Lynched By Mistake

May 10, 2012 5 Comments

There’s a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is lying in bed talking to Snoopy, who’s lying atop the covers at Charlie’s feet. Charlie says, “Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, “Is life a multiple choice test or is it a true or false test?” Next, in the closing panel, Charlie says, “Then a voice comes to me out of the dark and says, “We hate to tell you this, but life is a thousand word essay.”

It should make sense that the older you get the easier life gets. What I mean is, you’ve got your dumb mistakes behind you. You have the advantage of experience. You are wiser, more seasoned. But the problem is that whatever help comes from being experienced and wiser gets counteracted by the fact that life’s issues become more complex. When I lie awake at night, I think back to the days when I was a kid playing with a plastic baseball and bat in my backyard. That was such a simple, carefree time. The only thing I had to worry about was hitting my ball so far into the surrounding woods that I lost it. When I got hungry, I went back inside and ate. I never gave a moment’s thought to what all was involved with getting those groceries paid for and placed in those cabinets. For that matter, I never gave a moment’s thought to how the mortgage on our house got paid. I know now that “baseball stadium” back yards don’t come cheap.

How should I support my family? What church should I pastor? Where should we live? Am I doing right by my wife Tonya? Am I being a good father to my boys, Ryan and Royce? Should we renovate our garage apartment and rent it out? Are we putting enough money back for retirement? What sermon should I preach this Sunday? What post should I write today for my blog? These are the kinds of topics that I struggle with nowadays. And, yes, despite all my experience and seasoning, it’s a struggle. You want essay questions? I got ‘em.

I’ve read that at Boot Hill Cemetery in Arizona there is a grave-marker that says: Lynched By Mistake. That tells me that all mistakes aren’t created equal. Some of them carry far greater consequences than others. This is why I obsess so much over God’s specific will for my life, which just also happens to coincide with His specific will for my family’s life. I don’t want to make a bad decision that will get me, Tonya, Ryan, or Royce lynched. I’m not talking about getting lynched on an old-west gallows. I’m talking about getting lynched on the gallows of ending up in a setting or circumstance that isn’t in God’s will. You see, places like that make for dangerous ground. Gallows are everywhere if we only had the spiritual discernment to recognize them for what they are.

It is for this reason that I pray frequently and fervently, and I try to talk with God as opposed to just talking at Him. Why do I want my prayers to be dialogues and not monologues? It’s because I understand that I don’t have the answers to life’s essay questions. My best decisions come when I willingly play the role of sheep and let the Lord play the role of shepherd. I don’t always agree with the direction in which He leads me, but I do try to obey Him. Admittedly, that takes more faith in regards to some decisions than others, but I’ve learned that whenever I obey Him a great weight of responsibility is taken off my shoulders. How the decision turns out is no longer my department because I’m working out His plan, not mine. And I’m happy to report that neither I nor Tonya and the boys have gotten lynched yet.

Filed under Choices, faith, Fatherhood, fear, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Husbands, obedience, Parenting, Personal, prayer, submission, Trusting In God, Worry, Youth Tagged with , , , , , ,

The Wonder of Being Childlike

March 26, 2012 Leave a comment

My son Ryan will turn fifteen in a couple of months. Naturally, then, he is acting less and less like the little boy I’ve watched grow up. Last Tuesday night, though, he took me back to a simpler time.

He is a freshman on his high-school j.v. baseball team, and they had an away game against Polk that night. So I made the hour-and-a-half drive to watch him play. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. The conference rule is, teams play six innings and then get one extra inning to decide a tie. If the score is still deadlocked after that seventh inning, that’s it, time to load up the buses and go home.

Ryan rode home with me and we stopped at a Burger King to grab a late supper. I ordered my usual Whopper with cheese and he ordered his usual chicken tenders. We sat down at the table and I got back up to fill my drink. When I returned I saw that Ryan was praying. I figured he was offering his typical “fast” prayer over his “fast” food. As I stood there, though, not wanting to interrupt him, I noticed that the prayer seemed a touch more lengthy and intense than usual.

Once the prayer was finished, I took my seat across from Ryan and just had to ask, “What were you praying?” Yes, that was nosy of me, but, hey, that’s how parents roll. Before Ryan answered, he gave a little grin as if he had been caught doing something off limits. Then he said, “I thanked God for the game. I thanked Him for the food. And I asked Him to have you let me get some dessert.”

You’d understand that request better if you knew how passionate the boy is over his desserts. It’s an ongoing issue with us that every time we walk into a restaurant he has to do a second round of ordering so that he can enjoy dessert while the rest of us are still finishing up our meal. There have also been plenty of occasions where I gave him the canned speech, “Son, isn’t it enough that I’ve spent $20 in gas to come to this game and then spent another $10 or $15 for us to eat afterward? Do you have to have another $3 for dessert too?”

By the way, before you label me as a heartless, miserly Scrooge, let me say that I almost always give in and let him have dessert. I have to admit that as I watch him wolf down those sweets I’ve never seen anybody enjoy anything more! And, yes, he got his ice cream-brownie-thing at Burger King that night too. I couldn’t refuse him after he melted my heart with such a sweet, simple, childlike request, one that he wasn’t even going to let me in on if I hadn’t asked.

But here’s the thing, that night, as I sat there eating my Whopper, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if we Christians could master the childlike faith of a boy asking God to lead his daddy to let him buy a dessert. What was it Jesus said?

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4)

The pure, innocent, guileless faith of a child, how much of it do you have? I confess that the longer I walk with the Lord the less I have of it. Things just seem to keep getting more complicated and convoluted between me and the Lord. How I’d love to get back to that simplistic walk I once enjoyed with Him.

Perhaps it will be that the greater toll the aging process takes on me and the less self-sufficient I become, the more my childlike faith will return to me. That’s what I suspect will happen anyway. Let’s face it, when you just can’t do for yourself, somebody else has to do for you, right? This is a concept that we instinctively understand as children, but we unlearn it when we become adults. Unfortunately, that unlearning hurts us in regards to looking to God to meet our needs and expecting Him to grant our requests. Ryan’s little prayer the other night reminded me of all this. Now we’ll see if I can reclaim some of the childlike characteristics I have lost along the way.

Filed under Aging, Children, Desires, faith, Fatherhood, God's Provision, needs, Personal, prayer, Prayer Requests, Trusting In God, Youth Tagged with , , , , ,

A Contest No One Can Win

January 31, 2012 Leave a comment

Imagine a contest where the stated goal is: “Jump up and touch the moon.” Contestant #1 is an eighty-year-old woman with a walker. She steps up to the line and gives it all she’s got, but her jump doesn’t even register as measurable. Contestant #2 is Russell Mckinney. He steps up to the line and has a go, but his jump peaks out at about two inches. (I could have done a little better back in the day.) Contestant #3 is a bench-warmer on his high-school team. He takes his turn at the line and gets off what is easily the most impressive jump so far, which puts him in the lead. Finally, contestant #4 is NBA all-star Lebron James. His liftoff is breathtaking to watch. The muscles in his powerful legs ripple as he soars straight up into the air. Higher and higher he goes, putting so much distance between his jump and the high-schooler’s that second place isn’t even worth mentioning. When James finally comes back down he is unquestionably declared the obvious winner.

Of course, there’s one thing that shouldn’t be forgotten: the actual goal of the contest. The contest wasn’t held to see who could jump the highest. It was held to see if anyone could jump up and touch the moon. Lebron got the closest to meeting the goal, but even he failed miserably at it.

The Bible teaches that earning your way into heaven by way of “good works” is like that contest. The goal is an impossibility right from the start. Oh, sure, some may produce more “good works” than others. But, in the end, it’s laughable to think that anyone could get even remotely close to pulling of the goal. It can’t happen, and here’s why:

-Every human being is a born sinner (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

-Our inborn sin nature comes from Adam, the father of our race (Genesis 3:1-24; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Romans 5:12).

-Our nature of sin compels us to commit acts of sin (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:11-18).

-To break just one of God’s laws is to stand guilty of breaking them all; it’s an all-or-nothing type of deal (James 2:10).

You see, once you understand the set-up going in, you’ll realize that salvation, and by implication entrance into heaven, can NEVER come by way of “good works” (Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 2:8-9). It is instead a gift that God gives to the sinner, a gift He extends in grace (unearned favor) to the one who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ephesians 2:8).

I challenge you right now to take your Bible, look up and read all the references that I have listed in this post, and let the truth of them wash over you. When you do you’ll see that the whole idea of someone earning their way into heaven by way of “good works” is patently absurd. Salvation is a gift, and like any gift it must be accepted to be owned. Since this gift is all wrapped up in a person, Jesus Christ, the only way to accept it is to accept Him. Call it putting your faith in Jesus. Call it believing in Him. Call it opening the door of your heart to Him. Call it receiving Him. These terminologies are all just different ways of describing the acceptance of the gift. But whatever you do, ACCEPT THE GIFT!!! If you don’t, you might as well be trying to jump and touch the moon.

Filed under Belief, Bible Study, faith, Heaven, salvation, Sin, The Depravity of Man Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Burning Your Ships

December 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Hernando (Hernan) Cortez was a Spanish Conquistador who launched ships from Spanish held Cuba and conquered Mexico in 1519. In doing so he brought about the demise of the great Aztec empire. As the legend goes, when Cortez first landed on the shores of Mexico he commanded his men to burn the ships. This burning made retreat impossible and has thus become the classic historical example of going “all in” for an endeavor.

Truth be told, many historians doubt the truth of the legend. Some of them contend that Cortez did purposely render his ships unsuitable for sailing but didn’t burn them. According to the theory, he did this because he didn’t want his men to mutiny and return to the safe haven of Cuba. Others say that the idea of Cortez burning the ships stems from a poor translation of the Latin in which the story was written. But, hey, let’s not let the facts get in the way of a great story!

If you want to run with the idea of going full bore into something by “burning your ships,” there’s a Bible story that you’ll like. It’s even one that you’ve heard. It’s the one about God parting the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites to facilitate their escape from Pharaoh’s army. You’ll find it in Exodus chapter 14.

Exodus 14:21 says that the Lord divided the waters and turned the sea into dry land by means of a strong east wind that blew all night. In Exodus 15:8, Moses describes this wind as the blast of God’s nostrils. Isn’t that great? And so the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land. But then what happened? The Egyptian army pursued them into the dry land only to be drowned in the depths when the waters came crashing back into place once the Israelites were safely on the opposite shore.

Okay, now here’s where I’m going with this. When those waters thundered back down and closed the pathway through that sea, that was God slamming the door shut on the Israelites possibly returning to Egypt. You see, it wasn’t just His way of slaying Egypt’s army; it was also His way of forcing the Israelites to forge onward into a new day. Going back to Cortez legend, it was God burning Israel’s ships.

As you read this, perhaps God has pushed you out into a new adventure but you are considering returning back to more comfortable ground. All I’ll say is that if you genuinely believe the adventure is of the Lord, don’t try to return to Egypt. There’s nothing for you back there. It doesn’t take much faith to live in Egypt anyway. That life is what it is. But it takes a high degree of faith to let God lead you step by step into a new, uncharted land. So it might just be that a good prayer for you to pray right now would go something like this, “Lord, if you want me to continue on with this adventure, close up the waters behind me so that I’ll have to stay here in this new land. And then help me make it here.”

Filed under Adversity, Choices, Courage, Disappointment, faith, fear, God's Provision, God's Will, perseverance, prayer, Prayer Requests, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , ,

When A Strength Becomes A Weakness

December 26, 2011 Leave a comment

It is paradoxical, as well as sad, that God’s servant will often fail in the very area in which he or she is normally strong. The Bible offers us several case studies of this strange fact. Let me share three of those examples with you.

I’ll start with Abraham. He was a man who exhibited enough faith to pack up his belongings, leave his hometown of Ur, and begin an epic journey to an unknown land which God promised to show him (Genesis 12:1-5). But what happened when he arrived in the promised land of Canaan? He was greeted there by a famine. So what did he do? He lost faith that God could provide for him during that famine and he went down to Egypt. There he showed his lack of faith in God’s protection by instructing his beautiful wife Sarai to lie and say that she was his sister (Genesis 12:10-20). And would you believe that he even repeated this exact same sin many years later when he was in Gerar and dealing with Abimelech, the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18)? What happened to your great faith, Abraham?

Next, I’ll mention Moses. He was a very mild-mannered man who certainly didn’t have a problem with ego or bravado. As a matter of fact, we can read Exodus chapters 3 and 4 and see that it was all that God could do to get him to return to Egypt and lead Israel. Moses was quick to say, “Lord, who am I to be such a leader? I am not an eloquent man. Please, send whomever else you will.” Numbers 12:3 even says that Moses was more humble (meek, gentle, kind) than all men who were on the face of the earth. That’s an amazing statement! But how did Moses ultimately get himself into trouble and miss out on entering into the promised land of Canaan himself? In a fit of anger and rage he rebuked the people and struck the rock twice when God had commanded him to merely speak to it. He also spoke as if he and Aaron, rather than God, caused the water to gush from the rock (Numbers 20:1-13). What happened to your great humility, Moses?

Lastly, I’ll mention Elijah. He showed astounding courage in going to Ahab, the king of Israel, and proclaiming, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). He showed just as much courage, if not more, in taking on and defeating Ahab’s prophets of Baal in a great showdown atop Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40). But what did he do right on the heels of that landmark victory? He heard that Ahab’s queen, Jezebel, had put a death sentence on his head and he fled. Then, when he reached a certain place out there in the wilderness, he prayed and asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:1-4). What happened to your great courage, Elijah?

If it sounds like I’m picking on Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, I’m not. The fact is, these are just three of a lengthy list of Bible characters who failed in the very areas in which they were normally strong. This should teach us that we ourselves aren’t immune to this particular problem. So, do you have an area in which you are especially strong in your walk with the Lord? If you do, be sure to keep yourself vigilant in that area. Don’t let yourself get overconfident to the point where you drop your guard. Remember, if it happened to the likes of Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, it can happen to you.

Filed under Backsliding, Courage, faith, Humility, Personal Holiness, Sin Tagged with , , , , ,

Common Sense & God’s Will

November 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Today I’d like to share with you one of my biggest pet peeves about Christians. It’s this whole idea that God’s will for a specific situation must always be the logical, rational, “smart” plan of attack. Oh, I’ve heard the line of reasoning more times than I can begin to remember: “God gave man common sense, and so it’s only right that I make the move here that makes the most common sense. I mean, after all, God wouldn’t want me to do anything stupid, would He?” Once you’ve got this reasoning settled in your mind, you can then head right out and do whatever seems to you like the right thing.

Now, I’ll grant you that 2 Timothy 1:7 does say that God gives the Christian a “sound mind.” The Holman Christian Standard translation even renders the Greek as “sound judgment.” Furthermore, the Bible offers us an exceedingly practical and commonsensical book (Proverbs) on the subject of worldly wisdom. So I’m not saying that you always have to check your brains at the door in order to choose God’s will. But what I am saying is that you’d be amazed at how illogical, irrational, implausible, incongruous, and inconvenient God’s will can be. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a quick tour through the Bible:

1. It made no sense to Cain to kill a defenseless animal just to bring an offering. (Genesis 4:1-7; Jude 11)

2. It made no sense to Noah to build a gigantic ark in a world that had never seen rain. (Genesis 2:4-6; Genesis 6:13-22)

3. It made no sense to Abram (Abraham) to leave his country and his family and travel to an unknown land that God would show him. (Genesis 12:1)

4. It made no sense to Abraham to take his son Isaac and offer him up as a burnt offering atop Mount Moriah. (Genesis 22:1-19)

5. It made no sense to Joseph that it would be God’s will for his father Jacob to pronounce the patriarchal blessing upon Ephraim (Joseph’s youngest son) rather than upon Manasseh (Joseph’s oldest son). (Genesis 48:8-20)

6. It made no sense to Moses that God would want him to return to Egypt after forty years away and lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. (Exodus chapters 3 and 4).

7. It made no sense that God would lead Moses and the Israelites to the shore of the Red Sea, a place where Pharaoh’s army could easily close in behind them and trap them. (Exodus 14:1-12)

8. It made no sense to the majority of the people of Israel that God would want them to enter into the land of Canaan and fight against the giants who lived there. (Numbers chapters 13 and 14)

9. It made no sense to Gideon that God would want him to lead the people of Israel against the Midianites. (Judges 6:11-24)

10. It made no sense to Jesse that God would chose David (his youngest son) over all his other sons to be king of Israel. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

11. It made no sense that the young David, armed with nothing but a sling and some stones, would take on the giant Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:1-54)

12. It made no sense to Naaman to go wash in the Jordan river seven times to cure him of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5:1-19)

13. It made no sense that God would allow Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego to be thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:1-30)

14. It made no sense that God would allow Daniel to be thrown into the den of lions. (Daniel 6:1-28)

15. It made no sense for Jesus to command His disciples to get into a boat and row to the other side of the Sea of Galilee when a tremendous wind storm would prevent them from doing so. (Mark 6:45-52)

16. It made no sense to Peter to let down his fishing nets in the deeper water during the day when fish were usually caught in the shallower waters at night. (Luke 5:1-11)

17. It made no sense for Jesus to delay in going to visit His gravely ill friend Lazarus. (John 11:1-44)

18. It made no sense for God to pull Phillip away from a tremendously fruitful evangelistic work that he was doing in Samaria just so he could go and witness to one Ethiopian eunuch in Gaza. (Acts 8:4-13, 26-40)

19. It made no sense to Ananias for God to command him to pay a visit to Saul of Tarsus, a notorious persecutor of Christians. (Acts 9:10-19)

20. It made no sense to Peter for God to show him that he no longer had to abide by the dietary regulations of the Old Testament law. (Acts 10:9-48)

I trust that this list of examples makes my point. And the fact is, the list is not even remotely near being all-inclusive. You see, it’s quite common for God to mess up our neat, ordered little lives by asking us to do things totally unexpected, things that don’t add up on paper. That is when we must step out on faith and do what He is asking. If your own logic keeps you from stepping out, you’ll never know the thrilling experience of watching God make a way where there seems to be no way. You’ll also miss out on the incredible blessings that can only be found in walking with God out on the edge. Think of it this way: Your logic, human reasoning, and common sense will never take you to those God-anointed places where the human race is preserved via one family aboard an ark, you become the forefather of God’s chosen nation (Israel), you see the Red Sea parted, you come out unscathed from a fiery furnace or a lions’ den, you get cured of leprosy, you experience a miraculous catch of fish, you see Christ walking on the water, or you see Lazarus raised from the dead. Such illogical blessings only stem from you obeying illogical commands. Keep that in mind the next time you are faced with a choice concerning God’s will.

Filed under Choices, Courage, faith, God's Will, obedience, Reward, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , , , ,

“Is Anybody Up There?”

November 8, 2011 1 Comment

Many of us have sometimes felt like the little boy who bowed his head to pray and said, “Hello, is anybody up there?” There are times when God seems so distant. Even worse, there are times when He seems downright deaf.

When one of my two boys says, “Daddy, I want to talk you,” that child has my attention. He doesn’t have to beg or audition for it. The mere fact that I am a loving father and want to hear whatever my child might deem worthy to discuss is all it takes. Well, in Matthew 7:7-11, as part of a teaching on prayer, Jesus says this:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his sons asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Okay, so we understand that God will not only do anything that an earthly father will do but also “how much more” than the earthly father. We like the sounds of that, don’t we? And if we stopped right there we’d have a nice little blog post. But we can’t stop right there. Do you know why? It’s because the title of this post isn’t “How Much More.” The title “Is Anybody Up There?”

I know what Jesus said. I also know that I have sometimes felt like I was talking to the ceiling as I tried to pray. I’ve asked and not had it given to me. I’ve sought and not found. I’ve knocked and had the owner behind the door seem out of town. So what do we do with such times? How do we explain them? How do we keep our faith during them?

I think the best approach we can take is to go back to Christ’s comparison of God and an earthly father. I’m sure that each of my two boys sometimes thinks that I am distant, but that’s not because I actually am distant. It’s simply because I don’t treat every conversation that I have with the child as if it’s the singular most important conversation that we will ever have. I’m hearing what the child is saying, but I don’t feel the need to immediately rush to the child’s side and smother him with kisses and assurances. Do you see my point?

Let me explain it another way. Experts in the New Testament’s original Greek tell us that the Greek behind Christ’s words from Matthew 7:7-11 are best translated as “keep on asking,” “keep on seeking,” and “keep on knocking.” The teaching is that God doesn’t always immediately grant the giving, the finding, or the opening. Sometimes He only grants it after you’ve gone to Him with many, many repetitions of the same request. So let’s say that you are in the midst of requesting the same thing for the fifteenth time but you don’t really feel like God is hearing you. That’s like my son Royce hitting me with his fifteenth request to go to McDonalds. If I haven’t taken him for those fries by then, he might feel like he’s talking to the wall. But the reality of the situation will be that I’m just waiting on the best time to take him to McDonalds. I’m hearing the fifteenth request, just like I heard the fourteen that came before it. I know what I’m doing, even if Royce doesn’t understand me.

I can’t say where all this finds you today, but maybe you’ve been praying and praying for a certain thing that God hasn’t granted yet. And maybe you’re wondering today, “Is anybody up there?” Well, God had me write this post for you. Yes, He’s up there. Yes, He’s listening. Yes, He heard all your previous prayers. He’s just waiting on His perfect timing to grant your request. Remember, if an earthly father can eventually get his kid to McDonalds, how much more can a loving, all powerful, heavenly father grant your requests?

Filed under faith, Fatherhood, God's Love, God's Timing, Impatience, Patience, perseverance, prayer, Prayer Requests Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Got A Need?

September 20, 2011 3 Comments

A small Bible college was growing so fast that it desperately needed more dormitory space. If a new dormitory couldn’t be built, students would have to be turned away. The school’s president took the matter to God in prayer and left the request with Him.

Not long afterward, the president was invited to speak at a conference in another city. One night, after the service, he was handed a small envelope with a note inside it. The note was a request from an elderly woman. She wanted to meet with the president.

The following day he went to her home for tea. In his heart he couldn’t deny that he hoped that God would work through the woman to meet the financial need. But as the visit came to a close, no offer had been made.

Somewhat disappointed, the president headed for the door. As he did, the woman’s face suddenly lit up. “Oh my,” she said, “I almost forgot.” Then she left the room momentarily and came back carrying a small folder. She handed it to him and said, “This is for you and the work you are doing for the young people.” The folder contained many thousands of dollars of stocks and bonds. As a matter of fact, the amount totaled up to the exact amount needed to build the dormitory.

Now, this story is supposedly true, but, frankly, the Christian realm is filled with such stories. Preachers like myself know all about books of illustrations, and these books offer many such stories about God meeting needs. I’m not trying to sound cold or hard, but the stories are so numerous as to be almost cliched. But are they true? Do such things really happen? Does God really meet needs?

I speak from personal experience when I answer, “Yes.” During our first few years of Disciples Road Church, God ran me through a class on this subject. Oh, I had always preached that God would meet every need, but it’s a different deal altogether when you find yourself sincerely wondering how you are going to pay the light bill, the phone bill, the car payment, the mortgage payment, etc. That’s when you find out if all those corny old stories you’ve read are for real. And again let me say: they are.

So who am I writing this to today? Is it you? Do you have some pressing need staring you squarely in the face right now? If you do, take heart. God can and will meet that need if you will sincerely turn it over to him. Remember, Philippians 4:19 is still in the Bible:

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Filed under faith, God's Love, God's Provision, needs, Personal, Prayer Requests, Trusting In God, Worry Tagged with , , , , , ,

A Big, Black Door

August 11, 2011 3 Comments

A spy was captured by the Persian army and sentenced to death. However, the Persian general who issued the death sentence had an unusual procedure for executions. The condemned were given the choice of being slain by the sword or walking through what was described as a “big, black door.”

The spy thought about the choice and, in the end, chose death by the sword. After the execution, a curious bystander asked the general what lay behind the “big, black door.” The general answered, “Freedom, but they always prefer the known to the unknown. People are afraid of that which is undefined and less certain. We gave him a choice. Behind the door is freedom, but few men are brave enough to take it.”

Christian, could it be that God has recently placed some “big, black door” in front of you? And could it be that your fear of the unknown is keeping you from having the faith to walk through that door? Rest assured that God doesn’t operate like that Persian general. He isn’t playing games with you, and He’s not seeking your demise. What He’s trying to do is build your faith in Him. He wants you out of your comfort zone. He wants you to take a test you haven’t memorized from years of taking. He wants you less confident in yourself and more eager to lean on Him.

What am I saying? I’m saying that God-ordained “big, black doors” are portals to a closer walk with Him and a more exciting and invigorating life. But you’ve got to have the faith and courage to step through them. Satan wants you to spend your life fearful, unchallenged, underdeveloped, and wrongly satisfied with the status quo. Don’t let him keep you from experiencing all that God wants you to experience and becoming all that He wants you to become.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

Filed under Choices, Courage, faith, fear, God's Will, Satan, The Devil, Trusting In God, Worry Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

In Training To Be Used Mightily

July 7, 2011 Leave a comment

A budding young soloist went to a great Italian musician for voice training. The master handed him a piece of music and said, “Practice this for one full year and then return here.” The request seemed a bit strange, but for the next twelve months the young man faithfully did his practicing.

At year’s end, he returned to the musician, confident that the master would change his assignment and give him a new, higher grade of music to learn. But it didn’t happen. The master simply said, “Practice the same piece for another year and then return here.”

Somewhat discouraged, the young singer returned home and begrudgingly rededicated himself to his task. For twelve more months he practiced that same piece of music over and over again. Then he returned again to the musician. As he went, he thought, “Surely this time I will be given a new piece to learn.”

Once again, however, the master instructed him to work at the same piece of music for another year and then return. But this time the young man objected. He said, “No, I want to practice something new. I have worked hard, and I deserve to move on up to a more advanced lesson.” Stubbornly, though, the master held his ground, saying, “No, my son, the same lesson this year.”

So now the young man had a decision to make. Should he continue to trust in the great musician and keep practicing the same piece of music? Or should he question the musician’s expertise and seek training elsewhere? Two long years had come and gone. The young singer had worked hard and done as he was told, but he wasn’t seeing any fruit for his labors. Maybe it was now time to cut his losses with the supposed master and change everything.

The young man pondered the issue for quite some time, but in the end he decided to stick with the great musician’s training. So he went back to practicing the same old lesson and faithfully worked at it for yet another year. Then he returned to the master.

But this time the singer wouldn’t be given any more preparatory assignments. Instead, the great musician simply looked at him and said, “Go, my son. You have nothing more to learn.” The young man was both shocked and relieved, but he took the master at his word and began auditioning for singing parts. He nailed performance after performance, no matter how difficult the song, and eventually he rose to become the leading singer in all of Italy.

How was such a thing possible? It was possible because that one piece of music that the singer had so faithfully practiced all those years held within it a certain combination of notes, and that combination had allowed his vocal cords to be developed to perfection. The master, of course, had known this all along.

Christian, it may be that God has had you working on the same assignment for years now. And it also may be that you have grown very tired of singing it. So you’ve begun to long for something new, something different, something that will break you out of your rut. Perhaps you are right now even contemplating going off and doing your own thing because you are tired of living the life in which God has stationed you.

Well, let me ask you this: Could it be that for the past several years God has faithfully been preparing you to do great and mighty works for Him in the future? And, furthermore, could it be that even now your spiritual “vocal cords” are almost perfectly trained to handle these great works? You see, at this point, the last thing you need to do is short-circuit God’s whole plan by foolishly abandoning your master’s training and making some change that you shouldn’t make.

Call this a warning. Call it a word of encouragement. Call it what you will. But just know that God never sends out His servants unprepared, and if He still has you working on the same old assignment, then your training must not be fully completed yet. You ask, “How much longer will it be?” I don’t know. All I know is that there will come a day when God will send you forth to put all of your training to incredible use for Him.

Filed under Adversity, Choices, Commitment, Disappointment, Discipleship, Doing Good, faith, faithfulness, God's Timing, God's Omniscience, God's Will, Impatience, Ministry, Music, obedience, Patience, perseverance, Rebellion, Reward, submission, Teaching, Temptation, Trusting In God Tagged with , , ,

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