Hey everyone, God bless you this week. I am really not sure how many people are actually reading these blogs, but I enjoy writing them and hope that whoever does tune in is being blessed by what the Lord is sharing with you through my heart. Last week we talked about how viewing everything through the Cross of Christ is the way to make sense of some of the hard things that life seems to throw at us. We talked about all the benefits that we have gained as God's children through our faith in Jesus' suffering and dying that horribly cruel death in our place. Yes, it happened around two thousand years ago, but the Bible teaches us that Jesus had to suffer the penalty for our sins once for all men, which means that He did a thorough job of it. No more sacrifices can be made. There is no need for the Savior to do it again. His last words recorded before He died that day were, "it is finished." Praise God that Jesus did it. He suffered and died in our place. He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Again, that means that whoever places their trust in Jesus and turns from their sins to the merciful Savior will be saved. Now that is something to get excited about. It is just as fresh today as it was then.
The truth of it is though that I don't like to suffer. I never have. As a matter of fact, I go to great lengths sometimes to avoid having to suffer any and all kinds of pain. It is a flaw that I think many of us share. The Bible teaches us that we are to endure suffering patiently as a good soldier of Christ because of our great example in Him. I understand that with my mind, but I'm having trouble getting my body to agree. Maybe you are the same way. I heard a preacher on the radio the other day say, "I wonder how many of us stay awake late at night unable to sleep, tossing and turning over the fact that Jesus had to suffer pain immensely for our sakes?" To my horror, I had to face the truth that I don't think I have. Salvation in Christ didn't cost me anything, but growing in Christ is going to cost me everything. I see now how God's plan is that He took the initiative by suffering for us and now it is our turn to reciprocate by enduring suffering for Him. God has never asked us to do anything that He hasn't already done in multiplication for us. He is not unreasonable in His plan for our growth as His children. He knows what we do not, and that is that through our sufferings we will grow strong and beautiful in full view of the world around us to see. You see, if me and the unbelievers of my circle of influence go through the same sufferings here on earth that everyone goes through, they should notice a difference in the outcome. They should notice that I still have peace, joy and power in the Holy Spirit. They should notice that I have a smile on my face, a spring in my step, and a whistle with my walk no matter what pressure I am under. This is the attitude that brings curiosity to them and glory to God. So when they ask me the reason for the faith that is within me I will have them right where God wants them. Ready to receive the gospel. The Bible teaches us that the present sufferings of this world are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us as saints of God. Basically, the underlying motive has to be God's glory or I won't make it through the suffering. The word of God says that, "because of the joy that was set before Him (Jesus), He endured the shame of the cross..." There is always joy on the other side of all that God calls us to suffer through for His sake. Joy unspeakable, joy everlasting.
So I guess what I am trying to express to us all this week is that even in suffering for good, we need to continue to be "cross-eyed" and realize that we have a part too. May God be glorified and you be blessed this week as we join with Him on this amazing journey through life.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Cross-eyed
Sorry about the late start this week, but I had training on Saturday which is my usual day of updating this blog. Hey, how has your week been? Are you okay? Has life this past day, week, month, or year been excessively out of balance? We all go through it at times, but I have found that there is a helpful combatant to these days of seemingly never ending heaviness. God says in His word that He has given us the, "garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." I wondered about that for a while when I was younger in my faith. "What does that mean exactly?" was my question to that verse. Then the Lord showed me that it is all about my perspective of things. Sometimes I get to thinking that bad things just never seem to stop coming and there is some truth to that, but there are also good things that are going on at the same time in my life. My life is not some roller coaster ride; up and down, up and down. Well it is if I let it be, which I used to do all the time. But the truth is that my life is made up of unseen areas also. I am a spiritual being. I am a child of the Most High God. My Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. His Son, the Lord Jesus has freed me from my sins and adopted me into His family. I am a new creation in Christ and my sins are forgiven. I stand righteous in the sight of God because of my faith in Christ. When God looks at Jesus, He sees me. When I look at Jesus, I see Him. I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms. I am seated with God in the heavenly places. Death has been defeated and has no sting for me. It has now become just the doorway to my continued life in heaven with my Father and all my Christian brothers and sisters. I've read the end of the book (Bible) and guess what? We win!
Wow, I feel better already. I too, was feeling a little down earlier this week, but now I feel great. I guess it is true. The "garment of praise" that I just wrote in the preceding sentences did fight off that feeling of heaviness. And all those wonderful truths about our God that I just mentioned were accomplished at the cross of Christ. Thank God that He showed me that I needed to check my perspective and view everything through the cross which now makes me "Cross-eyed." Let me now ask you a question. Have you had your vision evaluated lately? It may be time for a check-up.
God bless you this week as you view everything through the Cross. Faithfully yours, brotherdevon
Wow, I feel better already. I too, was feeling a little down earlier this week, but now I feel great. I guess it is true. The "garment of praise" that I just wrote in the preceding sentences did fight off that feeling of heaviness. And all those wonderful truths about our God that I just mentioned were accomplished at the cross of Christ. Thank God that He showed me that I needed to check my perspective and view everything through the cross which now makes me "Cross-eyed." Let me now ask you a question. Have you had your vision evaluated lately? It may be time for a check-up.
God bless you this week as you view everything through the Cross. Faithfully yours, brotherdevon
Saturday, April 11, 2009
On Guard
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." (Psalm 91)
The Lord Jesus said that His people should go into their closets and pray in secret to the Father who would in return reward them openly with His answers. I don't know where your closet is, but I do know that we need a regular place to meet with God. He is a God of order and if He is like us then He too requires time and place to build relationship. It's not something new to us to be available at a certain place and a certain time to meet with people regularly for all kinds of activities. We have board rooms, coffee shops, parks, and fellowship halls where we meet with one another religiously. We have day planners, calendars, and appointment books of all types and sizes. We have reminders that help us everywhere such as post it notes, alarms on our cell phones, and rubber bands around our wrists. I believe the most important appointment that we need to have as children of God is a regular daily time in His presence.
The truth of it is that these times we're living in are saturated with all kinds of distractions. Television, radio, satellite stereo, Internet, cable, and cell phones are constantly calling out to us, "over here, over here, over here" not to mention the visual traffic everywhere we turn with newspapers, magazines, and billboards steadily bombarding us. I mean it, I can't think straight sometimes because of the enormous amount of stimulus that or culture is hurling at us all at once. This has been deemed the "information age", but sadly enough most of it is cumbersome at best and purely unnecessary at the least. We still only have 24 hours in a day and so many so called time savers at our disposal and we still complain that we can't keep up. Our rushed, hurried pace is killing us and we just keep going hoping that there is a pill, fountain of youth, or magic wand that will keep us from exploding from the stress. Well, there is a cure for us who know Jesus and are aware of our need to spend time with Him. I have found the place where I can begin each day with joy, peace, and love. The place where I consistently find both rest and strength for the day is in my room with the door shut and my heart open. There is no one here except me and the Lord and I cherish that time and place together with Him.
You see, there is no longer a problem with me spending time with the Lord because I have come to know that the rewards of it are so much greater than the losses that I incur when I don't abide in His shadow. No, the problem that I seem to face now is preserving that time from all the other things that are competing for my attention. I now know that I have to be relentless in my defense of my closet hours. Have you ever seen a Hockey goalie decked out in full uniform? They are ferocious looking. They have on that cool looking helmet that covers their head and faces, shoulder pads, big leg protectors, and carry a big old stick to swat away anything that moves near that little bitty goal that they guard with their lives. I mean they are a formidable foe when it comes to staving off attack. We have to be the same when it comes to defending our goal of staying in close to the Lord. He is our fortress and refuge where we are safe from the plans, schemes, and snares of the evil one, but the enemy knows this and will use anything he can to lure us away from our protection. The sad part is that we usually fall for it and are constantly found letting minor distractions place themselves between us and our Father. Have you ever seen a ship that is poorly anchored to the sea bottom. You may not notice right away, but eventually you will see that the ship has been slowly but surely drifting away form it's original spot safe in the harbor. We too need to be aware of our anchor. Are we solidly grounded in our Lord by spending regular quality time with Him. And are we on guard to fight off every threat against our goal. Please don't let worldly issues crowd out heavenly crowns this week as you seek to spend time with the most important Person in your life. God bless you. faithfully, brotherdevon.
The Lord Jesus said that His people should go into their closets and pray in secret to the Father who would in return reward them openly with His answers. I don't know where your closet is, but I do know that we need a regular place to meet with God. He is a God of order and if He is like us then He too requires time and place to build relationship. It's not something new to us to be available at a certain place and a certain time to meet with people regularly for all kinds of activities. We have board rooms, coffee shops, parks, and fellowship halls where we meet with one another religiously. We have day planners, calendars, and appointment books of all types and sizes. We have reminders that help us everywhere such as post it notes, alarms on our cell phones, and rubber bands around our wrists. I believe the most important appointment that we need to have as children of God is a regular daily time in His presence.
The truth of it is that these times we're living in are saturated with all kinds of distractions. Television, radio, satellite stereo, Internet, cable, and cell phones are constantly calling out to us, "over here, over here, over here" not to mention the visual traffic everywhere we turn with newspapers, magazines, and billboards steadily bombarding us. I mean it, I can't think straight sometimes because of the enormous amount of stimulus that or culture is hurling at us all at once. This has been deemed the "information age", but sadly enough most of it is cumbersome at best and purely unnecessary at the least. We still only have 24 hours in a day and so many so called time savers at our disposal and we still complain that we can't keep up. Our rushed, hurried pace is killing us and we just keep going hoping that there is a pill, fountain of youth, or magic wand that will keep us from exploding from the stress. Well, there is a cure for us who know Jesus and are aware of our need to spend time with Him. I have found the place where I can begin each day with joy, peace, and love. The place where I consistently find both rest and strength for the day is in my room with the door shut and my heart open. There is no one here except me and the Lord and I cherish that time and place together with Him.
You see, there is no longer a problem with me spending time with the Lord because I have come to know that the rewards of it are so much greater than the losses that I incur when I don't abide in His shadow. No, the problem that I seem to face now is preserving that time from all the other things that are competing for my attention. I now know that I have to be relentless in my defense of my closet hours. Have you ever seen a Hockey goalie decked out in full uniform? They are ferocious looking. They have on that cool looking helmet that covers their head and faces, shoulder pads, big leg protectors, and carry a big old stick to swat away anything that moves near that little bitty goal that they guard with their lives. I mean they are a formidable foe when it comes to staving off attack. We have to be the same when it comes to defending our goal of staying in close to the Lord. He is our fortress and refuge where we are safe from the plans, schemes, and snares of the evil one, but the enemy knows this and will use anything he can to lure us away from our protection. The sad part is that we usually fall for it and are constantly found letting minor distractions place themselves between us and our Father. Have you ever seen a ship that is poorly anchored to the sea bottom. You may not notice right away, but eventually you will see that the ship has been slowly but surely drifting away form it's original spot safe in the harbor. We too need to be aware of our anchor. Are we solidly grounded in our Lord by spending regular quality time with Him. And are we on guard to fight off every threat against our goal. Please don't let worldly issues crowd out heavenly crowns this week as you seek to spend time with the most important Person in your life. God bless you. faithfully, brotherdevon.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Hiding Place
Psalm 32:7,8 "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."
What a beautiful exchange of words of trust that we are witnessing between the psalmist David and the great Jehovah God. David, here, was probably thinking back over the many times that he had been protected by God with His sovereign insight into the plans of David's pursuer, King Saul. You see, King Saul was still technically king of Israel, but God had withdrawn His power from him and had already anointed David to be the new king even though he was still young and had no idea how to be one. It was the Lord who was leading David and his band of outlaws through the wilderness as they sought to stay ahead of the jealous Saul for the many years that he chased after them to kill them.
Our God is the only One who can completely deliver. He is the only One who can completely protect us. He is the only One who knows what lies ahead on our pathway because He is in control. I was reminded of an old saying recently while reading the newsletter of some friends of mine who are headed off to N. Africa to be missionaries. "There is no safer place on earth than right in the center of God's will." No, I'm not so foolish as to tell you that because we are children of God that everything is going to go well for us. I know better than that and I'm sure you do also. Recently, I just finished reading a commentary on the history of Israel and it was thick. I mean one of those books that you need a pickup truck to return to the Library. Well, after reading 40 chapters consisting of about 450 pages and spanning the content of all of the kings and prophets of the old testament I gleaned one rather large, but simple truth which is, "trust and obey God and things will end well for you."
Let me assure you that the journey with God will not be without its troublesome and trying times. You may have noticed that I just said that by trusting and obeying God things will end well for us not always be well. This is why it is so important that we are close to the Lord. So close that if He were to cast a shadow we would be in it. Like where it says in Psalm 91, "that he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." I see from this verse that our God has a place next to Him where there is room for us to be protected. You know, a place where we are to nestle in tight as a baby chick nestles under the wing of her mother. That place is the place of God's word and prayer. These are the places where we are to be found by God which are nearest and dearest to Him. These are the places that have been appointed by our God as places of refuge from the times of trouble. The Bible teaches us that no "weapon formed against us will prosper" if we stand firm on the promises of God and trust in Him by casting all of our cares upon Him who cares for us.
Following Jesus through life is what I am talking about today. Just like David followed God all of those years through his life. The Bible says that God called David, "a man after His own heart." What a wonderful compliment from the God of heaven and earth. Oh, how I hope that when we stand before the throne of heaven in the presence our Lord Jesus, that we will hear words as beautiful sounding as those about us. Remember, from this psalm that God said, "He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go; and will guide us with His eye." The Eye of God sees everything from the past, present, and future. So, Who better to guide us than the One who sees all, knows all, and answers all according to His will. He is our hiding place and our guide so trust in Him completely and all will end well for you. I pray this has been an encouragement for you and will carry you through the times of trouble. Faithfully, brotherdevon.
What a beautiful exchange of words of trust that we are witnessing between the psalmist David and the great Jehovah God. David, here, was probably thinking back over the many times that he had been protected by God with His sovereign insight into the plans of David's pursuer, King Saul. You see, King Saul was still technically king of Israel, but God had withdrawn His power from him and had already anointed David to be the new king even though he was still young and had no idea how to be one. It was the Lord who was leading David and his band of outlaws through the wilderness as they sought to stay ahead of the jealous Saul for the many years that he chased after them to kill them.
Our God is the only One who can completely deliver. He is the only One who can completely protect us. He is the only One who knows what lies ahead on our pathway because He is in control. I was reminded of an old saying recently while reading the newsletter of some friends of mine who are headed off to N. Africa to be missionaries. "There is no safer place on earth than right in the center of God's will." No, I'm not so foolish as to tell you that because we are children of God that everything is going to go well for us. I know better than that and I'm sure you do also. Recently, I just finished reading a commentary on the history of Israel and it was thick. I mean one of those books that you need a pickup truck to return to the Library. Well, after reading 40 chapters consisting of about 450 pages and spanning the content of all of the kings and prophets of the old testament I gleaned one rather large, but simple truth which is, "trust and obey God and things will end well for you."
Let me assure you that the journey with God will not be without its troublesome and trying times. You may have noticed that I just said that by trusting and obeying God things will end well for us not always be well. This is why it is so important that we are close to the Lord. So close that if He were to cast a shadow we would be in it. Like where it says in Psalm 91, "that he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." I see from this verse that our God has a place next to Him where there is room for us to be protected. You know, a place where we are to nestle in tight as a baby chick nestles under the wing of her mother. That place is the place of God's word and prayer. These are the places where we are to be found by God which are nearest and dearest to Him. These are the places that have been appointed by our God as places of refuge from the times of trouble. The Bible teaches us that no "weapon formed against us will prosper" if we stand firm on the promises of God and trust in Him by casting all of our cares upon Him who cares for us.
Following Jesus through life is what I am talking about today. Just like David followed God all of those years through his life. The Bible says that God called David, "a man after His own heart." What a wonderful compliment from the God of heaven and earth. Oh, how I hope that when we stand before the throne of heaven in the presence our Lord Jesus, that we will hear words as beautiful sounding as those about us. Remember, from this psalm that God said, "He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go; and will guide us with His eye." The Eye of God sees everything from the past, present, and future. So, Who better to guide us than the One who sees all, knows all, and answers all according to His will. He is our hiding place and our guide so trust in Him completely and all will end well for you. I pray this has been an encouragement for you and will carry you through the times of trouble. Faithfully, brotherdevon.
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