Drifting

Have you ever been boogie boarding, riding the waves and having a good old time at the beach and then you look at the shore and see that the current has pushed you far away from your towel? You didn’t even realize it, but you were drifting away!

Hebrews 2:1 warns against “drifting."

We get so wrapped up in our lives and before we know it - we’re a long ways from our towel! Be diligent, keep your focus on Jesus!

God bless you!

Where Else?

Jesus had just started gaining followers when He dropped the bomb: He was sent by His Father and His Father was God.

Mind=Blown.

Many “withdrew.” Jesus turns to His 12 and asks if they would also leave. Peter replies, “To whom shall we go?”

I’ve been thinking about that answer. Where else would I go?

I choose where I go. You choose where you go. The people who left Jesus, decided on their own. Jesus did not kick them out.

You are either walking with Jesus or you are not. There is no third path. If you are not walking with Jesus, where are you going?

God bless!
#walkwithJesus

Rooted

Oswald Chambers* moved me today in my daily devotional. He was speaking to Christians about their witness.

What do I mean by "witness?" The way you present Jesus and his resurrection to others is your witness to them (Acts 1:22). But it's also the way you present yourself! You can either be a good witness for Christ and help the Holy Spirit's work in their life or you can be a bad witness for Christ and hinder the Holy Spirit's work in their life.

Saint Francis of Assisi is attributed with saying: "Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words." We represent Christ here on earth. We are the Lord's first line of defense and many times we fail Him. We mis-represent Him. We cause more harm than good.

For example, when missionary Stanley Jones met with Gandhi, he asked him though he quoted the words of Christ often, why he rejected becoming a follower. The Mahatma said, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ."** The Christians Gandhi met were poor witnesses.

Oswald Chambers suggests this verse: "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" - I Cor. 2:4

To help strengthen your witness you must surrender to this fact: It is the Holy Spirit that can accomplishes the miracle, not mine or your's or anyone else's words. Remove yourself from the equation and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. "He will create His own life in people."* If anything, you and I just mess things up by getting in the way. Get out of the way and let God work! Once you are rooted in that reality, you cannot be shaken. Base your faith on that!

Emotions change. Human experiences change. God does not change. Root yourself in our unmovable God and your faith will be secure. This will help you be more like Christ. Once you are more Christ-like, the Holy Spirit can use you. Only then will your witness do any good. Only then will your witness have any power.

God Bless!

* "My Utmost For His Highest" Dec. 3rd. • www.utmost.org

** "The Christ of the Indian Road." E. Stanley Jones

Pierced

After Peter's first powerhouse of a sermon*, it says the people "were pierced to the heart." Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever been so moved it felt like someone actually stabbed you in the chest? Sometimes you read scripture or you hear a lesson and it hurts your very heart! It's as if the words cut into you and exposed you. That is the Holy Spirit at work! God sees the heart. Sometimes He has to pierce it to revive it. He pierces it to wake it up. It's like a spiritual defibrillator! CLEAR!

To build muscle, you have to break it. Only God can create a new heart. Only God can grow your heart. Your heart has to break for what breaks His and then it will grow. Pray for Him to sing a new song over your heart. Psa 28:7

They were pierced and then asked, "What shall we do?"

Peter's answer was simple: Repent and be baptized and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a GIFT and Peter also calls him a PROMISE. God would never offer a gift and not give it. God would never speak a promise and not fulfill it. All you have to do is ask.

If God pierces you today, please allow him full access to your heart. Repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. It's a win-win.

God Bless!

*Acts 2:14-47
#piercedtotheheart #follower

Where You Belong

When Peter announced to the first believers that they needed to fill Judas’s empty position*, he used a phrase that always glares at me. I feel it piercing my heart every time I read it. It’s almost as if those words growl and claw. He prays “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go WHERE HE BELONGS” [emp. added].

To go where he belongs. Ouch. I think we all know where that is.

“To go where he belongs” is the NIV translation. The KJ and NAS say, “to go to his own place” and the MSG says, “to go his own way.”

We all belong somewhere. There is a place where we are going to go. You and I cannot be in two places at once. It is either going to be here or it is going to be there. Only God can be in multiple places. Not even the enemy can do that.

There is no spiritual fence-riding. If you think you are straddling that fence, think again. As Peter prayed, God knows EVERYONE’S heart. He knows which side your heart is really on. We fool others and we may even fool ourselves, but there is no fooling God.

Going where you belong can be a comforting thought or a frightening one.

For a Child of the King, where you belong is in the house of your Father. Where you belong is a place you have longingly envisioned a million times and it will be a million times more magnificent that you ever could dream.

For a child of the world, where you belong is in the house of your father. Where you belong is a place you never ever thought of and it will be a million times more horrifying than you could have ever envisioned.

Where will you belong?

God bless!

*Acts 1:15-26

His Love Is Relentless

My wife and I had an interesting conversation yesterday morning about the 11th hour.  I believe we will be surprised with who's in Heaven when we get there.

"Wait, what? Am I in the wrong place...How did YOU get here?!"

Right? I mean, we all think: this person is holy and that person obviously is not or this person is saved and that person obviously is not. But scripture tells us another story.

Let's look at the cross. There were two thieves on each side of Our Lord that day. Now, you didn't find yourself at the business end of a crucifixtion for nothing! Suffice it to say, these two were probably what we would consider "not holy" and definitely "not saved." However, at the last possible moment one of them accepted Jesus into his heart and Jesus saved him! Talk about saved at the last moment! Thank God for that kind of Mercy and Grace, right? I don't know about you, but I need it everyday!

Quickly let's also look at Jesus's teaching about the 11th hour and "Idle-all-day" people (Matt. 20:2-16). Some workers work all day long and some only work for one hour, yet all were are paid the same amount. My favorite part of this parable is that the lord of the vineyard KEPT going out every hour to look for labourers! He looked for people who were idle... all day! Jesus will never stop! Even until the last hour of the day, He will search for you! His love is relentless!

In Ecclesiatetes 7:8, Solomon tells us better is the end of a thing than the beginning. I've ran marathons, that statement is very true! Sometimes it's how you finish that makes the difference. Goal-setting resolutions can never match the unbelievable blessing of God's divine intervention to have Mercy on us!

So you see, it's never too late. God is waiting on you, not the other way around!

God Bless!

To Love is To Fight

We've all heard the phrase, "I'm a Lover, not a Fighter." Well, the two are not exclusive. If you are a Lover, you have to Fight. You have to Fight Fear. You have to Fight the urge to be Selfish. You have to Fight against Greed, Sloth, and Envy. You have to Fight for what you Love.

It seems like Loving would be easier than Fighting, doesn't it? However, when you really think about it: Loving is way harder. Fighting doesn't require anything of itself. It doesn't demand Sacrifice or Self-Discipline. Fighting doesn't ask any questions. Fighting is survival mode. Fighting is indiscriminate. Get out of my way or pay. Fighting is way easier than Loving.

I Cor. 13:13 tells us the most important things. Faith. Hope. And Love. But the greatest of these is Love. 1 John 4:8 tells us that if you do not Love, you do not know God, because God is Love.

It's easy to Love what is easy to Love. It's easy to Love your wife or husband. It's easy to Love your kids. Try Loving someone who's wronged you. Try Loving someone who opposes you. Fighting them would be so much easier.

Many feel as if God does not Love them. Then answer me this: why did He send His Son? It was the only thing that could save what He Loved so much. The easier thing would've been to Fight us. Instead, He fought FOR us.

God bless!

Not Struggling To Be Free

When I was little, I was scared of quicksand. I was absolutely certain I was going to fall into some quicksand and never get out. I don’t have facts on this, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t even any quicksand in West Virginia. Anyways, try telling that to a 10 year old.

Anyone who has ever seen a Western or Indiana Jones, can tell you – don’t struggle! It will only make you sink faster! If you just remain calm, you may have more of a chance… to find a rope, or branch, or call out for help, or something.

2 Cor. 12:9-10 tells us that God’s Grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in our weakness. Boast happily in your weaknesses and then the Power of God may rest upon you. If that doesn’t make your heart burst in praise, I don’t know what will. The weaker you are, the easier it is for God to jump in and blow that hardship out of the water? Sign me up!

Tenth Avenue North has a song called, “The Struggle.” It has a line that really resonates with my wife and I. “We are free to struggle, We’re not struggling to be free.”

Thank God for that.

God Bless!

The Nose On Your Face

I read somewhere that your brain can always see your nose, but it chooses to ignore it. There is a section in your field of vision that gets continously... deleted.

Sin can be like that. It's gets so constant, that we just sort of ignore it. We knows its there, we can see it... but we continously delete it from our sight.

Conversely, Good can be like that also. Far too often we ignore what's so plainly in front of us: good health, amazing riches, and unbelievable blessings. The fact that you are reading this right now means a coulple of things: 1. You can see. 2. You can read (14% of US Adults are illiterate). 3. You have access to the internet (119 million lack broadband internet). How about thanking God for any of those?

Ignoring something doesn't make it go away. If it's something bad - address it. Proverbs 3:6 says in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. If it's something good - give thanks for it. Psalms 95:2 says let us come before Him with thanksgiving. Either way, let's stop deleting things from our sight and acknowledge our Lord and Saviour!

It's as plain... as the nose on your face.

God Bless!

Mercy Over Sacrifice

Twice Jesus said that He desired mercy over sacrifice (Matt. 9:13 & 12:7). Telling us something once is enough, but twice? He really must've wanted us to get it! So what does it mean to desire mercy over sacrifice?

Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6. The Israelites were offering sacrifices to God because it was their duty not because they desired to please Him. Their hearts were not close to God. There was no relationship.

Jesus is saying He desires that we genuinely love him. He desires that we follow His will because we truly want to. He doesn't want us coldly following rules like the Pharisees.
God sees the heart and no amount of rule following can replace a heart that isn't true. Mercy wins over sacrifice, everytime. God bless!