Tag Archives: Christian

June 14, 2016 · 1:59 AM

A Place Of Life


As we walked into the Garden Tomb area outside the current walls of Jerusalem, a person behind me said, “This looks like a cemetery.” I laughed, turned around, and said, “That’s because it is!” The place is beautiful and peaceful. It’s easy to forget where you are as you stroll through the garden. It doesn’t feel like a touristy spot like so many places here do. It’s a relaxing a spiritual experience for sure.

After looking at Golgotha and going inside the tomb, we stepped aside and took communion. As I was holding the bread and the juice, I kept thinking about my comment that it was a cemetery. This was a garden with a tomb in it really. As I thought about that more, and we took communion, I began to reflect on the garden aspect of the place. A garden is a place where things grow. It’s a place where life thrives.

What better place for Jesus to be buried than in a garden, a place of life. Jesus came so that we may have life, and life more abundant. As I looked around this garden, I kept thinking about how it was a reflection of who He was. It was a place of peace for the Prince of Peace. It was full of life like the giver of life Himself. Jesus wasn’t buried in a place that was surrounded by other dead bodies. He was surrounded by life.

As I walked away from that place, there was a small plaque of John 14:6. In that verse, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE.” I had always focused on the first two, but had rarely thought about what it meant for Him to be the life. He can grow the most beautiful things in our life where it looks like a cemetery. He can speak life into your most impossible situation because there is nothing too hard for Him. Don’t look at the problems in your life as an end. Give that to the Lord and He will turn them into a place of life and growth like the garden near His empty tomb.

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June 13, 2016 · 2:20 AM

The Wilderness


I’m on a trip to Israel. For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be sharing some of my insights from going to the places throughout this country that was written about so much in the Bible. One of the first things you notice here in Israel is how tough the terrain is. It’s a very mountainous country, but these aren’t friendly mountains. They are covered in rocks and they protrude from the ground in an unforgiving manner.

As we drive through southern Israel, you can’t help but think how difficult it must have been to travel by foot. Not only is the terrain rough, but this time of year, it’s very hot. As we traveled from Masada to Jericho to Jerusalem, we stopped to look at the Mount of Temptation. It is where it is believed that Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting and was tempted by the enemy. If in fact it was the place, it would have made a difficult fast nearly unbearable.

Matthew 4:1 says, “THEN JESUS was led (guided) by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness (desert) to be tempted (tested and tried) by the devil”. It’s important to note here that He was led by the Holy Spirit to go into this place. The wilderness is a tough, unforgiving place, but when it is the Holy Spirit leading us, we can trust God will protect us and give us everything we need.

It’s not always comfortable where the Spirit leads us. Sure we like it when God leads us to the mountain top, but that mountain isn’t always a beautiful mountain. The road can be hard, and the mountain can be rough. The Spirit will often take us to seek and to save the lost. In many cases, they are in the wilderness of life themselves living a rough life. To find them, we have to leave the green pastures and endure rough terrain.

With the leading of the Holy Spirit we cannot fail. Of course, His definition of success and failure may be different than our own. We only see in part, so we can only know in part what God’s plan is. He sees the bigger picture and knows what needs to happen in order to accomplish His will. Our responsibility is to follow the Spirit’s leading wherever that may be, even if it’s the wilderness. If we are willing to trust Him, and to follow His leading, we can rest assured He will not let us fail in the wilderness.

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June 8, 2016 · 5:00 AM

A Dull Ax


I’ve only been burned out a couple of times in my life. The times that I’ve experienced that have come after I’ve done too much for too long by myself. I’m not the type of person who likes to ask for help. My mentality has always been, “If it’s going to be done right, I might as well do it myself.” I get tired of waiting for other people to see the need and pick up the slack, so I jump in and do it. I don’t ask for help because I think people should know help is needed and offer theirs.

Maybe you can relate with that line of thinking. You’ve probably burned yourself out a time or two as well. It could be pride, or it could be stubbornness that keeps us from asking for help. Whatever it is, it costs us too much in the long run. After doing so much, we become like a dull ax. We work harder and harder, but don’t get some as much as we used to when we were sharp. We wear ourselves out exerting too much effort on our own.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, “Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed” (NLT). We need to resharpen ourselves from time to time so we can continue to be effective at what we are called to do. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” If you’re feeling like a dull as blade, you need to be sharpened. To do that, you need a friend capable of keeping you sharp.

In order to succeed at anything God calls us to, we can’t do it by ourselves. We are laborers together. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from others. Many times people are wanting to be asked instead of feeling like they’re intruding on your work. When we share the load, we halve the burden. When we halve the burden, we stay sharp longer. If you’re getting dull, reach out to someone today and ask them to work with you. You’ll be a lot more successful and stronger.

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June 7, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Falling Short


Steve Urkel, from Family Matters, famously coined the phrase, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” As I think of the hilarity of that character doing that, I can’t help but think how true that phrase is for so many of us. There’s not a single person on the planet who doesn’t fail or fall. Romans 3:23 says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (NLT). No matter how hard we try or what we do, we fall short of the standards God has set for us.

Does that mean we shouldn’t try? Of course not! No matter how many times we fall, God’s grace is there to catch us. However, there are times we fall when we think it’s so bad that God’s grace won’t catch us. We feel ashamed and are unwilling to seek forgiveness because we knew what we were doing was wrong, and we did it anyway. We feel the guilt of letting down God, others, and ourselves. We are afraid to ask for help, and feel like we can’t get back up.

I believe that’s why it’s so important for us to have a Christian friend who can help is in those times. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” We need another believer to help us get back up when we’ve fallen. If we don’t have that, we’ll be like Steve Urkel, but without the hilarity.

We need other people in our life to help us succeed in living the way we are commanded to live. We need them to hold us accountable, to encourage us, and to pray for us. There’s not one of us who doesn’t need someone like that in their life. If you don’t have someone like that in your life, let me encourage you to reach out to someone you know, and can trust, to ask them to be your partner in success. I know it will be mutually beneficial, and you’ll have help to get you back up the next time you fall..

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June 6, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Open The Flood Gates


Recently, my community has been flooded. Thousands of homes were affected by the high water. As you drive through the neighborhoods that were hit, you will see piles of trash out by the road. Sheetrock, furniture, clothes, electronics, and anything that the water touched are thrown out into these piles. ThIngs that once cost so much and meant so much to these families are now worthless as they lay in those piles.

As I see those piles, I can’t help of one of the songs we sing at church: “Open up the Flood Gates of Heaven”. In this and many other songs, we pray for God to flood our lives with His goodness and rain down blessings. I’m not sure we really understand or think about what we are asking for. Floods are devastating. Floods destroy. Floods are very costly. If we are going to ask God to flood our lives, we need to count the cost.

When God floods our lives, our dreams get devastated. We realize that they were too small. God has dreams for our lives that are so much greater than we can comprehend. Through Him, we are able to accomplish and be more than we ever thought. The flood of His Spirit in our lives means that our perspective changes and often our purpose. When His flood comes in, our lives get displaced from complacency.

Another thing that happens is we lose the things we once held dear. Suddenly, we realize that the things we hold onto the tightest are really worthless when compared to what He wants to give us. When We invite Him to flood our lives, all the junk, clutter, walls, and things not pleasing to Him will need to get dragged out to the street and chunked. In order to fill our lives with the things we wants to give us, we need to get rid of things from our old lives. This flood invites change.

If we truly want revival to come, then we do need God to come flood our lives, our nation, and our world. We need Him to help us get our junk out and become renewed first. As Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT) God wants to give us new life, but we have to let His flood bring about the change necessary. We have to be willing to be displaced from our old lives, to get rid of the things in our lives that tie us to that old life, and adopt the new life He gives. The next time we sing and pray for God to open the flood gates of Heaven, I hope we mean it.
If you want to hear that song, click here.

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June 3, 2016 · 6:06 AM

Your Reputation


What takes a lifetime to build, but can be destroyed in seconds? Your reputation. As Christians, we should be concerned about our reputation. When people think about you, is “Christ-like” a word they would use to describe you? You and I are called to be salt and light. When I cook, I use salt because it never takes on the flavor of the food. Instead it interacts with the food it’s with and enhances the favors already there. Salt that’s still in the shaker only has the potential to affect flavors.

When people think of you, would they say you enhance their life? Do you bring flavor? We are all known for something by those around us. It’s time we thought of what that is and asked God to help us be more Christ-like. Of course, God’s idea of who we are should be more important to us than man’s. However, you and I have a mission to seek and save the lost. If we have a poor reputation, how will anyone listen to our message. I once heard someone say, “I can’t hear what you’re saying because you’re actions are so loud.”

God is concerned about how we bear His name. Here are some verses that talk about reputation.

1. So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him.

1 Timothy 3:2-4 NLT

2. Conduct yourselves properly (honorably, righteously) among the Gentiles, so that, although they may slander you as evildoers, [yet] they may by witnessing your good deeds [come to] glorify God in the day of inspection [when God shall look upon you wanderers as a pastor or shepherd looks over his flock].

1 Peter 2:12 AMP

3. A wise person gets known for insight; gracious words add to one’s reputation.

Proverbs 16:21 MSG

4. If you are always planning evil, you will earn a reputation as a troublemaker.

Proverbs 24:8 GNT

5. An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious.

Titus 1:6 NLT

6. Furthermore, he must have a good reputation and be well thought of by those outside [the church], lest he become involved in slander and incur reproach and fall into the devil’s trap.

1 Timothy 3:7 AMP

7. Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom; hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.

Proverbs 28:7 MSG

8. Fire tests gold and silver; a person’s reputation can also be tested.

Proverbs 27:21 GNT

9. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.

Proverbs 3:3-4 NLT

10. A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.

Proverbs 22:1 MSG

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May 27, 2016 · 12:14 AM

Being Dedicated


“Dedicated” is a word we use a lot in Christianity. We dedicate our lives to God. We dedicate our children to the Lord. We dedicate songs, work, and other things to Him as well. I often think of it is giving something to Him, but it’s deeper than that. To dedicate our life to Him is to have a single-minded loyalty to Him. We can’t say we’ve truly dedicated our life to Him when we split our loyalty between what He wants and what we want.

James 1:8 put it like this, “Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do” (NLT). Either we are dedicated to Him singular in purpose, or we live lives that are unstable. God’s desire is that we live our lives dedicated to Him with a single-minded mentality. He wants us to trust His plan for our lives and His way of living. Anything less allows instability and chaos.

I have been hearing God’s call to us as believers to truly dedicate our lives to Him. This week, I’m sharing scriptures on being dedicated.

1. Those who make themselves clean from all those evil things, will be used for special purposes, because they are dedicated and useful to their Master, ready to be used for every good deed.

2 Timothy 2:21 GNT

2. [Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5 AMP

3. Think carefully before you promise an offering to God. You might regret it later.

Proverbs 20:25 GNT

4. One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

Acts of the Apostles 13:2-3 NLT

5. Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth. I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you.

John 17:17-19 GNT

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May 5, 2016 · 5:32 AM

Christlike Compassion


A friend recently told me how a mutual friend of ours had made some wrong choices and called them for help. I said, “You didn’t help them did you?” They said, “No.” I said, “Good! They need to learn they can’t keep making these choices and think everyone is just going to bail them out.” Immediately I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Where was the compassion in my heart? Where was the good in me that wants to help others? I was choosing who deserved it, and God was getting on to me.

What if God had that attitude toward me? What if He said, “I’ve already forgiven you of this same sin over and over. I think I’ll just let you deal with it instead of me helping you. Maybe then you’ll figure it out”? That would be devastating because when I sin, I run to God, beg Him to forgive me, and ask Him to bail me out when it comes to the consequences. I want Him to hear my prayer, see my heart, and to have compassion on me. For some reason, I fail to have that same compassion on others.

When I read of Jesus, one thing that always stands out to me is how He had compassion on the crowds. He was tired and hungry, but when people came to Him, He was moved with compassion to help them. As a CHRISTian, I am to be like Christ. To me, one of His greatest attributes was His compassion and His goodness to any who went to see Him. In Psalm 145:9 David wrote, “The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation” (NLT).

If the Father is good to everyone and the Son showed compassion to everyone, wouldn’t it make sense that I do the same? Even if I can see someone’s choices and consequences, I can’t see their heart. If God has had compassion on me after I’ve made the same boneheaded mistake over and over again, I need to show that same compassion to others. I may never fully be Christ like, but I can at least move in that direction. One of things I can change is how I show compassion to those who I don’t feel deserve it because none of us deserve God’s. Thankfully He gives it to us anyway.

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May 2, 2016 · 6:17 AM

The Journey Of Success


As you know, David was told by God that he could not build the temple. God had told him that his son Solomon would build it. In II Chronicles 22:5, David recognized that his son Solomon was young and inexperienced. He then decided to make preparations for building the temple. He ordered everything that Solomon would need in order to build the temple. Even though Solomon had everything he needed to be successful, it was up to him to do something with all the material if he was going to build successfully.

Success doesn’t lie in having the things God gives us, it lies in doing something with them. In Matthew 25:14-30, we read the Parable of Talents. Jesus told the story of three men who had been given bags of silver from their master according to their abilities. Two of the servants took that material and invested it while one hid it. When the master returned, it was the ones who did something with the material who were considered successful, not the one who let it sit.

I Corinthians 12:7 says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (NLT). God has given each of us the materials to be successful just like David did for Solomon and the master did for his servants. The question is, are you going to let the materials sit there or are you going to do something with them? You can’t let the fear of being unsuccessful to prevent you from doing anything. If you do nothing with what God has given you, you’re no better than the man ho buried his bag of silver.

If God has given you a dream, quit often it’s as big as the task given to Solomon to build the temple. You may look at yourself and think you’re too inexperienced to do what God called you to. If you read the Bible, the greatest heroes of faith were the ones who didn’t let their inexperience keep them from their calling. They trusted God to do His part, so they did theirs. It’s up to each of us to take the gifts God has given us and put them to use. The greatest successes in life start with the smallest of steps. What can you do today to get started on your journey of success?

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April 27, 2016 · 5:30 AM

No Patience

I’ve always heard that patience is a virtue, but in today’s world, it’s a virtue too few want or have. Just recently I needed a part for my car. I called around to all of the parts stores looking for it. Each one said that it would take about a week to get it. When they asked if they should order it, I said, “No. Amazon has it and can get it here in two days.” I don’t have the patience to wait a week when I can get it in two days. The fact is, I didn’t want to wait two days so I was trying to find out where I could get it same day.

It’s one thing to be impatient for things we want, but when that same impatience affects our spiritual life there’s a problem. While technology has sped up the process by which we get most things, it has not decreased the time to receive spiritual things. Those still require the discipline of planting, watering with prayer, and reaping. Spiritual discipline requires patience that today’s fast moving world isn’t used to. There’s no technology that can make things happen faster in the spiritual realm.

In Psalm 40:1, David wrote, “I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry” (NLT). The Message interpreted this verse as, “I waited and waited and waited for God. At last He looked; finally He listened.” There are times when we have to wait for what seems like forever to hear back from God. It requires patience that today’s world doesn’t produce. It requires stick-to-it-iveness and lots of prayer. You can’t go on Amazon and bypass God to get what you want faster.

Spiritual discipline is what we need today more than ever. We have to push past our desire for immediacy and have patience for the process. There’s more going on that just you saying a prayer. Daniel 10 gives us insight into what goes on when we pray. Principalities are fought in the spiritual realm that require us to have patience and to keep praying. We have to learn to pray until we’ve prayed through rather than praying until we’re through. Yes, patience is a virtue that worth having in today’s impatient world, especially if we are going to pray for something.

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