Hurry

One of my daily devotionals, Grace Gems, landed me here today.  This is the last part, which was the most convicting.  

"A third apprentice piped up, "I'm going to tell them that there is no hurry." 

"Brilliant!" says Satan. "That is just what you need to say. You will have great success. Let them listen to the Word of God, and then whisper in their ears: This is good stuff. One day you ought to do something about this. But tomorrow will do."

If you are like me the obvious is that we aren't guaranteed tomorrow so we need to live accordingly.  But neither are those you love most or the person in the office next to you or your neighbor.  As we believers ponder this reality, lets remember this.  "John 3:36- Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."  Share the Gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus.

What's your Wedge(s)?

Have you ever thought of yourself as "zanah"? How about a harlot? Or even whorish? Bet these catch your eye and possibly have you clicking the X button on top right corner of your screen. Well God thinks of us in this way at times. Read from His word and then let's discuss: Ezekiel 6:9- then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols.

If you have a little bible knowledge, then you know the Israelites had some issues with idols. And you should know how much God hates idols (an idol is anything you put before God, ANYTHING). Well, if you didn't before, you do now. They lost faith in Yahweh and turned to false gods, which were made into images, which they worshipped in places that basically smacked God right in the face. Read the next few chapters of Ezekiel if you want more clarity. But this cuts right to the bone for me. My goodness, how many idols, how whorish is my heart? Extremely, if I'm compltely honest. I can think of many things I put before God. Lately I have been neglecting God way too much, not in His word, not in prayer, not in worship, not in community, not being held accountable. I've ventured off that narrow path and strolled along the wide one way to long. It's easy to get off track, but for me it has been a lot harder to get back on. Things like golf, fantasy football, Hokie football, guns, and cameras have creeped in and taken the place of God. I've focused on them way too much, enough that my attitude and walk have been affected. You may be thinking, these things aren't bad.  Well let's flesh this out a bit.  If you spend more time watching YouTube videos on how to fix your slice or how to fix your chipping woes than being in the Word.  If you spend hours trying to perfect your shooters grip.  If you click the fantasy football app on your phone more than the bible app.  If you know more about the Hokie roster than the Gospels.  If you are constantly looking for that great deal on a camera lens you can't afford anyway.  I think you get my point.  And again, these things aren't bad if they are prioritized so that God comes first and are known to be a gift from God to enjoy, not worship.  Because what happens is these suttle idols or sins creep in and fill up the space in your head and your heart.  And they grow bigger and bigger, driving you further and further away from God.  It's like a wedge in a tree, the further you drive it in, the more it splits the wood.  Don't let your wood get split by some worthless idol.

So I confessed this to the Lord and my prayer now is for complete humility and surrender to Him. I want to rid myself of these ways and put Him first where He belongs.

I hope this is encouraging to someone. Someone who may be struggling in their walk. Someone who may have let these seeminglingy harmless things take over.  Don't be prideful like me and neglect the Lord. Repent and turn from those idols and yourself. Ecclesiastes 1:2 tells us that "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity."   Romans 8:20, 21 "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

For His Glory

Need of Grace

Two questions I want us to ask ourselves after reading this great prayer by one of our Puritan brothers.  One, do we hold God in such regard that we view our sin as disgustingly offensive?  Second, what are we willing to do to overcome our sin problem?  A hint for question two, there is nothing we can do apart from the Grace of God, but he gives us the means.

"O Lord, Thou knowest my great unfitness for service, my present deadness, my inability to do anything for thy glory, my distressing coldness of heart.
I am weak, ignorant, unprofitable, and loathe and abhor myself.
I am at a loss to know what thou wouldest have me do, for I feel amazingly deserted by thee, and sense thy presence so little;
Thou makest me possess the sins of my youth, and the dreadful sin of my nature, so that I feel all sin, I cannot think or act but every motion is sin.
Return again with showers of converting grace to a poor gospel-abusing sinner.
Help my soul to breathe after holiness, after a constant devotedness to thee, after growth in grace more abundantly every day.
O Lord, I am lost in the pursuit of this blessedness, and am ready to sink because I fall short of my desire;
Help me to hold out a little longer, until the happy hour of deliverance comes, for I cannot lift my sould to thee if thou of thy goodness bring me not thigh.
Help me to be diffident, watchful, tender, lest I offend my blessed Friend in thought and behaviour;
I confide in thee and lean upon thee, and need thee at all times to assist and lead me.
O that all my distresses and apprehensions might prove but Christ's school to make me fit for greater service by tehaching me the great lesson of humility."
- The Valley of Vision, page 99

Hunger Games

Heard a great sermon this morning regarding our ultimate substitute.  In Paul's letter to the Galatians he is reaffirming the Gospel he preached because false teaching had creeped into their camp.  He drives home the fact that we are saved by faith alone, not by works and that Christ died for us as our ultimate substitute.  I bet your are wondering what the Hunger Games has to do with this.  I've not read the books nor seen the movie, but know the overall theme.  From what I gather the main point is that the main character, Katniss takes the place of her younger sister Primrose in these "Hunger Games".  Now lets qualify this, she didn't just volunteer to do her choirs.  This game is kill or be killed, last man standing.  She saves her sisters life by possibly losing hers.   

But our Lord and Savior lost his life to save us.  He knew this, He knew us, and still chose to go to the cross as our substitute.  Galatians 3:13- Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"  Let's rejoice and celebrate during this Easter season the fact that Jesus died for us and rose on that glorious third day, overcoming death so that we may have life.

Conviction & Confession

So many times I've been convicted on my lack of prayer and it smacked me in the face again on Sunday. I praise the Lord that He convicts us of our disobedience and pray that He continues to do so as He sanctifies me in this life. I remember a coach telling us one time that we shouldn't worry about him being on our case so much, but we should worry when he's not. Basically what he was saying is that he was on us because he knew we could do better but if he wasn't then he had given up hope. Just a side note, my mind is going 1000 different directions at this point because this could lead to a very deep conversation, but for this blog I want to stick to my conviction.

I confess that my prayer life is far from where it should be, but better than it was. I am far from satisfied with my walk with Christ, but am extremely encouraged to see where He has brought me over the past 10 years. Do you see growth fellow Christian? Do you view the sin in your life more disgusting today than you did a year ago? I know I do and praise God for that. The closer we grow to Christ likeness, the more repulsive sin should be. Romans 6:19- for just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

But those who are without Christ, don't be fooled by the evil one. He would love nothing more than to deceive you into thinking you are too far gone to be saved. Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We all have sinned, we were born sinners. J.I. Packer says it best in his book, Knowing God: "There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me."

All that can be said about that is, WOW. I pray that my fellow brothers and sisters won't be discouraged, but will push forward through our trials and frustrations. And for those who do not know our Lord and Savior, don't be fooled by the devil. Christ died for you as well.

Encouragement from others

What encourages you? What place makes you feel better just for being there? Who makes you stronger in your faith?

Two things happened over the past couple days that were encouraging to me. On Sunday my father-in-law and I went to the evening service at church to hear the youth minister candidate speak and answer questions. After we left, we engaged in conversation about the message and our impression on the candidate. Being surrounded by fellow believers in worship then engaging in conversation about the Lord's work was uplifting. Then today, out of the blue, I received an email from an old friend, one of my best friends growing up. He kindly invited me to a men's conference at his church back home. Although I cannot attend, that initial email sparked a chain of emails that were focused on our Lord and His work in our lives. This too, was extremely uplifting.

So, what do the scriptures say about this? About being surrounded by fellow believers. Proverbs 13:20- Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 1 Corinthians 15:33- Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Very simply, we are to surround ourselves with fellow believers, those who build us up in our faith. Find those people who love the Lord, who build you up, and who are encouraging to be around.