Tag Archives: Life

Two Things

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We hear stories of people’s faith and think to ourselves, really? Really?

That can’t be true. There’s no way folks experience faith like that.

Not when our faith seems so dry. We so want to know the faith that others folks have. We want to experience that type of faith and belief that others folks know. We want that peace. We want that joy.  We want that hope.

We want to do more than just go through the motions.

It can happen. That type of faith and belief and life is actually there. It is possible to live a life a life of faith that impacts your life.  Listen to what Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:

For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes

It is real.  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually happened.

For real.

You can trust it.  You can believe it.  You can have hope in it.  It can change your life.

But, the have that life that faith truly impacts, two things must happen. One is an action, one is a belief.

First , we must be faithful each day.  It’s one thing to talk about having faith. It’s another thing to live out that faith. The lives that faith truly impacts are not the lives that just talk about their faith. It’s the lives that seek to live out that faith.

Seek to live out today what you say you believe.

And second, just because you have faith, it doesn’t mean everything is easy. There are tough times. There will be tears. There will be troubles. God still loves you, in spite that.

You can believe that.  Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean that God has forgotten you.

Have faith.  Live it. Don’t lose hope. And in this, we will find the power of God.

 

What Do You Say?

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We see the critical question in all of life, asked today, in this text.

We see the question that shapes everything in our lives asked today.

Today, in Mark 8, we see Jesus discuss the following with His disciples.

Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

By the way, the picture to the left was taken at Caesarea Philippi, close to where we think this conversation took place.

That question that matters is this, who do you say Jesus is?  Not what do others say, but what do you say?   You’ve probably heard a variety of sermons on this text, bible studies and other such things.

Because its’ a powerful, powerful text.

But, when we hear something so often, we can forget to listen sometimes.

Ah, we’ve heard this. We know what’s going to be said.

Today, listen to this story, like you’ve never heard it.

Who do you say that Jesus is?  Or, put another way, what does Jesus mean to you?

Is He our life?  Our all in all?  Our shelter from the storm?  Our salvation?  Our hope? Our rock?  Our firm foundation?  Our cornerstone?

What has He meant to your life?  Your family?  Your soul?

I wouldn’t be the man, the husband, the father, the pastor I am without Jesus.

He is my life, my strength, my shield.

I am imperfect, He is perfect.  I am weak, He is strong.

Who is He to you this morning?  Who is He in your life?  Your family’s life?

What does Jesus mean to you?

May He be our entire life today.  And in that, we’ll know the power of true life.

It’s Not about You (or me)

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The devotional guide I’ve been using thus far in the new year gives you time to read a scripture passage, but also read beside it another “devotional or spiritual text.”  I’ve been reading along side of scripture a book that’s been a constant companion in my spiritual life for years now, The Rule of Benedict.

This is a guide for monks (yes, monks) that helps them order their life and focus on the life of prayer. The version I read has along with a commentary.  That explains how this can be relevant today.

I tell you this to tell you that today was one of those neat days where God used a sledge-hammer on me to get something across to me. Those are always cool days.

In the Rule this morning it talked about how much plead for God’s grace, for only in His working in our lives, can we be faithful to the tasks that God sets before us. Only with His working in our lives can we be the people who God is calling us to be.

Convicting.  In an age where we try to do it all, it’s good to know that God is the one at work.

Then, the text I read from Acts 2 this morning:

22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

Notice who is at work in this text?  God.  He is at work. It is His plan.  He is the one that is doing all these things.

In my life, in your life, it is God.

Not us.

It’s not about you.  Or me. It’s about God.  It’s about His working our life.  It’s about Him moving in our life.  It’s about His faithfulness.

God is going to be faithful to us. God has a plan.  God is making a way.

He wants us to trust and be faithful.  And know that we are not directing this life.  He is.  It’s not about us. It’s about Him.  Trust today.  He has a plan.  He is at work.

He’s got it under control.  Trust.

How Do We Come to Jesus?

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One of the things we see over and over again in the New Testament is the religious leaders come to Jesus and test Him.

The come to Him, not really seeking wisdom, but they come to Him, asking Him questions, seeking to have Him fall in a trap or answer the question in a way they do not like.

That way they can point and say – aha!  See, He isn’t who you thought He was! Trust us, not Him.

We see this in one of today’s readings from Matthew 16:

1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

They didn’t come to Him, seeking His wisdom to change their lives. They came to Him for the wrong reasons. They came to Him seeking their purpose, not His.

As I read this and thought about it, it made me reflect, why do I come to Jesus?

To get Him to bless MY plans?

To get Him to ok what I want to do already?

To get from Him what I want?

Or, do I go to Him, realizing that only He gives true life?

That my plans do not measure up to His plans? That my vision for my life doesn’t measure up to His vision for my life?

That it’s not about what I get from Him?  It’s about the life that He wants to give me.

But, that life He wants to give me comes only from Him.

I must put down my “stuff” and come to Him with humility.  Listening. Seeking. Learning.  Realizing it’s not about me.  It’s about Him.

Our life is not about us. It’s about Him.

As long as we make our lives about us, we’ll never find true life. The moment we make our lives about Him, that’s the moment we find life.

They came testing Jesus today. How do we come to Jesus?

 

Salvation

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Sometimes in life, it’s easy to think that people are out to get us.

Sometimes when things are going wrong, it’s we can make ourselves think that forces are conspiring against us.

We can even think sometimes that God is out to get us, particularly if we feel as though we have done something wrong.

Perhaps we are being justly punished for some great sin.

God is getting us for some mistake, some failing, some misdeed.

That’s why all this is happening.

Listen to what Paul writes today in First Thessalonians:

9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

God has not destined for wrath.  God has not created you for destruction.

God is not out to get you. God desires you to know Him, love Him, and love each other.

That’s your purpose in being here. Nothing more, nothing less.  Knowing Him, loving Him, loving each other.

Be encouraged. Be hopeful.  Be joyful.

Even if it’s bad right now, even if things are tough.

It will get better. It won’t be like this forever. It will improve.  It will change.  It will turn.

This is not the end of your story.  Don’t give up, don’t lose hope.

God is good. And He loves you.

You were created for salvation and for life and for joy and for peace.

Don’t forget.

Remember. You’re His child and He loves you.

Today.

Happy, happy, Joy, Joy

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Psalm 119 is one of those great Psalms that you could back to over and over again.

There is so much there for us chew over, so much there to think about and pray over.

Today, listen to the words of the Psalmist in verses 1-2

1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!

Happy are those walk in the way of the Lord.  Each day of our lives, we have choices to make. Will we follow the will and the way of God, or will we follow our will and our way?

We think that happiness and joy will come from doing what we want and getting our way. We think that if we get what we want and how we want it, we will be happy and content.

So, we get what we want. We seek after what we want. We seek our will and our way first.

And what do we find? Emptiness.  Not joy.  Not happiness.

We we seek to live only for ourselves, we find that we do not truly find life.

Happiness, joy, life, these things only come from seeking after God.

Seeking His will. . . His way. . . . His life.

Happy are those that seek after God.

Today, we will have choices to make. Will we seek after God?  Will we seek after His way and His will? Or will we seek our stuff?  Our wants? Our desires?

Happiness and joy lies in seeking after God.

Seek Him today.  Do what is right.  Live as He wants. Find happiness.

That is His will for you – happiness and joy.

May we find it in seeking after Him.

What You Were Made For

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Not to go all Joel Olsten on you, but you were created by God to be something special.

You were formed to be something uniquely you. You are unlike anyone else in all of creation.  You are unlike anyone else that’s ever been born.

There’s no one like, and you have a purpose in this life that only you can achieve for God.

It’s something I can’t do, it’s something no one else can do.

Only you can do it. You were made for this.

Listen to what God says through Isaiah today in Chapter 49:

Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.

Before he was ever born, the Lord had called him to be a prophet.  Before he had ever breathed his first breath, the Lord had given him this purpose.

He was to be a prophet for God, to announce God’s favor, God’s plan, and God’s will.

This was God’s plan for Isaiah before he was born

God has the same thing for you.

Maybe it’s to be a prophet, maybe not. Maybe it’s to teach, maybe not. Maybe it’s to work with children, maybe not.

I don’t know what your purpose is.

You might not know what your purpose is yet.

But God does.  Keep seeking. Keep listening.  Keep praying.  Keep knocking.

And God will open the door. He will show you.  He longs to show you.  He longs for you to be doing what you were made for.

You were created for something amazing. Don’t ever forget.  Don’t ever lose sight of that.

You are His prize creation. Live with that confidence. Live with that purpose.  Live with that hope.

The Foundation

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We can lay the foundation for our lives in a lot of places.

The foundation of our life could be our job. . .

Our family. . .

Our finances. . . .

Our hobbies. . . .

Our status and success. . . .

Other’s view of us. . . .

All these things could vanish, even family.  All these things can fail us.  All these things are not eternal.  Only one thing is eternal.  Only one thing will not fail.  Only one thing is unchanging.

Jesus

Paul writes these words today in 1 Corinthians:

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

Today, a simple thought and reflection as we draw close to Thanksgiving.  Is He your foundation?

Is Jesus Christ the foundation of you life?

Is everything built upon Him?

All else could fail you.  He never will.

Is He your foundation?

You will never know true life, peace, joy, and purpose until He is your foundation.

May He be that foundation for you life today.

Heart’s Desire

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There’s a concept in scripture that we see a several times throughout the Bible, and it’s a powerful, powerful concept.

It’s something that can provide us great hope and great peace and joy.

It’s also a concept and passage that can be looked at the wrong way and provide us some problems.

We see this concept in one of today’s readings, from Psalm 37:

4 Take delight in the Lord, *
and he shall give you your heart’s desire.

Now, that sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

My heart desires lots of chocolate today. . . .

Or an Ole Miss victory over Arkansas this weekend. . . . .

Or a new computer. . . . . .

And, didn’t the scripture just say that God will give us our heart’s desire? So, doesn’t God want to give us these things?

I’ve heard that passage read in that way before. Some of us may be tempted to read it in that way today.

But, let’s look at what it says, – take delight in God and He will give us our heart desires.

When we delight in God, when we spend time with God when we grow closer to God, He changes our hearts.

And then, because our hearts are more like His heart, He gives us what our heart desires – more of Him.

Today, God wants to great you what your heart desires, or what your heart truly needs, more time with Him.

A deeper walk with Him.

More of His grace.

More of His mercy.

God wants you to know Him more and more and more.

God wants you to fall in love with Him today.  God wants you to have what you really need –  not stuff, not more, not power, not prestige, not any thing like this.

He wants you to have more of Him.

He is where life is found.  He is what is our hearts truly need.  He is what our hearts truly desire.

And He offers Himself to us today.

May we take Him up on His offer.

What’s Most Important

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Not everything in life is as important as we make it out to be.

There’s that little book that came out a few years ago – “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” And I believe the subtitle was “It’s all small stuff.”

Not everything in life is as important as we make it out to be.  Not everything is life or death.  Not everything is earth shatter.

Now, that’s not to say somethings are not important. They are. But, we need to keep focus on what is most important.

We get a glimpse of this in Luke’s Gospel this morning:

20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

The 70 that were sent out that we talked about yesterday return, and man are they pumped.  They have seen so many amazing things, so many things done in Jesus’ name, so much that they had done through Him.

They were so excited and pumped they just couldn’t stand it.

And here Jesus reminds them.  Don’t be happy over this.  Be  happy you are in the book of life. Be happy that you are His.

That’s important for us to remember today.

We have no idea what today will include for us. There may be tremendous victorious.

There may be terrible defeats. We just don’t know what is to happen. We don’t know what all lies in store.

No matter high the highs or how low the lows, don’t celebrate too much, don’t mourn too much.

Remember what’s most important.

You’re His child.  He loves you.  You are His.

That’s what’s important. Tomorrow will be a new day.  If we succeed today, we may fail tomorrow.

If we fail today, we may succeed tomorrow.

But, if we are His, we can rejoice no matter what.

Because we’ve got life.  Life now, and life forever.

Today, remember what’s most important.

You’re a child of the Living God. And nothing beats that!