Proven Character Brings Hope

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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.