Monthly Archives: September 2013

Discipline

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Man, I don’t like disciplining my children.  I really don’t.  I don’t think that any parent does. That’s the hard work of parenting.  No parent like having to do that part of the work.

I will all of parenting was bubble gum and fun and games. But, there are times (lots of times) when you have to say no. When you have to punish.  When you have to be that old oak tree that our kids bang their heads on to learn that they can’t just do what what they want.

We have to discipline our kids.

Why?

Because we want them to grow into fully formed, functioning, moral adults and citizens.

Well, what’s our heavenly Father’s goal for us as Christians?  For us to grow into mature disciples.  And that means, sometimes, yes, He will discipline us.  Listen to what it says in  Psalm 94: 12-15:

Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

potters-handsGod’s desire for us isn’t for us just be happy. It’s for us to be holy.  It’s for us to be different. It’s for us to be followers of Christ, with all that we are.

Why?

Because that’s where life is truly found, in Christ.  In following Him. So, just as a parent will discipline their child to get them to the point that we want them to be as a mature adults, so will God do with us, getting us down the road of faith.

God’s desire for us is for us to be faithful.  Because that’s where life is found. Totally and completely in Him.

Today, if He convicts you.  Or challenges you. Or guides you down a path that you don’t think you want to go, thank Him for that, even if you don’t feel like it. Because He’s growing you. He’s forming you. He’s helping you to be the person that He made you to be.

He loves you. Just like as a parent our discipline can be the greatest sign of love to our kids?  So is it for God.

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.

More Faith?

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imagesThink about those spiritual rock stars.  You know.  CS Lewis.  Mother Teresa. Billy Graham.  John Wesley.  John Calvin.

You know, those folks that really got it. That really did it. That man oh man, did God.  Man, God did some amazing things through them and in them. And man, there’s no way that we can ever measure up to them.  Our faith is so small.  Our faith is so weak.  Our faith is so insignificant.

We just need more faith, right?  If we had more faith then surly we could do it.  If we only had more faith.

That’s not what Jesus thought.  Listen to what He said today in Luke 17: 5-6:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

The disciples said, Lord, we need more faith!  And to this He said, no.  You don’t.  Use the faith that you have.  Use what you’ve been given.  You have more than enough faith.  You can do it. Even little bitty, tiny little mustard seed faith can do amazing things.

Amazing things.

You have all you need.  Why do I say that?

Because you have Him.  If you have Him, then you have all that you need.  Trust in Him.  Place that faith in Him.

And He will do it.

Right now, at this moment, you have all that you need.  You can do it.  You have enough faith.  Place that faith in Him, act on it, and see what He will do.

He will do amazing things.  Because that’s what He does.

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.

Praying

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Child PrayingPraying can be hard.  It can be a real challenge.  We can stumble over the words.  We aren’t sure what to say.  We aren’t sure how to say it. We don’t know what to do.

Praying can really be hard.

And then the notion of praying out loud for others to hear?  No way. That ain’t happening. It’s easy to leave the praying to professionals.

But, that’s not what Jesus wants. That’s not what He teaches.  That’s not what He’d have us to do.  In fact, the thing with praying, it actually has nothing to do with our words. And everything to do with our hearts.  Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 6: 5-6:

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

He is telling us, don’t worry about what you will say.  Worry about your heart. Words don’t count.  Your heart and your presence do. God wants you aware of Him.  His presences.  His love.  His grace.  His mercy.

Him.

That’s what prayer is.

Opening ourselves to His presence in our midst.  Just allowing our hearts to be drawn closer to Him.  Yes, there’s things we should say. But that’s not what matters most.  What matter is this. Realizing that the God of the universe is with you.  Present with you. And loves you. And wants to know you.

Don’t worry about what you are going to say. Worry about this.  God is with you.  Open your eyes and see.  Know that.  And allow His grace in your life and in your heart. And He will take care of the rest.

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.

Little Things

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One of the things that I think we run into with faith is that we just feel like what we do doesn’t matter.  Some of us may serve in our local church, or we may take an occasional mission trip or do something, that in our mind, feels “big.”

But, for most of us, our faith feels like an ordinary, day to day, common thing.  We can feel like sometimes we aren’t “doing” enough.  Or that we are not making an impact.  Listen to what Paul writes this morning in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8:

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

SONY DSCPaul is telling the folks here that their great acts of faithfulness are inspiring people the world over.  Folks are hearing about what they are doing and it is inspiring them to be be more faithful, the preach and teach the word, to live for Jesus in all that they do.

Their lives have had that huge of an impact!

And what did they do?  Nothing “huge.”  They didn’t just were faithful. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t hard.  They had some tough times. Some hard times. Some times of real trial and worry. They really did.

And they were faithful in that. They did their best in that. They were just faithful in small things, where God had them. And God used them. And God did amazing things in them and through them.

Today, don’t worry about the big things.  Worry about the little things. Be faithful in that. And God will bless it. And use it. And great things will happen in that.

Through 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.

Serious Business

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seriously-face-meme-all-funnySome things in life are goofy and silly.  These are things that we can play around with and think about as being too important or not a big deal.

And then there are things that are very important.  There are things that are very serious business and matter greatly. They are of utmost importance and change the entire scope our lives, our families, everything.  Some things in life are, not to be to serious, are just serious business.

Jesus talks about these things today.  Listen to what He says in Matthew 5:29-30:

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Now, is Jesus wanting us to start cutting off our hands and gorging out our eyes?  I don’t thing so.  He is not wanting us to take this verse as a command, but He does want us to do this.

Stop.

Think.

Examine.

What is it in your life that is pulling you away from Him?  What is it in your life that is keeping you from Him.  A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be.”

What is it your life that is keeping you from God?  God wants us to know just how serious it is.  We need Him. Every moment.  Every second.  Every day.  And anything, anything that keeps us from Him is not good.

Today, this is serious business.  What is keeping us from God. And will we allow that to take root in our lives?  Or will we give that over to God and focus on Him.

What will we do?

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.

Only God Judges

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One of the concepts that we see mentioned a lot and quoted a lot in the world today is “Only God can judge me.”  I know you’ve heard that saying, and in fact, so of us may have said that ourselves.

But, this does, in reality, have a scriptural basis. There are several passages of scripture that can point to this.  There are  many of the words of Jesus, and today, we read from 1 Corinthians 4:3-5, we were can see it.  But, I want us to really read this passage and see what we may notice this morning:

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

only_god_can_judge_me_by_canariias-d5bfbfhThere’s a couple of things that I want us to notice in this text. First, that saying is true.  Only God can judge.  Paul says that the Lord judges his for his actions, not any man, or any human court.  Our job in life is not to judge others.  Our job is to love others, to point to Jesus Christ with all that we do, to make a difference, to be salt and light.

That’s what God has us here for.  To point to Him.  Our job is be His ambassador, to show other’s His way and His life.  He doesn’t need us to be chief judge of the world.  That position is already taken.  Only God can judge.

But, here’s the thing. That statement is not a get out of jail free card like our society uses it.  Only God can judge.  And He is the judge.  He will one day pronounce judgement.  One day, we will stand before Him.  One day, we will hear well done, my good and faithful servant, or we will hear depart from me.

Now, this judgement is not based upon our “works” but upon His grace in us.  However, that grace will make itself know in our lives.  It will show itself in our actions, our grace, who we are, how we live.

God’s desire for us is to live by His grace, His mercy, and be faithful today with each step that we take.  Do our part to be as obedient as possible, letting His life, love, and mercy shine through us.

Today, you live, not to please man, but to please God.  And with that, may we live in a way that truly does seek to please God!

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.

Not Alone in the Fight

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We battle every day with temptation, don’t we? Every day, we fight and we fight and we fight.

Sometimes it feels like a fight that we just can’t win, doesn’t it?  Sometimes the fight seems too much. Sometimes it just feels like we will always be enslaved to sin, that temptation will always win, and that we should give up. Why fight? Why struggle? Why worry about it?  Just give in.  You can’t stop it any way.

That, my friends, is simply not true. Yes, we will always struggle with the flesh.  Yes, we will always be at war.  Yes, there is always a fight to fight, and yes, left to our own devices, we will choose wrong.

But, here’s the thing.  We aren’t left to our own devices.  Listen to what Paul says today in Romans 6:5-11:

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

you-are-not-aloneYou aren’t left to your own devices.  You aren’t left alone in the fight.  You aren’t left alone in the war.

For, your old self was crucified with Christ, and your sin has been nailed to the cross.  Why?  So you (and I) would no longer be enslaved to sin.  You aren’t enslaved to sin anymore.  You aren’t alone against sin today.

Is your temptation big?  Yeah.  Are your struggles big?  Yeah.

But God is bigger. The power of Christ is bigger.  You are not on your own in your fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

You have something incredibly big, strong, and powerful on your sin.

God.

So, today, don’t give up.  Keep fighting. And know that’s God at work in the fight with you.

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.

Be Encouraged

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Today, I just wanted to share with you a quick verse of encouragement, verses that mean a lot to me personally.  Listen to what Paul writes this morning in Ephesians 2:4-7:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

product_thumbnailThe two things that encourage me in this passage are this are first, when we were dead in our sins, Christ died for us. At our moment of greatest weakness and failure, it as at that exact moment that Jesus died for us.

Jesus didn’t die for us because we were lovely.  He died for us because we weren’t.  He died for us to make us into the people that God created us to be.

And second is this, that God created us to know Him.  He wants us to know His grace and His kindness. God really does want us to know just how much we are loved. We are created to know that love, that mercy, that grace, that kindness.

You are made for this.  He made for you for that.

So, be encouraged. Jesus died for us at are weakest.  Because He loves us.

And Go wants us to know, in the depth of our souls, just how much that we are loved.

Today, be encouraged.

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 Matters

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There are so many things that I don’t understand about faith and the Bible.  Now there’s a good bit that I do know, that I do understand.

But, if you want someone who can explain all the book of Revelation to you, I’m not your guy.  You want a complete and total understanding of free will versus God’s sovereignty?  I don’t understand it perfectly.

Now, on these, as well as other issues, believe me, I’ve got my opinions (I’ve got them on my every issue!). But I’m not going to claim that I perfectly understand these things.  And you know what?  I’m ok with that.  Listen to what it says in Colossians 2:8-11:

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ

jesus-neon-sign-5What we don’t know pales in comparison to what we do know.  Jesus Christ.  Him crucified.  Him resurrected.  Him returning.  Living, breathing, dying, rising, and returning.

So, for us, the thing is this. We often spend more time worrying about what we don’t understand than focusing on what we do understand.  I had a professor in college that put it like this.  Jesus isn’t hard to understand.  He’s just hard to follow.  Loving your enemies is not complicated.  It’s just hard.  Forgiving those that hurt you is not complicated, it’s just hard.

Today, there’s a lot that you and I don’t know. But there’s a good bit that we do know. Focus on that.  Focus on what matters.  Focus on Jesus.  His life.  His death.  His resurrection.  His return.  Seek to live out His grace and love.  Seek to know Him and know Him better.  Seek to show grace to all that we meet.  Seek to pray.  To serve.  To care.  To give.

To be salt and light.

Today, be faithful.  And leave the stuff that we don’t understand to God.  He can handle 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.

Coasting

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imagesSometimes in life we have to stop and take a moment of reflection.  It’s important for us to assess where we are.  How are we doing?  The question is sometimes asked, how is it with your soul?  How are things?

Sometimes we can get really comfortable in our lives, in our faith. And think that everything is just fine. We can just start coasting.  Sure, I love Jesus, Jesus loves me. It’s all good.  No worries. Everything is perfect.

Am I as faithful as I should be?  No, but it’s ok, Jesus loves me.

Are there areas of my life that, if I have to be honest about, that I’ve gotten lazy in and am just coasting?  Sure, but it’s ok, Jesus loves me.

Yes, He does love us.  Make no mistake about it. But, because He does love us, there’s so much more He wants us to become. As a loving parent longs to see their child grow and do great things, so does God long for us to the same.  Listen to what Paul writes today in 2 Corinthians 13:5-8:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

Test yourself today.

Know that God loves you, no matter what.  You are loved, you are vital to Him, you are special. But, because He loves you, He really wants you to do great things.  He knows what you are capable of.  He knows your potential.  He knows what He can do through you and in you.

He loves you. And He wants to see you grow into the amazing child of God that He has created you to be.

So, today, here’s some helpful questions for self examination that John Wesley gave to his early followers. I took a moment to ask myself these questions today, and I didn’t always like what I saw. But, through God’s grace, I know that He’s not done with me, and today, through God’s grace, I am going to be more faithful than I was yesterday.

Don’t coast. Be faithful.  And in being faithful, you will find life.

1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
2. What temptations have you met with?
3. How were you delivered?
4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?

And here’s the great thing about asking this questions.  You now what we find at the end of the question?  Grace.  Mercy.  Love.  Peace.  You find forgiveness.  When we ask ourselves these questions, we find the grace of God, waiting there for us the entire time.  You are loved more than you’ll ever know. Today, live in that grace! 

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.