I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means...

Day 23:  Genesis, Psalm & Joshua - chapter 23

The 23rd Psalm is one of the most well known and often used passages of Scripture.  I have been asked to read it in nearly every funeral that I have preached and even used a version of the Psalm written specifically for bikers.  But while the passage often brings images of comfort and peace to our minds its full meaning is often lost because we do not fully understand the culture and circumstances of its writing.

Most likely this Psalm was written while, then King David, was waiting for news from the battlefront.  His son Absalom had attempted a coup and were, at the moment this Psalm was penned, fighting David's men for control of Israel.  It was perhaps the darkest time of David's life.  And that is saying something!

But let's look a little closer at this Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Sheep are not the smartest animals.  They required a shepherd in those days to protect them (sheep will stand by and watch as one of their flock gets eaten by wolves instead of scattering for safety) and to lead them to water and green grass for food.  The sheep would starve or die of thirst without the shepherd, especially in the harsh surroundings of that area.  David is stating in this first verse a truth, God is his shepherd and he is trusting God to take care of him.

He makes me lie down in green pastures...
Have you ever considered why the shepherd had to "make" the sheep lie down in the pasture?  Often times a wayward sheep would not stay with the flock and after many attempts by the shepherd to help the sheep learn to stay put, and many rescues when the sheep would run off, the shepherd would break the wandering sheep's leg in order to "make" it lie down with the rest of the sheep.  The shepherd would then have to carry the sheep everywhere they went and the sheep would learn to trust the shepherd completely.  David knew what it meant to be broken by God in order to learn to trust Him completely.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;
David had seen more than his fair share of these dark valleys.  Pursued by King Saul for many years, afraid for his life, yet learning to trust God who was his protector.  David had learned that no matter how dark things got he did not have to fear evil because God had always been with him.  Like the shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep, God had always fought for David.  There was no need to fear, God would provide.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
The shepherd's rod was a shorter stick, fashioned with care, and would often have a small ball at one end.  It was plucked and shaped with the root part still attached to achieve this rod that was used for discipline and protection.  The sheep knew the sound of the rod as it whistled through the air and they knew what it meant.  The rod was used to protect the sheep against predators and the shepherd was deadly accurate to hit snakes with the ball end.  David most likely remembered fighting the bear and lion using in his hands the rod that he carried.
The staff served a different purpose.  It was used to guide, comfort and retrieve the sheep.  Unlike the shorter, stouter rod, the staff was long and slender with a crook or hook at the end.  The hook was used to get the sheep out of trouble to retrieve them safely if they had fallen among other things.  The staff was also long enough that it served to guide the sheep as they walked.  The shepherd could stretch out the staff and gently nudge the sheep in the right direction.  He could also use the staff to pull sheep close to him for careful examination.
The rod and staff were the shepherds greatest tools for discipline, protection, guidance and comfort.  David saw God in all of these areas and the discipline as well as guidance were an equal comfort to him.

Prepare a table... anoint my head... my cup overflows
David fully expected God to once again fight for him.  Though his heart went out to Absalom, his son, David had always been victorious in battle and surely expected that God would bring him victory over his enemies.  After all, if was David's head that the prophet of God had anointed with oil all those years ago.  David was God's chosen man.  And he had been blessed by God.  As David looked over his life with all the ups and downs he could not help but realize that God had caused his cup to overflow with blessing.

The 23rd Psalm has been well used while perhaps not being completely understood.  Like a good shepherd God will at times bring sorrow and even pain into our lives by way of discipline, but it is always for out good.  God never brings pain for the sake of pain - he is not cruel but loving.  In this way even his rod of punishment is an instrument of grace, bringing correction so that further sin and perhaps death would be avoided.  When God is leading our lives we do not need to fear the difficulties that come, we can trust that God will lead us through, gently correcting and diligently protecting.  In the end, our lives will overflow with goodness and lovingkindness no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Where The Lord Provides

Day 22:  Chapter 22 - Genesis, Psalm & Joshua

God has finally given Abraham a son through his wife Sarah (chpt 21) and the boy, Isaac, is now weaned and probably a young pre-teen.  God puts Abraham to the test to determine his heart in two areas, one, has Abraham learned to trust God completely even when he doesn't understand?  And two,  is Abraham willing to do whatever God asks of him?

This chapter is difficult for us to understand in part because of what God asks and also because we are separated by thousands of years.  However, Isaac was not only Abraham's ONLY son, he was also the son of the promise of God.  It was through Isaac that God's promise, to make Abraham into a great nation, was to come.

But this chapter is not really about Abraham or Isaac or the gruesome act God asked Abraham to perform (an act - child sacrifice - that God abhors).  This story is not really about Abraham and Isaac at all, it's about God and His Son, Jesus.

Think of it as the modern idea of foreshadowing in books and movies.
Isaac is a representation of Jesus.  Abraham is a representation of God.
Isaac carries the wood for his own sacrifice up the hill, so did Jesus.
Abraham was the willing participant in an incredibly difficult place, the taking of his own sons life, God also willingly had to sacrifice His own Son or His death would have been stopped.
There is no indication that Isaac struggled against his father as he was bound to be placed on the alter,  neither did Jesus struggle as He was bound, beaten and hung to die.
The only real difference here is that Isaac was spared and instead a substitutionary ram was slaughtered instead.  Jesus actually was that substitutionary ram, sacrificed in your place and mine upon the alter of our own sins.

What a beautiful of picture on that mountain, not of the near sacrifice of Isaac, but of the story of Jesus sacrificial death thousands of years in the future, but played out by these actors on a lone mountain.

In verse 14 we read that Abraham called that mountain, "The Lord Will Provide" and the saying goes, "In the mount of the Lord it will be provided."

One last thought.  When you're on the mountain of the Lord that He has led you to it will be provided for you.  The problem for most of us is that we climb our own mountain.  Possessions, prestige, power, position, family or any other of a million different sorry substitutes for God and when we get to the top of our hand-made mountain we expect God to provide for us there.  God provides on His mountain.  You can't build your own life, go your own way, and expect God to rescue you - you can't expect it, but it happens anyway.

Jesus is your substitute whether your on God's mountain or your own.  He died so you don't have to no matter where you are or where you've been.  God has always provided a way for salvation because He provided His Son.  You simply have to believe that God will do and has done what He said He would, save you through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.

He is your substitute sacrifice.  Do you believe?

The God Of Promise

Day 21:  Chapter 21 of Genesis, Psalm and Joshua

Genesis 21:1 begins the chapter this way, "the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised."

It's nice when a promise comes through isn't it.  When someone says they are going to do something and they actually do it - that's a welcome event.  Especially when it's something really big.  We live today with the saying, if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.  It's too bad we even have to have a saying like that.

Wouldn't it be nice if every promise was fulfilled?  If you did actually win that million that dollars the postcard said you, "might already be a winner of..."  If the key that came in the mail actually fit your dream car.  If you really could be approved for credit since the slogan was, everyone's approved.  But that's not the case.

We live in a time when most of us are used to disappointment.

Imagine how Sarah felt, well passed the age of child bearing she actually becomes pregnant a year after her husband is visited by angels - the precise time they said it would happen.  The Lord kept His promise.

Our reading for today ends the same way.  Joshua 21:45, "not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."  Amazing.

I was thinking about promises from God.  I don't have any really, not like Sarah and Israel, anyway.  God hasn't told me exactly what He's going to do in my life.  But I did think of one thing that is comforting me this evening as I write.

God said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."  That's a promise I can claim for myself because it's a promise based on who God is.  No matter where I go, how far I may fall or how fast I try to run away from Him He will never leave me or forsake me.  He will always be right there.  So I don't have a great, grand promise from God about my life, a child or a piece of land, I have the promise of His presence in every moment of every day and night.

I'll take that promise... to the bank.

Who Gets The Glory?

Watch much sports today and you'll see a lot of men and women who seem to love themselves.  Take, for instance, Richard Sherman immediately after the NFC Championship game on Sunday Jan 19th.  Seattle had just beaten San Francisco after a brilliant defensive play by Sherman against 49er receiver Crabtree when Sherman was interviewed on the field.  The video is all over the internet as Sherman begins to rant at a classic level will surely be recalled for years.  Interviewer Erin Andrews asks Sherman about the last play where he deflected the ball and all he could talk about was how great a player he is and, in contrast, how bad Crabtree is.  Apparently Crabtree had made some comments about Sherman pre-game and that was all it took.

I played sports, I still play for fun and guess what, I still like to win.  But self-love has reached an all-time high it seems in todays culture.  Watch local high-school sports and you'll see for yourself.  Students jumping around like they just won a gold medal at the Olympics.  I've seen players strut and talk like their the best and congratulate themselves for scoring even though they are down by 20 points in the last few minutes of the game.  I don't get it.  

David, the writer of Psalm 20, probably wouldn't understand it either.  In this Psalm you come away knowing one thing.  God gets the glory.  As you read through this Psalm you see that God is the one who is called on when David and his country are being attacked.   God is seen here as the one who can offer support and help, who is asked to remember the sacrifices of his people.  God is the one who is sung to upon victory.  It is banners to God that are set up after victory is secured, not banners to David or any other.  It is God who saves, and these people know it.

God's victory only gives David more trust and more hope that whenever there is a struggle God will come through.  That David doesn't have to rely on his own ability or strength because God fights for him.

In verse 7 he contrasts this issues, "Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the Name of the Lord, our God."  

Who gets the glory in your life?  When you win that promotion or earn that raise who are you praising?  Is it not God who gives you the victory?  Is it not God who has provided you with the knowledge and ability you have?  

What do you put your trust in?  Your own smarts?  Your own physical stature?  Your possessions?  Your training?  

As believers in Jesus we should be like Jesus.  When we face trouble we should call on God who is our ever present help.  When the enemy comes against us we should seek refuge in God alone who is our protector and deliverer.  When the victory is secured it is God who should get the glory and praise.  And when He delivers us once again we should learn to trust Him more and more.

Some boast in their physical ability and some in their IQ, some boast in their vehicles or their title but we will boast in in the name of the Lord our God.  It is His banner that we will wave when victory is secure so that the whole world will know who gets the glory, God alone.

What Did He Just Say?!

Friday 1/17/2014 - Genesis, Psalms, Joshua 17

One of the things that has bothered me about David's Psalms is that he often talks about God testing him and finding nothing false in him.  He speaks of his righteousness and talks like he never did anything wrong.

In Today's reading David makes this statement, "Let my judgment come forth from Your presence... You have tried my heart... You have tested me and You find nothing..."

I could not begin to pray that prayer.  I know my history.  I'm aware of my sin.  If God were to try my heart I would be found lacking.  My life deserves the fire of hell and I'm aware of it.  How can David get away with talk like this?  David.  The guy who committed adultery and then compounded it with murder.

How could this same guy talk like that?  Well, it occurred to me that David wrote these Prayers before his moral failure and I recall some pretty dark prayers he prayed after.  Still, my instinct is to not cut him very much slack.  It wasn't like he was perfect.

Then I realized that for all my time in the faith I still struggle with a performance mentality.  Like God should love those who don't sin as much more than those that do.  I often think that God should use those who sin less to accomplish more for His Kingdom.  But I read in the early chapters of Genesis about a man named Enoch, not too many generations from Adam and Eve.  Enoch's life story takes up about two or three sentences.  Enoch walked with God and then he was no more...

Enoch was one of the few, the very few, in the Bible who has no record of sin.  Do you know what the Bible says he accomplished for the Kingdom or how mightily God used him?  Nothing.  But Gideon, David, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Peter, all these God used.  And all these sinned.

I was reminded that our usefulness to God is not based on our performance but on our persistence.  God didn't use David, Abraham or Noah because THEY were perfect.  He used them because HE is perfect.  Say it another way.  God used each of them because God used each of them.  He is God.  He can use who He wants, when He wants for the reasons He wants.  Not because of them, but because of Himself.

So the next time you are feeling like a failure or like you've blown it again.  Remember that God is using you and will use you and can use you not because of you, but because He has chosen you.  That's what makes you special - His call on your life, not your life.

I'm free to make mistakes because He chose me not based on my merit but on His mercy.  So I will be persistent and let Him be perfect.

My Way Is Best... Or So It Seemed

So interesting to me how the stories in my daily reading in both Genesis and Joshua seem to line up so closely with one another.

In the sixteenth chapter of both Genesis and Joshua God's plan is sidetracked by the seemingly good ideas of people who really don't have a clue about the devastation they are introducing.

In Genesis God has promised Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah) that they would have a son who would be the heir through which He would make Abraham into a great nation.  But God took too long to give them a son.  So Sarah in her wisdom and in the custom of the day, she gave her maidservant, Hagar to Abraham as a sort of concubine, a lesser wife, who would provide for Abraham a son (they hoped) and Sarah thought she could raise the boy as her own and usher in God's plan of blessing through her act of will.

Well, it sort of worked.  Abraham did succeed in having a son through Hagar but as soon as Hagar realized she was pregnant she knew what was going to happen.  She had heard of the promise and she knew Sarah would want to "take" her son as her own.  So Hagar is not looking forward to this situation.  Sarah is now mad at God for taking too long in fulfilling His promise.  She's mad at Hagar for having a fertile womb and she's mad at Abraham for agreeing to sleep with Hagar (even though all of this was Sarah's idea).

Anyway, God is not going to fulfill His promise through Hagar and her son Ishmael, He has a better and more perfect plan.  But because of Abraham he blessed Hagar and Ishmael and made Ishmael into a great nation as well.  Little did Sarah and Abraham know that for the rest of time Abraham's offspring and the descendants of Ishmael would be bitter enemies.  Bloodshed and strife and death would be present down through the line any time these two people groups crossed paths... like in Joshua.

In Joshua the Israelites are actively capturing territory that had been promised to them by God.  They were driving the indigenous peoples from their homes by force and taking what God had promised them all the way back in Abraham's day.

In chapter 16 Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph's sons... God called Abraham, Abraham had Isaac who had twins Jacob and Esau, Jacob's name was changed to Israel and he had 10 sons but then "adopted" his next to youngest son Joshua's two sons as his own thus making 12 "tribes" or sons of Israel, got it?) are receiving their inheritance of land and driving out the people but verse 10 tells us that they, "did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer... they became forced laborers."

Whether Ephraim and Manasseh got tired or just had a "brilliant" idea I don't know.  But for whatever reason they decided not to drive out the Canaanites in Gezer and instead make them cut their firewood and deliver their water every day.

Here's the problem.  Ishmael and later Esau are actually the ancestral "fathers" of pretty much every body that the people of Israel are now driving out of the promised land!  And in a few years from Joshua 16 the Canaanites that were allowed to stay would introduce the Israelites to the worship of other gods and begin the moral decay of the nation of Israel that wold eventually split the nation into norther and southern kingdoms and even brings about the destruction of the Temple of God and most of the Jewish nation is hauled off to Babylon under lock and key.

Abraham and Sarah waited 10 years for God to give them a son before they tried to force God's hand through Hagar and Ishmael.  They would have to wait another 13 years (23 years from the promise) for Isaac to be born (Abraham would be 99).  Had the Israelites completely driven out the Canaanites how much would they have been spared?

When we decide we know best it never ends well for us.  When we trust God even when we can't make sense of it and we follow even when we can't really see where He's leading the outcome is always better.  Who knows the pain we would avoid if we just followed God's plan.
Honor the marriage bed and keep it holy...
Obey the law of the land, for the king doesn't bear the sword for nothing...
Do not covet, steal, murder...
Do not take God's Name in vain, serve and love Him only...
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth...
Do not forsake the gathering together of yourselves for worship...

What Would You Do If God Were Your Shield?

In Genesis 14 Abraham takes out after the kings that had captured his nephew Lot.  Once he conquered them and took back his nephew, the people of the cities and the plunder he refused payment from the King of Sodom.  He said he didn't want anyone but God to get the glory for "making" Abraham rich.

Chapter 15 starts out with God speaking to Abraham in a vision.
"Do not fear, Abram (Abraham),
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great."

This got me thinking... What would I do if God were my shield?  What does it even mean to have God as a shield?

A shield is used for protection.  Abraham was certainly protected by God.  He was protected when he left his home to go to the land God would show him - but which he did not know of before he arrived there.  God protected him when he kinda/sorta/mostly lied to Pharaoh and then Abimelech saying that his wife, Sarai (Sarah) was his sister leading them to believe that she was NOT his wife.  It may be true that she was somehow related to him but it was misleading at best.  God was Abraham's shield when he went after Lot's captors in chapter 14 and over and over throughout Abraham's life.

God was Abraham's shield when he fought for righteousness and when he fought for personal reasons.  When He was walking in the footsteps of God and when he was out of step and off track.

God wasn't with Abraham because he was perfect, but because he was faithful.  Abraham, believed God.  Even when there was nothing for Abraham to trust in except God's Word.  Abraham did not ask for a sign, like Gideon.  He did not get angry at God like Elijah and he did not question God like Moses.  It wasn't his perfection at following God, it was his persistence.

What if God were my shield?  I would step out a LOT more in accomplishing the impossible for the kingdom and for my own church.  I would take risks.  I would be taking ground from the enemy and walk boldly before the world... if God were MY shield.

If God were my shield I would not fear.   I would not fear making a mistake with His people or His finances.  I would not fear the enemy.

If God were my shield I would lead with boldness and step out of the boat... If God were MY shield.

I think I've got some work to do... Because as God was with Abraham so He is with us.  And not just with us but in us and works through us by His Holy Spirit.  He is not JUST my shield he is my sword, my helmet, my sandals and my breastplate!  Who can stand against us?!

These Two Would Give The Avengers A Run For Their Money

In Genesis 14 and Joshua 14 today there are two men who lead two groups of people and overcome incredible odds in much the same way.

In Genesis, Abraham hears how a group of four kings has destroyed the armies of five kings who came against them.  The four kings then carried off the women and possessions of the five cities of those kings and even took Lot (Abraham's nephew) who lived in Sodom.  So Abraham gets his servants, about 300 fighting men and a couple of his allies, presumably with their households, and takes off in pursuit of these four kings.  They overtake them at night, route them and carry back all the possessions that were taken including the women and Lot and his family.

Three families wiping out four kings and their trained fighters.  This is amazing to me in part because God didn't tell Abraham to go and fight, Abraham was just reacting to the capture of his nephew.  But when God is with you and you're fighting not just your enemy, but God's enemy (these were pagan people) God is with you in a mighty way.

In Joshua is the story of Caleb.  Caleb was one of the men, along with Joshua who answered in truth and faith before God sent the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years.  Moses sent 12 men from Kadesh-Barnea North to spy out the land that God had promised them in order to give a report to the people.  All the men reported how great the land was but ten of them said that the land could not be conquered because of the people who lived there.  Only Joshua and Caleb stood up and said, yes it seems impossible but God is with us (remember God had already parted the sea, brought the ten plauges, turned the bitter waters sweet and defeated their enemies) so we should just go up and take the land.  He said, "I brought word back to him as it was in my heart...I followed the Lord my God fully."

For their faithfulness God allowed only two people to survive the 40 years of wandering, Joshua and Caleb.  Now Caleb was promised by Moses the land which he had spied out the only problem was there were in inhabitants, which were great and mighty and Caleb is now 85 years old.

I don't think it was Abraham's or Caleb's strength that provided for them, it was their trust in God and the fact that they followed Him fully.

Do you have a difficult decision to make?
Are you facing a challenge that seems impossible?
What is in your heart?  If you fully follow the Lord your God then no army can stand against you.  No task is too great for you.  No physically limitations can halt you and no fear will overcome you.  When God is for us, who can be against us?  Stand tall and fight because the Lord your God goes with you.

Times Don't Change That Much

This Psalm of David (from Sunday's reading) gave me some hope and I wanted to share it with you.  Sometimes we get to thinking, with all the crazy stuff going on in our world, that we are the worst generation - I think every generation thinks that about the one that comes after it anyway.  Take comfort in the realization that sin has always been present and that God always knows what's happening.

Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven
    times.
7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,
8 who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.

If you watch much news you may get to feeling like David in this Psalm, no one is faithful, the loyal have vanished from the human race.

We have exchanged the truth for a series of lies - no matter what they are, lies have become the new truth.  And the poor, whether that be poor financially, poor spiritually, poor morally, physically, ethically or those who are poor when it comes to willpower or independence are exploited.

But take heart, because the Lord will keep the needy safe and protect us from the wicked.

Wait, is that our experience?  Are the needy cared for and the wicked put in their place?  Not usually... So how can this be true?  It's true because God invites His people to join Him in caring for the needy and standing up to the wicked.

Tell the truth and live a generous life, in this way the Lord will protect us from the wicked and keep the needy safe.

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Be Bold In The Lord

In Joshu 10 something amazing happened, something the writter tells us has never happened before or since.  Joshua is persuing his enemies and he prays this prayer very quickly, in the presence of Israel's fighting men as they were engaged in the battle, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."  And that is exactly what happend.  For about a day the sun and moon didn't move so that Joshua and the Israelites might destroy their enemies.

This is pretty gutsy I have to admit.  Who would have even thought to utter such a request?  Everyone knows that you can't stop the sun, or move a mountain into the sea, or speak to a storm and demand calm or cause a plant to wither and die.  That's crazy.  But when you're in the middle of a battle and you know The Lord is with you, I guess you gain some confidence to ask for the outlandish.

If you go up to verses 11 and 12 you'll see why Joshua felt like he could ask for the sun to stand still.  You see, while Joshua and his men were fighting God got involved.  He began to hurl large hailstones down on their enemies.  Pretty cool, right?  So you're being persecuted by someone who doesn't believe in your God and He just tosses a hail stone down from the sky and crushes Him.  Cool.  In fact, it says that God actually killed more people that day than Joshua all of Israel's finest!  Even though God us using Joshua and his men, strengthening then and giving them victory He still does more damage to their enemies than they could.  

Verses 12 then says that on that Day The Lord, gave the Amorites over to Israel.  So here's what happened.  Joshua and his men were being strong and couragous and also fighting in the strength God had given them but God was actually winning the battle.   Seeing God actually get involved must have given Joshua confidence to ask for the impossible, if you jump to the New Testament you read that Jesus actually says, ask for whatever you want in my Name and it will be done for you.  When we ask God to do what He wants to do guess what?  He delivers!  

So the sun stood still while Joshua's men persued and slayed their enemies.verse 14 makes this obvious statement, "surely The Lord was fighting for Israel."  Ya think?

Then Joshua, in the days that followed, rapidly captured and destroyed all the cities of the kings that had fought against him.  And way down at the end of the chapter in verse 42 you read this, Joshua conqured all this in one campaign because, "the God of Israel, fought for Israel."  

Guess what.  The God Israel is also your God.  He wants you to fight for you too.  Not to destroy enemies and conquer lands for conquest, but to destroy the strongholds of satan and conquer hearts for Jesus.  So here's the secret for experiencing your own Sun stopping moment, take notice of what God is doing, join Him and then ask for the impossible to help you accomplish His mission.  Oh, and ask boldly, in front of your people, becasue without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Here's us seeking to see the sun stand still that lives might be changed, when The Lord, the God of your life fights for you.

Pray Like David

I had always thought that Psalms in the Bible was another book like all the others.  You know, all about God and stuff.  But I heard a few years ago something that really made me think about this book in a whole new light.  And honestly, I felt really dumb for not putting my finger on it earlier.   All the other books in the Bible are about God relating to man or mankind.  But the book of Psalms is a glimpse into how man relates to God.  That is amazing.  In this book we get to see the struggles, pain, heartache, joy and peace of a man's personally prayers to God - sometimes all of those emotions come in the same Psalm!  

There are like four parts of David's Psalm that I think are really great and would be good if we could incorporate in our own prayers.  

The first six verses are a recount of great things that God had done, routing enemies and destroying strongholds.  David is recounting some of the great acts of God in his life.  Sometimes we forget that God has done some incredible things in our lives and recounting them actually help us realize just how great God really is.  Like remembering a kindness done to us by a spouse.  It's a sweet memory and in David's case got him thinking about the next part of his prayer.

The next section up to verse 10 is a natural next step for David.  He first recounted some of God's accomplishment and now he saying, you haven't just done great things, YOU ARE GREAT!  Just and powerful and a stronghold for those who run to Him.  We must remember that God is our strength and our refuge, in Him we can fully trust.  He IS power.  He IS mercy.  He IS love.  Count on Him.

Because God is so great and He has done great things it is completely appropriate that we seek for everyone to have eyes to see this incredible God we serve.  So David takes the next several verses, through 14, to say, EVERYONE should know God and proclaim His greatness and lift their eyes to Him for help.  We should also pray for those far from God that they would know how much He loves them and cares for them and desires for them to find purpose and fulfillment and peace in Him alone.

The last section is David getting really practical, those far from God need to come to a place where they recognize their need for God, realize Him AS God and humble themselves or they will lose their fight with Him because, after all, He is God.

So I suggest, at least sometimes, fitting these aspects of David's prayer into your own.  

Recount God's mighty acts in your own life - this will help you remember and set your focus.

Recognize God for who He is - sometimes we lose our awe for God but every person who has been in His presence has done the same thing, fall in fearful worship.

Reconcile, or at least pray that your friends and family far from God would be reconciled to Him through Jesus, that they would "lift their eyes" and see Him for who He is.

Realize that there are those who will not see or cannot see, they will be lost unless God intervenes on their behalf.  Pray that happens in whatever way necessary.

Most importantly, pray.  Remember it's not so much the how or following a plan, it's a conversation - but sometimes we have to reminded who were talking to and why.  Pray on.

God's Got Your Best In Mind

Most people, no matter where they've been, can't wait to get home.  Even if their home isn't the best or their bed the softest there is something about being in the familiar and calling a place yours that causes us to seek home.

In Genesis eight and Joshua eight similar situations are happening and it causes me to be thankful.

In Genesis eight the flood is ending and after the ark comes to rest on Ararat, Noah sends begins sending some birds out to see if the land has produced any vegetation (necessary to sustain the life.  But here's the kicker.  Noah and his family have been on the ark for some 150 days.  The ark is resting on solid ground.  But they can't leave.  They have to stay on the ark, where they have food.

In Joshua eight the Israelites are once again in battle with the people who now inhabit the land God had premised to His people.  So one by one they are driving the squatters out.  But the Israelites have been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  They have lived in tents, eaten not much more than manna and quail for that entire time.  And they come to Jericho (Joshua six) and now Ai and conquer the cities.  But instead of inhabiting the ready made cities with homes and creature comforts they burn the cities to the ground and leave them a smoldering heap.  Uninhabitable.  Then they return to their... tents in the wilderness.

For Noah, I think his situation would be like going on a long vacation and when you finally get home and park in your driveway you continue to sleep and live in your car.  Your house is right there but your stuck in the car.  For Joshua, it's more like finding a great home you could own, turn key with everything you dreamed of, then destroying it and living in a tent in the backyard.

I'm sure each of these people had a hard time following God's commands.  They could see the thing they wanted to desperately but could not take possession of it.  Like always, God has a plan.  Noah couldn't leave the ark because the recently flooded earth could not yet sustain the vegetation necessary to ensure the survival of the animals on the ark.  But on the ark they had food and water enough to survive.  So even though they were cramped, tired and probably a little stinky, their best bet for long term survival was to stay put.  For Joshua and his people the same was true.  God knew that if the people took possession of these early cities they would become comfortable and loose the will to fight.  The result would have been disastrous.  The foreign peoples living in the area would have had a much bigger and quicker impact on the Israelites, turning their hearts to foreign gods and intermarrying - this was forbidden by God.

In the end each story would have turned out the same, the best situation for survival both physical and spiritual would have been lost had Noah or Joshua not listened to God.

Sometimes we don't understand the motives of God.  Why He tells us to wait or tells us know when what we desire looks so appealing and perfect for us.  But we can only see what is right in front of us, God sees how those decisions and actions will affect us, our children, our churches our faith, our relationships and our spiritual health.  He is not interested in our short-term comfort He is interested in our long-term health.

So the next time you really want something but it seems God is holding back, pause.  Remember Noah and Joshua and trust that God has a better plan for you than you do.  And there is a reason and purpose behind everything He does - always.  God does not make split decisions or have knee-jerk reactions.

Consider this, every decision God makes was actually made before the foundations of the world were laid.  He's had an eternity to ponder them and consider every possible outcome.  With millennia at His disposal He has planned every decision and every event and every action to be perfect.  Trust Him a little.  He's earned it.

It's Catchy, And Devastating

Last night my daughter saw something on television that made her holler out, "That's not right!  You don't get sick because of the cold,  you get sick because everybody stays inside and there there are more germs!"

Genius.

A little later I was doing some reading in Joshua chapter seven.  It's the story of the first sin on the West side of the Jordan river.  Israel had been wandering in the desert for 40 years but had just crossed the Jordan river to finally begin taking possession of the land God had promised them hundreds of years earlier, when they weren't even a nation - just a man, Abraham.  Now they had crossed the river, camped and watched as God destroyed the city of Jericho and it's defenses.  All the people of Israel had to do was walk around the city for a few days and play some music.  God got the victory that day.  In exchange He was to receive all the plunder from the city, gold, silver and jewels for the Temple treasury and the rest of the city was to be destroyed.

But one person decided that he wanted some of that loot for himself.  So he took some.  A few days later Joshua sent a few thousand fighting men to a little town called Ai they should have taken easily, but instead, 36 Israelites were killed.

God revealed to Joshua the reason for their loss, someone had sinned and taken some of the plunder that was to be devoted to God alone.  Turns out is was one guy.  God reveals him to the nation and he, his family, his possessions are all killed and destroyed.  One man sinned and 36 men are killed in battle and then his family is put to death.  More than forty people suffered because of the greed of one man.

The old wive's tale that you will catch a cold or the flu by being outside in the winter is false.  You catch it because everyone stays inside the house with the windows closed up.  there is little new air but lots of old germs.  One person picks something up from school and pretty soon everybody has it.  It spreads like crazy.

Sin is like that.  One person's sin can affect a large number of people.  It's not an individual thing and it's not just a family thing.  Sin affects the whole.  Especially when it is tolerated and allowed to continue.  Precautions have to be taken.  Spiritual disinfectant needs to be used - like church attendance.  Did you know that when you are actively sinning it becomes harder and harder to just go to church?   When you are engaged in sin you will either stop the sin or stop attending.  Disinfectants can also be daily Bible reading and prayer, listening to Chrisitan radio or spending time with with Christian friends.  All of these help to keep your life free from sin.

God said to Cain in Genesis 3, "Sin is crouching at your door.  It desires to have you, but you must master it."

Take some inventory of your life right now and see just how many people are affected by your sin.  How can you begin to master it today?

PS.  You think your sin is secret?  Pornography or some other addiction you engage in only at home? It's not.  Even secular psychologist are rapidly agreeing that sexual sins like pornography are destroying men, women and marriages.  Porn is a multi-billion dollar industry, is it any wonder that rape has skyrocketed?  That marriages continue to be destroyed from the inside out?  Your sin affects your marriage, your children and if left unchecked it will affect the church.  Don't be an Achan (the guy who sinned in Joshua seven).  The Bible tells us to confess our sins one to another and God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We are to confess our sins to God as well and seek forgiveness.  Confession is the key to freedom from sin.  Get healthy today.

Good Works And Faith

In Joshua 6 I read today about the fall of Jericho.  It was a well fortified city close to the Jordan river and a first-strike city so it's walls has been built big and strong.  How would Israel be able to take this city which had withstood many an attack in the past?  God had a plan in which He got the glory.

God  told Joshua to have all the people march around the city once every day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day and the wall would fall down from the inside out.  Amazing I know.  But it worked.  Despite the concern of the Israelites who were doing the marching God showed up and accomplished just exactly what He said He would.  

Here's where my thoughts are going today...

Did the Isrealites earn the capture of Jericho or did God?  Did the work they put forth, in walking around the city eveyr day, equal the result of that work?  

Walking around the city is work.  It's wasn't done in a few minutes.  It took effort and it was a command of God that they do it.  So, it was a work they performed, but did their effort earn their victory?  

When you and I go to work we give mental or physical effort for a pay check.  We earn our pay.  It's work.  The return (sometimes, not always) is equal to the effort but it usually is an agreed upon amount.

Some believe that baptism (primarily) is a work and therefore it is excluded as a part of the process of salvation based on Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Here's my argument.  Baptism isn't any more a work than marching around a city.  They were both commanded.  God commanded Joshua to have the people march and Jesus commanded the church to baptize in Matthew 28.  Baptism by itself no more earns us salvation than marching around a city earns the band a victory.  They don't match. 

Baptism can't be a work because it doesn't earn us anything.  It is our response and an act of obedience just like marching around the city.  It is God's chocie to forgive us and give us His Holy Spirit  based on our obedience in the act of baptism, (see Acts 2).  No one can stand before the Throne of God and claim God "must" let them in based on their baptism.  Therefore baptism can not be a work that earns us salvation.  Saying baptism has nothing to do with salvation is like saying God would have feld the walls of Jericho even if the people had not walked around them.  

God acted in response to their obedience not because of it.  Just like He does in baptism, His reponse based on our obedience is to save us, cleanse us and give us His Spirit - not becuase we've earned it but because we've been obedient.  Lest it become a work and we can not be saved based on what we do but based on our faith, expressed in obedience.  

Come Over To the Edge...

From nearly the beginning men and women have been less than excited about serving God and much more eager to declare themselves gods, or at least to be considered His equal.  It's the same in nearly every situation in which one person feels (whether they truly are or not) subservient to another.  Children can't wait to be out from under their parents control.  Some women today believe that even the institution of marriage is a form of control.  Our Declaration of Independence  talks about throwing off such government... I'm not saying in some of these cases that's a bad thing, but trying to show that in pretty much every area of our lives we fight for independence, superiority and control of our own lives.

Genesis 3 shows us that we are selfish people.  We do not want to be told what to do even if it is for our own benefit.

That's how Satan got her and it's how he gets us.  If you eat this fruit you will be "like God."

Let me give you an analogy.  When I was too young to remember my whole family went to the Grand Canyon.  I've seen pictures but have no recollection of it, though I was old enough to get around.  Now, knowing my mother like I do, I would guess that she spent the whole time telling my brother, sister and I to stay away from the edge.  Not because she didn't want us to get the whole view but she knew that it was dangerous.  Satan puts a piece of candy right on the edge.  He doesn't push us off, he can't, but he does entice us to go places and do things that he knows (as we do) have a high likelihood of a fall.

He couldn't make Eve eat the fruit, but he could taste it himself to "prove" to her that you wouldn't immediately die.   Of course, he already knew the difference between good and evil and had his death date secured.  (Part of this was Adam's fault for telling her that if she even touched the fruit/tree she would die, that is not what God said, but Adam was trying to protect her.)

When God comes back around there is a discussion and immediately Adam blames Eve and Eve blames Satan saying, he "deceived me..."  Consider this, deception only works if the person being deceived wants to be deceived.  How do most deceptions work?  We are offered something that it too good to be true or we are convinced that what we've been told NOT to do is really okay.  In the first case we so desire that which is not real (too good to be true for a reason) that we are willing to risk what we already have and in the second case we simply set aside what we've been told in order to buy into something else.

In reality, we're not really deceived we simply choose to take the risk.  We know the ledge is slippery and it's a long way down but we risk it in order to get the candy.  We weren't deceived by the candy, we chose it over our own safety.

My guess is that I will never become a drug addict because I have never and will never try a drug.  They could legalize marijuana and it wouldn't matter.  I believe that God wants me in control of my faculties and does not want my judgement impaired because He knows the dangers.  So I won't try it. In part, because I might like it and if I like it I'll want more and soon that won't be enough and I'll pick up every piece of candy that is laid down until I go over the edge.  So I don't drink.  I don't smoke.  I don't use.  That does not mean that I am sinless - if you only knew - but it does mean that in these cases I choose to give up my "freedom" so that I might remain free.

Eve and then Adam took the bait and feel over the edge.  Not only did they get kicked out of the Garden but they pretty much ruined things for the rest of us AND allowed Satan to have pretty much free reign to place those little tasty, tempting pieces of sin-candy wherever he wanted.

Galatians 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."  What are you sowing in your life?  Are you following the candy trails?  Or are you sowing seed that will keep you grounded.  I'll leave you with one more passage, James 4:7, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

I'm thankful for a loving God who continues to rescue me from the ledge, but I'd really like to keep Him less busy rescuing and more busy teaching/training and loving me.

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Trying To Color Outside The Lines

Todays reading is from Genesis 2 and Psalm 2 and I think these two chapters go very well together.  In Genesis we read the story of the creation of Adam and Eve and how Adam was shown every animal that God had created but a suitable helper could not be found.  So God created Eve from Adam and she was a perfect match.  Genesis 1 tells us how God made all the plants and animals with their seed in them so they would produce after their own kind.  Eve was no different.  God created Eve to be similar to the animal/plant world in that she could reproduce but only with the help of Adam.

Eve was a perfect helper for Adam.  Remember we're talking about a perfect place where everything was exactly the way God wanted it, no sin had yet entered their reality.  Which means that the relationships we often see between men and women today do not accurately reflect the relationship that Adam and Eve had in the Garden.  There, Eve was a perfect helper, designed to be a perfect match for Adam emotionally, physically, mentally and sexually.  Perfect.

Psalm 2 starts out this way, "why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?  The kings of the earth take their stand the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us"  (NASB).  The writer of this Psalm recognized that the people of the earth were tired of doing things God's way and they wanted freedom.  They wanted to throw off the control that God had over them and do their own thing, be their own boss.

This has been happening ever since Adam and Eve blew it in the Garden.  Mankind has desired to be free from God.  So we've devised our own rules and orders.  We've exchanged the desires of God (for our own good and benefit) for our own desires which are all too often selfish and damaging - oh, we don't always see it that way we see it is freedom and "choice" we even will go so far as to say that certain things were how we were "created."  But the reality is we have begun to color outside the lines and make our own path.

The writer of Psalm 2 recognizes the place of God though.  If God is God then the plans and devices and desires of mere men have little impact on Him.  So verse four says that, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them."

From the fall to this very minute mankind, me and you, have struggled with a desire to go our own way and do our own thing.  We try to convince ourselves that we're right, that it is okay and that God surely understands or even approves of the sin in our lives we try to justify.

Psalm 2 ends this way, "Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.  Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way (the way of your sin presumably), for His wrath may soon be kindled.  How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!"

I am grateful for passages like Romans 8:1, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (NIV).  Today, recognize what ways you may be attempting to throw off the fetters or cast off the cords of God's rule in your life.  Even if you are a believer there may still be areas of Scripture (The Bible) that you simply chose to ignore because you don't like them, think their outdated or because you simply do not want to obey.  A believer in Jesus should be seeking to always look more like Jesus who ALWAYS did what He Father asked, even to the point of giving His own life.

What are you NOT willing to give up for the One who sits on the throne?  A vice?  A choice?  A whim?  A thought process?  A plan?  I'm reminded right now of another passage from the Bible, Psalm 37:4-6,
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

God's Favor Means Satan's Focus

Welcome to 2014!  A New Year in which to wipe away the mistakes of the past and start fresh.  I hope you will join me on this trip through the Old Testament in 2014.  I plan to blog 5 days a week about things from the reading that pop out at me.  Today, the reading was in Genesis, Psalm and Joshua the first chapters of each.  Will I found some good stuff in each chapter I want to focus in on the Joshua passage.

When I read I try to always ask God to give me eyes to see and ears to hear Him through His Word.  God's Word is probably the primary way that He speaks to and encourages me.  As I read I often read things that I think must be meant just for me at just that time.  There are no random coincidences where God's Word is concerned, no matter how you get it, it's Him speaking to you.  Amazing.

In Joshua 1 verses 6, 7, 9 and 18 all contain the same phrase to Joshua.  The first three come from God the last, from Joshua's men, the fighting men of Israel.  In Joshua 1 Moses has just died and the mantle of leadership is passed to Joshua who has been Moses' number 2 for many years.  In fact, Joshua was the only other person who was allowed to go near the tent of meeting (when the pillar of cloud or fire would rest over the tent where Moses stayed to signify God was talking to him) and he was also the one that accompanied Moses in most ever circumstance.  

Now, Joshua is number 1 and the people are all looking to him.  So God speaks to Joshua and reassures of him of a few things.  As God was with Moses He would be with Joshua, big relief.  As the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan river and begin to take possession of the land God had promised them they faced the inhabitants of that land who were not going to simply pack up and leave.  So this was welcome news.  So was the news that God would fight with Israel and every place they walked God would give them.  Basically, God is going to do some incredible things and he is reassuring Joshua that He (God) is in charge.

But four times Joshua is told the same thing, "Be strong and courageous."  Why, if God is going to drive out the people before them does he need to be strong and courageous?  Well, I think for this reason.  Just because God was guaranteeing victory did not mean Joshua and the people would not have to fight.  God's favor for Joshua and the Israelites meant Satan was going to focus on them in an attempt to stop whatever God was planning to do.  

Sometimes in our lives we can assume that if God is for us, no one can be against us so we don't have to try.  But that is not the case.  If God is for us no can stand against us but there will be plenty of people who will try!  Joshua needed to be strong and courageous because there were going to be lots of times when he faced situations that looked completely hopeless.  In those times he would need to be both strong and courageous to keep pressing on even though it looked like they wouldn't succeed.

You may have felt over this last year (2013) like everything went wrong.  Nothing worked out the way you thought it would.  Guess what.  In the same way God was with Joshua He is with you.  That's right.  God was with Joshua through the Holy Spirit, but now, the Holy Spirit actually lives IN you so wherever you go He is there, going before you cleaning the way.  What you need to do is be strong and courageous knowing that God is with you and will fight for you.  

You have God's favor because you are a child of His.  That means you also have the focus of Satan and he wants to stop you from seeing God's work in your life.  Will you cower and run away?  Or will you stand strong in the power of God and see Him gain the victory.  God being with you doesn't mean you don't have to fight, it just means He's guaranteed the win.  Fight on in strength and courage.  

How Did We Get So Confused? Phil Robertson and Faith

Log on to FB and you probably won't be able to scroll more than two or three stories without seeing some opinion, share, hashtag or video about Phil Robertson, A&E or someone's agenda concerning the two.  Whether you are boycotting Duck Dynasty because of the elder Robertson's comments or boycotting A&E because of their reaction to it I wonder what impact any of this really has on changing opinions or tolerance.

But so I won't be left out of the conversation I thought I'd weigh in.

I choose to live my life by a set of rules (two really) that are contrary to the way in which I often want to live.  I believe Phil Robertson shares this choice.  If you choose not to live by these same rules that is completely up to you.  You have every right to call me names because of my choice as I have right because of your choice (choosing not to chose is a choice) although I would be in violation of both of the commands I seek to live my life by if I did that so I'll try and refrain.

My faith in Jesus is expressed best when I live those two rules He gave me.  Not as I talk about them, but as I live them in my real life and as I encounter real people.

So here's a real life response to Phil and what is going on in the christian community.
1.  As I follow Jesus my response to the issue of homosexuality is one of love and a call to repentance.  It is the same approach I am obligated to take with adultery, slander, gossip, dishonesty, stealing, coveting, sexual immorality or any kind of course or crude language.
2.  If every homosexual who claims to be a Christian is going to hell  then so is every other christian who sins.  Any christian who is gossiping, lying (even "white" lies), viewing pornography, who is dishonest in their life or language, covets or is engaged in any sexual immortality.  Let's just sum it up by saying anyone who is consistently (even if there is a lot of time between occurrences) not being completely loving toward God or others.
3.  I have an obligation to my God to act in love toward the homosexual by trying to help them see their sin for sin just like I do for the one who is caught in pornography or is lying or using or being selfish.  It is NOT loving to know the truth and hide it because the person who you might share it with will be offended.  They do not have to accept it and I am not obligated by God to beat them over the head with my truth.  My job is to simply tell them.  Their job is to choose.  My eternity is not dependent on their choice.  However, my silence is not loving toward the individual nor to my God so that creates a problem for me!
4.  The christian can no more accept or tolerate homosexuality than we can adultery, law breakers, haters, gossips, etc., but we also can not be loving toward God and others and completely disregard the homosexual or others we disagree with or pretend they don't exist.
5.  My faith in Jesus is based on God's Word - not my own desires or feelings.  In that, my rules for living are objective because they are outside of me.  No matter what I feel internally for homosexuality or any other sin, I am bound by God's Word and not my own feelings.  Which means my opinions or feelings don't matter, what matters is what God's Word says.  That also means that my feelings/opinions don't change based on the temperature of the situation or what a friend or family member chooses to engage in.  If it's sin, it's sin no matter what I feel or think.
6.  If you disagree with my faith that is your choice.  I am bound by my choice to love God and love others regardless of what they do or say to or about me.  So if you violate my choice to believe I'll still love you.  I won't throw you in jail or kill you or slander you.  In fact, I'll do my best to live peaceably with you.  However I won't allow you to force me to change my convictions because of your desires, convictions or feelings.  If you are free then I am free (even though I choose to be bound by God's way of life).

As long as I live I will do my best to love God and love others even if they disagree with me or I with them.  I will not be quiet about my faith but I will not be militant either.  I have chosen to be bound in order that I might be free, maybe you don't desire that.  As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord by loving Him and others and pointing the world to repentance even if they don't accept it.

Keep It Plain and Simple

I have a son with severe Autism who is nearly non-verbal.  He makes a lot of noise, but doesn't say much.  He's never really talked and we've never been able to have a conversation with him.  We don't know what his school days are like, he doesn't complain, he doesn't share his joy... or his sorrow.  He can follow clear and short one or two step directions but is completely lost when we ask him how he feels.  He doesn't understand complex concepts like LOVE or HATE.  So we have to speak to him very plainly and very simply.  

Anyone who is trying to communicate the eternal Words of God would do well to spend some time with my son.  To learn how to communicate when the person you're trying to communicate with... doesn't.  

For followers of Jesus this is a struggle.  Often, trying to communicate with the world around us is like trying to talk to someone who can't understand you.  Let me give you some examples.  I used to play on a weekend adult soccer league with my brother-in-law.  I would get up on Sunday morning, preach, go to sunday school and then preach again.  While getting my cleats and shin guards on I'd talk with the other members of my team.  But I didn't understand where they were coming from.  They were all talking about the parties they had gone to Friday night after work, how they got up late saturday and spent the day drinking and how hard it was to get up at 11am that morning to get to the field for the game.  I did not understand.  I do a lot of counseling and I often hear stories of parole violations and illegal drugs and the conversation is littered with curse words.  I don't understand.

It can be a struggle to communicate effectively with a culture that you don't understand.  But that's exactly what we're called to do.  That was confirmed to me this morning when I read, "When someone hears the Word of God but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart."  The Word of God is shared but it is not understood by the hearer.  It is sown but would be like trying to plant a vegetable garden in your living room carpet.  Because the hearer has no way to process the Word; no way to grab ahold and let it sink in, it is easy for Satan to come and snatch it away.  

So who's fault is it?  Well, if I'm the one communicating God's Word, it's mine.  

That's exactly why I preach the way I do.  

I'm not a flowery communicator.  I don't feel the need to use every expensive word I learned in Bible college.  I use filler words, though I try to limit them, and my sentence structure isn't always the best.  I preach the way I talk.  And If you've read much of this blog you've discovered that I often write the way I talk as well.  I do these things because I'm comfortable with it.  It's the same reason I don't wear suits, I'm comfortable in jeans and t-shirts (and in the summer nothing but shorts as often as possible!).  

If you are trying to communicate God's Word it is YOUR responsibility (and mine) to communicate God's timeless Truth in a way that could be classified as plain and simple.  If you're one of those $100 dollar word talkers that's fine, a few people in your church - the spiritual elite - may understand it and pat you on the back.  But most will walk out only thinking you must be smart, not thinking, God must be great.  

If Satan snatches the Word away it is most likely because you (and I) haven't communicated God's Truth in a way that they can understand.  That's on us (me).  

"Follow Me" Wasn't Just For The Perfect

I had the opportunity to have lunch with a large number of inmates from the minimum security facility in Winfield the other day.  It was the first time for me and I really enjoyed it.  The two men sitting at the table with me, Danny and Jim, as I recall had a lot of questions about church and especially Real Life.  I suppose it was the beanie I was wearing and the beard and long hair but they seemed to be pretty comfortable with me.  One of them, after the meal was over and we were all getting ready to leave told me that he got out in five months and that I shouldn't be surprised if I saw him in church.  "I'd like to come and see" he told me.

I was reminded of that lunch as I read Matthew 9:9 this morning.  It's the story of how Matthew came to be a disciple of Jesus and follow Him.  What I noticed was something that I don't recall seeing with any of the other disciples.

The verse just reads, As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and He said to him, "Follow me."  And he rose and followed him.

Jesus called Peter and Andrew, James and John out of their boats, while they were working.  He called Nathaniel from under the tree where he was resting.  He called others from various places but He called Matthew while he was "sitting" in his sin.

Matthew was a tax collector.  Sold out to the occupying colonist Romans he was hated by the rest of the Jewish population as a traitor.  And was most likely extorting money from his fellow Jews.  He was greedy and was taking from his fellow man, something the Jewish Law forbid.

But Jesus calls him.  right there where he sat.  Actively engaged in his sin.  Jesus calls him, "Follow me."

This is one reason I love Jesus.  He didn't look for the brightest, or best, he called people from where they were, whether working the nets after a night of fishing or taking money from for the Romans.  Jesus is more interested in your future than in your past or even your present.  What this tells me is that my past AND my present position do not indicate my future usefulness to God's Kingdom.  God can call people in the midst of their sin into a life of faith, adventure and trust.

And one of the great things about God's call on the lives of those in the midst of their sin comes in verse 10.  Jesus went to Matthew's house and ate with him and others.  He didn't wait until Matthew had gotten his life completely together, that day, that hour he went to his home and ate a meal.  And lots of other tax collectors and "sinners" were there too!

Why does God call people in the midst of their sin?  Because they are the greatest witness and testimony to their friends and colleagues who are also involved in that sin.  Jesus came to many tax collects and sinners that day because He came to one, still in his sin, who said, "Okay" when Jesus called out to him from the midst of his sin, "Follow me."

No matter what you're into right now Jesus is placing the same call on your life, "Follow me."  How will you respond?

Enjoying the View

Psalm 89 is written by a guy named Ethan, he is an Ezrahite.

I have a new appreciation for the Psalms after discovering that they are the only real account of man's opinion, or response to God.  The Psalms are prayers, mostly, that were offered to God.  In the Psalms we get a close up look at how the Jewish people viewed God and how they believed He worked in their lives and their opinion of how He worked in their nation.  No longer do I feel bad for getting angry at time when I don't think God is moving fast enough, or when I'm saddened by events in my life or other's lives.  I can find a Psalm where someone else was struggling with a similar issue and see that my feelings are natural and I take comfort in the fact that God has heard it before - I'm not the only one.

But I noticed something in this Psalm the other day that has continued to come back to me on a regular schedule.

In this prayer Ethan recounts challenges and turmoil that face the Nation of Israel.  It's almost like he's saying something that I've said before, maybe you have too, "God, You said you were going to take care of us and watch over us, You made promises to us - but I'm not seeing Your hand at work anymore."  It appeared to Ethan, and the Nation of Israel, that God had abandoned His promises and walked away from His responsibility to the people.

Ethan even quotes God's very words to His people, it's like he thinks maybe God forgot or was trying to get away with something.  All God is waiting for is Ethan to catch Him in the act and point out His waywardness and God will turn around.

In the beginning of this Psalm Ethan is praying to God and recounting God's steadfast love and faithfulness, "in the heavens."  Next He begins to speak about God - kind of like God's response to Him.   And God is speaking about His covenant with His chosen people, specifically David.

Here's what struck me.  While Ethan thinks God has concerned Himself more with what is going on, "in the heavens" where He is still full of love and faithfulness.  God's reply is about His people and His covenant.

Like me you may have had times where you think God has decided to focus on heaven, you know, a little dusting or rearranging of the heavenly furniture and He's forgotten about you.  You may be looking up and saying, "God, I know you're faithful and steadfast because that's who you are but I don't see it down here in my day to day life."  But God is always aware of His people, in fact, consider this.  Jesus' example prayer goes, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."  God's will is carried out in heaven without a thought or a glance.  He isn't chasing the angels around making sure everything gets done and Gabriel does the dishes on his night.  God's will is just done.  God's focus is on you and me.  While we shout at the heavens and shake our fist at God, He's constantly watching and arranging the details of our lives to bring us continually closer to Himself.

I saw a tweet the other day that said, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life.  You may be aware of 3 of them.  God's will is deeper, better, stronger relationship with you and He'll work to bring that about through pain or plenty - whichever is most effective.

While I'm sure I disappoint God constantly I think He's enjoying the view and I know He watches over me.

What's The Humidity Today?

I live in KS where the air is extremely humid in the summer, walk outside and you start sweating.  So it's not unusual to find thermometers at WalMart with humidity indicators on them.  My wife had stopped to look at them as a possible Father's Day gift for her Dad.  So we stood there discussing the merits of a large thermometer with humidity indicator.  I was not sold on the idea and then I saw it.  There must have been as many as 15 thermometers on the end-cap and nearly every one displayed a different humidity level.  I said, "why would we buy one of these when their quality is lacking - brand new and they all show something different!"
Now, maybe knowing the exact percentage of humidity is not a very big deal and probably would not have impacted my Father-in-laws life either positively or negatively.  But there's something that just doesn't sit well with me about getting different answers to the same question.  Needless to say we passed up the thermo-humidity indicators.
But as I drove home in the high-humidity afternoon today I was thinking about those indicators and I couldn't help but think how those thermometers represent so much of what we get from the world.  Every time you turn around the world is telling you something different.  Ask a question about whether something is right or wrong and you'll get an answer like, "well, it depends on the situation."  Or, "what might be right for me might not be for you."  How are we supposed to make our way through this life if we never know what the right thing to do is?  We never know if what we're doing is going to get us in trouble or praised, sent to jail or hailed as a hero.
I was recently talking with a young man who appears to be trying to embrace this relativistic lifestyle.  Everything is does is not judged against a standard but is measured with the floating scale of what others do or are doing.  As I talked to him about my position it was apparent he was having a hard time processing what I was saying.  I ended with this thought.
Your idea of what is right or wrong may change from day to day but one thing you can bet with me is that if it's wrong it's wrong.  And not just because I make an arbitrary decision in the moment, but because I will go to the Bible as my source of authority.  You may not agree with my decision but at least it's based on something outside myself and not just on how I 'feel' at the moment.  My understanding of right and wrong doesn't waiver because it's not based on ME.  If it were, I could manipulate what I saw as right and wrong based on how I was living at the moment.  If I had stolen something I might excuse it because I was hungry instead of being convicted by the truth that it was wrong no matter what my reason.
When we go to the world, our friends for advice it's like looking at all those thermometers with the differing humidity levels.  We may have the right sense about the temperature but what we're to do it is difficult to determine because we're getting conflicting information.
The cure for this problem is simple.  Go to something outside yourself, your friends and your feelings for advice and input.  To something like the Bible.  It doesn't change (and hasn't for 2000 years).  What was wrong while Jesus walked the earth is wrong today.  Are there some cultural things we need to be aware of, sure, but when it comes to important moral and character issues the Bible is clear and the same for everyone.  No matter where you come from, what you've done, how much money you have or your position the Bible applies equally to your life as it does to mine.  There is no favoritism or subjectivism.  Where God is concerned we're all the same.   No need to wonder or guess, it's right there.  Truth.  Objective.  Applicable.  And it's always the same.

The Man The President Asked to Stay

I just read an article written for The Washington Times by a man named Joseph Curl (now the editor of the Drudge Report but covered The White House and politics for 10 years for the Times).  It was a political piece, as virtually everything is.  And, just to get it out of the way, it was pro Bush and I suppose by that one fact, anti-everybody else.

I read it because it was a piece about the opening of the George W. Bush presidential library and I wanted to know how that went - specifically it was about how each of the presidents in attendance handled the day and themselves.  You can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles himself around other men, so I was interested.  What I wasn't prepared for was the last, seemingly unimportant paragraph.

Let me just copy and paste this part of Mr Curl's article so you can read it for yourself.
"The program nearly over, Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. came to the side of the stage to perform the “Star Spangled Banner.” A big, powerful black man, Mr. Powell belted out the anthem. With the crowd applauding, the sergeant moved along the line of people, shaking hands with all. After greeting W, he turned to go. But the 43rd president put his hand on the sergeant’s arm and said, “Stay,” just as a chaplain stepped forward to give a benediction.

So the final tableau of the day: Five presidents, five first ladies, heads bowed in prayer. And Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. No one, really, just the man a president asked to “stay.”"

I think that is amazing.  What does the guy who got selected to sing the Star Spangled Banner have in common with five of the last six presidents of these United States?  Not much.  In fact, he know doubt had been told to shake hands and get out of there so they could wrap up the ceremony.  He may have even been nervous.  No matter what your politics or lack of respect for any man, when you stand on a stage with every living president that's a big deal.  So to have one simply say, "stay."  means something.

I am right now preparing a message for this Sunday at Real Life.  I am going to teach on Peter's denial of Jesus and then Jesus' reinstatement of Peter.  And it's such perfect timing that this story comes across my screen.  What Jesus was saying to Peter on the beach (where Peter had met him for the very first time by the way) was, "stay."  Stay with me Peter.  Hang in there.  Don't walk away because I want you to be here with me.

It's the same thing Jesus is saying to you today.  You may not feel like you belong with Jesus, standing there with him you may feel very nervous, but Jesus is just putting his hand on your arm and asking you to stay.  Whatever song you're singing for the world to hear, whatever part you're playing in life, Jesus is calling you to stay with Him.  Not because you deserve to be with Him, but simply because He chooses you.  Because He put His hand on your arm and said, "stay."  Unassuming.  Reassuring.  He wants you to share the stage with Him.

You're the one Jesus asked to stay.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/25/w-outclasses-barack-and-bill-without-even-trying/?page=2#ixzz2Rb8H00al

Did You Do Something Stupid In Your Past?

Think about your High School career.  Did you have one of those guys who did something really stupid that has followed him ever since?  Usually these things are not very good and I'm sure after sobering up the individuals are pretty sorry they did it.  Some things just stick with you, whether you want them to or not.

I was reading in Mark 4 the other day and told the story of Jesus going to Simon the Leper's house.

At this point, Simon was no longer a leper, if he was no one would have gone to his house.  Jesus had healed him so it should have been, Simon the post-leper or Simon the used-to-be-leper.

I wonder how Simon felt when people referred to him by the most horrific time-period in his life?  Leprosy, back then, was a terrible thing.  No known cure (except a miraculous encounter with Jesus).  No one would touch you or barely speak to you.  You had to move out of your home and the city and live in Leper colonies.  No one would visit.  This was a horrible disease that affected the nerves and it stunk and people thought they could catch it so it was lonely and you just kind of waited to die.

Imagine for a minute if everyone called you by something that represented a period of discomfort or embarrassment in your life.  Let me give you a few examples;

Corey the hemorrhoid sufferer.

John the incontinent.

Sarah the diarrhea girl.

(yea, I know, just trying to make a point)
Strange how we remember people for the worst things.  Even though Simon was healed, cleansed, restored, he was still remembered for something he desperately wanted to just forget.

That's one of the amazing traits about Jesus.  He doesn't remember.  When He talks about you He speaks of you in terms of what you can be, now what you were.  Who you are in relation to Him, not what you did apart from Him.

Hebrews 10:17 - Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.
Psalm 103:12 -as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

You may have done some pretty stupid stuff in your past.   It's doesn't matter.  Jesus doesn't remember who you were He knows who you were destined to become.

Throw off those old titles in Christ and embrace a new life.  A clean life.

How to Deal with the Boston Bombings

How do you deal with tragedy?

In the wake of the Boston Bombings many people are struggling to make sense of what happened.  As of the last news conference I heard, there are three dead and more than 100 wounded from the two bombs that exploded on the sidewalks of Boston near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  And just about everyone involved from the Mayor to the President is saying the same thing, we will discover who did this and why.

We want to know.  We need to know.  Who could have committed this crime against innocent civilians?  The aged and the very young, men and women, runners and by-standers injured and killed and maimed with no regard for who or what.  We want a face.  We need an identity.  We seek a villan.  But we also want to know why they did what they did.  How could they have planned and carried out this act, knowing all along, that it would inflict incredible damage and loss of life?  What brings a person to a place where they could kill those they don't know for reasons that they are uninvolved in?

Let me suggest to you that knowing who and why will not stop events like this from happening in the future, nor will it bring us any real closure or peace.  We will simply know.  But we will not have peace.

We need to know who was behind this because that is the only way we can, "bring them to justice."  Which is really just another way of saying that they will get what's coming to them.  And that really is about vengeance   Retaliation.  Retribution for their crimes.  And we want to know why because that is how we process things like this.  If the person or people involved are crazy we can dissmis them and this act as desperate and we can relax knowing that there are only a few crazy people in the world - the sane would never do anything like this.  If the perpetrators were seeking to terrorize then we will blame religion or fanaticism and lump whole nations of people together as those who should be feared.

But reality is, whether crazy or terrorists or opportunists or carrying out some agenda the root of this act is firmly embedded in evil.  Evil.  Not religion.  Not marginalized individuals.  Not the desperate act of the insane.  Evil.  No matter what the "reason" the reason is, evil.  And where evil exists, as it does in this world, there will always be people who carry it out.

So what is our response then?  If the who, only allows us vengeance and the why is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things how do we respond to what we've seen?

First, do not fear.
Fear seeks to control by force.  When we react in fear we succumb to the terror of the event even if we were not directly involved in it.  Those who would attack anyone, from a bully to a nation rely on fear. Where there is fear there is control.  Most acts of terror whether on the playground or the world-stage are committed first to instill fear and second to inflict damage.

Psalm 37:1
Do not fret because of those who are evil...


1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear...


Second, trust.
When actions like this happen it rallys people, but often around the wrong things.  We become united in our stand against terror.  We come together to seek justice.  We are bound together by our disgust.  But as we saw after 9/11, rallying to these banners quickly dissipates.  Once a villain is found, once the why is discovered the ties that bound us begin to lose their grip.  So we must rally together for something that will last beyond the event - trust.  We can trust that God is involved and watching over the events and that His heart is grieved by evil as is ours.  And we can trust that He will exact vengeance where it is needed and that His punishment is forever harsher than anything we could come up with.
Psalm 34:16

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.


Third, refrain from retaliation.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't pursue justice.  We have laws and will enforce them and have many people in the FBI, ATF, Homeland security and other organizations who will work diligently to discover who did this and bring them to justice.  But you and I should refrain from retaliation.  Much like the days and weeks following 9/11 there will be increased violence against anyone of Middle Eastern decent.  I heard that a plane was rerouted and landed today because two men, not sitting together were speaking in Arabic   Now, it could have something to with the evens of yesterday, but they could have also simply been talking with someone else who happened to speak their language.  I guarantee that if you were on a plane full of people in a country foreign to you, you would talk to the other person who appeared to speak your language.  Too often anger and retaliation only inflame the situation and do not bring peace.

Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.


Finally realize that evil exists in this world.  Evil is the reason terror exists.  Evil is the incubator for crimes against the innocent.  Evil always seeks to steal, kill and destroy.  It was evil that brought about the events of 9/11.  Evil was behind the massacre at SandyHook.  Evil was the seed that led to yesterday's attack and evil will be at the heart of every act of terror that has yet to be perpetrated wether on U.S. soil or elsewhere.  The other option?
Psalm 34:14
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.


Jesus came because evil existed.  He died at the hands of the evil, for the purpose of evil and the perpetuation of evil.  But He rose again to defeat evil and offer hope.  Evil could not keep Him in the ground.  That is why good will always overcome evil.  Peace will always overcome hate.  Love will always be a more powerful emotion than fear.  Trust that God sees it all and will keep an account of all those who pursue and perpetuate evil.  Trust that, in Jesus, death no longer brings fear but hope.  That Jesus, if He is lifted up as the reason we pursue peace instead of hate, good instead of evil, love instead of fear, will draw all men to Himself.  And remember that Jesus went to the cross at the hands of evil men to pay the price for your sin so that there is no longer any retaliation for the evil that you and I have committed.  Let the law of the land bring justice to those involved, but seek repentance and ultimate salvation for those who both killed and were killed.

Luke 6:27, 28
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Holy Vessels

Have you ever considered the question, "Am I Holy?"

The reality for me is that I very seldom think about this.  There are times when I do.  In fact, on a regular basis I consider this thought.  Saturday nights.  I have a routine that involves abstaining from intimacy with my wife, I shower and prepare for Sunday morning and I ask God to clean me on the inside and prepare me to speak to His people.  To wash my heart and cleanse me from all unrighteousness so that nothing gets in the way of His message to His people.  But I'm a preacher.  And that's once a week.

I guess I never really thought about seeking holiness when I prepare for something else, something difficult or even mundane.  It's like I only think about this when it's some big spiritual event I'm preparing for.

In 1 Samuel 21 young David, before he succeeds King Saul and takes over the rule of Israel, is actually fleeing Saul for his life.  He comes to the Tabernacle of God at Nob and to the priest, Ahimelek.  David and the men with him are hungry and looking for something to sustain them as they continue to run from King Saul who is pursuing David to take his life.  The only thing Ahimelek has to eat is The Bread of the Presence.  It was bread that was baked every Sabbath (Saturday) and placed before the Lord as an offering.  It pointed back in time to the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness. It also pointed forward to Christ being the bread of life.  It was to be eaten only by the Priests who come from the line of Aaron (Moses' brother and the only line who could be High Priest) and who had set themselves apart as Holy by following the prescribed regulations and was only to be eaten in a Holy place.

However, this bread was given to David and his men.  Now, it's not my purpose to get into all of this today but let me just say, Jesus referred to this event when He said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  In other words, God gave man the Sabbath (day of rest) as a gift.  Anyway, I found it interesting that Ahimelek said to David, "there is some consecrated bread here - provided them men have kept themselves from women."  Just like the Jerusalem church determined that the Gentile church should not have to follow every Jewish law but only a few specific ones that would be most detestable to the Jews, Ahimelek breaks down the regulations for being Holy to just one thing - abstinence.

But what is even more interesting is David's reply in verse five, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”

That is incredible to me!  David says that even when the missions he goes out on are not holy, or God ordained/directed, his men still prepare themselves and keep their bodies holy.  Which means that they are ready for whatever God is going to do among them because they are ALREADY holy, ALREADY prepared.

Guess what, YOU ARE HOLY!  You are already set apart for God's good works which He prepared in advance for you to do!  Look at 1 Peter 2:9, "...you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

On the cross Jesus paid your price.  His sacrifice makes you holy.  You are now part of the royal priesthood - the priesthood of Aaron, not by your blood line, but by the blood of Christ Jesus.  That makes you God's special possession!

Now your part is to proclaim the praises of Jesus who called you out of the darkness of sin and pain and hopelessness and into HIS wonderful light!

Every day you are holy and ready to do whatever God places in your path.  Every day you can eat the bread of heaven because you are holy.  Every day you can do whatever God asks because you are prepared supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish everything He sets before you.

You are a Holy vessel.

Detained

How often are you detained?  And how do you feel about it?
Lately I've had several incidences of people not using their blinker when it directly affects me.  I'm waiting to turn, they are coming toward me and so I wait and then they turn and I'm like, "I could have gone already but was waiting for you!  Thanks a LOT!"  So I'm telling my wife about how inconsiderate some people are and I go, "I could shaved like 1.3 seconds off my travel time had they used their blinker!"

I have a friend who is always waiting on his family.  He's one of those guys who thinks 15 minutes early is on time (I don't get that!).  I think the rest of his family live by the 30 min late rule.

We get detained by a lot of things.  Family.  Cars on the road.  Accidents.  Work.  Overtime of the game.  "One more level and then..."

But it occurred to me this morning as I read 1 Samuel 21 that it has been way too long since I was detained by God.  Here's what got me thinking about it, Verse 7 talks about a man named Doeg the Edomite.  He was king Saul's chief shepherd and was at the Tabernacle.  The text just says that he was, "detained before the Lord."  We don't know why he was there but only that he stayed longer than planned.

Have you ever been detained by the Lord?  Showed up to church and then just didn't want to leave?  Been in a time of prayer that just went on longer than you expected it to?

It doesn't happen very often to me, but there have been a few times when I just didn't want to leave.  I didn't want the music to end.  I needed more.  More of Him.  Nothing strange or mystical happens, you just get to enjoy the presence of God a little longer.

I asked God to give me a heart that was moved by His Spirit.  To detain me.  I need Him to interrupt my life and get me on His schedule.  To re-align my priorities and my focus.  To help me get tuned in and synched up with His will, His way, His plan.

Father, detain me and let me bask in your presence.  Refresh my spirit with your presence.  Renew me and give me a new heart.  Let me spend a little extra time with You.  Amen.