Lead us, Deliver Us

     God is big enough.  He can handle it. We don't need to lie to him about our problems.  He already knows them.  He is not shocked or upset because of our failures or struggles.  He doesn't look down in dismay when we tell him about the sins that we just can't seem to get out of our lives.  Even though we hide them from everyone in the world, God knows and understands the problems even better than we do ourselves.  These is no deep, dark secret that he doesn't already know.
     God is strong enough.  He doesn't love us only when we keep his commandments.  He is there to save us because he knows we can't fight such huge opponents on our own.  The very thing that we believe is coming between us and God is the thing that He is ready to destroy for us.  There is no sin that he cannot remove from our lives.  Sometimes we ask him to take it away, but we keep reaching out and taking it back.

     How do we overcome a problem that we know God wants out of our lives, but that seems to be un-fightable?

First we have to trust that God CAN remove it.  Begin with a moment in time where we approach God in prayer and say, "Lord,  I admit that there is this sinful part of my life and I ask you to forgive me for participating in it."

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9

At this immediate moment that sin is forgiven.  God promises it.  Do we immediately loose our desire to do it again?  Not always.  Especially if we have accepted it into our lives many times. We must continue to go to fight, but not the way we did in the past.  Every time the battle comes back, we must not gather our strength to overcome it, but immediately take it to our champion of spiritual battles and turn it over to him.  Jesus fought temptation with prayer and scripture.  That is our way as well.  Victory over sinful things is a definite thing when God is doing the fighting on our behalf.  " Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:11-12

The most important struggle against sin takes place in our hearts and minds.  Allowing ourselves to fantasize about sinning is the best way to return to sin and give in to temptation.  Once we have agreed with God that this must be removed from our lives,  the enemy returns to the spiritual battle of temptation.  We fight it with immediate prayer and a call to our God to take up the battle in our minds.  Don't wait to pray.  Do it immediately when temptation strikes.  Step aside, close your eyes and say, "God the temptation is here, the battle is yours and I trust you right now."

We must also make changes in our lives to keep that sin from approaching us.  If we have struggle with abusing substances, we must remove them from our houses and ask others to keep us away from them.  If we struggle with a relationship that is inappropriate, we must remove those people from our interaction and stop allowing ourselves to "enjoy" the sin  in our minds.  If we have issues with inappropriate internet pictures and temptations, we must move our computers and only use them in public areas with others in the room.

God alone defeats sin.  We fight it successfully only with His strength.  We also fight it with trusted believers who are also calling on God's power in our behalf.   Stop trying to fight on your own.  Ask God to take over and destroy your enemy of sin.  It will be a constant battle, but will get easier as we develop the response of going to God immediately on a regular basis.

When Jesus prayed to God the Father, he said, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"  He knew that constant spiritual war raging in the hearts and minds of those on earth and that the power of God can subdue it.  Pray and Surrender to God's Power.  You will be overjoyed at the change in your life.



   

Nanny 911 and the Children of God

     So many times, I have learned about God in a new way by observing the lives of children in relation to their parents.  James Dobson related a story of taking his child to get their booster shots and how the child begged him to be removed from the painful situation, but as a father he knew it needed to be done.  Recently, one of my daughters related her viewing of the show "Nanny 911" where parents bring in a child behavior specialist (the nanny) to help "fix" a bad family situation.  She said the Nanny usually gave the parents advice on how to set rules and boundaries for their children to help them grow into responsible adults.  My daughter pointed out to us her understanding of the things her mother and I had done to give her guidance and that she now can see a little clearer the reasons. 
     I find myself more and more relating to the children in these stories and even more relating to my daughter's experience of coming to an understanding of the reasons that God takes us through painful times.  I have often spoken to people who acknowledge God and like an infant, they stubbornly remain angry with God for something they had to go through or are going through now.  The younger you are, the less you see that your life is continually molding you and strengthening you.  If you always avoid the pain, you do not see the benefits of God's path.  You do not develop the quality of trust in God which brings peace to your life.  You do not develop the coping strategies or the ability to see and avoid future trouble.  You are stuck in fear with no guidance out the other side. 
     God have given us simple ways to go through troubled times, but sometimes we do not believe it can be that simple.  Or sometimes we refuse to let go of our own plans and turn every moment and every pain and every fear over to God.  Trusting God is NOT logical in the setting of our life.   But at some point you will face something that defies the ability to reason your way out.  You will be stuck and at that point, you must ask God to do something supernatural.   You must ask him to take control of everything, but most importantly to take control of YOU.  You must cry out to God and ask him to step into the situation whether it is logical or not and just be God.  If he wasn't someone who could do that, then He is not who he promises to be and not the one to whom I have trusted my life and soul to.
     There have been times in my life, many that most people do not know about, but times when I have bowed down to the floor, or I have raised my hands in the air and verbally asked God to take over and bring all those involved into his presence where evil and confusion can not exist.   I have asked him to control the spiritual realm around me which is where most of our pain begins.

"12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12

We struggle with things we do not understand, but we must ask God to struggle with them, because He does understand them and overpowers them easily. We must ask him to do so continually. He is God and we are not. In our submission He takes over and becomes our strength and it is a wonderful thing to experience. The confusion in your life subsides. The temptations that run rampant become less and less visible to your eyes which are filled with the blinding light of God's peace. We start to learn that things are a lot easier when we do not act as children do and try to take control of that which we are not yet ready to handle. If we are going to be God's children, then let's run to him crying with our hurts and fears. Let's trust that he truly has the answers and the ability to fight off the things in this world that scare us. Then the boundaries and rules God has outlined for us become a guiding rope along the path of peace.

The More Excellent Way

Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.  And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.  All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?  All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?  But earnestly desire the greater gifts.

And I show you a still more excellent way.   1 Corinthians 12:27-31

.   This is right before the Bible chapter often called the "love chapter." It sets the context for the verses many of us are familiar with. The setting or context as you can read above is........ the church of Jesus Christ.

It says that we are individuals, but are part of a body. God gave us functions so that we could work together like body parts work together. We have to be individuals, different from each other. We are not all preachers, not all teachers, not all prayer warriors, we are gifted for specific tasks. We have these gifts, but we should also aspire to the greater gifts that God has given us. These are the things that join our body parts together and connect us in order to properly move and serve. What is the "more excellent way" that He will show us?

Lets keep reading ..

Here is my translation of 1 Corinthians 13

If I am gifted to be a great preacher, but do not have love, I am just a lot of noise. If I have the gift of great insight and knowledge; and if I have strong faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my money, sacrifice my time, and give my life over, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. The gifts I have, even if they are used, cannot help without love among the members of the body. How do I act in love so that all of God's gifted parts create a functioning body. Here are some rules about the love that connects us as a body.  We are to aspire to live out this greatest of gifts.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not offended, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails;

Our knowledge and faith will eventually not be needed. Our gifts of preaching and teaching will eventually cease in the light of God's glory. For we know in part and we prophesy in part right now; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. They are gifts God has given us to help us learn the greater gifts. They are teaching tools like you would give to a child. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. Then we will realize what was most important and what was only temporary. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but even faith and hope will be fulfilled in the presence of God along with all of the ministry and gifts we worry over today, but the greatest will remain forever.  The greatest of these is love.

Open Heart Surgery

No, I am not in a medical crisis.

I am not in a crisis at all.  I am in awe of the endlessness of God.

If you are a Christian who is seeking to know God deeper every day, I have reached a couple of points of discovery I want to share.  First of all, there is no end to "knowing God."  I don't know if there is an end to the things God will allow us to "know about" Him.  Both searches I am sure will last a lifetime and possibly eternity.
      The word "knowing" can mean different things.
I can know facts.  I can correctly recall and use truths about things and people and even God.
I can also know people.  That doesn't mean I know everything about them, but that I have met them and can, because of experience of being with them,  guess what their thought and actions will most likely be in given circumstances.  I can even know God that way up to a point.
     But I have noticed that my best friends are not only those people that I know a lot about or even know  personally enough to predict their actions and thoughts,  but they are the ones whom I trust to let know about me.  I have revealed to them the contents of my heart and have allowed them to hold my heart in their hands knowing they will do everything to protect it.  These are people whom I have connected deeply with.... my family, my wife, and longtime friends.
     This is also God.    Recently I experienced a moment that revealed to me that there are parts of my soul that I have neglected to give God permitted access to.  Not on purpose, but I had not said, "God this vulnerable part of me is yours to use."  I reached this understanding after a period of time where God was challenging me to speak to him about things that I had no control over anyway.   In a way, God was showing me that "Hey, you can't do anything about this, and you still haven't asked me to get involved."  When I did, I was also challenged to discipline myself and ask myself to come beside God and Bless Him.  To do and say something to God that was from me personally.  I trusted Him with my emotions and they were richly increased in depth.  I trusted Him with my family, and our relationships became richer.  It was as if there had been a blockage in the flow of His love in the deepest parts of my heart.  I am still seeking to continue this deeper relationship and allow him to unblock parts of my heart and in some ways, I was responsible for removing the blockage that I had put in place.
     I have heard several people say that after they heal from open heart surgery, they feel better than they have for decades.  I believe I am having the same experience spiritually.
Trust God with the deepest part of who you are.  He will infuse your spirit with His love and closeness like never before.

A Song in My Head

         I watched a biography a while back on comedian Jim Carrey.  He had a time in his career where he was the #1 comedian and highest paid actor in the world.  He was invited to put his hands and feet in the cement at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood alongside the legends of entertainment.
I found it interested what he wrote next to his prints.  "Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily . . . "   The three dots at the end were actually the fingerprints of his children who were there that day.  Without actually saying it, he lead the reader to finish the well-known song in their minds with the words  "Life is But a Dream."   Very creative.
        In what seems like a totally unrelated story, I was reading in Psalm 22 today.  It caused me to wonder if Jesus had done the very same thing at a crucial moment of his life when the focus of the world was on Him.  Psalm 22 begins with "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?"  Most of us know these words as the words Jesus spoke while on the cross in suffering and anguish.  It is often seen as a time when Jesus' humanity is most visible.  Some speak of it as the moment that God turned his face away from Jesus because he was covered with the sins of all mankind for all times.  I am not attempting to speak to any of these points, and realize that like so many times, God may; be offering a duality of impact by the stating of these words at this time by Jesus.  As you read the rest of this Psalm or song as it actually was, remember that a Jewish person, upon hearing these words may have been reminded of this Psalm written and passed down in the synagogue and families for years since the time of King David.  If they were familiar with it, the remaining words of the song they would be confronted with the prophecy stated in the song that was being fulfilled right before their very eyes as Jesus completed his mission here on the earth.


My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

What an amazing prophetic song written long before it was fulfilled.  I believe Jesus was bringing to mind this Psalm to say as He did in the synagogue about the scroll of Isaiah... "Today this is fulfilled...."

     

When Finished, Press Button to Submit

     My wife jokes often about the scriptures which tell husbands and wives to "submit" to one another.  Hopefully I have never given her reason to fear that I would trample her individuality and vice-versa.  I had a good laugh, though when she completed an online project and needed to press a "submit" button to send it off to its destination.  The button wasn't working and she kept repeating "I can't submit, I can't submit!"  I don't exactly remember the comment I made at that point, but I remember regretting it.  It was all in fun, but submitting to those who we are called to submit to is sometimes difficult.  I wish it were as easy as pressing a button.
     God calls us to submit to Him and also to those he has placed in authority over us.  Do we need to submit to those people even if we know a better way?  If they are not asking us to go against God, then I would say "yes."  But that doesn't make sense.  Why would we do something one way when we see the value of doing it another way?  Because sometimes it is not about what we are doing, but it is about whether we are honoring the authority of God.
     There are people in our lives that God has given authority over us.  Parents are a good example.  In the arena of family, parents have the authority until you establish your own household and God gives you authority.  That means God has established you as the leader of the house and will hold you responsible for what happens with those that are under your authority.  Do we believe that God puts families together?  Do we believe that has the power to decide who is to be where in order to make all things happen for the greatest good?  Scripture tells us that He does that when we call on Him to be the leader of our lives. (Romans 8:28)  What happens if we decide not to follow those that God has placed in authority over us?  It usually means that things do not continue on the path that God has set for the greatest good.  Conflict arises, people find themselves dealing with more than they can juggle.  They find themselves trying to make decisions that affect other things that they could not see coming.  They find themselves trying to take on God's role.  It's impossible and ends in failure, heartbreak, and hopefully a return to God by submitting once again to His plan.
     Is the person God has placed in authority over you always right?  Of course not.  But if they are striving to follow God, He will lead them in His way.  It is not about agreeing or disagreeing, it is about placing your trust in God over the trust in the person in authority.
      There are times NOT to follow those in authority.  If they are asking you to go against the teachings of God,  if they are themselves breaking God's commandment in what they are asking you to do, and some other reason which could be specific to the arena of authority. God gave us specific rules to follow to keep us safe and to help us live for Him.  He also gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Thirdly he gave us intelligence and understanding to make good decisions.  Many times we use this third thing in place of one of the first two.  We have learned in today's world to live like the world and make decisions using our experience and knowledge first.  We are comfortable with it because if we are not in prayer and seeking God on a constant basis, we tend to use our intelligence and experience as the basis for our actions.  It needs to NOT come before our dependence upon God's power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There is no intelligence the goes beyond God's.   There is no experience that supercedes His.  Every time we decide not to seek God's answer first, we end up walking through this broken world without a map.

Matthew 6: 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first the kingdom of God[q] and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Don't replace your dependence upon God with your desire to take care of these things for yourself. Submit to God and to those that he has placed in your life to do the providing for you. Don't blindly give away your security to anyone, but know that God has provided security in some he has placed in authority over you. Sometimes it's hard to press the button to submit and give others control, but sometimes it is exactly what God has called us to do as an act of faith in Him.

To God Be the Glory .... eventually.

I am reading through the books of prophets in the old testament as I complete a six-year journey through the Bible. I finished the book of Ezekiel and am left with an impression that is in a way comforting and not comforting. Most of the book seemed to be Ezekiel having to share God's words to a rebellious and disobedient nation. Needless to say, what he shares for most of the book is God telling them why He has decided to remove His blessings and protection from them and allow others to take over their land and families. They have decided to worship other gods at altars built for that purpose. They have taken things into their own hands and not sought God as "God." I read nearly 40 chapters and wondered what is God going to do with this whole situation.

Then, at the very end of chapter 39, God tells Ezekiel to give the following message...."25 “Therefore

this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob[a] and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations.28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Then God gives a detailed account of how he is going to restore the fortunes and lives of the people and have them build a new temple. He gives the dimensions of the temple down to the smallest measurement and explains how they are to use the temple to worship Him. He explains the land that he will give them to live on and how it is to be divided and used. He says the city shall be 18,000 cubits around and the name of the city from that day shall be "The Lord is there."

The people of Israel were experiencing prosperity and began to believe that they were in control of their good fortune. God removed his blessings and protection because they refused to be able to see Him anymore at the foundation of their lives. They experienced horrible events because they were left to the control of the fallen world and their own devices. Then God decided to restore their nation. First He says that He is restoring it so that the other nations will see His glory among them. They will see that when the people of Israel turned from God, they were captured by their enemies. When God restores them, the nations will see the people of Israel set God apart as "God." giving Him honor and glory. By that the world will know God.

I am sure that there are groups of God's people today that, because of their own decisions not to place God in the place of control, are not experiencing His blessings and protection. It is frustrating to see them cling to their own personal plans, even though they want to be followers of God. I am sure there were those among the Israelite group that encouraged the group to return to God, but to no avail. God will take whatever action necessary to bring His people back to Him. We belong to him and He will not give up on us. I pray that when we find ourselves in that situation, we humbly return to God in submission and allow Him to be glorified in our future. I pray that we would give up our own plans and seek His. I would pray that we would call out to God for His compassion that we know to be true and for his love and power. I pray that we would ask Him to not hide His face from us and pour out His spirit upon us.

Words that Change the Universe

     When God spoke his intentions, the world came into existence.  Why?   What is it about God's speaking that alters our reality?   When God says, "Let there be light, there is light."   I remember a discussion at the dinner table when I was a boy and my Dad making the comment that if God wanted to see a rabbit, He could say "Rabbit" and one would appear.  Why are God's words have such a different effect on the universe than other words spoken by others?

     When I speak, people may or may not listen.  In order to move physical objects, I cannot command them to act.   People are so excited today about voice commands on electronics where they can tell their phone, car, television or other objects to do something and they do it because of their programming.  They have a different result however if they tell a storm to be still. Why is it different with God?  

      When I speak, I am creating sound waves that travel through air and cause other things to vibrate like my wife's eardrums.  She hears and interprets the sounds as words and we interact that way.  Is that what happened when God spoke to create the world?  Did God send a message from one place to another within the universe?

      I think the answer lies in the word authority.  The base of that word is the word author.  Why does the world change when God speaks?  Because he is the author.  He is not a character in the story giving dialogue, but because He is the author, His words write the story.   Not the story in a book or drama, but the story of reality... his creation.   In the beginning, God created the setting of the story.... His-Story.  He spoke things into existence because He created existence.   I have heard people question God's ability to affect their lives in certain ways and I have to laugh.  God IS life.  He created the very fabric of that which we question.   How does God know and see and understand everything?  Because, it came from His consciousness and His words.  

      The understanding of this is too complex for a mere character in the story like me to understand, but I know that I have the ability to interact with other characters, take action myself, and free will to do so given by the author himself.  If I come across a situation, however, where I don't know where the story goes from here, or a situation where it seems the plot has become hopelessly tangled or stopped, I would be foolish to try to rewrite the story myself.  Better to speak to the author, acknowledge His authority, and humble myself to receive the next page.

     In order to do this, we must know the author personally.  How do characters get to know the author?  First of all because we recognize that we are in His story.  The proof is around us in every aspect of our lives.  Second of all, he gave us a little bit of help by send his so-powerful words to us to use for our own understanding of his authorship.  The book is called the Bible.  It tells about God, history, and even gives us a hint at the end of the story and the future words that He will speak to bring it all to a great conclusion in an eternal joining of the characters with the Author himself.     Have a meet and greet with the author every day in prayer.   Read the Bible to know the true story.   What an amazing story it is.

I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

     My wife calls me a planner.  I am actually very good at planning and figuring out the process for doing things.  I love problem solving.  Because I get a kick out of finding solutions, I actually get a bigger rush out of last minute, fly by the seat of my pants activities because it forces me to use my problem solving abilities at a high level of speed.  It's like the reality shows on TV where they take the best car restorers and tell them they only have 3 days to turn a piece of junk into a show-car.  It is fun and pushes you to the next level.
That being said, this trait of mine also means I love to take control of an operation myself and make my own decisions to complete the entire process.  I do love people and love working with people, but I have to make sometimes sure I allow others to use their skills as well when I get caught up in the moment.
      In the life of a church with so many different activities going on, I get the opportunity to do a lot of different things simultaneously.  It is a challenge that I really enjoy.  I may start the day deep in study about theological issues that present themselves to our Bible study leaders and suddenly stop and make an Easter Party poster with markers and glue.  I may be rewriting a musical arrangement for our choir to include some high school instrumentalists and then help the custodian change a light-bulb high up in a closet.  I could be in the midst of reprogramming the modem for our internet network and be asked to drive a group of elementary age girls to the local nursing home in the church van.  This is a lot of variety and there have been times that all of what I just described happened on the same day.
     There is one conclusion that this type of service has brought me to realize.  God is AMAZING.  My life before full-time ministry was a complex web of preparation for these very tasks that seem to pop up randomly in my life.  There is no random.  God is the ultimate planner.  The things he has for me to do today he has often given me experience for years ago.  Each of these things I have described, although they may seem disjointed are all areas where I was trained at different points in my life.   The times I spent growing up as the son of an auctioneer, doing whatever needed to be done, being a computer nerd in the early 1980s,  working at McDonalds, gaining degrees in Music and Education in my 20's, working with children of all ages from kindergarten through college, serving as an assistant in the Band Office at Truman State coordinating tours, inventory, and stage managing for the marching band and wind ensemble, working at a Maid Rite/ Doughnut Shop in Kirksville, marrying Sue Graham and her amazing impact on my life, all of these things have been a step by step process to turn me into the person who has the abilities to to all of these different things and more.  I take no personal credit, because I was hardly even paying attention that God was training me.  Now I look back and see the amazing planning that took place and am in AWE.
     You have probably heard it said that God gives us the tools we need to complete the work he has for us.  I more and more realize the specificity of this promise.  God specifically trains us for the specific things he has for us.  When Moses and the Israelites are creating the Tabernacle, God give not only specific instructions, but tells Moses about specific people who have been gifted for specific tasks.

     Exodus 35:30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,  and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—  to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,  to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.  And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.  He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.

   Exodus 36:1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom theLord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

     Rejoice for you are Bezalel and you are Oholiab.  God has gifted you in a specific way, maybe even a gift or life experience that cannot be named, but that has caused you to be the way you are for a certain purpose.  Serve the Lord with your whole heart and your purpose will be revealed as you build a Tabernacle of praise for Holy God.

Revive Us Again

This week, our church held a Spring Revival Week. It came just in time for many of us. A long, cold winter and some grumpy hibernating bears made for a few pretty rough months. It seemed that the things that people were grumpy about had something in common, but in my view it was hard for them to see the common thread. In the days and weeks leading up to the revival services, we prayed, some fasted, and we determined to seek the Lord because it didn't look like the cold or the grumpiness was going to stop on its own.


Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33.


This verse comes in the Bible in the middle of a talk about not worrying. The examples mentioned included not worrying about food, clothing, or the things of tomorrow. I had been praying that God would give me some insight into the grumblings I have been hearing and he did just that. He impressed upon me to pray and leave these types of worrying up to Him. I was tending to act as if my superior understanding of these troubling situations,and my experience and level-headedness would somehow swoop in and save the day. I found however that the more I sought to figure out how to sort through the evil attacks and come up with a human conclusion, the more tangled I became. Finally, I bowed out and bowed down.


When it comes to mean-spirited arguments, There is no way to win on our own and there is no way to understand wickedness. " For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."... Ephesians 6:12


Maybe someone did say or do something they shouldn't have. Maybe someone was disrespected. It happens every day. It is the perfect opportunity for Satan to start a distraction that keeps people from seeking the God and His righteousness. So we had a choice to make. Continue to feed our ego and pride by trying to out-maneuver the prince of darkness, or ask God to handle it while we got back to our job of seeking the righteousness of God.


And then, it happened.....

It was a sweet experience to see people who understood the situation begin to humble themselves and pray, begin to forgive, begin to worship God more fully, and place their own egos and pride lower and lower so they could see over them and glimpse the most awesome power in the universe, God himself and His Kingdom.


I would like to say everyone reached that point, but like everything in this life, it is a learning experience. I will also admit that months from now, I will probably need to be reminded of this all over again. However, when I am reminded of the simple request of Jesus, "Follow Me," I am also reminded how hard it is to do in a world filled with evil attacks. A time of revival is a time when I am reminded of the goal..... Seek First the Kingdom of Heaven and leave to God the things that I am poorly equipped to handle anyway. Only then can we be lifted up by the experience of being fully engaged in the plan God created us to fulfill.

What's the Plan?

Matt. 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

      Did you ever think that this was an over-reaction to Peter's comment? Peter was expressing either love for Jesus, not wanting him to die, or support of Jesus, indicating that Jesus' work and ministry would not be stopped by the elders and teachers of the law. Why was it wrong?

Jesus was pointing out to Peter that this was not a prediction of what could happen depending on what actions they took, it was the plan of God already set in place being explained by the Son of God himself. It was not open to interpretation. By saying it could never happen, Peter was indicating that He felt that the planned outcome of the trip to Jerusalem was flawed. Peter seemed to believe that he knew that path that Jesus' ministry was on and that this plan did not fit. More importantly, by speaking up and making an effort to change the plan, He was going against the plans of God. He was not considering God's concerns, but his own human concerns.


We do this type of thing all the time.
We allow Satan to use our own self-pride against us by telling us that we have some kind of insight that others don't.
We approach life with the attitude that we will do what we think is right, then we will involve God when we need some supernatural help.

How then should we approach life so that we "have in mind the concerns of God instead of merely human concerns?" We have to battle every day, minute by minute to keep ourselves out of the situation so that God can live and work through us. How do we do that?
     24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

      We must fight to lose our life spiritually. That sounds wrong, but when we give our life to the service of the Lord, we can't keep taking it back for our own use. It is not easy and takes consistent prayer and effort. Our default position is to live for ourselves. We must be strong in His power, not in ours. It is living the life that doesn't make sense. It is submitting ourselves to someone else because God's word says to, even though we believe we know better than they do. In Peter's case, it is sometimes NOT fighting the battle we REALLY want to fight. It is following the commands of God into the quiet darkness, not knowing what will happen. It is a struggle on the spiritual level. When we turn from it, we become a stumbling block to the purposes of God and things become a mess. Pray, Study God's Word, humble yourself in all things through seeking righteousness. Act in faith when the plan from God is clear being certain of His salvation from the evil one.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The Thaw

     It has been a long, cold winter.  Seems like every time we get a day of sunshine, it is followed by 4 days of bitter cold.  It is the kind of weather that wears on you.  It gets your hope up and then throws another challenge in your path.  Pretty soon, hope for Spring turns into a desire just to find a way to stay warm today, get the heating bill paid, and hibernate.  It depresses us.  If we dwell on it, it takes away our desire to move forward.
     Sometimes our relationships can be this way.  Sometimes our relationship with God can be this way.  We can go through times where living for God can be a struggle.  A continual struggle that leaves us out in the cold, day after day.  Some people around us are not joining us as they once did.  We are left to ask the questions of , "Why are we really living this way?"  What about the blessings we experienced?  Where are they now?  Why do I see others around me giving up and hibernating, just hoping that things will change?  Why have they stopped moving forward?  It depresses me.  I have seen God do miracles in the lives of others and in my own life, yet I start to follow their lead and turn inward to myself.  Even worse, I start to think about what others should be doing instead of what I should be doing and I stop moving forward.
     The hardest part is not knowing when the weather is going to change.  But we must realize that sometimes, the weather is not what needs to change.  Sometimes we need to remember where our source of heat and light come from.  Sometimes we need to bundle up, get some wood, throw it on the fire and fan it into flame, releasing the power to bring light into our lives again.  It doesn't matter what the weather is on the outside when the warm glow is emanating from the power of God working through us.  God does not change when things get difficult.  Our approach to Him is what has changed.  And don't forget that we are the body of Christ.  A little body heat built up by working together can get cold muscles and joints ready for exercising our spiritual gifts to God's glory.
     So come out of hibernation.  Start doing the things that God has created you to do as a part of His kingdom.  It doesn't matter what is going on in the world around you.   That is up to the master plan of God.  Our job is to get moving and glorify him.  Don't wait for someone else to come and dig you out.
Pretty soon the winter will give way to the unleashed power and growth of springtime.  Pretty soon the blanket of snow and ice of the world around us will begin to thaw and the glory of God will once again shine!