Tag Archives: Life

Restoration

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One of things we see in the prophets in judgement.

God stands before the people and says – you have worshiped idols.  You have done wrong. You have departed from my ways.

It is because of that, you have been punished. And it is because of that punishment is coming.

Your idolatry has caused terrible judgement to come.

We see that a lot in the prophets.

And it always gets me.

As I told my Small Group Connection here at Asbury Church last night, I understand how sinful I am, I understand the things that I do wrong, I understand how much I miss the mark.

And that keeps me from being too judgmental of others. I know right from wrong and I still choose wrong. So, how can I want grace for me and judgement for you?

That is why I love reading the prophets.  The notion of deserved judgement is there.  But, so is something else. We read this today in Micah 2:

12 “Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
be filled with noisy crowds!

God is a God of Hope. God is a God of restoration. God is a God of forgiveness and grace.

Do we deserve the grace, mercy, and hope He gives?  No.

Do we deserve the forgiveness He offers?  No.

Do we deserve any of this?  No.

The only thing we’ve earned is judgement.

Yet, time after time after time, He gives grace. He gives love.  He gives forgiveness.  He gives hope.

Today, hear the words of Micah. God longs to gather you up. God longs to love you.  God longs to restore you.

No matter what the past was.  No matter what has happened.  No matter what you’ve done.

You.  Are.  Loved.  Today.

No matter what.

God is a God of restoration.  God is a God of Hope.

God is a God of love.

Let Him restore you today.  Let Him bring you life today. Let Him bring you back home today.

You are His.  He won’t let go.  He loves you.  No matter what.

The Kingdom is Like. . . .

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One of the things that Jesus does in Scripture is compares things that we don’t understand to things that we do understand.

So, you know, we’ll understand them.

He takes a concept that no of us can really wrap our minds around, the Kingdom of God, and does this – He shows us its complete worth.

He says the Kingdom of God is of so much value, we should be willing to give everything for it. We see Jesus describe it in Matthew’s Gospel this way:

44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45’Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47’Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.

It should, and must be our main priority.

It must come first.

God must come first.

It is a pearl of great worth, that everything else fails to compare to.

Yesterday in worship at Asbury Church, I asked my people this question – “Does God define you?”  Is God, and your worship of God, does it define every moment of your life?  Is that worship of God, that relationship with God, is it the main component of your life?

Or is it something you do when you have time?

Does God define you?

Is He, for you, that pearl of great price, that you would sale everything for?

Is He your everything?

If not, you will find all else lacking.

Does He define you?  Is He your life?  No where else, no where, will you find life, other than Jesus.

He must be our pearl of great price.  He must be our life.

Help is on the Way

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I’m not a big fan of Westerns.  I don’t know why. I should love them.  My daddy loved them.  He loved the books.  He loved the movies.  I watched them a ton when I was a kid.

I should like them.

But, for some reason, I just don’t.

Except for Tombstone.  One of the greatest movies ever.

I’ll tell you what I do like though, in all the Westerns I’ve seen.

That moment when I looks bad. The guys in the black hats are going to win. It looks bad for the good guys. They are going to be defeated.  They are going to lose. Evil is going to triumph.

And then, from nowhere, here comes the Calvary! And the good guys win!

Help is one the way!

I thought of that as I read from Psalm 71 today:

14 But I shall always wait in patience, *
and shall praise you more and more.
15 My mouth shall recount your mighty acts
and saving deeds all day long; *
though I cannot know the number of them.

The Psalmist is waiting. Things are bad.  It doesn’t look good.  It looks like evil will win.

But, he recounts God’s saving acts in the past.  He recalls how God has been there.

How God has won before in the end.

And how God will win again the future.

It may look bad, but help is on the way.

It’s true for us today as well.  No matter what you are going through today, help is one the way.

Don’t worry.

God won in the past and God will win in the future. Don’t give up.

God will win.

Help in on the way.

Trust. Hope.  Believe.  God will win.  Help is on the way.

Something Worth Living For

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What gives your life value?

What do you live for?

Is it your status?

Power?

Money?

Hobbies?

Family?

What is it that you live for? We’ve all got something that matters to us.  Something that rolls up our socks in the morning.  Something that is dear to our lives.

Today, is that thing for you, is it the right thing?

Listen to what Jesus says in John 12:

24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

I love life.  I love my stuff.  I love my family, I love my calling, I love my Ole Miss Rebel football team.  I do wish we’d learn to play in the second half, but that’s neither here nor there.

In the end, there is something, or someone, that has to, that must trump all of this.

Jesus.

He must come first. Everything else will fail. Everything else will fade. Everything else will disappoint.

Jesus will not.  He will never fail or disappoint us.  He will always be life for us.

People, places, and stuff, they are not perfect and we can’t base our lives on them.

Jesus is the rock.  He must be in the center.

And, if He is in the center, then everything else works. Everything is as it ought to be, if He is in the center of our lives.

What is that thing today that we are living for?   May, in each our lives, it be Jesus.

An Arrow Pointing to Heaven

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One of my favorite quotes by Rich Mullins was when he talked about how our job in life was to simply be an arrow pointing to heaven.  All of our lives should be lived out in that way, pointing others to God and to His mercy and life.

We don’t live this life for us.  It’s not for our glory. It’s for  God’s glory.

Sometimes, through, it can be hard to remember that.

We see something happen in Acts that could have really trip Paul and Barnabas up:

11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. . . 14When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15’Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

I’m sure we’ve all had folks think a lot of us before, but probably haven’t had too many folks tell us that we are a god.  Paul and Barnabas had been working really hard for the Gospel.

They’d been beaten, been kicked out of towns, been locked up.

Most of the time they were despised in the towns they were in.  In many towns they had literally been run out of town.

And now, finally, someone likes them! The entire town rises up and says, hey, you’re awesome.

You’re a god!

They knew it wasn’t true. They knew they were just flesh and bone. And part of me wonders if that didn’t feel good to them, for at least once, not be stoned out of a town.

But, they remembered what they were there for, to be an arrow pointing to heaven. And they used the fame they’d acquired to talk about the Gospel.

Today, that’s our job as well. We are to point to God with all we do. All we say. All we are.  We are to use the circumstances of our lives to point to God.

There’s a lost and dying world out there, in need of hearing and seeing the love and grace of God.  And it’s our job to point it that God.

With all that we have and all that we are, may we be that arrow pointing to heaven today.

A Cool Drink

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It may have just been the case here in Petal, MS, but it’s been hot this summer.

I mean, really, really hot. The kind of hot that fogs up your glasses between the car and the front door.

The kind of hot that makes you sweat just walking outside to check your mail.

The kind of hot that we are used to most summers in Mississippi.

And on these hot days, there is nothing that is better than a cool drink. Be it water, Gatorade, a coke, whatever. We all want that cool drink when we’ve been out the heat.

It refreshes.  It brings us back to like.

Today in John’s Gospel Jesus talks to all that are thirsty, be it summer or not:

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,38and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’

I love the image painted in Scripture of Jesus being the one that gives true life.

Life that will not fail.

He is the bread of life.  He is the vine, we are branches.

He is the living water. That will satisfy.

The water that this world offers will not satisfy.  The water of success.  Of power.  Of fame.  Of money.  Of. . . . whatever.  It will not satisfy.

We will remain thirsty.

But, the water of life. The water of life that is Jesus Christ. When we drink from it, we will never thirst again.

To all that are thirsty, He offers life.  Don’t settle for that which does not truly refresh.

He is the living water. May we refresh ourselves in Him today.

Hard

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Sometimes it’s hard to follow Jesus.

The Christian life is a not a bed or roses. Sometimes life gets really hard. Sometimes the things He asks of us are hard.  Sometimes the trials we go through are hard.

Sometimes there are no easy answers and there seems like there is no easy way.

Sometimes we may be tempted to say, it’s not worth the work, worth the trouble, worth the effort.

Sometimes we can feel like walking away.

And we read what happens today in John 9:

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.

Lord, to whom would we go?  That’s the question that Peter asked. Where else is life.

Yes, it’s hard sometimes.Yes, there are trials sometimes.  Yes, there are times when we aren’t sure that want to keep going.

But, where else could we go.

Life is found in Jesus.  He is life.  He is what matters the most.  He is where life and love and peace and joy are found.

We will not find it anywhere else.

If we are looking for life, it is found only in Jesus.

Not in our work, or family, or finances, or successes.  Only in Jesus.

The trials, the troubles, the tests, they are worth it.  For in Jesus, we find life.

Today, even when it is hard, may we remember where life is found.

Priorities

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I wrote a little yesterday about how I tend to not be able to leave well enough alone and tend to not be satisfied.  Always pushing, pulling, trying, always up to something.

Today’s reflection spoke to me again about something I tend to do.

I’m a “get the job done” type of person. I tend to have my list, my schedule, my tasks for the day, week, month, and year, and I tend to attack it. I tend to want to get it done and move on.

I have my priorities that move through.

Today’ we read this passage in John’s Gospel:

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

Jesus again talks about being satisfied with Him, and Him alone, but also makes a point. He said they were looking for Him not because of the things that He was doing, but they were looking for Him because of what they could get out of Him.

They were looking for Him to get what they want. They were looking for Him for their stuff.

That brings the question, why do we follow?  Why are faithful?

In short, is Jesus enough for us?  For the folks that were following Jesus today, they wanted more out of it than a relationship with Him. They wanted “stuff,” food, whatever.

Their priorities were out-of-place.

How about mine?  Yours?  Where are our priorities? Why do we do what we do?

Life is found only in that relationship with Him. And, in the end, that’s all He has promised us.  Life.  Life eternal.  Life now.  Life forever.

They had their priories in the wrong place.

May we not make that same mistake.

Satisfied

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Holly accuses me of never being able to leave well enough alone.  She’s probably right.  I have something within that is always pushing to try new things or think of new ways to connect with folks.

I just know there is always something new and exciting that God has for us.  I know that there are better days ahead, better things to come.

And I’ve always wanted to do my part, to be faithful, to try to figure out what God is calling me and my churches too.

But, Holly says I’m just wired to not be able to leave well enough alone!

I was thinking about this today as I read from John’s Gospel where the feeding of the 5000 takes place.  In this passage there is a verse that really stood out to me this morning:

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”

The 5000 came, Jesus took the fish and loaves of a child, blessed them, and passed them out, and the people ate just enough to where they weren’t hungry.

That’s not what the text says.  It says they were satisfied.

They had all they need. They were happy. They were content. They were satisfied.

They were satisfied in what Jesus provided in this text.

Today, are you?  Are you satisfied with life?  Are you satisfied with what the world is giving you?  Are you satisfied with what you are seeking?  Are you satisfied with choices you are making, the direction you are heading?

Are you satisfied?

That was Jesus’ desire for the people today.  Not just that they have the bare minimum to eat. That they be satisfied.  He wanted them to know that contentment in life.  That contentment that comes only from Him.

If we are living in His life, His love, His grace, His power, then may just have lunch of fish and bread, and we will be satisfied.

But, if we are not in Him, not living in Him, living in His grace and mercy, then we could have the finest steak supper.

And we will not be satisfied.

So, today, are you satisfied?

How is your life in Him?

False Life

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Do we settle for less than we should?

Do we settle for a life that is less than what God would have for us?

Do we settle for happiness from this world instead of joy from God?

Quite often, we settle for the stuff of the world, thinking that it is real life, that is something worth having, when in the end, what we are really seeking is a deep, abundant, and amazing life.

And that life is only found in God.  It’s not found any other place.

We settle for the false idols of this world, instead of the Holy, Living God.

We settle for the false life this world offers instead of the real life God wants us to have.

We see someone realize that mistake in Acts 8 this morning:

9 Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. 10 All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

Even Simon himself believe. And was amazed when he saw these miracles.

This was one that had been peddling a false religion, a false life, a false hope.

And when he was confronted and transformed by the real life of God, instead of the false life he has been offering, he was amazed.

For he saw something real.

He saw something worth having.

He experienced real life.

He was tired of settling for false life and desired to have that real life that comes only from God.

How about us?  Today, are we tired of settling for the false life that the world offers? A world where possessions and status and all these things all are that matters?

Or do we desire something deeper. Something real. Something that can truly give us life.

Something that amazes us.

Today, let’s not settle for the false life the world offers.  Let’s only take the real life found in daily living in Jesus Christ.