Sermon Link
Can You _______ It?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvs4qvpp654lmqk/Can%20you%20________.docx
Category Archives: Daily Devotions
In Your name we play
In Your name we play
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men
It is Springtime, so that means it is baseball time at our house. We changed our boys over to a new league called Stewards of the Game this year. We had heard nothing but good things about it and that they had a Christian theme. We had no idea of their bold statement of faith until we attended the mandatory parent night before meeting the coaches. The leader of the organization spoke repeatedly about his faith in Jesus Christ, and using the game of baseball to glorify Jesus Christ in how the boys handled themselves on the field. Devotions before practices, prayers before and after games, and conduct becoming a Christian at all times. We have been beyond impressed to say the least so far this season.
I also have this scripture on the side of my work truck and it is how I try to run my HVAC business. Everything I try to do to the best of my ability, and know that my CEO is above monitoring my every move at work each day under His name. How you conduct yourself in your every day activities is the largest reflection of who you truly are. Do you think anyone “judges” you because you are at church on Sunday? Do you think they “judge” you because they know you went to church on Sunday, and then acted like that on Monday? When you read this passage in it’s context, you realize Paul is talking about the family dynamic. Paul is talking about who knows us best; knows us at our best, and at our worst, and when our best is an act. Paul also tells of the promise and the warning in the next passage; 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
Are there evidences of what you proclaim on Sunday? Are there proofs in your every day life of Jesus Christ? What did you do yesterday, that anyone who met you might think that you were a Christian? James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Would it be too much to ask to proclaim your faith in some way today? It could even be on a baseball field. The Stewards always close their prayer with these words; “It is in Jesus Christ name we pray, it is in Jesus Christ name we play.”
Experience vs Comfort
Experience vs Comfort
Matthew 16:13-16 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Yesterday at church we started the Experiencing God study by Henry & Richard Blackaby. This is a study close to my heart, and to be honest, I am very passionate about. I know that you cannot participate in this study for 13 weeks and your understanding and relationship with God remain the same. This study bends towards the understanding of joining God where he already is at work around you, not pleading for him to come join you at your work. This study opens up the scriptures, and develops the habits of spending daily time in the scriptures in a powerful way. “You will never be satisfied merely to know about God. Knowing God comes through experience as he reveals himself to you.”
Can you imagine being a disciple of Christ in the passage above? Can you imagine how it was to be chosen by God to be an apostle of God? Can you imagine…….the list is endless of their experiences being in the presence of Christ, chosen by God, for those few years. Peter, oh the outspoken Peter; you can almost picture yelling, was clear in his answer; and Christ built his church on the rock He called Peter. 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Jesus knew that God was opening the mind, heart, body, and soul to the truths found in Christ. Jesus rejoiced at what had been revealed to Peter by God.
If you are living your life in the comfort of Christianity, but have no evidence of your faith, how will you answer for your life on Judgment Day? What will you say when God asks you what you did with the knowledge of the sacrifice of His Son? Are you complacent; are you comfortable; are you feeling good about going to church every Sunday? Wouldn’t that be called comfortable? One of the scariest verses in the Bible is what Christ says in the book of Revelation that he will do with comfortable Christians. Revelation 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. That passage should stir your heart and soul into a daily pursuit of God in his Word and prayer. That is all it will take for the Word of God to stir you into being obedient to what the Holy Spirit reveals to you. You will either be obedient, and begin to experience God, or disobedient, and feel his wrath on that Day. The choice is easy when you realize it.
Up earlier……
Up earlier……
Proverb 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Body clocks struggling to reset; the hearts desire to get out of bed an hour earlier has taken it’s toll. My body still thinks it is 3:30am, but my hearts desire finally overpowers my body to arise and get back early to my quiet time with God. I miss the early morning distraction-less time in God’s Word. In my prayer time this morning the word wisdom was prevalent. The word wisdom and anything surrounding me are far from synonymous; the only wise words to ever come from my mouth or keyboard are by the grace of God. I am far from “edjumicated”; I only seek God with a humble heart for his grace and wisdom to be revealed to me through His Word.
When you come to grasp the humbling realization that God found you, that you did not acquire the knowledge of God, but you responded to the tug He placed on your heart, it is quite overwhelming. John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. You can’t get to God through endless education, you get to God because you said yes when he came to you. You can get the knowledge OF God on many paths of education, but the heart knowledge THROUGH God is found within. A humble heart that responds and then pursues Him is the heart and mind that is opened to the things of him.
God knows your heart and any reasoning behind any surfaces actions. He knows why you are in church, how you pray and read his Word, or if you do any of them. Be honest with him on the surface and he will reveal himself beneath the surface. You will see truths revealed in his Word that you had seemingly read and skimmed over before. Even where the apostle James spoke of the trials of life, God will bring a deeper understanding to life and the relationship of his Word to and through it. James 1:5-6 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. All you must do is to find some time, at any time, and get alone with God. Pursue him with a humble pure heart that seeks to know more of him and be prepared for what he may reveal.
Wheat
Wheat
Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”
Sometimes the Holy Spirit just really presses a scripture on my heart. I believe from the bottom of my heart for the power of entering God’s Word through prayer. Yesterday, this passage really stood out to me; so much so I could not write, so much so I was back on it this morning, so much so it will be Sunday’s message. What God has planned for this, I do not know; I only seek to abide. Will you join me in the study of this passage? Will you look deeper into the understanding of the Sovereignty of God for your life? Will you look deeper into the trials such as Job? Will you look deeper into the pride and zeal of Peter? Will you look deeper into the security found in God not only allowing it, but Christ praying for you through it?
Sifting is the violent action of separating the good from the bad; separating the useful from the useless; separating that which will produce from that which will not; separating that which will produce a hundred-fold from the singular one. Have you been sifted for God; do you need to be? We all think we may have been, and likely we have been as the beginning of sanctification at the point of salvation. We are to become regenerated; to live a new life; most likely that will not be an easy process for our roots are steep in sin. We need to be shaken violently to begin to remove the sin from our lives.
You can picture Satan and all his evil plans going to God to reek havoc in your life. On the contrary in God’s incomprehensible Sovereignty, he sees the good that will come of it. He may grant Satan a limited reign of testing, all to draw you closer to Him. Satan ALWAYS has to ask permission, always. There is nothing that ever happens in your life that did not pass through the hands of God. God has either by design, or permission, allowed all that you face every day. Rest in that understanding. Draw closer to him in that understanding. In the midst of the violence, there can be an inner calm and peace in the storm.
Sermon Link
Link to today’s message – Leave THE light on
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p3ud9086gheogmr/Philippians%202-13-16.docx
One day at a time
One day at a time
James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
At this stage in my life, I am at a place in my life I never could have possibly imagined being. When my dad started our HVAC company over 20 years ago, I had dreams of building that company to sell as an early retirement to “enjoy” life. God reached out and got ahold of my heart and life almost 10 years ago; He gave me an eternal focus and security, and my plans changed. That company that was once a huge asset, is now just a job that just puts bread on the table. The plans of early retirement have faded, and now my only focus is to remain in the center of God’s Will for my life each day. My responsibilities in life have changed, my focus in life has changed; I now seek to draw closer each day with my Savior and to spread the Good News about him to all that will listen. He has prepared their hearts, I am just a messenger that seeks to share the eternal hope and security that lies in faith in Jesus Christ; this hope will not fade as everything in this world will one day. Matthew 6:9 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I see so many that pursue nothing but gain measured by worldly standards. I see so many that pursue the stuff that only brings temporal pleasure; it hides deeper pain that soon resurfaces that brings the need for something new to start the cycle again. There is nothing in this world that will ever fill the void in your heart except eternal security in Jesus Christ. Everything you are working so hard for is trying to fill a bottomless pit. The pit has no need to be filled; lay the Cross over it and walk into eternity and live your life for the One who gave paradise to you. When you truly get that understanding; when you truly not only claim Jesus Christ as your savior but as your Lord, your life and your views of it will change. You will see how all of your life is woven with Christ; you are, and you have, nothing without him. You too will seek to draw closer and closer to him each day. John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Look so deep into eternity that you are only focused on today.
Are you too busy?
Are you too busy?
Acts 20:24 None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself
There are so many paths one can go down with this scripture and with this devotional below. I have this devotional in a journal style book, and I have written in it three out of the last four years; it continues to speak to me. It is so easy to feel good about ourselves in any and every thing we “do” for God. We get so wrapped up in any and every work that we do for Him, we may miss what and where he truly wants us. We become comfortable in our service, and feel good about our service. God never calls us or keeps us where we are comfortable. Comfort brings pride, and comfort bring complacency. Both of these are grievous sins before the Lord for they promote self.
The prayer and heart of the brave; and with that bravery woven great humility, is the plea for God to “use me.” One’s heart must be prepared and obedient to what God reveals.
This is a copy of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Could this be true of me?
It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.
What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.
Because I didn’t have breakfast
Because I didn’t have breakfast
Romans 7:15-20 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (ESV)
I have wondered about, and I have been criticized for, sharing too much of my personal life. The goal of this ministry is to show you Christ through all the highs and lows of my life. I am a walking and talking example of the grace of God. There is nothing lofty about me, and I seek no attention drawn to anything I say or do. I only seek to be transparent. My goal is to show you I am no different from you; I share many of the same struggles, and I have been delivered from many of the same struggles through Christ. I am a “work in progress”; that process is called Sanctification. That process is God transforming you into the image of His Son; it is never ending, and many times very painful, but it is the goal of God for your life.
I am spiritually tired. I just returned from vacation with my family where we made many great memories that will last a lifetime, but in the midst of a great vacation was an incredible inner struggle in me. I was surrounded (very closely) all day every day with lust, gluttony, extravagance, idolization, selfishness, and a long list of everything the world offers. As a man, I struggled deeply with all that was on “display.” Many women see these opportunities as a chance to stand out from the crowd with their “displays.” I struggled for days in the battle of my mind that Paul describes above. Paul had just spoken of the sin of covetousness; 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. Paul had spoken of how his mind wanted so badly to do good, yet in his flesh he failed due to sin. This battle of good and evil that lies within us.
Do you know why I believe that the level of intensity increased all week? I could not get any alone time with God, to put on the armor of God, through his Word and prayer. Privacy is next to impossible at Disney, and Satan seized that opportunity of weakened defenses. This daily world we live in is no different from Disney. You must seek God out alone each day with no distractions to put on the armor of God to protect you from all the sin the world puts on display before you each day. It gave peace to my soul to be at home, alone, with God this morning. Have you sought Him today as in the first commandment? Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. I will always try to encourage you to spend daily time with God. Your time cultivated with Him each day is where you will see true change in your life. The only way I can face this sin-filled world that tries to knock me down every, single, day; is to start my every, single, day with God in his Word and Prayer.
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