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Not at the top of your lungs

17 Sep

Not at the top of your lungs

2 Timothy 2:24-26    And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

This past week has been a whirlwind. So much has happened, so much has changed in my life, but through all of it, I am at peace with it, in God. God will never take us where he has not prepared the way for us. These roads will most likely be difficult in some way; we have the natural bend to take the easy routes. We may say that we learned our lesson the hard way, but we will not willingly take that hard way to learn a lesson. In our minds their must be an easier route with the same end result, surely we can find and pursue it; even to delay the straighter, quicker, more direct path that will produce the result that God intends, not what is out supposed will. In your growth as a Christian, you must come to that understanding of God’s Will in your life. With that understanding comes the peace inside you the world cannot understand. You have that peace, hope, and love that the situations that tear others down, build you up in Christ. When others see how you deal with these situations, their inquisitive natures want to know the why and how you deal with it differently.

As I read this passage in 2nd Timothy, I thought of the work God has, and is still doing in my life regarding my temper. He has done great things inside me to defeat that demon of anger and rage. I had a short fuse, and my speech was my fists. My words could tear down; it hurts indescribably when I see them still surface every now and then, especially in the discipline of my boys. I have, and continue to pray for God’s hand in the Sanctification of that demon I battle. When you face those situations that stir you up, and you remain calm in the Spirit, others are amazed at your ability to do so. This is the perfect time to share the hope that lies within you, the work that Christ has done inside you, the peace that you possess. 1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. God may be opening their hearts through their eyes in witnessing the power of a calm Spirit that is living inside of you. He may be using you, to draw others to himself in the midst of a confrontation. Their lives may never be the same as a result of you not loosing your temper in the first place.

Think of this passage in the context of which it was used to Timothy. Paul was charging Timothy to preach the truth; to correct and convict those in their error. He was not to do this in battle, but in a loving spirit. One of my favorite pastors, Adrian Rogers once said, “Preach not with anger, but anguish.” Your heart should hurt for those lost souls. You can never save someone yourself, but you can show them the way to Salvation, and the err of their ways. This does not have to be at the top of our lungs, but with a gentle Spirit in which the love of Christ is shown. Paul knew the battles that Timothy would face as a preacher of the truth, and he did not want Timothy to become silent as a result of  the opposition he would face.

 
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Posted by on September 17, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Even kings take notice

31 May

Even kings take notice

Genesis 26:3-5    Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Someone close to me pointed me to Genesis last night, primarily the story of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Isaac had followed in his fathers footsteps in so many ways. He had fled the land when there was famine; he had feared for his life like Abraham had with Sarah and lied about it; but just like Abraham he had sought God in all of it. He spent his life listening to God and working all his life for God. He repeatedly dug wells to provide water, and avoided confrontations over the wells; he simply moved to anther until he felt God tell him all was ok, and this one was his. He continually sought God’s direction, and listened and obeyed when God spoke. His life drew the attention of those that noticed the anointing he had, and even pagan kings let him pass freely in fear of Isaac’s God.

God is not slack on his promises. God told Abraham he would bless him, and He reminded Isaac of that covenant with his father. Isaac would seek to remain in the center of God’s will in all that he did. He would fail at times, but his heart was after God and the things of God, and he was a testimony to those he came in contact with. How hard do you try to live your life for God? How much time do you invest in seeking God in prayer and his Word? There is a direct relation to that time and the anointing that you have in your life. How will you hear the voice of God; bigger question is how will you discern it is the voice of God? Only a heart for God? 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Abimelech, the pagan king who told Isaac to flee his land after Isaac lied to him, was so impacted by Isaac that he wanted peace with him. He sought Isaac out in another land to form an oath of peace. Genesis 26:28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ “ You can be just as Isaac; you can become a disciple of Christ, with the anointing of Christ for all to see in this world far from God. He can use you to attest to the power He has, and use you to reach others with your life. All you must do is to seek God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul; listen and obey Him when he speaks to you, and others will take notice of your love of your Lord just as the pagan king saw in Isaac.

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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It all works out

25 May

It all works out

Jeremiah 29:11-13    For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

The prophet Jeremiah was speaking to Judah, telling them to hang in there and not forsake God in their captivity. God was promising to deliver them from their captivity at the end of seventy years. There was hope that lied in Jeremiah’s prophecy for those that kept the eyes and hearts on God. God’s sovereignty is something we simply cannot grasp in our limited understanding; He is all knowing, past, present, and future. He holds everything in control, and he is not limited by time. We come to question the events in our lives, but this is doubt planted by Satan, and a small grasp of sovereignty will secure that hope in our hearts. Matthew Henry put it well, “We are sometimes ready to fear that God’s designs concerning us are all against us; but he knows the contrary concerning his own people, that they are thoughts of good and not of evil; even that which seems evil is designed for good. His thoughts are all working towards the expected end, which he will give in due time.”

Everything in your life, good or bad, is either allowed, or designed by God. All of it can either draw you closer to Him, or take your eyes off of him. When you know that you under His sovereignty, you will rest in it. You will seek Him to understand, or better yet to just draw closer to Him in it. The understanding may not come on your timetable, but the trial produces intimacy only found during them. James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 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. When you are getting knocked down, and those 1 2 3 blows seem to come, go to your knees, in prayer. Pour your heart out to God for strength found only in Him.

I am speaking to myself, for I have had a couple weeks full of punches. I have had “Murphy’s Law” two weeks at work, almost to the point of being comical to keep from crying. I have seen my oldest son get sick, when I thought he was ok and passed it off. I have had a rough couple of weeks while my wife has been on a mission trip abroad in many ways. She is out spreading the Good News of the hope that lies within her, and Satan has tried to take our eyes at home off the One she is speaking about. Spiritual warfare is fought on a heavenly plain; one that we cannot see, but we can feel. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. In the great trial of Job, he did not understand that God meant if for good, but Job ultimately came to that understanding in God’s timing when he did not let his faith fail.

 
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Posted by on May 25, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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My anchor in His Word

30 May

My anchor in His Word

Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil

I have had some interesting conversations over the last week, much on which was faith. Have you ever considered that You Are What You Believe? In that little statement your entire life is woven. It will lead you down paths consciously and unknowingly. It will lead your decisions. It will lead you either closer to; or tug you away from God. God has designed ‘need’ into our DNA to draw us to Him. If pride is so strong in you you have no need, my prayer is those walls crumble down. As a Christian we are to have the ‘need’ or hope of eternal paradise in heaven, which draws us to Him. Galatians 5:5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. This righteousness that Paul is speaking of is the freedom from sin and coming into the presence of the Lord. When the Spirit dwells inside us, this yearning comes from the Spirit and grows with our relationship to Him.

Remember “doubting Thomas” who would not believe until he saw with his own eyes that Christ had risen? John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This is a great encouragement to those of us who believe yet have not seen. That faith in which we stand is built on the belief and hope of what God has given us in His Word. The more time you spend in God’s Word the stronger your faith will become. Your hope is strengthened when God begins to reveal Himself through the Truths found in His Word. Your faith can grow from experiences of where you have seen God work in your life, but nothing can take the place of experiencing God speak to you in His Word. The measure of the time spent there is easily related to the depth of what you  believe, and how great your faith is.

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Fishers of Men 01/11/12

26 Jan
Mark 1:17  “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Imagine tomorrow you’re at work, just a regular day of the tasks at hand to earn your living to provide for you and your family. A stranger approaches and tells you to quit your job right now, and follow Him. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Simon Peter and Andrew dropped their nets and followed. James and John did the same but even left their father in the boat. Can you imagine the commotion surrounding this scene? What was it that they saw in Christ that made them give up everything they had worked for in an instant and walk away? Did James and John even dishonor their earthly fathers business and leave him alone in the boat? What did they see?
I believe they knew they were seeing God. God had prepared their hearts and they saw Christ unsullied and pure as he was. Satan had not yet entered their hearts with the doubt and fears that the upcoming years in their walk with Him would bring. Satan would attack them all with doubt in their lives as the disciples. He is the ultimate deceiver, even with the apostles at Jesus’ side every day. I pray that you too will see Christ just as He is, unsullied and pure as our risen King. Draw near and follow Him just as they did in those days. We are living in a time of Spiritual Warfare on high regards that requires drawing near to Jesus and following Him closely.
 
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Posted by on January 26, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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