Feeling Inadequate

"Have no I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." - Joshua 1:9

Do ever feel inadequate to do what God has called you to do?  If we are honest, all of us at one time or another have felt this way when it comes to serving the Lord.  It even seems that Joshua felt this way as well.  In Deuteronomy chapter 31 Moses encourages Joshua to be strong and of a good courage.  Then four times in chapter 1 Joshua is encouraged to be strong and of a good courage; one time by the people and three times by the Lord.

I want to encourage you today, that if you feel inadequate to do what God has called you to do, it is a good thing.  You are probably thinking that this sounds strange and doesn't make any sense.  It is good for us to feel inadequate because then we are forced to desperately, completely, and absolutely rely on the Lord and His power to get the job done.  The Lord is attracted to weakness.  It is through our weakness that His power is manifested and His strength is shown.  When you and I get to the place where we acknowledge our weakness and total helplessness before God, it is then that He is able to work in our lives in a mighty and powerful way!

I want to challenge you to passionately and desperately to seek after the Lord and His strength and power today.  Do not lean to your own understanding and your ability!  This is why we see such a lack of the God's moving in our lives because we adequate for the task.  When we get to the place that we realize how inadequate we really are, then we are in the place where Christ can begin to do something in our lives.

Today, humble yourself before the Lord by desperately and passionately calling out to Him to manifest His power in your life.  Seek and cry out to the Lord with your whole heart that He would equip you for His service.  Just remember, if you feel inadequate to serve Christ, that is a good thing!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I confess my total inadequacy to serve You and to do what You have called me to do.  I desperately need Your strength and Your power in my life!  Help me not to lean to my own understanding or ability, but help me to absolutely and completely rely on You!  In Jesus name, Amen!

The Love Of God

"Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." - Hosea 3:1


I just wanted to share a quick thought on the love of God towards you and I.  Do we really comprehend the depth of God's love for us?  I personally think that we just throw around the phrase "God loves us" without fully understanding its implications and comprehending the reality of what those words communicate to us.

Here is what Charles Spurgeon said about the love of the Lord:

"Believer, look back through all thine experience, and think of the way whereby the Lord thy God has led thee in the wilderness, and how he hath fed and clothed thee every day—how he hath borne with thine ill manners—how he hath put up with all thy murmurings, and all thy longings after the flesh-pots of Egypt—how he has opened the rock to supply thee, and fed thee with manna that came down from heaven. Think of how his grace has been sufficient for thee in all thy troubles—how his blood has been a pardon to thee in all thy sins—how his rod and his staff have comforted thee."

Even as wonderful and beautiful as Spurgeon describes God's love for us, it still does not fully communicate to us truly the depth of His love for you and I.  When we take the time to meditate upon the Lord's love for us, it literally should overwhelm us.

Think about all of the ways that Christ has shown His love for us.  We all know that when Christ took our punishment that we deserved and died on the cross for our sins, He demonstrated the greatest act of love that there is.  Putting the cross aside for just a moment, think of all the other ways that Jesus has demonstrated His love for you.  If you were to start writing them down there would not be enough paper to contain them all.  In light of the reality and demonstration of Christ's love for us, why is it that we always question His love for us?

Just think about it, even though we murmur, complain, desire the things of the world, put our fleshly lusts first, and even many times turn our backs on the One who died for us, Christ still loves us.  WOW!  In spite of how miserably you and I fail Christ everyday and no matter how many times we put other things before Him, He still loves us!  This should literally melt our hearts and cause us to fall prostrate before Christ in repentance.

I would like to share one more quote with you from Charles Spurgeon about our response to this love.

"Surely as we meditate on “the love of the Lord,” our hearts burn within us, and we long to love him more."

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for loving me, even though I am unworthy of Your love.  Help me today to meditate on the depth of Your love and what that truly means.  It is my prayer and desire that Your love for me would cause my heart to burn within me, that I would love You more and more.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Waiting On The Lord

"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." - John 11:21


I just want to share a quick thought this morning about timing and patience.  We live in such a busy and fast paced world today.  We can have any information available to us in just a few seconds.  If you want to check the weather or read the latest headlines all you have to do is just pull it up on your smartphone.  Due to advances in technology, we literally can have almost anything at fingertips in just a matter of seconds.

When you read John chapter 11 you find the account of the death of Lazarus and the encounter with Jesus and Martha, the sister of Lazarus.  In the beginning of the chapter Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick and at the point of death.  Then our Lord does something that is very unexpected, He tarries and waits instead of immediately rushing to get to Lazarus.  When Jesus finally arrives at the home Lazarus is already dead and he has been placed in the tomb.  Martha comes running out to meet the Lord, not understanding why He waited to come.  Martha thought that Jesus was late and that His timing was all wrong because Lazarus had died, but little did she know that Jesus was actually right on time.

As I said earlier, we are busy people living in a fast paced world.  Most of us, if we are honest, would admit that we find it difficult to patiently and quietly wait on the Lord.  Let's face it, we know what we want, and we know exactly when we want it: right now!  However, God may have different plans.  Just like Martha, we all have our ideas about what the Lord needs to do and when He needs to do it.  Martha thought that the Lord had done and was doing nothing, but little did she know that Christ was about to something miraculous.  There are many times in our lives when it seems like the Lord is doing nothing or that He is not there, but Christ is always at work in our lives, even when we cannot see it.

I would like to share something on a personal note on how I know this to be true.  I remember when our family came home from the mission field in late 2007.  I truly believed that it was the will of God for me to be on staff at our home church at the time.  All I wanted to to was to be a part of Christ's work.  Then all of the sudden things took a turn in the wrong direction and my heart was literally ripped out, stomped on, and crushed by not only my pastor, but my entire church family.  I ended up having to leave the only church I had ever known.  It was where I was saved, married, baptized, called to preach, called to the mission field, and ordained.  For the next two years I was in a constant state of depression.  I did not understand how God could open the door for all of these other people to serve Him but yet no doors were opening for me.  I wanted so desperately to serve Him full-time somewhere.  Then in August 2010, three years after leaving the mission field, the Lord opened that door I had been praying for.  I was called to be the pastor of Fairystone Baptist Church here in Stuart, Virginia.  As I look back on things now, I realize something that I could not see back then.  I realize that God was not only preparing me, but He was also preparing a place for me to serve Him.  The Lord was preparing the people of Fairystone Baptist Church to have me as their pastor.  I know now that if I had tried to pastor back in 2007 or 2008 that it would have been a disaster because I was not ready, and there were some things that the Lord needed to teach me.  The bottom line is that the timing was not right.

I want to challenge you today to wait on the Lord.  You might be just like I was, thinking that the Lord is not there or that He is not working behind the scenes.  I can promise you that the Lord is there and He is working.  You and I must learn to wait on Christ because His timing is perfect and He is going to do something far more marvelous than we could ever imagine!

Prayer For Today:

Lord, help me to patiently wait on You, even when it seems like You are not there or when it seems like You are doing nothing.  I know that You desire to do a marvelous and miraculous work in my life.  Help me today to understand that my time is not always Your time.  Give me the faith and strength to patiently wait on You and for Your will to be accomplished in my life.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Do They See It?

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." - Psalm 40:1-3


Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior?  Has Christ put a new song in your heart and mouth?  Does your life show forth praise unto Christ?  Finally, the most important question is: do other people see it?  The Psalmist says that God will bring us up out of our pits, He will bring us up from the miry clay of this wicked world, He will plant our feet on a rock (Jesus Christ), He will establish our path, and He will put a new song of praise in our mouths.

Have you recently experienced a setback in your life?  Have you been in one of those horrible pits or bogged down in the miry clay?  If you are going through a valley in your physical or spiritual life, look for what the Lord is trying to teach you.  Don't murmur or complain against the Lord concerning the state that you are presently in.  You must view your valley, your trial, your pit, as an opportunity to be drawn closer to Christ and an opportunity to show others the new song that has been put in us.  The Psalmist tells us in this passage that when we do these things that many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.  Do you realize that the world is watching you when you go through the fire to see how you will respond.  The world is watching to see if Jesus Christ is as real to us as we say He is.  The world is watching to see if you really believe what you tell them you believe.  If you will allow the pits, valleys, and trials in your life to show forth the praise of Christ it will cause people to not only see it but it will cause them to trust in Him.

I want to challenge you to view your failures and disappointments in life as an opportunity to be drawn closer to Christ and then an opportunity to let others see the praise of Christ in our lives.  Life is difficult and the journey can cause us to grow weary, even jaded.

Will you view your failures, disappointments, and setbacks as an opportunity to let others see Jesus Christ in your life?  Is Christ as real to you as you say He is?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me this day to let others see your praise in my life.  When I suffer setbacks, when I have failures and disappointments, may I see it as an opportunity to be drawn closer to You and to let others see You in my life.  I pray that you will help me to see what You are trying to teach me through the tough times in my life.  I desire You to be so real to me that others will see it, and fear, and trust in Christ.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Rejoice And Be Glad!

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalm 118:24


Do you realize that today is a cause for celebration?  Why?  Is today a holiday or something?  No, today is a cause for celebration because the Lord has made and given us this day!  Our response should be to rejoice and be glad.

As you and I wake up each morning, we must realize that God has made and given us a day full of possibilities. We are to use this day for His purposes and for His glory.  Each day is a brand new day to start over and serve the Lord with rejoicing and gladness.  However, we must beware, today is a non-renewable resource; once it's gone, it's gone forever.  It is your responsibility and mine to use this day in service to our Lord by being obedient to Him and His Word.

Today is a gift from God and we must not waste it.  Rejoice and be glad in this day that the Lord has given you.  Use it joyfully and encourage those around you to do the same.

Here is the challenge for today: treasure the time that Jesus Christ has given to you by giving Him the glory, praise, and obedience that He is worthy of.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me today to rejoice and be glad in this day that You have given me.  May I not waste this day You have given me to serve and glorify You.  Help me to share the love and joy of Christ with my family, friends, neighbors, and those You put in my path today.  In Jesus name, Amen!