Don’t Give Up

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes in life, we really just want to quit. We want to lay down, just stop, and give up. We want to give in. There’s no point in going on, no point in trying, no point in worrying.

Why try?

Why worry?

What’s the point? There’s no point in it all.

Why pray? God doesn’t care, surely not. God isn’t worried about it. Why pray. Just quit.

I’m sure you’ve thought that way before. I know I have. I’m sure you’ve just wanted to lay down and quit before. I know have.

But you know what? Don’t give up. Listen to what happened in Luke 18: 35-43:

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

This guy was blind. Just getting as far as he did in life was a real accomplishment. But he hears Jesus is coming. This is his chance. This is the moment that he can be healed.

After all, Jesus has been going around everywhere healing folks all over the place. This is the moment. This is when it can happen.

So, he goes to find Jesus. He goes to be healed. And folks tell him. No. Be quiet. Jesus doesn’t have time for this. He has others to attend to. He has other things that He had to do.

Go.

Leave.

So, he could. He could quit. He could leave. He could lay down and continue as it is. Or, he could say no! I will not quit! I will not lay down! I will keep going! I will keep doing! I will keep yelling louder, and louder, and louder for Jesus until He does something.

And Jesus does. He heals him. Because he wouldn’t quit. He wouldn’t give up. He keeps pushing; he kept the faith. He didn’t quit.

And neither should you. Keep fighting. Keep working. Keep striving. Keep going. Keep doing it.

You can. Keep at it. Don’t quit. No matter what. Keeping going.

You can do it. Keep at it. Good things will come. Even if you tire, or scared, or worried, or whatever.

Keep going. No matter what.

You can do it.

Dont’ give up.

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Trusting

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

It is easy sometimes in life to think that things are spinning out of control. It’s easy to feel that the world is spinning out of control.

It’s easy to feel that our lives are out of control. That our families are out of control. That things are spinning too fast, that things are coming unglued.

What are we going to do! Ah!!!!! Oh!!!!!!

Seriously. Ever feel that way? I know I do sometimes. I know I am not sure of how things are going, worried about things in my life, my church, my family, the world.

As a worrier, it’s kind of what I do. So, it’s good for me to hear the words of Job 42: 1-3 this morning:

Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

What purpose (or plan) of God can be thwarted. What plan of God can be ended? What plan of God can be stopped?

By who? Me? You? The world?

Nope. God knows what He is doing. He’s got a plan. He’s got a purpose. He knows what He is in the midst of accomplishing.

And it will be accomplished.

It will.

So today, trust in Him. No matter what. No matter what is going on. No matter how crazy it may seem. No matter how bad it mean seem. No matter how uncertain it may seem.

Trust. Trust in Him. He’s got it. He knows what He is doing.

Trust. No purpose of God can be stopped. It’s going to be ok. He’s got it. When you don’t know what He’s doing, trust in who He is. You can trust Him, in all things.

Who is This?

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

We like for faith to make sense. We like for things to be neat and crisp and wrap up neatly into a little bow.

We like for faith to fit into our schedule, into our plans and to have its role within our lives. A role that we like, that we can monitor, that we can keep under control. A role that benefits us, but doesn’t really change too many things about us or our lives.

That is what we often wish that faith could be and would be.

But, in reality, that’s the one thing that true faith never is. It is never predictable. It is never safe. It never fits neatly into a box. Listen to what happens today in Luke 8: 22-25

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Who is this Jesus that the wind and the water obey Him. That’s not something that is safe. Jesus is never predictable. He is never just safe. He is never just ordinary.

He is the Son of God. He is savior of the world. He is the Lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world. He is God Himself. He is part of the Trinity. He made all things, and all things were made through Him and for Him.

He is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the Master and Lord of all. And He is our Lord and our Savior.

He is not ordinary.

He doesn’t want to be ordinary in your life. He wants to change it. He wants to change you. He wants you, today, to know real, awesome, amazing life.

He does.

Have you considered who He is today? His power. His majesty. His mercy. His grace. His love. His life.

And wants you to share in that power today. Really. You. Power. Today. That’s what He wants. Really.

Today, your faith doesn’t have to be plain or vanilla. It can be more alive than you’d ever think possible. It can be.

Who is this Jesus? Today, may He be Lord of all. And may His life give us the life we seek.

Shine the Light

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Well, it’s Monday. I don’t know when you read this. It could be early in the morning before you leave for work or school. You could be reading in the drop off line on your phone. Perhaps from your computer at work. Or maybe even tonight before bed.

I don’t know when you read it. But I know that whenever you do read it, you have some sort of task ahead of ahead of you. Something you have to do; something you have to face.

And sometimes we just need a little extra kick to get over the hump. Well, this morning I was reading in Philippians 2: 14-16. Listen to what it says:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Through your actions, through your words, through your faith, you are going to be a light. You are going to shine for all to see. In a world full of darkness, you are going to be a light to someone today.

You are. Really, you are. You are going to be a light today. You are going to shine for Jesus today. You are going to point someone to Jesus today.

Now, you may not be perfect; you may not do it perfect, but you have that chance. And you know what else?

God has confidence in you. He does. That’s He’s sending you out. That’s why He’s putting you where He’s putting you. That’s why you are where you are. Not just for “you” but for “Him.”

You can do it. Really, you can. You can do it. You can shine for Him. You can point to Him. You can be that light in the darkness today.

You can change someone’s world today.

Someone changed your life. Today, you have the shot, through Jesus, to change someone’s life yourself. Today, let Jesus shine through you.

Normal Folks

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

When we look at the Bible, and the stories that we read there, especially in light of the characters we read about and meet there, there are a couple of mistakes that we can make there.

The first is what I call making them “bible characters.” What do I mean by that? I mean that we can look at them like we look at Snow White or Cinderella.

They aren’t real. I’m not implying that we don’t think the things in the bible actually happened, but don’t think about what David had to go through before he attacked Goliath. Or we don’t think about the real pressure on Peter and Andrew to leave behind their nets. Or we don’t think about how much it hurt Paul to get stoned in nearly every town he got kicked out of.

We believe that this happened, but we just don’t think about the pain, effort, courage and faith that it took to these things. We can forget that they were all normal, real people, just like us, that God used.

They were normal, real people, just like me and you.

They had amazing faith. And that’s the second mistake we make, we don’t think that there is any way that we can faith, like they did. That’s not something that we simply can have.

Listen to what it says today in 2 Peter 1: 1-2:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Peter, yeah that Peter, says, to those of us that believe, that we have obtained a faith in equal standing as theirs.

Wow. Just think about that for second.

Your faith is equal to Peter’s faith. You are in equal standing to Peter. And Paul. And David. And everyone that you look up to in the Bible. Your faith is equal to theirs.

Wow.

Now, we need to grow, be faithful, learn, love, be obedient. But these folks in the Bible, they weren’t superheroes. They were normal folks, which God used.

Just like He wants to use me and you today.

Today, our faith is the same faith that they each had. Today, may we live in the hope and power that provides!

Not For You to Worry

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

There are so many questions that we would like for God to answers, wouldn’t we?

We’ve probably got a long list of things we can’t wait to ask Him when we get to heaven, huh? Some of them are probably personal, why did this happen? What were you doing in this? Probably the kind of thing I talked about yesterday.

Some will be about passages of the Bible that we don’t understand or theologically questions. We’ve all got questions that we wonder about.

We aren’t the first The folks that walked daily with Jesus were the same way. Look what happens in Acts 1: 6-8:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The disciples are asking a question that so many folks have asked. When is the Lord coming back? When will it be? What is the date? What is the time?

That’s a question that so many of us would like to know.

And look at what Jesus said. I’m going paraphrase. Don’t worry about it.

He says it is not for you to know the times or places. Don’t worry about it.

But you know what you can do? Instead of spending time worrying about this, spend time being busy for the gospel. Spend time taking the good news to the world. Spend time living, loving, preaching, serving.

There are a lot of things that we don’t know and may never know. But we know this. There are folks that need to know Jesus, folks that need grace.

And we can use our time worrying about things that we will never know, or we can spend out time, taking the good news of Jesus to a world that needs to know.

There are things we will never know. But we know this. WE are loved by an amazing God. And we need to take that love with us everywhere that we God.

Keep Holding On

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes we get tired of walking the walk. Sometimes life is just hard. We know that we are called to be faithful. We know that we are supposed to chase after Jesus, we know that we are supposed to grow, to be faithful, to work for good, all of that.

But man oh man, sometimes it’s just hard to do that. Sometimes we fall, we stumble, we make mistakes.

And we want to quit. We want just to lay down. We want just to quit. To stop. To give in, to give up.

We’ve all been there. We may be there at this exact moment. If that’s where you are right now, or if you’ve ever been there, listen today to what Paul writes in Philippians 3: 12-14:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

Paul says we are going somewhere. We are chasing after Jesus, we are seeking to be made like Him, we are seeking to grow. And when we want to quit, you know what we do?

We keep walking.

Because of this. Christ Jesus has made us His own.

As tightly as you feel like you are holding on to Jesus, remember this. He is holding on you even more tightly.

Hold on to Him. Because He is going to hold onto you. He is. He has you. You are His. You are.

Keep walking. Keep fighting. Keep straining. Keep being faithful. Even when it’s hard. Keep holding on to Jesus.

Because Jesus is holding on to you. Never forget that.

How to Endure

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

I’ve often said that I’m not a bed of roses preacher. Sometimes the prevailing thought is this – you become a Christian, and man, life is easy! You have purpose! You have a plan; you have a goal. Man, you become a Christian and everything is a piece of cake.

I’ve heard that type of message before in sermons; I’ve seen it in Christian movies, read it Christian books. You get saved and you win the ballgame, everything is awesome!

I don’t know about you, but that’s not always been my experience. Sometimes, in fact, being a Christian seems to make things harder. Listen to what it says in Hebrews 10: 32-36 talking about this:

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

We are reminded in this text that there will be tough times ahead as Christians. They struggled, they suffered, they dealt with many different issues. They had their property taken. They were mocked. They had so many things happen to them.

And they had endurance.

You know why? They remembered their hope. They knew God would be there. They knew they had a greater home. They knew that while there would be tough times ahead; if they just held on, it would be ok.

They knew that God would not forget them. No matter how hard it may seem at times, God would not forget them.

They kept hope. Even when it was hard. Because they had a hope greater than this world.

So, how do we have endurance? How do we endure? Remember your hope. Your hope is not in this world. Your hope is not in fame, or power, or wealth, or popularity, or anything that this world can offer.

You hope is in God. And He will never disappoint. Hope in Him. Believe in Him. Cling to Him.

And we can endure whatever comes our way.

It’s Not Complicated. Just Hard

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Hey y’all, remember me? After a week away teaching at Camp Wesley Pines and helping with BaseCamp, I am now back on schedule!

So often, we like to make faith complicated. We can deal with grand theologies or believes. We can struggle with the questions that we don’t understand. We can feel paralyzed by mysteries that are so deep. We can just be overwhelmed by issues of faith sometimes. Sometimes to the point that we just don’t know what to do.

That’s why I like it to be simple. And you know what? It can be. I’ll tell you part of what I’ve learned about faith. It’s really not all that complicated, most times. It can just be hard to do, sometimes.

What do I mean? Listen to what it says today in Romans 13:8-10:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Paul today basically pares it all down. Own nothing to anyone, except to love them. All the commandments, all the law, everything, it is summed up by that one simple command. Love. If you love, you will fulfill the commandments. You won’t steal, you won’t murder, you won’t do all these things.

Love keeps the commandments. That’s actually simple to understand.

It’s just hard to do. It’s hard to love, hard to forgive, hard to do these things. And I can’t do them.

But, Christ through me can. So, ironically, if I want to keep this command, the command that matters, the command of love, the first thing I’ve got to do is draw my heart closer to God. Because only through the power of the Spirit can I love.

It’s not complicated to understand this. On our own, it’s just hard. But, through the power of Christ within us, all things are possible! We can do it! We can love! We can. We can keep the heart of the law.

As we do that, may we make a difference for Jesus with all that we do.

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

As Christians, we don’t believe in concepts. Well, we do, but not really. We have concepts we believe in. We have truths that we hold to, things we believe, all of that. Yes we do.

But, as Christians, our faith is not founded upon concepts. It’s founded upon a “person.” A being. An entity. It’s founded upon the truth that we believe not in a concept, but we believe in God. A huge, eternal, all powerful, all sovereign, all mighty God.

A God that spoke everything in being. A God that is bigger than we can ever imagine.

This God.

But, He is also a God that so personal. That knows our deepest fears and hurts. That knows our dreams. That knows the hairs upon our head; knows every thing about us. And loves us.

We don’t just believe in a concept. We believe in God. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1: 11-12 today:

for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Paul is writing about some of his trials and troubles, and he said that yes, they are hard. But, he knows who he has believed. And he know that God will guard what is given to Paul, until that day.

In short, in the circumstances of life, no matter how hard or challenging they may be, Paul knows this. He knows who he has believed in. And he knows that he can trust God, no matter what. Because God is not a concept. God is personal. He is relational. He knows us, and wants to know us.

Paul knows who he has believed in. And he can trust, no matter what.

So can we today. You can trust God today. You can. He knows you, He loves you, and He wants to be in relationship with you today. That’s the kind of God that He is. Today, no matter what is going on, you really can trust in Him.

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