Today’s Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is now our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. NASB

Ever heard the phrase, “I’m just going to take down my tent and go home”? I feel that way sometimes. Oh not really, but I can identify with the next verse where it talks of groaning and longing. We have a ways to go in this life. Sometimes the path is smooth and downhill and at other times it is rugged and headed uphill. Scripture tells us that we  can have joy in both even if we are uncomfortable and mumble to ourselves of aches and pains. I find that after fifty the aches are much less from too much exercise and more from lack of it. For instance, I used to think those chairs that help you stand up were stupid. I tried my mom’s out while I was in Texas last month and it actually was a lot easier to get up. I hate when that happens. Well, whether your tent still smells like new or has a few gashes and tears in it from wear, we can all know that what comes just beyond this is much better. Our eternal bodies do not hunger, ache or get sick. Regardless of the shape your trade in is in, you get a brand new one that never gets old any more. What a deal. For now, I’ll sew on a few more patches and dream of a new one!

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. NASB

Our granddaughter loves to run through the house. It is a jot to see her so free and full of joy. Unfortunately, she also likes to wear shoes that are too big for her little feet. As a result she has a tendency to stumble and crash quite often. When we stumble spiritually, there are some obvious comparisons. What powerful words in this verse! God is indeed able to keep us from stumbling. Yes, even after we are saved, we have a propensity to still stumble on occasion(s). That is an undeniable fact. However, we need not. If we would simply go before the Father before we walk into the range of temptation, what a difference that would make. Do you believe God can keep you from stumbling? If we followed Jesus’ example we would pray the night before for strength, wisdom and guidance fro God. If we did this we would likely stumble less. Having made the decision to follow God’s way in advance makes the doing easier. Look what we get as a reward. We stand in His presence blameless and with great joy. Wow, what a picture! Jesus died for our sins. Jesus lived to set a righteous example for living. Thank you Lord for both for we need them both every day.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: 1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. NASB

When I am working with folks on a better understanding of prayer, this is always a must read passage. From it I get “God hears our prayers”, “God answers our prayers” and “God only gives good answers to our prayers”. We can pray in God’s will simply by asking His will be done and not our own as part of our request. This is how Jesus prayed and so should we. This does not preclude us asking for things in the best way we know how whether they ultimately are God’s will in a situation or circumstance or not. But by simply yielding all prayer to His will we know that what we will receive is His best for us and in accordance to His will. When some struggle with the idea of “praying nothing doubting”, praying knowing God has promised to answer is the solution. We have confidence not in our perfect request, but rather in God’s perfect answer. He assures us that He hears and answers. What a wonderful promise to claim in prayer. Praise God.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;” NASB

I feel a bit like sifted wheat lately. Not that what I am up to in my ministry would demand Satan’s attention like this. Or maybe it does. At any rate you may be feeling “sifted” a bit yourself. We are not left to our own devises and limited personal resources during such times. God promises to be right there with us. His comfort, wisdom and healing are infinite. We never lack when we lean on Him. The next verse in this passage is significant strength and hope for Peter and us. “but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Being strong for my family, congregation and readership is constantly on my mind. We can know that even though we be shaken and sifted, Jesus is holding us before the Father and that lest we abandon our faith, there is assurance of healing and ministry beyond the valley. Debby and I have committed to praise God when the news of my health is good or bad. We have given it all to God’s care. If you find yourself being sifted a bit, know that there is a source of strength available on request and a future filled with hope in faith. Praise God.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Matthew 16:22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” NASB

Jesus had just told the disciples the next step in His mission. He was to go to Jerusalem and be killed. Peter took it on himself to give Jesus a quick review of His plan. Jesus responds in the next verse with the famous line, “Get thee behind me Satan!” Ouch. Do you ever find yourself playing Monday morning quarterback or like a supervisor giving God job “advice”? I subscribe to a service called “Quotemeal” and get Christian quotes every day by email. That is where the quotes at the bottom of my signature file in my emails comes from. (now you know one of my secrets) Today’s is appropriate with this verse. ”Sometimes God doesn’t tell us His plan because we wouldn’t believe it anyway.” — Carlton Pearson. I don’t know Carlton Pearson, but I both agree and at the same time disagree with his statement. On the one hand, it is just what Jesus was saying to Peter. “Keep quiet, as you don’t know the whole picture.” What if Jesus had taken Peter’s advice? We’d be without a Savior. On the other hand, the quote for the day is off. God has indeed revealed His plan in full to us in His word. Maybe the quote idea is true at the day to day micro level, but we can know God’s plan and will. At any rate, this is the ideal place to insert faith, is it not? We just need to have the faith that God has the big picture and knows where He is going and we’d be best served by following instead of making vain attempts at a performance review of Him.

 

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

 

 

 

 

Today’s Verse: Luke 10:23 Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see,” NASB

Jesus was explaining to the disciples how wondrous was the opportunity to witness what He was saying and doing. Kings and prophets longed to have the opportunity they had to be eye and ear witnesses to the things the Son of Man would do. What an amazing opportunity to have met with, eaten with and even talked to Christ Jesus in the flesh. Interestingly enough, thanks to the sacrifices of many, we too can experience the miracles and teachings of Jesus. All we have to do is pick up our Bibles and read. The apostles and writers of the New Testament books and letters have left for us a first hand account of what Jesus said and did. Here we too can experience the thrill of the miracles and know the depths of the heavenly lessons that were being taught. When many of the communist countries were still closed to such things, people risked their lives to smuggle these stories in to people hungry to share in this knowledge. Let us who may have multiple versions available never take for granted what a privilege it is and what a blessing we have in the Bible. Open God’s word today and drink deeply of the living water. Your eyes too will be blessed!

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Leviticus 16:9-10 “Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.” NASB

So believe it or not, these verses explain a couple of important things. One, where did the concept of a scapegoat come from and secondly, what happened to the sin of the nation of Israel on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. The goat for (literally) Azazel, “the goat of removal”, received upon it the sins of the nation of Israel and the priests for the prior year. It was then cast out into the wilderness so that sin might be far removed from the city of Jerusalem. That is a good lesson for us in dealing with sin. Christ paid the debt owed for our sin when we are in Him. We must then repent of it and cast the sin out of our life in to the wilderness not to be seen again. What a wonderful picture of redemption God began teaching so many years ago. Let us not invite the sin on Azazel back into our lives.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Psalm 147:1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming. NASB

In the midst of trying to hit the right notes and get the words correct of church hymns, I find it easy to lose sight that I am supposed to be worshipping. I like praise choruses better for that reason. They typically are on PowerPoint and do not have notes. You just sing the melody or simple harmonies with everyone. It is a challenge since many of the older members, and some not so old, like to sing the oldies. It seems as if some of the song leaders do not want to sing anything written after 1642. This may be why I struggle with the wording sometimes. We certainly have to find balance. A proper worship service also must be crafted. There is a giftedness bestowed on those wonderful few who have the God given ability to lead us into praise and meaningful worship. There are some choruses that literally bring me to tears every time. Not that this is requisite, but for me it signals my heart’s involvement in what I am doing. It happens in my preaching as well. Heart felt messages have me tearful every time. It is ultimately my responsibility to bring praise and worship to the Lord. I pray that I will find myself more often moved to tears and less often to criticism that someone else is not “doing it right”. I must get my heart right first and no one can help with that except Christ Jesus.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Today’s Verse: Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. NASB

It is pretty easy to pray and not lose heart in the short term. It is in the long haul of a prolonged illness or trying circumstance where heart and persistence sometimes evade us. I can assure you that there are indeed times in my ongoing struggle with cancer that there are moments that sometimes turn into days when I just run out of spiritual steam. I just get tired of being tired. Maybe you have experienced the same thing with job burnout or being in some trying circumstance for seemingly forever. It becomes harder and harder to “keep a stiff upper lip” or whatever you want to label the toughness and rugged persistence we would like to model to others. Good news is that God knows all about that. He certainly knows our heart and our circumstance. Here is Jesus’ answer to just such failure of strength. He says, “ pray”. God promises to give us wisdom and strength in a measure equal to any circumstance we find ourselves in. We must however seek Him and His strength in prayer. Maybe we run out of gas when we neglect time with Him? So, in all this there is a promise as well. If we pray at all times He will help us to not lose heart. For then we will have the assurance of knowing He is at our side all the way.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.

Matthew 26:41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not fall into temptation; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” NASB

I think one of the most important daily lessons that we can mimic of Jesus’ is to pray before we go into difficult or tempting circumstances. All too often we do the opposite. We wait until we are tempted and then either fail or scramble in prayer for God to help us “quick”. What Jesus did was to win the victory before He entered into the battle. The battle against temptation was won before it started. Certainly it is appropriate to ask God for help when we are tempted. Pray like crazy I say. However, does it not make more sense to knowingly go into the fray having already made the decision and have chosen God’s way instead the way of the flesh? There are certainly times when we will be surprised by a temptation or trial. Many times though we actually know going in what we are about to face. If we already have the decision to behave or react in Christ’s righteousness made. then we can also have much more strength having already faced the temptation in prayer and defeated it. Pray for God’s strength in advance and enter the battle victorious.

May God bless your heart as you seek His.