Monthly Archives: June 2015

Success

Posted on by

0

What determines today if you are a success?  Is it our preparation?  Is it our hard work?  Is it just luck?  Today, what determines our success?  What is it that makes us a success?

I was thinking about that today when I read one of the Psalms for this morning.  Listen to what David writes in Psalm 127: 1-2:

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guard keeps watch in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives sleep to his beloved.

1429037342_success-kid-meme-lgYou can build the biggest house you want.  But unless the Lord builds it, it is in vain.

You can stand guard.  But unless the Lord keeps watch, it is in vain.

You can wake early and work and worry.  But don’t fret, the Lord gives sleep.

Success doesn’t come from our hand alone.  But it comes from the Lord.  Now, this isn’t a thought not to work hard.  No, work hard, be faithful.  Give your full effort.  In the Garden, one of the first things the Lord did was He gave Adam a task.  Work is good.  Having a purpose is very, very good.

But life is not just about our efforts.  It’s about living out of God’s strength and God’s purpose and God’s mercy.  Remember that.

And I’ll tell you what happens to me.  When I remember that all I have to do is do my best, and leave the rest up to God, it makes me more efficient.  It helps me accomplish more.  it helps me work even better.

Why?  Because I know it’s all His.  It’s all up to Him.  It’s His world, we are His people.  I know it’s all for His glory, so I’m going to do the very best that I can in all things.  For Him. For His glory and praise.  As my act of faithfulness to Him.

So today, don’t worry. Don’t stress.  Don’t obsess.  Just be faithful.  Do your task, do you duty, do what you should.

Don’t eat the bread of anxious toil.  It is God that is at work in all things.  Trust in Him, lean on Him and He will be the world that enables and empowers us in all things!

Be faithful.  Trust God.  All will be well.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

Fighting a Losing Battle?

Posted on by

0

sisyphus-drawingYou ever feel like you are fighting a losing battle?  Ever feel like you’ve got a task that you just can’t get done, dealing with something that you just can’t get right, working with something that you just can’t change?

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. We’ve all been in a battle that we just can’t feel like we can win.  We’ve all felt that frustration, that anger, that doubt, that pressure, that worry.  One of my favorite characters in Greek mythology is Sisyphus.  If you’re not familiar with his story, basically he was punished for all eternity by having to push a boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll back down up on him. And he had to do that for all eternity.

Sometimes we feel like that, don’t we?  Sometimes we just feel like things won’t change and we can’t win.  Listen to what happens to Ezekiel today in Ezekiel 2: 4-7:

4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. 6 And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

God sends Ezekiel to preach to the Israelites. And He says this.  They may not listen. They are rebellious. They are hard-headed. They may not listen to a word you say.

But you say it anyway. Because your job is not to change them.  Your job is to preach that word.

What a word for us today!  Your job is not to win that battle.  It’s not.  Your job is to be faithful. That’s your job today.  It’s God’s call if the battle is won or lost.  You can’t in the end control that.  You can’t control them.  You can’t control the situation.  You can’t control any of that.

All you can control is yourself.  That’s it.

So, our job is not to worry about the things that we can’t control.  Our job is to worry about what we can control. That’s ourselves. That’s our response.  That’s our faithfulness. That’s our effort.  That’s us.  That’s all we can do.

So, today, be faithful.  Even if it’s a battle that you don’t think you can win. Be faithful. The battle is Lord’s.  He will take care of what happens in the end.  Today, though, for you and for me, let’s be faithful.  Let’s be obedient. Let’s do what God wants us to do.

And the rest is up to Him. Don’t worry.  Don’t fear.  Don’t doubt.  Be faithful.  That’s our main duty!

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

The Lord Remembers

Posted on by

0

remember-bowThe Lord remembers things.  Gulp.

That’s a scary phrase, isn’t it?  It’s scary to think about the Lord remembering things.  We think about the mistakes we’ve made, all the stuff we’ve done wrong, all the times we failed. And He remembers?  Man oh man.  It’s a heavy thing to think about the Lord remembering.

But, remember what the Bible says. The Lord doesn’t remember our sins, it says in Psalm 103:12 – “as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us.”  He doesn’t remember our sins, He forgives them, and then He forgets them.  He doesn’t hold on to or remember these things.

So then, what is it?  What is it that He remembers?  Listen to what it says in Psalm 105: 7-10:

7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,
of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

What does the Lord remember?  He remembers His promises.  He remembers what it is that He said that He will do.  He remembers His covenant with us.

He remembers His promises that He has made to us.  He will never leave or forsake us.  He will forgive us.  He will give us abundant life.  Nothing will be able to separate us from His love.  All things work for our good and His glory.

For those us that believe, we will know eternal life.

He loves us.

God doesn’t remember our sins.  But the Lord does remember.  He remembers His promises.  And He will never break His promises to us.

You can count on that.

He is faithful.  He is true. And He remembers.

And I, for one, am so thankful for that.  The Lord remembers His promises to us.  May we always be thankful for that Good News!

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

The Secret

Posted on by

0

saint-john-the-baptist-09John the Baptist is one of the coolest characters in all the Bible to me.  One of the reasons why is because when you read his story, he has such courage.  Man oh man, he’s not afraid of anything.  He says what he needs to say, sometimes in a VERY bold way, and he does what he needs to do.

He said what he said, wore what he wore, did what he did with great courage.

You ever wonder what his secret was?

What was it that he had that gave him such courage?  Well, when we read his story, this is what we see.  We see that he knew that he had one job in life, and that was to point to Jesus. Everything he did was for that purpose.  He did in everywhere and in every way.

He pointed to Jesus.  And was the source of his courage.  He knew that if he did what he was supposed to do, that was his purpose.  And all would flow from that.  Listen to what happens today in John 3: 27-30:

27 John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Here’s John, who is a big deal, has people coming from everywhere to hear him preach.  Folks are talking to him, saying are you the messiah?  Are you the one that is to come?

And John says – no!  I am not the one.  I am a friend of the one.  I point to the one.  But I am not the one.  And then he says that great statement in verse 30 – He must increase, but I am must decrease.

Wow.  That’s a tough thing to say, isn’t it.  Jesus must decrease.  We’re good with that one. That one’s cool.

But I must decrease.  I’m not so sure about that one.  I’m not sure that I want to decrease.  That’s tough.

But John knew that he had to.  He knew his life was not his own, but it was Jesus’.  And the only way that he would be able to find true life was to decrease.  Because living for himself would never lead to life.  Living for Jesus would lead to true life.  Now, and for all eternity.

He had to decrease.  Jesus had to increase.  That’s the secret.  That was where his courage, his purpose, his life came from.  He knew that if increased and Jesus decreased, he’d never find life. But, if he did all that he could do to point to Jesus and point others to Jesus, he’d fine life. And that life leads to courage.

Today, how about us?  We were made for that very purpose.  To point others to Jesus.

Today, may we live out our purpose. And if we do that, we will find the courage that we desperately need.  Today, may He increase and we decrease.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

Our Greatest Task

Posted on by

0

I tell folks one of my problems in life is I believe this stuff.  Like I really believe the things that Jesus tells us.  I believe that He’ll be true to His word, that He will care for us, lead us, guide us, and help us be where it is that we need to be, and go where it is that we need to go.

I truly believe that we can trust Him, no matter what.  He’s got a plan bigger than us.  Our job is to follow the leading of His spirit, and trust completely that He knows what He is doing.

A conversation arose among the religious leaders after the church was born in Acts where they were trying to figure out what to do with these Christians.  Listen to what happens in Acts 5: 34-39:

34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35 Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

Verses 38-39 nail it to me.  If it’s not of God, it will die away.  If it is of God, nothing can stop it.  Nothing.

If it’s of God, it can’t be stopped. That’s why I try not to worry too much about things that I really have no control over.  It is not of God it will die away, but if it is of God, then it won’t be about to be stopped.

tworoadsWell then, how do we know the difference?  How do we know if it’s of God, or if it’s not?  That’s where we have to learn to listen.  We have to learn the voice of the Good Shepherd. The sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd.  They follow His voice.  The know it.  They can hear it.  And they go where it is that the voice leads.

That’s our greatest task, perhaps.  Not to know where the road ends, but to follow the voice down whatever road it is that it is leading us.  God knows the roads. God knows the plans.  God knows the directions.

We can trust.  Really.  We can trust.  God knows what He is doing.  Our job is to follow.  It it’s of God, it won’t be stopped.  Our calling is to make sure that we are listening to the voice.

Today, let’s listen. And let’s follow where He is leading us.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

Lemonade

Posted on by

0

None of us like tough times. Really, I mean who wants to go through a time of trial or worry.  None of us do.  I don’t, you know, not a single one of us.  We all wish that we could avoid these times.  But you know what we see when we look at the Bible?

It’s not going to happen. We all are all going to go through tough times.  It’s just part of the deal being human.  Trials, storms, and tough times will come. Faith doesn’t prevent them from coming, but faith gives us strength when those things hit us.  Faith gives us a hope and a belief in the darkest times.

But here’s something else the Bible says.  Count these storms as a joy.  Listen to what it says today in James 1: 2-4:

2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

James says count these trials as joy.  Why? Because these tests produce endurance and endurance grows our faith.  Our faith matures and lacks nothing.  When we go through tough times, you know what we find?  All we need is Jesus.

And if we have Jesus, we all have all that we need.

When these trials come against us, they can (if we allow) draw us closer to God.  And went our trials draw us closer and closer and closer to God, they become for us, in a redemptive way, blessings.

Here’s the thing.  It’s up to us if these trials are blessings or curses.  How we handle them.  How we deal with them.  How we allow them to affect our faith.  That’s up to us.

6800363-lemonade-wallpaperThe old saying is when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  What faith can do it will allow us to see those lemons as lemonade. Through the eyes of faith, we can see that the lemons are actually lemonade. These trials are good things. They make us tougher. They make us stronger. They may us lean more and more on Jesus.

God will actually use these trials for our faith. We may not enjoy them at the time, we probably won’t.  But in time, we will look back and say – at that moment, then, that’s when my faith grew. That’s when I trusted. That’s when I clung tight to Jesus.  Then.

Today, let’s not have lemons. Let’s have lemonade. And let’s see exactly what it is that God will do with all our lives!

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

Give it a Try

Posted on by

0

We like to eat sweets in our house.  We love snow cones, ice cream, all kinds of goodies and sweets.  But the thing with a lot of the sweets that we like it eat is this. There are so many options.  I mean, how can you choose among so many flavors?  What are you to do?

So, we’ve learned this.  We get sample. We’ll get a sample of this, a sample of that, we’ll try a bunch of them until we figure out exactly what it is that we want. We give them all a taste and see what it is that is just right for that day.

I thought about that when I read today’s Psalm.  Listen to what it says in Psalm 34: 4-8:

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
and was saved from every trouble.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.

f1d9973e92872262bcbffe25d0a1c265This is coming from someone who has tasted the Lord’s goodness.  David says, the Lord delivered me from my fears.  He answered him.  His soul cried out and God was there.

He needed God, and God responded.  He cried out, and God was there.  He called upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord showed His face.

And so what does David do?  He says this. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Give it a try. Try it for yourself.  See what happens.

Put your complete and total faith in God.  Turn to Him, give it all to Him, truly turn it over to Him, and see what happens.

You won’t be disappointed.  Happy are those that have done it.

So, today, maybe that’s what God is trying to say to us.  Put our whole faith in Him.  Look what David says, He delivered David from his fears.

Have you given your fears to Him?  Not just your worries, but your fears?  Taste and see.  Give it a try.

Have you truly turned in that moment of doubt, worry, and stress?  Taste and see.  Give it a try. See what happens.

Turn to Him.  Give it to. Really and truly and totally and completely.  Taste and see.  Give it a try.

He is God.  You won’t be disappointed.

Today, may we give it a try.  May we taste and see. And may we find God’s goodness.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

But Not So With You

Posted on by

0

There are certain phrases in the Bible that are always powerful to me.  One of my pastors as a child used to talk about the phrase “but” in the Bible.  Anytime you hear that word in a passage you know that something big is going to come next.

Today’s passage in Luke 22: 24-27 has one of those phrases that always jumps out to me.  Listen to what it says:

24 A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

under-a-different-lightThe word “but” was a giveaway.  I love, love, love when Jesus says “But not so with you.”

I think no other phrase in the Bible sums up what the Christian life should look like more than that.  But not so with you.

Look what Jesus is doing there.  He is talking about how the world determines who is the greatest.  Those who are powerful are the greatest in the context of the world.  Those who are in charge.  Those who run things.  Those who have power.  They are the greatest.

But not so with you.  For us, for us a Christians, greatest does not come from power or position, or from any such thing like this.  Greatness comes from service.  From serving one another.  From laying down our lives for one another.  From putting each other first.

That’s what the Gospel-infused life should look like.  Different.  Different from the world.  A life driven by love. By grace.  By forgiveness.  Why?  Because we have been shown love.  Grace.  And forgiveness.

And we must show those same things to each other.  And to the world.

Today, greatness is in your hand. But not greatness the way that the world looks at it.  Greatness the way that God looks at it.  Jesus says this in John 15:13 – No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

So, today, we see what the world does.  That’s fine.  That’s great.  But not so with you.  Not so with me.  Not so with us.  We are the church.  We are the body of Christ.  We are called to live our His love and allow that love to change this world.  Today, let’s be obedient to that call. Let’s live that love out.

And let’s see what happens when we live that Gospel-infused life.  Let’s just see what God does with it!

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join my email devotional group!

Enough Faith?

Posted on by

0

I really love when you are reading the Bible, and the spirit allows you to see a different perspective, it allows you to see things a little bit different.  That’s what happened to me this morning.  This is the familiar text I was reading, Luke 17:5-6.  Listen to what it says:

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Ok, check this out.  They come to Jesus and say, increase our faith.  Now, that’s a good thing, right?  I mean, who doesn’t want more faith?  Who doesn’t need more faith?  So, they come to Jesus with a good request.

But then, look what Jesus does.  He doesn’t say, no, I won’t.  He doesn’t say, sure, no problem.  He says this.  If you have the faith of a mustard see, you can throw a tree in the sea.

MustardSeed_(1)We hear that and think (quite often) about the size of the faith, and just a little bit of faith is powerful.  And then we think, man I just don’t have even that little bit of faith.  I need just that little bit.

But look at what Jesus is saying, if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can do amazing things.

Guess what?  They did have the faith of a mustard seed.  They did.  They had left all they had and followed Him.  They had this faith.  Was it perfect?  No.  But it was there.

And so Jesus was saying this.  You don’t need more faith.  You have enough faith. Use what you have!

We are like them in this way. Are we perfect?  No.  Do we have all the faith in the world?  No.  But you know what, if you believe in Jesus, you have faith.  If you follow Him, you have faith.  You do.

He’s saying that you actually do have the faith of a mustard seed.  You do. And that means today that you can do it!

In other words, you aren’t inadequate.  You really aren’t.  You have all that you need.  You can do it.  It’s not the size of the faith that you have, it’s the size of the God that you serve.  

Don’t worry about having more faith, or not having enough faith.  Use the faith that you have. With that faith, you can do anything.  Anything.  Anything is possible.  It truly is.

So today, live, love, serve, laugh.  Live out the faith that you, and watch God do amazing things.  You can do it.  You have faith.  God can will use it.  Through Him, you can do amazing things.

Today. And each day.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join Andy’s email group!

Thirsty

Posted on by

0

I’ve been trying something recently.  I read somewhere that one of the reasons that we get tired in the afternoon hours of the day is because we are dehydrated.  So, what I’ve been doing is drinking more water, especially in that afternoon time.  See, what I used to do was just drink more coffee, that’s kind of my answer to everything – more coffee.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

So I’ve been drinking more water, and you know what?  I think it’s working.  I was thirsty, but I didn’t really even realize it. Drinking that water has helped me feel better and have more energy.  And I didn’t even know that I needed it.

Listen to what it says today in Psalm 84: 1-4:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.Selah

thirstyI love that verse – my soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord.  Our souls are thirsty for God.  Our souls long for that communion with God, that worship of God.  That’s what we are made for; that’s what we are created for.  To know God.  To love God.  To worship God.  To be in relationship with God.

That’s our purpose.  That’s what we are made for.

But here’s the thing.  We get so busy, we don’t realize that we are thirsty for Him.  We know something is wrong, we know that we don’t quite feel right, we know that something is off, but we aren’t sure what it is.

What is it is that our souls are thirsty for God.  And we have tried so many other things, and nothing satisfies.  No work, not pleasure, not status, nothing.  We remain thirsty.

Our souls long for God.

But here’s the thing.  God desires you, as well.  He wants you to be in relationship with Him.  He is love, and being love, He desires for you to walk with Him.  So, today, if your soul is thirsty, and really, all our souls are thirsty, know that there is living water that will satisfy.  Our souls have been crying out, but we may not have realized it.

Today, drench your soul in His grace, His presence, His worship.  You are loved, you are valued, you are pursued.  Today, we need God.  And God desires us.

Today, may we find our strength and our life in Him.

If you’d like to receive these thoughts by email, be sure to click here and join Andy’s email group!