Steve's Musings

God's recipe for best in your life

2015-05-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I remember that my mom made the best banana pudding ever. I realized after I got older and attended some family reunions that it was really her mom's recipe and that some of my aunts could make it just as good. Then the year came for me to actually contribute to the family reunion and not just show up. I was at a loss as to what to make. Then I decided to try my hand at a banana pudding. I called mom and asked her for the recipe. What she gave me was more than just a list of ingredients, but included detailed directions on what to do with those ingredients. When I finished, it looked right, but I couldn't very well take a pudding to the reunion with any missing, so I had to hope it tasted okay. After the reunion, several of my cousins asked who had made Grandma's banana pudding. Boy! did that make my day! But there is something important to notice here: they didn't ask who made the banana pudding, but who made Grandma's. Why was it Grandma's? Because I followed her recipe.
That's the way life works. If you follow the recipe, it turns out right. In the Scriptures, I believe God has given us the recipe to have the very best in life.
2 Chronicles 7:1 reads: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." There it is. Simple, yet effective proven steps, a recipe if you will, to get God's attention and His best for your life. Let's take a quick look at these steps and the result of following them.
1. Humble themselves. The Bible makes it clear that pride is a sin and goes before a fall. The phrase goes before a fall literally means will cause the fall. Is. 14 chronicles the fall of Lucifer from heaven and makes it clear that pride was the contributing factor. There is no room in the heart of God's children for pride.
2. Pray. If you want to know the secret of the success of Jesus' earthly ministry, notice how many times He went, usually early in the morning, of by Himself to pray. He is our example and we need, so much more than He did to spend time in communication with our heavenly Father.
3. Seek my face. Too often, as the children of God, we are interested only in what He can do for us. In other words, we are guilty of seeking His hands. God wants to do things for us, to bless us, and to give us good things, but He wants us to seek a relationship with Him, not just to look to Him as our heavenly vending machine.
4. Turn from their wicked ways. We seldom hear talk of repentance anymore. Recently, I polled a group of church members about what they thought repentance meant. Most thought it had to with feeling guilty or bad about something they had done. Repentance actually has nothing to do with our feelings. It comes from a Greek military word literally meaning 'about face'. Repent from your sins literally means "quit sinning".
So what happens if we will do these simple things? God Himself gives us the answer.
1. He will hear us. This one little thing is what makes prayer effective. It's not how eloquent we are, or how much scripture we can quote, or even how long we pray. Prayer works because God hears us. 2. And once He hears us, He will forgive our sin. This is the whole gospel in a nutshell. God is in the forgiving business. When you read the Scripture, you should see the futility of all that we can do on our own. The Bible clearly states that our righteousness is like a dirty rag. So we cannot attain holiness on our own. The Bible goes on to say that without holiness we cannot be with or even see God. So, this makes the forgiveness of our sin so important. It is the good news! God forgives sin!
3. and He will heal our land. This is where the best comes in to play. God will heal our land; all of it. Not just our spiritual condition, but our finances, our relationships, our families, everything that concerns can be healed by God if we will but follow this simple recipe.

Dads don't like to say no

2015-04-27T14:45:00.001-07:00

In my recent post, 'the power of the mind' I wrote about the camping trip I took my kids on a few weeks ago. On that same trip, the same hike up Morrow Mountain, as a matter of fact something happened that made me think about how blessed we are that God considers us His children, not just His servants.

Coming back down the mountain, I was exhausted. My years in the Army and of being in any kind of halfway decent shape are way past. I was dragging, so tired I was ready to sit down and quit. The kids had gone way down the trail, barely in my sight.

Connor, my youngest, was running. (I have always said that if I could bottle his energy, I would be rich.) He tripped over a rock or a root and went sprawling. I found energy that I did not know I still had from somewhere and ran down the trail to him. He was crying, and had some scratches but nothing serious.

But of course, he was done. He didn't care that we were miles from the campsite and still had some walking to do. He was finished. "Carry me, Daddy." He said through his tears. As tired as I was, I leaned down and picked him up. I put him on my back and gave him a piggy-back ride the rest of the way down the trail.

And as I was carrying him, the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:11, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask them?"

We sometimes have this picture of God as a mad, mean person looking for ways to say no. But that is not the picture that Jesus paints of our Heavenly Father at all. He is love and He is our Father. He wants to bless us, to give us what we need (and more), and to take care of us. And here is the thing: God doesn't get tired, so He can always give us what we need.

Good enough really isn't

2015-04-20T05:29:00.001-07:00

It seems today that the idea of just getting by is prevalent in church society. Oh, I know it's everywhere, but it bothers me more when I see it in God's house. Recently someone brought an old crib to our church to put in the nursery. When they told me that a friend of theirs had donated it, they gave this explanation: "It's old and won't pass modern safety standards, so we can't use it, but we figured the church could." The 'spirit of good enough.'

I want to sound out that God is deserving of much more than 'good enough.' We need to learn to do what we do for God and His house (the church) with a spirit of excellence and the 'spirit of good enough.'

No matter how good something is, I believe there is always room for improvement. Jim Collins explains this expertly in his book Good to Great. I definitely recommend this book for all pastors and church leadership.

Paul understood the concept of needing to move beyond good enough. Think about Paul for a minute. He didn't even get saved like anyone else. Me, you, DL Moody, every Christian you know; God sent a person or a preacher to tell them about the gospel. Not Paul. The Lord Himself stopped him on the road. He wrote almost half of the New Testament. At one point he was caught up to the third heaven. And yet this man said I haven't attained. I'm still pressing on, still beating my body under submission.

John the Baptist understood this as well. This is the man who was filled the Holy Ghost while still in his mother's womb. As the Lord's cousin he would have known Him his whole life. He is the one, out of all of Israel that was selected to be the forerunner of the Messiah; the one who was privileged to baptize and introduce Jesus to the world. And yet, when his disciples left him, instead of getting mad or jealous, he simply said, I must decrease and He must increase. What any example of moving away from the spirit of good enough.

So, the next time you are tempted to just get by, to say well that's good enough, remember what the Apostle Paul said. I'm not there yet. And take Jim Collins' advise and move from good to great.

The Power of the Mind

2015-04-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

While taking my kids camping and hiking this past weekend, I realized several things. First, I miss camping a lot more than I realized. Second, I am way more out of shape than I realized. And finally, I realized just how strong and resilient the human mind can be.

One of our campsite neighbors was a kayak-er, solo camping. This absolutely fascinated my nine year old son, Connor, since most campers tend to be families or at least couples. Connor took to calling this neighbor 'Lone Survivor' since he was by himself. Late Saturday morning, after a big breakfast and cleaning up the campsite, we started on a hike up Morrow Mountain.
Shortly after we started hiking, Connor decided he was hungry. Now, if you have seen any of the snickers commercials about not being yourself when you're hungry, then you understand the dilemma I was in. My wife puts it this way, 'Connor doesn't get hungry, he gets hangry.'

So here I am in the middle of the woods with a hungry and grumpy nine year old. I thought back to when Connor crawled out of the tent earlier that morning and had looked over towards our neighbor's campsite. "Lone Survivor is already gone kayaking," he said. I called my three kids into a huddle and took a knee in the middle of them.

"Here's the situation from headquarters," I said, winking at the older two. "Lone Survivor has gone missing and we have to find him." My kids managed to fill in the details and they were off on an adventure with me struggling to keep up. I had given Connor a granola bar at the beginning of the 'briefing' but by now he was so into his little adventure that he had forgotten all about being hungry.

Now, I am definitely not suggesting that he was really hungry to start with or that all of a sudden his hungry vanished. What I am suggesting is that the human mind is a lot stronger than we ever give it credit for. It is the power of our mind that enables to push way past our human limits and accomplish more than we could have imagined.

I think the Lord understood this. I think that's why He was more interested in changing our thought patterns than our actions. He knew the actions would fall in line once the thoughts were right. Read the sermon on the mount. He was as concerned about lust and anger as He was adultery and murder; which makes sense, because the former lead to the latter. If we can control the lust, adultery will never be a problem. Paul put it best when He said be 'transformed by the renewing of your minds" in
Romans 12.

It is our thinking and mind that will transform the rest of us. So, the next time you are struggling with your actions, remember Connor and his 'Lone Survivor' and get your thinking lined up. The rest will follow.

3 Fridays in your life that need a Sunday

2015-04-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

Some people might say it is over-used or even cliche', but I still say, 'It's Friday, but Sunday is on the way!' The Friday that Jesus was crucified seemed to be the darkest day in history. There was an eclipse, the very Son of God was dying on a cross, and God Himself turned His back on the world. That's pretty bleak, pretty dark. But we can do something the people living that day could not do; we can flip ahead a few pages and read about Sunday morning. Well there will be many dark days in your life, many Fridays. So, just as on that first Good Friday, on your Friday you can rest assured that Sunday is on the way! So let's take a look at three 'Fridays' that you will face.

The Friday of fatigue. Life will tire you out. The day to day struggle of just living is tiresome. Anyone who tells you different is selling something. However, Jesus promises us rest. In Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The Sunday of the Lord's rest will show up and carry you through.
The Friday of failure. All of us will fail at one point or another. And when we fail, we feel all alone. We let everyone, including ourselves, down. Failure will make you feel like giving up. When Judas realized that his betrayal of Jesus was a failure, he hung himself. Peter might have felt like doing the same thing, but he waited for Sunday. And on Sunday morning, when Jesus told the women to tell the disciples that He was alive, He singled Peter out and wanted them to make sure that Peter knew He was alive. So when you fail, understand that God is a God of 2nd chances and realize that your failures are not fatal.
The Friday of fatalities. Guess what? Not only are we all going to get tired, not only are we all going to fail, but, unless the Lord returns first, we are all going to die. It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. But according to Hebrews 9:27 the only sure thing is death; it tells us that "it is appointed unto men once to die..." But, thanks to that first resurrection Sunday morning, we know that death is not final. The same verse in Hebrews tells us that after death comes the judgement. Did you catch that? AFTER death. Since Jesus rose, we know that we too will rise after death.

In conclusion, let me encourage you today by reminding you that no matter what kind of 'Friday' you are going through, Sunday is on the way!

3 places Jesus bled -- 3 places I am healed

2015-04-02T08:49:00.001-07:00

As we observe Holy Week this year, we have come to Thursday night. It was tonight that Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples for the last time and Communion for the first time. It was tonight that He prayed fervently in the garden, was betrayed, arrested, tried in a mock trial, beaten, mocked, scourged, and began His journey from Jerusalem to Golgotha. Especially now, but always we need to be thinking about the events of this night and the next day. A great resource for every Christian is Max Lucado's Six Hours One Friday: Living in the Power of the Cross. Today, I want us to think specifically about the three places Jesus bled from the time of His arrest, until His death on the cross.

Jesus bled when He prayed in the garden. The gospels tell us that when Jesus prayed in the garden after the last supper, He prayed so fervently that His sweat became as blood. (Luke 22:44) I believe this is our provision for emotional healing. He is our Jehovah-Shalom, our peace and this is possible because He shed His blood while He prayed.
Jesus bled when He was scourged in Pilate's judgement hall. We are familiar with the story. Pilate did not think Jesus was deserving of death, so he thought he could appease the crowd by having Him whipped. History tells us that when a Roman prisoner was whipped, he would be tied over a post, and two soldiers (one on either side) would whip the prisoner. Isaiah knew this would happen to our Lord years before He was ever even born and said that it was by those stripes that we are healed. This is the provision for our physical healing.
Jesus bled when He was crucified on the cross. And this covers the most important healing of all, our spiritual healing or salvation. The Word of God has been clear since the Garden of Eden, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. As Andre Crouch sang for so many years, 'The Blood will never loose it's power'. We are saved because of the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary.

God is concerned about our whole being: our spirit, our emotions, and even our bodies. And since He is concerned about all of us, He provided healing for ALL of us, not just part of us.

Heaven IS for Real and Jesus is Alive!!!

2015-03-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

I just re-watched the movie Heaven is for Real. While it is good to finally have good, clean, and wholesome entertainment, I am troubled by the general premise of the movie, especially right before Easter. The idea that heaven is real because we believe it in our minds and hearts is very troubling. The fact is, Heaven is real, and not only because we believe it in our minds and hearts. Heaven is a real place, a prepared place. The reason this is especially troubling around Easter time is because there are many people who do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. They say that He rises again every time someone believes in Him. See the connection? It only happens in our hearts and minds. But I submit that just as Heaven is a real place, Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead. The entire foundation on which the Church is built is the fact of the resurrection. This foundation is under attack more today than has ever been. And it is under attack from both without and within the church. I want to address some of the attacks from within the church. There are those, like already mentioned, that only believe in a Spiritual resurrection of Jesus and that this happens every time someone believes. The idea ignores the whole of the NT. Thomas was invited to place his fingers in the nail-holes and his hand in the spear-hole of Jesus. This let's us know that Jesus had a physical body after the resurrection. Then there are those that would have us believe that Jesus did not actually die on the cross. Obviously these people are not at all familiar with Roman crucifixion. Death from crucifixion came as a result of asphyxiation and was the guaranteed outcome. Jesus died. His dead body lay for 3 days in a borrowed tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded by the Romans. He absolutely rose from the dead, because He absolutely died. So, just as we know Heaven is real by faith in the Word of God, we know that Jesus died and rose again on the third day because of the written Word of God. So, when you watch Heaven is for Real, enjoy it; but understand that Heaven is real not only in our hearts and minds but in reality and remember, Jesus died, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose, physically from the dead on the third day.

Judge not

2015-03-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

So often in the church we hear the phrase 'judge not'. Of course we know this taken from the Sermon on the Mount, specifically Matthew 7. However, as is so often done in scripture, we leave most of the scripture out. Jesus actually says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2, NIV) What Jesus is condemning here is the habit of criticizing others while ignoring our own faults. Immediately after saying don't judge, He says in the same way you judge, you will be judged. The implication there is that we are going to judged. Elsewhere in scripture we are specifically commanded to know them that labor among you. The only way you can do that is to judge. In fact, one of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of discernment. So, where does this leave us? What are we to do? The answer is simple. God has made it clear to us that we are not to judge people; He is the righteous judge that will judge all of us. However, we are commanded to judge their fruit. So, simply put, we can and must judge people, especially those that claim to be Christians. It is our duty to have standards and know those that are called alongside of us in our walk with Christ. How do we do that without actually judging people? Again, the answer is simple. Do it with love. That's how the Scriptures can tell us to confront those that are involved in sin. We can stand against their actions, without ever judging the person. We are to look for the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and ministry and that is how we determine good fruit. So, in a world we continually hear 'judge not', I encourage you to judge. Just remember to do it with love and to judge fruit, people.

Thankfulness

2013-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

It is amazing what an attitude of thankfulness can do in our lives. Earlier today, as I was washing a car in the 95+ degree heat, in a suit, I was bemoaning the fact that I am not fulltime at the church yet. And I was counting down the time until I am, boy was I. Grumpy customers yelling at you and washing cars in the heat (in a suit) for 48+ hours a week will get you to that point, trust me. In the middle of washing this car today, the Lord chastized me. "At least you have a job, at least you are able to work." He said to me. Because of the current economy and in light of my recent stroke, both of these statements hit home pretty hard. So, instead of counting down the days until I am full time at the church, instead of moaning about my jobs and the grumpy customers I deal with, I started thanking God for my job. I started thanking Him for healing me; thanking Him that I am able to work. And yes, I still washed cars in the heat in a suit, and yes, there were still some grumpy customers, but it's amazing how much better my day went when my attitude changed from complaining to one of thankfulness.

Black Hawk Down

2013-07-10T06:10:00.001-07:00

Was thinking about the Battle of Mogadishu this morning. Most of us know this battle from the movie Black Hawk Down. After the 2nd black hawk crashed, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart requested to be dropped at the site of the 2nd crash to try and secure it. Understand that the whole city of Mogadishu was hostile to the US and thousands of the city's residents were headed towards the crashed helicopter. Their requests were denied multiple times, but they persisted until they were allowed to be dropped off at the crash site. They understood that there was no guarantee of when or even if back up would show up. They understood that their were American pilots on the ground in harm's way and they said, 'I'll go'. We need Christians, soldiers in the Army of God that will say, "send me, I'll go. I'll stand in the gap, I'll build a hedge." It seems a shame to me that soldiers fighting for a temporal country have more gusto than those of fighting for an eternal kingdom. God give us some soldiers that will say, 'send me, I'll stand in the gap'.

Expecting the Impossible

2013-04-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

In Genesis 24, when Abraham sent his servant back to his homeland to find a bride for Isaac, the servant was concerned as to how he would know which lady was to be the one. We can learn some things from the way he handled this situation. He did not form a committee, he didn't formulate a plan, he didn't take out an ad in the local paper. He simply prayed. We could take care of most of our problems in life, if we would handle them with prayer. But we can learn even more from this servant. He asked God to move on the right woman to do what no one in their right mind would do: get water not only for him, but for all 10 camels that he had with him. Archaeology tells us that the wells from that time and part of the world were typically at least 25 steps down a hole in the ground. Based on the size of the containers she could carry and how much water a camel would drink after a multi-day journey through the wilderness, it is safe to say she would have to make 50plus trips up and down those 25 steps. Like I said, he asked for something that no one in their right mind would do. But, this is the servant that saw a 90plus year old woman give birth to a son. He knew Jehovah and that Jehovah is a miracle-working God. We need to learn from this servant that not only should we be handling our problems with prayer, but that we should be asking God for the impossible. Basically, he was saying, Lord, I'm asking for something so impossible that if You don't do it, it can't be done. This is what Gabriel was trying to tell Mary when he told her she was going to have a son. She said that's impossible, I haven't been with a man. Gabriel said the Holy Ghost will come upon you. See, that is the difference in the impossible and the possible, between the natural and the supernatural. It is time that we as Christians stop expecting just the natural and the possible and start asking for and expecting the impossible and the supernatural. That's what God wants to give us. We need to say like Mary and say to the Lord, "Be it unto me, according to Thy word."

Doubting Thomas?

2013-03-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

As I sit and watch The Bible on the history channel, I am thankful that a major network is showing this. There are, of course, a few errors and omissions, which is to be expected in a 10 hour miniseries, but they have done a pretty good job telling the story. One of the mistakes, was Thomas's confession when Jesus appeared to the disciples. I understand that they have to cut things out for the sake of time, so I can understand it been shown as happening during Christ's first appearance to the disciples. However, on the show, Thomas simply said "It is you." This shows his doubts turning to belief, but Thomas said so much more. John 20:28 tells us that Thomas said, "My Lord and my God." Peter had called Jesus 'the Christ, the son of the living God' when Jesus asked him who the disciples said he was, but this is the first recorded time that someone called Jesus God. What a great confession Thomas made that day. To this day, the term 'doubting Thomas' is used to describe anyone who has to 'see to believe'. But rather than remember Thomas's doubts, we should remember and echo his confession that day: "My Lord and my God."

Especially Peter

2013-03-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

With Easter approaching, like most Christians I have been thinking about the resurrection recently. Some of my favorite words in the entire Bible were said that first Easter morning. In Mark 16 we are told about the women going to the tomb to anoint the Lord's body. We are all familiar with this story. They approach the tomb, wondering who is going to move the stone for them, when they see the angel. He tells them to go and tell the disciples that the Lord is risen. Verse 7 of Mark 16 says, "But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you." It's a small thing that most people probably look over and don't even notice, but it's there. He said "His disciples AND Peter". This is just a few hours after Peter denied him, so it would be easy to think that the angel was excluding Peter as one of His disciples. However, this is not at all what is being said. The ISV renders it this way, "His disciples-especially Peter- that Jesus is going..." Do you see how great these words are? He didn't mention any of the other disciples by name, not even John. Why? It's not because Peter was His favorite or because He was less concerned with the other disciples. It is because Peter is still in the midst of a cloud of guilt from His denial of Jesus just a few hours earlier. At this point, He feels not only guilt, but shame as well. He has done the one thing that he said he would not do. At the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that they would all deny Him, and Peter speaks up and says, "Not me. Even if everybody else does, I will never deny you." We know the story. Jesus tells Peter that before morning comes he will have denied him 3 times. The cock crowing that morning sounded to Peter like the words of Nathan the prophet to King David when he confronted him about his affair with Bathsheeba and the ensuing cover up. Nathan pointed at David and said "thou art the man". That's the same thing Peter was hearing when the cock crowed. He feels like a failure, a reject. It's in the midst of this setting that the angel tells the ladies to find the disciples and especially Peter. What a great story for anyone that feels the sting of guilt. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we have all been there. So, the next time you feel the sting of guilt, the shame of failure, remember what the angel said to the women on that first Easter morning, especially Peter. So, today let me remind you, when you fail, when you are burdened by guilt, Jesus is saying tell my disciples, especially you, that I am risen, that I am coming again.

Both American and Christian

2011-05-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Since the death of Usama Bin Laden there have been many celebrations across our country. Many Christians have questioned the idea of celebrating the death of even such a terrible man. And they are right to question this. As Christians we should never ever celebrate the death of a person who does not know the Lord. It is a tragic event when someone dies without the Lord. Just as we should celebrate with the angels anytime someone gets saved, we should mourn the death of someone who dies outside of the knowledge of Christ. However, I submit that the majority of celebration was not over the death of this man. It was rather a celebration of justice. It was a celebration of closure for the family members of over 3,000 dead Americans murdered on September 11, 2001. A celebration of the end of a tyrant. A celebration of the death of an enemy of Israel. It was a celebration of the fact that unlike Korea, unlike Vietnam, unlike Beruit, unlike Somalia the 2,340 deaths of coalition forces in Afghanistan were not in vain. It was, like the celebration of VE and VJ days at the end of World War II, not a celebration of one man's death, but rather of one country's ability to stay the course and bring justice to one of this century's greatest criminals. And that is worth celebrating, even as we mourn the death of another soul lost without Christ.

The Royal Wedding

2011-05-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Like most American males, I grew extremely tired of the coverage of the royal wedding last week, until I realized something. On Thursday, April 28th, Kate Middleton was a commoner. However, on April 29 after 11:00 AM, she was the Duchess of Cambridge, forever after known Princess Kate. She did not do anything special to become a princess or a duchess, except catch the eye of Prince William. He decided to make her his bride and as a result of HIS decision she is now a princess.
Do you see it yet? We were once commoners, ordinary people. However, the Prince of Peace saw us and decided He wanted to make us His bride. Now, not as a result of anything we have done, but solely as a result of HIS decision we are no longer commoners, but now we are Royalty, the Bride of Christ.
I read that over 2 billion people watched William and Kate's wedding. How many will be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? I don't know the exact number, but John said it was a multitude from every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue. If only we could realize the importance of that wedding. Praise the Lord, I am no longer a commoner but now a joint heir with Jesus.

Praying when we should be speaking

2010-08-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

There are many things in our life that the Lord has already taken care of for us. Yet, most of us spend hours, days, weeks, even months or years praying for these things. There are some things that the Lord expects us to deal with now that He has taken care of them. When Ezekiel visited the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37)the Lord did not tell him to pray and ask Him to put the bones back together. Rather, the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy directly to the bones and later to the wind. In the same fashion, in Mark 11:23, Jesus instructs us to speak directly to mountains. Yet, we spend our time praying and asking God to fix things that He has already fixed. It is time that we as believers realize our place as the children of God and declare the things that He has done for us. It is time that we quit asking for blessings and declare (speak) that we have the blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:29).

When the brook dries up

2010-07-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have recently experienced the truth that it's pretty easy to say the Lord is our source when we have a job. It's another thing to say it when the job is gone. When we have direct deposit set up with the job and we write checks to pay our bills, are we trusting the Lord or our job that the money will be in the checking account? I am not condeming anyone, because I definitely stopped my automatic drafts and havent written any checks since I lost my job. But it is definitely a question worth asking. I don't know that I have the answer to this one. But I do know that I am sick of playing church. I wonder what Smith Wigglesworth would have done...But even more than Wigglesworth, I look to Elijah as our Biblical example. In I Kings 17, Elijah was told by the Lord to go the brook and that ravens would bring him food. He was able to drink from the brook and eat the food the ravens brought him. After a certain amount of time, the brook dried up and the ravens quit showing up. If Elijah had been like most of us, he would have starved to death at the edge of the brook. Most of us would have started griping and complaining so loud that we would not have heard the Lord send us to the widow's house. The Lord has ravens and a brook or either a widow in store for each of us. It is our duty to trust Him and to realize that whether he is using the brook, the ravens, or the widow, He is the one meeting our needs. I pray that the Lord will increase our faith, that He will give us the kind of faith that writes the check even when there is no job.

Time to dig some ditches

2010-06-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

Growing up in South Texas I was familiar with the idea of irrigation, but never so much as the time I actually helped irrigate an orchard. My parents had purchased half an acre of an orchard that had been subdivided. Well, not ready to build a house on the land, they decided to irrigate the orange trees. The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas was built on irrigation and there are canals and irrigation pipes just about everywhere. We had to pay a fee to the city or county based on how much water we needed, then the water was turned on at the pipe nearest our land. It was up to us to get the water from that pipe to the land and of course we did this by means of ditches. It was not enough to just dig a ditch from the pipe to the edge of our little grove of trees, we had to dig ditches to control how the water was spread throughout the trees, otherwise it would have just run off and been wasted. I remember that day, because what was for the rest of my family a lot of hard work, was a lot of fun for a 12 year old boy and his friends. But, I learned something about irrigation that day. If you arent prepared for the water, you will not reap any benefits from it. In 2 Kings 3, the armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom are preparing to attack Moab and are moving through the wilderness of Edom. Vs 9 tells us that they went on a 7 day journey with no water. Realizing they were in trouble the kings asked if there was prophet in the company. Elisha, who at the time was still unknown, stepped up. After a rebuke of Ahab's son, he tells them to dig ditches because even without rain or wind the valley is going to be filled with water. I believe the Lord desires to fill our hearts and lives, but we need to dig some ditches to be prepared to handle it. There are several ditches we need to dig, but I just want to point out one: self-discipline. Without self-discipline any blessing that the Lord gives us is just going to be wasted. Many of us wonder why we don't see more of the Lord's blessings in our life, but we have no discipline. If we will work (digging a ditch is very hard work) and dicsipline ourselves, I believe the Lord will fill our lives to overflowing.

The Lord leads us

2010-06-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

So often, as Christians we pray, "Lord, lead me; Lord, guide me." Well, we need to realize that He is already leading and guiding us. Our praying like that is equivalent to the children of Israel ignoring the cloud and praying for the Lord to show them which way to go. "Lord, lead us where you want us to go, and while you're at it, could you send some shade?" We immediately see how foolish that would be, yet it's just as foolish for us to pray for His guidance. He is guiding us and showing us His way. So much so, that our VERY steps are arranged by Him. What we need to pray for is that our spiritual eyes might be opened and that we might see Him and follow Him where He is already leading. We are like Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 6. Rather than pray for the Lord's deliverance, Elisha just prayed that His sevant's eyes would be opened. Just like the deliverance was already provided, our guidance is already provided. So let's stop praying for the Lord to guide us, and rather thank Him for the guidance He has aleady provided and then pray that He will open our eyes to see it.

Rejected on earth, accepted in Heaven

2010-06-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

Most, if not all of us know the sting of rejection. It starts early for some. Even on the playground maybe you were the last kid to be picked. Or worse yet, you were the one, when left by yourself, the captain who's turn it was to pick said, "I dont' want him, you can have him." And it continues. Husbands and wives reject each other. Maybe saddest of all is when children are rejected by their parents. It was this kind of rejection that David knew about. In I Samuel 16 we are told of Samuel's visit to Jesse's house to anoint the next king. Samuel had of course let Jesse know he was coming and why. So where was David? David was out watching sheep because his own father had already rejected him as even being a candidate for the king. Remember that Samuel had brought all the fixin's for a feast. It was his plan, after anointing the new king to have a feast in his honor. Notice the last part of verse 11 of this chapter, "we will not sit down until he come hither." No matter how many times we have been rejected on this earth, Jesus is preparing a feast in Heaven and He is saying, "we aren't sitting down, until they are all here. We aren't even starting this until my church has come home." The sting of rejection on earth isn't so bad when you realize that Jesus has accepted you.

Motives Matter

2010-05-10T11:01:00.000-07:00

Recently I saw the question, would you live differently if you knew there was no resurrection. There are many different ways to answer that question, even to interpret it. My immediate reaction to it though was what is my motive for living right. Our motive for living for the Lord has to be more than hope for a reward or fear of punishment if we don't. I have preached my share of sermons on hell, and when the Lord leads, I will continue to do so. However, I fear that often-times our motives for right living are wrong. Yes, there is a reward for Christians and yes, there is a punishment for those that reject Christ; however, our motivation to live for the Lord should come from a sense of gratitude for what He has done for us. Sometimes we need to look back and remember were He brought us from. Paul said there but for the grace of God, go I. Another time, after listing a group of people that won't make it to heaven, he said, but such were some of you. So we need to decide to live for Him because of where He has brought us from. I will live for Him because He died for me.

Your Steps

2010-05-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

I think that often times as Christians we lose sight of exactly how concerned the Lord is with our daily lives. We seem to forget that His word tells us even the hair on our head is numbered. It is easy to believe that our path or road is set up by God, but it is much harder for us to believe what His word really says. He told us, 'the steps of a good man are ordered.' God is not just concerned with the big picture; He is concerned with our journey to get there too. Most of us can quote this verse from the 37th Psalm, but we forget what it really means. It doesn't say our destination or even our journey is ordered, but each and every step that we take. Our Father is intimately concerned with everything that affects us. In the sermon on the mount Jesus tells us that a sparrow cannot fall to the earth and die with out the Lord taking note of it. If He is that concerned with a soul-less bird, how much more is our Father concerned with the things that happen to us? Be encouraged today, fellow Christians, the Lord Himself is directing your every step. The question is, will we follow Him?

Don't shoot the wounded

2010-04-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

A recent FaceBook conversation I had has me thinking about how seldom Christian encourage one another. My pastor used to say the Lord's army is the only army that shoots their wounded. We might not all be guilty of shooting the wounded or putting down the discouraged, but i daresay that we all have been guilty of not encouraging one another as we should. We can't all sing; we can't all teach or preach. But we can all encourage each other. I can't help but think of the battle of Amalek in Exodus 17. The Bible tells us that as long as Moses' hands were in the air Israel would prevail and win the battle. But Moses was human and his hands got tired. Aaron and Hur stood behind him and held his hands up for him. When we encourage people we might not get any credit or any glory; we might be behind somebody who can be seen up on the mountain from the valley, but the Lord sees us. This week take the time to encourage someone. I would like to ask everyone to specifically encourage your pastor this week; let him/her know that you are praying for them. Let their spouse know that too. You'll be amazed at how much better they preach when they someone is holding their hands up.

God's Prozac

2010-04-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 30:6 tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord. It seems to me that the biggest difference between Saul and David was that David did this one thing, he encouraged himself in the Lord. How many of the Psalms were written by David? David literally spent his whole life encouraging himself in the Lord. He didn't rely on parents, friends, teachers, or anyone else. It seems thats a good thing, as his own father didn't think he had the potential to be king. Saul and David both sinned; they both had shortcomings, but only one was considered a man after God's own heart. I believe the Lord is looking for people to raise up and be like David and learn to encourage themselves in Him, rather than look to a pastor, teacher, mentor, or leader to do it. We need to be Davids and not Sauls. Once we do this I believe the Lord will take care of our possessions, our position, our place, and our people. All of David's possessions that were taken by the enemy were returned, his position changed from that of a shepherd to a king, his place from the pasture to the palace, and his people from those in distress, discouraged, and in debt to might men. All this because David encouraged himself in the Lord.

Holy Impatience

2010-04-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Abraham and King Saul both got in a hurry and did not wait on the Lord. Saul basically lost his kingdom over this and Abraham gave us a whole new nation/race that still troubles the world today. So, it is definitely important to learn to wait on the Lord. However, i also believe that there are certain things that the Lord puts inside of us that He wants us to do. Jeremiah spoke of a fire being shut up in his bones. So, while we are to wait on the Lord, I do not believe he expects us to sit idly by while He does all of the work for us.
That begs the question, where is the line between holy impatience and sin. I think that there are two different things that can cause us to cross the line. These two things are lack of faith and motive. Abraham demonstrates lack of faith. His motive was pure; he just doubted whether Jehova could do what He said. Saul on the other hand wanted to look good in front of the people. That's why he asked Samuel to stand with him in front of the people one more time, even after he was told he had lost his kingdom. So, if we believe that the Lord is able to do what He said he would do, and we have pure motives, we can and should WORK for the Lord.