More Than - week 2 - devotional thought 1

We talked about patterns our lives follow this last Sunday at Real Life.  Today I was thinking about the different types of patterns there are.

The obvious ones are patterns for building something - perhaps a poll barn or putting together a book shelf or maybe a pattern to make a piece of clothing.  But there are also patterns in the buildings we see.  Shapes and curves and angles form patterns that are often mirrored from one side to the other.  I was looking at the floor of the old Food 4 Less building today and there was a pattern in the tile on the floor - where the freezers and bins used to be created a pattern.  There are shape patterns and number patterns and even musical patterns.  My oldest son Trevor comes home and shares the patters he's learned while studying for his Percussion Performance degree.  My son Trent loves to draw and uses patterns in his art.  There are patterns  to the movement of my daughter on the basketball court and my youngest son, who believes he can fix anything, sees patters in pretty much any mechanical thing.  Patters are all around us.

Maybe you've struggled with a different kind of pattern.  A pattern of abuse.  A pattern of addiction.  You've recognized it.  You do pretty well and everything is going okay and then you fall off the wagon again.  It's a pattern you can't seem to shake.

Yesterday we looked at a couple patterns that the people of Jesus day followed.  Matthew 5 - 7 addresses many of these patterns as Jesus uses them to contrast what He desires for our lives.  But I want to look at something he says before He begins to list the different patters of behavior He discusses.

In Matthew 5 Jesus is teaching the people who have come to listen and He's really rocking their world.  He starts out with a list of people, down and out folks, people who don't usually mean much to others.  He talks about the meek, the mourning, the merciful and the peacemakers, to name a few.  He tells His listeners that these people who have been of little account up until now are actually highly valued by His Father.  And then He starts talking about the kind of pattern that people should be but He uses the commodities of salt and light.

He says, "You are the salt of the earth" and the "Light of the world."

Salt and light each have a dramatic effect on the situations they are introduced into.  My family has always been huge popcorn eaters.  Nearly every night we have popcorn.  Once or twice my wife has forgotten the salt.  Have you ever had popcorn without the salt?  Terrible!  You can tell right away that something is NOT right.  But you add the salt and immediately everything is okay.  I remember playing hide and seek as a kid in the dark of night when someone shined a flashlight on you it was almost paralyzing it was so bright.

Think of salt and light like patterns.  They have a direct and dramatic effect when they are introduced.  There is no comparison between the dark and the light.  Darkness is scary and difficult to maneuver but the light is cheerful and makes everything clear.  Unseasoned food is bland and boring.  But add some salt and your taste buds sing!  That should be the pattern we follow in our lives.  If there were a "cut-out" to trace around for light and salt that is what we should be.  Our lives should have a direct and dramatic effect on the lives of those around us.  Our light should make their path more clear.  Our lives should season their life and add value to it.

Many Christians though need a paradigm shift (pattern shift) in their lives.  Too many of us reproduce a pattern of dullness and darkness so that others are not drawn to our Savior, Jesus Christ, but pushed away from Him by our actions and attitudes.

This week consider your pattern.  Do you add beauty to your surroundings?  Does your life oil the flow of interaction and inter-personal relationships?  Do you bring clarity and focus?  What pattern do you follow?  How can you be salt and light in your situation?

Your Struggles Might Be An Indication of God's Leading

We've been talking all week about persevering in obedience.  If you want to see God move in your life it's going to take some effort on your part.  Every great individual in the Bible who did something BIG with God started by obeying.  Go ahead, look!  You'll find that everyone had something do to BEFORE God moved in their lives.  Even if that something was believing.  Joseph (the step-father of Jesus) was told, "don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife."  And Mary was told, "do not be afraid...for no word from God will ever fail."  And there are countless others who had to go, stay, pray, fight, have faith...

So what is it God has asked you to do?

It might be helpful if you asked yourself this question, What am I having a real struggle with right now?  What Am I having a difficult time doing?  The answer to those questions may just give you insight into what it is God is asking you to do.

Are you having a hard time being still and knowing deep inside that God is God?  Maybe you need to reaffirm your belief that God is in control and that you have absolute faith in Him.  Have you had thoughts of serving in a certain area at church?  Or maybe agreeing to be a part of a study or group?  Have you felt compelled to give financially but are holding back because you don't see how you can survive without that money?  Is there an organization that you've considered volunteering with but something always comes up?  There's a good chance that whatever you're struggling with right now is an indication that there is a spiritual battle going on inside you.

Let me give you a peek at a couple of my struggles and maybe you'll see how it works.

You may have heard us talk about the Pregnancy Resource Center (that has been in Augusta) opening up a new branch in El Dorado soon.  They are working hard to open as soon as possible but need help getting the building prepped and ready to go.  I have been trying to help them for some time but something always comes up.  And then I have this internal battle about doing something good for someone else that is outside my Real Life circle and spending that time doing something else.

My other struggle is one that you'll completely understand if you're in the ministry.  Real Life is growing - fast.  And when a church begins to grow and you start thinking about the future it is really easy to starting thinking that you have something to do with the growth.  Like, if I could just make the next right decision the thing will just explode and be wonderful!  But also, if you make a wrong decision everything will fall apart.  There is a GREAT desire to take the responsibility for growth carefully from Jesus and place it in my own lap.

So these are two of my struggles right now.  Once I recognize them as spiritual battles I can try and handle them in spiritual ways.  The PRC is a great organization doing a great work to help stem the tide of abortions in Butler County.  They are worthy of any and all help and it will stretch me to get involved in this small way and help them out for a day.  So I'll be laying linoleum tomorrow at their new office.  And as I was praying the other day I simply asked Jesus to help me do my best at following Him - being the "first follower" at Real Life and letting the whole church leader thing take care of itself.

What are you struggling with?  The outcome of that struggle could lead you into God's More Than for your life or it could keep you derailed in your spiritual growth.

Remember, God is more concerned with perseverance than perfection.  Don't give up.  Make a decision to step into that thing you've been struggling with and see what God does!  All you have to lose is a little time... but you could gain more than you have imagined!

More Than - week 1 - devotional thought 2

We talked about obedience last Sunday and that obedience always comes before God doing something amazing and More Than you expected.  But we also discussed how it's not about being perfect in obedience (since no one is) but more about perseverance in trying to obey.

But some people may be mistaken that it's perseverance in intention and not action that brings God's More Than.  I've been to plenty of church services in my life and had maybe thousands of good intentions about obeying God... and only a few of them became actions. Maybe you've had that experience where you leave church saying, "things are going to change!"  And you really mean it, but for whatever reason you just don't follow through.  God doesn't expect us to be perfect.  But He does expect us to actually try.

Here's how Romans 2:13 expresses this thought, "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous."

For your meditation today in line with our desire to see God do More Than we ask or imagine this year take a look at the number of times you've intended to obey God and the times you actually have.

More Than Week 1 - devotional thought 1

On Sunday we discussed two important truths about our journey in Christ.

1. Obedience is a prerequisite for God's "More Than" in your life
2. Perseverance is more important to God than perfection.

Every time God called someone in the Bible to something incredible it always followed a first step of obedience.  We looked at Abraham, Moses and the Apostle, Paul, on Sunday.  But there are many others.  Gideon was told to tear down the alter on his father's property before God used him to deliver the Israelites from their enemies.  Joshua and the Israelites, BEFORE the walls fell down, were told to march around the city of Jericho.

Fortunately for us, while stepping out in obedience comes before seeing God do the incredible, being perfect in obedience is not a requirement.  God knows that we will fail and struggle and have times of fear and loss and even a lack of faith.  So what He asks of us is that we keep trying.

Listen to how James, the brother of Jesus and a failure in many respects himself, puts it.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James doesn't tell us the testing of our faith produces perfection, but that it produces perseverance.  And perseverance is needed because through our continued struggle to be like Christ we become mature in our faith, complete in Christ and not lacking anything for this life and these trials.

Persevering in our struggle to be more and more like Christ produces fruit in our lives.  God uses those who persevere for the incredible, not those who give up.  Failure, at times, is inevitable.  Persevering is optional.

So if you've failed before do not give up.  God doesn't discard you, He defines you through your struggles.

Is there something that God has been placing before you?  Perhaps that you have been unwilling to step into?    If you are looking for God to do More Than you imagine in your life this year it will begin with an act of obedience.  Perhaps He's been prompting you to share your faith.  To serve in an area you haven't before.  To give more of your time, talent or treasure to His work.  Whatever He's placing before you He'll ask that you step into it before He gives you your More Than.  That is called faith.

Misplaced Hope

My family is once again watching The Biggest Loser on NBC this season.  One idea that the trainers try to instill in the contestants is, you've got to want this for you.  It's not about your wife or kids or job it's about getting fit for your own health and well being.  Those other motivations may get you started but they will not carry you through to your goal.

Some of the contestants try to push their success off on their team or on the trainers and blame them if they don't succeed.  It's natural for us to blame our situations, our parents, our upbringing, our families our disabilities or schedules when things don't work out.  It takes the pressure off us.  It makes us feel a little better about ourselves.

Jesus came into Jerusalem and went down to the pool called Bethesda to see what was happening.  While He was walking through the crowds He came to a man who had been at the pool for 38 years.  Jesus stopped and asked him, "do you want to be healed?"  Interesting question since it was believed that at times an angel came and stirred the water and the first person in the water was healed.  So, of course the man wanted to be healed!  He stayed at the pool for 38 years trying to be the first person in the pool.  Talk about determination.  Trying and failing for that long might have gotten a lesser man to give up.

So it seems a little cold-hearted that Jesus would ask this man if he wanted to be healed.  At least, that is what it seems like.

Imagine if you wanted to loose weight and went to the gym every day.  But when you got there you just sat in the lobby and ate a box of Krispy Kreme donuts.  Then one day a trainer came in and saw you sitting there with the empty box and asked, "do you want to get fit?"  It's kind of the same situation.

Here's the reality.  Jumping in to a pool of water isn't going to heal you any more than sitting in the lobby of the YMCA is going to make you fit.  They don't equal.  It's misplaced hope.  So Jesus question is entirely acceptable based on the reality of the situation.

But the man was so sure that his only hope was the pool that he immediately began to make excuses.

• I have no one to help me get in the water.
• And people don't respect the line and they cut in front of me and get in first!

Can you hear him?  It's not my fault!  There's nothing I can do about it!  No one will help me!  

Jesus asked him a simple question.  Do you want to be healed?  It required a simple answer.  Yes or no.  

Have you ever put your hope in something that couldn't provide what you were hoping for?  Like a high school student asking for life advice from another student.  Looking for marriage advice from your single friends. Misplaced hope.

Little did the man know that the true healer, the great physician was standing right in front of him.  What the man had waited 38 years for was seconds away.  Jesus didn't have to wait for water to be stirred, he just said, "get up, take your bed and go."  

So many people are looking for healing, hope, restoration, freedom or peace, but they are looking in the wrong places.  The Bible says that Jesus stands at the door and knocks.  He offers all of these to those who would simply come to him for help.  Stop looking everywhere except the one place that truly offers hope for what you need.  Stop waiting for the water to stir.  Stop sitting in the lobby.  Stop making excuses.  Simply respond to Jesus with a, "YES!  I WANT TO BE HEALED!"

Was Jesus' First Miracle a Mistake?

John 2:1 "On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee..."

Have you ever wondered this?  I mean, God sends His One and Only Son to earth as a baby with the purpose of saving every person ever born, or to be born, from their sins.  Hebrews says He is the creator and sustainer of all things.  Jesus, who healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, cured leprosy and sent demons packing comes to the critical moment of his first miracle and... let down.

Surely He knew that for the rest of time this particular miracle would bring stark disagreement and even violent debate.  This one story, recorded only in John's Gospel has sparked much debate over the centuries. What does the word translated "wine" mean?  It can mean fermented or unfermented, so no conclusive evidence there.  Teetotalers believe it MUST mean grape juice and others assume it means an alcoholic beverage.  Was the "grape juice" saved for the last of the party or the "alcohol"?  I just heard an argument that it MUST have been grape juice they were drinking because how could a drunk person tell if the "wine" was good or not?  Of course, the counterpoint is that if the master of the ceremony was hammered he wouldn't have been very good at his job.

As for me, I try to keep things simple.  I don't believe the Bible indicates that it is a sin to have an alcoholic beverage.  I do believe the Bible clearly say that it is a sin to be out of control of your body - to have a self-induced lapse of judgement.  That being said, if John says the water turned into wine I'm going to assume it had some alcoholic content.  Let's face it, alcohol has been around, well, since the beginning probably.  So if it were grape juice why didn't John just say grape juice - they had that back then too.

But really the issue is this; why would God save up 33 years of Jesus life to begin His public ministry with a controversial "miracle" (seems funny calling wine a miracle since I grew up in a teetotaler household) like water to wine.  I mean, why not the healing of an entire leper colony for the first one?!  Why didn't Jesus reattach a leg or bring someone back from the dead or free a family from an illness or demon possession?  We could all get behind that, right?  We could all clap for Jesus and talk about how wonderful He is and there would be no debate, no argument, no disagreement   Everyone could rally around an actual miracle for Jesus first - this seems like it must have been a mistake.  Like Mary was showing off (though how did she know he could perform miracles at this point?)  Was she punishing Him for coming late?  Jesus even says, "My time has not yet come..." so why does He do this?   

Matthew has Jesus healing the sick first.  Mark shows Jesus casting out an evil spirit.  Luke's Jesus story begins with Him amazing the religious leaders in the Temple at the age of 12!  All of these seem Godly and appropriate.  So what is John's problem?  Did he not know any better?

Actually, I think John got it right.  I just noticed this today as I read this story again in my Youversion Bible reading plan for 2013.  John says this in verse 11, "What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him."  I think a better and more fitting ending to this verse would be, and I believed in Him.

Here's why I think John writes about this unbecoming, improper miracle of Jesus.  It's the exact moment when John realizes this guy is who He says He is.  Jesus called John and his brother James from their fishing boat to follow Him.  They did.  They had heard Him say He was the Christ.  But this is the moment it stopped being a fantasy, a head thing, something he had to constantly remind himself of, and started being a matter of fact.  A matter of the heart.  Confirmed by the Spirit and accepted as absolute Truth for John.

This story is important because its your story and mine.  We each (whether you've forgotten it or not) had a moment when what we had been told or read or seen became reality to us.  Became the Truth.  Became the motivator for a changed life.  For John it was in the last days of a common wedding ceremony when he watched a jar of water become in the mouth of the of the host the "best" wine.  For you it may have been in a hotel with the Gideon Bible in your lap.  Or in the back of the church last year or last week.  Or in the car with your folks or when you came up out of the water when you were baptized.

Whenever it was and whatever the spark - it's your story.  It's personal.  It's your first real experience with the Savior and it's as important to you and it was to John.  What may seem like a mistake, or at least a misplaced, misdirected miracle was the most important moment in John's life.

When did you first believe?

Mistaken Identity

James 1:13  "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone."


Beginning a New Year and restarting a Bible reading plan found me in John 1 this morning as I sat in my living room with a blanket over my legs and prayed.  John 1 starts out with some great theological fodder with verses like, the Word was with God.  The Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  But this morning my attention was focused on something else.

In verses 19, 20 the Jews send priest and Levites to see if John was the promised Messiah.  He quickly told them no, but that the Messiah was among them and indicated that He would be revealed shortly.  But when Jesus is revealed by John, the guy they thought was the Messiah, no one believes him.

John didn't perform miracles.  Didn't socialize with anyone - priest or sinner.  Didn't heal the lame or free the demon possessed.  He just preached, Prepare the way of the Lord!  For this he is asked if he is the Messiah.  But when Messiah is revealed with signs and wonders, healing and casting out demons.  The Priests and Levites seem to be oblivious to this.  It seems to me to be a willful case of mistaken identity.

And then my mind started going - which often happens - and I jump to something seemingly unrelated.

I have also mistaken God for someone else.

The truth is that I have at times mistaken God for the one causing my problems.  I have blamed Him for everything, from a lack of finances, to broken down cars to struggles in my marriage or with my kids.  It occurred to me that I was pointing at God when I should have been running from Satan.  Mistaken identity.

God does not harm us or bring harm to us.  He teaches.  He instructs.  He disciplines.  But those are completely different from tempting or harming.  Satan uses these tactics to get us to blame God for our problems - but it's misplaced.  Mistaken identity.

In this New Year I will be more aware of Satan's schemes to get me to blame God for a particular situation or challenge.  I will look to God for help, recognizing that Satan wants to harm.

Monte Drenner in his book, Spiritual Breakthroughs says this, "Satan's lies are much easier to believe and to live than the promises of God."

His lie is that God is out to punish you. To harm you.  To pay you back for your sins.  But it is Satan who is tempting you.  Satan who is disrupting your life and causing you pain.  He is a liar and so you can trust that everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.  He hates you and wants you to die so that you suffer with him.  God loves you and sent His own Son to die in your place so that you wouldn't have to suffer.

Father, help me to see You for who You really are.  Forgive me for the times that I have blamed you for the things that Satan has brought into my life.  Help me to recognize his games and turn to you for help and hope when He is on the attack.