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

Pride? Me? Nah: The Danger of a Prideful Heart

I've seen it many times with a front row seat at the base of a big oak tree, a gobbler (a male, wild turkey) making his way to a hen.  He starts out cautiously at first, feathers down, not looking all that different from his potential mate, but once his eyes make contact with her it happens.  He gets puffed up, tail feathers spread out in a beautiful fan, and he begins to strut.  Back and forth he struts in a display meant to impress.  What's he saying?  "Look at me!  Aren't I something awesome?  See how big and handsome I am?  I'm bigger than the gobbler over there  so focus your attention on ME."  But you know the reality of it?  It's just air, the same skinny turkey with a whole lot of fluff.  In this situation it's natural and it's part of reproduction but it's a great analogy for the sin of all sins - human pride.

I took a little time today to do a word search in the Bible for pride, proud, haughty, and arrogant.  It was astounding!  It was incredibly humbling.  It was a word for me and it is a word for you.  I could just list off the scripture verses that describe God's view of and his reaction to pride but it would take a small book to do that.  When you're finished with this post you might want to go to Biblegateway Keyword Search and type in "pride". You'll be humbled too.  But for now I want to give you a little taste of what you'll find.

When most of us think of sin (if we think of sin at all) we think of murder, lust, adultery, lying, or stealing.  But I believe that one sin is at the root of all of them and one sin God hates above all else - PRIDE.  Why is that? Because pride is our way of attempting to make ourselves like a god.  We attempt to put ourselves on a throne,  But guess what?  It's just a bunch of hot air.  We like the gobbler are not really that big or impressive.  Actually, we're really quite broken and weak.  But before you say "Me?  I'm actually quite humble." be careful because pride can often be a subtle but equally dangerous sin.

Let me give you a couple verses that demonstrate, with no ambiguity, how God feels about pride:

Psalm 101:5

"Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate."

Proverbs 16:5

"The Lord detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished."

So what's the big deal?  Pride?  Really?  It can't be as bad as the other sins. But it is.  It leads to a false sense that we don't really need God.  Even if we are believers we can begin to feel like we are something special either because we're part of the "saved" group or because we're doing great things for God.  What happens when we start to get puffed up like God predicted Israel would do?

Deuteronomy 8:13-15

"When your herds and your flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

Pride gone unchecked will lead to separation from God and ultimately a crash and burn.  Hear this verse about King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16:

"But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall.  He was unfaithful to the Lord his God . . . "

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Sure pride can be overt.  We've all seen or know someone who talks big, walks big, and thinks they are "God's gift to mankind".  Hollywood is full of them but I know God is just as concerned with his children, believers in His Son, believers who harbor little tentacles of pride that can undermine the working of the Holy Spirit through them.  God was concerned that the Apostle Paul would become prideful because of the position he had been given and because of the great revelations God had shown him.  Apparently Paul was unable to self contain his pride so God gave him a "thorn in the flesh"

2 Corinthians 12:7

"Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me."

WOW!  God let Satan "torment" Paul to prevent him from becoming prideful.  He must really hate pride!

Before we close let's do a little self-examination for pride in our lives.  See if any of these thoughts or actions creep up in your life:

1)  When someone talks about their kid, maybe a sporting accomplishment or school grade, does you mind immediately turn to your kid and how they compare.  Do you feel 100% excited for them or do you lose a little of it in competitiveness?  That's pride.

2)  When you serve in church or in some ministry and someone talks about their service to God do your thoughts and maybe even your words turn to your accomplishments and your godliness?  Be truthful. We are competitive, even when it comes to serving God.  It's pride.

3)  When you go to the gym, run a few miles, decide which shirt will make you look the best or when you take that one extra look in the mirror in the morning, what is you motive?  Is it just to keep your God given body healthy or is it to impress man (or woman)

Be brutally honest with yourself.  It's OK. You're not alone.  We ALL harbor pride in our hearts.  The key is to be honest, identify it, acknowledge it before God and pray for humility. Remember that Jesus, the only son of the Most High God, through whom all things were made, came from heaven and was born in a dirty manger.  On his knees he washed the feet of his disciples. On the cross he was nailed and died.  He who had no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.  That is humble. That is beautiful.

I'll leave you with this:

Psalm 149:4

"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory."

If you want to wear a crown given by God himself seek humility.  As in all my blogs, this message was first to me and to my prideful heart. I pray it touches yours.

Peace,

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

Look Ahead and Win the Race. Look Back and Break Your Nose!

They were stride for stride as they came down the last stretch of the third leg of the four by one hundred meter relay. Waiting for them were the final runners poised to take the batons and sprint to the finish. These last runners are in, what they call, the anchor-leg position and are usually the fastest members of the team. They're there because they have the ability to make up for lost time and hopefully catch up if they're behind coming into the last leg of the race. As the third-leg runners approached, the anchors began running with one hand stretched behind them, ready to grab a hold of the baton as the previous runner placed it in his hand.  One anchor had his eyes fixed ahead and ran quickly and smoothly down the track and the passing of the baton was flawless.  The second anchor continued to look backwards and lost focus of the track ahead.  He was concentrating so intently on the runner behind him that as the baton was placed in his hand his feet became entangled and he crashed face first onto the track.  The first runner won the race and the second broke his nose.  I want to be like the first.  How about you?

There are a number of places in the Word of God that remind us to keep our eyes fixed ahead and I want to share them with you today.  

Jesus told his followers, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

He was telling them (and us) that when we turn to him and begin our walk with him it is not fruitful or beneficial to be looking back. On a practical note, as we drive forward down the road it is usually more important to look out of the windshield that into the rearview mirror.  I don't know about you but I have a hard time moving ahead at times.  I am constantly reminded of my failures and of my past hurts. They have a way of crippling me so that I miss the blessings that God has for me today.  I also think that Satan wants to keep us caught up in our old lives to prevent us from serving God in the new life he gives us when we are born again of the Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ.

In Paul's letter to the Philippian church he shared a similar thought:

". . . I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brother, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I'm thankful that Paul was humble enough to let me know that he hadn't had it all figured out then, but that he was smart enough to know that the answer lied ahead and not behind.  He also gives me hope in knowing that at the end of this race waits a prize for me in heaven, one that the Bible tells us is better than we can imagine.

One quick story that I want to share before I let you get back to the busyness of your day:

A few years ago a few friends and I were fly fishing a stretch of river in Wyoming just outside of Yellowstone National Park.  The river was running through a deep and quite steep walled canyon.  We were about a thousand feet below the rim of the canyon and the trail from the shore of the river up to the top was narrow, rock strewn, and a bit dangerous.  The first few hundred feet required us to crawl on our hands and feet and there were sections that, if we slipped, our trip home wouldn't be in coach but in the cargo hold, confined to a pine box.  I found out quite quickly that looking back was a bad thing.  A few things happened when I took my eyes of the path in front of me and turned my gaze back down the slope.  First, I realized how high I was and it gave me the willies (is that still a word?). Second, it messed with my balance and I felt myself tipping backwards and that gave me the willies too!  Lastly, it slowed me down.  A lot!  My buddy Bob (who is likely reading this post) was standing at the top already relaxing with a cold beverage long before my feet reached the safety of the canyon rim.  I don't think Bob looked back once.  Good plan for the next trip.

So, in order to not beat a dead horse, I want to leave you with this advise. Heed the words of Jesus and of Paul and keep looking ahead in your walk with the Lord.  My eight-year-old son just looked over my shoulder and asked me what I was writing about and I told him, "About looking ahead and not back."  He said, "Like those people who were running away from the cities God was going to destroy and Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt?"  "Yep!"  I love it how God puts an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.  I don't think becoming a pillar of salt sounds like much fun.  So let's not fall back into the canyon, break our noses on the track, or become pillars of salt, but instead, let's run the race to win.

Peace in Christ,

David

The Christian Diet - Don't Get Stuck on Baby's Milk

So, my wife is away at a conference for the weekend, it's seven PM and my stomach starts to grumble. My sons ask me, "What's for dinner?" "Hmmm? I'm not really sure. Let me look and see what we have." BINGO! Frozen mozzarella sticks and a bowl of Lucky Charms. Dad is the greatest! Then, just to complete the menu we finish off the last of the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. As the final spoonful goes down, the phone rings.

"Hi honey. How's your trip", I say.

"Great. What did you and the boys have for dinner?"

"Um, well just some stuff."

"What kind of stuff"

"Mozzarella sticks, Lucky Charms, and ice cream."

"Wonderful!" She says with a sigh. "And what vegetable did you make?"

"Don't the green marshmallows have some vegetables in them?"

GO DAD!

Nutrition. We're surrounded by diets, been taught the food groups, and know what we need to eat to stay healthy. Clearly, my attempt at preparing dinner was inadequate and over time (if I was in charge) my boys would become over weight and vitamin deficient and eventually the Child Protective Service would come and haul them away.

OK, what does this have to do with being a Christian? Read on. Good nutrition starts when we are born. We know that the very best food a new born baby can have is mother's milk. In the first few days after birth moms make a special milk called colostrum which has a variety of growth factors and also antibodies to help fight infection. Then the milk changes to regular breast milk. The baby's small body and immature digestive system isn't ready for solid food yet. A T-bone steak and mashed potatoes just wouldn't sit well. Not only that, it's little toothless gums couldn't even begin to chew the meat.

I want to share with you a spiritual correlation to this concept of nutrition and growth. Although what I'm about to share applies particularly to those who have already accepted Christ, I don't want those of you who haven't to stop here. Please keep reading. When we are new to the faith (or maybe exploring our faith) we are like newborns. Actually, the Bible says that when we trust Christ, we have been born again so this is probably very accurate. As newborns, we aren't ready for solid food or things that are hard to swallow. The Apostle Paul wrote these words to an immature church in the city of Corinth, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly - mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready for it."

There is a time in the life of a Christian and in the life of a church when we need to be fed baby's milk (the simple things of the faith). Here is the problem. Many people and many churches never move past the baby food and their growth is stunted. They may have the gift of salvation but they struggle in and with the world and don't have the knowledge of the Word nor do they grow in their understanding of the deeper things of God. Because of their lack of growth they are spiritually weak and when the winds of life blow they are easily toppled.

Then there are those who begin to dine on more grown up spiritual food but only the food that tastes good. Like I said in my last post, these are the ones who only like the parts of the Bible that make them feel good and don't make them uncomfortable. This is like the fats and carbohydrates in the food world. I love a good piece of Boston cream pie and I love french fries. They are easy to chew, taste great, and go down easy. But, if I ate only those things I would grow in girth, be tired, and very unfit. Sometimes I need to eat protein. Protein is harder to chew and occasionally I may need to even cut it in small pieces to get it down. Protein is like the deeper and harder to understand parts of the Word but without them we stay little children and even infants in Christ. Paul spoke to the Church at Corinth to encourage them to grow.

Then there are the Brussels sprouts and the radishes! The things that make kid's faces contort and grimace but the things packed with vitamins and minerals. They (at least to most of us) taste like dirt and just rub us the wrong way. These are the parts of the Bible that we just don't like to hear but are, nonetheless, as true as the parts that say God loves us. For instance, in the parable of the sheep and the goats when Jesus describes his second coming he tells his disciples that all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Then he will say to the goats (the unrighteous) "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels." Wow, If that isn't a spiritual radish I don't know what is! But, it is from the mouth the One who also says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." That is more like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter day! But we need to feed on both to grow in the knowledge of God.

So, my friend, if you are in a church or Bible study and seem to be getting only baby's milk, or maybe just the desert, you might want to also find a place to get some meat and vegetables. Find a bible believing small group or bible study that presses you and challenges you. Find a good book that dives into the deep things of God and see how you grow. Open the Word, read the Book of Matthew and ask God to open your spiritual eyes to see and discern. See how you stand when the tidal waves come and try to sweep you away! See how your faith grows and then you will also start to feed others who maybe still sipping on milk. Don't be afraid or offended by those parts that don't seem to taste so good. God knows what he's doing and he knows what you need. The banquet is ready! Come.

Peace,

David