Tag Archives: God

Worthy

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There is nothing better, after a long day of work, or a hard day of a play, than to take a good, long bath. Nothing like the feeling of going from being just filthy, to being clean.

That’s one of the things that God wants to do for us. He wants to make us clean. In our lives, we have a way of getting dirty. Some it comes from our own choices. Some of it comes from the stuff of life. Some it comes from just life.

And when we are dirty, we don’t fill worthy. We feel like we can’t come into the presence of God. We feel like we just can’t do it.

Listen to what God says today through Malachi 3:2-4:

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

The Lord will be like a refiner’s fire. He will be like a fuller’s soap. He will make us clean. He will purify us.

He will make us worthy. He will.

You won’t. You will never “make” yourself worthy of God. You will never be “good” enough. It’s not something you can do.

God will do it. He will purify you. He will clean you. Now, yes, this may be tough at time.

A refiner’s fire may be really hot. It may even hurt. A fuller’s soap may be a little painful at times. Yeah, bath time might not be a lot of fun.

But, it’s worth it. This test you are facing, this trial, whatever ever it is, it will give you two choices.

Run to God, or run away from God. If you cause whatever you are facing to make you run to God, He will use it.

He will use this time to purify you. Clean you. Make you better. Make you holy.

Make you worthy.

Today, God’s desire, His hope, His plan, is to refine you. Make you better. Make you like He created you to be.

Today, may we find our life, our hope, our purity, our worth, in the goodness of God.

May He wash us clean 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.

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.

Come Home

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There will be a break in posts for about a week or so, my family is going to Disney World this Sunday following worship at Asbury (come join us 8:20 or 10:40!).  I’ll be back the next week and resume posting then!

The Old Testament prophets are constantly warning the people. Stop doing the things that you are doing to break the law.

Stop abusing the poor.

Stop worshiping idols.

Stop departing from God.

They tell the people, over and over again, if you do not stop, there will be judgement. There will be pain.

Sin hurts. Sin destroys. Sin looks like it will be a good thing, it will bring fun, it will bring life, but it doesn’t. It only brings destruction and pain and hurt and loss.

It was once written the reason God hates sin so much is because it destroys His children.

Today, we hear the other word of the prophets. Come home. Listen to what it says in Joel 2: 12-14:

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

If you return, return with your heart, He will forgive your sin. He will forgive, He will restore.

He will make it, and all things new. He will give hope and peace.

He will welcome us back home.

So today, no matter where we are, when we turn back to Him, He welcomes us back home.

Today, no matter where you are, God wants you to come home.

Peace, life, love and forgiveness are found in Him. And found there. Today, may we return to Him and find what we are looking for.

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.

Whose Praise Matters

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Whose praise are you trying to earn today? Whose approval are your trying to get today?

Your boss?

Your peers?

Your co-workers?

Even your preacher or your church?

Today, whose approval are your desiring?

Listen to what Paul says today in 1 Thessalonians 2:4-6:

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.

Paul said, I didn’t come seeking your approval. I came seeking God’s. I didn’t come seeking the approval of man, I came seeking the approval of God. I didn’t come seeking to earn man’s praise. I came seeking God’s praise.

Your value and worth doesn’t come from what other people think of you. It comes from what God thinks of you.

He loves you. He sent His son to die for you. And He will do all in His power to help you be faithful today.

Today, in your life, whose praise matters to you? The praise of God? Or the praise of man?

Today, seek your worth not in what others think of you. Find your worth in what God thinks of you.

Because, in the end, that’s the only praise that matters!

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 Holy (Gulp)

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One of the commands of for His people is one that I don’t like to hear, and is one that I’m just as likely to run away from as I am to want to obey.

Be holy.

Gulp.

That’s hard. And it doesn’t sound like fun. Or something that can do. Or something that we can achieve. Especially when we see each day how much we mess up.

How much we fall.

How many times we make mistakes. How many times we blow it. Surly God’s not serious. Surly He doesn’t mean holy, like you know, well holy.

Listen to what He says in 1 Peter 1:13-16:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Peter tells us don’t be conformed to the ways that we used to be. Be holy as God is holy. Be different.

And that’s it. That’s what holy is. Holiness isn’t perfection. Holiness isn’t being sinless. Holiness is not about never making a mistake.

If so, none of us could be holy or aspire to be holy. That’s not something we can do.

So, then, what does God expect? If He calls us to be holy, what does that even mean?

To be holy is to be different. To be changed. To be transformed. To not be the same person we used to be. To be different from culture. To be different from those around.

To be the kind of person that lives a life that makes others say – man, I want what they have.

Being holy isn’t what we’ve made it out to be. It’s not about “perfection.” It’s about being different. Standing out. Being the unique creation God has made you to be.

That’s what it means to be holy. To be different. To live in such a way that makes others want to have what have.

And today, you can do it. You can be different. You can stand out. You can live like that. You can be holy.

Today, let’s do 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.

Something to Hold on To

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In life, we all need something to hold onto. We all need something to cling to. We all need something that, when the waters are rough and the times are hard.

We need something in out lives to hold on to.  Listen to what Psalm 63:5-8 says this morning:

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Did you hear what the Psalmist says about God today in this passage? My soul will be satisfied when he remembers God. God has been his help in hard times before.

So, because of that, his soul clings on to God now.

God has been our friend, our rock, our shield, our help, our defender, our protector. He will not leave or forsakes us. He loves us more than we can ever imagine.

He love us. And He will hold on to us.

We can hold on to Him. No matter what is happening in your life today, no matter what is going on, no matter what you are struggling with today, you can hold on to Him.

He is there.

He loves you.

He cares for you.

He will not leave you.

Today, and each day, you can hold on to Him.

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.

It’s a New Day

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Today in the text we read, Isaiah encounters God. He is in Temple praying and God shows up. He is there, and the Lord God Almighty decides to make an appearance.

And one of the things that I love about this passage is what Isaiah says when God shows up.

Listen to what happens in Isaiah 6:4-7:

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Paraphrasing he says – “Uh oh.”

He realizes how big, how awesome, how mighty God is. God is holy. God is other. God is different than we are. He is the creator of all this, both seen and unseen. He is the author of life. He is the sustainer of everything. His the very reason and purpose of life.

He’s kind of a big deal.

And Isaiah realizes how imperfect, unholy, and unworthy he is. That’s how we can feel when we really encounter God, huh?

Unholy. Imperfect. Unworthy.

We quite often in our faith feel unworthy of God’s love. We can feel like we don’t deserve that God. In light of God’s perfection, we see our mistakes.

And so, look what God does for Isaiah. He makes him clean. He restores him. He allows him to start over. He gives him a fresh start.

Have you done everything right? No? Are you perfect? No. But you are forgiven. Through what Jesus Christ has done, you are forgiven.

Before God sent Isaiah out for the mission He had for him, he restored him. God started over. He let Isaiah begin again.

Today, God has something for you. He has a great mission for you. Something awesome. Something great. Something you may feel unworthy of.

It’s ok. Today, through Jesus, you are restored. It’s a new day. You are forgiven. Today, live in this new life given to by Jesus.

Today, no matter what has happened in the past, it’s  new day. You are restored.

Live in that grace.

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 God Uses our Defeats

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Just a reminder, 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.

1 Kings 19 is a great chapter of the Bible. We could spend a to time talking about so many things here.

I mean, in this chapter, you have Elijah, the brave prophet of God, running from Jezebel when she threatens his life. So, even after a great victory, he doesn’t trust God like he should.

Then we have the Lord providing food and drink from him when he is at his lowest and most tire. The Lord took care of him.

And then we have the Lord speaking to him not in the loud and in the powerful, but in the still small whisper. There are so many amazing things here.

But today, I wanted to talk about verses 19-21. Listen to what happens:

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

In this passage, Elijah is returning home from all this. He had every right to be defeated. When he was faced with a challenge, he ran. He doubted God. He doubted God’s protect and provision. He didn’t trust God as he should have trusted. He literally had given into fear and doubt.

That’s something that we all know that we shouldn’t do. But, it’s something that we all do, and have done. So, at this point he was defeated. He had messed up. And that was that.

Yet, on the way home from this failure, the Lord directs him to meet a young man by the name of Elisha. And this young man would become his follower and become a great prophet just like Elijah.

From the moment of his failure, a moment of victory. Elijah had this great and embarrassing defeat, as he ran like a scared dog from Jezabel. And God used that. God used that defeat to bring out something good.

God literally brought victory from the jaws of defeat.

That’s what He did for Elijah, and that’s what He will do for us today. Today, God will use and failure, our defeats, our mistakes, for good. He will bring good out of everything. Everything that happens, God will bring good out of.

God doesn’t always stop bad things from happening. But God bring good out of everything.

Today, God will use your defeat. He will use your failures. He will use all of you for something great. Let Him guide and direct your path. He will do it.

God Has a Plan

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Before today’s reflection – a quick note. This week, Asbury released a mobile app for smartphones. You can download this app and listen to my weekly sermons, read this devotional, and find out all that’s happening here at Asbury. To download the app for iPhones/iPads, click here. To download the app for Andorids, click here.

Now, on to today’s reflection!

God had a plan for Paul. God had big things for Paul. Paul was going to go to Rome and preach the gospel before Caesar. God was going to use Paul to literally change the world. God was going to use Paul to make sure that the Good News of Jesus Christ was heard all around the world.

God has a plan for Paul.

Listen today what happens in Acts 27:23-24:

For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

In the text today, it looks like the plan may be in trouble. Paul and his companions on the ship they were sailing in have now been shipwrecked. It doesn’t look good. It looks like they will be stranded. It looks like the plan won’t happen. The story looks over.

Paul says no – an angel appeared to him and said that he WILL preach in Rome. It will happen. Don’t worry. Don’t fret. God had a plan.

The same is true for us today. God has a plan. God has a plan for our lives. God has a plan for what He wants to do. Now, it may look like we stranded on an island. It may look like the plan won’t happen.

Don’t worry. God has a plan. God has this. God has a plan.

We don’t have to spend our lives worried about everything. We don’t have to spend our lives terrified of everything; of every mistake. God has a plan.

Even if we are stuck on an island. Even if we feel along. Even if we think that it’s over. God has a plan. Don’t worry. Trust. Hope. Keep going.

God has a plan. Today, and each day, we can trust in that.

I Don’t Want To!

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I really wish that life was all unicorns and rainbows. That’d be awesome. It would be great if life was only made up of things that were easy, of things that we liked doing; of things that we would chose to do.

That’s not the way that it works. Life is not always made of up things that we would choose to do. Life is not always made of up the things that we’d choose to.

It’s sometimes, more often than not, made up of hard things. Things that we think we can’t do. Things that are too great a challenge. Things that, in the end, we just don’t want to do.

Look at what happens in Acts 9:10-17:

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Look at Ananias today. He didn’t want to go talk to Paul. He didn’t want to go heal Paul. Why? He had good reason. Paul had been destroying the church. Paul had actually been coming to Damascus to destroy men like him. And now God wants him to go and heal Paul.

No way! I don’t want to!

But he did. And look what God did through Paul. Through Paul, half the New Testament was written, and those us today that aren’t Jewish can say that we are Christian because of the work that God did through Paul.

And the only way that God could have done that was by Ananias doing something that he didn’t want to do.

Today, God may call you to do something that you don’t want to do. That looks hard. That puts you in a tough place. That makes you want to stop your feet and say no! I’m not doing that.

Today, do what God calls you to do. Be obedient. He has something for you. And He has something for that one that He wants to reach through you. When we are obedient, even when we don’t want to be, God can do some great things.

Today, even if our first impulse is to scream I don’t want to! when God call us, may we do what He wants. For in being obedient to His calling, we find more life than we could ever imagine.