Macknicki Ministries

When All Goes Wrong

2013-12-07T21:14:00.001-09:00

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. ~Luke 2:1

Have you ever had one of those weeks when nothing seems to go according to plan? Have you ever had a time - whether at work, or at school, or with your family, or with your friends - when it seems like nothing you do is right or that circumstances are just stacked against you? Have you ever had a time when you are trying to do the right thing but everybody around you seems to misunderstand you and may even punish you for doing what you know to be right?

We have all experienced periods like this and it can be frustrating and stress us out - times when it seems like nothing is going the way it supposed to go. It is in times like these, when the whole world seems to be actively working against us, that we are the most prone to doubt ourselves and to doubt our God.

Usually we think that if we are right with God and living in His favor then the rough periods in our lives will somehow be smoothed out. We tend to run on the assumption that if God loves us then he will give us good things and keep us from all trouble and difficulty. While it is true that God does love us and does look out for us, being in God's favor rarely means that life will be smooth and easy. Usually it means precisely the opposite.

There is a story of a couple in the Bible that were very much in God's favor yet their lives were anything but smooth. Here is a story of a young man and young woman who were so favored by God that they, of all the people to ever live, were hand-picked by God to be entrusted with His son. Mary and Joseph were highly favored by God yet their lives, from their perspective, were a picture of chaos.

We look back at the Christmas story and see a sweet and charming tale of angels, shepherds, sheep, wise men, a bright star, and virgin holding a baby and placing Him in a manger. It is all very quaint. But take a minute to picture what this time must have been like from Mary and Joseph's perspective.

Here you have a young girl from a simple and small village engaged to be married to a poor carpenter. One day an angel appears to her and tells her that she will conceive a son even though she is a virgin and that this child will be called the son of God and is the Messiah that has been promised to Israel for thousands of years. Then - *poof* - she's pregnant.

She then goes on a three month trip to visit her cousin who is also pregnant.When she gets back from the trip she has to tell her fiance that she's pregnant but not to worry, it is from God. What are the chances that Joseph believes her? In Matthew 1:19 we see that Joseph planned to divorce her after he found out she was pregnant but changed his mind when an angel appeared to him and explained the situation.

For a woman to be pregnant out of wedlock in this culture was a very big deal and would have been a disgrace to Mary and to Joseph. Mary's family likely would have disowned her and Joseph would have had his reputation ruined. They most likely would have tried to explain to everybody the truth of the situation but it is extremely unlikely that anybody would have believed them. Would you believe them? If I am honest, I have to admit that I wouldn't.

After having been ostracized from their community and families the situation only got worse. When Mary was nine months pregnant, the ruler of the world at the time gave an order that every man had to go to the city of his ancestry to register for a census. This meant that Joseph and a very pregnant Mary had to pack up and travel by foot and by donkey 70 miles in the heat of the day and the cool of the night to Bethlehem. This trip would have taken at least three days.

That means three long days of walking and three nights of sleeping on the hard ground for a woman about to give birth. The timing could not have been any worse. From Mary and Joseph's point of view this must have seemed like the worst possible timing imaginable. Once they complete the journey and finally make it to Bethlehem, they have got to be exhausted and dirty and just ready for a little rest but the situation is only about to get worse.

Because of the census, the little town is flooded with travelers and there is no place to stay. Picture yourself in Joseph's sandals desperately trying to find a place for his wife to rest and being told there is no room. Then - and this is Biblical imagination - as he is trying to find a warm place and being turned away, Mary goes into labor. Panicked and frightened, Joseph brings Mary to the first place he can find: a stable.

In his Bible study called the Christmas Experience, Kyle Idleman makes the point that this seems like an awesome time for God to pull out one of His blessings. This seems like the perfect time for the couple that had reserved the honeymoon suite at the inn to cancel at the last minute just at the right time for Joseph and Mary to come and take it. We tend to expect that, if we are in God's favor, that God will smooth these things over for us. But that's not what happened with the birth of Jesus. Joseph and Mary didn't get the executive suite at the inn. They got a nice spot in the stable.

Have you ever been in a barn? Do you know that barn smell? The reason for that smell is because the animals in the barns aren't too particular about where they do their business. It is likely that, as Mary screamed in labor, Joseph would have been shoveling a place a trying to lay down clean straw for her to give birth. This was anything but an ideal situation and must have looked and seemed like a complete train wreck to the two of them.

Here they were promised to bring into the world the very son of God. They were being obedient and yet they likely had to endure the scorn of their family and community. They were following God's instruction and yet every situation seemed to be working against them. They were trying to be faithful and yet they found themselves in a strange town, alone, giving birth without help, amidst dirty animals, in a filthy barn. When Jesus was born they nothing to lay him in but a feeding trough.

Everything seemed to be going wrong and yet we know now that all of that was for God's perfect plan and in His perfect timing. While Mary was giving birth thinking all was going wrong, angels were proclaiming the coming of the Savior of the World to some shepherds in a field and praising God.

Have you ever had a week when nothing seemed to be going according to plan? It is through those times when we feel most lost and most alone that God is doing his greatest works both in us and though us. When we look around at our lives and think that everything is going wrong, it may be precisely these times that angels are watching our lives and proclaiming the glory of God and praising Him for His work through us.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ~Romans 8:28

In His Steps

2013-01-30T11:31:00.000-09:00

Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. ~Isaiah 30:21

When Jesus called His disciples to Him, He told them to "Follow Me." The call that Jesus gave to those 2000 years ago in Israel is the same call that He gives to each of us here today. More than any of the religious stuff that we do, ultimately what we are really called to do is to follow Jesus. That sounds great, but what does that mean and how exactly are we to do it? In the passage in Isaiah we are assured that we will receive the guidance that we require - that we will hear a word behind us telling us which way to go.

Unfortunately, at least in my experience, that voice is not an audible and unmistakable shout but rather it is a persistent and internal whisper which is way too easily ignored or brushed off as we let the hectic activities of our daily concerns divert our attention (for more on this see our post Are You Listening?). I can't tell you how often I have wished for a good burning bush or stone tablet provided from on high with some explicit and straightforward instruction on what I was to do next. As of yet, I am sad to report, I have had no such blessing. Instead I am left to faith and trust as I sometimes stumble along the path of my life. It is, however, precisely these two things - faith and trust - that are the key.

There are two basic types of paths that we refer to when we talk of following Jesus. There is the spiritual path of growing in our relationship with God and the more practical path of what am I to do next. The spiritual path asks questions like: Do I go to church enough? Should I read my Bible more? How is my prayer life? The practical path asks: Should I take this job or that job? How can I improve myself as a husband or a father? What type of music and movies should I allow into my home? Should I make steak or Mac'N'Cheese for dinner tonight? (If you're scratching your head and wondering how that last question could possibly apply, take a look at this post.)

A. The Popular View

These two paths - the spiritual and the practical - are deeply intertwined. Most of us, however, tend to think of them as entirely separate and distinct. Many people, most perhaps, tend to think of the Christian spiritual path as a pretty simple one time thing. Like the graph on the right, they imagine that all Christianity requires is that a person come to believe, accept Jesus, then Blammo! they're saved and they may now continue to live their life as they desire with full assurance of an eternity of bliss after they die. Sure, they should go to church and say the occasional prayer and stuff but really what matters is being saved. If we were to compare this to a marriage, this view would say that the most important part of your marriage is the proposal. Once you pop the question and she says yes, you're golden. Sure you still have to do some of the ceremonial stuff like stand in front of a bunch of people and say some vows, but once you knock that part out it's back to life as normal complete with the parties, the dating, and everything else that you used to do. After all, why should a little thing like a marriage mean you need to change anything about your life?

B. The Religious View

The opposite extreme is also very prevalent, especially in churches. This is what I'll call the religious view of our spiritual path. This view is emphatic that after the accepting Jesus we must then begin a long and studious process of purposeful spiritual growth until we reach some imagined line of spiritual maturity. We imagine ourselves to be completely useless to the cause of Christ until we have learned enough or grown enough on our own first. We go to Sunday school, read the latest spiritual how-to books, and attend endless bible study classes. We insist that our pastors have masters degrees or doctorates from the best seminaries. We say things like "I couldn't possibly go on a mission trip. I just don't know enough to answer tough questions." or "my friends that don't believe are too smart and too good at debate. I can't answer all of their questions yet." We all fall into this tendency to one degree or another. We say we want to give our best and we fear failure due to our own shortcomings. From the natural point of view this seems perfectly reasonable. In doing this, however, we place the burden of our spiritual success on our own shoulders. The truth is that Christ does not call us because of anything we have to offer or for any special skills or talent that we possess. Rather, he calls us to bring glory to Himself through our weaknesses.

C. Our True Spiritual Path

From the moment you are called to Christ you are called to service. There is no waiting period. Yes, we are to grow spiritually and to expand our knowledge. Books, Sunday School, bible studies, and seminaries are all good and proper things but our service and our journey do not wait until we are "ready". Rather we are made ready for an eternity with God through our imperfect service and the resulting growth. The true graph of our spiritual growth should look more like the one on the right. Prior to accepting the free gift of salvation offered to all only through Jesus Christ we are lost. It does not matter how "good" of a person we think we are or how righteous a life we may imagine we have lived. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

Our Lord calls us to follow Him. He promises that as we step out in faith that He will direct our paths. This requires that we actually step out in faith even when we don't know or understand where that step will take us. We are to step out in faith even when our natural senses are screaming out danger. That is the point of faith: To trust and believe in God and in His will for you without any natural assurance of success. There is no distinction between our spiritual and our physical paths. They intertwine. God does not call us to an actionless faith. God calls us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12); to take the next step that we are being called to even though we fear where it might lead us and what the consequences might be. This will lead to both successes that we couldn't have imagined and to failures that will test us. Our walk with God is one that should be full of bright shining moments as well as times of struggle through the valleys where we are left with no other choice but to depend fully on our God. This journey begins the moment we are called and continues in full force until the day our Lord returns or calls us home.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Just as You Are

2012-10-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. ~Psalm 86:5

Do you have any idea of how much God loves you? Don’t just skip by that question. Think about this for a moment. There really is a God. He is alive. He is interactive with all of humanity and He is madly in love with you – you personally – you who are reading this right now – yes you! It does not matter what you have done, who you think you are, how deserving you imagine yourself to be, what masks you wear, or what you pretend to be. God knows your deepest thoughts and innermost fears and He loves you. Just as a great father is crazy about His children so God is crazy about you and wants you to know Him personally.

God has been calling you, screaming your name, talking to you all your life. Through your friends; through the radio; in your own heart; that voice inside your head; that thought that occurred to you at just the right time; the message from that anonymous Christian that you ignored; in every moment that you have written off in your life as coincidence or chance – In all of these God has been calling you to come to Him and enter into close, personal, interactive, and loving relationship with your Creator.

You do not have to put on a mask, pretend to be something you’re not, or in any way work to earn a spot at His table. You are called to come exactly as you are right at this moment. He has already accomplished everything that is necessary for you. He has laid the path and He has paved the way. All you need to do is accept the free gift of His love and give yourself freely to Him. He will never force you to come to Him. True love cannot be forced. It must be given willingly, freely, and fully. That is what He is asking you to do.

Once you accept the free gift of His love and call on His name, He will begin a process of conforming you into His image. As you submit your life to Him then love, patience, kindness, long-suffering, and joy will begin to grow inside you. You will become a new creation in Christ. Through the trials and difficulties of this life, a peace that passes understanding will begin to comfort and to define you.

God is calling to you. He is seeking you desperately - waiting for you to respond. His love for you is greater than you know. Now is the time to respond to His calling. There is no reason to remain away from the light of His love for even one more moment. Don't walk without Him any longer. Come just as you are. Won’t you respond to His call now?

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ~Revelation 3:20

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamed/2317328046/)

Neither Death Nor Life

2012-10-01T07:23:00.001-08:00

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. ~Romans 8:29-30

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to meet a delightful man named Tom along with his wife Connie. Tom and Connie were married the year my father was born (provided I've done my math correctly). They are looking forward to spending the holidays this year with their children, several grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Tom and I had a chance to talk about his relationship with Jesus and his testimony gave me great hope and encouragement. Tom has a strong faith in God and is working to become more of a leader in his church and to put his lifetime of experience to work for God's purposes. But, at 83 years old, this wasn't always the case. Tom, you see - this vibrant and active man of God - didn't chose to put his faith in Jesus Christ until he was 72 years old.

This is a great encouragement because, as Christians, most of us have people in our lives, people that we love, that do not know the love of Christ. Many of us have been praying and witnessing for years or even decades that God would move in the life of our spouse, or child, or parent, or friend. It is easy to become discouraged and fearful when, in our own impatience, we don't see the fruit of that labor. We question God or even our own faith. Tom's testimony illustrates to us that God is faithful and that His will will be accomplished.

This should also be a great encouragement to those of you who do not know Christ. Do you have a nagging feeling that things are just not quite right and that there is something more? Perhaps you feel that it is too late or that you have waited too long. Perhaps you think that there is no way that you could possibly make such a radical change in your life now - you're too old to be learning a new way of thinking; too old to be reborn anew. What Tom's testimony says to you is that it is never too late to be remade into a beautiful and new creation by the mighty and faithful hand of God.

The opening verse in Romans speaks of those that are predestined by God to be saved. How do you know if you are one of those that has been chosen? Knowing that you have been predestined for salvation is simple. If you fully place your faith in Christ and confess with all sincerity that He is Lord then you have your answer. You are saved because nobody can confess that Christ is Lord except by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:3). It is truly that simple (for more on this see our post Elegantly and Beautifully Simple).

So what if you are unable to make that leap? Does that mean you are not of the ones chosen by God for salvation? No. It simply means that it is not yet your time. God's Word tells us that all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). The only way to prove that you are not among the chosen of God is to die without knowing Christ.

Connie has been a Christian all her life and I am sure that she spent many hours praying for and worrying about Tom during his time apart from God. If you know Christ and have someone you love that is lost and separated from God, continue to pray and place your trust in God. If you do not know Christ then please take a moment to pray and ask God to reveal to you His truth that you might come to know Him and be made new.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:38-39

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/4669098060/)

What is Sin?

2012-09-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul ~Proverbs 8:36

We don't hear much about sin today. We don't have a very good idea in our culture of what sin really even is. The thing in our common vernacular that is most often called sinful is chocolate. We have lost, as a common understanding, the very meaning of the word sin.

I wonder how our culture today and its values and its morals would be viewed by someone from an earlier time. I also wonder how we today would respond to a message from say 100 years ago. As it turns out, we can find out at least on a small scale. I have been greatly blessed to come into a bit of a family inheritance: a Bible. As it turns out, my great, great, great grand father, H. C. Galbraith, was a preacher in the late 1800's. I have just received Reverend Galbraith's Bible and it is an amazing treasure. It comes complete with his handwritten sermon outlines and notes from the 1890's.

In one of his sermon outlines based on the passage from Proverbs above, here is what Reverend Galbraith had to say about sin:

Sin is any violation of God's Law or any neglect of duty or neglect to obey what God has commanded or led us to do. It separates man from God for God can have no fellowship with sin. Every impure word, act, association, or neglect of duty drives God further from us. He who commits sin wrongs his own soul by dwarfing its development and weakening its power for good thus defeating the design of God in its creation.

The greatest wrong is the loss of the soul. It is a terrible thing to barter the soul for a few days sensual pleasure. Thomas Payne recanted his infidelity when he was brought to face death. Hume, Bolingbroke, Voltaire, and others left a testimony that it was not safe to trifle with your soul's eternal welfare. Each of us asks in his heart "whose religion would you have me accept now Father? I am dying."

From the perspective of a culture that seems so intent on denying the very existence of sin, it is striking to me how Reverend Galbraith went so much farther in defining sin than even our churches tend to do today. Most of those that regularly attend a Bible believing church would probably be comfortable with the definition of sin as being any violation of God's Law, but he - rightly - didn't stop there. Reverend Galbraith went on to define sin as being any neglect of duty or neglect to obey what God has personally commanded or led us to do.

In our rush to omit and to erase what we consider to be the little sins from what our society defines as right and wrong -- in our haste to justify those small things in our lives that we know, deep down, violate the will of God -- in these things we must recall that all the world's death, all the world's pain, all the world's anguish and suffering throughout history are the result of deception and one man's willful disobedience. One bite of fruit caused man to be separated from God and introduced death into God's perfect creation (for more on this see our post The Crafty Beast).

"Every impure word, act, association, or neglect of duty drives God further from us. He who commits sin wrongs his own soul by dwarfing its development and weakening its power for good thus defeating the design of God in its creation."

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 6:23

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kightp/2517857662/)

Compelled to Preserve

2012-09-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man [Jesus] is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” ~John 11:47-48

There were many reasons that the religious leaders of his day did not believe that Jesus was God's promised Messiah. In these verses we get a small and often overlooked clue - fear. The Pharisees and priests felt compelled to preserve what they had. It seemed that the surest way to keep the temple intact and to keep the nation of Israel safe was to maintain the status-quo and endure the Roman occupation. If the people were to name Jesus King of Israel instead of accepting Roman authority, then the Roman army was sure to come and put an end to such an insurrection.

When considered in human terms, with only earthly means and might, the fear of the Jewish leaders was absolutely valid. From their perspective there was no stopping the Roman army. After all, Rome was the strongest force on earth. Isn't it ironic that the Jewish religious leaders left faith entirely out of their evaluation and out of fear chose the weaker side believing it to be the strongest? Their fear blinded them into choosing a human nation over God incarnate. In vain they put their trust in the things of the earth because in 70 A.D. their fears were realized. The Roman army did attack, the temple was destroyed, and the nation of Israel did cease to exist for nearly 2,000 years.

This is a poignant message for me. I find that I too am tempted to forget faith and to put my trust in the world. Like King Asa, I have put my trust in doctors (2 Chronicles 16:12), I have felt secure when my finances were safely stored up in a bank (Matthew 6:19), and I have trusted in my own abilities (Isaiah 9:9-12). Lately I have come to learn that God can take any of these, or my very life away in an instant, and that I am much much more secure when I put my faith and trust in God.

The Pharisees and priests were caught up in the routine and concerns of their normal lives. They were dealing with the very real and dangerous business of the Roman occupation of their lands as well as all of the mundane everyday distractions that this world provides. Then, suddenly, Jesus burst onto the scene, disrupted their routine, and forced them to face a choice. They were forced to chose between reviving and changing a faith that had grown legalistic and impersonal, or believing what their eyes could see and their mind could imagine; the forces threatening them at that time.

Jesus - our promised Messiah, our Savior, God Himself - has come and is calling you to trust Him and to allow Him to be King over your life. Like the Pharisees before us, each of us faces a choice to either heed His call or to instead place our faith in the material world. Where do you choose to place your trust?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunface13/4538366098/)

Wheat and Tares

2012-08-29T07:30:00.000-08:00

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him "...Do you want us to go and gather them up?" But he said "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" ~Matthew 13:24-30

The tares in this parable were probably the weed darnel. Darnel looks very much like wheat in the early stages of growth. The farmer in this parable would not have known that there were tares among the wheat plants until the crop had matured enough that the differences began to show, at which point the roots would be too tangled to pull the weed without damaging the wheat. The presence of the tares was a problem because the flour ground from the seeds of darnel was poisonous. There was a Roman law which made it illegal to sow darnel in another's field. Since this was apparently known to occur, Jesus' parable would have been very realistic to His listeners.

Jesus explained the parable privately to his disciples in verses 37-43. We, the people on the earth, are represented by the wheat and the tares. This includes the entire population of the planet not just "true" or "false" Christians. It is interesting that we should be indistinguishable spiritually until we mature. I believe that this is another example of how the potential to embrace the gospel is in all of us. We all face great moments of decision. The gospel is joyfully presented with the ring of truth about it, the Holy Spirit nudges us to accept and believe, and yet to do so or not is still a decision. The ability to make that decision and accept its consequences requires a certain amount of spiritual maturity.

Everyone I know who is a Christian loves people who are not Christian. We have an amazing web of family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances. This net interlocks with our lives so completely that it would be devastating to have everyone who will never believe in Christ suddenly taken away. Part of loving is praying for the salvation of friends and family who don't know Jesus. Sometimes we pray for years, sometimes for a lifetime and we cling to our hope that God will change their heart. We value their presence in our lives and would not even want them removed.

There are, however, some people we wouldn't mind having removed from the population. Some that we , as a society, remove to prison and there are plenty that should be in prison, but aren't. Some of these people, sometime in the future, will intentionally devastate or end the life of another or others. Wouldn't it be better if God's reapers (the angels) just plucked those evil people out now? In spite of the damage they do, I hope that even these people are loved by someone. They have parents, a spouse, children, friends. Not only is everyone important to God but we are also important to each other and, that too, is important to God.

Consider for a moment the people who are very difficult to be around. These people, Christian or not, impact our lives and our faith tremendously. They test our patience, our knowledge, and our convictions. No matter what they do we are commanded to pray for them, to take care of their needs, to love them, and at times to forgive them for things that, to us, seem inexcusable. These commands show the world what it means to be a Christian, but they are primarily for the good of us as Christians. Following the example of Christ, our faith is tested, proven, and refined. The tenets of our faith require an audience of tares. To whom would we witness without unbelievers? What enemies would we forgive if everyone acted righteously? Of what value is it to only love people who love you back?

What a joy it is to face the end of your life with your faith so strong that it withstood trials, evil, temptations, and the workings of the devil. Followers and disciples of Christ face a reward at the end of life on earth and the tares we encounter along the way help to mold and refine us to prepare us for what lies ahead. At the same time, only the farmer - God - can truly tell the difference between the wheat and the tares. We have no way of knowing who will ultimately be saved. It is our duty to continue to grow spiritually and to obediently listen to God as we endure the difficulties of life with patience and grace.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ~Hebrews 12:1

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/takens/5824302361/)

Through the Storm

2012-08-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the King's prisoners were confined... But the Lord was with Joseph ~Genesis 39:20-21

Joseph had been having a pretty rough time of things. His brothers were jealous of him, had thrown him down a well, threatened to murder him, and ultimately sold him into slavery. As a slave he had done everything right and, just when things seemed to be going pretty well, he was falsely accused by his master's wife and thrown into the dungeon where he was left for several years. Yet, through all of this suffering and injustice, we are told that God was with Joseph.

There are times in our lives when things just don't seem to be going according to our plan. In fact they are going horribly wrong. Perhaps we lost a job, had a spouse leave us, are dealing with the death of a loved one, facing our own mortality, or have simply ended up in a place in life where we just don't want to be. It is easy and natural for us during the difficult times and seasons of our lives to question God's plan for us and to wonder if He is even here.

There are many today that profess to preach the Word of God - well-dressed individuals with their shiny suits and their shiny smiles - that will tell you that God wants only the best for you here in this life and that if you are really on God's "good list" then you will be blessed by God with perfect health and with all the material wealth you need and want. If you don't have good health and lot's of extra spending cash then you must not be right with God. These false prophets lead millions of people away from God as they prey on the innocent by convincing them that they can buy their way into God's favor and gain wealth for themselves in the process.

The lure of health and wealth in this life is certainly powerful but it is not what the Word of God promises. God tells us that this life will be hard, that we will go through difficult times. He even promises that the closer we get to Him and the more obedient we become, the more difficult this life will be as He goes through the process of molding us into the individual masterpieces that He created us to be. God does not promise to save us out of life's difficulties and trials but rather He promises something much greater. He promises that He will be with us through them and that it is through these trails that we become more and more conformed to the likeness of Christ - suffering for righteousness sake just as He suffered for us.

Joseph was highly favored by God and was ultimately used by God to save an entire nation and to bring another nation, the nation of Israel, into existence. During his trails of being beaten, rejected and betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and wrongfully imprisoned Joseph still trusted God and knew that God was with him. He didn't know how God would use these trying times and I am sure that Joseph had many moments of doubt and dejection through those years. Yet through it all God was preparing Joseph for something that he couldn't comprehend at the time. Ruling an entire nation.

Those years in prison helped to mold Joseph into the man that God needed him to be in order to rule the nation of Egypt and see Egypt through a famine that would have destroyed it apart from God's intervention. God sees each of our lives with an eternal perspective and while it can sometimes be very difficult for us to understand the trials and difficult circumstances in our lives, God knows exactly what we are going through and asks us to trust Him and rely on His strength to carry us through any difficulty.

Are you going through a painful or difficult time right now? Is there some aspect of your life where you feel you just need to cry out to God? Remember that while God does sometimes calm the storms of our lives, other times He calms us through the storm. Either way He is always there with us and is always working out His plans and His purposes toward His ultimate and eternal goal. What a blessed promise it is to be a part of that!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/irteza/4330754374/)

Walking Weary

2012-08-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

I am weary, O God, I am weary, O God. How can I prevail? ~Proverbs 30:1

The term "weary" paints a picture. I see someone walking, back bent, head down. Weariness has a heavy trod as if putting one foot after the other takes all the energy that is left. It is not tired from exertion or a poor nights sleep. Weariness does not come on suddenly or disappear quickly. Weariness comes from the constant onslaught of responsibilities, worries, discouragements. It is the daily burdens, difficult relationships, the constant effort of striving that makes us weary. In other words, weariness is a condition rather than a feeling.

God knows that his children get weary. In addition to the daily burden of living, Christians assume the extra burdens of attempting to live as a Godly example to others, of resisting the temptations of materialism and decadence, of living differently from what is "normal" by cultural standards. It is hard to be a Christian. While it may be uncomfortable to admit that and seem ungrateful for the great mercy and love offered to us, God knew the Christian path would be difficult. He promises trials, tribulation, and suffering in every book of the New Testament. He also promises rest and strength to everyone who turns to him.

God does not grow weary and has strength in abundance for all that will rely on Him. He will always supply you with what you need to do His work. Like the condition of weariness, trust and rest in the Lord is also a condition - a habit of living. As you face the daily battle of surviving, daily give your worries to God. Daily seek his peace and daily remind yourself of His priorities rather than your own. God is the source of every breath. He is the source of peace amidst turmoil, joy amidst suffering, and rest although we struggle. He is the source that, no matter how much we draw on Him, will never be diminished.

The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. ~Isaiah 40:28-31

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssanyal/441258950/)

One Bridge

2012-08-21T07:30:00.001-08:00

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. ~Luke 19:10

Tom and Cheryl were lost. They had been driving and driving but were nowhere closer to reaching home than when they had started. They, however, were blissfully ignorant of this fact and were quite content to just keep going, arguing occasionally about the direction, but both certain that they'd get there eventually. Tom was a very reliable and capable man and, being confident in his own abilities, was sure that by picking the path that seemed right to him at the time that he'd find the way. Cheryl had a ton of maps that she had collected from all over the world and she constantly studied them and attempted to apply them to whatever landmarks she saw around her in order to help direct them. Whether or not these maps actually applied to where she really was never seemed to occur to her. One map, after all, is just as valid as any other.

There were two reasons that they weren't very concerned about being lost: One was that they didn't really understand that they were lost in the first place (Cheryl's maps occasionally kind of fit where they were) and the other was that they didn't think it mattered anyway because the trip itself was pretty fun. They had a really nice car and there were lot's of distractions along the way. There were fun places to play and do whatever they wanted. There were great restaurants, good places to gamble, and lots of other things to keep them amused and distracted. Life, they thought, is all about the journey after all. You'd better have fun on the journey because you may never arrive at your destination anyway.

One day, as Cheryl was busily trying to make sense of another one of her maps that had no relation to where they actually were, Tom saw another one of those roadsigns that warned that the path ahead held danger and that the road home was off the freeway and was down one of those tiny off-ramps onto a narrow and rocky little road. He was really sick of these signs and wished someone would just take them down. They had tried following one of these signs before and it only led them away from all of the things that they needed like air conditioned hotels, restaurants that served good food with well dressed and polite waitstaff, and high-end shopping malls. It led them up rocky mountain paths and down into hot and uncomfortable valleys. His nice car got scratched and dirty and there were miserable broken people all along the way begging Tom and Cheryl to give them some of their hard-earned money. It was a truly horrific experience.

No, it was quite obvious to Tom that the nice wide highway with the smooth, well maintained pavement and with the malls, the restaurants, and the gas stations all conveniently located along the way - the road where that was kept free of the filthy beggars - this was the road that would get them home. With his sense of direction (and Cheryl's variety of maps) they'd make it there even if they had to ignore the signs some wackos had put up everywhere.

You see, Tom and Cheryl's destination was a kingdom on the other side of a mighty chasm that was uncrossable. The King of that kingdom was very powerful and used all of His strength and all of His resources to build a mighty bridge, a single bridge, across the chasm. He then placed road signs all over the other side directing people to His bridge, the one and only way to the Kingdom. Rather than trust in Him, the people on the other side ignored the King's signs, built their own roads, and attempted to build their own bridges. The roads the people made were beautiful. The paths were comfortable. But the people simply didn't possess the ability to construct a bridge that would span the chasm. Everyone who attempted to use a bridge not made by the hand of the mighty King perished.

Tom had heard these stories but didn't really believe them. He continued to ignore the signs that had been placed all along the highway, just like all of the thousands of other travelers that were on the road with him. The signs got bigger and bigger, placed every mile or so, and warned of destruction ahead, pointing to the correct path, but choosing to follow others and listen to his own pride (as well as Cheryl's maps) Tom, seeing a bridge ahead and sincerely believing it was the right one, drove he and his wife right off its edge and into the chasm.

There is a mighty chasm that separates us from God. In his great love, God has built a single bridge for us to cross that chasm and come to Him. It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that we may find our salvation. This is not a secret path or hidden way. God has been shouting His warning and calling to you. He has left a detailed map and signs to point you to Him. There are many human roads that look comfortable and promise glory but they all end in destruction.

The path to God, the path that He calls us to travel, is difficult. You will get dirty along the way. You will have to learn to place the needs of others above your own. You will have to learn to let go of those earthly things that take God's place in your heart. The road will take you through hot desert valleys and up difficult and rocky mountain trails. You will be called to minister to broken people who will revile you for trying to help them. Through this journey, however, you will find who you really are, you will find the person that you were created to be. You will learn to truly love and to truly know God in a personal and intimate way and to live with Him in His kingdom.

Jesus Christ died to pay for every sin you have ever committed and was raised from the dead to build that mighty bridge for you to cross to the Kingdom that your heart desires. Don't ignore His signs. He is calling you. Listen to Him and heed His call.

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. ~Acts 4:12

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jyryk/3580822452/)

Thank God For Coffee

2012-08-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ~Psalm 100:4

It can sometimes be difficult to be truly thankful for the things that God blesses us with in this life. Usually we don't even recognize that it is God that has provided for us in the first place and instead assume that all things come from our own effort or through luck. Not only are we not thankful to God for those things that he has blessed us with, we are not even content with them. We are constantly desiring and striving for more, taking for granted what we have to such an extent that we begin to see ourselves as not being blessed at all but rather ignored or even abused by God. What a sad state. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus sets the standard for our desires:

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?
²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34)

It is difficult to imagine a section of Scripture that goes more against the very core of our culture than this. This call to living in a way so completely dependent on God is so foreign that many modern theologians errantly teach that, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is talking about the future Kingdom, that now we should fight for what is ours, but then - sometime in the future - all things will be provided. But if this is for us today, how are we to possibly live this way? How can we possibly not worry about tomorrow? I don't claim to know the mind of God, but I do believe that He has been teaching our family the art and the value of His providence and care.

This morning, as I pondered what I was to write and was preparing a cup of coffee, I literally stopped for a moment and thanked God for my coffee. You see, it has been over a week since we've had any in the house because our funds are limited and coffee is, quite frankly, a luxury item. Yet we have some now thanks to God's provision. How does that work? Well, for that to make sense, we need to back up just a bit.

Over the past year and half, God has been teaching us the truth of His care and of our need and our ability to rely on Him. Sometimes, we need to be brought low in order to remove the blinders that the world places on us. For our family, it worked this way: After spending nine months unemployed and finally getting a job where everything but the paycheck is fantastic, we have had to make some pretty major adjustments. We have gone through a process of cutting out everything that was wasn't essential. The home phone, television, texting plans, even the internet for awhile. We have had to learn to live on a budget that, after all basic bills are paid, leaves us just a bit left over for food. For the last three to four months we have had a weekly grocery budget of $20. For a family of four that seems impossible, yet we've managed to keep to that budget without skipping any meals through the grace and provision of God.

Here are some examples of how God has provided for us: A month or so ago, my wife volunteered to handle the coordination of providing lunches to kids at a play date put on by our church. Many people donated the makings of sack lunches for about 150 kids. The play date was a great success but their were a ton of leftover perishable lunches that ended up being given to us. We spent the next couple of weeks eating peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches for every meal. That got a little old, but we didn't have to extend the grocery budget. During that same time, our pastor put on a big lunch for the whole church to celebrate his 15th anniversary as pastor at our church. There were tons of leftovers that he handed out and we again ended up with a several large meals. My dad made too much potato soup and we ended up with a huge pot. You get the idea.

None of these people knew anything about our finances yet they provided without even knowing that God was working through them and that they were meeting a real need. You see, sandwiches didn't just go "poof!" and appear in our refrigerator, BBQ pork and soup didn't fall out of the sky (thankfully) yet God arranged things so that our needs would be met. God works through each of us to meet the needs of those around us. The other day, a lady that I work with asked me if I wanted an old tin of coffee that she hadn't opened for years I haven't had morning coffee for awhile so I said "absolutely!". While God promises to take care of our needs as we trust Him, he also occasionally provides for our wants as well. I wanted coffee, but apparently I don't need caffeine because He provided decaffeinated coffee. Yet still I am thankful for His tremendous blessings.

It was only through a time of difficulty that I was able to see the amazing blessings that God continues to provide through all things. He is always there. He is always active. He is always good. How has God worked in your life recently? Take a moment to give Him thanks for your blessings and to praise His holy name!

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. ~Colossians 3:17

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/2953428679/)

He Gets It

2012-08-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. ~Isaiah 53:3

Have you been disappointed and hurt recently? Has someone that you trusted failed? Have you felt betrayed by one close to you? If you feel alone in your pain, it is important to know that God fully understands the mixed up turmoil of emotions that you can't fully describe. He gets the nuances, the contradictions, and even the history that made "that one jab" especially painful.

It is unnecessary to spend your prayer time explaining every detail of your situation and emotions to God. He already gets it, and understands it better than you do. Not only is it unnecessary, but it is usually done in an effort to justify an anger, hurt, and bitterness that you know God does not want you to hold onto. You are responsible for your own reactions and emotions. You cannot control circumstances or the upsetting behavior of the people around you. Anger can be justified in many ways, but it is only righteous when felt on behalf of God.

God's understanding of what you're feeling doesn't simply come from the facts that He created you and that He knows all things. God knows and understands what you are feeling because when He walked among us as a man, He too experienced a lot of disappointments. His ministry to His own chosen people was failing. The religious leaders of the day willfully refused to acknowledge Him. They refused to recognize Him in spite of the prophesies, in spite of the miracles that were performed before their eyes, and in spite of the fact that all the Scriptures they had dedicated their lives to study spoke of Him. Jesus did not match their preconceived expectations and they weren't destined to get past that - what a blessing that turned out to be for us gentiles and for the rest of the world.

Jesus was also betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples, one of the twelve men closest to Jesus during His ministry. Judas conspired with the religious leaders and, because of his treachery, Jesus was arrested. His remaining eleven disciples and numerous other followers ran and hid, fearing for their lives. Alone, Jesus faced the judgement of the people who were supposed to be most passionate about His purpose. The religious leaders, through their authority, brought Jesus before the ruling government: the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate could discover no crime that Jesus had committed and so Pilate turned to the last people standing between Jesus and execution, the crowd.

To this point Jesus had been betrayed by a friend, condemned by the religious leaders, abandoned by His followers, failed by the government, and now He stood before the people He had come to save - those who for over three years He had taught, miraculously fed, and healed; those who had followed Him and who had, just a week before, ushered Him into their midst singing "Hosanna!" - and now they cried out "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

The Bible doesn't tell us how Jesus felt at this moment. Using my imagination I come up with words like hollow, sick, alone, exhausted, weak, hurt, and sad. I don't have to describe these nuances to you, the story is in the Gospels. Don't just read them, be a part of them. Throughout these events, I feel that we are invited to place ourselves in the crowd. At our core, without the intercession of the Holy Spirit, we are in the crowd, screaming for Jesus' blood, jeering and mocking His hurts, betraying our Savior. Every time we let our selfishness get in the way of forgiving others we join with the crowd. In spite of this, with unimaginable love, we are valued, called, supported, and comforted by the very one we injure with our self centered behaviors. In spite of the wounds inflicted on Jesus for our sins, we are forgiven this and every other sin from our past, present, and future.

We at times feel discouraged, disappointed, and betrayed. In spite of our best efforts, we can't help but to inflict the same types of hurts on others. This is something that can be difficult to remember as we deal with our own pain. When you are hurting, take your pain honestly to God. He wants your truth and vulnerability rather than a masquerade of stoicism or an endless stream of justifications. God is patient and understanding but, by His power and grace, He desires that we forgive from the heart, accept His healing, and move on.

Be prepared for His compassion and healing because this too is difficult. What He requires of you is to forgive so excessively and to love so generously that you knowingly and willingly open yourself to be hurt time and time again. There is no way that we can do this on our own but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Not only do we have a God who understands and knows us, not only do we have a God who has experienced the world and the temptations and the trials we face, but we have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us. It is He that, through our trials, our pain, and our suffering, over time, continually shapes us more into the image of Christ who suffered and endured all things for us. We are really never alone. He gets it.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ~Matthew 28:20

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3432315697/)

Testing the Waters

2012-08-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

The fear of getting hurt can be a powerful driving force in life. There are many times that, through the voice of our previous bad experiences, we shy away from situations that look potentially difficult or damaging. There are many fears that drive our choices, behaviors, and attitudes. Some of them are healthy and some of them, over time and if we allow them to, will cripple us.

Fear of rejection; fear of not being accepted or loved for who we truly are; fear of disappointing someone or being disappointed ourselves; these are all powerful influences on our psyche and affect the way that we interact with other people and can affect the way that we approach God. Our self image tends to define the behaviors and attitudes that we expect to find in other people. Our expectations of other people can begin to define our image of God and our understanding of what God expects from us.

Those who have felt unloved by other people, who have felt that they have had to work for the affection of others, can tend to approach God with the idea and the expectation that God only values and expects their service instead of who they are. They may be timid in approaching God and, trying to protect themselves, are only willing to test the waters in an attempt to see if God will respond. What they are looking for is some positive affirmation, some response, that shows that God values them in a real and tangible way. Even when God responds with the fulness of His love, His response is evaluated in the context of the previous human experiences and pain.

Our primary error here is in allowing our experiences in this life - our hurts, our disappointments, our fears, our insecurities - to define our image of God. Instead we must allow our intimate relationship with God to heal us of all our past and present hurts, disappointments, fears, and insecurities. Our worth is not defined by what we do or by what others think of us. It is not defined by our material possessions, our physical appearance, or our abilities. It is through God's love for us alone that we find our true worth.

God created and designed you. He knows every dark part of your past and present and He loves you for exactly who you are. You are God's original and priceless masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10) that he continues to shape and form as you draw closer to Him. Are you timidly approaching God, afraid that your past is too much for Him or that you are simply not good enough? Never allow your past experiences to define God but rather let God define you through His immense and boundless love. It is by defining ourselves through His eyes that we begin to find the strength and gain the perspective to deal with all of our natural fears and doubts.

The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. ~Zephaniah 3:17

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlieeclark/6116522556/)

Nothing Too Hard

2012-08-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. ~Jeremiah 32:17

Our strength is limited. We have a finite amount of time and energy that seems to be in constant demand. Sometimes it can feel that we are running on a treadmill that steadily runs faster and faster while we fight just to keep up. It can be very difficult and even seem impossible to keep up with the challenges that seem to constantly bombard us as we struggle to find our way through this life. These challenges aren't always simply a busy life but more often they are emotional strains.

There are people in my life that are at this very moment dealing with emotional issues that should break them, yet they stand firm. They are in situations that could threaten to destroy their marriage, their relationships, or even their own sanity yet they are holding fast and standing strong. I know people that are dealing with the loss of a child, another that lost a lifetime friend in an instant, a family that is struggling with potential cancer in their child, people that are dealing with devastating consequences of infidelity in marriage, others that are struggling with a marriage grown cold over time, there are those struggling with the loss of career, fighting cancer, recovering from a stroke, and even laying on their very deathbed. Yet they have hope.

Why? How is it possible, when simply living can seem so hard sometimes, how can these people stand strong in the midst of these crises? I know that if you asked some of them, they would respond that they struggle just to get by and pray each day for the little bit of strength to make it through. I bet that each of them would tell you that there are times that they just want to give up and stop fighting. Yet they don't give up. They don't quit. Through a strength and a power that is not their own and they press on.

It is incredibly humbling to be blessed to be a small part of the lives of these people. Through their struggles and their sometimes devastating pain they, often without even knowing it, shine the light of God's love more brightly than a 1000 others whose lives are going along without a hiccup. It is through our weakness that God's strength is displayed and perfected. It is through these times of trial when we must rely on God alone for our strength that we can become beacons of hope shining brightly to others who are struggling themselves and may be in danger of giving up. It is at these times when we are most broken that we can be of the most use to God as we impact the lives of people in ways that we don't even realize.

Are you struggling right now? Are you dealing with some pain or some difficult trial that threatens to break and destroy you? Are you contemplating giving up and quitting? This may be the moment that you are the most use to God if you will just trust Him, rely on His strength, and obediently follow Him as He leads you through. Don't give up. Don't quit. Don't allow yourself to lose hope. Trust in your Mighty Father.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersonicphotos/4078364523/)

Is Suffering Optional?

2012-07-25T08:14:00.001-08:00

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps ~1 Peter 2:21

There are many today that teach that being a true Christian, if you do it right, means that God will take care of all your earthly needs. He will heal all your infirmities, bless you with financial prosperity, and grant you an easy and peaceful existence during your long, fulfilled, and happy time here on earth. All you need to do is to have faith, and of course, give to the church, in order to receive all the peace that God desires for your life.

This is certainly an appealing picture but is there any truth to it? There is a time in the eternal state when all of those things will come to pass but God's word paints a very different picture of His expectation of our time here in this world. Every single book of the New Testament discusses the promise and the expectation that followers of Jesus will endure suffering. Most of the apostles were arrested, beaten, and imprisoned for their faith, some multiple times. All of the Apostles, with the lone exception of John, were martyred for their faith in Christ. Each of them, and millions after them, professed their faith boldly to their deaths and they died specifically due to those bold professions of faith.

In the ease and comfort of our western culture it is easy to forget that there are millions of Christians all over the world today that live in fear of persecution and even death. In China, India, Africa, the Middle East, and in many other countries Christians are arrested, tortured, and killed for their faith and yet they press on. In these countries where proclaiming Christ can lead to violent death, there are no casual Christians.

This is not the only form of suffering though. Regardless of where we find ourselves - in the midst of political peace or persecution - we must all deal with suffering in forms both great and small. The loss of a job, the death of a loved one, natural disasters, war, murder, rape, child abuse... suffering surrounds us and permeates this existence.

This suffering is not pointless and it is not simply a filter to test whose faith is true (though it does that as well), rather it is to strengthen us, to develop our character, to lead us in our spiritual growth, to allow us the opportunity to show true love to others, and to bring us ever closer to a personal relationship of trust and faith in God through Jesus Christ. All of scripture, and our own experience as well, teaches us that this world is not a final place rest but an intermediate place of testing.

There are many who will tell you that this isn't God's plan and that God really wants you to have heaven here on this earth but just as Scripture teaches us to expect many trials and suffering, it also expressly warns us about such teachers: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3)

Are you seeking only those that tickle your ears and tell you what you desire to hear? Remember to test all things with God’s word through scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ~1 Peter 5:10

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36829113@N05/3393037119/)

All the Answers

2012-07-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom. ~Proverbs 11:2

Another of the primary objections that many people have to religion in general and to Christianity in particular is the propensity to claim: 1) to know the truth; and 2) to have all the answers to life's problems and questions. I attempt to address the issues of exclusivity and truth in the blog posts Exclusive Jesus?, The Morality Argument, and Absolute Truth. But what is the difference between knowing the truth and having all of the answers? Is there a difference at all and do Christians even make these claims in the first place?

There is a very definite distinction between "knowing the truth" in the Christian sense and "having all the answers". I believe, for example, that the Bible is truth and that it is the living Word of God. I believe that it provides, as God intended, a sufficient and complete foundation upon which we are to base our understanding of God, the universe, the world, human society, and ourselves. I believe this because I have a personal relationship with the author. I do not claim, however, that the Bible holds the answer to every specific question that could possibly be asked but that it instead provides the framework through which we approach those questions and evaluate the answers. God is the light by which the world is illuminated and the Bible is the lens through which the world comes into focus. The lens is of little worth without the light.

There is a very large difference between knowing the truth of God and claiming to know all truth. While most Christians will be the first to humbly admit that they do not have all the answers, many Christians, I am afraid, do make the claim to know "all truth that matters". There are times that Christians hold their doctrine or their religious teachings above the Word of God. Religion is simply the final stages of man working out what he thinks God has revealed. All religion is of man and not of God. When we hold our interpretations and doctrines above God's Word then we begin to fall into the trap of prideful legalism and human arrogance. (For a further explanation of the differences between doctrine, religion, and relationship see our section on theology here.)

Life on this earth is a journey of constant growth toward a destination that we will never fully realize. The Bible tells us the truth of that destination and also serves as the map and as the signs along the road to point the way. Our true destination is perfection in our relationship with God. Those who know God live with the truth and the hope that they will spend all eternity in a constant state of learning, of exploring the richness of all that God has created.

People, both inside the church and outside, tend to forget the journey and instead look at this current existence as all there is. We begin to define ourselves by what we achieve and by what we know here and now instead of what we are called to learn next. We become blinded to the fact that, no matter how smart we think we are or what answers we imagine we might have, our current understanding and knowledge pales in comparison to what we will always have left to learn.

While our beliefs are foundational and important, and while it is vital that we have a very good understanding of why we believe what we believe, we must be careful not to place the knowledge itself on the throne of God. Instead of allowing ourselves to become distracted and consumed by our rules, our doctrine, or our religion, we need to constantly remind ourselves instead to focus on our relationship with God, constantly taking the next step that He sets before us on our journey toward Him. The more we focus on listening to God throughout each day, the less susceptible we become to falling into the ditch of arrogant legalism or prideful superiority.

As a Christian, I don't claim to have all the answers. I do, however, know the God who does and I invite you to join me on my journey toward Him. If you don't know Jesus please take a moment today to stop and simply ask Him to show you the truth then listen to what He speaks to your heart. If you do know Jesus then remember that until He returns or calls you home your journey is never complete and there is always a next step that He is calling you to take. No matter where we are in our spiritual journey in this life, whether we are just starting out or have been on the path for a long time, God is calling us all to a next step toward Him and toward the relationship that we were created to experience.

Human pride will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day. ~Isaiah 2:11

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiertz/3600682272/)

Reintroduced to God

2012-07-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! For behold He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth - the LORD God of hosts is His name. ~Amos 4:12-13

The prophet Amos was reintroducing God to a people who had turned to worshiping God as an afterthought, as a way to 'cover their bases'. They had lost the knowledge of who God really is; God is not an idol of wood or stone without the ability to hear or move or talk, He is not a God created by man in order to pander to our needs and to meet our expectations. He is living and real and His presence is so powerful that when we truly encounter it we realize that it is He that must be worshiped and we that must be humbled. It is only when we are distant from God that we can forget this about Him. I can imagine God's incredulity as He asks through Isaiah (45:9) “Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'”? The same metaphor is used in Jeremiah 18:6 “Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand”. We are the created ones, we are the lesser ones. We will one day stand before God and He will need no further introduction. “Every knee will bow” (Philippians 2:10-11) in recognition of who He is; at that moment, even the people who never knew God in life will acknowledge and worship Him.

If we stay close to God now, our worship will flow sincerely and spontaneously. It reminds me of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in which a sailor falls under a curse, all his shipmates die and as the man nears death himself, he looks at the creatures of the sea and marvels at God's creation. “And I blessed them unaware” he claims, which lifted the curse and freed him to pray. The breathtaking beauty of nature often stirs us to think of God. Nearness with God necessitates worship, its just what happens.

Sometimes I need to be reintroduced to God - reminded again of his sovereignty. Whether these moments come through poetry, nature, or the fellowship of church family, it is a blessing to recognize that I have been minimizing God by worshiping on my terms and in my time. I fall into the trap of trying to bring God to me instead of presenting myself to God. It is ironic that we need God in the Holy Spirit in order to worship God fully. Ironic, weird, and beautiful. That's how our God works. We cannot control, predict, or understand Him. Instead we walk with Him, learn from Him, and praise Him.

God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. ~Job 37:5

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thtstudios/1755663/)

Be Not Conformed

2012-07-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. ~Romans 12:2

One of the most shocking revelations of Jesus - both to His hearers then and to those who read and hear His words today - is his teaching that sin is not simply the physical act of doing something against the will of God but that it actually begins within our heart. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ~Matthew 5:27-28

Here Jesus raises the bar from the physical act of committing adultery to even entertaining lustful thoughts about a woman. A few verses earlier He taught that harboring hatred toward your brother or sister is equated with murder. Our world and culture bombards us with images of sexuality and of violence and teaches us that it is natural and normal to think about these things. Scripture however, tells us not be conformed to this world and its teachings but rather to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Why? So that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect.

Each moment of each day, through every situation in which we find ourselves, we are presented with the opportunity to either choose to follow God or to choose to go our own way and submit to our own thoughts and passions. This choice - this battle - is made and fought in our hearts and in our minds. Moment by moment, we choose what to allow into our thoughts and what to focus our internal resources on. In the book of 2nd Corinthians Paul writes:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ~2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Choosing to allow only those things that are true and worthy into our thoughts is a mighty battle. Here we must wage war against, not only the world and its messages, but against our own flesh and against Satan himself. We must never forget, however, that we do not wage this war on our own pitiful strength but we have the Spirit of the living God that raised Christ from the dead within us that strengthens and guides us. It is through His power that we gain the strength to take captive every thought to Christ.

I like to picture it this way. Imagine that you have a light inside of you - a physical light bulb - that shines the light of God's love. Above that light bulb is a water spout controlled by two spigots - one representing things holy and one representing things of the world. Whenever you think of things that are holy and good then it is like turning on the holy spigot and pure and clean water runs and washes the light bulb keeping it clean and shining brightly. Whenever you entertain thoughts of the world then it is like turning on the other spigot and the water changes to a dark and thick sludge that cakes the light bulb, baking onto it, and darkening its light making you look just like everybody else.

It only takes a little sludge to darken the bulb and it takes a lot of water to get the bulb clean. Jesus tells us to be the light of the world, to be like a town built on a hill for others to see. In the same way, Jesus says, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Guard your thoughts and let your light shine brightly!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things ~Philippians 4:8

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/4860915122/)

Who Do You Love?

2012-07-10T06:00:00.001-08:00

...that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands. ~2 Chronicles 12:8

George Thorogood and the Destroyers once asked "who do you love?" I doubt they had in mind a question so weighty as "do you love yourself and the things of this life, or do you love God and the things that come after this life?" I read the lyrics of the song and I still don't know what they love - perhaps snakes? There is a lot of talk about snakes in that song, but I digress...

It is hard not to love life on this earth at times. There is so much that tastes good, looks good, and feels good. Many of these things are gifts from God, given with the full intention that we should enjoy them. Consider the gifts, though. Seeing the Milky Way stretched out across the sky is a gift from God. Seeing movies on a deluxe home theater system with a projector and a surround sound system is an indulgence, but it could be used for God's purposes. A charismatic personality is a gift from God, but James warns that the tongue is "a restless evil and full of deadly poison" (James 3:8), yet a gift of charisma can be used for God's purposes. Wealth can be used indulgently or for God's purposes. Likewise time, a large house, multiple vehicles, etc.

If we use God's gifts only for ourselves then we are storing up for ourselves treasures on earth, temporary and fickle things, where moths and rust destroy (Matthew 6:20). Using our gifts for God's purposes is a sacrifice, it has a cost, but only in this world. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ~Matthew 16:24

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aunto/3281711078/)

Who Then is Greatest?

2012-07-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." ~Matthew 18:1-4

This wasn't the only time that the disciples thought about who was greatest. In fact, they argued about it among themselves and vied for the positions that they imagined for themselves once Jesus took His place as King. This is an odd tendency that we all seem to have to one degree or another: the need to advance our position or to be recognized by our peers in order to feel any worth.

Jesus condemned this tendency harshly when speaking to the Pharisees: "How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44) Jesus here speaks to those who are more worried about impressing each other and gaining the accolades of their peers than they are about the approval of God. The point of His rebuke is that they are so blinded by their own pride in their knowledge of the Scriptures and of their religiosity that they have missed everything that their Scriptures and that their religion point them to, namely Jesus Himself. (John 5:39-47)

Even within our own service to Christ we can easily fall into the tendency to do our duty in order to earn accolades and recognition for ourselves. We seek the approval of men instead of God and seek to get glory for ourselves instead of working to give all glory to the only one who truly deserves it. Taking a hard objective look at our lives can be a difficult thing to do. It is easier, however, to recognize that pride is an issue in our lives than it is to submit to God to allow Him to remove it. As a wise woman said in our church fellowship "You can't just decide one day 'okay, today I am going to become humble!'"

Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest of those born of women yet the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he (Matthew 11:11). The quality that marked John the Baptist was his recognition of who Jesus was and his submission to the superiority of Jesus and His ministry. John said Jesus must become greater and John must become less (John 3:30).

This is my prayer for myself and for all Christians: that in every aspect of our lives, in all our service, that we would seek for Jesus to continually become greater and for us to continually become less. That we would submit fully to the Holy Spirit and allow His fruit to grow in us so fully that any care for our own recognition or control simply falls away as Christ alone rises as master over all.

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. ~Mark 10:43-45

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/randywillis/5765940310/)

The Crafty Beast

2012-07-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ~Genesis 3:1-5

Since the creation of the world, Satan has not altered his tactics in leading people away from the Word of God. His formula is simple and almost always has these three points: Doubt, Deny, and Exalt. He leads us to doubt what God has said, to deny the truth of His word, and ultimately to exalt ourselves to the level of God.

Satan led Eve to question what God had said, refuted God's promised consequence of disobedience, and led her astray with promises of being like God. The fact is that, regardless of what Satan would have them believe, Adam and Eve did die that very day. The moment they chose to go their own way and listen to Satan, they died a spiritual death that ultimately removed them from them very presence of God. This single sin introduced something unnatural and foreign into God's perfect creation: death.

By twisting the truth and playing to human pride, Satan was able to separate man from the garden and from God's presence and place himself as head and ruler over the now fallen world (2 Corinthians 4:4). At least, that is what he believes. Satan's suffers from the same delusions that he attempts to inflict upon all of us. He wants to exalt himself over God (Isaiah 14:12-14). Nevertheless, there will come a day when we will all see Satan for what he really is and wonder that this poor creature was the cause of so much trouble (Isaiah 14:15-19). All the world's sin, all the world's death, all the world's depravity, all the world's evil came into God's creation through man by means of deception and a single bite of fruit. The fact is that we do not grasp the seriousness of sin nor the holiness of God.

In what aspect of your life or your faith are you entertaining doubts about what God has said to you? Are you allowing the serpent to whisper lies and deceits in your ear denying the truth of God's Word? Are you placing yourself and your own judgement on the throne of your life, exalting yourself to the position of the Most High and overruling the Word of God in some area of your life?

Pray that God might reveal those areas of your life where you are doubting or denying the truth of His Word. Ask Him to humble you in any area where you are placing yourself or your own judgement above His. While we may fool ourselves into thinking we know best, the truth is always that we only find true rest, peace, and fulfillment by resting in Him.

Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. ~Matthew 11:28-30

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/goellnitz/3736581752/)

He is Seeking

2012-07-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me. ~Revelation 3:20

Jesus is seeking you. He wants to know you and to be the very most important thing in your life. The outside world sees Christianity as rigid - as a list of don'ts, can'ts, and shouldn'ts. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity:

There is a story about a schoolboy who was asked what he thought God was like. He replied that, as far as he could tell God was 'the sort of person that was always snooping around to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it.'

This sort of sums up the preconceived notion of Christianity. There is good news though, and lots of it. God loves you and wants a relationship with you so much that He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to redeem all of mankind from our squalor, selfishness, and ignorance. Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to come to earth and sacrifice His life in one of the most humiliating and painful forms of execution known in order to take the price of our sins onto Himself. This, however, still isn't the best of the good news.

There are several stories in the Bible that tell us of regular people that had died but had been raised back to life. These people, however, still had to face mortality. Sometimes I'm not even sure that it was a kindness that they had to die twice. Jesus, on the other hand, returned to life never to face death again. He is still alive today and He has forever defeated that ugly banner of our shame - death. Not only this, but we have been promised an everlasting life as well - either with Jesus, if you allow yourself to be found by Him or without, if that is what you choose.

Jesus is seeking you. Reading this now is one way He is calling you. Just stop for a moment and open yourself to the possibility that the Bible really is true. What would that mean to you? I promise that it does not mean you have to embrace an ancient checklist of do's and don'ts. It does not mean that God isn't happy until you are miserable. There are times as a Christian that you grit your teeth and practice humble obedience and do something that you don't want to do, but more usually the things you sacrifice are given happily out of love. If you read the Bible you learn how God wants us to behave and it brings out the best in you to follow that code of behavior. It is not weak wills nor fear of death that brings people to accept Christ. How much easier do you suppose it is to make your choices based on social norms and to always take the best care of yourself?

The hope of Heaven doesn't rescue us from death, but it definitely puts a new light on it. It is impossible to know the absolute reality of Heaven, but I can believe it will be unimaginably awesome. As a person who endured more trials than most wrote: "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison" ~2 Corinthians 4:16

You are loved by a God that will never give up on you. It is never too late to seek Him and there is no sin in your past or present that is too big for Jesus to accept on your behalf. God is calling you right now to think, question, and search for the only everlasting source of joy -Himself.

When you search for me, you will find me. ~Jeremiah 29:13

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smb_flickr/453198226/)

Exclusive Jesus?

2012-07-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. ~John 14:9

One of the primary objections to the Christian faith is the objection of exclusivity. I recently received an email that summed up the objection perfectly:

Christianity posits that there is one and only one path to God. What that means to me is that Christians are saying "We're right and the rest of you are wrong and going to Hell." I reject that notion with every fiber of my being.

This is an extremely common point of view in our modern popular culture that values tolerance above all other things. The only viewpoints and opinions that are not at all tolerated in our society are those that it regards as intolerant. The claim that there is such a thing as absolute and objective truth and the claim that truth can be known and understood are both rejected as arrogance. For more on truth, morality, and self-defeating arguments see the posts on Absolute Truth and The Morality Argument.

The objection of Christian exclusivity is common but is it true that Christianity makes the exclusive claim in the first place? Well, yes and no. The objection is not true in the sense that it usually comes with either the implicit suggestion or the blatant accusation that Christians think that they are better than everybody else because only they are good enough to make it to heaven. This could not be farther from the truth. Christianity is, in fact, the most inclusive of the world's religions in that all people regardless of who they are, what they look like, or what they have done are welcomed and actively called to come and know God personally. All are welcome and none who truly seek God and surrender to Him are turned away.

The claim of exclusivity is true, however, in that God has, through His own sacrifice, made a path - a single path - to Himself through Jesus Christ. It is not the followers of Christ that make the claim that Jesus is the only way to God. It is Jesus Himself that makes that perfectly clear. Jesus says:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12)

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26)

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and who ever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

Many people today, when they think of Jesus, picture Him as a simple prophet or a good teacher no different from any other wise man that had come before. C.S. Lewis addresses this in his book Mere Christianity:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

This is the point of the whole matter. Jesus does not simply claim to be the only path to God. Jesus IS God Himself. God made Himself flesh in order to personally make the payment for our sin that we are incapable of making. God Himself, in the person of Jesus, chose to wrap Himself in human form, be beaten, tortured, and brutally killed in order to pay the penalty for all the world's sins. He then literally and physically rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to take His place on His eternal throne. In so doing, He defeated death for all time and built a path - a single path - to Him for all humanity.

Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Jesus calls you to walk the path that He gave His life to make for you. He is the only way to God. Ask God today to show you His path. Ask Him to light your way and lead you into all repentance and into all truth and into personal and intimate relationship with Him.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. ~Matthew 7:13-14

For more on the one way to God and on His massive desire that you seek and find Him see our posts One Bridge and He is Seeking.

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruceberrien/457206336/)

Do Not Fear

2012-07-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

With the LORD on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? ~Psalm 118:6

Mortals can do a lot of harm to each other. It always surprises me that this line was written by David when his life was anything but tranquil. As a warrior, David knew better than most just what mortals could do to each other. The tragic stories that we see on the news every day of those kidnapped, raped, and murdered remind us that we mortals can be pretty terrible to each other. In countries that see famine, war, and genocide, the brutal realities that David experienced are still very real and, in some cases, even magnified. It is part of our human nature to fear what mortals can do to us. We worry about home invasions, bullies, predators on the internet, being laughed at, etc.

We often substitute our own present inconsequential fears for those things that should truly be of concern to us. My son, for example, had the opportunity to go on a bike ride over the fourth of July with his uncle. This is something that he had been looking forward to for weeks because it meant that he and his cousin got to ride down a seven mile stretch of road from his grandparent's farm to the little gas station store on the highway in order to get ice cream. If he was able to handle this short stretch well then he would get to continue the journey several miles down the highway to the next town. He was eight years old at the time.

The time came for the trip and he realized that we really were going to make him wear his bike helmet. He was convinced that this would make him "look stupid" so he got upset and said that he would rather not go, then got even more upset because he didn't get to go (it doesn't make any sense to me either. I still haven't mastered child logic). After much talking and time we finally convinced him that the fun outweighed any potential of looking foolish (it's a very nice helmet by the way) and he was able to go, but by this time there wasn't enough time for the full trip and they only got to go down a mile and a half the other way to the end of the road and back with no ice cream and no long adventure.

My son placed his imagined and trivial fear of "looking stupid" over what should have been the real fear of the possibility of cracking his head open on the pavement. In the mean time, as he fussed over what we see as his trivial fear, he missed a huge blessing that was planned for him. The thing is, from his perspective the idea of "looking stupid" isn't trivial at all. The concept of cracking his head open is just some weird adult theory that, to him, pales in comparison to what he saw as the immediate issue.

It goes against our nature and becomes an article of faith to say and to mean "what can mortals do to me?" While it may be normal for us to fear what others can do to us, no matter how bad those things might seem, from God's perspective they are just as trivial in light of eternity as wearing a silly looking helmet that distract us from His ultimate truth and, in many cases, from the blessings that He has planned for us. Where in your life are you paying so much attention to worrying about the small stuff that you are missing what God would have you do?

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell. ~Matthew 10:28

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/4352823032/)

The Bricks Have Fallen

2012-07-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” ~Isaiah 9:10

This was the Bible verse quoted by Tom Daschle in his speech to Congress on September 12th, 2001 as part of his official response to the attack of 9/11. Mr. Daschle, in his attempt to make sense of a tragedy and to uplift and encourage others, went to the Bible on the floor of the Senate. You can watch the speech here. This is a practice that has been losing favor over the last couple of generations as our nation steadily moves away from God.

It is important that we take time to count our many blessings, to think of our nation, and to reflect on the amazing providence that brought her forth onto this planet. It is vital that we also remember the spirit and the focus of that foundation. Our first president said:

“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” -George Washington

Our nation was founded on the knowledge and understanding that we are placed here to serve God's purposes and to honor and give glory to Him. Sadly, this is not the attitude that our nation is governed with today. Many politicians use God's Word when it suits them but in a nation where we argue about whether or not the laws of God should be allowed to be displayed in our courtrooms, or whether the birth of our Lord Jesus can be allowed to be celebrated on our public grounds, or if we can even mention the existence of God to children in our schools, it becomes clear that we are no longer living in a nation that truly honors God.

There are many that read these words and celebrate our "enlightened progress" and rejoice that we are no longer so limited in our thinking as to require a dependence on some mythical "higher being". There are many others that, though the profess to believe in God, focus their entire being on their own material wealth, security, and prosperity, accepting or ignoring the moral decay and the outright rejection of God that they see all around them. It is these prevailing attitudes of our society that proves the point that we are in danger of no longer being able to claim ourselves as a Godly nation. I wonder to myself and ponder the question of exactly what it is those that reject or ignore God celebrate on Independence Day.

When I was an atheist, on the 4th of July I celebrated freedom. I remembered those who through their own strength and courage fought to provide me with the ability to freely gain the material blessings that I had. I marveled at what man can accomplish if he is just freed from the bonds oppression. I celebrated my family, my country, my job, and my stuff. Sure those great men that put it all together, our founding fathers, had some backwards ideas of some God controlling all things but they were to be forgiven that considering all that they had accomplished. I was thankful that I lived in a more enlightened era where we could be certain that we gain all things through our own power, our own perseverance, and our own hard work.

It is this very attitude of our society and of our government that is portrayed by the verse of the bible that Mr. Daschle chose to use to encourage people on September 12, 2001. The irony is that the context of this verse from Isaiah is not one of encouragement but is rather one of God's condemnation against Israel who turned away from Him, ignored His warnings, and instead of repenting and turning back to God when they were shaken they said:

...with pride and arrogance of heart, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” But the Lord has strengthened their foes against them and has spurred their enemies on... Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the Lord Almighty. ~Isaiah 9:9-13

The context makes all the difference. Far from being encouraging, Mr. Daschle unknowingly read a verse that speaks of God's mighty judgement against a nation that has turned from Him and with pride and arrogance claimed its own destiny apart from Him. Given the current state of our society, it seems an eerily appropriate verse to choose.

It is right and good to celebrate those things that God has blessed us with and to celebrate this country and the freedom that God has provided for us. We must remember that we in America have the privilege of living in a free country only because God has a plan and a purpose for us here. As we contemplate our freedoms, let us focus on how we can act through our examples of love, charity, fellowship, community, and steadfast devotion to God to bring this nation and her people back to a full and intimate relationship with God who has so richly blessed us. Let us purpose to set this nation that God has gifted us with back on the path to His glory. This goal cannot be accomplished through the political spectrum but must be done through loving those who are lost and introducing them to the truth and the saving grace of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us repent and return to God and may God again bless America!

When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. ~Jonah 3:10

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slagheap/132111679/)