Big Dog

A consciousness of our powerlessness should cast us upon Him who has all power. Here then is where a vision and view of God's sovereignty helps, for it reveals His sufficiency and shows us our insufficiency.  A.W. Pink

As I was writing the devotional from yesterday I found another Lyle Lovett song that made my heart laugh and we can’t get enough laughter in this world we live in. I will tell you the story behind the song and then share the lyrics with you.

Lyle Lovett lives in Klein, Texas just outside of Tomball Texas near Houston.  He lives on his family ranch and his horse veterinarian gave him a puppy.  He was taking the puppy home for the first time.  The puppy wasn’t happy about being taken away from his brothers, sisters and mom so he wouldn’t stop crying.  Since the drive was 25 miles it was going to be a long ride.  He also had to drive through Tomball on his way home and if you ever drive through Tomball you know it’s not in your best interest to speed because the local police are always waiting to catch you going a mile over the speed limit.  He said it was the longest ride of his life with the crying puppy, so he started singing to the puppy and he would only quit crying when he sang.  He said the puppy was sitting in the front seat with him the whole way as he sang this song.  His final comments about the song were that it transformed to be a song about how his parents took care of him when he was a child. 

LYLE LOVETT LYRICS

"Big Dog"
Ain't no big dog, Coming to bite you
Ain't no bad man, Coming to find you
Just rest easy, We'll be home soon
You'll be sleeping, In your own room
Don't you worry little one
Don't you worry little one
Everything is going to be all right In the morning light

Mama loves you, Daddy does too
Grandma wants you, After schools through
You just be cool
And rest easy
'Cause you're the king of All that you see
So don't you worry little one
Don't you worry little one
Everything is going to be all right In the morning light

When you're sleeping, What do you see
Must be angels Smiling at me
What did I do
To deserve you There weren't nothing As far as I knew

I'd go faster, In the pasture
But in Tomball, Live the law dogs
Thirty's fine, Oh, but thirty-one is a crime
And they all, Have a gun
But don't you worry little one
Don't you worry little one
Everything is going to be all right In the morning light

I think this applies to our Heavenly Father too.  We don’t have to worry about this life and what happens in it.  If God is our refuge and we’ll be home soon, we don’t need to worry about what happens here on earth.  I think we need to remember that we’ll be home soon.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I depend on Your presence to protect me and guide me in this life.  You know every tear I shed and you are my constant in a chaotic world.  You are a shelter to me, a strong tower from the enemy.  I will abide in You and trust in the shelter of Your wings.    

Scripture: Loving Assurance of God’s Eternal Protection

Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.

From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For You have been a shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.

You will prolong the king’s life,
His years as many generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him!

So I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows.  Psalm 61:1-8

Cast Your Eyes Up to Heaven

We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death.  A.B. Simpson

On the way to work today I was listening to a gospel song by Lyle Lovett.  When I first got in the car I was thinking about what I needed to do when I got to work and then there is my whole other to do list of things that need to get done away from work. Needless to say my thoughts weren’t on heaven.   

When the song came on I started listening to the lyrics and it struck me how true they are, so I hit repeat and listened to it and sang all the way to work.  There are a lot of hallelujahs but my favorite verse talks about when he was a baby sitting on his mama’s knee.  She told him, “Son, if you cast your eyes up to heaven, Heaven’s what you’ll see. 

I think that is an amazing lyric.  If we keep our gaze on the Father we’ll see Him.  Our gaze must be focused on Him or we lose sight of Him. There is a lot of sorrow, pain, hate and injustice in this world we live in.  I was watching the news this morning and there was a young woman who had a wreck and her car had flipped over.  Immediately following the wreck a man stopped and she thought he was going to help her.  He instead stole her wallet and left her in the car without helping her at all. 

I don’t know about you, but I am a whole lot tired of seeing people steal from others. I don’t have the answer for how to stop others from stealing your identity, car, wallet or anything else God gave you.  What I do know is that if you keep your eyes on Heaven; Heaven is what you’ll see. 

I love the last verse and stanza. 

Though I walk through
Death's dark valley
On that road of misery
I just keep my eyes on Heaven
Heaven is where I'll be.

Sing praise the Lord
Sing Hallelujah
Sing praise the Lord
Sing Hallelujah
Sing praise the Lord
Sing Hallelujah
I'm going to the place
Our Father has made

Written & performed by Lyle Lovett

We are walking in death’s dark valley right now.  Keep your eyes on Heaven and Heaven is what you’ll see. The thing we need to remember is Jesus always had His eyes on Heaven and the Father and we should too.   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me this song that lifted me up on my way to work.  I was so immersed in my thoughts about what I thought I needed to do, that I lost sight of You.  Help me to keep my eyes on You so that Heaven is what I see.  “Sing Praise the Lord, Sing Hallelujah, I’m going to the place my Father has made.”

         

Scripture: Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  John 17:1-5

 

Refinishing Furniture or Refinishing You

  

Renewing the mind is a little like refinishing furniture. It is a two-stage process. It involves taking off the old and replacing it with the new. The old is the lies you have learned to tell or were taught by those around you; it is the attitudes and ideas that have become a part of your thinking but do not reflect reality. The new is the truth. To renew your mind is to involve yourself in the process of allowing God to bring to the surface the lies you have mistakenly accepted and replace them with truth. To the degree that you do this, your behaviour will be transformed.  Charles Stanley

Have you ever refinished a piece of furniture?  There is a process that you go through to do this.  Sometimes you buy an old piece of furniture that someone has painted multiple colors and you have to sand off all the old paint to get to the beautiful wood beneath. Other times someone had placed a wet glass on the piece and it damages the surface which then needs to be refinished to restore it. The best way to refinish a piece is to take all of the hardware off so that you can paint underneath while keeping the hardware paint or stain free.  Then you can take a varnish and paint that on top to protect the finish.  Who wants to go through all that work and not protect the finish from damage?

Our Christian life is very much like refinishing a piece of furniture.  We spend years committing sin in our lives, yet we think we will somehow never be tempted to sin again.  We need to realize that our lives are a constant refinishing process.  When we are baptized it is like we sand off all the old sin and get down to the beautiful finish below.  We are made new again.  Next we need to get new hardware.  Our hardware consists of the Bible.  We can find everything we need to keep the finish new from this one Book.  Then there is the protective coating that needs to be applied to protect us.  God is our coat of armor and breastplate of righteousness when the world and Satan is bombarding us.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for the opportunity to refinish me.  When I was baptized I was made new again, but it doesn’t stop there.  I must continue to fight against the sin of this world.  I am in the battle of a lifetime and I need Your help to guide, guard and protect me.  Thank you for loving and protecting me.    

Scripture: Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:4

The Whole Armor of God

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.  Ephesians 6:10-20

Rewards

Let us remember, there is One who daily records all we do for Him, and sees more beauty in His servants' work than His servants do themselves... And then shall His faithful witnesses discover, to their wonder and surprise, that there never was a word spoken on their Master's behalf, which does not receive a reward.  J.C. Ryle

So this morning I received an email that the toll road company is going to give me rewards for driving more on their roads.  So before I open the email I am thinking man this is great.  I will get a discount on my tolls for driving more.  Because the rates went up several months ago I have started taking the long way home to save on toll fees. 

Imagine my surprise when I open the email and find out what, as they say, “the much anticipated” rewards will be.  The more I drive the more points I earn and those points can be redeemed for exclusive deals at local businesses.  So I can go to a donut shop and buy donuts so that I will need to exercise more, call for a ride with a driver I don’t know,  wash my car or order flowers to name a few.  Instead of giving me the reward of lower fares, I get to buy things I don’t really need. 

I get sort of disappointed by companies and their reward programs.  To soften the blow of higher fares they think we will be extremely excited to receive points for things we don’t want and you have to go online to do it. 

Have you been to the drug store lately?  They will print coupons a mile long for things I don’t need or want.  Why haven’t they figured out that what many customers want are lower prices?

I think there should be a whole new concept in rewards for customers.  How about at the end of the monthly billing cycle and after driving more on their roads, they give me a percentage back based on my driving and it is automatically credited to my account.   The beauty of this concept is that I don’t have to do anything but drive.

The world has an unusual process of giving rewards.  They make what should be a simple process complicated. What the world considers rewards is really worthless when it comes to our Christian life.  If you want to see what rewards await you read the Beatitudes.  What will our rewards be if we follow His commandments?  We receive the Kingdom of Heaven, comfort, inherit the earth, we will be filled, receive mercy, see God and be called sons of God. That’s the kind of rewards I’m talking about!!

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want the rewards You offer.  If I follow You and obey You I will receive abundantly from Your many gifts.  Remind me daily which rewards in this life are important.  I need to also remember that if I talk about the things I do for others here on earth, I have already received my reward.  Remind me to be humble in spirit and wait for Your rewards that are worth more than anything we can obtain here on earth.           

      

Scripture: And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:1-10

Anger Unleashed & Revisited

The meek are not those who are never at all angry, for such are insensible; but those who, feeling anger, control it, and are angry only when they ought to be. Meekness excludes revenge, irritability, morbid sensitiveness, but not self-defence, or a quiet and steady maintenance of right.  Theophylact

I went to Home Depot last night to get paint.  Tuesday must have been “Blue Light Special” paint day, because there were about 8 other people there to buy paint.  When I walked up there was no one behind the counter and everyone was looking at paint colors.  I knew exactly what color I wanted so I grabbed the paint card and went to stand at the counter to wait for someone to assist me.  As I was waiting I saw the clerk assisting another customer. 

I decided to wait patiently and grabbed my cell phone to read my emails.  Say what you want about technology, but it has saved me from getting frustrated more times than I care to admit. 

So there was a man who walked up to the counter after I did.  He kept watching the clerk assisting the other customer and finally he just blew up.  He started yelling at the clerk.  He started ranting about how he had been waiting and did anyone else work in this department and on and on.  I must say I admired the young clerk for how she handled the situation. She calmly turned to the customer who was still looking at paint colors and told her she would be back. 

The clerk assisted the man and he stalked off to harass someone else I am guessing.  She then turned to me and smiled and asked how she could help me.  The clerk could have gotten angry at the man and yelled back.  She could have let one man’s attitude affect how she handled every other customer.  Have you ever wondered what the person who shows anger like that is doing at home?  Are they beating their wife or verbally abusing their children or worse.

We are living in a world that is full of angry people.  Some feel the world owes them something and others are just ticking time bombs waiting to blow.  I was watching the news this morning and there were two high school cheerleader groups who got into a brawl on the field and were banned from the game this week.  Anger has become a worldwide epidemic.  The disease of anger can kill more people and relationships than some major physical diseases.

The sin of anger can destroy more relationships and ruin families, children and spouses.  We have become a society of angry people.  We cut each other off in traffic, we yell at our children.  We become the very opposite of what God intended us to be.

I read where a psychologist once said that everyone has a bucket of anger in them and once it gets full you need to let it out.  In reality if we allow anger to get a foothold in our life we basically build a factory where more and more anger is produced.  Once we are in full production we also manufacture other things like bitterness, unforgiveness and hatred. If anger weren’t important God wouldn’t have put 230 verses in the Bible dealing with it. 

How we handle anger can make the difference in us loving one another or living in hate and bitterness.  When anger takes up residence, your house will fall; it is just a matter of time.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I pray for a world filled with more love for You and less anger.  This world we live in is filled with angry people who are looking for their next victim. I know I sometimes get angry and it isn’t always the right kind of anger.  There is appropriate anger and inappropriate anger.  Help me to distinguish between the two, and confront others in love instead of anger. 

Scripture:  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.  Ephesians 4:30-32

Solomon’s Wisdom   

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.  Charles Spurgeon

Today I decided to meditate on Solomon.  I decided to put myself in his place and think about what I would have done with all that wisdom.  Solomon was really smart in the beginning.  When Solomon became king he understood that he was young and had great responsibility.  The one thing he didn’t have was wisdom to rule.  So when God came to him in a dream and asked him “what shall I give you,” Solomon’s response was unusual.

He asked God for an understanding heart to judge God’s people so that he would be able to discern between good and evil.  God was pleased that Solomon didn’t ask for what most people would have.  Riches, long life and the life of his enemies, so God granted him wisdom but he also granted him the things he didn’t ask for.  But, there was something God asked for in return for these blessings.  He asked that Solomon do several things.  Walk in God’s ways and keep his statutes and commandments.

Can you imagine God making you the wisest person on earth and because you didn’t ask for riches and long life he gives them to you anyway.   

This is where I think I wouldn’t have handled this very well.  When I think of the riches Solomon had, I think I would have failed in this area.  It is hard enough for me to handle what little I have now much less being the richest person on earth.  Solomon was the equivalent of a billionaire in his day.  Have you ever asked yourself if you had that much wealth what you would do with it?  Would you help others or spend it on yourself?  Would you pursue what God would have you do or would you pursue worldly things? 

I would hope that I would handle things differently but I don’t know.  It is easy to judge someone else until you really step into their shoes.  I think maybe I would ask for a sin free life.  Because all the smarts in the world doesn’t mean we will do what is right in God’s eyes.  

  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know that I can learn wisdom through meditation and the study of Your Word.  I also know that all the wisdom in the world will not stop me from sinning and failing to follow your commandments.  I praise you for showing me mercy and for caring enough to keep waiting for me to come back.  I thank you for Your Son who died on the cross so that I can make my way back to You. 

Scripture:    Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.  And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted.  Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3:4-9

Dwelling In Him

Faith in the sheltering wings of God does not remove physical danger or the need for precaution against it. We cannot ignore Beirut tourist advisories, or feed wild animals on our camping trips, or jump a hot motorcycle over a row of parked cars and trust God to keep us safe. We cannot smoke cigarettes like the Marlboro man and then claim the promises of Psalm 91 as our protection against lung cancer. A person who did these things would be a foolish believer and a foolish reader of Psalm 91.  Cornelius Plantinga

Psalm 91 describes exactly how we can depend on God in troubled times.  This Psalm uses quite a few words to describe the very nature of God’s protection.  In the first verses of this Psalm he uses the words “shadow, refuge, fortress, cover, wings, shelter and buckler”.  These words describe what we need when we are in trouble.  They provide cover from the very situations we will encounter in life. Sometimes I think the part we misunderstand about these words is that we must pursue them or run to Him for them to be effective in our life. 

If we choose to dwell in Him we are making a choice.  There is action required from us to receive His protection.  If we choose not to live in Him we won’t receive His protection. The character of God’s protection means that he “delivers” us from the traps of the world, provides “cover” for us when we pursue Him and He is faithful and “protects” us.

In Psalm 91:5-10 it tells us what God protects us from in the world if we dwell in Him.  If we decide to use the world as our protection, these verses describe the consequences.  The words used to describe this are terror, pestilence, arrow, destruction, fall, evil and plague. None of these sound good.

The other instance where we often misunderstand this chapter is that we believe that it protects us from harm, trials, hurt and sorrow.  Some of the toughest and longest lasting lessons I have learned have been some of the worst times of my life.  The irony is they made me turn to Him as my dwelling place.  He comforted me, strengthened me and it made me love Him more.  It wasn’t about dodging the bullet, it was about living through it and coming out better on the other side. 

God can be our dwelling place when things fall apart and believe me, they will.  If we reject sin God may allow us to go through pain and suffering in the process, but we often are a better person for having gone through whatever the trial may be.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You are my dwelling place.  I trust that You know far better than I do what is best for me.  I praise You for getting me through the tough times in my life and for allowing me to go through them so that I could become more spiritually mature.  I can find safety in Your sheltering arms, so I choose to rest in You.          

Scripture: Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.  Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 

In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”  Psalm 91:1-16

Answered Prayer

Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do.  Andrew Murray

When you pray for something do you pray once and then move on to the next thing?  I have done that many times in my life and have often wondered why my prayer was never answered.  I think part of the problem is I have not repeated the prayer or in other words, I am not persistent enough. If I give God mediocre prayer, most likely I am not going to get what I am praying for.  Sometimes I am praying for the wrong thing. 

I think one of the most difficult things for us to understand is how prayers are answered.  We have a concept about how we think God should answer our prayers and when He doesn’t answer them in the way we think He should, we give up on Him. 

If there was ever someone who prayed earnestly and with all His heart it was Jesus.  When He was about to be crucified, He knew what was in store for Him.  His death would not be easy.  At one point he falls on His face and prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” There is no doubt in my mind that God loved His only Son Jesus, but there was a price that He was willing to pay for you and I to be saved.  Later in this passage, Jesus goes back to God in prayer “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”  

Sometimes we get the answer to our prayer, but the answer isn’t something we recognize as the answer.  Ultimately, God wants what is best for us.  Sometimes what we think is best for us isn’t close to what God knows is best for us.  Have you ever prayed for something fervently and felt like God didn’t answer; then later look back and see where God did answer your prayer. 

One of the most important things to remember about prayer is that we should always pray God’s will be done, not ours.  He knows what is best for us, knows what we need and will often answer in ways we never thought possible. If you are struggling with something in your life, pray without ceasing as it will focus your mind on what is important; it will test your faith and it prepares your heart for God to answer. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes my prayers are mediocre at best.  Help me to focus on what is important in this life and focus my prayers on the things that really matter.  I need to be more persistent in my prayers and be ready for You to answer.  Remind me that many times You answer my prayers in ways I would never dream of.

      

Scripture: The Prayer in the Garden

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”  Matthew 26:36-46

Apply Your Knowledge

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.  Charles Spurgeon

Has God’s Word changed you?  Many years ago I didn’t study God’s Word very much at all.  I had a basic knowledge of the Bible but I didn’t really apply my life to living what it said.  So if we are to become “Christlike” it will be necessary to live the Word.  If our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin can be removed, then we will need to practice the knowledge of Him.

How many people do you know who profess to be a Christian but their lives reflect a very different picture?  If I don’t live what I profess to believe then I am not a good example of who Christ is.  If I can quote scripture, but my life doesn’t reflect the words I speak, then I am not reflecting Christ.

One of the great ironies of this concept is that the more knowledge we get about God, the more we are expected to apply it to our everyday living. The Bible is not meant to be read and then set aside so that we can live our life the same way.  We are to be changed into his likeness or to become more like Him.  Our life and the way we live and treat others should be a reflection of Christ.  I am the first to point out that this is not easy.  I have sinned over and over again and there are times in my life when I reflected anything but Christlike behavior. 

I believe that is why God calls on us to confess our sins.  When we acknowledge that we messed up, it shows others our human nature.  It also creates a humble character in us.  If I am unable to confess to you my sinful state, then you may never see God or Christ in me.

How many times have we seen pastors, preachers and ministers fail and fall because they tried to hide the sin that plagued them?  The knowledge we have about God needs to be applied to everything we do.  There is a wealth of knowledge in the Bible that will teach us how to handle any situation we face in life, but it will not help us if we only use it as a doorstop.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You have provided me with an amazing Book that will teach me all I need to know to become like Christ.  I need your help to apply it to everything I do in my daily life.  When I apply Your knowledge to my life I will learn to live with wisdom and show others You.  I praise You my heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Your Son.

        

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

So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.  John 13:12-17 

Obeying vs. Sacrificing

Obedience is the key to real faith.  Chuck Colson

Faith is not an instinct. It certainly is not a feeling - feelings don't help much when you're in the lions' den or hanging on a wooden Cross. Faith is not inferred from the happy way things work. It is an act of will, a choice, based on the unbreakable Word of a God who cannot lie, and who showed us what love and obedience and sacrifice mean, in the person of Jesus Christ.  Elisabeth Elliot

In 1 Samuel 15 we find an example of obeying vs. sacrificing.  Saul is told by Samuel that the Lord sent him to anoint Saul as king over His people.  Samuel tells Saul to heed the words of the Lord.  The Lord wanted to punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, so Samuel told Saul to utterly destroy everything that Amalek had; every man, woman, child, ox, sheep, camel and donkey.  The problem is Saul decided to keep what was good like the best sheep, oxen and lambs.

So we find that the Lord sent a directive to Saul through Samuel, but Saul decided he knew better and didn’t follow what the Lord told him to do.  When it came time to appoint a king the Lord told Samuel, “I greatly regret that I set up Saul as king, for he turn back from following Me and has not followed My commandments.”  When Samuel went to see Saul, Saul proclaimed, “Blessed are you of the Lord!  I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

Samuel responded to Saul by saying, “What then is the bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

I love Saul’s response.  Instead of using the word “We” he uses “They”.  “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 

Samuel responds by asking Saul, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”

Saul argued that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord but he threw “the people” under the bus.  He blamed the people for keeping the best of the livestock as a sacrifice to the Lord. What did Saul’s disobedience cost him?  He would have been king over God’s people, but his mistake in disobeying God cost him the kingdom.

What is the most important thing we can learn from this story?  Obedience to God is more important than sacrifice.  Any time we disobey God, we rebel against what He asks us to do.  When we rebel there will be a cost associated with that rebellion. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times in my life when I have rebelled against You.  I chose to do something instead of being obedient to You. Please forgive me for those times that I rebelled and draw me closer to you.  Help me to be obedient to Your instruction.  

      

Scripture: So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23

A Whale & A Tree

It is possible to miss God's perfect will for our lives through carelessness or disobedience. Zac Poonen

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Jonah.  If there was ever someone who didn’t want to do what God asked him to it would be Jonah.  Remember how God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and instead Jonah ran in the opposite direction.  He even went so far as to catch a boat to another city.  When God saw Jonah running the other way, He decided to show Jonah how truly powerful He was by having a whale swallow him.  I would hope that after sitting in the belly of a fish for several days thinking about my plight, I would see the error of my ways.The problem with Jonah is the same one we face today.  We are stubborn and we tend to run the other way when God points us in the direction He wants us to go. 

So the next part of the story we find Jonah on the outskirts of the city of Nineveh. Jonah forgot how God showed grace to him when he was sitting in the belly of the whale. Here we find Jonah frustrated because it has been many days and still the people of Nineveh have not repented of their ways. So Jonah becomes angry with God for the grace He shows to the Ninevites.

We find as the story goes on that God caused a plant to grow to shade Jonah as he sat on the outskirts of town waiting for the people to be destroyed.  Jonah was extremely happy when the tree grew and provided shade, but then God caused a worm to kill the very tree that offered Jonah shade.  Jonah was more like the worm that destroyed the tree.  He wanted to see the destruction of Nineveh, just as the worm destroyed the tree that shaded Jonah from the harsh sun. 

God asks Jonah why he has compassion for a plant that he had no part in growing.  He was trying to teach Jonah a lesson.  His purpose was to teach Jonah about the importance of the people of Nineveh.  Jonah cared more about a tree he didn’t grow than the people God sent Jonah to save. 

What can we learn from Jonah?  Several things come to mind.  The first being, when God tells us to do something; it is in our best interest to comply.  Our disobedience may not result in us being swallowed by a whale, but we see the results of our disobedience every day in some of the trials that come our way.  The second and most important thing we can learn from this is that God is more concerned about the people and we should be too.  That is our purpose in life; to have compassion for others. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes I do just the opposite of what I know You want me to do.  I become stubborn and dig in my heels because I think I know what is best for me.  When I become headstrong and plow ahead without thought to what You would have me do, I am headed into the belly of a whale (so to speak).  Help me to understand that You want what is best for me.  I can avoid many mistakes in my life if I will listen to You. Remind me that some of the very things that make me angry are the very things that are meant to draw me back to You. 
      

Scripture: Jonah’s Anger and God’s Kindness

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”  Jonah 4:1-11

Behave Like a Christian

“I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask yourself “How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?” Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery.” Mother Teresa

Do you have a co-worker who irritates you?  We all do.  It’s that person who always complains, doesn’t have anything good to say about anyone and gossips about everything going on in the office.  Then there is the co-worker who knows everything.  There isn’t a topic you could bring up that they don’t know everything there is to know about it and are willing to share their knowledge. 

The one thing I need to remind myself of is that sometimes I am that irritating co-worker.  If you don’t work alone and are surrounded by people every day, those are people God has placed in your path so that you can make a difference in their life.  What do you do when that person gets in your vicinity? Do you run the other way or lock the door of your office if you have an office, or maybe duck into the restroom?

There are times when I get so distracted by the responsibilities of work, that I forget about the people around me who need a Savior.  God didn’t create me to go to work every day, do my job and go home again, only to start all over again the next day.  Our purpose is to show others who He is and point them in His direction.  Work is a part of life that gives us opportunities to share His love. 

I am not always good at this and I fail miserably many times.  There are going to be people in this world who get on our nerves and irritate us.   We are to be kindly and affectionate to one another with brotherly love, fervent in spirit and serve the Lord.  An important part of serving the Lord is to love one another.  We could use a lot more of that in this world we live in.     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I don’t always do a good job of sharing who You are with others in the workplace.  I forget to look at the person and instead focus on the irritation.  There are others who need to see You through me and I can’t do that if I am letting them irritate me or if I avoid them.  Help me to show love to others as You have shown me time and time again.  

     

Scripture: Behave Like a Christian

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Romans 12:9-15

Sacrificial Giving

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them.” C.S. Lewis

Several years ago I had a friend tell me that he had never given sacrificially before.  I never forgot that conversation mainly because it made me think about the times in my life where I gave sacrificially. Not often enough.

What does it mean to give sacrificially? One of the best examples of this is found in Mark 12 about the widow who gave two mites.  Jesus was sitting watching people put money in the treasury (today’s terminology would probably be the offering plate). In this story she put two mites into the treasury which make a quadran.  I had to look up quadran to see approximately how much that was in today’s world.  It would have been about one quarter today. 

The most important thing we can learn from this story is that the widow gave all she had.  She didn’t hold anything back.  In her poverty she gave more than the rich people did in all their abundance. Can you imagine the offering plate coming around and you empty your bank account into it? How many of us have that much faith in God to believe that He will provide for us even if we give it all away.    

I admit I am not good at giving sacrificially.  Sacrificial giving means we have to give up something we may need or want to do or buy.  It means giving until it hurts. By that I mean giving so much that you don’t know where the money is going to come from to make up for the giving. In this type of giving faith is the basis of the giving. If I cling to what I have, fearing there won’t be enough if I give it way, then my faith in God isn’t what it should be. 

There is no better time to start than now.  I think our mindset needs to change.  Instead of buying an extra Starbucks coffee or dessert at our favorite restaurant, pledge to give that to the Lord for His work.  Let go of your fear of not having enough and let God show you an abundance beyond your imagination.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I know I am not good at sacrificial giving.  My faith is too small.  When I fear I will not have enough to buy necessities, I am not having enough faith in You.  Please change my heart to a sacrificial heart.  Sacrificial giving means I may need to do without something to help another person or my church. Thank you for all You give me.  Sacrificial giving is really me giving back what You gave to me in the first place.             

      

Scripture: The Widow’s Two Mites

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” Mark 12:41-44

Faith Is…

Faith is two empty hands held open to receive all of the Lord. Alan Redpath

Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation. Andrew Murray

When we are strong in faith, we have God’s power in our life.  One of the most important things about faith is when we exercise it.  When we pray to God for something we should first determine is it God’s will and does it align with what the Bible says.  If we haven’t determined that part first, we will be doomed to disappointment when our prayer isn’t answered. 

If the first two items are met, we then need to thank God in advance for what we are praying for.  If we thank God after our prayer is answered; we are expressing gratitude to God.  If we thank God in advance for answering our prayer, we express our faith in Him.  We are showing God that we believe that He will answer.

One of the problems we run into when we are waiting on God to answer our prayers is impatience.  We want Him to answer in our time not His.  So we get tired of waiting and we move forward without God’s blessing on it. 

Doubt is one of the worst things we can have in the midst of prayer.  If we doubt God will do it, we are lacking faith.  When we lack faith we miss out on what God can do in our life. There are numerous stories in the Bible of people who had extraordinary faith. When you pray; thank God in advance for what He will do.  Faith is believing He will do what we ask without doubt. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am often filled with doubt in my prayer life.  Sometimes I think this is because what I am asking for really doesn’t align with what You want for my life. I need to study Your Word more before I pray.  Help me to be patient when I pray for I know Your timing is different from mine.  Faith is knowing in advance that You will answer my prayer. 

    

Scripture:  The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  Mark 11:20-24

What Matters Most

What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? To know God. What is the best thing in life? To know God. What in humans gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of Himself.  J.I. Packer

Do you ever think about what gets your attention on a daily basis?  Is it a news headline, new technology gadget, fast car, beautiful house or something else?  There are endless possibilities of what can reach out and grab our attention. 

Most people go through life skating. By that I mean, they sit on the sidelines watching life go by without much thought to where they will end up when this life is over. I’ll admit I spent a good portion of my life doing that very same thing.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden they were born to live; live for eternity in God’s garden and tasked with the responsibility of taking care of everything in it.  When they ate of the tree of life, the perfect world they lived in ended.   This also meant that it ended for us too.  One couple’s mistake became our life as we know it today. 

It is so easy to get caught up in the world around us, probably because the majority of people we associate with on a daily basis are doing the same thing.  How do we get off the merry-go-round of life and get our feet firmly on the ground when there are so many distractions to capture our attention? 

The most important thing we need to figure out is what matters most.  If we don’t understand what matters most, we won’t devote our time pursuing what matters most.  Eternal life should be the most important matter on our minds every day.  If eternal life becomes our most important matter each day, everything else falls into place.  We will worship God and glorify Him every minute of every day.  We will become Christlike, we will want others to have the same thing, and we will love everyone, even our enemies. We won’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow might never come. If we understand what matters most in this world, we will have peace, joy and love in our life. 

I encourage you today, to put your heart and soul into what matters most.  God will take care of everything else if we let go and let Him take care of the rest.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have failed in the past by not understanding what matters most in this life.  I need Your help to keep my focus on You.  I am a lowly sinner who is often drawn away from You by things that don’t matter in this life.  Help keep me on the path to You.  Remind me that eternal life with You matters most above everything else this life on earth has to offer.    

      

Scripture: Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:10-17

Write It Down

Do we have any records from first-century 'journalists' who interviewed eyewitnesses, asked tough questions, and faithfully recorded what they scrupulously determined to be true? Lee Strobel

Do you ever pray for something or someone and then forget the prayer you prayed? If you want to see what God is doing in your life; write it down.  This process, called journaling, accomplishes several things.

First, when you write down your prayers it reinforces the prayer.  When you write down your prayers you can then go back to them often and repeat that prayer to our Heavenly Father.  What is important to you is important to God.

Second, if you write down your prayers, you can go back later and see the exact moment when God answered the prayer.  This alone is one of the most powerful tools that allows you to see God work in your life.  When you can physically see God answering prayers it reminds us that we are not alone and we have an amazing Father who loves us and cares about what happens in our life.

If you think about it, the entire Bible was written by people who wrote their thoughts and prayers down.  We wouldn’t have a Bible if someone hadn’t thought to write it down. How many prayers do we see answered in the Bible?  Too many to count.

I have gotten out of the habit of journaling. Sometimes it is because I have become too busy and at other times it is just laziness on my part.  If I allow a broken habit and laziness to interfere with my time with God, I need to make changes.

There are people around us every day who need our prayers.  Some don’t know God, others are questioning God because of the things going on in their lives and still others are blaming God for the tragedies in their lives.  If we are to have an amazing prayer life, we will need to get serious about prayer.  Take time to journal your prayers and watch God work in your life.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have become lazy and stopped writing down my prayers.  I believe You answer prayers, but if I am too lazy to write them down, why should I expect You to answer them.  Help me to return to journaling where I can write down the prayer, return to it often and go back to it later so that I can see You at work in my life.  I praise You for giving me a way to communicate with You. 

       

Scripture: The Just Live by Faith

Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.  Habakkuk 2:2-3