Monthly Archives: March 2011

Thirsty

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When you are thirsty, I mean, really thirsty, nothing will satisfy but something to drink. When you wake up and parched, you must have something to drink.

When you are exercising and finish, your body demands something to drink.

After certain foods, your mouth is dry, and you must have something to drink.

It’s almost like our body says to us – you will get me something to drink!  I am thirsty!  I must have something to drink!

Listen to the words of Psalm 42 this morning:

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?

The Psalmist says that he thirst for God.  I think that’s a very powerful image.  He is craving God.  He must have God.  His life and soul demand God.

And nothing will satisfy but God.  Nothing will sooth and give life but God.  In our lives, we have cravings.  In our lives, we have needs.  In our lives, there are things that we want, things that we think that we want or need.

Today, in this passage, we see our need. We see what we desperately need. We see what it comes down to. We see what we are actually craving and actually needing.

God. We are thirsty today. We are thirsty for Him.

And today, and each day, only He will satisfy.  Today, are you thirsty for Him?  Are you thirsty for life?

Today, may you walk deeper with Him than ever.  And in Him may you find your thirst satisfied.

Why Its Called Grace

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You can’t make God love you.  You can’t.

I’ve said this before in sermons at Asbury, so of you may have heard this statement before and know where I’m going with this, but let me say it again.

You can’t make God love you.

If you are living your life doing all that you can do to earn God’s love, you will never earn it and you will live your life trying to earn something that simply cannot be earned.

You can’t make God love you.

You don’t have to.  He simply loves you.  NO.  MATTER.  WHAT.

Listen to what Paul tell us in Romans 5 today:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Christ died for us not because we deserved it or had earned that grace and forgiveness.  In fact, He did it for the exact opposite reason.  He did it because we couldn’t.  He gave us grace because we couldn’t earn it.

You don’t need to live your life trying to earn God’s love.  You need to live your life as a response to God that loves you more than you would ever think possible.

You don’t need to make God love you. He already does.  You don’t have to earn God’s love.  It’s already given.  That’s why it’s called grace.  It’s not earned.  It’s not deserved.  It’s a free gift from an amazing God.

Today, you are loved.  Know that.  Believe that.  Live in that.  You are loved.  Today.

Live in the depth of God’s grace.  And in that, you’ll find life worth living.

Who Are You Misjudging?

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Who is the person that you think to yourself, there’s no way God can use them!

There is no way that God can possible use that person.  Look who they are!  Look where they are from!  Surely they are not usable by God.

Who is that person for you?  Where is that place for you?

Listen to what some folks said this morning about Jesus in John 7:

They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

Galilee was from the northern part of Israel. And while it was, and is in my opinion, the most beautiful part of Israel, it is not the most “prestigious.”  A prophet is supposed to come from Jerusalem, the political and spiritual capital of Israel.

Or a prophet is supposed to come from Bethlehem, the place where King David was from. That’s where a prophet was supposed to come from!

And this Jesus, was from Galilee, they knew that!  But did they?

See, they thought that Jesus from Galilee because that’s where He did  most of His ministry from and where His family moved to.  But, we know the rest of the story.  We know that He was actually born in Bethlehem where a the Messiah was supposed to be born.

See, the didn’t know the whole story. They they thought they did. And because of that, along with other reasons, they missed what God was doing.

They misjudged Jesus. They thought that, based off their limited knowledge, God couldn’t use Him.

Today, who are you misjudging?  Who have you already made up your mind about, without knowing the entire story? Who have you, and I, have we prejudged? Who have we already formed an opinion on, that may not be the entire the story?

God may want to speak to us through that person.  If our opinion is already formed, though, we may not be able to listen.  We need to be able to listen to all the ways that God wants to speak to us today.

Who have we misjudged?

They misjudged Jesus without knowing the truth.  Today, may we make not make that same mistake.  May we love, listen, and follow God. And may we be open to all the ways that God will speak. Today, and always.

What Are Christians To Do?

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What are Christians to do?

That’s a big, important question.  What are we to do?

Well Scripture tells us a lot – Jesus gives us the great command – Love the Lord with all your heart, your mind, your soul, your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

He gives us the great commission – go into all the world, making disciples and baptizing them in my name.

We are told by the prophets to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

We are told to forgive. To pray.  To take care of the less fortunate.  There are a lot of thing we are supposed to “do.”

But what are supposed to do first? It all, every last bit of it, starts today with what Paul writes in Romans 4:

For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

Abraham literally left everything that he had to follow God.  He left his home, his people, his family, his very life to follow God to a place that he did not even know.  He was obedient.  He did stuff for God!

But, for him, and for us, it all starts with this. Faith. It all starts with faith in God.  It all starts with belief. Everything.

Ever act of goodness, mercy, justice, truth. All these things – they are all birthed in faith.

For the Christian, for our lives, it all starts with faith. We are in an “inside-out” religion. The first thing that God wants to change is our hearts. As He changes our hearts, He will have our actions and our lives.

What is the sacrifice God desires? A broken and a contrite heart. God wants our hearts. He wants our faith. He wants our belief. He wants our love.

And if He has that, He will have our actions.

What are we to do? Place our full faith and hope in Jesus Christ.  And in doing that, God will have all our lives and all our actions.

Back to Basics – Our Response Podcast

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The sermon podcast for March 27, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It’s the third  in our series “Back to Basics.” It’s entitled “Our Response” and the text is John 3: 16-21.  You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

 

Remembering

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The Psalms are the songs of praise that the people of God sang to God. They were created as acts of praise to God in days of old, and remain the same today.

People have sung the Psalms for many, many years. So many songs we love, both modern and older have been inspired by the Psalms.

And the reason why the Psalms keep speaking to us every day for so many years is that they are so honest. They have within them every emotion we could ever experience. Every up, every down, everything. If we feel hurt or pain or joy or peace or whatever, its felt in the Psalms.

They are just so honest.

Thinking that, listen to the words or Psalm 71:

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

One of the most powerful thing we can ever do is to remember. The Psalms are so big on remembering. Remembering when God was faithful. When He saved us. When He stood by our side. When He was a our shield and strength. When He saved the day.

The Psalms call us to remember.

Because in the midst of trials and hurts we can forget. We can forget that God is good and ready to save. We can forget when God has helped us in the past. We can forget when God was all that we needed.

We forget. And when we forget, we will not remember that God is still there for us today.

We need to remember that God was there to save us in the past. And that means that He will be there to save us today.

Trust in Him. Know that He has been there in the past. And He is here today.

Ready to save.

Remember. And rejoice!

What’s Stopping You?

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Today’s story out of John 5 is one of my favorite stories in scripture.

We see a man sitting beside a pool where healing is known to take place. It’s a place where the angels come to stir the water the water and healing happens to those that get in the pool first. But, not everyone makes it in.

Some are too late.

Some are delayed.

Some are just not able.

That’s where the text picks up today. Listen to what happens:

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

What I love about this passage is something that we need to be reminded of. We talk a lot about our sin, our weakness, our frailty. We talk a lot about God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s understanding.

Something we don’t always talk enough about is our responsibility. Jesus asked him – would you like to be well? Duh, who wouldn’t? Then get up and walk.

Jesus made it possible for this man to be healed. Jesus didn’t want any excuses this morning, He asked do you want it? Then get up and walk.

The things that had stopped Him in the past stopped him no more. Jesus cleared the deck. Jesus got rid of those things. Jesus made it possible. He stopped what was stopping this man from being healed.

Jesus is greater than whatever is stopping you. Jesus is stronger. Jesus is more powerful. The power of the cross, the grace of Christ, the movement of the Holy Spirit, all these things are greater than whatever is stopping you.

What is stopping you today? From being faithful? From obeying? From living?

Jesus is greater. He is bigger than whatever is stopping you. May we live into the power and life of Jesus.

Who Are You

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Who are you?

That’s an odd question to start off a devotional with. What do I even mean by that?

What I mean is what defines you or makes you who you are?

Is it your job that makes you who you are? Your family? Your spouse? Your kids? Your success? Your failure? You house? You possessions? Your car? Your friends? Your power? Your . . . . whatever?

When you think about who you are, you life, your identity, what do you fall back on? What defines you?

Who are you?

Listen to the words of Psalm 100 this morning:

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

I just love that line – we are the sheep of His pasture. It is God that made us. It is God that formed us. It is God that defined us. We are His.

And we are the sheep of His pasture.

Life is not defined by what is our prized possession. Life is defined by who’s prize possession we are. God’s. We are His treasure. As Scripture says, we are the apple of His eye. We are His beloved.

What’s who we are.

Do you believe that? Do you live like that? Do you live with that assurance and hope and life?

Your life is not found in stuff or success or possessions. Its found in this – you were created by God. You are His. You are the sheep of His pasture.

That’s who you are. Live in this knowledge. Live in this hope. Live in this assurance.

Who are you? You belong to God. You are His. Live in that joy today!

Your Greatest Possession

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What is the thing you have that is worth the most in your life

Andy, what do you mean, worth the most?  Do you mean cost the most?  Has the most value?  Is most sentimental to me?

By the question, I can mean any of those things.  What is the thing that you treasure the most?  What is the thing that is so important to you?

Now, think about what you want the most right now. What is the thing that  if you had it, you could say – ah, now I’ve got “it.”  Now I’ve gotten what I need/want.  Here’s mine 🙂

Ok, got those thoughts in your mind? Thinking about them?

Now, listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 16: 26

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

What ever “it” is, it can’t compare to your soul. What ever “it” is, it will soon be destroyed.  Or dropped.  Or lost.  Or broken.  Or replaced.  What ever “it” is, it is not eternal.

Your soul is.  Your soul counts forever.  Your soul lives on.  Your soul is worth more than anything you could ever think of or desire. And if you lose your soul in pursuit of something that doesn’t really matter, what you have you done?

You’ve exchanged something eternal for something that is of this world.  Nothing is worth that.  Nothing.

You life will not be found in chasing the things of this world.  It will not be found in stuff.  It will not be found in whatever “it” is.  You life will be found in feeding your soul on the things of God.  It will be found in these things that are eternal.

That is what matters most. And that’s what we should be chasing. Don’t lose your soul for what is only of this world.  You soul is worth more to you (and God) than whatever “it.” is.

Never forget that.

God’s Response Podcast

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The sermon podcast for March 20, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It’s the second  in our series “Back to Basics.” It’s entitled “God’s Response” and the text is Jeremiah 31: 31-34.  You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.