True Fasting

Isaiah 58:1-4 - True Fasting

 ¹ “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.   Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions
   and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves,
   and you have not noticed?’    “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
   and exploit all your workers. ⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today  and expect your voice to be heard on high. 

This is such a true picture of many Christians in our nation today. We say "Why have we humbled ourselves and prayed to You God- yet You do nothing, You don't notice."  But have we really humbled ourselves? The scripture says in:
II Chronicles 7:14 If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and will heal their land. 

Our land needs healing, our sins need forgiving, and our hearts need humbling. How then shall we truly fast and pray and humble our hears as God has requested? The remainder of Isaiah 58 it will give us an insight into what God is looking for in a humble heart.

 ⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry  and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,  and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,  and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;  you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
   “If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
   with the pointing finger and malicious talk, ¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
   and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden,  like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
 ¹³ “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the LORD,  and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land  and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
         For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. 


Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

In Spirit and in truth....

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7


This is a very strong command... the Lord takes His name very seriously. In the Old Testament His name was given as a facet of his being, as a description of who He is, and what the people needed at that time. Jehovah Jirah - my Provider, Jehovah Rappha - my Healer. God's Name is not just something we should just throw around recklessly. There are very obvious examples of this, I'm sure we all hear people take the name of the Lord in vain, just in our every day life, in our day to day conversations. We've all heard and have ourselves said God's name to punctuate our disappointment. But God does not want us using His name as an exclamation point. His name is Holy, because He is Holy. Therefore we should be treating it reverently everytime we say His name. Jesus taught us to pray saying: Our Father who art in heaven- Hallowed be Thy Name. Hallowed means Holy. Holy be Your Name.

But more than just in idle conversation, God's name is in my opinion even more often taken in vain in our churches during our worship. We are idly throwing out God's name in song, not meaning anything that we say.

 John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

When I break this verse down I see that God is asking us to worship first in Spirit, this means that we are not worshiping in the flesh, the music is not as important as the heart. God is not hearing our off key rendition, He is hearing our spirit crying out to His.

Secondly He is listening for us to mean what we are saying. To worship in truth. We are not to be idly saying 'O God you are my God...' We are supposed to mean it: "God YOU are my God!" This doesn't mean He wants us shouting as loud as we can over each other. No God is not asking us to do that. He is asking us to feel, and to know that, yes, God is our God.

Matthew 12:36

³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

This does not mean that we should not sing if we don't feel it. It means that we should enter into the house of worship with intention, with preparation to worship our God. We should soften our hearts to hear from Him. And be willing to put aside all the cares of the world to truly worship God in spirit and in truth!

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Here am I.... send me!

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

This has always been to me, the most frightening of verses... Here am I, send me? But what about my job my family? I always was worried that as soon as I said this, God would send me somewhere far away, with snakes and spiders galore. Well I suppose so far he has sent me to be worship leader at MMCC... where we do have our share of snakes, but that is aside from the point. I have frequently heard God's call to action, and have reacted in various and some, quite despicable ways. Reading through the bible I see a large variety in how the prophets responded to God, often very similarly to what I have personally done as well. Which one is closer to our response? Which one would we like to have be our response?


First I would like to examine Jonah... God called him to go to Nineveh, called him to tell the people(who clearly were bad people) to repent, or be destroyed. What was Jonah's response? "Here am I, I'm not going"

Jonah 1: 1-3  ¹ The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 

God called him to a work - Preach against Nineveh, but his reaction showed lack of faith (in God) & love (for souls), cf. Jonah 4:1-5. For myself personally, most often this response is out of fear. Often like Jonah - I will be running from spiritual obligations, believing I have good reasons which clear me from responsibility.

The next biblical person I would like to have us look at is Moses. “Here am I, send Aaron”  Exodus 3:11-4:17

  Moses knew the need which existed, he just couldn’t see himself being used by God to meet the need. He offered multiple excuses aimed at removing himself from God’s consideration as deliverer of Israel. He was hoping that God would change his mind. I often rationalize why I am not best suited for some spiritual work - That surely God could find someone other than me, and better than me, to do what needs to be done? 

The last person would be Isaiah how did he react when God called him? 

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isaiah was overwhelmed with God's majesty, was stricken by the sin of the people, and was eager and willing to go wherever God sent him, to say whatever God told him.

What is our reaction when God calls us?

Ephesians 4:1-4

 ¹ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 

We have all been called, if you are a Christian God is calling you, calling you to service, calling you to be holy because He is holy, To be the salt of the earth, a light in the world. Calling you to shine His light forth so others might see it and be saved. What is your answer today?


Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Revive us Oh Lord...

re·viv·al

/rɪˈvaɪvəl/ Show Spelled[ri-vahy-vuhl]

noun

1. restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength

I have been reading a lot about revival, and what we should be praying for. One of the most powerful things that I can find is something that was initially preached by an old tent revival preacher who said: "If you really want to pray for revival, then go outside, and draw a circle around yourself in the dirt. Then pray to God that He will revive everything inside that circle." Another way that I saw it put was to go into your prayer closet and draw a circle around yourself with chalk.... in Robie Creek we have plenty of dirt, but I suppose not everyone has that luxury. You see we cannot ask God to Revive our county, our church or our nation when we ourselves our lukewarm Christians. We need a personal revival, a spiritual awakening that will take us out of our mundane lifestyle and take us back to the place where we are on fire for Jesus!

Revelation 3:14-22

New International Version (NIV)

To the Church in Laodicea

    ¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:    These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
   ¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
   ²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Here is a list of  what we are to pray for when we are praying for a personal Revival. This is a list that Pastor Bob Stone used when he spear-headed his 'Chalk Revival' at his church, Hillcrest Chapel in WA.

I Want To Pray For

1. A revitalization of my spiritual life and also of this church and our nation—2 Chronicles 7:14-15; Is. 6:1-8; 57:15.
2. A repentance from sin—secret sins—sins that wrap around my feet and trip me up; along with confession of sin to others; restitution for sin; and the granting of forgiveness to others when appropriate—Heb. 12:1; James 5:16; Luke 15:21; 19:1-10.
   
3. A restoration of my love for and study of the Word—Ps. 119:97-106; 2 Tim. 2:15.
   
4. A release of the Holy Spirit to give me empowerment for service and a compassion for lost people—Eph. 5:18-21; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Matt. 9:36.
   
5. A return to my first love, to love God and family more than ever before—Rev. 2:4; Mal. 4:5-6.
   
6. A remembrance and thanksgiving for all He has done for me—Rom. 1:21; Eph. 5:4; Heb. 12:28.
   
7. A reshaping of my praise and worship so I truly worship with my whole heart, body and life—Ps. 95:6; 100; Rom. 12:1; Eph. 5:18-21; Matt. 5:16; James 5:13.

Isaiah 57:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ For thus says the High and Lofty One
      Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:


      “ I dwell in the high and holy place,
      With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
      To revive the spirit of the humble,
      And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Revelation 2:4-6

New International Version (NIV)

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Psalm 95:6

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,
   let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 

Habakkuk 3:2

New King James Version (NKJV)

² O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
      O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
      In the midst of the years make it known;
      In wrath remember mercy.



Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Worship.... warfare....

What is worship? I was contemplating this today... I believe that true worship is not something that we do, it is something that we are. It is not just singing a song, or a good sermon. It is something that we are, and should be continuously.

Sometimes true worship can seem embarrassing... maybe God has prompted you to raise your hands during a song and it just seemed too much. But worship is not just for God's sake. The bible says that He inhabits the praise of His people.

Psalm 22:3
 ³ But You are holy,
         Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

That means that through worship we can have a moment to be in close contact with our Sovereign Savior. A chance to enter into His presence and to pour out our hearts to  Him.  

But more than this, the bible also says that He will rejoice over us with singing. I heard a worship leader talking about this today and it really was amazing observation that he had.. He said that when he sings a song, he likes to imagine God singing back to him. 

Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Worship is not a one way street. When we worship God, truly worship God, then our hearts are prepared to hear back from Him. He delights in our praise, He inhabits our praise, and He will quiet us with His love and rejoice over us with singing.  What a beautiful picture that is to me! Us struggling to maintain a semblance of any key or music, and the Creator of voices and song, singing back to us. Delighting in what we give to Him.

More than that though the scriptures call worship, warfare. In Psalm they call the praise of God a two-edged sword used to execute vengeance.

Psalm 149:5-9

 ⁵ Let the saints be joyful in glory;
         Let them sing aloud on their beds.
 ⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
         And a two-edged sword in their hand,
 ⁷ To execute vengeance on the nations,
         And punishments on the peoples;
 ⁸ To bind their kings with chains,
         And their nobles with fetters of iron;
 ⁹ To execute on them the written judgment—
         This honor have all His saints.
        
         Praise the LORD!

We are not called to simple singing or indifferent praise. We are called to worship in spirit and in truth. How many of us can say that is something that we have done this past week?

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

The parable of the sower

Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

 ¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

     This parable is a very common told one. Something that I'm sure we all have heard numerous sermons preached on. But this weekend I heard one that varied from many others. Of course we all can read a little farther into the chapter and Jesus Himself tells us what the parable means. The farmer is God, the seed is His Word being sown into the lives of people, and we are the dirt. Not exactly flattering, but hey, that's what Jesus says there. 

      I often hear the reference of this chapter as the seeds falling on the path are seeds to unbelievers who won't soften up and listen to what God says, that the seed on the rocky places were people who listened but fall away quickly because they did not have any depth to their belief, and that the seed among the thorns are ones who listen hear but then get concerned about trivial things and fall away. Not that this is at all incorrect, but the sermon this week took it a bit farther applying all of these things to the believer as well as the unbeliever. Since I assume the majority of people reading this are in fact believers I just want to touch on that aspect of this.

     First I'd like to start with a picture of what the path would look like. Imagine a garden, there is the soft ground that has been worked in long mounded rows and between each of these is a path, that you walk up and down to get to the areas you need to. These paths in the bible times would be walked on by hundreds of servants, the owner of the field, and the people allowed to glean in the fields with the workers. The ground between the areas where the plants grow would be unworkable, hard, and impenetrable. And the chickens, or birds are happy to get into this area and if they can find a seed they will snatch it up and eat it. This is the picture of the heart of someone who refuses to listen to what God says. Often these people are not believers, but how often have we as Christians ignored God, pretended we couldn't hear Him, or blatantly disobeyed what He commanded of us? This is the picture of the first seed. The one that fell along the path. The picture of the hardened heart of someone willfully attempting to disobey God's will. Think of Jonah running the opposite direction of what God has asked of him. Now it certainly isn't easy to soften your heart in that state. Anyone who has gardened, especially pre-rototiller days, knows how hard it is to soften packed ground. To loosen it to make it at all useful. But this is what God is asking of us, to soften our hearts to listen. I'd imagine that it is painful, I mean who wants to have everything around them tilled, and reworked? But it is not as painful as living an unfruitful, unproductive and unwilling life, producing nothing for the Kingdom of God. How soft and willing is your heart?


   The second picture is that of the seeds that fall in rocky places. In Idaho we tend to have large and small rocks all over, that a persistent plant could possibly work it's roots around and reach good soil. But in Jerusalem their terrain is a little different. Jesus was talking about places that look like good soil and for the first few inches they are, but then underneath is a large slab of limestone or sandstone that was impossible to move or work around. The only thing that you could do was not plant in those areas. This is the picture of the Christian who comes to church and hears a wonderful sermon or great worship, or reads something inspiring, they feel like nothing can stop their faith in those times, but then something happens to shatter their faith or shake them and they fall away quickly. Retreating back to complacency where they think that they will be safe from hurt and trials. They have no depth and eventually they lose faith completely. In our Christian walk, how often do we hear a good sermon, have a good word of God put into our hearts, but when we get home from church we get in a fight with our spouse or argue with our kids and the word completely withers.  We need to ensure our heart is soft so the word can plant itself deeply into good soil, and not lose it's hold on Faith.


The third picture is the one that struck me the most, that is of the seed that fell among the weeds and thorns. Anyone who has tried to garden knows that weeds don't just suddenly decide that they have plagued your yard enough and will now wander off to pester your neighbors yard for a while and give you a break. Weeds are all about territory, they will spread wherever you give them room to move. If you don't get rid of them, they will take over everything. They are aggressive, pushy, and will literally choke the life out of anything else you try to grow. My dad spends hours out in his garden trying to prevent weeds from taking over. The weeds in this picture are to me the things that are taking over the majority of our thoughts and our lives. These may not necessarily be bad things, often they are not, maybe it's work or other obligations, maybe its television or our appearance how we want other people to view us, in this superficial world that we live in, it's a terrible temptation to worry only about the outward things. Maybe it's pornography, alcohol or some other addiction. Whatever it is, God commands us to pull those weeds out of our mind and to renew our minds by the cleansing of our hearts. What is taking up the majority of your heart garden? Is it the things of God? If not then it is superficial, will not matter into eternity, probably don't even matter now, and are just weeds. These weeds will take over everything if you do not actively remove them from your life. As the saying goes if Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

The final picture is that of the Christian who has actively cared for the condition of his or her soil. Removing weeds avoiding rocky places and continually softening the area to be productive and fruitful. Therefore producing good fruit and a plentiful harvest.

When you look back on your one and only life what will your fruit look like? Will it be an empty basket? A small basket with some withered vegetables? Or a great bounty of things to bring glory to God? All of us have the potential to do great things for God, He doesn't call all of us to be Billy Graham, but He does ask us all to live up to the best that He has called us to. That doesn't matter if it is raising your children in a Godly way, loving your spouse like Christ loved the church or going to the backwoods in Mexico to spread the gospel. God will hold each of us to our own measuring stick. We just need to pray that our hearts will be soft enough to be receptive of God's guidance and will. So I ask you... what is the condition of your dirt? 





Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

But if not....

Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so,^(AA) our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[d] 18}But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

I frequently pray that if I were in such circumstance, that I would boldly say to the one person that was holding the key to my life(at least on earth) in his hand; "My God will deliver me, but if not I still will not worship your gods." To have that kind of faith, that says that I know that God has the ability to deliver me out of this trial or problem, but even if He doesn't, I know that He is still there, and He still cares for me. There is a song out right now by Laura Story: Blessings- one of the verses which reads:

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

– Isaiah 40:28-31“Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

God's promises are enough! His grace is enough!! Just remember next time you are feeling discouraged, that maybe the trials of this life are just God's mercies in disguise.

http://www.tsrocks.com/l/laura_story_texts/blessings.html

(see this link for the song  Blessings by Laura Story)

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

I have loved you with an everlasting love...

Whenever my husband is out on an adventure with Isaac I like to sit and spend too much time watching girly chick flicks and romantic comedies. Last night the movie of choice was: "Where The Heart Is". The very end of the movie Natalie Portman says to her co-star "I lied because I thought you deserved better", to which he replies: "There is no better than you."

Sometimes I think that we do this with God, we are afraid that we are not the best person for what God asks of us. Maybe He has asked you to spend an entire week with abused children showing God's love, or maybe just sharing His love with a stranger, or even harder, a friend. Perhaps it's something more in the spotlight, such as sharing your testimony or a verse or song. Whatever it is, our tendency is to think that God couldn't possibly want to use us for such a thing. But what I think we need to realize is that God is looking at us saying "(insert your name here) there is no better than you." He has designed us to serve a purpose, each and everyone of us! He loves us and sees us not as we see ourselves! So next time God prompts you to do something don't let fear stop you. Remember, Steve, Randy, Julie, Dave, Lee, Leena, Linda, Berndt, Shari and anyone else that might read this, there is no better than you!

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).

His grace is sufficient!

2 Corinthians 12:9

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 


 It is always difficult as a human in general to show any weakness. To even allow ourselves to tell others about how we have fallen makes us think that they will either judge us, or look at us differently. We'll lose a little of our 'status' that we have been trying to obtain. As a Christian I think we sometimes use the facade that if we tell others how we have sinned they will judge us, or worse think that we are a bunch of hypocrites. But one verse that has constantly stood out to me is 1 Peter 1:14-16:¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.^"

 
 I suppose we are not trying to be hypocrites, but we are in fact trying to be something we are not. God has asked us to be holy because He is holy! But because this is something that none of us will ever be able to obtain, which brings us to the verse above in Corinthians. You see none of us are good enough to deserve God's favor! Definitely not good enough to be considered holy... but by God's grace through the sacrifice of His Son, we will be allowed to stand before His throne and be counted as worthy. This always amazed and confused me, why God would want my messed up life to be anything to be used for Him and His glory, yet in Proverbs 3:5-6:

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight

Through trusting in God daily in my life, God willing, I will slowly conform to something that He would want me to be, and will bring Glory to His Name.


Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

My Hope Is Buit on Nothing Less...

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is in him."
Jeremiah 17:7

Recently we attended a web-inar(fancy word for a seminar we had to sit in a tiny sweaty room to watch) about disease pathology and auto-immune disorders. During the discussion I was frequently brought to the verse in  Luke 21:11 ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

The word in the above verse that most intrigued me was pestilences you see during this discussion the doctors were talking first about all the diseases that we had assumed we'd eradicated but have just come back around only stronger, things such as Polio, Pertussis(whooping cough) and Tuberculosis are making a startling come back in the United States. Now our original vaccinations, and treatments for such things have become all but void and doctors are having to come up with new ways to treat and protect from these diseases.


But what was even more interesting to me was all the new things that are attacking our bodies. The main thing during this seminar being bacteria overgrowth in our intestines, kidneys and a multitude of other systems that we need to survive. They have managed to link bacterial overgrowth to Auto-immune disorders such as Lupus, Fibromyalgia, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. They have linked it to Cancer and a near cornucopia of other inflammatory disorders. The big problem is that if you can find and treat these bacteria's they are able to morph themselves and become resistant to what they are being treated with so most people that are being treated are going through round after round of antibiotics with only temporary results.  After the seminar was over one of the doctors said to the rest of us, "Well we might as well go get a drink and wait to die."


That ominous statement made me start thinking about the world perspective on things like this. The hopelessness that they feel when they think about the fragility of our lives. When I read Matthew 21:11 or Revelation 6: 7-8

 Revelation 6: 7-8 ⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. 

Instead of feeling like I may as well just give up, I felt renewed strength. As it says in
Matthew 24: 32-22  ³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that the end is near, right at the door.

I believe that nothing else has to happen for the Lord to come back, nothing! Therefore instead of feeling as though we may as well give up, we should be hurrying out to help people around us because the time is short. 
Luke 10:2  ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.


As a final thought, if you found out that Jesus was coming back on Monday, how would that change what you did for the next four days?  

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Bible Boot Camp 101

1 Corinthians 9:25-28
New King James Version (NKJV)
And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.But I discipline my body and bring into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.



For the past few months I have been slowly prepping for my 2nd degree black belt test. This time of year is always hard, because first I have NO idea when the test will be, sometime in the fall, which means I need to be ready anytime between September and November, and secondly with all the training comes a multitude of bruises and general muscle soreness from overuse. Not to mention the extra time that is put in during preparation. But knowing that there is in fact a goal at the end, and working hard for something that I will soon be able to obtain makes everything worthwhile.

I believe this is a small picture of the idea that Paul was hoping to convey to us in 1 Corinthians 9:27. First, we need to be prepared at all times.

Matthew 24:44 Therefore you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect

I have always enjoyed that verse in Corinthians the image of the fighter beating the air reminds me of a story that I heard from one of my Taekwondo instructors. He was out on a date with his wife and a man confronted them for money, he was an excellent martial artist, his kicks were so high and powerful, but he had hardly trained with any real contact, choosing instead to always fight in non-contact sparring, so when this man came towards him for money, instead of being able to fight him off, he placed 5 or 6 kicks right at the assailants face, but not one of them made any real contact. The attacker simply punched him in the face and took his wallet. After that this martial artist started training with renewed vigor, going to full contact sparring and making sure he knew the practical application for everything that he did. He was no longer just ‘beating the air.’ What stumped me on this verse was how do we make sure that we no longer are just spiritually beating the air?

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.


Ephesians 6: 10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.


To be prepared, we must first realize that there is an imperishable goal that we are striving for We are not just walking along with no end in sight, and the finish line is where the judges are. So we are not to become weary in doing good. When we cross the finish line we want to hear Jesus say “Well done good and faithful servant.” Not “Well run, I’m glad you had a good time” but “Well done.” When we keep our mind on the final prize, it helps make the walk easier.

The second thing we must do is pick ourselves back up if we fall. If something happens that hinders us, we cannot just give up and think that we gave it the old college try. We have to push onward, regardless of how many times we have to pick our battered bruised spirit up out of the muck we pushed it into.



Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

To speak or not to speak.. that is the question...

Today I heard a study about Christians witnessing to unbelievers. They did a poll of people claiming to be born again believers across different denominations and asked them what the number one reason was that they did not share their faith with others. The person who wrote this poll said that he expected the top 3 answers to be:

1. They felt that they did not know what to say or had never been taught how.

2. That they didn’t come into contact with many unbelievers and therefore didn’t need to witness

3. That it would not be politically correct in the circles where they were in.

After conducting the study though, the number one answer, by an overwhelming margin was: That the lifestyle that they were leading was not in line with what a Christians should be, and therefore they would be embarrassed if their unbelieving friends found out that they considered themselves a Christian.

This was very surprising to me. I remember as a child my grandmother had a framed poster on her wall that read: Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words. At one point I asked my mom what that meant, and she told me that the way that we as Christians choose to live our lives should be so apparent to people around us that we shouldn’t even have to tell them we are Christians they should be able to tell without asking. I believe that we as Christians should be able to ‘Preach the gospel at all times’ With or without opening our mouths. My mom says that there should be an example of this in here, and I suppose the only one that I can think of right now is when I first started working at my current job. At that time there was only one other believer there, and when I first met her, I could tell, not just from the things that she said, but from the things that she didn't say as well. I had put up some bible verses on my computer and after the first day she came up to me and said "Are you a Christian? So am I!" And gave me a great big hug. Even now I'm very grateful on the days she works, it's not that she says or does anything preachy, it's just that you can tell by the things that she does, how she tries to help others, how she avoids certain conversations or just doesn't allow the things that are going on around her to cause her to get stressed. I think that these things alone have made her stand out to the other people that we work with, and they all know that she is a great Christian as well, without her having to bring up God, although she does with out being afraid!

Ephesians 6:14

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

Romans 2:13

¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

Romans 6:12-14 

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Worship

Worship: Obsequious or submissive respect; extravagant admiration; adoration. The act of paying divine honors to The Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration, or acts of reverence, paid to God.

In order to properly worship God, I think that it requires us to first enter into worship with reverence and with awe! God is not asking us to repeat some montra or song, in fact true worship does not require music or song at all.

But music and worship do go hand in hand. Worship involves the WHOLE person, and music helps lift a person’s thoughts and emotions to God. Through music we can reflect upon our needs and shortcomings as well as celebrate God’s greatness. To truly worship God the way that He asks us to, we have to be willing to forget about ourselves, not worry about the people around us and what they think and focus only on God and His great power. Interestingly though a recent study done at a large church in New York stated that when they did a poll on their congregation about worship, 20% stated that what brought them in to true worship was the music lyrics and message, 15% said that it was the musicians skill and ability, and an overwhelming 65% said that it was the worship leaders, and other members of the congregation entering into worship that in fact was able to draw them into worship as well. So when you get ready to go to church on Sunday, be prepared… perhaps you entering into worship will allow the person next to you to have such a wonderful experience… but also realize that maybe you NOT entering into worship is holding that same person back.

PSALM 81:1-5 

¹ Sing aloud to God our strength;  shout for joy to the God of Jacob! ²Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
   the sweet lyre with the harp.³Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. ⁴For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. ⁵He made it  a decree in Joseph
   when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:

John 4:23-24

²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

Romans 12:1

 ¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship

Hebrews 12:28-29

²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord!

Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This past few months I have been thinking about my life where it is now, and thinking that perhaps instead of waiting for God to open a door for me I was instead Chuck Norris style kicking down a locked door, that was never intended to be opened for me at all. The hardest part for me has always been knowing when God is telling me to do something, and when I am just projecting my own wishes on His will. But God says that He knows the plans He has for me. I just keep trying to figure out how I am supposed to know them as well. So after searching for several days on this, I came to the conclusion that first I should find out what God asks of me in scripture, and what He requests of those who claim to follow Him,  and here is what I have found so far. 

1. Fear the Lord your God and walk in all His ways- Deuteronomy 10: 12

2. Love Him and serve the Lord with all my heart, soul and to keep His commands- Deuteronomy 10:13-14

3. Seek the Lord and His strength- Psalm 105: 3-4

4.To know God and to show mercy more than sacrifice- Hosea 6:6

5. To show mercy and compassion to those around me - Zechariah 7: 9-10

6. To Rejoice in the Lord in everything that I put my hand to. -Deuteronomy 12:7

7. Do everything as unto the Lord. -Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Or in  Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men

These verses are outlined below. But in conclusion I have decided that the more I learn about God and what He is asking me to be, the closer I will be walking with Him and the easier it will be for me to hear His voice. 

I remember as a child when we would go the wrong way or do something we weren't supposed to my mom would yell at us "Hear my voice and obey me at once!" This week I pray that I will be able to hear God's voice and obey Him... regardless of what or how hard what He's asking me to do is.

(Deuteronomy 10:12-14) "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, {13} "and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? {14} "Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.

(Psalms 105:3-4) Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! {4} Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

(Hosea 6:6) For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

(Zechariah 7:9-10) "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. {10} Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.'

(Mark 12:29-31) Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. {30} 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. {31} "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Be still and know that He is God

As I read through the bible this week I've spent more time reading, and less time understanding that I normally would. I've had a lot of extra things on my plate this week, and even though most of them pertain to church on Sunday... this week being Easter and all, it seems like the constant business that I'm doing to prepare has in NO way brought me closer to God.

In fact, as I was driving to work today I started to feel like I was suffering from a terrible case of God ADD. Everytime I would try to focus on something God was asking me to think about or focus on, I would be pulled away by one thought or another. Then as I was driving over the top I felt a very strong voice say to me: "Be still and know that I am God". Of course I have read this very many times before from Psalm 46:10, but it felt very real to me. So I determined for the rest of the drive I was going to lay aside my sporatic thoughts, and just focus on what it was that God was asking of me.

I'd like to say that at that moment it was problem solved, but unfortunately inspite of all my good intentions it took me much longer to allow this to sink into my soul. All I pray is that for the remainder of the week I can stop worrying so much about the mundane things that I seem to care so much about and will put my mind where it should be.
Interestingly the latter half of the verse reads: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Tonight as I read that I think that He may also want us to exalt(to lift up) Him to the top of our personal lists as well.

The Triumphal Entry

I have been reading up on Palm Sunday all week trying to determine appropriate songs for this years service. As a child Palm Sunday was always one of my favorites. The music was always upbeat and exciting, we would get palm branches and would run around pretending to worship Jesus as he rode in on a donkey. Of course there was never a literal donkey, but the theory was still there.

The trouble is, that this week as I study the passages in the gospels(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44 and John 12:12-19) I keep thinking about how I would feel if I were Jesus, riding in on a donkey being praised and treated like the King that I was. All the while knowing that those very same people were going to be the ones that in just a few short days would be my betrayers, the people calling to have me crucified, or denying any knowledge of me at all. I thought about what my reaction would be, which would probably not be terribly gracious. Yet somehow in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed (Luke 22:42)   ⁴²Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 
Or how on the cross looking into the faces of the people that begged for his death and said:
(Luke 23:34)³⁴  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

How or why we deserve such a Savior is completely unknown to me, but as it says in Romans

Romans 5:7-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

.

Repent.... ????

The Webster definition of the word Repent

REPENT: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life

When thinking about Brother Lee's sermon on Sunday I got caught up in the 'toe stepping' that I'm sure we all should have and did feel. You see in this generation we have been placated by a picture of Jesus as a peace sign giving hugger who never condemns anyone and walks around with a sign that says: "Go ahead do whatever you want, I got it covered". But reading through the new testament I see just the opposite. Read Luke 11:37-12: 5 or 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 or of course Revelations 21:8 and you will see what I mean. 

When thinking about the people that Jesus' life touched yes he spent time with tax collectors and prostitutes, but when he forgave them, they did not go back to their lifestyles from before. I think that modern 'Christian's' have this attitude that regardless of what we are currently doing, Jesus will forgive us and therefore we don't need to change anything. But II Chronicles says exactly the opposite. It says in Chapter 7:14 ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

God is waiting for us to :TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS. That doesn't just mean the sins that we see other people doing, this is things that we are personally doing as well. And quite frankly I find it quite refreshing to see that we still have people in this world that are willing to 'step on a few toes' in order keep us from continuing to displease God.

Titus 1:16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Luke 11:37-12:7 (New International Version, ©2011)

Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

 ³⁷ When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸ But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. ³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
   ⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
   ⁴³ “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
   ⁴⁴ “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
 ⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
 ⁴⁶ Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
   ⁴⁷ “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. ⁴⁸So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.⁴⁹ Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ ⁵⁰ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
   ⁵² “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
 ⁵³ When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch him in something he might say.

Luke 12

Warnings and Encouragements

 ¹ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be^[a] on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.   ⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Rejoice in the Lord always!!!

I was reading in Deuteronomy today and came across this verse: Deut. 12:18 the latter half that reads: Rejoice in the Lord in everything you put your hand to. I've read this verse before, and many like it. I've heard songs and sermons about this very topic, but today this seemed to stand out to me. I mean it's easy to rejoice when the sky is blue, birds are singing, worship is good, fellowship is sweet, when what I do seems to make a difference. But what about when I stub my toe, or get a flat tire, what about when I'm doing dishes or cleaning up after a sick kid, being berated for something I didn't even do wrong or perhaps just being stuck in a job that I don't feel like I can stand for one more minute. That is harder to rejoice in... yet the bible says to rejoice in everything you put your hand to. Why perhaps this stood out so much to me was because I was struggling with this very issue for the majority of last week. From the sick child, to the struggles with my job. I thought to myself, how should I have rejoiced through ALL of that!

As I was contemplating this I realized that I was focusing on the what and the when, but was completely skipping the why. When I reread the verse this way : Rejoice in the Lord in everything you put your hand to. Things became much clearer. You see regardless of the circumstances in the tiny little pocket of my life around me, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! And that my friends is our reason to rejoice. So perhaps the next time joy is not even on my mind let alone in my vocabulary, I will be able to say with the Psalmist (Psalm 70:4) But may all who seek You, rejoice and be glad in You!