Tag Archives: Faith

What We Have Going for Us

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A real quick techie note. If you use the YouVersion app on your iPad, or Smartphone or their website, I’m going to start cross posting these devotional thoughts there.  So, you can click on any of the verses referenced in this reflection through YouVersion, and read this devotional.  Feel free to contact me if you any questions about this.

Now, on to today’s reflection. . . . .

Sometimes when we read the Old Testament, we think to ourselves, what’s wrong with these people! I mean, come on!

God divided the sea so that you could pass through and be saved! I mean, you saw that with your own eyes, right?

And He led you with a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. I mean, really? How could you miss that? I mean, really?

He split rocks in the wilderness! Come on now!

And the people forgot. They sinned against Him. They did not keep their promises to Him. They did not remember their word.

Listen to what it says in Psalm 78:

They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them.
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

Two words to us then, in the year 2011. First, let’s not forget. Let’s not forget what He has done for us. Let’s not forget how He has saved. How He has restored. How He has given. How He has been our right hand the the source of our strength and hope and power.

Let’s not forget what He has done for us. Never forget the joy of your salvation.

And it’s easy think upon the Israelite and say, really? I mean, really? Look at what all you had, and yet you forgot. I mean, you saw these amazing miracles, and yet you turned away. How could you?

While we may not see things like a pilar of fire by night, we have something even better. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God dwells within us.

God calls us. Convicts us. Challenges us. Moves us. Loves us. Cares for us. Dwells within us.

So, while we might now see what they saw, we have something even better. We have the power of Almighty God, living within us.

Let us not forget that. Remember the power, through His Spirit, that you have. Never forget.

May we never forget what we have going for us.

Mysteries

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There are some things in life we don’t understand.  There are some (many) mysteries about God that I can’t fathom.

There are questions about suffering that while I may have an explanation for, I can’t understand.

There are moments of pain that I don’t fully understand the reason for.

There are parts of God’s character that I don’t know, and won’t know, until I stand before Him one day.

There are many, many mysteries that I don’t know the answer to. And I’m thankful that I’m not the only person that feels that way. And I am also thankful that I’m not the only person that has walked with God to feel that way. Listen to the words of Psalm 131:

O LORD, I am not proud;
I have no haughty looks.
I do not occupy myself with great matters,
or with things that are too hard for me.
But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother’s breast;
my soul is quieted within me.
O Israel, wait upon the LORD,
from this time forth for evermore.

You and I, we don’t know everything. There is a mystery to God and to life. There are things too great and too deep and too wide for us to know.

The Psalm says that’s ok. Quiet yourself.  Wait upon God.  Know that He loves you. Know what you “know.”

What do we know? God is good. God loves us. God cares for us. God has saved us. God will take care of us.  We can trust Him.

I fully believe God is not as worried about the stuff we don’t know, as He is with the stuff we do know. Don’t worry about what you don’t know.  Worry about what you do know. And what you do about it.

This is not an excuse not to think and grow and learn. But, what it is the reality that we don’t know everything.

But we do know this. God loves us more than we’ll ever know.  And He wants us to love each other in the same way.

Today, know what you know, and what you don’t know. Don’t worry about what you don’t. That’s ok. None of us know it all.  Today, live in the knowledge of His love. And live out His love for all to see.

Yes, there’s a mystery to God. That’s ok. May we have the faith to believe. And may we live in the reality of the knowledge of His love.

Help my Unbelief

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Yesterday I reflected a little on worry.  Worry is something that I deal with A LOT myself. I spent most of yesterday worrying and fretting over a bunch of stuff when the Lord reminded me, hey dude, you need to listen to the things that you tell other folks.

I’m the kind of guy that Lord doesn’t always whisper to. Sometimes He has to smack me on the head.

And today, the Lord maybe continuing His smacking on the head, to me, if to no one else. I was reading today in Mark, and I read this passage:

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Worry, to me, is so closely tied to doubt.  I worry when I doubt something will work out ok. I worry when I feel like a situation is out of my control and I doubt that anything can be done about it.

Worry seems to thrive off of doubt. Doubt seems to the oxygen to worry’s fire.  Worry seems to be fed and driven by doubt.

When there is no doubt, through, there would not be as much worry. Without that doubt, worry would become less.

So, what is the opposite of doubt?  Faith.  Faith drives out doubt. Faith drives out worry.

And so, look at this passage today, with a verse that I love. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.  None of us have as much faith as we ought to have. None of us are exactly where we ought to be in our walk.  None of us are perfect.  That’s ok.

Lord we do believe.  Help our unbelief.  Help us have more faith.  More trust.  More confidence in your plan.

Today, we believe.  We have faith. We have trust. Today, may we have MORE faith and trust.

Today, we believe.  Today, may the Lord help our unbelief.

Don’t Worry About It

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Don’t worry about it. That’s one of my favorite phrases.  The other may be “it is what it is.”  Or I guess “Hotty Toddy.”  One of those is definitely my favorite phrase!

I say don’t worry about it to a lot to people. I say it in meetings when we are thinking through a situation. I say it when I’m talking to people about situations they are going through. I say to family when we are a looking towards the future. I say it a lot.

And I mean it too. When I tell people not to worry about it, I mean that, I believe that, and I trust it be true.

I just wish I could do a better job of not worrying about it myself. I’m a worrier.  But, at least I get it honest.  My mama is, and her mama was, and I guess in our family it’s just a family tradition.

That’s why reading verses like this one of our Philippians 4 is always such a good reminder to me:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

We can’t “will” ourselves to not worry.  Not worrying comes through prayer. By giving everything to God, we experience God’s grace. And in receiving that grace, we find that peace guards our hearts, and we don’t have anything to worry about.

So, the first step shouldn’t be “don’t worry about it.” The first step should be “take to God in prayer.” And when we take it to Him in prayer, we find grace.

And grace brings about peace.

And peace keeps us from worry.

So, today, don’t worry about it. But, before you can do that, take it to God in prayer.  And through that prayer, we will find all that we ever need.

For every last worry.

The Simple Things

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There are some books in the bible <cough Revelation cough> that are really confusing. Some books that are really tough to understand. Some that make us scratch our head, close our eyes, and just wonder, what was that?

Now, just a word, even those hard to understand books can very important and fruitful for our walk with God. Do I understand every part of Revelation?  No. But I do understand that it teaches that in the end, God wins. And those who have their hope in Christ have nothing to fear in this life.

And that’s good. So, even the hard stuff is important.

But there are days when I really look forward to reading out of Proverbs. This book is full of simple Godly wisdom, the kind of things that if we do, we will find our lives in a place where we need to be.

In the New Testament, the books of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy are much like that. Good, simple, easy to understand wisdom. Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4 today:

Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.

Just good stuff.  Live a Godly life in front of others. Do what’s right.  Focus on reading the scriptures.  Encourage.  Teach. Preach. Live.

Not rocket science.  Not overly complicated. Simple.

The simple things matter. The simple things are important. The simple things are most often where life is found.

I had a friend that used to always encourage me – Pray, read your Bible, and go to church.  In doing these things you will put yourself in a position to be used by God.

In the simple things.

Today, don’t worry about the complicated things. Don’t worry about the things you can’t understand. Worry about the simple things. Are you doing them?  Are you praying?

Are you reading your Bible?

Are you going to church?

In the simple things, we find life. In the simple things we find that wisdom.  In the simple things we find our way.

Today, are doing the things we should be doing?

Rest

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I’m a busy body.  My wife accuses me of never being able to leave well enough alone. I’ve always got some plan, some thought, some something that I’m up to or thinking through.

I tend to stay on the move, going and doing.

And it’s not just me. We are all busy. As we talk in church, it’s hard to find time to have a meeting at night, most everyone so busy they just don’t have time.

We are busy, busy people.

The notion of rest is something that we don’t do well, we don’t observe well.

Listen to what God says through the prophet Isaiah this morning:

This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.

Only in resting in God can we be saved. Resting in Him.

What does that mean?  That means, to me, that we trust totally in Him. We don’t have to worry, don’t have to work. Don’t have to “do” anything.

God has done it. God has taken care of it. It’s done. Don’t worry about it. God has it.

Rest.  Relax. Trust.

In placing our full trust and faith in Him we are saved. And in placing our full hope and trust in Him, we can relax. We don’t have to do anything. We just rest.

Today, if we are overly anxious or worried or stressed, are we resting in Him? Are we totally trusting in Him?  Is He our trust rest?

Trusting in Him allows us to rest.  Today, we may know the power of salvation. Today may we know the power of resting in God.

Promises

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Promises are a powerful thing.  I was raised to not take a promise lightly. If you promised someone something, that’s the same as giving your word. And you should never go back on your word.

You should never break your promise.

Ever.

That’s the way I was raised.

The Bible is full of God’s promises to us. He promises so save us. To be there for us.  To help us in our time of need. To be our rock.  Our defender. Our safe haven.  Our help.

We see in the Bible that He promised the nation of Israel (and the world) a savior.  He promised to send them (and us) a deliverer.  He promised to bring forth hope and salvation to the people.

And they waited.  And waited.  And waited. And waited.

They waited hundreds of YEARS (yes, years) between the promises He made and the fulfilment of the promise.

Today, we read in Luke, what it looked like when the promise came true:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
he promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham

God hadn’t forgotten His promise. He hadn’t forgotten His word.  He was true to what He said He would do. He was true to who He was.

He kept His promise. Even if the time was not the time the people may have liked.  Even if it didn’t fit their schedule.

It fit God’s time.  It was on His schedule.  It was according to His plan.

God kept His promises and His word to His people.

Just as He will keep it to each of us.

You can trust God and His promises today.  He will keep His word.  The time might not be the time you’d like. But it will be God’s time.

Today, trust in His promises. Trust in His word.  He will take care of you.

Two Roads

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I had a teacher in high school that loved poetry. So, part of what he did for (perhaps to) us was that he made us memorize poems. Some of this memorization was standard class stuff. Others were for extra credit or to replace a bad grade.

Fail a test?  Memorize a poem.

Need more points?  Memorize a poem.

In his class, sometimes it seems like the answer to almost every question was memorize a poem.

And believe it or not, I’m thankful.  Almost 20 years later I can remember bits and pieces of almost every poem that he had us memorize, and I’ve found as a preacher, that can come in handy a lot of days!

When I read the passage that I read this morning from Proverbs 3, I always think of the poem by Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken.  You know it, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both.”  In life, there are always choices, there are at least two road to choose between, sometimes there are even more.

Listen to the two roads before us this morning, as laid out by Proverbs 3: 5-7

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.

Today, you have a choice. Will you choose your own road, or will you choose God’s road?

Will you choose your own wisdom, or will you choose God’s?

Will you choose your own route or will you let God guide you down the steps that you need to be going down?

There are two choices before each of us today. Our way or God’s way.  Our wisdom or God’s wisdom. Our leading or God’s leading.

Today, we have a choice. Who’s way will we follow? Who’s wisdom will we trust?  Who’s direction will we place our trust in?

If we trust in ours alone, we will fool ourselves into thinking we are heading down the right path.  If we trust in God’s, He will direct our steps.

Today, what path are we walking down? Today, who are we trusting?

Don’t You Care If We Drown?

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If there is one thing we know about Jesus, it’s that He loves people.  That’s one of the main points of the entire Gospel.

His loves His disciples.  He loves the crowds that follow Him.  He loves the sinners and tax collectors He meets along His journey.  He even loves the Pharisees.  He loves His family.  He loves the entire world.

That’s kind of the point of John 3:16 – God loves the world.  Through Jesus, we see God’s love for the entire world.

We can argue about a lot in faith. But, we all agree on this.  Jesus loves people.  There is no doubt about that.

Watch what happens today, through in Mark 4:

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

There’s a lot in this passage. But, one of the things that always sticks out to me is this. The disciples asked Jesus, don’t you care that we are going to drown?

They are afraid. This huge storm has blown up all around them. It doesn’t look good.  The boat could sink. They could drown. They could die. That’s a scary, scary thing.

So, out of their fear, they ask Jesus, don’t you care that we are going to drown!  Don’t you care that we are going to die!

In short they are asking, aren’t you going to save us? Don’t you love us?

Each one of the disciples knew that Jesus loved them.  They had seen His love. They knew His love.  They had felt His love.

But now they were scared. They were worried. They didn’t know what was going to happen. And so they questioned. They questioned His love. They questioned His help. They questioned Him.

Do you not care if we drown?

Of course He did. But, in their fear, they lost sight of that. In their fear, they lost sight of God’s love.

Today, no matter what you are going through, God loves you.  God loves you in your storm. God loves you in your life. God loves you no matter what. God loves you.

Don’t let the storm you are going through take your eyes off of God’s love. Don’t let fear cause you to doubt God’s love.  God loves you more than you’ll ever know.

Don’t let the storm of today take your eyes off the love of God.

 

Don’t Worry About It

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We live in a celebrity obsessed culture. With the internet, with TV, with all the different forms of media, people are famous today for simply being famous.

We live in a time when it seems that that more that people do wrong, the more fame they receive. We live in a time when seems like the surest what to get ahead is to be the baddest person. It can seem that it’s tough out there to get by when doing what is right. When seeking what is good. When trying to live a pure life.

It seems like evil gets ahead. Like wrong triumphs.  Like good losses.

And not just on the news. Or in the papers.  Or on the internet. But in our own lives. We see those that are doing things that we KNOW are wrong, we seem them get ahead. We see them “grow.” And we get frustrated. And we wonder what’s the point of trying to be good and righteous.

So did David. And to paraphrase what we wrote in Psalm 37, don’t worry about it:

Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.

Don’t worry about the ways of the famous. Don’t worry about the ways of the wicked. Don’t worry about the ways of others.

God’s got this.  Let Him worry about.

What are you to worry about?

Not other people. Not their actions.  Not their ways.  Not their fame.  Worry about following God. Worry about being faithful. Worry about seeking Him. Worry about knowing Him. Worry about that.

If we seek after God with all that we have, we will find all that we need.

Sometimes, we need to turn off the TV, unplug the radio, and (dare I say it) get off Facebook.

Leave the world alone.  Leave the actions of others alone. And worry not about your wo