"So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." Acts 12:5
Can I ask you a question? I guess I just did! Let me ask you another question. When you pray do you expect anything to happen? When you ask God for something or to do something, do you really expect anything to happen?
You should!
There is this story in the book of Acts where Peter gets thrown into prison, so the church starts praying for his release. Now at this particular time that Peter was in prison, James the brother of John had just been killed. Obviously they had the same plans for Peter. So the church hold an all night prayer meeting and prays for his deliverance. In the middle of the night an angel of the LORD comes and gets Peter out of prison, so Peter runs to the home where the meeting was taking place to tell the people of the church all that God had done.
The funny thing is...at first they didn't believe it was him, they thought it was his ghost or his angel or something. They spent all that time praying that God would get Peter out of this situation and when he did the people didn't believe it.
Why do we do that?
The problem now is, we have de-evolved to the point of skipping the prayer part and going right to the non-belief part. We don't pray for anything serious anymore. When we do pray, it for stuff like our pets, or safe travelling, or my friend is being mean to me, or fluffy stuff like that.
We don't seriously pray for things because we don't seriously believe that God will do anything. I don't know if it is because we would rather rely on ourselves than see God move or we just plain don't think He will do anything. The fact is, in our story, what they prayed for they got. God moved!! He delivered Peter just like they asked!
What do you have going on in your life that you could pray...and I mean seriously pray about. I am talking about falling on your knees and asking God to move in this situation or that and believing that HE WILL DO IT!!!
What non-believing friend could you pray for, for opportunities to speak to them about Jesus?
Whose marriage is on the rocks that you could pray for restoration?
Who has an illness that you could pray for healing?
What situation in your own life are you struggling with that you could pray for guidance?
Jesus said ask whatever you want in my name and you will receive it. James says that you receive not because you ask for the wrong reasons. What that means is when you ask for something, why are you asking? Because you think it is the right thing to do? Or because you believe with all your heart that what you are praying for God will deliver?
Pray, talk to God like you believe what you are asking for will happen!!
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Worthless things
"Incline my heart to your testimonies
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your way."
Psalm 119:36-37-He
There is this picture post...thingy...floating around facebook. I posted it on my wall because it is a great saying and the speaker is one of my favorite authors, Francis Chan. The saying goes like this, "Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter".
I am a schemer by nature. I have so many ideas and so many things that I want to accomplish, it can get kind of annoying at times...just ask my wife. I have a tendency to float from one thing to another before accomplishing the first thing. I have had to learn to complete a project and see it to the end before I start another one, even if it is not going the way that I had planned originally. I'm not great at it but I am better than I used to be.
With all of these things that I want to do and want to accomplish, sometimes I have to stop and think...do the things that I do really matter??
All of these dreams and stuff I want to accomplish, does it really matter?
Is it going to make a difference?
Is what I am doing for my glory or for God's glory?
In Psalm 119 David writes and asks God to turn his eyes from worthless things. I love that phrasing. But I have to ask, do we ever ask that of God?
Are the things that you are doing worthless?
In the grand scheme of eternity, are they going to matter?
Sometimes, I really have to hold my tongue when I talk to students entering their college years (but maybe I shouldn't) and they tell me their plans and what they want to major in and do with their lives. I often wonder, where does God fit into all of those plans. I hear plans to major in things that will end up being...well...worthless. It sounds like Beaker from the Muppet's, "Me me, mememe me me me". I never hear plans to the tune of, "I want to major in such and such, so I can serve God in this way". I was with a student the other day who told me they wanted to major in a field dealing with mechanics. You should have seen the look they gave me when I suggested they could use that to figure out how to build machines that would dig wells in Africa for people who don't have drinking water.
It makes me so incredible sad when I hear students who have gone to church all their lives, make plans for their lives, that puts God last in their lives. That seems to be the cycle of the "American Dream". Go to college and major in something that will make you lots of money, serve yourself, have a nervous breakdown or mid-life crisis because you are ultimately unsatisfied because you are serving only yourself.
Paul says that whatever we do... do it for the Glory of Us? WRONG!! Do it for the Glory of God!!
How can we do that?
By serving others.
God says that we should not look to only our own interests but to the interests of others. THAT is something worthwhile!!
Are your eyes focused on worthless things?
May our LORD be with you
Josh
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your way."
Psalm 119:36-37-He
There is this picture post...thingy...floating around facebook. I posted it on my wall because it is a great saying and the speaker is one of my favorite authors, Francis Chan. The saying goes like this, "Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter".
I am a schemer by nature. I have so many ideas and so many things that I want to accomplish, it can get kind of annoying at times...just ask my wife. I have a tendency to float from one thing to another before accomplishing the first thing. I have had to learn to complete a project and see it to the end before I start another one, even if it is not going the way that I had planned originally. I'm not great at it but I am better than I used to be.
With all of these things that I want to do and want to accomplish, sometimes I have to stop and think...do the things that I do really matter??
All of these dreams and stuff I want to accomplish, does it really matter?
Is it going to make a difference?
Is what I am doing for my glory or for God's glory?
In Psalm 119 David writes and asks God to turn his eyes from worthless things. I love that phrasing. But I have to ask, do we ever ask that of God?
Are the things that you are doing worthless?
In the grand scheme of eternity, are they going to matter?
Sometimes, I really have to hold my tongue when I talk to students entering their college years (but maybe I shouldn't) and they tell me their plans and what they want to major in and do with their lives. I often wonder, where does God fit into all of those plans. I hear plans to major in things that will end up being...well...worthless. It sounds like Beaker from the Muppet's, "Me me, mememe me me me". I never hear plans to the tune of, "I want to major in such and such, so I can serve God in this way". I was with a student the other day who told me they wanted to major in a field dealing with mechanics. You should have seen the look they gave me when I suggested they could use that to figure out how to build machines that would dig wells in Africa for people who don't have drinking water.
It makes me so incredible sad when I hear students who have gone to church all their lives, make plans for their lives, that puts God last in their lives. That seems to be the cycle of the "American Dream". Go to college and major in something that will make you lots of money, serve yourself, have a nervous breakdown or mid-life crisis because you are ultimately unsatisfied because you are serving only yourself.
Paul says that whatever we do... do it for the Glory of Us? WRONG!! Do it for the Glory of God!!
How can we do that?
By serving others.
God says that we should not look to only our own interests but to the interests of others. THAT is something worthwhile!!
Are your eyes focused on worthless things?
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Follow me, Jesus?!?
Blessed are those whose ways is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
Psalm 119:1-3-Aleph
We have some big problems that we struggle with these days.
Young men looking at Pornography and teaching their bodies to naturally respond in a very unnatural way.
Young ladies giving themselves away and doing whatever they can because they think it will make them feel loved and wanted.
Teen guys and girls making terrible life choices to the tune of "YOLO", (you only live once) and then finding unthinkable ways to get rid of the mistakes that they have made.
The kicker is, these big problems are not only happening outside the church, they are happening inside the church as well. In some cases, the problems are more frequent with "believers" than non-believers. What is wrong with us, the church, these days? How did we get to this point?
I don't know as though I have the answer but allow me to share a theory with you. We, as the church have become so complacent, we have stopped teaching that Jesus needs to be our lives, rather than add him into what we already have going on. Its like we don't drop everything when he says "Follow Me", we come to him and say "Jesus, Follow Me, be a part of the life that I already live, but don't change anything in it. Just be my get of of hell free card".
Am I wrong? We live life the way we think is best, then scream at God for not saving us from certain situations when the outcome is not what we expected. The above Psalm says blessed are those whose way is BLAMELESS, who walk in (there own way, no way) THE LAW OF THE LORD. Blessed are those who seek after him with their WHOLE HEART!!
Jesus said the only way to save your life is to lose it to Him!! If you try and hold onto your life you will lose it for good.
This is what we need to teach our sons and daughters and youth. Lose your life to Jesus and He will save it. Follow Him, rather than Him follow you.
Here are three ways we can do this;
-Teach the word of God rather than trends and fads. Talk about God and his way of living with our kids and teach these things in our Youth groups. If we do not teach the word of God in our groups, these kids will never know about it. When we teach the Word, it will inevitably answer their life questions and problems they face.
-Let's be less sensitive to those who are not believers yet. I am not saying be mean but often times we don't give kids the truth because they "are not believers yet". Encourage those kids to cry out to Jesus, to pray, to worship. Dong this will teach them to be a disciple even before they give their lives to Christ. That is the truth and the only way to live, why would we cover that up or try and dance around that with advice. Give it to them straight, talk to Jesus, pray to him, read the Word.
-Teach those who do claim to be believers to get rid of all the things in their lives that keep them from following Jesus and get serious about following him. Sometimes you have to draw the line in the sand and say, "either you are with Jesus or you go your own way". Continuing to teach these students that they can live life and add Jesus in when they want is only doing more damage. We need to teach them and our children that Jesus needs to be their life, Period.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
Psalm 119:1-3-Aleph
We have some big problems that we struggle with these days.
Young men looking at Pornography and teaching their bodies to naturally respond in a very unnatural way.
Young ladies giving themselves away and doing whatever they can because they think it will make them feel loved and wanted.
Teen guys and girls making terrible life choices to the tune of "YOLO", (you only live once) and then finding unthinkable ways to get rid of the mistakes that they have made.
The kicker is, these big problems are not only happening outside the church, they are happening inside the church as well. In some cases, the problems are more frequent with "believers" than non-believers. What is wrong with us, the church, these days? How did we get to this point?
I don't know as though I have the answer but allow me to share a theory with you. We, as the church have become so complacent, we have stopped teaching that Jesus needs to be our lives, rather than add him into what we already have going on. Its like we don't drop everything when he says "Follow Me", we come to him and say "Jesus, Follow Me, be a part of the life that I already live, but don't change anything in it. Just be my get of of hell free card".
Am I wrong? We live life the way we think is best, then scream at God for not saving us from certain situations when the outcome is not what we expected. The above Psalm says blessed are those whose way is BLAMELESS, who walk in (there own way, no way) THE LAW OF THE LORD. Blessed are those who seek after him with their WHOLE HEART!!
Jesus said the only way to save your life is to lose it to Him!! If you try and hold onto your life you will lose it for good.
This is what we need to teach our sons and daughters and youth. Lose your life to Jesus and He will save it. Follow Him, rather than Him follow you.
Here are three ways we can do this;
-Teach the word of God rather than trends and fads. Talk about God and his way of living with our kids and teach these things in our Youth groups. If we do not teach the word of God in our groups, these kids will never know about it. When we teach the Word, it will inevitably answer their life questions and problems they face.
-Let's be less sensitive to those who are not believers yet. I am not saying be mean but often times we don't give kids the truth because they "are not believers yet". Encourage those kids to cry out to Jesus, to pray, to worship. Dong this will teach them to be a disciple even before they give their lives to Christ. That is the truth and the only way to live, why would we cover that up or try and dance around that with advice. Give it to them straight, talk to Jesus, pray to him, read the Word.
-Teach those who do claim to be believers to get rid of all the things in their lives that keep them from following Jesus and get serious about following him. Sometimes you have to draw the line in the sand and say, "either you are with Jesus or you go your own way". Continuing to teach these students that they can live life and add Jesus in when they want is only doing more damage. We need to teach them and our children that Jesus needs to be their life, Period.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Friday, June 22, 2012
Superheroes, Vampires and Mermaids
I am beginning to notice a pattern here. There has been an increasing number of movies, tv shows, books, magazines and all kinds of other stuff that involve supernatural things, ie Superheroes, Vampires, Mermaids, Werewolves, Ghosts, Goblins, Witches, Hobbits, Creatures from the Black Lagoon and so on. Okay, honestly I haven't just noticed this, it's been happening for a while but I think the increase has been slow enough that it snuck up on us. Now all of a sudden when you go into a book or movie store it seems to be everywhere. Don't forget also that you can't browse through your TV Guide without seeing a show involving some kind of supernatural element on every station. Even the History Channel has programs of extra-terrestrial beings. It's getting kind of ridiculous.
Lately, in my personal time with God I have been praying for understanding. I have a knack for jumping to conclusions and claiming I know what people are thinking and making snap judgments based on my premature notions. So I have been asking for understanding, to peer into a situation and understand what is going on beneath the surface rather than jumping to conclusions.
So as I view the media driven world around me and I see the preoccupation we have with things that are superhuman, I wonder what this could mean. What is going on beneath the surface of our fascination with Vampires and Superheroes? In our culture and society today, why all of a sudden are we so taken with stories about such beings?
I believe that answer can be found in the bible. In Psalm 139, it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The author is writing poetry here about how amazed he is at God's creation of man. Throughout all of history we have be amazed at ourselves and how our bodies function and operate. In the ancient world it was physical limitations, in the Renaissance it was our emotional and artistic frontier and in today's culture we are fascinated with our psychological boundaries.
However, I believe we as mankind have missed the other part of what the author of Psalm 139 was trying to express. Some scholars believe and have written that, that phrase "fearfully and wonderfully" could also be read "fearfully wonderful," describing God and his work on mankind. Either way you look at it only a "fearfully wonderful" God could "fearfully and wonderfully" create us.
So we got the part about how great we are created and what cool creatures we are...but we have totally missed the mark on exploring how great and cool God is and that is where I think all of this super, extra-human stuff is coming into play. We want so desperately to believe that there is something else out there. That is why fantasy material is so captivating. The thought of something greater than ourselves is appealing.
The problem is, there is something greater than us...He is called God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. We have looked inward for so long, mankind has tried to deny God for so long, that we don't see God is the simplest things anymore. The sunrise at the beach, the waves crashing on the shore, a neighbor doing a good deed, a trespasser being shown forgiveness when he or she doesn't deserve it, we can see God in every circumstance we come across in life. We can acknowledge how cool he is and how wonderful are his deeds but instead we put more credence in creatures that are figments of our God-given creative imagination. The church is not immune to this either. We have stopped looking to God for our everything and look to ourselves. Lest we forget it is God who will save the world and not us!!
I am not saying that reading books or seeing movies about these things are a bad but do they take up more time in your life than God? Do you give more energy to fantastical stories rather than the truth of God's word?
I like Superheroes and the like as much as the next guy but, friends I encourage you if you are looking for something that is greater than yourself...something superhuman, look to God. Give your life to Jesus. Living this life with God's Spirit inside you and the adventures He will take you on is greater than any story you could ever watch or read about. The power to do good works and bring people to a relationship with Jesus is the great superhuman story of all.
When will yours begin??
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Lately, in my personal time with God I have been praying for understanding. I have a knack for jumping to conclusions and claiming I know what people are thinking and making snap judgments based on my premature notions. So I have been asking for understanding, to peer into a situation and understand what is going on beneath the surface rather than jumping to conclusions.
So as I view the media driven world around me and I see the preoccupation we have with things that are superhuman, I wonder what this could mean. What is going on beneath the surface of our fascination with Vampires and Superheroes? In our culture and society today, why all of a sudden are we so taken with stories about such beings?
I believe that answer can be found in the bible. In Psalm 139, it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The author is writing poetry here about how amazed he is at God's creation of man. Throughout all of history we have be amazed at ourselves and how our bodies function and operate. In the ancient world it was physical limitations, in the Renaissance it was our emotional and artistic frontier and in today's culture we are fascinated with our psychological boundaries.
However, I believe we as mankind have missed the other part of what the author of Psalm 139 was trying to express. Some scholars believe and have written that, that phrase "fearfully and wonderfully" could also be read "fearfully wonderful," describing God and his work on mankind. Either way you look at it only a "fearfully wonderful" God could "fearfully and wonderfully" create us.
So we got the part about how great we are created and what cool creatures we are...but we have totally missed the mark on exploring how great and cool God is and that is where I think all of this super, extra-human stuff is coming into play. We want so desperately to believe that there is something else out there. That is why fantasy material is so captivating. The thought of something greater than ourselves is appealing.
The problem is, there is something greater than us...He is called God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. We have looked inward for so long, mankind has tried to deny God for so long, that we don't see God is the simplest things anymore. The sunrise at the beach, the waves crashing on the shore, a neighbor doing a good deed, a trespasser being shown forgiveness when he or she doesn't deserve it, we can see God in every circumstance we come across in life. We can acknowledge how cool he is and how wonderful are his deeds but instead we put more credence in creatures that are figments of our God-given creative imagination. The church is not immune to this either. We have stopped looking to God for our everything and look to ourselves. Lest we forget it is God who will save the world and not us!!
I am not saying that reading books or seeing movies about these things are a bad but do they take up more time in your life than God? Do you give more energy to fantastical stories rather than the truth of God's word?
I like Superheroes and the like as much as the next guy but, friends I encourage you if you are looking for something that is greater than yourself...something superhuman, look to God. Give your life to Jesus. Living this life with God's Spirit inside you and the adventures He will take you on is greater than any story you could ever watch or read about. The power to do good works and bring people to a relationship with Jesus is the great superhuman story of all.
When will yours begin??
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Growing into Greatness
The life of Peter has always amazed me. I don't know if you know this but the
book of Mark is really the book of Peter. Back then computers were known as people
who knew how to write. Peter wrote his book through a man named John Mark. John
Mark was able to write so Peter dictated his account of Jesus to Mark and Mark wrote it
down, which is why to book is called the gospel of Mark and not the gospel of Peter.
Either way you look at it the gospel is about Jesus, but the life and story of Peter always
fascinates me.
I recently read through the book of Mark. Knowing that this is the account of
Jesus through Peter's eyes makes the book a little more interesting when you read it.
You can find personality traits of Peter scattered all throughout the text. For example
we know Peter to be a man of rash action rather than well thought out planning.
Throughout the book the word "Immediately" seems to appear quite often. Jesus
immediately got into the boat and went to the other side and immediately a crowd came
upon him and he immediately began to heal the sick and immediately they were
healed...you get the point. Another example is the account of when Peter denied
Jesus. In this gospel it is particularly detailed.
I say all this to bring up this point. Peter is known to all believers as one of the
giant heroes of the faith but the thing is he didn't start out that way. He made a lot of
mistakes, even to the point of denying that he knew Jesus, pretty much to his face. We
know him as this great man of God who wrote beautiful material and theology on our
faith but Jesus knew him as the blundering idiot who put his foot in his mouth more
often than not. Yet Jesus still said of Peter, "upon this rock, I will build my church".
I don't know where you are at today. But I can tell you that Jesus loves you more
than you could ever comprehend and he wants to use you in his high risk endeavors.
You may feel more like the blundering Peter than the faith giant Peter...that is okay.
Jesus did not write Peter off the first time he made a mistake and he will never do that
to you either.
Being a Christian is not a one time thing; say a prayer and you are perfect, it is
life changing and growing experience. Peter didn't go from fisherman to Saint right
when Jesus said "follow me", he grew into the greatness we know of him today and the
same is true for you and me. We can be great followers of Christ, even though we don't
feel that way sometimes, it is still true, we can be great just like Peter. Friends, the key is that
we need to realize that we need to go through the growing process and take the right steps
towardJesus. When we stumble and fall get up, learn from the mistake, ask for forgiveness
and use the experience to draw closer to Jesus.
Christ wants to use you to change the world. Yes, YOU!!! The broken, sinful,
wretch that you are, he wants to use you, the same way he used Peter. I encourage
you, stay the course, follow after Christ and remember, Peter started out just as much
of a mistake maker as you and me.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
book of Mark is really the book of Peter. Back then computers were known as people
who knew how to write. Peter wrote his book through a man named John Mark. John
Mark was able to write so Peter dictated his account of Jesus to Mark and Mark wrote it
down, which is why to book is called the gospel of Mark and not the gospel of Peter.
Either way you look at it the gospel is about Jesus, but the life and story of Peter always
fascinates me.
I recently read through the book of Mark. Knowing that this is the account of
Jesus through Peter's eyes makes the book a little more interesting when you read it.
You can find personality traits of Peter scattered all throughout the text. For example
we know Peter to be a man of rash action rather than well thought out planning.
Throughout the book the word "Immediately" seems to appear quite often. Jesus
immediately got into the boat and went to the other side and immediately a crowd came
upon him and he immediately began to heal the sick and immediately they were
healed...you get the point. Another example is the account of when Peter denied
Jesus. In this gospel it is particularly detailed.
I say all this to bring up this point. Peter is known to all believers as one of the
giant heroes of the faith but the thing is he didn't start out that way. He made a lot of
mistakes, even to the point of denying that he knew Jesus, pretty much to his face. We
know him as this great man of God who wrote beautiful material and theology on our
faith but Jesus knew him as the blundering idiot who put his foot in his mouth more
often than not. Yet Jesus still said of Peter, "upon this rock, I will build my church".
I don't know where you are at today. But I can tell you that Jesus loves you more
than you could ever comprehend and he wants to use you in his high risk endeavors.
You may feel more like the blundering Peter than the faith giant Peter...that is okay.
Jesus did not write Peter off the first time he made a mistake and he will never do that
to you either.
Being a Christian is not a one time thing; say a prayer and you are perfect, it is
life changing and growing experience. Peter didn't go from fisherman to Saint right
when Jesus said "follow me", he grew into the greatness we know of him today and the
same is true for you and me. We can be great followers of Christ, even though we don't
feel that way sometimes, it is still true, we can be great just like Peter. Friends, the key is that
we need to realize that we need to go through the growing process and take the right steps
towardJesus. When we stumble and fall get up, learn from the mistake, ask for forgiveness
and use the experience to draw closer to Jesus.
Christ wants to use you to change the world. Yes, YOU!!! The broken, sinful,
wretch that you are, he wants to use you, the same way he used Peter. I encourage
you, stay the course, follow after Christ and remember, Peter started out just as much
of a mistake maker as you and me.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Verbal Vomit
When I get worked up about something it is hard for me not to voice my opinion. However I am getting better at using that filter in my brain. Lately though, it has been really hard to keep my mouth closed especially when it comes to people's comments on certain social media sites. People make the most outlandish, uneducated, brash remarks, at times I can hardly believe the commentary I am reading. The Internet is a great tool but unfortunately it is also used for people to spew their verbal vomit all over everyone else. Every time I read something it takes a lot not to comment back but I remember the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the mount, "don't cast your pearls before swine because they will trample on you", and trample they do.
Take for example this once instance that my wife encountered. Someone posted an uplifting picture referencing God and how He uses people whom we would think are unusable. The comments, from people who claim to be non-believers and such, went a flyin'. The funny thing is, when they would comment about their unbelief, believers would try to encourage and speak in love to them in a non-judgemental way and the unbelievers would then revile the believers and tear them down.
It makes me sad and mad all at the same time. Then this morning I was reading in Psalm 73. David is complaining to God about the wicked people he sees getting ahead in life and asks what is going on. Then about half way through David makes this statement, "But I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin".
I though about this for a bit and found that I have similar feelings and thoughts with David. I think how crazy these people are and how awful things seem to be and I don't understand any of it. I don't understand how these people can live this way and mock God the way they do and it all seems to be okay. I can't stand having different issues and people's opinions rammed down my throat day after day and then I am called the bigot because I disagree or see things a different way. How can this be?!?
David says when he sits back and gets in God's presences, he begins to understand what is going on here. These people seem to be okay with life. They seem to know what they are talking about and have it all together but the truth is they are so far from being okay. Their own life style and choices make their life ruin. They seem to walk a good path but their way is slippery.
Only a life given over to God and built on the rock of Jesus can stand. Things may seem bad and headed for worse but we can always stand on Jesus. He and only He provides the foundation we need for a life that is worth living. Keep the faith, keep walking the walk, live for Him and nothing else. Acknowledge God in everything and He will make straight your path.
may our LORD be with you
Josh
Take for example this once instance that my wife encountered. Someone posted an uplifting picture referencing God and how He uses people whom we would think are unusable. The comments, from people who claim to be non-believers and such, went a flyin'. The funny thing is, when they would comment about their unbelief, believers would try to encourage and speak in love to them in a non-judgemental way and the unbelievers would then revile the believers and tear them down.
It makes me sad and mad all at the same time. Then this morning I was reading in Psalm 73. David is complaining to God about the wicked people he sees getting ahead in life and asks what is going on. Then about half way through David makes this statement, "But I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin".
I though about this for a bit and found that I have similar feelings and thoughts with David. I think how crazy these people are and how awful things seem to be and I don't understand any of it. I don't understand how these people can live this way and mock God the way they do and it all seems to be okay. I can't stand having different issues and people's opinions rammed down my throat day after day and then I am called the bigot because I disagree or see things a different way. How can this be?!?
David says when he sits back and gets in God's presences, he begins to understand what is going on here. These people seem to be okay with life. They seem to know what they are talking about and have it all together but the truth is they are so far from being okay. Their own life style and choices make their life ruin. They seem to walk a good path but their way is slippery.
Only a life given over to God and built on the rock of Jesus can stand. Things may seem bad and headed for worse but we can always stand on Jesus. He and only He provides the foundation we need for a life that is worth living. Keep the faith, keep walking the walk, live for Him and nothing else. Acknowledge God in everything and He will make straight your path.
may our LORD be with you
Josh
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Opportunity is knocking at your door
I want to keep it short today. I know what your thinking...yeah right!!
When I started out in ministry, I could always come up with great ideas for ministry opportunities. The problem was, my ideas were always on a huge scale. I was told growing up that I was meant for great things and that to me meant nationally famous kind of things. What I had to come realize is my definition of great and God's definition of great were two very different things.
God's definition of great could be nationally famous or could mean ministering and loving on a small youth group of 20 students in a small town that no body outside of the state knows about. Great, to God, could be living in a hut in the jungle, teaching the gospel to people whom everyone else has written off as savage. Great could be starting a small church that meets in a school cafeteria.
As long as Jesus is being glorified and people are giving their lives to him, your (what looks to be small) ministry is GREAT!! It is not small to God. Anything that loves on people and bring glory to God is great.
I am in the midst of starting a new branch of ministry that in human terms is small, but I am totally excited about it. I will give more details when I can but for now, this is going to be a great opportunity.
What is a ministry that you have been thinking about starting but didn't because it's "too small." I have news for you, it's not small at all. I always thought that doing things that didn't impact thousands of people was not worth my time but I was dead wrong. God does amazing things through the "small", just look at David vs. Goliath. God took all of my desires, the things that I wanted to do (on the huge scale) and showed me how I can fit those things into his plan. God's plans and purposes are big enough to fit your huge and small ideas.
So many people think about "God's will" for their lives, wanting to know what it is that God has for them and then end up not doing anything. God's will is for you to come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and to then share his love and gospel with others who need to hear it, using the talents He has given you.
So what is on your heart? What is a ministry opportunity that is knocking at your door? Big or small God wants to use you to impact the lives of other...so go answer that door.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
When I started out in ministry, I could always come up with great ideas for ministry opportunities. The problem was, my ideas were always on a huge scale. I was told growing up that I was meant for great things and that to me meant nationally famous kind of things. What I had to come realize is my definition of great and God's definition of great were two very different things.
God's definition of great could be nationally famous or could mean ministering and loving on a small youth group of 20 students in a small town that no body outside of the state knows about. Great, to God, could be living in a hut in the jungle, teaching the gospel to people whom everyone else has written off as savage. Great could be starting a small church that meets in a school cafeteria.
As long as Jesus is being glorified and people are giving their lives to him, your (what looks to be small) ministry is GREAT!! It is not small to God. Anything that loves on people and bring glory to God is great.
I am in the midst of starting a new branch of ministry that in human terms is small, but I am totally excited about it. I will give more details when I can but for now, this is going to be a great opportunity.
What is a ministry that you have been thinking about starting but didn't because it's "too small." I have news for you, it's not small at all. I always thought that doing things that didn't impact thousands of people was not worth my time but I was dead wrong. God does amazing things through the "small", just look at David vs. Goliath. God took all of my desires, the things that I wanted to do (on the huge scale) and showed me how I can fit those things into his plan. God's plans and purposes are big enough to fit your huge and small ideas.
So many people think about "God's will" for their lives, wanting to know what it is that God has for them and then end up not doing anything. God's will is for you to come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and to then share his love and gospel with others who need to hear it, using the talents He has given you.
So what is on your heart? What is a ministry opportunity that is knocking at your door? Big or small God wants to use you to impact the lives of other...so go answer that door.
May our LORD be with you
Josh
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