Hungry or Starving for God?

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

David, Israel’s great king, wrote, O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

By the sound of it, David had an insatiable desire for God. David is a good Old Testament illustration of what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...” [Matthew 5:6]

Those two words, hunger and thirst, are an expression of intense desire, and they are Greek present participles, which imply the blessing comes as we continuously hunger and thirst for God. By the way, it’s my humble opinion that a Christ follower’s continuous and fierce yearning for righteousness is continuously satisfied by the Savior. 

In his book, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount [vol. 1, pg. 81], Martyn Lloyd-Jones quoted J. N. Darby:

"To be hungry is not enough; I must be really starving to know what is in [God's] heart towards me. When the prodigal son was hungry he went to feed upon husks, but when he was starving, he turned to his father."  

God will utterly satisfy that kind of desire from Christ followers! 

A deer longs for streams of water. God, I long for you in the same way. I am thirsty for God. I am thirsty for the living God.  Psalm 42:1-2a [NIRV]

“Follow Me”: But Count the Cost

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Christ followers know that Jesus was very clear concerning the cost of following Him. For some it would mean being dispersed from their homeland and for others, it meant a horrific death. You don’t hear many Christ followers using that methodology in their evangelistic efforts! But one thing for sure, if we did, it would ensure that no one would attempt to enter the Kingdom under false pretenses.

For the early Christ followers, the cost was very high, just as Jesus predicted! They were disowned by their families, excommunicated from their synagogues, and suffered severe persecution—and even martyrdom—at the hand of the government in their day, the Romans. [See Hebrews 11:35-40]

I don’t see that animosity toward Christians has changed since those days. And while the persecution of Christ followers in America is, for now, mostly marginalization, everyday I pick up a newspaper, I read about extreme hardship and persecution of Christ followers somewhere in the world. 

So, my dear Christ follower, count the cost! God may not always shield you from persecution, but He will provide His all-sufficient grace!

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:9a

From A.N.T. to A.C.T.

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

“Don’t believe everything you hear—even in your own mind,” so says Daniel Amen, an imminent neuroscientist. He has some very important things to say about the negative things we “hear;” things never spoken audibly, but we say to ourselves all the time.  

He calls them A.N.T.s = Automatic Negative Thoughts. You know what they are...

“This won’t work.”

“God isn’t listening to my prayer.”

“I can’t follow this diet.”

“I can’t afford to give money to the church.”

“I can’t get organized.”

“We’ll never fix our marriage.” And on and on.

Dr. Amen advises us to develop a habit of ‘stomping’ on the A.N.T.s, and to replace them with godly, uplifting thoughts.

Every Christ follower understands it’s easier said than done. That’s why it’s imperative that we get into the Word—the Bible. It’s because of His Word that we know of His plan for our future and hope [Jeremiah 29:11]; that we know He is working all things together for our good [Romans 8:28]; that He will finish the work He has started in us [Philippians 1:6].  

So here’s the plan. Let’s follow Dr. Amen’s advice to stomp out the A.N.T.s, then let’s replace them with A.C.T.s = Automatic Christ-like Thoughts. That means dismissing all the negative things we repeat to ourselves, and remembering that God is in control!

A.C.T.s will lead to right actions as we strive to grow in Christlikeness. Be warned, though. We live in a negative and discouraging world, so it will be hard work. Most certainly you will need to renew your mind daily! [Romans 12:2].

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2nd Corinthians 10:5   

Passover 2014: Final Thoughts

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Pesach [Passover] for 2014 has ended. Each year we remind ourselves of God’s mighty power, revealed in His redemptive involvement with Israel. We also need to be reminded that God’s mighty, delivering power is available today!

Every Christ follower understands there are “Egypts” from which we need deliverance — the bondage of worldliness, carnality and more. And just like the Israelites, we need God to lead us out of the burdens of this world and into His glorious freedom.

In the Passover story, God delivered His people with an outstretched arm. The Hebrew word for arm is z’roah. It is a picture of His strength. His z’roah is mighty, and quite sufficient to deliver from what hinders. His z’roah did signs and wonders—and He is able to do the same today. 

Be encouraged. Although Passover 2014 is over, God’s z’roah is still at work! What is holding you back? What has you in bondage? To what are you enslaved? Call out to the God of the Passover. He is still in the delivering business. When He displays His z’roah on your behalf, you can leave your bondage singing, “Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m FREE AT LAST!” 

And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm [z’roah], and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders. Deuteronomy 26:8 

Passover 2014 - Let’s Get Clean

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

For most Christians, the Easter celebration is over. For some, there will be no further thought about it until next year. For others, resurrection power will invigorate their lives to new heights of love and service for the Lord. 

The Jewish Passover, however, isn’t over for another day. As I have been thinking about the Passover for many days now, there is a ritual of the celebration that would have a positive impact on Christians, if followed. And that is the removal of leaven from the home. 

Leaven is used in the Bible as a picture of sin. And sin, as we all know, grows once it's allowed to take root in our lives. Sin feeds on itself and leads to other sins. 

The process of cleaning the home of all leaven in preparation for Passover is an enormous task. To do it right, most Jews spend several days and even weeks scrubbing down their kitchens, thoroughly cleaning the insides of stoves, refrigerators, and ovens, and covering all surfaces with foil or shelf-liner that came in contact with leaven during the year. Also during this time, they will eat only unleavened bread [matzo], and other foods, which do not contain yeast.

Christ followers know the benefit of allowing God to inspect and clean out the sin in their lives. Is it painful? Sure. Is it beneficial? ABSOLUTELY! When He washes us, we are clean, really clean! That’s why the Psalmist could say, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7 

Are you due a “leaven” inspection today? Give Him access to your entire life—body, soul and spirit. Confess your sins to Him. If you do, He is faithful to wipe out every sin and clean away all unrighteousness. [See 1st John 1:9] 

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24 

Passover 2014 - The Blood Applied

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

As I have been meditating on the Passover for 2014, I was once again struck by the powerful truth that the blood of the innocent animal had to be applied to the doorpost of the home if it was going to be effective. A passive belief in the blood and the words of Moses would not have been enough to stay the hand of the Angel of Death as he passed through the land. If the blood had not been applied, the Angel of Death would have taken their firstborn, belief or not! When the blood was applied, a dividing line, of sorts, was drawn, which the Angel of Death could not pass. 

That truth stirred my memory to lines from some of the hymns of my childhood that spoke of the blood of our Savior, our sacrificial Lamb.

“There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name”

“Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”

“When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.”

“What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

“By faith, for my cleansing I see Your blood flow; Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”

“The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power.”

And who can forget:

“There is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb.”

Dear Christ follower, don't make the mistake of a passive approach to Christ’s blood that was shed on your behalf. Be actively walking in the power of the blood, not only at Passover, but in the coming days as well. If there was ever a time we needed to be walking in the “power in the blood,” it’s today!

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:12-13 

Passover: Cham Sameach — Happy Holiday!

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

This past Monday, April 14th, marked the beginning of Pesach (Passover). On the Jewish calendar, it was the 10th of Nisan, which, by the way, was also the day that Jesus would have entered Jerusalem 2000 years ago. 

Part of the ritual was the selection of a lamb for the Passover sacrifice. I recently read an interesting article that said four days were required to inspect the animal to make sure it was perfect—without spot or blemish.

Christ followers have chosen their PERFECT Passover Lamb—one without spot or blemish—His name is Jesus.

The Passover lamb became dear to the Israelites because of its innocence and because its death invoked the memory of the first Passover lamb, whose blood literally saved their lives from the Angel of Death. It was a fantastic deliverance. And so is ours! We know the supernatural delivering power of God, because our perfect Passover Lamb has applied His blood to the “doorposts” of our hearts. That’s why Paul could say, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

Chag Sameach, everyone — Happy Holiday!

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Exodus 12:2-3

Passover 2014

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Millions of people all over the world will celebrate Pesach or Passover this year. It began on April 14th and goes through April 22. Passover remembers the day that the Angel of Death passed over the Israelites in Egypt, sparing their firstborn because the blood of a sacrificial animal was applied to their doorposts.

Christ followers believe that Jesus offered Himself as the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world at Passover [John 1:29]. That event in history forever changed how man is restored in fellowship with God—reconciled to His Creator.

In Hebrew, the word for sacrifice is korban. It comes from the root word karov, meaning, closeness or relative, hence closeness between God and man.

Passover is a yearly reminder of the sacrifice that our Messiah provided for every person who desires to be close to God. He longs for intimate relationship with us. His Korban is our only way of approach to be near to Him.

So, take time out of your busy schedules this Passover season to offer spiritual sacrifices and to draw near to God. As our korban, He made a way. That’s our God—that’s how much He loves us!

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1st Corinthians 5:7-8

What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

A bandito named Jorge, was operating along the Texas border. He was so successful, the Texas Rangers assigned extra agents to the Rio Grande to stop him.

Late one afternoon, he was spotted slipping across the river. So the agent trailed him, at a discreet distance, and watched him as he went into his favorite cantina to relax.

The Ranger slipped inside and managed to get the drop on Jorge. He pointed his pistol at him and said, “I know who you are, Jorge Rodriguez, and I have come to get all the money you have stolen from the banks of Texas. Unless you give it to me, I am going to pull the trigger.”

But there was a problem—Jorge didn’t speak English and the Texas Ranger did not know Spanish. They were at an impasse. About that time an enterprising villager said, “Do you want me translate for you?” The Ranger nodded and the villager proceeded to interpret the words of the Ranger in no uncertain terms. 

Nervously Jorge answered, “Tell the Ranger that I have not spent a cent of the money. If he will go to the north side of the well in the center of town and and count down five stones, he will find a loose one. All the money is behind it.”

“Well?” the Ranger asked. 

The translator said, “Jorge said he is a brave man, and ready to die.”

The old maxim it true: What you don’t know can hurt you! Christ followers know that that is true regarding our ignorance of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It leads to great sorrow in our lives.  

One blessing of the Spirit-filled life is the way the Holy Spirit warns us about sin and its consequences. Listen to the beloved disciple, John. He wrote, “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” [John 16:7-8] 

We would do well to embrace our Guide, the Holy Spirit. He speaks today. Are you listening? 

There is a way that seems right to man but it leads to destruction. Proverbs 14:12

Ditch Pullers

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

A man decided to take a relaxing drive in the country side one day. All of a sudden, an animal ran out in the road in front of his car. He slammed on his brakes and swerved to miss the animal, but he ended up in a ditch. 

Fortunately, a farmer saw what happened and came to the man’s rescue, along with a big, powerful-looking horse. The farmer hitched the horse to the car’s bumper and yelled, “Pull, Nelly, pull!” The horse didn’t budge. 

Then the farmer yelled, “Pull, Buster, pull!” Nothing.

Then the he yelled, “Pull, Coco, pull!” But the horse still didn’t move.

Finally, the farmer said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And the horse responded by pulling the car out of the ditch with very little effort. 

The motorist was very thankful, but also inquisitive. He asked, “Why did you call out four names when your horse only responded to one?”

The farmer explained, “Ol’ Buddy is blind, and if he thought he was the only one pulling he wouldn’t even try.”

One of the blessings of a church family is that we have a lot of help when we feel like we are stuck in a ditch. When we face those inevitable trials, we can count on fellow Christ followers who embrace the burdens of others as their own. They come right along side of the weary with compassionate care, which strengthens those who are dealing with the difficulties of life. 

Compassionate Christ followers are there so that you aren’t the only one to extract yourself from the ditch. By the way, ditch recovery is much easier with the help of others. Or as the wise Solomon said, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” [Ecclesiastes 4:12 TNIV]. 

Look around you, dear Christ follower. It won’t take long for you to find someone who has driven into a ditch of difficulty. As you lend your strength, they will be encouraged, knowing that they aren’t pulling alone.

Let us consider how we may spur one another on…let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another...Hebrews 10:24-25

New Every Morning

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

The other day I was reading through a couple of the books in my library, trying to find a quote or illustration for a point I was writing about in a sermon. As I was reading the Book of Famous Quotes, I ran across one that had nothing to do with my sermon, but it caught my attention. It was from a famous patriot, Patrick Henry [you probably remember from your high school history class his famous, “Give me liberty or give me death!” quote]. He said, “I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.” 

His lesser known quote seems to have a ring of good common sense. However, I would advise a little caution. While his axiom may be true in politics, or investment strategies, or history, it doesn’t truly reflect the relationship that God has with Christ followers. His blessing in our lives is not predicated on our past. The prophet Jeremiah reminded us that our heavenly Father’s compassions NEVER fail, and that they are renewed daily [Lamentations 3:22-23].

God doesn’t judge the potential of our today or our tomorrow by our yesterday. He didn’t do it with David, or Peter, or countless other Bible characters—and He doesn’t do it with you and me.

The Psalmist also made this very clear when he wrote, God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities—for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:10-12

Thank God for His compassionate mercies! We can ask for, and receive, His forgiveness, then start afresh, joining in His work while striving to become more and more like His Son. 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

How to Keep Heading in the Right Direction

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Some time ago a newspaper headline read, “MISSING HYPHEN BLAMED IN ROCKET FAILURE.” ["For Want of Hyphen Venus Rocket Is Lost", New York Times, July 27, 1962, as quoted in RISKS Digest, Vol 5, Issue #66.] 

The article told the story of how one small, accidentally omitted hyphen, caused the destruction of the Mariner R-1’s Atlas-Agena Rocket. On the day in question, a Venus space probe launch vehicle, boosted by an eighteen-million-dollar U.S. Atlas rocket, was lost because a hyphen was missing from a mathematical, programming equation.

Richard Morrison, a NASA official, told the House Space Committee investigating the incident that the missing hyphen caused a mathematical miscue. Morrison explained, “The hyphen gives a cue for the spacecraft to ignore the data the computer feeds it until radar contact is once again restored. When that hyphen is left out, false information is fed into the spacecraft control systems. In this case, the computer fed in the command, ‘HARD LEFT, NOSE DOWN,’ and the vehicle obeyed.” 

There are some important “hyphens” that belong in our lives as well. When omitted from our daily program, results will be disastrous. What are those “hyphens,” you ask? Well, here are three of them. TIME ALONE WITH GOD...

—to pray

—to read His Word

—to listen to His voice

Just a few minutes a day is all it takes to keep our lives headed in the right direction. Is your life a little “off course?” Are you heading for a crash-and-burn-encounter? Then reset the right spiritual formula—TIME ALONE WITH GOD TO... Those small adjustments will get your life back on track — or as the Bible says, on the straight and narrow path. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

A Great Lesson from...FROGS

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

A farmer walked into a French restaurant and asked the chef if he would like to buy a million frog legs—cheap, if he’d take 1,000 frogs per week. The chef wanted to know how he could promise so many frogs and the farmer told him about a pond on his property.

“The pond is full of frogs—millions of them. They croak all night long and are driving me crazy!”

They struck up a deal for 1,000 frogs per week, with the first delivery in three days. However, when the farmer returned a few days later, he only had a dozen frogs. The chef was angry with the farmer and wanted to know where the rest of the frogs were. 

The farmer said, “Well, I guess I was mistaken. There were only these twelve frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!”

Have you ever noticed that problems seem much bigger in the dark? Have you spent a few restless nights worrying about something you thought was overwhelming, like a million frogs driving you crazy? Your 401K is now a 101K, an unwelcomed diagnosis, a broken relationship, the loss of a loved one, an unbearable trial—something in which the “croaking” fear is all you hear. 

Dear Christ follower, we have an all-powerful, all-knowing, always-present Father who can handle all the “croaking” in our life. No problem is beyond His ability to handle. How many times in Scripture did His Son or angels say, “Don’t fear!” 

How is that possible? 

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalm 46:1-3

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 

So the next time you hear those pesky croaking frogs, the next time you are threatened by fear, remember who God is and what He can do! You are His.

The One Who is in you is greater that the one who is in the world. 1st John 4:4 

I Am Blessed - Now What?

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Whenever I read a passage where God announces a blessing on someone, I take notice. Why? Well, who doesn’t want God’s blessing in their lives!

But there has to be more to it than just saying, “I’ve been blessed by God.” There must! I think the account of Abraham gives us the needed understanding. The Lord told Abraham, "I will bless you — and you shall be a blessing." 

Now we understand. God has freely blessed each Christ follower so that he/she can be a blessing to others. The Lord has done so much for us. So, in turn, let's share His goodness. And remember this, dear Christ follower; “To whom much is given, much is required!” [Luke 12:48]

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. Genesis 12:2

'Revealed' in His Suffering

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

We are fast approaching the “High Holy Days” of the Christian calendar. They center on the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus—the price that was paid for our sin. As I was working on my sermons for Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday, my attention was drawn to John’s Gospel where he quoted a passage from Isaiah. In it, he talked about the “arm of the Lord being ‘revealed.’”

I’ve often used that passage in the sense of strength and power, as in the idea of rolling up your sleeves to get to work. But as I focused on the Isaiah passage a different understanding began to unfold. It has to do with the the Hebrew word gah-lah’ translated revealed.

It really is a word that describes the ultimate price that Messiah would pay for the sins of the world. How so? Well, gah-lah’ has a negative connotation, not a positive one. It is a primitive root; to denude [especially in a disgraceful sense]. It was used of those who were exiled—stripped, and carried away as a captive. So the Lord was not simply ‘revealed‘ to us, He was stripped, humiliated, and deeply degraded in order to save us. The price He paid was unfathomable.

As you begin to turn your mind toward the Holy Days, remember the Lord's sufferings. It will help to keep you humble, spiritually honest, and prepare you for your own small share of sufferings. It will also keep your heart tender toward Him, as well as everyone else for whom He ‘revealed’ Himself to save.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" John 12:36-38 

Trust God with Your Future

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

I have been a Christ follower over 45 years now. What a fantastic journey it has been! When I first gave my life to Christ, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. If God had given me a vision of all the things I would go through, and all the changes He would have to make in me, I would probably have been like Jonah and ran for my life! 

But God, in His infinite wisdom, doesn't show us more than we need to know. He is merciful in that way. What He desires from us is to trust Him with our future. 

I believe each Christ follower has many adventures in the days ahead. Remember, we are called according to His purpose [Romans 8:28]. Therefore, He will give us the power to endure all of our days—every trial, every mountain, every valley, and, yes, every necessary change in us.

We would do well to trust Him today — and let Him manage the future!

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:34

Restored!

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

I have been fascinated with the restoration of Israel since my first visit there in 1969. Scattered across the world without a homeland for nearly 2,000 years, Jews came back as a nation on May 14th 1948. What an amazing restoration! That national miracle is a great reminder of the power of resurrection, and the process of restoration which follows.

There is another miracle of restoration that I have to bring in here. It’s the New Birth every Christ follower experiences when he/she puts their complete confidence in Christ’s work of redemption at the cross. 

When we are born again by the power of God, we begin cooperating with Him to rebuild and restore our lives. Like the Israelis who rebuilt their nation, we work under the power of a Divine mandate—a mandate of restoration. Our lives, once dead and decimated, are being repaired and restored with new vitality. 

Dear Christ follower, God is at work. In divine love, He is restoring your life, transforming it each day to be more in the image of His dear Son. Be encouraged and be an encourager. None of us have arrived, but like the children’s song of old says, “Little by little every day; little by little in every way, Jesus is changing me!” We are being restored! 

But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,‘ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’  Jeremiah 30:17