Monthly Archives: May 2010

Training

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Hello.  My name is Andy. (hello Andy). And I’ve got a problem.  I really enjoy running.  Now,while it is not a “problem” per sue, it can be a little crazy. I used to say the only way I’d run would be if Holly was chasing me.  Now, each morning before I leave for work, I try to jog at least 5K.  Yes.  That’s makes me a little off.

As I was reading one of the suggested texts today, I read something out of 1 Timothy that spoke about not just about jogging or training, but about something even more important:

Train yourself in godliness, 8 for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

As a jogger, I hate to miss a day. If I don’t jog, I feel sluggish and just don’t feel right.  Many of us today are starting different training routines – P90X or Couch to 5K, or whatever. These are all good, good things.

But, Paul reminds us today, that while these are good, there is something even better we should be doing.  We should be training out hearts and minds for Jesus Christ. We should be training ourselves in godliness. We should do doing things that strengthen our faith, and our ability to serve.

And, here’s where it can get tough. There are some days I don’t feel like jogging. But I go and make myself. And the feeling of accomplishment I get afterwards make the “making myself” worth it.

There are going to be days when we don’t feel like reading the Word. When we don’t feel like praying. When we don’t feel like serving.  When we just don’t want to.

And we have to, gasp!, make ourselves.  That’s ok. That’s part of training. That’s part of growing. That’s part of being transformed. CS Lewis once said the most powerful prayers we pray are the ones we pray when we don’t feel like praying.

Today, are we training for godliness?  Are we doing the things to help our faith grow? Are we being more faithful? Are we doing our part to allow God’s spirit to work on us?

We train daily for something much more important that a 5K. We train for the Kingdom. May we be faithful today!

Pride

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The suggested Old Testament readings the past few days have been from Proverbs. I’ve always loved Proverbs and Psalms.  Dr. Frank Pollard, one of the best preachers I’ve ever known, used to always tell folks to read three Psalms and a chapter of Proverbs a day, it would really make a difference. And I believe that to be true.

As I praying today, I started thinking about pride, and the famous passage we know from Proverbs popped in my mind Proverbs 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

It hit me this morning one of the ways that pride brings forth destruction in my life. It looks like this.

I need to be a better person. I need to be more faithful.  I need to do more.  I need to change.  I need to be different. I need to. . . whatever.

How is that prideful? Those look like good, Christian statements.  How is that pride?

It’s pride in that I’ve mistakenly though I can do it. I just need to bow up.  I just need to do more. I can do it.  I just haven’t.  But I can.

No, I can’t.  Pride fools us in to thinking we are stronger than we really are. Pride fools us into thinking we are smarter than we really are. Pride makes us think that if we just want it enough, we can do it!

That’s not what the Bible teaches.  The Bible reminds us that through God, all things are possible.  Yes, we can change. We can be different. We can do better. We can be new. We can be a new creation. We can experience all these things.

But, not through our strength and will. But through God’s grace.

Pride makes us think we can do it.

And, as long as we think we can do it, we will never be able to do it.

Only through His grace can we do any of it. Only through His grace can we be new and different. Only through His grace can we change. Only through His grace can we live.

The pride goes before the fall. May we not be prideful today. May we remember that our true strength comes not from ourselves.

But from God.

There is Hope

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Today as I was reading and praying, I read these words from Matthew:

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. 41 The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders and telling them that they must repent. They are asking Him for a sign earlier in the passage, but He says none will be given, for they have among the greatest sign – Himself.

And He gives reference to those in the Old Testament that have repented and received new life.  He says that those that turn receive new life, but they must be willing to turn and live.

There is no one beyond God’s grace. I believe that with every fiber of my being.  There is no one that can’t start again, today.  There is no one that can’t know God’s forgiveness.  No one is beyond the pale, if they are willing to turn back.

I’ve seen recently in some ways and in some lives the power of sin to destroy what is good.  Sin is a destructive force that seeks to take away all that is good.

And one of the things that sin takes away is hope. The hope that it can be different.  The hope that it can change.  The hope that life can begin again. The hope that today is a new day.

Sin beats us down.  It breaks us apart.  It robs us.

It wants us to think that change can’t happen. That there is no hope for things getting better.

That is not. Where there is repentance, there is forgiveness. Where there is grace, there is new life.

Where there is God, there is hope.

Today, no matter what sin and the devil whisper in your ear, there is hope.

This is a new day. Things can change.  You can be different.

God and goodness will win.  Sin will not.

Today, there is hope.  You can change.  You can life.

Through God’s grace. Today, there is hope.

Get Back Up!

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One of my mentors said something in class once which has always stuck with me – Bible Characters weren’t always Bible Characters.  They were real folks, like me and you. And, somehow along the way, we’ve forgotten that. What do I mean by that?

Each of them, they each made terrible, terrible mistakes. They were human as we are. That means they were not perfect. They did dumb things, just like we do dumb things. They fell down, as well fall down. They were imperfect, and God loved them anyway. Just like He loves us.

Paul reminds us today in 1 Timothy:

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the foremost. 16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

Paul, this great man of faith, this man that started church after church, this man, led by the Holy Spirit, this man that wrote over half of the New Testament, says that he was unworthy of doing what God had called him to do.

He had fallen down, he had made mistakes.  He had done things he should haven’t done.

But, while he was unworthy, God had judged him worthy.   He didn’t deserve the grace God gave him.  No one does. That’s why it’s called grace.  It’s undeserved, it’s freely given.  No matter what we’ve done, we are loved. And forgiven.  And treasured by God.  No matter what.

You are loved.

Yes, your past is your past.  Yes, you (and I) have fallen down.  So, what do do we?  We get back up!  We fall down, we get up. We fall down, we get up!  Because God’s grace is bigger than any mistake we could make. God’s grace is bigger.

Remember, you are loved today.  God used someone even like Paul.  He can use us too. When we fall down, by His grace, may we get back up!

How to Pass a Test

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One of the things that worries me, that worries many of us, is this, how will I be ready when a test comes?

None of us look forward to tests, want tests, desire to be tested.

We all want peaceful, calm, easy lives.

That’s something we all really, really want.

But, we all also know that a time of testing and trial will come. It’s something we all face.

Today’s readings seem to fit together (to me) in a way that showed me some truth about testing that I needed to be reminded of.

First, the Psalmist in Psalm 105 talks about the faithfulness of God, and recounts all God had done. But, he says in the Psalm

17 He sent a man before them, *
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They bruised his feet in fetters; *
his neck they put in an iron collar.
19 Until his prediction came to pass, *
the word of the LORD tested him.

Testing will come, even for God’s people.

Just because you love God and He loves you, that doesn’t mean that testing won’t come. Don’t regard your tests as a failure. Don’t thing you’ve done anything wrong. Don’t think you’ve failed. Test come to us all.

Then, in Zechariah, the Lord says these words to His prophet:

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

The Lord has just given him a calling to go and proclaim God’s Word. But, before he does, the Lord reminds him – it’s by God’s Spirit that he will accomplish what God has for him.

That really nailed me this morning. So often I try to pass those tests on my own.  I try to beat back tests and trials and temptations on my own.

By my will.

My strength.

My might.

And, I fail.

But the Lord reminds us, not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

The surest way to fail whatever test we face today is by relying upon our ability.  Our strength.  Our will.  We simply can’t do it alone.

How to pass a test?  The Lord.  His Spirit.  His life.  His power.  Through Him.

We will face tests, each day.  May we remember that it through Him and in Him, we can come through theses tests and cross over to new and abundant life.

God is Bigger

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One of the things in life that many of us know and experience is fear.  It’s something that as children we all know, the fear of the dark, the unknown, strangers, whatever.  We each have what is sometimes called “childlike fear.”

But, as we grow older we find that while our fears change, fear remains a constant in our lives. We, especially now, have many fears. I’ve seen in the past few years, the church become very afraid. Afraid of what’s happening the world. Of politics.  Of war. Of divisions within the church.  Of divisions within culture.

Of the economy.  Of losing our job.  Of note being able to pay our bills.  Of losing our home.  Of many, many things.

Fear is something we each have tasted recently.

And, perhaps, that’s why I found such comfort in a prayer that I read today in my morning prayers. It’s simply entitled “A Collect for Peace”

God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I love that line – surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of our adversaries. .

Today, we all have something we fear. We all have something we dread.

Perhaps it something at work.  In our family.  In our finances.  In our personal life.  We all have something that robs our peace.

But, today, know this as well.  Whatever it is. God is bigger.  God’s defense is bigger than whatever it is you fear.

Don’t be afraid.  Trust. God is bigger. God is stronger.  God is more mighty.

Do.  Not.  Fear.  God is with you.

Today, trust in His defense.  Trust in His strength.  Trust in His might.

Know His peace, His life, His life. Do not be afraid. Trust.

And find His life.

Routine

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I’m a man of routine. I have a certain routine that I like to follow most morning before I head out the office – reading, prayer, jogging, and some time with family.  It seems to make my day go better when I do these things. I really enjoy my routines, and I really need my routines.

The last few weeks have been a little (or a lot) crazy.  We’ve had several long trips to various places.  I’ve had meetings in Jackson. I had a little thing I like to call gall bladder surgery.  It’s been something else.

And more change is coming in the coming weeks, with a new church, a new house (along with a new house payment!) and all the changes that go with it!

And so this morning, as I began again my routine, it was so great to read the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 100

1 Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; *
serve the LORD with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
2 Know this: The LORD himself is God; *
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; *
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
4 For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting; *
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

I’ve read this Psalm most everyday the past few years. It’s become part of my routine. And it felt so good to read this morning.

The Lord has made us. We are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

What a comfort, knowing that no matter what happens in life, we are His. We are the sheep of His pasture.

And, in life, we need the routines of knowing these things. We need the routines of hearing these things again, and again, and again.

We need to be reminded that in a world of constant change, somethings remain the same. No matter what happens, we are the sheep of His pasture.  No mater what changes happen, we are sheep of His pasture.  No matter what unknown the future holds, we are the sheep of His pasture.

I’m so glad I had my routine of scripture and prayer this morning to remind me of that.

What routines do you have to allow you to hear His voice? What routines are there in your life that cause you to know that you are His?

We need these things. I became convicted today that no matter what happens I can’t lose my routines.

What about you?  What are the routines in your life? What do you hold to?

May we have those things in life that remind us that we are His. We are the sheep of His pasture.

Mindful

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One of today’s Psalms was one that shows the power of God, but also shows our place in creation.  In Psalm 8 it says this:

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
the son of man that you should seek him out?
6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
you adorn him with glory and honor;

Think about what an awesome God that God is.  He made all that is, both seen and unseen.  He created everything that has being.  Scripture tells us that He holds all things together.

He is the author of life, of salvation, of everything.

He is the great God of the universe. The God of the Cosmos. The God of all.

His greatness is too much for our feeble minds to understand.  His power is and knowledge is too great for us to even fathom.

He is God of all.

He made all.

He.  Is.  God.

Wow.

And, He wants to know us. Think about that. . . . .

The God of the universe, the God of the cosmos. The God of all.  His greatest desire it to be in relationship with us. Wow.

He has made us for relationship and for love.  He has made us to know us.  He has made us to love us.  He has made us for Himself.

Your greatest purpose in life is to know and love the creator God.

The vast God of the universe, the amazing God of creation, the infinite God of everything, He wants to know you.  Personally.  Deeply.  Loving you.

Of all the things that blow my mind, this is among the greatest.

This awesome God desires relationship with us.  Wow.

Today, know who He is. And know who we are. And marvel at the fact that God Almighty is a personal God for us each.

May we spend time today knowing Him better.