Give It Up

Have you ever been sitting in church, at a retreat, or even in a small group and someone said that you should give your burdens up to God? I couldn't tell you how many times I have heard that in my life. And I couldn't tell you how many times I've wanted to do this very thing. But I always walked through that door wondering to myself how in the world am I supposed to do that.

I would walk out confused but never willing to express that confusion. I was the good little church goer. The one that you went to for answers, not the one with questions. But there I was with a really big question, how do I cast my burdens on God and trust in Him and His word?

Today He decided to finally give me that answer. It was an answer that was always there but today driving down the road He lifted that haze of confusion. It went something to the effect of...

"Are you worrying about money, give more of it to me. Are you worrying about not having enough time in a day to get things done, spend more time in My presence. Are you worrying about study habits and being prepared for work and school, spend more time studying my Word."

That's it in a nutshell. Whatever is causing me to worry I just take that cause and give more of it to God. If you're worried about not having enough money, give more of it to God. If you're worried about not having enough time, give more of it to God.

He still expects sacrifice even today. He still wants your, and my, first fruits. He still wants to be first in our lives just like he did in the old testament.

And still I struggle.

It's an easy concept to talk about, but an extremely difficult one to put into practice.

...

Can You See Me?

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

~1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Every morning I grab my phone and read my daily Bible passage. Today it was 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. 

With my little app I have the option of sharing my daily reading with all of my internet friends in my social network of cyberbuddies.  And every morning I do just that. I read it, then I share it. Never a second thought given...until this morning.

I must confess that I actually hesitated with this passage. I actually entertained the idea of not sharing this passage. I was afraid it would be seen and I would be thought of as an extremist, close-minded Christian.

I am ashamed that I was ashamed.

In this passage Paul is not dwelling on the negative. But I did...

If you read on to verse 11 Paul says that "such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." God wants us to know that we were all this way until we trusted in Him and allowed God to cleanse.

I was afraid this message would not be clear to some...and I hesitated. Then God stepped in and showed me that His message is one of hope. It's a message that all need to hear. To all who read this I want you to know that I am a Christian and I believe in the message of hope that God is telling all of us here. 

Can you see me now? I was hiding before...but no longer. I am not ashamed of the message that I believe in nor of the God that saved me.

God, thank you for your grace and your sanctification. I am a sinner and I have been ashamed. But you have justified me in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Thank you.

Believing is Not Seeing

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.   ~1 Corinthians 4:16

Sight is humans most powerful sense, and yet it is sight that hold us back from seeing God. We see what's right there in front of us and all to often we miss what God might have for us.

It all started in the beginning with Adam and Eve.  Eve saw what was there hanging from the tree and she took it thinking it would be good.  Then Adam, seeing Eve, took the fruit from her hand.  They walked with God in all his glory and still their sight failed them.

Paul is telling us two key things in this passage.  The first is to renew our inward man day by day. How many times does God tell us to do this. To meditate on His Word. To pray daily to Him. To pray daily for others. To help each other. Renewing our inner man while the outer man fades because it is our inner man that is eternal.

Secondly, Paul tells us to do what is so hard to accomplish. He tells us to focus on the eternal. To focus on the unseen. Our afflictions, whether they be physical or mental, are but fleeting things that have no meaning in eternity. How often do I not do this!

"I would read my Bible today, but..."
"I tried to pray everyday, but..."
"Fasting!? I've thought about trying it, but..."

My list could go on and on. How long would yours be? How often do you focus on the seen and not the unseen. If you believe the saying that seeing is believe, then your belief lies in the temporary and not in the eternal. Put away our most powerful sense and let God do a mighty work in you!

Easier said than done, I know. But I will be praying that we can see God without our sight and put our faith in the unseen, the eternal, and renew our inner self day by day.

Sin, Revisited

You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.                    ~Genesis 4:7

This verse came up in my devotional today...it it made me revisit an earlier post on Cain and sin.

God brought to light the very life of sin. Sin is not passive. Sin is not waiting. God wants us to understand this, just as he wanted Cain to understand it.

He gives us an image of sin. Something crouching and waiting to pounce. Something attacking and pursuing that must be subdued.  Sin can be mastered, but we have to be aware of it. A tiger crouches before it attacks its prey because it doesn't want to be seen. Here, God tells us that sin crouches...and I believe it is for the same reason.


If we are not on constant vigilance for sin, then it will be on us. Many times without us even knowing.

There is a question begging to be asked, "How do I keep vigilant and keep on the lookout for sin?"

The answer is so simple that we often don't do it. We simply keep our eyes on God. Much like the Israelites when they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, we look to God and everything will be okay. We look to God and we can see sin coming from far away because He will warn us.

God, help me to keep my focus on you so that sin cannot creep up on me.

  

                     

Rock...Meet Hard Place--Exodus 14

There are times in life where we are stuck between a rock and a hard place with seemingly no where to go.  Here, the Israelites were stuck between the Egyptian army (the rock) and the sea (the hard place).

Not much choice on which way to go is there?

And what did God's people do?...

They prayed and asked God to help them and deliver them! Ummm...
     wait, no they didn't do that.

They actually lamented the fact that God saved them from slavery.

"It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."  (vs. 12)

Their eyes were looking around at the situation they were in.  They were not looking to God, the author of their salvation.

We read about these silly little Israelites and we think, "Those Silly little Israelites. God has brought you out of slavery and shown you the way to go with a big pillar of cloud and fire.  How much more should you believe than me?!" (It's funnier if you say it out loud with a French accent...just sayin'.)  Funny how we can look from the outside and think that way.  We know the ending and what had in store.  They didn't.

But how many time have I looked around instead of looking to God?  How many times have I not trusted and been overwhelmed by my situation, even though I knew that is where God had led me?

Is God thinking, "That silly little man, if only he knew what I have in store for him!"

Life is hard and sometimes it's hard to trust to God.  You may follow Him and keep all your focus on Him when things are going well, but where does your focus go when it looks like there is now way out of a bad situation?  Where is your focus when you look one way and there is an angry army and then you look the other and there is a huge body of water?

I need to always keep my focus on God, no matter what is going on around me.

God, with You as my focus I know You will deliver me and keep me safe.  Thank you.

 

Joseph and the Amazing Ego

"…And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

Okay...so I think I just read Genesis 37 in a new light.  My entire life I have always looked at Joseph as the victim.  The poor younger brother getting picked on by all the other brothers.  Poor Joseph...

But wait!

First, in verse 3 we see that "Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons."
Then, Joseph has not just one but two dreams about his brothers and parents bowing down to him.

Um, Joseph already knows that he is the most loved and that his brothers "could not speak to him on friendly terms" (vs. 4).  What was he doing telling everyone about these dreams?  I think Joseph was a little bit spoiled rotten.  His brothers couldn't stand him and maybe rightly so.  God sent him off to Egypt to find favor and become powerful, but before that power came there were many trials to endure and dark times to suffer through.  God had to knock Joseph down a peg or five.

But why relate this story of Joseph?  Was it just to tell the history of the rise of the nation of Israel?  No...well, yes...but in reading this I can't help but ask myself if I am need of a few trials.  Have I become haughty in God's favor?

Confession time...I tend to be a little (maybe a lot) arrogant at times.  I'm confident, like Joseph seemed to be.  I'm also often arrogant, like Joseph seemed to be.  I like to showoff when I think I know or have accomplished something.  I like to show others my pretty new multicolored coat.  But I know that no matter how accomplished I think I might be, God is bigger and expects me to humble myself before him and before others. (James 4:10)

God, please give me the endurance to withstand trials and give me the openness to learn from them.  Show me my arrogance and give me the wisdom to push it far away.

Question to ponder: What does humility look like?  Any thoughts?

While there is no 12 step program to becoming a more humble Christian, this is a wonderful (and brief) article on humility--WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT...HUMILITY?

To Be Alone...

First let me say that I am married to the most wonderful woman in the world.  We have only been married for a few short months and since our wedding day we have spent all of our time together...literally.  There has not been a moment we've been apart. What about work you ask? Well, we even work together.  Yes, she is in another part of the building so I don't get to see her all day.  But when I get the chance I take a short break and go visit her to reenergize my soul.

And that leads me to tonight...

She recently signed up for a sewing class. I'm so proud of her because this is a whole new world in which she has very little experience. This is something she has wanted to do for a while and she is braving these new waters to learn something once unknown, and that is one of the many reasons why I love her so.

Her class last for four hours and as I type she is currently in hour four and I find myself lost.  I find myself longing for her presence, just to be able to look over and see her beautiful face sitting next to me. I find myself missing her voice and her laughter. I find myself missing knowing she is but a breath away from me.

How God has blessed me.

I am not deserving of this blessing but I pray that I am the man of God she needs and the leader of our family God has called me to be. Thank you Lord for such a woman that it hurts to miss, even for such a short period of time.

"Leave your hurting on the road behind you,

Let the wind go with you 'til the morning comes."

~NeedToBreathe