sky is clear? When you pray 7 times and finally see only a small cloud in the distance, can you still trust God? Jesus said, when you pray, believe. Now, do not misunderstand. Prayer that is wishful and not based on the promises of God's Word is merely presumption. But when God has promised, trust Him to do what He has said.

Praying with Results

2009-08-17T07:42:00.004-04:00

"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16)

James was the half brother of Jesus and he earned the nickname "Camel Knees" because of the callouses on his knees from praying. He goes on in the next verse to cite Elijah as example of a man who was effective in praying. Elijah stood before the wicked King Ahab, and said, "As surely as the Lord lives, it will not rain by my word," and it did not rain for 3 1/2 years. That is pretty effective praying.

How would Elijah have the audacity to pray like that? He had found a promise in Deuteronomy where God said if his people turned away from him, He would withhold the rain. So Elijah prayed the promise of God.

You and I have the same available resources that Elijah had. What does it take to be effective in our prayer life? It means coming in the name of Jesus, trusting the promises of God's Word, and exercising faith. Heb. 11 tells us that without faith we can never please God. What is your prayer life like? Is it effective? Seek God with all your heart.

In God's Will

2009-08-14T07:03:00.004-04:00

"You meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result." (Gen. 50:20)

These were the words of Joseph to his brothers when they were reunited in Egypt. You remember, out of jealousy while tending their father's sheep they had sold Joseph into slavery. But he had earned the favor of Pharaoh and become prime minister of Egypt. God had allowed Joseph to interpret the Pharaoh's dream about the coming famine and lead Egypt to prepare for lean years by storing food. His brothers had come to buy food, and now they were afraid. Joseph notes that even though the intention of others was evil, because he was in God's will, God used the evil to accomplish His ultimate purpose for Israel.

It is not necessarily safe to be in the center of God's will. Some people have been martyred and others suffered severely in the center of God's will. But when you are in God's will nothing can happen to you that God does not ultimately use to accomplish His greater purposes. The most rewarding and satisfying life is the life lived in the will of God. One day all will stand before God and give an accounting of the stewardship of their lives. Some will hear God say, "Well, done, good and faithful servant."

Today, decide to trust in God with all your heart. Stay focused on Him and surrender yourself to His purpose and will in your life. It will be an awesome adventure as He allows you to be a part of His Story as you continue to faithfully do what He desires.

Does it Matter What we Pray?

2009-08-13T08:01:00.004-04:00

"Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Luke 10:2)

When you stop and think about it, does it really matter what we pray for? Or is it just important that we pray so that we are talking to God? Surely God is such a needy God for fellowship with us that He is just really thrilled that we would give Him some of our precious time. (Sarcasm, if you couldn't tell).

Jesus had a lot to say about our prayer lives. He gave us the model prayer, "Our Father, who art in heaven..." He said we should always pray and not grow weary. He said not to pray with vain repetitions, and not to pray so much about what we need, because God already knows.

In this passage He observes how big the task of world evangelization really is. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Then He tells us what should be a significant part of our daily prayer life. "Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
The words "pray earnestly" in the original language carry the force of "beg." The words "send out" literally meant to cast out or to thrust out into the harvest. Obviously this is to be intense, heart-felt, and on going prayer in our lives. Yes, it matters what we pray for.

1.6 billion people in our world have no witness to them. They do not have access to the Gospel. "How shall they hear without someone preaching?" asked Paul. Will you today begin to make prayer for laborers in the harvest a part of your daily prayer lives?

God's Yes

2009-08-12T08:07:00.003-04:00

"For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. (Jesus)." (2 Cor. 1:20)

Every promise in the scripture is given to Christians. Jesus Christ paid in full the price of the fulfillment of God's promises to you when He purchased your salvation on the cross. The scripture says that we are co-heirs with Christ. That means that God as given to us everything that He has given to Jesus as an inheritance. It is ours right now.

God has promised to hear every prayer you utter in the name of Jesus. God has promised peace in the midst of the turmoil of life when you cast your cares on Him. God has promised grace for every occasion if you will trust Him. God has promised courage in times that might normally produce fear. He has promised to lead you through the valleys. There are literally hundreds of promises in the Bible that are yours.

If you are a genuine follower of Jesus, the promises are made to you. If you are not a follower yet, God has promised you that if you call on Him, He will save you. (Romans 10:13). What is faith? It is taking God at His word and acting on it. Trust Him today to fulfill His promises in your life.

Do you know the promises of God? How can anyone pray without diving deeply into God's word to find what He has promised? When God says "Yes" it is but our responsibility to trust completely in what He has said. And the scripture we have today says that all, not some, but all of God's promises have their "Yes" in Jesus Christ.

God's Restoring Touch

2009-08-11T08:14:00.003-04:00

"I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten..." (Joel 2:25)

The locusts had been used of God to bring judgment on the people of Israel when they were rebellious. But the promise of God is restoration when they were repentant and had returned to God. I had prayed that prayer many times since 2004 when God brought me out of my rebellion and restored me to Himself. When He allowed the youth of the late 70's to have a reunion in the Dallas area and me to attend, it was much like the restoration of the years the locusts had eaten.

When Jonah rebelled against God and did not go to Ninevah, when he got to Joppa running away, he paid his own fare on the ship. God will allow us to make our own choices, but He will not pay the way. And yet when Jonah was repentant of his rebellion, Jonah 3:1 says, "And the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time." I am so grateful that God is a God of second, third, and even umpteenth chances.

Return to God today. He will bless you far beyond your imagination. He is a God of mercy and compassion and quick to forgive and restore. As someone has said, "God is not mad at you, He is mad about you." Yes, God does pour out His wrath on sin, but through Christ, He wants to show you compassion and give you grace. Run to Him through Jesus today. You will be glad you did.

Do You Love the Lord Most?

2009-08-08T12:01:00.003-04:00

John 21

Jesus' and Simon Peter's last conversation was the night Judas betrayed Jesus and He was arrested. The last significant conversation had been one where Peter affirmed how much he loved Jesus and would even die for Him. And yet you remember that three times before the cock crowed that evening, Simon Peter had denied even knowing Jesus.

It is after the Resurrection and after a night of fishing without catching anything that the disciples encounter Jesus here in John 21. And Jesus and Peter walk down the beach together and Jesus says, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" And just as Peter had denied Jesus 3 times, Jesus asks him 3 times.

Near the end of the conversation Jesus tells Peter that His full surrender to service will ultimately cost him his life. Peter will die serving the Lord. So let me suggest you ask yourself the questions that Jesus asked Peter. How much do you really love the Lord? Have you surrendered fully to Him? Sometimes our service to the Lord is quite costly. Are we willing to follow Him no matter what the consequences.

What's on the Inside?

2009-08-06T06:43:00.003-04:00

"Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow."
(Song of Solomon 4:16)

When the wind blows over the spices growing in the garden, it lifts the wonderful fragrance of those spices to fill the air. The same wind blows across the scrub bushes and the stink weeds, but with much difference results. It is what is the essence of the plant that counts, what is on the inside.

When questioned about food one time, the Lord said it isn't what goes into a person's stomach that defiles him/her, but rather what comes out of the heart. What is on the inside in your life?

The fragrance of the spices blesses those all around. God desires that His children are blessings everywhere they go. God gives us good gifts in order to glorify Himself among all the people groups of the world. (Ps. 67). Whether we are a blessing to others will depend on what is in our hearts. I hope as the winds of life blow across you, it releases the beautiful fragrance of the character of Christ.

Try Giving Thanks

2009-08-04T07:06:00.003-04:00

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thes. 5:18)

Have you experienced a sorrow, or a grief, or a trial, or a spirit of blahs that you cannot seem to get away from? Have you tried giving thanks? In Phil. 4:6 where Paul tells us not to worry about everything, he says instead we should pray about everything with thanksgiving.

When we give thanks we acknowledge the sovereignty of God in our lives. We recognize that He is in control, and that He is able to make all things work together for good. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to us, but when Paul wrote the Thessalonian believers he said it was always God's will for us to give thanks.

When you pray and you know it is God's will, you can go ahead and thank him in advance for the blessing. For all of the blessings you have already received, give thanks. One of the great failures in our lives is ingratitude. Stop today and give thanks.

Thank God for all of His good gifts in your life. Thank Him for the trials, recognizing that He never allows us to face tests or temptation greater than we can withstand, so the greater the trial, the more God trusts us. Thanks Him for the sorrows that come. In everything, for all things, give thanks.

Job modeled that for us. When tragedy struck, and he lost his livelihood, and he lost all of his children, he said, 'The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
Try giving thanks.

Have We Confused God's Kingdom with the Magic Kingdom?

2009-08-03T08:11:00.003-04:00

"Enter by the narrow gate." (Matt. 7:13)

Consider these words of Jesus in our postmodern age where people say that there are many ways to gain eternal life. Consider the reality that 57% of the people sitting in evangelical churches think that there are many ways to get to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said, "For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction." Not only do we live in a time when many who claim to be Christians believe Jesus is not the only way, it is a time when American Christians seek the way of comfort and ease. People say, "God's will is the safest place to be." While it is the best place to be, it is not always safe, and it really is never easy.

Too many modern day members of churches have it in their head that it is all about them. It is a matter of choosing the church where they will cater most to my needs. We have created churches that resemble one stop shopping malls and that cater to our consumer mentality. Unfortunately, Jesus said that consumerism and being His follower don't mix. "You cannot serve God and mammon," He said.

It is unfortunate that we have chosen "Six Flags Over Jesus" instead of the narrow way. Which path are you on?

Let the Nations Be Glad

2009-08-02T07:23:00.003-04:00

"Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth." (Ps. 67:4)

The modern church has wrongly assumed we understood the word "nations" in this and other scriptures where it is used. We naturally assumed a nation was a geo-political state like England, France, the United States, or China. Students of the Bible, however, understand now that those kind of 'nations' did not exist to the degree we understand them.

In the OT, starting in Genesis and running through Malachi, and in the NT, from Matthew all the way through Revelation, we discover that nations, (NT is 'ethne', Greek for people groups) tribes, villages, languages, all peoples are on the heart of God. Our responsibility according to the Scriptures is to be sure that the Gospel is carried to every people group so that everyone can hear the Gospel in their heart language.

We need to begin to see from God's perspective. In Acts, Philip was preaching a evangelistic meeting in Samaria, and people were being saved all over the place. But God told him to leave that and travel down a desert road to see one man in a chariot headed home to Ethiopia. God wanted the Gospel to go to Ethiopia. God's heart is that on the day we gather in heaven around the throne, there will be praise to Him being declared by people from every tribe, every language, and every single people group. We must proclaim the Good News to the people groups who have never heard, so that the Nations might be glad.

Count it all Joy

2009-07-29T07:47:00.003-04:00

"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?

2009-07-28T07:57:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-27T07:58:00.002-04:00

"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

2009-07-22T07:48:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-21T09:29:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-20T08:10:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-18T11:52:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-17T08:04:00.001-04:00

"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

2009-07-16T08:05:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-15T07:44:00.004-04:00

"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

2009-07-13T08:24:00.004-04:00

"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

2009-07-09T09:52:00.004-04:00

"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?

2009-07-08T08:15:00.004-04:00

"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

2009-07-06T09:49:00.005-04:00

"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

2009-07-05T07:31:00.003-04:00

"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?

2009-07-03T06:49:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-02T07:02:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-07-01T06:43:00.003-04:00

"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.

Filled Up

2009-06-30T07:02:00.003-04:00

"that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:19)

The apostle Paul reaches across the span of almost 200o years to pray for us. He prays that God might work in our hearts in such a way that we may comprehend the love of Christ, how deep and wide it really is. He prays that we might be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in our inner most being and that we might have deep roots in our faith.

I pray that for you and for me as well. I want to challenge you this morning to open a Bible to Ephesians 3, and read verses 14 through 21. Then be still and listen to God speak to your heart. Ask God to fulfill this prayer in your life today.

I encourage you to receive this word from the Bible. Let it become a part of you that you might be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Regenerate, or Lost?

2009-06-27T09:40:00.004-04:00

"He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." (Titus 3:5)

We do not hear the word "regeneration" in our churches much anymore. But it speaks to the fact that when a person truly becomes a follower of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit "borns" them again.
I know that is not good English, and my spellcheck is having a fit on the computer right now. But it is good theology.

When we are born into this world, we are born with a sin nature that we inherited from Adam. We are born wrong. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus that no one would see the Kingdom of God without being 'born again". People throw that phrase around in reference to all kinds of things these days, but Jesus was talking about "regeneration". That the Holy Spirit would come to live in us when we trusted in Christ and transform our lives.

2 Cor. 5:17 promises that if anyone is truly in Christ they are changed. So when we look around at all of the people in churches today who have never been changed, it seems logical to conclude that they have not been regenerated by the Spirit of God. Too many people know the pastor, but have never met the Master. Many who have their names on the church rolls have never made sure that their names are on the Lord's roll.

I want to ask you to look at this scripture and ask God to speak to your heart. Have you been regenerated by the work of God's Spirit. It begins with an admission of sinfulness before a Holy God and then crying out to Him to save you. It requires full surrender to Him.

No Condemnation, No Fear, No Separation

2009-06-19T07:39:00.002-04:00

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love." (Rom. 8:28, NLT)

This is an incredible ending to the marvelous 8th chapter of Romans. The God who chose to love us while we were still in the very act of rebellion, living in sin, (Rom. 5:8) and who is by His very essence Love, (I John 4:8), never stops loving us. It has absolutely nothing to do with who we are, or anything that we have done or ever will do. It is all about who He is and what He has done for us through Christ.

The 8th chapter of Romans begins with the promise that for those of us who have trusted in Christ there is absolutely no condemnation in our standing before God. When He sees us, He does not see our sins, but He sees Jesus in whom we are hidden. If we have no condemnation before God, who can honestly condemn us, and the answer is "No One."

Through the chapter we discover because of who God is we have no one or nothing to fear. Honestly, if God is on your side, who is greater than Him? No One. So who are you afraid of?

And we end with no separation. Not life or death;not angels, not demons. Absolutely no one or nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Hallelujah. Rejoice my friend. The God who created you is crazy in love with you. He desires you love Him back.