Experiencing God is probably the most influential Bible
study that I have ever participated in. I have led the study several times,
including once in Haiti. The concepts
and truths in the study shaped the way I view my life in Christ and has helped
me to see God at work in me and around me.
Some friends and co-laborers have agreed to co-lead Experiencing God
using Zoom which is a cloud-based Video Conferencing application. Zoom can be used using WIFI or even on a
smart phone by calling in. So what is my
point? Not to impress you with my IT acumen. I still struggle with emojis and
am not sure what an Avatar is.
To refresh myself and to encourage whomever might read this,
for the next seven devotions, I am going to share the seven spiritual realities,
that are at the core of the Experiencing God study, in a “Readers’ Digest” version. Google “Reader’s Digest” if you are not
familiar with it. Let’s get started.
REALITY 1. GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK AROUND
YOU.
King David alluded to this truth in Psalm 139.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your
presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the
depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the
far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will
hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become
night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will
shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” – Psalm 139:7-12
“Do you believe that what you believe is really real?”
– Dr. Dale Tackett, The Truth Project, Focus on the Family
I was on a conference call the other day, and as we always
do, we shared prayer requests and prayed before we ended the call. One of the people on the call shared that
they were going on a trip, on a plane, and they were afraid of flying. I was asked
to pray and opened my heart to receive the Word from the Spirit. I was reminded
of Psalm 139.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from
your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in
the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on
the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand
will hold me fast.” – Psalm 139:7-10
Are there places or things where you must go or do and you
are afraid? Has God asked you to go or do and you were fearful? Anxious that by
going or doing you would be vulnerable to risks – health, wealth, possession,
relationships? Do you believe what God’s
Word says is truth? It is easy to say “Amen”, or for most of us, just think it
but never say it out loud, on Sunday morning. Amen means “so be it”. If you don’t
believe it, if you don’t have faith in its veracity, then you won’t act on
it. You won’t do it, and even if you do,
your heart will be full of fear and doubt.
God does not give us direction and then leave us to it. He
is always present, but we are not always aware of His presence nor are we
confident of His sovereignty over all things at all times. That kind of living and thinking is not just
reserved for the few “super Christians”. It is a gift to all Christians.
“Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that
the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and
woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of
little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and
the waves, and it was completely calm.” — Matthew 8:24-26
Jesus was with them, physically, visibly, and yet they were
afraid of the circumstances they were facing – as if He was not in the boat
with them. If I may restructure Jesus words,
“You were afraid because you lack faith.” He is the master of the sea – billows His will
obey. (Love Lifted Me, James Rowe and Howard Smith) I know that many people
disagree with me about whether or not we should pray for “Traveling Mercies”. It is just that traveling anywhere on any
conveyance at any time offers no more risk than driving in Houston traffic or
going to Walmart. We are fearful because we lack faith. For the Christian, we
must “trust and obey for there is no other way.” (Trust and Obey, John H. Sammis)
Talking with a friend yesterday, he shared that he feels
that he is at what Dr. Henry Blackaby would call a crisis of belief. The Lord is leading him to a place that might
upset is natural world – income and all of the comforts and amenities that
comes with it. He is in a boat in a
storm that strikes fear in his heart. He is being challenged in his
devotion. It is easy to believe God when
your physical needs are being met. It is
quite another when you are in the midst of a storm and your life or way of life
is at risk.
“I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen
the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.” – Psalm 37:25
King David’s words. Paraphrased – God is trustworthy – Why be
downcast oh my soul, put your hope in God.
Do you really believe that what you believe is really real? If you do,
you can face the storm and lean into it.
You can say “Yes” to God and lay fear aside.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from
your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in
the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on
the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand
will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light
become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night
will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my
inmost being.” – Psalm 139:8-13
King David was aware of God’s presence – most of the time.
Just like we are. There were times when
he was synchronized in harmony with God and then times when he seemed to forget
the he was a man after God’s own heart.
When he surrendered to the temptation to sin. Chased like an animal by King Saul, David had
opportunity to kill him but would not harm “God’s anointed”. Then he would have
a man killed, Uriah the Hittite, to cover up David’s sin with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. A man of contradictions.
David suffered the consequences of his sins, but did not
lose his anointing as his predecessor, King Saul, had. Where King Saul had un unrepentant heart,
King David repented before God.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing
love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away
all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and
my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what
is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you
judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that
secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will
be whiter than snow …. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit,
to sustain me.” – Psalm 51:1-7, 10-12
Friend the very worst thing we can do is to pretend that we
are without sin. The very best thing we can do, when we sin, is to confess and
repent before our God who is there. Do not try to hide your sin. You may fool other people, but you cannot
escape the gaze of God on your heart. If you are not aware – if you become
insensitive to His presence – if your heart becomes hardened to spiritual
matters – you can always trace it back to sin taking root in your heart and you
letting it stay there. It took Nathan
the Prophet to confront David over his sin with Bathsheba, but it required
David to confess and repent. The same is
true for us – no matter how small – how trivial you might consider your sin –
it affects you spiritually.
“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own
generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body
decayed.” — Acts 13:36
I often share this verse when I talk about my life being
spared after having two pulmonary embolisms in 2003. The doctor said I should have died, but I
didn’t. At the time I was reading
Purpose Driven Life, Day 40. I told
Martie that I survived because God was not done with me. Until He is, I am not
going anywhere and when He is, no one can keep me here. In 2005 we went on the mission field. Today is the day my mom was born, she is in
heaven now. I was looking at the copy of
the Purpose Driven Life book that I gave her on her birthday in 2003. She wrote “A gift from Charley to me” on the inside cover. Then
on page 312 – Day 40 – she wrote “God prevailed in Charley’s life.” Oh that I
would use that as my battle cry – perhaps even on my headstone after, like
David I have fulfilled God’s purpose in my generation and sleep with my
ancestors.
How we live our lives is more important than how much life
we live. Quality versus quantity. If you believe there is a heaven and
the promise of eternal life there is true, then there is more to your existence
than the years you walk this planet. But as we are living and walking we are to
live walk circumspectly. Aware of our God-given purpose after we become one of
God’s own by faith in Jesus. Aware that God is present …. “Where can we
go from His Spirit? Where can we flee from His presence? If we go up to the
heavens, He is there; if we make our beds in the depths, He is there. If we
rise on the wings of the dawn, if we settle on the far side of the sea, even
there His hand will guide us, His right hand will hold us fast.”
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the
judgment.” – Hebrews 9:27
Kobe Bryant. I don’t have to say much more than that do I?
Good man, father, husband. Revered as a professional basketball player and philanthropist.
Killed suddenly – unexpectedly – senselessly.
The country is in shock. Pray for
his family. Death is always a tragic
thing. But sudden – accidental death
always leaves people wondering why.
Perhaps questioning God and the idea that He is a compassionate – caring
God. But here is a fact to ponder. None of us are not guaranteed the next second, minute,
hour, day, month or year.
We do not know when, where, or how we will die. We do not know if it will be in a helicopter
crash, automobile, walking down the street, sitting on our sofa, sleeping in our
bed, suffering after a horrific illness, even if we will dies when we are young, when we are old. We
just don’t know. But what we do know is that physical death is inevitable and
inescapable. That is a fact. My generation is the next to pass “en masse”. The
older you get the more aware you are of the frailty of your life. But when someone like Kobe Bryant dies, like
he did, people are shocked into the reality that there is no guarantee of
tomorrow.
So what to do.
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as
wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
—Ephesians 5:15-17
How we live our lives is more important than how much life we
live. Quality versus quantity. If you
believe there is a heaven and the promise of eternal life in heaven is true, then
there is more to your existence than the years you walk this planet. But as we
are walking, we are to walk circumspectly. Aware of our God-given purpose after
we become one of God’s own by faith in Jesus.
Just read the Bible to see what God’s intent for us is.
“And he (a certain rich man) thought within himself,
saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said,
‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will
store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have
many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But
God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then
whose will those things be which you have provided?’.” – Luke 12:17-20
Be careful where you lay up your treasure, your devotion,
your confidence. All that the world has to
offer will not matter when you pass from life on this earth. King Solomon said it – after all he had
achieved – wealth – power – fame – his conclusion - “All is vanity.” So, in the context of eternity
and the God of heaven – what really matters. Dr. James Dobson spoke at a
Promise Keepers Conference in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado. His speech was titled “Trashing Your
Trophies”, he said that when we are all facing eternity – fame – wealth –
achievement – none of it will matter – only relationships – with other people
and with the Lord. Don’t wait until then
to come to that conclusion. “Be very
careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every
opportunity – while you still have breath.” Before someone says "Did you hear what happened to …..?"
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not
defected to Absalom.” —1 Kings 2:28
What does the story of King David's commander, Joab, betraying King
David have to do with temptation? Joab was fiercely devoted to King David. When faced with the choice of who to follow,
he had resisted following Absalom, but later buckled when faced with the
opportunity to betray David and join Adonijah. No doubt that something he never imagined he would do, but he did it. Have you ever had that experience?
“Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you
have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to
stumble and fall.[…] Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because
that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping
strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their
weak ones. ‘…kept by the power of God…’— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5)” – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost
For His Highest
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to
mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you
can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you
can endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
As a Christian there are a few things that are certain. One
is that you are going to heaven. You
have eternal life in Jesus. Another is
that you are going to face temptation until you do .. go to heaven. The question is .. How will you respond to
it? Temptation is not sin, but what you
do with temptation can lead to sin.
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”
For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is
tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then,
after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, gives birth to death.” – James 1:13-15
You will face opportunities to sin by way of temptation
every day. To overcome temptation, first
you must recognize that your struggle with temptation is a spiritual issue not
a physical one.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – Ephesians
6:12
The point is that if you try to defeat temptation through
shear will power or I suppose, more appropriately, “won’t” power, you will
fail. You are trying to do something
that is impossible. It’s likened to
trying to save yourself. You need faith
and the Spirit of God to be saved, not works or personal effort. (Ephesians
2:8-9) The next time you are tempted do
what Jesus did when He was tempted in the desert … trust in God and His Word.
Pastor Greg Laurie, when describing temptation, said “You can’t keep a bird
from flying over you head, but you can keep it from making a nest in your hair.”
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“He, Himself, is the propitiation for our sins, and not for
ours only but also for the whole world.” —1 John 2:2
When I first heard the word propitiation, I had no idea what
it meant. What its significance was for me, personally and for the world on the
whole. The word means to completely satisfy the wrath of God which, if meted
out, would be eternal judgement for our sins and eternity in hell. Jesus went
to the cross to satisfy the wrath and judgement that was sure to come for all
of us.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
– Romans 3:23 “There is none
righteous, no not one.” – Romans 3:10
In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers said this
about that. Although he directed his words to those who would be missionaries,
they apply to all of us. – We are all on mission. When I first read the
Chamber’s devotion, I wondered how it might apply to those who have not been
called to be a missionary, separated from out for a specific purpose. But then I thought about the fact that we
have all been called out for a specific purpose.
“The key to the missionary’s message (our message) is the
propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied
the wrath of God. […] The greatest message of limitless importance is that ‘He
Himself is the propitiation for our sins….’ The missionary’s message is not
nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is ‘for the whole world.’
When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or
preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.[…] He is not
to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim ‘the Lamb of God.’
It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has
done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special
type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not
say, ‘Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,’ but, ‘…woe is
me if I do not preach the gospel!’ (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the
gospel— ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” Oswald Chambers,
My Utmost For His Highest
We don’t live our lives just for ourselves and our own
benefit. We may not be preachers in that
we stand before the people and verbally proclaim the Gospel, but we are
preachers in that we live before the people and our lives should preach the
Gospel. People should see us as being a
people are for Jesus and not just against sin and the ills of the culture we
live in. If all we have to offer a world
that is headed for hell is condemnation, then we have nothing to offer. If we live our lives exactly like the lost
culture we live in does, then we have nothing to offer. What the world needs is Jesus. We need to show the world Jesus, in how we
live and how we love. We need to preach
the Gospel by living our lives submitted to the Spirit and obedient to the
Word. Christians have been relegated to
just being another sect. Just another
group of people who believe certain, outdated things. Our light has lost its shine. Our salt has lost it saltiness. Our message, that Jesus saves, has been
drowned out by the louder voice of the culture.
The world needs to see the difference Jesus can make … the world needs
to see changed lives … and we are the only ones who can show them. So my message to you today is this ….. Preach
the Gospel Christian.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”
– Deuteronomy 4:24
When we surrender our lives by faith in Jesus Christ to God,
we give up our right to be our own god, live our lives the way we choose. Are
you familiar with the phase, “I gave my heart to Jesus” or perhaps, “Jesus is in my heart”? When we were born
again, something inside of us changed.
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For
you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God’s” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
The price for eternal life was paid for by Jesus Christ. At
the moment that we yield our lives to God, God seals us with His Spirit and
marks us has His own possession. He consumes us, if you will. Spiritually,
there is nothing that remains of the old me – All God sees is Jesus in us.
Practically – we live a life torn between faithfulness to Him and the constant temptation
to do as we will – in spite of Who owns us. Paul described his struggle, and
ours in Romans chapter 7.
"I find then a law, that evil is present with me,
the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the
inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O
wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank
God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the
law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” – Romans 7:21-25
God is a consuming fire. The old is consumed and, like a Phoenix,
a new me and a new you rise from the ashes. Yet we face this conundrum, this
dichotomy, this apparent conflict with the truth. Why do I continue to struggle
with being fully devoted to God if He saved me from my old nature and given me
new life in Christ? Not trying to dodge the question, but it is really a
mystery. It is not fully explained except in the light of this fact. God wants
to use us – to show the world Jesus. Not merely with words, but by the way we
live and do. I don’t pretend to be a theologian. I am certain there are volumes
of books that have been written on the subject. The Bible does not tell us explicitly
why God chose to use us, but He does. After
study of His written revelation to mankind, what we can conclude is that He
intends to use us for His eternal purposes.
Generation after generation of us.
My generation is the next to pass. In fact I see it
happening all around me with increased frequency. People I have serve alongside in kingdom
work, have passed through the gates of heaven before me. One day it will be my
turn and yours as well. Our lives are
but a tick of the clock in eternity, but the way we live in between ticks, God
intends that it will have eternal significance in the lives of others. Your
faithfulness – my faithfulness matters. It is not just an issue of managing my personal
sin, but being faithful to God’s purpose for me. That is true for all of us. The clock is ticking – use the time God has
given you well.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to
have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” – Philippians 3:13-14
Is there something or are the some things in your past that
you deeply regret, but can’t change. Does
your heart hurt because you see the consequences of your sin being played out
in your life or the lives of people you care about? I think most of us do. Those “things’ might be
small or may loom large, but in either case, we must be careful that we don’t
let our past sins become the reason we say “no” to God today. That is not to say we pretend like they didn’t
happen. In Celebrate Recovery, they say,
“Denial is not a river in Egypt!” It requires faith to believe that God has,
indeed, forgiven you if you have sought it with a pure heart. That is proven in a changed life – where the
person has repented – turned away from their sin. It is possible for God to use
you even of the people who were touched by your sin have not. The Bible is full of examples of people that
God used in a mighty way who had done terrible things .. committed great sins …
and yet, they found forgiveness and were given a new start as they walked with
God. There were some things that they
could not do because sins do have consequences.
To imagine that we can do anything and it not affect others is an attempt
to justify our sins .. to make an excuse for what we have done.
“Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be
lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of
our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a
ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to
protect us from a very shallow security in the present. Our yesterdays hold
broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities
that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a
constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest
in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible past in His
hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Confession – means to agree with God. We must lay all of our excuses aside and
understand that we are no different from anyone else. All have sinned .. there is none righteous ..
only Jesus … and in Him we can be assured of forgiveness. Forgiveness means that we are no longer
facing the penalty for those sins. Yield your heart and life to God and His
purpose. I am certain you are familiar with
the phrase, “Let go and let God.” That is what I am encouraging you to do.
"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to
anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his
anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according
to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far
has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his
children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we
are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is
gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their
children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his
precepts.” – Psalm 103:8-18
We don’t have to be enslaved by what sins we have committed
in the past, but can be free to live for God by His grace and mercy for
eternity. And that is something to shout
about.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by
God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But
each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death.” – James 1:13-15
I woke up this morning with that verse on my mind. Waking up
to the thought of a scripture happens to me, a lot. I take it as a prompting to write. It is not like I scan the Bible to find a
verse or topic – it is just like “boom” there it is. Sound strange? Yesterday I wrote about good and bad pretending
as defined by C.S. Lewis. When we live our lives with un-confessed sin – we are
bad pretenders. Some of you will
remember the song, “Great Pretender”
“Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender. Pretending that I'm
doing well. My need is such I pretend too much ….. Oh
yes I'm the great pretender. Just laughin' and gay like a clown. I seem to be
what I'm not, you see. I'm wearin' my heart like a crown. Pretending that
you're (that would the Spirit) still around.” – The Platters,
November 3, 1955
We are so afraid of what others will think of us if they
only knew that we sin and we call ourselves Christians. So we pretend like we don’t sin – when everyone
already knows that we do. Kind of like
the children’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” Everybody knew that he was in his skivvies, he
was acting like he was actually wearing some beautiful clothes. Then a little boy cried out “Look he doesn’t’
have any clothes on!” Like someone
saying of me, “Look! He is a sinner!” Then the pious will cry out in
indignation, “And he calls himself a Christian!”
The struggle we have with sin is real, as you well now. How we respond to the sin, when we sin, and
we will sin, will determine whether we are a good or bad pretender. As a Christian, living with sin is spiritually
deadly. Sin brings separation – not eternal
separation – but it incapacitates us spiritually. We are living in disobedience even though we pretend
that we are not. It does not fool God. Do you remember the woman at the well? Jesus saw past her pretenses and saw her sin.
Our sin may be veiled from the world but it is unveiled before God. The
solution is a simple one.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that
we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” – 1 John
1:8-10
Confession and repentance brings restoration. We can’t live rightly with unconfessed sin – don’t
believe the lie that a little sin doesn’t matter – James wrote that if we break
any part of the law we have broken the whole law. (James 2:9-11) It is all or nothing
– no compromise with sin is acceptable to God.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
Each Monday I participate in a meeting – on a Zoom
call. Some of you may know what that is,
but until I with joined Houston Responds as part of the Hurricane Harvey assistance,
I had no idea. Zoom is a web-based video-conferencing service. Pretty cool
actually. Anyway, at the start of each meeting, someone will give a short
devotion. Yesterday the devotion was centered
on an excerpt from Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. As often happens, what was
said quickened my Spirit and I knew I should share it with you.
“Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is
to start behaving as if you had it already. That is why children’s games are so
important. They are always pretending to be grown-ups—playing soldiers, playing
shop. But all the time, they are hardening their muscles and sharpening their
wits so that the pretence [sic]of being grown-up helps them grow up in earnest
(p. 188).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The idea of “pretending” with respect to our faith is not
suggesting we be hypocrites but rather that we have a desire to be like Christ. That we would imagine that we can
be and then act as if we are. That fact caused me to see Jesus’ parable about
two sons in a different light.
“A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said,
‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but
afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said
likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of
the two did the will of his father? – Matthew 21:28-31
In the one case a son was struggling with obedience, but
yielded to what he was told to do. Even though
he struggled with obedience, he yielded to his father. In the second, the son
pretended to be obedient but was not. That son had no interest in being
obedient, but wanted the appearance of being so.
“There are two kinds of pretending. There is a bad
kind, where the pretence is there instead of the real thing; as when a man
pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is
also a good kind, where the pretence leads up to the real thing. When you are
not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you
can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a
nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed,
you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to
get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. That is
why children’s games are so important. They are always pretending to be
grownups—playing soldiers, playing shop. But all the time, they are hardening
their muscles and sharpening their wits so that the pretence of being grown-up
helps them to grow up in earnest.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952;
Harper Collins: 2001) 187-189.
We must imagine that we can be what God has called us to be
and then live that way. If you don’t
believe that God can indeed transform you, then you will never mature. Living
by faith requires imagination. The
evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews
11:1) That is what is imagined. If you allow your life, your failures, to
define you, then you may find that you live your life pretending to be
righteous, but inside you are disobedient. But if you walk in the light as He
is in the light (1 John 1:7) then you will find that at the root of your pretending
is Love which leads to obedience, which leads to maturity – but not
perfection. Perfection comes on the day
we see Jesus face to face.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“Our yesterdays
hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost
opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive
anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest,
but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ. Leave the broken, irreversible
past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” – Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
Are you ready for a new year, a new decade? Perhaps you want
to change some things about the way you live or look. You want to breaking some old habits and
start some new ones. As you know, most of those resolutions are tossed on the pile
of those resolutions abandoned after a few days, weeks or months from previous
new years. There is an old hymn that
describes what our attitude should be with regard to our past, our present and
our future and the means by which lasting change can happen. “Have Thine Own Way”
“Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art
the potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me, after Thy will While I am
waiting, yielded and still. Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now, As in thy presence Humbly I bow. Wounded
and weary, Help me, I pray! Power, all power, surely is Thine Touch me and heal
me, Savior divine! Hold o'er my being absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit 'til
all shall see Christ only, always, living in me. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!” POLLARD, ADELAIDE
All of us have things in our past that we regret. Satan, the god of this world, would have us
cling to those things, so that they would define who we are today and limit
what we will be in the future. But Jesus
has overcome sin and the grave. (1 Corinthians 15:17) In Him we have new life.
(1 John 5:12) Old things are passed away. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We are forgiven, in Christ. (Ephesians 4:32)
It is Jesus that defines us now. Of
course that is not to say that we should continue in sin, but, instead, that we
should not let our sins, our failings, in the past be a wall that we cannot get
by. If you want to make a resolution for
this year .. make it that you will draw closer to Jesus .. “So turn your eyes
upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful
face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His
glory and grace.” Bòn Ane (Happy New
Year)
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“do not give the devil a foothold” – Ephesians
4:27
A friend sent me a short video the other day where a Muslim-American
politician was speaking to a Muslim audience espousing the need to convert the
people of this country to Islam. I
suppose that my friend is concerned that there is a real effort in this country
to do that. Then I thought about the Bill
of Rights and the Constitution of our country and the fact that we stand on the
principle that everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe. But
what if they also believe that everyone else should believe the same thing. That should not be surprising since, as Christians,
we believe that our faith is the “true” faith and God wants everyone to embrace
the Gospel and salvation through Jesus.
Read the Bible – for the Jews, there were only two types of
people – Jews and people who were not Jews.
For us, there are those who are saved and adopted into the family of God
by faith and those who are lost and bound for hell. So – although we Christians, in this country,
are to be tolerant of other faiths and non-faiths, we believe that there are
really only two kinds of people, saved and lost. Well …. Our country was
founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs, but by definition has never been a Theocracy,
a country under the rule of one religion.
In fact many of the founders of this country were escaping that when
they came here as immigrants. But, if you think that everyone should be a
Christian, and I do for their eternal sake, then don’t you see a conflict in
our religious goals versus our national goals? So what to do.
I entitled this devotion “Don’t give Satan a foothold”, because
I believe that our concern or fear about the dominance of other religions in
this county gives Satan a foothold in our lives and impacts our faith. When I watched
that video, frankly my first thought was , “How do we prevent this?” There
seems to be a greater and greater tolerance for non-Christian religions and less tolerance
for Christians. But that is merely a
reflection of the founding principles of our country. As a culture, in comparison
to other nations of the world, our country is in its infancy. When I was in
grade school, I was taught that the United States is “melting pot”, where all
cultures, ethnic groups, faiths come together and are blended. Well that may be true to some extent but many
cultures and ethnic groups and faiths want to cling to their roots while embracing the prosperity that can be found here. There will always be tension among groups when that is
true and that will always be true. Unless, of course, everyone could find common
ground through faith or when Jesus returns.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But
small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it.” ― Matthew 7:13-14
Jesus was telling us that many more will reject the Gospel
than accept the Gospel. Christianity is not something that is to be imposed on people
as in a Theocracy. I am certain you have heard about people being killed because
they refused to become Muslim. By the
way – people claiming to be Christians have been guilty of that in times
past as well. So what are we to do?
As Christians, our place is to be a light in a dark world. To first trust God and His sovereignty and not men
and governments. We are to put God ahead
of our country but at the same time submit to the law of the land, so long as
it is not contrary to God’s law. This
county’s moral tide will ebb and flow over time. People with competing goals and faiths will always
be in contention with each other. In all
of that, we must be true to our faith – our witness – and our God. We must stand on our beliefs and not compromise
truth to get along – which is the foot hold that Satan is looking for.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the
hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” – 1 Peter 3:15
Have you ever shared your faith with someone? Maybe went
door to door. Maybe you have a taken a class on how to share your testimony and
the Gospel. Or maybe you have decided to leave that aspect of being a Christian
to others. I have heard it said that speaking in public, to people you don’t
know, is one of the greatest fears that people have. You can get over that fear
with preparation and practice. Just like
anything else in life, there are always going to be people who do “whatever it
is” better than you. That maybe
important if you are getting paid to do it, but when it comes to giving you
testimony – sharing your faith – not so much.
You see, when it comes to faith issues it is the Spirit of
God who does the real work. We are
merely messengers. Are you familiar with
the term “Don’t shoot the messenger?” Well you don't shoot the messenger because all the messenger is
doing is relaying information. The
message was crafted by someone else. In the case of the Gospel and your new
life in Christ, the message is from God, the Father. It is not up to you to save the person you
are speaking to. It is impossible. That
said, you can’t argue anyone into heaven. When someone comes to faith, perhaps when you
are speaking to them, it is because the Spirit of God has gone ahead of you –
preparing their hearts. Your meeting is
the means by which they hear the Gospel, the very thing their hearts have been
yearning for.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not
believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are
sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!” ― Romans 10:14-15
Implicit in the telling is the showing. What I mean is that your life should reflect
your message. If you were buying a Chevy
but the salesman was driving a Ford, you might wonder why he promotes one thing
and does another. That does not mean you
must be sinless – none of us are. It does mean that your life should reflect
your love of God and willingness to walk in the light.
Listen – God will give all us opportunity. The question is, “Will
we be ready and willing when the opportunity comes knocking?”
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by
might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts” ― Zechariah
4:6
You don’t have to be an eloquent speaker – merely a faithful
servant. Being a witness to the Gospel is a basic Christian responsibility. Jesus said –
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
– Matthew 28:19
That means as you go – as you live your life – be ready to
do what God calls all of us to do. Oh, one other thing. Paul wrote …
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been
making it grow.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6
You never know what your place is – planting – watering – or
harvesting. Just remember, it is God
that makes it grow. You just need to be ready
and willing.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
You will always need God to accomplish what He sends you to
do. We were just talking about Gideon. God used Gideon to defeat an army of
thousands using only three hundred men, torches and clay pots. When Moses sent
the twelve spies across the Jordan to spy out the land, all but two (Joshua and
Caleb) came back with bad news. In the minds of the ten, it was impossible for
Israel to defeat the giants that lived there. It was too hard a task. Forty
years later, Joshua was once again standing at the banks of the Jordan. The
task was the same. Joshua was to take the land for Israel. And the Lord said:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever
you go.” ― Joshua 1:9
God chooses to use ordinary people to do what is impossible
in the minds of men. If you are going to do something for God, you cannot do it
apart from God. What we do is by the power of God through His Spirit.
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by
might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts” ― Zechariah
4:6
I would be at great fault if I did not make it clear that
anything that was accomplished during our journeys must be credited to the
dedication and commitment of the hundreds of volunteers that helped us. Time
and again, the right people with the right skills, heart for service, and
financial resources came to Mississippi, and later to Haiti and to Texas. When
we faced the trials and challenges that we faced, we often had no idea how to
overcome them. “But God” is perhaps one of the strongest phrases in the Bible.
It appears no less than 47 times. But God met the challenges and trials using
the volunteers who would come to our aid.
I could not possibly acknowledge each one, each group, each
church that set their lives aside to help the “man in the ditch.” I would have
to devote an entire chapter of my book, “Where Faith Is Waiting” to each of them.
Not only did they minister to the people in the communities, but they
ministered to Martie and me. What we did, where we served was a very difficult
and, at times, a dark and dangerous place to be. They were like the balm of
Gilead for us personally. They encouraged us. They blessed us. They stood in
the gap for us. To this day we count many as dear friends and partners in the
fields in which the Lord has set our plow. And we knew that is was by God’s
providence that we were able to do what we did.
“‘Teacher, which is
the greatest commandment in the Law?’
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matthew 22:36-39
If you read Matthew 22:36-39 you see that God requires all
of your devotion and that devotion then gives birth to a love for others.
Saying yes to God re-quires faith ― trust ― obedience. Where we get into
trouble is when we make choices in our own wisdom. Have you faced faith
challenges in your life? Are you facing one now? Would you be willing to go to a difficult
place or become involved in a difficult circumstance? Or maybe you feel like
you are already there.
Most people I know put a limit on their devotion to
God. They struggle with natural devotion
and spiritual devotion. Anything can
become a god if we let it have preeminence over our devotion to God. The second greatest commandment is to love
others, but that is the second greatest, not the first. God really asks very few to physically
abandon their families to serve him. But
He commands every one of us to abandon any and all devotions that would push
Him aside.
Even loving Him more requires Him to do it. We can’t do it on our own. We must do it by faith by the power of the
Spirit. There are many admonitions in
the New Testament to love others – above ourselves – but never above God. The temptation is strong, but God is
stronger. God never asks us to do
anything that we can do on our own except this one thing; to lay our lives down
at the foot of the cross, to trust in God and not ourselves.
I share what od has done in our lives not as a point of
boasting about ourselves, we are nothing. No, we are boasting about what a
great God we serve and hope to encourage you to say “Yes” to God and go to a
place uncertainty. A place where you
must trust in God and not yourself. It might
be right around the corner. Or with the next person you meet.
“To him who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and
with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen.” – Jude 24-25
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
God weaves a web of relationships that is improbable and,
more likely, impossible for man to orchestrate. When I meet people, I always
ask the Lord ― “Why am I meeting them?” I can’t see very far down the path He
has me on ― but I know that some of the people I meet along the way will play a
part in my journey and my mission which is to point people to Jesus.
I believe that the Holy Spirit works at “both ends of the
stick” at the same time. What I mean is that if He is leading, then He is also
preparing hearts to agree that “This is the way” (Isaiah 30:21). If we look at
people as the source of our provision, we are looking too low. We must look to
the hills! (Psalm 121) There are no
coincidences in the life of a Saint. God is always at work, all around you. The
question is, “Can you see Him at work?” Even in the mundane, simple things, God
is at work.
“And we know that
all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose.” ― Romans 8:28
It seemed that each time we solved one problem, another one
would pop up. It is a little like that arcade game where you hit a gopher’s
head with a mallet only to have another pop up. The more you hit, the more
heads pop up. While we were in Haiti, we raised and provided funding for 6 church
schools. We had the salaries; we had the books; we even had the uniforms by the
providence of God. A pastor shared a Haitian proverb, “Empty stomachs have no
ears.” Most of the children were coming to the schools without having eaten and
would not eat until they got home. If there was food to eat. I recall Martie
measuring children for uniforms in La Vallee. When one little boy took his
shirt off to try on a uniform shirt, you could see all of his ribs. Martie
cried.
We needed to feed the children (Matthew 25), but how to do
it. By this point there were several hundred children in the schools. That
represented thousands of meals each week. And we would need water and a place
to cook the food.
While in Haiti, I had two phones. One for the U.S. and one
for Haiti. One day I received a call on my Haiti phone from the U.S. It was a
bit unusual. It was a man, Lou, who lived near Chicago. He told me that he had
been visiting his uncle in Demotte, Indiana. Churches from same Demotte that
helped so much with hundreds of sheds in Mississippi. I had sent an update to
the churches that had pro-vided volunteers and financial support. In the last
up-date I mentioned that I needed food for the children. The churches would
make copies of my updates and distribute them to church members. Lou’s uncle
showed him the update and asked if Lou knew any-thing about it. Lou did not and
that is why he called me. You see, Lou had been providing food to school
children in Jacmel, the same city we were working in, for the past 16 years. He
said he would be in Jacmel in two weeks and would like to meet to talk about
how we might partner in feeding children. We would need to pay for shipping, but
the food was free. Do you see God’s hand at work?
“Now an angel of the Lord said to
Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to
Gaza.’ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important
official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means ‘queen of
the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way
home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The
Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ Then Philip ran up
to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand
what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone
explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is
the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: ‘He was led like a sheep to
the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open
his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his
descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.’ The eunuch asked Philip,
‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good
news about Jesus.” – Acts 8:26-35
Philip was prompted by the Spirit to connect with the
Ethiopian. At the same time, the
Ethiopian was reading Isaiah – seeking God. Has anything like that ever
happened to you? Prompted by the Spirit
to speak to someone, and they were ready to hear. Did you see it as God at work
or did you just right it off as an amazing coincidence.
God is a “just in
time” God. He is never late. We may become impatient, but God is always on time
– His time. When I meet people, I always
ask myself, and the Lord, “Why am I meeting this person?” “How is God going to
use this for His purpose and glory?”
When I received the phone call about the food for the
children, I knew the impossibility of me orchestrating that connection. So often we miss what God is doing in and
through us and the people we meet. What
He did through men and women in the Bible, He is doing today. The same Spirit is at work in all of us. Are you ready and willing to be used by God?
God is ready and willing to use you for His glory and the good of others.
Paul wrote and I pray in agreement:
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know him better. I pray
that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the
hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his
holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is
the same as His mighty strength.” – Ephesians 1:17-19
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For
His Glory Alone
