Passage of the Day: Chapter/Verse Reference: Job, Chapters 40-42 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Job 40: … [Job Surrenders to Hear God]
1 The LORD said to Job: 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” 3 Then Job answered the LORD: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer — twice, but I will say no more.”
Job 41: … [God Seals The Deal]
9 Any hope of subduing it [the crocodile] is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.
Job 42: … [Job Gets It! And God Gives His grace]
1 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
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10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
My Journal for Today: If you’ve been reading through the Book of Job with me into this New Year, we now come to the climax, which is produced when a surrendered servant of God humbly repents and really trusts in his (or her) LORD for whatever God has for the future of the true believer.
And Job finally got it! He got it through and through; and after God took him behind the woodshed and allowed Satan to give him a “whoopin” (as I used to call it when I was a boy), Job could finally see that all that he went through, no matter how unfair it seemed, was for his good and God’s glory.
Job didn’t have the advantages we Christians have today with all of God’s word and His truth to rely on when we’re in doubt. And I hope you – like I do – lean heavily on God’s absolute and infinitely inspired word when you get into Jobian conditions in life which are so confusing and perplexing.
My friend I have several memorized and internalized passages which I cling to when I get to feeling down as Job must’ve felt; and PTL, they bubble up into my consciousness when I get into pity parties like some of the great men of faith experienced – as do we all. Men like Jonah and Elijah and Moses and John the Baptist and almost all of the Apostles got into periods of blue funk where many of them actually prayed for God to take them home to heaven; but they all finally came to the conclusion, as the Apostle Paul wrote, that … all things work together for the good of those who love the LORD and who are the called according to His purpose. [Romans 8: 28]
Job had to learn that lesson the hard way; but, as we read in Chapter 42 of his book, our hero learned this lesson; and he repented of his doubts and surrender to His LORD. And when he did, God did what God does, … He restored … He replaced … and He renewed Job so that God’s man of faith could live out his life under the blessings of God and then Job would find all those loved ones who had been taken from him again in glory.
Good ending for Job; and good ending for all who believe in and surrender to God’s purpose and design for our lives.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I am Your surrendered servant! Amen
Blogger’s PS: Last night on a “date night” my wife and I took in a delightful new release movie, Joyful Noise. And during the movie, which was loaded with a lot of great Christian music, Queen Latifah, playing one of the lead roles, sang a haunting refrain which really captures the attitude of Job; and so I’d like to link you here to that beautiful song, especially if you feel like you need your God to do some extreme making over in your life now. Here’s that link to this song, entitled Fix Me, Jesus … which is the title I chose for today’s devotional journal entry. wrb
Showing posts with label restoration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restoration. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
September 14, 2011 … Spiritual Restoration
Passage of the Day: Galatians 6: 1 … Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
My Journal for Today: This month John MacArthur’s devotional, Strength for Today, has been helping me focus on our relationship as Christians with the Holy Spirit, …learning more as to walking, praying, and living “in the Spirit.” Well, now we get down into the trenches with this walk; and as today’s verse implies, having a relationship with God’s Spirit expresses itself with a daunting degree of spiritual responsibility and the need for Spirit-supplied courage … i.e., to reach out to other Christians who are not walking worthily in Christlikeness (as is also the subject of Ephesians 4: 1 – 2) and to help them to be restored in the faith.
To the Galatians, and to the church at large, the Apostle Paul in today’s passage was exhorting Christians to reach out to a wayward brother or sister in Christ, … one who is discerned to be walking outside of God’s way in sin. And all Christians know that this admonition may be one of the toughest responsibilities of a believer … to confront, with the love of God, a fellow believer, who has given in to an obvious pattern of sinfulness, … and to help restore the entangled believer, drawing him/her from fleshliness into fruitfulness in Christ. How many times do we Christians shirk our responsibility from Gal. 6: 1, cringing in fear or enabling the sinfulness with our own sins of omission or fearfulness? In fact, in today’s culture of “tolerance” it has become politically incorrect to be a “Galatians 6: 1” Christian, especially discerning and labeling anyone as a “sinner.”
However, I feel this charge and challenge acutely because Paul’s exhortation in today’s highlight verse is one of the heartbeat scriptural truths which drives Battle Plan Ministry [BPM - linked], the ministry I was called, and led by God’s Spirit, to found and lead. BPM is here for surrendered and/or broken disciples of Christ, reaching out to help pull these wounded warriors out of the tar pits of sexual sin into which they have become immersed or entangled. However, at times I admit that I have shirked my “Gal. 6: 1 duty” because of fears of failure or confrontation.
But at the same time, I strongly feel that any fruit-bearing Christian, especially those who have matured in their faith, knowing what it’s like to walk in Spirit-led fruitfulness (see Gal. 5: 22 – 23), should do all we can to help restore any carnal Christian, who has become mired in the entanglements of the flesh (see Gal. 5: 19 – 21). And so, I’m especially convicted by today’s reminder of my Christian responsibility to do more in this area of discipleship.
It is also my firm belief – and experience – that any true Christian disciple, who reaches out to help a flesh-driven Christian under the conviction of God’s Spirit of the truth involving today’s verse, will be bolstered by the power of the same Spirit of God to help that Christian move toward a more worthy walk in Christ. Certainly that is driving me in BPM as I post this entry on this date; and I would predict that this may be the conviction of others who read this.
If you are reading this, you may know someone who’s into some stronghold of sin and maybe they’ve even admitted that they hate that bondage. Perhaps you know of someone who declares that he/she is “gay” and even though that one hates their own same-sex attractions, they may feel that they were “born that way” and wondering why God made them that way. If you’ve encountered someone like that, how are you helping them to be restored to an abiding relationship with Christ?
Maybe you know of a Christian who smokes and hates the habit; or perhaps you know of a Christian friend who frequents gambling establishments for entertainment, even admitting that they know that these behaviors are sinful. Well, my friend, what are you doing to help them come out from under a life of living in denial and bring them back to a truth-bearing relationship with Christ?
I’m sure we all can do more to be witnesses in the Spirit for Christ under this admonition from God in Galatians 6: 1. But what will we do from here forward to live up to this Spirit-led exhortation.
My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to reach out to help others to be restored in You. Amen
My Journal for Today: This month John MacArthur’s devotional, Strength for Today, has been helping me focus on our relationship as Christians with the Holy Spirit, …learning more as to walking, praying, and living “in the Spirit.” Well, now we get down into the trenches with this walk; and as today’s verse implies, having a relationship with God’s Spirit expresses itself with a daunting degree of spiritual responsibility and the need for Spirit-supplied courage … i.e., to reach out to other Christians who are not walking worthily in Christlikeness (as is also the subject of Ephesians 4: 1 – 2) and to help them to be restored in the faith.
To the Galatians, and to the church at large, the Apostle Paul in today’s passage was exhorting Christians to reach out to a wayward brother or sister in Christ, … one who is discerned to be walking outside of God’s way in sin. And all Christians know that this admonition may be one of the toughest responsibilities of a believer … to confront, with the love of God, a fellow believer, who has given in to an obvious pattern of sinfulness, … and to help restore the entangled believer, drawing him/her from fleshliness into fruitfulness in Christ. How many times do we Christians shirk our responsibility from Gal. 6: 1, cringing in fear or enabling the sinfulness with our own sins of omission or fearfulness? In fact, in today’s culture of “tolerance” it has become politically incorrect to be a “Galatians 6: 1” Christian, especially discerning and labeling anyone as a “sinner.”
However, I feel this charge and challenge acutely because Paul’s exhortation in today’s highlight verse is one of the heartbeat scriptural truths which drives Battle Plan Ministry [BPM - linked], the ministry I was called, and led by God’s Spirit, to found and lead. BPM is here for surrendered and/or broken disciples of Christ, reaching out to help pull these wounded warriors out of the tar pits of sexual sin into which they have become immersed or entangled. However, at times I admit that I have shirked my “Gal. 6: 1 duty” because of fears of failure or confrontation.
But at the same time, I strongly feel that any fruit-bearing Christian, especially those who have matured in their faith, knowing what it’s like to walk in Spirit-led fruitfulness (see Gal. 5: 22 – 23), should do all we can to help restore any carnal Christian, who has become mired in the entanglements of the flesh (see Gal. 5: 19 – 21). And so, I’m especially convicted by today’s reminder of my Christian responsibility to do more in this area of discipleship.
It is also my firm belief – and experience – that any true Christian disciple, who reaches out to help a flesh-driven Christian under the conviction of God’s Spirit of the truth involving today’s verse, will be bolstered by the power of the same Spirit of God to help that Christian move toward a more worthy walk in Christ. Certainly that is driving me in BPM as I post this entry on this date; and I would predict that this may be the conviction of others who read this.
If you are reading this, you may know someone who’s into some stronghold of sin and maybe they’ve even admitted that they hate that bondage. Perhaps you know of someone who declares that he/she is “gay” and even though that one hates their own same-sex attractions, they may feel that they were “born that way” and wondering why God made them that way. If you’ve encountered someone like that, how are you helping them to be restored to an abiding relationship with Christ?
Maybe you know of a Christian who smokes and hates the habit; or perhaps you know of a Christian friend who frequents gambling establishments for entertainment, even admitting that they know that these behaviors are sinful. Well, my friend, what are you doing to help them come out from under a life of living in denial and bring them back to a truth-bearing relationship with Christ?
I’m sure we all can do more to be witnesses in the Spirit for Christ under this admonition from God in Galatians 6: 1. But what will we do from here forward to live up to this Spirit-led exhortation.
My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to reach out to help others to be restored in You. Amen
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 13, 2011 … Peter’s Repentence
Passage of the Day: Matthew 26: 74 - 75 … [see underlined] 74 Then he [Peter] began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
My Journal for Today: Wow! This is a passage with which I have deep personal empathy and identity.
Peter’s response to the recognition of His thrice denial of Christ, which is recounted in today’s passage, as well as in Luke 22: 61, … especially after a long series of self-driven behavior (see Matt. 26: 35, 40 – 41, 51 – 52, and 69 – 70), shows the long-suffering patience our Lord has for believers who fail Him, even repeatedly (and are you, like me, saying “Amen” right now?).
And I love the passage in John 21: 15 – 19 [please look that one up and meditate on its significance], which probably best illustrates Christ’s infinite patience, love, and grace as He helps Peter be restored into fellowship with his Lord, along with a charge to move forward in his (Peter’s) relationship with Christ. Jesus patiently and lovingly, in the John 21 passage, brings this fallen warrior into a healed and restored fellowship with his Lord with the charge from the Good Shepherd to go and feed His sheep [which is a charge to fulfill Peter’s calling in ministry]. Could there be a more poignant and powerful description of just how much the Good Shepherd loves His sheep and is willing to do all it takes to keep them close to Himself so that they (we) can grow and thrive?
This is a living example of the truth of 1st John 1: 7, 9; and it should give hope to all of us who claim Christ as our Savior. When we’re willing to return to the Good Shepherd, with dirt on us from our encounters with sin in our nature, He is fully willing to cleanse us completely and to allow us to be restored of strength and direction. That was the lesson from the parable of the “prodigal,” wasn’t it? Well, somewhere along the path of our discipleship as Christians all of us have failed our Lord, by commission or omission. But we still, from that moment forward by confession/repentance, can be like Peter in the John 21 passage [have you taken it in – fully? … please do!]. We can receive God’s grace and walk in repentance with His Spirit giving us His direction and power. We can deny self, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (see my oft cited passage: Luke 9: 23).
But as with Peter, it takes our recognition of our sin or separation from the Shepherd … AND our willingness to return to Him in repentance so that Christ can (and will) be able to impart His blessing and fill us with His grace. Only with this enabling grace can we fulfill the admonition of Paul in Phil. 3: 13 – 14 … to move forward toward the prize which awaits us in glory, shining God’s light for others to see our Lord’s love from the darkness (see Matt. 5: 16).
Where are you, my friend? Have you been in the darkness? Do you need to come into the light, … to repent and be restored today? If so, go back, … run into the arms of your Abba Father and be restored by the Good Shepherd, who will say to you what he said to Peter, … “Go, and feed my sheep.” And with the cleansing of character that comes from repentance and renewal, you will be able to do just that, … shining Christ’s light though your gifts and good works for God’s glory.
My Prayer Today: I am restored in/through You, Lord! Amen
Special Blogger's Note: It’s a special day for yours truly – my “re-birthday.” It was 28 years ago TODAY that I was, like Peter, allowed to repent and be restored from an angry agnostic who had lived in habitual sexual sin for over two decades and was seeking spiritual strength and renewal into my now life, almost three decades later, as an ordained Minister of the Gospel. Perhaps you can see why I identify with Peter so much. And any of us, as lost souls or backslidden believers, in need of repentance and renewal can run to our Prodigal Father, and receive the restoring love He has waiting for us. If you need that love, I pray that you will come to the Good Shepherd, our Abba Father, running into the open arms of the loving and merciful Good Shepherd and hear Him say, "I love you; ... now go and feed my sheep."
Saturday, October 30, 2010
2010 – October 30 – Touched, or Being Touched?
Study from God’s Word… See the various passages from the tree synoptic Gospel accounts of Jesus performing healing and resurrection miracles in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order … Passage for Reflection: Mark 5: 30 … NIV At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
My Journal for Today: Don’t you just love reading and meditating on the various accounts by the four Gospel writers about the miracles performed by Jesus, ... like the one in today’s text where the bleeding woman merely touched Jesus’ garment, and because of her faith the very power of the Holy Spirit came from Jesus to heal the woman.
I agree with LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for today that several questions enigmatically arise from this story; and theologians have likely devoted a lot of interpretation hours and writing about why Jesus didn’t know who the woman was or about whether it was the touching of Jesus which healed the woman or was it merely her faith? I’ll leave all that theological speculation to the scholars; but I personally identify with this women who was desperately seeking the power of God for healing. I also identify with other stories of how Jesus touched the lives of others and their lives where changed forever.
You see, my friend, I reached out to receive the power of God through Jesus a little over 25 years ago in my life when I finally was led to realize that I was bleeding spiritually, ... that I was spiritually blind, ... and that I was dead in myself. And like the stories of God healing the bleeding woman because of her faith, and the sight restored of a number of people being touched by Jesus, and the life of even the dead being restored by Christ because of the faith of their loved ones, my life was restored from spiritual death to life, ... my spiritual blindness was given sight, and my bleeding spiritual weakness was given strength when my brokenness allowed me to come to a place of seeking out the loving, healing, and restoring power of God through my faith in The Christ.
So, these biblical stories of historical witnesses to the power of God working in/through Jesus, The Messiah, have great personal meaning for me. For I was that woman who desperately reached out to experience the power of God. I was the blind man who allowed Jesus to give me sight. And I was that little girl who was given life when loved ones prayed in faith that Jesus give me spiritual life when I was a walking dead man.
And I finally came to recognize that no earthy force, no religion, and no self-directed choice was going to bring me the power I sought from God to heal and restore me. No, just like the bleeding woman or the blind man, I was given the opportunity to reach out in faith to Christ and seek His healing/restoring power. And my spiritual blindness and bleeding were healed. And God saw fit, through my own faith and the faith of others who had been praying for me for years to come to spiritual life from my own self-imposed deadness, I was graciously given eternal life. Just like the bleeding woman who was given the power of God, I am one who can attest personally to the power God which is there for any and all who come humbly and sincerely seeking His redemptive power.
I pray that any who read here can be - and are - witnesses to the power of God being imparted to heal and restore the bleeding, the blind, and the blatantly dead.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You raised me from the dead to life. You gave me sight from my blindness. And You gave me power to overcome my weakness. And, in You, I live, move, and have my being. Amen and amen!
My Journal for Today: Don’t you just love reading and meditating on the various accounts by the four Gospel writers about the miracles performed by Jesus, ... like the one in today’s text where the bleeding woman merely touched Jesus’ garment, and because of her faith the very power of the Holy Spirit came from Jesus to heal the woman.
I agree with LaGard Smith in his devotional entry for today that several questions enigmatically arise from this story; and theologians have likely devoted a lot of interpretation hours and writing about why Jesus didn’t know who the woman was or about whether it was the touching of Jesus which healed the woman or was it merely her faith? I’ll leave all that theological speculation to the scholars; but I personally identify with this women who was desperately seeking the power of God for healing. I also identify with other stories of how Jesus touched the lives of others and their lives where changed forever.
You see, my friend, I reached out to receive the power of God through Jesus a little over 25 years ago in my life when I finally was led to realize that I was bleeding spiritually, ... that I was spiritually blind, ... and that I was dead in myself. And like the stories of God healing the bleeding woman because of her faith, and the sight restored of a number of people being touched by Jesus, and the life of even the dead being restored by Christ because of the faith of their loved ones, my life was restored from spiritual death to life, ... my spiritual blindness was given sight, and my bleeding spiritual weakness was given strength when my brokenness allowed me to come to a place of seeking out the loving, healing, and restoring power of God through my faith in The Christ.
So, these biblical stories of historical witnesses to the power of God working in/through Jesus, The Messiah, have great personal meaning for me. For I was that woman who desperately reached out to experience the power of God. I was the blind man who allowed Jesus to give me sight. And I was that little girl who was given life when loved ones prayed in faith that Jesus give me spiritual life when I was a walking dead man.
And I finally came to recognize that no earthy force, no religion, and no self-directed choice was going to bring me the power I sought from God to heal and restore me. No, just like the bleeding woman or the blind man, I was given the opportunity to reach out in faith to Christ and seek His healing/restoring power. And my spiritual blindness and bleeding were healed. And God saw fit, through my own faith and the faith of others who had been praying for me for years to come to spiritual life from my own self-imposed deadness, I was graciously given eternal life. Just like the bleeding woman who was given the power of God, I am one who can attest personally to the power God which is there for any and all who come humbly and sincerely seeking His redemptive power.
I pray that any who read here can be - and are - witnesses to the power of God being imparted to heal and restore the bleeding, the blind, and the blatantly dead.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You raised me from the dead to life. You gave me sight from my blindness. And You gave me power to overcome my weakness. And, in You, I live, move, and have my being. Amen and amen!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
2010 – July 21 – A Snapshot of Repentance
Study from God’s Word… Isaiah, Chapters 65 – 66; 2nd Chron. 19: 37 [Is. 37:38]; 2Chron 33: 10 - 17 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 33: 12 - 13… NIV 12 In his distress he [the evil king of Judah, Manasseh] sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
My Journal for Today: We’ve been focusing on the prophesies and ministry of Isaiah during my devotional reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and in the companion book, The Daily Bible Devotional by F. LaGard Smith, during these last weeks; and it has been a great restudy for me, … reminding me just how patient God was with his recalcitrant children in Israel and Judah; and how he sent Prophets, like Isaiah, to give His word to the people. Some listened and became part of the remnant of people led, along with the misfits, into captivity; and then ultimately redeemed and delivered by the One prophesied, … The Messiah.
And one such biblical snapshot of disobedience, God’s patience, and one man’s repentance was the story of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who became King of Judah after the obedient reign of Hezekiah. And as God’s word says [in 2nd Chron. 33: 2], “He (Manasseh) did evil in the sight of the Lord;” and for many years, early in his kingship, the young king undid almost all that his daddy had accomplished. And for his disobedience and unGodly leadership, God allowed Manasseh to be broken by captivity to the Babylonians to the point where Manasseh confessed and repented and turned, in prayer, to God. And God in His infinite mercy restored Manasseh to his kingship; and led him back to Jerusalem where he did all he could, in repentance, during his remaining years to rebuild what he had undone as king.
I don’t know about you; but I really identify with Manasseh. For over 20 years of my life, after I had gone off to college, I turned away from my upbringing in Christian roots. And God still loved and pursued me in spite of my disobedience, sinful living, and veritable mockery of my God. And God even led me into my own “Babylon,” so-to-speak, where I was taken captive by my flesh, the world, and Satan. But after all those years of abject rejection of God, the “Hound of Heaven” came after me and showed me that I could not hack my out a way in this life without Him. So, I confessed, repented, and sought the saving grace of God, just as did Manasseh. And just as The Lord, God, Yahweh, did with Manasseh, He brought me into a deep and abiding relationship with Himself; and because of that I fully expect one day to see, identify, and even befriend my Brother in Christ, Manasseh, in heaven. And that, I anticipate, being a really cool meeting.
Hey, if you’re reading along with me, let’s make a date to meet up with Manasseh in heaven and share stories of God’s redeeming grace through The Messiah. It will be a cool meeting for coffee one day in Glory, for sure!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, … thank you for reminding me and my friends of Your infinite mercy and patience in pursuing Your lost children. Amen
My Journal for Today: We’ve been focusing on the prophesies and ministry of Isaiah during my devotional reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and in the companion book, The Daily Bible Devotional by F. LaGard Smith, during these last weeks; and it has been a great restudy for me, … reminding me just how patient God was with his recalcitrant children in Israel and Judah; and how he sent Prophets, like Isaiah, to give His word to the people. Some listened and became part of the remnant of people led, along with the misfits, into captivity; and then ultimately redeemed and delivered by the One prophesied, … The Messiah.
And one such biblical snapshot of disobedience, God’s patience, and one man’s repentance was the story of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who became King of Judah after the obedient reign of Hezekiah. And as God’s word says [in 2nd Chron. 33: 2], “He (Manasseh) did evil in the sight of the Lord;” and for many years, early in his kingship, the young king undid almost all that his daddy had accomplished. And for his disobedience and unGodly leadership, God allowed Manasseh to be broken by captivity to the Babylonians to the point where Manasseh confessed and repented and turned, in prayer, to God. And God in His infinite mercy restored Manasseh to his kingship; and led him back to Jerusalem where he did all he could, in repentance, during his remaining years to rebuild what he had undone as king.
I don’t know about you; but I really identify with Manasseh. For over 20 years of my life, after I had gone off to college, I turned away from my upbringing in Christian roots. And God still loved and pursued me in spite of my disobedience, sinful living, and veritable mockery of my God. And God even led me into my own “Babylon,” so-to-speak, where I was taken captive by my flesh, the world, and Satan. But after all those years of abject rejection of God, the “Hound of Heaven” came after me and showed me that I could not hack my out a way in this life without Him. So, I confessed, repented, and sought the saving grace of God, just as did Manasseh. And just as The Lord, God, Yahweh, did with Manasseh, He brought me into a deep and abiding relationship with Himself; and because of that I fully expect one day to see, identify, and even befriend my Brother in Christ, Manasseh, in heaven. And that, I anticipate, being a really cool meeting.
Hey, if you’re reading along with me, let’s make a date to meet up with Manasseh in heaven and share stories of God’s redeeming grace through The Messiah. It will be a cool meeting for coffee one day in Glory, for sure!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, … thank you for reminding me and my friends of Your infinite mercy and patience in pursuing Your lost children. Amen
Friday, May 07, 2010
2010 – May 7 – Longing for God
Study from God’s Word… Psalms 42, 53, 58, 81, and 101 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 42: 1 – 2 … NIV As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
My Journal for Today: I’m afraid that F. LaGard Smith has nailed me in his devotional this morning as he asks, ”Am I content to merely sing about panting and thirsting when God calls me to pant for Him on a more desperate level?” Smith recognizes how often churches or Christians sing the words of today’s Psalmist from Psalm 42; but he wonders if there are any Christians who, possibly like the persecuted Christians in China or the Middle East, who desperately seek after a God Who must seem distant from them. But nonetheless they “pant after God,” having a faith which is hard for me to fathom, even seeking after my God as I sit here morning after morning, trying my best to know my God and seek His purposes for my life.
Yes, I do long for my God; but do I “pant after Him” as one might who is about to die from lack of water or someone who is gasping for air to live, not being able to get enough oxygen to support life? I’m afraid Dr. Smith’s intent with his devotional question has convicted this Christian to the core. I just don’t “pant” enough for my God.
My desire to know God, … to seek after His character, … or to pursue His purposes is more a head-level pursuit than a heart-level desire. But right now it’s all I can muster; and in this I once again recall the interaction between Jesus and Peter, documented in John 21: 15 – 20 where our Lord restored Peter who was totally despondent after having failed Christ so miserably.
And when we read Peter’s letter in 2nd Peter, we see how much this Apostle had been restored and renewed in his faith, to the point in 2nd Peter 1: 1 – 11 we read of a regenerated disciple exhorting other disciples – like me – to move forward and choose to follow Christ the way Peter had learned, after being restored by Christ, to witness for the Lord right up to the end of his life.
Well, maybe I don’t have a heart at this point which “pants” after my Lord. But I do have a love for Him [“phileo,” if not “agape”] which voluntarily seeks to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him to the utmost of my heart/mind. And like Jesus charged Peter on that shore in Capernaum centuries ago [again see John 21: 15 – 20 - linked], I will go forth, following my Lord, to the extent of my ability to do so. And like Peter did, I will do so, desiring – if not panting – to be Christ’s disciple by following Him.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I follow You; I seek after You. If you create the need, I will “pant” after You. But now, know that I am Your disciple. Amen
My Journal for Today: I’m afraid that F. LaGard Smith has nailed me in his devotional this morning as he asks, ”Am I content to merely sing about panting and thirsting when God calls me to pant for Him on a more desperate level?” Smith recognizes how often churches or Christians sing the words of today’s Psalmist from Psalm 42; but he wonders if there are any Christians who, possibly like the persecuted Christians in China or the Middle East, who desperately seek after a God Who must seem distant from them. But nonetheless they “pant after God,” having a faith which is hard for me to fathom, even seeking after my God as I sit here morning after morning, trying my best to know my God and seek His purposes for my life.
Yes, I do long for my God; but do I “pant after Him” as one might who is about to die from lack of water or someone who is gasping for air to live, not being able to get enough oxygen to support life? I’m afraid Dr. Smith’s intent with his devotional question has convicted this Christian to the core. I just don’t “pant” enough for my God.
My desire to know God, … to seek after His character, … or to pursue His purposes is more a head-level pursuit than a heart-level desire. But right now it’s all I can muster; and in this I once again recall the interaction between Jesus and Peter, documented in John 21: 15 – 20 where our Lord restored Peter who was totally despondent after having failed Christ so miserably.
And when we read Peter’s letter in 2nd Peter, we see how much this Apostle had been restored and renewed in his faith, to the point in 2nd Peter 1: 1 – 11 we read of a regenerated disciple exhorting other disciples – like me – to move forward and choose to follow Christ the way Peter had learned, after being restored by Christ, to witness for the Lord right up to the end of his life.
Well, maybe I don’t have a heart at this point which “pants” after my Lord. But I do have a love for Him [“phileo,” if not “agape”] which voluntarily seeks to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him to the utmost of my heart/mind. And like Jesus charged Peter on that shore in Capernaum centuries ago [again see John 21: 15 – 20 - linked], I will go forth, following my Lord, to the extent of my ability to do so. And like Peter did, I will do so, desiring – if not panting – to be Christ’s disciple by following Him.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I follow You; I seek after You. If you create the need, I will “pant” after You. But now, know that I am Your disciple. Amen
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
2010 – April 21 – When Betrayal Hurts Most
Study from God’s Word… Psalms 35, 41, 43, 46, and 55 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 55: 12 – 14 … NIV 12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.
My Journal for Today: Reading the grieving words of David in today’s highlight passage from Psalm 55, this one cannot help but reflect on how much, as a sinner in my past, I betrayed my Savior. When I stood on the very rocks last year in Jerusalem where archeologists have documented the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, I wept; because in that moment, I realized that it was my sins of betrayal which nailed my LORD to that tree. And when my Lord looked into the eyes of those Roman Soldiers, it would be easier for Him to accept His degradation and death from Romans who hated the Jews. But it’s not difficult for me to speculate about how Jesus’ mind, as He was being nailed to the cross, might have wandered to the fateful kiss of Judas, who had betrayed Him for 30 measly pieces of silver? Or what about Christ’s anguish over Peter, who had denied Him thrice; or about His knowing that the other Apostles, whom He had been discipling for three years, had cut and ran when Jesus was captured for the crucifixion?
Have you ever been betrayed by someone whom you loved and trusted? Perhaps you were the betrayer. Smith reminded his readers, like me today, about Julius Caesar being blinded-sided by one whom he loved and had trusted, his famous companion, Brutus. And as he was being stabbed to death by the conspirators, looking into the eyes of Brutus, we have the famous line from the play, “Et tu, Brute!” And these were the words of someone who had been betrayed by a beloved one whom Caesar had trusted implicitly.
So many times in the ministry God has called me to lead, I hear the story from men who’ve chosen to get into the pits of habitual or recurring sexual sin; and how they’ve come to hate and repent of what they did to betray their wives by stealing off and viewing porn or by having an affair or by going off and being with prostitutes. And my wife, in her ministry to the wives of these very same men, hears these women tell their stories of broken trust and shattered marital dreams when they learn of their husband’s betrayal.
But I’m here to give witness and testimony to the truth that, even in these latter, very dire, scenarios where the closest of relationships are shattered to pieces by mistrust and betrayal, God can heal, restore, and renew. And it’s all because Jesus died on that cross so that sinners, who betrayed Him, like me, can be forgiven. It’s so wondrous that I can become a repentant sinner, … one who can be transformed by the same Spirit power which raised our Lord from His grave to be restored to His throne of grace. My wife and I have experienced the renewing and empowering grace which allowed her to forgive me and enabled me to be transformed to the promise-keeping husband she desired when we were married, … a husband she now has and can trust. Yes, it was excruciating for her and difficult for me; but we’ve seen it happened time after time in the lives of others who have surrendered their wills to a Lord, Who loves them and will give them the power to walk into the future in spite of the worst of betrayals in the past.
God is able and He will provide healing; but only if and when one, like His betrayer friend, Peter, is willing to receive Christ’s wondrous healing and enabling grace and be changed forever by Christ, as LORD. Dr. Smith asks the provocative question today, ”I I constantly betray God in little ways, might a day come when I inflict the unkindest cut of all?” … >>> You’re going to have to answer that one for yourself, my beloved! I have; and I can only pray that my surrender and walk with Christ will deepen my commitment to Him to the point I will not be one who will betray Him again the way I did in my past.
My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to stay the course as Your trusted servant and friend. Oh how I see to hear You say in glory, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Amen
My Journal for Today: Reading the grieving words of David in today’s highlight passage from Psalm 55, this one cannot help but reflect on how much, as a sinner in my past, I betrayed my Savior. When I stood on the very rocks last year in Jerusalem where archeologists have documented the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, I wept; because in that moment, I realized that it was my sins of betrayal which nailed my LORD to that tree. And when my Lord looked into the eyes of those Roman Soldiers, it would be easier for Him to accept His degradation and death from Romans who hated the Jews. But it’s not difficult for me to speculate about how Jesus’ mind, as He was being nailed to the cross, might have wandered to the fateful kiss of Judas, who had betrayed Him for 30 measly pieces of silver? Or what about Christ’s anguish over Peter, who had denied Him thrice; or about His knowing that the other Apostles, whom He had been discipling for three years, had cut and ran when Jesus was captured for the crucifixion?
Have you ever been betrayed by someone whom you loved and trusted? Perhaps you were the betrayer. Smith reminded his readers, like me today, about Julius Caesar being blinded-sided by one whom he loved and had trusted, his famous companion, Brutus. And as he was being stabbed to death by the conspirators, looking into the eyes of Brutus, we have the famous line from the play, “Et tu, Brute!” And these were the words of someone who had been betrayed by a beloved one whom Caesar had trusted implicitly.
So many times in the ministry God has called me to lead, I hear the story from men who’ve chosen to get into the pits of habitual or recurring sexual sin; and how they’ve come to hate and repent of what they did to betray their wives by stealing off and viewing porn or by having an affair or by going off and being with prostitutes. And my wife, in her ministry to the wives of these very same men, hears these women tell their stories of broken trust and shattered marital dreams when they learn of their husband’s betrayal.
But I’m here to give witness and testimony to the truth that, even in these latter, very dire, scenarios where the closest of relationships are shattered to pieces by mistrust and betrayal, God can heal, restore, and renew. And it’s all because Jesus died on that cross so that sinners, who betrayed Him, like me, can be forgiven. It’s so wondrous that I can become a repentant sinner, … one who can be transformed by the same Spirit power which raised our Lord from His grave to be restored to His throne of grace. My wife and I have experienced the renewing and empowering grace which allowed her to forgive me and enabled me to be transformed to the promise-keeping husband she desired when we were married, … a husband she now has and can trust. Yes, it was excruciating for her and difficult for me; but we’ve seen it happened time after time in the lives of others who have surrendered their wills to a Lord, Who loves them and will give them the power to walk into the future in spite of the worst of betrayals in the past.
God is able and He will provide healing; but only if and when one, like His betrayer friend, Peter, is willing to receive Christ’s wondrous healing and enabling grace and be changed forever by Christ, as LORD. Dr. Smith asks the provocative question today, ”I I constantly betray God in little ways, might a day come when I inflict the unkindest cut of all?” … >>> You’re going to have to answer that one for yourself, my beloved! I have; and I can only pray that my surrender and walk with Christ will deepen my commitment to Him to the point I will not be one who will betray Him again the way I did in my past.
My Prayer for Today: LORD, help me to stay the course as Your trusted servant and friend. Oh how I see to hear You say in glory, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Amen
Saturday, December 12, 2009
2009 – Day 345.Dec 12 – Anchor of Renewal
Passage for Study: Acts 27: 23 - 38 … Acts 27 linked for study …
My Journal for Today: The scenario Swindoll has pointed his readers (me) toward today is quite a scene, isn’t it? Here are over 250 men on this sinking ship, depleted and famished from two weeks of fighting the storm without eating; and they’re desperate. Now this Jewish prisoner, obviously with the favor of the ship’s Captain, gives them hope that he’s been given from a vision from God that no one will perish IF – and only if – they stay with the ship. And then Paul exhorts them to eat and to renew their strength; and he leads them in prayer, worshipping the One, True God.
Swindoll’s speculation is probably right on target … that many of these men had likely never prayed; and most of them certainly were not believers in Yahweh, the Hebrew God. So, for many of the crew, this was the first time they had ever prayed and been led in worship to what Paul was claiming was the God of hope in the midst of this horrible storm. But all of these men, and the ship’s Captain, were willing to surrender to Paul’s encouraging words and directions. They had no where else to turn; and they prayed.
And this becomes a model for us as well. Pastor Chuck is also right that it is a human tendency to let the disciplines of the faith, like worship, praise, and prayer, lapse when we’re depleted, tired, and wracked with hopelessness. It’s very easy to let self pity take us down a road of physical, emotional, and, most certainly, spiritual depletion. And oh how our enemy, Satan, loves for us to get drained of all physical, emotional, or spiritual energy so that we cower within ourselves in self pity, rather than do what Paul did to re-establish the anchor of renewal with the ship’s crew.
For the physically depleted, food and rest are the anchors of renewal, aren’t they? Well, for the spiritually and/or emotionally drained, meditation in God’s promises and the commitment and dedication to pray are the spiritual anchors of renewal; and in both of these arenas of restoration, Paul led the men on the ship. He told them to gather what food they had left; and then he led them in prayer. And when Paul prayed, though we don’t have the prayer recorded by Dr. Luke, there is little doubt those men heard Paul praising God, expressing thankfulness for having spared them to that point; and then they no doubt heard Paul petition God to save their lives so that God would be glorified. These men got a lesson in the anchor of renewal which Paul knew would come if they remained dependent and prayed to God.
Dear one, most certainly we all need to maintain life habits which help us to maintain our physical well being, … proper diet and regular exercise. However, maybe even more importantly, we need to do what it takes to keep our spirit thriving as well. Do you remember what Paul wrote to Timothy about the latter? He said (in 2nd Tim. 1: 7), For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And Paul knew that truth in this life or death scenario as well. He also had the insight of receiving a word of knowledge from God about the outcome of the ship; and he took that message to the crew; but he also prayed; and so should we when we need the anchor of spiritual renewal when we’re spiritually depleted in our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Holy Spirit, I hope all who read this have a vital and renewable prayer life with You, Lord; and may we all come to You for hope, peace, and joy when we’re feeling depleted of Spirit in our lives. Amen
My Journal for Today: The scenario Swindoll has pointed his readers (me) toward today is quite a scene, isn’t it? Here are over 250 men on this sinking ship, depleted and famished from two weeks of fighting the storm without eating; and they’re desperate. Now this Jewish prisoner, obviously with the favor of the ship’s Captain, gives them hope that he’s been given from a vision from God that no one will perish IF – and only if – they stay with the ship. And then Paul exhorts them to eat and to renew their strength; and he leads them in prayer, worshipping the One, True God.
Swindoll’s speculation is probably right on target … that many of these men had likely never prayed; and most of them certainly were not believers in Yahweh, the Hebrew God. So, for many of the crew, this was the first time they had ever prayed and been led in worship to what Paul was claiming was the God of hope in the midst of this horrible storm. But all of these men, and the ship’s Captain, were willing to surrender to Paul’s encouraging words and directions. They had no where else to turn; and they prayed.
And this becomes a model for us as well. Pastor Chuck is also right that it is a human tendency to let the disciplines of the faith, like worship, praise, and prayer, lapse when we’re depleted, tired, and wracked with hopelessness. It’s very easy to let self pity take us down a road of physical, emotional, and, most certainly, spiritual depletion. And oh how our enemy, Satan, loves for us to get drained of all physical, emotional, or spiritual energy so that we cower within ourselves in self pity, rather than do what Paul did to re-establish the anchor of renewal with the ship’s crew.
For the physically depleted, food and rest are the anchors of renewal, aren’t they? Well, for the spiritually and/or emotionally drained, meditation in God’s promises and the commitment and dedication to pray are the spiritual anchors of renewal; and in both of these arenas of restoration, Paul led the men on the ship. He told them to gather what food they had left; and then he led them in prayer. And when Paul prayed, though we don’t have the prayer recorded by Dr. Luke, there is little doubt those men heard Paul praising God, expressing thankfulness for having spared them to that point; and then they no doubt heard Paul petition God to save their lives so that God would be glorified. These men got a lesson in the anchor of renewal which Paul knew would come if they remained dependent and prayed to God.
Dear one, most certainly we all need to maintain life habits which help us to maintain our physical well being, … proper diet and regular exercise. However, maybe even more importantly, we need to do what it takes to keep our spirit thriving as well. Do you remember what Paul wrote to Timothy about the latter? He said (in 2nd Tim. 1: 7), For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And Paul knew that truth in this life or death scenario as well. He also had the insight of receiving a word of knowledge from God about the outcome of the ship; and he took that message to the crew; but he also prayed; and so should we when we need the anchor of spiritual renewal when we’re spiritually depleted in our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Holy Spirit, I hope all who read this have a vital and renewable prayer life with You, Lord; and may we all come to You for hope, peace, and joy when we’re feeling depleted of Spirit in our lives. Amen
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