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Better than sight

27 Sep

Better than sight

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith shows there is no difference
In your eyes open or not;
Faith is the invisible handle
On what you have got.

Faith does not need to see
God’s writing on the wall;
Faith does not need proof
Faith does not need to see at all.

To seek to see shows lacking
Your faith is not that strong;
If sight is what you rely on
Your missing it all along.

Anyone can see
Only His can feel;
His presence in themselves
Never doubting He is real.

A heart can see the proofs
As the eyes never can attain;
The soul becomes strengthened
Passing the intellect of the brain.

Faith cannot be taught
In books it can never be learned;
Faith is a move of God
With Him it is earned.

Faith is possessed
It cannot be taken away;
The hope that you have
Must be on display.

Your faith encourages others
They want what you proclaim;
Make your when you share it
The glory is in His name

 
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Posted by on September 27, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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A Bottomless Well

26 Sep

A Bottomless Well

John 7:37-39     On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

It was this time of year, early Fall, at the Feast of the Booths, or Tabernacles; a feast to celebrate the Harvest and God’s protection in the Jews delivery from slavery out of Egypt. Those in Christ midst were wanting to go up to the feast, and Christ had told them to go ahead without him. He had left and gone secretly up to the feast; he had heard people talking about him secretly to themselves; he had heart them speaking of who he was, or was not. He boldly entered the Temple and began to teach. In this instance is one of those times they sought to arrest Him, yet they never laid hands on him; 30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. There was becoming division everywhere over Christ; they all marveled at his “uneducated” teaching; they marveled at the signs he performed; they argued whether he was the Christ they were seeking. They did not understand so much of his teaching, for God had not opened their eyes to the mystery that was found in Christ. Only a few truly believed that He was the Son of God.

On the last day of the Feast, Christ proclaimed the scriptures above in John. He spoke of the Holy Spirit which would be given to believers after Christ was glorified on the Cross. Christ’s Spirit would come to dwell inside all of those that believed in Him. The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you is the river of living water that flows out of you. Christ spoke to the Samaritan women at the well of this living water; John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” This living water is a water that fills you with something that the world cannot; fills you to the point of overflowing into the lives of others; give you something you seemingly don’t want to contain, but want to share with others what you possess.

Christ spoke of this gift in John 14:15-31, he speaks of the Helper that God is giving us when Christ ascends back into heaven. 14:25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 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. If God is tugging on your heart, answer that desire that is welling up inside you. Repent of your sins, plea for forgiveness, and open your heart to the living water that fills it. Your life will never be the same, and likely those God has placed around you will not be either.

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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How do you get to heaven?

19 Sep

How do you get to heaven?

Galatians 2:15-21   We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (ESV)

True or False: You get to heaven by being a good person and following the rules of Christianity.

How you answer that question determines your eternity. If the “law” is that set of rules that you try so hard to follow, you are relying on your own power to get right, or be justified before God. You may understand that you are a sinner, and you may think you understand Christ, but it has gotten twisted somewhere in your basis of belief on following the rules to get your key to paradise. I grew up thinking that going to church got me into heaven; as a part of that belief was inter-twined that system of following the rules. I mean, there could be no way I did not have to do something to pay my way, right? There had to be some rule about prayer, forgiveness, hard work, changed ways, repentance; at least being better than that bad person I know right? Maybe it is as simple as on God’s scales of justification, that my good deeds outweigh my bad. I think I can pull this off; live my life to the fullest for a few years, and then spend my remaining years righting all the wrongs I had done……..plenty of time…….in that statement is the works based faith that condemns, and you pay eternally for that mistake……that was me for most of my life.

Salvation is not found in a church pew, following all the rules, or even the mis-conception of anything called God’s scales weighing out your life. There is only ONE way to heaven, and it is by the free grace that God gave you through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Grace is defined as unmerited favor; giving us something we do not deserve. The Gospel is this good news; that God gave us this grace in Christ; the forgiveness of sins through His blood on the Cross. All it takes is a humble, repentant heart, seeking that grace upon which he gave. To come to that understanding that we can never achieve it, only humbly accept it. Upon it, your life will never be the same, from here into eternity. #thankyouJesus

 
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Posted by on September 19, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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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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When YOU are ready

15 Sep

When YOU are ready

Hebrews 11:1-2     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.

Helloooo…..is there anybody up there????? God, are you hearing my prayers? I have been praying to you about this, but you don’t answerrrrrr me. Why don’t you answer me? We all have made those statements; those statements show our level of faith in them. Not receiving an answer, or maybe even receiving one we don’t like, so we continue to pray hoping to change God’s mind. Thank you God for so many unanswered prayers. It is in our little minds that we lack that understanding of how God operates out of the confines of time; He created time, rules time, and is not bound by time. When I stress out over the things that don’t happen on my timetable with God, the Holy Spirit always seems to whisper this scripture to me: 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Can you look at the entire Bible in the light of that scripture? In God’s eyes, it has only been a couple of days since Christ payed for our sin debt due. Look at how our world has run from God again; we are just like the stubborn, stiff-necked Israelites of the Old Testament. We see the proof of God, and then turn our backs on him, over and over again.

Hebrews 11 is the place to go for the proof of those patriarchs of faith. Those people that had such great faith in God, they put their lives entirely in his hands. It was by this faith, that verse two shows that God considered them righteous by their faith. Hebrews 11 is the chapter on which one’s faith is proven by the action that is taken. The level of our faith can be found in the understanding of the sunrise we see every day. The simple beauty and incredible complexity of all creation, right down to us as His greatest creation. Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (ESV) If God can breath a star into existence, the details of my life are a breeze. The level of your faith will determine how you live your life. “You are what you believe”, a best friend, and the Godliest man I know once told me. Your faith is found in that statement and self-analysis. It will guide your every decision in the background of your mind. When you are wondering the “whys” of your life, and or your prayer life, consider that God is testing your faith in delayed responses in and to them. Keep drawing near to God and He will answer you, when YOU are ready.

 
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Posted by on September 15, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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At 300mph

14 Sep

At 300mph

Zephaniah 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’

Zephaniah was a prophet; he was bringing the word of judgement that was coming from the Lord on Judah. He was proclaiming that Israel must pay for their grievous sins against God; they had come to worship other Gods, and committed countless sins and forsaken Him. Zephaniah was preaching a call to repentance and return to their Lord. The good news was that some listened; their was a revival of faith, and we are told that under the king Josiah, Israel returned to their faith in the God that had told them they were His people, and had delivered them from slavery and performed countless miracles for them. Sadly God’s judgement was only delayed; Israel returned to their sinful ways and God passed judgement on them when Judah was overthrown.

In this scripture, Zephaniah speaks to those that sit ideally by; they believe in God, but don’t believe He will do anything; they believe He is inactive himself. The Bible commentary compares them to undisturbed wine; they are the sediment that falls to the bottom. Christ spoke directly to those that sit ideally in the book of Revelations, to the church of Laodecia. Rev. 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. Christ hates complacency; it is very clear that he either prefers you to not have the faith, or to be zealous in it. You are never to be stagnant in your faith; you are either pursing him or you are backsliding. Think of your faith as a down escalator that you are walking up. It takes a true effort to get to the top, but if your heart is zealous for God, you will keep seeking him. If you stop your pursuit, your travel away from him quickly.

My church small-group is starting the Radical study with David Platt. His teaching is core understanding of actively seeking God. His teaching is living our lives in that pursuit. His calls to discipleship are strong; he teaches that our love for God outweighs all others to the point that it looks as hate. I remember God opening my eyes in reading his book in that regard. If you truly come to know and understand who, and what, God is, and what he has done for you through his Son, your life will never be the same. You will never be able to sit ideally by and claim Christianity; you will be driven by a humble heart that desires to be closer to him every, single, day.

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Hillclimbs

12 Sep

Hillclimbs

2 Timothy 2:3-7    You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 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. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

How many roads can we go down with the scripture of verse 3 alone? How many times have we wondered the “why” of the situations that we find ourselves in? God will take us down the paths we would never travel, he will let us sit with unanswered questions for seeming eternities, he will let us take the hard roads for the lessons learned there. How appropriate are the ways of God that seemingly fit the phrase, “I learned it the hard way”. He does his greatest work in these times, and it is on the other side of the trial that we see his purpose in them, if we continued to seek him through them. If we abandon Him in them, his purposes for our lives are not revealed.

When you look at this passage in it’s context, Paul is trying to encourage Timothy for the hard times that will surely come. The summary of this text could easily be two words: Remain focused. Paul uses the example of soldiers, farmers, and athletes; he shows their focus and their rewards. We are to possess that eternal focus ourselves; we are not to become distracted from the trials or pleasures that this world presents. We are to remain focused on Christ and the Gospel of grace that He has given us. Paul pours out his heart to Timothy; he shows him of the pains he has for those in, and outside of the faith. (The Message) 9 It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now – but God’s Word isn’t in jail! 10 That’s why I stick it out here – so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. 11 This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; 12 If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; 13 If we give up on him, he does not give up – for there’s no way he can be false to himself. Paul is pressing into Timothy the need of a life focused on Christ, and the promises found in Him.

Do you seek Him every day? Do you seek Him only when the going gets rough, or do you seek Him even when it is a path of ease? Those easy days prepare us for the rough ones. The days that we sit in His presence, with praise of the place he has us for the day, strengthen our hearts for the trials to come. Become awestruck in the revelations found in scripture daily; place them in your heart for strength when you need them most. Cultivate a daily prayer time so that it becomes a natural response to the trials that come. You will find yourself resting on the promises that you have found in the Word; you will find yourself focusing on the eternal, and not so much the temporary.  A focused life sees the top of the mountain and it’s beauty; not the climb to get there.

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Humbled

11 Sep

Humbled

Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

As I sit in this chair with you this morn
My body is tired from the day;
For it was filled with emotions
You came calling that way.

I have followed that tug
That you placed on my heart;
From your Word every day
I do not depart.

I seek you early each day
I am humbled by your response;
It all started that day
When I opened my Bible once.

Help me Lord to share
Help me Lord to teach;
To show the the way to you
Help me Lord to preach.

Paul wrote to us in Romans
Of spreading the Good News;
Of sharing the hope that lies within us
There is no way I could refuse.

I have felt the stronger tug
Of hearing your call to preach;
I know my strength lies in you
From your Word I will teach.

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

 
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Posted by on September 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Don’t be bashful

09 Sep

Don’t be bashful

Colossians 1:1-8    Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul was in prison writing this letter to the Colossian church. It is believed that on his third missionary journey to Ephesus, a person named Epaphras was converted and returned home to Colosse to begin evangelizing his hometown. We are told that the church was composed mainly of Gentiles, and just like many early churches it had it’s problems. There were many that were leading others astray, preaching and teaching different ways to heaven; mixing the Jewish beliefs and forms of mysticisms that placed Jesus at a higher plain, but not as Deity, not as God. Paul starts out his letter to the Colossians to refute those false teachings. Paul begins speaking of their faith, hope, and love.

Do you see this as the prayer that it is? Do you see how Paul was praying for those that had just come to faith in Christ? He was interceding for them, he was going before God and praying for His strength for them. Paul knew that when they came to know Christ, they were going against the world. They needed other believers to pray for them. They needed the strength to endure the trials, the discernment from the Holy Spirit to recognize the false teachings; the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. They must take that which He gives them, and spread the hope that lies within them. When we pray for, and are prayed for, God grants us wisdom through His Word and our prayer.

Do you have that faith? Do you have that hope, and that love? If you do have genuine faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, there will be a natural outpouring of love, spreading that hope that lies within you. The book of James puts it bluntly; 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. Is there evidence in your life of that faith? Epaphras had heard the Gospel, and returned home to tell everyone, He had sought to share that hope that lied within him, for others to have what he now possessed. Don’t be bashful, tell someone the difference Christ made in your life today, the same thing He can do for them.

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Light for the dark road

08 Sep

Light for the dark road

2 Corinthians 12:9-10    And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul had seemingly gone down the road of boasting to prove himself to others; yet he had taken the road not of his intellect and accomplishments, he had taken the roadof his struggles and weakness to glorify God. He had showed how he needed God in all of it, and how God was there through it. 2 Corinthians 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. Paul saw all these hardships as a way to glorify God; he was suffering for Christ and he knew that he was drawing that much closer to Christ as a result of these tribulations. Paul understood that being a Christian, a disciple, an apostle, would mean that this life would not be a life of ease. He expressed great joy to join Christ in these tribulations for the eternal reward.

So many churches now preach the love of God, and not the trials of God. When we come to know Christ, we through him, threaten the kingdom of darkness. When we live for this world, and all comes easy, we are of no threat to hell. When the power of Christ comes to live within us, we are another tool that God uses to reach other people. Our light, is His light, that has come into the world. 2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The light that shines from us makes the world stand against us; we show the truth that is shadowed by the darkness that is hiding from the light. Therefore the world is against us.

Becoming a Christian is the easiest thing to do; answer that call on your heart that God has placed there; repent of your sins and accept Christ as the only way you will ever get to heaven. That promise that you gain is eternal, now you are called to become a disciple and live your life remaining here for Him. You are not to go on living in sin, you are to flee it. You are to share the hope that lies within you, your light is to bring light to those living in darkness. Satan is gonna be mad, try to make your life difficult, and you should expect it to be, you switched to the other team. Boast in all that you struggle in just like Paul; show the power of the glory of God to help you in all that you struggle with. That help is the light that others need in their life too.

 
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Posted by on September 8, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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