Monthly Archives: September 2013

Remember

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image-911crossToday is September 11, 2013.  Twelve years ago I was sitting in the break room at Memphis Theological Seminary watching what was happening on a old television.  This break room could maybe hold 50 people and we must have had over a 100 crammed in there.

Watching.

Praying.

Weeping.

We were stunned. Stunned at what we were seeing.  We couldn’t understand it.  And with MTS being such a diverse seminary, we had a couple of folks that had family in New York.  One of my classmates, their spouse was in the Pentagon that day.

We were all like the walking dead after that day, just stunned at what had happened.

But, that was 12 years ago. And what happens?  We forget.

We get busy.  Life returns to normal.  Those of us that remain, we eventually return to the normalcy of life.  We forget.

Today, though, stop.  Remember.

One of the things that we do as humans is build monuments. In scripture we build altars. As governments and people, we build monuments and memorials. Why? Because it’s human nature to forget.

We just do. We forget.

Today, go back in your mind to 12 years ago. Remember where you were. Remember what you felt. Remember. And then, go and thank a first responder. Or someone in the military. Any of these persons that would run into the fire while we ran the other way.

Remember. And then let that memory prompt action.

May we never forget where we where 12 years ago today. May we remember. And may we be faithful 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.

New

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You are new today. The past is the past.  It is done away with.  It is over.  It is gone.  It is past.

For those of us in Christ, we are a new creation.  Not we will become a new creation. We are a new creation. We are new.

It’s not that the past will be done away with.  The past is done away with.

It’s not that it will be left behind us.  It is left behind us.  It’s done.  It’s over.  It’s gone.

Listen to what Paul says today in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

newToday, you are new.  Now, you may not be fully formed.  You may not be perfect. You may not have it all figured out.  you may not be yet what you need to be and what you will be one day.  Sure, that’s all true.

But, you are new.  You are a new creation.  You are forgiven.  You are restored.  You are made right.  You can walk today in life, new mercy, new grace, new hope, new peace, new life.

You are new today.  Live new.  Live with hope that comes from being a forgiven child of God 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.

When We Don’t Know What to Do

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Sometimes we don’t know what to do. We don’t know what decision to make. We don’t know what road we should choose.  We don’t know what door we should open.

Sometimes we just don’t know what we should do. We are at a loss. We just don’t know.

We’ve all been there. We’ve all had that happen. We all can be unsure.

What do we do?  Listen to what it says in James 1:5-6 when we are unsure:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

two_pathsJames tell us this morning that when we are unsure and don’t know what to do, what we should do is this.  Ask God for wisdom.  Ask Him for help. Ask Him and allow Him to lead us to what we should do.  I think that this verse shows us that there are two main things that we should in these times of indecision and uncertainty.

First, ask God for wisdom.  Ask Him for help.  Stop trying to figure it out on your own. Stop trying to think that you’ve got all the answers and have it all figured out.  Ask God for help.  Really.  I know it’s simple. But do it.  Stop.  And seek His face.

Many of us do that pretty well. The second can be a little bit harder.

Second, have the confidence of belief that God is going to give you that wisdom. Believe it. Claim it.  Know it.

Have faith. Even when it’s hard, challenging, or doubtful.  Believe.  Trust.  Hold fast.  He is going to give you wisdom.  He is.  He promised.  He has assured us in His word that He will.  Trust in it.

Trust in Him.

Believe.

So, today, if you are in a situation where you don’t know what to do, ask God for wisdom. And believe, truly believe, that He will give it. And hold fast, until He leads you in the way that you should go.

He will not fail 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.

I Choose Grace

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I tell people, if I have to choose what side to err on, it’s going to be on the side of grace.  If I have to choose between mercy and the law, mercy and grace win every time.  Each time.

I am going to choose grace.  I am going to choose mercy.  I am going to choose relationships and people over, well, anything.  Why is that? Because that is the way that God operates.  And that is the way that I truly believe that He wants us to live. That is what I believe that God truly wants us to do and to live.

Listen to what the word says today in James 2:12-13:

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

graceMercy triumphs over judgement.  Mercy wins in the end.  In the end, it is mercy that God will show to us.  It is mercy, for those of us that are in Jesus Christ, that we will receive.

We haven’t earned it. We haven’t done anything that makes us worthy of it. We haven’t caused it happen.  It is simply given by a loving, merciful God, because of the work of His son Jesus on the cross.

We are given grace time after time after time after time.

Grace for our sins, for our mistakes for our stuff, for everything.  Grace.

That is God’s gift to you.  Grace.

Now, the challenge is this. What will we do with it?  You are loved.  You are sacred.  You are valued.  You are.

Now, how will you choose to use that grace given to you?  Will you give it others?  Will you forgive?  Will you show mercy?  Will you show grace to others?

Or will you choose judgement?

Today, I choose grace.  I will show grace to others. For, I have been shown grace by my loving God.  So I must show it others.

I choose grace.  Today, what about 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.

How to be Happy

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Question-MarkWant to be happy today?  I mean, really happy?

Have life and peace and joy and purpose?

Want to have a life that is truly worth living for?  Let me show you how.  Listen to what Paul says this morning in Philippians 2:4-8:

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Paul is talking about Jesus, and how even through He is God Himself, He humbled Himself to death, even death on the cross.  He is God.  He is the creator of everything.  He tells us in Colossians that through Jesus Christ everything that’s ever been made was made and that all things are held together through Him.

In other words, there is no bigger deal than Jesus.  Seriously. He’s the biggest deal in all the universe.  He’s it.  There’s nothing, no one  higher than Jesus.  He’s at the very top.

And so, how did the highest of the high, what did He choose to do?  He humbled Himself.  He served.  He didn’t live for His plan, but for His father’s plan.

You want to be happy today?  You want peace today?  You want to have purpose today?  How?

Follow Jesus – humble yourself.  Serve someone today.  Live for a purpose bigger than yourself.  Live for plan bigger than yourself.  Serve someone today.

That’s where happiness is found.  Not in serving yourself.  Serving someone else.  Not in living for yourself.  Living for Him.  Not in making yourself king or queen. But in making Him king of your life.

You want to be happy today?  Serve someone. Do something for someone else.  Live like that, as Jesus commanded us to do.  And in doing that, you’ll find more happiness that you can ever imagine.

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.