Pressing On Toward the Goal!

Faith's Resting Place

2012-01-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

On days like today, I am so thankful for the influence of godly young men on my life. The fellowship of bringing our requests to the Lord and bearing one another's burdens is such a blessing. I'm certainly not the most diligent person when it comes to getting up early (mostly because the night before isn't planned in such a way as to start the morning early), but it is such a delight to spend time with a brother in the Lord in prayer early in the morning. God meant fellowship and communion with Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ to be a joyous thing.

I was reading this morning in 1 Corinthians 2 and Paul's intentions jumped out to me in verses 3-5.

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

It is so important that our words and actions are honoring to the Lord, but God cares even more about the depths of our hearts... our intentions... our motives. We can say and do all the right things and not glorify the One who gave us the ability to do those things. As Jesus says, "They have received their reward in full." We are constantly in need of the grace of God to convict of sin and righteousness and judgement so that we would see the depths of our heart and act in such a way as to cause other people's faith to rest not on the wisdom of men... my cleverness or ingenuity, but on the wisdom of God. This is a good challenge for me this morning... to proclaim Christ today in such a way that others would forget the channel of the message as they see the infinite glory of Christ. He must increase, I must decrease.

A Letter

2012-01-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

God has been blessing so much at work. We had a school district client of ours that purchased something like 15 or 20 scanners without consulting with us first to make sure that it was compatible with our software. I worked on it off and on in the last couple days of the week and I was able to get it to work, but it was really not the way I should have done it. I kind of just wanted to prove that it could be done with this "hacky" way of writing the code and then see if I could actually do it the "right" way. Anyway, after being stuck on this issue for quite a while, I took it to the Lord in prayer and just started typing. I'm so thankful for intellisense... for the non-programmers out there, this is basically auto-complete... but better. It gives you a list of all the things you can choose from. For example, if you had an object called, Person, you might have options like last name, first name, middle name, date of birth, height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc. Well, I started typing... and God was gracious in allowing me to find the solution to this issue that had stumped my boss and myself. It was a simple three lines of code. God is so good! It was a great reminder to me not to trust in my own strength or creativity, but to rely fully on Him.

I was reading in 2 Timothy 1 this evening and thinking of different individuals in my life who have been an encouragement to me to "take the next step" in my relationship with the Lord. Sometimes I wish that they would send me a letter... just take 10 minutes out of their day and point out the blind spots that I have and encourage me to be wholly submitted to the Lord. The reality is that I am that guy in some instances. I don't mean this in any kind of "stuck-up" way... I mean it in a sobering responsibility kind of way. God has entrusted me with some influence on the lives of others and I really feel that I need to do a better job in using that stewardship from the Lord to encourage others in Christ. Take a look at this example from Paul to Timothy.

To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

I would love to receive a letter like this... who wouldn't? In order to encourage like this, we must model it. Paul wasn't asking Timothy to suffer for Christ because he [Paul] wasn't willing to do it himself. No, Paul was leading the way and saying... hey, Timothy... I know this is hard, but I'm in it... and it's so worth it!

I am encouraged by Paul and his example. Paul probably had no idea that I would exist someday or that I would read this letter or that I'd be encouraged by it. I love the mystery and infinite wisdom of God. He doesn't tell us how much He is intending to use us for His glory... He just does it! May He give us the grace to lead by example and encourage those around us to do the same.

The Blessing of Boldness

2012-01-10T23:19:00.000-08:00

God has been challenging me in the area of boldness this year. I cannot take any credit for the boldness that I have had for Him as it has come completely from Him. He has been so gentle and kind toward me. He sees my weakness in this area and as a loving Father, He encourages me in even the smallest progress that He sees in me. There have been several events lately where God gave me the courage to be just a little bold and God has turned those times into incredible blessings. I am continually floored! I took a small step of boldness in talking with a lady at one of our client school districts about church... and then God used the God-honoring type of gossip in their office to spread this to others in the same office.

It was the most joyous and refreshing time talking with one of the people about the Lord today. Here we were, standing in this public district office amongst all her co-workers, talking about the Lord and His goodness. Teachers don't have the freedom to talk about Him to their students (in most cases) and yet God used just the smallest hint of boldness to open a door to talk with someone above all those teachers about Him... freely! I was rushed for time and skipped my lunch, so I was able to use some of my lunch time for that conversation. God is so amazingly brilliant! I couldn't have thought that one up if I was trying to. I was so encouraged by her and by the Lord.

I echo the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 6:19.

Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

God has blessed some of the smallest attempts at being bold for Him... but He doesn't want me to stay there. He wants me to be a light with words as well as with actions. How can they believe in whom they have not heard, and how can they hear without a preacher? My life can demonstrate Christ-likeness, but what is that if they don't hear of Christ? They think I'm a nice guy... that glorifies Daniel, that doesn't glorify Christ. They must hear of Christ in me, the hope of glory!

God, help me be bold for You in 2012.

It Never Will Get Old

2012-01-05T22:53:00.000-08:00

As a child, I thought heaven might get boring after a while... and then I realized that living on earth is probably significantly more activity deprived than living in heaven. Since I haven't been bored here since I was like 5 years old, I don't think boredom will be an issue in the presence of the Creator of all things. I have been enjoying reading through Paul's letters again to start off the new year and was reminded of this as I read in Ephesians 2.

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

We lose contentment when we lose a heart of thankfulness. I believe this is one of the many reasons that God gives us so many commands throughout scripture to be thankful. It's such a blessing that we have Thanksgiving each year where everyone (for the most part) determines to find things to give thanks for. What a great, Christ-honoring thing for us to do! It's one of those times of year where there really isn't a secular part about it to "fight against"... not that we should ever let our guard down, but truly, being thankful solves so many heart issues.

The thing that I am most thankful for is Christ. Remembering where I came from as an enemy of Christ... born in sin... gives me great reason to rejoice in the gift of Christ. Without Him, there was and still is no hope. But Christ has conquered all dividing walls through His death and brought me near to God by His own blood.

Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer; but, this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom.

Thank you, Lord! May my heart of gratefulness never grow cold for all that You have done. May the love of Christ control my every thought and action.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:40:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to give the Lord the praise He deserves for His work in my life this year. This year has been rather different from any previous year. Life has slowed down to a major degree... God has blessed with a job that appears to be steady. Life feels much more structured and planned out. There is still plenty of room for spontaneousness, which I love... but with the schedules of those around me and my work schedule, things in general are a bit more planned out than they used to be. It's a good change.

This year has had so many highlights... the one that really sticks out to me is getting to have a Bible study in our home. This has been something that I have desired for years and thanks to God and Him enabling life to be more structured, Bible study in our home has become a reality. I am learning so much through it about spiritual leadership and studying the Word to communicate it to others... or at least guide the study as the Holy Spirit speaks to the individuals. It has been a great delight.

I was reading earlier in Matthew 6 and this was such a great reminder for me as I enter the new year.

“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

If my life down to the very depths of my heart (motives and thoughts) would be more in-tune with the Lord and His ways, this would be a good year. I hope to have a godly carelessness about 2012. God is infinitely wise and knows my every need. Worrying about those things is not in any way honoring Him. Worrying about specific situations and how God is going to work them out is not honoring Him. Full trust based on what the Lord has done in the past for what is ahead is what honors Him.

God, You have blessed us with another year. As we enter 2012, I ask that You would transform each of us more and more into the image of Your Son. Cause our heart motives to be honoring to You... that we would not be satisfied with the empty praise of men, but only in the honor that comes from You. You are the only One that raises up and brings down. Bring me down to whatever extent is necessary this year to make me more like Christ. Raise me up to whatever level You have prepared me to give You all the glory and honor for. Provide for my needs... don't give me too much so that my dependence rests on anything but You... and don't give me too little that I seek to have my needs met through ungodly means. Take 2012 and use it for Your glory in my heart in in the hearts of Your people. Give me a heart of compassion and humility. Make me an encourager. Help me not just to serve You, but to love You with all of my heart. Grant joy in serving You. Grant contentment and sweet rest in full obedience to You this year. Put a guard over my mouth so that I speak as You would have me speak. Guard my steps so that I walk only in Your ways. Guard my eyes that I look upon only that which pleases You. Guard my ears that I give attention to only that which is well pleasing to Your ears. Put a guard over my heart that You and You only be the first in it. Put a guard on my thoughts, that I think thoughts of You and meditate on Your Word day and night. Teach me Your ways, help me to walk in Your truth, unite my heart to fear Your name this year. Help me to yearn for only things that You want me to yearn for. Cause Your kingdom and righteousness to be at the forefront of my mind... that I seek to further Your kingdom and not a kingdom of my own creation. Be first in my heart this year.

Make me more like Your Son in 2012.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas with grandma yesterday and had a fairly relaxing day today. There is a part of our community that is decorated very nicely and the sidewalks are all lined with candles in paper bags with sand. Cars drive on this loop and people ride bikes, scooters, golf carts, trailers, boats (on a trailer), etc. It is a great time for everyone. Our pastor and a couple other people from church have houses in this section of the neighborhood, so we went over there and had a great time a fellowship. We had a Christmas Eve service followed by singing with the choir throughout the night in this stable/stage. We give out coffee, hot chocolate, apple cider, cookies, fudge, etc. to the people walking and/or driving by. It's always a neat time.

Today, I have been thinking quite a bit about what it means to celebrate Christ's birth. I came to the conclusion that the best way to celebrate Christ's birth is by living in the reality of His ownership of me. Christ gave all for us... we give to others to remember the perfect gift of Christ. Ephesians 2 has been on my heart all day. It is such a joyful thing to meditate on these truths.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Were it not for the gift of Christ, I would be dead in my sins. The ultimate purpose of my life would be to make myself happy. What a worthless and sad life that would be. Christ has rescued me from darkness and transferred me into His marvelous light. He has seated me with Christ in heavenly places so that He can demonstrate His abundant riches to me through Christ. It is a gift that I have accepted. There is nothing that I could do to add to the gift to make it better. I do not deserve it, but He has given His Son freely to die on my behalf so that I might live.

Now, because I believe all these things to be true, the natural next step is to live completely in the reality of this gift of Christ... we were created for good works. God ordained us to be bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us. He created us to fellowship in the most intimate way with Him. Let us live in the reality of Christ this Christmas. Let us serve one another in love. Let us come before the throne of Christ and rejoice in the gift of Christ. Let us see our brothers and sisters in Christ as joint heirs with Christ and treat them as such. Let us give generously... not from what we don't have or without wisdom, but freely and with pure motives. But, may the things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace in each of our hearts this Christmas.

Mutual Delight

2011-12-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

The Lord has continued to pour out His blessings... so undeserved... things that I don't even need... yet, He chooses to bless me anyway. It doesn't really make sense to be completely honest with you. I was thinking this morning and throughout the day about the word, "delight".

On the way home as I was still thinking about this word and what the Lord delights in and what I ought to delight myself in, I was listening to a sermon on the radio and the pastor was talking about obedience to parents and how God blesses with long life. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just really feel like I want to see Him face to face... not at all in the suicidal way... I just long to see Him and to be complete in Him. Long life sometimes seems like it is just delaying us getting to see Him, but you know... He created us to delight in Him right now. We are to take great pleasure in all that we have in Christ including the physical blessings of life and relationships and even the financial blessings and the things He has entrusted to us. It is not wrong to find joy in physical blessings, but that must never be the focal point of our delight. God must always be the center of our delight. God created Eve to take delight in His creation of wonderful fruit in the garden... but her delight in the creation was stronger than her delight in the Creator. In order to know what I ought to delight in, I ought to know what God delights in.
God delights in sacrifices and in obedience. He delights in blessing His children. He delights in the steps of a godly man. He delights in justice. He delights in those who walk in blamelessness. He delights in those that are faithful. He delights in wise words spoken at the right time. He delights in those that fear Him. He delights in those He has chosen for His purposes. God delights in loyalty and in our knowledge of Him. He delights in unchanging love.

That right there is a beautiful picture of God--He gave all freely, He blesses us infinitely, He sent His Son to earth and demonstrated godly living, He is always completely just, He has never once sinned, He is completely faithful, He speaks and does the right thing at the right time without failing even once, He love accomplishing His Father's will, He is loyal in every regard, He is one with the Father, His love never changes.

I will glory in my Redeemer;
My life He bought, my love He owns.
I have no longings for another;
I'm satisfied in Him alone.

What a marvelous thing it is that the God of all the universe can stoop to such a low level as to delight in me. Who am I? I'm just a passing vapor... but He chooses to delight in me.

My proper response to this is to delight myself in Him. Part of that is the delight myself in all the things that He delights in. On top of that, I am to delight myself in the place of His dwelling. I am to delight in reverencing His name. I am to delight in knowing His law and to meditate on it day and night. I am to delight in His blessings... even prosperity. I am to delight in doing God's will. I am to delight myself in His consolations. I am to study God's works and delight in them. I am to delight in the commandments of the Lord knowing that they are not burdensome. I am to delight in His statutes. I am to delight also in the path of obedience to His commandments... not just the end result. We are to delight in God's ways knowing that they are higher and better than our own. We are to delight in those that we lead and discipline. We are to delight in the work that God enables us to do. We are to delight in knowing His ways. We are to delight in the reality of the nearness of God. We are to delight in the Lord for who He is. We are to delight in His words.

I think this really sums up how we ought to live:

Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways, as a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They ask Me for just decisions, they delight in the nearness of God.

God, give us this heart for You. Put in us new desires. Fix in us Thy humble home. Rise, the woman's conqu'ring seed, bruise in us the serpent's head. Adam's likeness now efface, stamp Thine image in its place; Second Adam from above, reinstate us in Thy love. God, cause my delight to be wholly in You. Let my delight in earthly things point me only back to true delight in You as the giver of every good and perfect thing. Draw near to me as I draw near to You. Give me ever increasing delight in Your ways. Grant joy in obedience. Make me delight in the things that You delight in and hate the things that You hate. Use my delight to spur others toward love and good works. Be to me the central focus of all my delight.I long to hear Your words of delight in me, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Make me Your servant today. I long to hear Your words of delight in me, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Make me Your servant today.

Joy in the Process

2011-12-10T00:32:00.000-08:00

I had the blessing of getting to go to a conference today for most of the day (with work). My boss did a presentation on our system and its new features and I assisted him with certain parts. The people attending were current clients of ours and it was neat to be able to put a face with a name and voice. I got off a bit earlier since I had worked some extra hours previously this week and decided to put up the Christmas lights outside.

It doesn't usually take too long as I put up nails in previous years and can reuse them. I didn't get off quite as early as I wanted since we ended up being stuck in some traffic, so I was running out of daylight to get the lights put up. I am the "to do list" type of guy... I like to know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done and do whatever it takes to make that happen. Sometimes God needs to remind me to slow down and really take joy in the process, not just in the completion of the task. Such was the case this afternoon. Dad had taken out the box of Christmas lights for me and I went over to the neighbor to borrow a ladder. I quickly unpacked the lights and started testing them to make sure they still work. I really don't understand how Christmas lights stop working as they sit in that box in the garage all year, but anyway... almost all the lights worked which was actually just fine because some of the lights were unneeded. I got up on the ladder and put up the first story of lights pretty quickly. I went to move on to the next section when I realized that I had put that entire section backwards. After contemplating how I could run an extension cord up onto the roof to another strand and then down again to an outlet on the other side of the house, I just decided it was best to start over. God used that in my heart to remind me to take joy in the process. I was in my own world in my race against the clock (or sun going down) and found that I wasn't taking joy in it. I was just trying to finish the task. Had it not been for that incident, I would have got it done much faster, but I also wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly so much. I'm thankful that the Lord works in small ways like putting a few sections of Christmas lights on backwards to slow me down and remind me to take joy in the small things.

I was reminded of Psalm 63:1-8.

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

The Lord has satisfied me. He has done far more than satisfied me, but I think it honors the Lord for us to be satisfied--to be content in all we have in Christ. It feels strange to use the word "satisfied" because it makes me feel like I am saying that God owes me something and He satisfied my requirements for happiness or something, which is not at all the case. He owed me nothing, but gave me everything... all spiritual blessings in Christ... everything pertaining to life and godliness... eternal life. It is a my reasonable service to respond to His indescribable gift with joyful praises to Him. As I muse on His deeds, I can't help but be joyful as I remember His deeds from the past and see work that He has "finished" and trust Him for the work that is still in progress. It would be a Christ-honoring thing for me to take more joy in the sanctification process. It feels slow and hard at times, but there so much joy to be found in Christ and His unending faithful work to conform me into His image. God, help me to take joy in the process in preparation for when Christ makes me to stand in Your glorious presence blameless and with great joy. May You be glorified now by my joy in You.

His Washing

2011-12-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

On Friday, the Lord blessed me with getting to spend about six hours with a Christian lady at work. I had only met her once before and didn't know that she was a Christian, but my boss asked if both of us would deliver test materials because the guy that usually does it was gone. It was such an incredible blessing. I don't think we got more than a mile from the office before both of us were discussing things of the Lord. It was such an incredible encouragement to me to hear her story of God's sovereignty in providing this job for her and how God had used her getting this position to answer my prayers concerning a possible change in my job description at work. Long story short, I came away from Friday seeing another glimpse into just how brilliant God is in His plan. He is never doing just one thing... He is doing infinitely many things all at the same time for His glory and our good. What a brilliant God we serve! Thank You, Lord for doing things Your way in Your timing!

The sermon today gave me some new insights into Jesus washing the feet of Peter. I had never seen it this way before. Take a look at John 13:1-8.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

The message that I have generally got from this passage is that Jesus was a servant leader, and I should be as well. I was challenged today to see it from a new perspective--to see it as an event in the life of Peter.

Peter was the disciple that rebuked Jesus when Jesus was telling his disciples that He was going to die in Mark 8:31-33. Peter had a plan... a plan that involved Jesus not dying. But, God's ways are higher than man's ways. When Jesus told Peter that he could have no part with Him if Jesus wasn't allowed to wash him, Jesus was not talking about the physical washing of feet, but rather the washing of the heart which was about to take place at the cross. It is humbling to have God wash your feet, but infinitely more humbling to have God die because of your sin. Jesus was using this to prepare Peter's heart for the washing of his heart by His blood. We see just following this that Peter still doesn't want Jesus to die... he cuts off the ear of the servant which Jesus heals and tells Peter to put away the sword. Peter didn't understand God's big purpose. Peter then seems to give up when he denies Christ. Is this not far too often our reaction when God's plan doesn't line up with our own? When He does things in different timing than we expect or in a different way? We lose hope and give up when He is in the midst of doing His perfect work.

If God would have given Peter his way, he would have spent eternity in hell as would the rest of us. We see once again that God is so infinitely wise and His plans are so perfect. His plans don't line up with our expectations and ideals, but His plans are always best! Oh for grace to trust Him more! This same Peter later rights in 1 Peter 5:5...

...Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Peter experienced the grace and faithfulness of God through God doing things His way. May God give us that same grace to believe with all of our heart that His ways are always best. That belief will produce the fruit of obedience and submission to Him regardless of what His plan is... because His plan is perfect.

Path of the Righteous

2011-12-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

The Lord has been so good and gracious. I was just meditating just a few of the many blessings that He has poured out on me this evening and once again reminding myself that it everything good comes from the Lord. One of His blessings is the gift of wisdom. In James 1, we read that we are to ask God for wisdom when we lack it... this honors Him, showing our dependence on Him in not leaning on our own understanding. It also is the only true wisdom! Our own wisdom is subject to be influenced by our emotions or the feelings of the moment, but the wisdom from God is unchanging. I was thinking about these things in light of Proverbs 4:10-18.

Hear, my son, and accept my sayings And the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; And if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness And drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

The reality is that most of us don't like being told to do... but that is because we are surrounded by sinners just like us who are tempted to use authority in a self-seeking manner (just like we are). Do you remember those days when your dad was changing the oil and a smile beamed from you face when he asked you to get that wrench for him? Do you remember when your mom asked you to thread a needle for her and the joy that brought you? Do you remember the first time you got to mow the lawn? Do you remember the first time you got to help your mom cook a meal? Do these memories not bring joy and delight to your soul? Do you know why that is? It is because you know of their love for you and because of that, serving them is a joyful thing. In the same way, our serving of the Lord is meant to be completely joyful.

The God we serve is the perfect Father and cares for us more than the most tender and loving of mothers. It is this God who directs us in the way of wisdom. He tells us to hold onto His instruction and not let go of it because it is our life. Did you get that? Your life depends on the instruction of the Lord. He instructs us in the way of righteousness and tells us specifically how to guard our hearts from evil. We are to not make any kind of provision for the flesh and its lusts... don't even enter the beginning of the path of the wicked. Remember how the priest approached the beaten man in the story of the Good Samaritan? That is the picture here... walking on the other side of the road... not even looking in the direction of sin. Make absolutely no provision for the flesh.

When we are walking in the ways of the Lord, we know it because we are continually more aware of the light of righteousness and the darkness of sin and our hearts are continually turned toward the Lord. It is like we are just discovering the first glimpse of light in the distance showing us a little bit about what it means to live righteously. As we walk in His light and have fellowship with Him, He graciously opens our eyes to see more of what it means to live righteously before Him and we become brighter lights for the Lord. The Holy Spirit is present within us constantly leading and guiding us in His ways... opening our eyes to understand His Word and how it applies to the situations He puts us in. Without the Lord, we are blind! In the words of Christ Himself... "For apart from Me, you can do nothing."

May we have child-like faith to see serving God with incredible joy... just like we did getting that wrench for dad while he was under the car. If we took joy in that small of a thing for our earthly father, how much more joy should we have as we have the privilege of serving the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the searcher of our hearts, the great I AM, our Wonderful Counselor, our Rock and Fortress. Would not the smallest thing done for the Lord please our Heavenly Father? O God, teach us to be content in pleasing You!

Healing From Faithlessness

2011-11-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

I have been reading in Jeremiah a little bit and found myself so humbled and yet so encouraged by the words of the Lord in chapter 3, verse 22.

I will heal your faithlessness.

I am so faithless at times. It never ceases to amaze me how I can know the incredible truths of God and yet choose not to trust Him fully. I see so much of my own heart in reading about faithless Israel. God's calling to them is also His calling to me... to return to Him, to call Him My Father, to not turn away from Him. It is so humbling to kneel before Him and see my faithlessness in the light of His faithfulness. Even tonight as I was pouring out my heart, the Lord was convicting me of my lack of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. God has blessed me with several hours of driving tomorrow and Lord willing, I will be able to spend that time listening to His Word. I need so much more of His heart-penetrating words to judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart. God, thank You for Your grace in revealing my faithlessness. Cause faith to rise in my heart as I call to mind truths of who You are and Your greatness. Speak to me as I sleep. Fill me with the joy of the knowledge of Christ once again. You alone can heal my faithlessness. Thank You for being faithful. Make me more like You, Lord.

Wholly His

2011-11-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

The sermon yesterday was about having our hearts in the right place so that our offerings of thanksgiving would be honoring to the Lord. I was humbled so much in reading Psalm 51 by my self-centered view on the forgiveness of God. Pastor Tim challenged us to meditate on it all throughout this week so that when Thanksgiving comes around, our hearts would be prepared to offer a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord. You know... I have so much to be thankful for, but God wants my heart. My praise and my thanks will come out of that... but ultimately, He wants my heart--all of it.

As I consider the greatness of my sin, I must humbly confess that it is the Lord that I have sinned against. He is right and just to judge my sin. He owes me nothing. The fact is that I am not only sinful now, I was born a sinner. I was never "good". God's desire is for the truth of my heart to be laid open before Him. I realize that the truth is always what God sees, but He desires us to be painfully truthful as we come before Him. Sin is a separator. It stains us to such an extent that only God can wash us white as snow.

You know... it is an incredible blessing that we cannot do something to earn the purification of the Lord... that washing from Him that makes us white as snow. Every other religion is based on some kind of works that must be done in order to be holy before the Lord. The joy comes when we realize that we cannot do anything to be holy before the Lord--Christ has done it all. This is why we do not joyfully sing of our own righteousness... we sing of Christ and His righteousness.

This incredible gift of the righteousness of God in exchange for our sin is not something to take lightly. I was reading in 1 Peter 1 this last week and again reminded of verses 17-21 and my responsibility as a child of God.

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Yes, this is a huge responsibility to fear the Lord in our actions and words, but we must not lose sight of that ending statement... "So that your faith and hope are in God!" All the good works in the world would not honor the Lord if our faith and hope are not in God. It is the realization of having been purchased by the precious blood of Christ that drives us to righteous living. What a joy it is to serve the One who already gave all for me! He has purchased my freedom from sin and death and I can think of nothing more honoring to Him than for me to embrace that freedom and live in it. My sacrifices are meaningless if my heart is not wholly His. God, make me wholly Yours... then I will offer my thanks to You and You will be pleased.

Lord, You Know

2011-11-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

I was praying this evening about a friend who is having a rough time with job circumstances and just seems to be struggling with everything that comes his way. In the midst of it all, he is continually finding things to be thankful about. God is clearly at work in his heart and I am really blessed by the Lord's work in his heart. As I was praying, I was reminded of that short phrase from Ezekiel 37:3.

O Lord God, You know.

Ezekiel knew enough. He knew that God knew. There is great peace in knowing that God, who created all things, who is gracious, abounding in love, the ruler, the mediator between God and man, the living Word, the great I AM, our redeemer, the faithful Father, our guide KNOWS. Whatever burdens I might try to bear on my own, He knows them already and is pleading with me to take His yoke upon me because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He longs for me to find rest for my soul... true rest in understanding that He knows all things. O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. God, may we ever be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer. You have seen. You have heard. O Lord God, You know.

Boldness in Honoring the Lord

2011-11-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days where God seemed to speak directly to me through everything... church, Sunday school, and Awana. Sunday school really stood out to me. The message was from Daniel 5.

Take a look at verses 18-24.

O king, the Most High God granted sovereignty, grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every language feared and trembled before him; whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. He was also driven away from mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.

God had given Daniel the opportunity to interpret the writing on the wall for Belshzzar. It would seem so easy to let the words of the king puff him up and then in pride, make known the interpretation to the king right away since no one else could do it. Daniel was not in a rush to get this answer out. Rather, he took his time to speak truth about God to Belshazzar with great boldness. He did not hide the truth about sin and its consequences. He gave absolutely all the credit to God.

This is such a challenge. Our modern day examples of this that most people think of are people like Tim Tebow... putting a verse in the eye-black or kneeling to pray after a touchdown. I respect him much for this and really appreciate the leadership I've seen from him and how he has dealt with some rather difficult issues. I don't want to make light of these things because God judges the heart and holds people responsible for the position that He puts them in, but I do think that we pick role models that don't really challenge us... or perhaps do things that don't apply to us. What God calls us to do is to do all things for the glory of God. I may not be interpreting handwriting on the wall or making touchdowns in front of 50,000 fans, but the Lord has given me [and each of us] opportunities to glorify Him. You know... God can be just as honored through me at my work place with just a few co-workers and boss as he is with Daniel standing in front of the king who could have taken his life and told him all about God and how He reigns. God looks at the heart and He controls the outcome. He wants faithful men and women. He is looking for men and women that will fully submit to His ways and just obey Him. What could God do if just 10 of us were completely faithful to Him? Do you ever dream of what He might do through you? Are you in a position of leadership? Do you ever dream of what God could do through those you have the privilege of leading?

I find (at least for myself) that I can easily miss opportunities to honor the Lord if I am not looking for them. My heart is naturally selfish and self-glorifying... that is my flesh. But God has given me a new heart, one that loves Him. It is only in dependence on God that I have the desire to glorify Him. May God give each of us the grace to see glimpses of what He might do through us and give us great boldness in honoring Him with both our words and our actions. If God be for us, who can be against us? The righteous are as bold as lions! God, help me to be faithful in honoring You with boldness.

Fearing the Lord

2011-11-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

I had some travel time today because I was giving a presentation at a school district about 80 miles away. That is probably the biggest thing I miss about going to school... the drive time. Such fellowship can be had with the Lord when it is just Him and me in the car. An added blessing was that I was able to visit grandma after the presentation and have dinner with her. :) She spoils me!

On the way home, I was listening to some sermons that were on the radio... it took forever to get home because of traffic, but the sermons were really exactly what I needed to hear. One of them was on the story of Joseph and how God used the butler who forgot about Joseph... whom Joseph wouldn't have met were it not for the Lord putting both of them there in prison, to place Joseph over all of Egypt. Sometimes I think the waiting periods of life are unending, but my waiting is like... 5 months without a job, but still getting paid unemployment and living in a nice house and getting to spend time with my family, etc. Joseph's waiting was for 2 years in prison for fearing the Lord rather than men.

There is a very common view out there that God will make your life easy if you just obey Him. While the life of the obedient child of God is indeed free of the consequences that sin bring with it, God's promise is not a life of smooth sailing. His promise is that He will work all things together for the good of them that love God and are called according to His purpose. I'm not sure why we attempt to translate this to mean "smooth sailing", because "smooth sailing" is so often not His best. Our plans get frustrated because we want to cram God's will into our own idea of "good", but God is so wise and so gracious in not letting us get our own way. It's kind of like a parent feeding only candy to his child... the child may think this is awesome, but the parent knows that it will actually harm the child. I often lose sight of just how infinite His wisdom is and just how infinitely small mine is. I am so thankful to the Lord for not doing things my way in my timing. Were He to give me all I want, I would be a huge mess! Rather, He gives me what is good as only the most Loving Father can do. This gives me reason to love Him. To obey Him. To trust Him. To fear Him.

Being an Encourager

2011-10-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

The Lord recently convicted me of how my words were not "seasoned with salt" and "spreading grace to the hearer". Humor is a good thing... I believe it is a gift from the Lord; but, it must be kept within His boundaries. I found that I had actually started discouraging things that I ought to be encouraging through my unwise use of God's gift of humor... saying things that discourage rather than encourage. As I am reading in Ephesians 4, I see so many important areas in which I must grow.

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all... Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

My words and my actions ought to reflect the calling of God on my life--to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

As my words and actions reflect this, they ought to be a means of uniting the people of God together. I must humbly realize the truth of 1 Corinthians 4:7... that I have nothing that I did not receive. God has given me absolutely everything that I have, including the grace to turn to Him in the first place and to want to be obedient to His ways. It is not that I am a better person than the unsaved guy at work... it is simply that God mercifully gave me grace to love Him.

As I think of patience and tolerance, I am reminded of how my dad taught me so many things... as did several other mentors in my life. This men could have done jobs so much faster if I wasn't in their way and yet they chose to invest in me so that I could learn a new skill. I was praying recently about my involvement in ministry and just wanting so much for the Lord to use me not only to serve His people, but to also build others up in serving His people as well. I haven't done a great job of that up to this point, but I pray that with the Lord's help, I will be more aware of those opportunities. I love how the Lord works... I was thinking through these things on Saturday and the Lord provided a wonderful opportunity on Sunday evening to do this very thing. Perhaps God has been providing these opportunities all along and I have just been missing them, but it was a blessing to be able to put into practice some of what He was teaching me.

The Lord is also teaching me more about His love and compassion. I think that sometimes I get an un-Biblical view of manliness... be "tough"... be "hard"... be "manly". Some of this is good and I believe God made us men to be tough physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. However, He also calls us to be tenderhearted. This isn't a command just for women. This is a command for men. We were reading the other day during family devotions in Mark and it said that Jesus felt compassion for the people. Christ was not a weak man. He is the one that cleared the temple when it was being used for personal gain. But, He had compassion. Compassion along with the will of the Father drove His years of ministry. His death was compassion. I have so much to learn in this area, but I know that He is always at work and am so thankful for that.

God, I confess that I have not used the gift of words and the gift of humor to serve others as I ought. I have used them to discourage rather than encourage, to separate rather than unite. Forgive me. Make me an encourager. Give me opportunities to build up others in Christ. Grant wisdom in my words and actions so that I use Your gift of humor to honor You and bring joy. I ask that You would build me up in patience for others... that I would see Your work in them and be able to tenderly lead them to press forward in their obedience to You. Give me humility and freedom from the fear of man that I would not be afraid to associate with the lowly like Your Son modeled for us. Give me compassion for the hurting. I am overwhelmed by my deficiencies, Lord. I know that even my righteousness is only because You put within me the heart to be obedient. God, I have no good on my own. Thank You for Christ. I ask that You would grant joy in obedience and submission to Your ways. God, I am so thankful that You cannot dwell with darkness. By Your grace, shine the light of the knowledge of Christ into the deepest and darkest corners of my heart that all darkness would flee and that Christ would reign without any resistance. God, I love You, though not as much as I should. Help me to love You more. Make me more like Your Son. Amen.

More Satisfied in Him

2011-10-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

The Lord has been at work in my heart these last several days especially in the area of helping me to be more satisfied in Christ alone. He has been so gracious and faithful to show me the reality that there is no joy in any kind of sin. Fellowship with Him is the one and only foundation for true joy. I cannot ignore sin I deem as "small" if I intend to find joy in Christ. Yes, Christ has completely paid for my sin in full, but sin breaks fellowship with Him. The reality is that even if I had everything just the way I wanted it, I would have absolutely no joy without Christ. This truth must be deeply embedded within my heart so that I am seeking the things above... so that I am finding His commands as not budensome... so that I love Him more than any "good thing".

I am under the impression that God was teaching David some of these same things as he wrote Psalm 16.

I have no good besides You.

You support my lot.

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me.

You will make known to me the path of life.

~In Your presence is fullness of joy.~

Make Me a Servant

2011-10-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

This morning in men's Bible study, we looked at John 13 (right before Jesus went to the cross). I am convicted of my self-centeredness.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

What a beautiful picture of love and servanthood. This was God in the form of man preparing to die a cruel death and bear the weight of sin for all people, once and for all. Should He not be looking for comfort from His disciples? Should He not be the one being served? Rather than being served, He knew full well that this was the end and in that knowledge, He loved them and He served them.

God, I am so self-centered in my thoughts and actions. I naturally lean toward being served rather than serving. God, convict me of the sin of selfishness and give me a heart of servanthood--the heart of Christ. Show me the needs of others around me and give me a heart to meet those needs so that Christ would be glorified in me. Help me to serve those in my family. Help me to serve those in my church. Help me to serve those I love. Help me to love and serve those that I do not naturally love. Make me like Christ. Make me a servant.

Enlarge My Heart

2011-10-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

I was listening to a sermon on the way home from work today and it was about Psalm 119. I was reminded that Psalm 119 was how Jewish children would learn the alphabet. How awesome is that? To have these truths about God's Word so ingrained in your head that it might as well be the alphabet is really quite something to think about. Over the next several days if not weeks or months, I'm going to be spending some time meditating on the truths in Psalm 119 throughout the day. If it was so valuable to them that they learned their alphabet using Psalm 119, it ought to be of great value to me as well... and that means spending time meditating on it.

I love the faith expressed here in verse 32 of Psalm 119.

I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.

The first statement, "I shall", is a statement of stability and confidence. It comes from the heart of one who is steadfast and immovable. Perhaps it sounds presumptuous... as James says, shouldn't we say, "If the Lord wills, we will do this or that..."? When we look further into this verse, we see why such confidence can be claimed. Running in the way of God's commandments is in fact God's will. We don't need to say, "If the Lord wills...", we can claim it as His will from the start and boldly commit to running in His ways. While we can say these things, again, it is kind of presumptuous that we would just say with that kind of confidence that we will run in obedience to God knowing full well how sinful our hearts are. We have two things and with these two things, we can be confident.

1) We know it is the Lord's will for us to run in the way of His commandments.

2) We know that God will enlarge our hearts to put within us the heart of obedience.

The reality is that we do not desire to obey Him in and of ourselves. We desire only to please ourselves. But, thanks be to God for the boldness to be found and claimed in Christ as our own. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1). The power to run with endurance the race that is set before us is not found in our ability to endure. It is in looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, that we find the joy of Christ as our strength. Oh that God would enlarge our hearts to be obedient. I am in need of constant heart enlarging. I look forward to the day of complete sanctification when I stand before Him complete in Christ, but until then, I must be growing ever closer, my heart must be filled more and more with His truth, and I must, by God's grace, be more and more obedient to Him.

God, teach me the way of Your statutes, and by Your grace, I shall observe them to the end. This is my desire... not one that I can accomplish alone, so I put all my hope in fulfilling this desire in Christ and Him alone. Help me to come to Your Word with the desire learn Your ways and obey You completely. Give me a longing for Your precepts and revive me through Your righteousness. Produce in me a reverence for You through Your Word. Give me a heart that delights to do Your will.

His Eyes

2011-10-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here. We have had some rain off and on, clear crisp air that seems to just makes all of life seem a bit more vibrant and exciting, scattered clouds, bright blue sky, sunshine, brightly colored flowers blooming one last time before fall, etc. I was sitting here reading in 1 Peter 1 and had a random, "I should go for a run right now!", thought. I ran around the lake like I usually do, but decided to mix it up a bit and instead of just running at a normal pace the whole way, I decided to sprint every couple hundred yards on the second mile and then walk the last .2 or so. There was almost no one around, so I decided to take some time to just be still before Him and pray.

I lay down on the grass looking upward toward the clouds that were blowing across the moon varying the amount of light that was glowing on the water and I just had to think about the difference between God's eyes and my own. I could see that there was light behind those clouds. By faith, I believed that it was the moon reflecting the light of the sun. Yes, I meant that to be funny, but I also meant to make a point. You see, that is faith! Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. I could not see the moon. I could see evidence that it was there and was assured based on what I know about when the moon comes out and what it is supposed to look like that behind those thin clouds was the moon. In the same way, I can be fully convinced that God is working. I may not see the full picture (just like I couldn't see the moon), but I see so many evidences of His work that I can say with full confidence that He is at work. He lives to make intercession for the saints! Now I contrast that with God and His eyes. God does not need faith. He not only sees through the vastness of space to this little planet, but He sees through those clouds that prevent me from even seeing to the moon clearly... and He sees me. He not only sees me and all my actions, but He hears every word that I say, He knows my every motive and thought. Before I even say a word, He knows it was on my heart. I can't even see past the clouds!

How small I am! What is man that You are mindful of him? To say that He is intimately acquainted with all my ways is an understatement. I cannot even begin to fathom how God sees all, comprehends all, and does all things for His glory and our ultimate good.

In light of all this, I can't help but bless the name of the Lord for the riches of His kindness to me in Christ. He has given bright hope through the resurrection of Christ. He has made us heirs with Christ. He is the giver of joy and the restorer of it.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

He goes on to remind us that we were not redeemed with things that are corruptible, but rather with the precious blood of Christ--such an infinitely high cost for the redemption of my soul. I need His grace and help to be reminded of that moment by moment so that I truly prepare my mind for action, so that keep my hope fixed completely on the grace of Christ, so that I walk in obedience, forsaking sin, and walk in holiness.

Heart Obedience

2011-10-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

Missing fellowship with His people this morning. I am thankful for the Lord's work in allowing me to have fellowship with godly friends as well as Bible study in the mornings with teammates while I have been away. God has been very good and faithful. God provided many opportunities to serve the guys on the team and I am very thankful and blessed to be used by Him in whatever means He chooses to use me.

As I sit here in the airport listening to music and sermons this morning, the Lord used a song really minister to my heart. It talks about the character of God and how He has never failed to provide for the birds and their needs and how He sees us as much more valuable than them. It continues with the challenge to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:25-34) and combines that truth with the command from Proverbs 3 to trust in the Lord with all your heart, to not lean on our own understanding, to acknowledge Him in all our ways and know what God will direct our path.

There are so many thoughts that fill my mind... so many decisions and directions I could go. The temptation is to try to figure things out for myself, but there is no peace in that. The peace that surpasses all understanding comes only from the Almighty and All-Knowing God in giving all anxiety to Him. The call is to rejoice in Christ and be thankful from my heart to Him for what He has done thus far and cast all burdens on Him so that He can guard my heart (Philippians 4:4-7, 1 Peter 5:8). He alone has the wisdom to guide me in the right way.

I was reading in Proverbs 3 this morning and the end of verse 1 really stood out to me. It says, "Let your heart keep my commandments." Obedience that is not from the heart serves only to please men. When we obey only with our actions, but not with our heart, we are disobeying the command of God in Colossians 3:22-24.

Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

This command is so simple... "Let your heart keep my commandments."... but what a challenge to live completely for God through each of the adventures of the day--to obey Him from my heart. I so desperately need God to put in me a heart of obedience, that I would do all for the glory of God, that I would truly fear the Lord and obey His commandments. This obedience won't happen because I "set my mind to it", but rather because the Holy Spirit fills me with the desire to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and that results in heart obedience. Heart obedience always results in practical obedience. God is the revealer of the secrets of the heart whether it be a heart of obedience or just the superficial obedience based solely on pleasing man.

I Change Not

2011-09-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

A missionary spoke at our church on Sunday and it was such an incredible blessing. He was just overflowing with the love and compassion of Christ. The encouragement he offered us was exactly what I needed to hear. We looked at the beginning of Hebrews 12. I had never really focused on verse 3 before, but it was such great refreshment for a weary soul.

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

One of the purposes of Christ's suffering was so that we would not lose heart in following Him when we encounter trials. He knew when He was suffering that we would grow weary and be tempted to lose heart and so He suffered as an example to us to endure... to persevere.

I read a little bit in the Word this morning and got to work a few minutes early and really felt like I needed more of the Word, so I kind of did the "flip and point method"... not quite, but I just told the Lord that I really needed to hear from Him and asked Hm to guide me to something. He guided me to Psalm 77. It's a beautiful passage that shows us exactly what we need to do in those times where we are growing weary. Take a look at these words of weariness in verses 1-10.

My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted. When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah. You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago. I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders: Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. Then I said, “It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

We know from Malachi 3:6 that God says, "I change not." Yet like this Psalm describes, we can be blinded by sin or weariness or the lies of Satan. The Lord so often takes His Word and shows me just how well off I am through passages like this... my problems are so small in comparison to some that are described here and yet there are similarities. The words following this in verses 11-20 is cool water for the weary soul.

I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies gave forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there. The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known. You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

In order to defeat the weariness of the soul regardless of the cause, the first step is to simply remember the deeds of the Lord. Remember what He has done in the past. Just sit down for ten minutes and just ponder the greatness of God. Remember how He spoke the world into existence. Remember how He delivered the people of Israel through Joseph being sold into slavery. Remember how God delivered His people from Egypt and parted the Red Sea. Remember how He gave Joshua and Caleb courage. Remember how God chose David and protected him from his enemies. Remember God's faithfulness to Job. Remember God strengthening Daniel so as to not defile himself. Remember how God changed Saul into Paul... turning a persecutor of the church into one of the most influential proclaimers of the gospel. Remember how God sustained Paul through all kinds of trials. Remember how God loosed the chains of Peter right before he was to be beheaded. Remember Christ who conquered sin and death. Remember that Jesus said that it is to our advantage that He go away and send His Spirit to us. Remember that God has never once broken a promise. Remember that Christ promised that He is coming again! Remember. Remember. Remember. Meditate on His deeds! Oh, how can we not be overwhelmed with love for Christ when we just take a moment to muse on His deeds? He redeems us. He leads us by still waters. There is mystery and excitement with God. Verse 19 says that His footprints may not be known... oh, but we have seen the goodness of God. We may not see His every footstep, but we know His ways are holy and just. We know He is good. We know Christ is the very definition of love. He is our God who will lead us until death. When He says, "I change not.", I believe it!

Boldness

2011-09-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Our church helped in putting on a 3-on-3 basketball tournament today for an organization called National Hoops. The basic idea is that they go out to public school and parks and invite people to come play in this tournament and the church provides lunch and help with setting everything up. They present the gospel during the lunch period--the whole point of this basketball ministry. God worked in the hearts of many young men today in drawing them to Himself. I had the privilege of praying with a couple of these young men. It was such an incredible joy and blessing being used by the Lord to help these young men understand the gospel. It was the Holy Spirit that opened their eyes to understand it and caused them to respond to the message by placing their faith in Christ. It was neat hearing them talking afterwards when they were talking amongst each other and wondering why their other friend hadn't turned to faith in Christ. Perhaps the Lord will use these young men to draw many more to Himself.

While it was an incredible joy to witness these young men coming to Christ, I was very much convicted by my lack of boldness in sharing the gospel. God brought about half of these unsaved young men to Himself through someone simply having the boldness to share the gospel with them in a clear manner. I may not have the gift of evangelism, but that has nothing to do with whether to not the call to make disciples of all nations applies to me. It does.

I am reminded of Paul's encouragement and prayer request at the end of Ephesians:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Paul asks them to pray that God would give him boldness to make the gospel known. I need the very same thing. The stakes of eternal life or death are infinitely high in comparison to my comfort. I need boldness. I know I must speak as the Spirit leads, but I fear that I have been suppressing His lead in the area of sharing the gospel far too much. God, give me boldness for Your glory.

Proven Character Brings Hope

2011-09-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

I was reading this evening in Romans 5 and the first several verses jumped out to me:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

This is such a beautiful description of the Christian life. We are introduced to the grace by which we stand found only in Christ. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God being revealed both presently in His work here on earth and also when He comes again and reveals Himself completely in all His glory. Because of THAT hope, we can take joy in the difficult times of life because we know that perseverance honors the Lord. When we persevere, we and proving the character that Christ has formed in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not character that is natural, it is completely the Holy Spirit's active work of sanctification. It is this proven character that brings hope--the hope of being completely sanctified when we see God face to face. I love how Paul then takes us back to the beginning. We were absolutely helpless without Christ. Yet, He loved us while we were sinners and enemies of God. His love is something that I will probably never be able to fully grasp. One thing is clear: we cannot take any credit for our salvation.

I have been listening to a song that Cal Baptist University Choir & Orchestra sings called, "Christ Has Conquered All". These truths have been so fresh on my mind. I am so undeserving of any kind of grace and yet He took the fullness of God's wrath that was on me and in exchange, gave me His righteousness. Meditate on these truths. Let them fill your soul with joy in what Christ has done.

Heavy laden weary soul,
Bearing up a heart of stone;
His Spirit comes to dwell in you,
And Christ, the weight of sin, assume.
All my guilt is cast on Christ
And his righteousness is mine.
What guilt should weigh upon my head?
For Christ has cleared it all!

The sum of all my sacrifice,
Though joyful, fails to justify;
I cannot pay for grace that’s free
Nor add to work that is complete.
Jesus paid it all for me;
This my ransom and my plea.
What debt I labor to repay?
For Christ has paid it all!

Through the law comes sin and death,
But faith is counted righteousness;
So I will trust in Christ alone,
My debt to pay, my sin atone.
And I’ll stand in confidence,
Covered by his righteousness;
What shall become of boasting tongues?
For Christ has done it all!

Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Swallowed up in victory!
The Lord of glory reigns on high,
Sov’reign over earth and sky.
Yes, he triumphed o’er the grave
And he comes again one day.
What lesser name shall draw our praise?
For Christ has conquered all!
For Christ has conquered all!

Humbling Experiences

2011-09-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Lord really has been blessing at work in incredible ways... really far beyond I could ask or think. I think perhaps He decided that today was a good day to fix any potential "big head" issues. I gave a presentation today which I was told was going to be "short". I was planning for 25 or 30 minutes maybe, but found out that I was to give the entire presentation when I got there. It ended up lasting about 2.5 hrs once all questions were answered and all. They had all kinds of expectations that we were not prepared to meet because they hadn't communicated those to us... etc. All in all, it was a fairly humbling experience.

To add to that, I texted a friend while driving on the way home. The traffic was moving literally at like 5 to 10 mph and I gave into the temptation to text while driving. I shouldn't have done it... and the Lord was gracious in the form of my friend calling me out on it. Of course, I am trying to be a good example of submissiveness to the Lord first and foremost but also to the authorities that He has put over me. I was doing neither at the time. That was yet another humbling experience. I had to ask for forgiveness both to the Lord for my sin and to my friend for being a bad example. Not fun.

Days like today make me really look forward to that promise that His mercies are new every morning. Looking back on the day, I am very thankful for those experiences knowing that James 4:6 says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. I am desperately in need of grace... and desperately in need of God's help and favor. It is the grace of God that He humbled me today. The last thing I want is to be living in such a way that God is opposed to me. He must get all glory from this heart.

Washing of the Word

2011-09-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

We had men's meeting this morning and Pastor Tim was sharing about how little lame quotes in his log book for running have served as help in fighting the battle of the mind while he is running... to not quit, to press on. He then took us to several passages that he goes to when he needs that same help in winning the battle of the mind when it comes to spiritual living. I honestly didn't know that other people did that as well. One thing I do when I am feeling very spiritually needy and overwhelmed with the burdens of life is to go back to some of my favorite passages and just let the truths of them penetrate my heart once again. Those truths need to change my heart again. This is part of the reason that I try to press forward in reading passages that I am not as familiar with (all of it is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness) and also try to read something that is more familiar that I already know will minister to my heart where I need it.

Just like we use the same soap every day... the same shampoo... the same toothpaste... and each day it still cleanses us on the outside, God uses His Word to transform our minds into Christ-likeness. There is nothing wrong with pouring over the same 5 verses every day for a couple weeks. Yes, I think we ought to grow in the knowledge of Christ through reading more scripture, but God uses those same familiar passages to cleanse our hearts and minds through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word is living and active. May its washing be more a priority than physical washing. Oh, how I wish that the lack of spiritual washing would show on the outside as much as a lack of physical washing does... would it not drive me to be completely washed by the Word?

Well, guess what... it does show up on the outside. It shows in my attitude toward others. What would my day look like if I was my heart was transformed so that I would consider others as more important than myself today? What would my day look like if I was to work as unto the Lord and not unto men? What would my possessions look like if I did all things decently and in an orderly fashion? How would my brother grow spiritually today if I were to fellowship with him rather than live in the same house with him? How might my parents be encouaged today if I were to honor them as I am commanded to? What if I was truly washed by the Word today? The Word never enters the heart without bearing fruit. The question is whether or not it is truly entering my heart and changing my heart from the inside out.

God, I confess that I have read Your Word far too often without letting it change me. Knowledge of Christ is important, but unless it changes me into His image, it is pointless. I ask that You would implant Your Word deeply into my heart, that I would know You and that I would be changed into Your image by the power of Your Spirit. Forgive me for my hardness of heart. Break me. Mold me. Make me more like Your Son.

A Sign?

2011-09-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I often wonder why God gives clear signs in some instances and not in others. I know ultimately why He gives signs, but sometimes I want one just to remind me that He is with me and leading me. My desire for it is often out of a lack of faith. It's not that He hasn't given me enough to know that He is with me and leading me, but just that I want to feel the firm fatherly grasp of His hand around my shoulder as He shows me the way. I love this story in Exodus 4 because it reveals some of God's heart about showing us signs.

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.” Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.

I find it sobering that God's anger burned against Moses when he complained about not being able to speak well. I'm not one that likes to think about "what if" scenarios too often, but I do wonder if the Lord would have graciously provided Aaron as his spokesman even if Moses hadn't complained about not being able to speak well. Regardless, we know that God made it clear to Moses that He is more than able to fix any kind of problem that he might have in the area of being able to communicate. God will never fail us when we are speaking His truth to others. Paul asked that people pray that God would give him boldness to preach the gospel. If Paul, the man that was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, etc. asked that God would give Him boldness, I need it so much more! I don't know even the slightest bit about boldness. The extent of my boldness is fear of rejection.

Something that really stood out to me about this passage is that God gave these signs to Moses to perform before the people on His behalf for two main reasons: so that they would believe and so that they would worship. There are many areas in which God has given me clear direction and a "sign" of some sort and looking back on each of those times, God used it to cause me to believe Him and worship Him. When Christ chose not to perform signs for the pharisees, he basically told them that He had already given them the prophets and if they didn't believe them, they wouldn't believe Him. To perform a sign for them would be against His character of doing it for the purpose of belief and worship. May God give us the grace to believe Him more fully and bow low in humility before Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Fearing God

2011-09-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have read the book of Exodus, so I thought I'd go through it again. I really like Exodus because it is God communicating His character to the people of Israel. I need these very same reminders of God and who He is so that I am worshiping the one and only true God rather than a God of my own creation. I love the simplicity of the coorelation between fearing God and God's blessing. Please note that God's blessing doesn't necessarily mean that life will be easy and all will go as we desire, but His blessing is always best. While what God does is infinitely complex, He has also made our lives quite simple: fear God and keep His commandments. This is a pretty neat practical application of fearing God:

Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live... So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.

God specifically recorded that He was good to the midwives because they feared the Lord and obeyed Him rather than men. I firmly believe that He recorded this so that we can learn from their good example and commit to obeying Him. May He give us this kind of boldness and courage knowing that fearing the Lord and obeying Him will always be best--no exceptions!

Growing in Responsibility

2011-09-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

The Lord has given me several opportunities lately that have stretched me outside my comfort zone in the area of leadership. This is something I have been praying for and yet I have to be honest and say that I am not always as earnest about growing in this area when I have to actually do something about it. I am very thankful that God does not go based on what is easiest but rather what is best. I have the privilege of leading worship tomorrow and really look forward to it. However, I feel like I have to fit the way I lead worship into this box of the expected. It is not that I think "my way" is better, but it is different. I'm finding that much of leadership is being able to lead within the boundaries given us by God (sometimes set by others in authority that God is using). I am also finding that with more leadership opportunities comes much more responsibility. It is one thing to be responsible for keeping my own heart focused on worshiping the Lord, but to have the responsibility of leading this group of God's children in worshiping Him is such a huge responsibility. It makes me so thankful for the Holy Spirit being present and at work in the hearts of each child of His just like He is working in my heart.

There is such freedom knowing that ultimately it doesn't matter if I make mistakes... that is purely selfish pride, what matters is that God is glorified. Yes, He can be glorified much more easily when my pride is stripped away. I feel such a burden to lead wisely and yet He is the shepherd of His people. God doesn't need me, but He has chosen me. He has chosen me to lead His people in singing praises to Him tomorrow. That makes it important.

God, I am weak, but You are strong. I cannot lead Your people to worship You... it is only by Your Spirit that they can worship You. Yet, You have chosen human instruments to proclaim Your truth and shepherd Your people even in the leading of singing praises to You. I ask that You would be my ever present help in time of need so that I would lead them as You would have me lead them. Speak through me. Speak in spite of me. Make me small so that You are glorified.

A Sobering Reminder

2011-09-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

Work has been incredibly busy these last several weeks. It is such a blessing to be able to come home and not have any of that work to worry about and then to go in the next morning refreshed and ready to get back on it. I have been enjoying it greatly and the Lord has been blessing. There are always challenges of some sort, but I am continually amazed by how God gets me through each of them and teaches me more about waht it means to trust Him. I ought not go into specifics, but I had been praying regarding a difficult circumstance and was just floored by how God did what I truly didn't feel was possible in order to resolve it. He didn't need to do that. He could have let me continue to battle... but He completely took care of it. I can't thank Him enough. It is pathetic that I doubt Him so much. I have so far to go. He is so good!

I was thinking about this situation and reading in Jude this evening and verse 5 stuck out to me:

Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

This isn't your normal verse for encouagement, but I feel that I need to hear words like these just like I need to be encouraged by His goodness to pursue Christ. There is so much focus on eternal security, God's grace, God's love, God's mercy, God's compassion, etc. that I sense in my own heart that I don't reverence Him how I ought to. I don't have the godly fear that I ought to have for God. I need to see Him as holy and just. If God destroyed so many of His chosen people when they didn't believe, who am I to think that God is just so gracious now that I don't need to worry about it? God is gracious--very very gracious. I am not trying to make light of all those things that I mentioned above... those truths about God are absolutely vital to our understanding of Him. At the same time, I need that reminder that He is perfectly holy and perfectly just in order to have a true perspective on who God is. Without His holiness and justice, I would have no reason to be so thankful for His unending grace. It is the reality of my sin in light of His holiness and the guilty sentence placed on me by His perfect justice that points me to my need of Christ.

This reality brings so much joy to the end of Jude:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

God, make me to know all of You so that I love and obey You as I ought to. Make me to know my end! I am no more than dust. I cannot stand on my own. It is only by Your grace that I can do anything but stumble. I long for the day when I stand before You blameleess and with great joy because of Christ. Thank You for dying in my place.

Making Him Glad

2011-08-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a packed day starting with getting some work done here around the house and then helping someone load up a moving truck. We had an Awana meeting this afternoon. I must say that I am absolutely excited about the group of guys that I am going to be working with this year. I get to work with the junior and senior guys this year (my brother included). :) I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in the lives of each of these young men.

I had the blessing of going to a wedding reception tonight. The Lord blessed with so much fellowship! Sometimes these kinds of things can be fun but empty... but it seemed like everywhere I went in mingling with people, God was continually brought to the center of the conversation. I believe that is what God intended these kinds of activities to be like. I left refreshed and encouraged in the Lord. God is so good!

I was reading in Psalm 104 tonight and got thinking about this phrase:

Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; Let the Lord be glad in His works.

One of God's works is His work of creating us. I must ask myself the question... is the Lord glad that He made me? We read in the times of Noah that God was sorry that He made man. In fact, God says that He was grieved in His heart that he made man (Gen. 6:6). I think we (myself included) take His grace far too lightly. We live in the "age of grace", yet God is unchanging. I believe that our sin causes Him to grieve. In fact, Eph. 4 commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. May it be that He is glad in His work of creating me. May it be that He is glad in His work of creating each of us. He is completely deserving of all of our praise. It starts with obedience so as to not grieve Him, but it is so much more than that. When we take joy in Christ, we cannot help but praise Him. I believe it is in obedience and joy in Christ that we make God glad. Let's live each moment asking ourselves... "Does this make you glad, Lord?"

Endurance

2011-08-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

I went for a couple mile run the other night. My younger siblings and mom were going to walk around the lake the opposite way and we were going to cross paths at some point. I got about 90% done and there they were... all lined up to race me to the end. I was in no way ready to race to the end... I was tired after the previous 2 miles and just not ready to sprint it out at the end. I determined to keep my pace regardless of what they did. I always like to finish strong, so for the last 100 yards or so (uphill), I decided to sprint up that last hill. I had some "beat the little brother" motivation in there as well. ;) Just for the record, I found it quite humorous. :)

One of the things that I think about most while running is the life applications to running. It takes endurance. It takes planning. If I was to start out too fast, I wouldn't be able to finish. The world around us is full of every kind of instability... finances jump up and down... friends come and go... etc. I am reminded of that passage where Jesus is telling His disciples to count the cost of following Christ. The sermon on Sunday was about faithfulness to the end... even if that means death for the sake of Christ. That is endurance. That is planning to finish strong. The pace is living today in such a manner that I am ready to die for Christ if that be His plan. It is living every moment of today as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God. To be holy is to be without blemish. True holiness can only be found in Christ, but He calls me to be holy as He is holy. This is the pace of being victorious over sin. Finishing strong comes when death is conquered by the glorious uniting of us with Christ at the resurrection. Death is swallowed up in victory through Christ.

Death is a split moment out of our entire life. We can't add or take away a moment from our life. God determines how long we have here on earth and so it is our job to run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus who is both the author (starter) and finisher of our faith. He hems us in behind and before in the sense of running the race. I think of those marathon runners with the police cars all around them the entire way... they are hemed in and protected. That is a small example of what God is for us. He protects us along the way. He doesn't make it so that we don't need to run, but He is right there guiding us toward the finish and then finishing with the victory over sin and death at the cross. The battle comes in the running. I was reading in James 5 today...

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

I can't think of a single person that had a tougher trial than what Job had. I'm sure there have been... but Job had it tough: his wealth was stripped away, his family was killed, his health was very bad, and his wife and friends were less than encouraging. Yet, looking at James' commentary on Job... this actually proved that God is full of compassion and mercy! God blesses those that go through trials. He is not bound to it, but I believe He takes joy in blessing His children just like earthly fathers take joy in blessing their children. God lets us walk through the trials of life... actually, I think we can say Biblically that He absolutely plans the trials of life for His glory and for our good.

God, help me to be faithful. Help me to endure. Help me to run with my eyes fully fixed on Christ.

Are You Rich?

2011-08-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why this passage had never caught my attention before, but I was reading 1 Timothy 6 tonight and verses 17-19 jumped out at me.

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

I feel like the church as a whole has not done a good job of instructing those who are rich as He commands. We have this idea that there are "missionaries" and there are "senders"... and I guess there is some truth to that, but 99% of us want to be the rich one that God enables to be a "sender". I know I am exaggerating, but you get my point. We are all called to be disciples and somehow we have decided that being "rich" enables us not to fulfill that command. In the name of "seeking to please God with our riches", we are actually fixing our hope on the uncertainty of riches! Our giving is rarely sacrificial... it is out of the abundance that He has given us. Sin is so often disguised by some kind of seemingly God-centered idea. We need His grace and help to uncover the areas in which we are not pleasing Him.

On the flip side, I have also found a large crowd... well at least the 1% in the church that are committed to missions (again exaggerating a bit) that see riches as evil. The truth is that most of the time the riches cause us to love money which indeed is the root of all evil, so they are right in many regards. However, it is unbalanced... if we all committed to reading the Word and doing what it says: fix our hope on God realizing that He supplies all things to us for us to enjoy, be rich in good works, be generous and ready to share (bringing more joy) for things of eternal worth... that would really solve a lot of our problems. It's interesting that we are to be "ready to share". This means that we are saving money for that purpose... to share! He gives us these things for us to enjoy. He even says that! It is not wrong to enjoy the things He has blessed us with... He loves to give His children good gifts and see our satisfaction with His gifts. Yet, I think one of the ways we can enjoy His gifts the most is to share them. One of the ways God has lead me to do this is by actually putting different spots in my budget for "sharing". I don't claim to do it the "right way". I'm not sure that there is a "one size fits all" for this kind of thing. But I know for myself, I dislike spending money and so if I don't specifically plan to share, my natural tendency is to store up treasure for myself which is of absolutely no eternal value. I have found that one part of my budget the most joyous.

I think it important that whether we have much or have little, we are applying these truths. If God is gracious to me and I am fixing my hope on the uncertainty of riches, He will strip away those riches for my good so that I will fix my hope on God! Just because you are poor doesn't mean that you don't trust the Lord and just because you are rich doesn't mean that you do! It simply means that God knows what is best for you at this time and He wants you to be faithful with what He has given. I often think about the rich young ruler and how he went away from Christ sad because he had great wealth. May God in His grace strip away my earthly possessions completely before I walk away from Him to pursue my own riches.

Life--A Gift

2011-08-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a great birthday:

Stayed up late talking with my mom and sister.
The blessing of sleeping in my own bed for the first time in 10 days.
The surprise of cookies in my car that my sister baked for me.
Getting emails and texts and facebook messages throughout the day filled with encouragement and memories of friends.
The reminder that life is a gift and our days are numbered as I saw an over-turned car on the freeway on the way to work.
The blessing of spiritual food and the overwhelming love of the Father in Hosea 2.
Exhortation from 1 Timothy 6 about fighting the good fight.
A great prayer from the end of Ephesians 1.
The blessing of having and out of the ordinary day at work with traveling around to different schools and being able to listen to the Word being preached and worship in singing.
The blessing of my brother going out of his way to BBQ an amazing roast and make milk shakes.
Etc.

The Lord has been so good to me in this short 24 hour period... and His goodness doesn't change, even though I fail to recognize His blessings so often. The Lord has been so good to me this year. The reality is that I am not guaranteed tomorrow or even the next hour here on earth. Five individuals were crushed under stage equipment in Indiana where I was less than a week ago. I don't know how long I have, but what I do know is that I need Him to teach me to number my days so that I present to Him a heart of wisdom. I love the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards and was reminded of the one that has stood out the most to me:

Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

Life is an interesting thing. We must live in the moment. As Jim Elliot says and I wholeheartedly agree, "Wherever you are--be all there." At the same time, we must have eternity in our hearts. We are eternal beings. What I eat today doesn't matter for eternity. What does matter is that I do all (even the mundane things like eating) for the glory of God. It comes down to living 100% in this moment for the glory that is to be revealed in Christ for eternity. I fall so so short. That is what makes Christ so real to me. The guilt of my sin satisfied by the love of Christ in taking that guilt upon Himself so that I could be declared not guilty before the throne of God Almighty. My sin is great, but my savior is greater still.

God, take this year of my life and use it for Your glory. You deserve nothing less than all of me. Take all that You have given me, time, money, possessions, etc. and use it how You deem best. Gently peel my fingers off anything that I am holding onto as my own that is really Yours. Cause me to be a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to You this year. Give me a heart of vision for eternal things and a heart a wisdom in how to apply that knowledge in every "this moment" of this next year. Make me Your prized possession... not because I deserve to be, but because You deserve all of me. Rid my heart of anything that holds me back from being fully Yours. Thank You for this year. I love You.

Obey Him!

2011-08-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

I sense that God blessed the time in Atlanta. I may not be chosen... and honestly, I kind of hope that I'm not. It would simplify my life in a lot of ways with work and all; however, if God opens that door, I will consider it prayerfully. I really just want to honor the Lord. He is going to have to make it clear... and I know that He will because shepherds do not hide from their sheep. They make themselves seen and they lead with wisdom. I am depending on Him to come through as I know He will. I look forward to whatever He has in store.

I was listening to a sermon on the way home today about how our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It very much fit in with these verses from Jeremiah 7 that I read this evening.

Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the Lord. “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you." But this is what I commanded them, saying, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you."

I am thankful that God does not just let us sin without causing us to really consider the impact of it. It is such a blessing that we have the Holy Spirit living within us to convict of sin and righteousness and judgement. He sees all. None of our thoughts, actions, or motives are hidden from Him. I don't like to hear those words from Him, "I do not hear you.", but I must take all sin seriously. His grace is far greater than all my sin, but it must be taken seriously. It must turn me to love my Savior so much more than I already do. He tore the veil that separated me from Him so that I could come boldly before His throne of grace to obtain help in time of need. I think that must be why Paul says to pray without ceasing... I am never in a place where I don't need His help.

God, Your grace is truly amazing. The reality of You not being able to look on sin would be instant death were in not for Your grace and Christ taking the full weight of my sin on Himself. Thank You for these Old Testaments pictures of what it is like to be separated from You. I need these reminders so that I love You more. Thank You for showing me so constantly how much I need Christ. Let me never try to do life without You. I cannot do without You. I must know You. Teach me full submission and humility. Do the heart surgery that needs to be done in order to refine me. Make me Your prized possession. I need You to strip anything out of my heart that is not of You. Put in me a completely pure heart. I want Your motives. I must have them. By Your grace, do not allow me to take the glory that belongs only to You. Take any blinders off my eyes that may be hindering me from seeing You and Your ways clearly and give me the heart to follow. I know You will do that work because it is Your will. I love You. Thank You for Christ. Help me to live no longer for myself, but for Christ Who died and rose again on my behalf. Make Your glory central to everything I do.

Headed to Atlanta!

2011-07-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it is almost August already! It seems like summer just began. Work is especially busy during the summer because it is when we do all of our biggest updates. I think this has added to the "shortness" of summer, but it has been very good and profitable. I am working a half day tomorrow and heading off to Atlanta for the weekend. If I may be completely honest, I wasn't planning on continuing handball. They sent out applications for the Panamerican Games and I decided not to fill out the application. After the deadline for turning in the application was up, I received an email saying that I really should fill out the application. It appears that God was opening this door and shoving me through despite my resistance. So, I am headed off to Atlanta tomorrow to play handball. They will be choosing the guys from the national team pool that will represent the USA at the Panamerican Games. Most likely, I won't be picked... actually, I probably don't deserve to be picked. This is a good thing because it takes the pressure off my performance and puts my focus where it should be--on honoring Christ. I don't know what He has planned for this weekend, but my desire is that God would be honored with how I play. I plan to do my very best... never give up... be strong... play smart... etc. All these things are good ideas, but without Him, I can do none of them. I am looking forward to this weekend and what God will do. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 comes to mind both in the physical sense and more importantly, the spiritual sense.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

God, help me to do my best this weekend so as to win. I humbly admit that I don't know what true winning may look like, but You know. I ask that You would help me to really win... not the "winning" that produces nothing more than personal fame, but rather, the winning of the heart... winning that brings honor to You. Show me what it means to "win" this weekend and help me to run whole-heartedly with that aim at the center of everything I do. Keep my heart and mind fixed on You.

Complete Cleansing

2011-07-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

The Lord has been really blessing at work. I have three very large tasks to get done by the end of the week and honestly, I didn't see how I was going to be able to get them done. My boss authorized overtime (not manditory, but allowed), so I have been working a tiny bit of overtime. I think it's important to keep a balanced life even with the added stress of deadlines. It is amazing how the Lord enables us to get things done in the time that He gives us to do them. I think back to school and how often it was that I didn't feel like I had enough time and yet somehow, I graduated. It was all a blur... day by day not knowing how I was going to get everything done and finding Him to be faithful in helping me get it done. God really blessed today. I was working on one of these projects and my boss sent me an email telling me to make the other thing more of a priority. I had already made quite a bit of good progress on the other thing and so I kind of wanted to continue working on that, but I went ahead and worked on the other project. I honestly thought this project was going to take like at least 2 days. God blessed so amazingly... He graciously gave me one of those "light bulb" moments where I understood exactly what was going on and exactly how I was going to develop this new thing. In about an hour and a half, I had it working! God is so good! He didn't need to bless me in that way. The struggling and fighting with it is often good for learning patience (taking a while) and humility (needing help), but He gave me the easy road today. I'm very thankful for His help.

I have been reading in Jeremiah the last few days. The call to have our hearts completely toward the Lord has continually caught my attention. In Jeremiah 4:1-2, God instructs Israel as to what they ought to do and promises blessing if they do them.

"If you will return, O Israel," declares the Lord, "Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, 'As the Lord lives,' In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory."

There are two big things here: return to the Lord (including putting away anything that is hindering us from being fully committed to Him), and don't waver. I think of Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt when she looked back longingly on Sodom. May the Lord give us hearts that detest the things that He hates. He provides the grace and help to both hate those things and not waver in turning from them. He enables us to be faithful.

God, I confess to You that I don't always hate the things you hate. I don't always love the things that You love. Forgive me of my sin and turn my heart to love You fully. I want to have Your heart so that my desires are a mirror of Yours. Use me to carry out Your will as You deem fit, not because You need me, but because I need to be used by You for my own good. Accomplish Your will in me.

Take It All!

2011-07-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

This seems to be a far too commonly necessary prayer of mine these days: God, please take it all! I wish that this could be one of those one time decisions... and in a sense, it is. When we become a child of God, we have had a change in ownership. We are not our own. He purchased us with His blood and our every breath, thought, emotion... everything is His. The salvation cry is one of complete surrender knowing that the best of our good works cannot meet God's standard. The great news is that we are no longer loved based on what we have done, but rather based on what Christ has done. His perfect obedience is now mine. This is why I feel that this prayer is needed way too often. It's done... He owns all. I just seem to think that I can hold onto bits and pieces sometimes. The reality is that I am holding nothing. It doesn't matter if I think that I am or not... I can't. I come to Him once again asking Him to take everything for the sake of my own heart. It is not because He doesn't own everything already or that I could hold onto something that isn't mine. It's for my sake and mine only that I come to Him humbly admitting my pride in thinking that I have a better plan than He does. I do not. I must plead with Him to graciously not give me my way when it doesn't line up with His.

The sermon this morning was about faith and God's promises. I have somehow failed to notice so many of the places in scripture where God says, "I will..." do this or that. Scripture is full of the history of God's faithfulness. When He says that He will do something, He always does it. He never once has not done what He said He would do. Satan is the master deceiver... He loves to fill our minds with lies about God and His character... maybe that He is slow... or maybe He will never come through... or maybe He didn't really mean what He said... etc. The only description of God as being slow that comes to mind is that He is slow to wrath and abounding in love! We must be so filled with the Spirit that those lies of Satan are instantly taken captive to the obedience of Christ.

I read an article today about a family who has a son named Peter who was in a serious car accident a little over a year ago while heading to mow the lawn for a widow. As they recounted all his (and their) hopes and dreams and see what they have now, I can't imagine how difficult that would be. They have had their hearts so fixed on the Lord during this time and it has been such an incredible encouragement to me. One of the phrases from that article was this: "The message is much more: you do what's right and leave the results to God."

I needed to hear that today. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that He always answers prayer when He doesn't answer how we want Him to and when we want Him to... but He always answers. It is so important that right now... this very moment... that I do what God instructs me to do with this moment and trust Him for the rest. So, I come again asking Him to take it all, declaring my full trust in His faithfulness to complete what He has started in ways far better than what I could even imagine, and by His grace, letting that trust result in full obedience right now wherever I am.

Taste and See!

2011-07-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Work has been pretty intense the last several days. We just published a rather huge update and our lead developer was out today (the day after the update), which meant that resolving any issues pretty much fell in my lap. I did greatly enjoy it, but it certainly was not stress free. I like challenges. I would not do well in a work environment that didn't present me with challenges. It's really neat how the Lord uses times like this to show me a bit more of His wisdom in placing me where He has placed me. At the same time, He does so in such a way as to keep me humble. There was an issue on the live production server and so I went ahead and made a change and published it. I figured that something working was better than something not working, even if it wasn't exactly how people wanted it. My boss wasn't too pleased with this... and I should have known better. He was very gracious and said that I probably did the right thing in this instance, but strongly encouraged me not to make a pattern of doing such. I'm thankful for him. I need that kind of strong and gracious guidance. God has been so good to me by giving me my boss.

I was reading this evening in 1 John 4 and also read some of Spurgeon's writings. 1 John 4:16 really stuck out to me in light of Spurgeon's commentary on one of the times that God rebukes Israel for wanting to go back to Egypt.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.

O true believer, called by grace and washed in the precious blood of Jesus, thou hast tasted of better drink than the muddy river of this world's pleasure can give thee; thou hast had fellowship with Christ; thou hast obtained the joy of seeing Jesus, and leaning thine head upon his bosom. Do the trifles, the songs, the honors, the merriment of this earth content thee after that? -Spurgeon

We are to taste and see that the Lord is good. He is the very definition of love. His love is better than life! We must not lose sight of the precious possession of Christ in us. He is our life. If we truly consider Christ and the joys found only in Him, all other desires that are incompatible with love of Christ would vanish completely. The joys of life outside of Christ are as drinking mud. May it be that we find no contentment outside of Christ and His perfect plans.

God, give me a godly discontentment for anything that is not of You. By Your grace, don't allow me to settle for anything less than Your best. Don't let me turn Your ways aside for a way of my own design. Bring me joy in submission. Cause my soul to find complete rest and refreshment under the shadow of Your wings. Put Your laws upon my heart. Make them to be my delight. Remind me of all the ways I have tasted and seen that You are good so that I would desire none but You.

Wholly Yours

2011-07-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

We studied the lampstand today in Sunday school. It was a great reminder that God has given each of us as His children a task to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify God who is in heaven. It also was a good reminder that this isn't a task that God just sends us out to do without support. He "walks amongst the lampstands" in Revelation. He empowers us to do His work. We also know that the battle is won in Christ already, yet, we must be faithful to Him. We are doing a study on End Times at church coming up here pretty soon and so we passed out invites to this study to a few hundred homes this evening. Usually, there are people outside and it often turns into an opportunity to talk with them a bit and possibly share the gospel. This evening was odd... I didn't talk with a single person the entire time. As I was kind of telling God of my frustration along these lines while I was putting the invites on door steps, He graciously reminded me that I could be praying for each of these people. I came to a house that had incense by the door... I believe they are Hindu. It was a sobering reminder that though the people in this certain house are clearly lost... and fully believing things that are false... these other houses that I am passing by probably have people in them just as lost in sin--just as hopeless. I walked by a house that had the star of David imprinted in their sidewalk leading up to their door. It served as a reminder of the Jews that need Christ. I know that I under estimate the power of prayer. I was so fixed on talking with people and yet the Lord graciously made it so that I wouldn't talk to a single person, but rather had time to pray. Praying ought not be an excuse for not being obedient to what He calls us to do, but it also ought not be minimized. The fervant prayer of a righteousness man accomplishes much.

It is so important that I am wholly devoted to Him, so that I see His purposes... not just the obvious ones when He gives opportunities to talk about Him, but the ones that no one else will ever know or see. When no one but the Lord sees, that is the true test of character. God, make me a faithful man. In Your grace, don't allow me to look down on small things because they are small, but rather work diligently to accomplish them through the power of Your Spirit. Teach me to find true joy and fulfillment in following You and only You. Rid me of selfish desires and the pride that I so naturally cling to. Strip it away. Make me wholly Yours.

A Lesson From Cookies

2011-07-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

Jonathan is playing piano this week at church, so they went off to music practice the other day. When they left, they requested that I bake some cookies. I'm definitely not the best cook around, but I can follow directions. Anyway, I made some cookies yesterday and as I was mixing the cookie dough, God used that to remind me of the fact that I don't know the outcome of what He is going to do or how He is going to do it... but that I can trust Him. If you actually think about it... it's pretty crazy that this white powdery stuff that we call flour which tastes absolutely disgusting by itself would be the most used ingredient in these cookies. I mixed the dry ingredients... flour, sugar, salt, baking soda... it really wasn't looking anything like cookies. Then I mixed the wet ingredients... egg, an extra egg yoke, melted butter, vanilla... not only did it look gross, it tasted... okay, I didn't really tasted it. ;) As I was looking down at these two bowls... one of a bunch of dry ingredients that wouldn't taste good at all together, the other of these wet ingredients that wouldn't taste good at all together, it really is pretty amazing that you can mix these two things and it becomes a dough... and not just any dough... it becomes the perfect dough for chocolate chip cookies. The fact is that life is infinitely more complex than baking chocolate chip cookies, but we have the all-wise God who knows all the perfect ingredients, when to use each of them, how long, etc. I thought yesterday... these might have been better with walnuts in them. God will never do His work on us and then decide it would have been better if He did it a different way. He makes no mistakes! He knows the beginning and the end... He P-L-A-N-S the begginning and the end and everything in between.

I was reminded of these things as I read Psalm 65 this evening.

How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea; Who establishes the mountains by His strength, being girded with might; Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples. They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

He is the trust of all the ends of the earth! We stand in awe at His work... and we barely see a glimpse of His work! That beautiful sunrise this morning... and the sunset tonight are little hints of His glory that shout out joy--His joy. God, help me to see Your work around me and muse on Your deeds. Fill my heart with the joy in seeing Your work starting within the unseen places of my heart and going to the ends of the earth. When I don't see how Your ingredients are working together, point my heart to Your faithfulness. Remind me of the Red Sea crossings. Teach me full dependence on You, for Your love is better than life.

Firmly Planted by Streams of Water

2011-07-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

My boss and I spent half the day training some principals how to use our data management system today. It was kind of strange for me because I have always seen principals as authoritative and strong leaders. However, in this context, I was leading them. It caused me to reflect on the faithfulness of the Lord and how He has has called "lines to fall in pleasant places" for me. I spent much of the drive back with my boss talking about how thankful I am for the position that I have... how I could have been in so many other positions and yet, I am blessed to be where I am. God really lead my feet around some huge pits. He has been so gracious to me.

I was reading tonight from Psalm 63... a passage that I continually cling to.

When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

I love when I wake up during the night with thoughts of Him on my mind... with songs of joy in my heart. Sometimes I cling to Him out of pure joy in having direct access to Him, other times I feel like I have fighting to cling to Him under crashing waves. Either way, it is not my clinging that matters... it is the right hand of Almighty God that upholds me. I am reminded of Psalm 1 and the description of a man that depends on the Lord--he flees from wickedness, he avoids scoffing, he delights in the Lord and His commandments knowing that His way is always best, and he meditates on it, longing to know Him and His ways more. This man is the one who is firmly planted by streams of water who yields fruit in his season. We ought not be discouraged if we don't see immediate fruit... He brings the harvest.

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

Only Two Responses

2011-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

This evening I was reading in Acts 7. You really can't read just part of it, so I am not going to attempt to post it here. Stephen is giving history of the people of Israel from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ. The first thing that catches my attention is how well Stephen knew the scripture. He was put on the spot in front of all these people in authority and God gave him incredible boldness to speak the truth of scripture. The second thing that caught my attention is the people's response to him. Rather than being torn apart by the depth of their sin, they chose to reject the message and kill the messenger.

The sobering reality is that we can do this very same thing. You know those people that make you feel convicted when you are around them? Our natural tendency is not to humble ourselves before them, but rather to take up defenses or avoid them completely. I have found that even when those around us are not completely right... or even mostly wrong in their thoughts about us, there is usually some part that is true. We must not ignore the truth that is there. There are only two responses to truth, either we humble ourselves and submit ourselves wholeheartedly to it, or we reject it. There is no middle ground.

God, help us to see the truth of Your Word as it applies to us. Allow it to do the careful and complete surgery on our hearts that must be done in order to clease us of all sin and purify us for Yourself. Show us any area in which we are rejecting Your truth and give us hearts of humility to listen once again. Unite our hearts to fear Your name. Teach us not only to serve You, but to love You with all of our hearts not with motives of personal gain, but simply because You are worthy of our love. Make me to love You more.

Stepping Up

2011-06-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Peter often gets a bad rep because he denied Christ three times... couldn't keep his eyes on the Lord when he was walking on the stormy sea... opened his big mouth on several ocassions... even had Jesus say to him, "Get behind me, Satan." In some ways, he deserves that bad rep. But, as I look at my life and my heart, I see many of those same characteristics, perhaps not in such big situations and written down in a book that will last forever... but if I am fully honest with myself, there are many times where my actions deny Him even if my mouth does not. There are times that the words that come out of my mouth are not seasoned with salt, bringing grace to the hearer. The fact is that anything that is not of faith is sin. If my words are not of Him, they are of Satan. There is no middle ground. As Paul says in Romans, we are slaves either of righteousness or of sin.

I was reading in Acts 1 this evening and am just amazed by what the Lord does through Peter. God used him in a mighty way... yes, the fearful man that denied Christ three times even after being warned about that very thing just hours earlier. God used him. This gives me great encouragement when it comes to areas of failure. It is when we are weak that He is strong. When the apostles were sitting around praying and kind of not knowing what to do, Peter stepped up to that plate.

At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no one dwell in it'; and, ‘let another man take his office.’ Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

In the midst of this difficult time where Christ had just left them, Peter is there thinking clearly through God's Word and applying it directly to the situation. That is what makes a good leader. Yes, leaders have weak spots. Yes, they will stumble and fall at times. But, it is in those difficult times when they are able to listen to the Spirit within the noise of life and hear His voice through His Word. Leading isn't just hearing His voice, but rather, hearing it and being the first to obey and apply it. That is what Peter did. He explained God's Word to them and then acted on it with their full support. They kept their dependence on the Lord... "Lord, You know the hearts of these men..." and they made their request known to God. There was a healthy simplicity about their faith. They trusted the Lord fully. They humbled themselves before Him. They listened to Him. They loved Him. They obeyed Him. God, give me a heart that listens and obeys.

Fixing Your Gaze on Him

2011-06-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

This evening I decide to read what we had read earlier in family devotions. I am finding it so important to make sure that all sin (no matter how big or small it may appear) does not go unprotested in my heart. Passages like... taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ... laying aside the sin that so easily entangles us... fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness and holiness... letting the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to God... etc. all flood my mind. I have been listening to Exodus off and on in the car on the way to work and it is continually serving as a reminder that sin hardens our hearts. Letting little things go makes room for bigger things. This is the very thing we read about tonight in Proverbs 4:23-27.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.

One of the dangers in looking closely at all the "small things" that must not go through our hearts without a battle... is that we can lose sight of the big picture. We see how the Pharisees were focused on things like mint tithe but robbing widows and not taking care of their parents. To assume that mastering the little things means we master the big things is not a safe assumption. We must watch over our hearts with all diligence in both the big things and the small things. I have been thinking lately about how His Word is sharper than a two-edged sword and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I am in constant need of Him to show me my own motives so that my heart would be fixed on Him.

God, please help me to be diligent about listening to Your still small voice concerning my heart. Search me and know my thoughts. Reveal any sin that resists You in my heart. Cleanse my heart so that the words that I say are filled with grace. Fix my eyes on You so that when the storms of life come, I trust You with all my heart rather than leaning on my own understanding. Cause the things that would side-track me to be of no appeal to me. Let me find fullest joy in You alone. Let love for Christ, every motive inspire. I need You to be the center... my All.

The Side Issues

2011-06-26T22:53:00.000-07:00

One thing that God has been teaching me lately is that I must not ignore any kind of "side issues" in my life. I had let my room get out of hand... it was a disaster... and I hadn't been keeping good track of my finances as I ought to. I wasn't spending like I shouldn't, but I wasn't keeping track of it either. I believe that is one of my responsibilities as a steward of the money He has given me... to keep good track of it and where it is going. The Lord had been convicting me of these two things. I started noticing that Satan was starting to use them as a foot hold in my heart to remind me of those failures and attempt to make me believe that failing in other areas was okay because I "already failed"... so why worry about it? I am thankful for the Holy Spirit and the fact that He is my ever present help in time of need... when those lies from Satan come, the Holy Spirit is there to fill me with Biblical thoughts about full submission to Him.

I decided that though my room being a mess isn't "eternally significant" necessarily, it is important... same thing with my finances. I am thankful for godly friends and commitment to keep me accountable to get those things taken care of. These issues which may be deemed as small from the outside were of vital importance for my heart. I noticed that my desire for the Word the last couple days was decreasing. I wanted so much to have a strong desire for the Word. I knew I must read it even if I didn't feel like it, but I desired so strongly to "feel like it". I pled with the Lord to renew that desire though I am committed to doing it regardless of how I feel. He answered that prayer and gave abundance of joy in His Word this morning.

Psalm 4 has been on my heart since about the end of March. I read that along with some other passages. It is such a great reminder for me to trust the Lord and be obedient.

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him. Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the Lord.

God, thank You for restoring my soul, for leading me by the still waters of Your Word. By your grace and mercy, I ask that You would continue to cause the desire for Your Word to grow in my heart. Even more than that, cause my desire to obey Your Word to grow. Let no vice or sin remain that resists Your holy war in my heart. I want you to dwell here in my heart without rivals. Make me as soft clay in Your skillful hands. Thank You that Your mercies never cease. Thank You for drawing to mind the "side isues" of life that are really main issues. Continually search my heart and show me if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in Your everlasting path.

Hang In There

2011-06-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

There are times that I feel a bit overwhelmed, perhaps because I am not trusting God enough. It is in times like these that I am even more overwhelmed by His grace... almost like He has His arms around me saying, "Hang in there. You can trust Me. I'm not finished." He often speaks to me in this way through His word. I was reading Psalm 94 this evening.

If I should say, "My foot has slipped," Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up. When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.

We used to go to Colorado every summer and dad spoke at Summit Ministries. This verse brings back a memory from one of those days in Colorado. Every 2 weeks, they do a "manly hike" early one morning up Red Mountain. It's only about a mile or so, but it's a steep mile. On the way down, several of us run down. There is loose gravel so it is almost like you are jumping and sliding... jumping and sliding all the way down. It's a blast. The one thing that always makes it more exciting is when the loose gravel ends and the sharp rock section begins. It had been raining and I slipped on one of these rocks going almost full speed and kind of ate it face first into more rocks. You know that feeling right before you fall... that feeling of... "This is going to hurt." It is in those very times (in the spiritual sense) that God is right there to hold me up. When there is not a thing I can do to save myself and by all fleshly feelings, I am done for. He will take hold of me with that strong Fatherly grip that never slips.

It is in this confidence that I can have great delight. He robs sin and death of their victory and claims it for His own. Isn't it amazing that those last moments before death, when hope is gone and you "give up"... that is when He wins the ultimate battle in us... completely purifying us and bringing us into His presence? This experience of Him gaining the victory in the completion of our sanctification isn't a unique experience. He is holding us now. When we don't know where our foot is going to land... we just know it's in the air and hope that it lands in a solid place... that is the moment that we must trust the Lord. Actually, there is never a moment that we may stop trusting Him, but especially when we don't know what will happen next. It is such a God glorifying thing to trust Him when we can't even fathom what He will do. God, give me that kind of dependence on You.

This Time I Will Praise the Lord

2011-06-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

Jonathan and I had a neat opportunity today to play the piano at a city event. It was neat to see their openness to the Lord. When Jonathan was asked about his aspirations regarding music, he said he just wanted to glorify God. Those words make a big brother so proud (in the right way). :) I am so thankful for Jonathan and love getting to see him and play a small part in his growth in the Lord. God is making him into a very neat, godly young man. I am so thankful! It was neat to see others singing Christian songs as well at this public event. I played things from the top of my head. I was playing "It is Well" and a lady that was sitting near by was singing along. At first when I was asked to do it, I really didn't want to do it. I don't like performances, but I finally decided that if I was going to do it, I must worship Him through it. I really enjoy just sitting at the piano and playing to the Lord (in the quiet of my home)... and I decided that I could do so in this case as well. I was thankful for the opportunity and pray that God used it to encourage someone listening.

I was reading this evening in Genesis 29. The ending is sad with Jacob being deceived regarding marrying Leah... but even more sad than that is the lack of love that Jacob showed to her and her trying to impress Jacob so that she would be loved. Take a look at verses 31-35.

Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

I think it is important to note God's part in all of this. Sometimes we feel that He doesn't see or doesn't care about our trials, but not only did God bless Leah with children, He chose to withhold them from Rachel. Having said this, we see Leah continually hoping that her husband will love her. Yes, Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, but that does not remove his responsibility before the Lord to love her. Love is a choice. Even through it all, we see that God is at work in Leah's heart to teach her to depend on the Lord even though she was unloved by Jacob. That phrase "This time I will praise the Lord." really caught my attention. She finally got it. God blessing her was not for the purpose of manipulating Jacob into loving her... it was simply for her to take joy in the Lord and praise Him! I am not advocating that any man treat his wife in such a manner (just to clarify). Jacob failed in a major way to meet the needs of Leah; yet, the Lord was enough.

God, search my heart and show me where my motives are impure. Show me where I am seeking the love and praise of man rather than the approval of You. Show me where I am using Your blessings for selfish gain. Convict me of sin and lead me to repentance. Cause my heart to overflow with praise for You for Your abundant blessings. Make me a man of thankfulness. Cause me to see how You are fulfilling my every need and praise You for it.

I Remember

2011-06-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I have been continually amazed by God's goodness these last several weeks. I am so undeserving of His blessings and yet He is continually blessing. I had the opportunity to go to a pretty important meeting for work the other day. I really enjoy those kinds of meetings where I am listening to different people and gathering information on what we need to do in order to develop the software to meet the needs of different people. I was surprised when I was asked to go because I am the newest member of the development team... certainly not the smartest or most talented. My boss said that he would probably be using me for more meetings like this in the future. I was praying before the meeting that God would put a guard over my mouth. It is so easy to say too much or too little in these meetings. It really is one of those things where I have to be constantly dependent on Him for wisdom. I am very thankful to the Lord for His blessing in this regard... I am definitely undeserving of it, but very thankful.

This evening I was reading in Deuteronomy 32... such a beautiful passage about the character of God.

Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people.

I needed this reminder tonight of being owned by Him. He is the one that sets our boundaries. He is the one that establishes us. The cool thing about this is that since He has always been faithful, there is not an earthly father that you can't ask about God and His work... and if they are truthful, they can't deny His work and His faithfulness. They can't deny that His boundaries are in fact best. There is so much rest in that. He is our Rock! All His work is perfect. He has never once been unjust. God, help me to remember your character so that I love You how I ought to.

He Meets Our Needs

2011-06-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

I was thinking last night about some of my frustrations with lack of young men my age with whom I can have continual fellowship. I was reminded that if He is the One who is daily bearing all my burdens, He needs to hear what they are. Yes, He knows my burdens better than I know them, but He commands us to cast our cares on Him--to leave them at His feet and let Him do with them as He deems best. I had kind of forgotten about that today until the Lord totally met those needs. He blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with a good friend of mine this morning for about an hour and then received a text message from another friend asking if I had time for lunch. The Lord graciously worked it out in such a way that I worked extra yesterday and was able to take an extra long lunch today. I am so convicted of my slowness in taking things to Him in prayer. God, give me the humility to take all to You in urgent prayer. I can't afford to be self-relient in any way. Cause me to be constantly giving You all my cares so that You can carry me. Thank You for being such a gracious and loving heavenly Father. You truly do lead me by still waters and restore my soul.

When He Gives the Words

2011-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

It is such a huge temptation to take things into our own hands... to depend upon our own wisdom... etc. I woke up this morning with a song in my head which has Proverbs 3:5-6 in the middle of it. I have had that specific part stuck throughout the day. I love when things like that are stuck in my head. The truths are so foundational and simple, but can be such a challenge.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

That phrase, "with all of your heart", is too often overlooked. We can't compare ourselves to others and then tell God how good we are by trusting Him with some or even most of our hearts. God is not impressed by my wisdom. Actually, if it truly is wise, He gave it to me. Leaning not on my own understanding must be what drives me to my knees in prayer. He said that if anyone lacks wisdom, we can ask of Him and He will give it--that is submission to His ways... that is acknowledgement of Him. When we do this, He doesn't promise a road of ease, but He does promise that it will be straight. I think we are often surprised by what He does because we are trusting our own wisdom to make decisions far too much of the time. If we were fully in-tune with Him, I think we would be surprised very little by what He does. In fact, I believe He would be creating those desires in our heart to prepare us for it. His ways are higher than our ways. I am not trying to say otherwise, but I do think that there are unnecessary "surprises" due to our lack of seeking His wisdom before our own.

I was reading tonight in Acts 6 and looking at the example of Stephen who was clearly in-tune with what the Lord was doing not only inside himself, but also in those around him. Take a look at this:

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking... and fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

When we submit ourselves to His way, He provides the words far above and beyond what we could even dream of thinking to say. God is so infinitely wise and He is not only willing, but He has told us to ask Him for wisdom. It is His will for us to have it. It's not like we are trying to get something out of Him that He is holding back... He wants us to be wise children.

God, give me humility to see the ways in which I am leaning on my own understanding. Teach me to trust You with all of my heart. By Your grace, don't let me be content with anything less. I ask that You give me wisdom... You know more than I just how desperately I need it. I have no wisdom of my own even though I try to act like I do at times. Crush all of that pride and turn my heart toward glorifying You with all that is within me. Take all that I am... not just some of me... not just what I feel like giving you... I need You take take it all.

The Sin of Pride

2011-05-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

God has been really blessing. He has continually poured out His grace and love... giving enough light for the next step and yet being wise in not showing me everything in order to keep me dependent on Him. I was thinking about His wisdom in doing this as I was reading Proverbs 26:5-12 this evening.

Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes. He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence Who sends a message by the hand of a fool. Like the legs which are useless to the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is he who gives honor to a fool. Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by. Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

It just struck me... you answer a fool according to his folly for one reason: so that he doesn't become wise in his own eyes--that is the real danger! God hardly makes it clearer... He is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). We have been reading in Revelation during family devotions and I don't know about you, but I don't much like the idea of God being opposed to me. It wouldn't be honest to say that pride is not an issue in my heart. It most certainly is. I like to be right. I like to win. I like to have a plan and watch it work perfectly. I like to be honored.

I believe that all these desires are not wrong in and of themselves... actually, I think that God gave these desires. So often, we try to kill desires that are God-given rather than looking at them through His eyes... through Biblical glasses and "taking into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Throughout scripture, He talks about many of these things in a positive way:

The desire to be "right" is a good one... "The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness"(1 Samuel 26:23).

The desire to "win" is a good one... "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win" (1 Cor. 9:24).

The desire to make good plans is a good one... "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:1).

The desire to be honored is a good one... "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time" (1 Peter 5:6).

I know exactly what you are thinking... but, Daniel, your desires mentioned above are not good ones. Let me say that the desires are good... even from God, but the heart and how I use those desires is far too often pride-filled. As I look at these verses, I can't help but notice that what God wants me to understand about these desires that He has given me is that they are supposed to humble me. I am supposed to be "right" in the fullest sense... I am supposed to live righteously. Living "right" is submitting to Him--humility! My desire to win isn't supposed to be for my own fame, it is to prove one more time that God is faithful to help me keep running when I clearly can't on my own strength--humility! My desire to make good plans and see them come to pass should not turn me to pride in my own wisdom, but realize that any wisdom is from the Lord and if "my plan" does come to pass, hopefully, it is because it is His will and He has done the work of grace to cause my heart to be in line with His--humility! The last one is the most obvious one... my desire to be honored should not be one that is based on my own merit (because I have none of my own), this desire must be fully reliant upon God because He knows when it is wise to honor me. He also knows when I need to be dishonored for my own good and for His glory to be renewed again in my heart.

God, teach me true humility. Guard me against turning the desires that You give for Your glory into an opportunity to glorify myself in the eyes of men. Teach me to honor You not just with words, but with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. Cause me to love Your glory... make it my passion and joy. Do whatever it takes to glorify Yourself in me.

Joy in the Small Things

2011-05-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

I have been struggling a bit with my involvement in church ministry. It is so easy to be so involved in ministry that I miss out on the fellowship which is so vital to the Christian life. Several weeks back, the Lord blessed with a week off right when I needed it most. God continually amazes me with how He knows exactly what I need when I need it. He never fails to come through... not even once! I have felt that personal ministry opportunities have been lacking in my schedule and really didn't know exactly what to do about it. I am a firm believer that all of life is ministry; however, some situations lend themselves better than others for personal ministry. God can and does use even the smallest of actions for His glory, but it is a blessing when He enables us to focus on personal ministry. We had the Bible study at the park again tonight and my part of the personal ministry ended up being playing with a young father's boys for an hour while he talked with one of our elders. We prayed in the car on the way to the Bible study that God would bring someone who knew the Lord but needed to turn back to Him. God did exactly that! It was so neat to see the body of Christ work together:

It started with God bringing this young father and his sons to the park.

Next, God gave the boldness to one of the ladies at church to go up to him and tell him that she and her husband would be willing to play with the kids if he wanted to join the Bible study.

Next, God gave the courage for him to come and join us.

When everyone had to leave, God graciously chose to use me to play with the kids so that God could speak through one of men at church to this young father.

That right there is the body of Christ at work. He did all the work, but graciously chose to use us as willing vessels. Each of us had different parts with different difficulties. I clearly had the easiest part, but an essential part all the same. It is such a joy to be used by Him. I really see this as filling that hole in my heart for personal ministry opportunities. No doubt, the Lord will grant opportunities to talk with people, but if God wants to use me to play with kids so that He can speak through someone else, I am all in!

The message was about self-righteousness this morning. Pastor Tim talked about the desire that we have to "sit in the important seat". In this case, the "important seat" was ministering to this young father. I have no doubt that God used the sermon from this morning to prepare my heart to minister how He wanted me to tonight. I am so thankful for how He speaks through His Word.

God, You are so good and so faithful. Give me a tender heart for Your ways. Thank You for teaching me through Your Word and preparing me to not only serve, but to truly love it. God, it was such a small thing that You chose for me to do; yet, You gave such joy in doing it because it was for You. I ask that You would continue that work of grace in my heart. Humble me where I need to be humbled. Show me the areas in which I have neglecting serving You and give me the boldness to do it regardless of it is big or small. You are so good and faithful. Teach me Your ways, I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.

Missions Right Here

2011-05-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

The sermon was exactly what I needed to hear today about the freedom that we have by living within the boundaries that God specifies for us. Pastor Tim used the illustration of sky diving and someone without a parachute jumping next to us telling us how we are so limited and slowed down by all those straps and everything tightly bound around us. He is celebrating the freedom he has... nothing to hold him back... he is truly free! The reality is that he is under the force of gravity. We can see the big picture... this person is headed full speed to his death. Just like the man with the parachute isn't standing at the edge of the plane saying, "I won't jump out without a parachute... I won't jump out without a parachute", but rather takes great joy in the "limiting" properties of the parachute knowing that it is what keeps him safe, we ought to have absolutely no attraction for evil. When God and His perfect limitations are the source of our joy, we cannot even consider another option.

I was thinking about 2 Corinthians and Galatians 5:13 this afternoon...

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!... For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Romans 6 makes it clear that we are always slaves to someone or something... either sin, resulting in death, or Christ resulting in sanctification and eternal life. True freedom is found only in full obedience to Christ. When we can say, "I delight to do Your will.", we are free.

I have to be completely honest and say that I didn't really feel like going to our park ministry night this evening. We were basically going to have a Bible study at the park and everyone and anyone is invited. I went even though I really didn't feel like it. I am so glad that I did... it was such an amazing encouragement to me. If you have ever seen those missions videos where people are talking about the Lord and people just start walking up to come and listen in... that is exactly what happened tonight at the park. I got to play football with kids for a while... it was such a joy. It almost brought tears to my eyes when a father came walking up followed shortly thereafter by his son who was carrying a Bible that he just bought at a garage sale yesterday for 25 cents. Oh, he was so excited! People need the Lord! God has put the desire in their hearts to know Him. He is looking for willing vessels to carry the treasure of His Word to people that He has already done a work in. God, thank You for blessing the Bible study outreach tonight despite my lack of faith. Please make me a much more willing vessel for You!

His Preservation

2011-05-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things is to wake up in the morning without any kind of alarm clock. I generally set one just in case (especially if I am up late the night before)... but I love it when I wake up before the alarm clock feeling resting and just ready to jump out of bed and start the day. Mornings generally seem rushed with all the little things to get done before leaving for work and most importantly, my time with Him. I was reading random passages this morning and ran across 1 Chronicles 29:17-18 (one of David's prayers).

Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You.

All of life is worship. We are worshiping something or someone at all times... may it be that Christ is the object of all of our worship. As Romans 12 says... present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God--this is your reasonsable service of worship. It is reasonable because He gave all for us so that we would live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf.

As I sit here preparing my heart and mind for church this morning, this passage is just so applicable. I know that He sees the ways in which I have worshipped Him... and the times where I have worshipped myself or other things. My prayer is that He would delight in my worship of Him and that He would increase my desire to worship Him more fully and decrease any desire that longs to worship anything other than Him. He must increase, I must decrease! As we gather at our different churches this morning, may He smile upon our hearts of worship and preserve the intentions of our heart to glorify Him throughout the busyness of the days, weeks, and years to come. They must be more than just intentions. We can intend all we want, but if it is not driven by the power of His Spirit, it simply won't happen. May He be All and in all.

The Bearer of Our Burdens

2011-05-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, God blessed me with the opportunity to surprise a friend of mine in Texas and show up at his graduation. Steve is a young man who has continually ministered to me through challenging me to continually walk closer to the Lord. After contemplating the pros and cons of going out there for a visit, the expense is so minimal in comparison to the friendship and fellowship that I have found in him. I realize that I am in a special situation where God has blessed me far beyond my needs and has enabled me to do these kinds of things, but it did get me thinking more about how I spend money. In general, I don't spend much money... but sometimes the cost doesn't even compare to the value of that person or their friendship. I think things like... "If they died, I would definitely want to show up at their funeral to tell everyone how the Lord blessed me through them."... yet, would I spend that same money to go and bless them while they live? Yes, I know this thinking can be a slippery slope and I'm not saying that you ought to spend all your money visiting people; however, I do think it is appropriate when God has provided the means, to honor those to whom honor is due... and just seek to be a blessing to them. I am so thankful for this last weekend. I was blessed far more than I was a blessing, I'm sure!

On the flight back, I was sitting next to a 5th grade boy. He was sitting next to me and across the isle was his grandma and little sister. They were traveling from TX to CO from their dad's house to their mom's. It absolutely tore me apart seeing these two children just absolutely broken down thinking over leaving their dad and going back to their mom. They clearly loved them both, but I could just sense the longing they had to have both of them together. The little boy next to me was fighting back the tears and the girl across the isle was weeping in her grandma's lap. I started talking with the boy a bit about school and sports and whatever came to mind... mostly to get his mind off leaving his dad and all of that. I had been praying prior to getting on the plane, that God would give me an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. He certainly does answer prayer! I had my iPad (that my boss had got for each of us on the development team) with me and that turned into the perfect thing for the flight. We played all kinds of different games together (he was usually better than me). While we were playing, I got to talk with the grandma a fair amount... she was a Christian and so we were able to have some fellowship in the process. The little girl enjoyed playing different games as well. It was just such a huge blessing to me to be able to minister to them in such a small way (for me)... and yet, a big way (for them).

I was reading this evening in Psalm 68 and verses 19 and 35 really jumped out at me.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation... O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary! The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!

It was God who was bearing the burden of those two children on the plane and their grandmother. He used me, yes... but He was bearing their burden.

What a blessing it is to be used by Him! Bearing one another's burdens can be one of the most refreshing things because it is Christ who gives us strength. It is when we are trying to bear our own burdens and others in our own strength that we are crushed under the weight of it all. All the while, He is there whispering... Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. When the storms of life surround us and we just long for a moment of rest, we would do well to remember Christ sleeping in the boat as the storm was hitting in full fury... that is the picture of His burden being light.

God, help me to always be taking all to You in earnest prayer so that I would "come to you" in the fullest sense. Give me no rest when I am trying to bear my own burdens because I must learn from You... learn that Your burden is light. Grant me true soul-refreshing rest in You as I depend on You, the One who daily bears my burdens.

You Are A Slave

2011-04-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Romans 6 this morning... one of my favorite "battle" chapters when it comes to renewing the desire to obey the Lord at all costs. I just love how the Lord will speak so loud and clear when I am in need of it. I have been listening to "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer on the way to work for some added meditation throughout the day and part of the chapter I listened to was the following:

Anyone who might feel reluctant to surrender his will to the will of another should remember Jesus' words, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." We must of necessity be servant to someone, either to God or to sin. The sinner prides himself on his independence, completely overlooking the fact that he is the weak slave of the sins that rule his members. The man who surrenders to Christ exchanges a cruel slave driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.

I just love how He will drive a point deep into my heart when I need it... and yet He does it in such a kind, loving, gentle and faithful manner. His yoke really is easy, and His burden, light. "His commands are not burdensome." God, help me to continually find submission to You a delight. Tune my heart to sing Your praise.

Simple Truths

2011-04-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

I have never been a big reader. This is generally not a good thing because there is so much wisdom to be gained through God's Word and through godly men and women that have gone before us. One of the struggles that I always face when reading something new is, "Should I continue reading even if I've read more than I can apply right now?" I am fearful of listening to truth and it not penetrating my heart. The truth that doesn't penetrate my heart will tend to make my heart harder. Any truth rejected is yet another barrier to tear down. I have come to the conclusion that it is good to continue reading because those truths will come to mind at the right times when I really need to be applying them. At the same time, I do not want to ignore the danger of hearing truth and not responding in full obedience to it. I was reading tonight in Psalm 33 and thinking about how the simple truths within it have such a huge impact on how I live.

Here are just a few phrases from Psalm 33:

The Word of the Lord is upright.

All His work is done in faithfulness.

Let all the earth fear the Lord.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever.

He sees all the sons of men.

He fashions the hearts of them all.

He understands all their works.

The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him.

He is our help and our shield.

It kind of scares me to read a passage like this. Yes, I rejoice very much in the character of God as described here, but it scares me that I could potentially read these things and ignore the impact that they must have on my heart. Let's just look at the first few for example.

The Word of the Lord is upright: If I truly believe that God's Word is right in every way, I must submit my every thought, attitude and action to His instruction within it. How does this change the way I read the Word?

All His work is done in faithfulness: If He is completely faithful and He is in the process of conforming me into the image of His Son, I must be fully faithful. This also means that I have no excuse. He has never failed at acoomplishing His work and He has never been slow in doing it. He is the perfect Father, the perfect Shepherd, the perfect High Priest, the perfect Sacrifice, the perfect Judge. He does all these things with complete faithfulness and He calls me to be filled with the Spirit and faithfulnes is one of the fruits of the Spirit's work inside me. How ought this to impact how I treat my coworkers? How should this impact the way I treat my family? How does this impact the words I say to friends? How does this change my level of commitment to the Lord and His ways? How does this effect my view of sin? How does this change the way I love the Lord?

Let all the earth fear the Lord: This command is to me and to everyone else, but I would do well to take responibility for fearing Him as I ought before attempting to get the whole world to do so lest I fall in the category of one that has cleaned the outside of the cup and still has an inside full of filth. Am I truly living in the fear of the Lord and is this causing my heart to worship Him more, or am I living in the fear of man and doing things to please men rather than God? Do I understand His power enough to flee from any kind of sin at all costs? Do I honor Him in front of my boss, my coworkers, my friends, my family? Am I continually obedient and submissiveto His ways because of my understanding and reverence of Him and the glory He deserves?

I think you can get the picture why it is a bit scary for me to just read a chapter like Psalm 33. The natural tendency is just to move on and check off the chapter as being read, but unless God changes my heart with these things, is it profitable?

God, help me to take Your Word seriously. Use it to cut to the depths of my heart and turn me to fear You as I ought. Turn my heart from any fear of man so that I would serve You without hesitancy. Purify my heart. Teach me to be an effectual doer of the Word and not just a hearer. Guard me from hardness of heart in hearing truth and not applying it. Unite my heart to fear Your name.

My Dependence

2011-04-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty relaxing day today. I worked a little bit more on a little project I was working on in the kitchen, played ulimate frisbee with my family and several students at Cal Baptist University, spent time with the family, and helped a friend of ours with some computer issues. It's not often that I get majorly stuck on a computer issue. Most of them are pretty much the same... or at least have similar methods for resolution of the issue; however, I ran into one tonight that I was unable to resolve in the couple hours that I spent working on it. As I was driving home, God did that gracious nudging that He does so often... "You didn't ask Me for help." I hate when He has to show me that I am working on my own strength and yet so thankful for His faithfulness to do so. His gentle reminders to depend on Him are so needed. For some reason, we think along the lines of... "God, I can't wait until I am strong enough to do this all myself." This thinking is completely contrary to the gospel.

As I think about Christ taking the full wrath of God upon Himself, there is nothing that I can add to the righteousness that I now have in Christ. As Paul says to the Galatians, if we try to add our own righteousness to Christ's for our justification before God, we are left with just our "filthy rag" righteousness... we are still dead in our sins. It is only through completely depending on Christ for the atonement of my sin that I find forgiveness before the holy and just God.

God, thank You for the cross. Thank You for Christ. Thank You for sending Your Son to take Your full wrath so that I bear none of it. Thank You for exchanging my unrighteousness laid upon Christ for His righteousness as a covering for me. Thank You for seeing me, a helpless sinner, just like You see Christ. Thank You for your constant reminders that my dependence must be fully on You. You are my ever present help in time of need. Cause me to turn to You immediately in times of need. Quiet my heart with Your love so that I hear Your clear leading amongst the busyness of life. Make me so in-tune with Your voice that I recognize it and obey it immediately. Thank You again for Christ and for the fact that He has risen and lives to make intercession for us according to Your will. You are so good.

Blessed Fellowship

2011-04-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love days like today. The day started with the joy of fellowship in the form of talking and praying with one of my best friends in the world. There really isn't anything I can think of that I enjoy more than that quality time praying together... asking the Lord to work... submitting to Him not only as an individual but as committed brothers. God's invention of fellowship is absolutely brilliant. Had a fun time of playing basketball after that... winning and dunking always make basketball a more joyous experience, but it is a lot of fun regardless. :) It was a very profitable day at work today, I am learning something entirely new and absolutely loving it. This evening was filled with a hands on mini-home-improvement job and fellowship with a wonderful young couple. The Lord used them to be such a great blessing and encouragement to me specifically, but I know He also used them to bless the rest of my family as well. He is so good to me.

I was reading in Ephesians 3 this morning specifically because I wanted to read and pray through verses 14-21. These verse have been very much on my heart for a long time and often come up in my talking with Him.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

I am in continual need of the strength that comes with being filled with His Spirit... the dwelling of Christ in my heart, so that I can understand the depths of His love... not just by myself, but "with the saints"--that is fellowship!

As I meditate on the gospel: my sinfulness and my deserving of God's eternal wrath, Christ having God's wrath poured out on Him on my behalf, I feel like I am so far from being able to understand the depths of His love for me... yet we are to pray for that understanding so that we can be filled up to the fullness of God who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think through His work in us. If that doesn't turn my heart to glory in Christ, I don't know what will.

God, I long to know the depths of Your love for me. Give me a heart of thankfulness. Cause me to meditate continually on Your love so that I love You in return. We like You because and only because You first loved us. We were once separated from You, but now we have been brought near by the blood of Christ. God, thank You for Christ. Put in me a heart that lives no longer for myself but for Christ who died and rose again on my behalf.

When Will It Be Over?

2011-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

This evening I read the book of Amos. I honestly don't remember the last time I read it, but it has been quite a while. It's not really a book you generally go to for joy and encouragement, but it is inspired by God and profitable! I am saddened by the parallels that I see between the people of Israel as described in Amos and the modern day church. This is not by any means true across the board... but I think we do ourselves great harm not to take responsibility, as men like Nehemiah did, for the unfaithfulness of our nation to God. These words stuck out to me from chapter 8, verses 5-6.

When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, and to cheat with dishonest scales, so as to buy the helpless for money and the needy for a pair of sandals, and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?

I think if we are honest with ourselves before the Lord, we all have done more than our share of living life our own way. While we wouldn't sit in church and say, "When is it going to be over?", we live that way at times. The church as a whole has lost its focus on the treasure of Christ. We seek the next new thing to bring people in the doors so they too can "make their shekel bigger". The fellowship of God's people exhorting one another is no longer the reason we meet, but rather for social interaction that can be found outside the body of Christ. We seek the comfort and encouragement from the Word of God and despise the things that convict us of sin. We have trained our pastors to preach the Word how we like to hear it rather than how the Lord speaks it. We love the Lord as long as He doesn't call us to give up anything for His sake.

God, forgive us for the many ways in which we have forsaken You. Cleanse Your people. Turn our hearts back to You. Don't let our sin go unseen before You, for we desperately need Your shepherding. It is your gentleness that makes us great. Do not grant any peace when we are not fully committed to You. Cause us to turn from sin to serve You, the Living God. Bring Your people together for true fellowship... for speaking to one another with songs, hymns and spiritual songs, for exhorting one another to live for Christ. God, we don't need more social interaction. We need true Spirit-led fellowship with men and women that are passionate about living for You. Put a guard over the lips of our church leaders to proclaim nothing but Your truth. Free them from the fear of man. Give them a passion for You that no longer cares what people might think of their preaching, but only cares to please You, Lord. Bring up godly men and women that will no longer listen to false doctrine. Give them courage. Strengthen their hearts. Use them for Your Name's sake in our churches. Use them amongst Your people. Do whatever it takes to be glorified here once again.

To Love Christ

2011-04-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a bit lately about what it means to just love the Lord. It is a blessing that He has given us little hints of what it ought to be like within our relationships with others whether it be family or friends (or enemies... but we won't go there at this time). :) Do you ever sit down and think, "What would be the most loving thing for me to do right now?" If you don't do that, I would challenge you to start making a habit of it first and foremost in your relationship with the Lord, but also in your relationships with those around you. I was helped a friend of mine with filling out some applications and spiffing up his resume and so I went back and looked at a bunch of my applications and cover letters and letters of recommendation and all that fun stuff. It brought back many memories of many different interviews and challenges and yet pointed me to the incredible faithfulness and loveliness of Christ. I remember specifically in the first couple weeks of work when I was being told to do things that I really disliked... things that weren't making use of my skills... the "dirty work". I remember one of those mornings right before going into work and I heard that clear direction from the Lord... "love him [the person above me]".

This gave me a whole new view (at least experientially) on what it meant to love others... to whole-heartedly seek their best interests, etc. Since then, I have had many such opportunities to grow in this area. The biggest area (and one that I will always be able to grow in) is the area of loving Christ. The strange thing about this is that He is perfectly lovable in every way. This is not at all the case where I am having to seek the other person's best interests regardless of their treatment of me. In this case, He fully loves me regardless of my faults already. There is nothing about Him that is unlovely.

So I must ask myself... "What is best for You, Lord?"... "What would bring You glory today?"... "How can I work for You in these two hours before I get off work?"... "What would please You the most?"... "If You could change anything about me, what would it be?" I heard the song, "While I'm Waiting" from Fireproof on the radio this morning and those phrases, "I will worship while I'm waiting, I will serve You while I'm waiting", just resonated in my heart throughout the day today. It doesn't ultimately matter what He has me doing, but I must continually commit myself to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. This results in heart-felt worship... not necessarily singing to Him (though that does happen), but the living-sacrifice type of worship. It is the worship of obedience based on love for the most lovable God.

God, make me to love You more... to seek Your will above my own... to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness. Put in me a passion for serving You that cannot be quenched by the passing pleasures of sin. Teach me over and over the joy of serving Christ.

Quick Prayers

2011-04-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

We were reading this evening in Nehemiah 2. With God's graciousness in getting me out of a potentially difficult situation (mentioned previously) fresh in my mind... Nehemiah's time and place of prayer really stuck out to me.

So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, "Let the king live forever Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it." Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go " And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

So often we get caught up in the stress of the moment and fail to turn to Him as our source of help. True dependence on the Lord would cause us to turn to Him the moment we face difficulty. I just love this passage because here he is standing in front of one of the most powerful people in the world, very close to death (for looking sad)... the king probably surprised him when he asked what he wanted... and rather than jumping on the opportunity right away, he took it to the Lord in prayer. I don't think he told the king to wait for 2 days... or even 5 minutes. I think this was one of those two second, "Lord help me!", prayers. Sometimes, I think these are the most important. It is those short acts of submission to Him... humbling ourselves before Him... reminding ourselves that we can't do it on our own... that really indicate weather or not we are depending on Him as we ought. To prove that this dependence on the Lord as displayed by Nehemiah wasn't just a fluke, we see him give the glory back to God when the king granted his request. How easy it would have been at that moment to say, "I said the right words and the king let me do what I asked and gave his full support." It was God's doing and Nehemiah recognized that... and not only recognized it, but gave Him glory because of it. This is true dependence on the Lord: turning to Him as a first instinct and glorifying Him for any successes.

God, I so often turn to my own wisdom in tough situations. Help me always to take everything to You in earnest prayer! Change my heart to truly love and depend on You as I ought to. Burn away any desires I have to bring glory to myself, for You tell us that every good thing comes from You. Turn my heart to glorify You. Rid me of the self-glorification tendencies of my flesh. Bring me to the end of myself. Glorify Yourself in me and through me.

Great Gain

2011-04-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

Pastor Tim was sick so Eric (our newest elder... as of last week) filled in. It was one of those times where the Lord was obviously working in him to speak the truth of the Word to us. Such a blessing! I needed to hear so many of the things he was saying.

This morning we sang these words: "Hast thou not seen how thy desires all have been granted in what He ordaineth?" These words are so convicting and true in my heart! I can't think of any past desire that He has not fulfilled. Yes, sometimes He changed my desires to line up with His, but He met those needs perfectly! My answer to that question is... Yes, I have seen how all my desires have been and are continuing to be fulfilled through Christ and everything that He has planned. The convicting part comes when I ask myself about my level of trust in Him when it comes to the new desires yet to be fulfilled. Even as I think about this, I am writing the words to this song on a little piece of paper that will be added to my random stash of encouragements/prayer requests that sit in the cup holder of my car.

I am reminded of 1 Timothy 6:6...

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

Godliness is not for the purpose of gaining wealth or favor with God. Godliness is an act of love for and submission to God's ways. It becomes great gain when we throw out the need to gain His favor (we can't gain it any more than having Christ as our righteousness anyway). It is gain when we are content with what He has given us and we love and serve Him out of that heart of full satisfactions in what He has granted.

God, I have seen how You have indeed granted all my desires within Your perfect plan. I can't even tell You why I don't fully trust You. I want to... I have no reason not to... but my sinful heart is so prone to dependence on self. Help me to see You as my shepherd! I shall not want! I do not lack any good thing. Help me to pursue godliness with a heart of full contentment in what You have given... for it truly is great gain when it is no longer for me but for You. Christ is my righteousness... and I have no favor to gain from You. Your complete favor is mine in Christ. I want to obey You out of love, for that is great gain.

When He Is On Our Side

2011-04-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

Life has been so full lately... all good things, but very full! Today was filled with men's Bible study this morning followed by a missions lunch for some friends that are going to Brazil followed by visiting grandma who recently got out of the hospital and celebration of Jonathan's birthday. A day can't get a whole lot better than that, but I am ready to get some rest, that is for sure!

I was reading some Psalms this evening and was meditating on Psalm 124 and the phrase, "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side..." Oh how easily I take Him for granted.

I have made a commitment of sorts for the sake of purity and not having the appearance of evil not to drive alone in the car with a young lady until the proper time with the right young lady... and with boundaries at that point. I say "of sorts" because I see this in the same light as Christ's teaching on the Sabbath... the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. In the same way, this commitment is for the sake of my purity and her purity. There may be a situation that comes up where it has to happen... but that hasn't happened up to this point. I was at work on Friday and was going to help my boss deliver test materials to a few schools. As I was loading the boxes, he mentioned that I would drive his truck and a young lady that works part time would be assisting me in the delivery. I didn't really know what to say and didn't really say anything. As I made the next trip up that stair case to carry some more boxes down, I sent one of those two second prayers up to the Lord... "God, You know my commitment... help me get out of this!" I didn't know what to say or what to do and I have to admit that my faith was very very small at that point. I was thinking, How am I going to get the courage to say something here?"... or... "Is this one of the exceptions to this conviction of mine?" As I was thinking these things, my boss came up to me and said, "Is it okay if she goes with you?" This was the perfect opportunity to graciously tell him that I would prefer not and that I should be able to deliver the test materials without the help.

As I drove to deliver those test materials I was just floored that God would work in the heart of my boss so as to ask me if it was okay... just to make my life easy. He didn't have to do that. He could have let me battle what to do in that difficult situation, but instead, He graciously got me out of the situation with no awkwardness or anything. I was instantly convicted of my small view of God in that moment and asked His forgiveness for my disbelief. This phrase, "Had it not been the Lord who was on our side..." really reminded me that I would be in a whole lot of trouble if the Lord was not on my side. As verse 8 says...

Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

The reality is that He created my boss and is fully able to work in his heart however He pleases. Sometimes I get the [false] idea that God works only in those that are submissive to Him, but this is absolutely untrue. God works in all men and women as He deems best. God, thank You for Your abundant grace and help in this situation. You are so good and I am overwhelmed that You would care that much about me to make it "easy" for me to deal with that situation. You truly are the strength of Your people. God, You know how I need these little reminders to trust You more than I do. I believe, help my unbelief! Help me to truly know You... know Your character... know Your heart. Turn that knowledge into full belief resulting in full submission and obedience to Your ways. Thank You for Your faithfulness to me.

Two Are Better Than One

2011-03-21T23:27:00.000-07:00

I was blessed incredibly this evening with being able to spend some time talking and praying with a good friend of mine. He is one of those people who I know I can depend on if I ever needed something. If I was to start to stray from the Lord, I know that he would be there to do whatever it takes to draw me back to the Lord. He is an encourager... a true faithful friend. I value him and people like him more than any earthly possession. Christ is the ultimate Friend. He authored faithfulness. He defines love. He is the shepherd the seeks the lost sheep. He is One with the Father in His grip on us that will never let go. I am thankful for Him most of all. I am thankful for the imperfect pictures of Him that He has given me in the form of godly friends. They help me see a little bit more of what Christ is like. As we were talking this evening, I was thinking about Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

I am so blessed to be striving to please the Lord along with other godly young men who strengthen me with their prayers and encourage me with words of truth and wisdom--young men that aren't afraid to speak His truth to me when they know it may be painful. I need more of these men in my life... we need more of these men in our churches.

God, help me to be a faithful friend. Help me to do so without partiality. I am so tempted to do good to those that will do good to me and only to those, but help me to see the big picture so that I truly love You and love others. You have called us to serve one another with our love. Help me to do that to whomever You put in my path no matter how lovable they are... not because I may gain something from it, but for Your glory in their hearts.

Make Certain About His Calling

2011-03-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

I generally read a chapter or two or three in the morning and the same in the evening... kind of depending on the point at which I feel "fed". It generally ends up being more reading when I am weakest because I don't feel like I really getting it like I should be and so I figure the little bit that I am getting will add up as I read more. So thankful for the Spirit working in my heart when I am weak. The last few days have been kind of the opposite to some extent... I have been stuck on 2 Peter 1. Every aspect of it is absolutely brilliant! I have been reading it several times throughout the day for the last few days and I get more out of it each time. I highly recommend that you read the whole thing, but I am just going to go ahead and put verses 2-15 here.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

His grace and peace become multiplied to us when we have a true knowledge of Christ... specifically in knowing that He has given us absolutely everything we need to life godly lives. He has given us this amazing blessing so that we could flee from sin and be diligent in our faith (and not in the general term for faith... the James... faith without works is dead type of faith)... producing the fruit of the Spirit. Love must be at the center of our actions. The two greatest commandments are fixed on loving God and loving others. I just love that promise in verse 8... if these qualities are yours and are increasing (we must always be moving forward), we will never be useless or unfruitful! It doesn't make any sense to live any other way... it would be like we forgot that He rescued us from sin! Oh how I need these reminders daily... I am by nature so short-sighted and in desperate need of His continual work in my heart to cause me to move forward in knowing Him, believing Him, and obeying Him. In pressing on in these areas, we obtain confidence in His choosing of us for His purposes... and not only that, when we are doing these things, we will not stumble!

I love the passion of Peters message here... he is reminding them of these things hoping that even after he dies, they will remember these things and live no long for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

It is such a blessing knowing that it is not ultimately us doing the work.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I look forward to the day when that work is complete, but He is doing that work in me now. Let's press on to know the Lord!

Supplier of Your Needs

2011-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Life has been so busy here between work and Awana. I wouldn't have it any other way, but it is busy! We are getting ready to leave for Chicago here in a few days. I can hardly wait. I get to drive a few hours tomorrow for work. I kind of jump at the opportunity to drive (even if gas is exceedingly expensive at the moment) because it makes for such great times of fellowship with Him. That is the one big thing I miss about college... the commute time. I do like the shortness of my commute to work. It's a huge blessing... but it is harder to find that quality time with Him. New time of life... new patterns. Anyway, I was thinking and praying through Philippians 4 today and thinking about how often I have missed the context of verse 19. Paul is assuring the Philippians that God will supply all their needs. While it is true that He supplies all of our needs I think we ought to look at the context to get the full impact of the passage.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

One thing that jumped out at me was that even Paul says that he was "suffering need"? Yet, he can do all things [suffer hardship] through Christ who strengthens him. We like to pull that verse out and use it for our latest challenge. Perhaps a big test coming up, or a big basketball game. While I don't think it is wrong to use it that way necessarily, this is much more on the serious level. This is a man that is suffering for the sake of Christ saying that he can live with the suffering because Christ enables him to.

This promise that God will supply all their needs is coming right after they have given abundantly to Paul for the sake of Christ. It's called "a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God". When was the last time that you gave sacrificially? I know for myself, it doesn't happen that often. God has more than supplied my needs. These were people that gave out of trust in God. Paul reassures them with the confidence that God will supply their needs... not just because God gives rain to the good and evil, but because God supplies the needs of those that give graciously in obedience to Him. It glorifies Him to provide for our needs. Why are we not dependent on Him? Perhaps it is because we haven't been obedient!

My goal is not to make us feel bad about giving or the lack thereof, but simply to challenge the way that we look at these verses. It's so easy to pick a verse from here or there to cram into our world of need for encouragement and yet the true encouragement comes when we are obedient to His ways and we see Him come through and strengthen us to be obedient when it is hard... or provide for us when we don't see how we are going to make it. I grab verses and hold onto them for encouragement all the time... and I'm not discouraging that... but lets not miss the need for sacrificial obedience. We are called to be "a living sacrifice". I challenge you to think of what that looks like for your day tomorrow. Write it on a sticky note... post it on your facebook wall... do whatever it takes to remind yourself throughout the day that you are a living sacrifice. It is He who strengthens us... it is He who supplies all our needs. It is sheer joy to live as a sacrifice to Him. Let's do it--one day... one moment at a time.

The Foolishness of Men

2011-02-16T21:53:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, I got a Kindle (thanks to my brother and a gift from another friend). This is a strange thing for me to get in that I don't really enjoy reading. I actually got it because of its free lifetime 3G connection... and I don't want to pay for a data plan on my phone. Anyway, it is a great tool. One of the cool features is that it reads to you. I have been having it read Isaiah to me the last couple days. It covers about 10 chapters between my drive to work and my drive back home. It reads fairly quickly and reads verse numbers and titles and everything. This makes it kind of hard to follow at times so you really have to focus when you are listening to it. I have actually found this to be helpful because it causes me to listen more intently and since it is read in a manner which is different than I have ever read it (or heard it read), I am often finding myself noticing new things that I hadn't noticed before because of the change in emphasis. It is all read so "matter of factly". Anyway, today I was listening to Isaiah and you will probably find this kind of funny, but I was literally sitting there in traffic clapping because of how clear and brilliant God is. I didn't know how else to respond other than to clap for Him and how He speaks to my heart through His Word.

Take a look at this section from Isaiah 44 and 46:

Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame. The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house. Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire." But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god." They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals I roast meat and eat it Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!" He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth And have been carried from the womb; Even to your old age I will be the same, And even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you. "To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike? "Those who lavish gold from the purse And weigh silver on the scale Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it. "They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; They set it in its place and it stands there It does not move from its place Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; It cannot deliver him from his distress. "Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. "Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, Who are far from righteousness. "I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel.

I just love the clarity here! I don't know about you, but I am so prone to trust in worthless things. Things that can never change anything. It is idolatry of the heart. Sometimes I wish I had a physical "idol" whenever I start to trust things other than Him just as a reminder of how completely foolish it is. Don't take that beyond what I mean by it. I just don't see it as "foolish" sometimes... and I long to trust only Him. I want to see idols of my heart as complete foolishness. There is infinitely little reason to trust in anything except for God and infinitely many reasons to trust fully in God. He alone can change hearts. He alone can deliver. He commands and it is. No purpose of His can be thwarted. He will accomplish all His good pleasure. Oh how I long for this to be my heart's desire... that I would not trust in things made with hands, but in the God who has never failed.

God, there truly is no one like You. There is nothing and no one that can be trusted like You. You are the One that carries me. You are the one that gives me even this next breathe. God, I need You to strip away any idols of my heart. I know I have asked this before, but I plead with You once again to reign fully in this heart that You have purchased with Your blood. You have poured out abundance of riches on me... let me not lose sight of You. Let me not grow weary of dependence on You. Restore my joy in trusting You. Make it my passion. Remind me that Your commands are not in any way burdensome. I ask that You would do all these things for Your pleasure. You will accomplish it. Thank You for Your unending grace in even causing me to desire to please You... for anything good comes from You. There is no one like You. Make Yourself at home on the throne of my heart. Be steadfast and immovable here. Slaughter anything that rivals You in my heart for Your glory.

Your Love is Better Than Life

2011-02-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

Pastor Tim preached on the love of God today. It was such a refreshment to my soul. The truths of His perfect, complete, and unending love are truths that I need to be reminded of continually. My understanding of His love plays a very vital part in my love for God. We love Him because He first loved us. I must come to know and understand His love for me so that I know how to live Him and others. How thankful I am that His love is not based on anything that I have done, but on everything that Christ has done. He can love me as a son because of Christ's righteousness. God's wrath for my sin has been completely poured out on Christ. It is for this reason that I joyfully say with David...

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

God, Your love is indeed better than life itself. While I have never known what it is like to not be alive, Your love that never fails has given me confidence that if all I had was Your love, it would be enough. I seek You earnestly, but not as earnestly as I ought to. Put in me the desire to seek You with all of my heart. Let my soul be completely satisfied in You alone. Cause my heart to sing for joy as I meditate on You and Your deeds. Thank You for upholding me. You have been so faithful in guarding my steps. For the sake of Your name, please guard my heart. Guard my steps. Let me be fully satisfied in You so I look no where else. I love You. Help me love You more.

How Much Time?

2011-02-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder how much time you have on earth? Do you dream of things you want to do before that point? Do you actually pursue those things or are they in the distant future?

I was reminded once again today of the need to make the most of my time. I spent a few hours this afternoon at the hospital visiting a friend who was in a coma for over a month... and then unresponsive for another couple months and is just now starting to be responsive. It was a simple skateboarding accident. All at once, his life was changed... his mouth has not uttered a word for 4 months. He was one of the most energetic people I know. Things have changed. Yet, God is still in control.

I sat there on the hospital bed reading Psalm 27 to him and talking to him about Joshua and God's promise to always be with us. It was hard not knowing if he could even understand what I was saying. I think he could understand... but is so hard when there is no response. It was good to be able to pray with his mom over him... but so hard to see him in that state. I'm thankful that we have an all-wise God who has never once failed in doing what is best.

It did cause me to think about the different things I want to accomplish in life... and what I am doing now to prepare myself to accomplish them. I'm talking specifically about the areas in which we can make a difference for the sake of Christ for eternity. How am I living out the reality of the gospel in my normal everyday life? How is Christ and His call to forsake all and follow Him changing me? These are all questions that I ought to ask myself continually.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:16)

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. (Col. 4:5)

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. (Ecc. 3:1-8)

So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

God, I ask that You show me my end... remind me of how short my life is, so that I would spend my time wisely. Remind me of the death I must die daily [to sin and my own desires] and of the life that I must live to the fullest in Christ. You have made it clear that there are times for just about everything. Please make Your will clear... show me the things that it is time for. Fix my heart on You and grant courage to make the most of the time that You have given me. Let me not live life without impacting souls for Your glory. Rid me of myself so that I see the opportunities that You are continually placing in my path. Conform my desires to Yours. Make me more like Christ. I want a full life for Your glory. I am Your tool... not one that you need... but one that You have chosen. Please use me as You see fit.

Firm in Your Faith

2011-02-02T23:29:00.000-08:00

I was reading in 1 Peter 5 this morning and verses 6-11 caught my attention.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

I have been thinking much about what humility actually looks like. False humility is such a huge temptation... but when I am laying all my anxiety at His feet, that is humbling. It is an act of submission knowing that I can do nothing about my fears, but He can do everything. I believe that faith has a huge connection to humility. The result of faith is submission and obedience to His ways regardless of if other roads seem easier. It takes humility to take my ideals and throw them aside for sake of following His perfect plan... but when I have my eyes fully fixed on Christ, there is nothing within me that wants it any other way. He confirms and strengthens and establishes us as we obey Him. It is within His nature to do so.

God, my anxious heart needs more of You. You have given me no reason not to trust You... but it is humbling to trust You. Rid my heart of any pride that would be keeping me from true humility. Guard me against the appearance of humility without the heart behind it. Humble me as You deem best. Thank You for Your care. Give me a heart of steadfastness in faith. Plant my feet firm in Your ways so that when the Satan comes to devour, Your grace would be my shelter in time of storm. I ask for Your perfecting work in my heart... and for Your confirming, strengthening, and establishing. I am needy... but You are awesome in splendor. Cause me to tremble before You. Thank You for meeting my every desire. You are all I need. Help me to truly believe that. Tune my heart to sing Your praise. You make everything glorious. Teach me to love You more.

The Dare to Believe

2011-01-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a bit lately about Biblical ways of challenging people to love and serve the Lord. I am kind of turned off by the "try before you buy" type Christianity. When Christ called people to follow Him, it wasn't a "try and see if you like it" kind of thing. It was a "take up your cross and follow me", whole-hearted commitment. It was a "if you love father or mother more than Me, you are not worthy of Me" commitment. Yet we also see Paul pleading with people to be reconciled to God. I struggle in how to balance these things, but as I was reading 1 Peter 2 this evening, I was once again challenged to believe and obey Him and I want to offer this same challenge to you... not with my words, but with His.

We are offered this hope:

He who believes in Him will not be disappointed.

The question is... do you believe it? Do you truly believe that doing things His way will never disappoint you? Do you truly believe that His ways are always best?

Sin is disbelief... a lack of faith (whatever is not of faith is sin... without faith, it is impossible to please God). Obedience is just the outward expression of belief. It is an essential thing, but it is not the foundation. We can pretend to be obedient for a while, but if it doesn't come from a heart of full trust in the God who never disappoints, even that "act of obedience" is deceiving ourselves. My challenge to you is this: think through five big things in which you need to trust the Lord. Write them down. Spend some time reading the Word and write down specific ways in which you must be obedient to His ways regardless of the cost. You will not be disappointed. It is a promise from the Creator of the universe. Trust Him. Obey Him. Love Him.

Living to Please Christ

2011-01-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

This week was a good, but stressful one at work. Several unexpected things came up (an internet service provider company messed up the routing to our website which took down almost half our customers... had to get test materials delivered with one days notice... etc.). It all worked out well in the end, but it was a bit stressful at times. I am thankful for His grace and help through this week. I have been thinking quite a bit about what it means to please God rather than man this week. I am in constant need of reanalyzing my heart and asking Him to show me the areas in which I am not fully pleasing Him. This evening I was reading in Deuteronomy 12 and verses 5-11 caught my attention.

But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord.

Obviously, a lot of these things don't apply in the practical sense... we don't offer burnt offerings now. However, what God is teaching them through this is something I need to be continually reminded of. I am thinking specifically if the emphasis on doing what is right... doing it at the right time... and at the right place. The purpose is to please Him. The place in which God has chosen for His name to dwell is your heart (if He is your savior and Lord) and my heart. We are not to do whatever is right in our own eyes. My job (even in the areas in which I am called to be a leader) is not to think of a great plan and then carry it out. That is "leaning on my own understanding" and "doing whatever is right in my own eyes", but rather, my job is to seek the Lord, rejoice in Him, rest in Him, offer the living sacrifice of my heart to Him, and do what is right in His eyes. It is for His fame that we must live.

God, I ask that You would make my ways straight as I acknowledge You in all my ways. In order for You to do that, You must first give me a heart that acknowledges You and seeks Your will above my own. I ask that You would reveal to me any area in which I am doing what is right in my own eyes and turn my heart to do only what is right in Your eyes. Continue teaching me what is pleasing to You and give me the courage to live it out day by day, moment by moment. Strengthen your Spirit in me and cause me to continually present myself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to You. It is the only reasonable thing that I can do since You have ransomed me. "Faultless I stand, with righteous works not mine. Saved by my Lord's vicarious death and life. I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God. Bought by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my all, shall be for Christ alone." God, give me that heart--a heart that understands the depth of Your love for me and responds with living for You alone.

Being Wholly Illumined

2011-01-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe how fast time is flying... we are already half way through January! If the rest of the year goes anything like these first couple weeks, it is going to be an awesome year. Pastor Tim preached last week on the passage in Luke 20 where Jesus is responding to whether or not they ought to pay taxes to Caesar and He responded, "Whose likeness and inscription does it [the coin] have?... Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." I have always wondered about this passage in that in reality, all things belong to God. Pastor Tim made the point that in Genesis 1, we are created in the image of God. So, whose likeness and inscription do we have? Render to God, the things that are God's!

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

It never ceases to amaze me at how He takes His Word and continually drives it into my heart. I am so thankful for His work and perseverance. We were reading the other night in Luke 11 during family devotions and I have been pondering over verses 32-36.

No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.

God calls us to "watch out" that the light in us does not become darkness. We must guard our hearts so that we have "no dark part in it [our heart]".

God, I ask for You to purify me as You did the sons of Levi as they were preparing to come before You. I want to be wholly illumined with the light of Christ. Shine the light of Your Word on any area of darkness in my heart. "O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You; look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine, even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, and on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself." You are the One that both plants and strengthens the hearts of man. I ask that You would look down and that You would utterly destroy any darkness so that I would be strengthened for Your sake. Fill my heart with a longing for complete obedience. Grant courage and help for Your glory in my heart.

Just the Beginning

2011-01-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

Life and work has resumed at full speed once again. There have been some interesting changes at work including many more responsibilities on my plate. It is a good thing... but it is challenging to prioritize all the different tasks being thrown my way. It's been very much enjoyable though. I actually spent about an hour taking staples out of test booklets today. I am continually amazed by the work that God has done in my heart. I remember the first time I was asked to do such tedious tasks at work... and how I really was not in any way happy to do it. By His grace, I am able to take joy in such tasks now. It really comes down to living "not for yourself". God has graciously showed me many areas in which I have been far too self-centered and given me opportunities to make Him the priority and in doing so, serving others.

I was reading this evening in Deuteronomy 3 and verse 24 jumped out at me.

O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?

This is Moses talking. This is the Moses that was saved at birth by Pharoah's daughter. This is the Moses that God spoke to in the burning bush. This is the Moses that God used to part the Red Sea. This is the Moses that God gave the 10-Commandments. This is the Moses that God used to bring the plagues on Egypt. If this Moses says that all these things are just the beginning of God's greatness and the strength of His hand... I have so far to go in knowing and trusting Him. There is a huge difference between "knowing" and "believing". May He continually cause us to reflect on His amazing works and meditate on His deeds so that our minds and hearts are filled with the knowledge and full belief in His infinite power and worth.

God, I ought not be surprised by Your marvelous deeds... for You can do all things. I want my love of Your works to increase and my surprise by them to decrease. I have so far to go in knowing You. I long to see Your marvelous deeds and know without a shadow of a doubt that You can do far more and yet I also want to value Your works more than I do now. Unite my heart to fear Your Name. I don't fully understand how this can happen in this heart of mine, but You did this work in the heart of Moses. You can do it in my heart. Help me to trust You so much more than I do.

His Complete Control

2011-01-02T22:58:00.000-08:00

I was reading some Psalms this evening before bed and my eye was caught in Psalm 33:10-18.

The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; from His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness.

The frustration of my plans is one of the most valuable graces of God on my life. It is humbling when things don't go like I plan them... and He fully intends them to be so. I need that. I need His constant reminder of His complete control over everything. While I am responsible to take action as He leads, there is no strength apart from Him. There is no victory without Christ. It is on this hope for His lovingkindness that I fix my eyes as I enter this new year. I have made several "resolutions" (many of them are not so much resolutions as they are areas that I want to make progress in). I believe these things are God's will; however, I am fully aware that they may not happen as I think they will. This will be His grace in the form of frustration of my plans. This is His goodness upon my life. It is His perfect plan to keep me dependent on Him. In this, I rejoice greatly and look forward to living moment by moment for His glory in 2011.

Not Too Much... Not Too Little

2010-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a great week of fun with the family. We have had a lot of wonderful time together from going up to the mountains and playing in the snow/hiking (and falling on rocks while protecting the camera and cell phone in each hand). haha This is pretty much my first time off since starting the new job back at the beginning of July... and it has been very nice and refreshing. One thing that I have often prayed is that God would not bless me beyond what I am able to handle, because I have seen how I am prone to self-dependence when things are going well. I ran across this passage in Proverbs 30:7-9 the other day that I completely forgot about.

Two things I asked of You, do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.

I think these two things are the source of most of the "hard times" we face in life. We either have too much, and our hearts are turned from Christ to the love material things or feel self-sufficient... or we have too little... and because of that, we don't trust His sovereignty in providing for us. I have gone through times of both of these things this year. While having too much seems like a good problem, it is hard to continually trust the Lord when He has blessed so abundantly. It is not at all a lack of His work that makes it hard to trust Him, but the temptation is for us to depend on ourselves... to rest in the security of our jobs or our future plans. How many times has He taken your plans and changed them? How many times has He taken the very thing you depended on away from You? May I suggest that this is the amazing love of the all-wise Father. We see a pattern in the lives of the Israelites, and if I am honest, I can see much the same pattern in my own heart even if it doesn't show on the outside in the same way that it did with the Israelites. God blessed them abundantly... they turned their own way... God made their circumstances so that they had to depend on Him... they turned from sin and trusted Him again... He blessed them... they turned their own way... etc.

God, these words... Your words in Proverbs 30 are so wise. I do not desire a life of ease. I am scared to pray that, but I want more than anything to walk with You all the days of my life. I ask for Your amazing love and grace in always providing what I need. I don't ask for more than that, though You have given much more than what I need. I ask for Your help to continually depend on You now in this time of plenty... and ask for Your help in the times where I don't feel like I have enough. Plant Your Word deep inside my heart so that my response, whether I have much or little, is that of contentment in Your perfect plan. Teach me dependence and trust in You so that my heart is not one that is wavering based on circumstance, but rather a heart of steadfastness in trusting and living for Your fame.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

It's time for a confession... I have never really cared for Christmas music. The reason for this is that so often unrealistic things are mixed in with the theology of the song and it just annoys me. I guess I don't like to sing about things if that isn't how it actually was. This year, I ended up leading the choir at church for practicing Christmas songs, so I decided to make more of an effort to like Christmas music... to take the good for what it is and let the rest go.

There really is more good in Christmas music than I had previously seen. I feel bad even admitting this since everyone I know seems to love Christmas music, but I think you'll survive. There has been a few songs that have caught my eye this Christmas and so I thought I'd take the time to share a couple of those and really think through them.

Check out these verses of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

It is sad that I haven't really taken the time to think through these Biblically-grounded words. I love how this song describes different aspects of God and shows our desire for Him to come and work out His plan in our hearts. I don't want these to be just words that we sing, but truly the desire of our hearts.

Verse 2 of What Child is This? caught my attention.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

This is packed with truths from John 1, Isaiah 53 and Philippians 2. Oh that we would hear "the silent Word pleading"... His call to come and die so that we might live.

The song that stood out to me most by far was O Holy Night.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need—to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Do we feel His worth? Even more than that, do we know His worth? Does the hope of knowing His worth give us this "thrill of hope"? What a gift!

Are we walking by faith? Do we realize the humility in which the King of all kings came? Do we realize that He has called us His friends? Do we realize that He understands our every weakness? Does this reality cause us to be like Him and humble ourselves before Him in awe and worship?

He has taught us to love... but are we truly loving one another? Are we making ourselves of little reputation for the sake of others? Are we esteeming others more highly than ourselves? His commands are not burdensome! They come from the very heart of love. His Gospel is the absolute only way to have peace with God. He has come that we would know Him, be like Him and know the hope of His coming... and that in knowing this hope, we would purify ourselves and watch as He looses the chains of sin and death. If that isn't a cause for hymns and songs of joy, I don't know what is! Let all that is within us praise His holy Name! Christ is indeed the Lord... we must praise His name forever!

God, forgive me for singing these words so blindly. Thank You for these powerful words of truth. Cause my heart to overflow with the joy of Christ. Cause both my words and actions to praise Your name as long as I live. Thank You for sending Your Son to take on frail human flesh so that we could know You. Let the wisdom that You pour out continually guide my every action. Guard me from turning to the right or to the left. You who order all things in a mighty way, lead me to the full joy of walking in obedience to You. May my heart proclaim Your glory.

A Good Name

2010-12-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a pretty relaxing week at work... the schools are out for Christmas, so the phones almost never ring. It has been fun getting to work on more exciting projects and less on customer issues, though I do greatly enjoy interacting with different customers. It is nice to have a little change for a week or two all the same. My boss pulled me into his office a while back (I thought I might be in trouble for something, though I didn't know what)... he showed me an email that he had received regarding how grateful one of our customers was for some things that I had done. The reason I mention this is because I was reading Proverbs 22 this evening... verse 1 says:

A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favor is better than silver and gold.

I was reminded of this incident when I read these words, but maybe not how you'd expect. The things I had done for this customer were small. Yes, I was nice, yes, I was helpful, but these things were small. I am glad that they were thankful, but an email does not define "a good name". A good name is not based on a couple things that you do, it is based on your life... your character... who you are at the core. Yes, I enjoy the emails from people that have never met me that are happy about something I did, but I so much more want to really have a good name.

It glorifies Christ when we have a good name because we are representing Him. Someone recently pointed out to me that Daniel and Joseph in the Bible never had anything bad said about them. They had good names. But, look at the results of this "good name" that each of them had... it was the glory of God! When Daniel makes it clear that it is God that both gave and revealed the dream, the king responds, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery." It is with this intent that we must live--to glorify Him in all things. He exalts [gives a good name to] the humble, but He is opposed to the proud. In the case of both Daniel and Joseph, they had small challenges at times and big challenges at other times, but in each case, they responded with full submission and obedience to the ways of the Lord... honest, faithful, of highest integrity, no compromise, steadfast, immovable, wise, courageous, gracious, strong, etc. May He grow us in these areas as we pursue a good name for His glory.

Living to the Fullest

2010-12-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Christina and I had the blessing of getting to hang out with a young couple that moved out not too long ago. It is such a blessing to see two Godly individuals wholeheartedly desiring to serve Him together. It was a great time of fun and fellowship... definitely some much needed refreshment.

I was praying as I was jogging up the stairs to the office on Monday morning something that I pray quite often... specifically that God would teach me to number my days so that I would present to Him a heart of wisdom. I don't know how many days He has given me. He may call me home tonight... now, I don't sense that that is His plan, but I need that constant reminder so that I am living life to the fullest for His glory. I was reading tonight in Psalm 39. Take a look at verses 4 and 5.

Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.

It is not until we get to the "end of ourselves" that we can truly cherish Christ. Life is not about me... even if I live that way at times. Life truly is about Christ. I am one of the millions of people that has the privilege of serving Him with this moment. I have a choice... I can serve me in this moment, or I can serve Him in this moment.

God, I ask that by Your grace, You would bring me to the end of myself. Would You humble me and show me how small I am so that I would cherish You how I ought to. Help me to cherish this moment and use it to serve You. You even give to Your beloved in their sleep. It is a humbling thing to have to sleep! It means that life goes on without me. Thank You for the reminder of this each and every day. Remind me of my dependence on You. Give me a God-centered urgency about eternally significant things. Would You not have told me the number of my days if it was best for Your glory? Use the uncertainty of the future to stir within me a greater passion for Your glory. Make me a servant like Your Son.

The Proof of Trust

2010-12-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

You may remember the song that most of us have sung many times... "Trust and Obey". It is such a simple song and yet the truths of it and really quite profound. Obedience is a result of trust. When we were little and mom said, "Don't go in the street", we obeyed out of trust... at least those of us that lived. :) She told us this because she had good intentions for us. She wanted us to be safe. In the same way, the commands of God are not a limiting thing. In the words of John, "His commandments are not burdensome". Yes, His commandments are limiting... and yes, that is a good thing! I have just been pondering these things much over the last few days because I so much want to trust Him with all of my heart. I wish I could say that I trust Him with all of my heart, but my lack of full unselfish obedience leads me to the conclusion that I must come to--I really don't trust Him! I have taken the lies of Satan as the thing to depend on. I say it that way because I need to hear it... and it is absolutely true. Disobedience is simply trusting Satan more than God. We love how lenient Satan is... don't we? We love that added freedom... to do what we please... don't we?

You may have not even noticed that I used very Biblical terms to describe the center of our sinfulness... "love"... "freedom". We were once slaves to sin, but now we are free in Christ. Satan takes these very important parts of our life in Christ and turns it around making us feel like His commandments are burdensome... that we are "in bondage"... etc. We are not.

I am thinking of 1 John 2:15-17.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Elsewhere it states that God has come to destroy the works of the devil... and He says that he who sins is of the devil. Do we really want to work in such a way that God will come and destroy us? Do we not realize that God is no respecter of persons? Yes, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place, but let us not lose sight of the fact that He has come to destroy some of the things that we have a "love" for. Let us lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us! He is the author and finisher of our faith. We will reap if we do not grow weary in doing good.

God, you know of my lack of trust in You ever more than I do. You know all the ways in which I have loved the things of this world. You know the lies that I have believed. I am not telling You something new. You did not make sin desirable. Your Word is so full of reasons to not sin... and yet, I do. I can't even "surrender all" to You if I want to. It is Your Spirit that enables any kind of good thing to come out of this heart. I do surrender all, not with my own strength, but through Christ who gives me strength. I ask that You would strip from my heart any love for the things that You have come to destroy. Give me Your heart about the things of this world... give me Your heart about eternally significant things. Tear down any walls that keep me from trusting You fully. Cause me to bear the fruit of obedience. Make Your will my most passionate desire, my deepest love and my strongest foothold.

His Wisdom

2010-12-03T22:52:00.000-08:00

As a family, we used to read a Psalm and a Proverb every morning... we have now ventured out into many other books (currently Ephesians). But, it has been a little while since I have really spent time in Proverbs. I am in great need of His wisdom these days and so I thought I'd read Proverbs again after my minor prophet detour the last few weeks. Anyway, I ran across this excellent section at the beginning of Proverbs 2 that I really needed to hear.

My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you.

This also reminded me of Philippians 4:6-7...

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It brings such peace knowing that if we lack wisdom, we can ask Him and He will give it. The true knowledge of Christ will guard our hearts and guide us in His ways. It is when we diligently seek Him with all of our hearts that He promises to be "found by us".

God, You have said that if anyone lacks wisdom, they can ask of You and You will give it. I definitely lack wisdom and so I ask, knowing that You will provide it. As I seek Your guidance in prayer and in Your Word, I ask that You would lead and guide me... that You would guard my heart and mind... that You would lead me in "every good course"... that my soul would find Your wisdom to be pleasant... that You would humble me so that I would truly seek Your wisdom and see my own for what it is... that You would provide Your grace so that I would not lean on my own understanding... that I would know You and Your ways and not just know, but understand and live according to Your will. Strip anything away that is not of You and unite my heart to fear Your name.

Not Just Another Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

I was thinking this morning about this day we call Thanksgiving. I was thinking about how I don't want to get lost in just going with the traditions... eating turkey, being with family, having fun, and miss the purpose of Thanksgiving. This thanksgiving, my focus of thanks has been mostly centered around the people God has placed in my life to "strengthen my hand in God" as Jonathan did for David.

God has given many abundant blessings... actually, life being one of those. Having had a somewhat close call with a punctured lung a few weeks ago was a reminder of just how frail my life is. The Lord's faithfulness has been so real this last year... seeing Him provide everything plus some for the mission trip to Mexico... seeing how He protected there and caused everything to run smoothly... seeing how He took me out of the job that I was kind of stuck in and moved me to a more long-term (Lord willing) job... seeing how He prepared me for the challenges of this new job... seeing how He has provided for our family's needs on a day by day basis... etc. There have been countless more ways that God has been faithful to me over this last year... in fact, God defines faithfulness. Anything that He does is faithful. It is impossible for Him to be unfaithful... even when I am completely unfaithful.

I was thinking this evening about how important thankfulness is. I did a search earlier today and read more from it on BibleGateway... I was just searching for the word, "thanks". I didn't get as far as I would have liked, but the concept of giving thanks is absolutely central to our daily life. Something I hadn't noted before is that they actually had people set up specifically for the purpose of giving thanks to God. How cool would that be? "What do you do for work?"... "Oh, I give God thanks." Okay, now I have be honest and admit that I didn't study it to the point of knowing how much time they spent doing this, but it was important enough to set specific people in charge of giving thanks to God. If it was that important to them, it ought to be just as important to me. My life ought to be centered around Him... and as it's centered around Him... seeing His continual faithfulness, it ought to overflow with giving of thanks for His unending faithfulness and love.

One of His acts of faithfulness to me is bringing many godly people into my life to "strengthen my hand in God". To those that have made such efforts, I cannot tell you how much it means to me. Thank you.

God, I am so thankful for Your unending faithfulness, yet, I am not nearly as thankful as I want to be. Would You, by Your grace, give me a heart of thankfulness. Do not allow me to credit myself with the blessings that You pour out so continually. It is not because of my faithfulness that Your bless, but truly, only because of the righteousness of Christ on my behalf. So, help me not lose sight of that. Help me never to grow weary of giving thanks to You. May it not be just another act of lip-service, but an accurate reflection of my heart. Help me be more thankful. Help me love You more. Thank You for the cross.

Repetitive Prayers

2010-11-08T23:20:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about prayer quite a bit lately. This may sound strange, but I am kind of more scared to pray now than every before. Perhaps part of it is that I am praying some "scary" things... things that require a trust in Him that is beyond what I feel like I can handle, yet I know that with His strength, He can and will enable me to do anything that He calls me to do. I know that fear (as in being afraid) isn't the proper response to answered prayer, but I have to be honest and say that when I am praying things that I am scared to pray... knowing full well that He will answer it... it kind of scares me! I trust Him, but my timid heart fears how He might answer it. He has never once failed me in any way... so I don't know why I fear His next plan. It is a constant battle to fully trust Him with all of my heart.

I have also been thinking about praying the same kinds of things over and over again. I was telling God on the way home from work all the different things that I am tired of praying for and He graciously reminded me of the following passages.

Luke 11:1-8
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 'Give us each day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'" Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Luke 18:1-8
Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. "There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' "For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

Genesis 32:24-32
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.

God, would You give me Your grace and help to come boldly before Your throne. Strip away the self-centered fear that my heart is so prone to and fill me with a desire to do nothing other than Your will... no matter what it costs. Fill my heart with Your desires. Help me not grow weary in prayer, but to press on in faith just how You instructed us to pray--with Your will as my focus, and with much perseverance. Conform my will to Yours alone. Give me courage to take the next step. Glorify Yourself in me... no matter what it takes.

Focus

2010-10-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

My thoughts have been all over the place the last couple days. It seemed like I had thoughts about everything with a resolution to nothing. I'd start to pray and find myself thinking, perhaps even worrying, about one of the many other things I had on my mind. Last night, I decided that it had to stop and spent some time on my knees in prayer... all of which was extremely unfocused. It was a battle, but a battle worth fighting. He must continually be at the center of my thoughts and actions. I set an alarm earlier this morning in order to pray some more, and He graciously helped me in focusing more on Him. Church also helped in the refocusing my eyes on Him. I am so thankful for His help.

I was reading this evening in John 6 and blessed by Peter's response to Jesus asking him if he was going to leave Jesus along with the others that had left Him.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

These words ring so true in my heart right now. Who have I but Christ to depend on? In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song.

His Joy

2010-10-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking today about the incredible joy that He has given. My boss and I went to deliver test materials to four schools today and had them in the back of his truck and it started raining. We pulled off and attempted to throw the main boxes inside trash bags and others on my lap. If it strikes you as weird, that's okay... because it does to me too, but truly, I couldn't help but enjoy it. It was one of those times that nothing can irritate you because of the overwhelming joy in Christ. At one of the schools (that was just letting out), this little boy shook the tree right when I walked under it... making me about twice as wet as I was. I found it quite hilarious (totally something I'd do). My poor boss was pretty frustrated by the whole thing, but it was neat to see how some of that joy rubbed off on him by the time we got back to the office. I kind of feel like I am learning to be a kid again... but one with a much larger understanding and more of a conscious choice concerning joy... taking joy in the little things... a healthy carelessness about things that don't ultimately matter. I am truly finding that His joy is my strength. This evening as I was thinking over the activities of the day, I was reminded of Psalm 89:14-15.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O Lord, they walk in the light of Your countenance.

This verse reminded me of Proverbs 29:2...

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.

So here is the question... who is ruling our hearts? Are we groaning? If we are, why are we groaning? Is the Author of all righteousness on the throne? Is His love and truth penetrating our hearts? Are our ears hearing the joyful sound of redemption?

God, cause your love and truth to run before You so that Your children, whom You redeemed with Your precious blood, would walk in Your ways out of sheer joy. It is not because of any lack of provision from You, but because of our hardness of heart that I ask that You would break through with Your unfailing love and truth into these hearts of stone and grant us full joy in You once again. Make us dependent on Your joy for strength. Pour it out in abundance so that we would serve and glorify You.

How Much Does It Cost?

2010-10-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of the blog entries that is not fun to share. It exposes my heart and it's sinfulness... but, I care too much to not share it. I fear for my own heart that somehow I will find pride in "doing what is right" when this is nothing to be proud of.

God, give me Your grace to accurately express these things with the humility that You have implanted in my heart. I cannot even express these things without my sinful heart getting in the way were it not for Your grace.

Over the last several weeks, I have been praying specifically that God would reveal to me any areas of sin in my life and give me the grace and courage to deal with them. I had asked several godly young men to pray this for me as well. God answered those prayers. It all started last night when I was praying and God reminded me of some music that I had recorded illegally several years ago. I didn't know it was illegal at the time and hadn't listened to it in years, but God brought it to mind and so I decided that now was the time to deal with it. I spent 35 or 40 minutes going through all my music and making sure that all of that stuff was gone. God was gracious... and this was easy. I wasn't in any way attached to it. I thought that was it. After praying some more, God reminded me of something I had ignored for a few months. The copy of Microsoft Office that I had was from the company that I worked for previously. This was completely okay while I was working for them and I just never bothered to uninstall it once I stopped working there. It would be one thing if I just didn't realize it, but I admit, the thought crossed my mind a couple times and I quickly threw it out. I "needed" Microsoft office... and they did give it to me... they would even say it was fine for me to keep it if I were to ask (just wouldn't be legal)... no one would know... etc. I had all the justification set in my mind for why I should be able to keep it. But God graciously reminded me that it is no longer mine and so I uninstalled it last night. I wish that I could say that it didn't hurt at all to part with this, but honestly... it was painful. Without needing to pray any more, He reminded me that I had the software that I develop other software with... this is extremely expensive... but this too, I got from the company that I used to work for. I quickly threw out any thought of turning back and uninstalled it. I was reminded of what Jesus told the rich young ruler in Luke 18:22-23.

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

As much as I'd like to say that I am not like this rich young ruler, it hurt to part with these things. It truly is only an act of His grace that He empowered me to do these things. It was a test of trust... how much do I value Christ? After spending much more time in prayer and trying to think through everything I have, I couldn't think of anything else that was displeasing to Him. Knowing the sinfulness of my heart, I am sure that He will reveal more things soon, but He has given me a new courage to do whatever He asks regardless of what the cost may be... for my life is not my own! There can be no dollar amount assigned to Christ, He is of infinite worth... what a pitiful thing it is that my heart was clinging to these things. The fact that I had ignored these things and that they didn't even come to mind when I was trying to think of sin in my life speaks to just how desperately wicked my heart is.

I share these things not because they are fun to share, but because Christ is of too much worth for me to hide for the sake of me "looking good". The greatness of my sin points me to an even greater Savior. He is all sufficient and of infinite worth. God forbid that such small things would steal any part of my heart from being completely His. The call is to come and die so that I might live.

God, help me to value Christ so much that the idol factory of my heart turns into ruins. By Your grace, not only strip away any idols that are in my heart, but break down any desires to create them. Thank You for Your unending faithfulness and the forgiveness which comes from Christ alone. I am in no way deserving of it, but I am forever grateful. Take all of this heart of mine and continue shaping it into the image of Your Son for Your glory.

The Mind of Christ

2010-10-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

One of the songs that I listen to quite often on the way to work and back is called, "The Mind of Christ". It talks about living a life of sacrifice... putting others first regardless of what they do... to give grace... to never quit doing right... to give all without regret... to have the mind of Christ. It is one of my favorite songs to meditate on as I roll into work in the morning because it helps me focus on the things that matter. Honestly, today was not an easy day. It was one of those days where a coworker was trying to frustrate me (and succeeded, though I didn't show it). Usually during such days, I am able to refocus during lunch break, but I ended up not really taking a lunch break... and it was just a struggle to keep my heart fixed on Him. I am thankful for His grace and help in helping me to respond correctly, but I know that my heart wasn't matching my actions. I so much want to have the mind of Christ, so that it is not just my actions that are following Him, but my actions are following my heart... a heart that is fixed completely on Him. I was reading tonight in Romans 12 and found great encouragement in verses 14-21.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay", says the Lord. "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I don't think I'd call this "persecution"... or that he is my "enemy"... but it still very much applies. I am to have an understanding heart... rejoicing with him in his successes, bearing his burdens in his failures... to make peace, to overcome any bad intentions he has with giving of myself for his benefit. Oh, how little such an act of grace is compared to the grace of Him who died for the sin that I commit against Him every day. I need that constant reminder of the gospel so that my heart would be fixed on Him. These are such little things, but I so much need His help. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. God, help me to live in the reality of the gospel. I want to love how You love. I want Your heart and your mind. Transform me more into the image of Your Son that others would see You through me. Strengthen me with Your Spirit and the joy that comes with true fellowship with You. Cause Your Word to run free in my heart, stripping me of my selfishness and pride and longing to see You glorified.

Fruit That Doesn't Hide

2010-10-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

This last week, I had a bit of a change at work. I was asked to code several parts of one of our newest reports. I have also been given the responsibility to fix the bugs in our software as I find them. For some of you, this may sound like a bad thing, but I actually really enjoy it!

Thus far, my programming has been limited to mostly in-house programming and other tasks anything from running a huge printer and organizing thousands of test booklets into boxes to entering pages of numbers into databases to delivering boxes of tests to schools. I was just thinking today about the work that God has done in my heart over the last several months through these things. I love programming... really everything about it! The Lord saw fit for me to do very little of that in these first few months at work. He gave (through my boss) me many different jobs and responsibilities... many of which I would have said that I do not enjoy at all! Yet, through these things, He has showed me that the joy of the Lord is not based on circumstances. It is not based on my job, the people I work with, the tasks I'm asked to do, how my car is running, if life is going "as planned", etc. The joy of the Lord is based strictly on knowledge of His complete faithfulness and full contentment with what He has given. I am very thankful for His wisdom in not just giving me exactly what I wanted right away, but rather using these circumstances to make my joy a little bit more complete in Him.

True joy in the Lord is not something we can fake. It comes from the heart... and it just flows out in abundance. One of the days at work, I was "stuck" running the printer all day. This job is extremely boring... pressing "print", loading paper, and stacking test booklets. It ended up being one of my favorite days at work... I got to sing to Him almost all day (since no one else was in that office)... got to spend much time in prayer and thinking through things. When was the last time that you had 8 hrs to just think, pray and sing... and got paid to do it!?! The key to this joy is not "just trying harder"... it truly is a work of His grace in my heart to find lasting joy in Him regardless of the circumstances. It starts within the heart and from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks! I see just a glimpse of what Paul was saying in Philippians 4:11.

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I wish that I could say that for myself, but He is constantly revealing to me areas in which I am not content. I need His continued work in my heart to give me lasting contentment in His grace and faithfulness so that the circumstances in which He places me don't matter when it comes to my joy. His joy will be my strength, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

His Temple

2010-10-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Psalm 29 the other morning and the phrase at the end of verse 9 caught my attention.

And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"

Immediately, that well-known passage in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 came to mind...

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

... and 1 Corintians 10:31...

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

These passages served as a great challenge to me to really think through everything I do... is it saying, "Glory!"? If it is saying, "Glory!", is He the object of that glory? God, would you help me to live no longer for myself but for You who died and rose again on my behalf so that I would truly be Your temple, that everything within me would say, "Glory!" You are infinitely more deserving of the glory that I can give, but help me by Your grace to use all that is within me to glorify You. I want You to have joy dwelling here, in Your temple.

Moving Forward

2010-09-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

I was reading in Joshua 1 this morning along with a few other passages and the phrase "be strong and courageous" is an obvious theme throughout Joshua 1. Something that I hadn't really noticed before is that when the Lord spoke to Joshua in verse 2-3...

Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

After telling him several times to be strong and courageous and promising to be with Joshua, it is really cool to see how Joshua responds.

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.

He did not delay at all! He listened to the Lord speaking to him, had confidence that He never fails and proceeded with immediately following His direction and leading the others to do the same. Three days is pretty quick after waiting so many years... but when God says "go"... you go! It is also neat seeing how God had worked in the people's hearts in order to respond to Joshua correctly.

They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. "Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. "Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous."

Talk about taking this seriously... to put to death anyone that was disobedient to his lead (knowing that ultimately it was the Lord leading). God also spoke through these people to Joshua to be strong and courageous. It is such a blessing that not only does God give us encouragement through His Word, but He speaks through people as well to spur us on to obedience and submission to His ways along with leading in the ways that He would have us lead.

God, may we be strong and courageous in following Your ways. Give us no peace and no courage to move outside of Your boundaries, but help us by Your grace to run boldly in the path that Your Word is lighting for us.

Manning Up

2010-09-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

In the last post, I talked about Eli and his lack of taking responsibility as a father to his sons and how important it is that we take full responsibility when it comes to sin. Eli definitely messed up in a big way, but Eli also was willing to "man up" and take God's judgment for his lack of responsibility. Take a look at 1 Samuel 3:10-18.

Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. "For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. "Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." He said, "What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you." So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him."

I was reading in Galatians 6 earlier today which talks about how we reap what we sow. Eli was no exception to this, he sowed irresponsibility and God severely punished him for it. At the same time, Eli humbly realized his fault and even though he did not do anything about it, he was willing to accept God's perfect will... which in this case was judgment. The first step is to take responsibility, but the reality is that we all will fail at times. In these times of failure, it is essential that we humbly confess our sin of irresponsibility to the Lord, start taking responsibility while accepting whatever punishment the Lord brings our way knowing that it is best for us.

David was called a man after God's own heart. Take a look at how he took recognized God's sovereign hand working through someone else in 2 Samuel 16:5-11.

When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came. He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. Thus Shimei said when he cursed, "Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! "The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!" Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head." But the king said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him.

God says that we are to honor the king, so this was clearly not something that Shimei should have been doing; however, David recognized the extent of his own sinfulness and that he was completely deserving of the things that Shimei was saying. Rather than having Abishai cut off his head (which he could have done), he spoke humbly, knowing the reality of his own sinfulness and that he was deserving of far more than just these insults being cast his way. David's sin was great, but he humbly "manned up" and took responsibility for his sin without shifting it to others (even if they were wrong in what they were doing). May God give us hearts of humility to "man up" or "woman up" and take responsibility for our own sin regardless of what others are doing. May our sin cause us to realize how great our savior is!

Taking Responsibility

2010-09-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

This week has been a good one, but challenging as well. It felt like I was constantly battling to trust the Lord fully. That is not by any means a reflection on His faithfulness, because He is altogether faithful and has given me no reason to not trust Him; yet, I still struggle to do so fully. I am so thankful that He is not done working on me yet! Today was a good day of refocusing. I am ready for a new week!

A couple of my friends are leaving, one for school, the other off to the army. Both of these young men are guys that I care much about... and in some regards, it is hard to see them go, but I know that God does all things for His glory in His perfect timing. May God's faithfulness be their standing place regardless of where He puts them.

I was reading tonight in 1 Samuel 2 and was thinking through what it means to really take responsibility.

Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? "No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the Lord's people circulating. "If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death. ... Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? 'Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?' "Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the Lord declares, 'Far be it from Me--for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. 'Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 'You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. 'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. 'This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die. 'But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.

God used people to tell Eli that his sons were doing things that were very displeasing to the Lord. He did what most of us would do and went to his sons and confronted them about their actions. However, when his sons didn't respond, Eli obviously just let it slide. First off, Eli probably knew about his son's actions before people told him and had chosen to ignore those actions. Second, Eli didn't take his responsibility as their father and take action. God said that he honored his sons over God Himself! God will be glorified regardless of if you and I do it or not. I don't know about you, "but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" So often we like to ignore the sin of those around us to avoid conflict, but be careful that you are not honoring that person over God! Friendship with the world is enmity toward God. Light does not mix with darkness. We must take full responsibility for not only our actions, but also the actions of those God has placed within our sphere of influence. I am not advocating that you go point out every sin that anyone you know has ever committed, but I urge you to not ignore your sin nor excuse the sin of others, because God most definitely does not! He is a God full of compassion, but we must walk as His children in obedience!

Persevering in Prayer

2010-08-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

We read Luke 11 this evening in family devotions and this isn't the usual account of the Lord's prayer that I read. I usually read Matthew, but the surrounding context caught my attention. Take a look at verses 1-13.

It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 'Give us each day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'" Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

This is kind of a different blog post in that it is something that I don't really talk about, but it very much fits in with this passage. I don't really like to pray out loud in a group setting. I should rephrase that... I love to pray at any time, but I prefer to pray alone, out loud, with just me and the Lord. I was praying the other night and saying something to the effect of, "God, I feel like I am wearing You out with saying the same kinds of things over and over again. You know what I desire far more than I do, yet I ask again, not because You need to hear me ask again, but because it is good for my heart to keep asking You." I hadn't thought of this passage when I was praying, but I find it interesting that God wants us to not give up when it comes to praying for things that honor Him... the biggest of which is that He would fill us with His Spirit. Prayer is a mystery to me. I don't know exactly how it works... I can't comprehend how He is able to hear me and everyone else at the same time... and how His thoughts about me out-number the grains of sand... yet all these things are true. Prayer is extremely powerful. Do you ever pray for big and scary things? Perhaps things that you aren't even sure about, but you pray out of faith? The kinds of things where you literally tremble as you pray them? I do not always pray this way... in fact, far from it, but He is slowly teaching me to pray. For myself, I have found that praying starts with the knowledge of Him and His character... praising Him for those things and committing to fully believe Him and obey Him because of those things. From there, praying things that I know are His will with absolutely no doubt that He will answer because He has already said it's His will really builds my faith. They are things I know in my head, but with my lack of faith, I need to see it. I'm not saying that we should be the kinds of people that "ask for a sign" when we don't believe, but rather... believing what He has stated is true... for example, I know it's His will that I grow in the grace and knowledge of Him... so I pray specifically for that. I know it is His will for me to grow in humility and patience... so I pray that. I know it's His will that I love Him more... so I pray that. If you don't pray Biblical prayers, I'd challenge you to do so. There are more things than you could pray for in a life-time from scripture... so start now! Commit to be obedient... and pray these big things for His glory in your heart. After I pray these things, I generally bring my requests to Him... the things that I believe are within the boundaries of scripture... things that I believe would glorify Him, yet I do not know if they are part of His perfect plan. I bring these things to Him, "coming boldly before the throne of grace"... to a point that I am often scared to pray. Sometimes I even tell Him that I am scared of Him answering my prayer request... but I trust that He will provide the grace necessary to glorify Him in all things knowing that His plan is perfect and I want nothing other than THAT plan.

God, My Exceeding Joy

2010-08-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a long day... woke up at 5:30 or so and decided to go back to bed until 6:30 but still felt tired. I'm thankful for the strength that He provides throughout the day. It was a great day... had a good time in the Word, had a good hard-working day, played some volleyball with the family, and now I'm here ready to hit the sack once again.

It looks like God may be re-opening the doors with team handball. When my team in LA started practicing on Sundays, I pretty much stopped playing. I figure if God wants me to continue, He is going to have to make it clear. They recently moved practices back to Saturdays (though it is like a solid 2 hrs away). Anyway, long story short, I am headed for a 4 day camp for preparation for the Pan American Games. The coach is my favorite coach... really neat encouraging but challenging guy. I love his coaching style. I don't know what God has planned, but He opened this door and so I am walking through it and trusting that He will lead either way. May He strip away any desire to make a name for myself and replace it with a desire to glorify Him alone.

I was reading in Psalm 43 this evening and verses 3 and 4 caught my attention.

O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

It is so essential that we are spending time in His Word so that we are being lead by the truth. Emotions and feelings are not good things to go by... especially considering He has given us His Word to guide us along with every spiritual blessing in Christ! It is then that we can have confidence that we will be drawn toward Him. I love the phrase in verse 4, the commitment to go to the alter of God because God is my exceeding joy. I truly can say that God is my exceeding joy. He is everything that I need. I don't need another breath if I have Him! The hard part is living in the reality of that. It is so easy to distract myself with the things of the world when truly all my true joy is found in Him. In Him we live, move, and breathe! May all be done for His glory... out of joy!

The Lord Will Protect You From All Evil

2010-08-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I received an email from my handball coach (from the national team) and he said that he and his family were at the park by their hotel out in London and they got mugged. He, of course, had all their money on him... credit cards... cell phone... etc., but not passports, so basically, they were having trouble leaving the country because they had to pay for the hotel but had nothing to pay with. He was born in Europe, so it wasn't surprising that he was out there. Their plane was leaving in like 2 hrs, and I really didn't want to loan him $1,800, but was reminded of the verse in Psalm 112:5, "It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgement."

I told God that it is His money and that I would go ahead and do it. I asked my coach to call me really quick... as I was headed out to work at that very moment. He said he couldn't call until he got to the airport. So, I tried to send him the money via westernunion or whatever it is. It failed for some reason. So, I told him... hey, sorry, but it didn't work and I'm at work... am the only one in the office at the moment and I just can't leave right now. (I usually don't check my normal email at work, but made an exception for this). He replied asking if I could perhaps send someone to do it for me.

So, after some more people got into the office... and thinking of James 2:16, "And one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what is that?". I got permission to leave for a bit. I probably would have just not done it expect for the fact that I said I would pray for him... so I kind of locked myself in. haha Anyway, went to print his email, and the printer failed. Ended up having to print to a different printer. At this point, with everything not working, I was sensing... that perhaps it's not God's will for me to do this!

I called mom (should have done that way sooner), asked her to call the handball office and check into it... and I went to the bank to check some things with them. Both came to the conclusion that it indeed was a scam. I have seen these things many times before, but it is always from a junk email address... this was actually from his real address with his real signature. It annoyed me greatly that he couldn't call me, and looking back, I was pretty unwise, but so thankful for His grace and protection. I'm reminded of Psalm 121...

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

I am so thankful! :)

Wisdom From Above

2010-08-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

I have neglected this blog far too long. Life has been so full these last several weeks... in a very good way... but full all the same. God has continually been working in my heart and I wish that I had written more here for my own sake (to remember everything), though I think it would challenge you all as well. Anyway, my Bible study has been exceedingly random these last several weeks, but very productive. I am continually amazed at how God can speak through really any part of His Word directly to my heart. One thing I have been focusing on is trusting Him. He has continually proved Himself faithful and trustworthy. As I pursue His wisdom in all the choices of life from the small day-to-day ones to the big life-changing ones, it is such a blessing knowing that not only does He know what is best... He created me and knows me better than I know myself, but He has promised not to withhold any good thing from those that walk uprightly. There is such security in trusting the Lord. The peace that comes with having absolutely no doubt that God's absolute best will indeed happen is a blessing beyond words.

I was reading tonight in James 3 and verses 17 and 18 stuck out to me.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Knowing that I am prone to seek my own will rather than God's, I love passages like this which differentiate between true wisdom from above and my wisdom... (or the lack thereof). This is down-to-earth and practical... "reasonable" is one of the characteristics of wisdom that comes from Him. Obviously, our reasoning can be off (and often is), but reasonable in combination with being without hypocrisy (meaning completely true and in no way fake), pure, full of mercy and good fruits (love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) shows us what true wisdom from the Lord looks like. As I seek His wisdom daily (because I lack wisdom), I need His work of grace in my heart to truly differentiate between my "wisdom" and the true wisdom that comes only from Him producing these good fruits. May He show me the foolishness of my "wisdom" and plant within me His wisdom not to puff me up, but to help me pursue Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Taking Responsibility

2010-07-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy with the new job, but I am greatly enjoying it. God has been very gracious to me. I am really starting to get into the swing of things at work and am getting to do some things that I really like a lot. God has been teaching me much about taking joy in the "not so fun" tasks at work... truly, those things can be enjoyed. There was probably 30 mins today where I was able to pray during work... and get a whole lot done at the same time. Those "mindless" tasks can be an incredible blessing.

My pastor mentioned Nehemiah 1 the other day and so I read it this evening and was blessed by Nehemiah's example of taking responsibility. Take a look at Nehemiah 1:5-9.

I said, "I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned. "We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. "Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.'

This is a great example of how to pray... he comes humbly before God recognizing God's greatness and his position as God's servant... and he comes before God to take responsibility for not only his sin, but the sins of the people around him. He is praying God's Word back to Him with both the good promises of blessing and the consequences of living unfaithfully to God. God desires to be glorified in bringing His people to the place of His dwelling. To be honest, I can't remember the last time that I have come before God, taking responsibility for the sin of someone else. Yet, I truly believe that God is looking for men like Nehemiah to stand up and be men... take responsibility and action according to His will. I need Him so much to teach me to be a man of responsibility... that loves Him and desires others to do the same so much that I am willing to humbly come before the Lord confessing not only my sin, but the sin of others... pleading that God would strip it away and draw all men to Himself.

The Blessed Controller and Owner of All Things

2010-07-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

God has been blessing abundantly these last few weeks. Work has been challenging in some regards, but God has been more than faithful. I am learning much about what it means to serve others unselfishly. Many of the tasks I'm assigned to do are not things that I enjoy doing necessarily. I am working hard at automating test processing and such so that I am more free to work in more enjoyable ways, but I have learned to take joy in the tedious tasks, realizing that I am working for the Lord and not for men. I could use prayer that God would continue to strengthen me and give me a heart to "do all things without complaining." He must be glorified in me every moment of every day.

I was reading in Mark 8 this evening and two things really caught my attention... verses 16-21 and 31-33. Take a look at 16-21.

They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? "Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." "When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." And He was saying to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

It is so easy to lose sight of the fact that God is the creator and owner of all things and He lacks no power to provide for our needs, yet we so often are tempted to look elsewhere when things aren't as we expect them to be.

Also, take a look at verses 31-33.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

These things may seem a bit unrelated (and they are), but I think there are also many similarities. In this case, Peter expected Jesus to take up an earthly throne and was ready to fight to the death (as we saw at Jesus' crucifixion) in order for that to happen. Like Peter, we often have preconceived ideas as far as how things are going to happen, but God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). We must humbly come before Him knowing that He is the sovereign God... the One who owns and controls everything. We must have our minds and hearts fixed on Christ and His perfect plan regardless of what He calls us to do and trust that He will do what is best. We so much need Him to strip away our hearts that are prone to wanting things done in our way in our timing. We cry out to God because He isn't giving us what we want... yet, what would have happened if Jesus would have set up His earthly kingdom right then and there? We all (including Peter) would have died in our sins! God, give me a heart that not only is submissive to Your perfect plan, but one that desires it above all else. Help me by Your grace to trust You fully even when I don't see or understand what You are trying to do.