A Potential Future Scenario (for me)

I will never forget that last fateful day of my life. The sound of the hospital all abuzz, the sound of doctors talking and seeing my family all around me, a day of sadness as I had to part and yet great joy as I knew where I was going. For hours that seemed as but minutes, my final moments passed by as I said my temporary goodbyes...

I closed my eyes and breathed my last breath of air in the world as I knew it. And then I opened my eyes and breathed in the air that I never knew before. I was in heaven.

Strangely enough, a woman greeted me and began talking to me like we'd known each other forever. I had never met her before. She took me around on a short and incomplete tour in this new place. I was so excited to go and see Jesus and to thank Him for having died for me. My hostess was so kind and gracious to me, and had such an amazing sense of familiarity to her. We kept walking and I saw Jesus in sight. I was so happy, so excited to be here. I thanked her, not even thinking to ask her name. She looked at me with a smile that reminded me of my wife's smile. And then it dawned on me. This was my little girl, and she had been waiting for me all this time. "Dorema?!" I asked with great wonder. "Yes, daddy."

Dear Christian friends, if you have lost a child in miscarriage, remember that this day is coming and we will all be reunited soon. Hold onto what is real and remember that unborn babies are people just like me and you, just not here yet.

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope." (1Thess 4:13 HCSB)

Because of Jesus, we have hope. It is His sacrificial death that covers our sins as we believe on Him--and as those children who cannot exercise saving faith pass on, there is a real and true peace we can have that they rest safely in the arms of Jesus. Praise the Lord.

10 Things You Wish You Could Change About Your Life...

If I were to ask you right now, if there were ten things you could change about your life so far, maybe it's things about yourself, your situations, your path in life, etc., what might come to mind?

If we could look at that colander in the picture above and label each of those holes with a thing we wished we could change, I don't think it would be hard at all to give them those labels.

Consider a way of labeling them under these categories: infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions, and distresses. Now, those come from verse 9 of 2 Cor. 12:9-10), "And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Think about that.

WHAT MAKES A PERSON DELIGHT IN THEIR WEAKNESSES?! WHO IS SO ABSURD AS TO REJOICE IN THE THINGS THAT WE ALL WISH WE COULD CHANGE?!?! I'll tell you who--Christians who understand this area of life. It's so backwards that many pastors out there are still preaching that God wants us to be healthy and wealthy and comfortable because they simply don't get it. Do you? Let that question pierce you. Do you? Do you get it about how weakness is good?

"How could a loving God allow pain in the world?" Well, you'd have to go to Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, the one thing they were forbidden to do. God cursed the ground and caused pain in childbearing for women because of it...let me just post the verses here while I'm at it.

14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
16 He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will dominate you.
17 And He said to Adam, "Because you listened to your wife's voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'Do not eat from it': The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust."
(Gen 3:14-19 HCSB)

The question, once more, is "How could a loving God allow pain into the world?" The answer, in question format, is this: "How could a loving God NOT allow pain into the world?" Why is that the answer? Because pain and weakness draw man to God, and if God didn't allow that to happen, man would really never seek God or see a need for Him. God could never let a fallen world walk scott-free in their sin without giving them pain to realize their need. I need God--it's as simple as that. Nothing exists without Him; nothing thrives without Him; He is where our hearts desire to place their worship, but sin blinds that and we worship and serve things created things like people that we think are better than ourselves, or money, or idealistic circumstances, etc.

So, back to that colander picture at the top. For every hole, imagine it to be a weakness of some sort--somewhere that you come up short. Failure to obey God, overwhelming situations, grief, hard times, financially stressful times, etc. Bad jobs, bad bosses, bad coworkers, bad relationships, fall-outs with friends or family, childhood emotional scars, pain. We're like the colander because we wish that we didn't have those holes--that we were complete and lacking in no area. That we had reached a utopia on all levels and that we had no imperfections.

You want to know something? In this fallen world, God shows Himself no better to the world than through those holes we wish weren't there. He shows His grace best in our losses. He shows His strength best where we fail. He ALWAYS magnifies His perfection through those imperfections. Have you prayed to be more like Him? Maybe He's been answering your prayers all along. When we think wrongly about the grace of God, we only expect blue skies and pure bliss. When we think rightly about grace, those imperfections become places of joy rather than pain. God never allowed problems and imperfections in to make us feel miserable and depressed--He allowed them in to continually draw us to Himself, because we need Him and we're nothing without Him.

If you've never trusted in Christ as your Savior, I want you to think about all that you wished you could change in your life and how much you fail yourself and others in any given week. Those failures and imperfections are there to draw you to God, but if you never see that, you'll only look to find ways to ignore those problems, get depressed about them, get angry about them, or try to find ways to work so hard that you'll eventually be perfect by your own power. It'll never happen.

God gave problems to men the minute man sinned so that man wouldn't think he was above his need for God. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," says Romans 3:23. Every human falls short of the glory of God--every human is greatly imperfect. You don't need better self-esteem; you need a better understanding of the way God made you. Grab those problems and make a trophy room out of them, because those are the things that magnify your need of God the best. When I'm weak, then I'm strong.

THE ROMANS ROAD

1. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)
2. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)
3. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us! (Rom 5:8)
4. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
(Rom 10:9-10)
5. Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1)

Francis Chan video- "Balance Beam"

watch this, it's really challenging!

Our God is Greater-Chris Tomlin (great song)

Success on the Blood-Type Diet

The pictures above represent me from some different actual holidays this year. The picture of me (bald) with my daughter is taken on July 4, 2010. The picture of me in the black shirt/pink tie is from Easter (April 4). The picture of me with the green shirt on is St. Patrick's Day (March 17), all three dates from this year. I hope the pictures speak at least a little of what I'm going to talk about.

I'm going to break from my norm here today with just a brief telling of a diet I have been strictly following for the last 3.5 months. It is called the "Blood-Type Diet" and if you're interested, you can find the books pretty cheap on Amazon.com, "Eat Right For Your Type", "Live Right For Your Type," and other books under the author Peter D'Adamo.

You will find a lot of interesting information, but you do need to be discerning with your reading. The books are filled with popular psychology and an evolutionistic world view, deductions that D'Adamo makes based upon his findings. Being a Christian, I have a very different take on his findings, though for those alone, you will find this very helpful.

You'll need to figure out your blood type for this diet, which isn't too hard--just call your doctor to find out what's on file, or order a blood-type test online for about $10. Your blood type is really important to know, more than you might think. Your blood creates antigens that can either work with or against the foods that you take into your system. The diet is plain and simple for the most part--there are foods that are beneficial for your blood type (they work like medicine); there are foods that simply act as food, and are ok to eat (just don't go crazy pigging out); and there are foods that are to be avoided which can cause your specific blood type problems.

My allergies have improved greatly since I started this diet; just today I hit the -30 lb mark in following this diet; I have greater energy, far less hunger, and a sense of fullness has returned (vs. eating until I was stuffed). The weight will slowly but consistently come off on this diet, though there may be some significantly long periods of plateau, but not to worry, this is due to your body resetting the glands and hormones within. Though you may feel like it's not working at times, it is, it's just changing inside, too.

I prayed many times to God to help me to find something that would work and that I could stick to. I guarantee you that if you follow your protocol, you will see lasting results (but don't expect 50 lbs to be lost in a month!).

If you have tried lots of different diets but only to your eventual burning out, consider this diet. You will have to learn to not eat whatever you want, but believe it or not, we generally only eat 25 different food items as it is!

My wife and I are both on this diet, and have been on it together for about three months. How did we make the transition? One of the biggest things was to go through our cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer and to get rid of all foods that neither of us could have. My wife is a type B, I am a type 0--and as far as I know, most kids are one of the two parent's blood types, usually one of the two winning out in their cases. Both of our kids are type B's. So my wife has lots of dairy products, meat, has to cut out wheat (though there's a brand called Ezekiel bread that's very much the same, more expensive, but we can both have it), corn, pork products, certain beans, some vegetables, no chicken.

You might be reading this and thinking, "there's no way." Well, it might seem hard, but the blood type diet will make sense as it supports some of those people who find success on the Atkins diet, or a raw foods or vegetarian/vegan diet, or the absolutely balanced approach. Blood types are very relevant to the success of these diets to certain individuals.

I follow this diet and do eat plenty of meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans, olive oil, etc., and it really isn't bad at all. The thing about the blood type diet, too, is that it is a stepping in to a lifelong change, because you can't change your blood, and you can't really change how your blood reacts to certain foods. If you can make the change lifelong, weight and immunity and many avoidable health concerns could definitely be issues you tackle well. I can only imagine what one year on this diet will do--as Dr. D'Adamo puts it, it takes about a year to heal your body from perhaps years of lectin damage, lectins being the things found in foods that either assimilate with or attack your system (different bad lectins can attack different areas of your body, such as joint pain, weight gain, cognitive function, sinuses and allergies, etc.) I will mention that I still have some issues with my sinuses when I sleep at night, and I'm wondering if this is a reaction to some chemical in my bedding fabric.

Nevertheless, I have read this book fairly through, and have pretty much memorized my list of foods both good, neutral, and bad and stick to it fairly well. I will say, too, that when I do eat something that's an avoid food, I always, always, ALWAYS pay for it--it's pretty incredible. If you know your blood type, and just want to look at the lists, you can go to:

http://www.dadamo.com/typebase4/typeindexer.htm

It's much easier just to get the book--think about it, there's a lot of science to this diet, not simply hype. You will definitely become a healthy individual if you follow the prescriptions given!

P.S. This diet is probably more do-able, too, because you will learn why certain foods don't work with you, and I can't tell you how much that has helped when I've felt like caving. Even at that, following the diet will quickly draw you away from your past cravings. I fasted one day recently and found it way easier to do from taking a day off this diet than when I fasted and ate like I normally did. Did you know that if your blood type doesn't tolerate standard wheat products, it can inhibit the sensor that tells your brain you are full? I never "pig out" like I did before--this isn't a food deprivation diet(you don't have to count calories here), but it is a particular-foods deprivation diet, ok? Hope this helps and if you have any questions, just ask!

Praise God for Weakness...

(2Co 12:6-10 HCSB)
6 For if I want to boast, I will not be a fool, because I will be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,
7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.
8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.
9 But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.
10 So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

"I Need Thee Every Hour" by Annie S. Hawks (the hymn)

1. I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.

2. I need thee every hour; stay thou nearby;
temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.
(Refrain)

3. I need thee every hour, in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
(Refrain)

4. I need thee every hour; teach me thy will;
and thy rich promises in me fulfill.
(Refrain)

5. I need thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me thine indeed, thou blessed Son.
(Refrain)


I am so inadequate in and of myself...thank you, God. Were I to live this life forever, I would be destined for eternal failure apart from you. Thank you for my weaknesses, my failures, my short-comings, my times of distress and hopelessness. With every circumstance that I find myself inadequate in, you brand into me once again my ever-present need for Your hand to guide me through life and keep me standing. Make me ever aware that victory is yours and accomplishments are yours and righteousness is yours, not mine. I need Thee every hour, most precious Lord. Every hour.

(P.S. At the bottom of this page, you'll notice the song player. I do have the song "I Need Thee Every Hour" on the list by Jars of Clay if you want to listen to it, if it isn't playing already!)

When Truth Resounds in the Heart

Thinking about truth and its effect on my heart, my mind began to think about cymbals. Ever heard a cymbal crash? Most people have, and when the drum stick strikes the cymbal without anything to impede the cymbal's response, it is a resounding sound. If you were to hold your hand on that cymbal, it would be a simple "tink" sound--the sound just stops at the striking of the cymbal.

What kind of Christian are you? It's a fair question, and I think you could find out a lot about yourself in regards to your spiritual health by how much the truth affects you. The truth, of course, is God's word, and any derivative of it (i.e. music of truth, challenges of truth, devotions of truth, etc., all being inspired by the truth which is God's word).

How does your heart respond to the beautiful words of Jesus? Do you sing from the soul when you sing to God, or just from the diaphragm, (maybe just muffled tones)? Do you find yourself just breaking out in praise in the depths of who you are when you realize God's love for you? From my own experience, when I am not walking rightly with God, my heart is like the muted cymbal. Truth strikes boldly and all I do is go, "tink." When I get out of the way and just live as God wants me to, I find that the truth strikes just as boldly but my heart responds vibrantly.

I want to be more and more vibrant as the years pass by, don't you? I want to be able to hear any solid sermon and instead of being critical or falling asleep, I just want to resound with the truth. I want to sing with great understanding of a God who is above all and is worthy of all praise. I want to boldly step out and touch the hurting and lost with this vibrancy. You who are reading this, is this you? Do you want this? Cry out to Jesus from your heart today, just ask Him to help you in becoming someone who vibrantly resounds with His truth. This is where lasting joy is to be found, my friend. Not some happy moment that relies on appeasing circumstances to keep the mood. I'm talking about leaving the sunny days and stepping into life's storms and still having the same upbeat outlook.

Let me give you one challenge, too, that may be something to think about. For about the last three weeks, I've been reading one whole book of the Bible a day (pretty much just the New Testament for now). Most of the epistles would take maybe an hour at best to go through. Consider trying this, you would be amazed at what you would find and how you'd see so many connections and the flow of thought. You'd also start seeing why what was written was written when you know what the audience was going through at the time--you'd be amazed at the timeliness of God's message and the relevancy of it not only to them, but to you, too.

Today, ask God to help you obey, to be found living out life as He'd have you do it, and to resound with truth in ways perhaps you haven't done in years--maybe never. There is nothing more sweet to the soul than when truth resounds in the heart.

(Phi 3:7-14 HCSB)
7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.
8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness from God based on faith.
10 My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,
14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

When Peace Like a River Doesn't Attend My Way...

The song, "It Is Well with My Soul," starts by saying the words, "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul." So many people know that song by heart but I wonder if they know it with heart.

Let me ask you, what gets you down? What draws out your worries and fears? Does the future scare you? Does a coming doctor visit or dying loved one or some financial obligation dominate the thoughts of your life? Maybe there's an ongoing fall-out between you and someone you know, maybe someone you love greatly. God has been doing amazing things in my life lately, and sometimes I struggle with voicing what He's doing. He really got a hold of my wife today and addressed these very issues, which we both have concern for. We're financially strapped, seeking God's will, jobless, uncertain about what the next day holds, all of that stuff.

Anyone can find things to worry about from their little point on the map. It doesn't matter have all the riches in the world and a huge network of friends, or if they're staying the night tonight in a homeless shelter somewhere, going on perhaps twenty, thirty, maybe forty years of second-hand clothes and half-rate meals. Worry has nothing to do with where you are in life. Yes, I said it, and it is true. Let me say it again. Worry has nothing to do with where you are in life. Third time? Worry has nothing to do with where you are in life.

Horatio Spafford wrote those words following the loss of many of his immediate family. What would crush so many people, even many Christians, didn't overcome this man. Why? Oh, if you don't know Christ as your Savior, it would be hard to understand. You see, Jesus doesn't just save people from an eternity in hell. It's not an insurance claim that we buy into--and sadly, I think a lot of people did just that thinking that was that. God wants to lead us into a deep relationship with Him--I think being saved from hell is so far from where He wants to go with His children. Hell's a big reason to trust in Christ, but in some ways I think it is minute once that issue is taken care of for a person as they place their faith in Him.

Nevertheless, I was speaking about peace. You know, when you spend time with God, deep and rich time, that is, you find those worries of life being choked out by thoughts of God (thanks again for showing me your devo book today, Ann).

The antidote to worry and fear and doubt and uncertainty as a believer is to spend the vast amount of your time with God in your mind. Read your Bible. Pray daily and pray exhaustively, and pray as things come to mind. Reach out to hurting people and show them God's love. Show them a difference in this world, too. Christians are far more than moral people, aren't they? Aren't they!? They're far more than church-goers in religious social clubs, right? Return to Him if you've been walking away from Him. Just go to your Bible, pray, worship, get on your face on the ground and just cry before Him. Be honest with Him and with yourself about how you've been living. Don't just pray, "thanks for the food and help my uncle with his doctor's visit this week." Don't you have more feelings about things than that?? Don't you have more going on in your mind than some cold, polished prayer request to break out for the day, or week, or who knows how long ago?

People, listen, God wants you to treat Him in a personal way, not with distance and religiosity. Go before Him in the depth of your heart and pour it out. Watch your worries go away. Will problems cease? No, but you'll be able to look them in the face and not lose hope or grow restless. God is in control. John MacArthur once said, "Assurance is a gift of the Holy Spirit to those who are obedient." Having gone through so much of the Bible, I find myself echoing those words because the doubts about God's love and presence and the promises of peace and joy and hope seem to go out the window when I abandon living like God would want me to.

Today, be open minded to God, just ask Him to lead you in what you do, but don't be so foolish as to stay out of His word or not to pray. If nothing else, pray for Him to have His way with you and be open to what He does. You'll find that those prayers you've been known to pray don't necessarily have to be fulfilled in your ways if you love His ways more than your own. I can pray for health and answers to my problems and such, but you'll be doing very well if you can get to the point where you rejoice more in God's answers than your desired outcomes.

I honestly believe that God has us live in faith far more for the benefit of learning to trust Him than to obtain the answers. Make God the focal point of your mind and the King of your heart. There's nothing more hopeless than when peace, like a river, doesn't attend my way. Let God step in and change that. What happens to you may not change, but who you are in the midst of all that life throws at you will change.

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

Every Circumstance is a Crossroads

Yesterday I spoke about the "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality. How greatly you and I need to get away from that. Believers cannot live like that--well, they can, but they shouldn't. I have been disagreed with on this before, that God does have a plan for you and it's more than just simply principles. Yes, if you are an advocate of "Decision Making and the Will of God" by Gary Freisen, I'll probably disagree with you, because I believe God has more to life than putting us out in a field to go where we please within certain parameters using biblical principles. I totally agree with biblical principles; I love God's word because it's God's. I believe that God, while He may not make all things evident and you'll have to choose sometimes, will honor our request for knowing what to do in a given situation.

I believe we can step out in faith into that situation in our particular response by faith, trusting that we are doing what God would have us to do as we have sought His guidance and promote His will above our own. This is more personal, for sure, and yes, it does step into the experiential. Nevertheless, consider how we do this already--we pray about an upcoming surgery, a big test, a job interview, finding a spouse, etc. Do we pray with enough description? This may be where it could be better utilized. We can pray about that upcoming surgery that what God desires to happen would happen and that our attitude would be to praise Him for His decision. We can pray that God would give wisdom to the doctors and peace to our hearts as we approach that moment. We can pray, but we cannot control the circumstance. Nevertheless, we can control our response.

My dad would probably disagree on this and say something along the lines of, "If there's five quality options, it's up to you to choose. God gives a choice." I agree that God gives a choice, but I also believe that I could pray that God would lead me to one option instead of five and even if there were five options, I could ask God about having wisdom in the decision and choosing that one He would have out of the five. There are definitely four options that I wouldn't end up choosing, and that one that God does have me go with will be with great purpose toward the future of His purposes. Looking at history, I find it very hard to not see the sovereignty of God working in the decisions of men--but what if men simply asked God and stepped out in faith that God was leading them in these decisions? They could at least not second-guess themselves about past decisions when they look at the faith they had in God. I mention our child that we lost last October in some past articles (No Day is Too Dark, and another one prior to that) and I can tell you that this very situation happened with that.

My wife and I prayed to God and asked Him sincerely if He would have us try for another baby. We asked that if He wanted us to have a child, that she'd conceive and that He'd use this child for His glory--and a way of us saying "thank you" to God, a gift to Him. The pregnancy went fine, we saw the baby and still have the pictures from the first ultrasound, a child kicking in the womb. I don't think it was a month later that Ann went to the doctor for a check-up and the baby was dead. Out of the blue, so unexpected, so heart-wrenching and emotional. (Lose a child even through miscarriage someday, maybe you already have, and you'll know how much the loss can hurt, just like losing any other loved one.) I stepped out in faith with Ann and prayed that God's will would be done. She conceived and she lost the baby at the early stages of the second trimester. I could second-guess that decision up the wall and rethink having tried-but I did it in faith and I know that God did what He did with His purposes in mind. I have not lost faith in Him because of His decision, but have only learned that faith doesn't need greener pastures to walk on when you step forth in it.

I could tell you many stories like that, of giving money that we didn't have, or of giving my resignation notice at my job with nothing to go to, yet by praying I was shown what to do in these situations and by faith I stepped forth and did what was instinctive at the time as I looked to Jesus. I left a $30,000 a year job last year to go to a camp and mow for $170 a week for two months, then went back to school and incurred more debt and had no job during that time. I prayed and followed through in faith, and God never let me fall, though at times there were definite uncertainties about the future.

Treat life like this--just ask, and ask, and ask God about how to go about your day, this situation or that situation, just ask. Ask in faith, believing that God has an answer and that He will lead you into the path He wants you to take. Other people may totally disagree with your decisions, but do you live to please men, or to please God? "If I were to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:10) Jesus, the Son of God, sought God's will in everything. He did not put the horse before the cart. You should do the same. Every circumstance is a crossroads--will you ask God how to handle your situation and step out in faith, believing that He will not lead you wrong, or will you step out into your situation, making your decision through only your ability to think it through, and then ask God to bless what you only hope was the right decision? I can project how to handle a situation, but only God knows the situation from entrance to exit and only He knows best. Every circumstance is a crossroads.

40 When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.
46 Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."
47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him.
48 But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"
49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?"
50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this." And He touched his ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
53 "When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
54 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance.
55 Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.
56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."
57 But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."
58 And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"
59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."
60 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
(Luk 22:40-62 NKJ)

Live Like Your Feet Are No Longer Touching the Ground (Part 2 of 2)

If you'd have read this article earlier, you'll notice that I broke it down into two parts- primarily because I think it went off to a new topic, though it was very relative. So, if you read part 1, it will help make sense of where we come in at part 2. Enjoy.

You see, as you spend time with God and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, obeying the Lord's commands from Scripture and seeking His will rather than your own, you find that everything dealing with God becomes something that strikes you as if you were a cymbal or gong, and you immediately resonate with the truth in sweet bliss, recognizing and embracing the greatness of God. Singing praise to God comes alive, reading your Bible comes alive, hearing God's word preached and taught comes alive, your passion for both the saved and the lost comes alive, etc. etc. etc.!!! Your joy catches and your love anchors, your faith sets sail and your relationship with God goes places.

Crazy, amazing things will happen when you really walk with God with Him in control. Sins from the past will come to you one day, things you'd thought you forgot--perhaps because all the sin you've been doing in the present has drowned out those things you did not deal with. You'll feel horrible because of the recognition that you need to seek God's forgiveness for these things and that perhaps the matter needs reconciled with the party you injured. Nevertheless, God will make it clear to you what you need to do as you go on your knees before Him, seeking His forgiveness and furtherance. God wants to set us straight. Opportunities will start appearing, and perhaps you'll find yourself facing trials you didn't ever face before--like a car breaking down continually out of the blue; finances going out the window; a deep sense that you need to be greatly generous with your money and yet finding this as a test of faith as this sacrifice may jeopardize your security; you may offer God the blessing of a child, try and conceive, and then find that you lose that child in miscarriage three months later. God so eagerly desires to conform us to the image of His Son--and were we to be conformed completely to His image, how elated we would be!

All sorts of crazy things happen to people who walk with God totally open to doing what He makes clear to do. Still, the depth cannot be found through any other means in this world. It is not easy, and it is a daily conscious effort to seek God's hand in all your matters and to stay close to Him. I write this from personal experience, and no, I am in no way an expert on this--just a person who knows that God is real, His forgiveness is real, and a life that is not simply moral and religious, but deeply personal with God, IS ATTAINABLE. It is in such a path that you will find the Spirit of God making clear to your soul that you ARE a child of God. You will know that He DOES love you and DOES want what's best for you. Prayer will change in time and will not remain the "genie in the bottle" type of praying that people who don't regularly walk with God find themselves doing--"God, heal this...God, I need this...God, I want to know your big picture will for my life...God, make my life comfortable and pain free and give me all that I desire and don't make me sacrifice what I hold dearest..." I think that's what it really boils down to. God is not a genie in the bottle to make your life pain free and successful by age-old definitions of success (money, fame, power, comfort, etc.). He is a God that Has created you to want more in this life than what can be attained from material goods or popularity--He's made everyone to want Him though it knocks our pride to think that we'd need Him.

If you're living this life in your own strength, good luck. You'll need it--and you'll never find what will really make your soul cease from striving for inner peace and deep joy in even the mundane and love that transcends sinful humanity.

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." If you need a heart to be alive, you need a heart to live. If you need a brain to be physically alive, you need brain to function. Paul wrote this to the Galatian believers because they had been fooled into thinking that though they came to a relationship with God by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, they somehow needed to henceforth find God's approval through doing moral acts(which are always in relationship to the Old Testament Law) of righteousness. God honors faith, not works righteousness. He honors people who act in faith and live in faith and seek Him in faith. "Faith without works is dead" says the book of James, and so faith always results in action, yet the action is not done to find God's favor but rather to live as a pleasing, living sacrifice to God as a form of worship. (See Romans 12:1-2) Do you want what I talked about? If you're unsaved, believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins. You're a sinner and will never make it to heaven in your own power. God doesn't ever say that there's second chances beyond the grave, nor does he work on a weighted scale of good versus bad or person compared to person. Faith alone. Saved but feeling empty or distant from God? Live by faith and do what's right and do what you know you need to do. Spend time with God every day and seek Him to the extent that you're pining after Him. "I will not stop seeking You until I find You--and yet, when I find You, there's no end to the seeking of You, for You are limitless, God, and are the source of all that would make my life the best it could be." It's true, I tell you from my heart, it's true. Pray, seek, obey. Be open to whatever God would want to do with you and I know you will start to live like your feet are no longer touching the ground.

Get Me Out of the Way

21 From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, "Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to You!"
23 But He turned and told Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but man's."
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.(Mat 16:21-24 HCSB)

I really don't think Peter meant wrong in what he did in verse 22, but I think that Peter was more about what he wanted for Jesus than what God wanted for Jesus. This caused Jesus to confront him, rebuking him and thus using the moment as a teaching moment to his disciples that those who would follow Him must get behind Him. To get behind Him, it is imperative that any particular person would deny himself (rejection of our will), take up their cross (death to our will), and follow Him (submission and pursuit of His will).

All over this world this week, millions of plans will be made in hopes of arriving at some kind of wishful expectation through the means of these plans. This week alone, Christians, maybe even you or me, could easily begin to make plans in hopes that it would provide a channel for God's blessing to be received. Churches will do this and have done this, and it begs us to see whether we set up plans in hopes that God will take the bait or whether we will ask Him and wait and see how He moves--and then we make our move. We do this now and then when we're uncertain and someone who knows what they're talking about (or seems like they have a handle on the situation) is there to take the lead for us. (It would be helpful for you to read the blogs from the last few days.)

Let me tell you something--Jesus says that He is near to us. "The Lord is near," says Philippians 4:5. He's at hand--and He's just waiting for you, always waiting for you, to simply ask Him how to handle your situations. I am hopeful to become a pastor some day soon, if God wills, and while I can establish all of these "goals" for a church as to how we'll bring about wonderful change where it's needed, all I can say at best is that I can't go running out into the crossfire in hopes that my devised paths will lead us to better days-and hope that maybe just maybe God will come along with us. No, I would say to you that God wants to be our "point man," guiding us in our moves and in our objectives and blessing us in His ways--and it may even be contrary to what we think is going to be to our benefit at times!!! But take heart, God does know best and He can be trusted.

No matter where you are in your life, you should know that you don't need to "go it alone." God would give you wisdom and you could make decisions with confidence if you asked Him and stepped out in faith with your decisions. He'll be there to catch you as you step out into the unknown, and even if your other fellow humans scorn you in your decisions, you can take heart that God has not abandoned you, but rather has led you in this. Don't get careless and ask God to bless you after you make your plans. That kind of living is comparable to the age old saying, "Shoot first and ask questions later." Maybe you're looking into a career change, dealing with problems in your home or workplace, you want to quit something--maybe you've even contemplated ending your life to "solve" your problems. Could I intrude and simply say to you, "Ask God first"?

Jesus, who is God in the flesh, the Son, made it a continual point to seek the Father's will and not His own. If Jesus did that, how much more do you and I need to do that?

Seek the Father's will for all your plans and responses, and having done that, then step out in faith, trusting that as you trust in Him, He will lead you to do what He wants you to do. How many sins would be avoided if people just stopped before doing them to say, "God, what would you have me do in this circumstance?" and trusted Him as they submitted their will to His own? Lord, even if I am the only one to do it among all those I am surrounded by, get me out of the way.

Live Like Your Feet Are No Longer Touching the Ground (Part 1 of 2)

I heard recently, and it's by no means uncommon, that the thought of spending eternity worshiping God, perhaps just singing praises to His name forever, sounds rather like a drag. This, coming from Christians, of course, who hope for eternity but feel uncertain about wanting to be there if the "fun" stops in the life we know of in this world.

I want to challenge this thinking face-to-face and totally blow this kind of garbage thinking out of the water. Do I think that this will be the case for all of eternity? No, I think other things will happen in our time with a God who is sooooo above our finiteness and creative ability. Nothing relative to God will ever cease to amaze any of us when we see God face-to-face. Nothing. I am certain that we'l be saying things more like, "Why was I holding on so much to 'that'?! How could I have been so naive? God is so incredibly amazing! I never want to leave His presence and I'm so glad that I don't have to!"

I believe that people who loathe such an idea of eternal worship do so not because it would be such an "eternal letdown"--nothing with God is less than beyond description in greatness--but rather because it's hard to imagine doing something eternally that their heart doesn't want to do now. It's hard to imagine wanting to do any thing in the future that you don't desire to pursue now. If it's so great then, why would it not be so great now? If we do not seek the heart of God today, and want to worship Him as we come to know Him better from time spent with Him, it's no surprise at all to hear words like "boredom" and "wait" used in regards to heaven, or heavenly worship, or God.

Seek His heart today with all your heart, and in so doing, live like your feet are no longer touching the ground.

Just Like Jesus

It has been said that we are most like the people we spend time with. If you look around, I know you will find this is true. Spouses often reflect each other more than anyone; children, too, can tend to reflect their parents more than any other person. This idea is interesting, true, and scary all at the same time! We inevitably become like those we surround ourselves with. It's no wonder parents love it when their kids have "good" friends who set a good example.

As your mind and my mind are on that (take a minute more and linger on it if you need to), I'd like to turn to the person of Jesus. Hypocrisy is a humongous problem in churches, and it's no surprise when you think about it. Yes, I believe that there are many churches out there not preaching the truth of the gospel (salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ), and thus those who falsely coming in the name of Jesus only bring confusion to the cross. For those who are genuine believers, the question arises as to who they are spending their time with. What are they listening to throughout their day, either by circumstance or willful decision? What fills their mind throughout the day, and how much do they really seek God? Let's make that more personal--how much do YOU really seek God?

I'd like you to try an experiment in your life (though I'm being a bit facetious here) with the person to whom you're closest. For the next two weeks, talk to them for the time that you usually talk to God each day. Talk to them at the depth of conversation that you talk to God, too. (i.e. just ask them for things to make your life easier if you're like most people). Listen to them for as much time as you listen to God each day, and have someone else talk to you on behalf of them for the times you sit listening to someone preach versus the time you spend alone with God. Make sure, too, that for the times you differentiate between hearing and listening, too--we're quite good at hearing God, not so great at listening intently to Him. For the rest of the time, do not be near them at all. Stay away from them and just make it a goal to absolutely avoid them for those periods of time. Think about other things and invest your time elsewhere. Finally, see how this affects the quality of your relationship. See how much your way of relating changes and how much you remain like them. See how much they become a stranger to you and how much insight you lose into their personal perspective. In many ways, you'll find your answer as to why you or I or many other believers simply don't seem that much like God or find it incredibly difficult to maintain feelings of closeness to Him.

To be like God, you must be near to Him. You must stick close to Jesus by spending meaningful time with Jesus in no lesser place than His word! You must seek the Holy Spirit to lead in your steps throughout the day through continual prayer. You must long for God and find adequate time daily to listen to Him and to talk to Him. You must praise Him, you must imitate Him, you must seek His power to do what He'll reveal for you to do as You seek His guidance in each moment-by-moment activity. I think it's then that you will finally begin to understand what "abundant life" means. You cannot and will not reflect God or know His heart well without spending deep quality time with Him on a daily basis.

13 'And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jer 29:13 NAS)

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. (Psa 145:18 NAS)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
(Gal 5:22-25 NAS)

4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
(Joh 15:4-5 NAS)

13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14 "He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.
15 "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.
(Joh 16:13-15 NAS)

Prayer in Reverse

God-

Please give me no peace without seeking it from you in prayer.
Please give me confusion without seeking direction from You.
Please give me no opportunities to share your love without seeking them from You.
Please give me no service to Yourself without seeking that placement from You.
Please help me to fail in Your estimation without seeking Your help to succeed on Your terms.
Please help me to be empty and disgusted with my life without seeking Your heart continually.
Please help me to fall into sin if I don’t seek Your help to live righteously.
Please help me to end my life in regret if I don’t live My life seeking Your help to get through.
Please make me know that I did not do this life in my own strength.
Please make my life so much better when I’m close with You than when I fall away.

I know that You, God, will honor these requests. Please help me to be mindful of that which I have asked of You. I know that this is how You have been working my life, but I want to joyously embrace the way that You have made my life to work when I am or am not close with You.

In Jesus’ name I make these requests, with love—

Sam
Saturday, June 19, 2010

SuperNatural Resources

God in His grace has given us natural resources throughout the world to use for our benefit. Things like oil, rocks and minerals, wood, dirt, water, all sorts of things are tapped into all the time to better our lives, whether it be in to have a home to go to, a car to drive, a way to keep our food cold and to heat it when necessary--the list is endless.

Could you imagine if we were to go through life with those resources on hand but never to tap into them? Imagine this: you were the only person in the world, put in the middle of nowhere, there's no signs of any other human beings--could you imagine what your life would be like if you never utilized the resources here? It's easy enough to imagine that you wouldn't last long at all-but how quickly we take these resources for granted.

Believers have been given supernatural resources for getting through life, and at many times in our lives, we can be so foolish to take those resources for granted. Not only this, we fail to utilize them and thus have lives that are nothing less than a fight to the death to spiritually get by every day. God has given us His word and prayer as two of the most powerful resources for living righteously. To neglect these resources is to step into a spiritual void, hoping to survive on nothing but will power and our own strength. Our own strength would never replace our use of natural resources--how could we be so foolish to think that we can make it without these things? Take the opportunities that God gives you to utilize your spiritual resources for living a godly life. You'd be worried if your gas tank was low in the middle of nowhere, right? How can it be any less important to enter this week running on the fumes of past prayer and time in God's Word?! Use your resources.

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12 NASB)

17 pray without ceasing; (1Th 5:17 NASB)

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (Eph 6:18 NASB)

9 "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.
10 "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.
(Luk 11:9-10 NASB)

Where the Rubber Meets the Road...

Acts 6:8 "And Stephen, full of grace and power..."

1 Tim 1:14 "and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

When the wheels of a vehicle cease to touch ground, there is no amount of pumping on the gas pedal that will ever make that vehicle move anywhere. The wheels will spin and spin but the vehicle will not move. Obviously, a car is meant to take you places, so it must have tires that work off of the friction between the rubber and the ground.

There are a lot of believers out there that are wondering why it is that they seem to get nowhere spiritually. It is easy for any of us to confuse the purpose of life and to pursue that which is only secondary in nature to the reason for our days. How can we be dynamic Christians?

First, I would ask that you make sure you are a real believer. This means you believe you are a sinner, someone who has done what God has said not to do. You need saved because of your decision, and so we must place our faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross as a substitute for our sins--but we must believe in Him. God doesn't let people into heaven on anything less. The basis of salvation is Jesus, not us. God is well-pleased with Jesus' sacrifice and accepts anyone who believes that what Jesus did in dying and raising again from the dead was for them.

Second, what I am really getting at here, is that if the "rubber" will meet the "road" in your walk with God, the great grace of God is going to have to find suitable ground in your life to move the vehicle, your life, towards drastic change. That change will give you purpose in your life that could never be found in a job, a relationship, an ambition, money, achievements, anything. It will give you joy that lasts. It will give you faith that can withstand what usually causes most people to quit seeking God--like a lack of money or the loss of a loved one or following God in full confidence when life tells you there's no confidence to be had (I say all these from personal experience, by the way). NOW, what is the road that I was getting at? What must God's grace meet up with to move you in life? It's obedience to the Bible. Tell the truth even when lies would "put you ahead." Talk about Jesus even if people would look at you funny. Love people regardless of how they treat you. Seek God every day, even if you DON'T feel like anything happened. Something always happens. If God calls you to do something or go somewhere, follow. You will find greater peace if you just simply do what He makes clear for you to do. Obedience is a thing of both objectivity when we come to the Bible's commands and subjectivity when God has plans specific to our individual lives.

If you're tired of getting nowhere or you want purpose in life that you're not finding, 1) trust in Jesus or make sure you have done so, and 2) obey. Then, watch as God's grace, which is very great, meets up with your obedience. Your life will finally start going places if it's been stagnant. The tires are always spinning, but are you providing ground for them to move upon? God's grace coupled with our obedience is where the rubber meets the road.

What of Our past? What of our present? What of our future? The Incredible Defense of Love

2 John
The Elder: To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth-- and not only I, but also all who have come to know the truth--because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. So now I urge you, lady-- not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning-- that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love. Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you don't lose what we have worked for, but you may receive a full reward. Anyone who does not remain in the teaching about Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and don't say, "Welcome," to him; for the one who says, "Welcome," to him shares in his evil works. Though I have many things to write to you, I don't want to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to be with you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sister send you greetings.
(2Jo 1:1-13 HCSB)

LOVE is the greatest defense believers have. When that defense is gone, they become highly vulnerable to corruption. People who do not love God or each other get bored with church and become cold, religious, dutiful church-goers. They think they do well when in reality they may strongly be on their way to absolute corruption. History will show you that this has happened continually, and still happens today. When people stop loving God, they stop loving His people, and they stop loving His truth. Motives shift for why they do what they do and the warmth of their relationship with God leaves them. Those who are saved become indistinguishable from those who are not saved. Views rise from within the church itself that are not well caught because discernment is low. What a Christian looks like has morphed from a loving, obedient servant to a well-dressed, good-mannered person who can jump through all the right hoops. Churches that are not committed to pure truth and love for one another are churches that are filled with people who DO NOT LOVE GOD!!! Don’t kid yourself. Don’t be fooled, either. Ephesus ended because love for God, for truth, for each other had left them. Revelation 2:1-7 gives the warning:

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: "The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place-- unless you repent. Yet you do have this: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. "Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

History will show you that the church and the town both died out. There are only a handful of believers known to be even close to this town today. Whether or not the books in 1, 2, and 3 John were dealing with people in Ephesus is secondary to the fact that the message of 2 John is crucial for both churches filled with believers and individual believers alike if they are to stay true to the Lord and to walk in a fashion that won't die out. If you want a church that still preaches the gospel or grandkids that want anything to do with God in a relational way, you'd better learn to love. It's a lesson for us all.

Just a Quick Note

Visit my wife's blog at samandann.blogspot.com! She'd love visitors at her page!

-Sam

A Step Closer

I'm writing this short piece to make you think today about what your life reflects (and to make me think about it, too) when it comes to your pursuit of God. I have no flowery introduction for this, but it's just a few things I wrote down a while back that I came across and wanted to put out there.

1. Don't let your view of God replace viewing God. Meaning, don't let what you've perceived God to be be the place where your mind wanders. In genuinely seeking God, we must daily allow Him to alter our view of Him as necessary if we've had wrong conceptions (which can be done for years on end).

2. Don't let your knowledge about God replace knowing God. This can happen often after we can get saved and get accustomed to being children of God. We learn the Bible (not in totality but enough that we feel like we can forever excel on this knowledge), can spit out doctrine, can tell when something's just "not right" when we hear it, and on and on this list goes. Then we get bored. Which is why I say do not let your knowledge about God replace knowing Him. It becomes cold, religious, and spiritually empty when we stop actively seeking to know Him. Don't forget why you should read your Bible and know it well--when you do it to find God and familiarize yourself with the God of the universe in a personal way, knowing Him never grows old.

3. Don't let external worship replace internal worship. It's easy to go through the motions. It's easy to have your favorite hymns. It's even easy to work yourself up emotionally and to enjoy the feelings. It's easy to bow your head in prayer. It's easy to say what you've always said to God. It's hard to mean it. Check your motives. "God, I sing because You are worthy to be praised. I pray because I believe You hear me and honor prayer. I'm emotional because the truth is grabbing. I bow because I mean total honor to You. This is my favorite hymn because the message is genuine." People jump through countless hoops Sunday through Saturday. The Sunday hoops are being the model Christian and doing what model Christians do. Let me tell you this--it doesn't matter what people think. Don't worship because you're being watched by people. Worship because God is the Almighty Creator and you are a lowly creature.

4. Don't let duty replace devotion. Tell people about Jesus because love for God compels you. Go to church because it's a place to worship God with other people. Do right because you value God more than anything else, not because you hope to earn his favor (which you never could do as a human being. It's Jesus' righteousness being charged to your account that would ever make you find favor with God).

5. Don't let what you see replace what you should hope for. Do you really think life is all about pleasure and comfort and being happy and being fit? There's nothing wrong with any of those but that was never where we were meant to focus our attention. Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things up, not on things on the earth." Heaven is coming for the believer. Jesus is going to return. Eternity will be here before you and I know it. (I say this to myself, too): Don't concern yourself with things that are here today and gone tomorrow. A blessed life is a by-product of those who fear God and walk in His ways (Psalm 128).

6. Faith cannot be substituted with cautious calculation. Hebrews 11 should give you a fair picture that faith will require trust even when it's difficult to trust. Faith will require risks at times, but to those who step out in faith, they will find that God will be there to catch and uphold them where they cannot and would not have ground to venture out upon. It's the Wylie Coyote scene without the coyote falling. When God leads you to step out in faith, He will see you through even when you don't know what will happen. Faith is trusting in a God who sees in full what I only see in part. He is outside of time and yet functions within time in a very personal way. Don't you think he sees it all from start to finish and knows exactly what will happen? I genuinely believe that faith has more to do with learning to trust God than seeing that faith rewarded.

Thanks Be to God!

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. (Psa 30:12 NKJV)

I'd like to encourage you to be thankful to God today. I'd like to encourage you to think what I've written here for yourself and to say it to God where you are if you genuinely can say that Jesus Christ is your personal Savior. Here we go:

Thank You, God, for saving me.

Thank You for sending your Son Jesus for me.

Thank You for letting me serve You.

Thank You for revealing truth to me as it comes from You.

Thank You for knowing what's best for me and always working to such ends.

Thank You for being a holy, sovereign God who is above my comprehension in your totality and yet necessarily understandable by Your revelation of Yourself in Your word.

Thank You for being gracious and merciful to me despite my tremendous failures as a sinful human being.

Thank You for not being like me and yet calling me to be like You.

Thank You for being able to celebrate my life and for sustaining this life by Your power.

Thank You for listening to my prayers and knowing how to respond. I don't know what life has in store for me in the future, but I know You do. You ordain my days and my circumstances. You control everything and allow what You deem best to make me become like You. My hope can only be found in You.

Thank You for loving me enough to protect me even from myself sometimes.

Thank You for giving me people that I can share life with. Thank You that I can share life with You.

Thank You for letting me live on Your earth, using Your resources, spending Your time with Your people, breathing Your air. Thank You for letting me see Your sun rise, Your clouds move through Your blue skies, Your stars and moon and planets at night...Thank You for Your animals and the beauty of nature. Nothing I look at within or without is less than Yours.

Thank You for not withholding Your truth and being gracious with me regarding all the times I've taken it for granted; thank You for helping me to grow up when I should be left as an immature, hopeless and helpless person.

Thank You that my salvation is not dependent upon my ability--I know that salvation is completely of You.

Thank You for my body--ears to hear, eyes to see, nerves to feel sensation, feet to walk, a brain to think, a heart to pump life into me, muscles that render me capable of living, and much more.

Thank You for teaching and training me, for guiding me, for assisting me, for sending me places, and for going with me where You send me. I thank You for the Trinity--thank You, Father, for your will and your plan; thank You, Jesus, for Your life, Your death, and Your resurrection; thank You, Holy Spirit, for Your presence in my life, convicting me of my sin, illuminating the Scriptures, guiding me in life and in moment. Thank You, God, for You are worthy of all my thanksgiving and praise (and far more than just mine).

Thank You for taking me by the hand and leading me through this life. I will never know in my mortal life just how much I needed You, but I thank You for loving me with Your deep, passionate and unconditional love. I need it so much.

Your thankful child--

(Sam)

Limiting Ourselves to What We Do Know--a brief summary of the book of Job

Today, I write to you and myself as I have been thoroughly challenged by the book of Job in my devotional studies. This book is an amazing challenge to believers today and I believe it has always been there to challenge God's people of all ages. If I had to sum up the book of Job in one point, I would say, "Only God knows everything." I say this because we find Satan coming to God and God showing a favorable opinion of Job--and Satan declares that Job would no longer praise God if God didn't put a hedge of protection around all that Job had. A long story short, Job lost his children, possessions, esteem, as well as being covered in boils and in complete bewilderment. This biblical account is very interesting because his three friends come to him, making assertions about God and how God works and they basically read the situation through the lens of their opinion, as God-focused as it may seem. It honestly seems to me that this story is recorded in many ways and so many chapters are given to these responses, as well as Job's replies to those responses, because the people of God always take what they have learned of God and begin to go beyond their boundaries. We see something, even like the World Trade Center bombing, and many will say, "This is God's judgment on America for their sin." Has God written that in the sky? Has He shown that in His word? Now, I know that God has used this to draw people to Himself and to cause people to think. But who very truly knows the mind of God? We only know what's been revealed, and yet I find that even I can so quickly read a situation and feel that I know what God is doing and such. I am a 4-point Calvinist, and even on that I have now begun to question being nearly as adamant, not because I don't think I see God's sovereignty in the Bible, but because I don't fully understand what that means in relation to God. I can't fully explain the workings of God; I can see things being taught in Scripture, but I have to be careful not to think that I've fully figured anything out when it comes to the depths of God. No human does. So, I ask you, what would your response be, should you have been one of Job's friends? You see this person who's losing everything and their life looks to be in shambles--would you think that they were doing something wrong? How could you possibly know that God was well-pleased with someone and was allowing tribulation into their lives for their benefit and His glorification by allowing Satan permission to throw trials into their lives? How do you know what's going on in the spiritual world? You don't. What Job's friends did has been repeated so many times over and even today, whatever day you may find yourself reading this, it will be happening. So hear out Job's words at the end of the book of Job, as well as God's (who stunningly corrected Job and his friends, who all became guilty of reading more into the situation than they knew):

Job 42:1-11

1 Then Job answered the LORD and said: "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked,`Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said,`I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes." And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. "Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them; for the LORD had accepted Job. And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

And yet some more verses for your thoughts:

Romans 11:33-34

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?"

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Psa 92:5

O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep.

So 1) pray, 2) read the Bible, and 3) never jump to conclusions, especially about the workings of God. Just trust that He knows what He's doing and will not lead you in paths He will not be with you in.

Thankful Even for the Air I Breath

Psalm 13:6 "I will sing to the Lord, for He has dealt with me bountifully."

Did you catch those words? As I look at that verse, I see two words that stand out immensely: "sing" and "bountifully." Beyond this, I see a word that everything revolves around: "Lord."

"I will sing to the Lord..."

Why?

"(for) He has dealt with me"

and how has He dealt with me?

"bountifully"

Lest you feel like life's just not that great or you'd rather sit in a corner pouting about your circumstances, I'd like to take this chance to encourage you to praise God. Praise Him for a voice. Praise Him for a mind to think. Praise Him for thoughts to express. Praise Him for hair and for skin and for smiles and for daylight. Praise Him for comfort and praise Him for pain. Yes, pain. It does accentuate the times in life that it does not come to the forefront, does it not? Praise Him for nice people, praise Him for difficult people--He uses both to make you like Him. Praise Him for being above our comprehension, and praise Him for condescending to us to make Himself known and understood through His Son and through the Word. Praise Him for your eyes--you couldn't even read these words without them. And if you're hearing these words spoken or even reading this in braille, praise Him that He allows you to channel communication and understand it. Praise Him for abundance and praise Him for poverty--we find Him in both, and sometimes we see Him easier in the latter. Praise Him for life and praise Him for death. Praise Him for prayers answered and praise Him for prayers that seem untouched. Praise Him for His perfection and praise Him that even our imperfections can help us recognize how vastly less we are from Him--the chasm is infinite. Praise Him for sending His Son and praise Him for His love. Praise Him for newborn babies and praise Him for loved ones in their last moments. Praise Him for hope and praise Him for never leaving us hopeless. Praise Him for blue skies and praise Him for rainy days. Praise Him because He's God and there is no other, there is no one like Him, there is none who can compare. Praise Him--and be thankful even for the air you breath.

Our Pain is Worth the Weight

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

God is always doing great things. This isn't a generic statement, like it's some kind of headline news that takes place in foreign places all around the globe--You can take confidence that if Christ is your Savior, such is your case today. Each day brings with it its own character--even when many days look the same. God is always working in our lives, and what He allows us to face is doing something magnificent on His side of heaven. Verse 17 says our afflictions are a) momentary and b) light. God knows what you can handle in this life on your own and He knows what you can handle in this life only by His grace. I hope for your sake and for mine that what we face is not simply given to us on the basis of what we ourselves can handle. You don't grow in God's grace by being given a life that only suits what you're capable of, because quite frankly, it's not very much. The grace of God so often supersedes what we do, and foolishly we often attribute overcoming our circumstances only to ourselves. Be encouraged today to face things you don't want to necessarily face with the confidence that whatever you face, God will be there to aid you in accomplishing what He has for you--even if it's character change. He is doing such great things, oh that we would see that and marvel in His handiwork! Our pain is worth the weight.

Separate the Adjectives from the Nouns

Being a human, and having a sin nature, one of the hardest areas I find to overcome is to look at all people as simply people. Not "poor" people, not "(pick your color)" people, not "skinny" people, "nice" people--you get the drift? It's so easy to attach adjectives to people, and then to quickly attach issues such as value or fear or avoidance...and on and on the list goes. You know, I am not crazy about the whole "politically correct" jargon, but when I think about the need for Jesus Christ in the world, we who already have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior need to start seeing people first and foremost as people. Yes, they may be very different than us. Yes, we may find it difficult at times to connect. Think about the people you find it easiest to talk about Jesus with, if you're a believer. More often than not, they're just like us--it's easy to present the Gospel to people that mirror much of who we are. Our hearts and minds shut very fast, though, when we start seeing people's distinctions, whether those distinctions be hereditary or a choice or sinful--and to back off from showing God's love. John 3:16 starts off by saying, "For God so loved the world..." That's every person, and that's a group of people who all fall short of His glory, none who deserve His love or grace or mercy. There are no distinctions drawn as to who God loves--it's people--the world. I encourage you and myself to be mindful to pray that we not let the adjectives consume the nouns when it comes to showing God's love and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to separate the adjectives from the nouns--PEOPLE need the Lord, period.

Be Thankful for the Past...but Don't Live in It

My senior year in high school, I was fully entrenched in the hockey lifestyle. I worked a job at a local ice rink as a "skate guard," which is kind of like a peace-keeper/first aid/safety ensuring person. I played hockey every Monday night, and I played on a local team which played on Saturday nights, and even the occasional Sunday night (to which I did not appreciate). When that was over, I played adult hockey league in the best league in my home city. I was looking forward to playing hockey in college, but this did not pan out well as my interests quickly changed toward ministry.
I remember vividly living off of the steam of my hockey days, using this as a calling card to gain attention and to make friends. It was something I was good at and enjoyed. Hockey did not last. I have hardly skated since I got married; I haven't ice skated in almost two years, and I haven't played hockey in probably eight years. In those days, I wanted a career out of the sport, somehow, someway. I even went off to college hoping to major in journalism just to be attached to the game still.
The fumes of those days have faded, and I cannot run on them. Humans like to do this often--we love those "glory days" of high school, or college, or a certain achievement. There's times, too, where we are thankful that we don't have to return to those memories. I have plenty of both! (Would you like some?!)
God has called for us to be thankful people, people who would be reminded of His goodness and to revel in His greatness in our history as well as all of history. Might I suggest to you, though, that today is the present and the past is gone? What happened twenty years ago, five years ago, two days ago, one minute ago, is past and is now concrete history. It can't be changed, it can only be remembered and we live with the effects. As you live this day, even right now, use your time to the glory of God. Make decisions that are reflective of His guidance in your life. Study the Bible and realize what kind of character God would want you to have, and make the most of this day. We can dwell on the past to the extent that it clouds our vision of what we should be doing today. Praise the Lord for His goodness, praise Him for this new day.

Be thankful for the past...but don't live in it.

Philippians 3:13-16 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

Seeing the Stars Best

Starry nights are a wonderful thing. I love looking up in the sky, taking it all in, and enjoying what God has made. What does it take to see those stars so well, though? If you live in the city, you will never see the stars nearly as bright as you will in the country--I recommend going out sometime if you haven't. Before I ramble any more, here's what I'm getting at. We don't see the stars without the darkness surrounding them. We need the night to see that light. I want you to think about those dark days of life...love ones lost, maybe your financial resources are low, maybe you find yourself just wishing to escape some of the things you've been facing. God shows up best in our darkest of nights. His overflowing grace, His steadfast love, His sovereign sustainment all are most visible in our most vulnerable moments. It's true. My wife lost a child in miscarriage in October of 2009, right in the heart of my first semester in school, with lots of work to do and then an overwhelming flood of grief that ensued at such a loss. I may have such days again, but that was the hardest day of my life when we found out about the loss of our little one. We decided to have a child as a gift to God, someone He could use to His pleasure, in July. My wife conceived after we made such a decision, and we joyfully came to find out a child was on the way. We even saw our child at the first sonogram, and it was truly exciting. The next month, October, this all changed. I can tell you, though, that in that time, I truly felt the prayers of people being answered as God's grace overwhelmed us far more than the grief. Easy? By no means. Without hope? Not a chance! I take comfort in God's sovereignty and a deep knowledge of His love for us, even when our days grow dark. If you do not know God personally through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, dark days may truly seem hopeless. Christ died for our sins, and we all know that we've done wrong. He has offered Himself as our atoning Sacrifice, satisfying God's requirement of a perfect sacrifice for sins. We simply have to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, place our faith in His work, and you should know, too, that He was raised from the dead on the third day and that He is in heaven now at the Father's right hand. He would love for you to make that decision. If you're a believer, you have hope. The darkness of life is always a backdrop to God's grace for the believer. I know it's true. He sustains us and our hope is not in vain. He is so good. I'd encourage you to pray, even now, thanking God for His love for us and His sustaining grace. And if you need Christ as Savior, do it now. No one who recognizes God for who He truly is would want to continue on without Him. He's God and there is no other!

"You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah." (Psa 32:7)

This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps. 118:24)

Lord, help me to live this moment to your glory. I can't change the past and I have no control over the future. Help me not to run on the fumes of past "mountain-top experiences" nor to swim in a sea of guilt for past failures. I boldy accept Your forgiveness and grace for the moment. I so quickly lose sight of You when I get caught up in the future. I don't know that tomorrow will come, but I know that today is here and I am alive. You have sustained me, You have enabled me. Help me to take my cross today and to follow You wholeheartedly. Help me to see You for who You are today and not as my heart would pridefully make you out to be. You are above Me; Your ways are above my ways; You are beyond my comprehension, and I accept Your biblical revelation of who You are by faith. Help me to reflect You the best way that I can today. Thank you, God!