Tag Archives: Faithful

Potential

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God will send folks into our lives to make us better. God will bring people into our path that will make us even more faithful, more obedient, more effective for the Gospel.

They will help us to become better husbands and wives, better parents, better Christians, better friends.

God wants to do great things through us. And He will send people into our lives to help make that happen.

Listen to what happens today in Acts 18: 24, 26-27:

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. . . He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed

PotentialApollos is doing a great job speaking. He is smart, he is eloquent, he is really being used by God.

But Priscilla and Aquila knew that there was more than he could learn, more that he could know, more that he could understand.

He could be even better. He could. He could be even more faithful.

He could accomplish even more.

To learn more, or to be taught more is about our potential. It means that we can do even more for God. It means that we can be even more faithful. It means that we can accomplish even more.

So today, be faithful. And if the chance to learn something new comes, seize it. If the chance to learn from someone that’s been doing it longer than we have come, take it.

God is going to do amazing things through you. And when He sends someone into your path to make you better, thank Him for 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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

The Fields are Ready

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Yesterday we talked about how part of what we are called to do it to join into what God is doing. There are opportunities; there are so many things that God is doing!

He is at work in ways that we can’t even think about or realize. He is doing things that our brains can’t fathom. He is at work in different ways and places that are literally too much for us to handle.

And, to restate. He wants to us me and you to accomplish His goal and purpose. Listen today to what it says in Matthew 9: 35-38:

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

landscape_shutterstock_120849595The harvest is plentiful. As a Christian, everywhere you look, you will see someone.

Someone broken.

Someone in need.

In need of Jesus. In need of hope. In need of someone to care. In need of just a chance today.

They are there. They are. They are waiting. They are. They are needful. They are.

And God will bring them into your path today. He will. God will bring someone into your path today that only you can influence. Only you can speak to. Only you can effect.

Only you.

God will bring them to you today.

The fields are ready. There are needs all around us. What will we do? We will meet them; we will see them.

What will we do. Today, may we work in the fields that God has placed us in.

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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

Move Forward

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One of the most well-known stories in the Bible, and honestly, one of the most important stories in the Bible is when Saul gets saved, and the Lord later changes his name to Paul.

It’s a story of how the Lord intervenes and has plans bigger than Saul (Paul) and bigger than any of us. God has a calling for him, and He has a calling for me and you. I was reading that story this morning, and something jumped out at me.

Listen to what it says in Acts 9: 3-6:

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

arrow-forwardWhat stood out to me was the last thing that Jesus said. Saul asks who it was that was shining down on him, and Jesus responds by asking why he was persecuting Him.

But what jumped out to me was what happened next. Jesus tells Saul it’s Him, and then says “But rise and enter the city.”

Yes, Saul has been persecuting Him. Yes, Saul had done some bad stuff. Yes, there was a lot of water under the bridge. But rise and enter the city.

Look ahead. Look forward. Look to the future. Don’t worry about the past. Don’t worry about what’s happened. Don’t worry about all that has happened in the past.

Look at ahead. God has a plan that is greater than anything in your past. Don’t focus on what has happened (good or bad). Focus on what is to come. Focus on the future.

Rise and enter the city. Move forward. Keep going. God is more worried and more focused on your future than He is on your past.

God has great things in store. May we be faithful with what He is calling us to!

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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

God Pulling You Closer

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You ever felt like you aren’t doing enough for God?  Felt like you don’t measure up?  Felt like you aren’t good enough?

You know that you should read the bible more.  Or pray more.  Or whatever “more.”  You feel it.  You know it.  You really know that it’s something that God is calling you to, something you should do, something you need to do to be faithful.

But yet, something happens, and you don’t do it.  And, here’s the kicker.  You feel like a failure.  You feel further from God than you’ve ever felt before.  You are sure that He can’t stand you know.  You  just know it.

Listen to what Paul writes today in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

31-jesus-embracePaul is talking about spiritual gifts in this section and in most of chapter 12.  But I want you to notice what he writes at the very end of this passage.  No one can say Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.

That’s what I want to focus on here.  You can’t say that Jesus is Lord, unless lead by the spirit.  So, the very fact that there is anything in you that wants to know Jesus, follow Jesus, serve Jesus, that come from the spirit.

Anything in you today that wants to be faithful, that’s from God. Anything in your that desires to do “more” that’s from the spirit.

So, there’s two ways to look at it.  We can beat ourselves for not being as faithful as we should, or we can choose to realize that anything in us that wants to be faithful, that’s God pulling us to Himself.  That’s God pulling you closer.

Today, chase after God’s movement in your heart. Chase after His spirit.  Follow where He is leading.  If there anything, anything in you at all that wants to know Him, that’s Him calling you to Himself.

Chase after that.

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.

Courage

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CS Lewis, in his great book The Screwtape Letters,  wrote these words:

“courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality.”

Courage is what is required to do that which is right, to do that which God desires, that which is that next step of faithfulness.  That is what God wants for us. That which God wants from us.

God wants us to take that next step.  God wants us to be faithful.  God wants us to be brave.  God wants us to have courage.

No matter what we are facing, no matter what is next, no matter what is going on, I promise you this.  God wants us to take that next step. God wants us to have courage.  In many ways, the story of Christmas is the story of courage.  It took great courage for Joseph to be faithful to God’s plan, to do what God wanted him to do, and to be obedient.  Listen to what he had to do, in Matthew 1: 19-25:

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

courage4When all this happened, Joseph was tempted to walk away.  He was tempted to just get out, as simply and pain free as possible.  That’s what he was going to do.  But he didn’t.

Because God had other plans.

And Joseph followed.  He had courage.  He took that step.

And God did amazing things.

Today, have faith.  Have courage.  Believe.  Hope.  Trust.

And God will be faithful.  May we do the same.

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 You

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Know who you are. That’s a big thing in life. To know who you are. To know that you’re a child of God. To know that He loves you. To know that you are His, you are called, you are valued, you are of great worth.

To know that there is no one like you in the whole of creation. To know that you are uniquely gifted, called, worthy, and able to do amazing things that to no one else can do.

But, also know that you can’t do everything.

Listen to what happens in John 1:19-23:

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

stjohnWe see John the Baptist. There is no one like him, ever. He does things that no one every could do. He has gifts that no one else has. He even baptizes Jesus.

So, he does a lot.

But, we see in this passage today something huge, that he realized, and that we need to realize. He could only be him. He couldn’t be anyone else.

When they asked him who he was, he didn’t say – I am the Christ. He wasn’t. He wasn’t the one. He was the one that was sent to make things ready for the one.

That’s who he was. That was his calling. That was his gift.

He wasn’t everything. But he was something. Something important.

So are you. You aren’t everything. You don’t have all gifts. But, what you do have is important. Is unique. Is needed. Is special.

You can’t be everything.

But you can be you. Be you today. Be the best you that you can be. Be the you that God created you to be today.

Be you. And in that, be faithful. Live boldly. Live unafraid. Live with passion. Live with hope. With peace. With joy.

Be you.

Don’t try to be anyone else. Be you. And let God move in that!

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.

The Little Things

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The Kingdom of God is in little things. The mark of faithfulness to God, the mark of obedience to God, is not the big things.

It’s the little things. It’s the small acts of faithfulness.

That’s where it all starts. That’s where it all begins.

With the little things.

Listen to what Jesus says today in Mark 4:30-32:

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Mustard Seed FaithThe kingdom of God is like that small mustard seed that turns into a huge tree. The kingdom of God is the small things, that God turns into big things.

So often in our lives, we spend our time looking at “big” things that we should do for God. Don’t do that. Don’t wait for the “big” things to be faithful.

Be faithful with the “small” things. Because, there aren’t small things.

God, through His power, turns small things into big things.

So, today, serve, smile, laugh, care. Be friendly. Speak kindly. Show grace. Care. Pray. Read.

Small things. That aren’t small.

And when these “small” things are done for God, and His glory, He will do amazing things.

Let’s be faithful with the “small” things. And God will do amazing things.

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.

The Day After Election Day

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Today is the day after Election Day.  Today is a day for many of great joy and for others great depression.  For some they feel crushed and worried because their hopes for our nation were defeated, for others there is celebration because their hopes carried the day.

For some “my guy” won. For others “my guy” lost.

To both sides, today, I offer these words as a Pastor and as a friend.

By the way, they’d be same words I’d have offered you yesterday and the day before.

It’s the same advice I will offer you tomorrow.

Pray.  Read your bible.  Go to church.  Love your families.  Teach your children.  Men, be the Godly spiritual leaders of your homes. Wives, be the Godly woman that God has created you to be, enabling your family to be the family God needs.

Teach your children the truth of God.  Value spiritual truth more than worldly truth.

Be salt and light.

Remember the words of Psalm 2 1:3:

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

If your guy won, remember that God is the true king.  If you guy lost, remember that God is the true king.  And true change for our nation starts in the home, in the families, in the churches.

Remember – pray.  Read your bible.  Go to church.

Be faithful.  Love God.  Love neighbor.

Be salt and light.  And remember John Wesley’s final words upon the earth -“The best of all is, God is with us.”

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 to Do?

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Sometimes in life we are paralyzed by what to do. What is our next step? What does God want us to do? How are we supposed to proceed?

What does it mean to be faithful?

What exactly is it that God wants us to do?

Those are big questions. Huge questions. Questions that we have all wrestled with at some point in our lives.

Well Andy, you’ve defined the problem. What’s the answer.

Listen to what Jesus tells us today in Matthew 10:40-42:

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

This is one of my favorite passages in the bible, in fact it’s the passage I preach my first sermon on when I first started preaching. I love it because of what it tells us to do.

Not something “great.” Not something “super.” Not something otherworldly.

Something simple. Something that we can all do. It says that even a cup of cold water, given for Jesus sake, it will be rewarded.

Sometimes we spend our lives looking for the “big” things instead of focusing on the small, simple, acts of faithfulness that God is calling you to.

God may or may not be calling you into the fulltime ministry. But, no matter who you are or what you do, I know this.

He is calling you to love.

To forgive.

To serve.

To care.

To share your story.

To be Christian.

These are not “great” things. These are every day, “faithful” things. But in these things, God is glorified. He is lifted up. And He draws all men to Him.

Today, what to do? Be faithful. Do the small, little things. And God will do great things with it.

Today, in all things, may we be faithful.

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.

Doing our Part

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I sometimes think of what Dr. Bryson, one of my professors at Mississippi College, used to say about Paul. He said, sort of jokingly, that we as preachers would rather preach on Paul than Jesus. He said Paul was hard understand, so we could preach for hours about Him.

He said Jesus wasn’t hard to understand. He was just hard to follow. It’s not hard to understand loving your enemy. It’s really, really hard to do.

Today in Philippians 2:12-13, we have one of those Paul passages that can be hard to understand at first.

Listen to what it says:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Is Paul telling us that we have to earn our salvation? That our salvation is up to us? That its something that we have to “do?” He says to work it out.

But then, notice what he says right after, it’s God that works through you. For His will and good pleasure.

So, well then. Which is it? Do we work it out, or is it God that is at work?

Yes!

We do our part. We are faithful. We put ourselves in a position to hear God speak and move in us.

One of my mentors used to always say – pray, read your bible, and go to church. That won’t make everything easy or perfect, but it will put you in a position to hear God.

So, we do our part. We put ourselves in a position to hear God and know God.

And God moves. God speaks. God changes us. God saves us. God works on us.

So, we’ve done our part. And God does His. We don’t earn it. It’s not about anything we can do. It’s about all that He has done and is doing.

And, the very fact that we have the desire to know Him, to follow Him, to love Him, to put ourselves in that position?

That desire comes from Him. He is at work. Even in the acts of faithfulness. He is at work, calling us to be faithful.

So, today, let’s do our part. And let’s know that in that, God is at work. And He will be working on us for His good pleasure.

Let’s be faithful. And let’s see what God will do in our lives!

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.