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.