Monthly Archives: May 2013

Promises, Promises

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SONY DSCYou can trust God today. You can.

We all know God’s promises to us. He will never leave nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).

All things work for God for those that love God (Romans 8:28).

He will forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9).

He will be with us in the shadow of death (Psalm 23).

He wants good things for our future (Jeremiah 29:11).

We knows these things. We’ve heard these verses. We’ve heard sermons and bible studies on all these things that God has promised us. But, how do we know? How do we know that we can trust these things. How do we know?

Listen to what it says in Hebrew 6:17-18:

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

God made a promise to us. And God is unable to lie. He cannot lie. It’s impossible. He is who He says that He is. His words are true. And we can believe them.

So today, you can trust these promises. You can believe them. You can know them. They are true.

You are not alone.

You are loved.

You are forgiven.

God will not leave you.

You will not walk through the valley alone.

God has promised you these things. And He cannot lie. Trust today. Let go of your fears and worries. Trust.

God will not leave you. He has promised that. And He is true to His word.

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.

“Them”

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We really want to God to get “them” sometimes, don’t we?

After all, “they” are wrong. “They” should be punished. “They” deserve God’s judgement. He should get “them” for their sins and their mistakes.

That’s what we can think and believe. That’s what we can truly believe.

But, here is the thing. Jesus doesn’t just love us. He loves “them” too.

Listen to what happens in Luke 9:52:55:

And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them.

Fire_From_HeavenThey reject Jesus. And the disciples say, do, you want us to call down fire from above to consume them. Ok, two things here.

First, really James and John? You think that you can call down fire from above? Really? Like that’s your job? We should be very careful when getting ready to call down the fire of God’s judgement. That’s not our job.

Second, if they had stopped to think, they would have realized that Jesus came to save “them.” And us as well. Cause here’s the thing, it isn’t just “them” that make mistakes and fall down. It’s us too.

Today, let’s remember that we are not the judge of the world. That’s leave that to God. Let’s stop calling down fire. And lets, instead, turn to the one thing that can truly change lives.

Love.

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 I am Thankful For

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300px-StJohnsAshfield_StainedGlass_GoodShepherd_Dk_FaceThere’s a lot of things that we can be thankful for in regards to our faith.

We can be thankful for the goodness of God. We can be thankful for all the good things in life that God gives us, for the Bible tells us that all good gifts from God.

We can be thankful for the truth of God in scripture. In prayer. In worship.

We can be thankful for His grace and mercy that He gives when we fall down and ask for help.

We can be thankful for His peace that gives. For His hope. For His joy. For His strength.

All these are things that we can list on our things that we are thankful for. And they are good things. But, today, let me tell you what I am most thankful for. Listen to the words of Hebrews 4:14-16:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It’s that phrase in verse 15. “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness.” I am thankful that Jesus understands.

The word tells us that Jesus was fully God and fully human. And in that, He is able to understand our temptation, for He was tempted as we are. He understands our hurts, as He was hurt. He understands our tears, as He cried. He understands us.

And it isn’t just that He understands, but He has sympathy. He has compassion. He has grace for us.

He lived as we live, walked as we walked. He understands. No matter what it is, right now, Jesus understands.

He is not uncaring towards your hurts, pains and loss. He understands. He cares. He is there.

That is what I am thankful for. Jesus understands what we are going through.

And He never gives up 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.

What Should We Do?

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Today, you may be facing a variety of things. Today, you may be facing a challenge that looks to great for you. What should you do in that?

Or today may be the most amazing day that you could possibly ever imagine. It may be the greatest day in your life. What should you do?

Or perhaps you are facing some type of illness or sickness. Or someone you love is facing a disease. What should you do?

Maybe you feel guilt over a sin that you committed, something that you’ve done that makes you want to hide your face from God. What should you do?

Listen to what James 5:13-16 says today:

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

prayIn each of these situations, in suffering, in praise, in sickness, in sin, in whatever we face, what should we do? We should pray. No matter what it is that we face today, good or bad, joy or pain, challenge or reward, we should pray.

We pray for strength to meet whatever it is that we face.

We pray prayer of praise for the goodness and blessings God has given us.

We pray prayers of confession for the forgiveness we need for sin.

We pray, because no matter what it is that we are going through, not matter what it is that is on our agenda, no matter what it is that is happening, this is the one thing that we all need.

We all need to see God’s face. We all need His grace. We all need His power and love.

We all need Him.

Today, what should we do? Today. We should pray.

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.

Hope

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hopeIt’s so easy in life to hope in so many things.  To hope in our strength.  To hope in our might.  Our talent.  Our abilities.  Our worth.

There are so many things in life that we can place our hope in.

But, so many of these things will not last.  All of the stuff of earth will in time fail or become frail.

Our strength will grow weary.  Our might is fading.  Our talent and abilities are not perfect.

And so, what do we do?  What do we do when find our “best” is not enough. What do we do when we find that we can’t do it?  Fix it?

We turn to the place that we should actually start with. We turn to the place where our hope is actually found, where life, power, and strength are actually found.

We turn to God. We turn to Him and His strength. Listen what it says in Psalm 18:1-2 this morning.

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

The Lord is our strength.  He is our rock, our shield, our hope.  He is the one that we can count on.

He is the one that will save us.

Today, we don’t trust in your own might or in your own ability. Trust in Him and in His.  And He will not fail you.  He will not disappoint you.  He will not leave you.  No matter what.  You can trust in Him, today.

Today, may He be our hope. And that hope will never fail.

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.