Monthly Archives: August 2018

Faith is His sovereignty exemplified

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Change, big change, life change, change that will effect all those for years to come, the big steps in life that bring great anxieties, and great faith. I would never claim the faith or the call from God such as Abram, but only those closet to me have been hearing me share of the feeling of some big change in my life. One of those life altering changes such as this move we are possibly embarking on, Lord willing. A few years back, God did clearly lay the call to put our home for sale, three times. At that point in my life, I had not entertained moving, and it was truly an act of obedience, would I put my house and my family before Him. It did not sell, for it was just a test of the heart; this time I sense it is different. We go to market within days, and we have no idea where we are headed if the house sells. Dana and I are in agreement of a general direction we feel God calling us, but we also are in prayer and looking everywhere. We know God will show us what is next, and it will be part of our testimony and faith in God to share with others of our journey in this life. It is a scary place to be when Satan brings the anxieties of warfare, but the peace of God and surrender to him surpasses all worry and brings intimacy with our sovereign Lord who controls it all.

God told Abram, “go.” Not where to, not why, not how, just take your family, and some stuff, and get out of here where you have spent all your life. Abram was walking away from his position in the family of inheritance, walking away from all he knew in life, and walking into the unknown with faith that the Bible labeled him as the patriarch of great faith. His testimony is incredible throughout his life; moving, having a child when it seemed impossible, willing to sacrifice that child, seeing a great nation and Christ’s lineage come through his acts of obedience to his faith in God. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Faith in it simplest explanation is the willingness to move in any way into the unknown, secure in any outcome, because of your trust in God’s control of it all; Faith is His sovereignty exemplified.

You say you have faith, maybe exemplify it on Sunday, but where have you shown true faith stepping out into the unknown? It is hard to step out into the unknown, if you are not close enough to God to hear his soft whisper calling you there. 1 Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. You must pursue a daily relationship with God through prayer and his Word to hear his voice. Satan fills this world full of static that muffle and distract you from hearing God. The faith and acts of obedience God draws you to, will heighten your awareness of him, and draw you closer to him, allowing him to use your life to show others of great faith too.

Peace in Tough Situations

Philippians 1:9-11 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Yesterday was a day that did not go as planned, in so many ways. Our favorite race was canceled, and a trip to the lake for a family reunion turned into a trip to the ER. Our youngest son had become tangled with his brother in a tubing crash behind the boat, and lets just say the cut above his eye looked like Mike Tyson hit him bare fisted. It was incredibly scary for everyone involved, but God supplied all our needs down to the details of the entire ordeal. Even through a tough situation, God was glorified, and we can find contentment in that, peace in the storm, calm in tough situations, through the Peace that lives within us. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. As I tried to calm my son, my own self was freaked out by what I saw. I was later told of how well I handled the situation, of how I gave peace to him, yet, it wasn’t me, it was God speaking to him through me……(I just came to tears as I typed this in the realization of it.) It was the Holy Ghost speaking to Dalton with the reassurance everything was going to be OK, not his dad. He gave the young man the strength to be calm, with an incredibly large wound and blood running into his eyes….not his dad.

I think this is why the epistle of Philippians speaks to me so much. We must realize the context of every word Paul writes here; Paul is in prison and knows not if he live to see freedom again. Paul is in chains, yet has a freedom in Christ he boldly preaches to the Roman guards. Paul’s heart was to reach Rome, to share the gospel to them, and God opened the door through a way Paul did not see coming. Look at the joy of the next verses: 12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Paul was so bold to declare his faith in Jesus, the guards had come to faith, and then become bold declaring their own. Paul was making disciples in prison and the church was growing in Rome now.

Paul’s letter to Philippi was a letter of love, of contentment in any situation, of trusting God’s sovereignty in all of our lives. The most abused passage in the Bible taken out of context is here; 4: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That passage is one of contentment, not of our own abilities through God. It is one of the understanding of God’s sovereignty, of how we are in every situation by God’s design, and understanding it, brings peace in any and every thing in life.

Train Tracks or Wrecks?

Isaiah 30:21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

You ever feel like you are at a crossroads in life? You ever feel like there has to be something better, something different, something that is tugging a change in your life? Better might not be the right word, but a different path that the one you are currently on. You ever feel that change welling up deep within you? I have told those close to me for some time now, I could sense a change coming. I know not what it is, have thought maybe this was it a few times, but I still know God is doing something, I just don’t know what yet. We always have the ability to change anything, any path, any desire we may have in life; that is a gift that God designed us with, simply known as Free-Will. We are not on train tracks, we are able to divert at any given time. But, the key is to trust the conductor, the one who actually has you on tracks you can’t see, called sovereignty, and to only divert at the intersections he has laid out before you. I have followed God’s direction and had incredible highs and intimacy with him. I have moved when I thought it was him, and encountered incredible adversities. How do we know what to do?

Isaiah’s book is full of the highs and lows of God, the sovereign control, grace, mercy, justice, provision, punishment, love, intimacy, and incredible patience he has with us. I have heard Isaiah is the most quoted book in the Bible. It seemingly flows with the evidence of God to whatever state we find ourselves in. It shows us how a just Father disciplines his children, yet continues to love them faithfully. It shows us how stupid we can be in rebellion, the sin that is within us. Even within this chapter, is where we are today in my nation, in our world. 9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” The watered down, soft, weak, prosperity, profitable, non-saving gospel, is gaining strength today. We want to know what God can do for us, and plenty of false prophets are proclaiming it from pulpits today. Where is hell being preached? Where is repentance and being a bondservant (a slave) being preached today? Where is sacrificing yourself for the One who sacrificed himself for you being proclaimed? If you are not a living disciple, one who places your self-sacrifice to Jesus above all, you may not get to meet him but at Judgement Day. I am going to stop right here, and share the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the NIV (clear simple translation). The best thing I can ever do in this blog, is to share God’s Word, not my own. For the simple proclamation of God’s Word will always do the work within the hearer that I cannot, and always what God desires for it to do, never once in history not accomplishing it’s work. (Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.)

Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
True and False Prophets
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.