It Never Will Get Old

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.