Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Glorify Your Father...go produce some fruit.

scripture

Galatians 5:16-26 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

observation

We talked about the Holy Spirit wanting to have control of our lives back in Romans 8 just a few days ago. The question came up: Who are you trying to please? Are you living for self satisfaction?

Paul encourages the church in Galatia to “let the Holy Spirit guide your lives” listen to what he didn’t say “try as hard as you can to be a good person.” As we discussed in Romans 8, the power to be good comes from the Holy Spirit and not from our fortitude or determination.

It is easy to see the results of giving into our old desires, hostility, quarreling, jealousy etc, all of the character traits that anyone would like to be cured of but without the power of the Holy Spirit they are trapped. We must confess that this fruit is sin and that on our own we are powerless to cure ourselves. We must admit our need for a Savior so that the Holy Spirit will help us to overcome these habits.

John 15:8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.

The qualities that we will have displayed in our lives when the Holy Spirit is in control are called fruit. Now that reminds me of a gardening lesson that Jesus gave to his disciples. Jesus said that he is the vine and that his followers are the branches, Jesus told his disciples that as a branch they need to bear fruit and be careful about being unfruitful.

Church member beware! A Christian should be very concerned if his life is not characterized by the fruit of the spirit, Jesus said that without the fruit there isn't any proof that you are his disciple. Without "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" in your life there is a serious problem with your relationship with the Lord. If you are busy working for the Lord as a layman or minister and you do not have these characteristics consistently in your lifestyle then you are working for the Lord under your own power and determination and not with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is scary how many people that are busy working for the Lord that do not have their lives under the control of the Spirit, how can their ministry bear fruit if the individual leading it isn't bearing fruit, and what is going to happen to that ministry when the Lord prunes that branch from the vine.

John 15:5 For apart from me you can do nothing

Without the Holy Spirit I am powerless but if I stay rooted in Christ then the Holy Spirit will enable me to produce the fruit that we all want to have in our lives, the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” and then we will bring glory to our heavenly father.

John 15:16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit.

application

Everyone in the church must be careful that they are abiding in the vine, allowing the Holy Spirit to mold their personality. I will stay in the word so that the Holy Spirit can show me the traits that my life must display in order to be fruitful and useful for the Lord.

prayer

My number one goal Lord is for you to find me useful for your work. I pray that men in our church will be serious about living for you and will be "your man on your mission." I pray that people in the body of Christ that do not have the fruit in their lives will get right with you and become fruitful for your glory.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Everybody Gets A Gift!

scripture

1Corinthians 12:1-31

Romans 12:6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

observation

Today we see another thing that the Holy Spirit does for us is that he gives us special abilities and he decides who gets what gift (1Cor 12:11). It would be easy to think that your abilities are something that is a part of your personality or it is something that you developed but we have to remember that everything that we have is from God, even those abilities and talents that we may take for granted as being a part of our personality. If you are an administrator, a teacher, a helper or whatever you are it is because you received a gift from the Holy Spirit.

It just occurred to me that the Bible is a story of gifts, and guess who is getting all the gifts, it is all about you and I getting all the presents. God gave us life and love, Jesus displayed God’s love and gave us eternal life, Holy Spirit gives us our giftedness, he gives us help, guidance and strength. That would be a good study to blog someday.

But you didn’t just get your abilities and talents so that you can boast about how special you are, there isn’t any room for boasting, there is only room for boasting in the Lord:

Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. 24 But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Your spiritual gift wasn’t given to you to build yourself up but so that we can build each other up by helping each other (1Cor 12:7). The proper use of you gift is very important so that you will be a help to the body of Christ and not a sore thumb sticking out there drawing attention to yourself. Our gifts must be used in love with the purpose of bringing unity to the wellness of the whole body of Christ, this is so important that in the next chapter (1Cor 13) Paul tells us that the most important thing is love.

application

I will use my gifts wisely so that they are beneficial to the body and helps the body, I do not want to bring glory to myself, rather I want to be useful in my local church so that Christ will be exalted.

prayer

Keep me humble in ministry Lord, allowing me to be useful for your glory, knowing that my abilities came from you.

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Holy Spirit Helps You Speak

scripture

1Corinthians 2

observation

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth he talked in chapter 1 and 2 about the wisdom of the world and about how God’s wisdom doesn’t make any sense to the world.

We need to know that we cannot talk about Godly wisdom to people that are not in Christ, Paul said that when he first came to Corinth that he kept his message simple:

1 Corinthians 2:1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ,

Paul didn’t get into any deep philosophy or wise discussions instead he kept his message very focused on Jesus and the message of the cross, he told us that they cannot understand deep spiritual truths without the help of the Holy Spirit, which they do not have yet. There are a lot of unbelievers that are stuck on trying to understand some deep theological truth about God when they just need to grasp the truth of the gospel, the message of God’s love displayed for us on the cross.

However you do have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will help you to present the gospel to an unbeliever so that you are not alone:

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit

Jesus also told us about the role of the Holy Spirit in helping us know what to say:

Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.
Now if you want to get deep with a brother in Christ and talk about what you have learned about God then that’s fine. Just remember that an unbeliever cannot understand and neither can a baby Christian that is still on the milk of the word.

1 Corinthians 2:6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world

The Holy Spirit will reveal wonderful things to you about God as you become a mature believer the Spirit will reveal to you things about God that the world cannot understand.

1 Corinthians 2:10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

application

I need to remember that the Holy Spirit will give me words to say to present the gospel with simplicity to an unbeliever and he will help me to explain things that I have learned to other mature believers as we all learn more about God together.

I hope that this blog can speak to both groups of people as some days the gospel is plainly given and other days the deeper truths, the meat of the word is given.

prayer

I am so thankful that I do not need to worry any more than Moses did about what to say. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and for his help in sharing the gospel. I have five cards to give out to invite people to church, give me the boldness to hand them out.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Who Is In Control?


scripture

Romans 8

observation

Who is in control? You have two choices, maybe it’s the sinful nature that you were born with or if you are a Christ follower then maybe you are being controlled by the Holy Spirit.

The next question is who are you trying to please? Are you living for self satisfaction? There is only one way that you can please God and that is through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit is in control of your life, you will have a life full of peace (v 6) that will be everlasting (v 1-2). Does that mean that you will have “your best life now” and you will live on easy street? No, but it does mean that the Holy Spirit living in you can give you peace that rises above your circumstances.

Those that are led by the spirit are sons of God that can call upon God as his children and as his children we are heirs to the glorious kingdom that he has prepared for us.

The Holy Spirit even helps us when we talk to God as he intercedes on our behalf (v 26-27). Sometimes I don’t even know what to pray for, sometimes the situation is too overwhelming to know what to say to God.

application

I must strive to allow the Holy Spirit to be in control of my life. When I am in control it does not lead to a life of peace and I can certainly never please God by trying to be good under my own power.

prayer

Thank you for the Holy Spirit that intercedes for us before our Father, help me to always give up control and allow the Holy Spirit to be in charge of the way that I live.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Holy Spirit: The Power Source

scripture

Acts 1 and 2

observation

Just before Jesus was taken into heaven he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem, that’s something that I am sure that they didn’t mind doing, let’s just stay home it’s a lot safer than going out to Judea and Samaria and making disciples. That would be good news considering everything that has happened why would we want to go out there and stir up trouble, they killed Jesus so who knows what may happen to us.

These guys never did exhibit strong leadership skills when Jesus wasn’t there to back them up, but Jesus told them something else just before leaving, he told them something about a source of power.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

These little ordinary wimpy guys were going to turn the world upside down with the good news of the gospel. Thankfully every believer has the same power source that makes all the difference when we are asked by God to carry out a big plan, something that is way bigger than ourselves. Suddenly Peter is preaching his first sermon and three thousand people get saved, now that’s power!

application

We need to remember that everything that God has asked us to do he empowers us to do with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do all things, the Holy Spirit can even take a bunch of wimpy guys and make them powerful and fearless to turn this world upside down, even in the face of persecution.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is found inside of us:

Romans 1:4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

prayer

I pray that I will always rely on the Holy Spirit, the power source for everything that you have asked me to do. Thank you that you are coming back for me someday.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Holy Spirit: Our Helper

scripture

John 14:15-26  “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

observation

There is a special relationship that Jesus has with the Father, he tells us that everything that he says is from God and he tells us that his resurrection will prove that he is in the Father working in perfect unity and also that we are to take place in that unity (v. 20). The unity that God and Jesus have they both want for all of the believers to have (John 17:20-26)

I just did a bunch of “spring cleaning” in the yard and pruned back too much, according to my wife, but she was still willing to get out there and help with the cleanup along with our sons help. Everybody likes to have some help especially help that will never go away, we have all had help that didn’t last and then we were stuck finishing a project all by ourselves. The Holy Spirit will be our helper that will never leave and he will show us the truth and he will remind us of all the things that Jesus taught to his disciples.

This help isn’t completely unconditional it requires that we prove our love for Jesus by being obedient to the things that he commanded us to do. I suppose that if I wasn’t very loving to my family then they wouldn’t want to come outside and give me a hand, God is the same way, he helps those that show their love for him through obedience.

It may seem that it would be easier to live the Christian life if we were walking the streets following along with Jesus but Jesus told us that we would not be orphans, we would not have to go it alone and that he would send us a helper that would remind us of his teachings as we live for him each day.

application

I need to be obedient and strive for unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ so that we will be a testimony to the love that we have received in Christ. My obedience will enable the Holy Spirit to work in my life, if I am living for myself then he will not be able to work in me.

prayer

Thank you Lord that you didn’t leave us alone to try to live for you, we couldn’t do what you ask without the Holy Spirit to guide us and be our help. Help me as I learn about the Holy Spirit this week.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Was Your God Able To Rescue You?

scripture

Daniel 6:25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

“Peace and prosperity to you! 26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. 27 He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

observation

Two days ago we were looking at Job, he was a righteous man and had a great relationship with God, today we have Daniel who is probably every bit as righteous before God as Job was. Daniel is known for the lion’s den as well as the time that he spent with King Nebuchadnezzar and stood up for his beliefs. Job and Daniel were both great men of God and yet God worked through them both in very different ways and as Job learned neither should argue with God about their circumstances.

Jealousy is a strong motivator and the men that worked in the office with Daniel could not stand that Daniel was doing a better job than they were and he was still taking time off every day to go home and pray on his lunch break, after the law is signed Daniel continues his routine of prayer three times each day and the king is thrown into a situation where he has to find a way to save Daniel.

It is interesting that the king spent the night fasting and he was likely talking to God during that time, Daniel had obviously had an effect on the king already and now after the Lord saves Daniel the king is persuaded that the God of Daniel is the one true God that has everything under control, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and in poverty God is working in the life of his people and their circumstances should not cause them to doubt his love.

application

Being in God’s will may find you working in a hostile environment with jealous coworkers that are out to get you, it may find you being blessed beyond measure, as long as I am in the center of his will for me then I know that he will provide for me in every situation.

prayer

Thank you Lord for your never ending love and protection for your people.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Confession 101 - David's Example

scripture

Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.

14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. 16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit— with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

observation

In his book The Vanishing Conscience, John MacArthur talks about the disappearance of sin in our society. That may sound strange at first when you see the depravity of man growing larger every day. Modern culture will tell you that you are a victim and that as a victim you are not responsible for what you do.
“Society encourages sin, but it will not tolerate the guilt sin produces” –John MacArthur

Not so with King David, he knew that he had sinned and he was not going to call it anything else, he knew that he was a sinner from birth. He didn’t blame his parents or his childhood or the trauma of King Saul chasing him all over the country side. He took full responsibility, he knew that it was sin and that it is wrong to let sin control the way you live.

Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.

David cried out for mercy, he recognized his rebellion with a broken spirit. That’s what God wants, a broken spirit, forget the sacrifices if you don’t have a broken and repentant heart then not even Jesus sacrifice is going to do you any good.
David had lost his joy and he knew that he could only get it back again through confession so that God would restore their relationship.

application

I will act as if sin has some power over me but it doesn’t and when I behave this way I need to be sensitive to my conscience, I must not suppress the guilt feelings that the world tells us is wrong to have. I must be humble and broken for my rebellion against God.

prayer

Help us to always view sin as harshly as you do Lord. Thank you for your provision for my sin so that I can spend eternity with you.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Hope In Him

scripture

Job 38-42

observation

You think that you are so smart? You think that you can give an answer for why God does whatever he chooses? How can you explain God’s actions?

You see all that God has done in creating the heavens and the earth, the seasons the atmosphere, the vast stars in the heavens. You see all that God has put on the earth, all the awesome beast the mighty power that he gave to them. How can we think that we could explain anything about God?Whether good times or bad come our way how can we think that we can explain the reason?

If our suffering on this earth is only a tool to get us back to God then we would all become robots that follow God out of fear instead of following him in love, gone would be our free will, why would you step out of line if he was going to zap you as soon as you did?

The rain does fall on the good and the bad and who can know or explain it.

Job 42:1-6 Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

The human tendency is to attempt to figure out everything and know how it works, that may be okay with most things, but our God and his ways are far above our comprehension. Job had to admit that even though he knew God from a human perspective, he didn't really "know God" well enough to explain everything that happened to him.

Isaiah 55:8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

Job could not comprehend why God would choose to hurt him or even "slay" him but he could still say that his hope is in God.

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him

application

There are many things that I should not attempt to explain. When you see someone going through a difficult time it is easy to talk and say something about God that isn't true.

Remember this, Jobs friends got in trouble for saying things about God that were not true:

Job 42:7-8 After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.”

Although we can't always see it in the midst of the storm we need to remember that God is love, he is holy and righteous and he is our only real hope.

prayer

It is easy to speak up for you Lord and try to explain the things that happen to us, help us to walk through the difficulty with our brother in love rather than explaining it away erroneously.

Monday, April 13, 2009

This Is the Lord's Battle

scripture

1 Samuel 17: 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

observation

What great assurance and comfort the king must have felt when David told him:

1 Samuel 17:32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

Oh, okay, well that takes a load off our minds! Thanks for taking care of that for us.

David’s brothers and the rest of the army of Israel were in a showdown and nobody was able to muster the courage to stand up to this huge man. For forty days this guy keeps coming out and taunting the Lord’s army and then at the end of the day they all retreat to their camp and sleep, if they can, and then do it all over again tomorrow, this must be getting really old.

David trusted in God to save him from this moment but did he always trust God for every moment? Nope, there were times in his life when he didn’t trust God and he relied on his own strength instead.

Nobody wants to face the giants but it is when the giants lose that the power of God is displayed then everyone will see that the Lord rescues his people. What a great witness for the Lord.

application

I will face the difficult times and witness the power of God, when my wife’s health is failing and she continues to praise God through it, I know that it is his power that gets her through the day as she pushes on and on. She is an awesome testimony to anyone that will listen.

prayer

Thank you Lord, for taking care of your children. We do not understand the suffering and the persecution that your children endure all over the world. Give my wife the strength to get through the day.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Are You Qualified?

scripture

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”

Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” 14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses

observation

There probably are not very many bushes out in the desert and I bet that those few bushes that are out there don’t make a habit of bursting into flames. Moses was amazed and had to go check it out but after God’s voice started coming out of the bush then he was afraid to even look at the bush any more. It is amazing to me that he was afraid to look at God but he wasn’t afraid to doubt God and question his instructions.

I am nobody that the king of Egypt should listen to me, how do I qualify to lead this nation of Israel? But God I don’t have the qualifications for the job! I’m ok with watching these sheep every day.

God never has used a “qualified” person for anything. Who could possibly be “qualified” to be used for any job that God wants to get done? What pastor or deacon or Sunday school teacher is truly “qualified”? The only thing that makes us qualified is God’s decision that he will use a person despite his shortcomings.

application

I want to be useful to God and be open to any job that he has for me to do. I know that I am not qualified by my own credentials but it is his choice to use me despite my past mistakes.

prayer

Thank you Lord, for using me for your kingdom despite my past mistakes. I want to be useful for you. Don’t allow me to think that I am actually qualified for any job that you give me.

Just a thot: I am always surprised how many times that Moses questioned God, yet other people doubted God and had to suffer the consequences.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Journey of Faith

scripture

Genesis 22:1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” 3 The next morning Abraham got up early.

observation

What awesome obedience! God told Abraham to go and do this difficult thing and the next morning Abraham got up early and got ready to begin the journey that God had sent him on.

Every day God attempts to send someone on a journey of faith, I say attempts to because the person he invites doesn’t always go on the journey with him, every day we have a choice. Will we get up early the next morning and go or will we stay in bed and never step out, will we ignore the voice or argue or will we faithfully obey?

Abraham stepped out peacefully, the Israelites grumbled and complained through their journey. Jonah decided to take a journey in the other direction

The disciple’s journey before Jesus resurrection could be summed up in a scary boat ride in a big storm when Jesus asked them “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”

I never did meet a person that enjoyed having their faith tested, maybe you are being tested by God through your financial situation or your health condition, maybe God is just being quiet when you want him to speak up, whatever the situation is it isn’t easy to take the journey but God wants you to get up the next morning and keep on going.

When Abraham came to the mountain he kept on traveling, climbing the steep terrain, he is an old guy by now but he didn’t stop his journey. When he got to the top he had to build an altar large enough to sacrifice his son on, but he kept on his journey, then the test was complete when the Lord saw that Abraham’s faith was strong.

Notice in verse five that Abraham told the servants that after they worshiped God that “we” will return. Abraham fully expected that Isaac was going to be walking down that mountain with him later that day.

application

We need to be strong and not give up hope while we take the journey of faith. Where is he taking me, where is he taking you? In order to be found faithful we have to get up the next morning and keep on with our journey no matter how difficult it is after all that’s the part that displays our faith.

prayer

Lord, increase my faith! Give me more and more faith as I follow you on this journey of faith. Just like Abraham I don’t know where I am going but I know that you will show me the way and provide what I need to be obedient.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Satan's Subtle Subterfuge

scripture

Genesis 3:1-5 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

observation

As soon as Satan gets an opportunity be jumps right into the picture with his subtle distortion of the truth. Eve told Satan "God said this" which wasn't accurate but then Satan added his subtle shade of the truth. Satan just needs me to get used to the almost true and then I can be easily swayed further and further away.

He used the three basic forms of temptation just like he did to Christ when he tempted him in the desert (Luke 4):
  • Lust of the eyes - She saw that the tree was beautiful
  • Cravings of the body - and its fruit looked delicious,
  • Pride of the heart - and she wanted the wisdom it would give her
application

I need to keep "digging the word" so that I can discern the truth when Satan tries to slip in a fast one.

prayer

Thank you Lord for your word and that I can use it to light my path. I want to always be in love with your book.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Our Awesome Creator

scripture

Genesis 1

observation

Notice the order of creation, God didn't get the fish created and then say oops, where do I put these guys at and when he created trees there was already dry land for them to sit on.

Except for God, everything else had a starting point, everything had a point where it didn't exist and then God merely spoke and then there it was. Just the power of his voice was all that was needed, in fact it seems that the only thing that God made "hands on" was the man and the woman, that should let me know that I am significant to God.

Psalms 33:6 The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. 9 For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.

What awesome power that would cause something to exist from nothing and just look around at the magnificent creation that he made to display his majesty, what craftsmanship, what attention to detail. Everything that he made shows us what an awesome God we have.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

application

I will always stand in awe of the magnificent work of our creator, every time I watch a nature show it is so sad at how far they will go to say that something else happened, he is an awesome God and his creation proves that he must be.

prayer

Thank you Lord for the awesome world that you gave us to enjoy, the heavens and earth display your glory. Thank you for creating a perfect environment on this planet to sustain life.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Forget About Having Your Best Life Now


scripture

Philippians 2:5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

observation

Well there is an unpopular verse, why did Paul have to throw that one in, does the full impact of the one sentence really sink into your head?

Isn’t it enough that I try to live better than the rest of the people on this planet? I’m a Christian and most of the time I treat people okay, sometimes I do a good deed, I’m not giving the preacher a hard time and you know I am pretty good.

No, stop that way of thinking! There is a higher standard that we are to adhere to which is so totally different! As I read the Bible I always keep this in mind the entire message of the Bible is a description of a higher standard to live by.

Philippians 2:3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God,

There must be a difference in the way that you view the world, in the way that you relate to others, in the way that you view yourself it is a totally different way of living. How can you dwell on your own interest, how can you seek to elevate yourself above anybody else, how can you stir up trouble? How is there any room for the “name it and claim it” gospel that is being sold today? Jesus didn’t even own a donkey and Joel Osteen is telling you to name your prize and claim it at the door, according to him you should be able to drive a fifty thousand dollar car you should be able to have “your best life now.” What a terrible attitude to have! Thankfully Jesus didn’t have the best live that he could have had on earth and the disciples sure missed out on a lot if this teaching were Biblical.

That is not the kind of world view that Paul or any of the disciples had, they all traveled light, they had few possessions and they endured many hardships. Can you imagine going on a mission trip for hundreds of miles via your own pair of sandals? Can you imagine being left for dead and then going back into the city that you were thrown out of? How about if you were flogged and thrown into jail to wait for your death sentence, oh and while you are waiting how about singing some praise choruses?

Christ is our ultimate example, we see that he humbled himself and gave up the glory of heaven to become the lowest of humans, showing himself to be a servant and suffering Satan’s direct attacks and dying a cruel death on the cross.

Philippians 2:6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

application

As I serve the Lord I must always remember that I am not anything special, God can use me or he can get somebody else to do the task, I must be humble and look out for others. It would be a shame to lose my perspective and have to give up my mission that God has set aside for me. I will work for him with humility.

prayer

What a difficult concept Lord, to think that I must have the same attitude that you had. Obviously I need to work on that some more. Help me to do everything with the correct attitude.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Paul Teaches Us About Faith

scripture

Galatians 2:16-17 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!

Galatians 3:6-9 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

Galatians 3:24-26 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

observation

From a human perspective it seems like you would have to jump through a lot of hoops and go through a background check if we are going to be a part of a group such as the family of God. I would expect that my own background check would be enough to keep me from getting into this elite group called God’s family, but Paul tells us that it is a very simple process and that we are all eligible.

There is only one way to get into God’s family and that is to have faith, it has nothing to do with being good enough, there is no way that we can keep the law but don’t worry because you don’t have to.

We are told what a righteous man that Abraham was but if you run a background check on him you will find some very big mistakes in his life, just like all of us, he made some really poor choices and the amazing thing is a lot of those poor choices were because of a lack of faith yet he was still found to have faith.

Just like Abraham we share the same blessing if we have faith, we just have to have our faith in the right place, our faith must be in what God did and not in what we think that we may be able to do for ourselves.

application

Faith is the only way to get into God’s family, we must always be thankful that we don’t have to behave well enough to pass a background check, because just like Abraham I would also fail.

I will exercise my faith so that it will grow.

prayer

Thank you Lord for the simplicity of the gospel, I just have to put my confidence in what you have done for me, thank you for loving me enough to make it so simple.