Ephesian 1:7-13

 "In Him we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and understanding [with practical insight] He made down to us the mystery of HIs will according to HIs good pleasure which He purposed in Christ, with regard to the fulfillment of the times [that is, the end of history, the climax of the ages]--to bring all things together in Christ, [both] things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have received an inheritance [a destiny--we were claimed by God as His won], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him as our Lord and Saviour] would exist to the praise of Hi glory.  In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]."

Ephesians 1:7-13 Amp

Think about all of the gifts we have received from Christ's sacrifice for us:

7a - We have complete and total pardon from our sins.

7b-8a - We are "lavished" with grace.

8b-9 - We have been given His wisdom and understanding regarding His will.

10 - We specifically know His will to bring all things together in Christ at the end of the ages.

11-12 - We have an inheritance and destiny, having been chosen as His to give evidence of His glory.

13 - We have been adopted in His family and are protected by Him.

I'm sure we could find more gifts just in this small section of the Word.  And there are so many more we can find as we continue to study His Word!

Ephesians 1:3-6

"Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ, just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually select us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be hold [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will-- to the praise of His glorious grace and favor, which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [His Son, Jesus Christ]."

Ephesians 1:3-6 Amp

God chooses to love us.  Despite all that we are and do, and He knows everything that we are and do, He chose to love each of us. You can see patterns of phrasing in the Bible where it says God hates 6 thing and finds 7 repulsive.  In the list that follows the final thing will be a person.  In Proverbs 6:16-19 God hates a proud look, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that creates wicked plans, feet that run to evil, and a false witness.  But God only finds repulsive one (a person) who spreads discord.  Despite all of our sin, sin that God hates, He still chooses to love all of us.

He gave us a way out of the penalty of our sin.  After Adam & Eve sinned, He could have left them to the penalty of their sin.  Death.  But He chose to give His son, Jesus, that we might still be able to walk with Him.  He gave man everything, twice.  First when He placed Adam & Eve in Paradise.  And second when He sacrificed His Son that we could join Him in paradise.  He chose to redeem us.  I've heard some say that that choice is the reason that Satan hates us and God.  Go chose to redeem Man when he could have chosen to redeem Satan and the angels that rebelled against God.

In short, He set us apart, sacrificed his son for us, and then adopted us as children.  

A Deliberate Act of Will

“How do you develop such a hunger for God’s word?”

“You make a decision, a deliberate act of your will. You then prioritize the time, and you stick to it. Just like exercise tones and strengthens the body, consuming God’s word tones and strengthens the soul. You’ll see a difference. Guaranteed.”

The Old Man and the Tea - McMillian Moody

A few years ago I found a book series on Amazon Kindle about Elmo Jenkins, a young man finishing up seminary with a church internship.  The books follow his journey through a life of ministry.  I reread the books every couple of years. They aren't a deep read but they are funny and have spiritual nuggets like above.

This one hit me hard last night.  I've been trying to develop a consistent time of bible reading.  But honestly, I haven't been very successful.  I'll go stretches of reading every day followed by stretches of not reading.  I have my alarm set to get up thirty minutes early.  But I'll end up going back to sleep or playing games on my phone.

Not this morning.  I was tempted to go back to sleep, but the words "deliberate act of will" ran through my head.  So I got out of bed and read the bible.  A chapter of proverbs.  Several chapters of psalms.  Some time in prayer.  Got the kids off to the bus and then spent some time in Ephesians.  It was a good morning.

Now it's time to stick to it.  Each morning my alarm will go off and I will make another deliberate act of will.  And in time it will become easier.  And I will develop that hunger for God's word.

 Ephesians 1:1-2

Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed), by the will of God [that is, by His purpose and choice], to the saints (God's people) who are at Ephesus and are faithful and loyal and steadfast in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like this definition of peace.  Inner calm and spiritual well-being.

Not calm, but inner calm.  Everything could look crazy and reckless on the outside, but inside is calm.  Usually, we try to portray an appearance of peace while we have tremendous turmoil on the inside.  People say that's like a swimming duck.  Everything above the water looks smooth and easy but under the water those legs are moving like crazy!  

I would say this inner calm is like an eagle clinging to a tree branch in a storm.  That eagle is being buffeted by rain.  The tree and branch are swaying to and from in the wind.  But because of that firm grasp the eagle has on the limb it isn't concerned.  It's just sitting there riding out the storm.  Calm.

Not just inner calm, but inner calm and spiritual well-being.  Have a connection to our God and Savior that will stay strong through our trials and tribulations.  

Think back to that eagle.  What if that eagle was clinging to a dead tree?  It's still calm while it's clinging to that branch.  But at some point in time that rotten branch is going to break.  When it does break, whether in that storm or the next, that eagle will lose its calm until either the storm is over or it finds itself clinging to another branch. That what it's like when someone is clinging to another religion.  That rotten branch may hold for a while, but eventually a storm will come along that will break it.  Only our connection to Christ is able to stay true and strong through any storm that may come along. 

Or the eagle's grasp on the limb may not be as strong as it should be.  Whether because of weakness, laziness or shifting feet, a gust of wind could come along at just the right time and blow the eagle off of the strong branch.  The same can happen to us if we become weak in our connection to Christ.  We become too lazy to keep the connection strong. Or we turn away from him at just the wrong moment.  The storm comes along and makes a mess of us until we focus on reattaining that strong connection to Christ.  And it always seems to take more effort to get back to the place of peace we had before being knocked about than it would have taken to maintain a strong, enduring connection to Christ before the storm knocked us off of our, unknown to us, precarious perch.  

Keep your connection strong.  Don't get lazy.  Don't lose focus.  Stay in Peace.

Consecration & Holiness

2 Timothy 1:9 AMP

[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].

Society defines us by our vocation, by the work we do. Are you a firefighter? A doctor? A plumber? A waitress? Unemployed? But those are not the vocations by which God defines us. God's job is for us to be holy.

I've been meditating on this scripture for over a week now. I keep asking myself, "How much effort do I put into living a consecrated life? How much do I work at the job of being holy?" It is effort and work. If it wasn't difficult then life wouldn't be such a struggle. There are too many lies, distractions and tricks from the devil keeping us on our toes for us to say our lives are easy. Too many trials and tribulations for us to think we're sailing through our time on this earth. So how much effort are we putting in? Are we choosing to live our lives according to God's Word?  Or are we taking the easy way and living according to the world's standards?

As the choices come between the world's values and God's values I have to admit that there are times that I don't make the right choice. It is a daily and even hourly struggle. But I hope that as my life goes on I am choosing God's values more and more often. And I find that the more time I spend reading my bible or meditating on God's instruction the easier it becomes to choose God's values. 

I choose to live a life of consecration. I choose a vocation of holiness.

I Am Ashamed

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,"
2 Timothy 1:8

How often do we back down from sharing Christ's sacrifice with others? We always have an excuse. It wasn't the right time. They wouldn't have listened. I didn't know what to say.  We say to ourselves that we are not ashamed of our belief, but we are afraid of how others will think of us when they know the depths of our faith. And that is being ashamed.

I am ashamed of the testimony of our Lord...

What suffering would we endure today? Lack of Respect? Sideways glances at the water cooler? Ridicule?  How does that compare to what Timothy and the Apostles went through? Jail? Beatings? Torture? Death? And those things didn't just happen in the Apostle's time. There are Christians dying for their faith in Sudan, Iraq, and China. I have a friend who was a missionary in China who at least once had his bags packed to leave at a moment's notice because the police were asking everyone around him about his activities. How small I feel when I compare the fear of possible ridicule to others fear for their family's life and safety.

I am ashamed of my shame and fear...

Fan the Flame

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,"
2 Timothy 1:6

I know I've asked God to increase my desire for the Word. To build up the fire in me. But that is not his job. He has placed in us the spark. And we are to cultivate that spark. It is up to us to build the fire. 

We won't have to do it alone. There will be people that help us protect the spark when it is small and fragile. Some will tend the fire with us. Some will give us fuel when it looks like the fire is dying. And we will do the same for others.

That doesn't mean we don't do our part in building the fire. We can't rely on others to build, tend and maintain our fire. It is OUR fire. And it will take time. A good fire isn't started with gasoline. That will burn out too quickly. You start with tinder. Slowly feed it twigs and sticks. Then put on the logs. Then you have a fire that will that will last. 

Spend time with God in prayer and study.  Meditate on His Truth.  Worship Him with everything you do.  Build up that spark until it is a roaring bonfire that jumps and spreads onto others.

He's Gone!

Nap time at our house has become a little bit of an ordeal. My son’s naps have shortened dramatically and my daughter is doing her very best to avoid them altogether. This past Monday at nap time my wife sat in my daughter’s room waiting for her to go to sleep. After telling her a couple of times to be quiet and go to sleep she finally heard her start to breathe deeply. She got and tiptoed out of the room. Just before she closed the door she stopped and left it cracked just a little bit to make sure she was sleeping. A few seconds later my daughter’s head popped up. She looked around to make sure Mom wasn’t in the room. Then she turned to her bear and said, “She’s gone!” It was all my wife could do to not bust out laughing as my daughter started playing with her stuffed animals.

How many times do we do find ourselves in that same situation with God? How many times do we feel that gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit in our heart showing us something that we are to do or say? And how many times do we try to wait until we don’t feel that nudge any longer so that we can tell ourselves, “He’s gone!”
As Christians we are followers of Christ. We are to attempt to emulate Jesus in everything we do. And when you boil it down the essentials of his life Jesus did only one thing during His time on the Earth. He lived His life according to God’s Will. Every word He spoke, every act He performed was to follow God’s Will. That needs to be our primary aspiration.  We must desire to live our life following God’s Will.

I’m certain that there were things that Jesus said and did that He did not want to say or do.  But He did them because He always followed God's Will.  When the disciples woke Him up out of fear from the storm I’m sure from His rebuke that He was a little annoyed. He might have even considered going back to sleep and letting them ride out the storm in fear. But God does not give us a spirit of fear. And God did not want the disciples to be afraid. So Jesus calmed the storm and their fears with it. I do know that Jesus did not want to die on the Cross. You may want to argue, but his prayer at Gethsemane proves the point.

"Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [ not what I desire], but as You will and desire.”

Matthew 26:39-40

I had a “He’s gone!” moment recently. Last Friday at work in an attempt to joke around and be funny I made a disparaging comment about a co-worker. It wasn’t anything extreme or rude, but the comment was made behind her back. She didn’t hear it and would probably never know about it. It was gossip. And I knew that it was gossip. And God knew that it was gossip.

As I went to sit back down at my desk I knew I needed to apologize to her. But I was embarrassed and a little concerned about how she would react. So I procrastinated.  Before I knew it the day was over and she was gone.  I had lost my chance.  Or was I just saying to myself, "He's gone!"  Fast forward to Monday.  I hadn't thought but once or twice about apologizing and the day was close to over.  Then my wife called and told me about my daughter's nap time.  I hung up the phone still laughing.  And then it hit me.  I had done the same thing with God that my daughter had done with my wife.  I had acted like I was going to apologize, but I hadn't wanted to and was doing everything I could to convince myself not to.  So I waited until the opportunity was gone.  I knew what I had done.  And now I knew that God knew exactly what I had done.

Tuesday morning rolled around and I knew what I had to do.  I had to follow through on what God wanted me to do.  I had to apologize to her.  So I did.  It took a few minutes to work up the nerve, but I went over and apologized.  It was uneventful.  She was amused that I had was apologizing for something that she hadn't even overheard.  But it wasn't just about the apology.  It was about living my life following God Will.  

Think about the times in your life where you're trying to wait until "He's gone."  Is what God is asking you to do so unpleasant that you have to try and wait until God is gone before getting on with your life?  Because He is never gone.  He will always be there, waiting for you to follow His Will.  It may even be tougher than you think it will be, but following God's Will is much easier on your heart than trying to avoid it, and Him...

Gary Smalley Wisdom

I started reading over the notes that I took from the Gary Smalley conference earlier this month and thought it would be good to share.  These aren't exactly quotes.  There more my paraphrasing.  I hope you enjoy and are encouraged by them.

• Stress is the gap between what you are expecting to have and what you do have.


• Laughter melts away anger.


• Only God can fulfill you.  Don't expect to be fulfilled by anything or anyone other than God.  You will not and cannot be fulfilled by your spouse.


• Treat your spouse how you want your children to treat their spouses.


• Holding a grudge is like drinking poison with the hope that the other person will get sick.


• If you leave anger in your children's lives you are driving them away from you.  Daughters who aren't feeling loved from their Dad will get their love from someone else...


• Changing your spouse is impossible.  It's a waste of time.  And trying to change your spouse creates anger and an unsafe atmosphere.  It will weaken and ruin your marriage.


• You are the only person that you can change.


• God can turn any trial that you're going through into a victory!


• Every difficulty gives you more of God's Love and more of God's power!

A Peaceful Heart & A Bit of Encouragement

A Peaceful Heart

This past Saturday was one of the best days I can remember. It was our sixth wedding anniversary. My wife's parents came over to watch the kids so that we were able to attend a Gary Smalley conference at our church. Wonderful time. Learned much about ourselves and our relationship. After we got home and her parents left we started cooking for dinner with my parents. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with them and then we went out for the night while they stayed with the kids. We didn't do anything special. We went to the mall. We bought books for anniversary presents (Borders - 30% off) and went to a movie. 

All day we had done fun things and enjoyed ourselves. But that wasn't what made Saturday one of my best days. What made the day great was this: I realized that all day long I felt at peace. Even in the semi-stressful times of getting the kids up in the morning or running to the store for food or rushing home from the movie close to midnight, I was at peace. It was amazing.

Whenever we have peace is in our lives it becomes natural to follow God. As as easy as breathing. We have his presence. We hear his leading. The noise of the world fades away. We're in a groove. But it can be hard to stay in God's Peace. Satan knows that when we follow that groove it takes us farther from where he can reach us. So he starts to work his way back in as quickly as possible. He won't have the strength to steal that peace outright, but he is patient. He'll work and work until he finds a crack. And then he'll work that crack until it starts to break open.

Sunday morning came. On top of being tired from staying up much later than I normally do, we lost an hour due to daylight savings time. I was cranky. I had a crack. That morning the kids seemed to be listening less than normal. They weren't being disobedient. They just weren't paying attention and it was starting to get on my nerves. That crack was starting to open up. I definitely wasn't feeling very peaceful.

But then it hit me: Why was I allowing that peace be taken from me? I took a step back from myself and the situation. Should I be letting myself be cranky because I was tired? Should I be letting that crankiness out on my kids who, in all honesty, were just being kids? No, I shouldn't. I immediately stopped and prayed strength and grace. I wasn't going to let myself act on how I felt and get cranky with my family. I wasn't going to let Satan steal my peace! I won't say that I was immediately back to where I was the day before. But I was moving back in that direction.

A Bit of Encouragement 

I was still a little stressed after we got home from church. I started reading a old book while the kids played and my wife made lunch. The books we bought for me were a continuation of a couple of books that my wife had bought for my birthday and I was going to start by rereading the first two before reading the new books. I had left a bookmark in the second book and grabbed it to use as I read. It was a 3x5 card with a scripture written on it that my dad had given me. "Let peace rule. Col 3:15" And that peace began to come back. God is so good.

"And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as an umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called to live. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]." 

Colossians 3:15 Amplified

I love the way the Amplified Bible brings out certain phrases. Peace is Soul Harmony which comes from Christ. Looking back on Saturday that rings true. What do you feel inside when you hear two notes of music that are in disharmony? The feeling can range from brain freeze to the cringe of nails on a blackboard. It can feel like your entire body is out of whack. What about when you hear two notes that blend perfectly? There's no other way to describe it other than you feel right. Throughout the day Saturday my soul felt in harmony with God. My music was blending with God and it just felt right.

But even a Stradivarius can get off key. Humidity in the air or a change in temperature can affect the strings until the notes being played are not longer in harmony. What does the musician do? Tune in the strings and keep playing.

I don't remember when my dad gave me that 3x5 card. Or when I had started using it as a bookmark. But right at the moment when I needed a little encouragement, a tune-up, to keep me moving forward in an amazing time with God, there was that card. A little tweak. A reminder. And my soul started to regain it's harmony with God.

Why Kids Bounce (And We Don't)

Kids bounce.  I'll be watching my 1 year old toddle around, get a little unsteady and PLOP!  What happens as I keep watching?  No crying.  No whining.  He just gets back up and keeps going.  He bounces.  The same thing happened when my now three year old was a toddler.  She'd fall, get back up and keep going.  My wife and I made sure as we were raising her, and now him, that when our kids fell we didn't rush to them and fawn over them every time they had a bump or a bruise.  As much as it can hurt your heart not to rush to your children to make sure they haven't hurt themselves you must hold yourself back.  If they're really hurt they'll start screaming and then you can rush in and make them feel better.  Nine times out of ten I bet they just bounce and keep going.

I remember talking with some friends after church one Sunday and watching a little kid running around.  All of a sudden he fell and bumped something, knee or arm I can't remember.  He started to cry but then realized that his parents weren't anywhere around.  The faucets stopped.  He started looking for his parents.  After 5-10 seconds he saw them.  Immediately the tears started flowing as he ran to his mom.  She hugged him and kissed his hurt.  She did all she could to make him feel better.

Now imagine this happening to you.  You're walking along and you hit an ice patch.  PLOP!  What do you do next?  I'm pretty sure it's not as simple as getting back up and keeping on going.  In fact I wager that there's a little crying and whining going on with the rubbing of your backside.  You may even not say anything until you see someone you know who can commiserate with you and make you feel better.  As adults we just don't bounce as well as we used to because continued bouncing takes a toll.

My three year old bounces as well.  But her bouncing is a little different.  My wife recently called her a "little tigger."  Like any three year old she is full of endless energy.  Remember the saying "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line?"  It does not apply to three year olds.  And if it's been a hard day it can be a little much to handle.  I wrote about it a few months ago.  You have to let go and lose your impatience.  Otherwise it will be a trying experience. 

Adults just don't have the energy that kids have.  Let me rephrase that.  Adults don't have the same type of energy that kids have.  Kids have the energy of the Energizer Bunny.  They just keep going and going and going.  But as adults that energy turns into strength.  Adult can do the heavy lifting while kids can keep moving almost continuously, to bounce when something (like the floor) tries to get in their way.

So where am I going with all of this?  According to God's Word, the development our spiritual life is like the development of a child into an adult.  

"However, I could not talk to you as to men, but as to mere infants in Christ.  I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough for it."

1 Corinthians 3:1-2

There will be times as young Christians that bouncing is necesary.  A little unsteadiness will come along.  You'll be hanging out with friends and go ahead and have that cigarette you promised never to have again.  You're hanging a painting and the hammer hits a thumb, "$@#!"  You're late for work and someone cuts you off on the highway.  Out comes the bird.  PLOP!  You've fallen on your butt.  But then you bounce.  You ask God to forgive your sins.  He does.  You keep growing up.

Over time it gets easier.  You sin less and less.  You trust God more and more.  You grow into an adult Christian and you develop strength.  Strength that you'll need.  Because Satan will try to slip a little ice under you foot.  PLOP!  You've fallen on your butt.  But you don't bounce.  You sit there for a little while.  Then you get up and rub your backside a little.  Do a little whining and crying.  And then God forgives you.  You feel better.  And you keep growing.

You may not bounce anymore, but you still have the strength to keep going.

My Way or God's Way?

Still reading in Genesis.  And I got to thinking about Isaac and Ishamel.  Both sons of Abraham.  Both with descendants that number like the stars.  From Isaac we have Israel and the chosen people of God.  From Ishmael we have Islam, a religion devoted to destroying the chosen people of God.

It's easy to see the root of the division between the two groups of people.  Ishamel was bitter at having been sent away.  And it's easy to see how that bitterness turned him against Isaac and his descendants.  But I don't think that his bitterness is where it all started.

God had laid out his plan to Abraham and Sarah.  They would have a son.  In God's time, despite their age, despite all the appearances of Sarah being barren, they would have a son.  But Sarah decided that she couldn't wait.  Abraham needed a son.  She decided that she would come up with her own plan.  Abraham would marry her maid, Hagar, and Abraham's son would come from that marriage.  Abraham married Hagar.  Hagar got pregnant.  Hagar had a son.  And Sarah had a problem.

When God tells us part of the plan that he has for our life, why do we try to make it come to pass on our own?  Do we honestly think that we know better than God?  Can we not trust God enough to let him bring that plan along in the timing that he sees as best.  In short... No.  We get impatient.  We want God's plan now.  And when we don't see that plan moving quickly enough we decide to move it along ourselves.  And we have a problem.

When I graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in '98 I decided to move back to Indianapolis.  I moved back in with my parents and volunteered as the Youth Pastor at a brand new church.  But for three years I felt like I was supposed to move to St Louis.  I had a good job, a good group of friends, and was attending a good church.  But something didn't feel right.  So I moved.

In St Louis I was rehired at my same job.  I started attending a great church.  I made new friends.  Life went on.  It didn't seem much different than what I had in Indianapolis.  But did you notice I said great church and not good church?  I'm not trying to knock the church I attended in Indy.  It was a good church.  But the teaching at my church in St Louis was worth the move.  And my life continued to grow in ways I cannot see happening if I had stayed in Indy.  I've gone on mission trips that changed my life.  I've advanced in work.  I met the woman God planned for me for all my life.  None of these things could have happened in Indy.

It was a big decision.  I packed up and moved to a different city because God wanted me in St Louis.  I didn't have a ministry or a new job waiting for me.  I was moving because God wanted me to.  But the timing was everything.  I stayed in Indy for three years.  And I had thought about moving to St Louis after Rhema.  But God's plan didn't have me moving until 2001.  And the timing made all the difference.  Had I moved to St Louis in 1998, I would have had to crash at my brother's house, and would have felt obligated to move out as quickly as I could.  I didn't have a job line up so I would have had to find something quickly in order to find a place to live.  It would have been a struggle that I didn't need.  But taking the time in Indy for my life to get prepared my transition to St Louis was smooth and easy.  Exactly how God wanted it to be.

We can never know how things "would have been."  Every choice that we make has an impact on our future.  Each decision you make, however small can profoundly impact the plan that God has for your life.  But trusting God's plan makes the "would have been" seem much less like the greener side of the fence.   

The Great Unknown

So I read Genesis 19 this morning.  The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Why was Lot so hesitant to leave?

Here's a short paraphrase:  The angels told him to leave the city but he lingered.  The angels took him and his family outside the city and told him to escape to the mountains.  He said "The mountains are too far.  How about Zoar?"  They said OK and he took his family to Zoar.  And after Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed he took his family to the mountains.  Was Sodom that nice of a place for Lot that he was that hesitant to leave?  Or is it just hard to leave what he knew, however bad a situation, and head off into the unknown?

I don't know whether you can consider Lot a man of God.  He was a good enough man to take two strangers into his home to keep them safe when they entered Sodom.  Then when a mob demand he turn out the two men so that they could "get to know them" he refused.  He even offered up his daughters to the mob instead of the two men(that's a whole other issue I don't think I want to get into).  Yet when given direct instruction that would save his life and the lives of his family he hesitated.

What is your reaction when God speaks in your life? How hesitant are you to leave what you know and move into what God is telling you to do?  Is your faith so invested in God that as soon as he tells you to do something you move to action?  Or do you hem and haw, waiting and praying, making sure that it's really God that you're listening to.  Do you really need to verify that it is God speaking to you or are you hesitating because the course God has laid out for you is not where you want to go?

That's the key.  It all depends upon whether you want to take the actions God has told you to take.  Lot didn't want to leave Sodom.  Yes it was a city of great sin.  Yes it was going to be destroyed in a rain of fire.  But it was what he knew.  He didn't know the mountains.  In the mountains he didn't know where he would live.  He didn't know how he would provide for his family.  It was unknown.  And the unknown is frightening.


But that's why God directs us to the unknown.  It takes faith.  We show our love and trust in Him by leaving what we know and following His direction.  Yes we can choose to not follow that guidance.  We can choose to stay.  But it's not like He will lead us into a trap.  He's taking you to a place where you will grow closer to Him.  Where your faith will increase.  It may be a struggle, difficult.  But with faith all things are possible.


Besides, I'm pretty sure life will be more of struggle by choosing to stay.  Because by choosing to stay you're choosing to leave God's perfect will for your life.

Amplify Your Belief

I love the Amplified Bible.  Friends at a bible study would make fun of me because when it was my turn to read it would take twice as long, but I love that the translators went to the trouble to make absolutely sure you knew what the writers were trying to say.  In reading this morning a couple of words stuck out to me.

"And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars--if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.  And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."

Genesis  15:5-6 (Amplified Bible) 

Abram's belief in God's Word was so much more than just being persuaded of the truth of a statement.  He trusted in that truth and made decisions based upon it.  He relied upon God standing behind those words and he took actions.  And he remained steadfast to that truth in the face of waiting years from God's promise to come to pass.  Abrams belief wasn't a mental click.   His life lived out his belief because he trusted in, relied on, and remained steadfast to God and His promise.

And this lead to Abram's righteousness with God.  What does right standing mean?  Think of the end of the movie "US Marshals."  Marshal Gerard asks Sheridan how it feels to be exonerated and he replies, "Righteous!"  He's been on the run and outside of the law.  He could never relax and be comfortable.  The next person to turn the corner could be someone arresting him.  But now he was righteous.  He was in right standing with the law.  And he was at peace.  He could smile, relax, and enjoy his life.

Our right standing with God gives us peace.  Sin puts us on the run.  Sin requires punishment and that punishment is death.  So we try to run from punishment and end up going nowhere.  But why run?  God has said that His Son took the punishment for us.  Christ died for the sins that we commit.  All we have to do is believe what God told us to be true.  And then trust, rely on and remain steadfast to that truth.  And you'll be in right standing with God.

Jump Start

Genesis 9-10

Have you ever thought about why God put the rainbow in the sky as a reminder of his covenant?  I remember the Sunday School stories and being told it was to remind us of God's promise to never flood the earth again.  But that's not what God said it was for.

"And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."

Genesis 9:14 - 15

God put the rainbow there to remind Himself of His promise!  He knew that we would again become wicked and His heart would again become grieved.  He would again want to flood the earth.  But He loved us so much to make a vow that He would not break with a constant reminder to Himself of that vow.  And I'm certain it's constant.  

Somewhere on the planet Earth the rain has just finished and the sun is shining through the mist.  Somewhere a beautiful rainbow is stretching across the sky.  Somewhere, God is reminding Himself of His Love for us!

Momentum

Most people think of momentum and they think of keeping in motion.  If you're riding you bike and you stop pedaling you'll still be moving.  But you will slow down.  If you don't start pedaling again you'll come to a stop.  And once you've stopped you're going to experience a whole new type of momentum.  The tendency of an object to stay at rest.  From experience, it's easier to start pedaling again if your bike is still moving than if you've come to a stop.

I bring this up because the momentum of my blog has definitely been the tendency to stay at rest.  I got distracted and got away from writing and expressing myself.  With two toddlers at home it can be easy to get distracted.  And the longer I stayed in my lack of motion the harder it was to get moving again.  I needed a push...

Enter Finding True Balance  Nothing like your wife starting her own blog to give a push :-)

So how does this apply to my spiritual life?  I am trying to keep that the focus of this blog, right?  Well, how often have you woken up for the day and said to yourself "I'm going to skip reading the Bible today and get an extra 20-30 minutes of sleep."  Then you get up the next day and say the same thing.  And the next day... and the next day...  Let's just say that my bible ready has been more inconsistent than my blog writing.  

So where do I go from here?  It's time to make a commitment.  A jumpstart in two parts.  For the next two weeks I'm going to read my bible every morning and then write a post on what I read that morning.  Depending upon the time I have left before I leave for work I may have to just say "I read Genesis Chapter 7-8.  Tell you about it later."  But I hope to have a little more than that each day.  Hopefully after those two weeks I'll be able to keep pedaling.  So until tomorrow.

Remembering A Man of God

I went to a funeral last night.  He was a Man of God.  The father of my friend.  The friend of my father.  My friend.  And he was fearless.

Last night I heard story after story of a man who was not afraid to do anything God asked him to do.  He wanted to do everything he could to take as many people to heaven with him.  From quieting a restaurant with a heartfelt prayer.  To striking up a conversation while standing at the urinal.  To finish interviewing for a job and asking the interviewer, "How's your relationship with the Lord?"  He was fearless.

I want to live a fearless life.  I don't want to make decisions based upon how I think people will perceive my actions.  Whether they will look at me with scorn.  Whether they will think of me as foolish.  I don't want to live my life fearful of man.  I want to live my life concerned only with God's thoughts of me.  Whether I am obeying him with no concern for the foolish thoughts of man.

When the judgment day comes and we each stand before our Father God, I want to hear the words "Well done!"  I know that's what Jack will hear...

"...and He who wins souls is wise."

Proverbs 11:30

The Right Way to Get Promoted

There are few people who are satisfied with the job that they have and don't want to be promoted.  Most of us want to keep moving to the next level.  To take on more responsibility and make more money.  And we'll do our utmost to make sure that any time there's a new position open, everyone in the company from the CEO to the janitor know that WE are the best person for the promotion.  But if a large portion of time on your job is spent on self-promotion, you may not be as ready for that next step as you think you are... 

After college I was living in Tulsa and working as a shuttle bus driver at Fine Airport Parking.  It actually was a much better job than it sounds.  Most of the employees were attending or had attended the ministry training school I was attending.  The pay was minimum wage plus tips, and you usually got around $40 in tips a shift.  You could work almost as much overtime as you could handle.  After a year at the job one of the shift leaders was moving so his job was open.  Shift leaders had a little more pay and responsibility and I wanted the job.  So I told my boss.  My boss knew I had the potential to be a good shift leader.  But he also wasn't sure if I was ready to be a shift leader.  So he took a risk while taking steps to minimize the damage.  He promoted me to shift leader but only for a couple of shifts.  Then he split up the other shifts between other "part-time" shift leaders.

"And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, when thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee comes, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. 
For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted."

Luke 14:7-11

I'd like to say that I lived up to my potential.  That every shift ran like a well-oiled machine and every person I was leading respected me and the job I was doing.  Nope...  I wasn't a good shift leader.  I knew the job, but I didn't know people.  I was full of pride.  I could never be wrong.  I couldn't take correction from anyone that wasn't "my equal," a shift leader.  I wasn't ready to be promoted.  Lucky for me I didn't stay at the parking lot long enough to be humbled.  I was only there for another year before I moved back to Indy.

You may think it is in your best interest to promote yourself at work.  Otherwise how will your bosses know that you want something more out of your career?  But while you may excel at the work you are currently doing you likely have no idea how well you perform at the next level.  It would be something completely different.  You don't know how your co-workers will react, especially if you become their boss.  And will the increase in pay be worth the extra stress and time spent at work?

Are your truly ready for a promotion?  You are not the best person to evaluate whether you are ready to be promoted.  Your boss is.  Think about it if God was your boss.  Do you think that God would promote you to a position that you wouldn't be able to handle?  A good boss will have the same consideration.  They will want you to succeed.  A promotion when you're not ready will be more harmful to your career than helpful.

Just be patient.  Know that God will take care of your career.  It's easy to say, but a difficult thing to accept.  But by waiting on God's timing you know that you will be in the best position to succeed.  Even if that position is the one that you're in right now.

Small Decisions

"So since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm ourselves with the same thought and purpose, patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God.  For whoever has suffered in the flesh, having the mind of Christ, is done with intentional sin, has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God.  So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by his human appetites and desires, but he lives for what God wills."
1 Peter 4:1-2

I know I have made choices that don't please God.  And why do I do that?  Because it pleases my flesh.  It make me feel good.  Do I need to stop for coffee and doughnuts on my way to work?  No.  I need to lose weight.  But the doughnuts taste so good.  If I don't get up early to study God's Word before work I can get 30-45 extra minutes of sleep.  Saying the sarcastic comment that's on the tip of my tongue will sure make me feel good.  But will it help my Christian witness with my unsaved co-worker?  No matter how great or small the choice we come to a point where we have to decide between our will and God's will, and your flesh battles against what God is asking you to do.

It always seems easier in the big questions.  When I finished my degree I could have started the job hunt, but I felt like God was calling me to got to Rhema Bible Training Center.  So I moved to Tulsa and lived as a poor student for a couple more years rather than finding a job and "getting started with my life."  It was hard, but I know that I pleased God with that decision.  It's the daily small decisions that I constantly find myself choosing to please my flesh instead of pleasing God.

Getting up early to study God's Word is the perfect example.  I already get up early for work.  During the week I'm rarely in bed at 5:00 AM.  The sleep I lose by getting up 30 minutes early is valuable.  But how valuable?  Is it worth failing to please God?  To be honest, I've been valuing sleep more than pleasing God.  I've used the argument that I could study later in the day, at work, or before bed.  But that never happens.  It's too easy to get distracted at work.  And when I get home I need to spend time with family.  Then it's time to eat.  Then I need to relax with my wife.  Then it's time for bed.  At some point I must sacrifice.  And I won't sacrifice necessary time with my wife and kids.  But I will sacrifice 30 minutes of  sleep because I want to please God.  But that is just one of the many small choices.  I need to start making more decision like getting out of bed early this morning.

So today I start with a question for myself, "Will you please yourself or please God?"  And today I make this commitment and confession.  "I will patiently suffer rather than fail to please God.  I will stop pleasing myself.  I will please God." 

Light vs. Darkeness

Most of us have probably heard our pastor talk about how when light and darkness meet, light always wins.  You’ll never go into a dark room, light a match and have the light of that small flame overwhelmed by the darkness of the room.  The natural transition from this is that the Light of God’s Word can never be overwhelmed by the darkness of the World.  Then how can a Christian hear God’s direction for their life and not understand it?  Or why can a non-Christian hear the Gospel and not recognize the truth of it?

What happens when you’re in a dark room and someone turns on the lights?  You shut your eyes because the light hurts.  You keep opening and closing your eyes until they get used to the light.  Eventually you can keep them open.  How long that takes depends upon how sensitive your eyes are to light and how bright the light is.  God’s light affects us the same way.  It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not.   It can hurt when God’s light shines on our lives.

For the Christian it depends upon how sensitive you are.  Christians are not immune from sin.  We all have sin in our lives.  And when God speaks to us about that sin we tend to immediately “shut our eyes” because it hurts.  It depends upon the maturity of the Christian as to how long it will take for them peek out of one eye, then both and eventually keep them open.  It’s painful.  You want to get rid of the sin in your life in order to get closer to God.  And just when you’ve taken care of one area of sin he lets you know about something else you need to take care of.  And when you take care of that area of sin He tells you about another area of sin, or maybe an old area that you’ve started to struggle with again.  What can you do?  Open your eyes quickly.  Keep them open.  The sooner you open your eyes and the more you keep your eyes open the more you get used to being in the light.  You have to be ready to look at the sin in your life that God is revealing to you.  And you have to be ready to get rid of it.  You have to learn to grow up.

We started giving my three year old showers last month.  And she liked them.  If you asked her if she liked showers she told you that she cries at first, but she liked them.  Why did she cry at first?  We washed her hair and she got wet.  Then she was cold while we washed the rest of her.  She didn’t like to be cold so she cried.  We rinsed her off and she stopped crying.  She wasn’t cold anymore.  How often as Christians do we act like that?  We have to be careful about getting too comfortable with our Christianity.  Every once in a while God is going to stop the rinse and start scrubbing again.  We’re going to get cold and some of us will cry.  Then once God’s done with the soap he’ll rinse us off and we start to get comfortable again.

When you’re talking about non-Christians a lot of it depends upon how bright the light is.  If someone is in a pitch black room and you shine a floodlight in their eyes it doesn’t matter how long you wait.  They’re going to keep their eyes shut until you turn the light off.  But lighting a match on the other side of a cluttered room is not going to give them enough light to navigate by.  You have to be able to cater your method of communication to the person.  Communication depends not just upon you speaking clearly, but the other person being able to understand you.  It may be nice that you know sign language, but that doesn’t help you talk to someone who is blind.  And shouting doesn’t help a person who doesn’t speak English to understand you.

When my brother was in high school he didn’t like going to church.  We had started to attend a spirit-filled church and it made him uncomfortable.  He’d go every once in a while to make my parents happy.  Once after the service he was ambushed by two of the “evangelists” in the church.  It wasn’t pretty.  Let’s just say his eyes were shut tight against a couple of floodlights.  After that experience he told my parents that he was never going back to that church.  And I didn’t blame him in the least.  He was already uncomfortable going to that church before a couple of overbearing fools made him feel even more so.  When Christ sent his disciples out in Matthew 10 he told them to be “... wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”  Those two were neither.  They weren’t wise enough to recognize his discomfort and they were about as harmless as a couple of sledgehammers.

Think back about the times you’ve shared the Gospel with others.  How many times have you shined a floodlight in someone’s eyes?  And then when you realize it you start to use matches and then they can’t see past the clutter in their life.  How can we know how much light to use?  We can’t.  Only God does.  He knows how much light to use with us to get us to open our eyes to see the sin in our lives.  He knows how much light to use to bring someone to trust and believe in Him for the first time.  And He has put the flashlight in our hands.  

Witnessing can be one of the scariest things that we are called to do as a Christian.  Just as with everything else it either comes naturally or not.  If not, every word you speak as you share your faith can be excruciating.  And when you have to consider how your words will be received it makes you even more self-conscious.  But, as with everything else in our lives we have to trust Him and let Him lead us.  He won't lead you wrong.  And even when you think you've made a fool, just know that God will use your words and the love that you showed in ways you can't know.  Just trust Him.  Because whether you ended up using the match or the floodlight, you're still driving away darkness.