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Either……Or…….

11 Jan

Either……Or…….

Philippians 3:7-8    But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

This scripture will always bring a reflection; always make you want to take a look at your life from the outside; look in to reflect on what you have held, and do hold dear. What is important to you? For so many of us it would fall under the heading of success. Success typically brings with it the perks of it; material possessions that flaunt our success. Working all our lives to impress those that surround us, to chase dreams of happiness that are never found in material possessions. I for so long lived in this circle of destruction. It is painful to look back at the last 25 years with the labor, the pain, the false financial security, the cost to my family, the cost to my health, the list of damage that fell in the path of empty pursuits under the heading of success.

Paul was very successful by worldly standards. His accomplishments even from birth had molded him into a great man to those that knew him and even in his own eyes. He had gained knowledge and power, and was growing in power in the church; Paul (then Saul) was full of pride. Philippians 3:4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. He had it all he thought, yet he lacked the one thing that mattered; Christ. Jesus came to him on the Damascus road and changed his outlook on life forever. He saw his sin, and he saw the need for a Savior. He became the great apostle Paul who’s life was used by God to write most of the New Testament and give us the example of a disciple; a life dedicated to Christ.

James 4:14 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. You can work 80hrs a week to enjoy your trophies of success for a few hours a week. You can work yourself to the bone, only to have a illness rob you of your plans for the rewards of retirement. You can pour your entire life into the pursuit of success and leave a wake of destruction in those close to you that truly matter. You can also pursue a life dedicated to becoming a disciple of Christ’s just like Paul and enjoy an eternity of retirement in heaven. Will you spend your time here pursuing the eternal, or the temporary? You have a choice to make. Either invest your energies in the temporal, or the eternal.

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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JD SOLD (because I am sold out

21 Dec

JD SOLD (because I am sold out)

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.

I wish I could articulate my mornings to you. I wish I could explain to you my heart, my desire for you to know God, for you to seek God with all your might. For you to arise early, open His Word, pray, and humbly seek Him. My heart lies in Matthew 6:33 Seek Ye First the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. If there is one thing I can share with you outside of the Salvation of Christ, it is the daily pursuit of God. For if you will do this one thing every day, He will take care of all the rest. Satan will give you every reason and every detour to keep this from happening, but you must realize that, and press on. If the focus of your life becomes God and the things of God, there will be little else in your life that matters. When He begins His work in you as a result of that pursuit, true life change happens.

I am selling one of what I would call my top three possessions today. Something that I love, something I hold dear, but something I can do without. Those that know me well know I love to escape on a JD Mower and cut grass; today I let go of that cherished possession. This may seem trivial to some, but it is God at work in my life. There is a point in your whole heart pursuit that God will begin to show you that stuff really doesn’t matter, and many times the stuff is placed before Him. These realities only come to you when you come to God. You do not want to stand before God and try to explain your stuff that got in the way of your heart. Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me. (The first of the Ten Commandments). The proof of our nation that is so far from God is the evidence of all the material possessions that we live our lives in tireless pursuit of.

There seems to be an urgency in the air for our nation to humble itself before God. We are seeing horrific acts of violence that have torn our hearts apart. We are seeing poorly run governments and businesses that are crippling our nations economies and healthcare systems. We are seeing evidences every day of a nation turning it’s back on God. We are promised by God that He will hear us and heal us, if as a nation we will seek Him first. 2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. This begins with you; begins with you arising earlier than your household, finding a quiet place, and opening God’s Word and your heart by seeking Him. Change begins with you, and real change is only found in God.

 
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Posted by on December 21, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Fight for what you believe

15 Oct

Fight for what you believe

2 Corinthians 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Yesterday was a roller-coaster of emotions at church. God has been placing before me people getting lots of new stuff, and at the same time placing a growing burden on my soul for those lost in their sin, and those lost in their idolatry. Dr. Gravely closed out a series on the Ten Commandments in a powerful way with a sermon on “God is Enough”. A short meeting followed the service disclosing the poor financial state of the church due to the extended downturn of tithing in this awful economy. People simply are not giving to church with the honoring of what God has entrusted them to financially. This discussion poured into our smallgroup meeting afterwards. The spiritual warfare was recognized in all of this, and heartfelt pleas for prayer for our church were spoken of.

What do you have, that you do not need? What do you have that God gave you the money to purchase, and yet you did not give any back to God to honor that provision? James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. You have nothing in your possession that you have not been entrusted to. Satan has steered your eyes towards the material possessions and joys of this time here; yet taken your eyes off the prize of eternal glory. Satan is the ultimate deceiver and has only placed these desires in your head to rob you. John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. It pains me to see the wealth of the community I live in, and a church struggling financially. Pastor Jack shared the testimony of a lady in India who gave half of her TWO ROOM house to become a community church. In the only other room lay her son bedridden in disease. She will have a mansion on a hill in heaven.

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. What have you done to prepare and provide for the spiritual world that surrounds you every day? Have you invested in your pastors; the generals in your army? Have you prayed for their welfare as the leaders of your battalion? Have you prepared yourself as a good soldier in understanding how to use the weapons you have been provided with? (the Bible). 2 Timothy 2:4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Wherever you may find yourself, you must prepare yourself by spending time in prayer and God’s Word daily. This ain’t no joke, eternal souls are at stake. Put on your armor, drop down on your knees, and pray for your leaders, yourself, and those whom you influence to see your heart for God.

 
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Posted by on October 15, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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He who dies with the most toys, still dies.

14 Oct

He who dies with the most toys, still dies.

Mark 8:36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

I watched the custom bike get detailed a week ago. I watched the new car detailed this weekend. I thought to myself of my life before Christ and of how that was my life. God has been putting before me lots of people who are getting new “stuff”. The list would be long and personal, but God has been showing me these things, opening my eyes and putting anguish in my heart. I lived for so long with the idea of “he who dies with the most toys wins.” My culture that surrounds me here in Charlotte is sliding down the road to hell in the pursuit of material possessions. They have so many idols that are placed before their relationship with Christ if they even know Him. Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

There is nothing wrong with “stuff” and the joys of life. There is a problem with the “stuff” when it comes your pursuit in life. Do you wish to have a new toy more than anything else in the world? Does that new car mean so much to you that you work long hours sacrificing all else around you to get it? Do you not tithe at church where you are every Sunday to feel good about yourself? You are stealing from God! Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. I have watched my pastor give heartfelt pleas to his flock where the facts are dismal of those that give weekly back to God what God gave to them. How will you answer to Him, if you see Him, of how He entrusted you with the money He gave you?

There was another popular cliche, “He who dies with the most toys, still dies.” That sentence has eternal meaning and truth embedded in it. Get it. There is nothing that you attain in life that you will be able to take with you. There is nothing in life that will not perish after you are gone. The only things that matter are the lives you invest in, and Christ that you share with them. The pursuit of your life here should be in the light of the life after. Even a hundred years here in material wealth, cannot compare to one day in heaven; much less it will be eternal. There comes a point in your Christian life you must get it. You must understand Christ is calling you to put Him first in every detail of your life. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. I plea that you will see that new toy as rust, and invest in eternal riches. Matthew 6:19 “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. Get it.

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Stuff

01 Feb

Stuff

1John 2:15-17    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

We all want, and try real hard to get ‘stuff’. Our environment especially here in America (the land of the plenty), saturates our minds with the pursuit of our wants; I did not say needs. This pursuit has crept into the pulpits and the prosperity preaching of today. But even outside faith and religion, we must realize all our pursuits are vain, for we cannot take any of them with us.  God wants us to have joy in life here, but that He brings is not found in idealistic toil to gain a material possessions. The joy that He brings is an inner joy, that costs nothing, that no-one can steal or destroy, and will last an eternity.

I fell into the trap of material possessions, and idealistic pursuit of them. Once Christ entered in and changed me from the inside out, I realized how much value I had placed on the stuff. John is showing us here that all of these pursuits, simply draw us away from God. We invest all our time, all our resources into stuff that we will remain here when our time is gone. When we stand before God, and He asks us about how we invested our time on earth, what will our reply be? Place your heart, your joy, your eternal treasures in the only secure place in existence – Christ.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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