Tag Archives: Life

You Ask Me How I Know He Lives

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One of the old songs that many of us grew up singing asks this question about Jesus: “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.”

Some folks really stress, worry and strain about faith. How can we believe? How can we know? How can we trust in a God that we can’t see? How can we put our faith in that?

Jesus, in John 5:36, deals with this. He talks about witnesses and testimonies. He talks about how folks can trust what He is saying and trust who He is. He tells how we can trust Him and trust His work. Listen to what He says.

“But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”

He says my works give witness to me. My works give witness to the fact that I am who I say that I am. My works point to the truth of my proclamation.

Jesus’ works prove that He is Lord.

What works, you may be asking. Well, of course we have the works of scripture. We have what we see there, what we read there, what we know there.

But, we also have the works of His body – the church. The church that loves, that serves, that glorifies Christ, that points to Him, that lives for Him, that worships Him. The church that seeks to love and serve others as Jesus would have us to love and serve. The lives of millions of individual Christians that make up His body give witness.

But it isn’t just that. Think of a time in your life when you felt Him move, when you experienced Him, when you knew Him in a powerful, life-changing way. Think of the times when you loved, served, and cared. Didn’t you feel alive? Didn’t you feel more alive at that moment than in any other time in your life?

That’s the witness of His spirit showing you, pointing to you, calling to you that He is who He says He is.

That’s His witness.

You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

May we all feel that witness today in our hearts!

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.

Living for Ourselves?

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Yesterday we talked about how sometimes in life we want judgment for “them” and grace for us. Paul talks in Romans about this concept and we are reminded not to judge.

I mean, who are we to judge? God is the only judge, not us.

So then, does that mean I am free to live as I want and do as I want, and who are you to say anything to me about anything that I’m doing? I am free to do as I want in this life. Only God can judge me.

Well, maybe. But let’s not take this freedom thing too far. Let’s seriously consider what our actions do and how they affect others. Read what Paul says in Romans 14: 13-15:

“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.”

As Christians, we don’t just live for ourselves. This life is not just about us. It’s not just about what we want to do. It’s also about our families, our workplaces, our churches, our communities, and how we affect other people.

Your life today will make an impact on someone else; the way that we live, work, play, laugh – who we are – will affect others.

May we never be a stumbling block to someone else. May we never live in a way that dishonors God, that harms a neighbor, or that keeps someone from knowing Christ.

May I never live in such a way that that my life is a stumbling block to someone else.

So, yes, today we have freedom. We can do as we want. We can live as we want. I am not to judge you and you are not to judge me. God is the only the judge.

But our lives affect each other. Our lives shape each other. Our lives have an impact on each other. And on the world.

May we live in a way that brings glory to God. And may we never be a stumbling block to someone else.

May we never live just for ourselves.

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

Going Through the Motions

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One of the problems that the prophet Isaiah faced in his time in Israel as a prophet was religion.

Religion was a huge problem for him as a prophet.

Wait, what?

Yep, religion. How? Why?

Listen to what he says today in chapter 1: 12-18:

“When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

What was happening was this. The people were keeping the rituals of religion. They were going to the appointed holy days. They were keeping the festivals. They were offering sacrifices. They were “doing” the “right” things.

Except they weren’t. They were keeping the rules of religion. But they weren’t keeping the heart of faith.

They weren’t treating others with love and respect. They weren’t seeking God. They weren’t chasing after justice. They weren’t showing God’s love to all.

They were just going through the motions.

And that’s a dangerous thing. Because going through the motions can confuse religion with relationship.

God doesn’t want us to be religious. He wants us in a relationship with Him. And when we are in a relationship with Him, He takes care of the life of religion with Him.

Today, don’t just go through the motions. Really seek after Him with all you are. And, you will find Him.

And in finding Him, we will have all that heart and our life can desire. And we find the life that we are desperately wanting.

Today, chase after Him. Today, find life!

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.

You’ve Stayed in the Pit Long Enough

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In the Old Testament, during the Exodus, the people of God make some mistakes. They complain. The fuss. The worship idols, they rebel against God, the rebel against Moses.

They doubt God and His promises and refuse to move forward and trust in Him when He commands them to.

They do some pretty dumb stuff. And because of that, they are punished. The Lord says that instead of going straight to the promised land, they will wander for 40 years.

And so they wander. And wander. And wander. And wander. This was in the days before GPS, so there wasn’t much they could do!

Until today. Listen what happens today in Deuteronomy 1:5-8

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

God says through Moses – you’ve stayed here long enough. You wandered long enough. You’ve been here in your pit long enough. It’s time to move. It’s time to go. It’s over. New life awaits.

It’s time to get up and walk. It’s time to get up and move.

You’ve stayed in your pit long enough.

Today, you have stayed in your pit long enough. No matter what that pit is. Today is a new day. You are forgiven. You are new. Today is a day to walk on. Today is a day to start over. Today is a day to go.

God still has big things for you. God still as new things for you. There is still life and hope and peace for you.

You just have to get up and go.

You can do it. You can get up. You can walk forward. You can leave your pit.

Through God’s grace. Today, you’ve stayed in your pit long enough. Today, get up and go.

And God will go with you!

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.

Who Will Steer the Ship?

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Sin and temptation are powerful. They really are. Sometimes in our lives, we feel like we are totally helpless in resisting sin. We feel overwhelmed. We feel as though there is nothing that we can do against it.

Paul talks a lot about the power of sin, how it takes over, how it works against us, how we can feel as though we are overcome by it sometimes.

And he is 100% correct there (duh, he is well, you know, Paul, and all of this is inspired by the Holy Spirit!). So then, we why do we fight against? If God loves us in spite of our sin, and we are helpless against it, then why do we worry about it and strain against it?

Listen to what he says today in Romans 6: 12-14:

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Do not present yourself to sin, but instead present yourself to God. What? What does that mean?

Today, in your life, what will set the course for your actions? Will it be your sin and temptations? Or will it be God?
Something will steer the ship in your life today.

Something will guide you today. Will it be God? Or will it be sin?

If it is sin, then you will get yourself in trouble. You will trip and fall. You will make mistakes.

Me too, by the way! All of us are equally effected, and destroyed by sin. It’s called being human.

But, if God steers the ship, if God sets the course, then we will be more aware of temptation. We will be more aware of where we are being pulled away. We will be more in tune to His leading and will have more of His strength to fight.

Now, even with God steering, we will mess up. But if He is steering, and we mess up, we are aware of mistakes, aware of His calling to keep going, and aware of His forgiveness.

Sin blinds us to these things. And sin wants to keep us from knowing that we are forgiven!

So, today, in your life, who will steer the ship? Will you present yourself to God? Or to sin?

That decision right now, will affect everything else we do 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.

It’s Worth It

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Sometimes, being a Christian is very hard. Jesus never promised us a rose garden. He promised in fact, just the opposite. He said that there would be tough times. He said that there would be trails. He said that we would face tests and worries and strife.

He never said that it would be easy.

He never promised us that.

We see today, though, what he does promise us.  Listen to Luke 18:28-30:

And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

The disciples say – we’ve left everything to follow you. It’s cost us everything. Sometimes, following Jesus may cost us something. It could cost us friends. It could cost us status. We could be mocked. We could be laughed at. We could become the butt of jokes.

Yeah, it could happen. And, to speak the truth, it probably will happen. After I became a Christian, I lost some friends. It’s tough.

Then, why? Why do it? Why should we endure this?

Because it’s worth it. Listen to what He says. To those that have given up such things, there is a reward in heaven.

God sees what you are going through. He sees your challenges. He sees your hurts. He sees your tears.

He honors it. And trust me. It is worth it. There is a something better coming. There is a home better than this home. There is a land where there are no more tears, hurt, and pain. There is a better place, our true home. Our home where we actually made for.

I though of this quote by CS Lewis today – “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought the most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

The pain of this life does not compare with the joy of the next. There is something better coming.

It’s worth it. Be faithful. In the face of scorn, mockery, and hatred, love. Care. Forgive. It’s hard, yet.

But it’s worth it.

Something better is coming.

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.

Good Will Win

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I just got back from the Mississippi Annual Conference this past weekend. It’s the yearly gathering of pastors from all around the state. There are times of worship, times of business, times of reflection.

And in the state of the current United Methodist Church, times of sadness. We closed more churches in Mississippi last year than we started. We had more pastors retire than were commissioned for ministry. Our budget remains very, very tight, and we are only meeting 80% of it.

Not to mention all controversies that swirl around the national/international church.

But it’s not just the Methodists that struggle. Every denomination has plateaued. The largest growing religions group in our nation is “those not affiliated,” meaning they aren’t part of a church.

We see these things locally with many churches in our hometowns struggling to grow, to meet their financial obligations, to be relevant in their communities.

So, with all that in mind, listen to what Jesus says to Peter today in Matthew 16:17-18:

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

To those of you in a panic today about your church, your larger tradition, all of these things, listen to Jesus.

The gates of hell will not triumph against His church. God will win. Good will win. The Body of Christ will be victorious in the end.

The church is His body and His bride, and He will return for Her one day. So, yes, in 2012, it may look like things are bad, but, His word tells us that He will win.

Evil will not. Death will not. Pain will not.

Good will win. In life. In the church. In the universe.

In your life.

So, hold on, hold fast. Help is on the way. Don’t lose sight of that. Don’t forget.

God will win.

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.

Not Satisfied

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One of the things that I know deep, deep down in my heart is this. We are all sinful. We are all broken. We are all frail. We are all weak.

That’s who we are. That’s who you are. That’s who I am. I am not big on judging others, because I know my weakness. We all have work to do in our lives.

I think this one fact is one of the things that draws people to Asbury, it’s a place where you can be loved on and not beat up on. It’s a place where we all admit that we are imperfect.

I know that, and I believe that.

Now, that said, there’s something else I believe. I know I’m sinful and broken.

And I’m not satisfied to stay that way. I know that there is more than my sin and my brokenness. I know that God has to have more than that.

I’m satisfied with staying the same. I want more.

Listen to what Paul says in Galatians 2:17-20 today:

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We are sinners, yes, but Christ is not a servant to sin. We die to ourselves, and to our sin, so that we may live in Christ.

But it’s not really us living, but Christ living in us and through us.

If you are not satisfied this morning, this is the answer. It’s not about you (or me) or our frailties and sin. It’s about Jesus living in us and through us.

It’s about Jesus changing and transforming us. It’s about us getting out of the way, and devoting ourselves to Him. And knowing that life through Him.

Today, there is more. Today, you are more. There is more than life as you’ve always known it, more that life as it’s always been. There is hope, joy and peace.

Today, don’t be satisfied. Today, strive after something bigger and better. Today, life in and through Him.

Today, live!

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.

Worth Having

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What in your life is really worth having? I mean, really worth having?

We spend our time on lots of things. So are very important. Some, not so much. In our lives we only have so much time, so much money, so much energy, so much effort.

Today, in your life, are you spending these precious resources on what matters the most?

Are you spending it on things worth really having?

Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 13:44-46:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

He says that the kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure that man sells all he has to go and buy. It’s like a great pearl that a man sales everything to go and own.

The kingdom of heaven is life that is found in Jesus. It’s not just heaven, though that is part of it. It’s the life that is found in one’s daily walk with Him. That life that makes everything better. That life is that is truly worth having, over everything else in life.

And see, that’s it. This kingdom life, this life that’s found in Jesus, that’s worth having. That’s eternal, unending, and joyous. That’s the best and that’s what it’s all about.

And today, Jesus said that should come first and be first. And we should get rid of everything else and keep that.

Because when we’ve got that, we’ve got something truly worth having.

Today, may we remember in our lives what is truly worth having. Faith. Family. Friendships. And let’s focus on that.

Let’s focus on what really matters. And in that, we will find life!

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 Nice

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The way most letters in the New Testament end is very practical. The letters, by the way, are the books that follow the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and Acts. The letters were written by Paul and other leaders in the early church. And were literally what they say they were – letters.

The letters are generally concerned with some issue going on in that local church, or with teaching correct belief.

But nearly every letter ends with just some plain, practical advice for the people. Today, as we draw near to the end of the letter to the Hebrews, we see more of that.

Listen to the advice we are given today in chapter 13:1-3:

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

We are told to love. Show hospitality. Remember those in prison and are forgotten about.

In short, we are told, be nice.

Today, in your life, just be nice. Be nice to people. Smile. Be kind. Don’t fuss. Be nice.

Lots of stuff can be hard. But sometimes the easiest thing to do can also be the most important thing.

Today, God may not be calling you to move to a far away country. He may not be calling you to enter the full-time ministry. He may not be calling you to teach or lead.

But, He calling each of us, you and me, to this simple, and true advice.

Be nice.

Show His love to others by being nice. In that, we show how important others are to God, and to us.

And, believe it or not, when we are nice to others, we actually feel better ourselves.

So, today, be nice.

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.