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My hope is better than your BMW

06 Mar

My hope is better than your BMW

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11    I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.(NIV)

Ecclesiastes would be probably the least likely popular book in the Bible in the area I live in. Northern Mecklenburg county is an area of excess; lake living, big money homes, cars, and toys. People are so focused on themselves and the rewards they feel entitled to, I doubt their hearts would care for the words of wisdom found in this book. I too fell into that trap; I lived with the motto of who dies with the most toys wins. I sought it all, borrowed to pay for it all, and am still trying to pay for my mistakes. I thought happiness was found in material possessions like many of you. There are sadly men in God’s pulpits these days preaching that God wants you to have them. Joy is not found in anything made by mans hands or gains.

Ecclesiastes is the book by the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon. It is the book at the point in his life that he “gets it”. He was given his wisdom and his wealth by God. He took those gifts and ran from God grabbing all that he could to make him happy. He built a great temple, great homes, fortified cities, male and female servants, endless treasures……all kinds of stuff made by mans hands and gains. Through his wisdom in this book he came to realize all his hard work would be left to somebody who had done nothing to earn it; he could take nothing with him into eternity. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. He had worked so hard to obtain; yet it is all gone in a breath of life; Vanity here is described as that fleeting moment.

There is only one way that you can find happiness, one secure investment that will reap guaranteed rewards. Place your hope in eternal treasures, and invest your life in the rewards of investing your hope in Jesus Christ in others. You will leave behind a legacy of eternal rewards for endless generations to come. You will gain a joy that no monetary possession can provide. You will gain a peace that the world cannot reclaim. You will gain a freedom in your soul that carries no price, but pays in endless eternal riches. You will come to see the simple things in life as gifts from God. Solomon grasps the idea of the gains found in the simple pleasures, the simple gifts from God. 26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. The closer you draw to God, the more you realize what matters on a worldly scale, does not matter on the eternal one. The seemingly lowly here, are in truth great gifts from God.

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Tunnel vision

04 Mar

Tunnel vision

2 Timothy 2:14-15   Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy of how to keep focused; of how to not waste his energies on some of the false profits in that day. Some things are just considered babble, and not even worthy of Timothy taking the time to respond. Paul is pressing Timothy to focus on the Gospel, and the defense of it, but to not spend his time addressing the matters that truly do not matter at all. Focus on his ministry and make sure that it always has substance that benefits the hearers. Do not waste his time and energy on things that truly did not make a difference.

“Rightly divided” is only found here in the New Testament. It means to “cut straight”, like a straight path, or keeping a straight course. Paul is charging Timothy to not let the distractions take his eyes off his ministry. Satan loves to provide the distractions. When you begin to pursue God in his Word and prayer, it is no coincidence that phones ring, something seemingly important arises, you remember a “to do” that hasn’t gotten done, anything and everything to take your eyes off spending time with God. Satan knows the power that comes in a heart truly seeking God; a heart focused on serving God and becoming a disciple for Him. Satan wants to give you every reason, even seemingly good reasons to not come to abide.

A heart for Him is a heart that feels his power in the Word that is given to us. The more time you spend in the Bible, the more the Holy Spirit reveals it too you. 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. With this time cultured in the Bible comes an understanding that brings about a light in your heart that others begin to see. This light is the light of Christ that lives in you, and He begins to use you to teach what He has shown you in his Word. The more time you spend there, the more you live a life focused there, the more you become like Him. Stay rooted in God’s Word and begin to strive to be the best disciple you can be for Him. You will begin to see the distractions for what they are, and your heart will be less bent to respond to them.

 
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Posted by on March 4, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Wake up

26 Feb

Wake up

Jonah 1:4-5    But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

I have openly shared of my struggles with anxiety and depression. The roller coaster of life’s emotions, the highs and lows that take us from one day to the next. You don’t even have to possess the torment of depression to possess the stresses that take you down those roads of seemingly self-pity. Of dropping into the pit of the “why” or the “what next”. So many times the best escape is to shut down; to lay your head down and escape with sleep. Anxieties may inhibit sleep, but once it moves into the depression you can lay your head down anywhere and rest. I cannot help but think Jonah felt this pressure; and escaped into the ships hull to run from it and sleep. If it was rooted in fear of God, of the sea, of his next step in life, he would have been pacing the hull, not sleeping in it.

I am at a place in my life like Jonah; feeling a call on my life to go, and trying to prepare to be obedient. I can see the storms in my life that God is using to get my attention, to steer my ship, to prepare me for what He has planned. Some days the pressure gets so great I too must escape into the hull of the ship. Where do you go when God starts pressing on you? Sleep may be a means of temporary rest, but He will be there to remind you when you awake. The captain of the ship awoke Jonah to remind him. Jonah 1:6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” Is it possible that in your own life, that in your running from God you have them in your boat too? Are those around you suffering because of your disobedience? I have asked myself these questions.

The ships captain and crew were doing all they could do to lighten the load to keep the ship from sinking. They were trying in all their power to thwart the sovereign will of God on what He had planned for Jonah. They did not realize that God was even using their situation to draw them into the knowledge of Him. They came to know Him on the sea that day. Jonah 1:16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. God is likely at work in many areas of your life, and those he has placed in your life’s circle. It is impossible for us to understand how He even takes our mistakes and turns them into victories, but if my God can breath a star into existence, the plans and details of my life define simplicity.

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Hold on. Wait a minute!

15 Feb

Hold on. Wait a minute!

Luke 9:57-62   Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“Hold on, wait a minute. I just gotta ___________” Let me FIRST get a few things done, a few items in order, a few questions answered, a plan assembled; and then I will follow you. “Oh yes Lord, I want to follow you, but first tho…….” When you are a planner by nature, breaking that mold on the seemingly big things is hard to do. When you want everything to be in order, the freedom of it not being in order, is seemingly not a freedom at all. Letting go, and letting God, is a hard thing to do. We speak of our faith, but when our faith is taken outside of our comfort zone, the level of our faith is at question; these things I personally understand.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and this text takes place on a seemingly dirt road through towns where you know Christ attracted attention as he passed through. People were drawn to Him and wanted to be a part of the group. They had no idea of the cost of discipleship. There are many great books out there that speak about this; Christ plainly states the cost of it here; that it demands total commitment and His authority in one’s life. There is nothing that must come before Christ in the heart of a disciple. You say you want to be His disciple, but you cannot command the terms of an agreement to it. It requires great test of the heart and faith. It requires an eternal focus. It requires the denial of self, not the exception; ““Lord, I will follow You, but…” (61)

Living for Christ demands a focus on the future. It demands a heart that is in the now, living in the present for Christ, and not stuck in the past. God has you where he wants you today; for today to live your life for him in that moment. It is not to worry about the things that He has delivered you from in the past; it is for today and the present tense with him. Our past should be looked at as only our testimony; of our life before Christ, and the means of it to share what He can do for others in those same struggles. If you are grabbing ahold of his plow and looking back, the furrow you are digging will be out of the center of His Will for your life. 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Only by keeping your eyes on Him will you remain in the center of His Will.

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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It is all in there

12 Feb

It is all in there

Romans 11:36-12:2     For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

It is almost impossible to single out a few scriptures in the book of Romans to write on. Romans is Paul’s pinnacle writing, steep in theology, God’s sovereignty woven throughout the epistle, chapters hinge on preceding chapters. It must be read in context; as all the Bible should; but the understanding of it is deep in the meanings of all that is laid out prior to where God is speaking to you in it. Paul had been pointing to the sins of Israel, and the relation of that sin to the Gospel going out to the Gentiles; all of this in God’s sovereign plan for mankind. The pieces of His puzzle all coming together in a way that makes little sense to us; yet there can be peace in us that understand He is in control of it all. Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. God’s sovereignty explained in one simple sentence.

When you come to understand, to grasp that you are one of the elect, one of a chosen child of God’s, their is a humbleness in your heart that draws you to rest in peace. God has prepared your heart for that understanding. He has given you the ability to possess that peace and joy that the world cannot steal away. He has given you the ability to see all things as temporal; he has given you the ability to possess peace when all around you is failing. Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This world is in chaos right now in all areas; political, economic, rumors of war, poverty, social, weather phenomena; the list could be detailed right down to each of us. We are all living in a world out of control, a world turning their backs on God.

God is really pressing on me. I do not know what his plans are, but I feel him pressing on me. When times get tough, and believe me right now they are, I find myself just wanting to spend more time with Him and His Word. I also find that Satan through the world provides every seemingly distraction possible. Those things speak to my heart as confirmation I am hearing and headed in the right direction. Dig into God’s Word if you want to possess more of God. He has given you all you need there. The way to way to transform your mind and body as the scriptures above speak, is found in a heart that desires to spend time with God every day in prayer and his word.

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Nah……I’m good.

11 Feb

Nah……I’m good.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I will openly admit to my greatest sin, my greatest struggle, my sin of covetousness. I have always had the attitude that I could have anything that I wanted, if I wanted it bad enough. There came a time of financial means that it seemingly was possible; I am literally still paying for those mistakes. The ESV version of the Bible limits this scripture to money, but covetousness is the internal desire for something we do not possess; desiring that which is not our own, and it is far from limited to money. Most likely we all covet, but it is a hidden sin until Satan wins a battle in the pursuit of it. This morning I had a prayer of thanksgiving before I continued to read in Hebrews and found myself here; a direct word from God to answer my prayers. Thank you Jesus.

Pastor Alan’s sermon yesterday spoke of our testimony; our lives before and after answering Christ’s call upon our hearts. Mine is a testimony woven in pride, the pursuit of all things that I coveted. Of how God humbled me through my son, of how God humbled me in my finances, of how God humbled me physically in my shoulder; of how God showed me that He is all I must desire. My life changed when I made the conscious effort to spend time with God every day as a result of that calling He was placing on my heart. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. That scripture is the focus of my life; the internal desire to share it with you; the power of the life changing message that is woven in the effort of that pursuit of God every day. All of your problems will be answered with that pursuit, for you will see the answers of God in your life through it.

There comes a point in your life that you realize you need help. That point in your life is many times seemingly at the bottom; for we rest in our pride when we are at the top. God lets us go down the road to the bottom, for then we only can look up. He does his greatest work there, and our testimonies of his work there are what He uses to encourage others there now. When the Gospel of Christ comes into your life, it brings a change in your life and your desires. You will not become a perfect person; you will still struggle in many of the same ways, but you will come to realize the power of Christ in the answer to these struggles. Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” When you come to realize that you have eternity secured through Christ; the troubles of the current situations in temporal life will have less power. The depth of that understanding is measured by the depth of your daily pursuit of Christ, and the power found in it.

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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This is our God

06 Feb

This is our God

Isaiah 25:9 And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

I wish every morning could be like this. God planted a partial worship song in my head early; and I knew I had to find it. I had a great prayer and began my search, which lead to being moved to tears running down my cheeks with my hands in the air upon hearing it. MOVED by the presence of God engaged in worship to him alone very early this morning. Setting the tone for the day in the realization of a heart of thanksgiving………I could not start the day better reciting the lyrics, “I will fall at your feet”. I decided to do a word search of “this is our God”. I came to the passage in Isaiah 25 above.

Isaiah is not only pointing us to his faith and hope of our God, but he is pointing us to the coming Christ. He speaks of how God will humble and destroy the prideful throughout this Psalm. Of how those haughty in spirit will be brought low with their cities. Of how He will judge the wicked and gather and 10b As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. 11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands. There is God’s judgement that the wicked and those that deny him will pay the price for their decisions eternally in Hell coming. In this Psalm praise is woven in with the coming judgements; those secure in Him will be eternally blessed as a result of his removal of sin. 8 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.

I guess I don’t get it; I don’t understand how people don’t see the evidences before them; don’t see the need of a Savior for them; don’t see there is more to life than selfish desires for our time here. Surely in your mind somewhere you must realize that there has to be more to life than this. That ? is God stirring your soul. That ? is a small glimpse of God pursuing you. That ? has your eternity hinged upon your response to it. Deny it and He will deny you. Respond to it and your eternity will be paradise with the One who created paradise. You will possess the blessing of peace and security that will enable you to endure your time here until He returns. 4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 5 like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. (ESV) He is the answer to every ?; He is our God.

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Yep…..it is all good

04 Feb

Yep…..it is all good

Philippians 4:6-7   Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

As most of you know I am open about my struggles with anxiety and depression. These struggles were never a part of my life until God grabbed a hold of my soul. When Satan did not want to give me up, the battle of the mind is where he began to wage his war. I humbly confess that my struggles are on a spiritual plain, and I humbly confess that is where they are fought. When their is movement on the front lines, I approach God in prayer and his Word. The Word is the only offensive weapon we have to fight against Satan. Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. When the attacks come, the preparation you have made in your time alone with God is the weapon you will use to fight that fight on the spiritual plain.

How is it then you ask that I can describe my faith in one simple word; Peace. 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Paul follows up the scriptures of anxiety with the passage of peace too. Because no matter at what level the battle is fought; of how high the anxiety goes; of how deep the depression sinks; I am still winning the war through Christ; I am fighting a defeated enemy that refuses to accept that fact. God did not promise us a life of ease, but that we may be conformed to the image of his Son; and a part of that purification process is painful. These are either designed or allowed by God to draw us closer to him. This understanding will allow you to obtain this peace.

Paul continues to give us an example of what to focus our lives on; how to find the good and set our minds and hearts on it. 8 Finally, brethren, 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. If you are spending your time filling your minds with all the things in this world that Satan provides you to take your eyes off God; he is winning that battle in the war for your soul. How much time do you invest in everything else but God and His Word? A heart for God is much more that a Sunday service. A heart for God sees God in everything; even the struggles that  He is allowing you to face today, to draw you closer to Him.

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Better than Wheaties

02 Feb

Better than Wheaties

Philippians 3:20-21   For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

My wife gets to the point of listening to my moaning, that she tells me she is just going to take me out back and shoot me. All of my adrenaline filled antics of my younger years are starting to take their toll on my mid-forties physic. I have worked hard, played hard, and abused my body for most of my life. The aches and pains are the daily reminders of past experiences, and God has his hand in a few that humble me more than the antics of my extended supposed youth. These also seem to point me to the sins I have lived in this body; of the abuse that was more than physical. Matthew Henry calls it “an occasion and instrument of sin”. That stirs the heart and mind when we come to that realization.

Paul was speaking directly to our sexual immorality, but his scripture speaks to how we view our bodies also in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? That understanding of our bodies as a living temple will bend our understanding of how we treat the physical and the mindset of them. It should not only move us to try and live healthier lifestyles, it should move us spiritually to truly see and understand what is important. How we eat, how we exercise, how we  nourish our bodies plays a huge part in how we physically feel, which we understand affects our emotional state also. Simply stated the better we treat our bodies the better we feel as a whole.

That spiritual side of your temple is only fed by time in God’s Word and prayer. That is where you gain that peace and focus of the life after this; the eternal life that will bring the renewed body and eternal paradise. You can spend 80hrs a week focused on proper diet and exercise, but your physical body becomes your own temple, and you are starving your eternal temple. The strength gained in the spiritual nourishment brings about a peace the world cannot provide. Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We need that spiritual strength and focus to go out into a world every day that is far from God. Prepare your breakfast today with God. It is the most important meal of the day.

 
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Posted by on February 2, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Huh? I can’t heeaarr you…..

01 Feb

Huh? I can’t heeaarr you…..

Psalm 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.

When I pray, I feel as though I must pray aloud. This is not necessary, for God knows the heart and mind before we utter the words. But in my heart, in my mind, unless it is a circumstance that calls for secret unspoken prayer, I speak it aloud to God. It helps my train of thought, it helps keep my mind from wandering, it keeps the distractions of the enemy at bay. It helps me to know my relationship is strong enough with my God that I can say anything to my God. It also helps me to know that their is strength and the power of God in the spoken word.

Psalm 55 is a deeply emotional plea by David; he has been betrayed by a friend and his plea is for God’s judgement on the wicked. David’s prayers are typically passionate, and he is not afraid to lay his true feelings out to God, and the Psalms are full of these emotions. But they are also full of the reassurances that David has in God’s plan for his life; he knows that God is in control. Psalm 55:8 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were many against me. David speaks of the peace he feels when he goes to God in what troubles him; he knows the strength that is gained in these prayers. 22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. You can easily see the reference by Christ in this when He told us in Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

There was a time not so long ago I could not imagine praying aloud in front of anybody. Fear was at the head; fear of how it would sound, fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of not saying anything, fear of prayer period. There is no right way or wrong way to pray, period. Your prayers do not have to be full of the religious jargon; many times they are to impress those that hear. If your prayer is a respectful heartfelt plea to the God of the universe, let it be your own words; those many times are the most beautiful prayers. The one thing you must never do is be ashamed to pray, for that sin has consequence. Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. If you feel it, speak it aloud to God and anyone else that he has before you to hear.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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