Yes, Love Does: A Word from the WORD on Doing

Have you ever purchased something, opened the package, popped in the two "D" batteries (not included), flipped on the switch, and whalla . . . nothing?  It looked fine on the outside but didn't do anything.  It was made for a purpose but it was useless.

I was listening to the radio this week and came upon an interview with Bob Goff, author of the book "Love Does."  Bob is also the founder of "Restore International," a nonprofit human rights organization that operates in Uganda and India. It spurred me to look into what God's Word says about "doing." It's easy to talk, easy to plan, and easy to coast but it's much harder to actually do something, accomplish something, for God.  What does "doing" look like in the life of a believer?  

Psalm 34:15 says, "Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it."

Paul says it this way, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Then there is the well known verse from James chapter two, "Faith without works is dead."

Jesus said in Luke 6:26-28, "But to those who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

Apparently, when Jesus got to this part of his message, many had begun to tune him out.  So he prefaced this statement with "to those who are listening."  Are you listening?  If you've gotten this far I'll assume you are and tell you first that I am a lousy doer.  I'm full of good intentions but doing doesn't come easy.  Why?  Three things:

Self, Self, and Self.  

Why do we look like Christians but get so little accomplished for the Kingdom of God?

Self.

That is why the title of Bob's book "Love does"  resonates with me.  When you love someone you preferentially do things for them, sacrificially giving up something of your own: your time, your money, your possessions, etc.  We spend so much time in the pursuit of happiness that we miss our opportunity to love and thus "do" for others. When we begin to be more selfless we begin to operate in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  We start to look more like Jesus.

Take a moment today to look at your agenda;  maybe today's agenda, maybe the agenda for the week or even your plans for this year.  Do they focus on you and your happiness or do they look outward to others?  What is it that you can DO?  Pray, feed, clothe, hug, nurture, share the gospel, encourage, listen, mentor, rescue, protect, defend, forgive?  Maybe a little of each.  Ask God for direction and discernment.  He prepared these things in advance so you (we) just need to do them when they show up.  As we do, I believe the Lord will expand our territory and our influence.  That's why humble people like Mother Theresa can affect so many for Christ.  She was special because she chose to love and, in love, to DO.  You to can be special in your service for Christ and can affect many but you have to start doing.  Careful because this may actually involve doing for someone who hates you, offends you, or has harmed you.  OK, now go and do.


Peace,


David

Are Your Roots Close Enough to the Living Water?

   

When I was about four years old I was in the grocery store with my mother.  It was about the age I started feeling a growing sense of independence and so I began to wander a little farther from her hip.  Then it happened!  My eyes caught a glimpse of that small section of the grocery store tucked between the kitchen utensils and the paper plates - the toy section!  You know, the yo-yo's, little parachute soldiers, those flashing squishy balls, and miniature, magnetic checkers.  I was in heaven!  I couldn't have been there for more than four minutes when I looked down the aisle, first one way then the next.  It couldn't be!  But it was! MY MOM WAS GONE!!.  She was nowhere to be seen.  "MOM!!!",  I screamed as I ran down the aisle and around the corner, smack into a kind, old lady who grabbed me gently by the hand just about the time my mother came around the other corner. Relief! No doubt I stayed in close proximity to her for the rest of the trip.

prox-im-i-ty

noun
      1. nearness in space, time, or relationship.


We like to be close to things we enjoy, things we need, or things that bring us security.  I was recently watching a seminar about coyote hunting (OK, I'm a little redneck) and the speaker was talking about how eastern coyotes stick close to cover, not wanting to go out into open fields.  They Like proximity to thick grass, tree lines, or other cover because they know if they wander too far away from them they might die.

We've all seen pictures of a stream meandering through the desert; sand as far as you can see; white, lifeless sand except along the water's edge where green plants paint the path of the stream like a green snake on a white floor.  Why?  Well it's obvious that if plants get too far from the river their roots will not be long enough to find water.  The result:  they first whither then they die.

I have seen in my own life that when I'm distant from God my life starts to look more like a desert place and less like a place of grow and life.  I can do man sized things and I may even look successful from the viewpoint of the world but inside I begin to whither. God spoke these words through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.  They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

When we wander from God our spiritual lives begin to fade.  It's often a subtle thing but the Devil is good at making us comfortable with the slow fade.  It's so insidious that we might not see it until it all comes crashing down like a house of cards.   What might this look like?  Well, for many it might just be "the business of life"; work, school, sports, hobbies, politics, video games, etc. We wake up and do life with a little bit of God sprinkled in on Sundays for an hour or two.  We acknowledge that God is God and that Jesus is Lord but our lives are not abiding in him. For others it might be a slow fade into a life of sin. Either way, it's like a tree picked up and moved too far from the living water of the stream. 

     Jesus gave us an equally powerful analogy along with a command in John chapter 15:

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:3-5

Jesus uses strong, directed words without ambiguity.  "Remain in me … must remain … unless you remain … If you remain … apart from me you can do nothing." He used qualifiers, "Unless and if".  He reveals a truth that we need to hear.  Although, we may appear to be doing things when we are not in him, we are in reality doing "nothing".  The worldly things will be absolutely fruitless.

I want to urge you, as I usually do, to examine yourself.  Are you really abiding in HIM?  Are you really seeking his counsel in all you do?  Are you starting your day in prayer and listening for his direction on a moment by moment basis?  You see, a vibrant, fruit laden branch isn't attached to the vine once in a while but constantly, 24/7.  Stay close to Jesus. Don't wander too far because in the spiritual sense you are like the four year old in the grocery store.  You need your parent.  You aren't as wise as you think you are and the temptation of the toy section is very strong.  If we stay close we will not fear when the drought comes, fall when temptation comes, or fail when we are asked to produce fruit for his kingdom.

Peace,

David
     


   

Do You Feel Weak? You're Not Alone

Have you ever felt weak?  Maybe physically weak because of fatigue or illness, maybe mentally weak from the burdens of school or work, maybe emotionally weak after the loss of a close relationship or the death of a loved one, or maybe a little of each? It never feels good to be weak.  We, as a society, look down on weakness.  We glorify the strong.  The covers of our magazines show well built physiques.  The world loves a strong leader, a powerful voice, or a bigger than life athlete.  We buy vitamins, hormones, and memberships to health clubs. We listen to motivational speakers and hide our weaknesses to maintain an illusion of strength.  But you, how are YOU inside?  Maybe I'm all alone in this, but I for one am WEAK!!! I have strong moments but every time I climb some spiritual or physical peak I slide down the other side and realize that in my flesh, I am weak.  If this resonates with you read on.  If not you might want to search one of my earlier posts on pride.

In Mathew 26 Jesus left his disciples in the garden at Gethsemane to go off and pray alone.  He took Peter, James, and John a little farther along the path and asked them to stay and keep watch as he went ahead to pray. When he returned he found them sleeping.  Jesus said to them, "Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Twice more Jesus went off to pray and both times he found the disciples asleep on his return.  I find it interesting that Jesus shows their physical weakness by their inability to stay awake for even one hour but then talks about temptation.  Jesus shows us our physical and our spiritual weakness.  He makes a distinction between their flesh and their spirits. Peter, "The Rock", once again reveals that he, like us, was weak. Phew!  We are in good company.

Paul in Romans chapter 7 admitted his weakness and struggle as the inner war between good and evil, sin and obedience raged in his heart.  He came to the Corinthians in "weakness with great fear and trembling."  In the eleventh chapter of Corinthians he says, "Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?  If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

Here is the beauty of the Bible, the awesome irony of God's sovereign plan:

God chooses the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27)  He chose a murder with a stuttering problem to lead the Jews out of Egypt, a donkey to speak truth to a disobedient prophet, and a persecutor of the church to be one of it's greatest evangelists. He loves the weak.  Why? I think one of the biggest reasons is that God is the only one who is really strong and when he reveals himself through men (or women) he leaves no doubt that the strength is from HIM and not from man. "so that no one can boast." If we are honest with ourselves  we would all admit that we are weak.  The Bible is clear that God lifts up the humble and the meek but opposes the prideful, boastful, and arrogant.

I want to encourage you today to admit your weakness. Understand that in your flesh you will find weakness to temptation, weakness to fear, weakness to depression, weakness in your body, and weakness in your spirit.  But God had done something supernatural for you if you are his child by faith.  He has given you his Spirit.  The Holy Spirit of God dwells in you.  Romans 8:26 says, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness." We are reminded that we can do all things "through Him who give us strength." Paul urges us to live by the Spirit and not the flesh but he acknowledges that it's not always easy and is indeed an ongoing battle.

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit, what is contrary to the flesh.  They are in conflict with each other . . " We are instructed to "Keep in step with the Spirit."  As we do we begin to see the power of HIM through our weakness.  These words from Paul bring it all together, "I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then, I am strong."

Be blessed knowing that as you walk in the Spirit (by repentance, prayer and obedience) you'll begin to see the fruits of the Spirit blossom in you: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.  It likely won't be a straight climb but a slow, hard climb with peaks and valleys but keep walking!

I hope this spoke to someone today because I know this season of celebration is also a time for many of great pain, anxiety, fear, and weakness.  But now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory.

Amen,

David

Christians - Are We Walking The Walk Or are We Like The Amazing Fat Melting Jiggling Machine?

The commercials were convincing.  The evidence overwhelming; pictures before and the after.  It was astounding! Potbellies magically transformed into rippled, six-pack abs that, until now, could only be sculpted with months or years of crunches, sit-ups, and leg lifts.  But now it was possible without the work, without the pain, even possible while watching your favorite soap-opera.  What was this magic?  The "Fat Melting Jiggle Machine."

My mother, God bless her soul, called Sears and Roebuck to place her order and two weeks later we all lined up for a try.  Mom was first.  She put the belt around her waist and flipped the switch. I'm not sure what made us jiggle more, the machine or gut laughing to the point of tears as we watched the show.  Now my mother was thin to begin with so it wasn't a fair test but suffice it to say, the machine didn't live up to it's maker's claims.  No weight loss, just a lot of jiggling fat and laughing kids. The correlation is this: you can talk all you want, make great claims. and even try to sell to the masses but if it doesn't work, if it doesn't live up to the hype, if it's all show and no go then its a lie.  We as Christians often are a lot like that.  This is not a condemnation but more of a wake-up call or at least a nudge towards self-examination. 

It seems that the "Holiday" season always reminds me of how far we as Christians have come from delivering the real goods to those around us.  I watch with a broken heart, the commercials on TV with cars, laptops, and video games wrapped with big, red bows.  The sitcoms have their holiday specials and our mailbox is filled with various Christmas and Holiday cards.  We go to parties and eat too much cake and maybe drink too much punch. In all of it is Jesus lifted up?  Is God really glorified?  The answer may be yes but for many it probably isn't.  I wonder what God thinks as we go about our festivities from Black Friday through New Years.  I wonder what he thinks as his children go into the word but look no different from it.  I know what you're thinking, "What a Scrooge!!"  Those who know me might even say, "What a hypocrite."  And in many ways they may be right. I struggle with sin and failure like the rest. I enjoy giving good gifts and gathering with people I love.  I enjoy meeting new people. What convicts my spirit is how little Jesus is talked about and how little God is worshipped in this time when we are suppose to be celebrating one very amazing moment in time.  The incarnation of God. The moment when God came to earth dressed in "swaddling clothes" lying in a manger.

What does this have to do with a fat melting jiggle machine?  Well, what we say we are has a lot more to do with the actual fruit than it does with our lip service or our church affiliation.   What we advertise ourselves to be and what we are may be two different things.  Now I realize that we all have areas in our lives that we struggle with but this is about who we are when we interact with the world.  If a nonbeliever encountered us at an office Christmas party or in a line at Macy's would he or she notice something different about us?  Would Jesus show through.  We can say we are Christians, go to church every Sunday and Wednesday night, and pray when acceptable but what really matters is what we do.  God has been showing me this about myself in my place of work.  Am I revealing Christ to those around me?  Do I walk the walk?  Or am I just a silly jiggling machine? Sadly, sometimes I'm the latter.

Here's a question to ponder.  If Jesus walked into your office, your home, your party what would you do?  How would you respond?  Would you be excited because the party was all about him anyway?  Excited because the tree and decorations were all for him and to celebrate him?  Or would you dive to hide something you didn't want him to see? When we're in a place where people need to know Christ, places where lost people need life, where broken people need to be healed, where blind people need sight, and hungry people need to be fed, what do we do?  Well, for most of us, me included at times, we just partake in the same conversations, the same jokes, the same activities and God gets set aside like last years Christmas tie.

Before you get upset with me and click off this page please ask yourself two questions:

1) Do I know Jesus?  If you don't I want to tell you that Christmas is the celebration of God loving YOU. I mean REALLY loving YOU, so much so that he sent his one and only Son into the world to die for you.  To pay the punishment that you and I deserve and to provide eternal life. The Bible says that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  If you're feeling God's Spirit drawing you to him and away from sin then it's time.  Jesus said "come to me all you who are weary and heavy ladened and I will give you rest."  Confess your sins to him and believe.

If the answer to the first question was "Yes" then  move onto #2

2) Does my life, do my actions, and do my words lead people closer to God?

I love Christmas.  I love the celebration.  I want to see lost people saved and this time of year is a wonderful opportunity to partake in God's plan to seek and save the lost.  Be careful if you claim Christ. It's no small responsibility. Be the real deal.  Be different. Be light.  Be holy.  Be love.

Peace,  David

Don't Fight the Wrong War

Do you remember the dramatic scene? Jesus leading thousands of his passionate followers through the streets of Jerusalem carrying signs of protest. "End Roman Rule Now!" "No More Taxes to Caesar!"  As they made their way through the city, they knocked on every door and handed those, who's doors were opened to them, fliers that read, "Jesus for Governor".  Of course, if they could install a charismatic Jew into leadership then the world would be as it should be.  Right?

After the demoralizing crucifixion  of Jesus, the Apostles were given the task of convincing the Romans, the Greeks, the Samaritans, and the Jews that they were immoral and needed to stop their sinful ways.  It was a moral crusade!  If only they could just make society better one person at a time. So, they started campaigns to stop prostitution, end capital punishment, and to make illegal the selling and consumption of wine. They stood side by side with the leaders of the Roman Pagans, the Jews who denied Jesus, and the worshippers of Mithras the sun-god because their common desire for goodness was greater than any religious differences that might separate them.  Arm and arm they walked carrying out demostrations in front of brothels, cross making plants, and vineyards.

Alright, so I made all that up.  But it's not so far from Western Christianity in 2013.  Why do I care? Why should you care?  Because Jesus did not, at any time, wage war against the government that oppressed them.   Nor did he try to crusade for moral change in a culture that denied him.  He did not attempt to better society by fighting social injustice along side those of other faiths.  His message was clear.  "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy ladened and I will give you rest". "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." If he had a message of condemnation it was for hypocritical religious leaders who were "white washed tombs, full of dead mens bones."  But to the rest he was interestingly silent.

Likewise, Jesus' followers didn't go town to town speaking against the immoral practices of society at large or walk arm and arm with other religious leaders in seeking better social conditions.  Jesus and his followers gave their lives in one pursuit, the spreading of the Gospel. They knew that anything short of salvation by faith in Jesus through his atoning death on the cross was only a bandaid on a fatal wound.  They were fighting the right war, the war against the wages of sin and death, not death of the body but death of the soul, eternal separation from God.  Jesus clearly taught us to love, to care for widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to mourn with those who mourn but those things never were in leu of the message of life and grace through HIM.

Jesus left all other wars to the worldly.  He knew God the Father was sovereign in the affairs of man.  God raised up kings and brought them down.  God led the Jews into captivity and led them out again.   No matter who is in office or what party is the majority, God is on the throne!  No physical or social battle would change the world.  We should know that by now.  Immorality, war, and chaos continue today as they did in the Book of Genesis.  Jesus knew that what they needed was not more religion, better morals, or a new government.  They needed HIM.  We need HIM.

I also find myself getting caught up in the polarized, political debates of the times.  I have a bent toward one side of the isle but I forget that as we move toward the return of Christ, the world will not become a better, more holy, or more Godly place.  In fact the Bible tells us the opposite will occur. Why?  Sin.  We don't have a political problem, a drug problem, an abortion problem, a God left out of the pledge problem, or a sexual orientation problem.  We have a SIN problem.  And the problem will not go away with ballot proposals, new legislation, interfaith coalitions, or by wearing purple bracelets.  The only answer to the problem of sin and death is JESUS.  Thats why Paul said,

"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters.  When I came to you I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."  1 Corinthians 2:1-2

Here's the deal.  Jesus was born, was crucified, and was raised to save sinners.  Our war, as his disciples, is the same one: to save sinners, of whom Paul said he was the worst (I think I could give him a run for his money). Along the way we will meet those who need our love and support in many ways (food, clothes, shelter, comfort, and grace) and it is the working out of our faith to provide all of that and more but it is not our mission to fight as the world fights.  I promise that it will be a loosing battle.  Please know that this doesn't mean ceasing to love and help those in need but don't get distracted by politics.   I know this next statement will bring backlash but it is a weapon of the enemy to join Christians with those who deny the Lordship of Christ in the pursuit of social justice.  Why?  Because if we place a higher value on ending discrimination, poverty, and education than we do on salvation, Satan will have won a battle for souls.  The end to the war, however, will be when Jesus returns on a white horse as Lord of Lords.   Until then leave the worldly wars to the worldly.

In Him, David

Only Jesus

I was in the truck yesterday scanning the radio for a football game when I stopped to listen to a religious program that caught my attention.  As I listened I heard mentioned a number of times the name of the religion and the spotlight was on a particular New Testament Bible figure (not Jesus).  I listened for quite a while but there was no talk of Jesus nor the gospel so I moved on.  Later in the evening I was again scanning the stations and like before landed on this same station which was again was talking about the same Bible character and that particular person's holiness.

I tried to listen for a while but was grieved in my spirit. I though for a few minutes then prayed about this.  I asked God to give me insight because as I have read the scriptures the focus never seemed to be on anyone but Jesus (even the Old Testament pointed to him). All others who were lifted up, worshipped, or revered tore their garments and got low. I mean they knew their utter weakness and need for Christ.  Paul said he was the least of the Apostles and called himself "wretched".  When John fell at the feet of the angel who appeared to him the angel exclaimed, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!" Isaiah, when given the chance to be in God's presence, admitted his unholiness, "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."

I woke up early this morning, forgetting about the radio program, I asked the Lord to give me something to say today.  I admitted to him that if I said anything from my own power it would be useless or worse, it might be dangerous.  I opened to the Book of Ephesians and began to read.  It hit me like a Mike Tyson right hook.  "Jesus Christ", "Christ", "God's Son", "in him", "through him", "Through Jesus Christ our Lord", "by the blood of Christ", "through his blood", "through the cross". It was all about Jesus. It wasn't about Paul or Peter or Moses or Mary.  From Genesis to Revelation it was about God's plan of salvation through his Only Son - Jesus - the Christ.  

Paul's letter to the Ephesians was not like his other letters.  He wasn't writing to correct one particular error but instead to encourage and build up the church. It was to remind them of the faith for which Paul himself was suffering.  It was to point them in the right direction and to focus their eyes on their only hope, Jesus.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Ephesians 2:4-10 (emphasis mine)

In this letter Paul reminds us through whom our salvation comes (Jesus), how it was obtained (through the shedding of Christ's blood), how we receive it (by faith), and for what purposes are we saved (so that we might be blessed by God with the incomparable riches of his grace and that we might do good works).

Jesus was mentioned directly 50 times in the six short chapters and that doesn't include the indirect references (e.g. "him"). We are reminded that our lives, our holiness, and our access to the Father are "through him", "in him", "in Christ", or "through Christ" thirty times.  It was and is all about Jesus.  When we begin to focus on other people or put our hope in religion we, like Peter who took his eyes off of Jesus, will find ourselves sinking in the waves around us.  

I urge you to find twenty minutes this week to read Ephesians. Go slowly. Let each verse sink in.  God says that his Word never returns void but accomplishes the purpose for which he sends it. I promise you will be changed.

Love you guys,

David

The God on the Shelf - Who is God to You?

Who is God to you?  Really.  I mean on any given day at any particular moment who is God to you.  Now the reality is that God is who God is regardless of what you think of him but who he is to you determines how you live and how you die. You might initially give me a laundry list of the usual Christian responses:

"He is my heavenly Father."
"He is my friend."
"He is my guide."
"He is my Lord."

I'd like to give you a picture of what I believe most of us have done with God and maybe what you're doing right now.  Be careful not to put up your shield of defense right away. Instead meditate on this and let it do its work in you.  I think we all can see a little of ourselves in this.

God is often a god on the shelf; a definable, compartmentalized, usable god.  We put him on three different shelves depending on where we need him.

First, is what I see as the work shelf.  It's like a shelf in a workshop, carrying a cordless drill, a belt sander, and a couple hammers. Oh yeah, and a tiny god. He sits on our work shelf silent and lifeless until we have a job for him to do. We go about our days and weeks with little or no acknowledgment  of his presence and we rarely if ever look at him in awe of who he is.  That is, until we need a little financial help, maybe maybe we're in legal trouble, or in a relationship struggle.  It's time to go to the shelf, dust him off and see it he can get the job done.  We cry out, "Why God? Why this or that and why me?  Help me please!" When the situation passes we place him back on the shelf in case we need him in the future.  Off we go,

The second shelf is more like a mantle above the fireplace.  It's a place where we keep our trophies and various awards.  It's the shelf of religiosity of pride.  It's where we place God to show others that we have him. It may look like a weekly trip to church where we really don't meet God or truly worship him. It may look like the donations we can tell our accountant about at tax time.  However, like the god of the workshop, this god is also lifeless and doesn't play any real part in the minute by minute reality of our lives.

The last shelf is like a shelf in the medicine cabinet or vanity. Like the mantle place god this is also a god of religion but based less on pride and more on guilt.  We look in the mirror and see a blemish a rash or a sore.  We are sick or just don't look very good. We open the mirror pull out the little Bandaid god or the makeup god and cover up the blemish.  This god doesn't heal the wound or make us younger, it just makes us look better.  Then back in the cabinet, on the shelf and the mirror closes.

Before you say, "Not me!!" think carefully about your typical day.  How does it start?  Does it start in prayer, in worship, in acknowledging Him?  How do you make the hundreds of decisions you make every day?  Is God  . . . GOD . . . in your life?  I mean a living, all powerful, all knowing, ever present, eternal, Holy, loving, creator GOD in your life?  Because whether we act like it, live like it, or acknowledge it, that's who he is.

God loves you (cordless drills, trophies, and mascara can't love). God can do amazing things in you, through you, and for you.  He is El Shaddai "God All Mighty", Elohim "God the Creator".  You see a hammer can't create.  It can only create if it is carried.  God needs no help.  He is there to help in times of need but not as a part time god on a shelf.  He is Yahweh-rapha "The God who Heals".  He heals our insides and outsides, not just covering up the wound but healing it. Jesus died so that we might have life.  He made blind eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, lame legs to walk, and brought the dead to life. If God has at times been a shelf god in your life (as he has in mine) ask him to forgive you and walk with him in a new way today.

Peace, David

A Wasted Prescription

OK, it's been a while, a long while. I was dry for a spell but driving home today I felt compelled to share a lesson God showed me this week.  It's a lesson I learned as I watched someone with a serious problem.  I know deep down that the lesson is for me and I bet it's for you as well.  The story goes like this:

A young man came into my office with a large infection of the right side of his face.  It was about half the size of a tennis ball and the skin over it was red.  The paperwork on his chart indicated he'd been in the emergency room the night prior and was given a prescription for an antibiotic so I asked, "Did you start the antibiotic last night?"  "No. I didn't fill the prescription." the man replied with a look of guilt.

What!!  A man was in pain, swollen, and afraid. He drives to the ER looking for help and receives a prescription.

The definition of "prescription"

1)  a medicine or remedy that is prescribed

2) a recommendation that is authoritatively put forward

The man leaves that place of help with the prescription in hand then doesn't take the medicine.

Isn't that just like us:

"God help me!!"  God gives us his Word, his commandments, his call for repentance, his call to love, his call to forgive, his call to worship, his call to be holy, his call to trust . . . . . Jesus.  Then after we receive the prescription in hand we look at it, set it down somewhere and go about our lives sick, broken, scared, and possibly eternally dead.  We are that man!

In 2 Kings chapter 5 we read of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram,  Naaman was a "valiant soldier" but he had one problem.  He had leprosy.  There was a servant girl taken captive from Israel who served Naaman's wife.  This young girl urged Naaman's wife to send him to Samaria to see a prophet she believed could heal him.  Naaman, with his king's blessing, a note from the king to the king of Israel, and a boat load of  gold and silver went off to find his cure.  Naaman shows up at the door of Elisha but when he knocks he only gets to see Elisha's messenger who delivers this message (the prescription):

"Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

So what did Naaman do?  Well, I would hope after this long trip and with this great desire to be healed he would RUN to the Jordan and do as the man said. But, instead he went away angry saying,

"I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, waive his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better that all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in then and be cleansed?"

He didn't like the cure. The water was too muddy.  The prophet didn't meet him at the door.  He actually had to DO something not just stand there and receive the cure.  Dip SEVEN times!! Why not once?  Thankfully, at the urging of his servants, Naaman lowered his pride, walked down to the muddy Jordan and dunked himself in seven times.  Out he came after number seven, his skin "clean like that of a young boy."

Today, if you are in a place where you know you need God's help (that should be everyone who is reading this), take the prescription God has given you and receive healing.  "What is that prescription?" you ask.

Well it might be a number of things but I know the first one is the same one given to the jailer who asked "What must I do to be saved?":

Rx - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

After that, God may give you any number of different prescriptions for your predicament.

"Be holy because I am holy"  1 Peter 1:16

"But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." Hosea 12:6

Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:39

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven."  Luke 6:37

Whatever prescription the Lord puts in your hand, please don't wad it up and set it aside.  Get it filled and take it as prescribed.  Sometimes it tastes bad going down and it may be very expensive but it will ALWAYS accomplish the cure that the Lord desires to bring to you.

Peace in Christ,  David

The Wonder of Adoption

"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." (John 1:12-13)


Adoption is a wonderful thing!  A child who was once without a family and without hope suddenly has both. Contrary to popular belief we are not all God's children at birth. We are indeed God's creation, fearfully and wonderfully made.  We are known and loved by him before one cell came together in our mother's womb. But, we are separated from God and without the rights and privileges of members of his family. Adoption can take a number of years and cost thousands of dollars but becoming a child of God takes only faith.  If you are walking outside of God's family it's time to come home.  Jesus paid the price so believe in his name and receive him today.


For the full Blog Post, Click on the link below.


Heirs to the Promise - The Wonder of Adoption


If you have been adopted into the family of God praise him today!  If you are alone and separated from Him by sin then pray like this:


Lord, I know I'm lost and in need of forgiveness.  I want to be accepted and brought into your family.  I trust that Jesus died in my place and rose from the dead so that my relationship with you don't end in the grave.  Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Christmas - The Rest of the Story

A baby in a manger, a small group of wisemen, and a shepherd boy. . .  decorated trees, presents, and a large bearded man in a strange red suit.  What's it all about?  I've heard people say it's about spending time with people you love and about "holiday cheer." I've heard people say it's about hope and love and counting our blessings.  OK, I can accept that, kind of.

As our worship team gathered at church last week to discuss our Christmas eve. service I had an unsettled feeling.  What if Christmas was just about the baby Jesus.  I mean it's an amazing thing, God coming out of heaven in the form of a poor baby.  This alone is almost beyond comprehension but what does it mean?  I mean how does God being born in the flesh bring us hope?  What if that was the end of the story?  The wisemen pack up their camels and head back East.  The shepherd boy goes back to the hills to tend his sheep.  The bright star fades away.  Mary and Joseph load up the donkey and take their baby boy back to Nazareth. Life goes on as usual.   The first Christmas was a beautiful thing but without the rest of the story it makes little sense.  Why was I unsettled? Why?  Because I think many people and certainly many Christmas celebrations make no connection between the manger and the cross.  As a matter of fact, many Christmas celebrations leave Christ out all together.  But that is a different issue, one that I will likely address before Dec. 25th.

How was this this little baby in the manger hope for the world?  What was the problem with the world anyway?  Famine?  Disease?  Discrimination?  War?  Sure, all these things were going on and people were in need of help.  But what could a baby do?  As the baby grew, he did feed the hungry (5000 at one time with a couple fish and a few loaves of bread), healed the sick (He even brought a few dead people back to life), and brought dignity to the outcast (a prostitute, a tax collector, and a group of lepers) but as far as I can tell we still have the same problems today.  Maybe it was just a short term fix.  Maybe he was just to be just an example.  Was the baby born to show us the right way to live so that we could have a better world?  Maybe.  I think that was part of it but we must have missed it somehow because we're clearly no better off than we we were 2000 years ago.  At least as far as the eyes can see.

There must have been something more.  There must be more to the story.  If the baby was to really bring hope and peace to the world then there must be something that we're missing.  We have to hear the rest of the story.  That was it!  That was why I was unsettled.  I needed to make sure that when we tell the story of the baby in the manger we CAN'T leave out the part about the grown man and the cross.  It was why he came (at least a major part of the reason).  Without the rest of the story, we could lump Jesus in with the rest of the people who brought us hope (Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and the like).

Here's my point: Jesus (Emanuel "God with us") came to save us from something WAY worse than famine, WAY worse than disease, WAY worse than war.  He came to save us from ourselves.  He came to save us from the power and the penalty of sin.  He did that not as a baby in a manger but as a man on a cross.  Three days after he was placed in the grave he rose bodily and was seen by hundreds of people then ascended into heaven. This is the rest of the story which makes that amazing day in Bethlehem so amazing, even more amazing (if that is possible) than God being born in human flesh.

Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.  He came as a sinless man to become sin for us.  He came to give his life as a ransom for many.  He came to conquer the grave and to give us the hope of eternal life.  That's the rest of the story!  When you see Christmas lights, hear carols, buy gifts, and bring cookies to the office party please don't forget the baby Jesus and when you remember him don't forget the rest of the story, Calvary.  If you are a follower of the Savior than don't forget to tell others the rest of the story.  Someone you know just might need to hear some good news!

Peace in Christ (both the Christ child and the risen Savior)

David

Yo-Yo's and Roller Coasters - Enduring the Ups and Downs of Life

Yo-Yo's and roller coasters . . . seems like our lives are a lot like them.  They go up then down, then up then down again.  I was driving in my car today contemplating life.  Seems I do that quite a bit these days, most of the time it's not very dramatic or too deep but today was different.  My faith is being tried and I guess that's a given, but this week it ramped up a bit.

You probably know by now that I am a Christian and I believe in an all-powerful, sovereign, just, and loving God.  I believe God has purpose in all things and is NEVER caught off guard or surprised by events, good or bad.  So here I was driving down the road in my SUV when out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a beautiful Monarch butterfly. No sooner did my mind begin to form the words "Isn't God good!" when, SPLAT! It hit my windshield at 60 miles per hour.  In an instant this flying piece of art was turned into a green speck of goo on a piece of glass.  OK, so not the usual content of a Christian Blog but there is a connection.  I protested out loud to God, "Lord, what was that about?! Why did you go through all the trouble of making this thing if you were just going to let it die like that?"  I didn't hear God verbally but I felt pretty convicted that God is God and I am not.  The words God spoke to Job in Chapter 38 popped into my head, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?"  Then God went on to remind Job how much he didn't know. He reminded me of the same.  So on I went having to trust that God knows and has purpose in all things.  He could have stopped the butterfly from hitting the windshield but didn't.  Why?  Only he knows and I have to trust that.

Don't worry, I'll get around to the Yo-Yo and roller coaster thing soon but a couple more things need to be shared first.   A couple weeks ago I was playing the guitar in a worship service that included the baptism of a little baby (a topic for another post).  The baby was there with his mother, father, and two toddler siblings.  There were four full rows of happy family members and friends.  This morning I learned that on Thursday the baby's father was killed when his vehicle hit a tree.  I looked up to heaven and didn't have the strength to form the word, "Why?" but as I played and sang songs to God today I couldn't stop thinking about the butterfly.  God could have reached his hand down and stopped the man's car but he didn't.  Why? Only God knows.  Seeing a monarch butterfly in flight - UP.  Seeing it hit the windshield - DOWN.  Seeing the smile of a father as his child is baptized - UP.  Hearing of his sudden death - DOWN.  Yo-Yo's and roller coasters.

My daughter came to visit this week and when she was sitting across the table from me at dinner and I could look into her eyes I was on top of the world.  UP.  When I put her on a plane for Philly, my heart sank. DOWN.

Healthy one day, cancer the next.  Successful businessman one day, unemployed the next.  Strong in your faith one day, doubting the next.  Holy and righteous one day, sinful the next.  Yo-Yo's and roller coasters.

So what to do?  Paul tells us that he had to endure the highs and the lows and here is what he said in Philippians 4:11-13

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.


It's all about Jesus.  It's about HIM who gives us strength.  In this world everything is temporary and fading.  I wrote before about our things being rusty and moth-eaten. Even our lives are described in the bible as a breath, a vapor, and like a cut flower.  Jesus warned a man who was storing up riches that "This very night your life will be demanded of you."  Jesus was clear that our focus was to be on God through the life Jesus gives us in his sacrifice at Calvary.  Our strength comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who lifts us to great heights and carries us in the extreme lows.  We can do all things through him.  Remember that when the Apostles were seeing Jesus perform miracles they were UP and when they saw him die on the cross they were DOWN.  But, God didn't leave them there did he?  No, he gave them and he gave us probably the most powerful visual to restore our strength: the resurrection.  He gave them hope. He gives us hope.  One day my friend there will be no more DOWNS, EVER! Only UP, UP, UP.  It's a promise for those who have been saved by faith in Jesus.  Like Bart from MercyMe sings, "Hold Fast!" 


Peace,


David

Christianity - So What?

I've been thinking a lot lately about Christianity and what it means to follow Christ.  I've been trying to come to grips with the many faces of the "church" especially in the West. It really hit me when I received an email from one of my closest brothers in the faith.  He has been diligently pursuing his degree in theology hoping to pastor a church but recently became convicted about what he saw around him.  The words that came to his heart were, "So what?"  So what if he showed up every Sunday and preached a message and then the people went about their lives like they always have.  So what?  What's the point?


He wasn't questioning the point of Christ's death and resurrection or the power of the gift of salvation through Jesus but was questioning the day to day, month to month, function of the church.  It just seemed that there was a blah, blah, ineffective, routine to it that wasn't pleasing to God. We talked about it this week and I agreed that the Lord put this on his heart not because preaching the Word is futile but because if we aren't careful it can become futile through us.  The church and the Word preached through it can be the power of God unto salvation or it can be a powerless social club that is merely a gathering place for people putting in their obligatory religious time. It can also become a place were the truth is blurred or blatantly contorted. 


Here is what struck me about the phrase. "So what?"  


I have encountered many people including a number of Christian pastors who say that all paths lead to God and that Christ is one of many ways to God.  I have heard comments like, "Jesus is the way for me but others have their way and those who claim Jesus is the only way have put God in a box."  If following Jesus is optional then I have to yell from the mountain tops, "SO WHAT?!!"  Why follow Jesus?  Why not just live life to the fullest, pursue financial wealth, meditate twice a day to decrease stress, be a nice guy, and pay my taxes on time?  Why in the world would I want to follow Jesus?  At least not the Jesus of the Bible.  The Jesus of the Bible said some crazy things about following him.


I think I've figured it out.  If we pick all the really pleasant, easy, and uplifting things Jesus said and did and form a religion around them we can sell it as a really nice way to live.  We can blend nicely with the world, with Zen, and with all the world's religions.  The answer to the question, "So what?" to them becomes: "Because it feels good and is a really good way to live."  But what about the real Jesus?  What about these scripture verses:

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." (Matthew 24:9)

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him." (Philippians 1:29)

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35)

"Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

If Jesus was right, following him might not make my earthly life better but drastically worse.  If Jesus was telling the truth then following him might lead to persecution, imprisonment, and even death.  History seems to show that he was right.  Christians have been fed to lions, used as fuel for Roman Tiki torches, burned at the stake, flogged, beheaded, crucified, and stoned.  So why in the world should anyone follow Jesus if we can be happy, safe, comfortable, and content without him?  If Jesus was fibbing when he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me." then the answer becomes, "It's ridiculous.  No way!  It's a difficult road that need not be traveled. Time to take a detour to easy street."

But if he was telling the truth and the only possibility for peace with God and eternal life is through him the answer then becomes, "Because it's a matter of life and death."  Why preach with passion, truth, boldness, love, and conviction?   Because God has given us the privilege of participating in his plan to save people from the penalty of sin.  

Paul said it this way in Romans 1:16 

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

The point I'm trying to make is this:  The reason we preach, the reason we suffer for the name of Jesus, and the reason we lose our lives to live is because Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven, given to men, by which we must be saved.  It is through Him we receive the crown of life.  When we see the urgency of it and the stakes involved, we won't be satisfied with just going through the motions.  We won't be tempted to reshape Jesus into a more palatable holy man who walks hand in hand with Mohammad, Krishna, the Dalai Lama, and Buddha. We will preach because we love and we will love because God first loved us.

Peace,

David

Keep Your Eyes on the Ball - Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

My eight-year-old son was getting ready to step into the batter's box during the first inning of his Little League baseball game this past Saturday when his coach yelled out, 

"Hey Trev, what's the most important thing in baseball?"

Trevor yelled back, "Keep your eye on the ball!"

When I was learning to drive about thirty years ago my mother must have worn out her vocal cords saying, "David! Keep your eyes on the road." Then there was my fourth grade teacher who had a really sweet trick for keeping our attention and for assuring our behavior.  She had three small bean-bags on her desk and when I was fooling around I could count on one of those bean-bags sailing across the room, safely over the six rows of well behaved kids, landing upside my head followed by the words, "David, I've got my eye on you!"  I don't think that educational tool would fly today but it sure worked wonders in 1974.  It seems like most things of value require keeping your eyes on them.  You must look at them and pay attention to them.  

Fastballs, fourth graders, and the road you're traveling are all good things to keep your eye on if you're a baseball player, a teacher, or a driver respectively but here is the most important thing to keep your eyes on:

Jesus

Why?

Jesus said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day."

In Deuteronomy chapter 4 we read, "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and soul."

Now, I personally did a lot of looking around before I came to know God in a saving way but most of it wasn't searching for God specifically. I looked for happiness, satisfaction, accolades, success, and I guess in some ways something spiritual to make it all look good but surely not God with all my heart and soul.  So I guess that in God's sovereignty he supplies even our ability to look.  He calls us and gives us eyes to see but we can still choose to look away and not believe.  If we look to the Son and believe God promises that he will never let us go.  Earlier in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John Jesus says, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." and  "This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day."

God calls us and gives us the ability to see but it's our job to "look to the Son" and "Look for him will all our heart and soul."  In the account of Saul of Tarsus' experiencing Jesus on the road to Damascus you might recall that Saul was a murderous man bent on seeing Christians killed or imprisoned when, in a blinding light, he met the risen Christ. But, Saul never saw Jesus on the road that day because he was blinded.  It wasn't until three days later when God removed "something like scales" from Saul's eyes that he could see again.  But here is where he could have picked up his belongings and gone back to his life of persecuting Christians but instead he spent the remainder of his life (until he was martyred) looking to the Son.  I think that the scales not only fell from his eyes but from his heart.  You see, even if your physical eyes can't see, you can still have a heart to see.  There is a song we sing at church called, "Open the Eyes of my Heart" and I think this applies.

Saul was given a new name that day, "Paul” who became the greatest preacher of the Gospel who ever lived.  He is the writer of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and possibly the book of Hebrews.  Paul was a new creation in Christ Jesus!

The writer of the book of Hebrews (Possibly Paul) wrote these words, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  You see, the penalty for sin has already been paid for on the cross at Calvary where Jesus endured the pain and scorn for us.  We need only look to the Son in faith to receive the gift provided.  We will receive new spiritual eyes with which we will be able to see ourselves and others and we will be able to recognize our sin and our need for a savior.  We will be given a heart with which to repent of our failures and a heart that can worship its creator.  It's like a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly.  No one really knows how is happens but it is truly a miracle of God.

If you’re here today it's no accident and I believe that God is calling you, giving you spiritual eyes to see, and giving you a heart that is able to seek.  It's up to you whether or not you will choose to look to the Son and have eternal life.  If you choose to look to him he will make you a new creation as well.  He will not only be the author of your faith but as you continue to fix your eyes on him, he will perfect your faith until he brings you home.  Maybe you already have your eyes fixed on Jesus,  if so then, AMEN.  Pass it forward!  

"Hey, what's the most important thing in life?"

"Keep your eyes on Jesus!"

Peace,

David