Monthly Archives: September 2010

Help is on the Way

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I’m not a big fan of Westerns.  I don’t know why. I should love them.  My daddy loved them.  He loved the books.  He loved the movies.  I watched them a ton when I was a kid.

I should like them.

But, for some reason, I just don’t.

Except for Tombstone.  One of the greatest movies ever.

I’ll tell you what I do like though, in all the Westerns I’ve seen.

That moment when I looks bad. The guys in the black hats are going to win. It looks bad for the good guys. They are going to be defeated.  They are going to lose. Evil is going to triumph.

And then, from nowhere, here comes the Calvary! And the good guys win!

Help is one the way!

I thought of that as I read from Psalm 71 today:

14 But I shall always wait in patience, *
and shall praise you more and more.
15 My mouth shall recount your mighty acts
and saving deeds all day long; *
though I cannot know the number of them.

The Psalmist is waiting. Things are bad.  It doesn’t look good.  It looks like evil will win.

But, he recounts God’s saving acts in the past.  He recalls how God has been there.

How God has won before in the end.

And how God will win again the future.

It may look bad, but help is on the way.

It’s true for us today as well.  No matter what you are going through today, help is one the way.

Don’t worry.

God won in the past and God will win in the future. Don’t give up.

God will win.

Help in on the way.

Trust. Hope.  Believe.  God will win.  Help is on the way.

Something Worth Living For

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What gives your life value?

What do you live for?

Is it your status?

Power?

Money?

Hobbies?

Family?

What is it that you live for? We’ve all got something that matters to us.  Something that rolls up our socks in the morning.  Something that is dear to our lives.

Today, is that thing for you, is it the right thing?

Listen to what Jesus says in John 12:

24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

I love life.  I love my stuff.  I love my family, I love my calling, I love my Ole Miss Rebel football team.  I do wish we’d learn to play in the second half, but that’s neither here nor there.

In the end, there is something, or someone, that has to, that must trump all of this.

Jesus.

He must come first. Everything else will fail. Everything else will fade. Everything else will disappoint.

Jesus will not.  He will never fail or disappoint us.  He will always be life for us.

People, places, and stuff, they are not perfect and we can’t base our lives on them.

Jesus is the rock.  He must be in the center.

And, if He is in the center, then everything else works. Everything is as it ought to be, if He is in the center of our lives.

What is that thing today that we are living for?   May, in each our lives, it be Jesus.

It’s All About Timing

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God hears every prayer.

And God answers every prayer.

We like that notion. We like that truth.

There’s only one problem.

Sometimes, the answer is not the one that we’d like. Sometimes, the answer to our prayer is not the answer that we would wish for or that we would hope for.

Sometimes the answer is no.

Sometimes the answer is even harder to hear.

Sometimes it’s wait.  No is not the time or the moment. The time or the moment may be coming.  But now, now may not be the time.

We see an example of that in Acts today:

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

They were forbidden (by God) from speaking.

Why? Why would God do that?

Why would God keep them from speaking?

That may not have been the time. That may not have been the moment.

It’s all about timing.  What you think is the right time might not be the right time. What you think is the right moment might not be the right moment.

God’s time and God’s moment may be very, very different from ours.

So, even if the answer is no, have faith. This may not be the right time. Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t quit.

Even if the answer is wait.  Even if it’s no.

Now may not be the time.

It’s ok. God is at work. Believe. Have faith. God will not leave you.

Trust in God’s timing.  Even if it’s not your own. Trust in God.

Today.

There is a God

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I used to be the token Methodist at the old Baptist Bookstore in Jackson, MS.  Now, Lifeway Christian Store. Anyway, when I was the token Methodist there, I always enjoyed the Christian shirts were used to sell. Some were good, some were pointed, some made you think.

And some were just goofy.

But there was one that we sold that always stuck with me.

On the front it said – There is a God.  And on the back it said, And you’re not it.

I always think of that shirt when I read Job 40 and we see God finally respond to Job and Job’s questions. This is what God says:

6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 “Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.

8 “Will you discredit my justice
and condemn me just to prove you are right?
9 Are you as strong as God?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 All right, put on your glory and splendor,
your honor and majesty.
11 Give vent to your anger.
Let it overflow against the proud.
12 Humiliate the proud with a glance;
walk on the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them in the dust.
Imprison them in the world of the dead.
14 Then even I would praise you,
for your own strength would save you.

God basically says, Oh yeah?  You think you’ve got it all figured out?  You think you know everything?

What about this? Were you there when I made it all?  Were you there in creation? Can you answer these things?  Do you know it all?  Are you aware of everything.

There is a God.  And we are not it.

You.  Are.  Not.  God.

Relax.  The world doesn’t depend on you.  You are a part of the bigger whole. Everything is not life or death.

Relax. Breathe.  Listen.  Focus.  Look.

God is God.  You’re not.  You don’t have to live with the weight of the world on your shoulders.  You are just one person.

There’s a God bigger than you in control.  Relax.  He will take care you.  He will not leave or forsake you.

He loves you.

Trust in Him today. There is a God bigger than you are I.  Relax. Trust.

Even if it doesn’t look like it, He knows what He’s doing.

Trust.

Today.

Salvation Issues

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What’s most important to the faith?

What matters the most?   What is the essentials of faith?

There a lot of things that faith encompasses.  There a lot of different things that we as Christians believe.

But, what’s most important?

What are these things I call salvation issues? These essentials that we are called to gold together over?

We can “discuss” (i.e. argue) baptism or beliefs or worship, but what matters? What is most important?

What are salvation issues?

We see this crop up today in the book of Acts. They were discussing what matters the most, today, what is essential. This is what the text says:

11On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’

Jesus.

That’s what it all comes down to. We can argue about a lot things. There are a lot of things we can disagree over.  We can have a lot of different interpretations of scripture.

And that’s ok.

But, what it all comes down to is Jesus.  These things we often disagree over, in the end, they aren’t that important.

What matters is Jesus.

If we believe in Him, have faith in Him, have Him as our Lord, then that’s what matters the most.  Everything else fades into the back.

Today, don’t worry as much about these things. Don’t focus on these things that distract.

It’s all about Jesus. That’s what matters most.

May we focus on what’s most important.  May we focus on what matters.

And may we find the life that comes only through Jesus.

Don’t Waste a Crisis

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I am not fluent in many languages. Some many even argue I’m not too fluent in English!

But, there’s always been a statement about something in Chinese language that has intrigued me.

In the Chinese language, they don’t have “letters” like we do, but instead they have characters with represent words and concepts.

In that, I’ve always heard that the Chinese word for “crisis” is the same word as “opportunity.”  That’s not exactly true, there are two characters that make up the word crisis, one character is danger, and the other is opportunity.

But, we se in that language, the word crisis is related to the word opportunity.

What does that have to do with anything?

Listen to the words of Psalm 119:

71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, *
that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is dearer to me *
than thousands in gold and silver.

Have you thought that about your affliction?  Have you allowed your trials, troubles, and afflictions to draw you closer to God?

Every moment we are alive, every moment we breathe, each of these events, they are chances to for us to grow closer to God.

Are you using the trials of life to draw you closer to God?  Are the moments of hurt, are they driving you to prayer? To read the Word?  To be in communion with God?

Trials and troubles, they will push us to God or away from God.  What is happening in your life?

Are you allowing your troubles to drive you closer to God? For only in Him will we find peace and comfort and hope in the midst of trials.

Every trial is an opportunity to grow closer to God.  They aren’t fun, they aren’t easy, and they aren’t something that we to go through.

But, they can draw us closer to God.

Are we allowing that happen?

In our walk with God, let’s not waste a moment.  Even these moments of trials and troubles, they can draw us closer to God.

Let’s not waste a single moment.

An Arrow Pointing to Heaven

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One of my favorite quotes by Rich Mullins was when he talked about how our job in life was to simply be an arrow pointing to heaven.  All of our lives should be lived out in that way, pointing others to God and to His mercy and life.

We don’t live this life for us.  It’s not for our glory. It’s for  God’s glory.

Sometimes, through, it can be hard to remember that.

We see something happen in Acts that could have really trip Paul and Barnabas up:

11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. . . 14When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15’Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

I’m sure we’ve all had folks think a lot of us before, but probably haven’t had too many folks tell us that we are a god.  Paul and Barnabas had been working really hard for the Gospel.

They’d been beaten, been kicked out of towns, been locked up.

Most of the time they were despised in the towns they were in.  In many towns they had literally been run out of town.

And now, finally, someone likes them! The entire town rises up and says, hey, you’re awesome.

You’re a god!

They knew it wasn’t true. They knew they were just flesh and bone. And part of me wonders if that didn’t feel good to them, for at least once, not be stoned out of a town.

But, they remembered what they were there for, to be an arrow pointing to heaven. And they used the fame they’d acquired to talk about the Gospel.

Today, that’s our job as well. We are to point to God with all we do. All we say. All we are.  We are to use the circumstances of our lives to point to God.

There’s a lost and dying world out there, in need of hearing and seeing the love and grace of God.  And it’s our job to point it that God.

With all that we have and all that we are, may we be that arrow pointing to heaven today.