Your Not Lost

Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

John 18:7-9 NIV

Think about it, everything is about to go "wrong" from the disciples perspectives. They will think all is lost. Jesus, their leader, who they thought was the Messiah, is about to be condemned and crucified. They will scatter and hide. 

In the middle of being condemned Christ is making sure that he didn't lose even one of those entrusted to him. There are two lessons we can learn from this. One is that Christ is always thinking of us. Like a good shepherd, he is always aware of the needs of the sheep under his care. The second lesson is that even though circumstances may seem out of control and "lost" to us, Christ is still in control. 

Applying these two lessons to us can assure us as we navigate the circumstances that may see like chaos to us. Do you feel a bit lost at the moment? Are things out of your control? If Christ was taking care of his sheep even while being condemned, he will surely care for us now while he sits at the right hand of the Father, ever living to intercede for us. We are not lost. Christ knows right where we are at.

Father, you know where each of us is at. You know the desperation and fear. You know the enemies and the issues. You know. We call on you to provide and protect. Strengthen us to walk through these valleys because you are with us. Thank you for being with us, right where we are at. 

He Will Do It

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. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NIV

Father, thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you that you sanctify us through and through. Keep us blameless until your coming. Praise be to you because you are faithful and will do it!

Word of the Day: Faithfulness

I will praise you with the harp

   for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
   Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praise to you—
   I whom you have delivered.

Psalms 71:22-23 NIV

I started reading through the Psalms on a daily when I was in college. I did it with the purpose of finding attributes of God to meditate on and remember throughout the day to help me to not be anxious. Every time I would start to feel anxious I would just repeat to myself the word/attribute of the day. 

Each season of my life has brought on new challenges to my faith. Each time I must seek God anew and learn to trust him. The difference is now, I look back and even though I didn't see how God could bring me through, I remember the times he did. His faithfulness is new everyday. 

Father, thank you for your faithfulness! Thank you that even if we are faithless, you remain faithful (2 Timothy 2:13)! Help us to rest in you today, knowing that even though we can't see how we know who will bring us through. Praise be to you in us today!

The Encouragement of Hardships

Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 

Acts 14:22 NIV

This is not what some seem to preach these days. I hear a lot about asking for what I want, not what God wants. I see much about Christianity for success and prosperity, rather than righteousness and being a servant. 

According to Paul and Barnabas we need to be concerned about being true to the faith and hardships will be the tests that lead us to the kingdom of God.  I know this is true, yet I am often caught off guard when I encounter hardship, as if it was unexpected. This verse reminds me that hardships are part of the process. I need to be faithful and remain true to the faith. 

Lord, help me to remember that hardships are neither punishment or failure, rather, they are pathways to the kingdom of God. Strengthen me that I may remain true to the faith, true to you. Praise be to you in us today!

Do You Need a Drink?

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried

out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

John 7:37-38 ESV

Spiritually speaking, are you thirsty? Do you know you need a drink? What I mean is; do you know you need more of Jesus? Do you realize your spiritual poverty? 

No condemnation. Remember, any inclination within yourself to seek God, to know him in a deeper way, to understand the Bible, to be more like Christ, is the Spirit of God working within you. 

Jesus, "cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." I think this is something we shouldn't overthink. We know we need to drink. Christ said to go to him. Let's go to him. 

Lord Jesus, we come to you and ask for the Spirit, for living waters to flow from within us. Thank you that you hear our prayer.

Are You Blessed?

Blessed is the man
   who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
   to those who turn aside to false gods.
Many, O LORD my God,
   are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
   no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
   they would be too many to declare.
Psalm 40:4-5

Yesterday my youngest son and I came back from a Scouting event called Camporee. He had fun. I am a blessed man. 

It was great to come home to my wife and daughter and spend the rest of the day (after cleaning up) with them. I am a blessed man. 

Today I will go to my job that is about five minutes from my house. I am a blessed man. 

As I sit here reading God's word I am reminded of God's grace as I ask for his strength to overcome the sins that so easy tempt me. I am reminded that it is God's Spirit within me leading me to even think of him. I am a blessed man. 

Please take a moment and ask yourself, "How am I blessed?" Please bless us with a comment of how God blesses you.

Do You See God's Faithfulness?

Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
   you who have done great things. 
Who is like you, God?
Though you have made me see troubles,
   many and bitter,
   you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth 
   you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor 
   and comfort me once more. 
I will praise you with the harp 
   for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
   Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy 
   when I sing praise to you—
   I whom you have delivered.
My tongue will tell of your righteous acts day long,
   for those who wanted to harm me 
   have been put to shame and confusion.
Psalms 71:19-24  (NIV)

Thank you, Father, that even though I have been through some pretty tough times (every heart knows it's own sorrow), you have mercifully and faithfully brought me through. Praise be to you!

Verses of the Week

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
   I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. 
   I will build you up again, 
   and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
   and go out to dance with the joyful.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria;
   the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.
Jeremiah 31:3-5 (NIV)

“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
   proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
   and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
For the Lord will deliver Jacob
   and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
Jeremiah 31:10c-11 (NIV)

“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
   and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
   because you are the Lord my God.
Jeremiah 31:18c (NIV)

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Jeremiah 32:26-27 (NIV)

“ ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 

Jeremiah 33:6-8 (NIV)

God Will Not Forget You

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
   and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
   I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
   your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49:15-16

One of the amazing things I remember about my wife when are children were first born was how atune she was to taking care of them. The baby definitely was her main concern. It is just amazing to see the love of a mother with her child. 

God's love for us is even greater. His concern for us is unwavering. Christ physically bears the marks that serve as reminders of his love for us. In John 16:24-30 Thomas doubted Christ's resurrection until he could see the nail marks in Christ's hands and put his finger where the nails were. Christ stood among the disciples and showed his hands to Thomas and told him to stop doubting and believe. Thomas could only reply,"My Lord and my God!"  

Isaiah's words foretold of God's love in Christ and John's message reminds of the truth and depth of God's love for us in Christ. Both proclaim the God will not forget us. 

Father, thank you for the truth that you will not forget us! Praise be to you in us today!

Are You a Bit Shaken?

Strengthen the feeble hands,
   steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
   “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
   with divine retributionhe will come to save you.”
Isaiah 35:3-4 (NIV)

Just a little reminder: God is Sovereign, he has unfailing love for you, and he will save you.

IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

The reason we can hold on to Christ is because it is all about his faithfulness, not ours!It's not about you, it's about Christ! In I Timothy 2:13 Paul encourages us by saying, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." 

Hold on to Christ. Do let go. Do give up. He is holding on to you! He is faithful and will complete the work he began in you (Philippians 1:6). It's not about you, it about Christ's faithfulness!

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness! Thank you that I can hold on to you! Praise be to you in us today!

TEMPTATION: TEASE OR ATTACK?

"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:18 

Do you look at temptation as suffering? I don't think I do. Maybe it's because I tend to see sin as "pleasurable for a season". If you think about the temptation of Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and of Christ in the desert (Matthew 4) the devil was attacking man's central trust and reliance on God. "Did God really say?", "If you are the Son of God". Temptation is not a cute little tease, temptation is an all out assault upon the umbilical cord of the faithfulness of God our Father. 

Christ, our faithful High Priest, suffered temptation to a degree we may never know the depths of. But, because he experienced temptations awful pull, he is able to help you and me when we are tempted. 

What is tempting you? Is your faith in Christ being assaulted? Do you realize that temptation is not benign? However you are feeling the effects of temptation know that Christ is able to help? 

Christ is able to help...

Lord Jesus Christ, help us! Praise be to you in us today!

THE LORD WILL RESCUE YOU!: II Timothy 4:18

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring  me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." II Timothy 4:22

If you seek to follow Christ and do what is right, you will be opposed. There is an enemy in this world that seeks to use anything and everything to oppose all who seek to live a godly life.  The good news is that greater is he that is in me than be that is in the world! Paul knew that no matter what he went through, the Lord would rescue him in the end. Not only that he knew that God would bring him safely home. 

The good news is not that you will never be attacked, it is that you will be attacked but, in Christ, you will be rescued. 

Father, thank you that you will rescue me and bring me home to your heavenly kingdom! Praise be to you in us today and all eternity!

CHRIST'S FAITHFULNESS IS OUR STRENGTH!: II Timothy 2:11_13

"If we died with him,
     we will live with him;
 if we endure,
     we will also reign with him.
 If we disown him,
     he will also disown us;
 if we are faithless,
     he will remain faithful,
     for he cannot disown himself."
 II Timothy 2:11-13

Jesus told us that if we are to be his disciples we have to deny ourselves, take up his cross and follow him (Matthew 16:24). Paul reminds us that if we die to ourselves we live to him, which is real life, life everlasting. That death will take some enduring on our part but, the end result for us is that we will reign with him. Pretty good deal.

Notice that there is a difference between disowning Christ and being faithless. To disown Christ is to take yourself out of the family. You know, if you say you are no longer a Christian... To be honest, that scares me. Not that I have said that, but, I know there are times when I certainly don't act like a Christian. And I think that is the difference between denying Christ is your Lord and Savior and sinning. We will sin. We will. There are times when our faith falters, yet, Christ remains faithful! That is the good news! Because Christ cannot disown himself, he will remain faithful even when we struggle and that is our strength, his faithfulness!

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your faithfulness, even when we are not. Praise be to you in us today!