The Devil Made Me Do It

I’m not sure where I first heard the above title, but I know it had to be when I was a kid. It always seemed to be said in situations where the person in a movie or television show knew better, but went ahead and made the wrong choice anyway.

While God has given us the power of choice, to choose between right and wrong, good and bad, smart and dumb, we do have to be leery of the fact that someone besides us has God’s power. And that’s Satan.

You can call him the devil, Satan, the Enemy, the evil one, the serpent, the Deceiver, the Accuser, but whatever you call him we all need to be aware that he is powerful and that we are his targets. As Christians, Satan wants to take us out. He wants us take on all his qualities like lying, cheating, lusting, and so forth.

If you’re married, he wants you divorced and if he can’t take out your marriage then he wants you miserable in it. If you’re single he wants you sleeping around, if you’re a parent he doesn’t want you to teach your kids about God. If you’re a pastor, elder, worship leader or a teacher then he really goes after you because now you’re influencing others and he really hates that. I learned that the hard way this past week as I have found myself under tremendous spiritual warfare recently as the enemy has tried to discourage me from writing these devotions.

Public figures or people in the spotlight who have claimed Jesus as their own have a big target on them. I said to my wife recently when teen star Miley Cyrus went public with her faith and her quest for purity in her life that I hope Miley understands that she has made herself to the top of Satan’s list. And for the past two weeks what has happened to her? A couple of dumb, but inappropriate photos of her hit the internet and just today she is admitting that some Vanity Fair photos she posed for are “embarrassing” to her.

She is just one example. We have all heard of public figures of faith who have fallen under Satan’s temptations and out comes the phrase, “and that person call himself a Christian, what a hypocrite.” In some cases, we are caused to cringe and say “how could that person do something so stupid?” but I find myself recently having more compassion because I know I have never faced that kind of warfare from the devil.

What’s the bottom line in all of this? It’s not to bring you down, but instead to make you and me aware that we are Satan’s targets. The bigger impact we are making for the Kingdom, the greater spiritual warfare we will find ourselves under. If you don’t feel like you’re under attack then possibly you have to look at how much impact you’re making for God.

God did not leave us powerless against Satan in this world. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” James 4:7. I encourage you also to read Ephesians 6:10-19 so we can be armored up to fight his daily attacks.

If Satan beats you one day, don’t get discouraged. Rebuke him and make amends if you have to and God will supply the grace and mercy you need to continue on another day. We know the outcome. Satan has been defeated and he won’t be spending eternity with us.

Today. The devil won’t make me do it.

Supersize Me

We live in a society where we love to go large. We love everything big. We go to fast food restaurants and say, "yeah, you can supersize those fries and my drink." We love to buy big screen televisions and if a 17 inch computer monitor is good then a 22 inch one must be better. I have to admit I have fallen into the trap of as long as we are here mentality that I might I as well get the biggest product ( because the biggest is the best, right?).

While we have all seen the pitfalls of going large in the arena of eating my passage today takes us to a place it's okay to have a supersize portion. It's called our faith. In the Old Testament God sent to the kings of Israel two great prophets, men of god who tried like heck to keep the kings following God's ways. There names were Elijah and Elisha. No confusion there, right?

Elijah did some amazing things in his ministry through his faith in the Lord and obedience to God. Last week I touched upon on his stories when he had the smackdown with the prophets of Baal, but he was also allowed to perform other miracles as well like raising a child from the dead. At the end of his ministry God raised up a successor, Elisha, and Elisha like any good protege, stuck to Elijah like glue. He went with him everywhere.

One day when they were out they came to the Jordan River and needed to get to the other side. No bridge, no problem. "Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!" 2 Kings 2:8 From there Elijah asks Elisha what he would like since Elijah's ministry and life were about over and Elisha's response is classic. "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor." 2 Kings 2:9

Elisha was saying in a sense, "God give me twice what that guy over there has. I want what he has and then some." Elisha's request was eventually honored and it can be traced that Elisha actaully performed twice as many miracles as Elijah did. Isn't God awesome? Have you ever seen qualities in other's that you like? Maybe a great speaker or a great person of faith? While God has made us all unique it's still okay to say, "Lord, can I have double the prayer life that my friend Peggy Sue has? She seems to pray such powerful prayers." "Lord, can you give me strength of my friend Janie who seems to handle every crisis in her life with such ease?

The beauty of faith is that God didn't give Elisha twice as much faith as Elijah and that allowed him to be twice as useful to God. No, we are all given the same amount of faith when we come to Christ. It's all a matter of how we tap into our faith that sets us apart. God may give different spiritual gifts to everyone, but He doesn't give out more faith to any one person. If we are determined to live for God, with his power and our faith we can move mountains.

The Bible says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 The number one thing that frustrated Jesus about his disciples was their lack of faith. If we have to see the results in the physical world first to believe something then that doesn't take much faith. Paul reminds us, "We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

So if you would like special abilities, to increase the power of your faith, to be used by God in a mighty way then ask Him. And step out in faith and act upon the requests. And then watch the results. They maybe twice what you asked for.

Fill Me Up

Last week I started a series looking at the power of God. It’s something that sets us apart from others in the world, not in a snobbish way, but rather a holy way. A way that says we’re special and I have something great planned for you so I’m going to give you a special gift. As a I wrote last week this gift is God’s power. We studied some of his attributes, but today I want to study where it comes from and what God’s power in and through us can accomplish.

The power of God comes to us at salvation. Jesus told his followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere-In Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and in the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

When we accept Jesus as our savior we immediately receive His power through the Holy Spirit. The first example of God’s power was shown in Jesus’ disciples. Before the resurrection they all fled because they were scared, Peter denied Jesus three times and their faith often came into question. But afterwards, they were essentially new persons. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

What are some of these new things that God’s power will enable you to do? Let’s look at a few of them and remember it’s only a few. God’s power in you has no limit so with Him, all things are possible. One gift of His power will allow you to share your faith. “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. “Act 4:33

Like the disciples, you will have the ability to tell your friends and acquaintances about what Jesus has done in your life. You will be done talking with someone and you’ll probably ask yourself, “Was that me sharing about my faith?” and the answer is no. That was the power of God in you.

His power will enable us to be a part of His miracles, even those beyond our imagination. I encourage you to memorize this verse from Ephesians. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” Ephesians 3:20. God’s in the miracle business, but it’s by His power working in you and me that great things are accomplished. God doesn’t just sit on his cosmic throne and wave his hand and we watch. He can do that, but he wants to use us regular folks to show the world of His great might.

A third gift of His power and the final one for today (I promised to keep it shorter) is that God’s power gives us all the tools necessary to live our lives on this side of heaven. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” 2 Peter 1:3.

His power means we have no excuses not to make a difference here because we are all equipped with the gifts necessary to carry out His will for our lives. It’s not just given to your pastors and elders. Now I pray that you would all be encouraged this week and know, without a doubt, that you can be a difference maker right where God has you today. In your workplace, your neighborhoods and schools God is waiting to use you and me to impact His Kingdom for His glory.

Don’t you feel stronger already?

Help!!

My daily walk through the Israelite Kings is always interesting to me. It always starts out telling you how old they were when their reign started and how long they were in power and then most importantly whether they did good or evil in the sight of the Lord. I find myself rooting for this king or that to be a good one if I've just had a run of duds.

One such "good" king was Hezekiah. He was a king for the Israelite southern kingdom of Judah. In fact, the Bible says, "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after him time" 2 Kings 18:5. What I find interesting about him is the subject of my post today and that is his focus. He always kept his eye on the Lord and turned to him as a first reaction and not a last resort.

As what always seems to be the case in the Old Testament there is a great story to illustrate a man or woman's character. For Hezekiah it comes in 2 Kings 19. In Old Testament days, the kings always had to watch their backs since someone was always looking to put a knife in it and for Hezekiah it was no different. He received a letter from an enemy (the Assyrians) that they were going to attack Judah and wipe them off the face of the planet.

Here's where the story gets good. Does Hezekiah panic? Does he run for the hills since the Assyrians had never been defeated? Does he immediately put his army together to get ready for battle? The answer to all these is no. Instead, he heads to the temple by himself and takes the matter before the Lord.

"After Hezekiah receive the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord's Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord; 'O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the might cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words of defiance against the living God.' 2 King 19: 14-16

Can't you just see the image and hear the passison in Hezekiah's voice? His relationship with the Lord was so strong that he could pray powerful prayers like this. He was asking him,"Look Lord, can't you see what this bad guy wants to do to your man of God"?

Now as I mention frequently from these OT stories we need to find our application or takeway from these stories since we don't likely have enemies out to kill us (Gosh, I hope not). We need to be men and women of prayer. We need to pray first and then wait for God to act. What eventually happens in our story here is Hezekiah doesn't have to do a thing. God wipes his enemies out while they slept.

Now God might not always solve our problems and issues for us, but we do need to trust Him to give us the answer. It might be for us to act or for step aside while He handles things. I have often had a tendency to do things a little backwards. I would run into a problem, jump in and do something, then ask God to bless it. It didn't usually work out.

I encourage you all to take a look at your prayer life. Is it a first response or a when I get around to it? Is your faith strong that you expect positive answers or are your prayers more like wishes? The Bible says we are to "never stop praying" 1 Thessalonians 5:17. You just memorized a verse by the way. So don't think you have to pray for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. A prayer can be as short as one word, "Help."

When you pray, expect answers. It might not always be yes, it could be no or it might be wait you're not ready for the answer to be yes. This is by far the hardest answer since it requires us to keep praying about the matter.

Have a great weekend and I'll be praying for you.

The Power of God

The Lord has given me a topic to write about I often take for granted. Maybe you do to. It is one of the areas that set us apart from the world. In fact, it’s extensive enough that I’m going to spend several weeks discussing. I will also try to be a little briefer since I know your time is important to you.

I’m talking about the power of God and it’s available to all of us. In week number one let’s look at what is the power of God and its attributes and in following weeks we will study where we get it, how do we use it and who else has this power (Satan).

Power is an English world relating to various ideas of authority, ability, capacity, might and strength. To God, power is intrinsic to who He is. It is His character. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

In other words, if we want to see God’s power, we just need to look up and around. It’s in His creation. You would have to admit God has to be pretty powerful to create the heavens and the earth as described in Genesis. His power was shown in His creation, but how else does He show His power or character. Here are a few of the ways.

The first way is He shows there is no match against Him. “O Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?” Deuteronomy 3:24. The answer is no one.

The second attribute to God’s power is that it lasts forever. It has no start and no end. “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:4. I think from this verse we’re talking about the Lord. I am so glad that God can’t be put in a box.

And lastly for today, God’s power means He doesn’t have to train, study or lift weights. Because there is nothing He can’t do or accomplish if He desires. “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27. I love when the Lord shows His sarcastic side since it’s a spiritual gift of mine (just kidding, it’s not a gift). It gets me in trouble a lot.

Do you need God to reveal His power to you today? Are you in need of a miracle? Are you at a tough point in your life that only God can handle? Then seek Him and ask Him and trust Him for the results to come.

Go out in His power today.

One Foot In One Foot Out

I have to admit. I've watched wrestling on TV. I used to love the big hype before matches and the challenges, the stare-downs, the threats of what one opponent was going to do to the other. Some of the big boxing matches were the same, but most of the time the match turned into more talk than fight.

Today's Bible story is a classic and when you look at the competitors it looked like it would be no competition. In one corner was the prophet Elijah, the challenger and great man of God who was used by the Lord to speak some sense into the Israelites. His opponent was well, it was more than one, try 850 prophets. The big difference in this match was that Elijah had God in his corner and his 850 prophets worshipped Baal and Asherah, both pagan gods of the time.

The reason Elijah challenged them was he was tired of the people bouncing between God and pagan idols. So instead of taking the match to the ring, Elijah took it to Mt. Carmel and offered this. "Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, 'How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two options? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!' But the people were completely silent." 1Kings 18:21

Perhaps the silence was the guilt they felt for trusting in God then turning their backs on Him. I encourage you to read the rest of the story where of course God wins with a knockout (literally), but the takeaway for us is what Elijah was calling out the people for. One foot in, one foot out.

The people wanted to follow God sometimes and worship Baal and Asherah poles when they thought He was slow. We may not know about Baal and Asherah today, but substitute worldly things that take our focus off God. He wants all of us. He wants fully committed, fully surrendered and fully dependent followers who will supply all our glorious riches.

God is not impressed that we go to church on Sunday's. He's not impressed we show up at Easter and Christmas Eve services. There is a word for this kind of Christian lifestyle and it's called lukewarm. We often associate lukewarm with water. It's the kind that's not too hot and not too cold. Lukewarm can fool you into thinking you won't get burned or you won't freeze, but instead nothing happens.

Revelation 3:15-16 gives us Jesus' insight into lukewarmness as he tells the church in Laodicea. "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! Yuk

I encourage us today to assess our walk with Jesus. Are we fully committed to Him? Do we walk with Him and talk with Him? Do we spend time with Him in His word? I heard a great quote from a conference last week and here's my chance to use it. If you were on trial for being a believer in Jesus Christ would there be enough evidence to convict you?

If your answer to any of the above is no, don't fret. God is not mad at you and His grace is sufficient, but make today the day you come back to Him and guess what will happen? It will be victory over the devil with a knockout.

One Way

I travel around the desert a lot for my job and I go into a lot of gated communities. Some of them are guard gated where I’m allowed in only if the homeowner has notified the guardhouse and then he gives me a wonderful pass that says I can enter. The remaining gates are telephone operated and the homeowner answers their phone when I call and press the number 6 and then I hear the treasured command “Access Granted.”

Whenever I’m in the car with Judy and my kids we get such a kick out of it. It sounds so formal, but it comes across in such a way that you’re happy you’ve been accepted. As Steve Martin said in the movie “The Jerk” when the new phone book arrived and his name was in it for the first time, “I am somebody.”

If you know where I’m going with this, heaven is going to be like this someday. Except, the gatekeeper is not a machine or someone wearing a bad uniform, but instead it’s the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This devotion was spurred by a couple of things I saw this past weekend. First was a clip in an e-mail being sent around of Oprah denying Jesus is the only way to God and the other was a conference I attended over the weekend by author Lee Stroebel who addressed this subject as well.

It all stems from Jesus’ claim in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Pretty powerful statement and one that is viewed as controversial by many. In the clip posted on You Tube from an old Oprah show, she was trying to explain that there are many paths to God and that Christianity is just one of many. In other words, we’re being narrow-minded to say we have the only way.

My take on this is we have to look at the source of the person who said it and why he said it. These are the words of Jesus himself. He claimed to be the Son of God, he went to a cross and died a bloody death on the cross for you and me for all our sins, but most importantly he rose from the dead. His death was witnessed by many and he was seen by many after the resurrection. If Jesus says He is the only way who are we to say He isn’t. If He isn’t the only way then He would be a liar and that would be out of His character.

Why did Jesus tell us He’s the only way. I believe He wants our obedience. He wants us to keep our eyes fixed on Him. Oprah was right in her claim that there are many roads that people travel to reach God. Some follow the straight and narrow path of following Him their whole life and others take a much bumpier road, but where Oprah misses the point is that unless Jesus is at the final destination then we have just run into a dead end.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He tells us, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Matthew 7:13-14. Apart from God all our lives lead to separation from Him and the road leads nowhere, but with Jesus at the guard house, thought the entrance is small it is still attainable. We can all make if we don’t give up and lose sight of our final destination.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Access Granted.

What Was He Thinking?

I'm sure we've all watched in amazement the parade of sports stars and celebrities who seem to have it all going for them and then they blow it. They have achieved success at the top of their fields whether it's Barry Bonds and OJ Simpson in sports to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson in the music industry to even Richard Nixon in politics.

They had money, power, fame, entourages and adoring fans (maybe not Nixon). They could all snap their fingers and people would jump. These are all things that might seem appealing to us and we've possible even wished we were famous and had everyone wanting our autographs. But what happened?

They all made a bad choice that sent their lives into a spiral. Now some compounded one bad choice with another and still another as they started to cover the last screw-up. I know we've all sat on our couches and said "How could that Britney Spears be so stupid?" and "Didn't Bonds have enough talent before going to the juice?" But I find myself lately with empathy for these people because I know if I made the wrong choice how my life could take a downward spiral.

The beauty of the Bible is it has wonderful stories and people that seemingly illustrate all of today's issues. The classic person I can point to from the Old Testament is David. I think David and Moses have to be the most exciting stories in all the Bible. What makes their stories so intriguing is they are both great men of God, but they are not perfect. They both had flaws. Moses killed a man and David's mess-up amounted to the same.

David was the quintessential star who had it all. He was a man after "God's own heart", he was good looking, he was God's anointed king, he had the beautiful home with the beautiful wives and then he made one bad choice that changed the course of his life forever. Due to his own doing, David was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was supposed to be off at war with his men, but instead he probably thought, "my guys will take care of things, I don't need to go." So he found himself on the roof of his palace checking out the neighborhood and what did he see?

He spotted a gorgeous woman named Bathsheba taking a bath (appropriate name) and at that instance he had a choice to make. He could stand there and stare at her or he could flee. He chose the former and from there things got worse. Being the king he could have his people send for her and he slept with her and she got pregnant. Then he finds out she was a married woman and her husband was out at battle like he should have been.

Finally, after some more attempted cover-up David just for her husband to be killed in battle and he goes ahead and marries Bathseba. Was this the same David who had dropped Goliath with a stone or the man who had the integrity not to kill King Saul when he had the opportunity? Now he's out sleeping around and arranging murders. What did God have to think about all this?

"But the Lord was displeased with what David had done." 2 Samuel 11:27. Can we all say "duh." But to me here is where the story gets better and the application to our lives is so real.

God had a consequence for David's sin. He forgave him of the sin, but the ramifications lasted the rest of his life. "Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel." 2 Samuel 12:11-12. Ouch. Did you know this kind of stuff is in the Bible?

After being caught David didn't go into spin control mode and try and blame Bathsheba for teasing him or saying her husband was at fault. He confessed his sin to the Lord. "Then David confessed to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." Verse 13

David was forgiven by the Lord, but because of what seemed like an innocent glance his life changed forever. The baby eventually died and David's personal life was a mess forever. But, did God discard him and tell him he couldn't use him anymore because he blew it? No, God still loved him and was still a force for God. He was still the bloodline that led to our saviour Jesus and he wrote many awesome Psalms about his troubles.

Our takeaway today is this. Don't get too high and mighty when we see people who seem to have it all fall from grace. If we don't take the proper precautions and have the right boundaries in our lives we could all wind up in a heep of mess. Also, what we do in secret God will eventually bring into the light so confess our sins to him earlier than later and we will receive His forgiveness. Remember 1 John 1:9.

I encourage you all to read the story of David. It has more drama than anything you could watch on tv and it's real life. Blessings to you all.