When You are Scared

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Last night at Bible Study, we were talking about ISIL and other things in the world that can really make most worried.

Someone said; I was watching the news the other day, and I said, that’s your problem! Don’t watch the news. Turn it off. It will drive you crazy!

I was joking, sort of. But we went on to talk about crazy things can look in this world and but part of the reason is that 20 years ago, there weren’t a million 24 hour a day news stations looking for stories to fill up the space with.

So, today everything is breaking news. Everything is blast across our screens. Everything is HUGE. And it can really terrify us if we allow it. We can feel like things are getting out of control.

So, what do we do? We stop. We breathe. And we remember. God’s got this. We are faithful in the task that God has given us today. And we remember that God’s got this.

He does. Remember truth. Listen to the words of Psalm 4: 6-8 this morning:

There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

In peace, he will lie down and sleep. For God makes us dwell in safety.

God makes us dwell in safety. Not our own might or power, not our own security. Not our own plans.

God. He watches over us. He leads us. He restores us. He guides us.

So, when we get scared, when we get worried, when we watch too much TV and get too bombarded by the stuff of this world, remember who lets us sleep in safety.

Remember who gives us peace and protection.

Remember who holds us, in difficult times in life.

Remember.

In God, we rise, and we sleep in safety. In Him, we have no fear.

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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

We All Want Peace

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes in life, we just feel like we don’t have any peace. We can be set by trials, troubles, all kinds of things that can just steal our peace.

Things that can make worry, make us stressed, make us sick, make us miserable. We’ve all been there. We may be there now. We all understand this.

We all want peace, don’t we? No matter where we are, no matter our circumstance, no matter what is going on in our lives, we all want peace.

So, the question becomes, how do we get peace? How do we have real and true peace in our lives?

Listen to what it says in Isaiah 26: 3-4:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Those whose mind is stayed on God will have perfect peace.

Here is the reason. Think about what take your peace most of the time. Is it something that is a fact? Or is it an emotion? Or a feeling? Or worry?

Most times for me, the things that take my peace aren’t “facts.” They are things that I feel that may or may not be true.

The reason why we have peace when we keep our minds on God is because when we keep our minds on God, we keep what is true and what is a fact in the forefront of minds.

What is true? God is good. God is in control. God has a plan. God works things out to our good (Romans 8:28). God will even use evil for God (Genesis 50:20).

Things things are true. Even when we don’t feel it. We have to believe it. We have to hold fast to it. We have to keep it on our hearts.

We have to keep it in our minds.

Today, set your mind on Christ. Set your mind on what is true. Hold fast to it, believe it. Cling to it.

And when we hold onto truth, we will find peace. Because we remember that God is good. All the time.

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

As Christians, we don’t believe in concepts. Well, we do, but not really. We have concepts we believe in. We have truths that we hold to, things we believe, all of that. Yes we do.

But, as Christians, our faith is not founded upon concepts. It’s founded upon a “person.” A being. An entity. It’s founded upon the truth that we believe not in a concept, but we believe in God. A huge, eternal, all powerful, all sovereign, all mighty God.

A God that spoke everything in being. A God that is bigger than we can ever imagine.

This God.

But, He is also a God that so personal. That knows our deepest fears and hurts. That knows our dreams. That knows the hairs upon our head; knows every thing about us. And loves us.

We don’t just believe in a concept. We believe in God. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1: 11-12 today:

for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Paul is writing about some of his trials and troubles, and he said that yes, they are hard. But, he knows who he has believed. And he know that God will guard what is given to Paul, until that day.

In short, in the circumstances of life, no matter how hard or challenging they may be, Paul knows this. He knows who he has believed in. And he knows that he can trust God, no matter what. Because God is not a concept. God is personal. He is relational. He knows us, and wants to know us.

Paul knows who he has believed in. And he can trust, no matter what.

So can we today. You can trust God today. You can. He knows you, He loves you, and He wants to be in relationship with you today. That’s the kind of God that He is. Today, no matter what is going on, you really can trust in Him.

Fear and Faith

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

There are two things at war in our minds at most times. Fear and faith. As Christians, that’s a tough battle, and quite often a battle that we feel guilty about fighting. We believe! We should have faith. We shouldn’t be afraid.

But yet, we are. There are things and situations we are afraid of. Shouldn’t we be better than that! We shouldn’t be afraid. We should have faith.

But we do fear, and then we feel bad. We feel like failures.

Let’s look at Abraham this morning. In Genesis 12, God called him to leave behind his home, and go to the land that God would show him. And he responded and he followed. He believed, and he obeyed. He did what he was supposed to do. Now, a few chapter later through, this is what we find. Listen to Genesis 15: 1-6:

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

God comes to him and says this first off – fear not. Why?

Well, quite often in scripture that’s God’s first word to someone, don’t be afraid. Don’t fear. But, here for Abraham, there was something bigger going on. God had promised him so much. Land. Children. Family. And now, he had no child. He was afraid. He was afraid the promises weren’t going to happen, he was afraid that all that he wanted wasn’t going to take place.

So, God comes to him and says, fear not. I am your shield. Your reward will be very great.

Believe.

And Abraham believed, and it was counted as righteousness. He trusted. He had faith.

Fear and faith. That’s the battle of our lives sometimes isn’t. We want to have faith. We want to believe. But we are afraid. We are scared. We doubt.

We’ve all been there. Fear and faith. Fear and faith.

Today, have faith. The only thing that conquers fear is faith. The only thing that gets rid of fear is faith. We have to believe, we have to hold fast, we have to hope, even when it’s tough.

Because God is good. And true. And faithful. Fear and faith. That’s the choice we have to make, each day. Have faith, today, even when it’s hard. God is good. He won’t leave you. Trust. Have faith. And He will drive away your fear.

Blessed

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

You will be blessed today! You will. But, what does that mean? What does it mean to say that we will be blessed? You are probably like me, when something good happens, we say, wow, we are blessed. That is true, because the Bible teaches that all good gifts from above. So, those are blessings.

But, that’s not the only way that the bible looks at blessings. That’s not the only way that the bible talks about blessings. Listen to a passage that you’ve heard from many times from before, The Beatitudes. Listen to what it says in Matthew 5:2-12:

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Each one of these things that makes us “blessed” this morning – poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted, revived, lied about, each of these things, we don’t see them as blessed. We see these as being opposed to, or being attacked, or being hurt, or maybe even being punished.

Nothing on this list is fun. Nothing on this list is easy. Nothing here is something that we even want.

But yet, Jesus, in his teaching, says that when these things happen to us, we are blessed. We should be thankful.

Why?

Because when this happens, when we feel this pain, when we feel this loss, when we feel alone, hurt, and forgotten, you know what? We find that Jesus is all that we really need. When He’s all that we got, He’s all that we need.

When all the stuff of life is stripped away. When all the busyness, all the distractions, all the things that draw us away from Him are gone, and we find that all that we really have in life is Him; we have everything that we could ever need.

We have life, we have peace, we have joy, we have hope, we have everything.

We are blessed. Now, it may not look like the blessings of the world, it may look different. But it truly blessings that can’t be taken away, by anything.

Today, even if life isn’t easy, and in fact, especially if it isn’t, you are blessed. Today. In Him, you are blessed.

Step Up

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Yesterday I challenged people at Asbury to do something big for God. Take a risk. Try something that just looks stupid. Do something that only God can accomplish through you. And then when you do it, you can give God all the glory for what happens.

I was preaching about Matthias, the apostle that too Judas’ place after the resurrection. He had to step up into a calling that was seemingly bigger than him. And that’s the thing we see over and over again in scripture. People that God calls to do something, and their first impulse is, on there’s no way. There’s no way that I can do that. That’s impossible. Matthias stepped up and God used him.

This week I want to look at some other folks that stepped up.

Listen to what happens today in Judges 6: 15-16 when God calls Gideon:

And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.

Gideon would be one of the Judges that would free the people from their oppression, that would restore the proper worship of God. He was a great man, a great leader. And his first impulse was, nope. I can’t do this. I can’t do this task that God has called me to. It’s too big. It’s too mighty, and I’m too small. I can’t do it.

But he could.

And he did. God, through him, freed the people. God restored them. God brought life to them. He was able to free them.

Because Gideon overcame his fear and his doubt. And stepped up.

You can too, today. You can do it. You can do great things. You can.

Step up. Through God today, you will do great things. Believe it. You will.

God’s Got a Plan

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

One of the things I like most about Matthew’s Gospel is how many times things are fulfilled in prophecy. So many times, Jesus will do something, or something will be said, or something will happen, and Matthew says, this was done to fulfill the prophet.

For instance, look at today’s text, Matthew 12: 15-18:

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

Matthew is showing how each of Jesus’ actions, all that He was doing, from His birth, His teaching, His death, and His resurrection, were all part of God’s plan, not just for Jesus, for the world.

Why do I like this so much? Why does this give me a sense of hope and peace? Because God’s got a plan. God knows what He is doing.

We have choice, we have decisions to make, we have things that we have to do, but God has a plan. God has a plan for us, for our lives, for our families, for all that is going on. You are not just floating randomly through life. This is not happenstance. This is not all just random noise.

God has a plan. He knows what He is doing.

And you can trust in that, today. Trust. God knows what He is up to, God know what He is doing. And God will accomplish that plan in your life and through your life. Be obedient to His calling and His leading today. Follow.

And let that leading guide you. Follow Him. Even when you don’t understand. God has a plan. You can trust.

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 Forgotten

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

This morning, we’ll do a shorter reflection, and return to our full SOAP method throughout the rest of the week. Today, we are going to reflect upon Isaiah 41: 8-10. Listen to what the Word tells us this morning in this text:

But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners,saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

In this passage we see that God tells the people that He has chosen them. He chose their ancestors Jacob and Abraham. He even tells them that He called Abraham a friend, a pretty high compliment from God, to be called a friend. That shows just how deep the relationship was between God and their ancestors.

Why is God telling them this? They are going through a real time of trial. They are under attack. Jerusalem is being destroyed, the people are being hauled away in exile. The people feel as through that God has forgotten them. They are forsaken. God has abandoned them. They are all alone, in this time of destruction.

And to that, God says this – no. I choose your ancestors. I choose the ones that have gone before you. I have made promises to them. And I will keep my word, for I am God. And I will not leave you. You are are mine. No matter what happens, no matter how hard the road it, no matter what is going on, God has promised.

He will not leave us. He will not forsake us. He will not forget us.

We are not forgotten. Remember that. Hold onto that. Cling to that. No matter how rough the path may be, God is with you.

Remember.

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.

God Delights in You

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Yesterday when we read in Psalm 18 about how our perspective on the day will determine the kind of day that it will be. Will it be good, or bad? A lot of that will focus on the way that we choose to look at things.

Today, we look again at Psalm 18, but this time, we focus on why in the world that God will save us in times of trouble. Why is it, when the perspective looks bad, that we can have hope? Why can we cling to that notion, even when things look really bad?

Listen to what the word says in Psalm 18: 17-19:

He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

God delights in you. It isn’t just that He’s proud of you, or He loves you, or any of these things. He delights in you.

You make Him happy. Think about that. You bring a smile to the face of our awesome God. You bring Him joy. You delight Him.

That’s how precious you are to Him this morning. Now, this doesn’t mean that things will be perfect. We see in the text that the the Psalmist was in a place of great trouble and great worry. He was afraid. He felt as though things were going to end badly. It didn’t look God.

And then God stepped in and saved the day. Because God delighted in him.

He does the same for you today. Trust. Hope. Believe. Know. God delights in you. And He will be there for you, in your moment of need. Today, we know that to be true.

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 phone.

Something Unexpected

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

One of the things we see so often in scripture is that one of the main things that Jesus will do sometimes is push us out of our comfort zone. He will call us to a place that we may not want to go, He will ask us to do things that we may not want to do, He will place us in place that we would not place ourselves in

Listen to Luke 5:1-5:

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Jesus tells Simon (Peter) to let down his nets on the other side. Peter was an expert fisherman. He had done it his entire life. He knew what he was doing. He was a pro. Why would he do that?

He knew what would happen. He knew this was a waste of time He knew there was no point in this.

And then something unexpected happened. Listen to Luke5:6:

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Peter did what Jesus asked, even through it looked a little crazy. Even through he had no reason to expect that it would change things. Even through he thought it was pointless.

He obeyed. And Jesus did something unexpected. He did something amazing. He did something no one could see coming.

Because that’s what He does.

Today, will you do that thing that is different, that Jesus is calling you to do? You have no idea what He may do with that. Today, He wants to do something unexpected.

So, hold on tight. And see what He is up to.