"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure everything out on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)
There are two realities with which we interact: The seen, and the unseen. We can see our paycheck and our family, and we can grasp certain concepts and manage various habits. Most of us, however, have never seen a million dollars, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. In fact, many of us may, over the course of our lives, actually see a million dollars as it ebbs and flows in smaller amounts. It is that unseen figure that we tap into bit by bit that we live on. So it is with God.
When we limit ourselves to the seen, we limit ourselves from experiencing the greater Unseen. For all our understanding, all our ability, all our resources and wealth we are very limited. All that is seen is limited and temporary. We wind up creating an image of success and strength that we must maintain at all costs, even at the death of our integrity. When we hope and depend on temporary things, we become slaves to death.
God is like that million dollars – far more than we can truly understand. In fact, He is more like a Trillion dollars. If you’re like me, that is just a word used to say, “A whole lot of money.” With God, we are not required to fully understand, we are called to trust. As we trust we experience Him and gain understanding. We were made to depend on God. Dependence requires humility – a proper and healthy perspective of self – where self reliance is driven by pride. It is written, “God gives grace to the humble, but the proud He knows from afar.” Pride runs its own way and puts distance between us and God. Dependence draws us closer to God.
When we can recognize our great need and insufficiency and depend on God to sustain us, we can then, “do all things through Christ who gives us strength.” The disciples trusted their little boat and sailing skill more than the Messiah and wound up scared and rebuked. Yet when they did learn to depend on the power of God, they “turned the world upside down” for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Dependence on God is essential to experiencing the power and presence of God. Do you depend on God in all things – great and small?
Weekly Devotional: May 24, 2009
Words to Grow On
“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” ~ 2 Chronicles 16: 9a
If we are truly honest with ourselves, we really have very little strength. We can accomplish some small feats in the overall scheme and make ourselves feel strong and able, but in reality, we can do nothing that is truly lasting; that is life changing, not on our own. As Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”
So where do we find the strength to do great things, lasting things? Where do we find the strength to do the kind of things that can change a heart, a city, or the world? Where did the disciples find it? They were accused of “turning the world upside down.” How did they have such power? I think the answer is found in a statement they made to Jesus fairly early in their training. I don’t think they understood the gravity of it when they made because they uttered these words out of fear, but experiencing the power and strength of God must begin with fear. They said, “We have left everything to follow you!” Indeed, they had completely committed themselves to follow Jesus.
Why would God strengthen those who are not committed to Him? If we are devoted to self, why would God reward us with His strength? If we are unwilling to trust God in various areas of our lives, then why would He bless us with that which can only come from Him? What would that teach us? No, the strength and power of God is only manifest in our lives when our lives are completely devoted to God. This does not demand perfection, but devotion. “Man judges by outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” He searches out those who, though they are not perfect yet, their hearts are fully committed, devoted, to Him. These are they who receive His strength and experience His power.
Later, Peter began to come to terms with his fear of having left everything to follow Jesus. When confronted with an opportunity to leave, he said, “Where else shall we go? You have the words of life.” In other words, nothing else is worthy of our devotion. There is nothing else we can commit to that will result in true and abundant life. Nothing else is big enough to be God and Lord.
To be holy unto the Lord is to be set apart for God. As holy unto God we are His people, and He is our Lord. If He is Lord, then there is nothing that is off limits to Him. He has it all. Though His work is not complete in us, we must have a willingness – even an eagerness – to give God access to every part of our lives, even the hidden parts. God pours out His strength on those who He knows will use it for His glory and purpose. Are you one of those, “whose hearts are fully committed to Him”? If not, take that step, make that commitment and find the strength that you have been longing for.
Weekly Devotional: May 17, 2009
Words to Grow On
“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissention among brothers.” ~ Proverbs 6:16-19
There are three categories for temptation: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. These were the three levels of temptation for Adam and Eve, and they are the same three temptations set before our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. All three have one thing in common – “me first.” We are told that there are seven things the LORD hates. All of them are driven by “me-first.”
Satan’s sin was that of “me-first.” He wanted the glory, he wanted the majesty, he wanted the honor and praise and power that belongs to God alone, and he was willing to sacrifice anything to get it. His haughty eyes lusted after God’s place as Lord. His lying tongue deceived a third of the angels, as well as God’s children, thus shedding innocent blood. All his schemes are wicked as he seeks to take the glory that is not his and his feet rush eagerly to any evil he thinks might accomplish his plan. He is called “the accuser of the saints” as he breathes out accusation and false witness against God’s people. All this is driven by his lust for what he sees, his lust for what he is convinced he needs and deserves, and his insatiable pride and lust for power.
We can be much the same. Though our desires are not directly to take God’s place, we put ourselves in Satan’s camp by trying to place other things on God’s throne. We are driven by success, acceptance, popularity, wealth, comfort, safety, fear, or perceived needs. Is there any doubt as to why God hates deceit? It is fueled by selfish ambition. “What is it that causes fights and quarrels among you? Is it not your selfish desires? You kill and covet, but you still do not have.” When we lie, cheat, or manipulate – even if our motive is not malicious, we are still guilty of “me-first;” we are still guilty of sin. When we lie to cover up and protect ourselves, we deny the very reality we must face in order to find forgiveness and healing from God.
Honesty is a dangerous business. It requires faith – not in man, but in God. It demands we take the dirtiest and most fragile parts of ourselves and expose them. It is there, with nothing to cover or protect us but God’s grace, that we experience the healing power of God. Lies kill the soul. They hide our true condition and they make us a partner to the enemy in wounding, and even killing, the hearts of others. Our lies are a wall we build between us and God, who is truth. Honesty is a narrow and rocky path that leads to the heart of God and refreshes the soul. You stand at a fork in the road. Which road will you choose? We cannot foster unhealthy relationships with others and have a healthy relationship with God. Devote yourself to live honestly before God.
Weekly Devotional: May 3, 2009
Words to Grow On
“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” ~ Psalm 121:1-2
When challenges arise in our lives, there are many things we will look to. Our problem is that the one place we should look first is often where we look “when all else fails.” We grapple with the issues in our lives by our own strength, wisdom, and power and then we wonder why life seems so difficult. God allows problems in our lives to forge our character and deepen our faith. Life gets easier when we set our eyes on the One who is “our strength, our refuge, and our ever-present help in time of trouble.”
Instinctively we will turn our eyes to all manner of other things in time of trouble. We look to turn our venom on what, or who, we see as the source of our trial. We will look around us for reason or logic to justify or explain our condition. We will turn our eyes within us to try and find some strength to “just deal with it.” None of these, however, are sufficient.
King David, a “man after God’s own heart,” who knew intimately God’s provision, protection, deliverance, and victory was a man who did not rely on anything he could possess or attain. He looked to the hills – beyond his kingdom, beyond his authority, beyond own strength and perseverance. He declared that his strength comes from the Lord – He who made the heavens and earth…now that’s power!
Our struggles are real. They can be a very serious threat to us, yet we treat them lightly by tending them with our weakness and ignorance rather than bringing them to God who is far greater than all our trials. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is, then we need to present ourselves to Him in time of trouble, recognizing our circumstance, but also God’s greatness. We need to petition God to lead us and do a work in each instance that only God can do. Finally, in faith, we must proceed in faith, knowing that God will answer our prayer. We may need t wait, we may need to act, but we need to do so with eyes and ears open believing that God will answer. We most often fail to see great works of God because we do not believe that He can, or will, do them.
Lift your eyes to the hills, present yourself to God Almighty, petition the God who loves you, and proceed in confidence that God is with you and for you. Then you will realize victory. Then you will overcome, “Not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit.”
Weekly Devotional: April 26, 2009
Words to Grow On
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
We all face difficult circumstances. Sometimes it is merely a part of living in a fallen world, other times it is the direct result of either our sin, or someone else’s. We can find ourselves consumed by our circumstances if we are unable to see beyond the surface.
Peter got to walk on water. It took a tremendous amount of faith to step out of the boat and let go of the side. Peter’s problem was that he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the waves. It was then that he began to sink. He sank because he could not see Jesus. We sink into the turbulent sea of our lives because, like Peter, we can’t see Jesus. It is easier to be a victim than the hero, so we don’t look for Jesus in our circumstances, instead, we wave our arms and wait to be rescued. I think of a scene in a movie where a man falls into the water and begins to flail and call for help. When his rescuer gets out to him they reveal that the water isn’t even waist deep! When we feel like we’re drowning in life, what if we know we couldn’t drown? How would we handle a situation where we knew we were already saved? More than that, what if we knew that our hardship meant to do something beyond our imagination?
“For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame…” Jesus, though deeply burdened by the cross that lay ahead of him, endured it. Why? Because He trusted that the Father’s will would be accomplished through his suffering. The payoff was worth it. Your trials and hardships serve the same purpose: To reveal God in you and through you. God has not changed. He used Joseph’s years of trial after trial to save many lives. He will use your trials to do the same as He reveals His Gospel through you, or works out the Gospel in you.
This brings us to a critical reality. In the words of our dear brother Pastor Rick Warren: It’s not about you! You are a small, but important, part of a very big picture. It is easier to be a victim than it is to be a vessel, but we are called – even saved – to be vessels. God will use us in beautiful ways, and common ways, but we are all used by the Master’s hand to accomplish His purpose: The redemption of the world. Where is God at work in your torrents? Can you see Jesus through the wind and waves? How is God revealed to you and through you? God is sovereign, and no event – great or small – is untouched by His hand. “Stuff happens…..” ….for a reason.
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