PJ's Thoughts

Sidewalk to School

2011-11-16T07:45:00.003-06:00

Get Out of the Boat

2011-05-19T07:17:00.000-05:00

I am reminded today of Peter's encounter with Jesus on the water. I cannot imagine what must have been going through the disciples minds as they saw Jesus walking on water but then he calls out to them to get out of the boat and do the same. All but one play it safe, all but one allowed fear to keep them from experiencing God and doing the impossible. Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on water. How Peter must have been totally blown away by that opportunity. I am reminded that I need to get out of the boat of safety, the boat of comfort, the boat of ease and step out into the unknown and experience God in perhaps ways I have never and to allow Him to use me in ways that perhaps I have never been used. But I am also reminded that I like Peter can become easily distracted by the things around me and take my eyes off Jesus and immediately begin to sink. Peter became afraid, fear is really nothing more than not trusting Christ in the midst of the unknown. As long as my eyes are fixed on Him, as long as I am trusting Him taking that step of getting out of the boat and doing the impossible does not seem so hard. The second I take my eyes of Christ and begin trusting myself instead I will sink. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, in all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my paths. Lord help me today to get out of the boat and do the impossible, but more than that help me to keep my eyes fixed on you.

India: What has God taught me?

2011-03-03T07:29:00.000-06:00

Since returning from India I have been asked this question often and I really have not had a good response other than, "It was amazing", "It was eye-opening", and many other short sweet diatribes that seem so short of the truth. So I woke up this morning with this question heavy on my heart and I feel I need to begin processing the answer through my blog.
Meeting Ananthi and hearing her story of how God has used her to reach out to the poorest of poor with the Gospel of Jesus is truly amazing as I see a clear example of what Jesus was saying throughout the Gospels of what it means to help the poor, care for the needy and fulfill the Great Commission. To hear and see her incredible dependence on God is both inspiring and convicting. Even in the midst of poverty and from my minds eye just miserable conditions I saw joy and an incredible dependence on God that I do not see in myself or in much of Christianity here in the US. Our western mindset says I need to go over there and get them out of those conditions and give them a nice home, nice clothes, nice this and that and we want to throw stuff at them and somehow believe that this is the answer. Then I look in the mirror and say wait a minute I have a nice home, nice care, nice clothes, I have basically whatever I want whenever I want and yet I find myself not satisfied, I find myself not content, I find myself miserable, I find myself not dependent on God. Has the overabundance of stuff and the chasing of the "American Dream" clouded my ability to rely on God and seek Him daily? One of the guys posed a great question, is what these people need to really pull them out of their conditions? What's amazing is the community that you see happening in the midst of those conditions, the joy on the kids faces, the dependence on God. What I saw in India through Friend of the Good Samaritan School, Ananthi, their staff was the Gospel in action as they strive to meet basic needs, education, medical, food and most importantly the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I did not seem them trying to pull kids out of the slums and give them better homes or more stuff, but rather teach them to depend on God and allow Him to meet all of your needs. On Sunday we held a church service where hundreds of people came and what blew me away was the noticeable difference between the kids that attended the Good Samaritan school and those who did not, they were healthier looking, more respectful, more joyful, and most importantly more in love with Jesus. I am reminded of this song:

Heart of Worship

When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath

I'll bring You more than just a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You Jesus

Its all about you
Jesus

I realize that our stuff is not the problem it's my heart. My prayer is that just like the people of India that I encountered who have little and whose hearts seemed bent toward God and who live in total dependence on Him, that I who am surrounded by much will learn to depend on God and allow my heart to truly love and seek after Jesus.

Sincere Love

2010-08-27T07:34:00.000-05:00

Matthew 15:7-20 8" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

Oh how I love Jesus, Oh how I love Jesus because He first loved me. I wish that this was always true of my life. I wish that it was not so easy to allow things, circumstances, people to distract me from following Christ. I wish that I could say that every time I teach or preach that I did not just honor Christ with my lips and yet know that my heart was far from God. The Bible says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." This is my desire, but desire can only become reality if accompanied by action. However action if done out of wrong motives is just action. I want to draw near to God out of a sincere heart, not one motivated by guilt, fear or anything other than love. Today may I pursue a relationship with Christ out of love and allow His love to shine from my life.

Eternal Focus

2010-08-26T07:53:00.000-05:00

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

As I read this passage I could not help but think of those I know that are facing some tough times. As one who has been there and has seen the ups and downs of going through a trial here is some food for thought. For most of the trial I was plagued by the what if's, why's and keeping my focus on the light and momentary. It was not until my focus became as described in verse 18 that I not only was able to work through the trial but that God was able to work in and through my heart. The unseen that we fix our eyes on for me is the the eternal truths of God, His love, His strength, His presence, His plan, His sovereignty, His grace and mercy and so much more. That understanding comes from what verse 16 talks about in that our inner man is being renewed day by day. How? Thought getting in God's Word, through praying and while praying laying out the questions and the seen. It was at this point that God really began to give me a peace and an understanding that I cannot explain. My prayer is that each person who reads this will be challenged to seek God and by seeking Him you would turn your focus to the eternal and that God would reveal Himself to you more and more each day.

Father I do not even begin to understand why things happen the way they do or when they do, but I trust you and know that you love me and I ask that you would daily give me an eternal focus.

Chasing the Wind

2010-08-25T07:36:00.000-05:00

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

I am not sure I need to say a lot about this passage. Sort of speaks for itself and honestly not sure really what to say. Solomon denied himself nothing and yet found that those things brought him nothing. At the end of the book he concluded that the only thing worth chasing is to know God and obey His commands. Today what will I chase after? At the end of the day what will my money trail, my time card, my spent energy say about what I chased after?

Father help me to chase after you, help me to deny myself pick up the cross and follow you. Give me the strength to overcome the temptation to chase after anything that would take the place of you.

Contentment

2010-08-24T07:34:00.000-05:00

Philippians 4:12-13 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I read this morning this quote from a poet, "As a rule, a man's a fool. When it's hot, he wants it cool. When it's cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting what is not." I know I have been guilty of this so often with so many things. I see it in my kids and so I know that it's something that I struggle with, apples don't fall to far from trees. Paul a man who experienced so much from having everything life in his culture could give to being stoned and within a breath of losing his life no doubt had to wrestle with contentment. Through those things he learned as he said the secret to being content, a relationship with Christ. His contentment was not based on circumstances but on his relationship with Jesus. Which Jesus himself even eluded to when He said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you." All these things are our daily needs, not wants. That I think is the problem, our wants, and that is where the relationship with Christ plays a huge part. The closer I get to Jesus the more my wants become what He wants. Not that I won't still struggle as I am sure Paul did being human, but the temptation to please myself instead of Christ is dulled by the mind that is consumed with the Word of God and is surrendered to following Him.

Father so often my wants supersede my needs and honestly distract me from knowing you. Help me like Paul to want to know you more and pursue a love relationship with you. Remove my selfish wants and fill them with yours that I might be used by you to impact others for you.

Pass It On

2010-08-23T09:27:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Often more is caught than taught, that's a phrase that at time really makes me cringe. I want my kids, my students to fall in love with God and desire to follow Him everyday of their lives. I know that I must teach them by being intentional and equipping them with necessary tools to navigate through life. But if in my teaching they do not see that it has made a difference in my life than more than likely they will follow my example rather than my teaching. One part of the above passage really sticks out to me, "If you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure." How valuable is my relationship with the Lord? What does my life say that I value? If I want my kids and students to fall in love with God and desire to follow Him than I must be an example of that to them. I must seek after God as a treasure and maybe just maybe through my faults and triumphs they will see that chasing after God is priceless.

Skeptism

2010-08-22T07:49:00.003-05:00

2 Peter 1:5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

I know that many are skeptical of the Bible, Jesus and our faith. Many are skeptical because of an intellectual roadblock like Thomas who would not believe until he saw for himself the nail scares and put his hand into the side of Jesus. I often think though that many skeptics are simply that because what they hear and see often do not match and thus causes questions to rise as to the validity of our faith and claims. I know cause recently I have been confronted with this very thing and have been skeptical of my life as I have seen what I have said in the past was not true of my life in the present. Recently I had the opportunity to go to an Indian Reservation in Montana and to go to La Ceiba, Honduras on mission trips with my youth ministry. What I encountered there I pray has forever changed my life. I was confronted with the harsh reality that the majority of the world lives with and what I as an American take so greatly for granted. I was confronted with the very fact that to this point my life has really been about me and mine. I was confronted with the fact that my $38 a month that I give to Compassion which is great is really just the tip of the iceberg. I was confronted with the reality of needs vs wants and am still wrestling with how much do I really need???? I was confronted with something that is very close to the heart of God and that all in all I am doing very little about, that being the poor, the orphan and the widow. I want this to change in my life, in my church, in my faith and maybe I will no longer give fuel to those that are skeptical of my life, church and faith by showing the one thing that describes God, LOVE!!!! As I figure out how that love will be expressed in my life my prayer is that somehow others will be confronted with these realities and maybe somehow we through Christ's power can change the World!!!!

Sportianity: The Religion of Sports

2010-02-24T09:47:00.002-06:00

I was recently given an article entitled "Whatever Happened to Play" by Shirl James Hoffman. I wanted to write this to more articulate my response to this article and what I witness day in and day out in the context of working with youth. I hope this generates discussion and thinking but if not at least it helps me think through this subject.
This whole matter of sports has become a huge area of contention for me as a youth pastor and father. I personally love sports and enjoy watching and participating in sports. I want my children to enjoy sports as well. However what I am seeing today is enjoyment of sports to an extreme that I believe is extremely unhealthy and is destroying the family and individual lives as well. Sports today has turned into a religion one that Hoffman calls "Sportianity". He gives some just crazy examples of this in his article which you can find at the Christianity Today website. I am blown away by the sheer dedication and commitment that many families and people make to sports starting at a very young age. I know students and children who have practice every night and sometimes mornings as earlier as 6am before school starts. I know 8 year olds who have games 3 or more nights a week. I know students who are playing 60-90 games a summer in softball or baseball. The kicker for me is that when I talk to some parents about their family or just their child coming to church on Sunday or Wednesday I often get back from them that it is to much to commit to and I am asking an aweful lot of students. Yet these same students are the ones described above. Families skip church to watch a certain game or go to a certain tournament. Students can't go on mission trips or help out in VBS because they have sports camp during the summer. Don't get me wrong, as Hoffman says "Youth sports programs certainly provide worthy experiences for young people, but with increasing frequency they seem to spin out of control." This is what is going on today. Sports is out of control and the sad part to me is that parents and students are not standing up to it and saying "NO". Hoffman states, "Evangelicals in the sports community have to often been followers rather than leaders, adopters of the dominant ethos rather than trendsetters who challenge it." To which I say amen. I absolutely believe that if parents and students would stand up to the status quo and say no things would change. Because what team is going to bench their star athletes if they say no and I am going to church instead of practice tonight. Please understand I am not calling us to stop sports all together, but to bring balance back in order to save our families and children from a self-destructive lifestyle that renders families from spending quality time together and students from missing opportunities that in the long run will matter more. There is no doubt that sports can and are a good thing but like anything when taken to extreme can destroy the very ones who are taking it there. Sportianity will always exist but for those of us who claim to follow Christ we must turn from the idolatry of sports and turn to the Worship of God and allow that worship to direct our choices and commitments.

Knowing Him: Temporal Events 2 Accomplish Eternal Purposes

2010-02-10T21:17:00.003-06:00

Luke 2:1-20 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

It always blows me away how the most seemingly obscure parts of the Bible can be some of the most important. In this case it blows me away the way God works. Little did Caesar know that he was playing an important part in accomplishing an eternal purpose. How amazing is God's sovereignty and the mysterious ways that He accomplishes eternal purposes. I look back over my life and see how temporal events accomplished eternal purposes and for which I am thankful. However there are some events that I wish were different, events that hurt, events that led to some very difficult situations but always led to the good. It's in these events that I must trust God and allow His eternal purpose to be played out. The question is do I really believe that God will work all things together for good? My prayer is that no matter what comes my way I will trust God that He knows what is best and that He has my best in mind.

Father help me to trust you no matter what so that you can accomplish your eternal purposes through me.

No Pain, No Gain

2010-01-28T07:37:00.002-06:00

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Lately I have been challenged with and over and over again reminded that following Christ while extremely rewarding is not easy. We live in a culture where if we want something all we have to do is take a pill for it, charge it to a credit card or have the government bail us out, instead of saving for it, working hard, maybe breaking a sweat and actually having to earn something. As a result we miss the joy and reward that comes from the effort that we put into it and we get stuck just wanting more and believing that we deserve it. Sadly the same thing happens in many who claim to follow Christ, they want the benefits of following Christ, like overcoming sin, experiencing joy and satisfaction. Jesus in His exhortation here in the book of Matthew speaks to the fact that following Christ is work and sacrifice. Just like losing weight and exercise is tough the end results are amazing. So it is with Christ and a relationship that we work at throughout our lives. I must understand that to experience joy, to experience overcoming sin takes a daily surrender of my life to Christ (denying myself), being broken and humble (taking up the cross) and pursuing a relationship with Christ (follow me). Today my prayer is that I would experience all that a relationship with Christ offers.

Father today as I pursue a relationship with you help me to surrender to you and experience just how awesome it is to follow after you.

Metaphors of Growth

2010-01-27T07:07:00.002-06:00

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Paul gives us three metaphors to illustrate the importance of our faith specifically our relationship with Christ. First he gives us the metaphor of a path that we are to walk. Like every path there is a beginning and an end, also throughout the middle there can be several paths or detours that will lead us off the main path to destinations unknown. Jesus declared that He is the only way to life eternal. I know often in my sometimes feeble attempts to walk with Him I often take the side paths and end up going a direction I did not want to go. But Jesus is so amazing in that I can take 10,000 steps away from the path and it only takes one to get back. Second he uses the metaphor of a tree that has roots going deep. The amazing things about roots is that if properly fed they will be twice as long as the tree and able to withstand forces that would try to knock the tree over. In life I have faced many trials and will face many more, I know that in those times that I have been fed by the Word of God that the roots of my relationship with Christ have helped me to stand firm in the midst of a storm. Third he uses on object that is being built. With every building project the foundation is absolutely critical to the overall health of the structure. Jesus himself illustrated this with the two men, one who built his house on the sand and one who built his house on the rock. They key was the foundation which was obeying the Word of God. If I want my faith to be rock solid than I must build its foundation on the Word of God and the truths within and not on my own thinking or the thinking of the "wise" or even my experiences. These things should never be used to validate the Word of God but the Word of God should validate these things. Today may I be found walking the path of a relationship with Christ as I am rooted through God's Word and build my faith as I obey it.

Father thank you for the message of Christ and relationship that comes from believing that message, give me the strength today to live for you and walk with you so that my faith might be strengthened to face the challenges of today.

So I Wait

2010-01-26T07:06:00.002-06:00

Psalm 25:21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

As I read this verse today I am reminded of the song Hungry, here are the lyrics.

Hungry I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all
This heart is living for

Broken I run to You
For Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch
Restores my life

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

I’m falling
I’m falling for You
Jesus You’re all
This heart is living for

What an incredible song filled with the truth of who God is and the very longing but often not the practice of my life. Psalm 25:21 is an incredible challenge to my heart that integrity and uprightness should characterize my life as I wait on the Lord. Often I will sing the words of this song and truly mean them but so often my life does not reflect the hunger to which it speaks. Psalm 25 reminds me that I must not just say I am hungry, I must not just sing the words, I must live the words. Jesus you're all this heart is living for, is that true? Oh how I want it to be true. Today my prayer is that my life would be marked by integrity and uprightness and that the words of this song would be found true in me today.

Father give me the strength to live for you today. May moment by moment surrender to you and fall down on my knees as I wait for you. Today may it be said of me that Jesus you're all this heart is living for.

Practical Atheist

2009-12-06T00:10:00.002-06:00

I have been being challenged in my life over the past few months with my spiritual lifestyle. A message that I heard from Craig Groechel called "Practical Atheist" describes it best. A practical atheist is someone who believes that God exists but does life as if God does not exist. In my life as a pastor it can best be described this way it's a minister who believes that God exists but does ministry as if God does not exist. To often my prayer life had become when I prayed on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights before I spoke to the youth or when I was expected to or my devotional life would be my preparation study for a message or a talk. My ministry had become what I do at church and that's it. Bill Hybels once said, "that the way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me." You see I have become a full time pastor but a part time lover of God. My life is described in Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." On the outside I was honoring God but in my heart I was far from Him, just going through the motions. I was checking out Matthew West's website, especially the site linked to his song "The Motions." On that site he writes "I know what a "Christian" should say. I know how to act. I know how to put up a spiritual front, even if I'm not passionately seeking God. That was the inspiration behind my song, "The Motions". I was tired of settling for a stale faith. God is a God of PASSION. His true plan for our lives is anything but boring. Every day, The God of adventure beckons his sons and daughters to quit going through the motions, and walk into a life filled with passion and wonder." In verse 14 of Isaiah 29 it says "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder". This is what I want, I want to once again be passionate about my relationship with Christ, I want to be passionate about reaching people with the gospel, I want to be passionate about prayer, I want to be passionate about living for Christ everyday. I want Philippians 1:20,21 to be true once again. I want to be a full time lover of God. I do not want to go through the motions and I am writing this and sharing this because I want others to hold me accountable. I want others to join me in not letting practical atheism describe our lives anymore. If you read this I ask you to please pray for me but I also ask you to evaluate your life and ask yourself am I a "Practical Atheist?"

An Attitude of Gratitude

2009-11-26T10:04:00.002-06:00

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say this those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

From the words of James MacDonald:

Psalm 107 is all about thankfulness. Very specifically Psalm 107 repeats one verse four different times: Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of Men.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Praise and gratitude are inseparable. Praise starts from the soles of our feet and comes up through the muscles ans sinews and joints and organs of our bodies and bursts from our throats. It's with all of our hearts that we give God thanks. Gratitude is not something shallow or frivolous, flippant or superficial. It is the deepest expression of the soul in love with God. And that soul says, "With all my heart, I give you thanks."
What bugs me, though, is when people express their gratitude on a day like today, late in November, and then return to their self-centered, dissatisfied, hopeless, and pathetic outlook on life the other 364 days.
Gratitude is more than an annual ritual performed hastily before diving into the Thanksgiving meal. It's more than a holiday decoration, more than a snappy word that rhymes with "attitude." Of all the human emotions, gratitude is the most powerful. So powerful is gratitude, it can obliterate fear, hopelessness, and doubt. Gratitude can heal a broken heart, slow the aging process, and restore broken relationships. Gratitude creates hope,and hope brings joy. It is in joy, not fear, that we find strength.

Father,
I pray that everyday would be Thanksgiving day in my heart. I have so much to be thankful for and yet often find myself expressing it very little. Remind me daily of your goodness and may I rest in you each day. May my life be a praise offering to you.

Playing Dodgeball

2009-09-16T06:58:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It's funny how I often treat, the things in verse 10 like a game of dodgeball. Often like dodgeball I will try to avoid these things at all costs and deny that they are happening. Why? Fear of confrontation, fear of rejection, fear of admitting weaknesses, believing the myth that somehow if I just avoid it, it will go away. They don't go away in fact if not dealt with they grow into bigger problems. I believe that is why Paul writes, "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." There is something about dealing with the issue before you go to sleep. I know my dad would say that there were some nights that he and my mom would stay up pretty late dealing with an issue, but as far as I know they practiced this and did not allow issues to seperate them. According to these verses admitting weaknesses is not weakness at all but rather strength. The key here is that in dealing with the issues of my life I must look to Christ to give me the strength and I must rely on Him to help me with each one. If I try it alone it would be like playing dodgeball with just me on one side and an entire team on the other, no chance of victory.

Father today I need your strength to face the issues of my life and this day. Help me to turn to you instead of dodging them so that I might grow in strength and in my love for you instead of getting beat down.

How Different It Would Be?????

2009-09-15T07:09:00.002-05:00

Philippians 3:13-14 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Today as I was reading my devo's a comment that the writer made hit me right between the eyes, "How different our past would be if we could relive it knowing what we know now." Let that sink in for just a minute. I know looking back at my past there are so many times that I wish I could take back something I said, or something I did or a situation I put myself into. I so wish I could go back to high school and live for Christ in order to tell everyone the good news of the gospel. But reality then sits in and I know that I cannot go back. As Pumba from Lion King says, "You got to get your behind out of the past or I mean you gotta put your past behind you." I know I cannot change my past, but as the verse above refers I sure can learn from it and then press on to do something about my future. So often we allow our past to dictate our future and that is sad. We cannot do one thing about the past, we cannot change it, we cannot relive it and thus we can only learn from it. My prayer is that the mistakes that I have made in the past I will not make again, the lessons that I have learned will help to shape the lessons of the future. My prayer is that all of that I will use to help me strain toward what is ahead. That I would be able to take hold of Christ and allow Him to guide my future and that someday I will obtain the prize that awaits.

Father help me to see my past as just that the past, may I have learned from it and may I strain forward through Christ so that I may honor and glorify you.

Honor Your Parents

2009-08-31T08:07:00.002-05:00

Exodus 20:1-12 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six day's the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

This verse directs all children to honor their father and mother. So how u doing at this? Here is a quote from James MacDonald: "The key word is all. Adults haven't outgrown this command. Every race and culture upon the earth is under the universal, biblical principle to honor their parents. Things will never go right with you and with your future generations until you submit to this biblical command-regardless of your parents success rating. God doesn't say, "Honor good parents" or even "Grade them on the curve." Honor means that your attitude is matched by your actions. You communicate to your parents, "You are the person God sovereignly placed in my life. You may have hurt me at times, but I take off my judge's robe and release you from the stand. I choose instead to see you with compassion as people with needs, concerns, and scars of your own. I honor you."
Honoring parents does not mean seeking their approval or making ourselves vulnerable to hurtful behavior. Honoring our parents does not mean ignoring or denying the past.
Here is what it does mean: choosing to place great value upon our relationship with our parents. It means recognizing the things they have done right. It means acknowledging the sacrifices that they have made for us. It means seeing them as Christ does with compassion and mercy. It means forgiving them as Christ has forgiven us. Honor our parents, if only because God said so.

Father I want to thank you for my amazing parents and I pray that my life will always be honoring toward them as I live to honor you as well.

Bigger Than The Storm

2009-08-24T07:39:00.002-05:00

John 6:16-21 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Ever notice how bad things seem to happen to the disciples when they get seperated from Jesus. In this case the storm found them and to me storms are really not that big of a deal unless you are caught in the middle of one outside of protection. Can you imagine being the disciples out at sea and a huge storm roles in and you have been out in a boat battling the storm for about six to nine hours (Matthew 14:25). This was no little storm this was huge. Then all of a sudden Jesus comes out to them walking on the waves. Check out the verse they were all freakin and rightly so as the storm was surrounding them and I am sure seemed completely overwhelming. Notice verse 20 the disciples were willing to let Jesus in the boat and at once they reached their destination. What they were in the middle of the storm but as soon as Jesus came onto the scene and they let Him in they were through it and on the other side. Jesus is able to walk on the very waves that threaten our lives. Even when it comes to those things that threaten to drown us. Jesus is stronger, greater and more powerful in every way. He isn't tossed around by the waves, and neither will we be if our lives are fully hidden in him. That is the key that we allow Jesus into the boat of our lives and He promises us to go with us no matter what and never leave us.

Father today I surrender to you my day and all the circumstances of it so that I might be hidden in you and as I face trials, temptations give me the strength to keep following after you.

Who Do I Believe

2009-08-21T07:30:00.003-05:00

Hebrews 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Charles Price said, "Knowing what you believe is fine, signing your name with a clear conscience at the end of a creed is fine but the Christian life is about knowing whom I have believed. The more you know Jesus, the more you know God, the more you love Jesus, the more you love God, and the more you trust Jesus, the more you will trust God. In fact is it only when we know Christ that we can know God. Christ is the exact representation of His being and the radiance of God's glory. Timothy said in 2 Timothy 1:12, "I know whom I have believed." Listen we can know all kinds of facts about who God is and what He has done. But head knowledge never saves anyone. Just ask the Demons, according to James they know (head knowledge) there is a God but they do know really know God. This knowledge comes from the heart or soul that has been changed by the power of Jesus Christ. I don't simply want to know facts about God I want to know God in my soul and the only way that will happen is if I surrender to Christ and begin a relationship with Him everyday. Knowing what you believe about something is great but without Jesus it's knowledge. Everything I believe from sin to abortion to end times is centered on Jesus and His Word the Bible.

Father may I today long to know Jesus more and more not just with my head but with my soul that as you are molding and shaping me it may impact me for eternity.

Overhearing God

2009-07-26T06:34:00.002-05:00

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

You ever overhear a conversation that you were never supposed to hear but it left you breathless, whether good or bad. The feelings that come after something like that happens are amazing. I remembering overhearing a conversation between a friend of mine and another friend, honestly I was not trying to eavesdrop I was just in a situation where there was no way out and I could not plug my ears and start yelling, lalalalalalalalalala, hey it was one of those situations. Well what I heard brought both humility and thankfulness all in one unforgettable moment. I wonder what it would be like if we could overhear the conversations God has with His Son about us. Would I be like wow, or would I be ashamed? I would imagine no matter what was said it would be seasoned with grace and mercy and "I would be overwhelmed by the extent of His affection" to quote Lisa Harper. According to this verse we have not even begun to understand, see or even hear what God has in store for us. Wow when I consider all that I have been blessed with already. I can't help but just be floored in awe of how great our God truly is, was and always will be.

Father today help me to see what I can see in order to draw me closer to you.

Wrong With Others, Wrong With God

2009-07-24T07:09:00.004-05:00

Matthew 5:23-24 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

I cannot be wrong with others and be right with God. My relationship with others has a direct bearing on my relationship with the Lord. Jesus in the sermon on the mount makes it clear that it is my responsibility to go to the one who has a grudge against me and seek forgiveness. So often we want to sit back and wait for the person to come to us but this is not what Jesus is teaching. Sadly often we ignore Christ's teaching and try to move ahead in our relationship with Christ when in fact we are not going to grow. Grudges are simply not worth the price tag they carry. I must be willing to be reconciled in order that I might grow in my relationship with Christ and so that others might grow as well.

Father today show me any relationships that I need to seek reconciliation and give me the strength to seek forgiveness. I want to grow in you and I know I must be right with others in order to grow in you.

Don't Lose Heart

2009-07-23T06:58:00.003-05:00

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Losing heart seems to be something at times that I struggle with, whether it's getting discouraged or allowing Satan to work me over with his lies. The problem is that losing heart I would say most of the time is all about me. It's about focusing on those outward things, those light and momentary troubles, those things that are temporary and not eternal. Paul gives us the key to not allowing the feeling of losing heart to take control, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. To which I ask, "Am I?" Why is it so important that I am being renewed day by day because it allows me to see what is eternal and to focus on those things that will last. It's so easy to lose heart and so hard to be renewed. It really doesn't take much effort at all to lose heart, but man it really takes being intentional to be renewed. But again if I am not intentional about being renewed then I will lose heart. Any good relationship takes work, effort and intentionality in order to move the relationship forward. So it is with Christ. Today as I face "light and momentary troubles" may I not lose heart but rather be renewed in my relationship with Christ so that I can at the end of day have laid up treasure in Heaven and not here on earth.

Father give me the strength to run after you today to be renewed and may I keep my focus on you as those distractions come my way.

How Great Is Our God

2009-07-22T06:28:00.003-05:00

Exodus 19:18-20 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. 20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up

The description of God's presence is breath taking here in this passage. Imagine what Moses is seeing as he approaches this mountain. I am imagine Moses was trembling in awe as he realized just how awesome God is and that he was about to have a conversation with God. I can't help but think of the song, "How Great is our God" The splendor of a King, Clothed in majesty, Let all the earth rejoice, All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light, And darkness tries to hide. And trembles at his voice, And trembles at his voice: How great is our God, sing with me. How great is our God, and all will see How great, How great Is our God. Age to age he stands And time is in His Hands, Beginning and the End, Beginning and the End. The Godhead, Three in one Father, Spirit, Son. The Lion and the Lamb, The Lion and the Lamb. We serve an awesome God who deserves our praise today and everyday. The greatest praise we can give is a praise offering of our lives by living for Him. Like Moses we can experience God's presence, no maybe not the same exact way, but to catch of glimpse of God is special no matter the method He chooses to show Himself. May I today get caught up in His presence and allow that presence to sustain me today as I seek to serve Him.

Father wow you are amazing and worthy of all praise, glory and honor. May my life today and each day reflect all praise, glory and honor toward you that you so rightly deserve.

Living by Faith

2009-07-21T07:37:00.002-05:00

Genesis 12:1-4 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

James MacDonald says "When I live by faith I win and when I live by sight I lose." Living by faith means I say yes to God and His truth and no to the lies that Satan lays before me. Living by sight means I say yes to the lies Satan lays before me and no to to God and His truth. Abraham here in this passage and for most of his life lived by faith by saying yes to God and His truth and God blessed Him. I guess the question I need to ask myself is, are the choices I am making right now characterized by faith or sight? I really want to experience God's blessing but so often I allow the lies of Satan to keep me from living by faith and thus winning. This is why it is so vital that I pursue God daily that is what the "living" is all about. I must get into His Word so that I know the truth, so that when I am faced with a lie I will be able to identify it and choose what is true. Today Lord help me to live by faith and not sight, help me to choose what is true and ignore the lies.

Father give me strength today to live for you so that I might win. Keep my eyes fixed on you all day long and that I may dwell in your house all the days of my life.

I Will Take The Consequencs Please

2009-07-20T06:46:00.002-05:00

Romans 1:21-28 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

There are so many times that I refuse to follow God's directions and then suffer the consequences. Like the people described here they knew the truth and yet rejected it, I think about how many times I do the same. I think all of life choices come down to choosing between the truth and a lie. Each with its own consequences. I thing that we must understand is that while God is loving, compassionate and kind, He also is just, righteous. If we choose to reject Him (reject the truth) then as the passage says, "God gave them over" or God stood out of the way and allows us to experience the consequences of our rejection and disobedience. God does love each one of us and passionately pursues us desiring to have a love relationship, but when we reject Him and His truth, we have in effect said, "I will take the Consequences Please." As I face today I pray that I will choose to obey, choose to accept the truth and live trusting God and following after Him.

Today as I am faced with choices that will effect my life, Father give me the wisdom to see the truth from lie and give me the desire to choose the truth so that I might fall more in love with you.

Attention Parents "It's Our Job"

2009-07-16T06:55:00.003-05:00

Joshua 4:19-24 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?' 22then you shall let your children know, 'Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.' 23For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.

We are living in a time when statistics tell us that 75% of teens will graduate from their faith when they graduate from high school. They also tell us that less than 4% will believe the Bible to be absolute truth, without error, that Jesus died and rose again and that there is a literal Hell. Why? I believe because of what this passage addresses specifically in verse 21, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children know." What is happening today is what happened to the Israelites time and time again is that they forgot what God had done and turned away from Him because families, "fathers" in particular did not answer the question and many like it, "what do these stones mean?" Instead they loaded them up on a donkey and took them to the temple once a week for a couple of hours and expected the rabbi to tell them or they took them to see the Dead Sea Floaters play against the Jericho Walls in a game of dessert baseball. Today families have forsaken their responsibility, privilege, and call to first and foremost help their children to grow spiritually to answer questions like, "what do these stones mean?" and instead have replaced it with sports, academics, entertainment and have settled for dropping off kids at youth group in hopes that a youth pastor will be able to do spiritually help kids mature in an average of 1 to 2 hours a week. Please understand I am not saying that sports, academics, entertainment are bad but like the idols of Israel that distracted them from God, these things have become idols that have replaced the desire to know God and follow Him. I am absolutely convinced that if we are going to see a turn around in the numbers of teens leaving their faith when they leave the home we have got to put God first and begin pursuing Him as families and fathers need to step up and lead their families in answering the question, "what do these stones mean?" As a father it is my responsibility to teach my kids about God and to create an environment for them to learn about just how awesome God is and what He can and will do in their lives instead of delegating that responsibility to the church. The church should just be a supplement to an on going diet of God that begins at home. I pray that parents will step up and fathers in particular to see this generation become a generation like Joshua's that made a huge difference for God in the world.

Father help me to lead my kids spiritually as I seek to follow you. Give me the strength to remove idols that have taken the place of you and give me wisdom to effectively create an environment where my kids seek after you.

Get At It Today

2009-07-10T07:32:00.002-05:00

Hebrews 3:7-15 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.
10That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' 11So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' " 12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

October 8,1871 D.L. Moody was preaching the gospel in the business district of Chicago. That night he challenged the crowd with the gospel and then challenged them to go home and think about their response. He asked them to come back the next night and make their decision known. That night a fire broke out in the O' Leary's cow barn which began the great Chicago fire that burned much of the city and killed many of those who attended the service Moody preached. Moody was forever changed after this event he vowed to always challenge people to make a decision today because we may control our choices but we do not control the consequences. In this passage we are challenged three times, "Today if you hear my voice, do not harden your hearts." Obviously this applies to those who need salvation but this also applies to me everyday as I choose to be or not to be obedient to God's call and will for my life. What I must realize is that when I hear God's voice or feel is leading I must obey and go for it. Today as I hear from God may I be found faithful to being obedient and go after it without haste.

Father help me to hear your voice and give me the determination to obey right away.

Fountain or Drain

2009-07-09T07:36:00.002-05:00

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

It has been said that there are two types of people in this world, those who are fountains and those who are drains. I have also heard it said there are those who give life and those who take it away. As a follower of Christ I am to be a fountain or in the case of the verses above a spring of water and because of Christ I am. However flow of my fountain or spring is directly effected by whether or not something is obstructing the flow. I am to be a fountain through which Jesus can flow as "rivers of living water" in blessing to everyone. Yet sometimes I am like a drain in that I am always receiving and never giving, because my relationship with Jesus is not right. I need to ask, "Is there anything between me and Jesus?" "Is there anything that is obstructing the flow of Christ in my life?" If I truly want to be a fountain of blessing and not a drain than I must keep careful guard not to allow obstructions to hinder the flow of Christ in my life. Today I want to be a fountain of blessing in others lives may I with my whole heart seek after Christ today and avoid the obstructions that hinder that flow.

Father oh how I need you every hour, show me if there is anything that is obstructing the flow of Christ in my life.

It Is Worth It All

2009-07-08T06:31:00.002-05:00

Ephesians 6:12-13 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Whoever has said that following Christ is easy has not read the Bible or if they have they have completely overlooked passages like this one. Following Christ is tough, sometimes extremely difficult. The Bible makes it clear to follow Christ will cost me something, that I will have trouble in this life. Words like struggle, fight, war all seem to be descriptors of following Christ. But does that mean I quit, throw in the towel, say it's not worth it, absolutely not. I have thought lately because of many really hard times in other people lives around me that even if all of my life is a constant struggle or hardship it would still be worth following Christ because the end result far out weighs the present. Does that make it any easier, of course not, but it does put in mind a focus that cannot be changed. Why, because eternity cannot be changed and where I am going cannot be changed. Following Christ is the greatest and toughest decision I have ever had to make, but it has all been worth it just to know that one day I will spend eternity in Heaven.

Father today may you strengthen my walk and keep my focus on the prize and not on the troubles that I will face.

Look at What God Has Done

2009-07-02T06:39:00.002-05:00

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

I wonder how often do I take the time to stop and thank God for all He has done in my life. I know that it is not nearly enough. David here in this small says tons, but in one short phrase gives God much deserved praise. The phrase is, "my cup overflows", to which David is saying, God you have done so much more than I deserve. What an awesome, wonderful God I serve. To which I say right on. So often it is so much easier to focus on the negative that is around me and I end of losing site of just how great God is and what He has done in my life. It's not to say that I should not look at those things that are negative, but I must fight so that they do not become my focus. To often I focus on the problem instead of the problem solver. I forget what God has done in my past and somehow lose site of what He could do in my future. It's so easy in the hustle and bustle of life to get bogged down in the nitty gritty, but God wants us to stop and just know Him. One of the greatest ways I can do that is to practice giving Him praise often and for everything. When was the last time I thanked Him for waking up in the morning, for sending rain to water my plants, for giving me a job to earn money to pay bills. When was the last time I recognized His work even in the tough stuff of life. Today may I see God in everything and see that through life God is at work and desires to draw closer to me.

Father you are great and awesome, help me to see that all throughout the day. Draw me close to you and may I see just how much my cup overflows.

Running the Race is Tough

2009-07-01T06:59:00.003-05:00

2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

I would imagine that Paul in writing this to Timothy especially verse seven had thoughts of man I am glad this is about done. While he finished the race and did it with excellence I would imagine he looked back and thought oh man that was sticking tough. I don't know where people get this idea that following Christ is easy and that everything is going to turn up rosy. But where ever it came from it wasn't the Bible. Following Christ and running this race of life is really tough stuff. There are times I have felt like throwing in the towel, of calling it quits. But then I realize that what is happening is that I am allowing Satan victory in my life when Jesus already has claimed the victory. If I try to run this race on my own, forget about it, I will fail every time. But like Paul I must keep my focus on Christ, I must rely on His strength, I must determine that there is nothing greater than running the race for Christ and with Christ. Today as trouble comes or whatever is thrown my way, may I keep Christ at the center in order to one day finish the race.

Father I need your strength today in order to run in such a way as to win the prize. Help me to finish today with my focus on Christ.

Jesus First Place, The Only Place

2009-06-30T07:12:00.003-05:00

Colossians 1:16-18 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

James MacDonald says, "You will never experience the fullness of joy that you were created to know until Jesus Christ has first place in every area of your life." This statement carries the question, "Is He?" Is Jesus first place in every area of my life? My answer is simple yet complex. I would for sure say that my desire is to have Christ first place in every area of my life. However reality is that this is true from time to time because of my lack of surrender in a given area of my life. At times I hold to tightly to things or people or situations and not allow Christ to be first in them. Call it a lack of trust or faith or whatever, but bottom line is that I am selfish and a sinner who spirit is willing but flesh is weak. However I think the important thing here is not perfection but as Paul said in Philippians, "straining toward what is ahead." Am I straining to move forward in my relationship with Christ, am I straining toward Christ being first place in my life. While I agree with James on experiencing the fullness of joy I am not sure that is possible here on earth. That fullness will become fully experienced in Heaven in the very presence of Jesus and with sin completely absent. Today may I strive to make Christ first in every area of life, may I strain toward being completely aware of areas that He is not and then strain to make Him first.

Father I need your strength, because in my own strength I will fail. I long for Christ to be first in order to experience the fullness of joy that comes from following Him.

Heart of the Matter

2009-06-21T07:38:00.002-05:00

John 14:1-4 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

Wow God's timing is great and always blows me away. Just arrived in Miami late last night and found out at 2am that one of my student lost something very important possibly on the plane or the bus that brought us from the airport. Then I read this verse this morning. "Let not your heart be troubled", which also could read "Let not your heart be agitated, or disturbed, or thrown into confusion." Wow isn't God good, He always speaks right to the heart of the matter. Trusting Him always takes being intentional, always takes action on my part. I don't know what is going to happen, I have no idea, my hope and prayer is that just as easily as it was lost we will find it. But whatever happens I hope that through it all I will trust God and not let my heart be troubled. Today as I face the uncertainty of it, I pray that I will keep my focus on the one thing that really matters, Jesus. It's funny but as I have been praying for this week in Miami my prayer is that with every circumstance I will see it as God working and trying to teach me.

Father teach me today to more fully trust you and to follow hard after you today. You are good and thank you for the promise you have shown today that you are in control and will work it out. Keep my eyes fixed on you and what you want to do in my life and the students lives.

Show Me God

2009-06-19T07:35:00.004-05:00

Matthew 5:43-48 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Wow this passage is so chalked full of truth. There are so many things to which I could focus on but this morning I just want to pull from this passage different characteristics of God. That is the beauty of God's Word is that we find many truths and principles that we can apply to our lives. But the reason is that each one points to a characteristic of God. For example verse 44 shows us the compassion, mercy, grace and unconditional love of God. In verse 45 we see God's omnipotenence, righteousness, and that he is just. In verse 46 we see that He does not show favoritism. Verse 47 shows me His compassion for the lost and desire to reach them. In verse 48 we see His holiness and His desire for us to pursue that holiness. One of the amazing things about the Word is that it is alive and active and that as I read this passage these are the things that God shows me about Himself. But for someone else they could read this passage and see other characteristics. However what we need to understand is that all throughout scripture God reveals himself to us. The question is am I looking for Him as I read? Today as I meditate on God's Word may I see who God really is and what He desire for my life.

Father today help me to have the eyes to see you, the heart to pursue you and the mind to know you more.

So You Wanna Be A Disciple?

2009-06-18T07:46:00.002-05:00

Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Being a disciple of Christ seems like a pretty amazing calling and it is. However are we not all called to be disciples. Jesus Himself said if you want to be my disciple you must deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me daily. Even Matthew a tax collector(sinner), rejected by his own people, became a disciple of Christ. Really if you look at the 12 that Jesus hand picked, one was a doubter, one was a betrayer, and one was a denier. Sound familiar, feel any connection to one or all of these guys? Yet Jesus knowing full well what each would do still chose them and poured into their lives. How often do I judge someone and maybe even wright them off like the Jews did with Matthew and not give someone a chance? Oh how I wish I could see people like Jesus saw them and treat people like Jesus treated them. Today may the Lord fill me with compassion and mercy that I might see in others the potential of following Christ just as I desire to follow Him.

Father I need your eyes and heart to see others the way you see them. May I give others a chance to follow you, just as you have given me a chance over and over to follow you.

Walk By Faith

2009-06-17T07:18:00.003-05:00

Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.

When I put my faith and trust in Christ and accepted His substitution for my payment of sin, I was given a gift. That gift is righteousness or forgiveness. As a result of forgiveness I am cleansed of my sin and set free from the slavery that sin can and will bring. All of this comes through faith which is the combination of confession and belief that leads to action. Righteousness is right living and in the case of our relationship with Christ is the desire to follow after Him. "The righteous will live by faith", faith leads us to confession and belief each and every day. Even though I have been forgiven does not mean that I will not sin. As I walk with Christ and choose sin over righteousness I must be willing to confess that sin and believe that God has forgiven me and that I am no longer under its control. But faith should lead me to hunger after Christ and to resist temptation more and more each day. Today I want to know Christ more and pray that I am willing to deal with sin as Christ reveals it to me.

Father I want to live by faith and hunger after knowing you more. As you bring sin to light may I be quick to deal with it and able to walk with you more closely.

Bread

2009-06-16T07:09:00.002-05:00

John 6:32-35 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Bread for sure is one of my favorite foods. I would say that probably my all time fav is the bread at Biaggi's, absolutely amazing. I seriously cannot get enough of it when I have the opportunity to eat. Jesus here in this passage calls Himself "The Bread of Life." While I have a great liking of bread it should pale in comparison to my love of Christ and desire to take in His Word (the Bible). According to Erwin Lutzer, "There are some things that are more important than eating; indeed, it is better to starve within the will of God, then to eat and be satisfied apart from it." To often this is the problem is that I want to live life apart from the will of God. There are times that I do not seek Christ and spend time in His Word. Once I have truely tasted of "The Bread of Life" the desire in my heart should grow to have more and more. Oh how I want my hunger for God to grow and that my appetite would never be satisfied.

Father give me a spiritual appetite for you that can never be completely filled so that I have always hungering after you.

Following

2009-06-15T07:49:00.002-05:00

Ephesians 5:8-10 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord.

At the point of Salvation we seek to surrender our lives to Christ and follow Him. However we do not know what exactly that look likes. Salvation begins with recognizing that I am a sinner and that there is a penalty for my sin. That penalty is death and eternal separation from God. Salvation is the beginning of recognizing that God the father sent His son to pay my debt for Salvation through His death. I then accept that the gift that God gives through Christ and begin to follow Him. But what does that look like and this becomes the process of finding out just how to follow Christ. How do I find out? It's through reading the Bible and then as we find out what to do we do it. Obedience is key to the process of following Christ. Today as I walk with God my prayer is that obedience will mark my life.

Father give me the determination to follow after you and may I be obedient to whatever it is that you teach me today.

I Will Believe If.....

2009-06-08T08:21:00.003-05:00

Deuteronomy 29:2-5 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.

I wonder how many times that I have seen God work in my life and yet my faith waivers much like the Israelites. They saw God do amazing things like what is described in the passage above and yet they often would forget God and turn to false gods and to things that would take them away from their first love. How many times do people say, "I will believe if... God will just...." And then when that time comes they instead turn from God. Oh how often I have done the same thing. I just don't get it, God has done so many amazing things and yet I turn to things that pull me away from Him. Why? This is not my hearts desire, this is not what I want but like Paul I do what I don't want to do, but don't do what I know I need to do. Today as I see God at work I pray that I would be drawn to Him and that my eyes would be focused on Him as I strive to serve Him.

Father I need to see you today, give me eyes to see you, a heart to know you, ears to hear you and willingness to obey.

I am "Christian" Big Deal

2009-06-05T08:59:00.002-05:00

Luke 6:43-45 "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

So many people today call themselves "Christian", yet they are no more a true follower of Christ than a black cat would be a skunk just because you paint a white strip on it's back. Many people claim to know God but there is no proof of a relationship with Him through His son Jesus. I know because for many years I claimed the same thing until I realized that all I had was head knowledge and no heart experience and there simply was no proof of life. As in this passage Jesus makes it clear that those who follow Him will have evidence (fruit) in their lives that is a dead give away that they follow Him. Man I want people to see Christ in me and if I am called a Christian great, if not so be it, I just want to be known as a follower of Christ.

Father give me strength today to live for you and may others see in me in your son.

Fruit

2009-06-03T07:14:00.002-05:00

Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

These characteristics or fruit describe the very nature of Christ. They are to be evident in my life. However this does not come from me somehow trying to produce these things but rather Christ in me doing His work. I must allow Him to do the work. I must give Him control, I must daily surrender to Him and allow Him to live in me. For if I am in Christ I am a dead man already because I have been crucified with Him. He makes me alive, He brings new hope, He is the one who lives in and through me. Today Lord may your fruit be seen in my life. May others know that I follow you.

Father help me to surrender to you so that you can live through me today.

Rest

2009-06-02T07:03:00.002-05:00

Psalm 23:2-3 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Rest is not something that I do very well. Actually I down right stink at just chillin out and taking a load off. I don't know if you have ever had the chance to just walk through or lie down in a green pasture or maybe your lawn, but I remember as a kid my brothers and I would run out into the middle of a hay field and just lay down and look up. It was awesome we would see passing clouds and declare a shape for each one or we would see an airplane and wonder where it was going and how many people were on board. But it was amazing. I don't know if you have ever walked along a rivers bank or a large body of water but it is again awesome and peaceful all at the same time. There is something about rest that restores me when I would take the time. It restores me physically, it restores me mentally, it restores me emotionally and most importantly spiritually. Over the past couple of months I have been practicing rest in the morning by just chillin with my Bible and God and spending some time seeking Him. It has been some of the best time of my life spiritually as the Lord restores me each morning before heading off to face a great big ugly world. It is interesting that after all the restful things that the Lord does in this passage, the psalmist says, "he guides me in path's of righteousness." Maybe what David is telling me is that rest will lead to being able to hear guides voice as he directs me in life and that I am more likely to make right choices. Today may I find times of rest in order that Christ might guide me to live a holy and righteous life that would reflect Him to those around me.

Father today may you help me to rest. May I not make excuses for not resting. May I find myself making decisions that would honor you and exalt your name.

God is Good

2009-05-31T06:15:00.002-05:00

Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

God is good and His compassion is amazing. Why is He good? First of all because the Bible tells me so and by faith I accept what the Bible says as true. Second because He has proven it over and over. In my time of weakness He has given me strength, in times of temptation He has given me a way out (even though I have not always taken it), in good times He has rejoiced with me. God is good and I cannot ever forget that and I can never stop talking about it. When the heat is turned up and the temptations are great I must remember that God is good. Today may I be reminded of just how Good God is and that His compassion is on me.

Father you are good and thank you that you prove that all the time.

Can Others See Christ in Me?

2009-05-29T07:32:00.003-05:00

Matthew 5:5-9 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

You know as I read these characteristics that should be evident in my life, I have to ask myself, "are they"? I wonder do people see these in me or more importantly would the Lord say they are evident. The word blessed means happy, content, satisfied and each characteristic leads to being blessed. It's funny cuz the world tells me in order to be happy or blessed I have to be successful, powerful, wealthy, have more and get more. But the Bible makes it clear that being happy or blessed comes from living a life that others can see Christ in me. These attitudes are but a step in the evidence trail in my life if I am following after Christ. My prayer today is that others would see in me these being played out so that they might come to know my awesome Savior.

Father forgive me when I fail to allow your Son to be seen in my life. Today may these characteristics be seen in me so others might see you.

My Arch Enemy

2009-05-27T06:42:00.002-05:00

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

To underestimate Satan will spell out certain defeat. It's like a great basketball team that overlooks one opponent for another and then is handed a defeat because they overlooked them. However to give Satan to much credit is just has defeating if not more so. Take the same team that goes into a game and is afraid because they have heard that the other team is better or tougher and they end up because of fear not playing to the potential that they have. Satan is a real enemy and completely hates God and everything associated with God including me. He would like nothing more than to destroy my life as a lion destroys its prey. However the Bible makes it clear that Satan can only do what God allows him, that he is not all knowing, all powerful and in all places. He is limited, however his weapons are great and he is a expert at using them to get us to fail. But it is in those moments that we must hold onto verses like this one that are full of the promises of God and His truth. Truth will always defeat a lie and Satan is the author of lies. Today as I face temptation and the attacks of Satan may I be reminded the Lord is faithful and that he will protect me in the battle.

Father I need your strength today as I know Satan is waiting and ready to attack at any moment. May I in my weakness find strength in you today.

Ready for His return! Or Am I???

2009-05-26T06:30:00.002-05:00

Matthew 25:6-10 "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' 7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' 10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

This part of a passage is taken from a parable that Jesus gave about being ready for His return. The Bible makes it clear that one day Jesus will return and when He does those that are ready will go to meet with Him and live in His presence in Heaven for eternity. Unfortunately like the foolish virgins in this parable they will miss His coming and will be separated from Him. I absolutely believe that I am ready in the sense of my relationship with Christ, that I have come to the place where I have confessed my sin and my need for a Savior and have excepted Jesus Christ death as my payment for sin and have been forgiven. However I believe I am still in the process of Him becoming Lord of my life. The question is does my life reflect that I believe that He is coming back again, and to that my answer is I hope so. That is what I long for, that is what I desire, to live in such a way as to point others to Christ. If I really believe that Jesus is coming then I will do everything I can to prepare my heart and those around me.

Father today help me to live as one believing that your son is returning and maybe soon. I want to be more godly, pursue our relationship more and tell others about you. May I have the opportunities today to see these things unfolded in my life as I seek you today.

Have Patience, Have Patience

2009-05-25T08:37:00.003-05:00

James 5:7-9 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

I have to admit this passage is difficult for me because I am not a very patient person. Actually I am down right impatient and often it gets me in trouble. However it's funny I am very patient with some people while others I find myself struggling big time. I find that my impatience comes from frustration that a person does not meet my expectations or desires when I want them met. While I may not grumble about others to people I often find myself grumbling in my mind. For me impatience boils down to trusting God and seeing others through His eyes. Today may I find myself leaning on God for strength and the ability to be patient with others so that I do not judge or complain because it causes anger, frustration and ultimately leads me away from God.

Father today give me the strength to live for you to see others the way you see them and to trust you that your timing and plan is what is best for me.

Promises, Promises

2009-05-22T06:38:00.002-05:00

2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

God's promises are amazing and true. They are the very words of God that hold me together each and every day. But as James MacDonald has said, "God's promises aren't great until we need them. They're not precious until their proven.
Until we put all of our weight on them and they hold us up, we don't get it. But test them and they'll always prove true. God's promises become true when we activate them by faith. Faith is what moves God's promises from your head to your heart. It's not enough to know something, you've got to put it into real life." All week this has been my theme, "put your faith into action". If I want to experience God's promises, If I want to see them come to life I must put them into action. But I can't know what they are if I don't spend time finding out what they are from God's Word. And I can't possibly understand them until I see them in action in my life. That is why it is so vital to spend time with God, that is why it's so crucial to stop and take time to deepen my relationship with God. Because when the temptations come, when the tough times come if I have not pursued God then I will fall prey to every lie of Satan and I will not experience the promises of God. Today I long to know God more and to see His promises unfold in my life so that I might serve Him more faithfully.

Father you are great, your promises are awesome and true. May I lean on those promises today as I face whatever may come my way.

Everything I Need

2009-05-21T07:02:00.002-05:00

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Wow what amazing promises we have from God. The key to receiving these promises and holding onto them is the phrase "through our knowledge of him". This knowledge is not just a head experience where I acknowledge Him or believe that He exists, no it is a daily heart experience. The Bible makes it clear that even the demons know that there is a God and they shudder. They have a head knowledge of God but I know that they are not experiencing God's promises. I must allow my head knowledge of God to be translated into a heart experience that can only come as I pursue my relationship with Jesus Christ. My knowledge of God transforms my heart and then is lived out in my life. I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, I have been given everything I need for life and godliness not simply because of what I know, but because what I know has translated into what I believe and that impacts the way I live. Today I want to live out these promises as I rely on God to guide me, to protect me, to give me everything I need to live and everything I need to be godly as I go about my day.

Father you are great and greatly to be praised thank you for the many promises of your word and for the relationship that we share. Today may I live my life as a reflection of that relationship and may others see you in me.

Hollow Passion

2009-05-20T07:01:00.003-05:00

Romans 10:1-4 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

I am the kind of person who gets very passionate about doing things. If my heart is in it then I go all out for whatever. The problem for much of my walk with Christ is that my heart was in it but my head was not. I am a bit of a visionary and often able to see things that others cannot or are not willing to see. However often I get the cart ahead of the horse and what I thought does not become a reality because I rushed into something without the knowledge. Much like the church in this passage they had heart and passion for God but that passion was hollow not founded in the knowledge of God and what He really wanted for them. Earlier I said that this described my early years of walking with God. Recently I have been learning that I must first stop and spend time praying and seeking God as He gives me passion and vision for something. I have found that when I do this instead of jumping into something that more often than not my vision becomes a reality. However not on my time table but on God's. To be honest its ok because I now know that God is directing instead of me. Today may I follow hard after God and seek first His kingdom and righteousness so all these things may be added unto me so that I might serve Him for effectively.

Father guide me today and may I seek after you as you show me each step I am to take.

A Fight Worth Fighting

2009-05-19T07:32:00.003-05:00

1 Timothy 6:11-14 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Man at times I really feel beat up spiritually. Knocked around like I have been in a fist fight. My faith, my spiritual walk is a fight, a struggle, a conflict and at times it is overwhelming. Satan is the enemy and wants nothing more than to knock me off my feet and declare himself the victor. But He that is in me is greater than he that is in this world. In the verses before this passage Paul describes many things that will beat down a godly man and then exhorts me to run from these things and pursue the character qualities listed above. But the key is not just running after these things but focusing on the one who gives me the strength to run. Jesus knows all to well what it means to be in a spiritual fight with the enemy. Jesus knows all to well what it means to be beat spiritually and yet Jesus fought through and is and always will be the champ. Yes there will be times when we get knocked down, but that is when we must get up and the only way is through Christ strength and the only way to understand that strength is to first read, memorizing and studying about it from His Word, second we must then ask for it through prayer, and third we must live it out. Jesus did all these things and I can to through His strength.

Father thank you that my faith is not some easy street that I completely take for granted but thank you that it is a fight that I must want to win through Christ. Give me the strength to fight as you fought and to live as you lived.

Not My Will

2009-05-18T07:38:00.002-05:00

Matthew 22:41-42 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

Jesus prayed one of the most difficult if not thee most difficult prayers ever, "Not my will, but your be done." Especially in light of what was going to be coming and yet He prayed it. Was it selfish? No it was honest, it was Christ simply asking the Father to reveal a different way if there was one. I think to often I pray "Not your will but mine be done", expecting God to do whatever I ask. To often I come to Him with either 911 prayers or grocery lists seeking what I want. But Jesus with one short phrase gives us an attitude adjustment in seeing that prayer is not about what I want but about what God the Father wants and will do. Do I ever wish that God would answer my prayers the way I want, for sure, but I am thankful that at times He has not. If I truly believe that God is the beginning and the end, that He is all knowing, that He is all powerful, that He has my best in mind and will always take care of me, then do I have any right to pray selfishly. Am I not saying by my actions that those things are not true? Not my will, but yours be done needs to be a central theme of my prayer life as I seek to grow closer to God and to serve Him faithfully.

Father today may I lay down my will in order to see yours completed in me, may I lay down my will so that I might experience the blessing of following yours.

Life's Experiences

2009-05-17T06:47:00.002-05:00

Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

Some of the greatest lessons I have learned in life have come from others speaking truth into my life. I thank God daily for the people He has brought across my path that have spoken truth into my life. I thank God that they were willing to share the things that have happened to them and how they handled it or have shared what God has done in their life. I am thankful for the bits of wisdom wrought in God's Word that have come at some very strange times and yet have so impacted me that I cannot simply forget what they said and find myself now saying it. When God reveals things to us or allows something to happen that teaches us they are not meant to be hidden but shared. Experience is a great teacher and sharing one's experiences with others is an amazing living example. Today may I find myself able to share something that I have been taught in order to help draw others closer to God.

Father bring across my path today someone that I can share a life lesson with that will encourage them to grow deeper in their love for you and be drawn closer to you today.

Learning Through Suffering

2009-05-16T13:47:00.002-05:00

Hebrew 5:7-9 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

No one can begin to say that they have suffered nearly as much as Jesus Christ. If one reads through the Gospels you are confronted with the suffering of Christ. However I would imagine many could say that they have gone through times of suffering and struggle. I know that in my life it has been those times where I learned more about myself and more importantly God. The most difficult year of my life was my junior year in college. Yet I can also say that this same year was the most spiritually growing year of my life and one of the most rewarding. That year my brother died from cancer, my dad had a massive heart attack which would four years later lead to his death and then one of the most amazing things happened as well I was got married to the most amazing woman I have ever met. It was that same year that God called me into the ministry and gave me many opportunities to serve Him and thus began my adventure of serving Christ full time in ministry. Like Christ I can say that through suffering I learned obedience. However unlike Christ even though I learned obedience I often "unlearn" it as I decide to follow my own direction and make excuses for my lack of spiritual growth. Erwin Lutzer has said that when we make excuses for ourselves, we accuse ourselves. So often I find myself in this trap. I want to serve Him and live my life for Him but I must keep my eyes fixed on what I learned during those times of struggle and that is as Paul said, for to me to live is Christ to die is gain.

Father give me the strength to serve you faithfully today and to not allow excuses to keep me from drawing closer to you.

Spiritual Folgers "The Best Part of Waking Up"

2009-05-15T07:12:00.002-05:00

Psalm 5:1-3 Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. 2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

I used to think that spending time in the morning with God was not all that important. I would tell students and others as long as you spend some time with God throughout the day then that is really what is important. However all through scripture, especially with David and Jesus, we find people turning to the Lord in the morning. I have found that spending time in the morning is absolutely vital to my walk and relationship with God. I have found that when I wake and I first pursue God in my thoughts and soul that I am more likely to focus on Him throughout the day. Otherwise if I don't basically I am saying to God, "I can handle it" and then try to go throughout the day without the presence, grace, wisdom and strength of Christ. That kind of self centered pride always leads me to a miserable day, filled with defeat, struggle and a sense of failure. However as I spend time in the morning I find myself thinking about the scripture that I read, praying more throughout the day and just having a sense that God's presence is with me. This doesn't mean that I don't have bad days, but instead of facing them on my own, I now face them with a focused mind and a determined spirit to live for God and hold to the promises of His Word. What I have found is that spending some time with God in the morning leads to spending time with God all throughout the day as I seek to serve Him.

Father thank you for our time this morning, remind me throughout the day of your presence and may I hold to the truth of your Word as I am confronted by lies this world and Satan will throw at me today.

The Glory of Jesus

2009-05-14T06:54:00.002-05:00

John 12:37-41 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: "Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them." 41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and he spoke about Him. What is that glory? John like Isaiah testified, spoke of this glory of Jesus. The glory that they refer to is that of the glory of the cross through Jesus death and resurrection they experienced the glory of Jesus. What is it, it is the one thing that the people of God, failed to see and would not see, it is the one thing that we must see. The glory of Jesus is the life changing power of His death and resurrection, it is the freedom that we have from sin, it is the healing spiritually that takes place in our lives as we put our faith and trust in Him. The glory of Jesus is that we can have life and have it more abundantly. The glory of Jesus is that our lives our changed for eternity and that we have a friend who is closer than a brother. The glory of Jesus is that we have been created to do good works and to glorify His name. The glory of Jesus is that we have the responsibility to tell others about the Gospel message and to help others see this same glory. Both Isaiah and John saw that glory and it forever changed their lives, but they could not just sit on it, they spoke of it through their words and through their actions. I wonder today does my life reflect the glory of the Jesus? Do others see in me His glory and wonder? Today may I live in such a way that others see the life changing power of Jesus Christ because I have been forever changed.

Father give me the strength today to live for you and may your favor rest on me that I might live so that others might come to know your son and experience the glory of Jesus for themselves.

"I Can Do It God"

2009-05-13T06:54:00.002-05:00

Psalm 19:12-13 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

At times I find myself thinking, "I can do it God, thanks but I can take it from here." Maybe not so much telling God that verbally but through my actions or lack of action on my part to depend on Him. Willful sin is when I am confident that I can do whatever God has called me to do and that I have what it takes to do it. When I act on my own and ride on self-confidence I will fail and do everytime. It's when I am called my God to do something and I realize man there is no way I am fit to do this and I run to Him through prayer and dependence and say, "God I need you", that I find strength and the ability to do what He calls me to do. How often do I run into something without praying first, without seeking God's wisdom and without leaning on His strength. It is obvious from scripture that I cannot do one good thing that is eternal apart from God. Then this verse says I will be blameless (without fault) and free from sin.

Father I need your strength today may you guide and direct my paths today and may I be found follow hard after you. May I run from self-confidence and instead run to you today.

Christ In Me

2009-05-12T06:52:00.002-05:00

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

So often I get discouraged because of my own struggle with self worth and honestly just the fear of failure. I realize that both are self centered struggles and directly interfere with my relationship with Jesus Christ. At times they so much get in the way that I lose sight of what verse 24 says clearly. That God is able to do it. When I am struggling with these things I always come back to the fact that really I can't, but God can. That in my nature I have no self worth and am a failure but my worth lies in Christ and in my weakness there is strength. Christ in me the hope of glory can and will do whatever He calls me to do because He is faithful and able by His spirit. I must rely on Him and not on myself. Self worth must be removed and replaced with Christ worth and then I am able to find my focus and watch as my relationship with Christ grows deeper and my hunger for Him grows deeper.

Father thank you for the times when I struggle with self and am brought to the reality that I need you and must find my strength and worth in you. Today guide me and direct my paths.

Getting What I Don't Deserve

2009-05-09T08:23:00.002-05:00

2 Samuel 9:6-7,13 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!""Your servant," he replied. 7 "Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."13 And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.

Wow what an amazing picture of mercy and grace. I can't imagine what was going through Mephibosheth's mind as he is brought to the king. Especially in light of the common practice of that day when a person became king they would kill off the entire family of the previous king to ensure that no one would rise up against them. Obviously this practice was not a design or call of God but rather of men. David a man after God's own heart would have nothing to do with this tradition and instead shows amazing grace and mercy. This same grace and mercy has been shown toward us and like Mephibosheth was crippled physically we are crippled spiritually due to sin. But God instead of giving us what we deserve, sent His son in order for us to experience freedom from sin and heal us spiritually. Through God's grace and mercy we have life and can have life eternal as we except Jesus sacrifice for our sin. Praise God for His mercy and grace which is new each morning and is sufficient for us to each day as we stumble.

Father thank you for the gift of your son and the incredible grace and mercy you have shown and continue to show toward me each day. May I live never forgetting this and may my life reflect the impact you have made on my life.

Wandering

2009-05-08T07:12:00.002-05:00

Psalm 107:4-9
Some wandered in desert wastelands,finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty,and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Being in the desert is no fun at all. The feeling like God is not there and that you are hopelessly walking through this life with no end in sight. But it is interesting that being in the desert makes one hungry and thirsty and then able to come to the end of oneself and see the need to turn to the Lord. It's at that point that you realize that God never moved but that you did. I can walk 10,000 steps away from God and it only takes one to get back to Him. It's at that point after returning that God fills the hunger and satisfies the thirst. Sin like a desert will cause us to lose sight of God and keep us wandering around thinking that God does not care or that somehow He has forsaken us, but the truth is that He has not moved nor forsaken us. Coming to the end of myself is one of the best things that can happen because it is then that I realize that I cannot go on without God filling me up.

Father come and fill me up today so that I might live for you and so that I will not give sin a foothold in my life.

Persecuted

2009-05-07T06:54:00.002-05:00

John 15:18-20 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.'If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

"I have never been persecuted for my faith." That is a statement that I am both ashamed of and thankful for all at the same time. Ashamed because throughout the new testament it seems obvious that it is a privilege to be persecuted for the name of Jesus. However I am thankful for not enduring the many things I have read and heard about as far as Christians in other countries and the horrors that they face because of their relationship with Christ. What seems odd to me though is that in those countries Christianity is flourishing and many are coming to Christ daily. I don't pretend to think that one day things are going to change in this country and really I can see the writing on the wall that they are changing. But all of this leads me to wonder does my life reflect Christ so much that others could not mistake that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I wonder if I was arrested for my faith would there be enough evidence to keep me in jail. Jesus said it plainly in the passage above if you are of the world the world will love you. I do not want to be loved by the world, I want to honor my, Savior Jesus Christ, even if that means persecution.

Father my prayer is that my life would so reflect your sons that people would know that I am a friend of you. Help me to live in such a way that others see Christ in me.

Hard Times

2009-05-06T07:03:00.002-05:00

Romans 8:26-28 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
More Than Conquerors 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I have found that hard times come and go, but God never leaves and never forsakes. I don't deserve His grace but He freely gives it to me. I have found that in the tough times His grace is sufficient and that through the trial God is bending and shaping me into who He wants me to be. I don't ever wish for tough times to come but I know that in them God is working toward His good. Its in those times I must keep my focus on the Lord and not on myself for if I do I lose site of His goodness and begin to dwell on the problem. Tough times will come and go but one thing I can always trust in is the promises of God's Word and the faithfulness of my heavenly Father.

Father today may I continue to keep my focus on you. Draw nearer to me as I draw nearer to you. Give me spiritual eyes to see all that you are doing and may I give you praise in everything.

I Just Want to Be Accepted

2009-05-05T06:47:00.004-05:00

Romans 15:5-7
5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Everyone wants to be accepted, everyone needs to be loved. We are hardwired to want to belong to something greater than ourselves. The problem is that all to often getting it means compromising what you believe and instead of bringing God glory we in fact grieve Him. I see this often in working with students because popularity, fitting in and going with the flow are conditions for being accepted and "loved". The pressure is immense and often leads students to do things that may never have dreamed of doing all in the name of being accepted. But sometimes we lie, make up stories and make ourselves look better than we are in order to be liked, because if they found out who I really was then they would not like me. We end up believing a lie that says we have to be a certain way, do certain things in order to be accepted. When the truth is we are accepted by our creator and God has not nor ever will make a mistake. God did not mess up when He created me. He loves us no matter what, but His call on our lives is to love others and to accept others just as He has and does. That's tough because it's easier for me not to do that, but this is where I must rely fully on Him to give me the strength to follow after Him.

Father thank you that you have accepted me and love me and that I am part of something much bigger than myself, your body. Help me to love other and accept others in order to bring you glory.

You Can't Outgive God

2009-05-03T13:30:00.002-05:00

Malachi 3:8-10
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Giving I admit has always been a sore spot for me. Not because I do not believe in it, but simply because I often think giving becomes something very legalistic. I watched as my parents gave to the Lord and I watched them faithfully give all of my life at home and I absolutely believe in the power of giving and the command to give back to the Lord what is already His. I have never been satisfied in my heart though that giving means only 10%. I realize that this is a good place to start in getting into the habit of worship to our great God. However I also think it is a trap that many fall into thinking that this is all they are required to give. That thinking is absolutely un-biblical and I believe dishonors God. Giving as taught in the new testament is to be out of a cheerful heart and a matter of conviction on the part of God. Another words if God tells you to give more you should be willing to give all that He asks. Example the widow who gave everything she had in worship to God. Even though her amount was much less than the others it was her action that was recognized as true worship. I think today many have fallen prey to the 10% trap and are unwilling to give as the Lord leads them to give. Worship requires my all even in the area of money because the reality is that it is not mine but the Lord's as taught in this passage and by giving I am laying down my life in worship to Him.

Father help me to be faithful in giving as you lead me to give and may I not hold back from you as you have promised to not hold back your blessing if I am faithful to follow after you.

Ahhhhh Forgiveness!!!!

2009-05-02T06:11:00.002-05:00

Psalm 32:1-2
1 Blessed is he whose sins are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Happy, complete, full am I when my sins are forgiven. The beautiful things about sin is that it has already been forgiven, at the cross. When Jesus died He became sin for us and forgave me of my sin. But it wasn't till I accepted His substitution and the gift of forgiveness that I became blessed and set free. That is true for every one we must come to Jesus and confess our need of Him as our sacrifice realizing it was I who should have died on the cross but because of His great love He died in my place. Now I simply have to except that gift and live in Him. Yes there will be times that I fall short and need to confess (agree) with God that what I did was wrong but again I have been forgiven. Crawford Loritts says, "We all long for forgiveness -to experience God's cleansing, His embrace- to know that we are with Him and He accepts us. The truth is, God always loves us, but when we sin we break fellowship with Him. Thankfully, God doesn't hold grudges. When we repent we experience His forgiveness." Today I must rejoice that I have been forgiven and if necessary I need to extend forgiveness in order to allow that AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of forgiveness to be felt in my soul.

Father thank you for giving your son, thank you Jesus that you willingly laid down your life for me, I will never be able to fully understand it but I believe and know that you love me and have forgiven me. Help me to walk a blessed man because of your sweet forgiveness.

Liar, Liar

2009-05-01T06:49:00.002-05:00

Matthew 4:7-10
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

Satan the Bible says is like a roaring lion seeking to devour me. He does not just want a little nibble or a part of me, he wants everything. He is also called the deceiver and "angel of light". Everything he says or does is a lie. Now I can choose to act like he does not exist and probably get caught all up in his schemes or I can choose to understand that there is a way to defeat him and the temptations he throws my way. Jesus by His example used scripture because that is one thing Satan can't mess with and has no power over. Often Satan will tempt me with a lie about myself, my situation, whatever and I either will choose to believe the lie and thus get caught in a mess or choose to believe the truth of the Bible. However if I do not know the truth of the Bible then how can I use it as a weapon against Satan? Studying the Bible and memorizing scripture is huge for me to be able to hold onto the truth when faced with a lie. Like Christ I can quote His Word and fill my mind with truth and not be tripped up by a lie. That is if I memorize it. I would safely say that scripture memory and prayer are two of the most potent weapons I have against Satan and yet are the most under used. That I pray is changing.

Father I want to fill my mind with truth so that as Satan comes at me with lies I will first recognize the lie and replace it with truth. Give me a hunger for your Word and the grace to memorize it in order to battle our great enemy.

God Where Are You?

2009-04-30T06:46:00.002-05:00

Psalm 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Ever felt like God where are you? Why don't I feel your presence? Why don't I feel like your listening? Why? Why? Why? I know for the last several month's I was heading down a road that was leading to despair. A place where I could not see anything good in my life. It wasn't that there wasn't anything good, it was that I was unable to see it. I had turned away from my first love and was no longer feeling the connectedness I needed to feel to my Father God. Why? Was it that He moved or was it that I moved? God does not move, I do and that is exactly what I realized as I came to the end of myself once again and realized this is ridiculous, I am believing and living a lie instead of holding onto the truth and living out the truth of God's Word in my life. I have to return to believing that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Again it isn't that it wasn't there, it was and always has been I just had something blocking my view, sin. Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay. So recently God kicked my butt and I finally confessed (agreed with God) the issues that were going on and I also confessed them to my wife and man it was as if the blinders came off and now I can see again. God is restoring my passion for Him and serving Him and giving me the ability to see once again His goodness. Oh may I never return to that dark road of despair.

Father thank you for your love that is everlasting and your faithfulness toward me. Thank you for removing the blinders and giving me eyes to see the goodness of you in the land of the living. Ever keep my eyes fixed on you and may I run from those things that would zap my sight.

Trust and Obey

2009-04-29T08:44:00.002-05:00

1 Samuel 17:45,48-49
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. David's example of both trusting in God and being obedient to God's call could not be any clearer than in this passage. David was up against a giant and in what seemed as an impossible task, David obeyed God and trusted God to take care of the rest. This must be true of my life as well. Charles Price said, "Whatever God has given you to do and will give you yet to do, He is totally adequate for. This will be made real in your Valley of Elah, with a giant against whom you have no reasonable hope of victory were you to meet him on your own. But with the promise of God behind you, and the life of God within you, step out and enjoy a display of the glory and goodness of God." The question is do I really trust Him, do I really believe that God can and will do what He says He will do? Do I even trust Him that if I obey and I seemingly fail that He knows best and is in control?

Father give me the faith of David to trust you and to obey no matter what giant I may face.

When God Speaks

2009-04-28T06:57:00.002-05:00

Psalm 29:3-5
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

"God's voice is unmistakable. When He speaks He speaks with clarity. God's voice is powerful because it is backed by His character. He's not making bogus claims. He's not saying stuff that He can't back up. He's not just bragging, boasting or speculating. No He's the God of the universe and He speaks with moral, holy integrity and demands to be listened to and not to be ignored." Crawford Loritts

David wrote the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic. Today that voice rings out through His Word, the Bible. If we want to experience real power through God's voice we must spend time in His Word. For it is there that I hear the voice of God and can through His spirit experience the power of that voice in my life. What blows me away is that God chooses to use me in order proclaim that message and in a way transfer His power to others.

Father give me a hunger for your Word and may I be able to hear your voice through it and experience your power. May your voice speaks volumes into my life and may it be heard by others as they see my actions.

God Is In Control

2009-04-27T07:11:00.002-05:00

Romans 8:28-29
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Do I really believe this? Do I really trust God that He will work all things to the good? My heart cries out "yes" but often my life says the opposite. If God is in control than nothing that happens in my life takes Him by surprise. Not one thing catches Him off guard, nothing sneaks up on Him and freaks Him out. I am certain that God allows things to happen in our lives in order that He might work it out for our good. Now it may not seem so good to us, but I am certain that once you look at whatever it is, you will see the good if you are looking from God's point of view and not my own fleshly point of view. God is in control and either I can choose to except that or I can choose to ignore it but it does not change that He is still in control.

Father help me to trust you and look at things through your vantage point rather than my own and help me to see the good that you are working out in my life.

First Things First

2009-04-24T07:18:00.002-05:00

Colossians 3:1-3
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

It's so easy to read this verse and say ok no problem. However living it out is quite another. Having an eternal focus is crucial to living for Christ on a daily basis. The choices I make are they eternal in scope or just the necessary to get by for that moment. Living the life of a follower of Christ is all about choosing and looking to our eternal home and not satisfying the moment. Today may I fix my eyes on Christ and my heart on things above so that I might live for Him.

Father give me the strength to live for you and the desire to set my heart on things that would honor you.

God's Good

2009-04-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

Romans 8:26-28
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

"In all tings God works for the good." To often and I know I have been guilty of this, we use this verse as a crutch to tell others don't worry God will work all things out to the good. The problem is that telling someone that and then something that to us is "bad" happens and all of a sudden you find yourself questioning and doubting God. For example, my brother for over nine years battled cancer and then on Christmas Eve passed away from complications due to the cancer. Most people would look at this situation and others and say man that is horrible where was God. The problem is that God's "good" and our "good" are not the same. We think good is a feeling or if the right thing happens in a circumstance or makes us feel good or you will in the blank. But God's good could and often is completely different. I absolutely believe this verse but I must trust God that He knows what is best for my life and that the good He works out is for my best. You see in the case of my brother I believe He did work all things to the good because through it God called me into the ministry, several people gave their hearts to Christ at his funeral and the instant he died, he awoke in the presence of God completely healed from the cancer. I also know that one day I will see Him again and he is in a far better place than I am currently.

Father help me to trust you in every circumstance of life that you know what is best for my life and that you are working out the details to see that best made reality in my life.

Live Out The Truth

2009-04-22T06:45:00.002-05:00

Titus 3:9-11
9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. 11You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

I remember in college many guys that would sit around in the evenings and "debate" theological topics. It always cracked me up because they were not really debating at all they were each just simply talking and trying to outwit the others with their self-generated intellect. The sad part about these guys was that they would spend more time in this pointless exercise than they ever did in ministry or putting into practice the very topics they were "debating". I know that there is nothing wrong with discussing things and working through theological topics but when all those very truths of God's Word are not practiced then we have become nothing more than a pharisee. My prayer in my life is that I would be ready to give an answer but that my answer would not simply come from my lips but more importantly from my lifestyle.

Father give me the strength to live out the Word of God and not simply be able to argue my point.

Every Step I Take I Take In You

2009-04-21T06:57:00.002-05:00

Acts 17:24-28
24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

God is in control. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the creator of life. He is all powerful, holy, just, righteous, everywhere all the time, He is God. Yet as it says in verse 27 he is not far from each one of us. Man that is awesome and comforting and convicting all at the same time. To know that God is not far from us that He is with us and longs for us to draw closer to Him is an amazing promise. God will take care of us and the Bible says He will meet all of our needs. Not only is He not far but verse 28 says that in Him we live and move and have our being. God gives us each breath we take and each step me make. Without Him life would cease to exist and become meaningless. God is so amazing and yet so I often I question Him or doubt Him or just plain take Him for granted. Why? Why when I see that He is in control, why when I believe that He meets all of my needs, why when I know that He can see the beginning from the end? I must like Proverbs 3:5-6 says trust in Him with all my heart and I must not lean on my own understanding and in all my ways acknowledge Him and then allow Him to direct my every path of life.

Father today help me to trust you and to allow you to show me the steps you want me to take. Help me be quick to praise you and give you thanks for everything.

Do I have to?

2009-04-17T06:53:00.002-05:00

Galatians 2:6
6As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message.

These men that this verse refers to were those who were focusing on being religious instead of being in a relationship with Jesus. They were acting out of obligation and not out of love for the Savior. How easy it is to get stuck in a rut and lose site of what is really important. It's so easy to do things to make myself look good but have no heart in it or passion for it which ultimately leads to failure. Why? because if my heart is not in xy or z then it will not be long and I will stop doing it because it has made little difference in my life. Being religious may be all well and good for a time but it will not last, only what is done for eternity will last and that is to pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ. A relationship implies love, meaning, passion, intimacy and work. I do not want it to be said of me that I had little or no impact on another persons life, but the only way that I will have an impact on others is by drawing closer to Christ and falling more in love with Him everyday.

Father help me to pursue you out of love and not obligation. May my life be marked by our relationship and not religious duty. May I impact others because of your son working through me as a result of our relationship.

Turn the World Upside Down

2009-04-16T06:58:00.003-05:00

Acts 17:5-7 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

Wow what an awesome thing to have said about you, "these men have turned the world upside down." Through their fearless proclamation of the Gospel, their expectant prayers, and their full-hearted willingness to obey they lived out radical Christianity and turned the world upside down. This is what I want to be said of me. This is what I want to be said of my family. This is what I want to be said of my church and youth ministry. Could it happen? Is it possible that God could use us to turn the world upside down again? I believe that yes He can and it starts with me living out my faith in a radical and yet normal way that others see Christ in me and as I live it out my kids, my wife, my peers, my students will see it and I pray God would put in them something that says I want to live like that, I want to live for Christ.

Father give me the passion and hunger to live out a radical devotion to you and use me to turn this world upside down.

The Gospel

2009-04-15T07:13:00.002-05:00

The other day I heard on the radio something that I have been meditating on since. "The Gospel is not the A,B,C's of the our faith it is the A to Z of our faith." Many times our church has been accused of being shallow when it comes to preaching and that we should preach the deep things of God. Sadly I believe these people have believed the myth that The Gospel is just the elementary things of God when in fact The Gospel permeates everything we need to know and should know. Think about it Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again for my sin. Without this everything would be a farce, with Christ everything the Bible teaches would lose it's meaning and significance. Without Christ our faith is meaningless and hopeless because everything we believe stems from Him. The reason I follow the Word of God is because of Christ, the reason I live out my faith is because of Christ, the reason I do anything of eternal value is because of Christ. Without Christ I would be just existing, but with Him I am living life to the fullest.

Father help me never to take for granted the good news of Jesus Christ and what He has done for me. May I never fall prey to the empty belief that The Gospel is good for me at the point of salvation but rather help me to find the significance of it in every area of my life.

Make My Better Great!!

2009-04-10T07:22:00.004-05:00

Matthew 10:38-42 38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

It's so easy to get wrapped up in doing good things only to miss the best thing. Martha in verse 40 was distracted by all the preparations. How often do I allow ministry and those proverbial tings that come up to distract me from experiencing the best thing? It is so easy to be great at doing things for God instead of being a man of God. Mary got it and in verse 42 Jesus tells Martha that Mary had chosen the better course of action. What was that action? Verse 39 tells us Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what He had to say. Mary was experiencing the presence of God and listening to His voice. So often I try to do ministry without experiencing the presence of God or listening to His voice. This morning I am reminded that I need to stop, sit and listen and allow God to speak to me so that I might experience His presence. You see it's not that what Martha was doing was bad, simply seeing Jesus response tells us that because Mary chose the better indicating that what Mary was doing was good but not best. I want to choose what is best so that my better might become great. Without God or His presence guiding my better it will never become great. Only God can take my better and make it great.

Father help me today to sit at your feet to hear your voice and to experience your presence as I strive to serve you faithfully today. I know that I cannot possibly serve you apart from you. Fill my life so that as I serve you, you impact the world around me.

Meeting My Needs

2009-03-16T07:18:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 ⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

There is so much in this passage to really be able to give it all equal time but one verse really stand out to me in this time in which we live. "⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." Wow what an amazing verse for the times that we find ourselves and country struggling through. But the question is do we really believe it or not? I believe the way we show that we believe it is by practicing the verses preceding it by giving back to God. Call it tithing call it whatever you like but giving back to God is absolutely a practice taught in scripture. What is amazing is here Paul is speaking of money, but giving back to God involves every aspect of our lives, from time to relationships. Notice what happens when we give back to God, He meets all of our needs, not wants, but needs. Big difference and one that often I think we overlook and then blame God because He has not met our wants. Today as I go through this day may I find myself believing that God can and will meet all of my needs at all times.

Father may I trust you as you see the bigger picture and know what is best for me. May I not lean on my own understanding but in everyway acknowledge you and live for you as I go through this day.

Jars of Clay

2009-03-13T07:50:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Just one question what is inside your jar of clay (your life)?

Father may what is inside of me be revealed, oh how I want you to be that treasure, but oh how I know so often I replace the treasure of you with fool's gold. Help me today to live for you and allow the treasure of you to be revealed.

Shine Make Them Wonder What You Got

2009-03-11T06:55:00.002-05:00

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Newsboys have a song entitled "Shine" in it they challenge us the listener to "shine make them wonder what you got make them wish that they were not on the outside looking on." Obviously Satan has blinded people to the truth of the Gospel and it is God that make His light shine into our hearts illuminating the darkness and giving us the knowledge of Him. We must live our lives in such a way as verse 4 exhorts us to be servants for Jesus. However I must remember that without God it is impossible to shine, it is impossible for men to see the light. God is the only one who can save, I am just a vessel, a demonstration of what His light can do in a heart that was once filled with darkness. Today may the light of Christ shine through my life as I serve Him.

Father give me the strength to shine out your light as I serve you. Help me to be obedient to whatever task you call me to do today as a servant of your son. As I serve may I serve not to preach myself but your son.

Attitude Check

2009-03-10T07:37:00.002-05:00

Philippians 2:5-10 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Wow what a statement to try to live up to in my life. So easy to say but so hard to do. So what was Christ attitude, a servant's heart. A willingness to be obedient to anything His father told Him including dying for sinful man. But it did not stop with just willingness but resulted in action. To have an attitude like that would mean to be completely taking the focus off myself and placing it on God. In myself there is no good thing, nothing righteous of my own making. It is only Christ in me the hope of glory that gives me anything of eternal value and allows me to be used to do eternal things. Today I wonder is my attitude reflecting Christ?

Father give me the determination to say yes to whatever you direct me to do and give me the strength to do it, so that I might reflect Christ.

2009-03-09T22:04:00.002-05:00

Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you, must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

James and John's mother comes to Jesus and asks her to let her sons be the one's who would sit next to Jesus on his throne in Heaven. To her she was asking for them to be in a place of great significance. This made the other disciples upset and Jesus then pulled the disciples together to teach them the principle of being a servant. Greatness in God's eyes does not come from power or authority but rather the willingness to put others before yourself. As a father and husband this principle is huge. Maybe just as in our fathers eyes greatness comes from service, maybe in our kids and our spouse greatness would be seen in our service. May we learn to put their needs before our own and may they see in our life a lifestyle of service that would translate into seeing God through our actions.

Father give us the heart of a servant and may we learn from the example of your son to serve others just as you came to serve and not be served.

The New You

2009-03-06T06:49:00.002-06:00

Colossians 3:5-10 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

The key to putting the things mentioned in verse 5-9 is verse 10. "Put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator." Pjillippians 4:8-9 gives us some insight to this new self, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Now obviously the new self begins with a relationship with Christ and is developed over time as we walk with Him. However in these verses we find the exact opposite of the Colossians passage and one that I believe is crucial to putting on the new self. This putting on carries with it the idea of getting dressed and getting ready to face the day. We would not face it naked, no we must cloth ourselves and we will. Either we will choose to cloth ourselves in righteousness which comes from Christ or self-righteousness which comes from ourselves. The choice is our today may we choose to put on the new self.

Father give me the strength today to put on the new self which you began in my life some time ago. May I live in such a way that others see in my you and may my life and actions reflect that of putting on the new self.

Chewing Your Cud

2009-03-05T06:56:00.003-06:00

Psalm 1:1-6 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This man's delight is the Word of God and he meditates on it everyday throughout the day. The word meditates carries with it the idea of a cow chewing its cud. A cow does not have a very good digestive system and it has to continually cough up its food and re-chew it as it breaks down the food in order for it to be digested. That is why you always see cows jaws moving because they are chewing and re-chewing their food in order for it to pass through their system. This is what mediating on God's Word is all about, throughout the day continually chewing on it utill we are able to digest and live out what it says. As we do we become like a tree planeted near streams of water strong, vibrant and fruit bearing.

Father today help me to meditate on your Word and allow it to impact my life as I live out all that you are teaching me.

Wait for the Lord

2009-03-04T06:43:00.003-06:00

Proverbs 1:10-19 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Cutting corners, taking short cuts, not reporting things that should be reported and more seems to be a trend these days in our society and sadly our economy is taking the full force of many peoples ill-gotten gain. Notice the verse says the their very lives will be taken away. Is this not what we are seeing happening today. Sadly the innocent are effected right alone with the guilty. That is the curse of sin because really none of us are innocent. We are all born with a sin problem. However maybe all is not lost maybe through this people will turn to God and put their faith and trust in one who is really in control and sees the end from the beginning. Psalm 27:13-14 says "I will see the Lord in the land of the living, wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, wait for the Lord." May I today wait for the Lord and rely on His strength and may I look to Him to guide me.

Father guide my heart today and may I be found faithful in serving you and proclaiming you throughout this day.

Understanding Spiritual Things

2009-03-03T06:58:00.002-06:00

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"But we have the mind of Christ.

As I read this passage I am reminded why so many that so greatly stand against the Word of God do so. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." The creation story, abortion, homosexuality, men and women's roles in marriage, the Ten Commandments just to name a few all are rejected by men because they do not have the spirit of God to discern the teachings of the Bible. Yet I find myself sometimes treating or thinking about such people that they must be fools when in fact it's not that they are fools but they lack one thing, God. I assume they just accept the Bible as true and that is simply not true. Sadly we are living in a time that is increasingly rejecting the Bible as a truth source. We must pray that God will open men's eyes and hearts to see their need for Him spiritually.

Father as I go throughout my day may I be mindful that you are at work in people's hearts and that you call all men to yourself. Help me not get caught up in judging men for rejecting your truth and instead determined to live out how your Word has impacted my life. Use me today to be a light for you in this dark world.

More Than Conquerors

2009-03-02T06:51:00.002-06:00

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Often we here some to say that "God wants to bless us and give us His best", of which I totally agree. However often what they are speaking about is wealth, health and luxuary. I am not really sure where anybody gets that idea from but all I can say is that it is a complete misinterpretation of scripture. Yes God does want to bless us and allow us to live life and life it to the fullest, but sometimes those blessings come in the midst of a storm. Hardship and trial is something that every believer will face, non of us are somehow exempt. Actually the Bible makes it clear if you live for Jesus you will endure many hardships. But it is those hardships that make us stronger and challenge us to move forward. Do we feel like giving up? For sure but then we are reminded as in the verses above that nothing can seperate us from God's love. In the midst of the trial is God holding out His hand of mercy to guide us through. Just as David said God goes with us through the valley of the shadow of death. I am thankful for the storms of my life because I would not be where I am today if it had not been for them.

Father today as I face a new day with many challenges help me to gain my strength from you and not try to tackle it alone. May I sense throughout the day your presence as you guide me through this life.

Walk the Line

2009-02-27T06:44:00.002-06:00

Colossians 2:6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, walk in Him.

Walk in Him, what an amazing phrase yet one that I so often take for granted as I walk through this life. I take it for granted because so often I find myself trying to live life on my own. Trying to do righteous things without Christ strength or guidance and I often find myself floundering and not really accomplishing much. It is when I know that I am being directed and that walking is in His strength that I find rest and success. I think Hebrews 12:1-1 really sums it up for me that I must throw off the sin that so easily gets me tangled up and slows down my walk and fix my eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of my faith. I must as 1 Corinthians 9 says run in such a way as to get the prize. Today as get up and walk this road called life may I find myself doing so in Christ strength and with Him as my guide.

Father take my hand today and lead me along life's road so that I might go where you want me to go and do what you want me to do.

Leaping Like A Calf

2009-02-25T06:55:00.002-06:00

Malachi 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

If you have ever watched a calf leap around like a crazy animal than you can appreciate this verse. Really any animal that gets let out of it's cage or stall begins to do a little jigg upon release. There is something about freedom that gives way to joy and expression of that joy. Spiritual freedom should give us even more reason to celebrate, even more reason to be filled with joy. I know that the day I surrendered my life to Christ and sought forgiveness for my sin by accepting Christ sacrifice I was set free from my cage of sin. The freedom that has followed has been amazing. The joy that has followed is unmatched. Has it been easy? No there have been some very serious difficult times that have followed but the son of righteousness has always brought me through and given me even more reason to have joy. Today as I face whatever comes my way may I continue to fear the Lord and watch as He works out the details.

Father may I trust you in every situation. Thank you for setting me free through the sacrifice of Christ and allows me to experience a joy that cannot be matched apart from you.

Temporary or Eternal?

2009-02-24T06:47:00.004-06:00

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Wow what a great verse as we are facing uncertain times today. Is it possible that God may have allowed this troubling time in order to bring us as believers back to a right relationship with Him and that through that others might see Christ at work in our lives again and desire to know Him more? Troubles will come and go, trials that may seem like an eternity are really only temporary, but the key is not what trouble may come but what result comes from being through one. During these difficult days we must as the verse says fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Those unseen things are what is eternal and obviously just as Hebrews 12 encourages us to do we must fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith. Do we really believe that God is in control? Do we really believe that God sees the bigger picture? Do we really believe that God has our best in mind? Our answers will be pivotal in determining our focus. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in God with all our heart and not to lean on our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledge God and He will direct our paths. Have we been leaning on our own understanding or trusting God? We cannot have it both ways. One is temporary the other eternal. Today may we choose to follow what is eternal.

Father give me eyes that see the eternal, give me a heart that desires to know you and willingness to trust you no matter the circumstances I find myself in today.

I Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed On....

2009-02-22T06:51:00.002-06:00

Psalm 5:3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice, in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

I have never been one that would dogmatically say that devotions should be done in the morning. However looking throughout scripture especially in Psalm and in Jesus life there is a definite pattern of seeking God in the morning. I personally dislike mornings, I guess you would say I am not a morning person. I used to use the excuse that I don't spend time with God in the morning because I can't think straight. But the real reason is cuz I want to sleep longer and be lazy. For me spending time with God in the morning is about sacrifice. It is hard for me to get up but I have never regreted getting up and spending time with God first thing in the morning. It is amazing to me how God throughout the day brings back to mind the things to which I read or heard in the morning. Honestly I feel better throughout the day at least mentally and spiritually when I do seek God in the morning. Whether I spend time with Him in the morning or not, I must spend time with Him, our relationship depends on it and that relationship must be first and foremost in my life.

Father as we meet together this morning thank you for the reminder of how important it is that we meet. As we meet help me to grow in my love for you and desire to serve you. Throughout today may I meditate on you and what you have shown me this morning.

Out of This World

2009-02-21T11:30:00.002-06:00

Proverbs 4:23-27 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Wow as I read this passage I am blown away at how difficult it is to live up to this exhortation. The world's influence is so unbelievable you can't go anywhere without being seemingly hit from every side. That is why practicing the actions of this verse are so important. However apart from God it is impossible to even be able to live up to this. But the Bible makes it clear that with Christ all things are possible and through His strength we can do all things. This is why pursuing God through a relationship is so vital to my life. Erwin Lutzer said, "Only when we are intoxicated with God will be inoculated against the world."

Father give me the desire to know you more and the determination to pursue you and the discipline to daily develop my relationship with you so that the world becomes less and less appealing and the influence of it becomes less and less.

Love and Marriage

2009-02-20T06:58:00.002-06:00

I Corinthians 7:1-7 Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Wow I think I just found one of my new favorite passages of scripture, just kidding. In our sex crazed society and world I am glad that Paul reminds us just as he did the sex crazed society of Corinth that sex is for marriage and marriage only. Sex is a gift from God that should be cherised and protected. Unfortunately in our culture like in Corinth sex was more of a commodity than a gift. Verse 3 challenges me to fulfill my marital duty to my wife. But what is that duty? First I believe that it means I need to be very aware of her needs and what I can do to meet those by asking her regularly how I am doing and then put action to my inquiry. Second for me it's not just having sex but learning to make love without ever getting to the bedroom, by dating my wife and helping her see that she is beautiful and noticed. Third by being what I need to be spiritually so that I can love her as Christ loved the church. Fulfilling my marital duty to my wife is a privelege and great responsibility, one that brings honor to her and honor to God.

Father help me to fulfill my marital duty to my wife not because its just something I should do but because I long to obey you and grow in my love for you. As I fall more in love with you help me to fall more in love with my wife.

Get Your Cloths On

2009-02-19T07:07:00.003-06:00

Galatians 3:26-29 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Each morning I get up and get ready to go about my day, one of the key essentials to that process is getting my cloths and then putting them on, because the alternative is not an option for so many reasons. As a believer it is absolutely important that I cloth myself with Christ each day. That I put on Christ through spending time in the Word, prayer and other practices that the Bible makes clear should be put on as well. However where the rubber meets the road is whether or not I allow these practices to impact the way I live my life. The Bible exhorts us to not only be listeners to the Word but we must put it into action. Here in lies the problem. So often I allow "time constraints" or some other excuse to keep me from getting clothed spiritually each morning. As a result I face my day naked, exposed. As I face the challenges of that day my mind is not thinking about what the Word says and how to live it, but rather what I think and how I am going to live and without fail, I fail.

Father give me the determination and discipline each day to cloth myself with you. Help me each day to cloth myself with you so that I might face the challenges of each day depending on you and your strength and not my own.

Love is In the Air

2009-02-18T07:38:00.002-06:00

Ephesians 5:25-33

I love and dislike this passage simply because as I find it to be absolutely true I struggle in living up to it's instruction. I love this passage because very simply Paul instructs us to love our wives unconditionally. No where in the passage does it give room for feelings or circumstances another words it does not say love if you are loved, love if you feel like it or if your wife does something in return. However I find it interesting that most men focus on the last part of the last verse, "Wives respect your husbands." It's as if we put this as the qualifier for love, well if she would respect me then I will love her. What a terrible way to look at this passage. My wife should respect me because that is what the Bible instructs her to do but it does not say that I should love her because she respects me. I guarantee that if I love my wife as is described in this passage then respect will come so much easier for my wife as well as many other benefits. The problem is I am selfish and want it my way and my theme song becomes Frank Sinatra's hit "I Did It My Way." I want something in return for my hard work and instead of looking to God for that return I look to things around me, like sex for example. We should love whether we get anything in return from this life or not because that is how Jesus loved the church. My motivation for loving my wife should not be her, or the return but rather just simple obedience to Christ.

Father teach me to love my wife as you loved the church. May I learn each day to love her without expecting something in return. May my love for you grow and may that love cause me to love my wife more each day.

Finding Significance in Creation

2008-06-12T09:40:00.001-05:00

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." As you follow the account of the creation story we know that God created everything in six days. Each day the Bible records that He spoke and whatever He spoke came to be, animals, plants, solar system, etc.... But as I was studying the creation account I could not help but notice the difference between how God created humanity and how he created everything else. Everything came as a result of God speaking and it came to be with the exception of man (Genesis 2:7) and animals (Genesis 2:19) But the creation of man and woman was different. Genesis 2:7 says that God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him life and man became a living soul. Also when He created woman we caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and performed surgery on him by taking a rib and then formed woman (Genesis 2:22). The word formed or made means to squeeze into shape. It carries with it the idea of a potter carefully squeezing and molding a lump of clay to make a masterpiece. I think its safe to assume that God got His hands dirty and created humanity. But before you go off and say something like well He also formed the animals so how r we different? The answer lies in the last part of verse 7, "He breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living soul." God not only formed us but gives us the breath of life that only human beings have, sorry all dogs don't go to heaven. But as you think about this I find great value in knowing God created us with His own hands and to me that means God looks on us with great love and value. Before you go all skeptic on me and say well this applies great to Adam and Eve but not me maybe you should read Psalm 139. You are loved and loved so much that God created you to be with Him, to have a relationship with Him.

Long Time No Write

2008-06-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

Hey hope you all have a had a great week. I have not been able to write because we just got back from spending a week in Georgia with our middle school students (you guys rock, ILOVEU). We served a ministry called "Hope for the Inner City" check out their myspace in "my friends". Hope is a ministry to inner city youth, children and adults. They are driven by their passion to reach the physical needs of people who are desperately in need of spiritual healing and through these avenues share Christ in many ways. One of things that stood out to be was right of the bat was how off my rural upbringing causes me to fear the inner city and completely misjudge them. What I found was that they are much like me, needy, longing for acceptance, desiring to know God. They were loving, compassionate, considerate. I was throughly impressed with the kids and youth as they would open doors for each other, say things like "Yes Mam or Sir", full of life and passion. I want to encourage you to pray for the inner city of Chattanooga and pray for Hope as they bring the good news of Christ to that area and abroad. Love in Christ, PJ