As We Trust In Him

by: jc

SCRIPTURE: Romans 15:13

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

OBSERVATION:

The words “as you trust in Him” seemed to pop off the page today. We long to be happy and to have peace in our lives. Oh, to have a worry free day! Oh, to have a day that is marked with JOY! Even when it’s not Christmas.

I think what God is saying to me by highlighting those words is that Joy does not come from a lack of situations that are upsetting and peace does not appear with the disappearance of worrisome circumstances.

My thoughts are drawn this direction because of the word “TRUST”. If every thing is great, where does trust fit? You have to trust when circumstances offer opportunities for negative results. You have to trust when things have gone from good to bad and possess the potential to go from bad to worse.

As we TRUST Him God fills our lives with ALL joy and peace. As this happens our lives OVERFLOW with hope as the Holy Spirit works it into our lives.

APPLICATION:

Hope, joy, and peace, are not connected to the natural/physical world. They are attributes that are connected to our spirits - they supernatural/spiritual. If I am going to possess those attributes then I can’t look to find them in circumstances. Furthermore, they can't be learned by my physical mind. These attributes are imparted to us by God as we learn to TRUST Him.

We learn to trust God by allowing the Holy Spirit to work hope into our lives. We do this by intentionally setting our hearts and minds on what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us.

The intentional part is the practice of spiritual disciplines - Reading scripture, praying, meditating, fellowship, serving God’s church, sharing our faith with others, etc.... Once again God showed me that the greatest miracles, both in quantity and quality, take place in us rather than in our circumstances.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your overwhelming love. What an awesome miracle that you have performed in us by filling us with your peace and joy. These are attributes that you possess. You are never rattled or sour. Thank you that you impart your image, your attributes, in us. God please help me to trust you more so that I may become more like you. In Jesus name I ask, AMEN!

Calling God To Mind

SCRIPTURE: LAMENTATIONS 3:19-26

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

OBSERVATION:

I just had a conversation with my kids about how tough it is to get yucky and negative thoughts out of our mind. It may be a reoccuring nightmare or just negative thoughts, maybe it’s bad memories or the hard time your are currently facing, whether it is based on reality or simply “borrowing trouble” these thoughts are difficult to overcome. Impossible without God in our lives.

I am convinced that most if not all of our battles in life are first won in our minds. We choose to press in or to retreat in our minds. We find hope or lose it in our minds. We remember God’s promises or ignore them in our minds.

APPLICATION:

Winning the battle is not forgetting our struggle or never feeling downcast. It is calling to mind the person of God - the loving, compassionate, faithful, good, and saving God who is enough. It is speaking His character to ourselves in the midst of our struggle. It is waiting on Him. It is giving your spirit a voice not just your mind and your emotions.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your mercies which are new every morning. Help me to not simply mentally rehearse my circumstances, but to call to mind who you are and who you have been to me. Help me to propheticly speak your person and presence into my circumstances and life. You are good and faithful Lord, thank you for this reminder this morning. If ever I needed it it is now. In Jesus’s name - AMEN!

VALUE COMES FROM THE GIVER, NOT THE GIFT

SCRIPTURE: Ezekial 16:13-16

“‘You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect,’ declares the Sovereign LORD.

‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur.’”

OBSERVATION:

It is an amazing thing how this happens - not to mention how often this happens. Ezekial is painting a picture of the relationship between God and His people. God finds us, or we approach God, beaten up by circumnstances and life. God cleans us up, heals our wounds, place value in us, gifts us with abilities and influence. We get so wrapped up and consumed with the gift that we ignore the giver. We become deceived and belive that it is the gifts that impart value rather than the giver of the gift confirming the value he has given us thru gifting us.

APPLICATION:

God makes all things beautiful in His time - yes, even us. When I see beauty in my life I want it to cause me to trust in God and not in myself. I want it to inspire praise and worship to the one who gives me value and gifted me beauty (character, influence, family, finances, etc.). I don’t want to trust in the beauty but in the one who makes me beautiful.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you that you are doing a thing of beauty in my life. You have gifted me with health and relationships. You have given me a purpose and the talents to walk that purpose out. You have blessed me with so much. I remember who I am with and without you. I choose to give remain in you, the One who makes me beautiful and established my worth. Thank you for all the things you have done and all the you have poured into my life. In Jesus Name, AMEN!

Vitamins & Antibitics

SCRIPTURE: PSALM 143:8

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

OBSERVATION:

I am finding more and more that David is on to something with his theme of morning time with God. I am not legalistic, nor do I pretend that David is presenting a commandment or a doctrine. He is simply providing wisdom that comes from a close walk with God.

I lived for many years saying that I am a night person and that I think better at night. The truth is that while I think more and do seem to be more talkative at night, it is not necessarily better thinking and better conversation. My thoughts are usually clouded by the day’s events. My conversation with God is mostly about how I need God to fix me after a hard day’s work.

APPLICATION:

When I spend time with God in the morning I find that I am strengthened for the day. I find what I need to fend off irritation and sickness before the work even starts. The day finds me in Christ and so I easily find Christ in my day. My morning time focuses me on the goodness of God which gives me strength.

To me it’s the difference between taking a daily vitamin and taking your bed time antibiotic. One is preventative while the other is corrective after the damage is done.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for goodness and for your faithfulness. Your mercies, godness, faithfulness, strength, and forgiveness can be found afresh every morning. Lord, help me to be consistent in my devotional life - that I would your Word into my life like a vitamin so I am not desperate for an antibiotic at night. I love you and give you my day. In Jesus name, AMEN!

Borrowing Trouble

SCRIPTURE: JEREMIAH 51:46

“Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.”

OBSERVATION:

There is no doubt that there is a lot to be concerned about in the world. There are many realities that are less than positive that we will need to navigate in our life time. The truth is that is normal life. The Bible says that God will not give us more than we can handle, and that when it is too much for us He becomes our strength. So the real hardships in life are doable - not easy or quick but doable.

I’ve found that most of the people I have counseled as a pastor, as well as observing my own life, that most people who are stricken with fear, stressed out, depressed (emotionally, not clinically), are so not because of the hardships they face but because of all of the possibilities that surround their hardship.

These possibilities are nothing more than rumors. It is funny how much weight we give these things as we draw conclusions regarding our circumstances. Most rumors and possibilities never come true. Some my not be based on reality while others may be real possibilities, but most are not probable. Yet we let those things cause us to lose heart or be afraid. It’s the borrowed trouble that usually takes its toll on us. It’s the borrowed trouble that overwhelms and distracts us from dealing with the real problems in life. It is the borrowed trouble that paralizes us with fear and stress and causes us to throw our hands up in defeat.

APPLICATION:

If I am stressed, it has to be becasue I am taking on more than God has given me. If my circumstances are too much to handle, it is because I have taken more than my share of the burden. If I am afraid I have most likely borrowed trouble somewhere along the way - trouble that may never happen or trouble that is God’s to cary. I need to concern myself with what I can do to navigate my circumstances today with God, and not borrow trouble for tomorrow.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for giving me what I can handle and for carrying the things that are beyond me. Help me to not borrow trouble by listening to rumors - whether they be from people who mean well or the enemy whispering doom & gloom into my ear. Help me to remember that every circumstance contains the potential for you to be glorified and for me to transformed into your image. Help me to face my days with faith in your word and not fear rooted in rumors. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

I'm My own Mother???

SCRIPTURE: 2 JOHN 1:1-4 

 “To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth - because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:  Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.  It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.”  

OBSERVATION:

One of the beautiful metaphors of the Bible is the Church as a family.  John is writing the “chosen lady” (the church) and her children (the individual believers).  What stands out is that the community, the unified believers, together are deemed the mother while those same people on an individual level are her children.

When we are looking at the task of making disciples we see that each person is part of the nurturing, caring, and teaching mother who brings discipleship to her children, and at the same time those same people are the individual children who receives nurture, care, and teaching from her.  This really spotlights our interdependence.  It amplifies how we truly need each other in our journey with God.  We are at the same time dependent and depended upon - caring and being cared for, nurturing and being nurtured, teaching and being taught.

APPLICATION:

What I see here is that while we may mature in relationship with Christ, we never outgrow our place as child and our need for our mother.  We may become more engaged in our role in the church as one who nurtures, cares, and teaches.  We may become more stable in our personal relationship with Christ, but we never outgrow our relationship with Jesus.  I need to make myself available for service and open to be cared for by others.  The second for some reason is harder than the first.  The “for some reason” being pride.  So much so that I had to say “for some reason” than to readily admit my pride.  So the focus God wants me to take today is to lay down pride, walk humbly before him, and call on the church for help when I need it.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for providing so much in my life through your church.  Your people have provided teaching, care, nurture, provision, direction, correction, among many other wonderful things to my life.  I also thank you for the honor and the privilige of being able to walk with others in that role of teacher/caregiver.  I pray for the community of Crosspointe, that you would help us to collectively make up a healthy mother, who produces healthy children.  In Jesus’ strong name, AMEN!

The Interdependence Of Christian Community

SCRIPTURE:  JAMES 5:15-20

”Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up... 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective...

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

OBSERVATION:

The first thing that pops into my mind is that God’s work is done in community.  Someone is sick, the community of believers prays, God heals. Someone sins, the community is confessed to, God forgives and heals.  Someone waivers in their faith and wanders from the truth, the community reaches out, God saves.

I am afraid that we have made our realtionship with God too personal.  It is personal in the sense that it is a relationship between God and I - I am the only person accountable for my walk with God - It is my faith alone that grabs onto salvation in Christ.  On the other hand this relationship is lived out in relationship and community with people.  Serving God is lived out among the “least of these”.  Worshipping God is lived out thru communion with other believers.  Growing in my relationship with God is lived out as “iron sharpens iron” so one man sharpens another”.  Seeing God work in others inspires  faith in God for my own life.

It is my personal realtionship with God, but it is interdependant with other believers.  It is their relationship with God but it is interdependant with me.

APPLICATION:

I need to both invite others into my walk with God and engage in other’s walks with God.   I need to call on others when I am sick, when have struggled with sin.  I need to engage with others, take the innitiative, when I see others struggling in their faith.  I can’t simply wash my hands saying, “It’s their personal relationship, I have nothing to do with it.”  So I will keep my eyes open and be intentional today about how I can be a source of healing and encouragement to others.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the wonderful community of believers that you have blessed me with.  Thank you for their many gifts and talents, for their hearts to serve and care for others, and for their desire to grow in you.  Father, help me to be a source of your work in their lives - serving them, praying for them, listening to the, bringing truth to them, and lifting them up in prayer.  Also, help me to remember that I am a part of the community - you have placed me at the helm as their pastor, but my position does not remove me from simply being a part of the community of faith.  At times I will need encouragement, healing, forgiveness, and accountability.  Help me to be vulnerable and transparent to you by being vulnerable and transparent to the people you have placed in my life.

The Same Spirit As Jesus

SCRIPTURE - ISAIAH 11:1-3

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;”

OBSERVATION:

This is a Messianic prophecy - speaking of Christ’s coming to earth and the Holy Spirit rest on Him.  Spirit of the Lord that we read about in the same Spirit given to every believer.  Jesus was God and yet when came to dwell among us as Messiah He left His position as God in heaven.  He made himself like us, completely dependant upon the Holy Spirit.

As Christians we Have the same Holy Spirit that empowered and directed Christ himself.  We are filled with the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom & understanding, counsel and power, knowledge, and the fear of God.  We are no longer limited by our own sight and perspective, or our own hearing and understanding.  We now have the perspective, understanding, wisdom, direction, and power of God.

APPLICATION:

I am no longer forced to jump to conclusions about people, circumstances, oe even myself.  There is more than meets the eye  - but it doesn’t get passed God.  There are deeper issues than I can percieve, but are never beyond God’s understanding.  There are more options, answers, opportunities, and solutions than circumstances present to us, but God will show us - and empower us to overcome our circumstances.  He gives us His Holy Spirit to usher in the Kingdom of God to our lives.

Prayer:

Father, Thank you for your goodness and mercy shown to me.  “Faithfulness is a sash around your waist.”  You are faithful to us.  You have given me so much in life - every opportunity for sin has a way out because of you.  Every hardship comes with the power to endure and overcome.  Every big decision comes with wisdom and direction.  All of this because you have given us the Holy Spirit.  Help us this morning to keep in step with the Holy Spirt.  That we would be sensitive to His leading in our lives.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Completely Dependent

SCRIPTURE: HOSEA 13:4-6 & 9

"But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me.

I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat.  When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me...

...  You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against me, against your helper.”

OBSERVATION:

I am always blown away by our ability to convince ourselves that we do not need God.  At least until we are convnced that we do.  You would think that we would just anchor ourselves in the understanding that we are dependant upon God, but instead we eb & flow between independence and dependency right along with the eb & flow of our circumstances.

When our circumstances leave us wanting, hungry, and thirsty, we run to God acknowledging our need for a Savior.  Once our circumstances change because of His faithfullness, we are fulfilled and forget we were ever in need of God.  In fact we convince ourselves that it is because of our own wisdom, strength, and fortitude, that we are in the wonderful season we are in. We become proud.

Pride makes us confident in ourselves.  We begin to go our own way.  Arguing instead of listening.  Moving instead of waiting.  Planning instead of praying. Quitting instead of enduring.  The reality, we are fighting the only one who can help us.

APPLICATION:

God is the only one who can Save, the only one who can help.  I will praise him - acknowledge His goodness - in the valley and on the mountain top, when I am up and when I am down.  I will force myself to thank Him when things are good and when things are bad.  I will not let my relationship with God be tossed about by the tide of life.  Circumstances do not make more or less dependant.  In Him I live, and move, and have my being. I need Him completely all the time and everywhere.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your goodness.  The fact that you are faithful to save me.  You are the only one who can help me.  Help me to not let external things (circumstances) determine my level of trust and dependency upon you.  Protect me from the folly of pride I pray.  In Jesus Name - Amen!

Confidence With God Thru Christ

SCRIPTURE - HEBREWS 4:12-16

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

OBSERVATION

This passage is bitter sweet as it shows us how vulnerable and beautiful our relationship with God is.  Scripture lays our lives bare, revealing the condition of our soul and spirit, and judging our thoughts and attitudes.  As we engage with God’s Spirit thru scripture there is an awareness that God knows us and we don’t measure up.

Suddenly, we read the next paragraph that says that while both God and us know that we fall short, we have a God who sympathizes with us.  We have a God who understands our weekness.  Though he was never weak he was human and felt the pressure of temptation.  He is familiar with its allure.  He experienced its relentless pull toward sin.

As Jesus acts as our High Priest in heaven, interceding for us before the Father, we are able to “firmly hold on to the faith we profess.”  Not disqualifying ourselves or being crushed under the weight of the responsibility our faith places on us.  We carry the responsibility of our faith knowing that Christ has carried the punishment for our sins and carries us as we live out God’s plan for our lives.  So we approach God’s throne no longer as a throne of judgement but a throne of grace.  The accountability that God brings to our life no longer brings judgement and destruction, but grace and correction.  It is rooted in mercy.  Confidence replaces insecurities.

APPLICATION

When I read this first paragraph I feel the earliest of human nature begin to arise in me.  Like Adam and Eve, I realize that I am uncovered and bare before God.  My instict is to run, cover myself, and hide.  What a vlunerable feeling.  What an insecure feeling.

Then comes the next paragraph that restores confidence and security.  I need to allow my life to be laid bare before God, confident that He desires to correct and repair my life.  Confident that He will use His word as scalpel that cuts out cancer and not a sword that destroys.

PRAYER

Father, thanks for your word.  Thank you for sending your Son to earth to die for my sins and to become my High Priest.  Thank you for the confidence of knowing that Jesus is in heaven doing my bidding - interceding for me.  Lord help me to overcome my sin nature that wants to run and hide.  Instead settle into your throne room of grace and let me find mercy.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Tolerance - Does God tolerate it?

SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 15:1-5

“In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.  He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.  The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

The LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house.  Jotham the king's son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.”

OBSERVATION:

Something about this story immediately rubs me the wrong way.  Azariah does what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  He didn’t tear down the places of worship for other religions, but it’s not like he worshipped there.  It doesn’t sit well with my 21st century American values and even theology.  I really had to pray this one thru.  “God, you really messed up Azariah’s life because he didn’t make other people stop worshipping other gods?  It’s not like he worshipped them.”

Thru this time of meditating on this passage and listening for God’s help in understandng, I began to see the folly tollerance.  It seems that many 21st century American Christians are a lot like Azariah.  They have come to believe that as long as they personally  honor God that is enough.  They believe that they have no obligation, in fact they have no right to speak against false religions and ungodly practices.  Our culture has said that to speak against another’s choice to practice even obvious harmful/unethical is wrong - especially if you are a Christian.

APPLICATION:

I am reminded of my role in this world as a Christian - to be an ambassador, a prophetic voice, a priesthood.  I have a responsibility to stand for righteousness and Christian values.  Not because it’s my favorite, but because it is true - it’s not just my choice among many other choices.  It is truth.  I have walked with God long enough to know He is good and right and is the hope for the world.  It does not have to be arrogant to speak against ungodliness.  I have had to tear down things in my own life that were contrary to God’s best for my life.

In fact it is a heart of compassion and love that should drive us to make a plea for godliness righteousness.  To contend for biblically based morality and a government that holds to a Christian faith.

PRAYER:

Father help me to be a voice for righteousness without being an obnoxious jerk.  Let my God-breathed convictions override my desire to be PC or tollerant.  Father, my greatest desire is to be an effective infuence - helping people go from death to life.  Offering hope, not an angry voice.  Offering truth, not a debate.  Offering Christ.  In Jesus name - AMEN!

God Qualifies Us To Live His Plan/Call

SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 6:4-9

“At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’  He said, ‘Go and tell this people...’” 

OBSERVATION:

Isaiah finds himself in the throneroom of God and surrounded by angelic beings singing praise to God.  In the midst of this, he realizes how huge the chasm between he and God truly is.  His immediate response is one of guilt, shame and disqualification.  “I am unclean, my daddy is unclean, my grand-daddy is unclean, and all my friends are unclean.”

The very thing God is calling Isaiah to do is to be his mouthpiece - to be a prophet.  Isaiah’s contention is that his lips are unclean.  A seraph grabs a coal from the altar and touches it to Isaiah’s lips and cleanses them.  God says, “Your lips are the problem?  Then I’ll take care of it.”

It is true that we are unqualified to serve God in and of ourselves.  We are all just as unclean as Isaiah.  It is also true that God is the one who qualifies us to live the life that He has planned for us.

APPLICATION:

I can easily disqualify myself from anything of God.  I can look at my family roots, my past, and my present sin and recognize that there is a huge chasm between who I am and who God is.  I can easily see why I am not the man for the job.

When I identify my old disqualified self thru guilt and shame I need to trust that He will touch those areas of my life and bring cleansing and healing - qualifying me to be the person He created me to be and live the life He has called me to live.  I need to remember that I cannot qualify myself thru physical effort when it is God who started my calling and transformation in the spirit.

PRAYER:

Thank you God that you don’t give up on us.  You forgive us and make us who you have always created us to be.  Help me to fix my eyes on you and your ability to make me the man you’ve called me to be.  I will connect myself to your Spirit and make sure I spend time designed for you to work your plan and character into my life.  Lord help me to be qualified for the work you’ve place before me as a husband, dad, friend, and pastor.  In Jesus name, AMEN!!!

Who We Are Flows From What We Worship

SCRIPTURE - Psalm 115:4-8

“But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel; feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”

OBSERVATION:

I guess the main point of this passage is that we are always smaller than the things we worship.

To me, this illustrates or amplifies our divine design.  We were created with a need for significance and we were created with a draw toward worship.  These two things are connected in the sense that we find our significance in worship - in the things that we hold dear to us in our hearts.  These things are on our minds, shape our values, establish our self worth, plan our futures, and define our significance.

When we build idols of worship - carreers, relationships, academia, power, position, recognition, etc. - we will never grow beyond those things.  We are never bigger than the thigs we worship.

APPLICATION:

While I may work hard in my career, have close relationships, grow in knowlege, and possess titles, I must keep my perspective straight.  These are things I possess, they don’t possess me.  The moment they do is the moment I have given them my heart and have set them up as idols - I have begun to worship them.  This is also the moment that I must lay them down and realign the focus of my worship to the only one fit for it. God is the only one who is worthy and capable of possessing my life and receiving my worship.

PRAYER:

Father, there are always things vying for my attention and my worship.  Many of them seem harmless and others are blatantly evil.  Help me to be wise enough to discern my own heart, strong enough to defy my hearts desires, and humble enough to call on your help when I am struggling.  Forgive me for allowing things to steal my thoughts and allowing desires to occupy space in my heart.  I love you Lord and give you my life and my worship.  

Reasoning With God

SCRIPTURE - ISAIAH 1:18-20

"’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD.  ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’  For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

OBSERVATION:

I love this passage because it is written in the context of a relationship between a father and sons.  Sons who have rebelled against their dad - who have went sideways against his values and ignored his desires.  God’s not talking to enemies here.  Instead, He is talking to His kids.  While He is right and even angry He does not misplace the relationship.

He is convinced that His children can “learn to do right” (vs 17) so He desires to reason together.  The key is to not misunderstand “reason”.  God is truth, all knowing, and all wise.  When He wants to reason together it is not so we can convince Him that we are right - it is not a debate.  He desires to hear us out so He can bring His truth to us - we need to know where our lives don’t line up.  That is why “reasoning” is followed by possible responses and possible consequences - obedience and God’s hand of blessing, or rebellion and the removal of God’s hand of protection.

APPLICATION:

I need to spend time reasoning together with God - to share my thoughts with Him so that I can hear them along side of God’s thoughts.  I need to see where my reasoning is not in sync with God’s.  I need to choose willingness and obedience.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your goodness toward me.  Thank you that you never misplace our relationship.  You always deal with me as a son and not an enemy.  You see the potential in me to learn to do right and reason with me toward that end.  Help me to be willing and obedient - that is my commitment to you.  In Jesus name - AMEN!

The Truth, The Whole Truth, ANd Nothing But The Truth

SCRIPTURE: 1KINGS 22:8

“The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.’
      ‘The king should not say that,’ Jehoshaphat replied.”

OBSERVATION:

Jehoshaphat was asked by Ahab to partner with them in battle against Ramoth Gilead.Jehoshaphat says “It sounds good to us kings, but what is God saying through His prophets?”  They survey the prophets and the survey says... DING, all clear for battle!  But it seems that Jehoshaphat has a “gut check” and wants to make sure there are no opposing thoughts among the prophets.

Ahab says, “You know, I left this guy, Macaiah, off the list.  I really can’t stand him because he never tells me what I want to hear.  He is always prophesying against me.  He just doesn’t like me.”  At least that’s what I hear as I read this passage.

When I read the stories of people in the Bible I always try and find how my life measures up.  Is there something I can learn from this persons experience and apply to my own life.  Can I learn how to walk with God closer, follow Jesus more confidently, lead and care for people more skillfully, be a better husband and father, avoid a pitfall, or build character.  So as I read Ahab’s words, “I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me...” I have to ask the question about myself, “Do I disqualify negative voices from speaking into my life and into decision making processes?”

Nobody likes negativity.  However, we should desire truth.  Unfortunately, not all truth is fun to hear.  Not all truth feels good and nice.  Some truth is contrary to what we’d rather do and to how we are thinking.  

APPLICATION:

If I want to become the man that God has planned me to be, I need to invite words of truth into my life to encourage me in righteousness and to confront unrighteousness in me.  I need godly counsel to speak into my life and let me know when I am about to do something stupid.  I need to invite truth into the process even when it might wreck my plans.

I think we call them accountability partners rather than prophets.  However, our accountability partners need to have a prophetic place in our lives.  They should be seasoned believers who are sensitive to the Lord’s speaking and leading.  They should be people of wisdom that is born out of prayer and the Spirit not simply worldly wise.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you that you are working in me.  You are helping me to become the man you planned from the beginning of time.  Thank you for the men and women you have placed in my life.  Help me to trust you to work thru them to bring truth and righteousness to my life.  Help me to be vulnerable and transparent - knowing that you are for me and not against me, knowing that you are good and wanting to take me from death to life.  Knowing that you desire to make me whole.  I invite truth in my life.  In Jesus name, AMEN!!!

No Turning Back

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 18:19-21

“So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.  Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’

      ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.”

OBSERVATION:

I guess the first thing that I see in this passage is that has never in all of history been easier to follow God than it is right now - at least in the United States.  Yet the United States (along with much of the Western World) is getting increasingly hard to reach.  The people are getting increasingly humanistic and atheistic.  Even those who are open to the concept of God seem to do so very academically rather that relationally - their ascent to God has little impact on how they do life.

I think of how people pass on opportunities with God because they seem “too scary.”  It might put a cramp on their plans to party it up in college.  It might “squeeze them a little too much financially if they tithe.”  It might swing them in a different direction career wise or muddy the waters with ethics and values that “don’t work in the business world.”

I want to have the faith and the zeal of Elisha.  These were tough times for God followers.  They were dangerous times for prophets.  They were being hunted down and killed like animals.  Yet Elisha didn’t have to think about it - He immediately said, “Let me say my good-byes and I’ll be on my way - wherever God takes me and whatever may happen.  So sure was his decision that he burned down his old business as if saying, “I’ll never return to this work again, the door back has been nailed shut, plan “B” is non-existent.  He threw a party for his neighborhood to celebrate his new direction in life.  He slaughtered his oxen for the BBQ and use the wood from his tools to cook the meat.  It was a done deal.

He could have put it in storage, you know just in case this whole prophet thing didn’t work out.  At least he’d have something to fall back on if God didn’t quite come thru for him.

APPLICATION:

Seeing this makes me sad about the many back doors and alternate plans I make.  All in the name of godly wisdom of course.  It sounds smart.  It looks right and not as crazy.  However, I wonder if it limits the fullness of my experience as a God follower.  Does it keep me too pinned down to only an earthly/physical reality?  I never want to be so “heavenly minded that I am no earthly good”; however, the opposite is probably more dangerous to our walk with God.  I never want to be so “worldly wise” that I plan myself out of the miraculous and fulness of following God.  I want to let heavenly realities trump worldly concerns.  I want to commit to God so surely that I can burn down my past, knowing that I’ll never need it again.  Knowing that I’ve taken the right road and won’t need to U-turn.  Over and over again Elijah says something to the effect of “Surely as God lives”.  It almost seems that our ability to experience the miraculous and fulfilling plan that God has for our lives is determined by the degree that we believe that statement - “as surely as God lives.”  As surely as God is able to sustain you, give you purpose, keep you, give you fulfilled life, see you thru, do significant things thru you, build His kingdom with your hands, overcome your issues, meet with you....

PRAYER:

Father, I want the faith and faithfulness of Elisha.  I want to commit to the path you place before me in such a manor that I burn down my past, knowing that I will never have to return to them again.  That I will pursue you and your will afresh every day and will depend on you for my future.  No turning back Lord.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

REPENTANCE RELEASES RESTORATION

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm 51:1-17 (New International Version) For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.  Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;  wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness;  let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

 

Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

OBSERVATION:

David was God’s anointed one, the man of God’s choosing, to lead lead Israel.  He replaced Saul as King because God saw him fit.  While fulfilling his God given role he fell into sin - every man’s battle, LUST!  He noticed a woman bathing (not a sin), but he set his mind on her beauty and had an idea (the sin begins in his mind and heart).  He sends a servant to invite her over (the sin of the heart and mind takes flight in action).  He sleeps with her knowing she is married to another man (the sin in all its fullness).  He has her husband killed to hide his sin (sin multiplies for lack of repentance).

God sent Nathan, a prophet, to assure David that while his sin was hidden from men, it wasn’t hidden from God.  Nathan let David know that God would take all that He had given David away because David wasn’t fulfilled with God’s provision - He fulfilled himself with another man’s wife.  In fact God said to David, “If you wanted more, all you had to do was ask, and I would have given you more.  But you wen your own way and took for yourself from someone who had less.”  So God ultimately said “Since I am not enough, I will give all that I have given to you to somebody else.”  It was at this point in David’s life that he wrote this song, this plea for forgiveness.  This cry for redemption and restoration.

The crazy thing is that God actually listened to David.  He entertained His prayer and negotiated with David.  He heard David’s cry, forgave Him, and restored His calling on David’s life. Though He did take away the blessing that came from David’s sin - the son that Bathseba birthed.  However, in God’s mercy and restorative power, He gave David and Bathsheba a son named Solomon.  God loved Solomon and Solomon became heir to the throne of David and the greatest, wisest, and wealthiest king in Israel’s history.

APPLICATION:

God loves to bring people into right relationship with Him and into their original purpose/plan for their lives.  Everyone starts where David was - outside of God’s plan and outside of God’s favor.  In fact everyone of us end up their from time to time.  Maybe not as dramatically as David’s story nor as crucial of circumstances, but in some way we find ourselves in sin.  We notice something, we let it grab the attention of our mind, then we let it become the desire of our heart, then we give it the energy of our efforts.  The next thing you know we are trying to find fulfillment outside of God.  If not ultimate fulfillment, at least temporary/circumstancial fulfillment.

We find ourselves out of God’s favor and the words that He spoke to David thru the prophet Nathan ring in our ears, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.  Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?”   Maybe for us it sounds like "I have anointed you as husband and father - as priest and prophet of your home.  I have provided a job, home, and a wonderful family.  If all this had been too little I would have given you even more.  Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?” 

At this point we have two options PRIDE & DEFENSIVENESS or HUMILITY & REPENTANCE.  Choose the latter.  Make David’s song your prayer.  God is good and delights in restoring people to Himself and His perfect plan for your life.

A second, and better application, is to anchor yourself in this truth - GOD IS ENOUGH.  I don’t have to find pleasure outside of God.  If what we have is not enough God will give us more.

PRAYER:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”  In Jesus’ strong name - AMEN!

FAITH, HOPE, LOVE

SCRIPTURE: 1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-3

“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.  We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. “

OBSERVATION:

Paul’s relentless theme of Faith, Hope, & Love rang out again this morning as I read thru my scheduled reading.  These three words change everything.  

Religious people always labor, work, and endure, but the motivations make all the difference.  It is easy to be motivated by fear - fear of hell, fear of a curse, fear of abandonment by God, or fear of an angry God who places your all of your deeds on a judgement scale.  When the motivation is faith instead of fear then our work is not an attempt to avoid something negative.  Rather, it is energy focused on building something positive for others around us.  It movement toward God’s best in our lives.

In the same way our motivation of love overcomes or trumps motivations of selfish desires and insecurities.  It doesn’t allow us to believe that the world  revolves around us.  It gives a bigger perspective regarding our purpose here on earth.  It motivates us to look outward - to share what we have been given, to see the miraculous in our lives as something God can use to bless others.

Hope is an anchor that hooks into our Kingdom purpose.  It reminds us that there is more to come.  This life is the beginning of a journey, not the destination.  It makes room for patience, peace, joy, kindness, and goodness.  It lifts our heads above our current circumstance and sets our eyes on what’s to come.

APPLICATION:

I have the capacity to perform out of fear as well as faith, out of self-centered ambitions or a sacrificial love for others, out of the narrow scope that my circumstances provide or the eternal perspective of the Kingdom of God.  These are my choice and I will choose Faith, Hope, & Love.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the virtues of faith, hope, and love.  Thank you for the ability to live in and according to those virtues.  Help me to be conscious of these realities in my life always, and to choose them over their counterparts. In Jesus name, AMEN!

The Difference Between Knowledge & Wisdom

SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 2:9-12

“However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 

      

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

OBSERVATION:

Biblical/spiritual knowledge can be gleaned by picking up a book, reading a commentary, listening to a sermon, etc..  There are lots of great resources to help us learn more and know more about our Christian faith.  This knowledge is invaluable to us.  It resources our walk of faith, it strengthens our case for faith, and makes God understandable enough.  The truth is, though, that most of these resources are result of somebody having the wisdom of God imparted to them thru intimate relationship with God thru the Holy Spirit.  We are gleaning the fruit of somebody else’s relationship with God.  It is almost like knowledge can be defined as regurgitated wisdom.

It is not bad to get all the knowledge you can.  In fact you should learn all you can from godly men and women, who have “been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt” with God.  However, it is not a worthy replacement for wisdom that is imparted to you thru the Holy Spirit.  Wisdom that is delivered fresh from the mind of God to your mind.  Wisdom that is given to you because thru a personal heart of worship, obedience, and prayer you have touched the heart of God.  

The difference between knowledge about God and wisdom from God is the difference between reading a book about one of your heroes (Dr. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Saint Paul) and sitting on their front porch with them, sipping an Arnold Palmer, and conversing about life.

APPLICATION:

I want to know as much as I can about what I believe.  I want a basis for my faith.  The truth is that while knowledge may get me places in this life, it will pass away, but the wisdom of God imparted to me will take me into eternity.  I want to not just know about God, I want to know His heart and His mind.  Therefore, I need to sit with Him and talk life with Him.  Ask question and then shut up and listen.  I need to read His word as it is breathed from the very heart and mind of God.  I need to ask the Holy Spirit to awaken my spirit to what God is wanting to impart to me each day.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for your grace and mercy.  Thank you for giving me your wisdom.  Lord you hold nothing back from those who love and seek your heart.  Give me wisdom as I sit with you and talk life.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

God Applauds The Stage Hands

SCRIPTURE:  MARK 10:35-37 & 41-45

“Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’

‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.

They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory...’

...When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

OBSERVATION:

The Kingdom of God really is counter cultural in every way.  In this life status and clout are achieved through networking and schmoozing.  The biggest decisions and best deals are usually made in the meeting after the meeting (when the schmoozer pulls the boss off to the side to  bring to the boss’s attention his many talents and experience that should move him to the top of the list for the next promotion).

It is no wonder the other disciples were upset.  What right did James and John have to ask such a request?

Jesus pulls them back into the Kingdom reality and reminds them that things work very different in the Kingdom of God.  Status and clout have less to do with leading and ruling and more to do with serving.  It has less to do with authority and more to do with giving.  

APPLICATION:

When looking for the attention and approval of God I get further with humility, servitude, and sacrifice than I do with authority, skill, and quick talking.  I need to remember in all situations that I am performing for an audience of 1 and he applauds the stage hands more than he applauds the lead actor.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you that you love us enough to listen to our desires, even the selfish ones.  You are patient.  Thanks even more, that you don’t let us settle for our shallow desires but you pull us back to your Kingdoms rule and purpose.  You remind us of the things that really matter.  Help me to have your heart and the remember my anchor in your kingdom rather than default to the ways of this world.  In Jesus Name, AMEN!!!