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. 

Compassion to all, even...

God has compassion on all he has made. The goodness and greatness of God is demonstrated in his compassion that is undeserved, unearned and frankly rejected. 

When Jesus walked this earth "he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). These were people who would turn on him and turn him over to be crucified. Yet, he still had compassion on them. He died for the sins of everyone. He has not changed. His compassion continues.

We too should have compassion for all. Not just for those who need us, those who can't hurt us, but, even for those who, dying in their own sins, hate us...

Be Battle Tested and Taught

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan  (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): ... They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

Judges 3:1-2,4

Sometimes we like to paint a picture of Christianity like it makes life easy. We forget that Christianity is life as it truly is. In the third chapter of Judges the Israelites are confronted with the reality that there would be warfare. 

I see three things from this passage; there will be warfare, warfare has a purpose and God wants us to have victory. For every nation back at the time of the judges warfare was just what you did. Even during the time of David the spring was when kings went out to war (1 Chronicles 20:1). Jesus warned his disciples that the world would hate them because the world hates him (John 15:18ff). We live in a world that is constantly trying to destroy our faith. 

Warfare tests us and warfare tests our faith. God does not test us to see if we will fail or not, he tests us to reveal himself and strengthen our faith. Sometimes when you work out you see how far you can go, how much you can lift, how much you can endure. You push yourself to strengthen yourself. God allows us to experience battles to strengthen us and show us his faithfulness. 

Jesus told us, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  Psalm 60:11-12 encourages us to pray, "Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." Paul tells us, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin in the law. Bu thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). The apostle John proclaims, "for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4). 

There will be spiritual warfare. You will struggle. You will battle. You, by faith in Christ, will have victory, knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection in deeper and deeper ways. 

Service & Experience

Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

Joshua 24:31

There is something almost mystical, almost magical about serving Christ. Somehow when we seek to serve the Lord he allows us to see his power, his faithfulness, his mercy, grace and forgiveness in ways we might not normally experience them. 

It's that place where God works in our lives in such a way that by faith we know that it is God. There is a difference from when you hear about God providing for someone else and when he provides for you. Your testimony is yours. Remember how God revealed his love for you to you, how he forgave your sins and you gave you life to him? That is where God became real. 

Lord, I pray that we would experience all that you do and that we would serve you throughout our lives. I pray that our children and their children, until you come again, will experience everything you do and serve you throughout their lifetimes too. Praise be to you in us today!

Keep Holding Tight

But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

Joshua 23:8

Sometimes we just need to remember to hold on to the Lord our God, not ourselves, not our own wisdom and understanding, just remember to hold on to the Lord. 

Joshua and the Israelites had been taking the land. Under Joshua's leadership they were learning that God was faithful to fight their battles for them. Joshua knew his time was just about up and he would soon go see the Lord. He gives the Israelites good advice. Keep holding fast to the Lord. 

Isn't it easy after you have had some victories to sort of take your foot of the gas? Maybe make a few "treaties" with the enemy, let down your guard. But, Joshua told the people to keep holding fast. Thanking God for the victories and remembering that it's all about the Lord's faithfulness. 

Hold tight because the Lord is holding on to you!

Remember, God is Great

Choose a Good Day

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 

1 Thessalonians 1:7

A blessed Monday to you all.

I want to encourage you to continue in your efforts to follow Christ. Imitate Christ. Imitate those who humbly and faithfully seek to follow the Lord. 

At work I like to greet people with "Happy Monday!" I don't say that to be glib because I view it more of a choice. I choose to find a way to make this a good day. The way I know best to do that is to seek to glorify Christ and serve others. This is and act of faith, prompted by the love of Christ for me, that gives me hope. I think that's a good model to seek to live like. 

Be blessed today. Choose to have a good day glorifying and serving Christ and others. Be a model of faith, hope and love.

Drive Them Out

Joshua was telling the tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, that even though the enemy was well equipped and strong, with God's help, they could take them. Here's the deal: we often look at the strength of the enemy that is all around us and fail to know that God and his army is all around them. Greater is he that is with us than he that is in the world! Yes, the enemy will resist, but God will grant the victory.

Remember, there are areas of our lives that God wants us to live by faith in. Our marriages, families, finances and more, are areas that he should be reigning. There may be struggles but, his peace should reign. So, go ahead and take the land and through prayer and faithful obedience, drive out the enemy.

The Two Sides of Imitation

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 

1 Thessalonians 1:6-7

Imitation can have two sides. One one side you imitate someone you admire and on the other side someone imitates you. The Thessalonians first imitated Paul and his team and then naturally became examples to other Christians. 

When I was in elementary school I loved recess because we would play whatever sport was in season. I remember playing football and everyone would imitate whoever they thought was a good player. At the time, and I am dating myself here, there were a few people I liked to try to run like. One was Larry Csonka and the other was O.J. Simpson. Csonka had the power and O.J. the moves and speed. I would get the ball, call out the person's name I thought I was running like and then go at it! 

As a Christian there has been a few people I have found to be worthy of imitation. Humility and a servants heart are the two qualities I admire. Godly humility is knowing who you are in Christ, and that you are who you are by the grace of God. Christlike serving is serving others, even those who don't appreciate it. 

One last thought is that Paul said that the Thessalonians "welcomed the message in the midst of suffering". The implication is that following Christ is not always easy, rather, to the contrary, it is often difficult. There will be trials. There will be tests. Christ leads us to victory, but, there will be warfare. Paul, endured everything from shipwrecks to imprisonment, dealing with false teachers (seeking to undermine his work) to be stoned and left for dead. Yet, he pressed on and fought the good fight, spreading the gospel wherever he could. Who did he imitate? Christ. 

Battle Up

Take the Land

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 

Joshua 14:13-14

The question is: what land has God given you to take? 

Caleb asked Joshua to give him the land so he could drive out, the Lord helping him, the Anakites. He didn't focus on the enemy, he focused on the promise and the Lord his God who made the promise to be with him in the battle. 

Sometimes we want the victory but we don't want the battle. That's one of the awful fruits of living in the land of entitlements, we begin to think good things are just given to us without cost. No, God calls us to battle, to labor, to seek, to knock, to find, to love and to serve. Like Caleb we need to be willing. 

So back to the question: what land has God given you to take?

Faith, Love and Hope

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 

This prayer of Paul reminds us of three important parts of our experience as followers of Christ; faith, love and hope. They each have an important part of the process. In this prayer the apostle rejoices that the faith of the Thessalonians produced work, or specific acts. Because they had faith in Christ acted. Those works were actually labors that took love to accomplish. Not only did those acts or works take effort they needed endurance that hope provides to continue in them. 

I don't think Paul is talking about some warm fuzzy one shot random act of kindness. You know what I mean. It's one thing to give a homeless person a few dollars as you pass by and quite another to stand by someone as they go through a serious trial. Love over time takes faith and hope. That's Christianity, that's discipleship. 

Lord, give us the faith, love and hope we need to follow you. Thank you for your unfailing love, your grace and mercy that you have shown us. Praise be to you in us today!

Lord, preserve my life...

Leave No Survivors

So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 

Joshua 10:40

Joshua and Israel were taking the land the God had promised. They had just been tricked by the Gibeonites and made a treaty with them. They had to defend the Gibeonites because of it. They had to expend their time and effort defending them rather than taking the land. So, from then on Joshua made sure to obey the Lord and totally destroyed their enemies. Remember God was judging the inhabitants of the land because their sin was so great. 

The idea I want to hit on this morning is that like Joshua we need to leave no survivors and totally destroy all who breathe, so to speak. Of course I'm not saying to physically attack non-believers. Paul teaches us to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). Those are strong words. 

I seem to gather stuff on my desk and every now and then I just have to take stock of it all and toss some stuff out because it's not useful and in the way. Spiritually, we need to take stock of things and see if there is anything we need to get rid of. We need to check and see if there are any "survivors" of things that should not be in our lives. I think this is a normal part of being a Christian over time. Has any "enemy" snuck back in or have we allowed some things to just hang around? Are we making "treaties" with some enemies? If something is popping up in your mind maybe it's time to go to battle...

Set Free to Praise

Set me free from my prison,

   that I may praise your name.

Then the righteous will gather about me 
   because of your goodness to me.

Psalms 142:7

Bad choices, our own and others; sin, our own and others; and circumstances that just happen can put us in what feels like a prison. We can't seem to find our way out and we just seem trapped. 

We do the only thing we can (and should) do. We cry out to the Lord to free us. He hears. We wait. We cry out. In his time he acts. He acts to save us, not so we can put ourselves back in prison, but to be free to praise him and free to serve him. His goodness glorifies Him. His goodness is not a free pass to be foolish. 

I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show and there was this character names Otis. Otis was the town drunk and he would often arrest himself and put himself in jail until he sobered up. He could get the keys and let himself in our out whenever he wanted. Sometimes we think we can do that. We can get into trouble and cry out to God and he'll just deliver us and let us go until we put ourselves back in jail. We keep doing this until we find out we can't get out and we find out the problem is we keep putting ourselves in the same situation and wonder why. Playing with sin, not living by faith, is not like being Otis on The Andy Griffith Show. Being "jailed" by something that is not of faith is not what God wants for us. He wants us to be truly free. 

Whatever the "prison" you are in God wants to deliver you, but he does not want you to just go right back. He wants you to be free in Christ. Free to live by faith. Free to love. Free to serve. 

I Cry Out to the Lord

Grace Spares

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

Joshua 6:25

A couple of things about Rahab are pretty cool. One, her faith was real and two, God's grace spared her and her family. First, her faith was not just an emotional experience. She took a step of faith. She hid the spies and hung the scarlet cord, gathered her family and waited for deliverance. Within that is a little truth that I think is pretty important. She was willing to leave her old life and start a new life as part of Israel, the people of God.

The grace of God, in the midst of battle and judgement, is shown to Rahab and her family. We are reminded that Jesus came to save sinners. She was a prostitute. She was not, at least at first glance, the noble woman of Proverbs 31, but, more like the woman Proverbs warned about in the beginning chapters. Yet, she became a member of the Messianic line and is mentioned in Matthew 1:5. What is important about Rahab, is not that she was prostitute, but that she took the step of faith to turn away from her former life and start a whole new life in Israel.  

What we were is not what matters, what matters is that we turn to Christ and live a new life in him. His grace spares us from destruction and makes us new creations in Christ. 

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ!

cf Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25