Monday's Strength

Find Your Refuge

Have a blessed an fruitful day. Whatever is in store for you remember that God is with you. May the Lord guard you and rescue in the battle. May he keep you from as you seek his kilometers an his glory.

Good choice, my son.

I thank the Lord for my youngest son, who chose this verse at camp last week as his life verse.

May Your Love Abound

How better to pray? for yourself, for you spouse, for you children, for your friends...

Lord, open our eyes to see your love in our lives. May our insight into the depth of your loves for us grow and grow. Grant us abounding knowledge of your work in our lives. Thank you and praise you for providing for us today. 

All Day, Every Day

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 

2 Thessalonians 1:3

I'm not much of a farmer and I don't have a green thumb, but, I do know that if I put a seeds for tomatoes in the ground I should see tomatoes, not lettuce, grow in that spot. What about our faith, what should I see as a result of my faith?

Well, there are a few things that faith may produce and one of them is love. Paul speaks of the Thessalonians observable love as the expected result of their growing faith. This is not a warm fuzzy, romantic love, rather it is a selfless, giving love. The demonstration of their love was lived out in what was not the easiest circumstances to be loving in. The Thessalonians were living out their faith in the midst of persecutions and trials. 

Sometimes God uses adverse circumstances to produce acts of faith that will bear eternal fruit. We are occasionally confronted with the choice to do something for someone else. That may "cost" us something we might like to have. It may be money, time or some thing we have. The Spirit of God will gently lead you in that moment to trust Him with the results. 

A long time ago I used to take the Blue Line Metro Rail to work. Every morning in between the station and my work a man would be sweeping his steps and the sidewalk in front of his home. As soon as he saw me he would begin to cuss me out like you wouldn't believe! "You *@#$ing, #@$%*, I'll kick your @##$%ing @#$*..."  He would continue yelling obscenities at me until I was at least out of earshot. One day I caught him just as he was looking up and I said, "Good morning, sir. How are you doing today?" He replied, "Good morning, how are you?" And every day after that he would say, "Good morning, how are you?" and I would reply, "Fine thanks, how are you?" Sometimes just being nice, which I believe is definitely godly, will produce the fruit of our faith. 

Opportunities to act in faith happen every day, all day long. Whatever you do, do in faith that God will use it to bring his kingdom into other peoples lives.  

It's All About Pleasing God

I guess that's the long and the short of it; it's all about pleasing God because he is our Rock and he is our Redeemer. We look to some many other things to please us and fulfill us yet, only God can heal our broken hearts and mend our minds. So, I pray that today we will please the Lord in all we think, say and do.

Get in the Word, Get Refreshed

The battle is rough. The world is fighting against God and seeking destroy all those who believe. That's you and me. But, when we get weary we seek the Lord. We seek the Lord in his Word. The Bible tells us the truth when we need it most, wether we want it or not. When the Word tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us when we may want to destroy our enemies and curse them. 

That's a hard pill to swallow sometimes. Maybe it's because God wants us to trust him with our battles. The great men and women of faith knew that the Lord was the one who fought their battles. We must be great men and women of faith and allow God to fight our battles as we seek him and serve others.

Help in the Battles

Lord, help us in the battles we face today. Grant us strength and courage get over the things that block and confront us. Praise be to you, our ever present help!

Did you come to remind me of my sin?

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

1 Kings 17:17-18

The "widow" knew. Probably everybody knew. This boy was the fruit of her sin. Her guilt was real and deserved. She knew it. Yet God had sent his prophet Elijah and provided for her and her son. She was given a little hope that things might get better. Then, the boy becomes sick and stops breathing. The pain, the guilt, the condemnation all just hit her again. There was no one to blame but her, her sin. 

Elijah didn't ask her if she was repentant. He didn't try to explain why bad things happen. He just took the boy and asked God to let life return to him. And God did. Then the widow believed. The jar of flour and jug of oil not running out didn't convince her. But, bringing her son back to life did. You see, God knows how to reach us. He knows our self-inflicted wounds of sin. 

Are you a little like the widow, carrying around some guilt, thinking that every time someone looks at you they only think of your sin? In Christ you are forgiven. You are not condemned. God wants to raise up new life in you. Rest in the truth...

Can you follow the Lord completely?

"So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done." 1 Kings 11:6

Reading this chapter is sort of a little flick on the forehead to me because Solomon didn't accidentally not follow the Lord completely, he made some very specific choices that led him away from the Lord. For Solomon it was his many foreign wives that worshipped other gods.  

My question for myself is: what might I be allowing in my life that is leading me away from the Lord? Am I following the Lord completely? 

Before we get totally condemned let's remember the words "as David his father had done." Was David sinless? No, and I am sure that Solomon had heard the story of how his parents had gotten together. Solomon knew that his father, David, was far from perfect, but, he did love the Lord, in God's eyes, completely. 

I encourage you to, like David, follow the Lord completely. When you sin, seek God. When you struggle, seek God. When you feel trapped, attacked, helpless, hopeless, and hapless, seek God. 

Good Things

Lord, open my eyes to see all that you provide for me each and everyday. Grant me a heart of thankfulness. Help me to serve others and be the blessing someone else needs. 

Trust & Rejoice

Take Refuge in the Lord

What are you going through? Where are you? Find your refuge in the Lord. Sometimes he takes us through a desert to get us alone with him...

Find Your Refuge

Lord, You alone know what we each battle. We call out to You to be our Refuge in this world. Be our Stronghold as we fight the good fight and seek to glorify you today.

Remember Who You Are

You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 

1 Thessalonians 5:5 NIV 

The apostle John reminds us, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Each day we face the darkness of this world. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). How we value others, how we treat others and how we act even when no one is watching is guided by the light we find in Christ. 

Lord, open our hearts and minds to see the world in your light. Use us to shine your love to this dying and dark world today. Praise be to you in us today.

Come Rest Secure

I read this last night while studying for a Sunday School class I participate. It spoke to me and I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will comfort and encourage you with these words. 

Shield Up

Lord God Most High, be our shield today. Preserve and protect us as we seek to serve you in our homes, jobs and school. Praise be to you in us today.

Find Your Strength

David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

One of the things I like about David was his realness. You know, he was distressed because his men, his followers, were thinking of stoning him. I would be too. But what made David a man after God's own heart, different than Saul, was that in that moment of stress he found his strength in God. He still had to seek the Lord about what to do. There was still a battle to be fought. He would have to make some discussions that would not please everyone, but he found his strength in the Lord his God.

The lesson for us is that we can find strength in the Lord our God in the circumstances we are facing today. What is the battle you find yourself in the middle of? Maybe you just went through a trial and you've been hit with another crisis with no time to rest. Time to find your strength in the Lord your God. Like David you might find yourself the focal point of blame. Time to find your strength in the Lord your God. No matter why or how you find yourself in a trial, remember: find your strength in the Lord your God. Seek him and fight on in Jesus' Name.

Find Refuge

Lord, thank you for being our Refuge, Savior, and Deliverer. Be with us and protect us this week. Give us strength to fight the good fight. Remind us of your love for us. Praise be to you in us today!

Now, let me ask you this...

I went to college in the south. I'm from southern California, born and raised. One of the things that people from the south do is when they are going to ask you a question they often say, "Now let me ask you this, " before they actually ask you something.  I always wondered why they didn't just ask? It's just part of the southern culture. Asking questions is also how we naturally learn.

As I said yesterday I have been teaching a class on how to study the Bible using a plan I have used and been developing. When we read something or interact with information our minds naturally ask questions in order to understand what we are interacting with. Asking questions is what I like to focus on for the second step or second day of study. The point is not necessarily to ask and answer every question. The point is to use questions to help us understand what the author wants us to know. 

This week we are looking at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^d that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.

So, let me ask you a few questions:
Are you informed about those who sleep?
Is your belief system aligned with the Biblical teaching on death?
Are you encouraged by the truth that we will be with the Lord forever?

That Reminds Me Of...

I am having a great time teaching a study plan based upon  a combination of how I think we naturally learn and basic old school hermeneutical methods. My thought is that very few of us think like old school theologians. Not that I have a problem with what they come up with it's just that not many of us think that way. It's just like most educational systems are actually only designed for a very small group of people (in my opinion). The rest of us have to just sort of muddle our way through trying to figure out what we are supposed to learn and what the teacher/professor is trying to say and how they want us to communicate to them what we think we learned. 

That said, I have broken down a process that takes advantage of the way most people naturally learn. The first thing we do is connect to what ever we are reading. We are reminded of things we read, we did, or we heard about (or saw like a TV show or movie). For example last week we studied 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^d that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.

When I read these verses verse 17 Reminds me of John 14:2, My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you. 

The whole section reminds me of the world today in that I have heard many different views about what happens to people when the die. From when you die you die and no longer exist to when you die you become one with the cosmos. 

But Paul wants us to know, to be assured that death, as a Christian, is more like falling asleep. In that we have hope because we will meet the Lord and those who have already fallen asleep in him. The truth that we will be with the Lord forever, with every tear wiped away and knowing fullness and completeness, being how we were created to be is real hope, real encouragement. 

Find Your Refuge

Lord, be our Refuge and spread your protection over us today as we battle the world in faith with love and hope. 

A Key to All Relationships...

If you've walked with the Lord for any length of time I am sure you know this. Just as the Lord forgave us, forgives us and will forgive us, we pass on that forgiveness. That my friends is a simple but deeply powerful truth. 

Control

"that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable" 1 Thessalonians 4:4

I haven't been posting as much lately because I have been heavily invested in teaching a Sunday School class at the church I am a member. It's been a lot of fun and taken much of my time. We've finally reached the point where we can put it all together and really enjoy applying the word of God to our lives. 

One of the tools we use on the first day is connecting to ideas we read in Scripture. Using the term, "that reminds me of" helps us connect to things we read. So, when I read this verse I was reminded of growing up and being taught that I had a choice in how I acted. That choice was usually framed in these words, "How would Jesus...?" 

In verse one of chapter four Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he had instructed them how to live in order to please God. Asking ourselves the question, "Does it please God?" can clarify a lot of issues. I don't want to throw out some guilt bombs to sound spiritual but not actually be meaningful. For example, I don't want to ask, "Does it please God for me to be here?" because I think that is a "gimme" question. We know there are obvious places that would not please God, but, what about going to the mall or to the movies? Too often things turn legalistic at this point. 

Sometimes it's not where you are but how you act once you're there. Buying something is not wrong, if it is within your budget, but, if you use credit are you trusting God (as in being content with what God has given you) or are you worshipping what I call the god-of-I-have-to-have-it-now? It's about trusting God no matter what anyone else is doing around you. Self control is obedience and faith working together to glorify God. The result is peace and power. 

Be at Peace

If it pleases God, it's all good.

"As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more."

1 Thessalonians 4:1

About a year ago my teenage daughter was participating in an event and was asked a question and she gave an excellent answer, off the cuff, from her heart. It was a great answer. I was so proud of her, so pleased that she was thinking about others and how she might help someone who was hurting. 

When I read this verse I am struck by the idea that what I do can please God. I know that today I am going to deal with hundreds of different personalities, adults and teenagers. There will be positive and not so positive encounters. My approach and response will either please God or not. My aim: to please God.

Pleasing God is different than making everyone else feel better, even though, pleasing God often means putting other first. Sometimes, when pleasing God means doing the right thing, it means some people will not be happy with that choice. Doing the right thing may mean I admit I was wrong, or I failed. Pleasing God is about doing what we know God would have us do and with the attitude of a servant of the Lord. 

The message of Paul to the Thessalonians rings true for us today, keep living to please God. 

He is on the Throne

When we see our problems we can get overwhelmed. God is not. He is not worried, he is not hurried. He is neither ambivalent nor passive. He is Enthroned. He is Sovereign. He reigns. Christ is always interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25). He is Enthroned. 

Get Ready

The Power of Praise

Praise is more than just a warm fuzzy feeling. Praise is acknowledging the truth of who God is and always will be. Sometimes, in the midst of living our daily lives we can forget that we are not the center of the universe and there is more to life than just what we see and feel in the here and now. Thanksgiving is linked to praise and frees to remember the goodness and greatness of the Lord God Almighty our Maker, Savior, intercessor, friend and Father. 

So, remember all the good things he has done for you and praise him for being your Maker.

A Little Fear and a Lot of Love

Fear, is good. I have a fear of walking across a busy street into traffic. That's not bad, that's smart. The fear of God is not the fear of a capricious emotional tyrant. The fear of God is that we will put ourselves outside the grace of God by choosing to sin and reaping what we have sown. 

A few months ago I was driving to the funeral of one of my best friends who was also the best man at my wedding. I got a ticket for speeding. My mind was not really on the speed limit, but I knew I was going a little fast. I broke the law and suffered the consequences. Fear of getting a ticket doesn't always stop us from speeding. But, you know when I see kids playing, I don't need a sign that tells me to slow down, I just slow down because I don't want to hurt anyone. 

In the same way the fear of God is more than just the fear of going to hell or being caught or punished. The fear of God is about not wanting to hurt others or God. It's also about knowing he has unfailing love for you. 

Here's the kicker: our hope is not in our goodness or our righteousness, although we seek to live and love righteously. Our hope is in his unfailing love. He died on the cross for our sins and ever lives to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father. He has gone to prepare a place for us. He will come again... that is our hope. He is faithful and he will do it. 

Hook Up With His Mighty Power

My power is weak and my understanding is finite. 

But my God, he is great and mighty in power with understanding that has no limit! 

Where I can not, he can. 

What I can not see, conceive or perceive he views from eternity and governs my life. 

Can I get an amen, me too or I'll take some?

Broken-hearted? Wounded?

Having a broken heart, being wounded (physically or emotionally) is not uncommon. It's just part of life. But, what you do with your broken heart and your wounds is often what determines the direction of you life. 

You can have a broken heart from not getting what you want. That's sort of a harsh way of saying that things didn't go as you had hoped. If you trust someone and they break that trust, it can be painful, emotionally, And you know what? We are all human. We all fall short. 

But, what do you do with your broken, wounded heart? Looking to anger or looking to forgiveness are two very opposite pathways with two very different outcomes. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness are self-destructive. You have to go to the Lord and ask him to heal you. He will heal you, he will bind up your wounds...

“I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow;
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.”

― Robert Browning Hamilton

Reign Everywhere

You know when you watch the weather person on the news and they show a map and point out where there is supposed to be rain? Well, think about your life. There are different areas and relationships. You have your inner life and your outward life, your friends, family, and acquaintances. The question to ask is wether or not the Lord reigns in every part of your life?

This is just a little check. Because if Christ is not reigning who is? The flesh is a tyrant and legalism is chains disguised as jewelry. But Christ's reign is a gentle and protective reign. He is the good shepherd who gave himself up for the sheep, us. His reign means freedom for us, not bondage. 

Today, look at the map of your life and ask, where does He need to reign in your life?

Friday's Strength

Lord, for those of us who feel a bit beat up by the world, strengthen our hearts. For those us who feel good and things are going well, protect our hearts from letting up and forgetting that the battle still rages on. Grant us the strength to stand in Christ Jesus our Lord and to love as he has loved us. Open our eyes to see the battle around us and that greater is he that is within us than he that is in the world. Praise be to you in us today!

Increase Your Love

Jesus has loved us with an everlasting love. He loved us when we didn't even care. He loves us when we act like we don't care. Not with a love that is all emotion and no action, rather he loves us with a love that from the cross said, "Father forgive them..." From pain, from the rejection, he chose to love us. 

This is the love that overflows from us. We choose to love, to forgive, to wait, to try again, to repeat... in the power of his grace, to love. Because he first loved us.

You Have Help and Hope

Thank you, Lord, for being our help and our hope. You know our needs and our struggles, where we need help and hope. Open our eyes to see you in our lives. Thank you that you hear our prayers. 

Praise be to you in us today! 

There's Something About Repentance

But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

Judges 10:15-16 

The book of Judges is story after story of Israel forsaking God to serve other gods. Every time they turn to idols they of course end up being oppressed. Eventually, after eighteen years, they call on God to deliver them. In chapter 10, after delivering them several times God tells them cry out to the "gods" they had been worshipping. 

Eighteen years. That's a lot of oppression. That's a long time wallowing in the same sin. Eighteen years of looking to false gods for hope and only being oppressed. Does this sound familiar to anyone else besides me? Don't we do the same thing? We keep looking to things, people, and experiences to make us happy rather than serving the Lord. 

Israel not only confessed their sins they repented. They got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. I don't know if the Baals and Ashtoreths are the same thing as the gods of pleasure and "I got to have it now" that we see all around us everyday, but, they still can lead us away from the Lord and oppress us year after year. The deal is whether or not we are willing to call upon the Lord and repent. 

You see it's easy to say God loves us and forgives us and is always faithful. But, it's not so easy sometimes to have to give up that idol, that sin, that may seem good for a moment but in the end always oppresses. I once had a student come up and tell me that a girl kicked him, right where it counted, twice! I asked her why she kicked him and she told me that he asked to kiss her and she told him, "OK, but I get to kick you." Kiss, kick, kiss, kick. I said to the boy, "That must of been some kiss." He shook his head like it was just so-so. Yet he kissed her again... man isn't that just a perfect picture of us and sin? We don't mind the kiss but that kick is pretty bad. 

The good news is, if we really turn back to God, he delivers us. God will make a way out. God will provide.  

Always Faithful

One of the great truths about the God we serve is that he is faithful. From before the creation of the world, before we were a twinkle in our mother's eye, before the fall, he has faithfully loved us. 

In our struggle with sin Paul reminds us that, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can endure it" (I Corinthians 10:13).

And when we didn't exactly get the victory John says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).

The Lord promised at the fall that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpents' head. Yesterday was Good Friday and we remembered that Jesus died on the cross, in our place. The enemy thought he had the victory, but tomorrow we remember that Christ rose from the grave, conquering sin and death. Christ fulfilled the promise of the Father, destroying the power of sin and death. That is the foundation of our faith. That is love, that is faithfulness.  

You Will Be Encouraged

During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.

Judges 7:9-11

How about Gideon's faith, right? He'd just gone through the whole fleece thing. God was speaking to him about who should fight and he's still afraid. Did God rebuke him for his lack of faith? No. God encouraged him by letting him hear and see the fear that the enemy had of him. 

That's why I love this story, that why God is awesome. I get it. Sometimes even when we know we are doing what God wants us to do, we are still afraid, maybe a bit unsure. Yet God still encourages us. Gideon had faith, he believed, but he still was afraid. It's not about perfect faith, it's about God's faithfulness. He is compassionate, gentle and loving. He understands we are who we are. Gideon is even in Hebrews 11:32 in the famous Hall of Faith! 

Afraid or not, keep seeking God, keep trying to be obedient, keep believing. Let God deal with your fear. He is faithful.