Tag Archives: Live

Thirsty

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Ever been thirsty before?  I mean, really thirsty?  Give out?  Worn out?  Tired?

Listen to what the Word says in Psalm 42:1-2

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

a toddler drinking water from a garden hoseThat is what will satisfy you today.

Not work.  Or power.  Or success.  Or fame.  Or money.  Or anything else.

No religion.

No hobbies.

Nothing.  Only God.  Only God will satisfy.  Only God.

Today, drink from the well that won’t run dry. Drink from God’s goodness and mercy. Drink from His life, His power, His grace. Drink from the living waters.

And you will never thirst again.

Today, are you thirsty? Today, drink from God’s living water and never thirst again.

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.

Let’s Cause Trouble!

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upside-downI don’t want to be ordinary. I don’t want to live an ordinary life. I don’t want to just mark time until I pass into eternity.

I want to live! I want to do something! I want to make a difference! I want to see thing happen. I want to see lives changed, good done, things impacted.

I want to cause trouble for the world and the devil.

As I say at Asbury sometimes, I want to charge hell with a water pistol. I want to punch the devil in the face!  I want to give him a HUGE headache and make his life and his existence miserable!

Listen to what people said about Christians in Acts 17: 6-8:

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

I love that verse. These men who have turned the world upside down. Come on, now. That’s good stuff.

I want to turn the world upside down. I want to see the poor taken care of. I want to see widows and orphans cared for. I want to see no child forgotten. I want to see families healed. I want to see lives changes. I want to see things make right.

Sin has turned things wrong side up in the world. I don’t want that to be the case. I want to, and I want the church to, turn the world upside down.

Or perhaps, better put, turn the world right side up. Make things right. Make it like God intended. Make it be like it should.

I want to turn the world upside down. I want to make I difference today. I want to give the devil a headache today.

Who’s with me?

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 to Live

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Jesus is asked what is the way to life. What must one do to inherit eternal life?

That’s a big question, huh? That’s probably one that you want to get right. So, Jesus returns the question and says, what is written.

Listen to how this plays out in Luke 10:25-28:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

8562bf13209e799f6798813cdcb87bf4I love Jesus’ response. He says do this – love God, love neighbor, love yourself, and you shall live.

And I think that He is teaching us something bigger than just “living” for eternity. I think that Jesus is teaching us how to live today. You don’t have to wait until heaven to have to live. You can live today.

See, when we live for something bigger than us, when we live to love God, to love our neighbor, and yes, to properly love ourselves, then we are really living.

But, if we are living to chase stuff, or status, or fame, or our reputation, or whatever, than we really aren’t living. Now, we may be breathing, eating, and doing the stuff of life, but we won’t be living. We will be existing.

But when we live for that, to love God, others, and self, then we are living. We have a purpose. We have a plan. We have something really worth having.

Then, we are truly living.

Today, Jesus shows us to live. How? To love. God. Others. And yes, even love ourselves. Today, let’s truly live for something worth living for. Let’s love God with all that we are. Let’s do our very best to love our neighbor. And let’s forgive ourselves and see ourselves as the child of God that we are.

Let’s not just wait to heaven to live. Let’s live 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.

Loving Other Folks is Hard

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There are things that other people do that drive me crazy. It’s one of my running jokes at Asbury that I just don’t have patience for being stuck behind traffic on Hwy 42.

I’m not saying that if I had a laser mounted on the hood of my car that I would blow everyone up. I’m not saying that.

But I would be tempted! 🙂

We all in our lives have something about someone who drives us crazy. Each of us. That something may be something a spouse does. It may be something a coworker does. it may be something that a family member does.

But there’s something that someone does that just drives us up the wall.

Listen to what Paul says here in Romans 15:1-3:

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

Now your thinking, Andy, what does this have to do with those people who annoy you?

Good question. Paul says those that are strong have an obligation to bear the failings (weaknesses) of others. Please your neighbor. Build them up.

In other words, we don’t just live for ourselves. We live for the gospel and for the kingdom, we live to help others know God and experience His life.

And the more that you stir and stew about the thing that drive you crazy about that other person, the more angry and crazy you are going to be.

Look at what Paul says in verse 3 – Jesus did not please Himself. He didn’t live for Himself. He lived for us and so that we could be drawn closer to Him.

Why should I love folks that drive me crazy? Why should I look past their faults and weakness?

Loving other folks is hard! I’m not sure that I want to do it! Why should I care about them, when frankly they probably don’t deserve it?

Because Jesus did that exact same thing for me. He loved me when I was unloveable. He cared for me when I wasn’t worth caring for.

And He wants me (and you) to do the same thing for “them” no matter who they are and what they “do.”

He lived for others. We find only find our life when we stop living for ourselves, and live for Him.

Today, may we live for something bigger than 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.

The Best is Yet to Come

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There is a biblical command to keep our eyes on things above. There is this notion that our eyes, and our lives, are to fixed on what really matters.

Not the things of this world that are shifting and changing, but the things of heaven that remain constant and the same.  Listen to what it says today in Hebrews 8: 5-7

They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

In this passage, we see the author of Hebrews say this – they were serving a copy and a shadow of heavenly things. That’s a powerful concept.

Think about this for a minute. There’s some good stuff in this life. There are moments that are really amazing. Moments where we feel the power of God. Moments where we feel the movement of the spirit. Moments where we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is using us.

These are truly life changing moments.

And Hebrews tells us that these moments are just a shadow of heaven. The best is yet to come.

So, live life. Enjoy it. Serve God. Live fully. Love fully. Be salt and light. Work for good. Work for God. Wring every drop of life out of this life.

But always remember, that the best is yet to come.

Today

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The book of James serves as a reminder today of something that can change the way we live today.

The reminder is this – today is all we have.

Nothing more is promised.  Today is it.

This moment, this instance, this time, it is all that we are assured of.

James writes today in chapter 4:

13 Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ 14Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’

This moment is all that we know for sure that is ours.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow or the future.

We have this moment.

Let’s not waste it.  Let’s not take it for granted.  Let’s not live today at half speed.

Let’s live fully today. Let’s live boldly today.  Let’s not waste today.  It’s all that we know that we have.

Don’t let the regrets of yesterday or the worries of tomorrow occupy your mind.  Live today.  Live in this moment.  Live in this  time.

You’ve got it.

It’s all that is promised.

Don’t waste it.

Don’t take it for granted.

Live today.  It’s all that we know that we have.  Let’s live it to the fullest.  Let’s live it for God’s glory.

Let’s live today.