Location, Location, Location...

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

James 4:7, 8

What is it they say matters in real estate? Location, Location, Location! Do you know that location matters with God also?

What is my proximity to God? How often I have wished that God would come near to me - prayed that God would come near to me – and wondered why it did not happen. James says that must come near to God in order that he will come near to us. And we can come near to God only as we submit ourselves to him.

Again, if we are submitted to God we can resist the devil. How much time and energy have I expended in my Christian life trying not to do what I ought not to do? Too much. That resistance by will power is futile – the human will is not sufficient to overcome the enemy. If I will submit myself to God and become obedient to Him, I will resist the devil and he will flee. Submitted, I can come near to God and he will then come near to me. In His presence I will begin to think and act differently.

Would you live differently if you lived across the street from your pastor? I think we all would. In the same way, if we choose to come near to God we will live differently. Today, as you decide where you will make your home, choose to be near God. Remember… Location, Location, Location!

As long as it is called Today...

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Hebrews 3:13

For the past two weeks various members of my church have been meeting at the alter three times daily to pray for our short-term mission team which was in Senegal, West Africa. It has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.

I am surprised at how saddened I am to see this time coming to an end. I have made acquaintances through this process, and old acquaintances have become dear friends. When you pray with someone daily, an incredible bond is built between you - one that transcends any other friendship this world can offer. You truly do begin to see each other as brothers and sisters!

To the ones that have been there with me, I love you all deeply. I wholly subscribe to what the writer of Hebrews stated in the passage above. It is difficult to allow your heart be hardened when you are being encouraged daily by your brothers and sisters in Christ. It's not the American way to give your time so you can meet with others, but it is God's way. There is oftentimes nothing convenient about God's will or His work.

I have spent time in the Book of Acts of late because I love to contrast and compare that account of the mighty move of God with what happens among us every time we send out an overseas team. One concept from that book keeps striking me again and again, recounting the daily lives of the early church:

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-47

For the past two weeks, we have met every day in the "temple" courts. We have been together with glad and sincere hearts. I have to believe it wouldn't take long before the unchurched around us would take notice and we would begin to enjoy favor with them, and perhaps the Lord would add to our number daily those who are being saved!

Lord-

I know that you have ordained that we meet together for these two weeks. I know that I know you have called us to this task. Let us not now let down our guard and go back to where we were, but let us encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of us my be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

The cusp...

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33

The other evening I was speaking to some friends about our faith and the Spirit seemed to give me an analogy that I had never considered before. I always thought that I was somewhat unique in that when I pass over a high bridge it always creates in me a curiosity to know what it would be like if I jumped over the edge! In fact, I intentionally avoid high bridges because I don't particularly like that feeling, and probably don't completely trust myself! As it turns out I am not unique in this -apparently many people have the same sensation.

What an analogy to discipleship! How often do we avoid that spiritual person or the Word or church meetings or quiet time because we can hear that still small voice of God pleading with us to jump over the railing? Are we also uncomfortable with that feeling? I began to wonder, what if six or eight men from Calvary jumped over the railing together? What kind of an impact would we have on our world? What if thousands of Christians all over this country, all over the world, jumped over the railing today? Could the world ever be the same?

If God is speaking to your heart today as He is mine, pray with me:

Almighty God,I can feel your Spirit engaging mine. I know you are calling me to a deeper, more intimate, relationship with you. I can feel you urging me gently toward the railing, and by faith I know what's on the other side. Help me jump over that railing and leave all I know behind. I want to trust you completely with my life.

Fan the flame...

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

2 Timothy 1:6

Señor Dios had me awaken at 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning up praying in the family room. I asked, “Lord, how can I possibly pray as much as I will be required to pray over the next two weeks?”

He showed me a vision. In the vision were a fire, a bellows and air. He explained to me that the fire was the work he is doing in West Africa, we are the bellows and the air is his Spirit, his will. He said they we need not worry how to pray, just to empty ourselves as the bellows and be filled with his will and he would point us to the fire and squeeze to fan the flame. He told me that the fire could grow by itself just because of the air, but that with our church concentrating the wind on the fire, we could very quickly fan the flames into an inferno!

Lord-

As the team is on the ground in West Africa, allow us to fan the fire they are igniting by our prayers. Cause an incredible spiritual growth among our people group, not just as individuals, but as a group. Bring to light your gifting within individuals that they may assume leadership roles and spread the Gospel, planting churches that plant churches in West Africa!

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure...

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

Matthew 13:44-46

These are two very short and simple parables that Jesus related to the disciples, but for all their simplicity they are some of the most powerful passages in the Bible. They express something that we all too easily forget in the day by day struggles we face in this life – the value of what is ours through Christ Jesus!

The explosive message that is contained in the short passages quoted today is this – when we clearly recognize the value of the kingdom of heaven we will gladly pay any cost to make it ours. See the actions of the subjects of the parables. Are these people who begrudgingly sold their belongings to purchase the found treasures? It is apparent that they can clearly see that whatever the cost, that which they have found is of greater value than whatever they have to redeem to get it.

We have all heard stories from time to time of someone who finds a vintage automobile or aircraft or whatever sitting in a barn under some tarps somewhere which they bought for a song and which is worth many times what they paid. In fact, they probably could not afford to pay market value for the item they bought. When was the last time you thought of the kingdom of heaven in these terms? None of us has to pay market value for what Christ has given us – he has already paid it on the cross. He is offering us a bargain!

Lord-

Let me not forget the value of the kingdom of God which is my inheritance through you. If I have let the things of this world compete with your kingdom for my affection, remind me of the value of what you have given me. Remind me that all I could ever store up or collect for myself in this life is of relatively little value, and that I am the recipient of a remarkable bargain if you accept this in exchange for what you offer.

One Spirit to drink...

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

Genesis 11:5-7

After the great flood of Genesis the peoples of earth shared a common language and came together on the plane of Shinar and decided that they would do what sinful human nature will always do when given the chance - they attempted to elevate themselves to God's level. Here's what they said to one another, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves..."

In this passage of scripture God acknowledges the power of men, working in concert, to accomplish great evil. Obviously these peoples were moving toward something that God could not allow and His answer was to confuse their speech and break them up linguistically so they could not ALL work together to accomplish this evil thing.

As with just about every sinful behavior in the Old Testament, there is a New Testament redemption of and reversal of this event. After the coming of Christ and the ultimate way of redemption for mankind, God needs redeemed individuals to work in concert - every tribe and tongue - to accomplish his will of the redemption of all mankind. What God needs is an organization like Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

As I was reading in Acts 2 and pondering what happened at the day of Pentecost last night, the Lord revealed to me this marvelous reversal he accomplished through the Spirit so that His will in spreading the Gospel would be accomplished:

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment,because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

After Peter explained to them the Gospel, the scripture recounts that about three thousand people were added to the church that day, many of whom I am sure went home and shared with others, spreading the message of Christ all over the known world!

Lord-

As I come back to your Word again and again today let it speak to me in new ways - ways which I have not before considered. Let it impress upon me your will, the completeness of your working, your unimaginable complexity. Let me become immersed in your thoughts, led of your Spirit to a new understanding of the intricacy of your plan - the sheer awesomeness of your Living Word unfolding before my very eyes!

As a body, Lord, as one church let us work together using the same heart language - the language of the Holy Spirit - to accomplish your will of the redemption of all mankind!

To obey is better than sacrifice...

“As with all sinners among men, this son of Amittai was in his wilful disobedience of the command of God – never mind now what that command was or how conveyed – which he found a hard command. But all the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do – remember that – and hence, he oftener commands us than endeavors to persuade. And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves, and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.”

From Father Mapple’s sermon on Jonah
Chapter 9 of Moby Dick
Herman Melville

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Jesus – Luke 9:23

In a class I was taking some time ago, the verse Luke 9:23 was being discussed and the instructor asked why we thought it was that Jesus said we must take up our cross daily and not that we need to deny ourselves daily. I think it is because that cross which God gives us to carry differs from day-to-day, but the denial is always the same. The denial is one-dimensional – whatever keeps us from picking up our cross daily must be denied.

In reading the ninth chapter of the novel Moby Dick last night, I came across the passage I have quoted above and found it very insightful – especially the last line. Read that last line again. I think Melville’s character had the right idea when he relates this denial of ourselves to disobeying ourselves. God does not desire sacrifice, he desires obedience. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel states to Saul, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

If we would come after him then we will deny ourselves, not as a matter of sacrifice, but of obedience - obedience to Him, disobedience to ourselves. As he also states in John 14:23, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” We might come to believe that some of the things we prefer over Jesus need to be sacrificed in our lives; be they a home, a hobby, a person, an addiction, or whatever. If we sacrifice any of these for our God, the chances are we will either return to them later, or replace them with something else. If in obeying our God (in loving Him, according to John 14) we leave these things aside while disobeying our own desires, we will never miss them. In fact, when we follow Him first, there may be some of these things that he uses to his glory!

Lord-
Help me this day to realize that you truly do not desire sacrifice in my life, but obedience. The Old Testament rites of sacrifice were merely a shadow of the complete sacrifice which you made for us. As I deny myself, let it be out of loving obedience to you (and diobedience to myself) so that you may use that denial to your glory as I pick up my cross today!

If you get the inclination, the ninth chapter of Moby Dick is worth a read. The character of Father Mapple gives a great sermon on the Book of Jonah.

Listen...

He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you." As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
Ezekiel 2:1 & 2

Have you heard from the Spirit of the Living God of late? Have you listened?

I read this passage this morning and found it interesting that God first spoke to Ezekiel and then sent the Spirit into him that he could listen. It so often seems to work that way in my life. If I am not listening, I can go long stretches without hearing the voice of God. If I listen and respond to the voice of God, it seems that he awakens my spirit to His Spirit and I begin to hear His voice all the time.

The other thing that struck me in this passage is the direct way in which God interacted with Ezekiel. He commanded Ezekiel to his feet, but then sent the Spirit into Ezekiel to raise him to his feet. If we, also, are willing to hear God’s commands and obey he will work in us to do what he asks of us (Philippians 2:13).

Gracious Father-
Let me hear your voice this day. Create in me the desire to spend time in your Word, where you often speak to me. Help me to be still before you at some time today and just listen so that I may hear.

Do not keep your sword from bloodshed...

"A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's work!
A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!”
Jeremiah 48:10

It has been the prayer of my heart of late that I may see clearly the work that the Lord has for me and that I may do that work in loving obedience; the obedience that comes from the grace of Christ which is so lavishly poured out in us!

I am not one which is given to praying much specifically in opposition to the enemy of the saints, particularly not addressing that old serpent directly. But the second stanza of this verse caught my attention this morning. Have I kept my sword from bloodshed is the question I ask myself. Have I spared the enemies which God has specifically asked me to slay?

Recollect the familiar story of Saul and the Amalekites from 1 Samuel 15. Verses two and three:

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "

As we know, Saul failed to follow the word of the Lord precisely. He pretended he had, and might possibly have actually believed he had (See V13 and V20). In the same breath, by his own admission, he had kept some of the animals and the King, Agag, alive. As a result, the Lord took the kingdom of Israel from him.
Is there anything in my life that God has addressed as such? Is it possible that I am have lost my desire for the kingdom of God because there is something that God specifically told me to utterly destroy and I kept my sword from bloodshed?

Lord-
I know that there are things in my life about which you have spoken. Things which you have told me must be utterly destroyed. Help me this day to face these foes head on, not keeping my sword from bloodshed! The enemy has placed many stumbling blocks in my path, but I now agree to do as you have said, to follow your instruction precisely and destroy his works and his influences in my life.

Slaves to obedience...

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Romans 6:16

This passage has been working at me for some weeks now. I know that each of us can understand being slaves to sin as we are born into that slavery. It is a bit harder to imagine being a slave to obedience. That concept is totally contrary to human nature.

The word slave (translated servant in the King James) indicates voluntary or involuntary servanthood. Slavery to sin is of the involuntary kind. It is innate, inborn, the natural state of mankind. It comes to us a easily as breathing or eating. Slavery to obedience is definately voluntary. It is the willing obedience to Christ which must be worked at, sought, and learned (see John 8:31-32, Romans 6:17).

The part of this verse that amazes me is that Paul indicates that our capacity for obedience is at least equal to our capacity for sin. What a revelation this is!

Lord-
As Paul has stated in the passage above, I want to know what it is to be a slave to obedience that leads to righteousness. I voluntarily offer you myself as a bond-servant. Place me under obligation to your righteousness. Thank you.

Rock of Ages...

“He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Mathew 21:44

I must ask myself if I am willing to fall on the stone and be broken to pieces. The stone that Jesus refers to in this passage is himself. He does not mince words, but states emphatically that each of us will be broken in one way or the other. I believe this passage is true for believer and non-believer alike.

One of the great tragedies of the modern church is that many come to accept atonement without counting the cost. If we fall on the stone, accepting the atonement before God which was purchased by the blood of Christ on the cross, we will – we must – be broken to pieces. All of our possessions, our desires, our goals and ambitions - all that we are must be winnowed. We must separate the wheat from the chaff in our lives once we have fallen on the rock and been broken to pieces. The gift of salvation is free but it will cost our worldly selves greatly. To be an effective Christian we must be willing to completely purge the pieces which are not in conformance with God’s will.

The passage was probably meant to address the position of the believer as apposed to the non-believer. The one who professes faith in Christ is the one who has fallen on the rock. He has opted to die to himself while he yet lives. The other on whom the rock falls is the non-believer. When he departs this world, the rock will crush him. He will be crushed by eternal separation from his maker and eternal damnation.

But still, the second half of the verse has some application for the professing Christian as well. If we come to believe in Christ without falling on the stone, God will eventually crush us spiritually in some manner. This is because God cannot use us until we submit to his will.

It is a daily choice that we need to make. Will we fall on the stone and be broken today, or will we stubbornly wait for the stone to fall on us?

Choose for yourselves this day...

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:15

I am facing something difficult for me right now. We have purchased a new house and are in the process of preparing it to move in. I have no doubt that the Lord directed us to this particular house, as it has everything that we were looking for and the whole purchasing process went very smoothly. The problem I face is not falling in love with the property.

I keep asking myself, “Whom are you going to serve?” I need to remain faithful to my God through this whole process and not become a slave to my desires. My true desire (and prayer every day that I am at the new house working) is that God will use the house as he has planned, for he surely must have a plan. I want this house to be to employed to his glory.

All of this leads me back to where I put my hope. “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” (1 Cor 5:1). I know that Paul was speaking specifically about our bodies in that passage, but it seems to be very applicable to my current state of mind.

Lord, let me be a good steward of that to which you have entrusted me. Keep my hope upon heaven above, not those things which seem to bring pleasure here below. You are my only true joy and hope, my peace. You are the rock on which I stand. Let your service never become undesirable to me. What or who else compares with you? Let me make the choice for you daily.

Darkness

“…even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Psalm 139:12

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

John 3:19-21

Lord – search my heart and find the dark places. Reveal them to me, that I may see them as you see them and despise them as you despise them. Let me not attempt cover or hide the darkness within me, but lay open those places in my heart that your light may shine upon them. Surely I cannot hide the darkness from you, for darkness is as light to you.

Without fear this day I ask that you will show me the darkness within me. I give it over to you. I openly offer to look upon it that I may acknowledge it and expose it to your light. I pray that I might become as transparent to myself as I am to you, recognizing that there is no hiding place within me where you have not searched. Change me, O Lord. Heal me.

"...let the LORD judge the peoples.

Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,

according to my integrity, O Most High."

Psalm 7:8

Amen and Amen

Faith, Hope, Love

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. “
1Co 13:13

Most folks who have been Christians for any length of time are familiar with the “Love” passage of 1 Corinthians 13 (Audio). I have known it for many years myself. The scripture above was brought up in our Sunday school class on Sunday in the context of loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, but for the first time in my life I looked past the word love and my mind settled at the word hope.

Faith is the basic requirement for being a follower of Christ. As the writer of Hebrews states in Heb 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” If we have no faith that He is, and no faith that he died for the remission of our sin, then we can have no relationship with him. Without faith, there can be no understanding of God.

Faith is the first step to Godliness. Love is the eventual outgrowth of a relationship with Christ by faith. It is the outward sign that we are in Christ. As Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Of the three – faith, hope and love – love shall remain when faith and hope are no longer needed. On that day we shall see the Lord face to face and know him as he knows us (1Co 13:12). Our hope (Rom 8:24) and faith will be fulfilled and therefore no longer needed. Love will remain when these others pass away. Because Love is the final evidence of a heart that is dedicated to God, I believe that the Love we show will be with us for eternity.

But what of hope? As I studied hope out in the scripture, I realized that it is mentioned nearly as often as faith and frequently along with faith and love. I began to wonder what hope brought to a relationship with Christ and realized that the scriptures have much to say about the subject. It is hope that keeps us pressing on when times get tough. Hope is what Jesus has called us to (Eph 1:18, 4:4). It is the hope of eternal life (Tit 1:2,3:7). Hope for the return of Christ (Tit 2:13). Hope in the glory of God (Rom 5:2). Without this hope, we cannot continue in our relationship with Christ. If faith is the beginning of this relationship, then hope is the growth and love is the outgrowth. The do not supersede each other, but continue concurrently, building on one another to complete us.

Where do I put my hope? Is it in my bank account? Do I hope that I will have enough money to buy the toys I want? Do I hope that the next tornado will bypass my house? Do I hope that my health will hold out as I grow older? Or do I hope for the return of Christ? Do I hope for eternal glory in God’s presence?

"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Romans 8:23-25.

We were awakened this morning by the storm sirens. Not so pleasant an awakening, but I was in good spirits. The storms always seem to remind me of God; that His hand is at work on this earth.


I think about the peoples of West Africa. They are spiritual people – superstitious and believing in a cause and effect relationship in everything. I wonder how they interpret the storms? The rains? The thunder and lighting? Surely they believe that their gods are responsible for every weather event. It seems a shame to me that we have lost this belief. We talk of weather in very scientific terms and matter-of-fact ways. We leave God out of it. After all – we have Doppler radar.

In my daily reading in 1 Samuel Chapter 7 this morning, the Israelites were gathered at Mizpah and Samuel was interceding for them with the Lord. The Philistines came to attack them and the people were frightened but Samuel offered a burnt offering and cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf. The scripture says that the Lord “thundered with a loud thunder against the Philistines” and threw them into a panic. Soon the Philistine army was thoroughly defeated by Israel, and the Israelites lived in peace for many years.

My prayer for the peoples of West Africa is not that they abandon their spirituality, but that they recognize the one true God and worship him in Spirit and Truth. They already recognize the supernatural – I pray that they will come to know ‘Who’ the supernatural is. I pray that they may know the One that sends the rain and the thunder. The One that makes the moon and sun rise in their courses.

My prayer for this nation is that we will once again embrace the spirituality that we have long ago forgotten. We know the one true God already – let us acknowledge him in all our ways. Let us once again recognize and boldly acknowledge that He alone is the One that sends the rain and the thunder. The One that makes the moon and sun rise in their courses.