So I haven’t sat down to write anything in a long time. I know this is something I should make more time for, cause there is a lot I want to write about, but in a busy life it’s hard to find time. Lately though, there has been this topic on my heart and on my mind. We live in a culture that is always looking for something better. We go out and buy a new device and months later an updated, better one is coming out and we seem to feel as though we need it. What we have is not enough. Look at what has happened just in the last couple weeks with the release of the new iPhone 4s. Millions of devices have been sold already, and some of them were sold to people that had the iPhone 4 already. A few tweaks in something and all the sudden its better and we need it. We want everything we have to be better than the things we already have. Have you noticed that we seem to treat God the same way? We look for the next thing we can do that is going to be better than the last thing we did. We ask what we can do better to reach more people. We look for how we can top the church next door, or the one down the street, or the one hundreds of miles away that seem to be doing something cool. Sometimes I wonder if in our attempt to always do something better, we leave God out of the process. What if in our attempt to do the next thing, we miss out on what God is doing in the moment we are already in. Instead of trying to come up with an event or a way to reach more people, what if we asked God how we could reach the people that are already in our lives every day that we refuse to talk and share with. I don’t think there is anything wrong with trying to plan an event that will reach people, but I wonder if we use that as a way to get out of doing what we have been called to do in everyday lives. What would it look like if really asked God what He wanted us to do? Do you think He would tell us to do something bigger and better than another church? Do you think He would tell us that what we have been doing isn’t big enough for Him and we need to go back and make it better? I think we get that thought process when we don’t stop to give our plans to God and ask Him what He wants us to do. What if instead of saying “God I want to do something better than anyone else out there,” we do what Pastor Brad Reed does ask the question “God what are you already doing and how can we be a part of that?” What would it look like if we got ourselves out of the way and just trusted in Him? Instead of saying I have this great idea for how we can do things better, we stopped and prayed and said God I want my ideas to be your ideas. We set our plans and ask God to show up, instead of allowing God to set the plans and be thankful we can show up. What ever happened to “thy will be done?” When did it change and we start saying “my will be done.” When did it become about us? When did we say God please stand in the corner as I come up with a way to make you famous. He doesn’t need us to make Him famous; He has done fine doing that on His own. I don’t need bigger and better, I just need Jesus. I want whatever plans and thoughts I have to be God’s, not mine. I want to be a part of His plan to make Him famous, cause mine cannot even compare to His. I challenge everyone to start asking God how we can be a part of what he is already doing instead of asking what else we can do. Start letting Him be the one that sets the plans, and just get out of His way.
Tag Archives: The Bible
Psalms of the Heart
Lately my heart has been troubled with things that I don’t understand. Thoughts and feelings have been placed on my heart that hurt. The most troubling part of all of it is that when I seek God he is silent. I spend time in prayer, reading, worshipping yet He is silent. It reminds me of a Psalm of Asaph. In psalm 77:1-4 Asaph says
I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
It has been a long time since I have felt that empty and alone inside. As I read the Psalms I am reminded over and over again for the silence that men like David went through. Here are just a few of the words of David
Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
Psalm 10:1
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
Psalm 13:1-2
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.
Psalm 22:1-2
David’s words in an odd way are comforting during this time. To think that here he is the King and described as a man seeking God’s heart, yet still had times when he just cried out for God to break the silence. To know that he felt like god was hiding from him, or abandoning him. If we are truly honest we can all say we feel that same way. But do we really do what David does in these times. After David cries out to God and asks him to break the silence, he admits that it is his own sin that has brought on the silence. Then he does something amazing. He praises God for who He is. How often do we praise God in the silent times in our lives? How often do we take responsibility for our distance from Him? God is always there wanting to have fellowship with us, but too often we don’t look at ourselves as the problem, as the reason for the distance with God. What would happen if we had a heart more like David’s and could say like he did
O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Psalm 69:5
Yet when we do admit our sin what do we do with it. Often times we try to make excuses for it. We place the blame on others not on ourselves. What would life be like though if we not only accepted responsibility for our choices, but we praised God during these times?
And better yet, what if we modeled our lives after Jesus. What if we took the pain on ourselves, even if it was not ours to take on? If we stopped trying to be right, but instead laid down our lives. I want to be a man that is pleasing to God. A man that is seeking the heart of God in everything that I do. So as I man I stand here before anyone who is reading this and say, I am the reason for the pain that has been caused. And I take responsibility for the things that have happened. I want to be the one that feels the pain. If you have been hurt by me in anyway, please know that I have and will continue to ask God to take away all your pain and place in on me, to let me be the one that hurts not you. If anyone has to feel pain I want it to be me. I have been praying over the words of David when he says
Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me.
Test my motives and my heart.
Psalm 26:2
So I pray that I be put on trial. I pray that my motives and heart be tested. And I pray that through the silent times, I can still praise God for who He is, and not what he Does. I pray that as a man, I take the example of Christ and take the pain on myself so that others can be free.
Keep me safe, O God,
for I have come to you for refuge.
I said to the LORD, “You are my Master!
Every good thing I have comes from you.”
What we can learn from Mary
Coming up on the Christmas season I thought I would share one of my favorite moments from the bible. It comes from the New Testament. It is the story of Mary and the angel Gabriel. It is the moment when he shows up and tells her that she is going to give birth to Jesus. As we know this is not an ordinary birth. This birth came with many trials. A virgin birth, who is going to believe that? What I love is her response when she is told what is going to happen. You can read it here in Luke 1:35-38
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
I am fully convinced that Mary had no idea what was really ahead of her. I am sure at this time she had no idea the scorn she would face, the disbelief for her being a virgin, the manger she would give birth in, or that she would have to see her son hang on a cross and die. But in that moment, she was not thinking of herself. I love her response, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” There are a few things to point out about this moment, she believed, she was available, and she was willing. The trust she displayed in God is simply amazing. How often in our lives do we have to see the plan, the end result, the path we will take, and the trials we will face, before we trust God. What would happen if we accepted God’s plan, no matter how much sense it made. If we took every circumstance in life and said “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” I find so much inspiration in the faith of Mary here. She had enough faith in how big God is, that it didn’t matter how much sense this made, what she knew was that she was His servant and was willing to do anything He said. I want to live a life like that. I want to be able to say let it be to me as you have said, no matter what he asks of me. And not just to say it, but to rejoice in the thought of it as well. To have the same kind of joy Mary had when she rejoiced with Elizabeth and sang
Luke 1:46-55
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me–
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.”
As Men we need to lead the way with this kind of heart, because as Men there is a lot we can learn from this moment in the life of Mary. We should be available and willing to submit to the will of God no matter what the circumstances may be. May we remember this every day, not just at Christmas. May the cry of our hearts be “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”
How far will you go for Love?
Thinking you are ready for a relationship, or maybe marriage? How long are you willing to work for that? What if things were the same today as they were back in Old Testament times? In those days you had to pay a dowry for the woman you were going to marry. If you didn’t have that chances were you weren’t getting the girl. Let’s stop and take a look for a minute though at the story of Jacob.
Jacob was truly a man of God. He was not perfect by any means, but was so loved by God that his name was changed from Jacob which meant “heal catcher” to Israel which meant “ruled by God.”
Jacob fell in love with a girl by the name of Rachel the first time he saw her. He loved her so much that he asked for her hand in marriage. Here is what the bible has to say about how this all happened, and the trials that Jacob went through to marry Rachel.
Genesis 29:16-30
16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah had weak [a] eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. 18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.”
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. 24 And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.
25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”
26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”
28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. 30 Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.
Jacob had agreed to work for Laban for 7 years because he had no dowry to give for his daughter. After that seven years was up though he tricked and had to marry Leah because she was the first born, and it was custom that the older had to marry before the younger. This did not change Jacob’s love for Rachel though. He loved her so much that he was willing to work another 7 years to have her. Would you be willing to work for someone for 14 years just to marry the daughter that you were in love with?
So often in culture today we find someone that we fall in love with and we expect to have them. Looking here at Jacob’s love for Rachel though, I wonder why we are not willing to go this far. I doubt any of us would work even the first seven years for a girl just to marry her, let alone 14 years. I love here that the bible says in Gen 29:11, “Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.” What an amazing picture of the emotion Jacob felt when he found this girl. He was so in love that when he kissed her he cried. His love was so strong for this girl that he cried, and then worked 14 years to have her. This just blows my mind. It blows my mind that it says, Jacob worked seven years for her but it seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Wow, seven years is a long time, yet it seemed like only days to Jacob, I don’t know about you but that must have been some powerful love he was feeling. Then to be tricked and have to marry another girl, that he didn’t love. If that had been me I would have been mad and walked away without marrying either one. But Jacob didn’t do that, instead he agreed to another 7 years of service. I don’t know anyone who would do that today. It makes we wonder, if there is someone we plan on spending the rest of our lives with, then 7 years is nothing compared to the 50 or 60 we may be spending with them. Reading this story makes me think, about how superficial our idea of love is. I could be wrong, but I don’t know anyone who would do what Jacob has done.
Reading this story has really convicted my heart. I have had relationships that were pretty amazing, but I can’t honestly say that I would have gone to the same lengths Jacob did to marry the girl he loved. But if we truly say we are in love with someone shouldn’t we be willing to go to any length for that person. I want to feel that way about the person I fall in love with. I want to fall in love with someone that I would be willing to work 14 years or more for if I had to, just to have them by my side forever. I don’t want my love to be superficial and momentary. I want to know that the person I say I love is one that I am willing to work my entire life for. I want to cry the first time I kiss her because of how amazing that feeling is. I want to love like Jacob did. He was not willing to give up until he got the girl, even after being tricked. I would thought it was another trick, but not Jacob. In fact I bet Jacob would have worked another 7 years, or maybe even 14 years for her. I want to be able to say that I would do the same thing. What an amazing picture of love here. I want to know that the next person I say I am in love with is a person that I would be willing to lay down my life for, one that I would be willing to work for the rest of my life for, one that no matter what I have to do I would do just to have her hand for the rest of my life. I hope when that moment comes I am able to cry when I kiss her, cry when I hold her, and cry when I have her forever. I want to be so overfilled with emotion that I cry over how amazing she is.
What about you? Would you be willing to be a modern day Jacob if you had to?
Going after the 1
Have you ever wondered how to treat those that are not a part of the church? Or what about the ones that are a part of the church then leave?
Why is that we as Christians want to look down on those people? Why do we treat the ones that have left the church like that are horrible people. What if we stopped looking down at them, and started reaching out to them. I find it funny that we do this when we are at church, but we get outside into the world and we look down at people who are away from Christ. We refuse to talk to them, to reach out to them, to want to have anything to do with them. I sit at a coffee shop a couple nights a week and look around at the people there. Many times I want to just walk away and cry. My heart hurts for the lost. The conversations they are having hurt. I listen to them planning their nights at the bar and how trashed they are going to get, and my heart hurts. I want so badly for them to have the same hope that I have in Christ. What really bugs me though is how we treat those that leave the Church sometimes. Why is it that we treat them like we do the non believer? Have we forgotten what Jesus taught? Just in case you have, here it is.
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:3-7
When did we stop doing this? When did we start saying, “we need to stop talking to them?” Why is that we look at them thinking they should know better and we need to distance ourselves from them? I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to get to heaven and stand before God and hear him say, “There were people you let walk away that I wanted you to chase after.”
Do we not know that each and every person is important to God? I have been thinking a lot about the people in our own ministry lately that have stopped showing up. I don’t know their story, their problems, their heart, their hurt. What I do know is that they are important to God and that should make them important to me. Jesus gave us this parable about a shepherd leaving his flock to chase after the one that walked away. That one sheep was so important to the Sheppard that he would leave 99 behind to get the 1 back. Shouldn’t we think the same way for the people in our churches?
I do a lot of work in a ministry that has a lot of people come and go. There are many that come in our doors for a season and then seem to just disappear. I started to take a closer look into this recently and found something that shocked me. I found a person that was coming all the time, and then all the sudden was gone. I thought maybe they had gone to another church or something. After talking to some people though I found out the opposite. This person is still coming every Sunday; even serving in the church, but is not a part of a community of people in the same stage of life. As I started to seek out some answers as to why this person is not joining us, I found out some of things in their life that is pulling them away. My heart broke as I listened to the story. I wanted to cry my heart hurt so badly. I feel it is just as much our fault that this person is not joining us. There is a lot of hurt going on right now, and aside from a few friends we never truly got to know this person, never really connected. And not only that, but when they walked away, we should have gone after them. I know that some friends did, but that was expected. Shouldn’t we as a ministry gone after? I know that we have a lot of people like this, every church does. What I want to know though is this, how many people see this happen and just say oh well, they just weren’t where I thought they were? Or maybe they think, well they just didn’t want to be here. Or worse, they just don’t care. What would our churches look like if we went after that 1 that is walking off? Actually its not even about what the church would look like, what will heaven look like when we do this. At the end of the day I don’t care what church you go to, what ministry you plug into, what community you are a part of. What I care about is that you are plugged into Jesus Christ. I care that you know as a person we love you, no matter what. I care that people know we are here to walk through life with them, good and bad times. I care that these people know they don’t have to go it alone. There should NEVER be a situation that we as the church are not willing to walk through with someone. There should NEVER be a time that we don’t show each and every person that they are truly and deeply loved. I want everyone who reads this to know this; you have my commitment to walk through anything with you. You have my commitment to love you no matter what. There is nothing you could do or say that will change this. I also make a commitment before the world to say, I WILL LEAVE THE 99 TO CHASE AFTER THE 1. If you are one of the 1’s out there, just know, God loves you, and that’s enough for me to chase you no matter how far away you go. I know I will not be able to catch everyone, but I want to know that heaven is rejoicing because of the ones that are caught. I want to stand before God and be able to say I sought with all my heart the ones that were walking away. If God loves a person then that is enough for me to love that person too. Which I know, that means I have to love everyone, and I am ok with that. I want to live like Jesus did; I want to love like Jesus did. If we truly want to be the hands and feet of Christ then we must live like he did. We must want the same things he wanted. Will you join me in leaving the 99 and going after all the 1’s out there?
Facing our fears for Jesus
A couple years ago I met this girl. The first time I saw her I knew here was something special about her. Things I would have normally been afraid of didn’t seem to matter when I was around her. One night at a BBQ we sat down and put our feet in the pool and talked for a couple hours. It was a warm night and the water bugs (which are no different than cockroaches to me) seemed to be all over the place. Those little suckers have no fear. And well to me they seemed like they were 6 feet tall and ready to devour me. I don’t really know why, but I have always been afraid of those things. I’m pretty sure they know that too, and were just sitting there laughing at me. So I sat there with this beautiful girl by my side, and these giant man eating bugs all around me. To say I was scared would be an understatement; I was terrified for my life. Being a man though, and having this amazingly beautiful girl sitting there actually talking to me, I took my shoe and starting killing every single one of them that dared come near me. You would think after killing a few of them the others would get the hint. Well wrong, in fact I think it might have angered them, more and more kept coming, next thing you know I must have been surrounded by about a thousand of them. Well maybe I am exaggerating a little, but that’s how it felt. In those moments though I had a choice to make, get up and maybe miss out on the chance to continue this amazing conversation, or face a fear and stay right there. I choose to face the fear. I decided in that moment that this girl sitting with me was more important than a fear of these bugs. I don’t regret that night. That girl was more important than a fear of mine.
I saw a cockroach the other day and it reminded me of that night. As I sat there remembering how I was willing to face that fear for a girl I started thinking, would I face my fears for Jesus? Would I be willing to sit there and allow a fear of mine to surround me, while I stand firm for Jesus? I believe my answer to that would be yes. I hope my answer to that would be yes. I hope I would be willing to face all my fears for Jesus. I find it funny how we are willing to do things we would not normally do for another person, especially when we like that other person, yet we are not willing to go outside of our comfort zone for Jesus. We are not willing to go outside of our church groups, our church friends, and church walls for Jesus. We get so comfortable with our surroundings that we don’t go outside of them. What if Jesus was only comfortable with the Jews? What if the disciples never reached out to the people around them? Where would we be today? Jesus came to earth, went to a cross, died for OUR sins, and rose again so that all would have eternal life. Shouldn’t this be something we are going out and sharing with the world? What are we afraid of? If we really accept the promises of God, then we should not be afraid to stand up for Him. Scripture tells us not to fear.
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.
Joshua 1:3,5
I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you … No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
1 Chronicles 28:20
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.
Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 56:3-4
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:13
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Hebrews 13:5-6
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
1 Peter 3:13-14
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Those are just a few verses that God has given us regarding fear. It seems so easy to face a fear when the end result benefits us. Shouldn’t we be more concerned though with adding to God’s kingdom? What would it look like if we faced our fears and made an impact on the kingdom for Jesus? What if we faced our fears, left our comfort zone, and went out into the world and made a difference for the kingdom. What if we were less concerned with who was our friend on face book and more concerned with who would be in heaven with us? What if we stopped asking people if they were on face book and started asking them if they were going to heaven? Why are we afraid to do that? What do we think is going to happen? Sure some people might not like us, but since when should that be a reason to stop us. Many people didn’t like Jesus, in fact they killed Him. Yet that didn’t stop him from rising again and reaching out to everyone. When are we going to start facing our fears and going out into the world and sharing the Good News? I know I am willing. Are you? What are you afraid of?
Matthew 5:44
“But I tell you: Love your enemies [fn] and pray for those who persecute you,”
I wish it was easy to do this. Sometimes in life when things have happened, its hard to step back and pray for the person that has said things or done things that hurt you. Its much easier to spend time trying to get back at them, or plot ways to get even. We are called to more than that though. For it is not enough to just love the ones that love you. Have you found yourself in a situation where someone has done something or said something that is deeply hurtful to you? How did you handle the situation? Did your reaction honor God?
I have found myself in this situation before. My first reaction was a very human one, I wanted to get even. I wanted to clear my name, at all cost. After sitting back and thinking about it though I realized that if I reacted in the way I wanted to in that moment, my actions would not have been Honorable to God or anyone involved. I stopped and thought about the long term damage that could be done for the sake of revenge. What I realized is that the most Honorable thing I could do is pray for that person. After talking to a few people about the situation, I was overwhelmed with the love and support that was shown to me during this struggle. My heart hoped that the others involved would be shown as much if not more love than I was being shown. I’m not really sure what the right thing to do is sometimes, but the bible tells us, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” I will admit its not easy to do this, but we are not called to do the easy thing, we called to do the honorable thing. We are called to die to self. I pray the choices I have made are the choices that God wants me to make, and I pray that God will continue to help me turn the other cheek, and do the honorable thing.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
An Ordinary Man 