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!

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.  

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!

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. 

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!

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

Vindication

     Thank you, Father, that in Jesus you have compassion on us and vindicate us in Your righteousness. Open our eyes to see you working in us today. 

Redemption, Your Hope

Thank you, Lord, for the hope of your unfailing love. Thank you that you don't partially redeem us, you fully redeem us. You didn't send an angel, you didn't send a letter, you came yourself and redeemed us, forgiving all our sins in Christ on the cross. Praise be to you in us today!

Have Mercy

Lord, you hear our cries for mercy and you know why each one of us needs it. Reveal your mercy to us today. Open our eyes to see your mercy in our lives. 

Got Peace?

Great peace have those who love your law,
   and nothing can make them stumble.

Psalms 119:165

When you know you did the right thing, you know you're going to be all right. It's a bit like driving down the road and looking up in your rear-view mirror and see a Highway Patrol officer. Then, you look at your speedometer and you are going the speed limit not over it. You know your tags are paid up and everything is working and you used your turn signal when you turned...so you know you're OK. But, for us, as Christians, it's a bit more...

As Christians we are not talking legalism and following the Old Testament law or a newly crafted set of rules that are culturally relevant. Although that is what David was talking about when we apply this Scripture to our lives through the work of Christ on the cross, we see grace. The law of love, faith in action. Great peace is the fruit of knowing that we act in faith, seeking to loves those around us. This doesn't mean everything will work out perfectly and every desire will be fulfilled exactly as we envision its' fulfillment. 

Jesus loves us. He gave himself for us.  He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. He sent the Spirit to indwell us, to guide us, to comfort us and to lead us into all truth. The Father is Sovereign over all things and has placed all things under Christ.  He is faithful in all things. As we seek to express our faith through love, which is the only thing that counts (Galatians 5:6), God works. We have peace because we know we are under grace and whatever happens is up to God. Peace happens when you live in grace by faith.

Reality is Found in Christ

These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 

Colossians 2:17

All religious ceremony is only a glimpse of what is to come. When Paul wrote this epistle to the Colossians religious festivals were a common occurrence.  So, when the Judaizers came into the Colossian church it would of been easy to tell them that they needed to practice the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Sabbath and all the rest. But, Paul realized the truth that all those feasts and special days were only a foretaste,  a glimpse of what was to be found in Christ.

So what does that mean to us today? All the feasts and special days in the Old Testament are meant to point us to Christ. Just like our church services today are meant to lead us to Christ. Going to church does not save you, knowing Christ does. I think we often get hung up on the acts of the service or meeting and miss the point which is connecting to Christ. Think about singing, worship. How often to we just sing hoping to get a warm fuzzy and kind of forget that worship is not really about us, it's supposed to be about acknowledging Christ for who is. It's OK to tell God your concerns and ask his help and deliverance. That's just really a petition not worship. 

Now I don't want to get legalistic about anything I just want to encourage us to remember that our fullness, our completeness, our wholeness and healing is all wrapped up in Christ, knowing him and serving him. The important rituals we still have are not the end, they are just reminders. Like baptism does not save you. Baptism is an acknowledgment that Christ died for our sins and we also died to our sins in Him and that we, like him have risen to a new life in Christ. 

The reality, our reality is found in Christ. 

Rise and Hope

See To It

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:8

I can remember when I first gave my life to Christ and the pastor would emphasis the need to look to the Bible to decide the validity and truth of any teaching. They would exhort us to compare what they or any other teacher said with Scripture and if it didn't match up we should first of all forget it and then call them out about it. 

A few years past and one of my pastors (who I love and still respect) was teaching about the end times and made a statement that I had a little trouble with. He said, "You don't want to be at a Stone's concert when, pa-da-ta-da (the sound of a trumpet?), then you are". The context of his teaching that sermon led you to understand that as you would be left behind because you were "sinning", according to him. Well, there's a lot of things I've done and I don't want to be doing when the Lord comes to take us home, but, the idea that if you just happen to be sinning at that precise moment when Jesus comes again because then you'll be left behind, is not a teaching I find in the Bible. 

My issue with that is not so much that it is not what the Bible teaches because it's not in Scripture but that it depends on human effort rather than God's grace. It's really just a form of sinless perfectionism, which is legalism. Sometimes what we have to  concern ourselves with is not full on heresy but things that depend upon "human traditions" or "the basic principles of this world". If it depends upon me rather than on the righteousness of Christ and his death upon the cross, then it's wrong. For example, my issue with the whole name-it-and-claim-it teaching is that it depends upon the individuals faith rather than on Christ. 

Here's the deal: we should all press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us (Philippians 3:12), but that is not to earn your salvation, it's to ensure salvations purpose in our lives. We depend upon Christ, abiding in him as he so powerfully works in us. If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time you realize your own frailty and Christ's faithfulness. That encourages us to continue in Christ. So, guard yourselves. Watch that you don't start looking to your own righteousness rather than to Christ's. Christ is the Cornerstone. 

How did you?

Just one question? How did you receive Jesus?

God Turns

Psalm 114:7-8

God is so good, so gracious and awesome in his love for us. He says he will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). His presence in our lives is both comforting and empowering. We will go through battles. We will fight the good fight. We will walk through the desert, the wilderness and valley of the shadow of death. But, he will be with us. 

But God does not just get us over. He turns rocks into pools and hard rocks into springs. In Exodus 17 the Israelites were in the desert and without water. (I won't go into the lesson that they complained to Moses rather than cried out to God here but if you're complaining rather than crying out; stop complaining and cry out to God.) The Lord had Moses strike the rock and water came out. Think about that. You can't dig for water in a rock. But God turns things that are not into things that are. 

You may be up against a rock, even a hard rock (on a side note: am I the rock, the hard rock that God must strike to bring springs of living water into my marriage or family?). Seek God. His presence will be with you. In his time he will turn that rock, that hard rock into a pool, even a spring.