Not Your Average Parting Gift

I used to love watch game shows as a kid and in every one of them the contestant who was the loser always got sent off the show with the lovely parting gift. It was the show’s way of saying thanks for playing, but you’re a loser so go home and enjoy and the home version of the game you just lost at and maybe you can better at it. The people never looked too thrilled.

Last weekend was Easter and we went through a range of emotions from sadness on Good Friday to joy on Resurrection Sunday. Before Jesus arose from the dead, we appeared to be the big losers. Our king was dead, buried and gone. However, Jesus was not only raised, but he reappeared to his disciples over the next 40 days.

Oh, and by the way, Jesus left a great parting gift for us. It wasn’t some cheap Simonize car wax or a year’s supply of granola bars, but He left us the Spirit of the Living God. After 10 solid days of prayer the disciples and about 120 believers prayed fervently and as always the Lord delivered. This time it was the day of Pentecost.

“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” Acts 2: 1-4.

When we receive Jesus Christ into our lives we are not left with just our good intentions and will power to live out our lives. Not at all, Jesus left His Spirit to reside in us so that we could go from living ordinary lives to extraordinary ones.
When the disciples walked and talked with Jesus they were ordinary men. Some were fisherman and tax collectors and they were students of Jesus’ words. We all know what happened when Jesus was arrested. They all took off and Peter denied his Lord three times even after telling him to his face he wouldn’t. But what happened after the Spirit came at Pentecost? Life Change.

Peter went from scaredy cat to one of the most awesome preachers of our time. His first message saved 3000 people. By the time the disciples had finished witnessing for Christ they had saved half the then-known population of the earth. Now how does this work for you and me? Does that mean we’re all supposed to go out and become preachers. No, it doesn’t mean we have to do everything, but it does mean God has gifted us to do something.

If you think about it, Peter and John were regular guys when they were walking with Jesus, but after His resurrection and in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit they both became warriors for God. Now the same spirit that was in Peter, James and John is in us. If we’re connected to God daily thru His Word and thru prayer, if we make ourselves available to get out of our boxes and comfort zone then we too can become useful to Him.

Be expecting big things because God is likely going to move you in a direction that you wouldn’t normally choose. If you just do things for Him that are in your strengths and never in your weaknesses how will He get the credit and the Glory. Using myself as an example, I would never in a million years figure God would call me to do any public speaking. When He first called me to get up with a microphone, I thought God had the wrong person. “I think you were looking for my wife Judy, Lord. She’s the public speaker in the family.”

He said no, “I need you” so I stepped out and tried and was shaking the first half dozen times I spoke, but you know what? It eventually got easier and He gave me the words and I did what I could to point the way to Him. I never want it to be about me, but rather what He is doing in me and what I can share with people who are maybe struggling to see how they can be used. Paul reminds us “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Keep asking Him and be willing to do whatever He asks. Don’t think God has the wrong person. He will equip you and make you successful. If God has asked you to do something, you can’t fail. You might hit some bumps on the way, but success will follow if you keep your eyes focused on Him.

Thanks for your Spirit, God. It’s a gift that definitely won’t go out in the next garage sale.

If you would like to learn more about the Holy Spirit and how He works in your life I would like to refer you to my friend Catherine Martin’s website where she has a terrific 30 day quiet time book called “Set My Heart On Fire”. If you spend 15-20 minutes a day in this 30 day journey you will learn more about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives than you ever knew. Her website is www.quiettime.org

Stinging Words

My walk through the Bible has me reading straight thru from beginning to end. No Psalms or Proverbs and that's okay. I think I'll try to use my Friday post to journal what I find the most significant insight the Lord gives me from the week's reading. Right now I'm travelling through the books of Samuel and they are great reading.

The prophet Samuel has anointed Saul as the Jews first king and while he starts out fine like a lot of us we can easily get off track. Saul was under specific instructions from the Lord in a variety of areas and being a king and all it carries some heavy responsibility. The final straw of his disobedience came when he failed to wipe out all the Amalekites like the Lord had instructed. Instead, he saved the king and kept some of his goodies for himself.

The Lord was not pleased with his disobedience again and had this to say about Saul. "Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel." 1 Samuel 15:35

Now with any great scripture there comes application for us. I don't know how I could handle hearing the words "I'm sorry I gave Mark this assignment" or "I'm sorry I ever gave Judy to be his wife" or "I'm sorry I ever gave him the role of an employer." Now, there is plenty of things in my life I'm sorry for and would love to have do-overs for, but I know many came before coming to the Lord. Thank goodness for His grace. The difference today is I can't hide behind the fact that I don't know better. God tells us in the book of James, "Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it" James 4:17.

Tracking with God doesn't mean we're not going to mess up, but we all should know that if God is first in our lives (remember the first commandment) then he wants our undivided attention and our obedience. When we get off course He will gently restore us and help us to get back on track. If we're way off track He might have to be a bit more severe.

I'm pretty sure we won't wind up as kings someday, but the Lord wants us on His team. He has a role for each and everyone of us to carry out His purpose if we allow Him to. If we're not careful selfishness can creep up on us very easily as we start doing things for our glory, our purposes, our riches. In Old Testament times sacrifices were huge. Animals were brought for slaughter because it took blood to cleanse the people of their sins.

But Samuel told Saul there was something more important than sacrifices. "What is more pleasing to the Lord; your burnt offering and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams" 1 Samuel 15:22. The answer is .............

Take Away

1. Is there anything you are doing in your life that you know is being disobedient to the Lord?
2. Are you taking measures to help keep you on His path?
3. Are you looking to Him to even show you your path in life?

Okay, Now What?

The Lord has risen. He has risen indeed. We talk about the crucifixion and burial on Friday and then the resurrection on Sunday, but it’s now Monday. The day after. What are we going to do with Jesus’ sacrifice and are we going to lead a transformed life because of it?

While my intent is not to guilt anyone into a lifestyle change, knowing what the Lord did for me and the pain and suffering he went thru on my behalf sure is motivation to press on for the prize and crown of life waiting me in heaven. Every year I’m amazed at so many people turn out for Easter services. I’m sure you see a huge growth in your church as I do in mine. Then next Sunday comes and its back to sleeping in, yard work and NASCAR.

It’s as if people think God is impressed that we went to church. Maybe He takes attendance. I hope He counts that Good Friday service I went to as a bonus. What the Lord does care about is a life that is changed because of His death on the cross. Well, how do we go about doing that? I’ve come up with 4 areas of our lives that we need to put our trust and faith in Him so we can grow our roots deep into Him.

The first area we need to trust Him in is our relationships. God cares about the people we are married to, who we date, who we choose as our friends and our co-workers. “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6. If you follow Christ, let’s strive to show the world that we can treat our spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends, employees and yes, employers in a way that is set apart from the world.

The second area we can put our trust in Him is our finances. Our lives are not all about money, but the Lord knows we need it to meet our needs. But it doesn’t have to fully take over our lives. “Teach those who are rich in this world not to proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all need for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17. I would rather be poor financially, but rich in Spirit any day.

The third area we can know and trust God in is the details of our lives. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7. The beauty of the word all is that it means all. It means the Lord cares about your babysitter problems, the car you drive, where you live, where you work and where you go on vacation. You can pray to the Lord about all these things because He cares. Just because they are not life and death issues doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to help and give guidance.

And finally we need to trust the Lord with the troubles in our life. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. These are the words of Jesus to the disciples at the Last Supper. Christ’s death on the cross was for our troubles. He knows we will have trials and tribulations. I sometimes think that Christians wind up with more than their fair share of them. I have a lot of hurting people around me in my life right now. But I know that Jesus wants to walk us thru these troubles and we will find rest for our souls.

I pray that you all live a life on fire for our risen Lord who gave His life for us. After all, It’s the least we can do.

He Stood in the Gap

Today is Good Friday. I don't know the origin of the term, but it seems like we could have come up with something better. The day maybe "good" for us, but it was horrible for Jesus. Regardless of the name, without today, I know I wouldn't be typing this blog. Today was the day that Jesus stood in the gap for you and me.

When Jesus uttered the words, "It is finished" in John 19:30 it was the culmination of Jesus' mission here to earth and it paved the way, cleared a path and opened the door for us to spend eternity with the Father. If Jesus had said "no way" or "opted to stay in heaven" we would have been forever separated from the Lord.

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:21. The Lord sending Jesus to die for us had to come about when Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. Before Jesus, people tried to be right with God by keeping all his laws and it was impossible. Everyone messed up. "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Romans 3:23.

God ultimately requires perfection and it took the perfect Son to forgive all past and future sin so we could have eternal life. "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sins. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time." Romans 3:25-26.

The amazing gift of the cross to me is that it covers all sins. It covers the ones our parents made, their parents made and their parents made and so forth. But it also covers my sins, the one's I'll make today, tomorrow and to the day He calls me home. If this wasn't the case then Good Friday might as well have been called What a Waste of Time I Came Friday.

The more stuff we keep dragging out the closet and keep bringing to the Lord asking for forgiveness the more we keep putting Jesus back up on the cross. We need to let go of our past and our sins and receive the forgiveness that is available to us because of the cross. God did not send His Son to die for us for nothing. It cost us nothing, but Jesus paid a heavy price.

God wants us to lived changed lives, lives free of the burden of things like guilt, anger and despair. Their is no condemnation for us because we belong to Jesus. I pray today that you and I can take time and reflect on what the cross means for our lives. We need to remember why Jesus came here and ultimately died for us. We need to remember that the cross was for you, for me and all those around you. Even those people you don't like.

I'm so glad that God has short-term memory and after I confess my sin to Him he forgets and says "what sin"? Let's stay in the present and worry about today's stuff since today has enough of its own problems. Rejoice today in the "great" Friday that it is. Pause and reflect and give thanks to the Lord and may you lead transformed lives because of the power of the cross.

Praise God and remember, Sunday's coming.

Did You Call Me?

I love this recent upgrade with my cable and digital phone service. Instead of the conventional caller id on my phone, the display comes on my television screen when the phone rings. I thought, “how cool is that, I don’t even have to get up and look at the phone to see if I want to answer it. So when a political call displays I can decide if I want to talk to John McCain or Mary Bono or choose not to.

There is a call we don’t miss though, and that’s the call from the Lord. He’s made many calls to people in the Bible and he still makes them today. Here’s a couple from the Old Testament starting with Samuel’s call when he was just a boy. “Suddenly, the Lord called out, ‘Samuel!’ ‘Yes?’ Samuel replied. ‘What is it?’ He got up and ran to Eli. ‘Here I am. Did you call me?’ Then the Lord called out again, ‘Samuel!’ Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. ‘Here I am. Did you call me?’ Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.” 1 Samuel 3:4-8

“The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5. And Isaiah received a call and anxiously answered. “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8.

I pray that all of us would respond to the Lord with a resounding “yes”. “Pick me Lord or give me that assignment Lord. I’m ready if you think I am.” Your word says “I can do all things thru the power of Christ. He gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13.

But if you’re like me you can sometimes treat a call from the Lord like those pesky tele-marketing calls. “You want me to do what Lord? Invite that annoying person to church. You want me to serve at church and not just attend. You want me to ask that person if I can pray with them right now.” If we have accepted Christ as our saviour then we have the Holy Spirit living in us and he will prompt us when God is calling us to act. We don’t have the luxury of Him shouting from heaven with our instructions.

We need to stay joined to Him like we do to our spouse, kids or friends. We need to stay in His word, converse with Him and look for how He can be speaking to us thru others. I have felt the Lord call me recently into teaching and I know it’s totally Him. My background is one that would keep me glued to my seat when it came to public speaking, but I now found myself teaching in a spiritual growth class at church to audiences of 60-100 people. I know the Lord gets the glory since I would never have done it before in my own strength. He prompted me to start blogging and while I can say writing was my background in college I have to rely on Him on what to write about.

I know my job and yours is to keep our schedules open and available for Him and His glory. The Lord is not going to hear a busy signal for long when he calls us. He will get our attention. He doesn’t want to be call-waited off the line. He will get our attention. Remember, the Lord will use you and call you wherever you are. You don’t need to wait to get all your ducks in a row. You just need to be ready to answer.

Take Away
1. Is your schedule so busy that the Lord has given your assignment to someone else?
2. Do you know how the Lord calls you?
3. Do you try and ignore His call or do you answer on the first ring?
4. Can you think of a call you have answered recently that you know is from the Lord?

What Was Your Name Again?

As Easter approaches and we remember the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ I came across a verse that motivates me and drives me in my relationship with the Lord. You're probably aware that Easter draws the most people to church on any one given Sunday during the year. Then it becomes business as usual the following week.

Jesus' words in Luke 13:24-27 compel me to know the Lord more today than yesterday. "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers."

Talk about piercing words. Would you want the Lord to say, "away from me" or "I don't know you." A portion of the Message translation puts it like this. "A lot of you are going to assume that you'll sit down to God's salvation banquet just because you've been haning around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you're going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you'll find the door locked and the Master saying, 'Sorry, you're not on my guest list.'

Men and women, I want to be on the Lord's guest list. I want Him to know me and better yet, I want to know Him. And I want to know Him more and more. I sense that people think just because they believe in God or hang in the "neighborhood" of people that know God then that will be enough to get them into heaven. It takes much more than that.

It's not enough just to believe, but you have to receive Jesus into your life. That's only step 1. After that the adventure and the ups and downs of the life of being a Christian begins. As I wrote recently, it's not always easy, but it's always rewarding.

To know God is to spend time with him which means you have to schedule time in your day for him or you will find there is not enough day left. I encourage you to schedule quiet time with the Lord daily where you are free from the distractions of tv, kids, chores, etc. That time might be first thing in the morning or on your lunch hour. Whatever time you choose make sure it is the time that you are at your best. Don't you think the Lord deserves that much?

As you spend more and more time with Lord in His Word and in prayer and thru fellowship of other believers you will start to think more and more like him. You will find yourself coming into situations asking, "What would Jesus Do?" (Sounds like a good slogan to me) Life is too hard to try and make all the decisions yourself. Why not let God make them for you. It's amazing what you will find in it. It has answers to all of life's problems and issues.

As you make the comittment to be in His Word, I encourage you to find a good Bible reading plan and not go with the open the pages and wherever my finger lands I start with idea. Did you know you can read thru the Bible in one year by reading it for 15 minutes a day. I think we can come up with 15 minutes. And if you miss a day, unlike diet and exercise don't get discouraged and quit. Start back up again.

I'll check with you at the end of the year and you know what? You'll be confident that the Lord will say, 'Oh hi (fill in your name) I've been expecting you. How ya doing? I'm glad I got to know you.'

Whoever Said It Would Be Easy?

I’m sure when a lot of people receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour they probably think that life should be great all the time and that bad things should avoid them. After all they have put their faith and Jesus and are committed to doing the will of God. They might tell everyone they know about Jesus and their life is totally transformed, but then what happens? Life.

Life comes with lots of trials and tribulations and setbacks and tears and illnesses and is this the person I really married kind of stuff. And not only that we come across verses that say we’re supposed to rejoice in our problems. “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:2-5

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth that gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

I take from these verses and there are others in the Bible that God doesn’t want to waste a hurt in our trials. He expects us to grow in them and to glorify Him thru them. The verse in Romans shows that it’s a process that we going thru. And where does it lead? It leads to hope and Godly hope is not the same as earthly hope. The Greek word for hope in this verse in elpis and it means an expectation of something good. I think we often confuse hope with wishes and dreams. I read recently a great acrostic for hope- Holding On with Patient Expectation.

And what we can expect from God is that he will be there with us thru the problems and trials. He won’t leave us or forsake us. He will give us the strength and the courage and He will put people in our path to walk along side us. He wants to hear from us thru our prayers.

My wife and I have had a year of some great stress in our life. We have struggled, bickered, wept, prayed, but through it all we have tried to grow thru the experience. We both know that if we fail the test God will likely give us a do-over and we both don’t want that. We have also witnessed many of our friends go thru some tough medical problems recently and have been amazed at the way they have faced the situation.

The thing I have found to be the common thread is they all have desired to give glory to God during the process and to the end that only God knows. I often find myself wondering if I could be as strong as these persons that have battled breast cancer, numerous brain operations and painful and uncomfortable treatments. I do know that God has a special reward when we face our trial with our head looking up.

“Blessed is the man (or woman) who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those love him.” James 1:12
My prayer is that you are all accumulating many crowns with the victories you have achieved thru your faith in our Lord. May the Lord bless you all and that you feel and know the Lord’s presence in whatever trial you may be facing.

Take Away
1. Are you facing a trial in your life and do you see it as an opportunity for growth?
2. Is it a trial you have faced before and maybe failed and now you’re getting a do-over?
3. Are you going thru it alone or are you seeking God and others to help you thru?

Who You Gonna Serve?

If you're an older fellow like me you might remember a song in the 60s by Bob Dylan called "Everyone Has To Serve Somebody." I didn't think much about the song at the time other than wondering if Dylan would ever get over his cold. He didn't. That's the way he always sounds.

I had no idea the song would have a biblical meaning as my passage today comes from the book of Joshua. "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

I talked on Monday about choice and that we have decisions all day long that require us to choose. This verse tell us we another. We have to decide are we going to follow after God and serve Him or are we not? The context of this verse if Joshua encouraging the Israelites before his death to renew their commttment to the Lord after the long struggle to reach the Promised Land and defeat all the inhabitants of the land, he did not want them to fall away from God and start worshipping idols.

Our application today is not a lot different. The Bible says we can't serve two masters. He wants our undivided attention. He doesn't want us worshipping the things of this world, but rather worshipping the creator of the world. It's important enough to Him that it's in His top two commandments about no other gods except him and not worshipping idols.

If we are not picking up our cross daily, then it's easy for us to be serving everyone else except Him. I looked up the original Hebrew word for serve and interestingly enough the word is "abad" and it's pronounced aw-bad. It literally means "to labor." It doesn't come easily to serve someone else yet alone to serve God. It takes a conscious choice.

So how to we serve God? By serving others. Look for ways to meet the needs of someone besides yourself. Jesus said it best in Matthew 10:42 "And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will be surely rewarded." Jesus is saying it doesn't need to be a big donation or a grand gesture, just meet a need for someone. It won't go unnoticed.

I have to go. I have to get my wife's coffee.

God Is Pro Choice

I know what you’re thinking. Wouldn’t God be against abortion and be pro-life? I wasn’t necessarily talking about abortion, but instead life in general. My passages today comes from the end of Deuteronomy where Moses is giving his final sermon complete with the blessing of God for doing what is right and his curses for doing the wrong thing.

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.” Deuteronomy 30:15-16

A couple of verses later Moses restates the choice again. “Today I have given the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 19-20

Would you not agree a lot is packed in these verses? And they are found in the Old Testament. The point I see here is that God does not force himself on us. He does not push all evil away from us because we are his followers. He gives us the wonderful gift of choice. All day long we have to choose something. We have to choose how we will react when the obnoxious drive behind us tailgates us (I really hate that) or when he cuts us off. What about the co-worker who gossips about me in the office? Do I retaliate and gossip about him or her? We have to make choices from our temper to alcohol to what we do with our money and free time.

As you can see the list could go on for some time. What can make our choice easier is knowing what the Lord wants us to do. In the verses above it’s packed full of the word choice and the word obey. God wants us to make choices that are obedient to his Word. It definitely isn’t easy, but in the long and short run it will be for our benefit.

I’ve determined there are two ways that people learn and grow in life. They either choose to do the right thing because they know it’s pleasing to the Lord or they learn thru the school of hard knocks. They just don’t believe the choice before them will lead to the same consequence that it did for others and so they go for it and then act surprised when it gives the same negative result it always does. Now the hard knocks can be someone else’s and that is how I chose to go thru my youth. I witnessed the mistakes of my older brother and saw that I didn’t want to go down that path.

I pray for you all today that you would choose life. God wants to bless you and your obedience to Him. But if you mess up, don’t get discouraged, confess and make the right choice next time. If you keep repeating the same poor choice, perhaps you need some accountability in that area.
God Bless you all and have a great week. Thanks for the opportunity you give me to share with you all.

Take Away
1. Do you have to experience everything yourself to learn life’s lessons?
2. Do you keep repeating the same mistakes?
3. Will you commit today to choosing God’s ways? (See Isaiah 55:8-10)