Got caught by a train this morning on my way into the office.  Saw the red lights begin blinking, the bars start descending…”Oh shoot!  I don’t have time, I need to…”  What? Count the cars in the train? Who cares. It’s not like there’s an award for getting the number right.

And then you hear that voice…”chill…relax…why are you in such a hurry?”

I don’t know about you, but here lately I even have to sleep fast. Things are most definitely hectic for us right now.

I have to… be in charge, make things happen, run my life and possibly even save the world. I have to be super Christian! You know, leap tall buildings, make all problems go away with a single prayer. I’ve got a lot of responsibilities, don’t you?

Here comes the voice again…”be still.”

How can I? My world is crazy right now.

“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalm 46:10

So if He is God and I am not (obviously) have I been trying to do His job? If so, I’m sure I am making quite a mess of it. Wait, let me stop and think…

Thank God for that train.

Blessings

I know… I know… another devotion/blog about Thanksgiving right?

Seen it. Heard it. Read it. Been there, done that and bought the T-shirt right? Alright, try this on for size.

“give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:18

God knows something that we don’t. (does that surprise you?) There is power in Thanksgiving. No, not the turkey or the holiday… But a lifestyle of being thankful. Instead of constantly thinking about what I don’t have, remembering all that I do have. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, redirect my thoughts towards all that is going right.

God is constantly at work around you, but you might be missing Him because of your focus. God is constantly working for your good, but you might be blocking his efforts by your attitude or actions.

Stop.

Look Up.

Thank God for all the good things right now.

And if you really want stronger faith, thank God for all the bad things that He is leading you through and not leaving you in! Faith is built in the bad times, not the good.

Go ahead, try it. I dare you.

Oh, and by the way…

Happy Thanksgiving

Blessings

Saw an interesting quote recently that really got my attention. “People who pray are carried by their faith. People who don’t pray, have to carry their faith.”  OK, stop, read it again, and again, now think about it. Are you having to carry your faith?

Prayer is a natural extension of faith. You might even say that prayer is faith breathing.  Go ahead and try holding your breath. Can’t do it too long can you?  It takes an incredible amount of effort to maintain all the functions of our body without a regular supply of oxygen.

Apply that spiritually.  It takes an incredible amount of effort to keep our faith up without the natural exercise of prayer.  Prayer stretches my faith, builds my faith, strengthens my faith and rests my faith.  Sounds like a good workout doesn’t it?

But think about it…if you are not praying, you are not exercising your faith.  It’s going dormant, growing stagnant and steadily wasting away and You Really Need Your Faith!  How are you getting by in this world with a weak, anemic faith?  How are you carrying all your beliefs in God, eternity, forgiveness and your salvation?

Making sense yet?

Hit the Prayer closet, let your soul breathe and quit carrying such a heavy load.

Blessings

I was reading in my devotion today from Jeremiah. He prophesied from the reign of King Josiah all the way to King Zedekiah and most of the Kings did not like what he had to say. A specific incident caught my attention.

God told Jeremiah to write down all the prophesies he had given over the years. The attendants to the King got a hold of it and began reading it to him. These were messages of warning and judgment. The Bible says that it was during the winter and the King had a fire going. As they would read portions of the scroll, the king would slice that portion off with his penknife and throw it into the fire. Eventually, he burned the entire scroll that Jeremiah had recorded.

God then spoke a very specific prophesy of the King’s doom which did come to pass. Jeremiah recorded the prophesies again and thankfully his words endured for us to read today.

The most powerful man cannot stop, change or reverse the word of the Lord.

“Your word O Lord is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens.”  Psalm 119:89

If you have received a word of warning, pay attention.

If you have received a word of blessing, hang on to it.

Blessings

Found a scripture today in my “One-Year Bible” reading that I thought you might like.

Colossians 2:7  Let your roots grow down into him [Christ] and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done. 

Roots are crucial to the life of a Christian. Without them, you won’t make it very long.

Consider the seasons… The weather is really nice right now, chilly mornings and cool days. But we know winter is heading our way. Freezing temps are not too great for our plants. Spring is always gorgeous, but then comes the heat and humidity. How does that tree in your yard make it through all that change?  Deep roots.

They provide sustenance when the weather doesn’t. They hold it steady when the storms blow.

We are the same. We must have deep roots in a life-giving source. Without them, we will wither away.

Roots produce growth as well. We call it discipleship. Spiritual maturing is mandated in the Bible.

Roots produce fruit. The verse says our lives can overflow. Think of the fruit of the Spirit; the impact that my life can have one someone else.

All because I have decided to root my life in Christ.

Blessings

Have you ever been in pursuit of God, and felt like He was running faster than you? Running away from you? Hiding from you?

I read this passage in today’s devotion and thought you might like it.

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.” Isaiah 30:18

If I am reading this right, it appears to me that God is pursuing me. He is not just longing for me, He is longing to shower His grace on me. He knows that I desperately need His grace today, and tomorrow and… you get the point right?

How is it that we have been made to feel that we have to pursue God, when the Scripture makes it clear that from the beginning, God has been pursuing us?

“Proof” you say?

“But theLORD God called to the man,“Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”  Galatians 4:4,5

So we find Mercy pursuing us from the Old Testament to the New.

Now, if I am tired and weary of running in pursuit, I am thinking about trying something really radical. I think I’m going to stop running and stop trying to force things to work my way, and stop trying to figure everything out. I think I’ll just stop here, catch my breath and wait on God.

I hear His footsteps now.

Blessings

David said: “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.” Psalm 139:1

This passage never ceases to amaze me.

That God knew me before I was conceived. That He watched me being formed and growing each day. That He knows my thoughts before I think them and my words before I speak them. That all the days of my life are already recorded in His book.

That there is nowhere I can go that He cannot see me. That there is no circumstance so dreadful, no night so dark nor a storm so violent that He will not be with me.

That He knows my weaknesses. That He knows my temptations. That He knows my failures and Thankfully, He knows my successes.

He knows that “I am but dust” that I am “an earthen vessel” and that my “life is but a vapor” here today and gone tomorrow.

He has thoroughly examined me. He knows me inside and out. He knows me better than I know myself.

And He Loves Me.

Wow.

Blessings

Maybe you’re read that famous poem by Dylan Thomas. (If not, here’s a link. I think you’ll enjoy it.) http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377

He wrote this poem for his dying father, urging him not to give up his fight for life.

The line has been in my mind recently, thinking specifically about all the bad news and negativity surrounding us. I have felt a palpable pressure on my spiritual shoulders, literally the weight of the world pressing down on me.

“What are we going to do about…?”  (Name your problem or pressure here)

Do you understand that the enemy of your soul loves to drag you down with worry, fear and pressure? He knows if he can keep you preoccupied, he can take away your spiritual vitality and effectiveness. And he is very good at it.

But I believe it’s time for us to be reminded of who we are, and that the fight is most definitely not over. In the words of this poem, I hear the battle cry, “never, ever give up.”

The Apostle Paul puts it this way:“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us,who can be against us? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors throughhim who loved us.”  Romans 8:31,37

If I have a choice, and I do… I choose to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

The alternative is to give up.

Blessings

This Sunday morning, September 4th, I want to start a new series dealing with some requirements that God has for us. That’s right, I said requirements. Does that shock you? I imagine a lot of people won’t like that idea. It seems to me, we’ve all been told over and over again, “just get saved and everything else will be all right.”

And I imagine people who have tried to follow that advice are living a very hollow Christianity indeed.

Still others would say, “I’m just not sure what I am supposed to be doing to be a ‘good Christian’”  I readily admit that Christians and sometimes the church can confuse us with conflicting ideas about things we should or should not be doing.

So where do we find the answers? Let’s try the Bible. And to those who say the Bible is just too confusing to understand, I submit to you that the Bible is actually amazingly clear and concise. The statements that are made are actually simple and easy to follow, if we are willing to live in total obedience.

Would you like proof?

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Three simple concepts that I intend to preach on in the coming weeks.

I hope to see you there.

God Bless

Sorry about the big lag in blogging. It’s been hectic. If you’re still with me, I’ll get back on schedule now.

In all the confusion, I almost missed something. Today is the eight-year anniversary of our family coming to Living Faith Church. It certainly doesn’t seem that long. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”  And we have had a good time. You have been loving and supportive to our family and we are thankful for that.

But what about the future?

I am convinced that God has gathered together an exceptional group of people (that means you) for an exceptional purpose. I just read the book of Esther and I saw a verse that applies:

Esther 4:14  ”And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?””

I believe that God has called our church for this time and we need your help. There are plenty of places and positions where you can help serve as we fulfill the Kingdom Mandate.

There is nothing as fulfilling as finding a place to serve.

Let me know where you’re ready to serve.

God Bless