How Far Are We Willing To Go?

And after this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. - Luke 5:27-32 ESV

We find something absolutely amazing in Jesus' calling of Levi to be one of His disciples.  Jesus was willing to go where He was most needed.  Jesus saw the value of a soul, no matter what walk of life that soul came from.  This leads us to a very important question that we must ask ourselves.  How far are we willing to go to share Jesus with someone else?

Levi was a tax collector, and they were considered the scum of the earth by the Jewish people.  Those that were religious would have definitely looked down on them.  However, when Jesus saw Levi, He didn't see scum, but rather He saw a soul.  When you and I pass by those that our society looks down on, what do we see?  Do we see inconveniences?  Do we see problems?  We should see people that Jesus loves just as much as he loves us.  We should see that people in our culture are hurting and desperately wanting someone to love them unconditionally.

Unfortunately, too many in our churches today are not willing to go very far to share Jesus with those in their community.  We have our Christian friends, our Christian music, our Christian outings, and a host of other things that keep us isolated from the very people we are supposed to be sharing Jesus with.  How many friendships do you have with those that are non-believers?  How much time to do you spend around other Christians versus the amount of time that you spend with those that are non-believers?  I can't help but wonder how Jesus would be received, if at all, by many of our churches today because of the company that He kept.

I truly believe that our community, and our entire culture, is starving for the Body of Christ to rise up and show them the unconditional love of Jesus.  God as really dealt with my heart that I want to go as far as necessary to share the love of Jesus with others in our community.  What about you?  How far are you willing to go?

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:11 ESV

Power Of Prayer

"...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16

I would like to take a little time this week to talk about the most important thing in the life of the Christian, but it is also the most neglected, and that is prayer.  Here is what E.M. Bounds had to say about prayer: "We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances."

You might be asking yourself right now how I can be so sure that there is power, when those that have been born again, begin to pray.  I know that there is power in prayer because of what our family has experienced over the last several weeks.

Many of you know that our youngest son, Brayden, was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago due to the fact that he had been vomiting for over a week with no end in sight.  I will never forget how I felt on Wednesday July 4, 2012; I literally felt like I was watching my little boy slowly die.  I will also never forget that day for another reason, because that is when God's people began to pray for Brayden.  First, we sent out a message to the prayer chain at our church and asked them to pray for Brayden and for wisdom for the doctors that were treating him .  Then we began to post on Facebook about the situation and asked our brothers and sisters in Christ to please pray for Brayden.  It was so amazing how quickly the Lord began to put things together and answer the many prayers that were being made for Brayden.

The next day, on Thursday July 5, Brayden was transferred to a Roanoke hospital and their pediatric unit.  We could not begin to imagine how tremendously the Lord had blessed us with this move until we talked with one of Brayden's doctors on Saturday.  On Saturday morning as the doctor came by to talk with us the conversation turned to spiritual things.  We found out that this doctor was a Christian as we talked with him, but I must admit that I was not expecting what he said to us.  Once the doctor found out that we were Christians, he asked us to pray for him because his knowledge was limited.  He went on to tell us about how that he would pray over his patients and ask the Lord to show him what to do.  When I heard this, it literally brought tears to my eyes.  God in His sovereignty and divine providence had given us a doctor that was a Christian!

On Sunday July 8 they did a endoscopy and colonoscopy on Brayden so they could see what was going on with him on the inside.  Again, we sent out something on our prayer chain at church and began to ask our pastor friends to have their churches pray too.  We also put out a request for prayer to our brothers and sisters in Christ on Facebook.  We could not begin to imagine how many people were praying for our little boy and how far this prayer request had traveled.  After the procedure we finally had a diagnosis of what was happening and what was causing Brayden to be sick.  It wasn't what we were expecting or even what we wanted to hear, but it definitely wasn't the worst that we could have heard.  Even with hearing this bad news, God wasn't done working in the situation.  The next day as Brayden's doctor came by to talk with us more about the diagnosis, we were totally in awe at what happened next.  As the doctor finished talking with us, he went over and closed the door and had prayer with us all.

Through everything that has happened to Brayden over the last several weeks, the only thing that I can say about it all is that Jesus Christ has been so good to us and that our family stands in awe of our Savior!  My mind cannot even begin to comprehend how good God has been to us through everything.  The Lord has been so gracious and merciful to us through all of this and it has been an amazing blessing how He has shown His sovereignty and divine providence in this situation.  It is our prayer that Jesus Christ has been glorified through all of this and that He will continue to be glorified as our family moves forward.  Words cannot express how much we appreciate all of our brothers and sisters in Christ praying for our little boy.  We stand in awe at how the Body of Christ has responded to us over the past several weeks. It is our prayer that this situation can be used to show our family and friends that are lost without Christ their need for Him before it is eternally too late.  Again, thank you all so much for the prayers, first and foremost, and the cards, visits, calls, and gifts that were sent to Brayden!  We have been humbled by the tremendous show of prayer and support from the Body of Christ!!!

How do I know that there is power in prayer and that prayer really works?  I have experienced firsthand the results when Christ's people get on their knees and intercede to Him for another family in Christ!

God's Not Fair

"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." - Psalm 103:10

Have you ever heard someone make the statement that God is not fair?  I have often heard people ask questions about why God has allowed something to happen in their lives or why God did not stop something from happening.  I have even heard people make the statement that they were not getting what they deserved, and they were not happy about it.  

"Those who would like the God of Scripture to be more purely ethical, do not know what they ask." - C.S. Lewis

I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that God is not fair!  I am also thankful that God does not give me what I deserve!  If God was fair and gave us what we deserved, we ALL would be Hell in this very moment because of our sin and rebellion against Him.  You and I deserved the judgment and wrath of God, but instead He gave us forgiveness, redemption, and sanctification when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation.  I am so thankful that God gave me what I DID NOT deserve, mercy and grace!

The reason why most people think that God is not fair is because they start with a false premise; they naturally assume that they are a good person.  Have you ever heard someone ask the question of why bad things happen to good people?  The truth is, according to God's Word, there are NO good people (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10,23).  A better way of stating it would be that good things happen to bad people.  When we look at it that way, it will change everything!  

We are so quick to ask why something bad happens, but we hardly ever stop and ask why God might bless us with something good.

"Fairness is an excellent principle when we're good, but an unfortunate principle when we're not so good.  And when it comes to God, we are pretty much always going to be on the no-so-good side of the fairness equation. But we can be glad that God is not fair; we don't get what we deserve.  Instead of punishment we get death-defying grace.  And we get God with us, especially in the midst of life's most difficult and painful experiences." - Craig Groeschel

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You are not fair!  Thank You for not giving me what I deserved, but instead You gave me mercy and grace.  Father, help me to remember that You are good all the time!  In Jesus name, Amen!

My Failure

"All that the church and its members need for the manifestation of the mighty power of God in the world, is the return to our true place, the place that belongs to us, both in creation and redemption - the place of absolute and unceasing dependence on God." - Andrew Murray

I just want to share a quick thought this Sunday before church.  I was reading a passage by Andrew Murray this morning in my devotions and I came across this quote and the Lord just spoke to my heart about it.

Do you desire to see the power of God manifested in your church?  What about you personally, do you desire to see God's power manifested in you and through you?  I would hope that we all would answer yes to both of those questions.  

I can honestly say that I truly long to see God's power manifested in our church and in my life personally, but I can't honestly say that I have really seen it.  When I don't see it in our church or in my life, I get very down and very discouraged.  Why don't I see it?  It is a very simple question that has a very obvious answer.  I don't see the mighty power of God manifested in our church and in my life personally because the church is not in the right place, and neither am I.  That is a pretty tough pill to swallow, but it is the truth.  When I do not see the power of God manifested in my life, it is because I am not in the right place, the place that belongs to me and the church both - the place of absolute and unceasing dependence on Christ.

What about you?  Are you in the place of absolute and unceasing dependence on Christ?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for not being in the right place, a place of absolute and unceasing dependence on You.  Help me to be in that place of absolute and unceasing dependence on You so that Your mighty power would be manifested in and through my life.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Faithful In Prayer

"Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me." - Psalm 66:20

During my 10 years in the ministry, I have found that the most important church service is also the most neglected and poorly attended service, the midweek prayer and Bible study.  If you were to announce that you were having some form of entertainment you would be amazed at the turnout, but announce that you are meeting to spend time in prayer and hardly anyone shows up.  Why is this?  The answer is simple, Christians do not have the right priorities.  Even in our unfaithfulness to God, He is still faithful to us.

Let's think about our prayer lives for just a moment.  Think about how faithful God has been to hear our prayers even we have not been so faithful to commune with Him in prayer.  Notice what Charles Spurgeon says about this: "Oh! it is marvellous that the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of importunity which come and go with our necessities. What a God is he thus to hear the prayers of those who come to him when they have pressing wants, but neglect him when they have received a mercy; who approach him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to address him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few."  If we are honest, we all would have to admit our neglect to be faithful to God in prayer; we only call on Him when we are desperate.  Even with that said, God is still faithful and merciful, not only to hear, but also to answer our prayers.  I must admit, I am so guilty of doing this very thing.  When things are going good I tend to slack in my prayer life, but then when things take a turn for the worse I am calling out to God for help.  Let us purpose in our hearts that we are going to be faithful to commune with God in prayer just as much when things are going great as we do when things are going wrong.

Now, let's turn to another aspect of our prayer lives: what about the character and nature of the prayers that we offer to God?  Here is what Spurgeon said about the nature of our prayers: "In looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that God has ever answered them."  Let us be totally honest about the character and nature of the things that we pray for.  Sadly, most of the prayer requests that you hear from Christians during the midweek prayer service are very inwardly and carnally focused.  We have gotten away from getting on our faces before God and crying out to Him for the spiritual needs of those around us.  Yet, despite our inwardly and carnally focused prayers, God is still faithful to hear and answer our prayers.

I pray, that because God hears our prayers such as they are, it will touch and stir our hearts to be more faithful to God in our prayer life.  I pray that it will stir our hearts to be more spiritually and eternally minded when we approach our Heavenly Father.

Are You Satisfied?

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." - Psalm 107:8-9

Have you ever really craved a certain food, and then after finally eating it, you have a feeling of satisfaction but a longing for more of it?  Ever since our family left the country of Paraguay five years ago to come back home, I have had a longing and a desire for many of the foods that we enjoyed while living there.  There are times when I think how awesome it would be to just have one more opportunity to eat some Chipa or to drink a glass of Guarana or to drink a glass of yogurt (yes, I did say drink yogurt.)

As I was reading some during my morning devotions, I came across these verses and the Lord really spoke to my heart.  They give us a glimpse into the character and the nature of God, but they also contain something else very thought provoking and sobering.  As I read verse 9, the Lord began to speak to my heart and deal with me about my own walk with Him.  Am I satisfied?  Does my soul long for Christ?  Is my soul hungry for more of Christ, His Word, His presence, and His power?  The verse says that the Lord will satisfy the longing soul and that He fills the hungry soul with His goodness.  Are you satisfied?  Do you long for Him?  Are you hungry for Him?

At the risk of being looked down upon for my honesty, I am going to be completely honest about my own spiritual life.  To my shame, my soul does not long for Christ they way that I should nor do I hunger for Him the way that I should.  I know that this is the cause many times of me not being satisfied.  If you were to be honest, you would have to say the same.  Oh that you and I would hunger after Christ that we might have more of His Word, His power, and His presence!  If you and I will bring our longing souls to Christ, He will satisfy our souls!

In Psalm 63, David writes about how he thirsted for the Lord as one would thirst for water in a dry wilderness. According to David, life would be nothing without the Lord.  Then we read that David became so engrossed and consumed with the thought of God's love that he meditated on it all night long.

I pray that you and I will bring our longing souls to Christ and allow Him to satisfy that longing!  I pray that we will hunger for Christ and allow Him to fill our hungry souls with His goodness!  Are you hungry for Christ?  Do you long for Christ?  You should!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for falling so short of your perfect standard.  Lord, I pray that you would burn in my heart a hunger and a longing for You!  Father, I pray that You will fill my hungry soul with Your goodness and that You will satisfy my longing soul!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Prove It!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Have you ever made a statement to someone to have them respond with a statement like this, "Prove it" or something along those lines?

In times of prolonged adversity, we can begin to entertain thoughts that cause us to doubt Christ's love for us.  At some point in our lives, we all have done this.  Satan is going to come to us and try to get us to doubt Christ's love for us.  He is going plant thoughts in our minds like, "If God really loved you, then He wouldn't let this happen" or "If God really loved you, then He would do this for you."  In order to fight this, we must store up truths in our hearts about God from His Word to use as weapons when Satan tries to convince us that we are not loved by Christ.

The most convincing evidence of God's love for us is when He gave Himself in the form of Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins on the Cross.  If you look at the verses 6-7 of Romans chapter 5, you see the depth of the love of Christ.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." - Romans 5:6


"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare die." - Romans 5:7


First, we see that Christ died for the ungodly.  Secondly, we see that it is inconceivable to someone would even die for a good man or even a righteous man.  This tells us the depths of Christ's love for us, because according to Scripture, we are not righteous and neither are we good.  However, despite what we are, Christ died for us. He took the punishment that you and I deserved, suffering the wrath of God the Father because my sin and your sin was laid upon Him.  What love He demonstrated!  God showed His love for us by meeting our greatest need - paying our sin debt with His own life's blood thus satisfying the wrath of God the Father.

"Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God's love for us." - Jerry Bridges


Jesus Christ has already proved His love for us, and as a result of that, let us prove our love for Christ and demonstrate that love to a lost and dying world!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You for demonstrating and proving Your love for me through Christ's death on the Cross.  Forgive me for the times when I doubt Your love for me due to my circumstances.  Help me to prove my love for You and demonstrate that love to those around me.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Hiding His Word In Our Hearts

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." - Psalm 119:11

First, let me say that it is good to be back blogging!  Last week we had a Prophecy Conference at FBC with Dr. Billy Martin.  It was a great week, but I did not have the opportunity to update my blog at all last week.

I want to share something that has been heavy on my heart over the last several months.  I have observed that our churches seem to be severely lacking when it comes to God's Word.  The statistics are very disturbing to say the least.

• Only 16% of churchgoers read the Bible everyday.

• Only 32% read the Bible at least once a week.

• Only 37% say that reading and studying the Bible has made a significant difference in the way they live their lives.

We must do something about this!  As I said, the statistics are very disturbing to say the least.  Just a little over 1/4 of our congregations are reading their Bibles only one time each week.  It is no wonder that our churches are in the shape that they are in!  Could you imagine only eating physically one time a week?  Most of us couldn't even imagine eating only one time a day.  We all know that if we skip eating that we are not going to grow physically; in fact, we are going to get weaker.  Why is that we do not apply the same standard to our spiritual lives?  How can we expect to grow spiritually if we are never in God's Word, or if we just read it once a week?  We are spiritually starving ourselves to death!

The most disturbing of these statistics to me is that only 37% say that reading and studying the Bible has made a significant difference in the way they live their lives.  This should not be!  If you are truly a child of God, every time that you read God's Word, it should radically change you!  I truly believe that what we have in many of our churches is a bunch of lost people trying to read the Bible and understand it, which is the problem.  I hear so much about how people say that they cannot understand the Bible.  Now let me be very clear, even as a Christian, you are not going to understand everything you read in the Bible, but you should have a general understanding.  As a child of God, when you read His Word it should convict you and stir your heart, it will change you!

I believe one of the biggest contributing factors to this epidemic is that many pastors and churches push reading your Bible through every year.  I have heard countless preachers talk about how many times they have read their Bible through during their lives.  I have even heard them make condescending remarks about those who have never read their Bibles through during the year.  It is not important whether or not a person reads their Bible through each year, but rather it is more important that they read their Bibles everyday.  We must encourage our people to get in God's Word everyday, even if they only read a few verses each day.

I will be the first to admit that I don't spend time in God's Word like I should, and if you are honest you would have to admit the same.  Purpose in your heart, that moving forward you are going to spend time in God's Word each day, but more importantly, that you are going to allow His Word to radically change how you live.  Get in the Word!!!

"The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." - Psalm 119:72


"Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction." - Psalm 119:92


"O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day." - Psalm 119:97


"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" - Psalm 119:103


"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." - Psalm 119:105


"The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple." - Psalm 119:130


Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to spend time in Your Word each day!  Father, I pray that as I read and study Your Word each day that You would radically change my heart and my life to look more like Christ.  Father, give me a burning desire for Your Word!  In Jesus name, Amen!

What's That?

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." - Acts 17:11



I apologize that I have not been blogging over the last several days.  I am trying to get back into my normal morning routine, so here we go!

Today, I want to do something that is a little different than normal.  Have you ever heard the words exegesis and eisegesis?  If you are like most of people, you are probably saying to your self right now, "What's that?"

Exegesis - an attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively, starting with the text and moving out from there.

Eisegesis - to import a subjective, preconceived meaning into the text.

I am afraid that most of us have been taught to interpret the Bible through eisegesis, by bringing our own preconceived ideas and beliefs of what we have been told the text says.  However, that is absolutely unscriptural to do so.  Notice above in Acts 17:11 that the Bereans received the Word with all readiness of mind and that they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was accurate.  What a huge difference we see in how they received and studied the Word than what you see in our modern day church culture!

When we interpret the Bible through eisegesis we start with an idea or conviction, then we search for Bible verses to prove our point.  This is very dangerous because we can take verses out of context to support just about any point of view.  We see this so much in many of our Evangelical and especially in our Fundamental churches.  When we interpret the Bible through eisegesis alone, we are going to have a twisted view of Scripture.

We must learn to interpret the Bible through exegesis, where we attempt to discover the meaning of the text objectively, without bringing any of our preconceived ideas about the text.  I want you to notice what Francis Chan has to say about exegesis: "I was taught to interpret the Scriptures through exegesis alone.  Start with God's Word; pray that the Spirit gives you clarity; then study to see what the text actually says.  The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible, so who better to help us as we seek to understand it!  Scripture tells us that the Spirit not only inspired the Bible, but also illumines it for us today."  If you will honestly and sincerely study the Bible through exegesis alone, it will surprise you how much of the Bible that you were actually misinterpreting before and taking totally out of context.

You and I can easily pursue just about any lifestyle we desire and then find Scripture to show everyone that it is alright to live that way.  We see this being done by many Christians in our churches today, and we also see it being done by many pastors from behind the pulpit.  Here is the question that I have for you, what would it look like for you and I to live exegetically?  If you and I were to start with Scripture and allow it to dictate our actions, how would you and I live?

The bottom line is that we have so many Christians and even pastors today that are interpreting the Bible through eisegesis and not exegesis.  As we approach God's Holy Word, we must lose all of our preconceived notions and beliefs about what we have been told that it means, and we must search the Scriptures for ourselves through exegesis alone.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, as I read Your Word, help me to lose all of my preconceived ideas about the text and allow Your Spirit to guide me in understanding.  I pray that as I read through Your Word that the Holy Spirit would open my eyes to what the passage is actually saying and help me to apply that truth to my life.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Are You Thirsty?

"O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." - Psalm 63:1-8



Have you ever been thirsty?  If so, do you remember how good it felt to quench your thirst with that drink of water?  Most all of us can relate to being thirsty for a drink of water, but what about being thirsty for God Himself?  Do you have a thirst and a longing for God's presence, His power, His glory, and a thirst for God Himself?

In the Psalm 63 David gives a glimpse into his thirst and desire for God.  David uses some powerful language to describe the depths of his thirst and desire for the Lord.  David is in the wilderness, fleeing from Absalom, and we see his cry for God.  Could you imagine being in a land where there is no water?  How much would you desire to have just a drop of water?  Think about how much more we should thirst after God and desire just to be with Him.

David had a deep longing to experience God's presence.  What about you?  Do you have a deep longing to experience God's presence in your life?  David longs for communion with God, he longs to have fellowship with God.  What about you?  Do you long for communion with God? David says that God's lovingkindness is better than life, essentially saying that without God life would be nothing.  Would your life be nothing without God, or could you go on living like nothing had changed?  In verse 6 of this Psalm, David becomes so engrossed with the thought of God's love, he mediates on it all night long.  Have you ever become so engrossed and captured by God's love that you meditated on it all night long?

Are you thirsty for God?  Do you have a deep longing to experience God's presence in a way like never before?  It is my prayer that you will have a burning desire to experience God's presence and a passion for Christ like you have never had before.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, may I have a thirst and a deep longing for Your presence in my life.  Help me to be like David in this Psalm.  May I become so engrossed with Your love that I meditate on it day and night!  Burn within my heart a passion for You like never before!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Serving God Leftovers

"And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts." - Malachi 1:8



Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  The book has been amazing, unbelievable, and very convicting!  I have been challenged like never before when it comes to my relationship with Jesus Christ.  The chapter that I am currently reading is titled "Serving Leftovers To A Holy God."  If were to honestly and sincerely examine our hearts, we would find that we all are guilty of doing this very thing when it comes to our worship of Christ and our service to Him.

As you read through Malachi chapter 1, you find that is exactly what the nation of Israel was doing when it came to the sacrifices they offered to the Lord.  Instead of offering a sacrifice without spot or blemish, they were offering sacrifices that were lacking; they were blind. crippled, or sick.  The prophet Malachi, speaking for God, asks Israel if they offered a sacrifice like that to their governor if he would accept it or be pleased.  The truth of the matter is that they were offering better to those around them than they were offering to God Almighty, the Creator of all things.

Let's bring this to where we live today.  The majority of professing Christians are no different than the nation of Israel when it comes to this.  We go all out when it comes to something for ourselves, family, or friends; so why can we not do the same for Christ?  I don't want to come off sounding to harsh, but let's be honest with ourselves.  We offer up our best to our employers, to our family, to our friends, and most importantly to ourselves, but we seem to be content to give Christ was is leftover.  As I examined my own life and heart, I came to the realization that I am absolutely and completely guilty of this very thing.  Here are some questions that we should ask ourselves: "How long would I keep my job if I gave my employer the same as I give to Christ?" or "How would my marriage look if I put into it what I put into my relationship with Christ?"

Examine your life, examine your worship, and examine your service to Him.  Are you giving Christ your leftovers?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to examine my life and my heart to see if I am just simply giving You my leftovers.  Forgive me for the times I have simply given You my leftovers.  Help me, by Your power, to give You my all.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Questioning God

"Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.  Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." - Psalm 115:1-3



Colossians 1:16 says "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him."  However, we live as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and take care of those we love.

Psalm 115:3 says "...our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he pleased."  Even in light of that, we constantly are questioning God.  "Why did you make me this way?"  "Why did You allow this to happen?"  "Why are there so many starving children in the world?"  "Why is my family so messed up?"  The answer to all of these questions is simply: because He is God.  Have you ever stopped to consider that God should be asking us why so many people are starving?  Our culture has the attitude that God owes us, His creation, an explanation for why He does what He does.  However, we are in no place to demand that God gives an account of Himself to us.  What is so sad about this is that this attitude has crept into the Body of Christ.  We are constantly questioning God as to why He does this or that.

Look at what the Bible says in Daniel 4:35, "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"  Wow!  That is a pretty sobering statement!

Listen to what Francis Chan says concerning this: "Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you?  Could it be your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation?"  Ouch!!!  This is so true though, it is only our arrogance that causes us to think God owes us anything!

I want to challenge you today not to question why God is or isn't doing something in your life, but rather to simply trust Him and obey Him.  You and I should worship Jesus Christ simply because of Who He is, not because of what He can do for us or even what we want Him to do for us.  When David's baby, he had with Bathsheba, died because of David's sin, he did not question God why, he simply worshiped.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me not to question You or to demand that You do things the way I think they should be done.  Help me to trust You, obey, You, and simply worship You because of Who You are.  You are worthy of my obedience and my worship no matter what!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Stop Praying

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? - Psalm 8:3-4


 

I want to say first of all, please don't let the title of my post today scare you away, bear with me for a little bit.  The other day, I started reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and he made a statement that just grabbed me. He said, "What if I told you to stop talking to God for a while, but instead, take a long, hard look at Him before you speak another word?"  He went on to say, "The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him."

I want you to check out the video below before you continue reading.


After he first saw the video, Francis Chan said, "When I first saw those images, I had to worship.  I didn't want to speak to or share it with anyone.  I just wanted to sit quietly and admire the Creator."  In Psalm 8, David pondered the same things about God.  When David thought of the heavens, the moon, and the stars that God had created, it was hard for him to comprehend that God would even be interested in man.  David was truly in awe of the majesty and glory of the Lord!

I'm afraid that when we pray, we approach the Lord too casually, and do not approach Him in awe of His majesty and glory.  Before you pray the next time, stop and just stand in awe of Jesus Christ and all that He has done.  May you and I be gripped by the reality of our smallness and by the reality of the bigness of our God!

"Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God." - R.C. Sproul

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, I stand in awe of Your majesty, glory, and power!  In light of that, I see how small, weak, and insignificant I am compared to You.  Help me, because of my smallness, to be gripped by the reality of Your greatness.  May I proclaim to all, How Great Is Our God!  In Jesus name, Amen!

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!

A Stranger With God

"Hear my prayer; O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." - Psalm 39:12


 

"I am a stranger with thee..."

Does this describe your fellowship with Jesus Christ?  Even though we have trusted Christ as our Savior, I'm afraid that many of us are strangers when it comes to our fellowship with Him.  I do not mean strangers in the sense that Christ does not know us or who we are, but rather that we do not spend intimate time with Him the way we should.  There are many people that we may know who they are and maybe even know a little about them, but in reality they are strangers to us.  Sadly, this describes many of us when it comes to Jesus Christ.  We are strangers with Him.

I can't help but be convicted about my lack of prayer and intimate fellowship with Christ.  I believe this is the state of most Christians today in that we are seriously lacking in our prayer life and intimate fellowship with Christ.  Simply put, we are not spending time with Christ the way the disciples and the early Church did.  It seems that our churches as a whole and us as individuals know very little of the power that the early Church had because of their time spent in prayer declaring their utter and complete dependence on the Lord.

One area pastor made the following statement: "You can have as much of God as you want, and that you already have as much of God as you want."  I can honestly say that I want to have more of Christ, I want to know Him in a more intimate way, I want His presence to more real to me, and I want to see a glimpse of His glory!

I am challenging myself and you to develop a life of prayer declaring your absolute, complete, and total dependence upon Christ for every need in our lives.  May we cry out to the Lord to work in our lives, homes, and churches in such a mighty way that He will draw others unto Him.  May we not be strangers with Christ in our prayer life or our intimate fellowship with Him. 

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, may I not be a stranger with Thee.  I pray that I can have more of You, that I can know You in a more intimate way, and that Your presence will be more real to me each day.  Help me to totally, completely, and absolutely cry out to You and depend on You for everything!  It is my desire to develop of a life of prayer and intimate fellowship with You.  In Jesus name, Amen!

He Gave

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16


This is the most famous and well known Bible verse that there is.  Most of us learned this verse in Vacation Bible School or Sunday School as children.  I would even dare say that many if not most people that are lost could even quote this verse.  I'm afraid that most of us as Christians take this very familiar verse for granted when it comes to some of the powerful truths that it teaches us.

I want to draw your attention to the words "that He gave."  This tells us how much God truly loves not just the world as a whole but how much He loves you and I as individuals.  God the Father loved you and I so much that "He gave."  Have you truly thought about that weight of those three words "that He gave" or have you been guilty of just glossing over it?

The reality of John 3:16 is that God completely, absolutely, and totally gave Himself for us!  He took on the form of a man in Jesus from Nazareth, left the glory and splendor of Heaven, to be rejected by His own people and then to suffer, bleed, and die on a cross.  Think about it, God, the Creator of the entire universe became a curse when He hung on the cross; He was taking all of the punishment that you and I deserved for our sin.  God Himself, the Person of Jesus Christ, gave up everything for you and for me; He literally gave you and I everything when He gave Himself as that perfect sacrifice required for our sins to be forgiven.

The question to you and I today is: if God gave Himself absolutely for us, then shouldn't you and I be willing to absolutely give ourselves to Him?  We must be willing to completely and totally abandon everything for Jesus Christ!  The sad reality is that most Christians know very little if anything at all about giving up anything for Christ.  We are so worried about the consequences of what we are giving up to follow Christ.  However, the truth is that when we grasp the reality of John 3:16, that God totally and absolutely gave Himself for us, we will have no trouble giving ourselves absolutely to Christ, no matter the consequences.

There have never been three more powerful words than "that He gave!"


Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for giving Yourself completely and absolutely when You hung on the cross to pay for my sins and take the punishment that I deserved.  Help me today and everyday to totally, completely, and absolutely give myself to You.  May I totally abandon myself to You and Your will.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Our Relationship With God's Word

"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:4


Have you established a passionate relationship with God's Word?  I want to share a quick thought today about our relationship with God's Word.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you were to go several days without eating any food or drinking any water?  It would only take a few days before you start to manifest physical signs in your body of the lack of food.  The longer you go without food and water, the weaker you will continue to become, until you finally die.  Do you realize the same is true when it comes to our spiritual lives?  The same is true, it will only take a few days before you start to manifest the spiritual signs in your life of the lack of food.  You will continue to become spiritually weaker and weaker until your flesh totally consumes you.

As believers, we must read God's Word everyday and meditate upon it.  Otherwise, we deprive ourselves, not only of a priceless gift from God, but also from the spiritual food that is necessary for us to live.  Here is what Martin Luther said about the Bible: "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.  The Bible is not antique or modern.  It is eternal."  The Word of God is truly an eternal and transforming treasure that the Lord has given you and me.

A passing acquaintance with God's Word is not sufficient for the child of God.  If you and I seek to obey God's Word and understand His will, we must immerse ourselves in His Word.

Are you spiritually hungry?  Are you starving spiritually?  Have you ever wondered why your spiritual life seems so weak?  It is because you have not formed a passionate relationship with God's Word and made it part of your life.  How is your relationship to God's Word?  Do you feast from it everyday or just sample from it when the urge hits you?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me Your Word.  Help me to cherish it, treasure it, learn it, and live it in my life.  I pray that You would speak to my heart every day as I read and meditate upon Your precious Word.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Starving Our View Of God

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." - Isaish 40:26


As you read through the book of Isaiah you will find that the people in that day had totally starved their view of God because of their idols.  I'm afraid that we have done the very same thing today.  We have failed to behold the One who has created all things and instead of cast our eyes upon idols.

Have you ever stopped and thought about the greatness of God that is revealed in nature?  Every time that the wind blows, every time you see a streak of lightning, every time a flower blooms, we see the might and greatness of God revealed to us.  However, many of us have so starved our view of God, because of our idols, that we fail to see and realize how awesome these things are and how awesome the Lord is.  I would encourage you sometime to spend some time surrounded by God's creation and just have a time of meditation, fellowship, and worship.  Allow the Lord to speak to your heart and truly see how great, marvelous, mighty, wonderful, amazing, awesome, holy, high and lifted up, that the Lord is.

The idols that we have allowed in our lives have lowered our view of God and elevated our view of ourselves.  Is it any wonder that we are hindered in our prayer life or in our worship of Christ?  When we are facing difficulties, discouragements, and disappointments, is it any wonder why we have no power?

I want to share with you a quote by Oswald Chambers:

"One of the reasons of stultification in prayer is that there is no imagination, no power of putting ourselves deliberately before God. We have to learn how to be broken bread and poured-out wine on the line of intercession more than on the line of personal contact. Imagination is the power God gives a saint to posit himself out of himself into relationships he never was in."

Do you lift up your eyes upon high and behold the One who created the universe?  Do you behold the greatness of His might and power?  Have you lowered your view of God and elevated your view of yourself?  Have you starved your view of God?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, Your name is above all other names.  You are high, holy, and lifted up.  Help me today to see Your power, might, and glory in Your creation all around me.  In Jesus name, Amen!

The Name Of Jesus

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:9-11


The name Jesus, to the believer, is the sweetest and most precious name that there is.  There is none sweeter or more precious!  The Bible tells us that God the Father has given Jesus a name that is above every other name.  There is no other name that is more important or worth more than the name of Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ should be the most important and precious person to you and I.

Here is what Charles Spurgeon said about the Lord Jesus Christ:

"When a person is dear, everything connected with him becomes dear for his sake. Thus, so precious is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers, that everything about him they consider to be inestimable beyond all price."

When Christ is precious to us, everything connected with Him, everything about Him, becomes precious to us as well.  We will love the things that Jesus loves and we will hate the things that Jesus hates.  What are some of the things that Jesus loves?  Christ loves His Heavenly Father, Christ loves the lost, Christ loves the Church, Christ loves humility and meekness.  You and I should also love our Heavenly Father, we should love and have a burden for the lost, we should love the Church and show our love by being faithful, and we should seek after humility and meekness.  What are some of the things that Jesus hates?  Christ hates our sin (not the sinner), Christ hates pride, and Christ hates self-righteousness.  You and I should also hate our sin instead of justifying it and making excuses for it.  You and I should hate pride in our hearts, for pride is at the root of each of our sins.  You and I should hate self-righteousness in our lives; may we exalt Christ and His righteousness and not our own.

Is the name of Jesus precious to you?  Are the things connected with Jesus precious to you?  His name has been set above all other names by God the Father.  May the Lord help us to never bring the name of Jesus Christ down to the level of mortal man.  May the Lord help us to never bring reproach upon His most holy and precious name.  May the Lord help us to never drag His name through the mud, and cause the most holy and precious name of Jesus Christ to be blasphemed by others.

What does the name Jesus Christ mean to you?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for exalting the name of Jesus above every other name.  It is my prayer that I would never do anything to bring reproach on or cause the holy and precious name of Jesus to be blasphemed.  Thank You for the most precious and holy name of Jesus.  It is my desire to exalt His name through my life.  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!