Monthly Archives: February 2013

Why Does God Forgive Us?

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urlGod is a God that forgives His people. He is a God that longs to restore and renew His people.

We get that. You’ve heard me say that a lot. You’ve seen me write that a lot. If you’ve been around my ministry for any length of time, you’ve heard multiple times that God is a God that loves us and forgives us. That His love for us is more than we can ever understand.

Ok, Andy, sure.

But why?

Why does God forgive us? Why does God restore us? Why does God renew us?

Why?

There are lots of reasons why. Lots of reasons why the Lord forgives us our sins and renews us.

The first is because He made us. He created us. He made us in His image and He loves us. As a father loves His children, so does God love us. Jesus came, suffered and died for our sins to pay the price for our sins.

Why? He loves us.

He made us. He loves us. That’s one reason why.

But, that’s not the only reason.

We see Isaiah talk about another reason this morning. Listen to what he says in Isaiah 63:13-14:

who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

He says that the Spirit of the Lord lead the people, He gave them rest. He restored them. He forgave them.

Why?

To make for Himself a glorious name. God forgives us and renews us to restart that relationship with us. And as we are renewed and restored, we have so many reasons to praise God and to give Him glory.

His forgiveness in our lives makes us praise Him. His mercy in our lives makes us to praise Him. His grace in our lives makes us to praise Him.

He loves your and forgives you because He loves you. And wants you to live your life for His glory. To make His name great. To live with love. With purpose. With joy. With peace. With mercy.

To give Him glory.

We aren’t just here for us. But for Him. That’s really our purpose in all of our lives. To give Him the glory.

To live for Him.

Today, you are forgiven. Know that you are loved. And live today as a response to that grace and love. And in that you will find your purpose.

And in that you will bring glory to His name.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What do we Trust?

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urlWhere is your hope today? Who do you trust? What do you trust? Where is our hope?

There are lots of things that we can trust in. We can trust in our own abilities. We can trust in our status. We can trust in our might. We can trust in ourselves.

Or, we can trust in others. Our friends. Our surroundings. Our families.

We can trust in out possessions. Our worth. Our stuff.

We can trust in so many things. But in the end, there in only one thing we can place our trust in.

Listen to what Psalm 62: 8-10 says today:

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

This Psalm reminds us that God is our hope. He is the one that we place our trust in. Not the lowly. Not the mighty. Not the powers of this world. Not in extortion. Not in robbery. Not in wealth. Not in riches.

None of these things should be our hope.

None of these things should be what we trust in. For they are all fleeting. They are all frail. They will not last.

They will pass.

God is eternal. God is trustworthy. God is our refuge. God is our strength. God is our hope.

Today, do not place your trust in your own might or strength or stuff. Do not place your trust in the things of the world.

Place your trust in God. And He will not fail or disappoint you.

Today, trust in Him.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Fresh Starts

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God is a God of fresh starts. He wants us to start fresh and new, every single day. He wants to forgive us, restore us, and all us to restart.

That’s who He is. That’s the kind of God that He is. That’s what He longs to do with us, for us, and through us. He’s a god of fresh starts.

Listen to what He tells Jeremiah in chapter 3:12-14:

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

Fresh StartJeremiah is speaking to the northern kingdom of Israel. He is telling them, confess what you’ve done, confess your sins, your wrong doings, your mistakes. Give them to God and He will forgive.

That’s what He does. He’s a God of fresh starts. Confess. Move on. Start new.

But why, why do we have to confess? Why do we have to do that? Why does God make us confess?

I’ve got a theory. I don’t think God makes us confess our sins for His sake. He doesn’t “need” us to do that for His sake. My theory is this. Perhaps it’s for our sake. Perhaps, in admitting these sins to God, we get to be honest. We admit that we aren’t perfect. We can’t lie. We can’t pretend. We’ve made mistakes.

And in those mistakes, instead of the judgement of the world, we find the grace, mercy, and forgiveness. We find that God love us more than He hates our mistakes.

God is a God of fresh starts. When we confess our sins, we being that fresh start. We find grace. Mercy. Love. Compassion.

Today, may we confess our sins and weakness to God. May we give them over to Him. And in that, may we find His mercy, there waiting on us.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Chosen

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Today, you’ve been chosen.

That word may conjure up some emotion for us today. Some of us, when we think of being chosen, we think of being first, chosen first in sports or competitions.

Or maybe being chosen for winning an award, or some great honor!

Others may not think as fondly, as we may remember being the last one chosen or perhaps not chosen at all.

Or perhaps, being chosen for getting in trouble for something.

The word chosen can bring a lot of weight behind it.

Today, in 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter says that we are chosen:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

urlPeter says today that you are chosen. We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. You are a person of God’s on possession!

How about that! That’s better than being picked first in basketball!

You are of amazing great worth today! You are chosen. You are of infinite worth! you are priceless. You are beyond measure.

Yes! You! You have more worth today than you can even fathom.

This worth, this being “chosen” doesn’t come from ourselves or from anything that we have earned, but it comes from fact that God has chosen us for this purpose. To proclaim HIS worth. To tell of the one that has called us from darkness to light. To tell of His glory and His salvation. To show mercy, because we have been shown mercy.

We have been chosen today to tell others of the grace of God. We have been chose today to live our that grace of God for others.

We don’t live for ourselves. As tempting as it can be, we don’t live for ourselves. We live to live in our lives in God. To live for Him. That’s where life is found.

Today, He chose you. Today, may we choose Him. My we live in His mercy, grace, and love, and may we live our lives in a way that others desire to know this God.

Today, you’ve been chosen. You have great worth. You are here for a purpose. Today, live in that grace that God has given you.

Go out and live our loud for Him today.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

We are One

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We as Christians, we are one. We may be part of different local churches. We many share the exact same view of every issue or every belief. We man not be the same mind on everything.

But we are one.

There is one body. There is one Spirit. We are part of the same body.

We are one.

Listen to what Paul says this morning in Ephesians 4:4-6:

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

TOSHIBA Exif JPEGThere is one body. One spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father.

The same Holy Spirit calls us into relationship with the Father through the Son. We share the same faith. We share the same hope. We share the same body. We all believe the gift of baptism.

Yes, there may be differences between us all. But that’s ok. For we are one.

Now, imagine if the church would live as one. Imagine if we would work together. Serve together. Make a difference together.

Glorify God together.

There is so much for the kingdom that we can do together.

So, today, let’s not “act” like we are one. Let’s realize that we “are” one. And let’s live in that reality.

Today, let’s realize that there are so many more things that unite us, instead of separate us. We really are one.

Really.

So, let’s treat each other as family. Let’s love each other. Let’s serve each other. Let’s serve with each other. We are one.

Let’s show the world that. Let’s show the world our love, our Lord, our hope, our calling.

We are one. Let’s live like it today!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

How Much God Loves Us

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I really love my kids. I mean, really. I love them so much. I want to do whatever I can for them, I want to help them, I want to protect them, I want to keep them safe.

That’s how I feel about my children.

And that’s how any parent would feel about their kids. They want to protect them, be there for them, give them what they need and, if we are going to be honest, a lot of what they want.

That’s how every parent feels.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 7:9-11:

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

A father holding childs handI love this passage. It shows us just how much God loves us. I want to do what I can for my kids. I want to take care of them, protect them, give them good things. Every parent understands.

And I love what Jesus says, if we who are sinful (or evil) know how do this, how much more does our perfect, loving, heavenly Father know how to do it.

You who are parents, you know how much you love your kids. You know how, even when you are frustrated and angry with them, how much you love them.

That love is a 1/100th of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. It doesn’t even measure. As much as we love our kids, God loves us even more.

For our love is imperfect. His is perfect.

You are loved. More than you’ll ever know. Ever understand. More than you can imagine.

Today, as a Father loves His children, so does our God love us. Today know how much God loves us!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Contentment

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urlAre you content?

Not happy. Not complacent. Content?

Well, to answer that question, I guess we have to first know what contentment is. There are a lot ways that you can define contentment. Some would it say it’s being satisfied. Some would say that it’s not worrying. Some would say that it’s not being stressed.

I guess those are all good answers. But, I see being content as being “home.” Knowing you are where you need to be. Knowing all is right, all is good, all is as it should.

Well, to put it like that, then none of us should be content. None of us are in that perfect place, none of us have life like we’d love it to be, none of us have that feeling.

Well, I don’t know about that. Let’s see where this contentment comes from. Listen to what Paul says today in 1 Timothy 6:6-7:

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

Paul says that there is much to gain from Godliness with contentment. We brought nothing into the world, we take nothing out. That’s the source of contentment.

Not the “stuff” of the world. If we are striving and living all of our lives after the things of the world, then we will never be content. If your life revolves around those things, money, success, fame, power, attention, status, things such as that, you will never have enough.

You will never be content. You will always need more. You will always want more.

But, if come to this realization this morning, you will find contentment. You are loved. God loves you. He died for you. He gave Himself for you. You are His.

Your identity, your worth, it is not tied to these things, it is tied to God. It is tied to what God, through, Jesus, has done for you.

You can be content. For you have all that you could ever wish for. You have all that you could ever desire. You have all you could ever want.

You are loved. You can be content in that.

Rest. Rest easy in that. You are loved. You prized. You have worth. Rest in that. Be content in that. The other stuff will pass. This will last.

You are a child of God. That’s where contentment is found.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

When You Feel Alone

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urlSometimes, in the midst of trials and troubles, it is very easy for us to think that we are all alone.  It is very easy for us to believe that there is no help for us when we in the midst of a “spiritual battle.”

We can feel like the fight we are fighting is unlike anything else ever faced.
We can feel like our struggle is too great, and there is no relief, nothing that anyone can do, and no way that this fight ends well.
When we are facing temptation, facing that struggle, we can feel as though there is no way out, no hope, no chance.
We can feel defeated before the fight has really even began.
Listen to the words of Hebrews 2: 17-18:

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus Christ was made like us, walked as we walk, talked as talk, faced everything we face.
Everything.
If you face it, Jesus faced it.  He was tempted as we were.  He faced temptation.  He faced struggles.  He faced trials and troubles.
And hear what it says. Because He did this, He is able to help us in our trials.  In our troubles.  In our struggles.
You are not alone.  You are not forgotten.  You are not forsaken.  You are not alone in this trial.  You are not alone in this trouble.  You are not alone in this time.
God is with you.  Jesus will uphold you. The Spirit will strengthen you.  His Church will be there for you.
Yes, we face real temptations and trials.
And yes, through Jesus Christ, the God of creation is there with us, in the midst of them, upholding us.
So, today, when you feel alone, forgotten, forsaken.  Remember,  Jesus is there.  He faced what we face, and He has overcome.
And through Him, we will overcome.
Today, may we find our strength in Him.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What is Lent?

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urlYesterday was Ash Wednesday. which startes “Lent.”  This is a special day in life of the life of faith. But, what is it? What is it all about?

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season known as Lent.  It’s a time when we focus on our great need for Jesus, what He sacrificed for us, and His high calling in our lives to be faithful.

Lent is the 40 day period that starts on Ash Wednesday and goes until Easter. Why 40 Days? 40 is a very important Biblical number. In the Old Testament, God punished mankind by sending a flood over the earth for 40 days and nights. The people of Nineveh repented of their sins with 40 days of fasting. The Prophet Ezekiel lay on his right side for 40 days as a precursor to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. The Prophet Elijah fasted and prayed for 40 days on Mount Horeb. Moses fasted 40 days and nights while on Mount Sinai. Moses and the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 penitential years until they entered the Promised Land.

In the New Testament, the Lord fasted for 40 days and nights in preparation for the beginning of His public ministry. And that is the main reason for the 40 days. We “imitate” or follow that example of Jesus.

The thing that is powerful to me about this concept is the notion that is we forget sometimes what Jesus did for us. We talk so much about His love, His mercy, His grace, His compassion, all these things, that we forget what these things cost Him.

Just how much it cost Him to accept us.

We know that grace is free. But it is not cheap.  It cost Him more than we could ever imagine.

We don’t need to forget that.  It was for us He bled and died. It was for us He suffered.

It was for OUR sin.

It was for MY sin.

And so, when we “give up” something for Lent, we are remembering His suffering. And here is the thing. We aren’t giving things up to show that we are spiritual supermen or women, we doing it to be driven to prayer. Every time you miss whatever it is you are giving up, pray.

Every time you have a craving for whatever it is you are giving up, pray.

Every time you think about what Jesus has done for you, pray.

May we have a holy Lent.  May we reflect upon what He has done for us. And may we remember all that we have to be thankful for.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Light in the Darkness

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This is the first day I’m in the office at Asbury since the storms hit the other night.  It’s been an intense few days here in the Pine Belt and at Asbury.  The storms blew through at about 5:00 or so Sunday night.  I’m not sure exactly. We were having a talent show for our Relay for Life efforts when it hit. We had a 150 – 200 folks crowded in our church hallway when it came.

We saw where it hit, and we started going out to look.  The major damage seemed to be around Oak Grove, downtown Hattiesburg, downtown Petal, a subdivision not too far from Asbury.  We found out very quickly that our youth pastor, Jeff West, and his wife Ashlie lost their home in downtown Petal.  Other members had their homes destroyed or severely damaged.

You’ll be hearing more about this in the coming days. But I want share with you two moments of grace in the midst of all fo this.
555921_10200485581851114_1960314999_nFirst, look this picture to your left. There was a family whose home was destroyed. They literally just made it into a closet before it hit, and that was the only room in their house that still had a ceiling.  Home is a total lose.  A window blew out and gashed the husband pretty bad.  They are literally fortunate to be alive.

As we were cleaning yesterday, we noticed this. Part of their fence is in the perfect shape of a cross. And it’s in the form a cross. Even in the storm, God is present with us.  He never leaves nor forsakes us.  He is with us always.

Second, the storm hit at 5 or so Sunday. At 7 a.m. Monday morning, approximately 150 Asbury folks were out serving. We literally swamped parts of the town with service. We tarped close to 40 roofs. We cut and hauled off trees.  We clean out.

We were Salt and Light.

I have never been more proud to be pastor of this church than this week.  I said this on Facebook this week:

Dark is dark. Light is brighter. Where is God in tragedy? Guiding the feet of everyone that runs to the trouble, not away from it #saltandlight

That’s right.  We have been the church this week. And we are going to keep doing it.  Light shines, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.