If you could be any animal you wanted to be, which one would you choose?

I’ve always thought it would be fun to be a dolphin.  They seem happy and playful.  Plus I love the ocean.  But if I could be any animal, I might have to go with an eagle.

In 1782, the bald eagle was chosen as the national emblem of the United States because of its majestic appearance. It is a powerful symbol of freedom and strength.

Typically eagles fly about 30 mph, but they can dive at speeds of 100mph.  They can fly 125 miles without landing, and they can glide at altitudes up to 10,000 feet!

That’s why Isaiah 40:29-31 is such an amazing promise.
 
God says when we feel tired, weak and weary, he is able to give us strength, so we can fly farther and faster than we ever thought possible. When we stumble and fall, he is able to pick us up and make us soar on wings like eagles. When the problems of life are dragging us down to the dust, we can climb to 10,000 feet and circle above them.  We can gain a heavenly altitude and see our circumstances with the clarity of eagle-eyes.

But that doesn’t just happen automatically.  There’s one condition here.

To renew our strength, we must hope in the Lord.  We must look to him as our only source of sufficiency. He alone gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Why?  Because he alone does not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom (verse 28).
 
So is anyone feeling tired today?  Or weak or weary?  Did anyone stumble and fall?  Hope in the goodness of the Lord, in his wisdom, grace and might. Hang onto this promise.  Write it down and put it on your mirror.  Slip it into your pocket and don’t forget it.

Hope in the Lord, and he will give you strength.

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Philippians 2:3-5 is my least favorite scripture. Why? Because of the first 2 words, DO NOTHING. Every time I read  this passage, I am convicted of some specific recent time in which I have ignored this command. 

I don’t mind reading passages about salvation, or prayer, or evangelism. But I can’t get past DO NOTHING without realizing that I can’t make excuses. I can’t  take credit for somebody else’s work. I can’t volunteer or help out around church with even a hint of desire to be noticed for my spirituality or wisdom.

I have to give up the desire to win every argument, and I definitely have to stop looking at traffic as if it’s a race where I can’t let someone pass me or  get my parking spot.

Paul doesn't give me even the smallest amount of wiggle room. Not only can I DO NOTHING for my own interest by steering discussions back to myself, holding  grudges, or demanding my rights; but I have to actively listen to other people, care about what they’re interested in, and consider how my choice of finances and time affect someone other than me and my family. 

I’m telling you, these are awful verses. If I had been Thomas Jefferson, I wouldn't have cut the verses out of the Bible that dealt with Jesus's divinity. I  would've cut these verses out so that I wouldn't always have to be really humble like Jesus.

Of course, instead of picking up my scissors, I could pick up what Jesus said in John 15:5, “apart from Me you can DO NOTHING.” I could DO NOTHING but abide  in Him and let His Spirit make me truly humble.

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Each day God desires for us to press on toward His goals for our life.  The word “press” expresses an intense endeavor.  We are to move intently toward God’s desires for our lives and make this a pattern of how we live.  “This one thing I do” emphasizes the importance of focus.  We are encouraged to devote ourselves to running the race of life well.  Typically, an athlete does not become a winner by doing everything, but he wins by specializing.  Few athletes are good at several sports unless they are an exception.  With this in mind, we need to focus our eyes on one goal and not let anything distract us.  We should live for what matters most and pursue God’s purpose for us.

For an athlete to win, he must get into the game.  One cannot excel at a sport by listening to lectures, watching movies, reading books, or cheering at the game.  So, we too must get involved by training, practicing, and determining to win.  We need to ask ourselves, “How much effort are we putting into winning spiritually?”  As we apply ourselves to spiritual things, God continues the process of maturing us.  He strengthens us to run the race that is planned for our life.  Paul tells Timothy, “Exercise yourself toward godliness…” (1 Timothy 4:7 NKJV) Without spiritual exercise we begin to atrophy.

To keep us from spiritual atrophy, Paul encourages us to “forget those things which are behind.”   People often are controlled by their past.  As Christians, we need to be controlled by the future.  To actively move toward the future, we must forget the past.  A runner will not win the race by always looking over his shoulder to see who is coming up from behind.  If we focus on the past, we will live in the past.  The past has shaped much of what we are today, but we cannot live there, we must leave it behind.  We often use the order…past, present, and future.  Paul is encouraging us to view time as flowing from the future into the present and then into the past.  We need a future orientation.  When Paul talks about “forgetting the past,” he is not talking about somehow failing to remember the events of the past.  Biblically he is telling us to no longer be influenced or affected by the past.

In Hebrews 10:17 (NKJV), the writer tells us something amazing about God, “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  The writer of Hebrews is not saying that God will conveniently have a bad memory or a “senior moment.”  This would be impossible for God.  What he is conveying is that God will no longer hold our sins against us.  God will not let our sin effect our standing with Him or influence His attitude toward us.

We break the power of the past by living for the future.  We cannot change the past, but we can change its effect on our lives.  Paul had things that could have weighed him down, but instead he made them events that moved him ahead.  The events did not change but his understanding of them changed.  An example of this is Joseph who looked at the events of his life from God’s perspective.  “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20 NKJV) Today we need to see the things of our past with the eyes of the Lord.

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for your forgiveness.  Help me to deal with the things of my past so that I can move forward and focus on the future I have with You.  Amen

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

These days it is not uncommon to hear the christian walk being touted as nothing but a prosperous one. God is love and wants the best for you so everything will always be ok. If you are really walking with God you will be rich and prosperous because He loves you and will give you all that you ask. And while there are bits of truth in all of these statements, they end up painting a picture of christianity that is simply not Biblical, and for us in America that have a pretty good standard of living compared to the rest of the world it can be a trap easily fallen into.

Let’s be clear, God is a loving God and does want the best for us. But just like a parent training their children, what is best for us, and what we want or think is best for us are often two different things. Correction is an essential part of growth and maturity both in life and in our spiritual walk. In Hebrews 12:11 it says “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” No one likes to be corrected or disciplined, however it is a good thing for us, it’s for the best.
 
Psalms reminds us that while God does love us and wants to bless us, there will be hard and difficult times. It may be due to our sin and needing correction, it may be testing and trials to grow us spiritually but that ultimately God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, as found in Romans 8:28. Pain, sufferings, and trials are temporary but His favor is forever! We don’t know how long the pain will last, sometimes it’s short, sometimes long, but it is temporary.

As part of our sanctification we are called to endure pains and trials with Christ’s help and for His glory. May we view the hard and difficult times as opportunities to grow, to repent, to deepen our need for and faith in Christ and remembering that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I went to school at Hillsdale College, a school of about 1500 students in southern Michigan. (I don’t miss the Michigan winters.) All students at Hillsdale sign a statement called the “Honor Code” when they matriculate their freshman year. It reads:

“A Hillsdale College student is honorable in conduct, honest in word and deed, dutiful in study and service, and respectful of the rights of others. Through education the student rises to self-government.”
 
To an outside observer, the Honor Code was extremely effective. My fellow students at Hillsdale were some of the most principled, diligent, and virtuous people that I’ve ever known. We regularly left backpacks, phones, and laptops in public places because theft was never an issue.

The idea of becoming a better, more moral person through education ran through all our studies at Hillsdale. It goes back centuries to thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. It was certainly appealing to me, who wanted to go to college not for skill training or knowledge acquisition, but for human formation. But was it biblical?

One day, a pastor friend of mine made an offhanded comment that contrasted “through education the student rises to self-government” and “the fruit of the spirit is... self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). This contrast fascinated me. Is education able to replicate self-control, which Paul thinks of as evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit? Or does it merely counterfeit it? Was the classical education philosophy of Hillsdale compatible with God’s Word? After much thought, I came to the conclusion that “classical” and “Christian” thought share similar goals, but build on different foundations.

What is a human being? Classical education, drawing on a philosophical tradition dating back to Aristotle, defines man as a “rational animal.” He is also a “political animal,” designed to contribute to the larger community or polis. The Bible, however, teaches that human beings are created in the image of God. Our true purpose is to “glorify God and enjoy him forever...” which does result in moral living and civic duty. But to discuss “virtue” in a context outside of relationship with God is totally foreign to the Bible’s thought. The book most concerned with ethical living in Scripture, Proverbs, begins with the statement “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The Bible and classical education may overlap in their descriptions of what human flourishing looks like, but their foundational understanding of what it looks like to be truly human are different.

What is wrong with the world? From Hillsdale’s Honor Code, we could deduce that the problem is a lack of “self-government.” In Aristotle’s thought, vice (the opposite of virtue) arises when humans are ruled by their appetites and not their intellect. The root of our “bad behavior,” ultimately, is ignorance. Scripture, however, says our “bad behavior” is sin, the result of our broken relationship with God. According to Paul in Romans, sin produces ignorance, not the other way around: “although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:22-23).

How do we fix it? The classical worldview says that education can train people to become more virtuous: “through education the student rises to self-government.” Filling our minds with truth, dwelling on goodness, and showing the beauty of virtue will make us better people. The Bible, however, says that fixing our sin problem is not about what we can do, but what God has done for us through Jesus: “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Even as born-again believers, Scripture does not give us a program of self-improvement or behavior modification, but a call for dependence on the Holy Spirit: “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Trying hard to be good is foreign to the gospel: Jesus says “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

Consider an analogy: a man has a terminal disease that is weakening his muscles. The man begins a vigorous workout regime, carefully crafts his diet, and to outward appearances grows stronger. But that disease will sap his strength from the inside out. In the same way, education can produce kind, moral, law-abiding people, but it cannot solve the problem at the root of the human heart. At its worst, education divorced from Scripture produces the hypocrisy that Jesus saw so plainly in the Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26).

So what? A full biblical philosophy of education is a topic for another devotional, and I’ve taken enough of your time, dear reader, with my philosophical ramblings. Consider all this an exhortation to think biblically. Even well-intentioned statements can hide unbiblical assumptions (“through education the student rises to self-government”) when not filtered through the lens of Scripture. This week, let’s ask God to reveal if we’ve developed any assumptions or patterns of thinking that run contrary to His Word.

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."

Every time I read this passage my mind goes to Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." There is nothing besides the breath of God that can create life.

About 40 years ago I was encouraged to read through the Bible cover to cover because "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16  And His word is what would produce His life in me.

The more I read God's Word the more I began to understand this; The manna in Genesis was the bread that came down from heaven and sustained God's people in the wilderness. And Deuteronomy 8:3 taught me that it's purpose was, "to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.'
 
Although I had been a believer for what seemed like my whole life, when I got to John 1:1 and read "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." and John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…," I think I understood for the first time that Jesus was the utterance of God. All the "I am" verses in John began to become practical to me…"I am the light of the world" (6:3), I am the bread of life" (8:12) "I am the door" (10:7), I am the good shepherd" (10:11), I am the resurrection and the life" (11:25) "I am the way, the truth and the life"(14:6), I am the true vine" (15:1).  Knowing that because Jesus was all these, I knew His Word would produce all of them in me.

Like Ezekiel speaking the word of the Lord over the dry, dead bones and creating life…and even more…like God breathing into the nostrils of man and creating a living being…His word would produce His life in me and that's how I would walk in the Spirit.

I am so grateful for the encouragement given to me so many years ago. As I have continued placing my bookmark where I left off and reading His Word cover to cover every day (I'm not perfect, I do miss once in a while) He teaches me how all of His Word connects. I don't understand some things but  He continues to teach me new mysteries because different things are happening in my life each time I'm reading through it and His Word will come alive more because of that. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us that " The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the works of this law."
 

I Know Whom I Have Believed
Daniel Webster Whittle
 
Chorus
But I know whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day

Verse 1
I know not why God's wondrous grace
To me He hath made known
Nor why unworthy Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own

Verse 2
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart
Nor how believing in His word
Wrought peace within my heart

Verse 3
I know not how the Spirit moves
Convincing men of sin
Revealing Jesus through the Word
Creating faith in Him

Verse 4
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me
Of weary ways or golden days
Before His face I see

Verse 5
I know not when my Lord may come
At night or noonday fair
Nor if I'll walk the vale with Him
Or meet Him in the air
 

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

In my role as a site pastor and a coach, I get a front-row seat to the modern identity crisis. I see it in the youth that I coach as well as the adults that I shepherd. No matter how old you are, there seems to be this constant, exhausting struggle to figure out who we are. Every day we’re bombarded with a never-ending source of noise. It comes from culture, advertisements, and worse - the unyielding algorithms of our social media feeds that are tailor-made to tell us who we are, what to think, and how to feel. We’re bombarded with digital megaphones telling us who we should be, how we should look, and how our lives would be so much better if we just had (insert your latest purchase here). I think it makes sense to look to the people around us to help us find our footing; the problem is that human perception is fickle and frankly inaccurate. We need a reliable, unchanging source to tell us who we are.

In the verse above, God says to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son.” What an enduring title that communicates so much. First, we see God as Father, Provider, and Protector. Then we see Jesus as a beloved, created, image-bearing son of the Father. And perhaps the most encouraging is that this title is bestowed upon Jesus before His earthly ministry begins, before He “does” anything. His identity as a beloved Son was not based on what He produced; it was securely locked in before He “did” anything. Elsewhere in the Bible, Jesus encourages His followers to “pray to the Father who knows our need” (Matthew 6:8), proving that we, too, are adopted as sons and daughters of the Most High God.

With my players, I love to see them perform well and work hard. But as a pastor, I have to remind them of a truth that I remind us of today as well, and that is that your value to God is detached from your performance. God’s voice pushes past the places where we feel awkward, insecure, or burnt out. He looks at us and says, “You are my child. I love you, and am pleased with you right now.” When the world tries to tell you who you should be, remember that the Coach of heaven has already spoken to your soul. God's word is the only source that matters, and it is where we discover exactly who we are.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

A few years ago Jenn and I went to a marriage conference at Hume Lake. One of the activities offered was dance lessons. Jenn loves to dance and she is very good at it. I stink. So I said, “Hon, why don’t we go take some dance lessons.” She said, “Really? You’d do that for me?” I said, “Absolutely. I just need you to be patient with me because I have a lot to learn.”

We learned the ‘box step’, a ‘waltz’, and a ‘line dance’. In the ‘box step’, I started out pretty awkward and missed a lot of steps. But as we practiced, I started to grow in gracefulness. As we moved around the floor I would say things like ‘slow, slow, quick, quick…one, two, three…side-to-side. As I was learning the steps, more than once I got out of rhythm and stepped on Jenn’s foot. But she was patient with me. And as I got more practice, I got the steps in my head, and I started to get it. Needless to say, I scored major points with my wife that day.

As I thought through the ‘dance steps’, I thought of the rhythms found in James 1:19.

James 1:19b But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.

Quick, slow, slow…Quick, slow, slow. If I want to align with others in communication, I have to follow the rhythm of James 1:19: Quick, slow, slow. But as with learning to dance, I sometimes get out of rhythm. I’m slow to listen to the people I love the most. I jump in with my answer before I’ve heard them out. I get frustrated at what they’re saying and answer quickly out of anger and impatience. And I end up stepping on their toes, rather than gliding gracefully through the conversation.

Let’s take a closer look at each step:

1. Quick to Listen
This means valuing what others have to say over your own words or desires. It means taking the time to understand what’s going on. When my son is expressing frustration at me for something I did, I don’t stop him from sharing what he’s feeling, I let him get it out. When Jenn is venting about something going on at school, I let her get it all out before I say anything. And even after she’s done, I’ve learned that she appreciates me listening more than trying to fix it. If she wants my counsel, I wait for her to ask for it.

2. Slow to speak
I don’t say the first thing that pops into my mind. I wait…and wait. I practice allowing silence. If someone shares an opinion I disagree with, I don’t respond immediately. I think and pray about what words I should use. And whether or not it is worth sharing my own opinion at all. I’ve found that when I share the gospel with someone, and they disagree, I will just ask questions about what they believe, and listen intently. Slow to speak. And then see if God opens a window of opportunity where they ask me what I believe. There’s the platform, and I go for it!

3. Slow to become angry
I’m not an angry person, but impatience is often my response when I’m frustrated. And that makes people feel like I’m angry. To guard myself against anger, I sometimes take a mental, even literal, step back from the person or situation. If someone in my family had a bad day, I don’t let their ‘shortness with me’ or ‘defensiveness’ store up in me. I let them calm down. I pray for words to bring peace into the situation, reminding them I am for them.

Of course none of this is possible without the power of the Holy Spirit within us. To grow in the ‘steps’ quick, slow, slow…quick, slow, slow…it takes prayer, and it takes practice. I’m still not a good dancer, but I’m better. If Jenn and I danced more, I’d get even better. When it comes to the ‘dance’ of aligning with others in communication, keep the rhythm of quick, slow, slow in mind. Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, and watch your relationships grow.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

In 2018, I had the opportunity to go on an exposure trip to share the gospel. With this opportunity, we had missionaries who could translate for us, and every day during this exposure trip we would head into the city to go talk to people about faith and the gospel. This was a scary time in my life, having to trust God to talk to people I did not know, in a country I did not live in. I remember the first day of going out to a town we went around asking people questions about faith, and I was so nervous; one of the things that helped me all throughout the trip was that I wasn’t alone, but that I was with another person as part of the team, and we had a translator with us.

One of the days I remember most was when we went to a park in the city where we were staying, and we had an hour to go out and evangelize to someone. Going on this trip, I thought that God could never use my story or my experiences to help someone come to faith all the way in another country. It was me, the college pastor of the church, and a translator who started talking to these three college-aged gentlemen, and the college pastor presented the gospel to them. They then asked why we personally believe, and the college pastor asked me to share my testimony with these three men, so I told them.

We then asked them if they wanted to believe in Jesus after I shared my testimony, and then the three men said yes. We then led them in guided prayer to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and for them to have a restored relationship with God through the gospel. It was an uncomfortable experience to share my testimony, but God doesn’t call us to be comfortable; He calls us to be faithful unto Him, to see Him as the one who causes the growth.

I feel really comfortable praying for you and for me to be laborers of the Harvest rather than actually going out to labor in the harvest. Praying seems easy, and I feel great praying for people to come to faith. Matthew 9:37-38 is a great reminder to pray for more laborers, but it is also a reminder that God has called us to be laborers in the harvest. For this Each One Win One campaign to help unbelievers become believers, we are calling on each of us to pray. Sometimes we can be the answer to our own prayer by sharing the gospel with our unbelieving family member, friend, or coworker. We have to remember it is God who causes the growth.

One of the things that has stuck with me from that moment is that the translator told us it is hard in this country for them to follow up with those they have evangelized who have become nonbelievers, because those people are sometimes visitors to the city. Sometimes they will see the people again, but find that their faith is home. Part of the reason I’m in vocational ministry is those who have discipled me, but it wasn’t they who caused the growth; it was God. All we are told to do is be obedient in this season of Each Win One, and to trust that if we share the gospel, God will cause the growth. I hope and pray that those three men remain faithful believers in the gospel.

Never stop praying that God may answer your prayer that the person you want to come to know Christ may come to know Christ. We expect results quickly in America, but sometimes it takes faithful prayers for a long time to see the abundant results of what God can do. All we’re asking, as we’re in this final season of Each One Win One, is that we all stay obedient to where God has called each of us to share our faith and disciple another. Don’t lose hope; continue to pray and share.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

In the Old Covenant, the temple in Jerusalem had a veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place – the Holy of Holies.  I always thought the veil simply represented the holiness of God.  He is absolutely set apart.  He is utterly removed from sinful man, and no sinner can enter his presence. “Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil…” (Hab 1:13).

But the author of Hebrews opened my eyes.  Yes, the veil represents the barrier between the Holy God and sinful man. But that barrier is more than symbolic.  That barrier is the distance Jesus traveled to save us.  It’s the unfathomable breach between heaven and earth: “we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God…” (v. 14).
 
Not only did Jesus pass through the heavens to come to earth (the incarnation), he passed through the heavens to return to the Father (the ascension).

The role of a High Priest is to function as the Mediator between God and man.  That’s why Jesus is the Great High Priest.  As a man, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.  As a man, he was temped in every way, just as we are – yet without sin.  As God, he is able to forgive us, cleanse us of guilt and shame, and bring us into his holy presence: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (v. 16).

Today, meditate on the fact that we have such a Great High Priest!  Think about the distance he traveled and the depths to which he stooped to save us.  Think also about his victory – his resurrection, ascension, and High Priestly ministry in heaven.  At this very moment, he is interceding for you (Heb 7:25).  And because of him, the veil has been torn and we can come boldly into the presence of the Holy God.  What a privilege!  Let’s not waste it.

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

One of the books that is often neglected in the Old Testament is Haggai – named after the prophet who lived in the sixth century B.C.  Haggai ministered in the period after the Babylonian exile, when the Jewish captives had returned to Jerusalem.
 
In the year 536 B.C., the Jews laid the foundation for a new temple on their beloved Mt. Zion, but abandoned the work because of pressure from surrounding enemies.

At that point the word of the Lord came to Haggai, and he said in essence: “Why are you spending all your time, effort and money building up your own houses, while the house of the Lord lies in ruins?  Which house is more important to you?”

Today I’d like to ask you the same question: “which house is more important to you… God’s house or your own house?”
Of course, in the church age the old covenant temple has been replaced by the new covenant temple, made up of the bodies of all believers who are indwelt by the Spirit of God, fit together like living stones (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 2:5).

But the principle remains the same.  Who occupies first place in your list of priorities?  And who gets the firstfruits from your labor?
 
In Haggai’s time it wasn’t God, and the people were suffering for it.

In verse 6, he explains: “You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

Do you ever feel that way?  No matter how hard you work, or how much money you make, it never seems to be enough.  Maybe your purse has a hole in it because you’re not giving your firstfruits to the Lord.  You’re building up your own house rather than investing in God’s house.

If that’s the case, the response is clear. God calls us to trust him with our finances… even more than that – our very lives.  And he promises to bless us (Haggai 2:15-19).
 
So no matter how tight your finances are, or how fearful you may be to give up control of your checking account, will you give God your firstfruits?

Remember the old saying.  We can never out give God.  

The Berean Bible (www.Berean.Bible) Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2020 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved.

The last five Psalms of the Book of Psalms are glorious worship hymns that exhort us to praise our God.  They bring into focus the reality that our lives are to bring glory to God, and that we should enjoy a growing relationship with Him.  The Book of Psalms takes us on a journey as the writers share with us their grief, shame, sins, doubts, and fears.  The people of God are seen in their defeats, victories and ups and downs in life.  James M. Boice writes in his commentary on the Psalms, “Praise is where all true religious contemplation should end.”  The writers share openly their struggles with faith but now, despite all the difficulties, they want to move us toward praising God.

The Hebrew word hallelujah, “Halel” means to praise or tell someone they are very great. Hallelujah is an imperative, an exhortation to praise the Lord, Who has created the world and everything in it.  He is the Lord of lords.  He is the One the Psalmist encourages us to praise.

Jehovah (Yahweh) or the shortened form Jah (Yah), is introduced in the Psalm as the One Who made heaven and earth and keeps truth forever.  He is the covenant keeping God of Jacob.  In this Psalm, the name Jehovah (LORD) is used 11 times and the name God (Elohim) is used 4 times.

The Psalm begins by the Psalmist exhorting the Jewish people, who have returned to Jerusalem following the captivity, to praise the Lord.  There are lessons we can learn about praising God in our everyday life.

The Psalmist not only begins the Psalm in praise of God but fills his life with God’s praise.  He begins the Psalm by exhorting people (plural) to praise the Lord and then he immediately praises the Lord on an individual level.  “While I have being” is literally “in my continuance” and may be expressed, for example, as “while I still exist,” “as long as I am here,” “as long as I have breath,” or “throughout my whole life.”  Today I need to praise the Lord every day of my life.
 
Someday when this life is over, I will be able to praise the Lord better.  I will enter heaven and will be in a much better place to worship God.  No longer will sin influence me or hinder me.  I will be in God’s presence with a glorified body.  I will be able to praise the Lord in ways I could never do this side of heaven.  One of the joys of heaven is that I will be able to praise my God for eternity.  Eternity is forever and each one of us who is there will engage in true worship.  As we learn new truth about our Lord, we will respond in worship for truly He is worthy of all our praise.

Today we live in an entertainment culture.  Everything is to be fun and effortless.  Sadly, this view of life has in some ways entered the modern church to the point we come to church with the idea that we should be entertained.  Often, we have become lazy about our faith and worship.  We become spectators instead of engaging in true worship of our Lord.  Praising God is not something we can do in an apathetic and passive way.  We need to fully engage in worship.  We need to discover the truth and blessing of real worship of our great God.

We cannot enter true worship of a God that we do not know.  We need to have a lifelong desire to know God more, so that we can engage in greater worship of Him.  God has revealed Himself in creation and through the Bible.  The Psalmist encourages us to worship God in a context of teaching truth about God and desires us to reflect on who God is, what He is like and what He has done.

We need to ask ourselves, “How well do I know God?”  To worship Him, we must know who God is.  God has revealed Himself in Scripture and that is why studying the Scriptures is so important.  Through our study, we develop an understanding of God that encourages us to know Him and relate to Him on a personal level.  That is why teaching of the Bible needs to be central in our worship.  Our worship is a response of what we know of God.

Even though we gather as a church to worship God, we must participate in that worship. No one can worship for us…not the choir, ministers, praise team or others.  We worship together in soul and spirit.  The Psalmist calls us as a group to praise God but immediately states his desire to worship the Lord himself.  His individual worship prepared his heart for the corporate times of worship.  Are you spending time in personal worship and praise throughout the week so that when we gather as a church you can unite your hearts with others in true worship of our Great God?

Prayer:  Lord, touch my heart with the truth of Who You are.  I want my heart to respond in worship and praise as I get to know You better.  Draw me to Yourself and may I be overwhelmed with your greatness.  Amen

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

As the world seems to descend further into darkness around us, I think it is timely to remember that we as christians were not guaranteed an easy or prosperous life here on earth. Rather we have actually been promised persecution for Jesus’ name’s sake. A little later on in Matthew 10:22 Jesus says “You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake.” He says you will, not you may, or there’s a chance, He says you will. As Christ followers we are called to be set apart, to be holy as Christ is holy, and the world will hate us and persecute us for it.

Now our persecution is not just so that we will have a miserable time on earth, we are the salt and light, we are to be a witness to the world of the Gospel. We are the representatives of Christ and we must always remember that, especially in the midst of difficulty and persecution. Jesus says in these verses that we will be brought before governors and kings as a testimony, therefore we must not harm that testimony by our behavior or reaction to persecution. We are called to be wise as serpents AND harmless as doves. Whenever we find ourselves being persecuted for our faith we need to stop and think how our reaction will be a witness and testimony for Christ in the midst of our circumstances.

So how should we react to when the world targets us, restricts us, silences us, or harms us? Well we should turn our eyes towards heaven and pray. Pray for God’s justice, pray for deliverance, pray that we ourselves would not give into the temptation to fight evil with evil, and pray for those who are persecuting us. God promises us that He will give us the words to say in the hour we need it. He will be there as our Defender and Shield and will be with us always. Remember in the hard times, when it matters the most to lean on Him and not on yourself so that your life can proclaim the Gospel until the end.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

If you’ve spent any amount of time in church, you know there are lots of Bible stories we love. Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, Jesus walking on water: these decorate our classroom walls and illustrate our sermons. But the Bible is full of stories that receive less attention. Some of them are... unusual. Balaam and his talking donkey, Ehud the left-handed assassin, or the two she-bears that mauled the boys who made fun of Elisha. Others, however, could be considered hidden gems.

One of my favorite “hidden gem” Bible stories is from 2 Samuel 9, during the height of David’s reign over Israel. In the midst of a well-earned peace, David remembers his promise to treat Jonathan and his house with kindness (1 Samuel 20:15-16) and asks if Jonathan has any living descendants. He discovers there is one, a young man and contender for strangest name in the Bible: “Mephibosheth.” Mephibosheth, however, is a cripple, apparently because he was dropped as a child (2 Samuel 4:4).

When Mephibosheth is summoned to David’s presence, he falls on his face (2 Samuel 9:6). Mephibosheth is probably afraid for his life—in the ancient Near East, the common practice of monarchs was to eliminate all members of the previous dynasty to secure their power. (The evil queen Athaliah attempts this in 2 Kings 11.) David responds to Mephibosheth by calling his name: I imagine it was spoken softly, with deep care and compassion. What happens next probably exceeded Mephibosheth’s wildest dreams: not only does David “show [him] kindness” (2 Samuel 9:7), but Mephibosheth receives all the lands of Saul’s family and a seat at the royal table for as long as he lives. Mephibosheth responds with gratitude and abject humility: “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” (2 Samuel 9:8).

It’s a short story, but a significant one. Within the narrative of 1-2 Samuel, this story demonstrates that David really is “a man after God’s own heart.” David is gracious, merciful, and compassionate, just as God is (Psalm 145:8-9). Other kings might have executed or exiled Mephibosheth, but David elevates him to a place of honor, at the same table with his own sons (2 Samuel 9:11). In this, David points forward to a future King of Israel, who also loved the lame and ate with those the world said were undeserving. One commentator called this passage “the greatest illustration of grace in all the Old Testament.”

In another sense, this interaction between David and Mephibosheth parallels God’s relationship to we who are undeserving sinners. Like Mephibosheth, we were fallen, broken, dwelling away from the king’s presence, and fearful of God’s wrath (which we deserve, Ephesians 2:3). But like David, God brought us near, showed us kindness, gave us an inheritance, brought us into his presence... and ultimately treats us as his children (Ephesians 2:5-7). Even now, as believers, we may sometimes hesitate to come into the presence of God, feeling overwhelmed by our own guilt, shame, or sense of unworthiness. But like that one word that fell from David’s lips... “Mephibosheth...” so God calls us into His presence by name. The author of Hebrews puts it this way: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” May the story of Mephibosheth encourage us to draw near to God, whose grace and compassion far exceed that of David.

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."

For the most part I think I have a pretty good track record for not getting too riled up over unexpected problems. Between my husband Gary and I, I'm the one over his shoulder as he's trying to take care of an issue on the phone saying, "Don't get too irritated, 'A kind answer turns away wrath.'" But just as this last heat wave hit with a vengeance and 3 weeks before I was to leave for 10 days on a "sibling" vacation our air conditioner went out. The first 2 days we stuck it out and then our daughter and son-in-law graciously, and a little urgently, requested that we go stay with them.

This account isn't really about the events of the next 3 weeks as we tried to work out the details to get it fixed. It is really about the struggle that warred in my spirit. For some reason I couldn't rest in the Lord through the delays. I'd think I was giving my frustrations to Him and then another phone call would set me on edge again. Gary and I had switched roles. He was the one encouraging me, "Trust the Lord. God will work it out He will take care of us." I so wanted to not just believe that in my mind, but to feel that rest in my heart…the overwhelming anxiety just kept coming back.

Then our Pastor Gene's daily devotional notification showed on my phone screen. It was the day after it was posted but the title caught my attention…"Trustin God in the Storms of Life…" from August 13. The passage he was referring to was Luke 8:22-25 and he reminded us that Jesus was in the boat, asleep and unnerved as the disciples exhausted all their efforts before coming to Him. They had forgotten the Lord's initial promise to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." Jesus had told them from the beginning that they were going to get to the other side.

As I read that I was reminded of so many verses of comfort that Jesus would be with me in times of trouble. And really, with so many tragedies occurring around me…why was I having such a difficult time with a broken AC!!

I learned so many things about myself throughout the past month and am still learning. But when I saw this passage in Jeremiah 51:19-23 I was reminded that the Lord is a fighter of battles. He doesn't shirk from them, I can trust Him in the fight.

We are back in our home now, the AC is fixed. I can look back and see so many elements of how the Lord worked… in His timing and provision. I wish I had handled it with more grace and patience but it helps me to see life from that perspective. I make mistakes.. We are flawed people and need the drawing of His loving Spirit to teach us wisdom and right living. I'm so grateful He loves me like that!

Jesus Loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but He is strong

Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

It is remarkable that, even after nearly fifty days with the risen Jesus, the disciples—now apostles—still did not understand. Just a few verses earlier, Jesus had given them one clear instruction for the days ahead: wait (verses 4–5). But they were not content simply to wait. They wanted a preview of what was coming, a glimpse behind the curtain. I think the same is true for many of us today. When I became a Christian in the 1970s, many books were being written about the End Times, and speculation was everywhere about what the world would look like before Jesus’ return. Would there be a one-world government? What would it look like? What would the Antichrist be like? Would the temple in Jerusalem need to be rebuilt before Jesus returned? Then, as now, it seems we do not take Jesus’ admonition seriously: “It is not for you to know times or seasons.” As we look for his return, Jesus did not give us a calendar of dates and times, but he did give us a kind of checklist of things that must take place before his Second Coming. This checklist is found in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Mathew 24:3-14. Without including the whole passage, perhaps we can list some of the things that Jesus said will be present prior his return:
 

1. False teaching false Christs, false prophets- “many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they will lead many astray.” (vs.5). The apostle John reminded his readers; “Children it is the last hour and you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know it is the last hour.”  The same is true today. I think we can check this box.
2. “Wars and rumors of wars…nation rising against nation kingdom rising against kingdom” (vss.6-7). There is war in Iran, the war between Russian and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan. I think we can check this box.
3. Earthquakes (vs7) – Earthquakes of 6.5 magnitude or greater within in the last 3 months have occurred in Peru 6.8, Colombia 6.8, Japan 6.8 Indonesia 6.7. Check  
4. Famines (vs.7) – Currently there are major famines in Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen Gaza and Afghanistan. These areas correspond very closely to areas of conflict highlighted in number 2. Check.
5. Persecution (vss. 9-10) - Since 2000 more than 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith. That is more than all the previous deaths since the Church was birthed at Pentecost. Check.

Jesus gives us a substantial list. Yet every item we have marked off has appeared in some form since the birth of the Church—and, in many ways, throughout recorded history. Regarding these events, Jesus makes a striking statement: “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (v. 8). Still, one essential reality remains before we can rightly speak of Jesus’ return. Jesus identifies it in verse 14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” The word translated “nations” is the Greek word ethnos. It does not primarily refer to modern nation-states but to people groups connected by shared customs and, especially, by shared languages or dialects. Jesus is saying that before the end—before even the end of the beginning—every people group must have the opportunity to hear the good news: that Jesus came down from heaven, was born of a virgin, and lived his entire life in perfect loving relationship with his Father and Maker. This is life that we all should live but are unable to . They must hear that Jesus died the death that they should have died and that he was raised on the third day as proof that his self-sacrifice was sufficient to pay the penalty for every sin ever committed. They must have the opportunity to hear this good news in the language of their heart. They need to hear this good news in their heart language because they need to know that God is the God who knows the language of their heart.

Yet this is the one item on the checklist we still cannot mark as complete. Today, more than 3.4 billion people still do not know who Jesus is because they do not personally know a Christian, have no viable Christian witness—such as a church or missionary—in their community, and lack access to Scripture in their own language. According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, of the 7,396 identified languages in the world, 3,229 still have no Scripture translated into them.

The task ahead is daunting and yet it is doable. This is amazing time to be a global Chrisian. In fact we could be the first generation to witness the fulfilment of Jesus’ prophesy. In 2010 reaching the world’s 7000+ languages was expected to take 125 years. But in 2015 various translation projects came together, harnessed cutting edge technology and forged a path forward together. Today because of these united efforts we are on track to see this task completed in 2033. What will that look like?

• 95% of the world’s population will have access to the full Bible
• 99.96% of the world will have access to a New Testament
• 100% of the world with access to at least some portion of the Scripture
• 2 full Bible translations will be available in the world’s most strategic 100 written languages.

So what can we do to accelerate the accomplishment of this great task?

• Pray — In Matthew 9, before sending out the twelve disciples to proclaim the good news, Jesus told them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into fields ready for harvest. Prayer is always the first and most important work. Resources such as Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net/) can help you learn about unreached people groups.
• Give- This task can only be completed if God’s people (especially the church in the United States) provide both prayer and financial support. IllumiNations (https://illuminations.bible) is a collaborative project uniting all the major translation ministries. This is great way to maximize your gift towards bringing the Bible to all people groups in the world
• Share- Even when the Bible becomes available for all unreached people, they will still need someone to share the good news with them. As Paul said in Romans 10 “How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written ‘How beautiful are the feet those who preach the good news”  (14-15). Today we live in an age in which God is bringing the world to us. Who knows? Maybe God will make it possible for you to share the gospel with someone from an unreached people groups who has become your neighbor. They may not yet have the Bible in their own language but they have you.

So let’s stop looking for the coming attractions. The Greatest Story of all time is being written right before our eyes, and the Author is inviting us to be part of the story and part of bring the story to its glorious conclusion. Are you in?
 

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Hopefully, when you see a title like “The Rock,” your first thoughts aren’t of Dwayne Johnson or that mid-90s action movie with Sean Connery. While those pop-culture icons might pop into our minds first, the biblical imagery of a rock points us toward something much more enduring: a foundation. Living here in the Central Valley, we are constantly framed by the massive, unyielding granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada. They are the definition of permanence. And in construction, a foundation is the solid bedrock upon which everything else rests. Without it, whatever is built is at the mercy of shifting soil, weathering storms, and time.

In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul says something unexpected and almost paradoxical about our spiritual foundation. He writes that the Israelites in the wilderness were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them. Now, a lot is going on, but let’s visualize drinking from a rock for a moment. We usually think of a rock or a foundation as entirely fixed—something that stays in one place that we must travel to or build upon. But Paul reveals that Christ is a mobile foundation. He isn't a distant destination waiting for us to arrive, nor is He a monument anchored in the past. He is actively moving with us through the wilderness of our lives.

When the Israelites were wandering through dry, barren deserts, weary and uncertain of the future, God didn't just give them a map to the well. He brought the living water directly to them, out of a rock, right where they were. In our modern lives, it is easy to feel like we are wandering through our own spiritual deserts. We face seasons of strain, spiritual drought, or crippling uncertainty, and we wonder if something's wrong with our foundation. But the Bible reminds us that our foundation travels with us. The Lord adapts to our terrain. He is just as present and unshakeable in our darkest valley as He is on our highest mountain. Christ is not just the foundation waiting at the end of our journey; He is the Rock sustaining us through every step of the wilderness. He is with us always.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

I never liked school. I mean, I enjoyed recess, phy ed, and lunch, because all of those involved going out on the playground to play football with my friends. But every year as summer drew to a close, and the Back to School commercials came on TV, and the Back to School circulars came in the mail, I would sink into a melancholy mood. My Mom would say, “Brian, time to go out and get you some new school clothes.” I always balked at this. The only thing I hate more than shopping is back-to-school shopping. But Mom wanted me to look presentable. I settled into my seat at homeroom on the first day, they passed out a sheet of paper with the schedule for the year. The first thing I did was count the days till Thanksgiving break, count the days till Christmas break, count the days till Easter break, and count the days till summer.

One fall, when we were just two days away from the start of school my Dad noticed how depressed I was and said, “What’s going on, Brian?” I said, “I don’t want summer to end. I don’t want to go back to school.” Dad said, “School is a necessary part of preparing you for your future in life. There are going to be things in life you don’t like, but are necessary. And school is one of those things. So make the best of it and start strong.”

Then he shared this verse with me…

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

He said, “Brian, you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior, and He is with you, so as you step out into the unknown of a new school year. Be strong and courageous.

School started August 17th for CUSD and FUSD. Fresno State starts August 24th. Even as a teacher at Red Bank, my wife Jenn, has to have a ‘start strong’ mentality with her new class of 2nd graders. For those of you starting something new this fall, I encourage you to start strong.

Joshua 1:9 is a powerful verse where God commissions Joshua to be strong and courageous, to reject fear, and trust that the Lord is with him.

Context

• Moses has died, and Joshua is stepping up to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.
• There are many unknowns. Unfamiliar territory. And leading a large nation.
• And throughout this chapter, God tells Joshua “be strong and courageous.”

A few thoughts…
1. It’s a command

• It’s not a suggestion, or a casual feeling.
• God tells us that courage is a choice we make. God commands it. We obey.

2. Don’t be afraid

• If someone is afraid, what do you tell them? Do you just say, “Stop being afraid!”
• God tells us that not being afraid is a choice we make. God commands it. We obey.
• Don’t allow heavy circumstances to crush your confidence. And pray like crazy.

3. Courage comes from God

• If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, He is with you “wherever you go.”
• Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
• We start to tremble and be dismayed when we are relying on our own strength.
• We have everything we need, in Christ, to be strong and courageous.

Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, but the choice to lean on God’s constant presence. Know that the same God who led Joshua into the Promised Land walks with you into all the challenges you will face in this new season. So start strong.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

What does it mean to have faith like a mustard seed?  In this verse, Jesus uses an analogy, and I find it interesting that he compares faith to a mustard seed.  I think there are a couple lessons we can learn from this wonderful illustration.

First, mustard seeds are very small, typically one to two millimeters in size.  I think this is the main lesson Jesus wanted to convey.  Even though our faith is small it can produce spectacular results!

The point of this verse is not that we need a tremendous amount of faith to move mountains or mulberry trees.  It’s that we have a tremendous God who is capable of doing anything, and all we need is a tiny bit of trust for him to operate.

That’s because our faith is only as strong as its object.  Faith is not powerful in and of itself.  It’s not like the “force” in Star Wars.  Instead, faith is reaching out in hope to grab a hold of the power of God and watch in awe and wonder as he works.
 
An interesting thing about seeds is they don’t cause themselves to grow.  They are dependent on external causes.  They need a farmer to plant them, soil to nourish them, water to hydrate them, and sunlight to energize them.  Likewise, faith depends entirely on God for results.  And since God is unlimited in power, the issue is not how big our faith is, but how big our God is!  Don’t forget that God is the one who gives us faith in the first place (Heb 12:2).

Having said that, a second lesson about seeds is that they do in fact grow.  A mustard seed is only a millimeter long, but it can grow up to 30 feet!  That tells us our faith is not meant to be static.  It should be growing and bursting through its shell and transforming into something big and beautiful that glorifies God.  Of course, this is by definition a painful process.  It takes time for seeds to germinate in the ground.  They can spend weeks or months buried in the earth, surviving in hostile conditions.  But when they grow, they produce a brilliant display of God’s grace, provision and sufficiency.

What are you facing today that requires a mustard seed of faith?  Remember the power to transform your circumstances does not lie in the greatness of your faith, but in the greatness of your God.

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

How much of our peace depends on something changing?
“I’ll have peace when this situation gets resolved.”
“When this busy season is over.”
“When the relationship gets better.”
“When I know what the future holds.”

It’s easy to believe that peace is waiting for us on the other side of our circumstances. If we can just get everything to fall into place, then we can finally rest.

But Scripture gives us a very different picture.

Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned, their feet fastened in stocks. Yet at midnight, before the earthquake came and before a single prison door opened, they were praying and singing hymns to God (Acts 16:22–26).

Paul later wrote Philippians while imprisoned, facing an uncertain future. Yet he could say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). His circumstances couldn’t determine his peace because either outcome still led back to Christ.

Mary sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha was “worried and bothered about so many things.” Jesus told Martha that only “one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41–42). Martha was consumed by the many things. Mary had chosen the one thing.

David fled Jerusalem during the rebellion of his own son Absalom. His family was fractured, his kingdom threatened, and his future uncertain. Yet David wrote, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me” (Psalm 3:5).

Habakkuk looked toward circumstances that could hardly have been worse: no fruit on the trees, no crops in the fields, and no livestock in the stalls. His response? “Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17–18).

Do you see the pattern?
The prison didn’t have to open.
The future didn’t have to become certain.
The tasks didn’t all have to get done.
The rebellion didn’t have to end.
The fields didn’t have to produce.
God was enough before the circumstances changed.

Maybe we have the order backward. We spend enormous energy trying to get everything in life to fall into place so that we can finally experience peace. But biblical peace begins somewhere else.

When we have deep, settled peace with Jesus, everything else may not fall into place…but it begins to find its proper place.

The problem may still be real. The future may still be uncertain. The prayer may still be unanswered. But none of those things were ever meant to carry the weight of our peace.
Jesus was.


Prayer:

• Lord, show me where I have made my peace dependent upon my circumstances changing.
• Help me know Christ so deeply that my confidence in Him becomes greater than my uncertainty about what is happening around me.
• Teach me to trust You before I know how the story ends.

New American Standard Bible®
Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

God has uniquely fashioned each of us to serve and live for Him.  We all have different personalities, abilities, and spiritual giftedness.  When God combines these things together, we all have special ways of serving the Lord that He wants us to use for the furthering of His kingdom.  Even though we may have the same spiritual gift as someone else, we will still serve God in unique ways.  That is because of our personality and the amazing way God has put each of us together.

Along with this, God is the One who puts within us the desire to serve Him. Paul tells us this in the letter to the Philippians:  “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  (Philippians 2:13 NASB 1995)

The word the Apostle Paul uses for “will” expresses a wish, will or desire. Those tugs at our heart, the interest we have, or that longing to serve in some capacity of spiritual ministry is ultimately placed in our life by God Himself.  He will lead us to serve in the very things He has equipped us to do.

Paul told the Philippians that God worked in them so that they could do His good pleasure and accomplish His good purpose. Both divine enablement and human responsibility are involved in getting God’s work done. We are partners with God, laboring together with Him.

God also makes us both willing and desirous to do His work.  He literalling “energizes” or “provides enablement” for us to serve Him.  God provides the strength and the ability to do the good works. We do not muster up the strength in ourselves. That is why the spiritual abilities that God gives us are called “grace gifts.” They are given to us by grace and through grace God provides the strength to do them. Notice all the glory then goes to God and not to the vessel.

Paul again reinforces this truth in his letter to the Corinthians:  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NASB 1995)

We are the vessels the Lord chooses to use.  God has joy in giving us the ability to serve Him, that the glory might ultimately belong to Him.  But in the process He rewards us for serving Him, again all of grace.


Prayer:  Lord, thank you for how you have made me to serve You.  Help me to see the opportunities You give me to serve.  Thank you for the desire and strength to do these things for your glory.  Amen

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

Have you ever heard the phrase: “keeping up with the Jones’s”? The idea is that if your neighbor or friend or peer has something, you feel the need to have that something as well, or at least equivalent to it, or something even better. It’s like a materialistic competition between you and those around you. It seems very natural here in America with our capitalistic way of living, but I assure you that it is not unique to America. Jealousy and covetousness are part of our sin nature and so it is natural for us to want what someone else has. In fact the most raw form of this is watching a small child not wanting to play with a toy, until suddenly his or her playmate begins playing with it, and suddenly now they must have it, and not having it, is world-ending, in their mind.

Jesus reminds us in this passage that our life is not about collecting stuff this side of Heaven. We are told money can’t buy happiness, and I would suggest that it actually can, but only temporary and ultimately hollow happiness. You see anything you buy today will eventually fall out of your favor. You will grow bored with it, it will lose its luster, it won’t be as useful, or as fun, or as cool, or it will degrade, break, or otherwise become unusable. Cars are really good examples of this, new cars with all the latest bells and whistles cost thousands of dollars, and for a few years can be really nice and cool, but look at a really high end car from the 80s or 90s and the lack of a touch screen, dashboard with harsh right angles, and physical knobs and buttons will make you wonder why anyone would have ever bought that thing. But in its day, the stereo was banging, the style of the dash was modern, and the car was worth a lot of money.

The point here is stuff is perishable and fleeting, and if your end goal is to acquire as much good stuff as you can, it's a never ending sisyphean task that can never be fulfilled. In contrast Jesus offers us a true purpose and true source of happiness. When we focus on Christ the money and stuff we naturally gravitate towards become less important in the light of His glory and grace. Jesus warned us not to store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, and where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. All the things we attain here on earth for us will ultimately be meaningless, you can’t take it with you when you die. Only Jesus offers something lasting and eternal. Keep your focus on Him and not what your neighbor has that you don’t. You’ll be happier for it.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

I once heard the following line from a stand-up comedian: “On a scale of 1 to 10, parenting is a lot of 1s and a lot of 10s.” This was definitely true of Lauren and my first experience parenting a toddler. As our daughter Lottie began walking and talking, there were a lot of high points. Every day brought a new word or a new discovery. Seeing her personality blossom was a delight—we learned about her innate curiosity, her people-loving extraversion, her likes and dislikes, loves and fears. But we learned toddler parenting is not for the faint of heart. Lottie was fundamentally selfish, absorbed in her own needs and wants. She insisted on TV at every opportunity and threw fits when we said no… she yelled “No!” or “Mine!” if we try to take an object from her… she came up with EVERY possible excuse to avoid bedtime. We referred to her as “our adorable little sinner.”

That may sound a little harsh, but I think it’s supported by Scripture.  Proverbs 22:15 says that “folly is bound up in the heart of a child.” Even as young as a year, we could see folly—her “sin nature”—rearing its ugly head in Lottie’s heart. The Bible teaches that all of us, from birth, are sinners by nature (Ps. 51:5, Eph. 2:3), with a heart that is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9, KJV). Sin, selfishness, rebellion against God, is inherent to every member of fallen humanity. For anyone unsure of this fact, I recommend spending a day or two surrounded by a group of toddlers.

Yet many hold to the idea that deep down, most people are basically good. In recent Internet polls, about three-quarters of Americans agree with this statement. According to this philosophy, people lose touch with their “inner goodness” because of factors in their environment, ranging from personal tragedy to social pressure. This worldview appears, for example, in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, in which Frankenstein’s monster, initially curious and unselfish, is brutally rejected by society for his hideous appearance. Driven to hatred and rage, the monster turns on its creator and ends up murdering six people in cold blood. The Frankenstein myth perpetuates today in various forms. Consider Hollywood’s obsession with villainous backstories: childhood antagonists (Maleficent, the Wicked Witch, even the Joker) are really decent people ruined by bad circumstances. Disney’s Frozen says the quiet part out loud in the song “Fixer Upper:” “People make bad choices when they’re mad or scared or stressed, / But throw a little love their way, and you’ll bring out their best.” In other words, environmental factors (which cause anger, fear, or stress) are responsible for our misbehavior, not any inherent sin nature.

Toddlers pull the rug out from under this view. I don’t really think I can blame my children’s temper tantrums on some corruption of their inherent goodness due to environmental factors. Lottie—and as he gets older, Elliott—regularly make bad choices when they’re NOT mad or scared or stressed. My kids misbehave not because their basic goodness is waning, but because they are sinners.

So what? One, pray for Lottie, Elliott, and children everywhere, that the Lord would be working in their little hearts to draw them to Himself. Two, pray for me, my wife, and parents everywhere as we wrestle with the joyfully agonizing task of raising sinners. Three, maybe we need a reminder of our own inherent sinfulness. Do we blame our “bad choices,” our sin patterns, on our environment or factors outside our control, instead of facing the reality of our own sinful hearts (James 1:16-17)? May we pray like David for God to “create in us a clean heart” (Ps. 51:10) and continue His work of regenerating us by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."

Sometimes I find comfort in being reminded that the Lord is the Lord and there isn't any other god before Him. He is the Lord and no one else has that name. He is God.

In the 2nd set of verses He reminds me that I am His witness. It's so amazing that He entrusts me with such a powerful message. I can look at it as really daunting or  believing that He is God, He is Lord and there is no other savior besides him; I can rest in Him to open doors. I don't have to make it happen. I just need to be willing and ready to share my story.

A song our choir sang this past year is an example of how an everyday situation can lead to complete transformation. It is a great example of "neighboring." Just a guy/gal "enjoying and sharing the abundant life of Jesus!"

End Of The Beginning  David Phelps
Verse 1
I was taking a trip on a plane the other day             
Just wishing that I could get out
When the man next to me saw the book in my hand  (the open door)
And asked me what it was about
So I settled back in my seat a best seller I said
A hist'ry and myst'ry in one
Then I opened up the book and began to read   (His story)
From Matthew Mark Luke and John

Chorus 1
He was born of a virgin one holy night
In the little town of Bethlehem
Angels gathered 'round Him underneath the star
Singing praises to the great I Am
He walked on the water
Healed the lame and made the blind to see again
And for the first time here on earth
We learn that God could be a friend
And though He never ever did a single thing wrong
The angry crowd chose Him
And then He walked down the road
And died on the cross
And that was the end of the beginning

Verse 2
That's not a new book
That's a Bible he said
And I've heard it all before
I've tried religion it's shame and guilt
And I don't need it anymore
It's superstition made up tales
Just to help the weak to survive
Let me read it again I said
But listen closely
This is gonna change your life   (My story)      
                                 
Verse 3
The end of the beginning
He said with a smile
What more could there be
He's dead
You said they hung Him
Put nails in His hands
And a crown of thorns on His head
I said I'll read it again
But this time there's more
And I believe that this is true
His death wasn't the end
But the beginning of life
That's completed in you
Don't you see
He did all this for you

Chorus 2
He was born of a virgin one holy night
In the little town of Bethlehem
All the angels singing praises to the great I Am
He walked on the water
Healed the lame and made the blind to see
And for the first time here on earth
Did you know that God could be a friend
And though He never did a single thing wrong
He was the one the crowd chose
And then He walked and He died
But three days later three days later
Three days later He rose
Three days later He rose
You see He came He lived and He died
But that was the end of the beginning

2001 Winkin' Music and Soulwriter Music Company, Inc./Gaither Copyright Management and Music Services, Inc.
CCLI Song #3916313 CCLI Licenst #144-2-

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.