Our Path is Lit

⁷ For you are my hiding place;

    you protect me from trouble.

    You surround me with songs of victory.

This morning I found myself just wanting to sit and settle into peace.  Dealing with family conflict is so up-and-down.  Even when it has been quiet, it is still unsettled.  You find yourself just wanting to build a wall, draw a line in the sand, something, so it can be contained and dealt with appropriately.  The moving insincerity and gamesmanship is hard to understand and you find that all you want to do is move forward in an authentic relationship that is honest and real or to get out of the relationship forever.  There are times you just can’t put it anywhere else.

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

    I will advise you and watch over you.

⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule

    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

Today’s devotions were on not looking into the future, but letting God’s light for today light our path for today.  I am to do what He has for me today and if I get to a decision point or a crisis He will guide me at that time in the way I am to go.  Applying that to the family, I am not to worry about what might happen tomorrow, next week, or even next year.  God has got that.  I am to do what I know today and to live today in a way worthy of someone following Him.  How would Jesus live today in my person if I were not restricting His Spirit?  That is my question. 

While I know this, applying it to daily life is difficult.  People cannot just be written off.  We don’t just erase them from our thoughts.  At least, a person following Christ doesn’t.  Therefore, the lesson is … faith.  Just know that I have enough for today, He has my path and direction for tomorrow.

¹⁰ Many sorrows come to the wicked,

    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

¹¹ So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!

    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! – Psalm 32:7-11

Unfailing love.  It surrounds me.  May I trust in Him and have confidence in my knowledge that He has it under control.  He will advise me and guide mes where I need to go.  He is protecting me.  May I follow Him today in obedience to His Word.

The Tempest

The front door of our home faces due east.  This morning I was met with a 20 mph gusty wind directly in my face when I opened the door to leave.  Ah, a tempest I thought.  As I looked at and settled into it, I became aware of how long it has been since we’ve had a hurricane or any significant storm of any kind.  How quickly we forget.

“And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’  But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” – Matthew 8:24-26

I find it hard to reach the place where God wanted these men to be.  One, they were with Him.  They had Him in their boat.  Two, they were where He wanted them to be.  He said go across the sea and they were trying to cross the sea.  Three, when they were perishing, about to drown and sink, they called out to Him.  Which of these is wrong?

We want God with us.  We want to walk with Him.  We want to go where He says go and we want to rely only upon Him as our Help.  He must save us and nothing else.  These all sound good to me.  Yet, Jesus said “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” 

Consider the points again.  God was with them.  God is with us.  His Spirit is alive within us.  They were doing exactly what He told them to do.  They were where He wanted them to be.  Are we where God wants us to be?  Are we doing what God told us to do?  He has written a lot of Words.  Do we believe what they say and do them?

If we have God with us and we are exactly where God wants us to be, then Jesus’ question to us is, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”  The point to ponder is, what is the faith test here?  Haven’t we already passed the faith test by believing in Him (putting Him in our boat) and traveling where He told us to go?  Absolutely, these are important facets of faith, but faith has many, many layers.  Some layers can’t be reached until others have been crossed.  

Further, wasn’t our faith more evidenced by our calling upon Him in our trouble?  Absolutely not.  Everyone, even the person with the smallest or even absence of faith reaches out for anything when they are drowning.  Calling upon God in our times of trouble does not measure our depth of faith.  However, we do gain faith greatly once we are rescued in our rescuer.  (There is another lesson here.)

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” – John 14:1

If you have God within you and you are where He has led you, do you believe it is for your undoing and harm?  The faith answer is no.  Wherever it is that I am where He has led me as He walks before me is exactly where I need to be, whether it is in a tempest and I am drowning or not.  Maybe the best thing He has for me is to perish.  I don’t like the idea, but if He is with me and has led me there, then that is the best thing for me.  I must trust that; I must have faith in Him and Him alone.  I find this thinking to be very hard to reach.

It is so difficult to walk in a storm and take your senses off the storm and focus solely on Jesus.  There is a strong wind carrying rain and waves blowing across you.  The water covers you and is blown into your eyes so much you have trouble seeing.  The howling of the wind across your ears is so loud you can hardly hear.  The boat floor is moving so much you can barely hold on well enough to stand, if you can stand at all.  You feel the wetness soaking through your clothes all across your body.  YET, you have Jesus with you and you are where He said to be. 

Do you focus on your senses in this world or do you have confidence in that you are completely settled into where and what He has for you, even if it is a storm?  

We must have God with us and be doing what He told us to do, before we can not be troubled and believe in His Words as best for us, no matter how hard the wind blows.

Quiet Moments

I sit there quietly.  The presence of a new day, a new dawn around me.  My heart is open as the pressures of my work responsibilities conflict my immediate family ones, my thoughts reflect lost family, destroyed relationships, and I consider my inadequacy to be the father my kids need or the husband my wife deserves.

I start a slow drive to work this Saturday morning.  It’s nice out so I let the windows down and turn the A/C off.  As I pull up to the office, Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli starts playing on the radio. 

“There’s nothing worth more

That could ever come close

Nothing can compare

You’re our living hope”

My spirit breaks.  Tears well up in my eyes.  Pain flows down my cheeks.  Goose bumps rise across my back and over my body.  God is here, in my heart, comforting me. 

“Holy Spirit, You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your presence, Lord”

I am conflicted between being overcome with thankfulness that He is here, for this very moment, and my unworthiness to be deserving of even a passing glance or thought from Him.  Why commit me to Your graces?  I am someone who has never fulfilled the potential You created in me.  I am a fragile egg, capable of being cracked apart at the smallest drop.  Why me O Lord?  Don’t waste Your grace.  Find a more worthy vessel!

“I’ve tasted and seen

Of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free

And my shame is undone”

I am immediately so thankful for God’s love upon me.  There are so many blessings in my life.  God wraps a cover of warmth over my soul.

My thoughts move to those who will never have a moment like this.  Where is their comfort?  Will they ever find rest?  Lord, help them to find You!  Lord have mercy on them and give them another chance to choose You, even today.

One Authority

Every parent has had this conversation with their child.  “Do not cross the street unless there is an adult with you.”  “Okay.”  At some time the child crosses the street without an adult.  “Did you know you weren’t supposed to cross the street unless an adult was with you?”  “Yes.”  The child knows the rule, but does it anyway.  Most likely they don't answer yes or no, they make up an excuse or justification for their action.

The problem we have with anyone who is in sin or who believes a particular sin is okay is not in the sin itself, but in that person who knows it is sin.  If a Christian believes that an action, although clearly written as a sin in Scripture, is not a sin then the problem is one of authority.  They believe their authority is greater than God’s authority.  This creates a problem between believers.  If a non-believer refuses to believe an action is a sin, then that is their prerogative because they do not believe, so there is no other authority except their own.  I like the way Francis Chan put it, “I choose to believe what the Eternal One says, not the 47 year old.”  It sounds crazy when it is put so simply. 

My experience is that if you ask a Christian if they believe in Jesus they will answer “yes”.  But if you ask them if a sin in their life that they enjoy is a sin they are hesitant to confess it.  Even if you point to the text and ask about it.  A sensitive heart to God’s Spirit will respond to such conviction; a hardened heart will only be angered against you.  You are seen to be a provoking authority, but actually you are only a road sign, or even better a thermostat. 

Dr. David Jeremiah comments upon how we should be thermostats and not thermometers.  We don’t sense the temperature of the world around us and move to it like a thermometer.  We maintain the temperature of the world around us, like a thermostat, because we are set by a higher authority.

Christians know what the Bible says.  They know what sin is.  It’s just, is it what the Bible says, is it what society tells me it is, or is it what I want it to be?  We are accountable for our knowledge, even if we choose to redefine it to be what we want it to be.  Why do we constantly want to redefine the eternal wisdom and authority of God?  Do I really believe I know more than the Creator of man what will make me more fulfilled?  Really?  Isn’t that an absurd idea?

The issue for any person is one of the heart.  Do you have faith?  Do you really believe?  If so, you won’t have a problem with someone showing you a sin in your life.  You might not like it, but you’ll be thankful for it.

Dull Sword

Pr 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

In the military, when a critical piece of equipment necessary to support our nuclear mission fails, we call it a Dull Sword event and it gets very high level of attention until its repaired to serviceable condition.  Sometimes we get dull in our walk as well.  My Dad always said that we don't serve a wimpy God and when He needs to get your attention, He will do so.  As a result of that upbringing, I've always tried to avoid the "2x4 of life" events that God can sometimes use to get our attention preferring to allow simple reminders to get my attention so God doesn't have to hit me too hard.  I'm blessed to have a brother that cares enough to seek me out to confront me about my laziness regarding devotions.  I've only managed to write one other this week, and He came over with a simple and direct question of accountability: "where have your devotions been this week."  He didn't beat around the bush, didn't pry for what might be going on, he simply drove right to the heart of the matter at hand. 
I appreciate direct and forthright approaches.  I'm not a very perceptive person and sometimes need an interpreter when people hint around.  I'm glad I serve a God who knows me and seeks me where I am with a clear, non-sugarcoated message.  Since God cares enough to send a personal reminder when I miss my devotions, I know I can trust him to deliver a clear message to me regarding other events in my life when I need them.  I worry about my kids and their maturation, but need to trust God more.  I worry about my role at work, but need to know that God can guide me there as well.  I worry about my financial future, but need to know that God has been speaking and guiding savings and investments my whole career.  I worry about our church, our youth, and so forth.  If God can send a personal messenger to kick me in the butt to get back to something as simple as daily devotions, I know I can trust Him to get a message through my insensitive ears and thick skull regarding important people and events in my life. 
I'm thankful for an accountability partner who has the courage to deliver a simple message and for a God who cares enough to inspire and send that messenger.  I'm more thankful for a faithful God in whom I can put my whole trust.  I need to learn to trust Him more thoroughly - a lesson probably best learned through daily devotions...

Holiness Above Comfort

I saw this reference in Matt Ayer's Tea in Solitude blog.  Francis Chan speaks so plainly and to the real point of suffering in trials and tribulation and on how love for and dependency on Christ allows us to persevere with joy.  It is very much worth the time to listen to this message if you are going through a trial, have been in a trial, or might be in one some day (so you pretty much need to listen to it no matter who you are).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pn7WYZE6qk

Stay Gold

“Stay Gold.”  

We watched the last half of the movie The Outsiders last night.  These were the last words to Ponyboy from his friend Johnny just before he died.  Johnny was referring to a poem Ponyboy had read him entitled Nothing Gold Can Stay written by Robert Frost.  He explained in a letter to Ponyboy that being Gold meant being young.  It was seeing the world as new and good, the way a child sees it. 

This is sometimes a very difficult concept for those of us who are “older” and should be wiser.  We have seen a lot in ourselves, in others, at work, at church, in our families, and in the world that we tend to lose some of our excitement.  We have been disappointed so relentlessly and so completely that we might find it hard to be encouraged to make a new friend, start a new work, take part in a new (same old thing) ministry effort or have to deal with so-and-so’s same old problem again. 

If we aren’t careful we will fall into a negative thought sinkhole.  We start with why should I try again today doing what I have done the last decade just to be the same person I was then?  In fact, it becomes easy to reason that you were better, then.  In this evaluation such thoughts will lead you to do things that are out of touch with Who it is that made you Gold and excited to live.  I think this is a part of what I have seen in others.  They are reaching so hard to live, but have forgotten that internal fire and passion that they had for living was from Jesus and it is Him that makes them Gold.  So they abandon what they were and put themselves into a position that they can't back out from.  Then when they try to return, they have trouble grasping why everyone treats them as a different person.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:5-7

Try this small test.  Look around, wherever you are now, and imagine with all that you can imagine that someone, no matter who it is, has died suddenly and is no longer there.  Try to grasp all that it means.  …  Are you sad?  Are you heartbroken?  Or, are you numb to it?  …  This is certainly not a perfect test, but you should have been able to at least tell if there were pangs of heartbreak or not, even for someone you might not know very well.  A result of being gold is having a heart for what God cares the most about and that is people.

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” – Philippians 4:8

This fight to “Stay Gold” is a fight in our hearts to let Jesus rule it and not our selfishness.  It is also a fight in our mind to focus on thinking correctly.  The world is quick to drag you down and show you everything wrong with it.  To flaunt its sin fullness in our face and lead us to depression and apathy.

Have an open heart that follows what you believe Jesus is leading you to do.  Focus on the good and praiseworthy things in this world.  “Stay Gold.”

He's Got This

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. – 2 Peter 2:4-11

God has spoken to me over and over saying, “I’ve got this.”  He has assured me then reassured me in devotions and by bringing specific passages from His Word to me at times when it was completely evident it was more than random chance.  “Chris, quit tormenting yourself, stop worrying, let it go.  I’ve got this.” 

“Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Mt 8:26)  “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31)  “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves?” (Mt 16:8)  Jesus spoke these things to his disciples, the same disciples who were the first to receive the Spirit of God and who would cast out demons, heal the lame, cause the blind to see, and begin the ministry of all that we know as Christian. 

And today, a much weaker vessel is given the same message, “O you of little faith.”  My conversation is something like this:  “Do you believe it is too much for Me?”  “No.”  “Do you think that I do not love?”  “No.”  “Do you think I will not work to present the truth to the hearts of everyone?”  “No.”  “Then, why are you fearful, why do you doubt, why do you reason to yourself?  Have faith in Me!”

O me of little faith, how much longer must God endure me!  There are times when we know God has it, but we can’t see it.  We don’t hear it or taste it.  We can’t feel it.  All our senses about it are inaccurate and wrong.  We have to have faith.  We must swallow it down like medicine if we can’t get it down any other way, but we must get that belief into our hearts and accept it.

Faith is a multifaceted jewel.  Although it has a single subject of incalculable value and beauty, it has many faces.  While one face might be putting everything into God’s hands and knowing God must work or nothing will happen and all is lost.  Another is trusting Him on His Word.  One is desperate (maybe both are).  But the other is purposeful.  I WILL back up and let Him work.  I WILL accept His grasp of this burden and let it go.  I WILL be free as He leads me to it.  I WILL believe.

Comfort, You who are Comforted

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Jesus comforts us in our troubles.  He is there.  He does not leave us as our hearts are cut and our own spirit is crushed, but shares it with us.  He is there.  He does not leave us when we grieve, but shares it with us.  He is there.  It is in Him and Him alone that we find peace in the midst of all that we know dying.  He does not die.  He is always there.

“Light shines in the darkness for the godly. … They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.  They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.” – Psalm 112:4a,7-8

We who know Him and walk in His Spirit of peace and comfort are able to help others who are in the storm.  Julie and I have experienced this in ways we never saw before.  Why now are we presented with so many people who are in such terrific trials?  Did we simply not notice before?  It is because we know how to comfort now.  We know how to share the truth of faith.  We do not simply understand in our mind that Jesus is the Son of God and can do all things, we know it because we have had to lay our lives upon it.  We can look someone else in the eye, who has lost all they know and loved, and tell them with complete confidence that God can change anyone and make the best from the worst.  You have to have faith.

This light of faith shines for those who know Him.  We can be confident that there will be bad news but we are more confident that the Lord will care for us.  What can this world present to us that is more than God?  We must be completely assured that God will do what He must in our lives so as many people as possible have the opportunity to see Him, choose Him, and know Him.  Regardless of what it costs us, who truly have nothing outside of His presence.

Psalm 15

¹   Lord, who may enter [dwell/abide/sojourn in] your Holy Tent [C the Tabernacle]?

Who may live on your holy mountain [C Mount Zion]?

²   Only those who are innocent [walk innocently]

                and who do what is right [righteousness; 1:1; Job 1:1].

Such people speak the truth from their hearts

³               and do not tell lies about others [slander with their tongue].

They do no wrong [evil] to their neighbors

                and do not gossip [L raise a reproachful matter with their associates].

⁴  They do not respect hateful people [L The wicked are despised in their eyes]

                but honor those who honor [L fear] the Lord.

They keep their promises to their neighbors,

                even when it hurts.

⁵   They do not charge interest on money they lend [Ex. 22:25–27; Lev. 25:35–36; Deut. 23:19]

                and do not take money [a bribe] to hurt innocent people [Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19].

Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed [L moved].

Every time I encounter one of these either from myself or from someone else the Spirit is quick to point it out.  These are timeless character trait models for us to be mindful.  When we see them in ourselves we need to ask forgiveness from God and from those whom we've offended (even if they are unaware).  We need to make sure we have people close enough to us to point these out with loving hearts and that our heart is ready to listen and turn quickly.

Get Your Worship On!

Sometimes rather than write a devotion, I'm mindful that God is simply worthy of worship and that I would do better to simply focus on him rather than me or even what He has to say to me.  I'm not good at worship, but God handles that for us too (in addition to sacrificing himself for our salvation) with scripture useful in leading us in worship.  This one is on my mind today from Luke 1: 46-55

Mary's Song
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

Make a Dang Decision!

Joshua 25:15 "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."


Choose.  Choose Daily.  Whom have you chosen to serve today?  If you haven't made a conscious decision, you've still made a choice.  Serving God requires at least a daily decision and quite often situational decisions.  Make the choice to serve the one you know holds your future.  To do anything else is to make a poor decision.  I don't know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.  I choose to put my faith in God who knows.  Only He can choose perfectly.

I will give them a heart to know Me.

The Bible refers to the heart in many ways and at many levels.  The least frequent reference is to the actual physical heart.  Most references can be associated to the emotional, moral, and reasoning counsels of the internal physically hidden center of a person.  This place inside of every person is the place where the real you is located and only you and God are witnesses to it.  Jesus said in Luke 16:15 that “God knows your hearts.” (Also reference 1 Sam 16:7, Prov 25:3, 1 Cor 4:5.)  However, Jesus said in Matthew 12:33-34 that the heart’s secrets are betrayed by the mouth and Paul clarified that the mouth confesses what the heart trusts (Rom 10:9).

Jesus said in Mark 7:21, “Far from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts”.  Jeremiah said in 17:9 that “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” 

Today’s American culture has as one of its bedrocks this concept that rational and irrational thoughts do not come from the same mind.  This means that a person who consistently makes logical and sound decisions would not make an illogical or unsound decision without some external influence.  The IQ test is based solely on this premise assuming that intelligence and rationality go together.  Yet we all know intelligent people that do extremely irrational things.  This would lead me to believe that rational decisions come from somewhere other than only intelligence. 

Psalm 20:4 says, “May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”  This would indicate that the desires of your heart, that inner man where the real you is located, is what is driving your decisions where rational (decisions made to benefit yourself and others) or apparently irrational (decisions made that are harmful to yourself and others) are made.  This is why a highly intelligent person, by our standards, can make the worst insensible decisions in their daily life.  Their inner man is being led by something other their ability to make intelligent rational decisions from data.

Julie indicates that the movie Forrest Gump is a excellent example.  All the people around Forrest were normal and of apparent normal intelligence, yet they all made irrational decisions and led inconsistent lives.  Forrest, the dumb one, made rational decisions and led a consistent successful life.  The point of decision making was from each person's inner self and the condition of that inner self was the most important contributing factor of the person's decisions, not their intelligence.

This is important to realize so we can know that it is within our inner core of who we are that we need to be changed.  This is where the sin nature exists.  We might not want it to be there, but it is there.  This is why we need a new “heart”.  We need a new internal hidden center, a new inner self.  David prayed that God would, “Create in me a pure heart, O God”.  The only way to get a new “heart” is to believe in Jesus as the Son of the one true living God and that He came and paid the penalty we would pay for that rotten inner “heart” that is evil and deceitful.  When we believe in Him, we will get a new “heart”, which is really God Himself in the presence of His Spirit.  This opportunity to believe in Jesus is available 24/7, 24 hours a day, 7 days each week. 

Out of that new “heart”, will come all that is God inasmuch as we are able to express it and allow it to dominate our own wicked thoughts and desires.  God is there, but so are we as is our ability to choose ourselves.  Only through constant recognition of our own wickedness and our intense desire of love for God to reject it, can God make daily work in our life.  Every day we choose to not just believe He exists, but to love Him for being our God.  Russ would quote from Joshua 25:15, "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."  Every day we choose whom we will love.  Our Father will then do everything else.

The most blessed thing God could ever put towards me, towards my family, towards my friends, is to say “I will give them a heart to know Me.”

Your Whole Heart

In Jeremiah chapter 24 we are told how Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took the best of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon.  These were a defeated people who were being located into a pagan culture.  They would serve this culture and be in this culture.

God demonstrates using two baskets of figs how He is separating the Hebrews.  One group will be taken away as slaves.  Another will be left.  If one didn’t know what the Lord had intended between these two groups, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the group taken away were the ones God was not with and the ones left in their homeland were the ones God was with.  But this was not true.  The “good figs” were the ones taken away and the “bad figs” were the ones left.

The “bad figs” were seen as so bad they could not be eaten, the Lord was delivering them “to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.  I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed.” (v 9-10) 

Who, in all the earth, wants to be such a person before the Lord?  My heart hurts thinking of anyone in such a position before God, yet people choose it every day.

The “good figs” were sent away “for their own good” (v 5).  The Lord says, “I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.  THEN I WILL GIVE THEM A HEART TO KNOW ME, THAT I AM THE LORD; AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, FOR THEY SHALL RETURN TO ME WITH THEIR WHOLE HEART.” (v 6-7)

Is there anything conceivable that could exists that we could possible desire more than this?  To know God with my whole heart and to be His son is all that can be desired.  Does anything else truly exist?  This is the only reality.

Today, we may be going through a tough time.  Maybe you think you are being led away as a slave, defeated to your shame, and your home (what you knew as safe and secure) is lost.  Be careful with such human logic.  The Lord might be leading you away for your good, a “very good” (v 2), that is beyond the expectation of those who seek Him as it will fill your whole heart.  Do not be dismayed.  Look for Him where you are and follow.

Priorities

Matt 6:33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The world tells us that we must make a plan and work that plan to be successful.  It defines success for us as reaching notable status in our pursuits and tells us that we are in charge of our own happiness.  Yet when we look at famous and notable people contentment and joy are not the words used to describe them.  They suffer high rates of divorce and mental illnesses.  Why?  Because their priorities are out of balance. 
Certainly scripture tells us to accomplish our tasks to the very best of our ability (Col 3:17), but we need to choose those tasks very carefully.  For students in High School, your task is to do the very best you can in school to ensure you're equipped for whatever God calls you to do in life.  The next steps in life require earnest prayer to choose whether to further your education in college, if so, which college, what major and so on.  These choices launch you on a vector for life and thus must be chosen with extreme care.  The world is telling you to make something of yourself which is consistent with ancient western agnostic thinking that we are all gods.  Nothing is further from the truth.  There is but one God and we're not Him. 
As we proceed through each day, we must consciously choose to follow God first and foremost.  He has promised to light our path (Ps 119:105) which means He will give us the discernment to take just the next step or two in life.  Failure to be sensitive to His direction risks a step off the path of His perfect will.  If you truly want contentment and joy, seek God first and He will guide you into the best decisions.  Once called, do your best at each task and He will continue to use you for His kingdom work (Matt 18).  Failure to follow God risks making poor choices which might seem good at the time, but ultimately lead to frustration, division, and lack of fulfillment.  Choose this day whom you will serve.  If it is God, then quit playing around and get serious about seeking Him first.  If you choose to follow your own path, I pray God's protection over you - you'll need it eventually. 

Things are never as they seem

1 Cor 2: 14The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 

We can only understand things of this world by our experiences.  As Reja says often, "we need the data."  Yet we are human and see only a glimpse of reality and almost always form our understanding based on incomplete facts.  Many of us have shared that we've seen gorgeous locks of hair and then when the person turns around, its a guy. 
So it is with God.  We tend to put God in all kinds of boxes based on our own understanding of the physical realm and our own biases.  God will not allow Himself to be defined by anything other than Himself.  That means we need to study His own revelation of Himself to us: His Holy Word.  That study must be done with the inspiration of God's own Spirit and with an open mind to allow God to form within us the correct understanding of who He is, how He works in and through us. 
It's quite tragic, but happens frequently that we open scripture and find something that doesn't fit our understanding and rather than allowing God to reshape our understanding of Him, we reject scripture.  Often this leads to argument and dissention among God's people.  Let's be clear, in these cases we're arguing with God first and foremost and have revealed an area where God isn't Lord and we need to yield control of our mind to Him in that area. 
May we be a people who are guided by God's revelation of Himself and not by our own fallible opinions.  May we be a people who have the courage and conviction to stand on a comprehensive understanding of scripture and not on our own opinions of how God must be or what Jesus would do.  God has revealed Himself sufficiently in scripture.  Our job is to mature spiritually by studying His word and getting to know Him as He defines Himself, not how we want Him to be defined. 

Be Hot or Cold

“In the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’“ – 1 Corinthians 15:32

This seems to be the downfall in the mindset of many a Christian man and it is easy to fall into this trap of worldly thinking.  The thinking goes something like this: “What advantage is there for me to fight all day and sometimes all night, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, only to get old and die?  I think I see others who do not do this and they seemingly appear to be enjoying all of their life getting everything out of it while I slave away for nothing!  It is time for me to get something before life passes me by.  I need to do what will make me happy.” So, the man goes out and eats, drinks and is merry.  (Or is it eat, drink and be Mary?)  And a whole lot of people are left holding on as the wake from that boat pounds them over and over.

But, dear Christian, the dead DO rise!!  What then?  Do you continue in your thinking and living for yourself?  In the end you will be dead either way!  Live for Christ today or go and die!  Do not confuse the dead by being half-dead or the living with being half-alive.  Choose one way or the other and do it. 

This is why Jesus said he hated luke-warm churches.  Be hot or cold, make a decision!  The average Christian doesn’t seem to realize that a half-hearted decision is a decision to not believe.  Something in this world is so precious to them they will not let it go, or they are too fearful of the rejection of men to let it go.  Either way, the decision is that something is worshipped to a level that it is just as important as God.  This action means you don’t believe in God as the only authority and that His instructions in His Word are the best way for you to live to be completely satisfied and full.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’ Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

How often we see an apparently good Christian led away by the people they are around who influence them away from the things of God.  How foolish we are to think these “good” people have our best interest.  How can someone who doesn’t know God or isn’t in a purposeful close relationship with God lead us to what is best for us?  Remove these “friends” from your life.  Otherwise you will soon be riding the fence and be luke-warm water that Jesus wants no part.  You will be double-minded and unstable.  Eventually the sin will grow and destroy something in your life that you never intended.

LIving for Christ

Joshua 24: 15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

We are faced with thousands of choices each day.  Some are mundane, such as what to wear (ok, I realize some of you actually put a lot of thought into this as you have something to work with and can actually look great, but for me there's just not much I can do...) others are life changing such as who to allow into your inner circle of close friendship.  Regardless, we need a guide.  We simply cannot make perfect choices.  Often, we cannot even make good choices and I give you the history of mankind both in and out of scripture and recent tragic events of local and international terror as evidence of that claim.  We humans are fundamentally flawed and need a guide to make the right choices consistently throughout life. 
As a Christian we have access to the perfect guide each and every second of every day: God's Holy Spirit.  Yet we often treat God as an emergency worker who can only be called upon in cases of dire emergency after we've tried everything else we know to do.  Many even believe that scripture tells us that God helps those who help themselves (it in fact does NOT state such).  In fact, God places himself within us to set us free - not from reliance on Him, but freedom from self reliance.  Yet God does NOT force himself upon us and we retain full freedom of choice. 
So as I start this day, I choose to serve the Lord.  I choose to give my freedom of choice to Him to the best of my ability.  I'm not perfect (you're welcome to pile on with examples here!), but I know the One who is and I choose to trust His judgment and  guidance.  I pray that I have the patience to listen, the wisdom to recognize His inspiration, the  audacity to follow in obedience, and the courage to share the results.  Only then can my life have eternal significance and meaning. Only then can I stand with true character not because of what I've done, but because of what I've allowed God to do through me.  Lord take my life and let it be all for you!

I want to sign Your name
To the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

The Holy Spirit Leads

Here is a wonderful sermon on the Holy Spirit leading us.  I encourage anyone who has 40 min or so to listen to it. I thought it was excellent and follows Russ's devotion of today well.



The Holy Spirit Leads from Pinelake Church on Vimeo.

God is Always with Us

John 4: 24"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

I think we as humans try to understand, define, and relate to God from our own experiences.  Yet we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, so our understanding, definitions, and experiences are out of context of our God who is and exists in the spirit realm.  For example, a simple table prayer that dates back to early Methodism (incorrectly credited to John Wesley) begins "Be present at our table, Lord" which is an invitation for a God who is out there somewhere to come in and dine with us.  This is a fine prayer for a non-Christian, but for a Christian it is essential that we recognize and live the truth that God literally lives within us. 
God who became flesh and dwelt among us, sacrificed himself for us, resurrected himself after three days and then ascended into Heaven, has returned to us in the form of His Holy Spirit.  All of the power, knowledge, grace, and love that is God is literally within us.  Let's be clear, this isn't some mystical power we can wield as we see fit, it is God who lives in us to inspire us to be more like Him and therefore serve Him effectively.  God has experienced our physical aches and pains, suffered emotional anguish of loss and separation, and the joy of seeing people develop in their understanding and spiritual maturity.  He can truly empathize with whatever we experience.  In addition, he not only knows us perfectly and understands our circumstances, he knows the future and is therefore positioned to provide us perfect answers to what lies before us. 
We would do well to think differently about God.  He is not some mystical being that must be invited into a place for a brief time of euphoric entertainment or must arrive like an ambulance in our time of need.  He is a spirit that created the world and each of us for a very specific reason and has now placed himself within us in order to have an intimate minute-by-minute relationship that cannot be broken or interrupted.  He lives within those of us who have called out to Him to save us from our sins.  We need to tune into the one true God who has placed himself within us and stop looking for Him where He is not.  Thinking differently about who God is and where He establishes Himself gives us new insight into exactly how He is rebuilding His temple and where He is establishing His kingdom.  We don't go to God or invite him into a place, we turn our attention to the God who has been with us since we invited Him in.  By recognizing this one simple fact, we can live differently knowing that God hasn't been kicked out of schools or a country, he simply isn't being invited into sinners nor are Christians paying attention to the God within them. 
Focus today on the God who loves you enough to dwell with you constantly.  He isn't out there somewhere to be summoned like a ghost.  He goes with us, sees all, hears all, and feels all.  Think differently about God and I believe you will relate differently to a much more real and personal God.

Shine

 “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16

The weather affects my moods.  I don’t want it to, but it does, at least partially.  Lately, each day has had thick grey clouds and the temperature has been a little cooler (which I like).  It hasn’t rained much, maybe some light drizzle here and there, but the days have a deep winter feel to them.  For some reason I want to sleep a lot.  Maybe I’m part bear and I need to hibernate.  I just know that I am less awake and less excited to get going on days like this.

Similarly, I think there are many days when we are spiritually in dark winter days.  We don’t wake up and see the glory of a new sunrise and walk in the warm sunshine under blue skies.  Everything seems subdued, darker, colder, and the colors in our world are dull.  We find that we just aren’t as excited about a lot spiritually.  It doesn’t mean we aren’t saved, but it does mean we are not very excited about it.  Usually it is at these times that a problem or challenge will occur that really needs you to be spiritually awake and responsive.

Why is it difficult at times to stay excited spiritually?  I would say it is because when you do get excited and start living under conviction and confronting sin, almost everyone you know will reject you in some way.  This is depressing and it casts a dull shadow over your excitement.  Then you lose some of those people.  They intentionally walk away.  They may make many excuses but ultimately it’s because you started exercising your faith and they don’t want theirs to be awoken.  This casts an additional dullness to your excitement.  Then, undoubtedly, the things you are praying so adamantly for aren’t happening.  Someone is still rejecting God; a young person is still running away from responsibility; a disease is still consuming someone; people are still attacking you and your belief; others are trying to cause division; and others are lying to others about you.  It is hard to stay encouraged and see the bright Son shining over all of Creation.

BUT, when I think of what I have been delivered from; when I think of how God has met me where I was; when I get to be at home with my family and we have great family nights; when I am able to do some actionable work that serves and contributes to others; and when I see where God has used me, filthy dirty sinful me, to do anything for Him, I find that I see a sunny day.  A single person who’s life is made better because of God finding a way to use me makes that day a great day.  It is in giving my dull, cloudy, dull day to Him and Him using something, anything to help others, that makes the day sunny and beautiful (spiritually speaking). 

Mother Teresa’s Anyway poem says it best:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Let God shine through you and in so doing, He will make Himself to shine in you.

God’s Goal for You Is Character, Not Comfort

Today I am simply going to point to the daily devotion by Rick Warren.  HERE is where you can go to read it.

A few quotes:

"Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?” One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow. Remember, Earth is not Heaven."

I think about recent confrontations I've had.  There was an evident frustration in him that there existed a circumstance that he couldn't control.  His ultimate solution was to remove the circumstance from his life rather than reveal and confess his obvious character problem.  If you believe your character is good and doesn't need work, you can be sure that you have a problem.  Expect a lot of frustrations in your life.  

"This self-absorbed perspective [of people thinking the Christian life is easy] treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality."

I think we all live in some form of a "denial of reality".  But only a fool would purposely tell himself a lie so often that he believes it to be true.  Maybe we don't want to be who we are, but denying what we are is "ludicrous".  The self-absorbed people I am in contact with not only want to use God for their own "selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment" but they insist that everyone around them should be used for that purpose also.  And if you don't take part in that, you can be sure you are the enemy and they have no place for you in their world.

We learned this week that the daughter of some family friends of ours who has only been married a year and a half is going through a difficult time.  The night she sat down to tell her husband she was pregnant, he sat down to tell her he wanted to get a divorce.  He then proceeded to sell their car and her musical equipment and buy a motorcycle.  He posted pictures of himself and a new girl on his motorcycle kissing.  He shut out his parents, siblings, and grandparents and doesn't talk to them.  He has also stopped all communications with every friend who has called him to talk to him.  Julie called her to console her and she is thinking of moving back here for the family support.  His parents and family have remained in contact with her and support her also and that is helpful.  Although at first he told them that she wanted a divorce and other lies.  Thankfully they quickly saw through it.  ...  It's a terrible situation.  But he is in a real "denial of reality".  He is "self-absorbed" as Rick describes here and he has a false illusion that he is missing out on life with the responsibilities he chose.  

I just wish I knew how to reach him.  I hate the thought of the size of the regret that he might have to carry one day.  A new child is going to grow up without a dad and a young woman is going to have to live without the man she saved herself for.  Sin is heartbreaking.  The only thing I know to pray for is that the Spirit of God would crack into his heart and the conviction of sin would bring him to his knees.  There is nothing else that can change a heart.

The Divide

We are told in a parable from Jesus (Luke 16) that there exists a “chasm” between heaven and hell.  The story is about the beggar Lazarus and the rich man.  In the story Abraham has a request from the rich man to have Lazarus dip his finger in water and cool his tongue because he was in agony from the fire (I find it remarkable that the rich man in agony is still trying get service from Lazarus, talk about the perverted mindset and its inability to see its own reality!), but Abraham responds that he cannot cross the “chasm” even if he wanted to help him.  This uncrossable divide exists among the people of this world today, it does not only exists in the afterlife.  There are some on one side and some on another side. 

I continue to study and remain interested in how people with good intentions can so believe they are right that they hate each other, even while each proposes to stand for the same good.  This does not seem possible to the logical thinker, yet it exist. 

There are examples of this in the life of Jesus.  He was the Son of God, sent from God for mankind.  His words were God’s words.  His actions were as directed from God.  Also in this society were the leaders of the church of God.  These were the most studied people in that society of God’s written words.  The society was a theocracy based upon those same written words.  The people are God’s chosen people and He had a long history of rescuing their forefathers in miraculous ways.  The stories were written down and told and retold.  The children memorized them and they all memorized portions of the written words of God.

How then was it that the Son of God, speaking God’s word and doing His purpose and the leaders of the people of God and the church of God, were so opposed?  They were both doing the same good, right?  Apparently not as Jesus has some incredibly strong verbal descriptions of these church leaders.  Some of the most compelling verbal assaults come in Matthew 23.  Even if you read it in toned down versions of the Bible it is still hurtful.

Imagine a teacher/preacher/wise (rabbi) man saying these things towards you.  “Hypocrites! … Blind guides! … Blind fools! … Snakes! … Sons of vipers!”  In that day, His reference to snakes and sons of vipers would have been the same as declaring them to be demons and the sons of Satan.  That is very strong judgmental, condemning and accusatory language.  How would you feel?  Would you investigate your heart to see if He was right or would you defend yourself in every way that you could?

The answer to that question is what separates man to one side of the "chasm" or the other.  If the Spirit of God is allowed to convict His sin, he goes to one side.  If it isn't, he goes to the other.  

On the other side, the church leaders worked diligently to find a way to trap Him in His own language so they could arrest Him.  The set trap after trap.  They looked for every way possible to condemn Him and put Him away.  Finally, they simply made up lies, paid people to say lies, created every perception in their area of influence to convince people to want Him to die.  Then they created an atmosphere so that the ruling government in the day would kill Him.

Yet, both were supposedly representing the same God?  Obviously they did not.  One was right and one was wrong.  Satan used those who were willing to lie, cheat, and steal to create confusion and divide the church.  And this divide is unable to be crossed.  Satan thought that by dealing Jesus blow after blow from His own people that he would win the victory over God, but he was wrong.  He only made the love of God stronger and more powerful in the lives of men.  It was from Satan’s work that God was able to provide a way to travel over the “chasm” using the Cross.

This is true in my life as well. 

Every time the devil hits me to knock me down he thinks he is winning, but all he is doing is revealing to me how strong my God is.  With each blow my faith becomes stronger because I have to rely upon it completely to survive.  Soon, he will have so beat me down that none of me will exist and he will only have God to face.  I wonder, what he will be able to do then but run and hide!

Do not be dismayed today Christian.  There may be those who, claiming to do the greater good, oppose you because of God and His work in your life.  Stay in God’s care.  Rely upon Him and Him alone.  Let your faith increase and for Him to be revealed more and more.  Truth will win and lies will be revealed.  Allow yourself to be removed so God can stand alone where you are.  There does not exist such an entity that will stand toe-to-toe with God.