Eyes to See

In speaking with a classmate today, she was relaying her concern about the church while dealing with those in need. She has recently lost a grandparent and rather than comfort people would offer euphemisms hoping to ease her grief. "There is truth in euphemisms, but it doesn't help me much when my foundation is shaking and I need something to stand on. The church does a great disservice trying to give wisdom instead of comfort in the midst of crisis." Her words ring very true. Often when people are grieving or in a crisis most of us do not know exactly what to say. We fumble for words as we stumble in seeking to help people through their difficulty.

May I suggest that the church needs to be The Church when someone is in need. What do I mean? Above all things Christ has called the church to love one another. When people are suffering through difficult times, words often avail little. Action is needed: this is being The Church. 1 John 3:18 says, Love not in word only, but in deed and in truth. To love someone at any time requires action, but more so when someone is grieving or struggling. Galatians 6:2 says that we should bear one another's burdens. This passage is speaking of a brother overtaken in a fault, but also applies when someone has a burden of grief.

Our tongues often get is into trouble even when attempting to do the right thing. Let us live by the old adage: Actions speak louder than words. When dealing with loss of any kind whether it be a job, marriage, or loved one, let us pitch in and help with everyday life. I heard a story which can illustrate this perfectly. A senior saint came to a friend's house one day after the family had lost a loved one. She offered few words, but came in and began to wash the dishes. This is the kind of example the church needs. We need to look the grieving in the eye and ask what do YOU need? Other times we need not ask, but do the things we see need to be done.

These actions convey the fact that the one grieving isn't alone. That we stand with them in their time of need. It also relieves them of the needs of everyday life, such as dishes, food, washing clothes, caring for children. All these things people will remember more than the words said. Why? Because it is love in action. What is needed is your shoulder (to cry on), your hands (to hold), your arms (to hug them), your feet (to carry them). The last thing needed is your tongue. Why is this more powerful? Because it is what God did. He gave us an example. God could have stayed in Heaven and proclaimed I love you, but His words weren't needed. He veiled the glory of heaven in a robe of flesh, and we mocked Him, spat on Him, beat Him, and crucified Him. Why? Because my sin debt needed to be paid, and He alone could foot the bill. It was His action that saved me. It was His love that propelled Him. May the love of Christ propel us to serve our brethren in times of need.

May God give us eyes to see their need, a heart that cares, and feet to carry us to their side.

Investing

If you want to know what you value most look at your checkbook and your schedule. We all have different things we value in life, and we invest our time, talent, and abilities in those things. May I suggest that you may be wasting your resources. Would you like to invest in something that has a long lasting value and a great return on your investment? We all would. What is this investment I speak of? I am glad you asked.

Let me explain this investment opportunity to you. First, this investment will require a large amount of equity, in other words you need to have something to give. This investment isn't for those who are weak-hearted, weak willed, and those who lack character. It will test your patience, try your integrity, and strain other areas of your life to a breaking point. Other people may misunderstand you and talk of you negatively, but you must maintain the course for this investment to pay off. There are very few people who have this great of an opportunity, but I see in you someone who has the potential to follow through on this commitment. Are you still with me? Have I frightened you off yet? Ok, wonderful, you are still here.

Not only will this investment cost you some equity, but it can also be a big consumer of your time. Sometimes you may be able to spend just a few minutes checking on your investment, but other times you may have to spend a substantial amount of time. This investment can be volatile with many ups and downs. The pressures which cause these drastic changes often go unseen, but a careful investor who keeps track may be able to see trouble coming and redirect their investment away from trouble. Are you still here? Good, let's proceed.

Unfortunately, this investment can cause health trouble, both physical and mental, and may at some point possibly cost you your life. I know, I know, there aren't many investments which are worth your life, but I assure you this one is. You can trust me, I promise. So, what exactly is this grand investment? Get to the point you say? Okay. Okay.

The grand investment lies all around you. It is something common you interact with everyday. It is the people God has placed in your life. They can break your heart. They can cost you everything you own. They can cause you to lose sleep, grow ulcers, and pace the floor. But in the end, investing your life in other people is truly the only thing that can go with you into the life that is to come. Besides the eternal aspect of relationships, investing in another person can cause the course of history to change. Investing in another person can also change the course of one's history. It is worth your time, your equity, your life. How can I say this in certainty? Because Jesus invested His all in me.

G.O.D

I had a thought this morning (strange I know) about how we often treat God like He is G.O.D only. What is G.O.D.? Starz movie channel has Starz on demand so you can purchase movies whenever you want. My thought was we treat God like he is our God On Demand. We only use Him when we have a need. Someone is sick, oops call God. An unexpected bill appears, oops call God. Things are going great, (crickets chirping to God) yay me!

There is a great misuse of God in our church culture when we view God as a genie in a bottle. We only feel the need to be in touch with Him when we can't handle things ourself. The sad truth is: we can't handle anything alone! In John 15:5, Jesus says that apart from Him we can do nothing! Is it our American culture that tells us to do things on our own? Is it pride? Is it just sheer ignorance of the depths of our sin nature? Whatever the cause, we need to get back in the Book and learn who we are and who we are in Him.

We need to realize that we still struggle with sin despite our forgiven and adopted state before God. We need to remember what Christ did for us and where we would have ended up without His saving grace freely given to all who ask in faith. What we need is that continual relationship and pursuit of God. We need to have Isaiah's vision of God's holiness. When we see ourselves in the light of God's holiness, only then can we truly understand that He is not the G.O.D. He is the Almighty God, Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, Savior, Redeemer, Alpha and Omega, Ancient of Days, but most of all my Lord, Savior, and Friend.

Spend time with Him and make Him your God, not your G.O.D.

Success

The American dream, a house, job, nice car, leisure time, leisure money, an easy life. Most of these things come to mind when success is brought up. The wisest man to live, Solomon, oddly calls all of this "vanity of vanities." Solomon says that man's search for meaning in work, material goods, pleasure, family, and success is all good for nothing. All of these things fail to fill the inner emptiness we all have, otherwise the suicide rate would drop significantly. All of us have these things to some degree.

Why then do we still find in our society many who complain about having little or nothing? Why then do we in America seem to be especially unhappy? Why are we never satisfied? The answer lies within us. We can have all these things, yet the one thing which truly satisfies our soul is a relationship. Outside of God and a relationship with Him our possessions mean nothing.

I want to go a step further. To truly be successful, I believe that a person must pour out their life. Like a drink offering in the old testament, when we pour out our life into another we offer ourselves as a drink offering to God. The only thing that is eternal is our relationships. When we pour out our life in service to God and another, we leave behind here on earth a lasting legacy and take with us an eternal reward and gift.

Here is the greatest part of it all. When we pour out what God has given to us, He pours in more. Psalm 23:5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows." If we are in a close relationship with God, we never give of our self (which is good because we have nothing to give), we give of the overflow He provides. And if you are living close to God, you do not have to even try, it just happens. Jesus said that "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." The word for fill means to have a surplus, a superabundance, in other words the overflow of your heart.

I implore all of us who are Christians, live close to Christ. Be intentional in getting involved in the lives of others, and let Christ work in them through you from the overflow of God in your heart. Then you will know what success is.

Jealousy

Exodus 20:4-5

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.

Ever wonder how it is right for God to be jealous and yet wrong for us? Little words often make big differences. God is not jealous OF us, He is jealous FOR us.

What do I mean? I mean He does not want what we have, He wants what we are. He wants US: broken, crushed, empty, useless human beings. He does not care about our societal status, whether we are rich or poor. He cares not for our appearance, whether we are fat, skinny, tall, short, beautiful, or, well, not so much. Just like the father of the prodigal son who cared not for the poor, broken, filthy, wretched, disgusting, vile, awful smelling state of his son, but he cared for his son alone. The prodigal's father says, "for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found." The father ran to his son, hugged him, kissed him, wept, and rejoiced.

We do many foolish and hurtful things out of jealousy. It is a deep, strong emotion that compels us from deep within to seek after what we want regardless of the cost. Jealousy wants us to prove that we are better, smarter, prettier than the person we are jealous of. It compels us to justify our existence to those who look down on us and to seek their approval. All of us at some point have felt these emotions and how strong and consuming they are.

This is the picture I want to paint for you. God's desire for us is so strong that it compelled Him to take on human flesh, live among the very people who would kill Him, love them, heal them, raise them from the dead, and eventually die for their sin and for ours. Jesus, "who for the joy set before Him endured the cross," so that He could have a relationship with me. With me!! Such is His all consuming love.

He is Faithful

You, O Lord, are my refuge.
When All had left me
When I was truly alone
You were still there.

Desolate as the desert
Barren as a forest stripped
As a river that has run dry
So was my life.

An empty shell
A tree hollowed out
Lacking inner peace
So was my life

Yet in my despair
You called out
You reached for my hand
As I began to sink for the last time.

You drew me out of the depths
From the Pit of Death
From the Snare of Satan
You grasped my hand and drew me out.

Remembering the Past

I have been away from the house a couple of nights this week, which has become rare for me. And each night I gazed up at the sky and although most of the stars were blotted out by the city lights, there was a bright planet glowing in the night sky declaring boldly, "Look at me!!" I paused for a few seconds to gaze at it and wondered which planet it was. I felt the urge to stare at it as though some unknown knowledge of which planet it was and what existence on that planet might be like would come to me. As I pulled my head back down and began to walk down the sidewalk again, my mind wandered back to a night a few years back when God spoke to me.

It was the summer of 2006 and I had just gotten home from work. It was almost midnight as my shift didn't end until 11:00 p.m. My wife had become ill over the last few weeks and was now in a wheelchair, a state of being which would dominate our lives for the next year and a half. She was in pain constantly and this pain prohibited her from walking. We were living on the campus of the Bible college I had graduated from and which she was now a student. Her inability to walk and function would mean that we would soon have to move off campus and the rental rates off campus were at least twice as much as we were paying. The constant doctor visits, the medications, all the expenses were beginning to add up and I was in utter confusion as to what to do. I sat in the truck and cried out to God in agony. On top of the financial difficulties was the fact that I had to watch my wife suffer. There is nothing worse for a man than having to watch his wife suffer in pain and be helpless to ease it. As I got out of the truck I looked up at the sky. I wandered toward the field behind the dorms. As I walked I talked with God, mumbling to Him about needing His help, about being helpless, and seeking what to do.

I got to the middle of the field and just stood mumbling and occasionally looking up at the sky. Eventually I stopped talking and just stood there peering into the sky as if I was straining to see God. Then He spoke. "If I can create these stars, planets, galaxies, and all that is in the universe, I can handle your problems." I stood in silence still, but inside me there was a change of scenery. Hope replaced despair. Trust removed doubt. He did not tell me what He was going to do nor how He was going to do it. What He said was, "I got this."

Sometimes we forget that God IS on His throne and that nothing escapes His watchful eye as it goes to and fro beholding both the good and the wicked. I had forgotten that God was on the throne. Yet that night, He spoke to me in the middle of a field behind the dorm building of a Bible college campus located out in the woods of a small Southern town when there was no one else around but the cows.

This week, when I bent my head upwards to gaze at the stars, my mind recalled the position of my head on that night and now when I peer up at the sky I still hear His voice, "I got this."

The Everlasting God

You are the everlasting God.

When I am tired, You are not.
When I quit, You do not.
When I despair, You give hope.
When I am faint, You revive me.
When I fail, You renew me.
When I am alone, You are still here.
When I am, You always are, were, and have been.

What I am belongs to You (Eph. 2:10)

Who I am is found in You (Phil. 3:6)

Where I am is where You are. (Eph. 2:4-6)

You are the everlasting God.

The Eye

I awoke this morning to an unexpected feeling. Peace.

As I lay there I thought about where my life in the Lord is at this moment, and for the first time, probably in my life, I felt completely totally at peace with where I am in the Lord and in my life. I believe I am in the center of His will for me. How can I describe it?

Wonder, grace, fear, awe, joy and, yes, peace, are just a few words that describe where I am in my life. I am in the eye of the hurricane that is life. I stand in awe and amazement at the storm around me. I see the lightning, hear the thunder, and feel the wind fade as I come from the storm of uncertainty, doubt, and fear to the joy, peace and calm that is the perfect will of God. I enter the blue skies, calm wind, and bright sunshine of God's manifest presence and the glory of His love where no storm comes, no fear interrupts, and no doubt enters. Will I always be here? No. Does that matter? No. I am here now and this experience will give me strength to face the next storm of life. I know that I will one day soon face the storms of life, but after being here what have I to fear? My mind immediately goes to the book of Romans and that glorious chapter 8:

Romans 8:31-39 (HCSB)
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Nothing can separate me from Christ. No power of Hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand (In Christ Alone). God's love for me was settled at the cross (Henry Blackaby). The day I cried, "Lord, save me," my fate was settled forever as God applied the blood of Christ to the doorposts of my heart and He declared me free. Pardoned from my sin and the punishment deserved and given a home in Heaven and a royal name. That is my God, my Savior, my Refuge, my Rock, the One from whom my help comes, and the One who walks with me each day to guide, love, and care for me. THAT is my God.

As you read this, as I will again someday when I am in the storm, I want you to remember to get to the eye you have to go through the storm. There is no other way. Life is that storm, and it gets difficult. Continue searching for the eye of the storm, and when you find it rest in His presence, bask in His sunlight, and drink in the beauty of His presence.

In His service,

D

Forgiveness

Why are Christians astonished and shocked when someone falls deeply into sin?

IF you are a christian, then you know the truth of the thoughts that still go through your head, the wickedness, the vulgarity, the filth that all people have in their hearts and is not uncommon to anyone. Or are you completely purged of every wickedness? Are you pure in act, word, thought and intent? Then why are you surprised when someone else is not? Have you forgotten that you were once enslaved to sin? Do you excuse your sinful thoughts, deeds, and attitudes?

I believe I am like most people. I fail often in thought, word, and deed and I sin. But to be like Christ, I am to forgive those who sin against me as God has forgiven me.

Why do we revel in other's failure? Why do we whisper behind people's backs about what we saw them do or heard them say? Why are we always tools in Satan's hands and look to tear down another when they have fallen?

As I was meditating today, I was pondering different things in my mind and I began to think on this. The right thing to do would be as scripture says in Galatians:

Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you won’t be tempted also. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load. Galatians 6:1-5 (HCSB)

And as I pondered how we should treat a person who has fallen, I thought about how angry some people get when someone in ministry falls. And this led me to think of a verse that has always been a little unclear to me in it's full meaning.

My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. James 1:19-20 (HCSB)

If we apply the truth of God's word found in these two passages, then I believe we carry out the truth of God's word. Those who fall into sin do not need condemnation, but forgiveness and acceptance after they have repented. It is then that God can work through each of us to rebuild a child of God into a useful servant, because God's will for all of us is to be useful in His Kingdom. Even if it means falling into sin to be a warning to others.

Foundations

According to scripture there are only two foundations of life; love or lust. In dealing with others, most actions we take have one of these motivations as its source. We are either doing something for someone out of love or lust. Love focuses on what is best for the other person, regardless of its cost to us. While lust only focuses on what we want from them, regardless of cost to them.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) We have the greatest example of love ever given to humanity.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

He did not consider what it would cost Him to bring us salvation. He only considered the end result; the possibility of having a relationship with me.

We humans are very simple. We continue to be fooled by the same things for thousands of years.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:16-17 emphasis added)

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6 emphasis added)

From the beginning we have been deceived according to our own lusts and desires. "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." (James 1:14) When we are more concerned about what we want rather than God’s will for us, we fall into sin.

The Journey Begins ....

In February of 1992, I surrendered to God's call on my life for ministry. Over the next several years, He opened up Scripture to me through my own personal Bible study, church teaching, and people around me.

Through the long and winding road of life, I found myself in May of 2008 in desperate straits. After struggling the previous couple of years with my wife's health, my mother's health, and financial issues, it all came to a conclusion in the last week of May of 2008. My wife decided we needed to spend "time apart," my mother died, and as I was already in the process of moving, was forced to move in with my father. I have never felt so alone, abandoned, and abused in my life.

I was in the shower (naked before God as one friend said) and reflecting on the time in my life just after I accepted my call to ministry. God slapped me upside the head and asked me, "Why do you think I did that??" In other words He isn't done with me yet. He pressed upon me to pursue Christian Education and a particular place of study. My honest reaction was "You gotta be kidding me!!! The shape my life is in and all that has gone on and you show this to me NOW!!!???!!?? What the...." I spoke to several friends, pastors and my own pastor. My objection was just that, my situation. I received some encouragement to pursue it and let God work so I applied to Gardner Webb University.

As many of you know, I went on a spiritual retreat last year and God fundamentally changed me. I had been living in fear for so long of serving God with my whole heart, of being who He has made me, of standing out (like I could avoid it??). He also showed that I was more focused on my situation than I was on Him and His calling in my life. That my own preconceived notions were standing in the way of serving Him. I immediately let those go. Now, I am free for the first time in my life to be who He wants me to be. I am free to serve Him without fear.

Also while I was at the retreat, several men came to me and said that I should go into ministry or asked me when I was going to surrender to God's call. Apparently God's call is very evident upon me. One said that it just poured out of me. To me, it was a sign of God's continuing pursuit of me.

It had been several weeks since I had applied to Gardner Webb and had received no word. When I came home from this retreat, I sat down at my pc on Monday morning for my morning devotion. A notice popped up, as soon as I sat down, that I had received an email from Gardner Webb University. I immediately opened it and it was an email stating they wanted more info to start my college experience there.

I am now in a church that has embraced me. I have people encouraging me each and every time I see them to serve God and people that want to give me opportunities to put my gifts and talents to work. People who encourage me that I still have more talents and gifts yet to give and discover. People who see in me abilities that I do not yet see and will not let me sell myself short. The kind of people I have needed in my life for a long time. All of this would not have happened if my wife and I were still together.

In speaking with a "new found friend" about this yesterday, I had an epiphany of sorts. I used to feel sorry for myself because this happened. Now I praise God. I realized that had this not happened to me, I would not be where I am now. My life is still in tatters emotionally (to a degree) and financially, but spiritually I am closer to Jesus Christ than I have ever been in my life. God showed me that what I saw as a curse, He is using for a blessing. That I may serve Him openly with a whole heart, full of His Spirit, Word, and (hopefully) Power. I used to cry over this event in my life, now I smile and praise God.

God bless all who read this that they may be encouraged and hopeful that God is not done with them yet. Amen.