God is Concerned

and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus 4:31 NIV

Isn't it good to "hear" that the Lord is concerned about you? I don't just mean listening to a sermon or reading a devotional, I mean where God does something that let's you know he hears and is concerned. 

This past summer I was assigned a new position. I had been praying for a long time about a new position. I was pleased with the opportunity to do something different. I was thankful too. Like the Israelites, I was thankful because it reminded me that God heard my prayers and that he was concerned about me. There are other things that when I stop and think about it reminds me that God hears and sees my misery. 

I want you to stop and think about how God has shown you that he hears you and sees your "misery"... Then, thank him and worship him. 

Finally, I would really appreciate if you would share with me and anyone reading this, how God showed that he was concerned about you by writing a note in the comment section. Thanks and God's blessings upon you! 

How Will You Build Yourself Up?

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Jude 1:20-21 NIV

Sometimes we forget that our faith is interactive. There is the the "what we do" part.

As a teacher I can't tell you how many times I have been in a

conference with a student and their parent(s) discussing the need for the student to complete and turn in their assignments. The parents will tell me they see their child doing the work. When I tell them the work is not being turned in they (usually with a look of exasperation) grab their child's backpack and (usually with a look of unbelief mixed with embarrassment) they begin to pull out paper after paper of assignments never turned in.  

How many people just go to church but never turn anything in? Do you attend church or participate in your church. This is the part of Christianity that is interactive. Christianity, discipleship, is about experiencing God's love, his mercy and grace by living it out in our relationships. We pray in the Holy Spirit. We keep ourselves in God's love. 

What do athletes do to build themselves up? Baseball players play baseball. Basketball players play basketball. Football players play football. Get the point? As Christians we should act like Christ. Today, how will you build yourself up?

For Which Has Christ Jesus Taken Hold of You?

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 

Philippians 3:12 NIV

There is a reason Christ took hold of each of us. I think of my wife and kids. I think of Mr. D at work who I ended up praying with about his brother and his brother got better. I think of each person who, through a God-incidence, I ended up praying with or just mentioning God to them. I think of Mr. C at work whose daughter has had countless physical issues. At first he was reluctant when I told him I would pray for his daughter, but, after a year, he asked me to. I'm sure there is more but those are what come to mind. 

For which reasons has God in Christ Jesus took hold of you? 

What You Really Crave

 How lovely is your dwelling place,

   Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

   for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out 

   for the living God.

Psalms 84:1-2 NIV

Every afternoon I get a little hungry and I usually eat some snack. Recently, I started to try to eat more fruit. So, instead of chips or something I been eating apples, melons, and pineapples in the afternoon. I've noticed that I have had a bit more energy and lost over five pounds. 

Here's the lesson: even though I kinda want something that tastes strong, what my body really craves is fruit. Spiritually, we may crave a lot of things, but what we really need is the Lord. We may want someones attention when we really need to be in God's presence. We make seek to do things that are exciting and exotic but, if we are not doing it with the Lord, it's just an effort to fulfill some inner need with an adrenaline rush. What we really need is to be in the presence of the Lord. Once we learn to find our fulfillment in Christ we will truly enjoy whatever else God places before us. 

Crossing Over

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 

John 5:24 NIV

About a week ago I was at a training with a few others staff members from the school I work at. We were working on a presentation and one of my colleagues Air Dropped me a video we created. I forgot that you could do that. When I got home I Air Dropped my wife a few photos I had taken of our son and I hiking. 

It may not be news to you that when you believe in Christ you have eternal life, you won't be judged, and you'll cross over from death to life, but, maybe you might need to remember a truth or two. Maybe you might have forgotten that Christ's death on the cross means he bore the judgement for you sins on the cross so, now you don't have to live under condemnations' cloud. Perhaps you need a gentle reminder that life in Christ is abundant life, true life, eternal life. Or you just need a firm, tell like it is message: "You're a Christian, live like one." Remember, in Christ you've crossed over to a new life.  

Do You See God's Love For You?

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

1 John 3:1-3 (NIV)

Here's the deal: the world just isn't going to get this whole idea of God's love. Hollywood my romanticize it, people will write novel after novel about idealized love, but, they still will find themselves lacking. 

You see, being loved by the Infinite Father of the universe is different than being loved by a finite man or woman. I can never fulfill all my wives needs. I don't even understand most of them, let alone how to fulfill them! But God knows us in ways that we can't even comprehend. 

We may understand some of the depths of God's love for us, that he sent his One and only Son to die for our sins  so we can be reconciled to him, for example. Yet, we only have a foretaste of what we will be. We are only experiencing the beginnings of the restoration. That is our hope. One day we will be like him, like Christ. I don't know what to call it except maybe eternal wholeness. 

One of the great moments of parenthood is just holding your baby. Especially when they put their head on your shoulder and just rest there. As a parent you just enjoy holding your child and loving them. Even now on occasion my youngest children ( one Junior Higher and one in High School) will put their head on my shoulder or lean against me while we are watching a movie or something and it is still a great feeling. Because I love them. And my love is just a fraction of the love of God in comparison, but it is a sample and it is real. God loves you. 

Remember: God loves you...

Faith Is Not a Second Chance

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

1 John 2:24-25 (NIV)

I remember when I first gave my life to Christ. I knew that my salvation was all about Jesus. Although I had attended church virtually my whole life I recognized that something was definitely missing. 

One of the well meaning but false teachings I had to overcome was that in Christ we have a second chance. What that turns into is that we have a second chance to be good enough. Of course we can never be good enough because our best, our righteousness is at best filthy rags. God does not give you a second chance to be good enough. That would be salvations by works. He gives you salvation by faith. He offers you forgiveness in Jesus Christ. 

Your work is to remain in Jesus. In a sense this is like driving a car in a race. You have to finish the race in the car, you can't get out of the car and walk across the finish line. In the same way, you don't spend your life having faith in Christ as your Savior and Lord and then finish in your own righteousness. What I heard from the beginning of my life in Christ was that it was all about Jesus, he is my righteousness, holiness and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30). That never changes. That is the good news, the gospel. 

If you have gotten out of Christ, get back in Christ. Remain in him. Remember to remain in Christ is to live by faith in his finished work on the cross. 

Father, thank you for salvation, that we can live by faith in Christ. Help us to walk by faith in Christ, to remain in him. Praise be to you in us today!

How To Recognize the Spirit

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 2:21-23 (NIV)

Some people just struggle with everything. A very good friend of mine used to think that everyone else at church was doing great, had great faith, overcame every trial with great joy. The reality is quite different. Most people who go to church are struggling with their marriage, kids, jobs, addictions and just the world in general and they smile because they don't want to break down in tears publically. 

In the midst of the pressures of everyday life in the twenty first century we can often miss, as in not detect, the Spirit of God working in our lives. The Apostle Paul reminds us that "no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:3). The reformers realized that the effects of sin reached our entire beings (total depravity) and that the grace of God did also. Any thought we have of God can only come from the Spirit of God working in our inner beings. Do you get that? Each thought that you have of God is God calling you to himself. Don't let the enemy turn the conviction of the Spirit of God to pray, read the Bible, or love someone specifically in action, into condemnation. 

John didn't write to the believers so they would doubt their salvation or mire themselves in condemnation, but he wrote that they might, we might live in the light as he is in the light. Remember that as you go about your business today that every thought you have of God is the Holy Spirit calling you to walk in the light with Christ. 

Father, thank you for every thought of you. Help us to thankfully recognize the Holy Spirits work in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

OK, Break It Up

“Break up your unplowed ground

   and do not sow among thorns. 

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,

   circumcise your hearts,

Jeremiah 4:3c-4a (NIV)

I am not a farmer, but, I have had a garden. I did learn that you have to plow the ground before you sow the seeds. As a Christian, sometimes I do need to break up the hardness of my heart. I think self examination, confession and thankfulness are tools we can use to allow the Spirit of God to break up the hardness of our hearts.

By self examination I mean taking an honest look at yourself in prayer and while reading the Bible. 

We are all sinners. Our best is like filthy rags. Get real. Get honest. God is just waiting for you to get real. (See I John 1:9)

Be thankful. I believe true thankfulness is laced with humility because I know how sinful I am and how holy God is. 

Father, help us to allow the Spirit to break up the unplowed ground of our hearts. Praise be to you in us today!

What's Your Anguish?

But what can I say? 
   He has spoken to me, 
   and he himself has done this.
I will walk humbly all my years
   because of this anguish of my soul.
Lord, by such things people live;
   and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
   and let me live.
Surely it was for my benefit 
   that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
   from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
   behind your back.
Isaiah 38:15-17 (NIV)

I don't know about you, but sometimes (well, most of the time) I don't know what God is doing. I mean, I know his ultimate goal is to shape me into the image of his son, Jesus Christ. It's just specifically, at the moment I don't often "see" what God is about. I have to take it by faith that he is working all things out for my good.

King Hezekiah was suffering from a life threatening illness when he cried out to God. God answered and healed him. It was after he was healed that he could say that it was for his benefit that he suffered such anguish. It humbled him. And humility is when we see ourselves correctly or truthfully before God. 

You may be going through some form of anguish. I am. Like Hezekiah we can only call out upon God and seek him. He will keep us from the pit of destruction and put all our sins behind his back. 

Father, hear our prayers and see our anguish. Praise be to you in us today!